Please help us!!! (questions)

[sipka]

>> I won't work with a group that only offers cheque, come on, it's the 21th century! Moreover in my country cheques are very rare, banks are suspicious with cheques.

no cheque, Then Bankwire please.

i hate cheque too. It is not modern. But
- cheque is cheap to send out and clearing fee is very low for me
- i cannot use Neteller and Moneybookers where i am based.
- there are always high currency conversion and withdrawal fees for other ewallets
- no other ewallet is widely used by majority/nearly all affiliate programs

Yes, it can be a pain to find good and safe e-wallets, but as I saw programs charge often 2x the amount for money transfer than e-wallets for withdrawing the money to my bank account. Yes, it's another hurdle in the chain lol, and I need to wait 4-5 more days for my payment, but since some aff programs take out $40-50 from earnings for a transfer, I think that is too high.

I understand that cheque can be an easy option for those countries where it is widely used, in my country I need to have the exact amount of the cheque's value on my bank account in order to clear it by my bank. (So I need to fund my bank account with the same amount to get my money lol).

But I know what you mean Vrin, getting your money sometimes is a pain in the a**.

[Vrindavan]

so right now i will opt

bankwire-no fee or
cheque if i have to pay bankwire fee

until there is a good ewallet i can use to replace the above option in future

[Guard Dog]

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

I didn't really answer this one myself very good

Best affiliate back end systems (for me):

#1 Brightshare
#2 C-Planet
#3 Rival Backend

Those are the ones I like working with the most. Brightshare seems to be the most complete with about all the data you would want. I love their system.

[WCD Admin]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

I like it when programs really spend a little time on their tools. They are not hard to create because they have plenty of data and resources ($$). Jackpot tickers, XML promotion feeds. Rotating banners (please dont use scripts, they stall our sites... just give us a common place to pull a banner from, so we can call it as an image) --- just update the image. You could do this for all sorts of things... that way banners were tailored to our pages. For instance, you should have a "rotating slots banner" "rotating current promo banner" "rotating blackjack promos" etc... the themes are unlimited. real winner feeds, updated winner images, etc. Come on guys, please be creative and give us the tools we need to succesfully promote you. Don't let banners go stale. Don't design one banner and barely alter it and think you have two banners there..... design for light colored backgrounds AND dark backgrounds. Don't hound us to give you more exposure unless you made something special for us to use.... I don't want to put a casinoxxxx banner up on my home page if its from 1999. etc.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

I think I like Playtech the best (although I don't promote them much anymore, I always thought it was easy to check stats (and those were great) and also, easy to grab creatives. Don't force me into campaigns. Provide easy access to the shortest affiliate link possible. Don't make us edit links to take out your SEO. Add in rel="nofollow" for us.
3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

Revenue of course! - what else matters? if you want to pay someone more for bringing 50 crappy players instead of paying me more for bringing one that can make you the same amount of money, --- whats wrong with you -- quality vs quantity !!

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

I do this sometimes but mainly when its appropriate. The GPWA (did or does) have a forum for getting members to signup as sub-affiliates. I miss that. But to me its not a "deal" that makes me refer another affiiliate usually. I only refer affiliates if I make money with the program and really like the affiliate manager/staff - so to get sub-affiliate from me, just be a good program.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

AGD certification. which basically covers most all the sticking points. No one on your staff should owe me money.

_______________________________________

[BruceFinaldi]

Hey Guys,

I am now an operator, but I was actually an affiliate prior, in several verticals, so I will try my best to also answer the questions, hope it helps!

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

I like a program that invests time into their banners and promotions. I like when a program has both hard sale and soft sale promotions, as well as promo's both offering the player either % or a $ value offer. As of late I am getting into RSS feeds, I think if a casino/poker room is really on top of their marketing and uses these feeds to their advantage, it will be advantageous to the affiliate who markets them.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

Well, I am a bit biased here as my affiliate program uses it, I have to say without a doubt NetRefer. I have been working with NetRefer, on implmentation with my software and I am just really impressed by their professionalism, both in implementation and training us in the admin. From the affiliate side I think it is a really good software ESPECIALLY if the program has multiple brands and multiple verticals!

I will definitely note Playtech's backend, CTXM's backend and actually even though a competitor of mine C-planet's backend.

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

I personally have always liked Rev. If the program is trustworthy and has got a professional support and retention then Rev si the way to go. With Rev, it ends up being a game of Whale Hunting. Now, when I worked on Rev there was always the worry of shaving, but with the more reputable companies, this should not be a concern (hopefully ).

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

Well to be honest, I never was a master affiliate, BUT if I was going to refer someone to a program I would work on a rev of 5%, I think only 1 tier is fine. What I would look for when referring is how well the operators support and retention works - ie: they convert better, I earn more. I have a few master affiliates who I work with and they have been fine with 5%.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Conversion, Conversion, Conversion. Ok that is the mantra, but on a serious note I always liked programs that paid on time, had many different payment methods to pay me, dedicated support, were not rogues and spoke to me like I am a human being and not a sucker.

Guys, I hope this helped, these were my 2 cents.

Cheers,

Bruce

[frazier]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

· Banners need to be a primary priority to gain initial share of mind.
· Banners covering all the standard sizes and a few unique ones.
· Banners should not be JavaScript, excessive flash, or other nonsense.
· Clear, professional screenshots are valuable.
· Don't forget about simple clear information.

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

· Brightshare, C-Planet, Casino Rewards, G3, NetRefer, Virgin Games

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

· Revenue share
· CPA has never been a “winner” for me
· No negative carry-over.

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

· Don't do much of this...
· 10% subaffiliate share.
· Multi level.

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

· Takes US players.
· Repuation, reputation, reputation...!!!
· On time payments.
· Retention.
· I like having detailed, high quality reports.
· Responsive / available Affiliate Manager
· Customization
· Astectics of site, functionality, graphics...

[wagerjunction]

Very interesting thread.

C-Planet was mentioned a lot, quality banners (sometimes rotating), screenshots, no negative carryovers (are there actually programs still doing that?), good rev share instead of CPA, and feeds.

Affiliate representantives should read through this and take some notes

As a lot of affiliate programs promote more than one brands, I would like to ask if you prefer bundled payments or getting paid for each brand seperately.

Very happy to have ready this, hope more replies follow.

Regards
Stel

[Vrindavan]

>> bundled payments or getting paid for each brand seperately.


it really depend on the mode of payment really
e.g. i don't mind people paypal me 10 bucks 100 times

for wire or check, better bundled them all

[greek39]

1. What tools do you prefer and like to use, that an affiliate program offers to help you promote poker rooms and casinos?

2. What are your favorite back end affiliate systems for grabbing promotional tools and why? (Ease of use, simple to navigate, can just grab code, etc.)

3. What type of commission structure do you prefer? A tiered revenue share based on Net Gaming or on the amount of players sent during the month? Why?

4. What sub affiliate deal would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program? Or what would encourage you to refer other webmasters to the program?

5. What are the most important things you look for when signing up for an affiliate program?

Bare in mind I don't carry a lot of brands so my input is somewhat limited.

1. Banners or text links in the valid HTML format preferable. Brightshare does a good job, & instead of &. Leave the “alt” text out.

2. Well they all do a fairly good job so I will compare it to the worst. Fortune Affiliates I dread going there. Takes a fair bit of time to grab a banner or check stats.

3. Never dealt with a sub affiliate program that I am aware of. I would encourage another Webmaster based on the programs reputation.

4. The most important thing I look for when signing up for a program is their history. Are they reputable with respect to players, AGD certified, shady marketing practices, etc…

greek39