Am I Mad? Entering the affiliate industry in 2021

[AffTea]

Hi Everyone,

I’m a long time member of AGD working on the operator side of the business. I’ve spent the last few days reading through posts from new affiliates entering the industry seeking help & feedback. I know you guys are always really helpful, and I was hoping to get a little advice myself.

I’ve been in the industry just over 12 years now, having worked on both the operator & game developer sides of the business.

My current role is coming to an end in the coming months, and I’ve been thinking about finally taking a leap into the affiliate side of the business.

This is an area I have always been interested in. I love everything about this industry, and becoming an affiliate has long been a dream of mine. I do however know this is an incredibly competitive space, particularly in English speaking regulated markets.

I suppose my question is, have I missed the boat? Can a one-man-band operation make it these days?

- I have some experience with SEO and I’m confident in my abilities to develop an effective strategy & optimise my content.

- My content writing skills aren’t perfect, but I think that with consistent work & practice I can improve this. I do know most areas of the industry very well however, so I think I can write relatively good articles & reviews.

- I would be starting with a Wordpress theme as I’ve worked with a lot of Wordpress blogs/websites in the past and I don’t have the skills to build a website from scratch.

- I can afford to put 12 months of work into this without any income, however the only investment I can give the project is my time. There is potential to get a little financial backing, but I would ideally like to avoid this for minimum 6 months (or at least until I can tell my work is starting to payoff from an organic impression perspective. I know I won’t be making a penny at that point).

- I have written a business plan. Without going into detail, the website will be mostly generic, with a few additional features not typically seen on affiliate websites. These features are certainly not game changers, just a few things to help increase on-site engagement.


- In year one, I will only be targeting English speaking markets. I would be the only person working on the project, including design, content writing & developing the overall strategy.

Am I mad? Should I stay in safe employment, or take the leap now?

Assuming I will be working on this consistently for approx 8-10 hours per day for 12 months, how long do you think it would take to tell things are going in the right direction?

I apologise for the long post and want to say thank you for even reading this far. Hopefully I will able to properly introduce myself soon.

Thank you all,

AffTea.

 

[ddm]

"the only investment I can give the project is my time"

if you have passion and hustle and will not take failure for an answer, you *can* succeed, but you need to be VERY smart about it with only yourself as a resource.

edit: I would actually suggest that your quickest way to glory is to JV with someone who already has a foothold in the niche, but really needs the help of a hustler grinding it out all day to GROW BIG.

^ those are the dream partners i look for every day.

 

[AffTea]

Thanks ddm, I really appreciate the feedback.

In relation to your edit, interesting indeed. Something to really think about.

AffTea.

 

[ddm]

if not JV, defo one tactic would be to buy a starter domain with history, or do some SEO trickery to get a headstart on your new domain
starting from 0 with a BRAND NEW domain - defo not ez.

 

[AffTea]

if not JV, defo one tactic would be to buy a starter domain with history, or do some SEO trickery to get a headstart on your new domain
starting from 0 with a BRAND NEW domain - defo not ez.

Makes sense, my plan was to start with a fresh domain. I think now I’ll consider a domain with history to get a head start. Thanks again for taking the time to respond, it’s much appreciated.

 

[Kadabra]

Restaurants exist for over 200 years.
Was it easier to open a new one 175 years ago? Sure. You could open a place and be the only place in town that serves food
Do you need to be crazy to open a new one now? Yes, a bit. As the competition is fierce. 80% will shut down within a year. But, there are those that succeed.

From what you wrote - you have plenty advantages. Also understanding and perspectives that not many can bring. And, passion.
If you think smart, learn as you go and have patience - you should find your way.

Personally, never bought aged domains btw.

One advice - focus on something. Preferably, some area where you have more understanding/interest/etc. Not general casino site trying to cover every possible game/bonus/software/etc.

 

[AffTea]

Restaurants exist for over 200 years.
Was it easier to open a new one 175 years ago? Sure. You could open a place and be the only place in town that serves food
Do you need to be crazy to open a new one now? Yes, a bit. As the competition is fierce. 80% will shut down within a year. But, there are those that succeed.

From what you wrote - you have plenty advantages. Also understanding and perspectives that not many can bring. And, passion.
If you think smart, learn as you go and have patience - you should find your way.

Personally, never bought aged domains btw.

One advice - focus on something. Preferably, some area where you have more understanding/interest/etc. Not general casino site trying to cover every possible game/bonus/software/etc.

Thank you Kadabra!

Indeed, I have learned through research that the vast majority will fail. I suppose I’ll never know unless I try.

Worst case scenario, I would walk away with a lot of learnings, knowledge, and a slight dent in my pride Plus, hopefully some new friends here at AGD.

Thanks for taking the time to respond it’s much appreciated,

AffTea.

 

[ddm]

understanding and perspectives that not many can bring. ..... you should find your way.

^ this x 1000.

 

[Alchemist]

Am I mad? Should I stay in safe employment, or take the leap now?

This one reminded me of a series i used to watch: "Am i mad, in a comma or back in time"

My story is not like yours, i had only my playing experience.

In April 2018 is when i started, my first site FAILED big time. As @Kadabra said, i didnt focus on one thing..

I'm not that long like others here in affiliation, the only thing i can say is keep it up and dont give up.

Read, learn, keep reading, keep learning and find your way through it!

 

[AffTea]

This one reminded me of a series i used to watch: "Am i mad, in a comma or back in time"

My story is not like yours, i had only my playing experience.

In April 2018 is when i started, my first site FAILED big time. As @Kadabra said, i didnt focus on one thing..

I'm not that long like others here in affiliation, the only thing i can say is keep it up and dont give up.

Read, learn, keep reading, keep learning and find your way through it!

Nice one Alchemist, glad to see you stuck it out after your first project. Sounds like your persistence has paid off

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond & help.

Cheers,

AffTea.

 

[PROFRBcom]

"the only investment I can give the project is my time"

if you have passion and hustle and will not take failure for an answer, you *can* succeed, but you need to be VERY smart about it with only yourself as a resource.

edit: I would actually suggest that your quickest way to glory is to JV with someone who already has a foothold in the niche, but really needs the help of a hustler grinding it out all day to GROW BIG.

^ those are the dream partners i look for every day.

You have bad eyesight my friend.

 

[KasinoKing]

I suppose my question is, have I missed the boat? Can a one-man-band operation make it these days?

Very unlikely
You didn't say which markets you would target, but if it's the UK then you probably shouldn't bother.

Things have got seriously and increasingly harder over the last 2-3 years, to the point where I am close to throwing in the towel.

If you do consider a JV with an established site, you could look at some of mine. I would be open to listening to any proposals if you (or anyone else) is interested.

KK

 

[Strider1973]

Just a reminder to all of those lurking around here without having an own gambling website yet: start the website instead of browsing the forums. If you have a full-time job, that's even better! Because that gives you financial security. And let's be honest: nobody working at the computer is working 100% of the time for his employer. If you are young with no family, it's no problem to work an additional 2-3 hours per day on your private ventures. You just need to be consistent and persistant.

So... you should have started 12 years ago. But still better to start today than tomorrow.

 

[preditor]

My tip`s are to not think of money at all in the first 6-9 months, meaning dont stear you blind on stats even if you get in a player or two wihin this time. Dont look at the earnings, blur it and focus on looking into conversions, how many clicks - reg - ndc, from what page, why, what day, what makes this section of the page good enugh to bring in players, how can that page be improved etc.

Content is king, make the best content you ever can think of, think it as "some day hundreds of readers will enjoy this, just as soon as they find it". Litarally write better than a Nobel prize awarded book would be written, you have to use SEO skills, making every single word count not only for the readers but also for the google bot.

Dont waist money on themes that are not updated, with a log of a long-term updating history. WP changes and updates a lot, one day you might find out your page is not working properly, then you would love to get help fast from the themes authors forums etc.

Dont go bananas with plugins that sounds fancy and are pricy or have limited time offers. You dont need to burn big money on most plugins, that also is avible in free versions - to a begin with. Later on, upgrade thouse ones you really like.

It`s not to late to get into the business, but the revenues are kind of smaller and harder to get than when i started 17 years ago.

Also, when and if working from home on this, talk to your family that you need to focus and work from home a few sertain hours any then its do not disturbe -time. Your wife will probably say something like "your only sitting infront of that computer doing nothing". Trust in your self and share your mission as good as possible for your family, have them clap your sholder "keep on doing that" instead of previusly mentiond your doing nothing.

Only a few tips of many, hope you find any of them as a good one

 

[AffTea]

Very unlikely
You didn't say which markets you would target, but if it's the UK then you probably shouldn't bother.

Things have got seriously and increasingly harder over the last 2-3 years, to the point where I am close to throwing in the towel.

If you do consider a JV with an established site, you could look at some of mine. I would be open to listening to any proposals if you (or anyone else) is interested.

KK

Thanks KK, really appreciate the feedback & honesty.

The UK has been part of the plan, but i would be putting a bigger emphasis on other English speaking markets that aren’t fully regulated. I know stringent regulations make things hard for affiliates in the UK, and I assume unless I GEO block that market completely I’ll have to abide by standards of the ASA for all my pages.

I will put more thought into a JV for sure. No doubt there are well established affs who wouldn’t mind taking their foot off the pedal and could benefit from a partnership of sorts.

I think my best move is to give this a shot, learn as much as I can along the way and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll have more to offer someone like yourself in terms of a JV.

Thanks,

AffTea.

 

[AffTea]

My tip`s are to not think of money at all in the first 6-9 months, meaning dont stear you blind on stats even if you get in a player or two wihin this time. Dont look at the earnings, blur it and focus on looking into conversions, how many clicks - reg - ndc, from what page, why, what day, what makes this section of the page good enugh to bring in players, how can that page be improved etc.

Content is king, make the best content you ever can think of, think it as "some day hundreds of readers will enjoy this, just as soon as they find it". Litarally write better than a Nobel prize awarded book would be written, you have to use SEO skills, making every single word count not only for the readers but also for the google bot.

Dont waist money on themes that are not updated, with a log of a long-term updating history. WP changes and updates a lot, one day you might find out your page is not working properly, then you would love to get help fast from the themes authors forums etc.

Dont go bananas with plugins that sounds fancy and are pricy or have limited time offers. You dont need to burn big money on most plugins, that also is avible in free versions - to a begin with. Later on, upgrade thouse ones you really like.

It`s not to late to get into the business, but the revenues are kind of smaller and harder to get than when i started 17 years ago.

Also, when and if working from home on this, talk to your family that you need to focus and work from home a few sertain hours any then its do not disturbe -time. Your wife will probably say something like "your only sitting infront of that computer doing nothing". Trust in your self and share your mission as good as possible for your family, have them clap your sholder "keep on doing that" instead of previusly mentiond your doing nothing.

Only a few tips of many, hope you find any of them as a good one

My tip`s are to not think of money at all in the first 6-9 months, meaning dont stear you blind on stats even if you get in a player or two wihin this time. Dont look at the earnings, blur it and focus on looking into conversions, how many clicks - reg - ndc, from what page, why, what day, what makes this section of the page good enugh to bring in players, how can that page be improved etc.

Content is king, make the best content you ever can think of, think it as "some day hundreds of readers will enjoy this, just as soon as they find it". Litarally write better than a Nobel prize awarded book would be written, you have to use SEO skills, making every single word count not only for the readers but also for the google bot.

Dont waist money on themes that are not updated, with a log of a long-term updating history. WP changes and updates a lot, one day you might find out your page is not working properly, then you would love to get help fast from the themes authors forums etc.

Dont go bananas with plugins that sounds fancy and are pricy or have limited time offers. You dont need to burn big money on most plugins, that also is avible in free versions - to a begin with. Later on, upgrade thouse ones you really like.

It`s not to late to get into the business, but the revenues are kind of smaller and harder to get than when i started 17 years ago.

Also, when and if working from home on this, talk to your family that you need to focus and work from home a few sertain hours any then its do not disturbe -time. Your wife will probably say something like "your only sitting infront of that computer doing nothing". Trust in your self and share your mission as good as possible for your family, have them clap your sholder "keep on doing that" instead of previusly mentiond your doing nothing.

Only a few tips of many, hope you find any of them as a good one

This is really valuable advice & I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to reply in such detail.

A regularly updated WP isn’t something I ever thought about - great shout.

I’ll take all this on board,

Thanks again,

AffTea.

 

[AffTea]

Just a reminder to all of those lurking around here without having an own gambling website yet: start the website instead of browsing the forums. If you have a full-time job, that's even better! Because that gives you financial security. And let's be honest: nobody working at the computer is working 100% of the time for his employer. If you are young with no family, it's no problem to work an additional 2-3 hours per day on your private ventures. You just need to be consistent and persistant.

So... you should have started 12 years ago. But still better to start today than tomorrow.

Great stuff - I am married but we have no children and my wife works full-time, so I will have time to put the head down and work hard.

Thanks for getting back to me,

AffTea.

 

[gm2891]

I think the important is to determine how you're going to attract your visitors and in what geo's. And also, to understand very well who you are competing against.

Good luck!

 

[Joonas]

Restaurants exist for over 200 years.
Was it easier to open a new one 175 years ago? Sure. You could open a place and be the only place in town that serves food
Do you need to be crazy to open a new one now? Yes, a bit. As the competition is fierce. 80% will shut down within a year. But, there are those that succeed.

From what you wrote - you have plenty advantages. Also understanding and perspectives that not many can bring. And, passion.
If you think smart, learn as you go and have patience - you should find your way.

Personally, never bought aged domains btw.

One advice - focus on something. Preferably, some area where you have more understanding/interest/etc. Not general casino site trying to cover every possible game/bonus/software/etc.

+1

Find a niche in specific language and vertical. Create truly valuable content for that user. Study something about SEO and content every day.

 

[NDG]

Put together a basic plan for your web site before you start building it and before you try to find a domain name. You need to do research
on what players are interested in, decide exactly what you will be focusing on, figure out the keywords that you'll be focusing on, and
then organize the layout of the web site, what the pages will be about, what the URLs for those pages will be, how you will structure
all of this on to your web site to make it easy for players to navigate, and how you will advertise the casinos on those webpages.

There is a lot that goes into a successful web site. If you have a passion for this industry, you are willing to embrace the learning curve,
and you will keep pushing forward for months even if you don't see any revenue or traffic.. then their is a good chance of success.