Casino affiliate marketing and professional sports have more in common than you might think. For example, it’s often said that just one out of every 16,000 kids who play high school sports goes on to play in a professional sport. Those aren’t exactly odds you’d bet on when that same kid was actually playing in his chosen sport.
The odds are a little better in the affiliate world, but not by much. Most affiliate industry sources suggest that somewhere between 70-80% of all people taking a crack at affiliate marketing will quit before making a single dime.
Within that small group of successful affiliates are a few, high flying, success stories. Here are a few top affiliates that have made big names for themselves in the industry and a little about how they found their success.
Graeme McGaw – Dealer Dan
In the criminal world Graeme McGaw, aka Dealer Dan, would be referred to as an O.G. or original gangster. He’s been in the affiliate marketing business in one way or another since 1999 and is one the true big dogs in the industry.
Today his AffiliateBible site is one of the biggest gaming affiliate sites around and newbies and old hands alike look to him for strategic advice. As a guy who built an affiliate marketing empire from scratch, no one is going to doubt his credibility.
Like many successful affiliates, Dealer Dan started out simply building fan sites for one of his favorites sports, professional wrestling. From that humble beginning (on GeoCities no less) he began branching out into adult and warez sites, but his big success came as a poker and sports affiliate.
By 2003, he became a full time affiliate marketing professional.
So what advice does he have for anyone looking to follow in his footsteps?
In an interview with DropOutGetRich.com he recommends newbies wait until they’ve earned at least $5,000 in the previous twelve months and have amassed a cash cushion around $50K. While that may sound sky high to most of us, it shows Dan’s grasp of strategic thinking; a major plus in any business.
And while entrepreneurs are famously independent and self-taught, Dan’s advice for new affiliates is to head to back to school:
Go to business school, or take courses in business management. So many people out there are really selling themselves short by not understanding how a business runs, or how they should operate a business. Look at your internet marketing as a business, and learn a lot more about how businesses run.
And, just in case you think Dealer Dan is really superhuman, you might be surprised to find out he struggles with the same challenges as everyone who works from home:
Distractions & Motivation. It’s something that you learn to deal with – but man, initially it is very tough. There are so many distractions everywhere…Hell I don’t have a boss to answer to – I could go have some beers for lunch.
To find out Dealer Dan’s take on the future of gambling affiliate sites, check out 6 Gambling Sites I’m Building in 2013; and 3 to Avoid.