How to Run an Affiliate Business in 2013

Casino affiliate marketing is an increasingly popular choice for small-time entrepreneurs with big-time ambitions, but it’s anything but a get-rich-quick scheme.
Running a successful affiliate marketing business, of any kind, is a time consuming affair and even the most successful affiliates often wait months before seeing revenue of any kind.
But with realistic expectations and a good sense of what expenses you’ll run into, you can definitely build a steady revenue flow in this game.
Here’s the basics every prospective gaming affiliates should know.
Domains & Web Hosting
Domain names are the Internet equivalent of store windows, so selecting the right one for your affiliate business is hugely important.
What you’re looking for is something that’s specific enough to tell potential customers what you do, but not so specific that it runs afoul of Google’s Exact Match Domain (EMD) penalty.  Less specific domain names also give you some room to build your business. PokerHeaven.com is a great domain for poker affiliates, but it might not seem as great when you’re looking to expand your business to bingo or sports betting.
If you’re dead set on a domain name that’s already in use, there’s always a chance that you can purchase it from a domain auction like the kind run by GoDaddy.com.
New domain names can be purchased for almost nothing from various hosting sites, but be certain you read the fine print. Those great deals on the first year of hosting are usually just an introductory rate, so expect to pay a lot more for the second year.
Content
Content is the bait that affiliates use to draw players and it’s also a critical piece of your SEO campaigns. Websites that don’t provide a steady stream of fresh, readable content will never build enough trust to convert players and why would they?
Would you send your money to businesses recommended by a website that can’t be bothered to produce meaningful content?
Just look at it this way, affiliate marketing is a game of give-and-take. You give your readers useful advice and information on reliable gambling sites and they repay you by depositing money with those sites. Content is the glue that holds the whole process together.
If you’re not able to produce good content on your own, you’ll need to hire a freelance writer. Between Craigslist, CAP forums and bid sites like ODesk, finding writers is pretty easy.
Whether you pay them by the word or a flat fee a good writer is worth spending some money on.
Ridin’ the Storm Out
More than anything else, new gaming affiliates should prepare themselves for a long wait before they start making money on their sites. If you think simply putting up a great site with great content is going to be enough, you’re in for some major disappointment.
Developing a steady flow of visitors can take weeks or months, even if you’re promoting it heavily on social media. And, remember, simply having visitors viewing your content isn’t enough, you’ll need to entice them to deposit with your affiliate partners, too.
These things will happen in time, but you’ll need to be prepared to whether out a long dry spell first. In short, don’t quit your day job, you’ll need an additional source of income as you get your gaming affiliate business off the ground.
Finally
If you can manage your expectations and whether out a long building up period, running a gaming affiliate site is great way of earning extra income.
If you’re really willing to put in the work it’s a business that can easily replace a traditional full-time office job; just don’t expect it to happen overnight.
What are your tips for beginning affiliates? Let us know about them in the comments section below.