Incorporating sub-affiliate revenue into your overall poker affiliate model can be quite lucrative if done properly. Most poker affiliate programs will offer you some type of sub-affiliate scheme if you can refer legitimate new affiliates. I don’t think it is a big surprise that I have done quite well in terms of leveraging sub-affiliate programs and revenues. But trust me, it’s not all sunshine and roses. I wanted to include an article on the site about my experience with sub-affiliates, and what master affiliates can expect when recruiting and on boarding new poker affiliates.

Over the years, many affiliates have been able to build a very nice network of sub-affiliates underneath them. Just like there are always new players entering the market, there are also always new affiliates. Don’t be fooled though, the amount of money you can make recruiting players still far outweighs the revenue potential of recruiting new affiliates.

For an experienced affiliate with several contacts however, recruiting sub-affiliates can prove to offer up a very nice residual income. I’ll use an analogy about why I love recruiting sub-affiliates.

Gold = Affiliate Revenue

Miners = Poker Affiliates

Back in the late 1800’s when the gold rush was on in California, thousands of miners were coming from everywhere to get in on the action. Some miners would literally strike it rich by having superior mining skills or being in the right spot at the right time. However most miners came to California and found a fair amount of gold, but not enough to be considered rich. Nonetheless, every day thousands of miners were out there hunting for and finding gold.

So who made the most money here without being the absolute top miners? That’s easy, the miners that also manufactured the shovels and mining equipment!

That’s kind of how I see sub-affiliate programs being added to your overall portfolio of promotions. There are several emerging areas of the world where both poker and poker affiliate marketing is just now becoming popular. This is an opportunity for existing affiliates to capture all of these new affiliates by providing mentorship and guidance.

The one warning I always give affiliates looking to begin recruiting sub affiliates is the following however; It’s still a numbers game, and realize that 90% of your new affiliates will probably not be producers. Likewise most existing super affiliates and producers do not want to lose any negotiating power by signing up and giving even a fraction of their revenue to another affiliate. When recruiting sub-affiliates you should be prepared that most of your new affiliates are going to start out as non-producers. It’s your job as a mentor to turn them into producers.

Before you begin recruiting new affiliates, you should also be happy with the revenue you are earning each month sending players. There is no question; you will always earn exponentially more recruiting players versus affiliates. In time however, you can build a tremendous residual income each month from having sub-affiliates promoting under you. Obviously your affiliate % is much lower per player than it would be had you sent the player directly though. But the upside is that you can send loads more players through subs than you could on your own in most cases.

If you’re looking to get into the sub-affiliate game, you should be confident and savvy enough to mentor and guide new affiliates coming into the market. Likewise you should initially be doing this for other reasons than making more money. Hear me now and believe me later, the money is still much greater recruiting players. 9 times out of 10 times an affiliate signs up under you, it is because they need to be mentored. If you cannot make money yourself as a poker affiliate, you’ll probably have a hard time mentoring a brand new affiliate on how to make money.

Being successful at recruiting affiliates versus players does require one to be not only a strong affiliate themselves, but also a strong mentor. Below are a few tips you should follow if you plan on mentoring other affiliates:

Form A Personal Relationship & Be Available - Nothing is worse for a new affiliate than agreeing to sign up under a sub-affiliate tracker only to find out the master affiliate is nowhere to be found afterward. If you are going to sign up new affiliates, make yourself available via phone, email, and messenger. If being in constant contact and answering newbie questions every day annoys you, then you probably shouldn’t be in the market of recruiting sub-affiliates.

Listen, Be Open Minded, & Give Honest Advice – As an experienced affiliate, it is easy to get set in your ways and focus completely on what has worked for you in the past. When being a mentor and dealing with new affiliates, you must be open minded and embrace the fresh new perspectives and ideas they may bring to the industry. At the same time however, as a mentor it’s easy to hear a newbie’s ideas and just say “Wow, that sounds great”, even though you may know the idea or concept has no chance at being successful in the poker affiliate market. It’s somewhat of a fine balance, but you have to be willing to be 100% honest in your assessment of their ideas and actions. Remember, the more successful they become, the more benefits you will receive.

Know When To End The Relationship - As lucrative as being a mentor and recruiting sub-affiliates can be, it is also very time consuming. Many people get into this industry with the “get rich quick” mentality. As a mentor it’s your job to set the expectation upfront that this is a very competitive industry and one that will normally take at least six months to a year before realizing any profits. If you find yourself investing countless hours into an individual’s success that is not reciprocating in their efforts and hard work, there is nothing wrong with ending the relationship. Remember, it’s not your job to do the work for others. As a mentor, your job is to offer guidance and advice.

Recruiting sub-affiliates can be lucrative because it is much less competitive than competing for popular keywords or bonus codes, as we often do when recruiting players. At the same time affiliates must realize that recruiting and mentoring sub-affiliates can be a very time consuming task with minimal returns in comparison to recruiting players. In the majority of circumstances, it often makes more sense for affiliates to continue focusing on acquiring new players on MGR or CPA to the online poker rooms.

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