Affiliate Marketing is Like Poker

Posted by Alexander Tsatkin

November 20, 2008

Originally I wanted to say affiliate marketing is like gambling, but I think saying affiliate marketing is like poker is a lot more accurate. I have been working on making money using AM for some time now, and the longer I stay in the game the more I realize what the industry really is like. In college I used to have friends who got into poker, and I would watch them stay up all night playing poker coming home with huge sums of money one day and with huge debt the next.

The following is a list of how affiliate marketing mirrors the poker industry.

Gurus Both affiliate marketing and gambling have their gurus. These are people who claim to be the best. Sometimes they really are good, but many times they had one success and because of their vocal nature get tons of publicity and ride the wave. Most of these guru’s don’t even practice what they preach, but make their money from selling “education” to n00bs and the like.

Heroes These are the guys who aren’t selling anything, but are people you can look up to. In both affiliate marketing and gambling there are a few guys who trully are great at what they do. They serve as the driving force behind your own addiction with thoughts like … “If he can do it, why can’t I.”

Money Distribution Just like poker in affiliate marketing there are only a small number of super affiliates who can make large sums of money doing what they do. The rest of us are barely making ends meet and many end up loosing tons of money.

Adrenaline When you launch a new campaign your heart races same as when you throw in a stack of chips. The addreneline is the reason most of us do it and is why both industries are male dominated.

The more I stay in this industry the more I realize that affiliate marketing is just poker. You don’t know what cards your competitors are holding. At the end of the day someone is going to walk away with the pot while the rest of us will put our tail between our legs and come back the next day to try it all again.

At the end of the day no matter how much you know, strategies, techniques, tips, etc the only thing that can help is LADY LUCK. All you can do is give yourself the best chance of getting lucky.