Fraternizing with The Flop

Viktoria from the Flop.net
It’s a commonly heard story. Built a website to sell a product, and somewhere along the way, thought, why not add a banner or two? That’s exactly what happened to Viktoria in 2006. Since then, she has developed www.theflop.net into a poker affiliate website offering some of the best bonuses, tournament listings, reviews, strategic advice and poker information.

We sat down with Viktoria to ask her to tell us a bit more about how she got started in the iGaming biz. Here’s a quick glance of what brought Viktoria to affiliate marketing, and what matters most to her now that we’ve hit 2010.

Income Access: How long have you been in affiliate marketing?
Viktoria: Since 2006.

IA: What made you become an affiliate?
V: I translated a poker book into Hungarian and put up a small website with my life and business partner, Elliott, to sell the book on www.theflop.net. Elliott is a software engineer and built big websites before. Then we thought, why not put some poker room banners on it?

IA: What did you do before becoming an affiliate?
V: I used to be a broadcast journalist (radio) at the BBC.

IA: Tell me about the affiliate program(s) you are promoting.
V: We prefer to work with well-known brands that spend on other marketing channels as well (TV, magazine, etc.). We find that they have better conversions. We also rely on other affiliates’ opinions about which programs to work with.

TheFlop

IA: What is one of the biggest challenges that affiliates face today?
V: I think it has to do with keeping your momentum, and continuing to grow.

IA: What is the most satisfying aspect of being an affiliate?
V: That I am my own boss and I can take a holiday whenever I feel like it J

IA: What words of wisdom would you share with an affiliate just starting out?
V: I think it is very important to get to know the business before investing any work or money. It is getting very competitive and you can’t succeed without knowing what your edge is going to be.

IA: In terms of affiliate software, what is most important to you/your business?
V: Detailed reports are the most important for us, but ease of use comes in as a close second.

IA: What are some trends that you think will affect you/your business come 2010?
V: We just started some new sites targeting the English language market (we only focused on the Hungarian market before) including a new casino site at www.gimmecasinobonus.com. We have high hopes for the new sites.

IA: Have you integrated any new marketing techniques into your promotion strategy this year? Which ones? Have they been effective?
V: We launched a Hungarian and an English social networking site (www.pokerbarat.hu and www.mypokermates.com). The Hungarian site became highly successful; the English one has just launched but we hope it will follow suit.

IA: Before joining an operator’s affiliate program, what do you want to know to help you make your decision?
V: Reputation is paramount, as is having an established affiliate program. It is important for us that they give a lot to the players, as well as to the affiliates.

Viktoria from The Flop

IA: What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about being an affiliate?
V: A lot of people think that all affiliates make tons of money without much work. This is simply not true. First of all, not all of us make tons of money. Second, even affiliates who do earn a lot of money, have to work very hard for it.

Check out Viktoria’s www.theflop.net website to get the full scoop on poker. You’ll find her recommendations for Best Online Poker Rooms, poker promotions, an interactive blog area, tips from poker pros—and so much more!

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