Writing Content for Poker Websites

Yesterday, I posted an article about how to make money writing poker articles. At the end I asked for other suggestions from veteran poker affiliates, and my buddy Dealer Dan came through like a champ! He submitted an entire article that has a lot of great advice that compliments my post nicely. Be sure to visit his free poker affiliate guide for more great advice!

By Dealer Dan, PokerAffiliateBible.com

As Kevin's first step in making money with online poker is writing content for other poker affiliates and webmasters, I thought I should offer advice on how to make this your forté, having outsourced poker content writing in the past.

The goal when writing poker content, is that you do such a great job that the webmasters will return to you again and again for future content, as well as always recommending you via word of mouth to other poker affiliates that are looking to buy poker content. Here are just five methods you can use that will ensure this will happen:

- Write About What You Know: If you don't know the subject, don't write about it. If the topic is an easy topic to write about, for example a review of a poker room you have never played at, you can ask the webmaster for a few days until you research the subject matter more. If it is something more detailed, explain to them you aren't knowledgeable about that subject yet and can't write it. Whatever you do - don't try and write about something you have no idea about. We will notice this, and if anyone ever asks for feedback on your writing, could provide a negative review.

- Follow the Theme of the Site: For whatever site you are writing for, read their content. Try and understand who their market is, and also pay attention to the common writing style the current writer(s) at the site have, and stick with that theme so your article fits in well with the site.

- Do a Little Bit Extra: If I commission you to do a review of a poker room with 500 words in it, do 550 or 600. I'll notice you went to that extra effort, and I'll remember that in the future.

- Show Demonstrations of your Work: A lot of writers are worried about showing their articles before they are sold, in case anyone steals it. There are ways you can make that harder for people(ie: putting it in a PDF, or only showing half the article). If you're an unknown writer though, it's important that you get your work out there to everyone, and show them that you can do a good job.

- Ask Questions: So many times I've paid for articles, and the writer has went off and written them without asking me any questions at all. I appreciate it a lot more when you write to me, asking me if there is any particular points you want in the article, or asking who my target audience is, or any keywords to focus on. It shows that you take your work seriously, and want to impress the webmaster as much as possible.

How to Make Money Selling Poker Content

As I previously mentioned in my post about ways to make money with poker, a good way to jump-start your poker affiliate business is to write and sell content to other poker affiliates. In this post, I'll tell you about my first experience selling content, plus give you some tips about making money with your own quality poker content.

My original plan was to write some poker content and advertise it on Poker Affiliate Programs forums. So, I started writing some quality poker articles to sell. I also started looking at the way other affiliates sell their content on PAP. While I was browsing the forums, I saw a new post from a fellow affiliate who wanted to buy blog posts for two sites. His offer stood out because the sites were about HORSE poker and 7 Card Stud, both of which I play regularly. So I sent him a private message asking for the job.

Now mind you, I've never spoken with him one-on-one before. So I was surprised when he asked for my Paypal id so he could transfer the payment in advance. Not only was he offering a good price per article, but he also forwarded payment before receiving the first article.

I believe that all of your customers should be appreciated; however, ones like this should be cherished. It was a pleasure to work for this affiliate and I hope he'll keep me in mind if he needs more content in the future.

Writing and selling your own poker articles
If you can write good content, there's no reason you can't get $.04-$.05 per word for poker articles. That's $20-$25 for a 500-word article. Here are some tips for making money with your own content.

1. Join industry related forums like PAP - If you haven't joined and started posting you need to ASAP if you're going to sell anything. Other members are weary of someone who has 1 or 2 posts and then tries to sell content, advertising, software or anything else. Start building your reputation before trying to sell poker articles.
   
2. Have accounts at Paypal, Full Tilt Poker, and Pokerstars - Most poker affiliates have several methods by which they can transfer funds. Paypal is a dedicated payment processor that is attached to your bank account. Having real-money accounts at a couple of large poker sites works as a backup if your customer doesn't use Paypal.
3. Use poker books and/or authority websites for ideas - Don't make the mistake of thinking you have to be a great poker player to write great poker content. I like to dive into my extensive library of poker books for poker strategy articles. I'll take a concept and then put my own unique spin on it, including personal examples that help reinforce the idea. For poker news, I check authority sites like PokerNews, Card Player, and PokerListings for ideas.
4. Generally, you make more with custom orders than with selling your own articles - This is a trend I've noticed while browsing the PAP forums. Poker affiliates who are looking for very specific articles are usually willing to pay top prices to get them ASAP. On the other hand, people looking at your thread about "Great Poker Strategy Content for Sale" are probably not in immediate need for content. They may just be looking for some affordable content to add to their site(s).
5. Make it easy to hire you - Make it a point to understand what's required and aim to exceed those expectations. For my first freelance job, I was required to write six blog posts that were 400-500 words. I could have chosen to try to write articles so that they barely met the 400-word requirement. However, I tried to get most of them closer to 500 words (some actually went over).
   
   Also, I use Office 2007, which saves articles in a new .docx format. Many folks still use older versions of Office and can't open the new format. Instead of assuming, he could open the files or asking him to email me if he couldn’t; I decided the best thing would be go into each article and save the files in the old format. Sometimes-small things can make a difference for your customers whether they know it or not. Making it easy for them to hire and work with you will help you generate that all-important repeat business.
   

Do you have any questions about making money by selling poker articles? If you successfully sell your own poker content, please share your personal tips for becoming a poker freelance writer.

Making Money with Poker Part-Time

Because many of you have full-time jobs, and since I have many other sites I work on, I'm going to show you how to make money with poker part-time.

When I first started playing poker I was able to make around $4,000 in two weeks playing 2-4 hours a day.

When I started as an affiliate I quit my day job and jumped in headfirst. It hasn't been as easy to make money promoting online poker. So I strongly suggest you start slow, read/join Poker Affiliate Forums, follow my own journey, and then do what works for others.

I want to develop a plan that almost anyone can follow and make money with poker. Once my income gets in the neighborhood of $1,000 per month I'll start focusing a big part of my day on taking this to the next level.

In the next couple of days I'm going to work on some good poker content to sell to other affiliates. I look forward to posting an update ASAP.

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