Although the main focus of this website is of course Poker SEO, Optimizing for search engines is just one of the many ways to make money in the online gaming market. One of the most often overlooked aspects of business is ensuring you get the best deal possible with the poker room, casino, or any other marketing partnership you are engaging in. Throughout this article the word “Partnership” will take on a whole new meaning because that is actually what you will be negotiating, your “Partnership” terms.

All too often especially in the online gaming market Companies (Poker Rooms, Casino’s, etc) look at us as a necessary evil or even as an employee. The reality could not be further from the truth. One of the first steps to negotiating the best possible deal for ourselves is to change the mindset that we are a “burden” or an “employee” and instead our main focus is to convince these Companies that we are in fact Partners with the very same goal in mind, making money!

There is a common mis-conception that only the PokerListings and PokerNews type sites have the leverage needed to get a sweetheart type deal. The truth is that weather you are a large webmaster with years of experience and a known brand name website or a new to the market affiliate, you can get a great deal by following a few simple guidelines. To that end here are a few negotiating tips that over the last few years has helped me get the very best deal possible.

Partnership Negotiating Tips

Tip #1 – Have a Business Plan

This first tip is one that will server you in well not only for negotiating, but will server you throughout your business career. You must have a plan regardless of weather you are trying for a better deal, or trying to build your online empire. You business plan should have specific details on your website(s) and within that plan you should have details as to how you will gain exposure in the market. Simply saying “I’m going to SEO my sites” will not do you much good. You need specifics!

You must be able to tell the poker room (company) how you expect to expose potential customers to their brand. This may include:

• Good CTA’s – Feature Ad Space on your website or network of sites, you need to have more than poker/casino reviews to stand out. Target additional area of their website like their major tournaments, major pro players, etc. These should all be in separate articles from your review. Anyone can throw up a $30 review, but not everyone will have a complete seciton about one poker room. Even notice how Poker Listings has 4-5 pages in each room? There is a reason for it. If you have a poker forum this may also be a great way to give new rooms good exposure.

• Know your traffic – Data on how other rooms have done with the featured ad space. I’ve never been a fan of being asked the question "how many players can you send us". Mainly because it is so hard to guess, but you can also let them knwo some of the numebrs you do with other poker rooms or casinos

• Exposure to targeted traffic – If the room is a favorite for US players, you need ot educate the poker room on what percente of yoru traffic is US based, or EURO based etc.Maybe you have a rakeback site and the room you are negotiating with is known for rakeback.

• Press Releases – If used correctly on other gaming websites, news sites, or blogs then featured promotion articles could be a great way to give the poker room and your website great exposure.

• Let them know you want a long term partnership – Affiliate Managers and even Poker Room owners are bombarded with tons of webmaster promising the world and ton of players on a daily basis. Your first job is to convince them that you have a solid foundation to promote their brand in a way that will add players and value. You must emphasis that you want a long term partnership with them.

Tip #2 – Speak to the Affiliate Manager on the Phone

In today’s world of email and IM, we lose the personal relationship that is so very valuable in business. We have all seen the affect of people sitting behind the computer 12 hours a day. When negotiating a partnership speaking directly with your AM gains both of you a more personal relationship. It’s much harder for AM’s to say "no" when they are actually speaking with you. You will also be able to more accurately describe your business plans to the AM and avoid any confusion or delays.

Tip #3 – Make The Company sell to you

There are hundreds of poker and casino rooms on the web now. We cannot possibly promote them all and we don’t need to try. Your website is yoru real estate. It has value to your and will grow in value over time. If you owned some lake front property, you woudl be picky what you put on there, and this is the same for your website.

I often ask AM’s "What do you have to offer my players?" "How will you be converting my players?" These questions should have good answers that make sense to you. AM’s need to be able to sell ME on their business because if they can’t, how are they goign to sell to my players? The worst thing you can have on your website is a room that you send players too, and they fail to convert them. So always make sure the rooms you are dealing with are capable of converting the traffic you send.

Tip #4 – Be Creative

Negotiating a new deal is not all about %’s or straight money. I encourage you to analyze what the room has to offer, what their strengths are, and find an idea to highlight those strengths. Try and be creative to find other ways you can sweeten the deal for your self and your player. Things like a bigger deposit bonus, reducing or eliminating bonus deductions from your revshare or rakeback deal, private tournaments are always nice, and always make sure there is room to improve your share of the money. Again, let the room sell you on WHY you should want to promote them. Do not settle for "Extra 10% commission for the first 3 months" You want to find something that is long term and gives you the extra incentive to promote their brand.

Tip #5 – Be prepared to walk away

Whenever you enter a negotiation with a poker room you should always have minimum goals in mind. There is two quick deal breakers for me:

1. If an AM tells me he cannot authorize a better deal. If I hear this, I know I’m wasting my time and I let them know to contact me when they are ready to work out a deal we can both be happy with.

2. If I hear any demands from the poker room, I’m ready to walk away. I won’t make demands, and neither should they. I know of a few rooms that love to make demands of their partners, Titan is famous for this style of work. I’ve dealt with a few AM’s that insist they want to be at the "Top of the page" and to me this is really a turn off. How do they know which page converts the best? How do they know what section in the page works the best?

To me this goes back to the Real Estate Analogy. This is my land and my business! I will put a room where I feel they will do the best, partners have to have some trust in one another. So if I’m dealing with an AM that doesn’t understand that, I’m going to assume the rest of their business is filled with people that really don’t have a clue about how the industry works. Which of course leads to other issues, conversions, spamming, etc.

Above all, you have to have some goals in mind before you start negotiating with a room, and you must be prepared to walk away. I’m not saying if you don’t get what you want right away you should end the conversation. Just make sure you are communicating your desires clearly and you can justify why you deserve a better than average deal.