Build Affiliate Websites

[xpertadvice4u]

Hi: looking for advice as to advisability of taking the deal being offered by buildaffiliateswebsites.com

They provide a mirrored site, off the shelf, so to speak, that you can modify and use for "free", including reviews of all the rooms and articles etc. Lots of content.

You pay their webhosting charges per month (fairly reasonable).
For $175 they will activate all the affiliate links on the site and sign you up with all the rooms advertised on the site (which is 40 or so) and insert your tracking codes for you.

What's the catch? Aside from the site not being original/unique/all that creative...? They bring you in as their sub-affiliate for each and every room on the site.

So, I am new, obviously, but am wondering how valuable a resource my sub-ship is, and whether it is something I should be willing to expend right off the bat in return for an easy entry into the world of affiliate websites, for very little money and effort.

To me, it sounds like they have a brilliant marketing idea...provide sub-affiliates with "almost free" startup, and get a portion of their earnings for the rest of their lives.

Just wondering if anybody has any thoughts on whether I should give up my affiliate maidenhood on every major poker site so easily?

[hoursurfing]

This post seems a bit spammy to me. To erase or not to erase.

[xpertadvice4u]

does that mean you think the deal might have merit?

Frankly, I am not sure how I could have asked for the opinions of "the veterans" without giving details of what was being offered.

I also think that if it was spam, I would not have bothered to be critical of the quality of the website template being offered. I also specifically wrote the name of the site in a manner so that it would not appear as a link.

I have posted my questions in the two Threads most relevant to the issue, one dealing with site creation and the other one specifically dedicated to new affiliates asking questions of the veterans....and nowhere else.

I really am hoping that someone will give me a legitimate answer to a legitimate question...before I take a step which could affect my entire future as an affiliate.

[Graham]

There are different levels of spam... some are skeakier than others.

If it is spam, you might want to know that the links are different in both of your posts. Here are the two different links:

1) buildaffiliateswebsites.com
2) buildaffiliatewebsites.com

I tried both, but neither worked, so I can't comment on the deal.

[hyacinthgirl]

for what it's worth, i can vouch for this not being spam, as the OP has contacted me with decidedly un-spammy questions about getting involved as an affiliate, and i would guess he's talked to others as well.

[xpertadvice4u]

too spammy, and I thought that anybody who had experience with the company would not need my link to recognize them. And yes, I made a typo, there is no "s" after affiliate.

I assume that Graham did not put a www. in front of the second one he listed, because that address certainly worked for me a second ago.

I think I am going to go ahead with the offer, given that I have been informed that becoming a subaffiliate is not written in stone, and I can change my status at will, later on if I wish....although I assume any commissions on my clients up till that point will probably continue to be directed to the original primary affiliate, for life....I would assume.

And, thank you, Hyacinthgirl, for your kindness, openness and generosity towards a beginner....you are one of the main reasons I was hesitant about giving my subship up to someone else. They say if you cast your bread upon the waters it shall return tenfold....I think someday a lot of bread is going to be floating your way!

[Graham]

Originally Posted by xpertadvice4u

I assume that Graham did not put a www. in front of the second one he listed, because that address certainly worked for me a second ago.

Yes, I did put the www in (this is not the first webpage I have tried to access). It is possible that they were having some issues earlier that have now been resolved. I did not receive an error earlier, just did not get any response.

Keeping back on track, it looks like a pretty good deal. What do they charge you exactly? $175 per month, or year? I assume they are just trying to get you to use their affiliate links, correct?

I tried creating an account and checked out the back end. It seems pretty confusing and not very user friendly.

[xpertadvice4u]

LOL, Graham...I guess I should have assumed it was mechanical error, not human!

Yeah, I don't think the Demo template they let you mess with is fully functional....it is not all that intuitive to a newbie/half-idiot like myself.

And their *own* website is not all that impressive to me.
I think they are likely reselling virtual server webhosting.

The $125 (not $175, my bad!) is for setup of all the links with your codes, which they acquire by bringing me in as a sub-affiliate. It is a one-time fee, and hosting costs $11.95 per month.

I have always thought that the real money made back in the days of the Gold Rush was in helping *other* people to get in on the action. Everybody needed mules, shovels, blankets, guns, whiskey, women and shelter, and a lot more fortunes were made by catering to the needs of the prospectors than from actually striking gold.

I suspect it is becoming no different in the poker affiliate world.

Right now it seems to be a reasonable tradeoff to get my foot in the door as an affiliate with so many sites right away, at a low cost, and I can get my kids to modify the template to make it more suitable to my long term needs. But, like I say, giving up the ability to be a sub for other people who might mentor me - for all the major sites - is a troublesome idea.

Xpertadvice4u
(but I won't take it myself)

[losercore]

BAW is a decent way to start out. I have a site with them. I did not pay them to sign me up for the affiliate programs as I was already signed up for just about all of them. It's fully customizable and you can do what ever you want with it but adds some decent features like adding news and site wide footers and headers that would not get with just a standard template. They have good service and so far it's been worthwile. Athough I did customize mine and got rid of of about 75% of the exsisting content and added my own.

The only thing I paid for was $50 for SEF URL's. My site had a PR3 after only 4 months so it was worth it. (I did do alot more than just that for SERPs though)

[GregK]

Sounds like a good idea for both parties to me, if legit?