Question on Afilliate Earnings

[Cerril]

I decided long before I learned much about the affiliate process that I'm not a marketing or PR person, and I wouldn't want to go after that side of the business even if it were obviously more lucrative than playing poker. After all, I play poker because I -enjoy- it, not because it's the best money available to me.

A friend of mine on learning of the existence of rakeback deals immediately hatched a plan to become an affiliate and rake in the big bucks on other peoples' backs. Not that he'll go through with it. He isn't capable of following a plan through to fruition, far as I know.

All that said, it seems to me that the competition is -heavy- in the affiliate market (being a 'money for nothing' proposition would seem to be a sweet deal for a lot of people) and that both types of competition (offering a better % and having a more divided customer base) would make it difficult to make much money.

So the question that's been percolating through my mind is how, roughly, a successful affiliate (individual's) earnings correspond to those of a successful poker player... of course a successful poker player could range from 1500-10k+ per month, based on any number of factors, so feel free to be as vague or specific as you'd like. I understand the hours are long and just like playing the game itself, selling the game requires a particular sort of person who enjoys doing that, I'm just sort of curious how many people you 'need' to have under you to make respectable money, what an individual winning player makes for their affiliate compared to the sum total (winnings+rakeback) of what they make for themselves... essentially a FAQ about the money side of the affiliate process.

I'm less interested in what goes into becoming successful, except as it applies to different 'classes' (ones who operate through word of mouth, ones who blanket the web with banners, ones who primarily operate through websites - anything that could qualify as a major difference) -as- those classes differ in terms of income.

Yes it's prying, but I'm curious and I imagine someone won't mind sharing.