So we launched TextShark.com a few days ago for Beta Testing in the European market. So far everything is going well and we’re seeing new sign-ups on the site each and every day. I love beta testing because you can see what’s working and what is not. Right now the key for us is just getting the system used and working out any initial bugs.

My partner on the project is Brad Reynolds who some of you know. His new blog is really good, so bookmark it and comment the hell out of it.  He also started a site a while back called Mongoose Metrics which I could see being very large. If only I were still in real estate, having multiple phone numbers to track campaigns would have been awesome!

If you’re interested in being a beta tester for us, sign up on the site and shoot me an email. I’ll throw you a freeroll with some cash added or make it worth your while to test it out. Remember though, you must be in a European country.

So, on to the title of this post. I am thinking of doing a few media buys in the sense of purchasing paid posts on a few big blogs. For a product like this, I feel the best way to really get into the market is through the blogosphere…… Well, or by joining a CJ type network. But I wouldn’t even entertain that while beta testing.

I realize buying paid reviews may or may not give me the return I am looking for. However paid reviews are relatively cheap compared to other type media buys. The sites I am initially thinking of testing are the following:

JohnChow.com, Shoemoney.com, and TylerCruz.com

Even though I am not sure what the overall results would be, I do think it would be fun to run these and post a full report on their performance here. If nothing else I can add value to my readers whom all would probably be interested in this info.

If you can think of any other sites you would consider a good idea to buy on, please post in the comments.

As many of you know, I have been working over the last few months with my partner Brad on launching an SMS / Text messaging affiliate program.

I am happy to say that we are now live for beta testing in the European market.  Over the past few years text messaging has become just as popular as email.  Initially I wanted to launch this service to simply monetize poker freerolls better.  After more research though, I’m confident you can incorporate SMS into almost any marketing campaign.

Here is a quick example of how a poker affiliate would use this service.  Let’s say you are having a freeroll with $100 added.  Obviously you are going to get all the freeroll whores trying to get in.  To be honest, until TextShark, there has never been a way to monetize off these freebie players.  Now instead of just “giving away” the password for your event, you can require all players to send an SMS to get the password.

Once your traffic sends the SMS, they will get a message back directing them to a page with the necessary information.  You will earn a commission on every SMS message that comes through your specified code.  With TextShark, you will also be able to check your stats in real time.

Leveraging SMS for poker freerolls is just one example of how you can use our service.  Being an internet marketer however, I’m sure you can think of other ways to use this service.  This service can be used in both online and offline settings.  The only limitation to TextShark is your imagination.

Obviously we are only launching in beta right now to the European market.  We realize some things may come up that need to be tweaked or changed…… This is the point of beta.  In return for affiliates working with us in this stage, we are going to give a starting rate of 30% revenue share.

We also offer a great 2nd tier sub-affiliate program.  Being a new product, and the only type on the market, there has never been a better time to build your own network and bring in affiliates under you.

Likewise we will set up a limited number of $50 added freerolls at fulltiltpoker.com for our European partners.  During beta testing, we ask that our affiliates post any issues, questions, comments, or suggestions in our TextShark Support Forums.