GPWA Times - Issue 20 - March 2012

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why? It would be to get rid of all the fly-by-night businesses with their false advertising, which are cheating players and shaving off affiliates. The small minorities are creat- ing distrust within the industry and I feel a lot of affiliates are more worried that this is happening and will happen to them as a result. What surprised you most about the in- dustry? That even though it’s a competi- tive market that we are in, a lot of fellow affiliates are friendly and approachable. I like how we can all meet up at the differ- ent conferences, discuss work, and share knowledge and ideas over a few drinks. How long do you give yourself for an- swering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer? I try to respond to e-mail as quickly as possible; however, this can vary from straightaway to a couple of days de- pending on how busy I am. A lot of time can be taken up going through all the spam and e-mail from new sites, about their amazing high conversion rates and excellent player retention and how they want us to benefit from this as well. How do you manage your “to-do” lists? Do you use any special software to help you out? I have a “things to do” notepad along with lots of scrap pieces of paper on my desk and try to prioritize the work that needs doing on a day-to-day basis. Anything that doesn’t get done gets car- ried forward to the following day. I don’t use any special software as such but I would highly recommend you use the cal- endar feature within Outlook or similar. This allows you to prioritize your day and allocate time to each task, increasing and decreasing as is needed. And if you don’t get everything done you can just change the date to the next day, so that you know what you have planned when you come in first thing in the morning, such as check- ing e-mail, etc. How much time does it take to keep your site updated? Since Panda a lot lon- ger, as I triple check everything that goes on the site and make sure content, ban- ners, etc., are up to date. In November last year I took on my first full-time employee, Phil Goulding, as my Internet Manager to help with the daily running of the site and future websites. How much time do you devote to SEO and social networking in order to drive more traffic to your site? I spend a lot of time on SEO; I think it’s a huge part of any affiliate business. But since Panda came along it has opened my eyes to the social media aspect and how they are try- ing to make search more social. So this is something that will be taking up a lot of my time over the next year, as we look at other ways to drive traffic to our sites so that we are not as reliant on SERPs. If someone were visiting you, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see? I’d say Flushing Meadows Fishery. My son (Ronan) and I have had many a great day fishing there. Plus it’s in the middle of the countryside and very picturesque and really quiet, so I can just turn my mobile off and sit back and relax from the stress of work. What’s your favorite vacation spot? Las Vegas, for the weather, the nightlife, sightseeing and poker. If you could have one “superpower,” what would it be? Telepathy, so that I could read affiliate managers’ minds and get better deals and win a lot more money playing poker. What’s your all-time favorite movie? I don’t have a favorite movie as such as I love going to the cinema and all types of films. I never get bored watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy – I love the films and the effects. If you were casting a movie with your- self in the leading role, who would play your romantic interest? It would have to be Kelly Brook, who as you know is abso- lutely stunning. If you could invite any five people, liv- ing or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Richard Branson – I find him to be a real inspiration and would love to talk business with him. Matt Cutts (Google) – to find out what their recent algo updates are truly about. Daniel Negreanu – I’d love to talk poker and get some one-to-one in- sight from one of the best poker players in the world. Karl Pilkington – this guy says what everyone else is thinking and would bring a lot of humor to the dinner table. If you don’t know who he is, Google An Idiot Abroad . Dave Koz – I think this guy has brought the saxophone to a whole new level of playing, and I’d like to jam with him and gets some tips. What are three things that nobody knows about you? 1. I have been a blood donor since I was 18 as well as a bone marrow donor and three years ago I donated bone marrow for an unfortunate young boy with leukemia. 2. I play the saxophone. I love the sound and the different types of music you can play, from jazz and blues to pop and R&B. I’ve been taking weekly private les- sons for the past two years. 3. I have a black tag (1st Kup) belt in tae kwon do, only one belt off my 1st Dan black belt. I don’t have the time to com- mit to this at the moment but I’m hop- ing one day I will be able to go back and complete my grading. GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES GPWA Affiliate Interview Series