GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 22 - October 2012

If you had to pick five keys to success as an affiliate, what would they be? 1. Get to know the industry you’re targeting. If you have no experi- ence in online gambling it is almost impossible to succeed. 2. Get to know the affiliate programs you’re working with. In order to be a successful affiliate you need not only to have awareness of the programs’ brands, but also to understand how their com- mission structures work. 3. Choose the best website layout and design. While this can take a good portion of your time, it is a good rule of thumb to make your website user friendly and decide on the internal structure. 4. Include unique and quality content. It is a well-known fact that quality content is King. You should give honest information to your website visitors if you want them to come back again. 5. Keep your website updated and devote time to SEO. Keeping your website updated is a must for successful online gambling affiliates. In addition, be prepared to devote time to SEO if you really want to attract the best organic traffic to your website. You’ve been a GPWA member for about a year now. What prompted you to join? How has being a member helped you? I was searching online for a gambling affiliates’ forum and I found a few, but the GPWA caught my attention. For me the GPWA is the most professional affiliate organization and I’ve found many good affiliate programs and people in the forum. Our website carries the GPWA seal and I believe this gives our visitors confidence. I’ve met a lot of friends and affiliate manag- ers in the forum and I regularly read new posts and news in order to keep myself updated on what’s happening in the industry. What do you like about the industry? The new challenges and the entertainment factor. Also the fact that you work with many people around the world and that you can attend regular affiliate conferences held worldwide. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? Maybe the regulated mar- kets of the industry. For exam- ple, U.S. residents were suddenly restricted from online gambling and that has had a big impact on the industry. Other countries such as Italy and Spain were contributing to online gambling profits before they limited online gambling operations. I know how loyal American online casino players are and they didn’t de- serve this ban. What surprised you most about the industry? The thing that surprised me was the number of people interested in online gam- bling. Initially, I was thinking that not many people would de- cide to play for real money at an online casino or a gambling site. Well, I was wrong. What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate? Most of them are not exactly sure what I do. I explain to them that it is an online marketing business and the profit po- tential is indeterminate. How long do you give yourself for answering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer? It depends on the e-mail priority. I am trying to answer all e-mail within 24 hours. When I see a long list of e-mail I just copy everything into a folder so I don’t miss answering anyone. How do you manage your “to-do” lists? Do you use any spe- cial software to help you out? Sometimes I don’t need software reminders for my daily tasks. We use a checklist for our website updates so that we don’t miss something. Because I am working two different jobs I use simple calendar synchronization software with my mobile phone and computer. How much time does it take to keep your site updated? We refresh our website every two days. Also at the end of each month we run a complete update of the whole site. I think it takes a lot of time to keep your website updated, but this is what our visitors, Google and most search engines like. Age 27 Hometown Tarnovo, Bulgaria Living in Brussels, Belgium Favorite Food Asian Must Read Book Today and Tomorrow, by Henry Ford Site casinotopsonline.com Mike, with significant other 55 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series