GPWA Times Magaine - Issue 23 - February 2013

2. Dedication — There is a lot of hard work involved in collect- ing natural backlinks to place you highly in the search results. The easy bit is getting a website up and running; the hardest bit about having a website is getting people to visit it. 3. Good SEO — I would rather have 100 quality backlinks than 10,000 poor-quality backlinks any day of the week. 4. Diversity — Don’t have all your eggs in one basket and depend on one big fat check coming from one bookmaker each month. I would much rather have 20 small checks coming in from 20 bookmakers. 5. Long-term outlook — The best piece of advice I got when I was first starting out was that “it is a marathon and not a sprint.” What prompted you to join the GPWA? How has it helped you? I joined the GPWA because I noticed that a lot of the best gambling sites had the GPWA symbol on their homep- age, and they looked very professional having the GPWA symbol on their websites, so I decided I would like to have it on my websites. Having the GPWA symbol on my websites gives them a more professional feel, and the GPWA forum is a great place to pick up tips from other webmasters. It is the friendliest forum I have ever been on. You are allowed to put links in your signature on the forum, too, and I have found the GPWA forum backlinks a very useful SEO tool indeed. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? I would like to see ALL affiliate programs update their stats DAILY. What surprised you most about the industry? I was very sur- prised at the number of times I was showing a negative balance in my commissions. The stats show that 98 percent of gamblers lose and only 2 percent win, so I would expect my negative months to be very few, if any, based on those stats. What do your family and friends think of your work as an af- filiate? I try explaining what I do to my family and friends, but to be honest nobody seems to be able to grasp exactly what is in- volved. They all seem to think that people gamble on my websites. How long do you give yourself for answering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer? I do not get much e-mail, to be hon- est with you, but when I do I like to be speedy at making a reply. How do you manage your “to-do” lists? Do you use any spe- cial software to help you out? I use an A4-sized desk calendar to write all my “to-do” lists in, and I do not use any software at all. What’s the hardest thing about operating your site, and what annoys or distracts the most when you’re trying to get some work done? The hardest thing is trying to please Google. I know by experience that it is soul-destroying to get a Google penalty, and very hard to recover from one. The search results have been turned upside down over the last 12 months or so with all the Penguin and Panda updates, so my main concern is not to get another Google penalty. The thing that distracts me the most is receiving numerous phone calls from companies wanting to sell me something that I don’t need. If someone were visiting you, what’s one place you’d defi- nitely take them to see? I would take them to see Knaresbor- ough, a small town near Harrogate in Yorkshire about 20 miles away from me. It is very quaint and picturesque and has many rowing boats on the river that runs through it. It’s the place I go to when I’m feeling stressed as all my worries seem to drift away when I’m there. What’s your favorite vacation spot? I would have to say the Costa Del Sol in Spain. I’ve only been twice, but on each occasion I was lucky enough to have had a holiday romance and ended up both times making love on the beach! You’re producing, directing and starring in a movie. You need a costar, and your significant other is either unable or unwilling to participate. Who should share top billing with you? Well, I have always had a crush on Pamela Anderson, so I would choose her. If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? 1. Albert Einstein — I would love to talk to him about his views about the Big Bang Theory. 2. Pamela Anderson — I have had a crush on her for many years. 3. Alexander the Great — I have always been fascinated by how he conquered so much of the world and died so young, too. 4. Harry Findlay — He is the U.K.’s biggest gambler, betting mil- lions each and every week, and I would like to know how he is able to make consistent profits whenmost gamblers seem to lose. 5. Bobby Campbell — He was a center forward for the local football team that I support, Bradford City. He is my favorite Bradford City player of all time. What are three things that nobody knows about you? That would be telling! GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES GPWA Affiliate Interview Series