GPWA Times Magaine - Issue 23 - February 2013

GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES Gamblingman takes on Governmentman, then has dinner with Madonna How did you become involved in the industry, and what did you do prior to becoming involved in online gaming? I played a lot of online poker and slots. And I came across a website about promoting poker and casino brands that said I could receive a percentage of their profit. So I decided to start a free website and see how it would go. I used to have and still have a daytime job as the head of the back office department at a publisher. Tell us about your sites. When did you launch them? I start- ed with Heaven4Gamblers around 2008 using a free website builder, just to try it out. When I started making a little income I moved it to paid hosting. After a while I wanted a more specific website and created Heaven4Casinos. I picked the name because I liked the sound of it, heaven 4 … so I decided to stay on this course and used heaven4 in all my websites (at least if available). Which of your sites is most successful, and why do you think that’s the case? My most successful website is Heav- en4Casinos. I know this is because it is a more specific website for only casino players. The other two websites are very broad, about casinos, poker, bingo and more, so probably a bit too gen- eral to get specific traffic. How do your sites differ in their approaches to the market? I don’t think my websites differ that much content-wise. But I do think people like the very clean look I use. I hate banner farms and very busy websites, I like clean-looking and easy-to- navigate websites and I think I have created those. How do you choose which sites to work with and promote? I used to promote all brands I came across, and did not think there would be any bad programs. Silly me. After signing up to communities like GPWA and CAP I read a lot of reviews and posts about different affiliate programs and cleaned up big- time. Now I always ask for reviews from other webmasters be- fore promoting any brand. How long did it take for you to start earning money? I think I started earning a little money after maybe three or four months, but really only amounts like $50 a month. But because it was all new and I loved working on my, at the time, one website, it felt like I was earning big time. You say you’re a gambling fanatic. What are your favorite casino games to play? What are your favorite poker games to play? I love slots. Slots are the only games I play at online and land-based casinos. I just love the graphics, sounds and of course the bonus games and extra features. I used to play poker a lot in 2008 and 2009, won some nice tournaments also, but I don’t play anymore – it takes too long for me. I don’t have the patience anymore. Do you feel like really enjoying gambling gives you an ad- vantage in this space? I know it does. I play myself so I talk from experience and with passion. I think people will see that when they read a post or review. A couple of years ago, you asked fellow GPWA members for comments on your three sites. The general consensus was that you needed to add/upgrade content. How have your sites changed, and how have your players changed, since then? I have focused mainly on Heaven4Casinos and added a lot of unique, original content. I update the website a couple of times a week. I have noticed that I’m getting a lot more visitors and also more real players. I think my visitor numbers have gone up about 400 percent since I added more content and started updating the website more often. Are you seeing any improvement in your page and site rankings lately? I have to be honest, I don’t see any improve- ment in pagerank. Numbers wise, I do see an improvement in visitors, as mentioned above. I think I still have to tweak my website some more and focus more on a specific niche to get the results I am looking for. What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program? I think the best affiliate manag- ers are those who help you try to improve conversions and re- spond to any request quickly. In an affiliate program I person- ally love it when the minimum earnings figure is low; I think I should be able to get my earnings, even if small. And I know they are rare, but I also like it when a program offers a hybrid deal. And with more and more casino groups, no bundling is a plus. Mobile gaming and social gaming are attracting legions of new players to online gaming. What if anything are you do- ing to bring these people to your sites? I am not really focus- ing on this group yet, although I know I should. RALPH byebyebaby Age: 33 Hometown: Nijmegen Living in: The Netherlands Favorite Food: Burger King Must Read Book: Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown Sites: heaven4gamblers.com heaven4casinos.com heaven4gambling.com GPWA Affiliate Interview Series