GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 24 - April 2013

You’ve been a GPWA member for five years now. What prompted you to join? How has it helped you? I can’t remem- ber why I joined right now, but I think I saw a post and wanted to reply to it, so I made an account. To be honest I don’t use the site much – just to discuss a few prob- lems, do a few link exchanges and to ask who a payment was from. If I had more time I would definitely read the posts more as there is a lot of interesting stuff on the site. What do you like about the industry? I love how big it is and how much opportu- nity there is. It’s a great industry to be in because it’s not a physical product that’s being sold so the commissions are high. This means that it’s a lot easier to earn money than earning commission by being a mobile phone sales affiliate, for example. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? Maybe make it harder to open a new sportsbook as there are so many new ones opening every year, and some of them are going to fail. I’ve been annoyed a few times after send- ing customers to affiliate programs offer- ing rev share, only for them to close and I lose my earnings. I would rather have sent those customers to a long-standing brand that is proven in the industry. What surprised you most about the in- dustry? The scale of it! How many other affiliate industries can you say have sev- eral international conferences every year, have associations like the GPWA and can offer huge commissions for affiliates! What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate? Generally the older the person is, the less they under- stand about it. My mum thinks it’s some kind of magic andmy friends are envious of me now, I think. At first when I didn’t make much money no one noticed, but now I am able to travel a lot and people start wonder- ing how I’m able to do that and work at the same time. It’s great being my own boss as I can take time out whenever I want. That doesn’t mean, though, that I don’t need to put the time in to keep the business going. How long do you give yourself for an- swering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer? I take as long as it takes to an- swer. I generally read an e-mail as soon as it comes in as I get distracted very eas- ily, and if it’s something I can do straight away I do it. Otherwise I mark it as unread and go back to it later. One tip that I can offer is to remember that through e-mail you can never perceive the tone a per- son is talking to you with, so you should always respond calmly even if you think they are being aggressive. And if it ends up that they are being aggressive, being calm will help keep the conversation civil. How do you manage your “to-do” lists? Do you use any special software to help you out? Special software?! Haha. I use the Windows Notepad. I have a to-do list file and I write everything I have to do or remember in it and delete the things as I do them. For me everything has to be on the same page; otherwise I will forget to look and therefore forget to do it! How much time does it take to keep your sites updated? As I’ve already mentioned I pay someone to write news articles for me. My work is to update the affiliate offers as they change and work on the SEO. As the market is very competi- tive there isn’t enough time in the day to keep up with building links to my sites. That’s why MonkeyGambling.com has had to make way for BigFreeBet.com now with my time. I can spend anywhere be- tween eight and 12 hours a day working on the site, but when I am traveling I work a lot less as I don’t have a routine. How much time do you devote to SEO and/or social networking in order to drive more traffic to your sites? Social networking isn’t something that I’ve spent much time on yet. I’ve got a Facebook page and Twitter account for BigFreeBet.com, but the updates are automatic ones from my site’s RSS feed. SEO I spend a lot more time on. I believe in good white-hat link building that follows Google’s guidelines and then there won’t be any problems. I ran into some issues last year as BigFreeBet.com appeared on too many sites’ “partners pages,” which Google is cracking down on big-time! If someone were visiting you, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see? Anywhere around where I live, really. I live in the countryside so it’s great to go for walks, bike rides, etc.… It’s just a shame about the British weather. What’s your favorite vacation spot? Bra- zil! Because of the number of friendships I’vemade there and the vastness of the coun- try. There are endless things to do there. If you could have one “superpower,” what would it be? Read other people’s minds. There are so many things we don’t do as humans because we have doubts about what someone else might think, and then later you find out that they were thinking the same thing all along. What’s your all-time favorite movie? It would have to be The Prestige , by the di- rector Christopher Nolan. I love films with a story that keeps you thinking afterward, and this film does just that. If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Michael Owen – Excellent English foot- ball (soccer) player and a true example to the game, although he never fulfilled his potential due to injuries. It’s always great to talk football over dinner. Jessica Alba – Apart from being hot, she is also a great upcoming businesswoman and also supports a lot of charities. It’s al- ways good to see this from celebrities. Chris Nolan – My favorite director. Al- though few, all his films have been fantas- tic. It would be great to discuss his crazy ideas and find out how he actually thinks. Scott Kelby – One of my hobbies is pho- tography and Scott is a great inspiration. I’ve read a lot of his books and have seen a lot of his work. It would be great to get some personal tips from him. One of my friends (yet to decide) to share the experience. What’s the fun of having all these famous people to dinner if you’ve got no one to talk to about it afterwards! What are three things that nobody knows about you? 1. I speak Brazilian Portuguese. 2. I have a Master’s Degree in GeoScience. 3. I don’t think I can live in the U.K. for- ever. I love to experience other cultures. GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES GPWA Affiliate Interview Series