GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 27 - February 2014

GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES Look for her next time you’re in Valldemossa, Anguilla or Formentera When did you launch your sites? The first site was launched in 2004 and the others a couple of years later. How did you become involved in the industry? I was investigating different niches at a time when I was focused on building high content filled websites back in 2004. During that time I was study- ing Finnish and I decided to take a crack at a Finnish gambling website. I haven’t looked back since. How long did it take for you to start earning money? It did not take me long. During the time that I started my first ca- sino website, Peli Kauppa, I was building a number of niche websites and by acci- dent I noticed that Peli Kauppa was mak- ing money. After making that discovery, I started building more original content and focusing on the casino niche in par- ticular. The earnings were something that I could not ignore! Two of your sites are in Finnish, two are in English and two are in Spanish. How did you arrive at this particular mix? I played professional basketball in both countries and learned the language while living there. So I decided to hit both niches, as I knew the U.S. market was sat- urated with tons of affiliates. During that time there were not a lot of Finnish affili- ate websites so my site was among the top sites in search results within Finland. How many languages do you speak? I fluently “speak” two languages, English and Spanish, but I have a great under- standing of Finnish, French and Catalan. How important is it to have sites in mul- tiple languages? And how important is it for a website to be in the visitor’s native language? I think it is important to have sites in one language per site as opposed to one site with multiple lan- guages. I would like Web visitors to feel at home on my site and gain their trust as a “home” website. You’ve offered to translate content for other GPWA webmasters in the past. Have you had any takers? No, no one has contacted me yet. However, I’m not very active on the forum so I under- stand perfectly. When it comes to translating content for websites, can webmasters get away with using online translating tools? Or is it still essential to get a human transla- tor involved in the process? No, it is im- possible to get away with using the online translating tools. When I first started I had the help of good friends to do minimal translation. Soon after I started making consistent earnings I began to outsource my content to native speakers of that par- ticular language. Some webmasters think that they can get away with online genera- tors but in the end Web visitors know the difference and they will leave as fast as they arrived. You’ve also offered to provide content for other webmasters. Are you still do- ing that? Although I have not received any requests or replies back for content, I am still in the business of providing con- tent for other websites of course. I have always believed that content – original content – is king. You list “sports” as one of your interests on your GPWA profile page, yet none of your sites are devoted to sportsbooks. Have you considered adding a sports betting site to your portfolio? I have considered creating a sports betting web- site in the near future. It is strange that I don’t have a sportsbook website consider- ing my background. Sportsbook websites are a totally different beast compared to sites promoting casino and poker. I would probably focus on one sport in particular, instead of trying to conquer everything. I prefer small niche-focused gambling web- sites so hopefully I will get one started and completed in 2014. Are you a one-person shop or are you part of a larger organization? I am a one- person shop and outsource when I don’t have time. I like to leverage my time to fo- cus on other aspects of the business. Describe your work environment. Do you work from home or in an office? If you work from home, how often do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry? I work from “home” wherever that may be. I love to travel and normally don’t stay in one place more than six months. For the past four years, minus this year, I have attended the Barcelona Affiliate Conference. Each time I have learned something and have had the time to meet affiliate managers and other people in the industry. I think it is important to attend an affiliate conference at least once a year. SYLITA sly24 Age: 36 Hometown: Virginia, USA Living in: Wherever I stop Favorite Food: Salmon Sites: peli-kauppa.com casinohaku.com casinoroyale007.net multiplayerbingogames.com salabingogratis.es salapokergratis.es GPWA Affiliate Interview Series