GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 28 - April 2014
GPWAAFFILIATE INTERVIEWSERIES “ Content ismySEO . ” When did you launch your sites? I launchedmy first site on free hosting. It wasn’t much of a site, just some pages made with the free program KompoZer. I think it was in 2006. In 2007 I made a trip to Colombia and after my return I was bursting with new ideas. I took the next step. I used Joomla to open my first real site – GamblingSafe.net. It is basically a site where I post reviews of bookmakers and casinos along with some articles. Later I openedmybest site, Betting-Forum.com. I usedphpBB3, which is free software. In 2013 I moved to XenForo after it was recommended by somepeople. I amnot aprogrammer and I always used free scripts and tried to install good add-ons for them. What is the primary focus of each site, and which site is the most profitable? As I mentioned in the previous question, GamblingSafe.net offers reviewsofgamb- ling sites, Betting-Forum.com is a place where people can discuss upcoming matches, bets, etc. I am always trying to improve this site as I know it has the most value, but it is hard as I am alone, compared to other gambling portals that are staffedwith a lot of people. How did you become involved in the industry? I needed money to travel around the world and being a gambling affiliate could provide that for me. My results started to slowly improve every month, so I decided tokeep this job. How longdid it take for you tostart earn- ingmoney? It didn’t take long. Inmaybe five or sixmonths, I was earning enough to live. Keep inmind that inmy country $400 permonth is enough. Iwasn’t really earninggoodmoney. Doyouworkanother job, orareyoua full- timegamblingwebmaster? I donotwork another job, and to tell you the truth, as there isnoone tocontrolme Idonotwork ashardas I could. I enjoya lot ofdays just goingout andplaying some sport. You posted three years ago (January 2011) that traffic to your sites had in- creased 50 percent over the previous year.Howmuchhasyour traffic increased or decreased since then? Hmm, maybe not somuch, 10 percentmaybe. Since the Panda update, I get fewer visitors from Google, butmorenatural visitors. Are you a one-person shop or are you partofa largerorganization? It’sonlyme. Maybe I will try to expand in the future. I am already looking for that. I may hire some contentwriters. Describe your work environment. Do you workfromhomeor inanoffice?Howoften do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry? Iwork fromhome, and as I said it is very hard to discipline myself to work hard. Regarding interac- tionwith other people from the industry, I’ve only interacted via the Internet and have never been to a conference or met other gambling webmasters. I am plan- ning in the future tovisit a conference. Betting Forum offers a place for punters to discuss the bets they are making, as well as the operators where they are makingthebets.What isthehardestthing about running a sports betting forum? Definitely the spam. The registrationpage of the forumhadonlyonesimplequestion tofight the spamas Ididn'twant toannoy people by making the registration too long. In February I turned on the verify e-mail option after being hit by a huge waveof spam. What are the most rewarding aspects of running a forum? You get to know other people, see their opinions. The interaction withother people is always interesting. What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program? When picking which site to promote I first decide whether the site is useful to theusersofmysites. If Idecide it isnotgood I justgo to thenextone. Idon’t care about the (commission rate), as long as it’snot 15percent.Anythingabove that is good forme. What’syour preferredmethodof commu- nication with affiliatemanagers? Do you like to talkon the phone, by e-mail or via Skype? I alwayscontact thembye-mail or Skype, never on thephone. In fact, I don’t have a lot of conversationswithmy affili- atemanagers. You’ve been a GPWA member for five years now. What prompted you to join? How has it helped you? I joined because I wanted to have communication with other gambling webmasters. If I have to be (honest), I also wanted to sell a few links! Being a member has helped me a lot. I receive newsletters with tips and I alsoget some tips in the forums. One of the ways you have been active on the message boards is in buying and selling links.Haveyouhadanysuccess in this area? And how important is buying/ selling links to an affiliate business? I do have good success here. I consider it additional income; it is not somuch, but it helps me. It is important but it lost some of its value after the Panda update. Rightnow I saycontent ismore important than links. HRISTO A_Skywalker Age: 29 Hometown: Montana, Bulgaria Living in: Montana FavoriteFood: I like traditional Bulgariancuisineand sometimes I spice it upwithChinese food. MustReadBook: 2001: ASpaceOdyssey, byArthur C. Clarke Sites: Betting-Forum.com, GamblingSafe.net, BettingWise.com GPWAAffiliate InterviewSeries
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