GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 29 - July 2014

ter football record over the past two sea- sons. My picks are documented here: http://www.sportscapping.com/football- season-cappers-leaderboard.html. Last season I went 66-40ATS in the NFL and 84-52 against the spread for the 2013- 2014 college football picks season, for a combined football record of 150-92 (62 percent). Thiswas the second straight sea- son that I was the top football capper on SportsCapping.com.Thebiggestnames in the industry sell their picks on the Sports Capping feed, so I feel as if I have gained some respect in thehandicappingworld. Sports handicappers running affiliate sites face an interesting dilemma: If your picks win, your players post a profit and you won't make any money from affili- ateprograms. But if your picksdon'twin, you losecredibilitywithyourplayers.How do you navigate this predicament? My picks arenot tied to sportsbookpromotion. Players on my sheet usually come from SEO-basedcontentactivity.Also,whenyou win, you have no issues to worry about. What traitsdoyou look for inanaffiliate manager?How about in an affiliatepro- gram? I immediately research all affiliate managersafterwe speak for thefirst time. I look for Facebook, Twitter andLinkedIn accounts to see if they are legit. Are they activeon theGPWA? What’s your preferred method of com- munication with affiliate managers? Do you like to talk on the phone, by e-mail or viaSkype? Iwouldprefer Skypevideo chat in hopes of actually having a face- to-face conversation, but it is very rare. Almost all communication is done via e- mail andphone. What prompted you to join the GPWA? How has it helped you? The industry is- sues of 2005 and 2006 encouragedme to find a credible source for what the hell was going on in the industry and which directionall thiswasheading. TheGPWA consistently provides updates for legal- izationof onlinegaming in theU.S., along withproviding an outlet to communicate issues of concernwithpotential rogue af- filiateprograms. What do you like about the industry? I love the challenge. Every day someone is trying to replace you on the first page of Google or beat you to the punch posting oddsonTwitter. Youmust beonyour toes at all times.A corporate job couldnot pro- vide that daily excitement. This industry allowsme tobemy ownboss and for that I amgrateful. If you could changeone thing about the industry, what would it be and why? I would actually like to see affiliate pro- grams encourage more competition be- tweenaffiliates. Iknow this isdifficultdue to privacy issues, but I believe it would have abig impact on efforts. How long do you give yourself for an- swering e-mail? What e-mail tips can youoffer? OHIO –onlyhandle it once. How do youmanage your “to-do” lists? Do youuse any special software tohelp youout? This is amajor struggle forme! I have been trying touse anew simple tool called “TheCreativeBoard.” It is adigital corkboard for pinningnotes and organiz- ingprojects. How much time do you devote to SEO and/or social networking in order to drive more traffic to your sites? About 50percent ofmy time is devoted to creat- ing/updating content for SEOpurposes. I dedicate time to Twitter and Google+, as I believe they are themost relevant social networks for impacting traffic. I am very negativeonFacebook for our industry. What’s the most difficult thing about running your sites? Having a family is the best thing in theworld, but it also can crush your work time. When you work from home, everyone assumes that it is no bigdeal to run an errand or pick your kids up from school or practice. Granted, these are normal parental activities, but I never have the option of “working late” at the office toget somethingdone. Inmy younger days, I couldwork late at night, but not anymore. One other challenge is the always chang- ing SEO-based rules set forth by Google. In thepast sixmonths, Ihavemadeacom- mitment to being on top of the latest SEO trends and info, but it isnot easy tomain- tain a high level of proficiency when the rules seem to change every 12months. What’s the best thing about running your sites? Only having to answer to the guy in the mirror. I simply cannot work for 99percent of thepeople on theplanet. Duringmy time in the corporateworld, I had 14managers.OnewasOK. What do you do to stay in shape – both physically andmentally? I go on the el- liptical three to four times aweek inorder to keep the “fat guy” dying to get out of me under control.As Imentioned earlier, I rarelywork after dinner inorder togive myself amental break. If someonewerevisitingyou, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see? The Gramercy Park Hotel rooftop. Theplace isnormally crawlingwithmod- els and celebs. When you need to get as far away from work as possible, where do you go? Local bar . . . easy conversation, good food, goodpeople. What’s your favorite vacation spot? TheAtlantis at Paradise IslandResort and Casino in the Bahamas. We always seem to meet good people who are ready to gamble anddrink all night. What’s your all-time favorite movie? The Natural , with Robert Redford. I am a big fanof redemption stories. It is another reminder thatwe shouldnevergiveupon ourdreams. If you could inviteanyfivepeople, living ordead, todinner,whowould theybe? • JesusChrist – someonehas to saygrace, right? • Vince Lombardi – I feel like Iwould be inspired to do anything after speaking withhim. • My father – Just to seehimagainwould begreat. • David Duchovny – If you watch the show Californication , this guy knows how tohave agood time. • JessicaSimpson– Ifyou readwhat John Mayer said about her, then my hope wouldbe shewouldhaveone toomany drinks at thisdinner. Whatare three things thatnobodyknows aboutyou? 1. I love conspiracy theories. 2. I am adancemachine after sixdrinks. 3. Big fanof JoelOsteen. 57 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series