GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 34 - February 2016

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why? I would stop affiliate programs paying through WorldPay. The lack of any client reference on payments has wasted many, many hours of my life that I’ll never get back. What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate? I think, and hope, my family is very proud of the suc- cess that we have achieved over the years. My friends constantly suggest that I do no work at all and just swan around, going on holiday and spending time at the gym! Do you gamble online? If so, what do you play? I am not a gambler at all. We take all new recruits to a bingo night as part of their welcome to the company, but apart from that, nothing. How do you manage your to-do lists? Do you use any special software to help you out? I use a bastardized version of the time management techniques taught in Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . I start the day or week by scoringmy tasks out of five by importance, and then out of five by urgency. I add up the points tally for each task which then gives me a to-do list in priority order. I spoke about this at AffiliateFest in October and will be talking about it again as part of my talk at LAC in February. If you’d like to hear more, please feel free to come along and listen — and ask questions! How much time do you devote to SEO? We currently have a team of people work- ing full-time on SEO. We must be doing something right as WhichBingo is three times more visible in SERPS than our nearest rival, based on a range of search ranking metrics and software. Outline your social media strategy. What’s more effective, Facebook or Twitter? I use my individual twitter ac- count (@Mr_Online_Bingo) as a B2B out- let more so than for the site. WhichBingo has a Twitter account (@WhichBingoUK) as well as a Facebook page (WhichBingo Chat Hosts) which is particularly tar- geted at the chat moderator community. Facebook is better for us than Twitter, simply because currently the bingo de- mographic is more engaged on the former rather than the latter. What’s the most difficult thing about running your sites? We are now a “prop- er grown-up business,” so all the issues that “real businesses” face, we also have to deal with. Specific to our sites, the most difficult issue we face is ranking on Google. Yes, we are the most visible bingo portal on SERPS, but trying to do what “Big G” likes and wants us to do, while fighting against black hatters, negative SEO and sites ranking above us that are obviously spamming, is often infuriating and at times highly challenging. What’s the best thing about running your sites? I really enjoy managing, motivat- ing and developing the members of my team. As an employer I have a duty to do so and it’s great to be able to see that de- velopment in people over months and of- ten years. Winning awards is always great and to be named BingoAffiliate of the Year at EGR recently was brilliant. The whole team of 14 of us jumped onstage to take the award! A great way to validate all of the hard work and effort everyone put in. What do you do to stay in shape – both physically and mentally? I play five-a- side twice a week and I see a personal trainer twice a week. I also intersperse this with swimming — I did 40 lengths only this morning — and I have recently got into cycling through a friend. He took me on a “short ride” this year and I managed 54 miles. Mentally, I try to read business and management articles, which usually spark lots of new ideas, much to the an- noyance of the team! What do you do with your spare time? Apart from the above, I’m a season ticket holder at Leeds United, which for the past 10 years or so has been no fun whatsoev- er, apart from the cup win against “The Scum” in 2010. What did you dream of doing, both pro- fessional and personally, when you were a kid? My dream as a kid was to play for Leeds United! I think that’s as far as my planning went. I managed to leave uni- versity with a degree and still no idea what I wanted to do. My path to where I am now has been a mix of opportunities, gut-feeling decisions and a lot of luck. When you need to get as far away from work as possible, where do you go? We recently bought a villa in Nerja in Spain, just up the coast from Malaga. It is a great little town that’s not too touristy with lots of bars and restaurants. Our place is right by the beach and has its own pool, so is perfect to just sit and chill with a beer and a book. What’s your all-time favorite movie? I know it’s a cliché, but I do like The Shawshank Redemption . If Bond is on TV I’ll quite happily watch that, and I used to love the old black-and-white St Trinian’s films. If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? 1. Billy Bremner, captain of the great Leeds team of the ’60s and ’70s. 2. Moses, just to ask him if all that stuff in the Bible is true (and of course, what’s it like talking to God). 3. Joe Strummer, lead singer of “the only band that mattered” (The Clash). 4. Bill Gates, a man who has truly changed the face of the world. 5. My late grandfather; I was named after him but never met him. Name three things that people reading this magazine don’t know about you. 1. I keep chickens – we currently have nine, each with a name. 2. I’ve watched Leeds United at 52 of the 92 league grounds, as well as at two FA Cup finals, a League Cup final and a Champions League Semi Final in Valencia. 3. I’m a huge Undertones fan and still go to see them live whenever they are on tour. 49 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series