GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 35 - June 2016

What’s your preferred method of com- munication with affiliate managers? I do everything via e-mail. However, after the recent experience with Ohmbet, I’m start- ing to be more open to doing Skype calls. What prompted you to join the GPWA? How has it helped you? I recall spotting the GPWA Seal of Approval on a website back in the day, and I was obviously inter- ested right away. It’s definitely the most helpful community I have ever encoun- tered online. It’s crazy how open every- body is to providing advice. I can always rely on the forums if I encounter prob- lems, and I hope I’ve come up with some useful opinions over time as well. What do you like about the industry? I absolutely love the dynamism and the fast pace, the strategy involved. But overall, I guess the main thing is that it simply suits my skills and my passions — sports, bet- ting, programming and online marketing. If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why? I believe that the market needs to be regu- lated. However, the current [country-by- country approach to regulation] makes the market more volatile than it was when it wasn’t regulated. It’s eating away at the industry. Gambling laws in some coun- tries are insane, and I strongly believe there should be some serious guidelines by governing bodies like the EU. I’d also love for the mobile frenzy to stop, because I lack skill in properly optimizing my websites and I feel it’s hurting most af- filiates anyway, due to conversions being lower on mobile. I just hate seeing people with their noses in their phones all the time. But that’s wishful thinking; I know that it will keep going and I know I have to adapt — or should have already  adapted. What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate? A few close friends understand what I’m doing, and my parents have a pretty decent idea. The rest of my friends and relatives basically think that I’m hitting the casinos, or that I’m running one. Do you gamble online? If so, what do you play? Sports betting is my game. I do it less often than in the past, mainly trading on Betfair when I have the time. How do you manage your to-do lists? Do you use any special software to help you out? Pen and paper all the way. Saying that I’m not the most organized person is an understatement, but the mess in my head and on my desk makes sense to me. Howmuch time do you devote to SEO and social networking to drive traffic to your sites? SEO is my main concern aside from writing and doing the hourly updates on the website, but I’m not overdoing it, just making sure I don’t fall behind. I spend at least a whole day every month trying to make sure everything is fine SEO-wise, as well as SEO-proofing my own previews every day. Optimizing code for SEO pur- poses is my main concern right now. I’m not a big fan of social media, but I enjoy Twitter and we have over 7,000 fol- lowers. We were banned by Facebook for gambling-related content so it’s pretty much just Twitter, a few minutes per day. AGE 28 HOMETOWN Bucharest, Romania LIVING IN Bucharest, Romania FAVORITE FOOD Chinese, Grandma’s dumplings, tripe sour soup MUST-READ BOOK White Nights, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky SITE www.betdistrict.com 53 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series