GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 43 - February 2019

GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES Heather Gartland - Topboss WemadeHeather feel but we’re not sorry very oldwith this interview, because she’s living the good life You’ve been in the gaming industry since 1999—when we last talked to you, you were already an industry veteran, and now you’ve been here for almost 20 years. When you first joined the industry, what did you think you’d be doing 20 years later? How do you feel about where you are now compared to where you thought you’d be? Well, I definitely did not think I would be doing another interview for theGPWA 10 years later! Youmust know that now I actually feel like a dinosaur, not just a veteran. I thought by now I would be living on an island sipping cocktails, working when I wanted to, and generally just enjoying life and taking it easy. Oh, wait! That is exactly what I am doing, come to think of it. I moved to New Zealand five years ago, which of course is an island. I do sip cock- tails on the beach when I can drag myself away from the computer, and I do work when I want to, enjoy life and take it easy. What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the industry since we last talked to you? I would have to say that U.K. compliance has probably been one of the biggest changes. It’s had a huge impact on us, as it took a long time to update our network to meet the requirements, only to find many of the casinos using compliance as an excuse to get out of their contracts with affiliates and closing accounts after they were compliant! The closure of the Australian market also had a big impact on us, as we had just spent two years develop- ing a new Australian site, which we had just launched two months prior to the closure. What advice would you give to a new iGaming affiliate just getting started in the business? Expect to put in a lot of long hours and effort before you start seeing some decent money. There is no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme in the gambling affiliate business. Perhaps in the past, before regulations and competition came into the industry, but these days you have to give your all if you want to be successful. Don’t do any underhanded dealings, look after your reputa- tion and produce top-quality, accurate content. Tell us about your sites. Do you have more or fewer than you did last time we spoke? I would say we still have in the region of 120 live sites, but the parked domains have reduced substantially – down from 600 to 300, as my husband Andy has finally managed to overcome his domain registration addiction . Your sites cover a variety of verti- cals. What are the advantages of running sites in so many different types of gaming? What are some of the challenges? We never get bored, and we cover the full gambling spectrum by having sites that focus on casinos, slots, sportsbooks, poker and bingo. Keeping content updated is the biggest challenge we face in maintaining such a large network . What emerging markets are you most excited about? At this stage, we are hold- ing back on heading into new markets until all the compliance is sorted out, as we are still feeling the pain of the development of our Australian site that we had to shut down two months after launch. How do you try to get your sites to stand out from the competition? In all honesty, our sites are not unique, but are simply laid out and tell the truth about the casinos we advertise. By doing this, we already stand out from the competition. 56