GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 9 - June 2009

| GPWA Times likecoming toa forum that looks inactive. Bepatient, andbeprepared to spenda lot of time posting. It’s important to post a lot, and encouragemembers topost a lot. Most peoplearea littlegun-shy topost at first. We’ve found that ifyou take the time to greet every newmember, and respond to every member’s post, even posts that don’t seem to need a response, it means a lot to the poster to be acknowledged. People aremore apt to post again if they feelwelcomeandacknowledged. What’s themost difficult thingabout ad- ministering a forum site? Responding to people quickly and accurately at all times of thedayandnight. Peopleexpectyou to be therewhen they are, regardless of the dayor timeof day. Howdidyoufirstbecome involved in the online gambling industry?What did you do previously? Are you a full-time affili- ate? About nine years ago, I foundmyself home bored to tears with a broken leg. That ledme to searching for things I nor- mally wouldn’t have searched for, like … “online casinos.” I hadno idea they even existed before then. So I found Micro- gaming Casinos and deposited my first $20. Next thing I knew Iwon a progres- sive jackpot atRoyalVegasand the rest is history! Now I ama full-timeaffiliate. I frequented a few gambling forums on Ezboard. A couple of years later one of the gambling forums I visited a lot asked me if I’dhelpout asa forummoderator. I was a little skeptical at first. At that point Ididn’tknow thefirst thingabout forums, ormoderating a forum. But I agreed. At the time it was just for fun. I had a full- time job offline running a small office for a coupleof local plumbing contractors. I quitmy offline job about four years ago and nowmakemoremoney online as an affiliate than I could evermake offline at anyoffice job. I lovebeinganaffiliate! You’ve posted that you tend to give af- filiatemanagers“a rough time”whenyou first startworkingwith them.What does it take for them towin youover? I can’t give away allmy secrets! Trust is earned in this industry. I look for affiliateman- agerswithstraightanswersandnoB.S. If I meet a new affiliate manager and they come across like a “Used Car Salesman” (and some do!), I have little patience or time for them. Most affiliate managers arenot like that, and I have very good re- lationships with them. Wayne from For- tune andRenée fromRewards are two of theverybest! Regarding the programs youwork with, howmuch of an effort do you feel they shouldmake to provide youwith splash pages, banners and promotions that are tailored to your players? Very few pro- grams goout of theirway todo this. You have to ask, though, or you’ll never get these things.One thing I’ve learned isnot to be shy. Ask for what you need. Some programs are definitely better than oth- ers. Rewards is one of the best inmak- ing custom banners/splash pages when requested. One thing that seems of critical impor- tance to affiliates is time management. Could you please offer some e-mail management tips? Outlook Express and Gmail are a must! I depend heavily on theOutlookExpressmail rules to sortmy incomingmail. I have a folder for every affiliate program I work with, as well as some other important contacts. When incomingmail comes through it is auto- matically sent to the correct mail folder and the foldername ishighlighted, letting me know there’s newmail in that folder. Gmail is very effective sorting out spam andkeeping themail Iwant, and clearing the spame-mail out ofmyway. What doyour friends and family thinkof your work as an affiliate? I don’t think they reallyunderstand it. They think I’m just playing all the time. Many of them have asked me to “hook them up,” as if it’s a game. They think it’s much easier than it is. How longwas it before your site started earning you money? I started making some money approximately a year into it. But it wasmore like two years before I really saw that there was a living to be madehere. Howdidyoudiscover theGPWA? I found the GPWA a few years ago after seeing GPWA Approved Portal seals on some of the sites I visited a lot. I’ve seen the other end of the spectrum in affiliate fo- rums at the GPWA. It’s refreshing and informative to be involved in a commu- nity truly respects all points of view and welcomes freedom of speech. Every day I learn something new from the GPWA. You rock! If youhad topickfive keys to success as anaffiliate,whatwould theybe? Never stop learning. Never giveup. Thinkoutside thebox. Focuson theprovenprograms/casinos and forget the rest. Keepupwith thecurrentnewsatGPWA. DoyouuseFacebookand/orother social networks to promote your sites? I use Facebook,mostlyasaplace tokeepallmy affiliate contacts. It’s also a good way to keepuponwhat they’redoing, and check the latest industry news. I don’t spend toomuch timeonFacebook trying topro- motemysite. Iuse itasmoreofaplace to keepall ofmybusiness contacts. If you could have one “super power,” whatwould it be?Andwhy? I’ve always thought being a mind reader would be prettyhandy. Then Iwouldn’thave to try and translatewhat I “think”peoplemean. I don’t know if that’s a super power or maybesomethingelseIcan learn through Google. You canfind just about anything onGoogle. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Age: Are you kidding? LOL Hometown: Sacramento, CA Currently residing in: Carmichael, CA Favorite food: Sushi One book everyonemust read: The Fountainhead , by Ayn Rand Site: The Hodgepodge Gambling Forum hpgambling.com 45 GPWA Affiliate Interview Series