Affiliate Interview Series: Harry | fadetoblack

[GPWA Aaron]

Age: 28
Hometown: Hereford, U.K.
Living in: Hereford, U.K.
Favorite Food: Chicken curry
Must Read Book: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Sites:
BigFreeBet.com
MonkeyGambling.com

When did you launch your sites?
I launched MonkeyGambling.com in the summer of 2006 and BigFreeBet.com a year later in 2007.

Did you build both sites from the ground up, or was either of them a site you acquired?
For both sites I registered the domains new and built them from the ground up. I actually started MonkeyGambling with a friend but he opted out after a short while to pursue other things.

BigFreeBet.com provides a list of the best free bets available from online bookmakers. Why did you choose this approach to promoting sportsbooks?
I actually started BigFreeBet after doing some betting myself and using similar sites. I liked the idea and thought I could do the same thing and compete well. Free bet comparison is also a very direct way of selling, so it works well in converting customers rather than injecting affiliate links into articles, etc.

Is it harder to make money off players who are looking to take advantage of a free bet? What percentage of your players end up staying with a bookmaker long term vs. just taking advantage of the free bet opportunity?
Yeah, it's always harder, but nowadays the bookmakers are aware of this and make it harder to withdraw winnings from free bets. Usually customers need to roll the money over several times before it can be withdrawn. It works well as I opt for revshare in a lot of the affiliate programs, which you would think wouldn't work if the customers were just bonus hunters.

MonkeyGambling.com seems to be a no-frills site that gets right down to the business of promoting the biggest and best casino bonuses available on the Internet. Is it easier to maintain this site compared to what it takes to keep BigFreeBet.com current?
Yes, MonkeyGambling is a lot simpler and hardly takes any maintenance. But to be honest I don't really concentrate on the site as much as I should so it doesn't have as good rankings in Google as it once had. BigFreeBet.com, on the other hand, takes a lot of work. There is always something to keep me busy. I currently pay for the news articles to be written and this saves me time and lets me concentrate more on the SEO side.

How did you become involved in the industry?
I kind of fell into the industry, actually. I've already mentioned that I started MonkeyGambling with a friend who invited me to help him out of the blue. BigFreeBet.com, which I started the following year, got going after I used some similar affiliate sites to claim free bets for myself.

How long did it take for you to start earning money?
Ages! Haha. MonkeyGambling never really made anything, mostly because I started concentrating on my other project, BigFreeBet.com. I made several versions of the site and it took nearly two years to start making any regular income. I can't remember when I acquired my first customer, but it really helped motivate me. To be honest I nearly gave up, but now I live by the quote, "Never give up five minutes before the miracle happens."

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program?
This is something that I think about a lot, actually. Being in the marketing business, I think and analyze things a lot, especially when someone does something badly. I think about the sale that they have just lost. So to answer the question, for me the fundamental thing for an affiliate manager is contact with the affiliate. All the sportsbooks/bookmakers that I promote the most are ones that contact me the most. The feeling of being a valued affiliate is very important, as is getting quick answers to any questions. You get some low-quality sportsbooks that contact you every other day when they are trying to get you to join their program. However, once you are in you never hear from them again. To me that's just stupid. They haven't gained anything from their work if you then don't decide to promote them because another affiliate manager has built a rapport with you and asked you to take their position.

Now, affiliate program. This to me is just as important as the affiliate manager. I like an easy-to-use system which has quick-to-view stats, etc.… It also has to have a good detail of stats; for example, signup to deposit ratio is an important one for me. I like the Income Access software because it fits most of my requirements and also it is a familiar system, so it is easy on the eye. And because a lot of affiliate programs use it, I don't need to learn how to use a different system for each program. Of course payments are very important for affiliates, so they must be on time and not have high payment thresholds. One note about payments at the moment that I don't like is the use of Envoy by so many affiliate programs. I have nothing against Envoy, but when I receive a payment to my bank account I have no idea who it is from so I have to ask them every time!

Personally I never sign up to affiliate programs that offer things like 50-40-30 percent revshare for the first three months, as from experience these are low quality. I would much rather have a flat 35 percent revshare with a quality program, because what is 50 percent revshare when you are earning nothing!

One final note about affiliate programs is that – like everyone, I guess – I like the ones that don't carry over negative revenue to the next month.

If you had to pick five keys to success as an affiliate, what would they be, and why?

1. Without a doubt, patience. I had to be very patient when I started my site before I started earning money. I nearly gave up, but my patience really paid off.
2. Put the time in. Effort put in is proportional to the results you get. The more effort you put in, the better results and more money you will make.
3. Basic Web skills. I'm not a programmer and I don't know how to write any code, but I've learned basic HTML and can use Photoshop to produce nice images and this allows me to edit and manage my sites. Without this I would pay huge amounts of money to contract out work.
4. To start as an affiliate you only need to pay for the domain and hosting. Like I said in the last point, learn to do stuff yourself and you will have no outgoings. Of course if your site takes off you can put some of the money back into the business, but when you start out there isn't really any need to pay people to do the work for you. If you are really interested in what you are doing, you will learn.
5. Don't keep looking at your stats. If you look at your stats more it doesn't mean that you will make more money. A lot of new affiliates keep looking at their stats every five minutes to see how much money they have made. This just wastes time that could be spent getting more visitors. It's fine, if you are actually doing some testing that involves stats, but only if it’s useful!

You've been a GPWA member for five years now. What prompted you to join? How has it helped you?
I can't remember why I joined right now, but I think I saw a post and wanted to reply to it, so I made an account. To be honest I don't use the site much – just to discuss a few problems, do a few link exchanges and to ask who a payment was from. If I had more time I would definitely read the posts more as there is a lot of interesting stuff on the site.

What do you like about the industry?
I love how big it is and how much opportunity there is. It's a great industry to be in because it's not a physical product that's being sold so the commissions are high. This means that it's a lot easier to earn money than earning commission by being a mobile phone sales affiliate, for example.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
Maybe make it harder to open a new sportsbook as there are so many new ones opening every year, and some of them are going to fail. I've been annoyed a few times after sending customers to affiliate programs offering revshare, only for them to close and I lose my earnings. I would rather have sent those customers to a long-standing brand that is proven in the industry.

What surprised you most about the industry?
The scale of it! How many other affiliate industries can you say have several international conferences every year, have associations like the GPWA and can offer huge commissions for affiliates!

What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate?
Generally the older the person is, the less they understand about it. My mum thinks it's some kind of magic and my friends are envious of me now, I think. At first when I didn't make much money no one noticed, but now I am able to travel a lot and people start wondering how I'm able to do that and work at the same time. It's great being my own boss as I can take time out whenever I want. That doesn't mean, though, that I don't need to put the time in to keep the business going.

How long do you give yourself for answering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer?
I take as long as it takes to answer. I generally read an e-mail as soon as it comes in as I get distracted very easily, and if it's something I can do straight away I do it. Otherwise I mark it as unread and go back to it later. One tip that I can offer is to remember that through e-mail you can never perceive the tone a person is talking to you with, so you should always respond calmly even if you think they are being aggressive. And if it ends up that they are being aggressive, being calm will even help keep the conversation civil.

How do you manage your "to-do" lists? Do you use any special software to help you out?
Special software?! Haha. I use the Windows notepad. I have a to-do list file and I write everything I have to do or remember in it and delete the things as I do them. For me everything has to be on the same page; otherwise I will forget to look and therefore forget to do it!

How much time does it take to keep your sites updated?
As I've already mentioned I pay someone to write news articles for me. My work is to update the affiliate offers as they change and work on the SEO. As the market is very competitive there isn't enough time in the day to keep up with building links to my sites. That's why MonkeyGambling.com has had to make way for BigFreeBet.com now with my time. I can spend anywhere between eight and 12 hours a day working on the site, but when I am traveling I work a lot less as I don't have a routine.

How much time do you devote to SEO and/or social networking in order to drive more traffic to your sites?
Social networking isn't something that I've spent much time on yet. I've got a Facebook and Twitter page for BigFreeBet.com, but the updates are automatic ones from my site's RSS feed. SEO I spend a lot more time on. I believe in good white-hat link building that follows Google's guidelines and then there won't be any problems. I had some issues last year as BigFreeBet.com appeared on too many sites' "partners pages," which Google is cracking down on big-time!

If someone were visiting you, what's the one place you'd definitely take them to see? Why?
Anywhere around where I live, really. I live in the countryside so it's great to go for walks, bike rides, etc.… It's just a shame about the British weather.

What's your favorite vacation spot?
Brazil! Because of the number of friendships I've made there and the vastness of the country. There are endless things to do there.

If you could have one "superpower," what would it be?
Read other people's minds. There are so many things we don't do as humans because we have doubts about what someone else might think, and then later you find out that they were thinking the same thing all along.

What's your all-time favorite movie?
It would have to be The Prestige, by the director Christopher Nolan. I love films with a story that keeps you thinking afterward, and this film does just that.

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?

1. Michael Owen – Excellent English football (soccer) player and a true example to the game, although he never fulfilled his potential due to injuries. It's always great to talk football over dinner.
2. Jessica Alba – Apart from being hot, she is also a great upcoming businesswoman and also supports a lot of charities. It's always good to see this from celebrities.
3. Chris Nolan – My favorite director. Although few, all his films have been fantastic. It would be great to discuss his crazy ideas and find out how he actually thinks.
4. Scott Kelby – One of my hobbies is photography and Scott is a great inspiration. I've read a lot of his books and have seen a lot of his work. It would be great to get some personal tips from him.
5. One of my friends (yet to decide) to share the experience. What’s the fun of having all these famous people to dinner if you've got no one to talk to about it afterwards!

What are three things that nobody knows about you?

1. I speak Brazilian Portuguese.
2. I have a Master's Degree in GeoScience.
3. I don't think I can live in the U.K. forever. I love to experience other cultures.

[LukeC]

As a Hereford United fan myself, I think you should get an advertising board at Edgar Street!

[Maria F]

OMG Chicken Curry is one of my favorite’s meals!

It amazes me every time to hear that most of us have similar experiences when it comes to the way our families and friends think of the industry we are in and work we do.

All the best!

[PromoteCasino]

I too started out from scratch, basically to teach myself a bit of html. It snowballed from there and am now planning my next site. Hopefully learning from previous mistakes and start to earn some real money. Best of luck with it.

[IhreConsulting]

Thanks for letting us learn more about you Harry!
Its so funny to hear that people struggle to understand exactly what you do. I have had exactly the same thing for years and I am sure some people still don't get it! I find myself putting it in terms like "You know "gocompare"?!, well I work with websites like that, plus the insurance companies. Although in gambling. LOL"

Going to check out the book you recommend as well

Thanks! Claire

[Nicole Sims]

Hi Harry,

I love the quote that you live by: "Never give up five minutes before the miracle happens."

Thank you for sharing!

[fadetoblack]

I didn't even know that they had posted this here guys!

Hi Harry,

I love the quote that you live by: "Never give up five minutes before the miracle happens."

Thank you for sharing!

Yeah, it's a great one to live by

[fadetoblack]

Thanks for letting us learn more about you Harry!
Its so funny to hear that people struggle to understand exactly what you do. I have had exactly the same thing for years and I am sure some people still don't get it! I find myself putting it in terms like "You know "gocompare"?!, well I work with websites like that, plus the insurance companies. Although in gambling. LOL"

Going to check out the book you recommend as well

Thanks! Claire

Hi Clair! Haha, yeah I use the GoCompare thing as well. It's the best way to explain I think!

Yeah, the book it a must read!

[fadetoblack]

I too started out from scratch, basically to teach myself a bit of html. It snowballed from there and am now planning my next site. Hopefully learning from previous mistakes and start to earn some real money. Best of luck with it.

Thanks man! Yeah, that's the best way! It really teaches you the value of what you have as well.

[fadetoblack]

OMG Chicken Curry is one of my favorite’s meals!

It amazes me every time to hear that most of us have similar experiences when it comes to the way our families and friends think of the industry we are in and work we do.

All the best!

Yeah, Chicken curry is amazing Plus the spices help protect against cancer and other diseases so it's win-win!

There aren't too many people working online in the grand scale so sometimes families end up just imagining wild things haha.

[F-L-C]

Now I have to have chicken curry for dinner tonight!

[Rachel.RevenueJet]

Now I have to have chicken curry for dinner tonight!

Made me so hungry for some spicy chicken curry!!!

[fadetoblack]

Made me so hungry for some spicy chicken curry!!!

haha!