Affiliate Interview Series | Max - scandinaviangaming

[GPWA Aaron]

Age: 34
Hometown: Uruguay
Living in: Uruguay
Favorite Food: Asado
Must Read Book: The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
Sites: Many, many sites

When did you launch your sites?
I started as an affiliate in 2002.

How did you become involved in the industry?
I saw an opportunity when I was talking with a friend of mine in Spain.

How long did it take for you to start earning money?
Two years.

Are you a one-person shop or are you part of a larger organization?
Depends on the time of day!

Most of your sites target various gaming audiences in Latin America. How did this come about?
I spent some time living in Eastern Europe (Latvia). I target Latin America including Brazil because I am from Uruguay (yes, the same country as Luis Suárez).

Please share with us your insights into the Latin American online gaming market. How does it compare to the rest of the world? Where do you see it going over the next few years?
The Latin American online gaming market is booming. Brazil is performing extremely well and Mexico is the new kid on the block. The player culture in Latin America is quite different from that in the U.K., for example. Latinos love to socialize, even in the online world. They prefer local customer support and local payment solutions. They want to be taken care of by local people and not foreigners.

Where did you grow up? And what countries have you lived in? How much traveling do you do?
I grew up in Uruguay. I lived in Spain, Latvia and Brazil. In my 20s I used to travel a lot (from summer to summer, from south to north). Nowadays I am much more stable and I have decided to establish myself again in Uruguay.

Bruno Politano of Brazil recently made the "November Nine," the final table of the World Series of Poker's Main Event, which will be played later this fall. Descibe the poker market in Brazil and Latin America in general, and how do you think having a Brazilian player do so well in such a high-profile event will affect those markets?
In terms of offline events, the poker market in Brazil is performing very well. In some ways, it is not easy to keep a high-profile for a long time in Brazil, because a lot of “stars” in many areas are appearing all the time and they hoard all the attention (like football players do). However, the poker market (offline and online) is big and Brazilian poker players are proud to see one of their own perform so well in the WSOP, and this encourages new people to learn how to play poker.

You have sites in Swedish, French, Spanish and English. Any other languages I'm missing? How many languages do you speak?
In 2009 I sold the “Mediagambling Network” with +300 sites to Cmedia. I started with a brand new network in 2012 focused in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. One year later I launched new sites in Latin America including Brazil. I speak English, Portuguese and Spanish, and basic Swedish and German. It took a lot of effort to improve my English and Portuguese through intensive courses, not to mention how difficult it was to understand the basics of Swedish.

You list more than 200 websites on your GPWA profile. How difficult is it to keep all those sites up to date?
I am not alone in this venture. I have the good fortune to be surrounded by an A-team which helps me in keeping everything up and running.

Your sites also cover every vertical of the gaming industry, from casino, to poker, to slots, roulette, sports betting, bingo and backgammon, just to name a few. What vertical makes you the most money? What vertical do you find to be the most interesting?
This is a very interesting question. It depends on the country, not only the vertical. In Brazil, bingo is converting like crazy. And I am promoting Betmotion.com through their affiliate program, Partnersonly.com, which is by far the best on the whole continent.

Describe your work environment. Do you work from home or in an office? If you work from home, how often do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry?
To be brutally honest I work from everywhere. For large periods of time I just worked from abroad, so if you ask me if I can work in the top of a tree I will figure out a way to be happy working there.

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program?
Transparency. In both.

What’s your preferred method of communication with affiliate managers? Do you like to talk on the phone, by e-mail or via Skype?
E-mail preferably.

What prompted you to join the GPWA? How has it helped you?
The GPWA is managed by great people and they work hard to gather the best affiliates worldwide. They have all my respect. The GPWA is very useful for making valuable contacts and for staying up to date on what is going on in the affiliate industry.

You've been a GPWA member for nearly six years, and many of your sites display the GPWA Seal of Approval. However, in those six years, you have just one post on the site, making you one of our many "lurkers." How often do you visit the forums? And what topic(s) would be most likely to get you to be more active in the GPWA forums?
In the last few years I’ve just been feeling that there’s a lack of interaction among the “old fellas.” That’s the reason I am now a lurker. However, I am trying to visit the forum on a regular basis. I would love to interact more with active members interested in expanding their “imperio” across Latin America and Brazil.

What do you like about the industry?
The money. All agree on this.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
It is a closed industry. New affiliates need more community support.

What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate?
If I am happy, they are happy.

Do you gamble online? If so, what do you play?
No. I am just a mediocre gamer.

How long do you give yourself for answering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer?
I always try to answer inmediately. E-mail tips? Be short, be concise, be straight.

How do you manage your “to-do” lists? Do you use any special software to help you out?
Well, I tried a lot of apps, and then I decided to move to a cutting-edge technology: paper and pen.

How much time do you devote to SEO and/or social networking in order to drive more traffic to your sites?
Not so much, really. I have an idea of how SEO works in general and how it evolves from time to time, and I always focus on the white hat side, working for the long term.

What’s the most difficult thing about running your sites?
Keeping them up to date in terms of promotions and content.

What’s the best thing about running your sites?
The revenue share you get every month.

What do you do to stay in shape – both physically and mentally?
Mixed martial arts, submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I started in Uruguay in 2006 and had the good and positive experience of improving my knowledge of the art in Rio de Janeiro, and now I am back in Uruguay with the idea of coaching new guys who are starting to train. I learned a lot of values and principles regarding how to be more self-confident and mentally balanced.

If someone were visiting you, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see?
Formentera, one of the spectacular islands I visited in the Mediterranean Sea.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?
It was The Matrix, but now it’s Mad Men, a series from AMC.

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
My mother, my father, my sister, my girl and one of my fellow partners. They have always been there for me, in both the bad moments and the good.

What are three things that nobody knows about you?
Oh, such a smart question! To be perfectly sincere, it’s actually a long list of things.

[ocreditor]

Nice interview !

The Art of War - great book

[Louis - Income Access]

buena entrevista! que envidida vivir en Uruguay - que maravilla de pais.

[coreen.starpartner]

Great interview Max!

[sweetbet]

Very interesting interview. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you.