Affiliate Interview Series - Tait Pollack

[GPWA Daniel]

(This interview was originally published in the February 2018 issue of the GPWA Times Magazine)

How did you first get into the iGaming business? What did you do before becoming an affiliate?
I've been a developer for many years and own a development agency/e-commerce consultancy in Norwich called DDS Kiss (www.ddskiss.com).

Tell us about your site. When did you launch it? How long did it take you to start making money?
In 2014 is when I started work on it. I didn't realize the size of what I was getting into and the steep learning curve I'd have to climb! It took about a year to complete, and it started making money between six and eight months afterwards. I'm still following a marketing roadmap I laid out in the beginning.

Are you a full-time or part-time affiliate?
Part-time, as my primary job is consultancy for e-commerce marketing and development. I have a few other successful affiliate websites though also, not in the gaming niche. I have a crack team of experts I employ and contract, including copywriters, developers and designers. I do development the site myself, too; it depends really on what the project is. Sometimes I engage my agency to work on the site.

Do you have plans for additional sites?
I have an infant stage site that I'm planning to develop called Betting Tips Now, but I don't consider it anywhere near launchable yet. I may find time later this year to progress that.

Your online persona, Keith, is pretty distinctive, with the Victorian-era look and the gigantic moustache. How did you settle on this look?
I understand that a successful brand needs to be distinctive and memorable. When brainstorming the label, I had the idea of a mysterious character in an old Victorian bar playing cards and winning all his hands. A likeable maverick who is a dab hand and can teach you a few tricks and show you the ropes in online gaming.

What makes your site unique?
Branding and distinctiveness. I plan on adding some more unique selling points as time goes on, which will help the site stand out more. As you know, it's a very competitive space, and this will take some time. Our scoring algorithm is something I'm working on for ranking brands in our indexes. It uses the reviewer's initial score, user review data and the affiliate deal in place (rev share % and CPA) to provide the best listings for users and to help keep the lights on.

How do you decide what casinos to promote?
Initially, we chose a hundred or so brands to list. Now we have a listing fee, as we are approached every day with a new casino to review. We charge £585 currently, and we still aim to be as objective as possible. That fee serves to filter out the serious brands from the chancers and helps us keep a neutral stance as opposed to weighing our affiliate deals more and listing for free.

Do you gamble online? What about in brick-and-mortar casinos?
I do from time to time. I'm very conscious of keeping it fun. I've also experimented with binary options, which, although it's often billed as an investment, feels a lot more like gambling. When I was younger, I used to hit the local slots and play Cops and Robbers, Addam's Family, etc. with some friends. My dad used to live in Vegas, so I've been there a few times.

How often do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry?
Usually in forums and through e-mail or Skype, at the moment. I'd love to go to some conferences, though. We're still relatively new and finding our feet in some respects.

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program?
Honesty is important. We get nagged a lot with “We'll offer you the best deal ever,” and it's the same deal everyone else is offering. So honesty, integrity, excellent communication, the ability to guide players during signup, good end-user reviews – and, of course, we look at how well they signpost self-exclusion and addiction help. Long-term, if those things are in place, then we all win.

What's your preferred method of communication with affiliate managers?
Skype, usually, for convenience – happy with anything, to be honest. I get a lot of e-mails, so that's often the slowest way to reach me.

What prompted you to join the GPWA?
Well, I kept seeing the logo around, and after looking into it, I saw an excellent community in place. It seemed like the place to join if you're in this industry. The GPWA has helped connect us with opportunities and advised us. It's a great place to go if you're new, especially.

What do you like about the industry?
I like games! I'm a PC and card games player and have been since I was a kid. I love a challenge too, and it's a good challenge to build a business like this, with so much competition. It's all the more satisfying when it goes well.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be and why?
Well, all of our many partners have their portals, which we need to log in to for graphics and stats, etc. There are some tools like Adge or Stats Remote that sort of work but are clunky and often fall over. They can be a pain in the ass, but then so is logging into 100+ portals each day.

What do you think the industry will look like in five years?
I think we'll see new casino brands gain prominence, and the playing field will even out as more and more people set up their white-label gaming sites. I think we'll see increased vigilance by the authorities looking to protect players.
Online gaming is going to change too, probably heading towards VR and augmented reality. That's exciting.

What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate?
I think most of them just see it as another business or another finger in another pie. If any of my friends question the ethics of it, I explain that there are sites to educate and guide players to be safe and knowledgeable before they play. The reviews are often revised if we start to hear bad things about a brand, and we've added the ability for players to leave their reviews on our review – which will alter the rating accordingly.
I have some friends that think it's very cool also.

How do you manage your to-do lists? Do you use any special software to help you out?
I use Todoist and Google Keep, as well as a strict e-mail system with labels of TODO, Needs Reply, Perusal, Waiting For and Done. This all helps, but then so does having a personal assistant!

How much time do you devote social networking for your site?
Not as much as we'd like. It tends to be short, intense bursts of effort and then gaps regarding growth work. We regularly share our content on our social media, which is useful and keeps it looking fresh, however.

What's the most difficult thing about running your site?
Definitely maintenance of our reviews and maintaining excellent communication with our affiliate relationships. With so many casinos, slots sites and sportsbooks on our site, we are spinning many plates. We're getting better at this all the time, though, and it's fun rising to meet the challenge.

What's the best thing about running your site?
Traction! When traffic starts flowing and users start interacting with a site I've built, it's the most satisfying thing in the world. I love optimizing websites and improving on KPIs; it's what I do for clients all day every day. The site generates some revenue too, which is nice!

What do you do to stay in shape – both physically and mentally?
I stretch every day and try to get a pleasant walk in each day, too. I have some weights and a pull-up bar too, and go through stages of using them a lot.

What do you do with your spare time?
With multiple businesses and a wife and child, I don't get much spare time. When I do though, I like to catch up with my good friends and play some games, both online and offline.

What did you dream of doing, both professionally and personally, when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a marine biologist and a wartime photographer. I got a photography degree, but I realized I was good at websites and app design and development and pursued that. I still love photography, but I'm less interested in documenting war and more interested in beautiful landscapes and portraits of people.

If someone from out of town were visiting you, what’s the one place you'd definitely take them to see?
In Norwich, we have some cool tourist attractions. I may take them to see the castle. The cathedral we have here is really impressive too.
If that someone were from another country, then I'd take them to London for sure.

When you need to get as far away from work as possible, where do you go?
My mum's house in the countryside. There is no phone signal, and they're still on dial-up!

What's your all-time favorite movie?
I have more than one. The Usual Suspects, Reservoir Dogs, Life of Pi and all of Bruce Lee's works!

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
Lemmy, Bruce Lee, Genghis Khan, Cleopatra and Zuckerberg, for kicks.
My dad had dinner with Lemmy once.

Name three things that people reading this magazine don't know about you.
1. I was a child actor and was in a Black Flag music video.
2. I went to over 13 schools as a kid and moved more times than that.
3. My dad is a retired comedian in LA, and he performed in the Vegas circuit, too.

[Cash Bonus]

This is a great affiliate interview series and I can really relate to you. I learned some new things from it today. I really appreciate it.

[sweetbet]

Very nice interview. Zuckerberg would definitely be a very interesting guy to have over for dinner.

[mintbet]

Get interview Tait - I feel like we know you and your site just a bit better now, and look forward to working with you. Thanks for sharing your insights

[marlies]

really good read, thanks for being interviewed for the rest of us

[agsgroup]

Really interesting interview thanks (your "dad had dinner with Lemmy once" - how cool!)

[Ladiepre]

These interviews really give great insight into affiliating. This is the second one I have read this year. Thank you and please keep them coming.

[GPWA Maria]

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A very candid interview. I am obsessed with stand up comedy from the US, I love Tom Papa and Jim Gaffigan amongst many others. If you dad has some youtube videos, please share.