Affiliate Interview Series - Andy C.

**GPWA Daniel** · 7 October 2020, 10:18 am

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(This interview was originally published in the July 2020 edition of the GPWA Times Magazine)

Let’s start by asking about you and your background. Where did you grow up and what is your professional background?

Thatsagoal.com was started off the back of finishing a University degree ?there was always a desire to be my own boss and becoming an affiliate gave me that chance. I have been running the site ever since.

I started Thatsagoal.com back in 2012, so it’s been eight years now. It was started as a football blog, pushing some traffic through Twitter and after looking for a way to monetise the site away from the standard advertising practice, I discovered that being a gambling affiliate was an attractive proposition. From there I slowly began incorporating gambling into the site and it went from there.

Along the way I have had some other sites come and go, but Thatsagoal has always been the main focus.

Are you a full time or part time affiliate?

Full time. It took about six months for revenue to become attractive enough for me to take some kind of wage, however, I did get a bit fortunate with one or two bigger players early on. I began putting some money into the SEO side of things and that really helped revenue.

What's your approach to SEO and drawing traffic to your sites?

I was quite aggressive with SEO in the first few years and I’ve tried to learn as I go. We used Blueclaw for a couple of years and they really helped tidy the site up. For the past couple of years I have taken on more SEO responsibility myself, trying to keep the site’s content updated and using Search Console and SEMrush to target new keywords ?this has really helped with traffic.

You have a lot of sports betting content on your site. Do you have employees or use freelancers? Or do you do most of the writing yourself?

Freelancers help me with content, mainly things like match previews, write ups of football accumulators, BTTS tips and weekend previews of the Football Leagues. I tend to look after the long term content such as bookies reviews, sign-up offer reviews and ‘how to?guides.

Why did you choose the sports betting vertical?

Sports betting has always been of great interest to me. I have always been a huge football fan and enjoyed a weekend accumulator. When starting Thatsagoal.com, it was great to write about something I really enjoyed. I have now moved into a horse racing section on the site too ?another passion of mine. Also, CompareUKcasino.com is a brand new casino comparison site I am working on.

Tell us more about the new site. What kind of crossover do you find between casino players and sports bettors?

After speaking to a few people in the forums of GPWA, it seems for some people, transferring from sports to casino affiliation has been a success. With regards to players, I don’t see too much crossover based on affiliate accounts, but in times when there is no real live sport on, there could be an angle into the casino market.

Thatsagoal is licensed as an affiliate by the Division of Gaming Enforcement in the State of New Jersey and last year you started providing sports betting content for popular U.S. sports like the NFL. Tell us why you made the decision to try and capture the U.S. market and how has it played out for you so far?

To be honest it was a bit of a punt. I fired up a subdomain of Thatsagoal and pointed it to the U.S. market, but I was a bit late to the party. New Jersey was already live and already crowded. I just didn’t have the time to pursue it, especially on a shoe-string budget. Not knowing a lot about U.S. sports did not help so it was taking hours to try and write a 500 word preview!

What was the process of getting licensed in NJ like?

For me it was easy. I have not tried to get licensed for revenue share, which I believe is a lot more complicated.

With the majority of your business sports betting, how did the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of many events affect you?

This is where the idea of compareukcasino.com came from. I have wanted to start a casino site for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity to look into that market. The majority of my sports betting affiliate accounts are on rev share deals so although I’m expecting a big drop in revenue, people are still betting on things like horse racing abroad and lesser known football leagues.

Do you gamble online? What about in brick-and-mortar casinos?

I do enjoy a punt on the football or horse racing. I still like to go into shops to place bets though, it feels more authentic. I’ve not been to a brick and mortar casino for a few years now, but in the past I would sometimes spend a couple of hours in there with friends, mainly watching other people bet, but I do enjoy blackjack and roulette.

How often do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry? Do you attend conferences? Why or why not?

I’ve not attended conferences for a couple of years now. I did go to LAC for about five or six years, but I found they were getting less and less productive. My main point of contact for other people in the industry is the GPWA forums ?you get some really good insight into what other people are doing on there and it’s interesting to hear how people drive traffic in different ways.

Before attending an industry conference, how do you game plan to ensure it’s both a fun and productive time for you and your business.

My big thing was always to get meetings booked in and leave a bit of a gap in between! Affiliate managers are always talking to somebody on their stand, so your slot will always be late or condensed. You have to be disciplined otherwise you can easily end up on a FOREX stand for 45 minutes drinking a beer.

What advice would you give someone who told you they were going to try and become an iGaming affiliate?

I think it’s tougher than ever to get started now. However, there is definitely still money to be made even though it is a very crowded market. I’d advise focusing on a couple of very small parts of the industry and trying to build a brand that people trust. Pick and choose your programs as well, some of the new T&Cs that have come in are doing very little except taking money away from affiliates.

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager and affiliate program?

For me, an affiliate manager has to be one that doesn’t pester you 24/7, but also be prompt in replying to questions. I experienced this when starting up compareukcasino.com. There is nothing worse than an AM pestering you via Skype or email. It makes me not want to work with them, to be honest. I think for most affiliates, payment is a big issue. If you get paid on time, you’re happy. The new T&Cs that are sneaking into affiliate programs are a worry too ?these businesses know they have affiliates over a barrel in that if we stop promoting them, eventually the account will be closed.

If you could change one thing about the industry these days, what would it be and why?

I’d like to see the operators give a fairer chance to affiliates. In the last 12 months we have seen numerous changes to affiliate programs, including T&Cs that affect all affiliates. The forums are full of people complaining about these programs and with most of them being in the sports betting vertical, it means the trust between affiliates and some operators is wavering.

What do you do to stay in shape ?both physically and mentally?

I enjoy the gym and I have a dog, so I’m out twice a day with him. This gives me a good “out?from sitting at a desk at home. It’s important to be away from a screen for a couple of hours a day to switch of mentally.

If someone from out of town were visiting you, what’s the one place you'd definitely take them to see?

Living in Yorkshire, we’re surrounded by stunning countryside and great pubs. It would have to be a long walk through the Peak District with a couple of stops for a pint on the way!

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

Paul Gascoigne, Peter Crouch, Duncan Ferguson, Karl Pilkington, Tiger Woods

Name three things that people reading this magazine don't know about you.

I’m getting married in August (hopefully!)
I’ve got a cocker spaniel called Rolo.
I support Everton.

**newcustomeroffer** · 8 October 2020, 2:20 am

Originally Posted by GPWA Daniel

I support Everton.

Quick - screenshot that league table

**RacingJim** · 12 October 2020, 8:39 am

I genuinely don't know how anyone can survive as a sports affiliate without promoting bet365, which I noticed isn't promoted on the site?

**Casinotutor** · 14 October 2020, 2:12 am

What is the biggest difficulty when signing up for an affiliate account with bookmakers that you encounter?

**Andy_thatsagoal** · 26 October 2020, 11:15 am

Originally Posted by RacingJim

I genuinely don't know how anyone can survive as a sports affiliate without promoting bet365, which I noticed isn't promoted on the site?

You've not looked very far then!

**Andy_thatsagoal** · 26 October 2020, 11:17 am

Originally Posted by Casinotutor

What is the biggest difficulty when signing up for an affiliate account with bookmakers that you encounter?

The biggest problem I find is that everybody wants the 'best position'. Of course that isn't possible and then you get into the debate surrounding commission structure and tier.

And of course the age old "how many new depositors do you think you can send?" Question

**RacingJim** · 26 October 2020, 2:51 pm

Originally Posted by Andy_thatsagoal

You've not looked very far then!

Just looked and it looks like it's there now but last time I checked I couldn't see it.

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