Affiliate Interview Series - Heather Gartland

**GPWA Daniel** · 14 August 2019, 8:12 am

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(This interview was originally publishes in the February 2019 issue of the GPWA Times Magazine)

You've been in the gaming industry since 1999—when we last talked to you, you were already an industry veteran, and now you've been here for almost 20 years. When you first joined the industry, what did you think you'd be doing 20 years later? How do you feel about where you are now compared to where you thought you'd be?
Well, I definitely did not think I would be doing another interview for the GPWA 10 years later! You must know that now I actually feel like a dinosaur, not just a veteran.
I thought by now I would be living on an island sipping on cocktails, working when I wanted to, and generally just enjoying life and taking it easy.
Oh, wait! That is exactly what I am doing, come to think of it.
I moved to New Zealand five years ago, which of course is an island. I do sip cocktails on the beach when I can drag myself away from the computer, and I do work when I want to, enjoy life and take it easy.

What are the biggest changes you've seen in the industry since we last talked to you?
I would have to say that U.K. compliance has probably been one of the biggest changes. It's had a huge impact on us, as it took a long time to update our network to meet the requirements, only to find many of the casinos using compliance as an excuse to get out of their contracts with affiliates and closing accounts after they were compliant! The closure of the Australian market also had a big impact on us, as we had just spent two years developing a new Australian site, which we had just launched two months prior to the closure.

What advice would you give to a new iGaming affiliate just getting started in the business?
Expect to put in a lot of long hours and effort before you start seeing some decent money. There is no such thing as a get-rich-quick scheme in the gambling affiliate business. Perhaps in the past, before regulations and competition came into the industry, but these days you have to give your all if you want to be successful. Don’t do any underhanded dealings, look after your reputation and produce top-quality, accurate content.

Tell us about your sites. Do you have more or fewer than you did last time we spoke?
I would say we still have in the region of 120 live sites, but the parked domains have reduced substantially – down from 600 to 300, as my husband Andy has finally managed to overcome his domain registration addiction.

Your sites cover a variety of verticals. What are the advantages of running sites in so many different types of gaming? What are some of the challenges?
We never get bored, and we cover the full gambling spectrum by having sites that focus on casinos, slots, sportsbooks, poker and bingo.
Keeping content updated is the biggest challenge we face in maintaining such a large network.

What emerging markets are you most excited about?
At this stage, we are holding back on heading into new markets until all the compliance is sorted out, as we are still feeling the pain of the development of our Australian site that we had to shut down two months after launch.

How do you try to get your sites to stand out from the competition?
In all honesty, our sites are not unique, but are simply laid out and tell the truth about the casinos we advertise. By doing this, we already stand out from the competition.

How do you decide what casinos to promote?
We probably receive around 20 new requests per day from various affiliate managers asking us to promote their new casinos. Most of these e-mails are ignored, as they are the usual churned-out standard e-mail that gets sent out in bulk.

If we have seen someone has actually taken the trouble to look at some of our sites, we will give them the same courtesy and have a look at the casino they want us to advertise. If we like the initial look and don’t find spelling errors and bad English, we will then read about them on forums and other affiliate websites to ensure they are not blacklisted anywhere.

We will then look through their conditions to ensure they don’t have ridiculous play-through requirements or very low weekly payment limits, etc. We will also look at the variety of games, deposit options, etc.

If they pass all those tests, we will then get one of our reviewers to open an account, deposit and play, so that we can experience exactly what our players will experience. This experience will also be the basis of our review if we agree to promote them.

We are, however, very reluctant to promote new casinos without an insertion fee or prepayment, as we have had many bad experiences over the years with new brands closing down or not paying players within the first year of operation.

How big is the Topboss operation?
We have seven full-time staff members located in South Africa and New Zealand. All of them are loyal and dedicated and have been with us since Day 1. We also make use of many freelancers all over the world. Our motto: Less staff, less hassle.

Do you gamble online? What about in brick-and-mortar casinos?
I do occasionally gamble online to test out new casinos and slot games, but I prefer brick-and-mortar casinos for the atmosphere when I get a chance to go to one, which unfortunately is not very often. There always seems to be something more important to do!

How often do you get to see and interact with other people in the industry? Do you still attend conferences?
I regularly interact with other casino people via e-mail, Skype or Facebook, but no longer attend conferences. Simply put, I don’t attend because I feel like even more of a dinosaur when I see the ages of many of the other affiliates and affiliate managers!

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program?
Honesty, integrity, quick payouts and quick responses to e-mails.

Is the GPWA still as useful to you as when you were a newer affiliate?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to read or post as much as I used to. But when I do get the time, I still find it a valuable source of information, and it is still my go-to forum if I want to find out what other affiliates feel about a specific affiliate program or casino.

If you could change one thing about the industry these days, what would it be and why?
I said this in the last interview 10 years ago, and I still feel the same way: I would remove all bonuses, as I believe these cause a lot of player unhappiness when they try to cash out winnings from a bonus only to discover there is a play-through requirement, maximum withdrawal amount, etc. Many people do not read the terms and conditions.
It would also save us hours of work having to change the bonuses and update reviews every time they change.

What do you think the industry will look like in five years?
I don’t think there will be too many small affiliates around, as they will be swallowed up by the big guys. The casino affiliate programs are also tightening up on which affiliates they want to work with, so it cuts a lot of options down for the new guys and the smaller guys. I think there will be more regulation in previously unregulated countries.

What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate?
They are so used to it by now that they don’t question what we do. Most just think we do online marketing for the casino industry, but don’t actually understand how it works.

What's your approach to SEO and drawing traffic to your sites?
Andy is the SEO expert at our company, and he spends hours analyzing trends and search terms on an ongoing basis. All the traffic to our sites is from organic search.

How much time do you devote to social networking for your sites?
Our team used to devote a lot of time to social networking, but we didn’t find the rewards matched up to the effort. The problem with social media is that one hour after posting, it becomes old news. We still use social media, but only on a weekly basis now, instead of daily.

What do you like about the industry and running your sites?
The fact that I can work when and where I want, and can work any time of the day or night. I am not bound by “normal” working hours. I also like that I get to meet people from all over the world and the world is our target market, which means there is unlimited potential.

What are the most difficult things about running your sites?
Trying to keep up with the number of casinos closing down, changing tracking links and bonuses, and keeping the sites updated with regular fresh content.

If you won $10 million playing the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
The first things I would do are pay off every debt I have, buy a house for each one of my children, give a big chunk to an animal charity and help out a few people that really need it.

What were you like in high school?
If you could imagine a nerd who played truant and smoked in the school toilets – that would have been me!

If someone from out of town were visiting you, what’s the one place you'd definitely take them to see?
If I were still living in South Africa, it would be Sun City, which is a beautiful resort offering everything a holidaymaker would want – casinos, watersports, golf, tennis, restaurants and pools.
In New Zealand, it would have to be the Sky Tower in Auckland. The view is amazing – especially seeing the lights of Auckland at night. Alternatively, New Zealand has spectacular scenery throughout the country, so a road trip through New Zealand would also be a possibility.

What are your pet peeves?
Animal cruelty, bad manners and bad spelling.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you and why?
I would take three people: Richard Gere, Kevin Costner and then Bear Grylls, to ensure we all stay alive. For those of you who have no clue who the first two are, I refer you to my previous "dinosaur" point!

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
I am not interested in having dinner with anyone except my family and close friends, because their opinions are the only ones that mean anything to me.

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

I am quite the animal activist and often get myself into trouble with the law to help animals in distress.
I have flown on the Concorde.
I believe in psychics, spirits and feng shui.

**universal4** · 15 August 2019, 12:24 am

Excellent interview and nice to see some of the answers, although having known Heather as long as I have, most were not a surprise.

Oh, and Andy will never completely lose that addiction, don't look away or he will buy more LOL

Rick
Universal4

**Cash Bonus** · 15 August 2019, 12:49 am

That is indeed a great affiliate interview series with Heather. Appreciate the time and effort that she's put into doing this for the GPWA.

**Doolally** · 15 August 2019, 3:35 am

Great interview and don't worry, you're not the only dinosaur around!

**Topboss** · 15 August 2019, 4:17 am

Oh, and Andy will never completely lose that addiction, don't look away or he will buy more LOL

HaHa, You are right Rick - Like all recovering addicts - I have to keep a close eye on him

Great interview and don't worry, you're not the only dinosaur around!

Thanks Doolally - Its nice to know there is more of us out there

**SuperiorShareConnie** · 16 August 2019, 2:59 pm

Great Interview Topboss!

All the best!

Connie

**Moonlight Cat** · 16 August 2019, 7:32 pm

Very good interview.

**Betreels Casino** · 19 August 2019, 12:37 am

Wow - remember reading the interview you did in 2008 and now 11 years later and still going strong. Congrats and thank you!

**drifter8** · 19 August 2019, 12:42 am

It is a really good interview, with lots of milestones. It is good that in the forum there are plenty of people with huge experience, who can be inspiration for all of us.

**Martyn** · 20 August 2019, 10:30 am

I saw Bear last week, he waived. he also lives on an Island.

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