Affiliate Interview Series: Peter | clovek55

**GPWA Aaron** · 14 May 2014, 3:06 pm

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Age: 22
Hometown: Kosice, Slovakia
Living in: Kosice
Favorite Food: Italian
Must Read Book: I really enjoyed Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

Sites:
worldpicks.eu
stavky.com
bf-betting.com
?and many more small ones

When did you launch your sites?
I started the Czech/Slovakian site in 2004.

How did you become involved in the industry?
The site I started was more sports focused than betting focused. But I was approached by a bwin marketing representative for these local markets and we started working together.

How long did it take for you to start earning money?
It wasn't long. There weren't many sites at that time that promoted online gaming here, so using my affiliate accounts with a few bookmakers I was able to generate quite a lot of leads in the early days. This also generated commissions. Bwin also started some aggressive marketing campaigns in local markets at that time, so the deals were interesting.

Your site stavky.com is the Slovak version of worldpicks.eu. Which site attracts more traffic and which site brings in more revenue? And which countries do most of your worldpicks.eu players come from?
It is definitely the Slovakian one. Worldpicks.eu is an English copy of the Slovak website, which is older and still among the bigger sites locally. Worlpicks.eu is just gaining attention, but it is slowly growing month by month. Players come from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Portugal and Romania.

Describe the sports betting market in Slovakia. Are there betting shops on the streets as there are in many other European countries? Outside of soccer (football), are there any other sports that draw heavy action from punters?
Betting shops are very popular and widespread. Among local companies, the biggest is Nike, which operates only in Slovakia. They operate most of the local shops. The second biggest is Fortuna (Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland) and third and fourth are Tipsport and DOXXbet, which operates only via betting machines. Except for soccer the most popular by far is ice hockey. During the World Championship in ice hockey, all pubs are full, there are big screens in cities and a tremendous number of Slovakians watch the Championship.

You’ve said that you really like Betfair and have been involved with them in one way or another since 2003. What is it about Betfair that you find so appealing?
Betfair was something new when a lot of people did not yet understand the principles that are now considered to be relatively easy. Betfair offered a solution for highest odds. Unfortunately, Betfair cut their marketing activities in Slovakia in 2013, as did bwin. Right now the most popular companies here include bet365, Unibet, DOXXbet and Fortuna.

Are you a one-person shop or are you part of a larger organization?
Thanks to my work as an affiliate, I also founded a company, Promiseo, which helps bookmakers with SEO and local ads.

Describe your work environment. Do you work from home or in an office?
I work in an office. I find it much more productive than working from home. I definitely suggest working from an office or at least regularly changing one’s working environment.

What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate program?
I have been lucky in that I have been working with great affiliate managers who taught me a lot about conversion optimization. They gave me a lot of advice and helped me increase revenues significantly.

What’s your preferred method of communication with affiliate managers? Do you like to talk on the phone, by e-mail or via Skype?
While it may already sound obsolete, I prefer e-mail. It gives me time to think about a response; I can respond when I want to and I don't get disturbed by ringing phones. But every time my computer starts, I am also online on Skype.

You’ve been a GPWA member since 2007. What prompted you to join, and how has being a member helped you? Also, is there any particular reason you’ve never posted anything in the forums?
I thought the GPWA could raise the standards for affiliate websites and teach me a lot of things. I was correct. I definitely got some insights into the industry thanks to the articles and posts in the forum. I have not posted because I have seen there are many bigger specialists in these fields, but I think I will share my experiences someday. . . .

What do you like about the industry?
The industry has given me a lot. As I said, I started a small company that is helping companies with SEO and is also helping bookmakers with SEO and getting into the Czech and Slovak markets. Without the industry and me being approached the first time when I had the sport site, I probably would have missed a lot of the skill sets that I obtained from many people in this industry.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
Of course, what bothers us locally is the uncertain legal framework. It would be great if steps were taken to enforce cooperation among the countries.

What do your family and friends think of your work as an affiliate?
Right now I work more in the online marketing company I mentioned earlier. In the past my affiliate activities were more of a hobby than a full-time job. Everyone accepted that I enjoyed working on these websites.

Do you gamble online? If so, what do you play?
I used to bet more. I still like to play live-betting on Betfair and I bet on matches that I watch on TV or attend in person.

How long do you give yourself for answering e-mail? What e-mail tips can you offer?
I take as much time as needed when I feel that the answer needs to be better. I think it is not a good idea to have your smartphone with you everywhere and read your e-mail as soon as it comes in. It’s better to look at new e-mail at specific intervals and handle it at that time if possible.

How do you manage your “to-do?lists? Do you use any special software to help you out?
I only use reminders on my Mac. In work I also enjoy using paper and a pen; it helps me clear my mind a bit when I write down stuff that pops into my head.

How much time do you devote to SEO and/or social networking in order to drive more traffic to your sites?
A big part of my day is spent on SEO, because it is also my job. A lot of the SEO skill I have came through working on my affiliate websites in the past, where I experimented and gained a lot of knowledge.

What’s the most difficult thing about running your sites?
I’ve had some of my websites for years, and I feel bad when I don't give them enough attention these days because of something else I have to do. But right now I am getting back to them and preparing some new features, which I hope will be running soon.

What’s the best thing about running your sites?
As I work on clients?sites and also on my own sites, doing the latter gives me a different feeling. Working on my own sites gives me the satisfaction of creating something: I can decide how I want it to look like and what it should do. I don't want to earn a fortune as an affiliate, but rather create a service that people want to use.

If someone were visiting you, what’s the one place you’d definitely take them to see?
I will take him to my home town, Kosice, Slovakia. It is an unknown but still beautiful place with history, mountains, nature, modern life, nightlife and interesting, tasty food. People who visited me here in the past were always impressed.

When you need to get as far away from work as possible, where do you go?
It is very hard to find places without a cellular network these days!

What’s your favorite vacation spot?
I really enjoyed Sweden. The people are really nice and there is a great atmosphere. I simply feel good there.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?
While I don't have a favorite movie, I do enjoy watching a lot of them. I also regularly lower my productivity by watching too many TV shows!

If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
I won't go with specific names but I would say these would be some of the world’s greatest minds and inventors. I really enjoy listening to people who are thinking outside the box, thinking big, or people who know much more than I do.

**nwalker** · 14 May 2014, 4:11 pm

Nice interview. Are you really only 22? That means you started when you were 12!

**Maria F** · 15 May 2014, 1:17 am

Originally Posted by nwalker

Nice interview. Are you really only 22? That means you started when you were 12!

He must have been a very mature 12 year old boy.

Great interview Peter!

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