Interview with Chris Zelver (Euro Partners)

Welcome to 10 Questions With….Chris Zelver. Chris is my affiliate manager at Euro Partners and a hell of a great guy. I’ve been promoting Euro Partners for years, however my original affiliate manager left the company, and I could never get a good relationship with any other affiliate managers at Euro Partners, and so stopped promoting them for awhile.

Enter Chris, who contacted me and immediately turned things around. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’ve worked with many affiliate managers. I could tell instantly that Chris wasn’t just an employee of Euro Partners – he was a person who cared about the brand, and more importantly cared about working with affiliates and creating relationships. Since the initial e-mail we have worked closely together, and I know if I ever need anything, Chris will be there for me.

If you sign up via this link for Euro Partners, you’ll get the awesome Chris as your affiliate manager. Chris has also sat down to talk more about Euro Partners and the industry in general, in this edition of 10 Questions…

Thanks for the interview Chris. What is your history in the gambling affiliate industry?

I broke into the gaming industry working in the support department for Euro Partners, after 7 months I was promoted to Affiliate Manager. This gave me quite an advantage. After working so closely with the players in support, I understand the industry and EP inside and out. I have a throrough understanding of players’ needs and this has given me a new outlook and perspective when dealing with Affiliates.

What casinos do Euro Partners currently offer for affiliates to promote?

We currently have many casinos which are available for affiliates. The top 3 include: Casino Tropez, Europa Casino and Titan Casino. These are some of the top converting brands across the Internet and each have their own unique features. Casino Tropez has quite a nice flash platform, Titan Casino offers very generous sign up bonus and Europa Casino has high quality graphics. With such a vast variety of casinos to chose from, this has allowed us to experience an above average player value.

A lot of our visitors are poker affiliates getting into online casino marketing for the first time. For these new poker-turned-casino- affiliates, what casino would you recommend they promote first over the other brands?

Titan Casino is the first room that I’d recommend due to its strong branding and its great welcome bonus which helps with conversions a lot. Also, the superbrand “Titan” holds clout with any poker affiliate should be familiar with because of Titan Poker. The name Titan has a lot of power and is recognizable to most online gambling enthusiasts. The crossover opportunity is also really high which brings players into an already recognized brand through a pre-existing audience.

One popular question I get is in regard to promoting casinos specifically on poker sites, and to poker players. Obviously that is something that is very hit and miss, however with the popularity and strong brand name of Titan Poker, it gives your new casino Titan Casino an edge in that department. Do you find poker affiliates have a lot of success promoting Titan Casino poker portals as the best online casino, or would you advice promoting mostly to casino players?

Yes, going with Titan Casino will definitely give you an edge since it has the brand name recognition for poker players which gives them a higher sense of loyalty. However, all our top casino brands have proven to be quite good for poker affiliates who are looking to switch over to promoting casinos because we have some really big names in the industry.

Euro Partners brands unfortunately do not accept US players.What markets would you suggest new casino affiliates start promoting to first?

Yes that is right, Euro Partners immediately pulled out of the US market as soon as the UIEGA was passed. Although it’s a shame to lose such a big market, this goes along with EP’s commitment to integrity.

It’s hard to pinpoint only one market. Although, I’m biased towards Canada being from there originally – definitely a great market to work with. Other markets I particularly enjoy working with include: Germany, Sweden and Denmark are all personal favourites of mine.

Promote to those countries today – sign up as a Euro Partners affiliate here. Many casinos focus on a specific game. For example Euro Partners has Craps.com as one of their brands. Do you find these game-specific casinos generally attract only players for that specific game? ie: do the majority of players that go to Craps.com play mainly Craps, or do you find there is a lot of crossover?

We find crossover of course! That is the whole reason it is necessary for us to provide cross platform tracking for our affiliates. Many of their players are visiting multiple platforms and playing different style games. However, there is also an interesting phenomenon with the bingo market. This demographic is primarily women in mid twenties to forties. This obviously is a very specific segment of the market that you wouldn’t necessarily find gracing a table of a Texas Holdem tournament.

Let’s say you leave your position at Euro Partners, and decide to pursue a career as an affiliate. Your first site is going to be a “mini-site” focusing on a specific niche. What niches would you start promoting right from the beginning?

I am really a true fan of Poker more than anything else as it’s where I got my start in the industry and enjoy the game a lot. I believe right now I’d go with Bingo just because of the enormous growth potential of an industry I believe to still be in the early stages of its development.

Something I have noticed in the casino industry is the odd numerical values for bonuses. In poker, it’s usually a 100% to $600 sign-up bonus etc. While you have that at some casinos, at Vegas Red you have an $888 welcome bonus, and at Craps.com you have $1,117 welcome bonus. Do you find with these numbers the conversion ratio can increase? Or any specific reason for these numbers?

All our brands have their own unique bonus that gives them that “extra something.” One thing for sure is that all of our bonuses are extremely generous to the players and this is what keeps them coming back for more!

I’ve worked with many affiliate managers in this business, and in the years I have been promoting Euro Partners I have had quite a few affiliate managers. Of those, I can say you are the best I have worked at Euro Partners hands down. What do you think are the most important aspects an affiliate manager can bring to the table?

First of all, thank you very much! That is quite a compliment considering the level of Affiliate Managers working at Euro Partners. The most important aspect I’ve focused on over the years is trust. We sit behind a computer screen most of the time and the advice given to affiliates is very often make or break The guidance provided must also be provided in a timely manner; This goes a long way since time is so critical to results in this business.Other than that I’d say experience is critical in order to really build true partnerships in this industry.

To say there is a lot of online casinos out there would be an understatement. So why should affiliates promote Euro Partners?

Affiliates should promote Euro Partners over others because of our proven track record. We continue to pay our affiliates on time and give them the high quality service and attention that they deserve to be successful.Our platforms pride themselves in excellent customer service and that provides great security in our products and ultimately ensures strong conversions.

Thank you very much for the interview Chris, it is much appreciated. Euro Partners is an excellent brand to work with, and every affiliate that signs up via my links will get the awesome Chris Zelver as their affiliate manager. So if you aren’t already promoting them, sign up as a Euro Partners affiliate today – click here!

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This article, as are all articles on AffiliateBible.com, was written by Graeme aka "Dealer Dan". Graeme currently resides in Kingston, Ontario and has been running his own internet marketing business since 1996.

This article was written on July 14, 2009 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.

If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.