The CEO and co-founder of Good Luck Media Ltd, Risto Myllymäki participated in a conversation recently with Affiliate Grand Slam. Founded in 2018, Risto’s business is an online marketing company focused on the affiliate sector based in Malta, but with roots in Finland.
In the first year of operation, the company was recognized and received some of the main awards in the segment, being nominated for three categories of the iGB Affiliate Awards 2019.
Gook Luck Media’s focus is to deliver results and achieve growth through its operational values: mobile, innovation and practicality.
Check out the interview with Risto Myllymäki, from Good Luck Media:
When and why did you start to consider the affiliate market as a career?
I have been in the gaming industry since 1999, when I started working at the Finnish gaming agency Raha-automaattiyhdistys (now Veikkaus). At that time, I did not understand that Veikkaus was probably one of the largest operators that distributed profit sharing to its affiliates: physical kiosks, supermarkets and gas stations that had Veikkaus slot machines.
When I came to Malta 10 years ago and started working with online games on the operator side, I really understood the value of membership. I worked on the operator’s side for about 8 years and saw that the affiliate market could be interesting for several reasons.
For example, less dependencies on third parties, but instead, work only with one point of contact, the affiliate manager of each operator. I also wanted some new challenges, so jumping into the affiliate business was a natural way to start learning new things like SEO.
How did your affiliate business take off? And is iGaming your only vertical?
We have been working with a small team for two and a half years and the hard work is beginning to bear fruit. We launched some Finnish websites in the first two months. And they have all grown up well – due to useful content for readers. For example, people who want to know about bonuses can find good tips on our specific casino bonus page.
At the moment, we have several sites and many more are to come. We are mainly doing SEO, so we knew from the start that it would take a while. And it would require patience.
What were your biggest challenges when you started?
I think the challenges have changed along the way. In the beginning, our bottleneck was not having enough developers. Or, perhaps, the problem was that we were trying to push too many projects at the same time. But we learned the lessons and adapted very well.
How did you expand your affiliate business?
The key to our growth has been recruiting and outsourcing more resources when needed. We believe we have staggered quite efficiently, but now that I think about it, we could probably have grown even faster by making some recruitment decisions even earlier.
Our developers have also done a great job in building technology solutions that have helped and help a lot.
What helps you to increase your motivation on a daily basis?
The numbers are motivating, like clicking the Update button. Having great content motivates. Being able to work anywhere and anytime motivates you. Having great professionals working in the company motivates. And, of course, trying to beat the best in the industry gives us great motivation.
What aspect of business development are you currently focused on?
We are now focusing on expanding to new GEOs. On a daily basis we have a great focus on the technical part of SEO.
Which markets are you looking at as a priority and why? Do you see any potential in emerging markets?
Finland is our main market, but we are also looking for English-speaking markets, more specifically US markets with our website Coinflip.com, starting with New Jersey. And yes, there is a lot of potential in emerging markets.
Which niches work best for your affiliate marketing and which are the most profitable? How did you find your most profitable niche?
Our niche is nothing special or unique, it is affiliation within the iGaming segment. We knew it was profitable from the start.
What makes your traffic proposal / traffic sites unique?
We believe that we are able to create much better content for our readers than what our competitors are doing. We were operators and have been within the gaming industry for many years.
Not only online, but also on the land side of the business. All this history gives us the ability to give more foundation to our content. In the long run, this is important for the growth of a stable and good traffic base.
Are you thinking of attracting investors or expanding your business? Or have you thought about selling the business? Have you ever thought of going as an operator?
We are in a good situation where we can grow on our own, but we do not say no to good suggestions and ideas to grow even more. Going back to the operators side is not really in our interest right now, as we are having fun doing affiliation.
What qualities and skills are essential in an affiliate team / company?
It takes a very varied skill set to be able to run a competitive affiliate business today. You need to know marketing, analysis, techniques, content, conversion optimization and also legal aspects.
What sets you apart from other affiliates?
We are very focused on details. For example, we often see pages from many casinos with very clear typos or something that eliminates the conversion and reliability of a brand. And we immediately inform our partners with suggestions for improvement.
We like to help our partners as much as possible. We help to test, for example, Pay N Play payments at several new casinos in Finland.
How important is social media activity for your affiliate business? How difficult is it to handle constant Google updates?
We are mainly working on SEO, so updates from Google are essential for us. It’s not really that difficult, just follow Google’s best practices and very clear documentation and everything will be fine.
How does technology play a role in your daily life?
We build cutting-edge mobile technology solutions to beat the competition.
What emerging technologies, such as AI and big data, will impact the affiliate industry in 2021 and beyond?
AI (Artificial Intelligence) already helps Google understand what content is good and what is great. It will be fun to see how affiliates will start using AI in the coming years, for example, when creating content.
How has the fragmentation of regulated markets affected your business?
Regulation has an impact on everyone. You only need to live with it and have a good plan if the impact of regulation is critical for your business. Obviously, we follow the regulations very closely and try to make the best decisions when we go to new markets.
How is the Asian market for affiliates?
There are a lot of people in Asia, so I think it’s a great deal there. We do not focus on Asian markets at the moment. But you never know!
How do you see the future of affiliate business?
The future looks incredible! Affiliation is one of the best and most economical channels for marketing products and services. And online channels continue to grow and become easier and faster. Therefore, the affiliation will grow considerably.
How do you manage relationships with multiple operators? What can operators do to increase support for affiliates?
We love to receive as much news as possible from operators, so that we can ensure that our content is up to date for our visitors. Some of them are doing a great job from that perspective, but there are many operators from whom we don’t get a lot of information or updates. We just need a fast channel like Skype to discuss and get answers and that’s it.
What are the benefits of attending major iGaming events, and what can they do better?
The events are great, especially if you are a new affiliate. You will receive all important and personally contact information in one place.
Have you ever been to a SiGMA event? If not, would you consider participating in SiGMA Manila or SiGMA Malta at some point?
I participated in many SiGMA events from the beginning, including Manila and New Jersey. Manila was good at getting some new contacts. NJ was really in the early stages of opening up US markets, so there weren’t many traders there. Probably next time, whenever time can be found, it will be an even bigger success.
Tell us a little about yourself – after all, business is done with people, not just companies! Your hobbies, favorite book, favorite quote, if you like iGaming, etc.
In my free time I like to play golf with friends, run marathons (very rarely), watch series on Netflix and of course the best thing is to follow my son’s growth.
