“The right timing is vital” – M. Schumann, NoLimit Casinos
Michael Schumann, Proud author & Co-founder of NoLimit Casinos, joins the latest series of affiliate interviews on Affiliate Grand Slam
Michael Schumann, Proud author and Co-founder of NoLimit Casinos, says that their site is for experienced players and not for bonus hunters, he also speaks about ISTG 2021 which caused an information gap and how this led to the creation of their business – follow his story below.
How did you first get into the affiliate space? And, were you always focused on the Gaming space?
Well, before I answer this question, let me shortly tell you about my educational and research background because I believe it is relevant to the content of the question. I graduated from California International Business School in 2017, and my thesis was researching iGaming industry regulations both in the US and the EU. I thoroughly studied the field, researched both the US and the EU iGaming industry quite comprehensively, compared their pros and cons, learned about each of these market’s specifications, etc.
After that, as I was already geared up with theoretical knowledge of the iGaming industry, I decided to work as a researched-publisher with quite big and important online publications, such as – Business Insider, Gambling Insider, IGB, Sportbild, etc. With up to 7 working experiences under the belt and the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ISTG 2021) on the way, I finally decided to shift my undivided focus to the homeland. Enrolment of the new ISTG 2021 became the catalysts for me and, later on, for my team, which ultimately led us to the affiliate business. The thing is, ISTG 2021 set changes the German market, and changes usually are followed with many questions, which usually lead to information gaps. That information gap was the opportunity that we saw and decided to build a whole business around it.
Tell us a bit more about your business model, concept, and culture and what sets you apart from other affiliates?
As I briefly mentioned above, ISTG 2021 caused an information gap. We saw that there was insufficient information regarding this new treaty, what it did, and what limitations it brought for German players. This became one of the main reasons we started our business. Our objective was to fill this information gap for the operators, game providers, and, of course, gamblers. Therefore, we decided to research the ongoing situation and deliver high-quality, unique content which would answer those questions. Yes, it was hard initially, but what helped us a lot was that we already worked in the EU market.
I’m glad to say that our strategy successfully worked – we are ranking in the top 5 search results when it comes to ISTG and generally German regulations-related KWs in Germany.
What makes your traffic proposition/traffic sites unique? What incremental value do you provide?
I would say the value of our traffic. Before justifying my claim, let me tell you about limits brought by ISTG 2021. Those are the maximum deposit of 1000 EUR per month cross-domain and 1 EUR limit per spin. Think about it this way, the main reason why we have traffic at www.nolimit-casinos.de is that our players want to play without limitations. Nolimit-casinos.de exists for experienced players, not for bonus hunters.
What importance do you give to responsible gaming?
We fully realize the importance of responsible gambling and do our best to promote responsible gambling by providing our customers with thorough, reliable information. It hugely benefits them to make beneficial decisions for themselves. We cooperate only with casinos that have a legit, reliable gambling license.
We also guard our players and offer to assist them with casinos sites (listed on our page) if they come across some sort of problem. That is why www.nolimit-casinos.de has active live chat support.
Furthermore, we have a transparent evaluation system through which we rate and review online casinos that we offer our customers. Players can see what criteria we use to choose only the best online casinos that perfectly suit our players’ needs.
Do you see any potential in the emerging markets?
Here is a cool tip for new affiliates reading this post. Let me give you a very good example of making 1 million EUR really quick – you just need to find million people with the same problem. Afterward, you just need to figure out how to solve it and charge 1 EUR per each, simple as that. So, coming back to the question, “is there potential in emerging markets?” yes, there is. Any changes bring need for information, millions of answered questions which creates vast opportunities for the affiliates.
Which qualities and skills are essential in an affiliate team/business?
Patience! It is the most critical skill – said every affiliate ever…
Well, probably any affiliate business is built on high-quality content, deals (partners), market (users), and marketing (SEO, Advertising), not specifically in that order, of course. From that, you could say research skills, communication skills, creativity, and marketing skills are the key to success.
How does technology play a part in your day-to-day? Which emerging technologies like AI and big data will impact the affiliate industry in 2022 and beyond?
Let me start with the obvious here, affiliate business is easy to set up. Yes, if you try really hard, you could do it overnight. But … the key is to maintain it. Here is where technology comes in handy. The competition will run you over if you do not keep an eye on technology and adopt new things. Thus, yes, we in nolimit-casinos.de have very much respect for the technology.
Unfortunately, I cannot share many secrets of ours. But what is already out there and evolving is – Meta. We believe that is the new big thing.
How can affiliates be more unique in their approach?
Invest in content more. I would say, work for your customers and do your best for them; you will figure out how to make money out of it later. So, yes, offer quality traffic, creative design, try to spot new things, and always be there first.
What does it take for an affiliate business to thrive?
Honestly – many things, but the right timing is vital, in my opinion. If you manage to grab the emerging market in its early stages, that’s practically it. Of course, we can’t underrate the power of the right skills, management, and team of professionals, which guarantee your affiliate business to thrive.
How do you choose your operators and how do you manage relationships with multiple operators?
We choose operators which match our evaluation criteria. We understand what our visitors look for those that match their demand. If the operators meet our criteria, then we start a relationship called partnership. Those partnerships sometimes are good and sometimes bad.
We in www.nolimit-casinos.de believe that partnership to be good, both parties should be equal (both in goals and rights), respectful (in partnership and the data) to each other, and helpful (be willing to contribute to each other’s growth) of course.
From those principles which we carry, we never had a problem working with multiple operators.
What is your approach in the initial stages of a new partnership?
It all starts with research. We collect those potential deals, and the deal-screening process starts. If a casino goes through deal-screening successfully, that means it matches our basic selection criteria. Later on, we evaluate the deal and review past data trends like – demand on the market and other characteristics. Finally, if we manage to become partners, operators go through a testing period which usually is up to 2 months. After the testing period, if both parties are pleased, we become more family than partners, really.
Have you ever been to SiGMA? SiGMA Europe, Africa, Asia, or Americas – which of these four expo shows would you likely book on your diary for 2022, COVID-19 permitting?
Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic of the COVID-19 and the traveling limitations it brought, we were unable to attend past events. However, we are planning on going to the next SiGMA 2022 event to see our current partners and form new partnerships. Furthermore, we have new projects in the pipeline which we would like to introduce; therefore, SiGMA usually is the best place to do that.
Read more about SiGMA Affiliate Grand Slam here.
SiGMA Asia 2022
After the exciting set of conferences that was Malta Week 2021, the SiGMA Group plans to take the world by storm with the golden steeples of Kyiv and the snowy city of Toronto being hubs to draw the best and brightest of the iGaming world together. Our next expo takes us to cutting-edge metropoli of the United Arab Emirates for three days of networking, panel discussions and festivities. Stay up to date with the latest and greatest through SiGMA News.
