Continuing with our Women in Gaming series, we speak to Anna Bielińska. Anna is part of the content team at iGaming Nuts, whose Legalnibukmacherzy.pl site was nominated for ‘Best Non-English Affiliate Site’ at the 2020 iGB Affiliate Awards.
In our Q&A with her, Anna discusses how she got into iGaming as well as sharing tips for women looking to get into SEO and/or iGaming.
And without wasting any more time, we’ll let Anna take the spotlight.
Affiverse: How did you get into SEO/Content Marketing?
Anna Bielińska: “My first contact with SEO was when I was still studying, creating texts on request. But I really got to know content marketing when I started working in Dziennik Bałtycki, one of the biggest Polish newspapers.
“After a few years there, I began managing the part of the paper which is issued online, and I had about 10 editors working for me. During those five years when I took over the online version, we increased the website traffic by over 200% and introduced a multitude of new solutions to measure conversions and analyse traffic.”
AI: More specifically, how did you get into iGaming?
AB: “Completely by accident. My knowledge in the field of betting and games ended at the lottery tickets that I was getting from my dad on birthdays. But due to the fact that sport always Came first in our family, I started creating sports-related content more and more often and that was a subject in which I could fulfil myself. Then I received an offer to prove myself in bookmaking.
“Step-by-step, I gained more and more knowledge, and in time I got an offer to work in a company that optimises websites of bookmaking affiliation.
“It was a difficult decision, because I had to move from a large corporation where I had a stable job, to a startup, and, in addition, it was in an industry that I was only just getting to know. But I quickly developed my skills by participating in training and industry conferences.
“The subject matter itself attracted me enough to start reading industry magazines and SEO blogs in my free time. An additional motivation was the fact that the company started to achieve its first successes, and new people joined the team. After two years, I received a proposition to lead the LegalniBukmacherzy project.”
AI: Do you think that you’ve had to deal with any additional pressure from being a woman in the iGaming industry?
AB: “On the contrary. When I knew an answer to a sports-related question, the guys were baffled ;). Of course, women are definitely in a minority at conferences or business meetings.
“However, it’s kind of an advantage. At least potential customers will notice you. But that is
changing as well. A great example is our company, where women make up 60% of the
team. I think that each one of us feels confident about what she does and doesn’t feel
pressure from men.”
AI: legalnibukmacherzy.pl was nominated for ‘best non-English website’ at this year’s iGB Awards. What were the biggest factors that you think contributed to this success?
AB: “legalnibukmacherzy.pl is our biggest project on the Polish market. At the beginning, only three people worked on it, now there are a dozen of them. From copywriters, through graphic designers and developers, to marketing and UX specialists.
“I think that we’ve been recognised mainly thanks to our approach to the players and proper cooperation with partners. We didn’t use existing patterns, but rather sought unique solutions, thinking about what will be useful for our users and not what the competition does.
“Another element was surely the reliability of our reviews and in-depth knowledge of the product. Thanks to that, players came back to us looking for offers and opinions about bookmakers. For five years, we’ve been gaining the trust of our clients, we worked out the best offers on the market and we got appreciated for our work this year. We were also the first to start organising an awards ceremony for Polish legal bookmakers, where we award our business partners in 10 categories.”
AI: Which part of the business motivates you the most?
AB: “I like fast effects, and sometimes small corrections bear results after just a few days. Of course, working as Head of Content requires time and patience as well, but just as motivating is the fact that our long-term strategies work out.
“I’m obviously motivated by many other factors as well – working in a young and interesting team, the fact that we were able to achieve a lot of successes in a short time, that we have to constantly learn, read, and analyse.
“Even the actions of the competition are motivating; The fact that they copy our solutions and ideas. But I’m especially happy that I took a risk of working in a startup, and it paid off.”
AI: Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
AB: “It’s a standard question in job interviews that I always have a problem with :). I think that my place – at least in the perspective of those five years – is here, in the iGaming Nuts team.
“I’d like to further develop our business AND create projects that are just as good – not only on the Polish market, but also foreign ones. And I count on at least one award on my fireplace.”
AI: And finally, what tips do you have for any women looking to make a name for themselves in either SEO or iGaming?
AB: “Supposedly, women take risks more rarely than men. Maybe it’s because men have dominated the bookmaker market, where risk plays a big role. But working in the iGaming industry is something more than just making bets. It’s contact with the clients, widely understood marketing, including advertising and social media. It’s taking care of the quality of content, analysing data, measuring conversions, and above all, constant broadening of knowledge. Because, as we know, the bookmaking industry changes by the minute.
“It’s the constant development of skills and focus on knowledge that were the keys to the success of my own, as well as the LegalniBukmacherzy website itself.”
