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A recent interview with Sasha Starovoitov, co-founder of the affiliate marketing team Marsa Team, was released on the Pin Up Partners YouTube channel. Among other things, the speaker answered the following questions from the host:
You can read the text version of the 40-minute interview in this article in just 5 minutes.
How He Got into Affiliate Marketing in 2015
In 2015, Sasha was actively developing Instagram public pages. He had a large network of accounts with an audience of several million people. The main way to monetize it was through paid advertising. Sasha became interested in the products and offers that advertisers were promoting through his pages. He started to inquire about the advertised offers and thus discovered the existence of affiliate marketing.
One of the offers being promoted through his pages was a course on affiliate marketing. It was a guide on working with CPA networks and cost $60. Sasha negotiated with the advertiser and bought the training program for $50. From this program, he learned about referral links, how to obtain them, and where to place them. This way, Sasha gained his initial knowledge about affiliate marketing. His breakthrough in affiliate marketing came with product offers.
What challenges did you face at the beginning of your affiliate marketing career?
The first challenge was the lack of comprehensive basic knowledge. For instance, he didn't know what proxies and anti-detect browsers were and what their purpose was. He had to gather information bit by bit, systematize it, and learn from his mistakes.
How long did it take you to feel like a fish in water in affiliate marketing?
I think that happened in 2019, after about 4 years of working with traffic. However, in the first 2 years, I didn't consider affiliate marketing as my main line of work. I had offline businesses, and I was focusing on their development. I ventured into advertising to promote them, and affiliate marketing was just seen as an addition to real projects. Understanding how to work with the audience, and what creative approaches work, came to me when I was promoting my own projects. Later, this experience proved to be very useful in affiliate marketing.
How much did that training course you bought in 2015 for $50 help you?
It didn’t help much. There was almost no useful information in it, just general concepts and terms. At that time, there was very little information available about affiliate marketing. Now there's a wealth of information freely accessible. These days, I don't see the point in buying any courses because there's plenty of information available for free.
The Transition from Product Offers to iGaming
The speaker mentioned that he is a person who enjoys gambling. He gladly places bets on sports events because he is involved in sports and understands it. This fact became a crucial factor in his decision to enter the iGaming niche.
In the second half of the 2010s, betting companies started actively promoting themselves in the market. Sasha was interested in this because he had an idea of the potential player profile and knew how to attract them as leads. In 2017, Sasha decided to test betting. Initially, he attracted traffic on a RevShare basis. Later, he tried various payment models, but his team still works with RevShare to this day.
Did you have any turning points in your career as an affiliate marketer when you wanted to quit and go into offline business, for example?
Yes, I had many such moments at the beginning of my career as an affiliate marketer because I didn't initially consider this line of work as the main one. Offline projects took up most of my time, and affiliate marketing was seen as a hobby that I could easily give up. In the beginning, I saw affiliate marketing as an opportunity to hone my sales skills.
Why did affiliate marketing ultimately become your main line of work?
I often asked myself what I wanted to do. I enjoyed the whole affiliate marketing scene, so the answer was obvious. Over time, I completely switched to affiliate marketing.
If you weren't doing affiliate marketing, what else would you be doing?
As of today, I understand that it would definitely be something in the online space. Probably something related to IT, perhaps developing mobile applications or products.
Why don't you do that alongside affiliate marketing?
Perhaps in the future, I will. Right now, I don't want to divert my focus; I'm concentrating on what's profitable.
About Marsa Team
Sasha learned all the basics of affiliate marketing on his own. He learned how to generate traffic and achieve consistent profits. However, to scale the business, he needed a team.
In 2020, at one of the meetups, he met his future business partner, Victor. They were already acquainted before this meeting. After talking, they decided to create a team to leverage each other's skills for greater profitability in affiliate marketing.
The partners rented an office, hired people, and started working together. That's how their affiliate marketing team, Marsa Team, was born.
Did you have any adjustment period with Victor, or did everything go smoothly right away?
There were no adjustment periods. From the start, we felt comfortable working together, and to this day, we resolve all issues without conflict. We share common goals and similar outlooks on life, so there are no communication problems.
What's more important to you in employees — soft or hard skills?
I believe that in our field, a person should have certain hard skills. At the very least, they should know how processes work and be proficient with computers. In addition to this, a person should have an analytical mindset.
What skills should an owner possess to create a successful team?
First and foremost, they should be decisive and willing to take risks. There are many other skills required for managing a team, but fearlessness and a willingness to take risks are fundamental.
What could be a trigger for you to definitively part ways with a team member?
I can't stand betrayal and theft. In such cases, we immediately part ways with the person. In general, we try to instill in people the values that our team is like one big family.
What kind of traffic does your team work with?
Our two main sources are Google and Facebook. We also test other options, but we consistently generate traffic from these two sources.
What criteria do you use to choose the affiliate network you work with?
First and foremost, it's essential for us that it's easy to work with them. For this, we require that CPA networks have:
In addition to this, we value affiliate networks that operate on win-win terms. This means that managers always find a compromise between advertisers and webmasters regarding the quality of traffic.
Do you work only with direct advertisers through affiliate networks?
No. We can also collaborate with resellers if there is no direct advertiser. I don't see anything wrong with that. What matters to me is the quality of service provided by the affiliate network. Whether it's a direct advertiser or not is not the main issue. For example, if we ask them to set up an offer for us, we want it to be done on the same day, not after three days when it's no longer relevant.
About Family and Work
Sasha, you're the father of two children. How do you manage to balance work and family life?
Family is an important part of my life. So, I try to devote all my free time after work and on weekends to my wife and children. They are the closest people to me, and they are with me in all situations. Being an affiliate marketer involves a 24/7 workload.
How often do you have situations where there are conflicts or misunderstandings in your family due to your work?
Our family relationships are built on understanding and dialogue. We've agreed that my wife and children don't distract me when I'm busy. They know I'll give them my time as soon as I have it.
Tell us about your attitude towards sports.
I regularly swim in the pool and work out at the gym.
What's your ideal day off like?
In the first half of the day, there must be some activities. For example, wakeboarding or snowboarding and other similar entertainment.
I also love going out with my family to nature on weekends. It helps recharge my energy so that I can return to the office and work with renewed vigor.
Are there any aspects of your life at the moment that you would like to change?
In general, I'm satisfied with everything. I have a clear daily routine that I stick to. Right after waking up, I exercise, which charges me up for the entire day. If there are any minor nuances, I adjust them to fit my lifestyle.
How do you deal with burnout?
I don't experience burnout, so I don't really fight it. There are sometimes negative moments that throw me off balance, but I try to deal with them quickly, and in general, I'm always in a resourceful state.
How do you manage to stay constantly resourceful?
I engage in activities that I enjoy. I have goals, ambitions, and a lot of plans, and I work non-stop to achieve them. There's simply no time left for burnout.
Have you ever considered moving to live and work in another country, such as Bali, Thailand, or Dubai?
I've had such thoughts. Wherever I am, I always ask myself whether I would like to live there. For example, I relax a lot in warm countries, and it affects my productivity. If I ever find a city that inspires me and where it's comfortable for me and my family, I'll move there.
Final Advice
In conclusion, Sasha advised members of the affiliate marketing community.
"Never stop. If you've chosen your path, keep moving along it, regardless of whether it's difficult or easy at any given time. Whether you achieve the result depends on how sincere your desire to reach it is. If it's truly yours, you will definitely succeed."
