Without a doubt, the most effective form of advertising is word of mouth. You can invest millions of dollars are TV spots, billboards, and print ads, but none of them will attract the same kind of attention as a simple recommendation from a friend. Take a look at movies like Knocked Up. The Judd Apatow comedy received next to zero advertising dollars from the movie studio, but people who watched the film thought it was hilarious and told their friends. This is the power behind “sleeper hits” of the summer, so to speak.
The same can be said about attracting sales on the Internet. While it is perfectly reasonable to start an AdWords campaign or to purchase text link ads on a number of popular websites, it’s personal recommendations, referrals, and word of mouth that will get you the most qualified leads. But how does one go about starting something like that? Well, affiliate programs are in abundance for a reason. People will be motivated to advertise and recommend your product if there is some sort of incentive in it for them.
Take the Million Euro Wiki, for example. When it was first launched, people laughed at it because it appeared to a copycat of the Million Dollar Wiki. While MEW has achieved a certain level of popularity based on the endorsement of John Chow, growth hasn’t been where they were hoping it would be. As such, a new referral program has been launched wherein every user will be given their own coupon code.
With this coupon code, new users can get $10 off the price for a page on the Million Euro Wiki. Instead of paying $100, you only have to pay $90. With the referral program, however, every sale results in a $30 commission for the person who referred the sale. This is tracked via the custom coupon code. For example, my coupon code is MichaelKwan.
At first, I wasn’t motivated to buy a page on the Million Euro Wiki, but it was the affiliate program that made it sound “worth it” to me. After all, if I refer just three sales, I’ve already made my money back and I still get to keep my page — I bought the term Blog — for at least 20 years, including the ability to sell it at a later date.
Money is the ultimate motivator. Consider including some sort of referral or affiliate program with your business.
