How Can I Get A Free IPod Touch?
Free iPhones for you and your family? Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? The latest craze sweeping the internet is affiliate marketing, and it’s building up quite a head of steam. There are of course sceptics, but those who have been getting involved seem to be happy enough, and the affiliate sites themselves seem to be growing in number. They promise iPods, iPhones, digital cameras and PS3s to ‘members’ who sign up for a trial promotion, and get others to do the same. Are these sites for real, are they a scam and how can they afford to give stuff away for nothing? Read on and I’ll explain.
Affiliate Marketing – how it works
Affiliate marketing is a clever way to get people to sign up to what you are offering. The most common form is google ads which appear as hyperlinks next to the google search that you just performed. When these links are clicked, a commission is paid to the person hosting the link either when someone clicks on the link, or when they buy something from the site. Typically this is small, but in the case of many sites, they can be substantially higher.
How can they afford to give away iPhones, PS3s and digital cameras?
Simple. if they persuade you to sign up to their site, and take out a promotional offer, and then persuade a number of people to do the same, then you are generating business for them. Sites like freebiejeebies and kudosnetwork (aimed at the UK, USA and Canada see below) structure their incentives this way. You sign up to the site, take out a promotional offer which is often free, and persuade a number of people to do the same. Once these have all been validated, you get your gift. But you only get credited when the people you have referred take out a promotion themselves. If you need 18 referrals and each of those 18 people need 18 referrals to get what they want, then the site has gained 324 customers. The next 18 from each of those 18 gives 5832 people, yet the site has only given away 19 iPhones. The numbers stack up very quickly, and as you can see, it makes perfect financial sense for them.
Advertising as we know it is changing form. This is one of the new forms. It is targeted specifically, and it involves you the consumer, doing the legwork, incentivised by the shiny techno-goodies they are offering you. It’s not technically ‘free’, it involves some time, one trial, and a lot of willing friends to help you over the line.
What’s in it for the middleman, the website owner?
They make a commission for everyone who takes out a promotion. They pass on some of this to you. As you are doing the legwork, you are identifying the people and persuading them to sign up; ruling out those who it would be wasted on. You are filtering out, through your knowledge, those who would never sign up. Effectively, you are doing the donkey-work, and the site owner is just sitting there and taking his cut. So as you can see, there’s quite a lot in it for him.
But if everyone completed their referrals, wouldn’t the site lose money?
In theory, if everyone achieved their referrals targets, got 18, or however many, people to sign up and claimed their free iPhones, the site might make a loss. But in practice, this never happens. Some sign up themselves then forget about it, some sign up a few people and then lose interest, These people have signed up and received nothing in return. There are many people who fall into this category. It all comes out in the wash. If it didn’t, the number of referrals required per ‘gift’ would rise until the site was making money. The sites always make money. That’s good news because it means you get paid too.
What about the advertisers?
Again, they probably would lose customers (and money) if all people cancelled, but this is never the case. There are always people who forget, or who don’t know how to cancel. More importantly, the company gets one very important thing; your attention. They get a chance to make a good impression. Think of it as a ‘loss-leader’, a sales call. If they can convince you that what they are selling you is good, then you will buy it and they will have a happy customer and a revenue stream. The reality is that some will stay, some will go, and some will forget to cancel their direct debit (and so remain ‘gym’ members by default)
So does this affiliate marketing work?
Yes. Absolutely. And for everyone involved. Just have patience and determination and you will get there. If you don’t believe me, have a look on the web and see for yourself. The internet is plastered with examples of success stories of affiliate marketing. The question is, what have you got to lose by giving it a go?
The two main sites for UK, USA and Canada are Kudos Network and freebiejeebies Enjoy!
Visit kudosnetwork AND freebiejeebies for additional information about how to start collecting your free iPhone. Also visit thebestthings.co.uk for additional tips and to make your affiliate marketing additional profitable. This and other unique content ” articles are available with free reprint rights.
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Tags: Affiliate Marketing, business, Consumer Electronics, electonics, gaming, gifts, iPhone, Iphones, marketing, Referrals
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