How To Get Yourself A Free IPhone
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 simple way to improve traffic and sales to a site. It is cheap and effective for advertisers and it almost always delivers the goods for a good return on investment. The most simple form of affiliate marketing is a google adword (you know those little links to the right of your google search page?). Links like these pay commission to the hoster of the link when they deliver someone to the site or get a sale out of them. For a click you might get a small amount, for a site where you get a number of people to sign up and take out a trial offer, the commission is considerably 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.
To buy advertising is not cheap. The advertisers know this, and look towards clever ways to get their product 'out there'. With affiliate marketing the advertiser is paying the affiliate marketing site, who then passes on some of the money to you, who are actually bringing in the punters. Of course, it's not free, but it only takes a little time and a little clever thinking.
How do the site owners make money?
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, would the site lose money?
Theoretically if they gave away iPhones to everyone, then they might make a loss, but as is always the case, not everyone makes it to the number they need to get their free gift; only achieving a couple of referrals or none at all. They have contributed to the list of people signed up, yet have received nothing in return. It all balances out in the end. If it doesn't, the number of referrals required per item goes up to reflect how savvy the customers are being, or how much revenue the site is receiving. In short they are not likely to lose out as long as the advertisers are happy, and as far as we can tell, they are.
And don't the advertisers lose out when people cancel their free trial offers?
It is possible that if everyone suddenly did complete all their referrals, that the site might temporarily be out of pocket, but they would raise the amount of referrals required to ensure that they are always making a profit. As you come at the bottom of the chain, you are the last to get paid, so to speak, so know that the sites always have cash, and that's how they honour their contract with you, and give you your iPhone. Also remember, it pays for them to keep their reputation sweet amongst their agents (you guys), as without you and your clever efforts, they are nothing. Can they really afford to go around making promises they can't keep? Not for long, and these sites are alive and well and have been for some time, so it appears they've got the balance right.
So does affiliate marketing work?
Well, it's up to you. If your time is worth big dollars, I would say, no. If however you have a bit time to spare and like to explore clever and challenging ways to generate referrals, then why not give it a go. You really haven't got much to lose, have you?
The two main sites for UK, USA and Canada are Kudos Network and freebiejeebies Enjoy!
Affiliate Marketing - how it works
Affiliate marketing is a simple way to improve traffic and sales to a site. It is cheap and effective for advertisers and it almost always delivers the goods for a good return on investment. The most simple form of affiliate marketing is a google adword (you know those little links to the right of your google search page?). Links like these pay commission to the hoster of the link when they deliver someone to the site or get a sale out of them. For a click you might get a small amount, for a site where you get a number of people to sign up and take out a trial offer, the commission is considerably 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.
To buy advertising is not cheap. The advertisers know this, and look towards clever ways to get their product 'out there'. With affiliate marketing the advertiser is paying the affiliate marketing site, who then passes on some of the money to you, who are actually bringing in the punters. Of course, it's not free, but it only takes a little time and a little clever thinking.
How do the site owners make money?
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, would the site lose money?
Theoretically if they gave away iPhones to everyone, then they might make a loss, but as is always the case, not everyone makes it to the number they need to get their free gift; only achieving a couple of referrals or none at all. They have contributed to the list of people signed up, yet have received nothing in return. It all balances out in the end. If it doesn't, the number of referrals required per item goes up to reflect how savvy the customers are being, or how much revenue the site is receiving. In short they are not likely to lose out as long as the advertisers are happy, and as far as we can tell, they are.
And don't the advertisers lose out when people cancel their free trial offers?
It is possible that if everyone suddenly did complete all their referrals, that the site might temporarily be out of pocket, but they would raise the amount of referrals required to ensure that they are always making a profit. As you come at the bottom of the chain, you are the last to get paid, so to speak, so know that the sites always have cash, and that's how they honour their contract with you, and give you your iPhone. Also remember, it pays for them to keep their reputation sweet amongst their agents (you guys), as without you and your clever efforts, they are nothing. Can they really afford to go around making promises they can't keep? Not for long, and these sites are alive and well and have been for some time, so it appears they've got the balance right.
So does affiliate marketing work?
Well, it's up to you. If your time is worth big dollars, I would say, no. If however you have a bit time to spare and like to explore clever and challenging ways to generate referrals, then why not give it a go. You really haven't got much to lose, have you?
The two main sites for UK, USA and Canada are Kudos Network and freebiejeebies Enjoy!
About the Author:
go to kudosnetwork AND freebiejeebies for additional information about how to start collecting your free iPhone. Also go to thebestthings.co.uk for further tips and to make your affiliate marketing additional successful.
