I was searching for an interesting gift to buy my nephew for his birthday and came across the website ‘I See Me.’ On the site you can purchase personalized books that help spell your child’s name. Currently, it looks like the author has written two books, one with forest animals aimed at little boys and another for little girl’s with flowers and fairies.
So where’s the bright idea? The woman offers a sales commission to those interested in helping sell her books. First, the author asks you to buy a $45 starter kit, that includes a sample of the ‘My Very Own Name’ and ‘My Very Own Fairy Tale’ storybooks. When you buy the starter kit you also receive shipping codes, which you can offer those that wish to purchase books. When the buyer orders the book they submit the free shipping code. The company provides unique shipping codes to each seller, so they can determine where the referral came from. For each referral they offer the seller a $5 reward.
This is an amazing idea. The author knows she’ll get more people to purchase her books if she provides them with an incentive to sell. The middle man is happy to help sell quality books, when a $5 reward is involved, and the buyer is happy to know that he/she doesn’t have to pay for shipping. It’s a win-win-win, and I bet it gets the author a ton of sales she would otherwise have not received. A brilliant idea.
Isn’t this the basis behind all affiliate marketting? Amazon allows anyone to earn a commission on everything he/she directs people to, and he/she doesn’t have to buy something first for the privilege.
Really the only difference here is the free shipping – which Amazon gives a lot of buyers anyway.
The genius here is that most small business owners don’t create their own affiliate programs. Big companies like Avon & Amazon provide these types of benefits, but small merchants rarely do.