contests / incentives

emmanuelle · 2005-10-04, 10:56 AM

We are considering running a contest (or series of) to increase our brand awareness and perhaps motivate affiliates to promote us a bit more.
Initially my thought was to offer an ipod nano for the first person to send 15 sales or something like that.

I'd love to hear people's feedback as to how we can accomplish our goal, and make it worthwhile for affiliates to give us a shot.

Greenguy · 2005-10-04, 12:14 PM

Rewards are a nice thing to have, but they really don't make me push one program over another.

If you do give something away, I'd get away form the popular gifts form the past few months - iPods, PSP, XBox, etc - maybe just a gift card for Amazon or something like that - those are always the best one IMHO because you can just go get what you want

emmanuelle · 2005-10-04, 12:34 PM

Great idea- thanks!

SirMoby · 2005-10-04, 12:37 PM

I've worked closely with sales and marketing for a decade in the corporate world. There was only one way to really incentivise sales people and that was with cold hard cash or something that didn't show up as taxable such as going to a meeting in the Bahamas.

The affiliate has to report whatever is given as taxable income and has to pay taxes on it. So you've not giving me an iPod but you're giving me a discount on an iPod that I have no choice in purchasing.

The only give away that I know changed anyone's marketing was a $5,000+ PC.

ecchi · 2005-10-04, 01:24 PM

One thing to think of before starting a promotion. America now accounts for less than 50% of all web users, and only just about 50% of all English speaking web users. If you offer something heavy, you are either going to have to pay a fortune in postage or only allow American webmasters to win. Also remember most electrical items cannot be shipped across International boarders, due to differences in electric supply, different regulations, import ban, and even export bans from the US to some countries (I remember Alan Sugar complaining that to market his computer in 20 countries he had to manufacture 14 different versions and set up manufacturing in 3 different countries, to obey all the applicable rules). And a lot of other items contain patents or copyrights that prevent you from sending them outside the US.

Now it may seem to you that this simply means you will simply be increasing your US webmaster base and keeping the rest at the same level if you offer a prize that is only available in America. But believe me most non-Americans will look at a sponsor offering a better deal to Americans, call the sponsor a cunt, and go elsewhere. So you may increase the number of American webmasters by 20% but loose 50% of your other webmasters, which is a total loss of 40%.

And you are doing your country a disservice too, since a hell of a lot of non-Americans will look at a sponsor offering a better deal to Americans and think "Just like those fucking yanks to piss on the rest of us, they are all bastards".

ecchi · 2005-10-04, 01:30 PM

RE: "The only give away that I know changed anyone's marketing was a $5,000+ PC." - I don't know, I heard of a lot of people who signed up with a sponsor who offered a bonus that if you got over a certain number of sales you got a free holiday and free sex (a free holiday in the Bahamas plus free "services" from a prostitute while there).

Surfn · 2005-10-04, 01:40 PM

Prizes are no incentive to me. Never have been. Word of mouth is the best way for me to sign up and start promoting. The last several years I have joined over 300 programs and really don't have a need for anything that isn't exclusive or one of kind anymore. I'm not trying to offend you but my days of trying out new sponsors just to try them out has about passed.

Good luck

Of course getting some fantastic sex would go a long way to persuading me!

emmanuelle · 2005-10-04, 04:40 PM

I appreciate everyone's input, thank you.

For the record, Ecchi, we are not American, are quite aware that most of our active affiliates are not American, and our non-US affiliates have access to more and possibly better promo materials from us.
Not that it matters a hoot to me where our affiliates happen to reside, everyone is embraced and valued as much as the next.

docholly · 2005-10-04, 04:55 PM

i like gift cards

wildgirl · 2005-10-04, 04:57 PM

hmmm cool one..great ideas

ecchi · 2005-10-04, 05:58 PM

RE "For the record, Ecchi, we are not American, are quite aware.....": I was not assuming you were, I was pointing out a problem you will come across, because you mentioned the Ipod, which this applies to.

Halfdeck · 2005-10-04, 11:50 PM

Something like $100 per signup makes me stop and want to put up new stuff for that sponsor, but usually I'm swamped with so much stuff that needed to get done yesterday I never get around to it.

Another incentive for me is webmaster rankings. No clue why I should even care about rankings lol --I guess I like competition.

Fantastic sex might also help, but underline "fantastic."

RonaldBiggs · 2005-10-05, 02:34 AM

Content!

Jel · 2005-10-05, 12:04 PM

1st person to send 15 sales, 1st person to send 10 sales, our best earning webmaster will receive...

None of those make me want to sign up, or even push any sponsor harder on any particular day, as I know there is just no way I will be the first, or the best performing webmaster for whichever sponsor.

Prize draws and higher payouts do the biz for me, see: pussycash promotions

Preacher · 2005-10-05, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jel

1st person to send 15 sales, 1st person to send 10 sales, our best earning webmaster will receive...

None of those make me want to sign up, or even push any sponsor harder on any particular day, as I know there is just no way I will be the first, or the best performing webmaster for whichever sponsor.

Prize draws and higher payouts do the biz for me, see: pussycash promotions

Exactly!

But that's only if you are concerned about the little guys.

Ramster · 2005-10-05, 12:50 PM

1st person to....most sales...top 3 webmasters...

These are useless contests. Most of the guys winning these can afford to buy their own things.

Make a contest attractive for all webmasters. Making a contest for guys with monster traffic is not all that good in bringing in fresh blood for the long term. Pussy Cash's contest for a drawing was nice. It made guys try to get as many sales as they could..1 sale or 100...they had a chance.

So a contest like that is nice. Gift certificates is nice then a webmaster can buy what he/she wants. And make it for all webmasters so maybe a gift certificate based on total sales. A webmaster making 100 sales gets a bigger certificate than a guy sending in 10 which might the minimum for a certificate.

2005-10-04, 10:56 AM	#1
emmanuelle 0100011101100101011001010 1101011001000000100001101 1010000110100101100011 Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,441	contests / incentives We are considering running a contest (or series of) to increase our brand awareness and perhaps motivate affiliates to promote us a bit more. Initially my thought was to offer an ipod nano for the first person to send 15 sales or something like that. I'd love to hear people's feedback as to how we can accomplish our goal, and make it worthwhile for affiliates to give us a shot.

2005-10-04, 12:14 PM	#2
Greenguy The Original Greenguy (Est'd 1996) & AVN HOF Member - I Crop Pics For Thumbs In My Sleep Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Blasdell, NY (shithole suburb south of Buffalo) Posts: 41,929	Rewards are a nice thing to have, but they really don't make me push one program over another. If you do give something away, I'd get away form the popular gifts form the past few months - iPods, PSP, XBox, etc - maybe just a gift card for Amazon or something like that - those are always the best one IMHO because you can just go get what you want __________________ Promote POV Porn Cash By Building & Submitting Galleries to the Porn Luv Network

2005-10-04, 01:40 PM	#7
Surfn If you don’t take a chance the Angels won’t dance Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Earth on occasion Posts: 8,812	Prizes are no incentive to me. Never have been. Word of mouth is the best way for me to sign up and start promoting. The last several years I have joined over 300 programs and really don't have a need for anything that isn't exclusive or one of kind anymore. I'm not trying to offend you but my days of trying out new sponsors just to try them out has about passed. Good luck Of course getting some fantastic sex would go a long way to persuading me! __________________ Surfn's Links Are you a partner?

2005-10-04, 04:55 PM	#9
docholly Nothing funnier than the ridiculous faces you people make mid-coitus Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Sin-City USA Posts: 4,973	i like gift cards __________________ Support Indie Porn Sites OMGoddess You know you need some Bling!!

2005-10-04, 04:57 PM	#10
wildgirl You can now put whatever you want in this space :) Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 624	hmmm cool one..great ideas __________________ My Best Money Maker:

2005-10-04, 12:34 PM	#3
emmanuelle 0100011101100101011001010 1101011001000000100001101 1010000110100101100011 Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,441	Great idea- thanks!

2005-10-04, 12:37 PM	#4
SirMoby Jim? I heard he's a dirty pornographer. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 2,706	I've worked closely with sales and marketing for a decade in the corporate world. There was only one way to really incentivise sales people and that was with cold hard cash or something that didn't show up as taxable such as going to a meeting in the Bahamas. The affiliate has to report whatever is given as taxable income and has to pay taxes on it. So you've not giving me an iPod but you're giving me a discount on an iPod that I have no choice in purchasing. The only give away that I know changed anyone's marketing was a $5,000+ PC.

2005-10-04, 01:24 PM	#5
ecchi Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: About to be evicted!!!! Posts: 4,082	One thing to think of before starting a promotion. America now accounts for less than 50% of all web users, and only just about 50% of all English speaking web users. If you offer something heavy, you are either going to have to pay a fortune in postage or only allow American webmasters to win. Also remember most electrical items cannot be shipped across International boarders, due to differences in electric supply, different regulations, import ban, and even export bans from the US to some countries (I remember Alan Sugar complaining that to market his computer in 20 countries he had to manufacture 14 different versions and set up manufacturing in 3 different countries, to obey all the applicable rules). And a lot of other items contain patents or copyrights that prevent you from sending them outside the US. Now it may seem to you that this simply means you will simply be increasing your US webmaster base and keeping the rest at the same level if you offer a prize that is only available in America. But believe me most non-Americans will look at a sponsor offering a better deal to Americans, call the sponsor a cunt, and go elsewhere. So you may increase the number of American webmasters by 20% but loose 50% of your other webmasters, which is a total loss of 40%. And you are doing your country a disservice too, since a hell of a lot of non-Americans will look at a sponsor offering a better deal to Americans and think "Just like those fucking yanks to piss on the rest of us, they are all bastards".

2005-10-04, 01:30 PM	#6
ecchi Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: About to be evicted!!!! Posts: 4,082	RE: "The only give away that I know changed anyone's marketing was a $5,000+ PC." - I don't know, I heard of a lot of people who signed up with a sponsor who offered a bonus that if you got over a certain number of sales you got a free holiday and free sex (a free holiday in the Bahamas plus free "services" from a prostitute while there).

2005-10-04, 04:40 PM	#8
emmanuelle 0100011101100101011001010 1101011001000000100001101 1010000110100101100011 Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,441	I appreciate everyone's input, thank you. For the record, Ecchi, we are not American, are quite aware that most of our active affiliates are not American, and our non-US affiliates have access to more and possibly better promo materials from us. Not that it matters a hoot to me where our affiliates happen to reside, everyone is embraced and valued as much as the next.

2005-10-04, 05:58 PM	#11
ecchi Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: About to be evicted!!!! Posts: 4,082	RE "For the record, Ecchi, we are not American, are quite aware.....": I was not assuming you were, I was pointing out a problem you will come across, because you mentioned the Ipod, which this applies to.

2005-10-04, 11:50 PM	#12
Halfdeck You can now put whatever you want in this space :) Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: New Haven, CT Posts: 985	Something like $100 per signup makes me stop and want to put up new stuff for that sponsor, but usually I'm swamped with so much stuff that needed to get done yesterday I never get around to it. Another incentive for me is webmaster rankings. No clue why I should even care about rankings lol --I guess I like competition. Fantastic sex might also help, but underline "fantastic." __________________ Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.

2005-10-05, 02:34 AM	#13
RonaldBiggs Are you sure you're an accredited and honored pornographer? Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 60	Content! __________________

2005-10-05, 12:04 PM	#14
Jel I'm the only guy in the world who has to wake up to have a nightmare Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London, United Kingdom Posts: 1,895	1st person to send 15 sales, 1st person to send 10 sales, our best earning webmaster will receive... None of those make me want to sign up, or even push any sponsor harder on any particular day, as I know there is just no way I will be the first, or the best performing webmaster for whichever sponsor. Prize draws and higher payouts do the biz for me, see: pussycash promotions

2005-10-05, 12:50 PM	#16
Ramster Life is good Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 11,868	1st person to....most sales...top 3 webmasters... These are useless contests. Most of the guys winning these can afford to buy their own things. Make a contest attractive for all webmasters. Making a contest for guys with monster traffic is not all that good in bringing in fresh blood for the long term. Pussy Cash's contest for a drawing was nice. It made guys try to get as many sales as they could..1 sale or 100...they had a chance. So a contest like that is nice. Gift certificates is nice then a webmaster can buy what he/she wants. And make it for all webmasters so maybe a gift certificate based on total sales. A webmaster making 100 sales gets a bigger certificate than a guy sending in 10 which might the minimum for a certificate. __________________ Pornstar Legends \| Live Cam Model Shows \| Hungarian Girls Skype: robmurray999