Thread by @DruRly

A thread:

📢 Trends #0025 — Referral Programs

1. 🔍 Problem

You need to make sales, find employees or get deal flow.

2. 💡 Solution

Referral programs incentivize others to help you sell, hire & invest.

Rewards may be cash, credit, discounts, products or experiences.

3. 🏁 Referral Programs

🔘 ConvertKit (@ConvertKit)
🔘 Peloton (@onepeloton)
🔘 Indie.vc Scouts (@indievc)
🔘 Harry's (@harrys)
🔘 Glossier (@glossier)

4. 🏁 Referral Programs (con't)

🔘 Airbnb (@Airbnb)
🔘 Gloat (@dr)
🔘 YNAB (@ynab)
🔘 Kabbage (@KabbageInc)
🔘 Soylent (@soylent)

5. 🏁 Publishers

⚪ Wirecutter (@wirecutter)
⚪ eBiz Facts (@ebizfacts)
⚪ Honey (@honey)
⚪ Skyscanner (@Skyscanner)
⚪ The Points Guy (@thepointsguy)
⚪ 5-Bullet Friday (@tferriss)
⚪ Fatherly (@FatherlyHQ)
⚪ NerdWallet (@NerdWallet)
⚪ No Code List (@truedrewco)

6. 🔮 Predictions

✨ Referral programs will be used in most newsletters.

Tools like @RabbitRabbitHQ and @SparkLoopHQ make this easy.

trends.vc/trends-0011-pa…

7. 🔮 Predictions (con't)

✨ As firms get smaller, referral programs will become more popular.

Creators will focus on core competencies and get help selling.

8. ☁️ Opportunities

🔵 Use dual-rewards.

• @Dropbox gives referrers and referees 500 MB of storage.

• @amuze gives both $25 off.

• @TrunkClub gives both $50.

• @Seedrs allows the referrer to decide who gets the reward.

9. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Use referral programs to get deal flow.

FoundersClub and Indie.vc (@indievc) have scout programs.

10. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Use referral programs to sell digital products.

Daniel Vassallo (@dvassallo) and Wes Bos (@wesbos) use affiliates to sell courses.

trends.vc/trends-0022-di…

11. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Build a referral program for your productized service.

See WP Engine (@wpengine) and Gloat (@dr)

trends.vc/trends-0017-xa…

12. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Buy niche sites and negotiate commissions.

This shortens your payback period. Matt Giovanisci (@MattGiovanisci) routinely negotiates with merchants. You’ll have more leverage with smaller vendors.

trends.vc/trends-0012-mi…

13. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Build apps to generate affiliate income. See @honey and @Skyscanner.

Both are billion-dollar companies. You can do this on a smaller scale.

Use growth tools to promote your products. Or someone else’s.

trends.vc/trends-0016-gr…

14. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Summarize books. @JamesClear earns money from Amazon Associates.

@nateliason summarizes books too. And sells access to his notes.

Learn by teaching, make money and build a personal brand.

trends.vc/trends-0023-pe…

15. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Run contests instead of giving 1-for-1 rewards.

Think 99Designs meets referral programs. This is an asymmetric play. Leaderboards also work.

trends.vc/trends-0021-ga…

16. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Build a referral program for your paid community.

Food Blogger Pro, a learning community, pays 20-40% commissions on a recurring basis.

trends.vc/trends-0014-pa…

17. ☁️ Opportunities (con't)

🔵 Use referral programs to build marketplaces.

Lenny Rachitsky (@lennysan) shares how he attracted new hosts to Airbnb.

lennyrachitsky.com/p/this-week-16…

18. 😠 Haters

“Why did you mention affiliates? The topic was referrals.”

Referral programs target existing customers. Affiliate programs target partners. The goal is the same. Sales. The title was a toss-up.

19. 😠 Haters (con't)

“Why not do sponsorships instead?”

They’re not mutually exclusive.

20. 🔗 Links

Joe Smith made $150k from a niche site in 15 months.

medium.com/the-post-grad-…

21. 🔗 Links (con't)

Danielle Simpson (@SimpsonDaniK) and Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) built and sold Feedback Panda.

They used a referral program to boost growth.

Interview by @robwalling

listennotes.com/podcasts/start…

22. 🔗 Links (con't)

Dom Wells, founder of Human Proof Designs (@Human_Proof), went from running his own niche sites to building them for others.

Interview by @TropicalMBA

listennotes.com/podcasts/the-t…

📢 Trends #0025 — Referral Programs

trends.vc/trends-0025-re…

With Trends PRO you'll get:

• 22 Opportunities (110% More)
• 16 Summarized Links (220% More)
• 30 Referral Programs (200% More)
• 3 Predictions (50% More)
• 16 Affiliate Marketers (60% More)
• 31 Publishers (210% More)

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