|
|
Rewards programs - A Dying Breed? Some Thoughts and TipsAug 21 '01 (Updated Aug 23 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Books
The Bottom Line The rewards program industry is not dead, but don't count on making big bucks (not that it was possible even in the past unless you have huge downlines).
Last October, if you were an active participant of Freeride, one of the oldest rewards program, you could be looking at getting $60 or more in gift certificates a month for your efforts. Paid-to-surf programs such as Alladvantage were offering $0.50 or more for you to display their pay bar when you are surfing. Unfortunately, ten months is an eternity in the Internet age. Many etailers have folded. With the resulting decline in advertising funding, so have many rewards programs. Freeride has temporarily closed shop hoping to return after the summer. First Alladvantage shelved its IPO plan and then went out of business in February 2001. Those that remain are mostly struggling and realizing that the paid-to-click business model is not creating the brand loyalty many of the online companies are looking for, many of them have also abandoned the paid-to-click component and focus on offering rebates to members when they use the program as a shopping portal. With this in mind, if you are still interested in making some money off rewards programs, here are some suggestions: 1. Be skeptical if they promise too much If you see a paid-to-surf bar telling you that it offers $0.50 an hour or more, be skeptical - be VERY SKEPTICAL. The best paying bar right now is Spedia (http://www.spedia.net) which has been consistently offering $0.49 or thereabouts per hour for the past year or so. But this number is potentially misleading. The software has a notorious reputation of not tracking time accurately. As a result the effective rate is far lower. Besides, many users have reported that their accounts have been shut down for alleged cheating even though they maintain that they are innocent. 2. Don't leave your reward point balance build up too much Cash out at the first opportunity. This is not a matter of "take the money and run". But if you keep your balance in a rewards program for too long, you run the risk of having it go bankrupt and losing what you earned. The exception, of course, is when you have a program that has a point structure making redemption at a higher point value more valuable on point-by-point basis. For example, at Creationsrewards (http://www.creationsrewards.net), a $10 Webcertificate costs 2300 points, so each point is worth 0.43 cents. However, $20 Webcertificate costs 4300 points and so at that level, each point is worth 0.47 cents. But even in that situation, before you accumulate tons of points, make sure the program is one that you trust and unfortunately, there are few of those left! 3. Support the programs you enjoy and consider promising The programs are not paying a lot right now, but if you jump shop at the first sign of point decline, guess what? That program will be doomed to fail because the only valuable commodity a program owns is its membership, and with a rapidly declining membership base, you can be sure that it will have even more difficulty attracting advertisers. This suggestion seems countered to the other ones I offer here. But it's not. I am not saying that you should stick to a program even when there's a clear sign that it's going south; just try to show a bit of loyalty if you belong to a program that, from your experience, has responsible/dedicated owners. 4. Be realistic in your expectations and don't rely on the rewards programs to provide for any critical expenses Every once in a while (though far less frequent than last year), I am still reading on the rewards boards about people who want to use the rewards programs as a substitute part-time job. If you are thinking about providing for non-essentials such as a slush fund for gifts etc., go ahead and you will probably enjoy the windfall. But if you have something that is somewhat mission-critical in mind, such as paying your utilities bill, stop right now and think again. With many programs having gone under without any prior notice, you are taking a huge risk. You might be better off considering a real part-time job or think of alternate means to come up with the money. *** I don't think the rewards program industry is dead. But it certainly has changed significantly when compared to last year. Alter your expectations somewhat and you might still find it a fun way to make a couple of bucks!  |
| Read all comments (4)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
by Freak369
by toiletoctopus
by nagels
