My Idea

[Referral Club]

Here is my idea:

As salespeople and business owners, we are exposed to other sales jobs. products and opportunities. We can't take advantage of these opportunities, but we know of someone who can.

I will set-up a website for people to list sales jobs, products and opportunities. There will be no charge for the listing. My program would be similar to an affiliate or birddog program. When a job, product or opportunity is referred to a third person the referring member receives a commission.

Everyone will have a replicated website. A visitor will see a list of jobs and products with an explanation and the email of the referring member.

Here is where the money comes in:

1. When someone receives a job listed on the site, the referring member receives 10% of the earning for one year.

2. When a product listed on the site is sold, the referring member will receive 10% of the salesperson's commission on that product.

3. When an opportunity is listed, the referring member receives 10% of the net profits from that opportunity for one year.

For example:

1. You sell printing and you list yourself on the site. One of the members knows of a company that needs the type of printing you sell. He contacts you and you sell a $20,000 job to that company. Your commission is $1,800. You pay the referring member $180 for their help.

2. You need a job. You want to sell home improvement products. You list yourself on the site. One of our members knows of company who needs salespeople. You get the job and make $58,000 that year. You pay the referring member $5,8000 for their help.

The difference between my program and craigs list or other listing sites is that people are paid to refer third parties to the listing member. With craigs list and the others, no one receive any compensation for referring a third party to the listing.

As the website owner, I make 10% of all the payments to the referring member.

Any thoughts on this idea?

[noobdog1]

I'm new to this particular website, so hello. As for your idea - I got lost with all the "you's". So I'm not sure who's paying who and how exactly, you get a piece of it...

[dre]

I don't think it would work, people already do those things for free. I don't think someone that gets a job making $58,000 is going to give up $5,800 to someone that told them about the job.

[storm_ryda]

I don't think it would work, people already do those things for free. I don't think someone that gets a job making $58,000 is going to give up $5,800 to someone that told them about the job.

true but i still link the concept...nice one champ

[akula]

no, not an elegant solution

all the commissions and fees make the products more expensive

if you want to help people sell stuff, there's probably a better approach

[NeeJam]

Wow 10% commission! People already do this for free!

[Referral Club]

no, not an elegant solution

all the commissions and fees make the products more expensive

if you want to help people sell stuff, there's probably a better approach

That is really not true. The company is not paying the 10% the salesmen is.
I am sure all the salespeople out there would not hesitate for a second to pay a bird dog fee for a customer.

[Referral Club]

Wow 10% commission! People already do this for free!

I am not sure what you mean? There are thousands of affiliates of thousands of sites getting commissions every day. What I propose is a One on One type of referral marketing.

[shawnman19]

I like the idea, and think it would do much better to post on your site over a craigslist type site.

You need to explain the system better if you are going to sell it.


Why I like the site: Using one of your examples if the poster posts " Printing company that specializes in florals selling printing jobs"

On Craigslist: Some people may view it but no sales may come from those viewing it.

On yoursite: Same amount of people may view it, but then they may go out and look for companys/people that may require printing. This increases the exposure of a post.

I think 10% is way to much comission, 5% would be more reasonable.

[Referral Club]

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
The 10% commission is not 10% of the retail cost of the product but 10% of the salesperson's commission.
You are right about the craigslist comparison. With my program, there could be hundreds of people looking for printing jobs for the salesperson because they recieve a commission.
Bobbie

[Referral Club]

I don't think it would work, people already do those things for free. I don't think someone that gets a job making $58,000 is going to give up $5,800 to someone that told them about the job.

Yes. That is too high a commission to pay for a job. How about 1% or $580?

[Referral Club]

I think this program may work with listing only products. The salespeople will give 10% of their commissions to the referrer.
I will set it up similiar to craigslist.

[Referral Club]

I would like to hear from owners and salespeople!

Would you list your products on a craigslist type website which paid a commission to the person who referred you to the customer?

With salespeople, the commission would be 10% of their commission.
When a company lists their product, the commission would be listed. Depending on the product, the commission wil range with the mark-up.

Please let me know what you think of the idea?

[4-Knots]

Your concept:
Like the idea. How do you ensure its properly referred?

For instance if I see a listing for a sales job. THen I contact potential employers, get the job. How does the person who referred the job on the site get the money? What would stop me from saying - No I saw the advertisement for the job in a newspaper etc.

PLus the employer could turn around and say ok heres 100,000 salary. I can give you 99,000 and 1,000 to your referrer or I can give you 99,500 and forget about the referrer. What do you think I'm going to choose?

Your site:
Seems already well established with a lot of listings already. first impressions are that its very hard to know where to start. obviously I'm not looking for anything in particular on the site so its a lot of categories to choose from. Thats a good thing. If it picks off big time, you could have sub-categories etc. But for now I think you have the right amount of categories.

^^ that was all itex.net then i got transferred to itex.com

Start page is good enough. I'm looking at it and it doesn't tell me straight away what the site is about. The referrals are a good idea but not on the main page. Looks like your trying to sell something directly. Plus I swear I've seen that guy on the bottom right before on some other site for a refferal. I never trust them referrals because theres no way of proving its fake. Its well layed out and not much clutter.

Examples of sites that let you know what they are all about straight away - http://www.jot.com/
http://www.browster.com/

also i got to say your site is quite corporate. That can be a good thing. Especially when attracting corporate clients taking you serious.

on your 'about us' page it says u process $300million a year? founded in 1982? And you are asking me what do we think of the idea? If your in business with this since 1982, I find it hard to believe you are asking advice here!!!

[Referral Club]

I am not the owner of Itex but only a salesman.