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Mustachian Community => Mustachian Marketplace => Topic started by: drtownhouse on July 01, 2016, 11:18:30 AM

Title: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: drtownhouse on July 01, 2016, 11:18:30 AM
Hello,

Just wanted to share a website I developed: www.umerefer.com. u.me refer connects users looking to exchange referrals. From the homepage, you can use filters to immediately connect with a user who wants your referral and who has a referral that you want. This, of course, will work better and better as the community grows. Examples of referrals on the site include referrals for credit card rewards (airline, hotel, cashback), Airbnb, Plastiq, Uber, Google Express, and so on.

I've made two big assumptions in building this site. (1) You will have more success getting referral rewards if you make a good faith effort to use other's referrals. Users who request referrals when they offer referrals are already one step ahead in terms of making a good faith effort, in my opinion. They can confirm their commitment to using another's referral via private message, and then follow up with data points (e.g., approved or not) after the agreement. Users can follow other trusted users. I hope to add ratings at some point. And you are free to use the name from your forum of choice so people recognize you.

(2) My site connects users more effectively than websites/forums. I'm not aware of another site where you can click two boxes and immediately find someone who wants your referral and who has a referral that you want.

Please let me know what you think. And feel free to make a listing to get started earning more rewards.

Edit: twitter handle is @umerefer, in case you think the site is useful and want to spread the word through there.
Title: Re: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: myhotrs on July 05, 2016, 03:08:37 PM
Site looks great and its an interesting idea. I'm slow so this may be just me but I found the whole request/offer dynamic a bit confusing. I did create a listing (for Motif) that offers both me and the person using my link a referral of $100 so this one is win/win.

Definitely a good idea for a site though! How will you monetize it?
Title: Re: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: drtownhouse on July 06, 2016, 05:02:50 AM
Thank you! The offer & request thing was intended to incentivize people who are offering referrals to use others' referrals as well. I think for a lot of the referrals, it's seen as more of a benefit for the person offering (e.g., for the credit cards, they can get a bunch of miles/points by others using their referral; the people using the referral will eventually benefit, but there are some hoops they have to jump through first, and they might get those same benefits by not using a referral link). Hope that makes sense (have to run to work soon and not sure I'm being coherent).

Re: monetizing, hoping ads would cover cost of site at some point.
Title: Re: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: myhotrs on July 06, 2016, 10:36:24 AM
Maybe some sort of points system (like Slickdeals and Dans Deal Forums have) or a confirmed use of a referral before you can post your own?
Title: Re: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: drtownhouse on July 06, 2016, 06:10:28 PM
The points system sounds interesting. I will have to think about how I might build that into the platform.

Right now, you can follow users who you believe are good players. These might be people who request referrals when they offer them, and who follow up via private message with datapoints (e.g., I used your referral, or I used your referral but my application was denied). You can't get 100 percent certainty that someone used your referral, but you can get a decent idea of the more community-oriented users.

Is the points system like a ratings system? Because that is something else I've thought about incorporating.

I thought about making it so you have to request each time you offer, but I don't want to limit options. Plus that might not always make sense (e.g., like with the referral you mentioned).
Title: Re: u.me refer: a platform for sharing referrals and maximizing rewards
Post by: JAYSLOL on October 24, 2016, 11:34:00 PM
Cool, will check out