REW Dollars and referrals assessing member interest

[webmaster]

Hey guys,
I have been toying with this idea of REW dollars for a while now and I think I am at a point where I would like some feedback from the group.

As many of you know, I run a referral contest at least once a year with a prize of a free website or some SEO services or some other great REW service (That is how Judyo got her first REW website )

So was thinking, you guys are great all year round referring new members to the forum so why don't I just reward you all the time for being great members, if you are referring your friends and colleagues to the forum it shows that you share in the spirit of REW and the philosophy that together we can make ourselves better than we ever could on our own, and you truly care about this community.

Ok so REW dollars what am I talking about?

The idea would be that we give you $x.00 worth of free REW services for every member you refer to the community. At first I was thinking $1 per sign up, but I am not sure yet (You refer 1000 members and you only get $1000 in services?) Something like $5 might make more sense I don't know at this point I am just brainstorming and would love feedback.

Many of you use REW websites and services already, so this credit would mean that any of the little work orders you place for graphics etc could be paid partially in full by whatever balance you have in your REW dollars account.

Many others want to use REW services, but at this point we may not be in your budget, this would help you afford that amazing REW website you have been dreaming about.

Still more of you don't use REW products and might be very happy where you are, but that does not mean you cannot take advantage of our staff and services. We have 30 production staff here at REW ranging from php programmers, to graphic designers and copywriters and of course SEO. If you just needed a new logo done up, or some flyers designed, maybe some edits to your content by a professional copywriter you could use your REW dollars for that as well.

The process would still be the same as the contest, you would just have a referral link that our system credits you for whenever someone signs up at REW by following the link you provide them with that has your unique referral ID

So what do you think guys? I really don't mind taking the time to set this up for you if there is interest, and I would love to see this community double in contributing members by this time next year.

[BrandonSternfield]

I love the idea, as it rewards for making the community stronger!

I assume you have a '*' somewhere in there, like the referred person must contribute etc. Don't want people making tons of accounts.

Personally, I'd love for this to happen. I'm only Co-Director of Digital Marketing, and my other Director has been not wanting to join yet. He says I get all the info I need Maybe with this he will join, and maybe get our boss to join to!

[judyo]

It's an interesting concept & I guess it could be set up on your end pretty easily, although it sounds complicated.

[webmaster]

The setup is not to hard really, the referral stuff is already in place, in fact you could call it setup already because I can run a search on how many referrals someone has over a given time period already. It would just be an accounting thing. Judy has 50 referrals, thus she gets $250 of free work (If it was 5 per) to do it well, would take some software writing, but that is no problem either

In terms of the (*) absolutely! We don't want people creating users just to earn REW dollars, in fact I would likely ban someone from REW altogether for that, as it would technically be stealing. Each referral would have to be a real person, it woud really be a shame if someone started trying to take advantage of such a system.

So yeah there would be a terms of service and explanation: Not to hard to understand though: Tell a real person (Hopefully a real estate professional) about the REW, if they are interested ask them to sign up and then you get credit. Pretty cut and dry

[BrandonSternfield]

When they refer someone, it's just like
user.referralnumber++;
user.REWDollar++; (or user.REWDollar += 5

But if he has the referral already in (most forums have it tied in), he could just make a variable and track it.

[webmaster]

It's actually simpler than that, we just query the referral table that already exists in the database multiply by whatever the dollar amount ends up being and bingo dickster! Then of course you would need another field that you could insert the amount of $ used for services so that it is subtracted from the running total.

[Sam Dodd]

I think you should just keep it simple and keep running contests to get more members here.

[judyo]

The only thing about contests is that there is a time period and some people had referred new people prior to that contest period. Then they figure they used up everyone they know and don't have a chance at the contest.

Only way that would be really fair would be to start a contest from January through Dec. every year and start everyone at 0 (for contest purposes) at the beginning of each new year.

Then again, there is only one winner. This way more contributors can share the pot.

[webmaster]

I will still do the contests In fact the prizes this year will be bigger than ever, I am thinking about a custom IDX or custom design this year $5000 Value! But Judy is right, it would be nice to give something back and have incentives year round

[Micheal Pannell Realtor]

i like the the idea, I love this place for the most part. It is the main reason for my success on the internet. I would love to be able to win a rew site to change one of mine over to see what happens. I talk to alot of real estate agents and even have a few in my office that would sign up. I do have 2 refferrals already. lol