How to get referrals

1.  Friends and family

This is always a good way to start getting referrals and it’s usually most popular. Since on the beginning we all always have some doubts about Kudos and does it really work (Really works!!) friends and family are first obvious step. Why? Let’s say it this way, for Ipod Shuffle you need 2 referrals or for Apple Magic Mouse you need 3 referrals, so I guess you will have at least 3 friends that will without question do you a favor and sign up and complete an offer on Kudos through your referral link. This way you can test Kudos for yourself and if you don’t need Magic Mouse sell it on eBay. You’ll get your own proof that really works, you can refund your friends for sign up and completing an offer and, at the end, you’ll even end up with some small profit.

When it comes to family, it very important that family members DO NOT sign up from same computer, same IP address and home address as you did because Kudos could consider that as your attempt to make multiple accounts and your account will be put on hold!

So, invite your cousins and uncles if you have many of them, it is way better idea then your brothers and sisters unless if they don’t share computer, IP address and home address with you.

2. Forums

When it comes to getting referrals this one of most common way to do that, many people, including myself, are on forums searching for referrals. There you can find different ways to get referrals from trading referrals for referrals(It’s obvious as name says, you become referrals for someone else website and that someone will become your Kudos referral), referrals for cash (This is also possible and very common. If you pay someone 10$ to be your referral and on Kudos referrals are worth 20$ for gift, you have profit) to referrals for other (Trade your DVDs, movies, intellectual skills if you have some for referrals). Try to find out what suits you the best and from what you can get the most.

Some of forums that could check out are:  eXceem, Referral4Free, Freebie Society, Anything4Free .

Those, of course, are not all. I’m sure that you will come up with more forums that are not necessarily specialized for Kudos and how to get referrals on Kudos. For example, if you want some Apple product then you shout try look for forums where people are discussing about iPhone's or MacBook pro's. Or, if you want console Xbox360 of PS3, search for forums where people are discussing about that. Post your link there (if it's allowed) and DO NOT spam people or aggressively post your link and just your referral link everywhere and anywhere you can.

If you already have website or blog then I suggest you to go with something like:

 " Hi guys, I've stumbled on one great site that explains you how is possible to get brand new iPhone4 for free and I decided to share it with you. I'm already sign up and soon i will get my first brand new gadget! Hope you'll find it useful as it was for me.

Check it out on: http://www.my.website.domain.com "  

Do not go with something like:

 "Free iPhone. Sign up on my referral link: http://domain.name/#/302958 "

Can you see the difference between first and second approach? Second one looks spammy and annoying, people will most certainly react negatively and WILL NOT click on your link. I'm sure that you have seen many of this kind approaches all over the internet, and how was your reaction on it? You ignore it, right? 

On the other hand first approach looks friendly and very much inviting so that would be the best way you should go with.

3. Social Networks

In these days it is hard to find someone that it isn’t on some social network. Many people are on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Only on Facebook there are 500 million people and such a huge traffic on one place just cannot be ignored, so including Facebook in your strategy to get referrals is highly recommended.

If you already have account on Facebook you can easily invite all your friends in just few clicks to join freebiejeebies and offer them to visit your website. You can also create you own group or page on Facebook about Kudos or about your website. Since on Facebook pages can join unlimited number of people (personal profiles on facebook can have max 5000 people) this is a good idea to make one for yourself an slowly but surely you will create pretty big group of people that think alike. As more people are joining your Facebook page traffic on you website will also begin to increase.   

As for Twitter I can give one great tip on how to get few more greens. If you have Twitter account you have already saw new features. Now there is new "search" bar feature which is very interesting in our point of view. You see, in search bar when you enter something like "Today is a good day!" you will see people that have just twit about exactly like that or similar to this and those twits are posted recently.

Now, when you try to search something like "I want new iPhone" or "I really want new MacBook pro" you will get list of people that have posted twits about something like that. Reply on their twits and send them link of your website, since they really want something specific there is a great chance that they will be interested, visit your website and hopefully become green.

If possible do not send them just your referral link. Just be friendly and invite them to check out your website that explains how it's possible to get free stuff.

Since URL's usually could be little bit longer and Twitter in one twit have limited space to write you can use Bit.ly which is a simple url shortener.

Here is link from Wikipedia where you can find, more or less, all possible social network websites. Choose some of them to create an account, submit your website   and invite your friends to check out how to get free gadgets.

4. Free blogs

For first 3 methods you don’t need blog that much all you need is your referral link but after some time you will have, for sure, to create blog if you want to get even more referrals.

You can easily create free blog with Blogger or Wordpress, it’s very simple and easy. All you have to do is to create an account, choose among many great looking templates and write some text about Kudos with your referral link include in it. 

When you finish writing your blog you have to advertise it. This can be done through websites such as Ping-O-Matic which is a service to update different search engines that your blog has updated. Search on Google for some more ways similar to Ping-O-Matic to advertise your blog.

The only catch with blogs is that you have to update them on regular basis otherwise it’s hard to get traffic to them. You don’t have to post new article every day but every one or two a week should be more them enough.

So, write as much as you can and update new content so that readers can enjoy, show them some proof that Kudos really works, write interesting and easy to understand, the way like you would explain it to your own friends.

5. Websites

Difference between blogs on Blogger or Wordpress and websites is pretty much obvious. For your own website you will need to invest some money.

So why should you choose website instead of free blog? Well because, as for design, you’ll have much more freedom and you don’t have to update them on regular basis to get more exposure of your website. This is good side of websites.

As regards of negative side is that you’ll have to buy your own domain, hosting and, if you don’t know anything about web design, web designer services or to buy finished website template.

Good news is that Kudos has available offers for hosting and they are usually quite cheap so you can take two birds with one stone, choose to complete hosting offer when you sign up to Kudos and latter you can use that domain and hosting for your website.

Important:  Search on web about SEO (search engine optimization), it’s important so that your website get better page rank on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. Don’t worry SEO is not that difficult, you just have to watch out for a couple of things when you make your website. Be sure to check out Google SEO starter guide. It's small but very useful ebook for those who have just made their first steps on internet marketing and promoting their own website(s).

When website is done, you have to drive traffic. On Freewebsubmission you'll find highest-rated, free Internet Search Engines and Directories where you can easily submit your website.

Some tips and tricks you'll find on Webnet77 or you can also download free ebooks:  "77 ways to get traffic", "20 ways to get traffic online", "20 ways to build traffic to your website". That is not all of course, search over internet about getting traffic, you'll find much more ways to do that.

6. Make a video

Videos are usually very effective. If you have all necessary equipment to record video (at least some good web cam and mic) and you like to talk then you should definitely do it.

Talk to people about Kudos and how are you going so far, maybe some proof of your own if you have them or your ways and strategies to get referrals.

Put your video on services such as YouTube and post your referral link in description or link of your website if you have one.

When you get your first free gift, if you can, make proof video of what you have received and put it on YouTube or/and on your website/blog. This is always a good idea because people will see that Kudos really works without leaving your website to search over internet for some more proofs. This way you will get more people to click on your referral link and at the end more free gifts for yourself.

Also, you can check "Video Sites Top 50" where you will find more websites where you can upload your video. Remember that uploading your video and then put your website url in description is back link so upload video on as many websites as you can. This way you will increase your website traffic, get more referrals and your website will be ranked better on search engines which lead to more traffic.

7. Chat with people

Under this method I mean services such as Chatroulette or Omegle. If you know any other chat service it is fine as long there are real people behind it.

If your typing speed is fast you can easily invite other people to join Kudos through your referral link and, of course, in same time and place explain and answer to someone questions about Kudos.

This method I have used many times to get referrals and in one hour you could get at least 2-3 of them. After a while I found out that it’s very handy if you write in advance some answers that people might want to know and are usually asking so instead of write it again and again when you talk to someone you just simply copy/paste it. This way you will save much time and probably get even more referrals.

8. Direct marketing

Under direct marketing I mean on marketing with emails and/or regular letter. There is a lot websites on Internet that offers that kind of services. You can buy emails or, if you like, people home address and send them directly about Kudos in which, don’t forget, you include your referral link.

Just be careful that you buy email and addresses of real people. The good thing about this method is that when you buy emails or addresses you can specify the group of people from which you want those emails or addresses. You can specify anything you want, such as: age, male or female, nationality, country, house income, hobby, interests, what they do, where they work... This way, if you narrow your email or address list to people that really might find Kudos interesting, you can highly improve response rate and get many referrals.

Important note: DO NOT use those email to spam people, or spam in any other way! It’s illegal and you could end with your Kudos account put on hold!

9. Google Adwords

Check out this video below about Google Adwords and you’ll, right away, get the point.

When it comes to advertising, Google Adwords is the best although there are alternatives. If you don’t quite like Google you can choose one of next: AdBrite, Bitvertiser, Chitika, Infolinks, Kontera, Clicksor, Pocket Cents, Yahoo Publicher Network...

Anyhow, whatever you choose carefully read their Terms & Conditions, choose one that best suits you and from which one you will get the most of.

Well, as you can see in video above, Google Adwords is not free and neither are his alternatives.

Yes, you pay only when someone actually click on your Google ad and, Yes, price of those ads are relatively low but the problem is that those ads are not quite accurate. To say this with other words, they are not quite reaching your targeted niche or people that could be interested in Kudos  or Apple products in a first place.

This brings as to Facebook again. If you choose to use this method for advertising your website or blog i suggest you to go with Facebook ads. No, they are not free, price is about high as Google Adwords but wtih Facebook ads you can precisely determine what kind of people should see your add which is based on their hobby, interests, occupations, where they work, what they do, what the love to do, from which country  are they and much more.

Now, I'm not here saying that Google Adwords is bad and not to use it. I'm just explaining my opinion and experience whit those kind of advertising.

Maybe best option is that you try them both in same time and see which one get for you better results and then stick with the better one. Logical, right?  

10. PTC sites

PTC means Pay To Click. There are many sites that offer that kind of services. One of such website is Clicksia. 

On PTC websites you can usually find 3 kind of ways to promote your Kudos website or to get more exposure of your referral link. Those are: Pay To Click, Traffic Exchange and Signup Offers.

Usually, you have to pay to do that but the good news is that on PTC sites you can earn money by clicking on other people Ads and what you have earn convert into your own promotional PTC ad or traffic exchange ad.   

11.  Posters, flyers, business cards

Make some posters, flyers or business cards, go around your city and put them wherever you can, in your school, college, work, coffee bar... in general, all public places that you can think of and where people might see them.

Here I’ll give you two great tips if you going to use this method. First is to put your poster or flyer where people will actually stop and read it, one of such place is where people are waiting for the green light to cross the road. Since they are already standing and waiting they will most certainly read your poster to spend time. Second tip is related to first. Make a poster where people don’t have to take out piece of paper and pen to write down your referral link, it’s too complicated. You probably know kind of posters or flyers where people are searching for their lost dog or cat and at the bottom on little paper is written owner contact so all you have to do is to rip it off. You just need to do the same but with your Kudos referral link placed on that little paper so people can simply rip it off and take it with them.

As for business cards you can check out VistaPrint, all about how to make that kind of cards you will find there. These cards you can give to people as you are walking on street or put on cars on some parking lot, or wherever you can think or where people might see them.

12. Article writing

This method, as you can see, is about writing articles. All you have to do is to write few good quality, short and interesting articles about Kudos and include your referral link or link to your website in it. When you have done just submit it on websites such as: EzineArticles, Submit Your Article, Suite101, Helium, ArticleDashboard, ArticleBase, GoArticles, WebproNews, SearchWarp, Buzzle, Isnare, American Chronicle, ArticleCity, IdeaMarketers, Site Reference, Article Alley, TheWhir, Article Factory, Amazines, Article Snatch.

There are literally thousands of that kind websites where you can submit your article about Kudos. If you are going to use this method and write an article you can save time by getting article submitter. On web you can found many kind of that software, choose one that suits you the best and submit your articles. With few clicks you can submit on many article directories and get some traffic and your referral link exposure.

Submitting your articles about Kudos, your blog or how you get your free iPhone or MacBook pro to many article directories could maybe get you more traffic eventually to your website or blog but at the end I don't really recommend you to aggressive submitting of articles to many directories.

This is just a method that you should use along with other one, so it's more then enough if you submit your article just to top 10 maybe 15 directories.

13. Buy advertising space on other people's websites and blogs

Nothing to say more that headline already says. Go to websites that are about something related to Kudos, find owner of the website contact and send them email that you are interested about advertising your website on his website and that you are willing to pay for that. Or you can exchange links, you put his link on your website and he will put your link on his website.

You can even search websites that are just reviewing Apple products and offer them link exchange or if it’s possible buy advertising space on their website.

14. Newspaper and magazine

You can buy advertising space in your local newspaper, magazines and similar. This one I never used before but I sure will try it one day.

This method could be a little bit expensive but it all depends on what newspaper or magazine you will choose. Of course, with popularity and high competition to get advertising space, the price also rises.

At start try with some small local newspaper and track how will people react and response on it. If it all goes well, try with some magazine. After while if you see that people starting to sign up to Kudos you can even try with some little radio commercial or, why not, TV commercial (of course on small and local TV station). Ask and send emails to find out prices to advertise, choose what suits you the best and try to make most out of it.

15. Be Creative

As you see, this is not a method.

I’m sure that you will come up with some other great ideas that are not here on list. Follow those ideas of yours and get as many referrals as you can. Just be sure that is not against Kudos Terms & Conditions and everything will be fine.

At the beginning it’s always a little bit hard, you need to put some effort in all this so that all really works fine. After a while, everything becomes kind of automated and need a lot less work. When the websites are online, content is written, articles submitted, video recorded, comments posted it’s all just in waiting and patience.