At the moment reddit.com/r/churning is having issues with referral links. I share the moderators frustration because we run into many of the same issues on the site. As soon as there is a reward for something people seem to try to find a way to abuse it (kind of ironic given the nature of this site). We spend way too much time moderating comments relating to referral links, the upside is obviously huge though in that readers can share their links and receive a bonus whenever somebody uses it.
There is an easy solution for this problem though. If you’re using a referral link, don’t just pick one at random or at the top/end of a post. Pick somebody that you recognize as making helpful contributions. If you see a reader on this site (or on reddit) making a helpful contribution write down their name (and maybe a link to the actual comment) and then why it comes to time to use somebodies link go through your list and see if any of those readers/contributors have a link available. If everybody does this then we won’t have to worry about gaming the system as the only way to game the system is to provide helpful content.
I think it’s even a good idea to post a comment under somebodies comment letting them know you’ve used their link and why as well. That should help encourage readers to provide helpful content and comments rather than spending their time trying to game the system. The other solution to solve the problem is to simply not allow referral links here or on places like reddit. I think the community loses out with this solution, so let’s try my idea first.
I think this is a great idea, but I don’t think many people will go to the trouble of doing this manually as you suggest. It would be a great site feature to implement a point-based merit system, like on StackExchange. It would probably take quite a bit of work, but it’s something to keep in mind for future updates.
Yeah, outside of the scope of what is capable for us unless there is a wordpress plugin and even then this opens it up to even more abuse. Better to use a manual or semi manual system.
Testing gravitar
For people that comment both here and on Reddit, the new Reddit format lets you create a post with your referrals that you can sticky to your profile. Someone on r/churning mentioned this and explained how: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/6hgula/how_to_increase_the_visibility_of_your_referral/
Yup, this looks super slick and must help a lot.
Don’t know where he is, but i used Gadgets link for Ibotta. I spent a few minutes looking at the options and recognized him as a good contributor (plus the badass inspector gadget icon!).
Thanks Gadget!
And thanks DOC, this site is great, a real step up from any of the other sites i follow!!!
LOL, thanks man. Much appreciated. I try to help out where I can. Think I got one other referral from that link page. Making money in my sleep is awesome. 🙂
Yup, Gadget definitely one of the best on the site!
Agree with Stvr.
The simplest way to solve is for DoC to generate a referral link we can use to support the site for offers that are the best publicly available.
Problem is most travel bloggers will always choose their links over the best public available offers. DoC will always tip to the best public offer. The “problem” DoC mentions is that there are a few times when the referral link is the only way to get the best public available offer. DoC should just fill the gap and disclose (and can take them down of the same non-referral offer is out there or if a better offer comes out). Win-win for everyone and also helps weed out some shady links of people saying their offer is for X when it is really for Y.
I think this causes issues just like using an affiliate link does. Plus I’d rather there be an incentive for readers to help each other and that’s a good way of doing this.
I suggest everyone uses a Gravatar too so your profile is easily distinguishable
https://pt.gravatar.com/
Thanks for the link! Giving this a shot, I meant to but never got around to do this.
IT WORKED!! THANKS!!
Now you need to use his referral link…
Truth. Time to make a note of the name for next time I need a link!
Yup, that’s a great tip. I definitely notice readers who use one more than those who don’t.
Good tip.
Why would I use anybody’s referral link but DOC? I think you’re stepping on a rake of generosity here
DoC is awesome and his blog has a great collection of information, but he didn’t amass all this info alone. He gets information from a multitude of sources, and is really great about identifying those sources. Many of those sources are his readers and redditors at r/churning. If you find that any of those people have helped you, it would be good of you to use their referral. That is the point DoC is trying to make.
We don’t provide referral links for credit cards, the reason being it introduces the same problems that using affiliate links does. As Gonzo points out readers actually provide the majority of content on the site so why not support them =).