Whole New Kind of Affiliate Program?

[Chas9000c]

For over a year, I've been looking for creative ways to increase monetization on the same traffic--beyond the usual affiliate links.

I may have figured it out.

But it would only apply to certain kinds of websites.

The basic idea is this...

The site would offer to help site visitors find local service providers so they don't have to "go it alone." For example:

• Pet sites refer visitors to pet groomers, trainers, sitters, vets
• Home improvement sites offer to refer visitors to all sorts of home improvement professionals (designers, architects, plumbers, general contractors, etc.)
• Music sites offer to find a local music tutor
• Gardening sites offer to find a local landscaper, gardener
• Etc....

Whenever a site visitor clicked the link, they could enter their contact info, location, budget, and description of what they need.

Then only the best service providers in their local area (based on Google reviews) would be given a chance to pay for the site visitor's contact info as a qualified sales lead.

So the site visitor would then start getting emails from only the best service providers who already know what their needs are and what their budget is.

And the website owner would get a commission for referring the site visitor to the local service providers.

Basically it would be a lead gen service similar to what Thumbtack, Yelp, Angi, and others do... except that website owners could initiate the lead gen directly from their websites and earn a commission.

I'm considering building all the technology and back-end processes and systems to do this.

But before I do, I'd just like to get some feedback from experienced site owners--especially in niches that might have visitors who are in need of local services, like sites on pets, home improvement, music, gardening, etc.

Any thoughts about this approach? (Good or bad, all feedback welcome.)

 

[Graybeard]

Not a new premise really:
Intention Economy When Customers Charge ebook

The mechanics (and development) of the platform is the main issue.
And it's not going to be cheap

You need a data-driven back end platform and probably an api for the lead distribution.
It's a lot more complex to properly scale and automate than you think.

 

[Chas9000c]

Not a new premise really:
Intention Economy When Customers Charge ebook

The mechanics (and development) of the platform is the main issue.
And it's not going to be cheap

You need a data-driven back end platform and probably an api for the lead distribution.
It's a lot more complex to properly scale and automate than you think.

Nice. I wasn't aware of this book, but the concepts are definitely familiar--power shifting more in favor of the demand side, inbound lead gen driven by the prospect rather than cold outreach driven by the supplier, etc. I'll have to check it out.

I also 100% agree with your assessment about the technical complexity.

But this is also in my wheelhouse. I'm a life-long full-stack developer in addition to marketer. I've built SaaS businesses from the ground up, reached stable and repeatable profitability, and exited favorably.

So before I invest that amount of time, effort, and money, I'd want to validate the concept first.

Ideally, I'd work with a content site owner in a niche where there could be demand from visitors for local service providers. We could test the concept at a scale where we could make it work with minimal automation. If the conversion rates and revenue rates look good, then I'd invest in going all-in on building the technology.

Any thoughts on how to validate? Or how to find a good content site owner as an early validation partner?

 

[Graybeard]

Look for 'target sites' and get on the phone and talk to them
Find out the emails of the right persons that have decision making authority and try to speak with them.

Work your own internet leads https://www.crunchbase.com/buy/select-product.

Attend near by or (domestic or continental (Europe/Asia)) Affiliate Evens and trade shows --talk to business owners and affiliates/networks in person!

Selling a new idea is not easy. Before you take a lot of time in back-end development you want to prove out the concept with the participating partners and get their input.

 

[Graybeard]

I would negative sell the idea right now:
As we enter into a recession, the wants and needs of able buyers in the market will become increasingly important.

Businesses will need to focus on providing value to these buyers in order to stay afloat. The recession will cause many people to tighten their belts and cut back on spending. However, there will still be a segment of the population that has money to spend. These are the people that businesses need to target.

What do these able buyers want? They want products and services that offer them good value. They are looking for quality and durability. They want to know that they are getting their money’s worth.

To appeal to these buyers, businesses need to focus on providing products and services that offer great value. They need to offer quality products that will last. They need to be clear about the price and what the customer is getting for their money. In the recession marketplace, the wants and needs of able buyers will matter more and more. Businesses that can provide value to these buyers will be the ones that survive and thrive.

Then pitch your idea and marketing proposal