Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
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 www.ideavirus.com
This approach is far less risky than Nike’s. Nike has no idea if the Blue Devils actually sell
shoes. They also have to pay for the endorsement in advance, with no refunds if they’re
wrong.
Amazon and other affiliate marketers, on the other hand, are using the power of the Net to
create a deal with no losers and no downside. You can set up an affiliate link in a few
minutes. For free. If it works, you get paid. If it doesn’t work, you don’t. And it doesn’t cost
Amazon a dime.
Because of this risk model, affiliate programs are flourishing. Be Free, a leading provider of
services to marketers using this approach, calls it Performance Marketing. They currently list
235 websites that are offering affiliate programs.
While it may be interesting to earn a dollar or two on a sale (interesting, that is, if you can
sell thousands a month), some companies are taking a different tack.
Woody Chin, founder of Referrals.com, thinks he’s found a way to change the way people
interact when it comes to job hunts and other sorts of business-to-business commerce.
Instead of paying people a nickel or even a buck, he’s paying people $1,000 to $5,000 
each
for that priceless commodity: a referral.
Here’s how job filling works before Referrals.com: Hire a contingency headhunter. Offer to
pay a third of the final salary, but only if you hire someone the headhunter brings along. So
the hunter stands to earn $20,000 or more.
Now, the headhunter hits the phones. She calls everyone she can, and basically begs for leads.
There’s no obvious benefit to the referrer, except for the possible goodwill that occurs when
you find a friend a job.
Woody and Referrals.com are aiming to change that.
With Referrals.com, the hiring manager sends out a description of the job to people she
thinks might know good candidates. These referrers can be people she knows in the industry,

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