monetary reward program
Offering a t-shirt in exchange for points isn't very serious, and the top 250 links page doesn't count for much because of the nofollow tags. I think if you want to motivate existing affiliates and bring professional internet marketers on board you really need to provide a monetary reward program. Reading the other comments in these forums I see some people are asking questions like "what are the use of the points?" and "do we get paid?".
My suggestion is that affiliates should be rewarded an amount that's at least 30% of the expected 1st years average profit on each of their conversions. The soon to be discontinued adsense referral program for firefox / google toolbar combination seems to pay approximately 75c per conversion.
The payment isn't just about profit, but also about reimbursing affiliates for advertising costs in promoting firefox as well as paying due recognition to affiliates for sacrificing their precious time. A more reasonable compensation program is going to result in more time, effort and money directed towards promoting firefox.
Alternative ideas, disagreements or agreements welcome....
Regards,
Wayne
Free Web Browsers
I am honestly SO happy that
I am honestly SO happy that the referrals are ending. If it was for money, people would set up shady sites just to get their money. Google "Firefox Download" if you don't believe me. People set up sites just to get their affiliate money. If the links on sFX were dofollow, people would be spamming to get their links there. I really don't want Firefox associated with spammy things.
Awesome, I just created a
Awesome, I just created a new project page looking for something like this Petition Inc.
How exchange t-shirt to my point ?
How exchange t-shirt to my point ?
Did you ever get your shirt?
Did you ever get your shirt?
Money is the Root of all Evil
In reply to Firefox paying money to its affiliates, I would have to say that if you want to get paid apply for a job with Firefox. Some people are driven by a passion of interest rather then money. When knowingly Firefox is competing with IE, a browser that is already installed on many personal computers. One major highlight is the warm fuzzy felling I get when using, discussing and promoting a product that is well developed and has the open community Firefox has and offers. Kindly, "Win-Win"
Is it possible to change my
Is it possible to change my user name? At sign up, I thought it was only for reg. with an option later. Also, settle once and for all; do you send t-shirts at sign up? Thnx, Ed Shaz
Also: You Need to add text links to affiliate buttons page.
User Name
You should be able to change your user name by going to My Stuff (top of the page) > My Account > Select the edit tab under your name > change your username.
No, t-shirts are not sent out to members upon registering. They are available at the Mozilla Store for what I think is a very fair price. Where did you get that idea from?
About text links, you can very easily just remove the image tag and info from any of the available buttons and banners codes on the affiliates page.
Ken - Page Zoom Buttons
It's Not Always All About $
This issue has come up many times in the past and it is an argument that I cannot subscribe to.
I believe that there is quite a bit of difference between what people want and what they expect and so of course people would love to be able to get monetary compensation for their efforts no matter what the task is, but realistically you are in a small group of people (against one that is 180 million strong) that expects to be paid for helping to promote a product for an organization that doesn't exist for the sole purpose of making a profit.
People love Firefox and usually for more reasons than one.
They are passionate and excited about it and they want to share what they've discovered with as many people as they can so that they too can participate and experience the phenomenon that is Firefox.
I've had the honor and pleasure to have met a small sample of people from all over the World who are selflessly devoting their lives to promote Mozilla's mission.
Some are on the payroll but the greater majority is not. They are of the most brilliant minds that you'd ever come across and with their knowledge and experience they could easily draw a high paying salary and for probably half of the time and effort that they currently put in but they see the bigger picture. Believe it or not, it isn't always about a buck.
I feel a great deal of pride just knowing that I have potentially gotten more than 26,000 people to download Firefox and I can only imagine the ripple effect from each person who downloads Firefox that tells a friend who tells a friend and so on.
Could I have generated income from some of those downloads via AdSense?
Absolutely, as easy as I could draw an income from any of the 100,000+ visitors that comes through my main site each month but I choose not to.
You have to give back. You can't just leech off of others your whole life.
I use Firefox for much more than just browsing the Internet.
It handles many tasks that programs on my PC would typically handle so it is an
integral part of my daily computing and I get it all for free.
Again, you have to give back at some point.
And as far as the revenue that Mozilla does get, it's about a grain of sand on a beach compared to the war chest that Microsoft has to work with for promoting its browser if an actual need to do so ever came about.
Take some time to explore the links to various web sites from the people with the highest point totals on the Top 250. You'll find that the greater majority of them are not in it to profit from Firefox downloads. As a matter of fact, site owners lose visitors and potential income when a person clicks on a Firefox promo because they are then taken away to go to Mozilla.com.
There is a huge variety of affiliate programs to generate income on a web site.
The day that I see Firefox on LinkShare or share-it is the same day that I'll be purchasing the Brooklyn Bridge.
Ken - Page Zoom Buttons
These are fair points
These are fair points against paying, but then you have to ask, what is the point of the "affiliate program" at all? Why not just keep the banners and links that anyone can promote without even mentioning the word affiliate. It seems odd to me to have an "affiliate program" that not only doesn't pay, which I can understand in the general ethos of things, but then takes the decision to add the "nofollow" attribute to links back to the affiliate sites. That's a conscious decision to add something to a link which makes it less useful to affiliates who are interested in the SEO benefits of a link as a pat on the back for their community efforts. It strikes me as a bit churlish, so why not just get rid of the whole notion of an affiliate program.
Rob
RE the bigger picture
Well Said Ken,
I've referred about 19,000 visitors to Firefox, 14,400 of which were through adsense. I was a systems designer for 15 years so can appreciate the big picture angle, have volunteered my time to many environment groups and the scouts (scout leaders don't get paid downunder), so I understand that society is enriched by its volunteers.
Re " They are of the most brilliant minds that you'd ever come across and with their knowledge and experience they could easily draw a high paying salary and for probably half of the time and effort that they currently put in but they see the bigger picture."
I'm very interested in the bigger picture. Would you like to elaborate on what you and those people you've talked with see as the bigger picture for Firefox?
Regards,
Wayne
Free Web Browsers
The Bigger Picture
We all for the most part may have different reasons that motivates us to devote our time and energy into volunteering and contributing to Mozilla's efforts but we (those who choose to participate in the Mozilla communities) do collectively have the same goal of advancing Mozilla's mission which at its simplest form is to promote choice and innovation on an Internet that is open and accessible to all.
That last line is what really hooked me.
Remember, the greater majority of Firefox users are those who learned how to use and access the Internet through Internet Explorer and we all got badly burned by Microsoft. They ignored us, they made us fend for ourselves against every imaginable computer attack, they knowingly let us use an extremely unsafe product that was the portal to the destruction and loss of our data, and it still holds true today that most people have no idea that there are alternative choices and so they still continue to suffer and be frustrated.
We know that Mozilla is different.
While Mozilla steers the vehicle it's us (users, volunteers, and contributors) that powers the engine that moves Firefox forward and Mozilla knows and acknowledges that.
So it all goes way deeper than just supporting something that "really rocks".
I'm helping to shape an Internet that I can and do personally benefit from.
We all have the same opportunities to be an active contributor in the development and direction that Firefox goes and we are asked and invited on a daily basis from those within the Mozilla Foundation and corporation to submit our ideas and opinions that will have a direct influence on products that we use for ourselves.
A deeper reason for motivation and the bigger picture.
We ought to easily be able
We ought to easily be able to figure out what each download is worth.
1) How many downloads last year?
2) What was their profits from Google last year?
...
I'm sure their accountants
I'm sure their accountants are well on top of that.
Regards, Wayne Free Web Browsers
The passion drives the
The passion drives the campus reps to do things. And money makes them do even better. just for a install fest @ campus, nearly 10 posters are required for publicity and some goodies will drive more students to the computer labs ! and i feel T-shirt should be given to every campus rep, its like a uniform which indicates " Campus rep @ work ! "