How to Generate Referrals

A lot of businesses and internet marketers reward customers and affiliates who generate leads and/or sales.

But, businesses can get more referrals (especially getting their existing customers to refer their friends) by giving a benefit to both of them.

This works especially great if you have a business providing goods or services that people buy more than once - for example, a massage therapist. In this case, it won't cost you much to provide free massages to new referrals - and the customers who referred them.

For example, I have my trading account with Scottrade. If I refer people to Scottrade and they open an account with my referral code (ZNTJ5666), then we will both get three free trades.

Another example I have seen is with a service called DropBox, which is an online storage site that lets you put folders on your computers and syncs between them. I am not a customer of theirs, but I saw someone promoting it and, it turns out, if you sign up, they give both you and the referrer extra storage space.

If you have a business (such as affiliate marketing) where customers don't buy the same good or service twice, you could create a rebate or discount program for other products, or a special report or course that would be given to both the referrer and the new customer.

You are only limited by your imagination!

The main takeaway is that both the referrer AND the new lead/customer are rewarded.

(Of course, it almost goes without saying that your business has to have integrity, and your products / services must be high-quality and give good value for the price, otherwise no gimmick will compensate).