The Paid Club News

Call it Black Monday - Major Incentive Offer BMG and Columbia House pull out from the incentive game

2007-06-11T17:55:00.000-07:00

I thought I had everything ready to pull the trigger on a new site, over 120 offers were loaded, I had tested my tracking systems, the activation process, my css was mostly compatible with every browser, and wouldn't you know it, someone goes and pulls down two of my favorite offers.

Since losing Girls Gone Wild last week, and discovering that Vonage is on a budget, I was not really in the mood for the flurry of emails from every network that I work with.

BMG - Going down tonight!
BMG and Columbia house - pull creatives at end of day
Columbia house - Stop all traffic now, offer coming down tonight!

I could not believe my eyes, this can't be happening! Will the exit of Columbia house spell the start of a trend in incentive marketing? Certainly I have noticed a lack of new offers appearing that accept incentive traffic. Many new merchants are unwilling to accept incentive traffic, and now it seems that this is the beginning of the end of the major advertisers.

Who will be next? Vertrue regrouped and relaunched the very popular Bargain offers again, Girls Gone Wild has all but closed the door on their very popular offer, and other advertisers are scaling back their budgets.

Now is not the best time for me to be launching a new site.

But that is what I am doing anyways!

Despite the fact that major advertisers are turning a cold shoulder to incentive traffic, I would encourage them to make an exception for Rewarding Reviews - A brand new site that rewards consumers for their opinion of products and services!

The incentive marketing business is not dead, and I refuse to accept a few bumps in the road as a sign of a death-spiral. What will end is the fraud and greed. Incentive sites will need to become innovative, and I don't just mean giving more money back to their users, or coming up with clever ways to wring more money out of advertisers:

Incentive and freebie sites need to innovate and add value, fast.

Rewarding Reviews is just that, added value and exposure for advertisers. Members who join (for free of course) can earn cash by signing up for trial offers and writing reviews on their blog, myspace page, or any other site they wish.

Advertisers get new sign-ups and exposure, plus someone who is going to actually try out the offer instead of canceling it hours later just to get a few dollars on a "get paid to" freebie site. Members of Rewarding Reviews earn money, firstly by signing up for the offer, but also for writing the review and giving the advertiser some exposure and even feedback on the product.

Members also get some great things to write about at discounts too :D

Without adding value to the advertiser at some point in the transaction, every freebie site out there is doomed to be eventually be cut off from the money-tree that is incentive marketing.

I for one, am not worried.

If you want to make some money from your blog, take a look at RewardingReviews - http://www.rewardingreviews.com

Redesigned Site Coming Soon

2007-04-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have been a busy beaver these past few days, and we are putting the finishing touches on a redesigned layout and graphics for The Paid Club.

Here is your sneak preview :D

Eric

Two Winners!

2007-03-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

These random numbers were brought to you by Random.org - Providers of random numbers, coin-flips, and random sequences.

One random user will win $50 from our $1,000 giveaway.

M. Stevens from Scranton, NJ and A. Bartolo from New York, NY - You have both won $50.00 - Copies of this announcement has been emailed to your registered email address. If you do not open a support ticket within 7 days to claim your prize we will go down the list and see who will win.

Are you entered to win? Have you completed any offers on The Paid Club so far? You really should join soon as the cash giveaway is heating up. The next winner will be at 900 members, and we are getting closer every day! Expect a winner to be announced by FRIDAY! GET THOSE OFFERS COMPLETED ASAP BECAUSE THE FIRST $100 DAR IS COMING UP AT 1000 MEMBERS! For the next draw however, the prize will be $50.00, and anyone can win!

Join The Paid Club Now!

Eric

30 more members, we will give away more money tomorrow!

2007-03-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend in Buffalo!

Ok, se we are currently at 770 Members in The Paid Club - Have you completed an offer or two yet? Get those offers finished quickly and you can win part of the $1,000.00 giveaway we are having right now.

We need 30 more members, and another prize of $50 will be awarded. Are you ready to join the club that pays YOU to be a member? Join The Paid Club Now

Eric

PS: A new site design is on the way and we will be announcing some down-time shortly.

New Offer - Girls Gone Wild

2007-03-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

If you want 2 free Girls Gone Wild DVDs - This offer is for you. Order 2 free Girls Gone Wild DVDs for only $1.00 Shipping and Handling.

This is a half credit offer that credits instantly.

Enjoy! (Warning, contains adult material)

Oh, and it is available in CANADA too :D

Eric

If you want two HOT DVDs for only $1, just click here and order. You do not need to join The Paid Club to take advantage of this offer.

New Offer Added: UltimaSmile (US and Canada)

2007-03-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Wake up to a beautiful smile. UltimaSmile guarantees up to 7 shades brighter in 15 minutes. Turn a dull, lifeless, smile into Pearly Whites! Order the free trial.

This another 1/2 credit offer that costs $6.95 Shipping and handling. If you do decide to cancel, you don't have to send the trial product back!

Join to the Paid Club and we will pay YOU to get whiter teeth, find out more here.

Eric is away Saturday and Sunday - Will return Monday

2007-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I'm off for a short road-trip to Buffalo, NY (to do some shopping, have dinner with the family, etc.)

Please be aware that Saturday and Sunday I will still have occasional access to the internet for support ticket inquiries, however I will not be able to do anything regarding credit requests until Monday.

Thank you for your patience!

Eric

Columbia House DVD - Now a Full Credit!

2007-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Whoa! A Special announcement - The Paid Club has just made Columbia House DVD a full credit!

No longer a half credit, we got a new deal with the agency that runs this promotion, and now it is ONE FULL CREDIT!

Just another reason to join, new offers are being added constantly, and older offers are now worth even more!

Join the paid club, just do it already.

Eric

Site is back online

2007-03-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

We are back online, if you notice ANY problems, please open a ticket ASAP, thanks!

Again, sorry for the unexpected downtime.

Eric

Site down for maintenance - 30 minutes

2007-03-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, due to some recent er... bugs in the script which were causing all sorts of interesting situations (at one point I replied to a support ticket and it looked like I was replying as the member!)

So we have taken the site offline for a few minutes to try and sort things out.

Everything should still be working fine, and there will be no data lost during this time.

If you need anything, please email eric NO SPAM @thepaidclub.com or find me on AIM: username is eric R3MOVE ME @thapaidclub.com

Thanks for your patience as we work through these difficulties to server you better.

Eric

700 members already! $50 Winner announced.

2007-03-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

These random numbers were brought to you by Random.org - Providers of random numbers, coin-flips, and random sequences.

One random user will win $50 from our $1,000 giveaway. Here are the numbers as produced by the Random.org sequence generator.

417 - No offers completed, Sorry!
632 - Half a credit, and no credit requests open, Sorry!
329 - WINNER WINNER WINNER!
395 - not checked
376 - not checked
176 - not checked
442 - not checked
649 - not checked
96 - not checked

Pete from Sparks, NV - You have won $50.00 - A copy of this announcement has been emailed to your registered email address. If you do not open a support ticket within 7 days to claim your prize we will go down the list and see who will win.

Are you entered to win? Have you completed any offers on The Paid Club so far? You really should join soon as the cash giveaway is heating up. The next winner will be at 800 members, and we are close! The prize will be $50.00, and anyone can win!

Join The Paid Club Now

Eric

Over 600 Users - Time for another draw!

2007-03-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

These random numbers were brought to you by Random.org - Providers of random numbers, coin-flips, and random sequences.

One random user will win $25 from our $1,000 giveaway. Here are the numbers as produced by the Random.org sequence generator.

521 - HE'S GREEN, HE WINS!
362 - not checked
587 - not checked
553 - not checked
414 - not checked
75 - not checked
335 - not checked
321 - not checked
585 - not checked
54 - not checked

Steven from Kansas city, KS - You have won $25.00 - A copy of this announcement has been emailed to your registered email address. If you do not open a support ticket within 7 days to claim your prize we will go down the list and see who will win.

Are you entered to win? Have you completed any offers on The Paid Club so far? You really should join soon as the cash giveaway is heating up. The next winner will be at 700 members, and we are close! The prize will be $50.00, and anyone can win!

Join The Paid Club Now

Eric

Total Number of Unique Users: 557 (and counting)

2007-03-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! It seems like only yesterday that I started The Paid Club, and now we are over half-way to a thousand members!

For anyone who didn't know, there is a contest happening right now, you could win BIG cash prizes, just for being a member!

See the details on the free cash giveway here.

Our most recent winner was announced here.

If you want to Join The Paid Club so you can get free ipods, free xbox systems and games, a free PSP or just some extra cash, Join Now!

Offer Highlight: Childrens International

2007-03-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

Alright, I've added a bunch of new offers to The Paid Club, but one stands out from the rest. Childrens International is a full credit offer, and this one is different: You will be sponsoring a child, who needs love and kindness.

If you would like to sponsor a child without joining The Paid Club, because child sponsorship is something that really makes a difference in the world, click here to sponsor a child overseas. You even get to see pictures of sponsored children before you sign up.

Eric

Site back online

2007-03-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

The problem has been resolved, turns out that there was a problem migrating The Paid Club to a faster server, but it's all taken care of now.

The site should be quicker too!

Eric

The site is down - hopefully not for long

2007-03-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

I'm on it, and hopefully it will be back up shortly.

Eric

New Offer Added: Quick Books - Simple Business Kit

2007-03-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Quick Books - Simple Business Kit gives you a 1/2 credit when you sign up for the free trial of a merchant account and ebay auction source. You also get a complimentary copy of quickbooks too!

http://www.thepaidclub.com - Join Now, Get Paid

Frequently Asked Questions - How Do I start my Own Freebie site? The answers are long.

2007-03-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

Something I'm being asked more and more is "How do I start my own free ipods site". There is no book on the subject, so I've put together a quick answer to one of the questions I'm being asked: Where do you find offers for a freebie website.

Finding Offers for your own freebie site - Where to get high paying offers you can use on your own freebie site.

So you want to start your own freebie site, you have saved your money and have picked a script, signed up for hosting, and now you need to find offers? Where do you go? Who do you talk to at Blockbuster, Video Professor, and other companies? Don’t rush out and start sending emails asking how you can get paid to refer new customers to these companies.

The answer is actually affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing companies act as a middle-man between advertisers and publishers (you are a publisher). Advertisers pay the marketing company, and they in turn pay each publisher for every lead that you produce for a campaign.

So, when a user clicks on your link, the affiliate agency tracks the click, records the sale or sign up, and gives you credit in your account. If you sign up with an affiliate company that offers postback, their software will “ping” your site so that the offer credits automatically. Postback is what makes offers credit instantly. Before you join an affiliate network, ask if postback is offered.

There are a few big names in the business and I’m going to tell you who I use to run my freebie site (The Paid Club).

I suggest working with more than one company, to gain more experience in the different ways of doing things in the business, and also in case one of the companies decides to hold your payment for a few extra days… It can happen, even with the respected companies listed here:

Instant Dollarz – Instant Dollarz, or IDZ has the most offers, plain and simple. There are THOUSANDS of offers you can promote, including an assortment of international offers that will work in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and more. Automatic crediting (postback) is available, and integerates easily with every major freebie script.

AzoogleAds – This is a great company to work with. They have higher payouts on some offers, and they can setup automatic crediting for you. Payments are sent every month, and arrive on time. They have a good assortment of offers and they will work with you to match/beat the payouts offered elsewhere. There are some exclusive offers found here that you won't find anywhere else.

MaxBounty – MaxBounty Offers some of the highest payouts anywhere, the downside is they don’t have a huge selection of offers, but they do have a few that pay much higher than anyone else. Postback is available so that offers can credit automatically. Once signed up you will need to ask your affiliate manager about postback.

Clickbooth – Their selection of offers is large, but not as large as InstantDollarz. Clickbooth guarantees the highest payouts, and it is not uncommon to see them raise their payout rates frequently. Postback is not as easy to get working, and many scripts will need to be heavily modified, but since they do have csv generated reports for every offer, it is not too difficult to get the information into your site. I would use Clickbooth for more offers, but because of the non-standard postback function I can’t justify making my members wait for manual credits.

These are the Big Four affiliate agencies that I run 95% of my offers through. They all offer support through AOL instant messenger, and have Net 15 payment terms.

I suggest signing up for all four affiliate programs. Instant Dollarz is the easiest to use, followed by Azoogle and Maxbounty. Many offers are only available through Instant Dollarz, but Azoogle and MaxBounty
payout higher for certain offers, and will match or beat the payout offered by Instant Dollarz.

The whole reason to look for higher payouts is to be able to pass on more money to members, and to make it easier to pay for the hosting, scripts, etc that running the site will cost you.

Feel free to post questions in the replies for this post, I'm sure that there will be many.

$25 Bonus Winner announced

2007-03-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I had an impartial third party throw out some random numbers and here they are!

164 - Not Green
485 - Not Green
272 - Not Green
14 - GREEN! WE HAVE A WINNER (And she's from A4F too, what are the odds!)

Congratulations to A4F member diny42 who has won $25 by paypal. A message has been sent, if the prize is un-claimed in 7 days, another winner will be chosen.

The next draw will be at 600 members, go green and you're in the draw!

489 Members - 11 To Go until Bonus Time!

2007-03-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in our $1,000 Giveaway announcement, we will be giving away some money to random lucky members of The Paid Club over the next few days, in fact the first $25 prize will probably be awarded Today!

After 11 more members are signed up, I will begin searching for a random number between 1 and 500. The first person I find who has completed their offer credit(s), will be awarded a $25.00 PayPal Bonus.

Get those referrals to go green as fast as possible, the odds are great right now, and you can win more than once!

Winners will be announced here and will be notified via a message on The Paid Club.

Cash Advance Network

2007-03-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

Need a half credit offer that's new, and costs you nothing up front? Cash Advance Network is a new offer: Apply for and accept a payday loan. Credits as soon as the deposit is made into your bank account. If you need a little extra cash, order our $200 PayPal offer and we will send you $200 when you refer 5 friends to The Paid Club.

Join Now

New Offer: Passport to Fun - Free Gas Card

2007-03-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Get a half credit for this offer, AND a free $25 Gas Card. Costs $1.00 to join.

New Offer Added: 20 Minute Facelift

2007-03-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

Look 10 Years Younger in 20 minutes GUARANTEED with the 20 Minute Facelift! This 1/2 Credit offer will help you look good, while helping you towards a free ipod or a free xbox 360 game. Costs $4.97

We have other prizes, including CASH - Join The Paid Club and find out how easy it is to get paid!

New Offer Added: Repo Car Search

2007-03-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

This $1 offer lets you search for cars that have been reposessed. Open to Canadians too!

Payment Schedule Update

2007-03-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

Our FAQ has been updated. I hate making changes to it, and I feel a little bit bad about making people wait, but after having a number of users try to commit fraud on our site, and having thousands of dollars in commissions reversed by advertisers, I don't have a choice.

This will be the last change for awhile:

Q: When will I receive my prize?

A: Orders are placed on the 20th of each month for accounts approved the previous month.

Special offer for FIPG members

2007-03-06T14:20:00.000-08:00

A special offer for members of FIPG has just been announced. See the details here.

New Offers - UK and CANADA Friendly!

2007-03-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

I've just added the Bob Greene Oprah diet as a 1/2 credit offer, and a HOT new work from home offer, Work Genius, which is valid for US, Canada and the UK too. This full credit, instant offer will show you how to build real wealth while working from home. See the terms and conditions for full details. 90 Day Money back guarantee on this one.

- Eric

Today - A MileStone - $1,000.00 in Cash Shipped So Far

2007-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true, so far we have shipped $1,000 in cash, with another $500+ about to go out the door. Want some free money? Get some friends together and Join The Paid Club!

1000 Reasons to get your referrals to go green as fast as possible.

2007-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

So, I wanted to thank everyone who has joined The Paid Club so far. A few payments have been sent in the last couple days.

Here's the details of the $1000.00 Giveaway:

Right now we are just shy of 400 members. Every time we pass the following milestones, a random member (who must be GREEN, otherwise I will draw again) will receive a pre-determined PayPal prize. You can win more than once!

Milestones:

500 Members: $25.00 - diny42 from the A4F Forums
600 Members: $25.00 - Steven from Kansas city, KS
700 Members: $50.00 - Pete from Sparks, NV
800 Members: $50.00 - M. Stevens from Scranton, NJ
900 Members: $50.00 - A. Bartolo from New York, NY
1,000 Members: $100.00 - Have you completed your 1 offer credit? That's all it takes to be entered to win!
1,500 Members: $150.00
2,000 Members: $200.00
5,000 Members: $350.00

So... That means keep those referrals coming in!

Prize Changes, New Minimum Cash Payout.

2007-03-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

After some number crunching and careful consideration, the $160 and $150 Paypal prizes are not available anymore. If you have already signed up for one of those prizes, you can still complete the requirements and order one of those prizes.

The New Minimum Cash Payout is $200.00 for 5 Referrals!

To get your free cash, you need to be a member of The Paid Club, Join Now

Site is back up... and will be moving to a new server shortly

2007-03-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ok

So I'm moving to a new, faster hosting solution (Costs triple what I was paying before) so that outages don't happen anymore.

Yeah!

No word on when that move will take place, but it should be seamless.

Temporary Outage Reported

2007-03-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

Looks like we've over-taxed the server... Site's down for a bit, but should be back up very soon.

Eric

Payment Schedule Coming Soon

2007-02-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick update since many of you are nearing or have reached your referral requirements and have submitted your orders.

At this time we will be shipping orders within 7 days of approval.

Eric

GottaPlay active again

2007-02-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

After getting some feedback from GottaPlay, I have reactivated the offer. GottaPlay is a great offer for video-game lovers.

Skiing

2007-02-23T03:38:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday, and i have gone skiing for the weekend.

Support tickets will be answered on monday.

Clearing something up - Bonuses and Referrals and Cash Payouts

2007-02-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks You for the flood of new A4F members and your referrals.

I wanted to take a small moment to clarify something:

While we are paying $40/Ref for straight referrals, and a $10 bonus if you sign up unreferred and mention A4F on a support ticket.. I just want to be clear on something:

Going Forward The minimum cash payout is $150.00 before bonuses.

You can complete ONE offer credit yourself which will count as a referral, bonus credits cannot be combined on the same order.

I hope that clears some of the confusion up. It may create more confusion, if you aren't sure of something, please ask!

- Eric

GottaPlay Security Breach reported

2007-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Due to some serious allegations of weak security and credit card fraud following a sign up to GottaPlay, I have removed the offer from the site. The agency that handles GottaPlay's affiliates has been informed and the user who was affected was given double credit for the offer that caused him such a head-ache.

Further developments and commentary can be found at the Anything4Free forum:

http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84164
http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82835

And the Free iPod Guide Forums
http://forum.freeipodguide.com/about53919.html

I would like to encourage you NOT to complete GottaPlay until this mess is resolved. If you want video game rental offers, we have two alternatives at The Paid Club

Custom Prizes * Ooooo Goodie

2007-02-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

I have put together a wish list of items that I have been asked to quote for custom gifts.

The referral counts might be visible on that list if they look a little bit high, please keep in mind that shipping varies from one item to another.

Prize Changes

2007-02-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

As the Nintendo Wii becomes more available, the cost to find one becomes less and less. Now the Wii is only 10 referrals!

New Prize Added: Sony PSP Core Package (5 Referrals)

Great stuff, you really need to explore the paid club www.thepaidclub.com

Another Great offers to help you get free stuff

2007-02-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

A new Dental Plans offer has been added to The Paid Club, affordable dental coverage can be yours, AND it will help you get free stuff too. This is a full credit offer that requires a credit card and comes with a Money Back Guarantee.

Join The Paid Club

Free ipod nano and free $150 Paypal prize requirements reduced

2007-02-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

That's right!

UPDATE: Ipod Shuffle is now only 2 Referrals, down from 3!
UPDATE: $150 For Only 4 Referrals instead of 5!

Join The Paid Club - Get Paid

New Offers

2007-02-16T04:25:00.000-08:00

Stamps.com (1/2 Credit, Free trial)
Hoodia Trim (1/2 Credit, Free trial)
BMG (1/2 Credit)
Official XBox Magazine (1/2 Credit)

Speaking of XBox, we are giving away free XBox 360s, Wireless Controllers, Games, and 12 Months of XBox Live Service - Have you Joined The Paid Club yet? You really should join now.

New Offers Added

2007-02-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

I just added the following new offers, credits are in brackets.

ADT Security (3)
Nutrisystem Nourish (1)
ItsMyWireless (1)
John Alexander Real Estate (1)
Primus Canada TalkBroadband (1) * For Canadians Only

Join the paid club to complete one of these offers and you can get a free ipod, free nintendo wii, free XBox and more!

Get as many prizes as you like by referring more friends to the club.

Nintendo Wii - Now only 11 Referrals!

2007-02-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

QUOTE(JennyWren @ Feb 15 2007, 12:49 PM) *
A wii is 15 referrals?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. The Wii is now only 11 referrals (I had to look high and low for a more affordable source).

11 Referrals and you get yourself a FREE NINTENDO WII! Complete a free offer or two and get some friends involved.

Anything 4 Free Forum Members - Welcome!

2007-02-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Before I officially turn the key on The Paid Club and open the doors to the general public, I thought we would welcome Anything 4 Free Forum members with a special offer.

The details can be found here.

Join The Paid Club and get free stuff.

New Offers Added - Again!

2007-02-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well, today has been a busy day for me. I added a new offer for Canadians (ZIP.CA Online DVD Rentals) and I've added Photostamps, Advantage Language and a Work at home information kit to the offers. Two of those are Full Credit offers that have money back guarantees!

Take a look at the current list of offers.

Two New Creatives - Flash ROCKS

2007-02-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am glad I took the time to find a flash banner maker. Check these creatives out... just awesome.

336 X 280

Find More Here. http://www.thepaidclub.com/banners.php

New Offers Added!

2007-02-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

I've added some new offers to the mix, including Blockbuster, NetFlix, GottaPlay, Stop Smoking 180 and a few more.

ThePaid Club is almost ready for it's official launch. I'm working on the prize assortment now.

Brand New Logo!

2007-02-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well, after working hard for a few minutes, the new logo is ready and installed, I'm hoping to get some small changes made to the links and navigation structure as well. Feel free to comment on the new logo.

http://www.thepaidclub.com

Please note that the site is now ahead of schedule, but we are still focusing on a March 1st Launch Date.

The Paid Club - Launching Soon

2007-02-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

The paid club will be officially launching March 1st 2007.

Right now the site is still changing, and the graphics, layout, offers and referral requirements are all going to fluctuate during this time. I'm hoping to have another 15-20 new offers on the site in the next few days, and that should help those of you who are looking for something interesting to complete.