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Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

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Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#21

Post by iworkforthem »

iworkforthem wrote: post #20

I like the design! Large, bright, positive. One change could be to have both right & left scrolling center image/text instead of just left. My mouse need to move a long way from the right sidebar, cause the page is quite long. You could offer some form of help/guide much like how dropbox/zumedrive help new users on how to get started. It's a bit confusion with so many options.. Where do I begin. Just wondering how is…

Not sure if it's any useful... seems like the web app dun allow me to create an account prefix 'help', so I used 'login' instead. Once I encountered a web app which ask me to change because I shouldn't be using that specific prefix. Hope it won't be the case for your web app too.

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#22

Post by ScottWhigham »

How do you handle payouts (or do you)? I see on the "How it works" page that I can "Manage commissions" but how? Let's say that I have customers in Brazil, China, the US, and Algeria that need to be paid - do I do it through the site? If so, how is payment sent (i.e. check, PayPal, etc)?

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#23

Post by ScottWhigham »

The main problem that I would have is that (a) I don't know you, (b) you don't have a track record, and (c) since my customers are my most important asset, I'm not about to turn them over to you easily. You just started - congrats - but that doesn't help me get "over the hump" of why I should use you. You will face this over and over: "How do I know you guys will still be around in a year? I'm not interested in doing a 'mea culpa' to my customers six months from now if you quit the business, get hacked, get acquired and the TOS changes, etc."

As such it isn't for me but I applaud you for getting it started - it looks nice. Stay focused on the small startups and you won't have to answer the above issues. After a year or so people will be more comfortable with you and hopefully there will be more substance about pricing/features/etc that will make larger companies more comfortable.

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#24

Post by jeffepp »

iworkforthem wrote: post #21
iworkforthem wrote: post #20

I like the design! Large, bright, positive. One change could be to have both right & left scrolling center image/text instead of just left. My mouse need to move a long way from the right sidebar, cause the page is quite long. You could offer some form of help/guide much like how dropbox/zumedrive help new users on how to get started. It's a bit confusion with so many options.. Where do I begin. Just wondering how is…

Not sure if it's any useful... seems like the web app dun allow me to create an account prefix 'help', so I used 'login' instead. Once I encountered a web app which ask me to change because I shouldn't be using that specific prefix. Hope it won't be the case for your web app too.

Hey iworkforthem, thanks a lot for your feedback! Currently, only 5 + character urls are available on zferral

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#25

Post by jeffepp »

sr3d wrote: post #19

Just to let you know that the password email goes directly to my Yahoo Mail bulk folder. You should get this fixed before going live live.

sr3d - thanks! We just changed the DNS records (yesterday) and hopefully this will be updated today

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#26

Post by jeffepp »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #23

The main problem that I would have is that (a) I don't know you, (b) you don't have a track record, and (c) since my customers are my most important asset, I'm not about to turn them over to you easily. You just started - congrats - but that doesn't help me get "over the hump" of why I should use you. You will face this over and over: "How do I know you guys will still be around in a year? I'm not interested in doing…

Scott,

Good points. (a) I agree we don't know eachother, something that can generally be remedied during the sales cycle. (b) I guess I do not have a track record on here -- my co-founder is a core team member a piwik.org and I am pretty active in the startup community in Detroit (and Chicago). (c) You need not turn over any customers to zferral, actually we have very little, if anything about your customers. We help you track, manage and create affiliate programs.

Appreciate the insight, there are definitely items to think about -- I am glad to get your perspective!

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#27

Post by jeffepp »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #22

How do you handle payouts (or do you)? I see on the "How it works" page that I can "Manage commissions" but how? Let's say that I have customers in Brazil, China, the US, and Algeria that need to be paid - do I do it through the site? If so, how is payment sent (i.e. check, PayPal, etc)?

Currently, the site is integrated with Paypal and it works through the site.

We are also adding multi-currency capabilities, however, that is scheduled a bit down the road.

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#28

Post by ScottWhigham »

jeffepp wrote: post #26
ScottWhigham wrote: post #23

The main problem that I would have is that (a) I don't know you, (b) you don't have a track record, and (c) since my customers are my most important asset, I'm not about to turn them over to you easily. You just started - congrats - but that doesn't help me get "over the hump" of why I should use you. You will face this over and over: "How do I know you guys will still be around in a year? I'm not interested in doing…

Scott, Good points. (a) I agree we don't know eachother, something that can generally be remedied during the sales cycle. (b) I guess I do not have a track record on here -- my co-founder is a core team member a piwik.org and I am pretty active in the startup community in Detroit (and Chicago). (c) You need not turn over any customers to zferral, actually we have very little, if anything about your customers. We help…

I meant that I don't know "you" as in "your company", not necessarily you personally via HN :)

And those are good credentials for making someone like me more comfortable; I would suggest you not bury that info in the About page (or create a "Who's behind this?" page).

Lastly, when I browsed the site quickly, I didn't pick up on the fact that I wouldn't be turning my customers over to you. That's an important point to me. If I take a chance on something like this, then I'd like to know that if I change companies 6-12 months from now, the only impact is that I have to tell my affiliates, "Sorry guys - gotta have new URLs."

Follow-up question: if you don't know who my affiliates (my customers) are, how is the signup process for them to become an affiliate handled? Perhaps a demo site might answer some of this info for me.

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#29

Post by jeffepp »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #28
jeffepp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scott, Good points. (a) I agree we don't know eachother, something that can generally be remedied during the sales cycle. (b) I guess I do not have a track record on here -- my co-founder is a core team member a piwik.org and I am pretty active in the startup community in Detroit (and Chicago). (c) You need not turn over any customers to zferral, actually we have very little, if anything about your customers. We help…

I meant that I don't know "you" as in "your company", not necessarily you personally via HN :) And those are good credentials for making someone like me more comfortable; I would suggest you not bury that info in the About page (or create a "Who's behind this?" page). Lastly, when I browsed the site quickly, I didn't pick up on the fact that I wouldn't be turning my customers over to you. That's an important point to…

Scott, excellent feedback -- that is why I posted this here -- so thank you.

We allow you (the company) to export all affiliate information.

Affiliates would log in via the Company White-Labeled Panel (such as http://partners.zferral.com or http://theory11.zferral.com -- they can create an account OR login via facebook, twitter, yahoo or gmail.

I guess I can create a demo site, do you think it is necessary if it is 100% free to start?

Thanks again Scott.

Re: Ask HN: Please Checkout My Startup: zferral.com (Custom Affiliate Programs)

#30

Post by ScottWhigham »

jeffepp wrote: post #29
ScottWhigham wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant that I don't know "you" as in "your company", not necessarily you personally via HN :) And those are good credentials for making someone like me more comfortable; I would suggest you not bury that info in the About page (or create a "Who's behind this?" page). Lastly, when I browsed the site quickly, I didn't pick up on the fact that I wouldn't be turning my customers over to you. That's an important point to…

Scott, excellent feedback -- that is why I posted this here -- so thank you. We allow you (the company) to export all affiliate information. Affiliates would log in via the Company White-Labeled Panel (such as http://partners.zferral.com or http://theory11.zferral.com -- they can create an account OR login via facebook, twitter, yahoo or gmail. I guess I can create a demo site, do you think it is necessary if it is 1…

Now wait a minute - you said that I wouldn't be turning my customers over to you but now you're telling me they have to create accounts on your system. Isn't that exactly what "turning my customers over to you" is? The end result is that I have to tell my customers, "Hey - go create a new account/login here" and then you have all their details in your databases. Are your databases secure? Is your code secure? How do I know you won't sell my info? That's back to the "I don't know you" problem...

100% free to start isn't an exciting thing to me, actually. I'm dealing with something incredibly important for my business and I expect that any company will either have a free trial, a demo, or a 30-day money back guarantee. I'm less swayed by the "100% free to start" than others might be because I'm serious about wanting an affiliate management package... I'm not kicking tires, so to speak.

All in all, it seems like I'm not really the target market - which is fine.

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