Loyalty Marketing and More…

Social Networking has been a hot topic for a while with lots of discussions about how the companies will monetize all the users coming to their sites. One such site, Gather, is using a Loyalty strategy to reward their members and share back some of the money they make through advertising and sponsorship deals.

Here’s how the site describes itself:

Gather is a leading social networking and media site for adults, with some of the highest quality user-generated content on the internet. Becoming a Gather member will not only be personally rewarding, but it can also be profitable. Just for your participation, you will earn Gather Points™, which can be redeemed for gift cards to well-known merchants or for charitable donations. Active members may even earn cash!

You earn points by participating, inviting other members to join, publishing articles and participating in groups. For those looking to cash in on their social networking, this looks like an interesting way to get started. Look for other sites to start their own programs to keep their members engaged and Loyal too. And if you want to see my Gather page, head on over to http://evanw2007.gather.com. I’m just getting started so if you’ve got any suggestions on how best to “Gather,” let me know.

P.S. I’ve written my first article for Gather which you can find here. It’s for a contest on paying for college. I’d love it if you’d rate the article so I have a better chance.

Listening to the radio has long been a great way to pass the time. Whether you’re sitting at your desk, driving in your car, or relaxing in your den, listening to music or talk-radio has been a very popular routine. But traditional radio has been seeing competition grow from many sources. Years ago it was the 8-track and then the cassette player and now we have in-car CD players, Satellite radio or an MP3 hookup. Even in your office or home you have multiple ways to listen to music including over the Internet. So what’s a radio station to do when trying to prove their value to advertisers? (more…)