Not everything is a ponzy scheme designed to rob us. I see sharing affiliate links as something positive that is sharing what works for me and getting rewarded for it. Sometimes I make lists of things that might be of interest to someone even if I haven’t tried them myself yet. Some of those lists don’t contain any affiliate links. I once spent 2 full days collating a YouTubers in Thailand list. Effectively promoting them and making it easy for Thailand Youtube fans to find so many new creators. I made nothing from this work. But a lot of people clicked on it and used the links
Right now I have a great offer from an online payment card that works borderless and has a string of perks, but I can’t for the life of me find a friend to sign up. If they did I could get $90 referral bonus. You have no idea how helpful that would be right now. I have phantasies of 10 people or 100 signing up and how much that would lift me up financially without costing anyone anything extra that they don’t already spend. Except for a little time to follow through with the steps to complete the signup. But people end up doing it anyway, years later, just not with my recommendation.
(I may be slightly disgruntled. It doesn’t make sense to me to NOT sign up. It’s useful, practical, 21st century and you’d be helping a friend. And in the future YOU could get referral bonuses like this, too for inviting a friend or imagine if you invited 10!) Well.. I am not putting the link here because I need people who will really follow through with the signup process and take the steps needed to activate the digital card. There is a short time window for this and I only get a referral bonus offer between $70 to $90 once or twice a year. The rest of the time it’s much lower.
Always use affiliate links when you can find them! It makes such a difference to the person whose link you are using!
In case affiliate and referral links make you cynical, don’t be. Why shouldn’t we (you, too) get a referral bonus for sharing something that could be useful for someone else?
It takes time to type to share, it even costs money to keep this website hosted year after year. I have never made anything from this website. But wouldn’t it be nice if I did?
It would be comparable to you inviting me for lunch but NOT having to spend your own money and instead you might be saving or making money if one of the recommendations that I found turn out to be right for you.
If you are ever in doubt:
JUST ask me in the comments or if we know each other then ask me directly about the recommendation that you aren’t sure about.
My personal feeling is that the future is here and we need to move on with the times. It’s no use if us 70’s born generation get left behind because we are spooked by change. I agree with your concerns, I can hear them inside my head (I hear a series of friends right now!) but I also disagree that you should let those valid concerns influence you to end up with less than you deserve.
I remember trying to convince people to give Airbnb a try. I just couldn’t get people to believe in it. At that time I could have gotten amazing referral perks, but my friends all said no. Years later they signed up one way or another but not with my code, so I got nothing for it. It’s a shame.
Below are a couple of recommendations that I genuinely recommended. I use both.
Wise, for borderless banking, lowest cost money transfers. This has saved me hundreds of £ and $ when I had to send money to myself across borders and when I received payment in foreign currencies.
I often use it to receive payments for photography sessions and language lesson packages. I lose less money to fees using Wise than if I use Paypal. It also works like a normal local bank and can receive salaries. But I tend to use a different account for that for the time being.
Revolut – this is the card I would need you to be 100% on board signing up for because the time window is very tight. Reach out to me via the comments if you want to go for it but need help to navigate. Even better: reach out to me and wait until I get a great referral offer. That would be the most amazing!
I will compare Revolut and Wise some time soon. They are different. But some Youtube travellers I follow use Revolut on a daily basis to pay for their coffees in cafes and make their supermarket purchases around the world. That won me over. I use Wise on the other hand more for larger transfers of money ($200+) and to hold international currency.
Let’s say I received $200, I might just leave them in my Wise account until I need $. The same goes for other currencies. I wouldn’t exchange Euro to Dollar because why pay the exchange rate when I know I’ll soon be able to make a Euro purchase.
This is possibly a little more interesting when you have a slightly more international life and have potential clients and students from around the world. Living in San Francisco I am more likely to run into a a European client for a photoshoot who might be happy to be able to pay me in Euro without losing money to money exchange fees. I can accept 50 currencies. Not that I think I’ll ever need to but it just feels so flexible and freeing to have the options.
I have a whole tab for recommendations with multiple referral links and some that don’t pay a bonus. I think I am pretty clear about which services I personally use and which I would consider. Sometimes I just make lists for things I found but haven’t used myself, but that is currently rare and I am clear about it when that is the case.
(Bear in mind that if you do click on one there is a limited time in which you need to activate your account whatever it is. For some referrals I only get 7 days, for others 30 and only very few have longer time periods. If the person I refer doesn’t complete sign up within a given time frame then the perk to me expires. You will still get a good recommendation but I won’t get the reward for sharing it with you. So you could invite me for lunch..)
Birgit Over 7 Seas 