Reading this thread, it appears there is total disagreement. But there really isn't. Everyone knows that referral marketing is one of the most basic and accepted concepts in business. Not only can referral marketing grow your user base, but referred customers are higher margin and have a higher retention rate than non-referred customers. This is fact.
So I don't think what we're seeing here is disagreement. But there's clearly some misunderstanding. For example, although it seems
@bitcrab argued against the concept of referral programs in general, I'm fairly sure he's really just against raising fees. In fact, I'm pretty sure he is only against raising fees
at this early stage. And I don't really have a problem with that. Of the other vocal participants in this thread, I don't think
@EstefanTT, for example, has a problem with it either. In fact, he said this about the referral program:
It is an amazing way to have people working on promoting Bitshares without paying them, just on the perpective to win money if BitShares takes off and their referred users start using it.
My point is, what
@EstefanTT said here is NOT inconsistent with
@bitcrab's desire to raise rates
later. The bottom line is that anyone currently referring users will
initially reap the benefits only to a small extent a) while they build their referral base, and b) while fees remain low during the time the platform is maturing. But as their base of referred users grows, and once the platform is in a position where fees can be raised, referrers will reap the benefits to a much larger extent. Again, where is the disagreement?
Even
@fav's and
@bitcrab's positions are not really at odds. It appears to me
@fav is NOT suggesting we raise fees as he has in the past. He is suggesting we create something of value that would entice people to pay a membership fee so that as a referrer, he can have greater incentive with an up-front source of revenue, in addition to the more long-term, residual income stream previously discussed. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it would be in
everyone's interest to see what we can come up with. Let's please have constructive dialog. And before responding in a knee-jerk way, please remember that many people participating in this conversation are speaking English NOT as a first language. And that we're all working toward the same goal (i.e. the long-term success of Bitshares). Aside from our resident idiot troll, of course.