Make More From Referrals

Selling stock is a beautiful way to earn passive income. I think we all came to FlashDen with the same thought: “I build a file once and it will make me money forever.” You then realize that selling stock requires a lot of work and constant support. The natural progression of this thought process is to wonder, “What am I doing working like a sucker when I could be making bank off of referrals?!”

Unfortunately referrals, just like selling stock, require a lot of work. They can also make you a lot of money. If you promote your own files you make money on both sides – the referral and the sale. In a forum post last June, Bobocel reported having made $1,425.00 in just one month off of referrals alone. This may be an extreme case, but making an extra $100 – $300 per month is not uncommon.

So what is the secret? How can we all start making good money? Below are some suggestions to get you started.

Adobe Exchange

You’re all probably already aware of this one. It seems like it has been flooded with FlashDen files recently. Did you know they now allow 300×200 images? When I look for something on ebay I usually skip anything without pictures. I’m sure the same mentality applies on here. Click here and read the Adobe Exchange instructions DigitalScience wrote.

Note: According to their policy you can only upload files you created yourself.

Build a Blog or Website

There are a couple of great ways I have seen blogs effectively used to generate revenue.

The first requires no flash skills; in fact, you don’t even need to be an author. You can build a site that simply showcases the best of the best. Here is a great example of this by solo1artist. This option is a great way to attract buyers and helps generate revenue for your favorite authors.

The second is to write tutorials. If you write easy to follow, interesting content, and add links you will make money. In a forum post in March, FlashGuruLTD stated that he earned $2,240 in just one month mostly from his blog. You don’t even need your own domain to do this one. Many sites allow you to submit tutorials and add a link.

Use your own portfolio website. DigitalScience has a “buy the files” page on his highly-trafficked site. It looks like his own private stock flash marketplace, but when you click ‘buy’ you’re taken to FlashDen.

Get Featured

There are a million sites out there where all they do is feature great flash and design work. Kudoshinichi submitted his file kTower 3d to Papervision’s daily showcase and was featured!

Talk About FlashDen

Most of you are active members in other forums. Don’t be obnoxious and spam, but if someone asks “where can I find a flash file that…” reply with a link to FD. Remember, the person asking is not the only one who will see that post. It may be searched for years to come.

Many of you are members of Facebook and Myspace. Unless all your friends are flash developers I doubt you will get many clickthroughs, but putting up a link is worth a try.

I have referred several people I know personally to FD. Just make sure they use your link when they go to the site. Depending on your job it may be easy to convince your boss or the marketing department that the company needs a FlashDen account.

Your Input

This list is by no means complete, but it is a good starting point. I’m sure there are some great tried and true methods I failed to mention here. There are probably also some great unexplored ideas worth sharing. If you have any insight, questions, or ideas please join the forum discussion related to this article found here.