Have you heard about…?

Most people who know me in real life have heard me talk at one time or another about my favorite toys (Discovery Toys), my favorite coffee maker (Keurig) and my favorite computer (my iMac). That’s because when I love a product, I can’t help but tell everyone about it.

So, it seems interesting to me that the latest trend in marketing focuses on paying people to tell others about products or services. I have started using three web sites lately that use this type of marketing, and so far, I’m a fan. In fact, I would want to tell people about them even if I DIDN’T get anything in return.

ALICE

The first one is alice.com. If you’ve ever watched The Brady Bunch, I’m sure you’ve wished you had your own Alice to take care of everything around the house.

With six people in our family, I need an Alice just to help me push my shopping cart through the grocery store. I usually have to get that mongo cart with the park bench at the back. I put two kids on the bench, another one in the baby carrier in the cart and I often have another one hanging off the side pretending he’s a firefighter.

By the time I get that Mama loaded with groceries, I can barely push it. And it never fails, I get to the end of my shopping trip and remember I need paper towels and toilet paper. Too bad. No more room.

This is where Alice comes in. Alice is an online store, sort of like Peapod. However, she specializes in non-perishable items like cleaning supplies and paper products. She also carries pantry items like coffee and tea, make-up and baby care items.

I just used her for the first time, and I liked the fact that she reminded me of all the possible things I might need. I could compare prices and brands easily, and she even included coupons for some of my purchases. She remembers what I ordered and will remind me when she thinks I’m about to run out of garbage bags or anything else on my list.

And shipping is always free, so I don’t have to worry about toting all that stuff out to my car. It will just show up on my door step in two days.

If YOU would like to try Alice, just use my referral link and I will get a discount on my next order. If you like it, you can pass along your referral code and get future discounts, as well.

DIAPERS

I’ve also been using diapers.com since Baby #4 was born. I like diapers.com because I can buy the super deluxe, humongous box of diapers, which gives me the best price. I usually can’t find the really big boxes in the grocery store.

The price is comparable to shopping at a large warehouse store, like Sam’s or Costco. However, you SAVE even more money when you use a referral code.

If you use my code at check-out, EMIL9445, you will save $10 on your first order and get a $5 credit toward your second order. When you use my code, I also get $10 off my next order. Once you have ordered, you will get your own referral code you can pass on to others.

SWAGBUCKS

I first heard about swagbucks.com around Christmastime. This is a search engine that pays you to search the Internet.

Another blogger wrote a post about how she earned so many swagbucks, she was able to pay for all of her Christmas shopping with the money she earned. I was curious, but I didn’t feel like looking into it. This week, she posted that she had earned enough swagbucks to buy her family a brand new iMac! OK… it couldn’t hurt to give it a try!

If you decide to use it, download the swagbucks toolbar and make it your home page. You will start racking up points, just for searching the Internet. You get lots of bonus points if you refer someone to the web site.

If you want to try it, please use my referral link. After you get started, you will get your own referral code to pass on to your friends.

So… what do you think? Have you earned money this way? Do you like this type of marketing or does it bother you?