Small Biz Profile: Click for cash
Published:Sunday | August 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Bishop Damien Ffriend, church-based entrepreneur, has heightened his quest to use the skills of his congregation into building businesses from which they can earn income, through a partnership with businessman Robert Gregory Jr.
The two, who are partners in Exquisite Marketing Solutions Limited (EMS), have added to their suite of marketing services, which already includes promotions and travel discounts, a pay-per-click advertising programme.
The partner shave created Jamaica Advertising Advantage at a portal which Ffriend and Gregory, who runs a business called DesignFragrances Limited, say will feature “ethical” advertisements.
Launched July 11, the new portal is intended, they say, to guarantee an advertiser a certain number of views from web surfers who they will entice to view the ads through a payment system.
“We are targeting all businesses excepting tobacco sales, pornography and ads portraying violence,” said Ffriend, who heads a church in Cross Roads, Kingston.
“All other businesses which are legal or moral will be promoted. Our aim is to reach 500,000 Jamaican residents, as advertisers are being offered viewing packages starting from 50,000 views.”
Advertisers will have a captive market, which will be labelled according to demographics and which can also be used to do company surveys, said Ffriend, a former manager of civil registration, marketing and mobile outreach at the Registrar General’s Department.
Additionally, he pointed out, viewers will be earning income which they can use to buy the advertisers’ products.
Viewers will be paid ‘per click’ at a minimum rate of US$0.3 cents, plus additional income from a 100 per cent bonus on friends who sign up as a result of their referrals.
“It means that persons will no longer just skip over the ads to read the ‘juicy’ news item on the other page or take their bathroom or snack breaks while commercials are being shown, as they will now have a vested interest in viewing these ads,” said Gregory.
The entrepreneurs hope to have between one million and 1.5 million members by August 2011, with a minimum of 500,000 by December 2010.
Ffriend projects that of the revenue generated from the programme, 40 per cent will flow back out to viewers, while 40 per cent will go to Eagle Traders Limited, which operates in the United States and Canada.
The other 20 per cent will be income for Jamaica Advertising Advantage.
Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter are the three largest network operators offering pay-per-click programmes under a bid-based model.
Other companies have evolved which involve the consumer themselves in payment plans, a trend which Ffriend is following with EMS.
For individuals, he said, earnings of $1,000 to $10,000 monthly is possible, although he admits that they must look at an ad for a full one minute and respond to its viewing prompts before their view will be registered for payment.
Further, payments which will be disbursed primarily through Alert Pay accounts, a company similar to PayPal, will only be initiated after the US$100 threshold is reached.
The pre-launch phase, which will see new members earning a US$20 sign-up bonus, will last only as long as it takes to reach the desired
number of viewers required.
Non-Jamaicans are not allowed to sign up during this phase.
Jamaica Advertising Advantage will also facilitate online shopping, Ffriend said.