(INFORMAL REFERRAL BONUS SCHEME – PILOT POST)

About @emily-cook

As a general rule I keep my crypto life and my work life separate.

However when @emily-cook sent me a link to her podcast and blog I was impressed enough to make an exception and let her know about Steemit. This was before July 4th and the first payout. As you can imagine she was HIGHLY sceptical however I persisted and finally got her to set up an account and make a few blog posts.

I think what Emily does is fantastic. Super talented and (in her spare time) runs a blog about what she’s passionate about… film.

#i-introduced @emily-cook because I believe she will add value to Steemit in niche area, film. I believe she (along with others e.g. @mrwang) be a trailblazer that can help build the [film] category on Steemit into a vibrant community. Although she doesn’t know it yet, she has all the qualities it takes. I believe in her. I invite you to take a look at what she does. We should champion our Champions! They will be the heartbeat of the platform.

Check out @emily-cook and be sure to follow her.

About i-introduced

I know many people here have been inquiring about when the Steemit team will set up a referral bonus. Then it stuck me. We, as a community, have the ability to kick off a scheme ourselves. With this post, I'm hoping to kick off an informal decentralised referral bonus scheme for Steemit.

Informal decentralised referral bonus scheme

The concept is simple,

• refer a friend
• get them to sign up via your referral link^ (e.g. https://steemit.com/?r=nanzo-scoop)
• write an #i-introduced post
• people upvote to give you the referral bonus they feel you deserve

^It would be great if the details of these referral links where publicly available (e.g. who referred who and when), so curators can easily verify the referral

I hope this programme acts as an incentive for people to refer quality content providers/ curators and helps foster even greater user adoption.

My personal “i-introduced” pledge

1. I'll only use “i-introduced” to highlight people I can vouch for. I’m going to evangelise about Steemit to anyone that will listen. And I hope that the tentacles of my referral link spread far and wide. However I will only write i-introduced post (and seek a bonus) for people that I feel can or have added value to the platform.
2. 100% of any STEEM Dollars made from i-introduced posts will go to the person I'm introducing. You can hold me to account by checking my wallet history. The STEEM Power I earn will act as my referral bonus. I think being able to give a referral bonus to the person you're referring is important and powerful. I also think giving them the bonus in STEEM Dollars (to go spend immediately as they see fit) is a strong message too - Steemit pays in money that newcomers can relate to and helps energise them to post and curate more. My STEEM Power bonus will re-enforce my long term commitment to the platform as well as grow what is important to me, influence on the platform.
3. On-going commitment I will have an on-going commitment to anyone I introduce. I will put in the hours to ensure they understand how the Steemit platform works. I will be their 'training wheels', keep them breast of Steemit developments, help facilitate them cashing out, using editors etc. I'm big on personal responsibility. My aim will be to teach them to the point where they can run on their own ‘steem’ and introduce/ mentor others if they wish.
4. Referral link* I'll use try as much as possible to get people that are referred by me to use the current referral link (https://steemit.com/?r=nanzo-scoop) to help people verify the referral

Referral Power to the people

I think the benefits of this approach over typical referral schemes are as follows:

• It is YOU who decides how much and when to reward referrals based on your own criteria. Some may upvote straight away based on what they read in the i-introduced post and "introduceyourself" (if there is one). Others may wait and see how the person being referred performs before retrospectively upvoting the i-introduced post.

• Keeps referrers honest. I think the best referrals are those that people are willing to stake their reputation on. It too easy to spam referrals in other schemes and get people to sign up on false promises/ expectations. Such sign ups hurt rather than help the platform. The past week has shown me the important of following up with people that I introduce. Some people I’ve introduced get a taste of Steemit success then feel lost when the rewards dry up. Some people simply lose their passwords. It’s important to have someone they can refer to, bounce ideas, thoughts and concerns off of.

• YOU have the option to put an 'informal cap' on referrals (i.e. by stopping upvoting when rewards reach a certain point). Alternatively you can upvote to you heart is content! The key is you can judge each referral on it’s merit and reward accordingly.

I hope this idea take off & others build on it... If it doesn't (and it's just another one of my mad-cap ideas!) I hope you at least take to the time to check out and follow @emily-cook.

Happy Steeming!