Amazon is building a great model—no advertising other than its own Web site and an army of Kindle enthusiasts out there helping to hype the product. We should be on Amazon’s payroll, sort of.
In fact, why couldn’t the Amazon give the Kindle an electronic order form that we could use on the spot with converts?
Recently I found myself in yet another situation where I was basically hand-selling a Kindle for Jeff Bezos & Co. I was talking with a friend and happened to have my Kindle handy. He oohed and aahed as I showed it to him. I have no doubt he went straight home and ordered one last night. But a form would have helped.
The awareness problem
By the way, this was yet another example of the awareness problem Amazon faces with the Kindle. My friend, too, is a regular Amazon customer but has never noticed any of the Kindle ads on Amazon’s home page. Never. Ever. He had no idea what the name Kindle referred to; a "Kindle" could be a new type of chair for all he knew.
I asked him about that and he said he’s "always on a mission" when he goes to Amazon. "I head right to that search box, type in what I’m looking for and never bother to look at anything else on their home page." Interesting.
The order-taking idea: More details
Back to my order-taking suggestion. Yes, Amazon should have a simple little order-taking application we can all run on our Kindles.
Amazon could use something as simple bare-bones as one screen with a couple of text-entry boxes where we can put the prospective buyer’s name and e-mail address. Thanks to the magic of Whispernet, the information would go right to Amazon, and it could then send the prospect a message with more info on the Kindle. Amazon could also track you or me as the lead originator, so if an order results, we’d get credit for it.
What sort of credit am I suggesting? An affiliate fee would nice, but how about a free Kindle book or two? Turn it into a competition. Have a leaderboard showing the top 10 originators. There would be a lot of friendly competition to hit the #1 slot!
I’m on the road a bit over the next couple of weeks and I’m anticipating plenty of questions from fellow airline passengers as I read my Kindle. Amazon has an excellent opportunity to turn these little readers into order-takers as well!
Amazon has already included the Kindle in its Amazon Associate affiliate program.
One option would be to keep your personal Associate Kindle link in a folder of your various device e-mail program(s) to e-mail to your on-the-spot converts.
I think this is a great idea. Amazon already has your financial information (at least credit card). How much added work to simply provide a credit (6% is fine) for every sale of Kindles made from your Kindle?
It seems possible that Amazon wouldn’t even have to ask for tax information as long at the total credit was less than the price of the device. They could simply apply it as a partial rebate.
Yes, Amazon already includes the Kindle, and Kindle books in its Associates Affiliate program. But, as Joe points out, the sale gets made from the Kindle itself, not from a website.
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com
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Regardless of the convenience of ordering directly from someone else’s Kindle, I would not enter my personal information such as my Amazon login on someone else’s device.
While the person may be a trusted source, there are too many security variables to make this viable.
a few thoughts
– i’m an affiliate myself and the affiliate program is a no go for some affiliates because you’re signing away all future revenue to amazon – basically they control the channel with kindle owners.
that being said i’m an amazon kindle affiliate and i think it’s a good move.
– i think the viral marketing idea is great – when a person first sees a kindle for the first time is when they get over the negative assumptions because so many people have been calling it bad looking and that’s the best time to make a sale.
– finally, we just launched a social network for kindle owners and book lovers yesterday evening.
We’re in pre-Alpha – Would appreciate it if you could join and help build the community (amazonkindle.ning.com – moving to a more book oriented url during alpha)
More details at http://thekindle.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/social-network-for-kindle-owners-and-book-lovers/ including ‘3 Free Kindles in the first 3 months’ promotion and other information.
Very nice ideas to promote the sale of the Kindle, but back to Joe’s initial thoughts, I do agree awareness from very origin – Amazon’s Web – along with international networks compatibility, will pave the way to an explosive and massive penetration.
Finally, I think granting access to content younger generations are interested in, will crown a successful viral marketing campaign
You make a good point that Kindle owners are the best salespeople for the device, especially since its not sold in physical stores yet, with the exception of Best Buy, which is going to be selling them soon in the US.
I wonder if the Kindel being sold in physical stores will change how people find out about the Kindle?