Show HN: Review my startup: shrtn.co - Affiliate based URL shortener

8 points by tommizzle 15 years ago | 10 comments

Hi!

Been working on a new startup called shrtn.co, and think it's at a stage to show HN. It's basically a URL shortener which adds affiliate links onto the end of URL's, then shares any revenue generated by those links with the original sharer.

You guys are the first ones to see this, and we're fully aware that it's far from finished. It currently only 'works' with Amazon.com/.co.uk, and the feature set is fairly basic too, but we were eager to get it out there to get some feedback from HN :)

Would be great to hear what you think about the concept, application, as well as any future developments that you believe would be beneficial.

On a semi-related note, we're also looking for an awesome PHP (the site was built in CodeIgniter) developer who's interested in working with us in exchange for company shares. I developed the site myself, but don't really rate myself as the greatest developer in the world. There is also a never ending (almost literally) amount of work to be done to hook the app up with other site's affiliate schemes. So if you're interested in working with a couple of ambitious geeks on a (very) early stage startup, are friendly, and are awesome at what you do, then we'd love to hear from you (my email address is in my profile.)

URL: http://shrtn.co

Thanks HN!

dot 15 years ago |

Nice idea.

Tip: I'd stay away from calling it a shortener. That market is very saturated and a lot of people will leave right away.

Play on the fact that your users can get commissions for millions of products across hundreds of merchants without even signing up.

"Just give us your email and we'll let you know when you made a sale."

Bonus idea: credit your users with a few small sales in the first few days. Funny, sexy or weird things that will get them talking about your service. They'll feel like it's working and you don't have to payout until they reach $10 or so anyway -- at which point your skim should have it covered. :)

Good luck!

tommizzle 15 years ago | |

Thanks for the feedback! Interesting idea about not calling it a shortener. I'll have a think about possible alternatives :)

dkokelley 15 years ago |

Clickable: http://shrtn.co

What is the value proposition? If I had an affiliate link, couldn't I share the link through any shortenter? It looks like you make it easier for people who don't have their own affiliate links to share, right?

Do you think there is a spot in the market of people who don't have enough traffic to justify their own affiliate programs, but who do have enough to generate affiliate sales?

It is an interesting space you're entering, which has lots of room for growth and innovation. Good luck!

tommizzle 15 years ago | |

In my eyes the value proposition is that people can replace their usual URL shortener with shrtn, and potentially earn money without having to sign up to multiple affiliate schemes etc.

dkokelley 15 years ago | | |

Ok, so you provide convenience. This only works for people who don't already have an affiliate link though. If I am BigTimeBlogger and I want to share things that could earn me some money, it would probably make sense for me to create an affiliate account for the products I recommend, just so I can earn more (you take a cut of the commissions, right?). On the flip side, if I'm JoeNobody sharing a link to the camera I bought, it's very unlikely that I will create any sales with my 25 twitter followers.

If the market of people who are bigger than JoeNobody but smaller than BigTimeBlogger is big enough, then this is a service that will likely fill the market and do very well.

ultrasaurus 15 years ago |

I doubt I'd ever earn enough to be worth cutting a check to, but if we could pick from a (short) list of charities, there might be enough to be worthwhile.

azocarbo 15 years ago |

useful links, do I need to sign up to amazon or anything?

tommizzle 15 years ago | |

Nope - don't need to sign up to anything except shrtn itself. Whenever a sale is made via your link then your account will be credited with the appropriate commission.