5 ms·

Show HN: shrtn.co - a revenue generating affiliate tool for the masses

11 points by processing 16y ago

We have just finished the beta release of shrtn.co, and are excited to get HN's feedback on our new tool. shrtn allows you to monetize your links seamlessly in an unobtrusive manner by adding affiliate codes to the merchants that we support. Whenever a sale is made via your URL, we share most of the revenue generated with the you. shrtn is currently connected with around 50 merchants, but that number is increasing daily. The application is pretty lean at the moment. We have a few ideas for future developments which includes a more advanced bookmarklet, a browser plugin to inform you of affiliate link opportunities, advanced analytics & a sexier JS/ajax interface. Please try us out - we would love to get your feedback on this HN!

processing 16y ago
Clickable URL http://shrtn.co http://shrtn.co
Cafesolo 16y ago
Great idea. Congrats on the release! A couple of suggestions: - An API to generate shortened URLs automatically would be great. - Some mechanism for supporting custom domain names. Say, someone has a link shortener service with a decent amount of traffic. Both shrtn.co and the shortener owner would benefit greatly from an API/custom domain combo.
- tommizzle 16y ago
  There is currently a very basic api in place @ http://shrtn.co/api/*your-url* http://shrtn.co/api/*your-url* Custom domain names are a great idea. Thanks for the feedback!
  - Cafesolo 16y ago
    Awesome! Is it possible to authenticate using my shrtn username? The current API generates links using shrtn's own affiliate codes.
    - tommizzle 16y ago
      We're currently working on a REST based API with authentication. Release should be in within the next two weeks.
ultrasaurus 16y ago
What's the amount of work involved in adding merchants? I notice the list grew a lot since last time, should we expect 20/month? Oh, and there's no chance you've solved my personal bugaboo, and can redirect to Amazon.COM/CA/UK depending on a person's origin, is there?
- tommizzle 16y ago
  At the moment most of the merchants are added via CPA networks, so the dev time is fairly minimal. I expect this will change when we exhaust all of the top merchants on the affiliate networks and go looking for more 'premium' merchants. There's no location detection just yet, but it does work with .com/ca/co.uk, you just have to put the relevant URL in the first place.
sandipagr 16y ago
Love the idea! I think you should have some mention of how are revenues shared be it at 10-90 or 90-10. That was the first thing I went looking after.
- tommizzle 16y ago
  We made a concious decision to keep the revenue share margins under wraps, but rest assured it is - and always will be - in the users favour.
  - signal 16y ago
    So it's 51-49 then.
  - stephenou 16y ago
    I don't entirely understand why people are preferring to keep this kind of number under the desk. Would you share why? In my mind, specific number/statistic is a layer of trust.
staunch 16y ago
1) How are you different/better than VigLink, which also provides this service? 2) Do you have permission from affiliates to act as a master account like this? (I'd be concerned they'll cut you off and me with you) 3) What percentage are you taking?

11 points by processing 16y ago

processing 16y ago

Clickable URL http://shrtn.co http://shrtn.co

Cafesolo 16y ago

Great idea. Congrats on the release! A couple of suggestions: - An API to generate shortened URLs automatically would be great. - Some mechanism for supporting custom domain names. Say, someone has a link shortener service with a decent amount of traffic. Both shrtn.co and the shortener owner would benefit greatly from an API/custom domain combo.

tommizzle 16y ago
There is currently a very basic api in place @ http://shrtn.co/api/*your-url* http://shrtn.co/api/*your-url* Custom domain names are a great idea. Thanks for the feedback!
- Cafesolo 16y ago
  Awesome! Is it possible to authenticate using my shrtn username? The current API generates links using shrtn's own affiliate codes.
  - tommizzle 16y ago
    We're currently working on a REST based API with authentication. Release should be in within the next two weeks.

ultrasaurus 16y ago

What's the amount of work involved in adding merchants? I notice the list grew a lot since last time, should we expect 20/month? Oh, and there's no chance you've solved my personal bugaboo, and can redirect to Amazon.COM/CA/UK depending on a person's origin, is there?

tommizzle 16y ago
At the moment most of the merchants are added via CPA networks, so the dev time is fairly minimal. I expect this will change when we exhaust all of the top merchants on the affiliate networks and go looking for more 'premium' merchants. There's no location detection just yet, but it does work with .com/ca/co.uk, you just have to put the relevant URL in the first place.

sandipagr 16y ago

Love the idea! I think you should have some mention of how are revenues shared be it at 10-90 or 90-10. That was the first thing I went looking after.

tommizzle 16y ago
We made a concious decision to keep the revenue share margins under wraps, but rest assured it is - and always will be - in the users favour.
- signal 16y ago
  So it's 51-49 then.
- stephenou 16y ago
  I don't entirely understand why people are preferring to keep this kind of number under the desk. Would you share why? In my mind, specific number/statistic is a layer of trust.

staunch 16y ago

1) How are you different/better than VigLink, which also provides this service? 2) Do you have permission from affiliates to act as a master account like this? (I'd be concerned they'll cut you off and me with you) 3) What percentage are you taking?