- Book recommendations from friends and experts.
- CoolBeez rewards both, the influencer and the buyer.
- Rewards can be exchanged for a new book or donated to charity.
If there’s one term that has been wiggling its way through the web frequently in the last few years, it’s certainly the ‘influencer’. Thanks to social networks like Instagram, influencers have become the driving force across an array of industries. Today, almost anyone can become one. In the meantime, big brands not only address people with millions of followers, but the advertisers have changed their focus to so-called ‘micro-influencers’ with only a few thousand, but loyal followers.
The startup CoolBeez is now also positioning itself in this sector. Anyone who enjoys reading books and would like to recommend one to their followers, friends or acquaintances, can do so via CoolBeez. Simultaneously, the platform lets them get involved in the sale of the books.
Earn Money with Affiliate Links
Meanwhile, most of the major YouTubers or Instagrammers have become Amazon Affiliates. After their fans or followers purchase something via the link provided by Amazon, the influencers will receive a commission. This can quickly become profitable if, for example, a YouTuber recommends electronic devices such as televisions or PC equipment.
Additionally, the current fashion trends do not only depend on the latest issue of Vogue. Nowadays, thousands of bloggers and influencers present them on various social networks. This makes trends more fluid, interactive and often also more credible.
Not Only the Amazon Associate Program
Despite all the benefits, affiliate programs usually work for only one platform. If I don’t want to buy a TV that my favourite YouTuber recommend to me via Amazon, but from another online shop, then the influencer won’t earn anything.
The startup CoolBeez now aims to address this problem. Their platform lets you easily search for books to read and in addition to Amazon, offers other platforms where you can buy them.
The co-founder of the startup, Galia Kotova, has also confirmed this: “Actually it is possible to create affiliate links, sometimes directly with Amazon, for example. We aggregate different platforms so we have a huge selection of books and you can choose where you usually buy books, so you don’t strictly have to buy on a certain platform.”
How Does CoolBeez Work?
On the CoolBeez platform, users can search for a book they want to recommend. The platform then generates a link that users can share across social networks. Whoever then buys the book via the provided link, both the buyer and the seller, benefit from the sale.
Both parties receive rewards, which can be exchanged for a new book or donated to charity. Through this system, the founders of CoolBeez want to encourage people to buy products through affiliate links. Since the buyers also get a reward for the purchase, they are more likely to use them.
It is no longer a secret that people trust more personal recommendations than the star ratings of products, as Galia Kotova also confirmed: “Our original idea is that people trust recommendations from friends and from influences, especially micro-influencers, much more than community stars and we think that such relevant and targeted advice when, you get something from somebody you know and trust and that is relevant to go to your personal context, it’s much better way to buy products. There are some categories where it would not work, for example some fast moving consumer goods, but with many products it you could work very well.”
About the Future Plans
The startup is already planning to extend the platform to other areas, but first wants to verify the platform’s potential: “We would like to have proof of the concept with books first, so for the next several months we are staying with books and would like to have results and collect customer feedback and test the platform and then we will move on, but it’s too early to say what will be next.”, says Galia Kotova.
CoolBeez doesn’t plan to become a real social media platform. However, the founders have received feedback stating that they should incorporate more social elements such as profiles, reviews or the possibility to follow certain people on the platform. While the founders also want to offer some of these features in the future, the platform should function as an aggregator of affiliate links rather than become a social network for book lovers.