As an added bonus, you can earn a $500 Amazon.com gift card for every referral that sells 50 units within 90 days – and your referral will get a $250 gift card.

It’s as easy as sending a link to your contacts.

Learn how to refer a friend in 2 minutes here.

We push dozens of new features every month. Here are a couple of new features we pushed live in October:

Stored Credit Card Option for Faster Checkouts

Customers who purchase virtual currency or subscriptions with their credit card will have the option to complete subsequent purchases with a single click.  Merchants who use TrialPay’s solution for Social and Casual Games can now increase customer “stickiness” by allowing customers to conveniently store their credit card information for faster checkout.

Payoneer Prepaid MasterCards for Merchants

TrialPay merchants can now get paid via prepaid MasterCards, adding to the convenience of existing payment methods such as PayPal, wire transfers, checks and ACH. Prepaid cards are particularly convenient for international merchants located in countries where transaction fees can be high or where traditional payments are not readily available.

Nielsen isn’t the only company onto the correlation between e-mail and social media. David DanieIs of Forrester Research recently spoke at the Shop.org summit in Las Vegas, explaining that while e-mail marketing is still an effective medium for marketers, there are many challenges to deal with. Namely, social media and mobile devices.

With Facebook boasting user numbers that rival the entire US population and Twitter recently being valued at $1 billion, social media is the new black. And as more and more consumers continue to jump on the social media bandwagon, they are also becoming more savvy (and more mobile) when it comes to how they access their information online. According to comScore, the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information online more than doubled from January 2008 to January 2009. And SurveySampling reports that about 65% of decision makers view marketing e-mails on their text-only mobile devices.

So what does this mean for Internet marketers?

While e-mail marketing continues to be an effective marketing strategy, online marketers must be mindful of the changing behaviors of their audiences—and embrace that change. Start today by incorporating social media into your e-mail campaigns, enabling consumers to share the information with others, and writing plain text e-mails to ensure your messages can be readable on any e-mail platform.

Have any other tips? Feel free to share them below.

Many app developers have been focusing their efforts on reaching the global community by translating their apps, and this move is certainly appropriate considering that 70% of Facebook’s recent growth has been occurring internationally. But it’s not just that users around the world are joining social networks. It’s that they’re becoming active members of social network ecosystems by purchasing virtual goods and virtual currency. Users in East Asia are particularly keen on participating in virtual economies—South Korea’s Cyworld first created the virtual currency model by allowing users to purchase virtual “acorns” which are used to buy wall decorations, gifts, and other virtual items. As of 2006, Cyworld reported a daily revenue of $300K solely through the sale of acorns.

After looking at the following facts, it is clear why East Asia is a natural target for app developers.

• At 338 million, China’s online population is larger than the US total population.
• 43% of the world’s online population will reside in Asia by 2013.
• The virtual goods market in East Asia is estimated at $5 billion USD.
• China’s online game industry is estimated to grow 25% annually and reach revenues of $8.3 billion in the next four years.
• China’s online population is younger (74% is under age 35) and entertainment-focused.
• TenCent (a very popular Chinese social network) recently reported annual revenues of over $1 billion, 88% of which came from virtual goods sales.

So what should developers do to penetrate the East Asian market?

The first step is to localize applications as fully as possible. Sure, language translation needs to happen before anything else can follow. Even this seemingly simple task proves problematic because of various linguistic conventions that only native speakers understand. But as Playfish COO Sebastien de Halleux stated in a recent interview, “Localization goes beyond language; there are also cultural aspects to respect and adapt to.” For instance, East Asia is very status-conscious, which means that users in East Asia will be more likely to buy virtual goods that display status.

Next, developers should gauge and respond to user preferences. This element is absolutely crucial to an application’s success in unfamiliar territory, as shown by the example of Cyworld US. Cyworld recently attributed the disappointing results of its 2006 US launch to a failure to gauge the unique needs and preferences of the American audience.

If there is anything we can be sure about, it’s that East Asian users care about aesthetics. According to Dyne Lee, Assistant Manager of Cyworld, “Western sites are often perceived to be too function-orientated and somewhat crass to Korean users who are accustomed to a ‘cute’ and ‘decorative’ user interface.” Developers have a lot of control in this arena, and they must use this control to their advantage. Alan Hshieh, human-computer interaction expert from Harvard University, agrees. “Developers are versatile; Facebook moves slowly as it is a huge platform, but developers have applications that they can create according to exactly what users want.”

Finally, developers must create an appropriate monetization strategy. The good news here is that East users are very familiar with virtual goods/virtual currency sales and micro-transactions. Revenue from East Asian social networks usually comes from these streams instead of from advertising. Therefore, applications must accept a variety of convenient global payment methods, including mobile payments. Creating a user-friendly and frictionless payment experience is key. Furthermore, in offering alternative payment methods, developers must provide relevant, localized offers. This makes it all the more important to choose alternative payment platforms that have direct relationships with international advertisers who will provide offers with clear value to relevant communities.

Users are always looking for novelty and innovation—this is particularly true for online populations in tech savvy countries like South Korea and Japan. It is the job of the developer to keep up with such demands and to create clear and meaningful value for their users.

Personalize your page
Your Twitter page is a valuable marketing tool, so it’s important that it represents your brand. By using your official colors and a customized background, you can make your Twitter page stand out or even look like your own Web site. For a few examples, check out  @trendmicro, @Blockbuster, @TrialPay, and @bustedtees.

Follow related tweeters
In an attempt to gain followers, many tweeters follow massive amounts of people in hopes they will follow back. But that tactic will only clutter your Twitter page with irrelevant tweets. Instead, follow people that are relevant to your business:  peers, colleagues, related companies, your competition, journalists, etc. Not only will this improve the quality of the tweets that shows up in your feed, but it will show your potential and current followers exactly what you are interested in.

Interact
Twitter is a micro-blogging service that’s also a social networking site—so it’s imperative to interact with other tweeters. Use the search box to find mentions of your name and regularly check your @replies, and respond whenever relevant. Doing so will also make your tweets more personal. As Jason Snell from MacWorld put it, your Twitter account will just seem like a faceless promotion machine if you publish a flood of impersonal links.

Promote Your Page
Building a base of relevant followers takes a lot of effort. That’s why it’s important to cross-promote your Twitter page on all of your social media and online outlets. Add a “Follow Me on Twitter” link on your Web site, blog, newsletter, Facebook page, or in e-mail campaigns.

Use twittering tools
Take advantage of the myriad of tools out there that help make your tweeting more effective. For example, TweetVolume can help you see how often your business name is mentioned on Twitter. Tweetburner shows how many clicks that your links generate. And TweetStats creates graphs of your Twitter stats, such as tweets per month, tweets per hour and reply statistics.

Have any other tips? Share them below.

Ensure Relevancy
The first step to having a successful Facebook fan page is to ensure that your page is relevant. There are countless companies whose Fan Pages have only a handful of fans because their pages are irrelevant.  Oftentimes this is the case for B2B companies, or those that offer professional services. So before putting your resources and energy into your Fan Page, be sure this is an appropriate outlet for you to reach new customers and interact with your customer base.

Include Fresh Content
Adding an RSS feed of your blog to your fan page is a great tactic for posting content to your page, but you should strive to include fresh content that can’t be found anywhere else. Without new and compelling content, customers will have little reason to visit your page or even become a fan in the first place. Offering special deals on your Facebook page (such as Busted Tees has done in the example below) is a great way to attract fans, increase your page’s relevancy and keep fans coming back to your page.

Promote Your Page
Many companies create a page on Facebook and expect the fans to come frolicking. But acquiring fans takes effort. That’s why it’s important to cross-promote your Facebook Page on all of your social media and online outlets: on your Web site, blog, newsletter, Twitter page, or in e-mail campaigns.

Implement Apps
There are more than 50,000 applications on the Facebook platform, many of which can be integrated directly into your page. Many apps, such as YouTube Box, can increase user engagement and promote viral exposure of your brand; users’ interactions with your page will be announced to each of their Facebook friends.

Brand Your Page
According to Facebook, Pages look and behave like user profiles to connect and engage with your customers and amplify your voice to their friends. But why not also make it look like your own Web site? Apps like Static FBML allow you to customize your page with HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language).

Be social
Finally, the most important element of a successful Fan Page is interaction. It’s called social networking, after all. Let your customers submit reviews, encourage them to submit photos of themselves using or wearing your product, respond to their questions in a timely manner, and be sure to comment on their posts.

Have any other tips to share? Leave a comment below.

Best In-Game Placements: Watercooler

Welcome to TrialPay’s Best Of Web (BOW) Awards, where we recognize the savvy online merchants that best utilize TrialPay’s e-commerce solutions. This month we’re putting the spotlight on Watercooler for optimizing ad placements in its newest Facebook applications FanSection Fantasy Football 2009 and $20K Football Challenge. Over 27 million Americans are playing fantasy football online, and Watercooler has appropriately adopted monetization strategies that are both smart and user-friendly.

In FanSection Fantasy Football 2009, gameplay is free, but players can get Live Scoring (real-time stats and scores) by paying $4.95 or by completing an offer through TrialPay. Let’s take a look at how Watercooler advertises the Live Scoring service within its application.

The home page includes three monetization touchpoints. Users tend to get annoyed when too many ads are shown, but Watercooler manages to integrate these three touchpoints seamlessly into the home page in a way that doesn’t interfere with gameplay or user experience.

Placement 1: Watercooler uses a simple banner ad for its Live Scoring feature and simultaneously reminds players that if they win, they will receive a champion t-shirt. The message is clear: with Live Scoring, players can gain an edge on the competition.

Placement 2: This placement indicates that Live Scoring is currently not enabled, which makes players feel like they are missing out on something big. Watercooler places a “get it free” call-to-action link, which takes players to the payment page to complete a TrialPay offer.

Placement 3: Here Watercooler uses the common e-tail marketing strategy of crossing out the original price and offers Live Scoring for free. After all, who doesn’t like a 100% discount?

We now turn to Watercooler’s $20K Football Challenge, launched on August 21. Players must pay various amounts of FanCoins (virtual currency) in order to join different pools. One main difference between this application and FanSection Fantasy Football 2009 is that players can win up to $20,000 in cash. This adds an interesting twist to this virtual economy. In many games users purchase or earn virtual currency in order to extend or enhance gameplay, but in $20K Football Challenge, the returns are not restricted to the virtual world.

So how does Watercooler get users to purchase FanCoins? At the top of the main screen, there is a banner similar to the Live Scoring banner discussed above. The banner prompts players to keep their eyes on the money.

In addition, when players try to join a pool but don’t have enough FanCoins, Watercooler provides them with a direct link to fund their accounts and tells them exactly how much more they need to join. Notice how the prize money is listed immediately below.

Watercooler has displayed much ingenuity and creativity through its in-game ad placements, and we are proud to name it this month’s BOW Award Winner. As football season begins this week, many eyes will be on Watercooler and its socially integrative fantasy football applications. Given its track record, we can be sure to expect new innovations from Watercooler in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, social games are thriving despite the recession. While sales of AAA titles decline, social games are growing so rapidly that:

• 4 million new gamers have entered the gaming industry in the past year.
• 61% of online gamers are spending more time playing online games this year than last.
• Online games are experiencing viral growth. For example, Playfish saw 100 million games installed in 18 months.

The success of social games has a lot to do with the popularity of social networking sites and gamers’ ability to play games on multiple platforms, such as computers, smartphones and MP3 players. But it’s also because social games use micro-transaction monetization models, which make games accessible to more people and provide a more appealing way for players to pay for interactive entertainment.

According to the E-Commerce Times, players are turning to affordable online social and casual games in place of more expensive console games. Game consoles usually come with substantial up-front costs, and each game title can carry price tags of $50-$60. But social and casual games allow players to pay via micro-transactions, which means players can pay in small increments, as they go. This payment system also gives players more control over how much they are willing to pay, and eliminates any up-front financial commitment that might prevent players from trying more new games.

Not only are they good for players, but micro-transaction monetization platforms are also a proven and reliable business model for online gaming, virtual worlds, social networks and other virtual environments. Just ask Zynga, which is reported to have seen annual sales of about $100 million.

Many software companies increase conversion rates by streamlining their product pages, sending e-mail campaigns to expired trial users, and implementing creative promotions such as TrialPay download interstitials. But it seems many companies overlook one of the most valuable (and free) advertising spaces available: the post download page. The post download page can be a valuable tool to increase conversions of users who download a free or trial version of your software.

When consumers click on a free software download, they are usually directed to a post-download page while the file is saved to their desktop. This is the page where most software companies will take the time to include a message such as “Thanks for downloading” or “If your download doesn’t begin, click here to try again.” But few actually use this space to promote or reinforce the added benefits of their full version—which can help convert free users into paying customers.

Downloads sometimes take several minutes to complete—and that means you have several minutes to convince your free users to upgrade to the paid version. The post-download page is where you should outline the added benefits of your full version with appealing, concise messaging and an attention-grabbing design.

The post-download page is also a great place to offer a special promotion, such as a discounted price or a chance to get the full version free through TrialPay (as pictured below). TrialPay lets customers get a free upgrade simply by trying or buying something from an advertising partner, which pays a CPA to cover the cost of your product.

Promoting the full version of your software on the post-download page is a great way to increase conversions. Reiterate your added features and offer special promotions like in this example.

Our new monetization platform maximizes profits for publishers of social apps and casual games, and offers the largest payouts, broadest capabilities and best customer service in the industry. The platform features:

• Integrated payment types: Using TrialPay, you can consolidate all of your payment types—PayPal, mobile payments, credit cards and offer-based monetization—onto a single platform.
• Fraud mitigation: Coupled with our blue-chip advertising relationships, our in-depth end-to-end transaction tracking system reduces revenue leakage, ensuring that you get paid for every transaction.
• Increased measurability: Our robust analytics allow you to slice-and-dice data by country, campaign, date/time, and more.
• Reduced operational costs: We manage your deployment, customer support and fraud detection, allowing you to focus on what you do best: creating outstanding gaming experiences.
• Large offer inventory: Your customers can choose an offer from more than 2,000 major advertisers, including Best Buy, Gap and 1-800-Flowers.com.

Our gaming partners can now log in to our Merchant Panel to quickly and easily create Virtual Currency products (to monetize your game’s currency), or Get it Free products (to monetize game downloads, upgrades, memberships, subscriptions, in-game items and virtual goods). And in addition to our standard, TrialPay-hosted offers page, we now have a variety of integrations you can put directly onto your site, or into your game:

1. Payment Frame
This solution allows your users to earn your product by completing an advertiser offer, or pay for it with a credit card, PayPal, or a mobile payment. It organizes offers by category in an iframe, which means your users can browse offers without leaving your social app or casual game.

2. Payment Overlay
The payment overlay, which also allows your users to pay by completing and advertiser offer, by credit card, with PayPal or by mobile payment, can be used in any game where you want to save space (such as Flash games) or provide an easy way for users to get currency outside of the normal “bank” page.

3. Featured Offer Implementation
We have the most direct advertiser relationships in the industry, which means you can feature one large brand name in your game or on your site with our Featured Offer implementation. For example, you can feature 1-800-Flowers.com as a way for your users to earn coins around Valentine’s Day.

Log in to your merchant account to get started. Not signed up with TrialPay? Create an account here.