The First Annual NPN Membership Drive |
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I don’t know about the rest of you but those public television "membership drives" drive me nuts. Sure, I appreciate the lack of commercial interruption while viewing a program, but I’m not sure having to listen to pleas for money is much better. Besides, who’s interested in all of the lame gifts (cloth grocery shopping bags, coffee mugs, etc.) you get for "joining now!"
Which leads me to a bit of trepidation about having a NPN membership drive. Like public TV, we keep the NPN site pretty clear of annoying commercial advertisement. People write to us regularly telling us how much they appreciate that. We have to agree, landing on a home page polluted with ads for camera gear, workshops, etc. is just as annoying as watching some (mostly) bald guy with a pony tail selling gaudy furniture on TV.
Like many others, we think NPN is a good thing just as it is and we plan on keeping it that way. At the same time, we want to get the word out to like-minded folks about the good thing we have here and that they may be interested in joining us. So, we embark on our first annual NPN membership drive - here is how it works;
- The membership drive starts right now and goes through Sunday, October 31 until 11:59 PM EST.
- Just like we’ve been doing all along, any current NPN member who refers a new member gets a $10 referral fee paid via PayPal. All that needs to be done is to have the new member place your name in the "referred by" line on the printable NPN Membership Application Form or in the "referred by" box on the online check-out screen. Without this bit of info, we can’t pay a referral fee or count it toward your total!
- To sweeten the deal (on top of the $10 referral fee) who ever refers the most members during the drive will receive a $500.00 B&H Photo Gift Card. In the event of a tie, we will place the names of those members with the most referrals in a hat and draw the winner (the best way to avoid this is to simply refer an overwhelming number of people that no one else has a chance of matching).
A few caveats;
- The referral must sign up as a one year or three year member. The 30-day trial membership does not count.
- The referrer must be a current NPN member.
- Donna and I are not eligible. Everyone else is, including those who become members during this drive.
The winner will be announced in the December edition. Like one of those famous national contests, Donna and I will show up unexpectedly at your front door with a huge copy of the gift card and the local media to deliver your prize (on second thought, maybe that would be a bit too much...).
A few tips to maximize your chance of winning;
- Print out a bunch of the application forms with your name already entered on the referral line (you can type in your name on-screen and then print the forms) and carry them with you. If you’re really ambitious, you can go around sticking them under windshield wipers at the local grocery store.
- Do a nature photography presentation at your local camera club or library and hand out the forms (with your name already filled in as the referrer). Tell them that if they join, they could learn to create photos as good as yours.
- Leave them at your local camera store (what good is a new camera if you have no idea how to take a decent photo?).
- Place a mention of this drive in your blog or on your website.
OK, so what are you waiting for? Good luck, have some fun with this and start thinking about how you’ll spent the $500 gift card (which the winner will receive by December 15)!
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