Earn money by recommending products with Maven

BetaList features the newest startups. Today, we look at Maven which lets you earn money through personal recommendations. Submit your startup to get featured too.

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What does your product do?

Maven lets people earn money by recommending products and services to other people. People who love to shop, can now monetize their skill in an easy, natural way.

We believe that everyone is an expert at something. The experienced mother of four who recommends to her friend, and soon to be first-time mother, safe baby products to buy. The college student who is commonly hit up for fashion advice because of her stylish yet thrifty outfits. The tech enthusiast who knows exactly what to buy to create the ideal ‘smart home’. Maven was built for people like this to display their recommendations, share to their network and general public, and earn. Now when someone asks you where you got that dress, you can earn a commission from the retailer simply by making the recommendation to your friend using Maven.

Where did the idea come from?

I wish that I could say the current concept came from an epiphany one night and work began the next morning. I can’t imagine this is the case too often… As veterans in retail technology, we were focused on changing the retail industry. We took an iterative approach getting to market and reading the tea leaves. The feedback was essential for focusing what we now know people will love.

As an initial concept, we started with a digital high-touch one-on-one personal shopping business. There are many such concierge businesses – each trying to crack the ‘Conversational Commerce’ economy. While people loved the opportunity to finally earn from their expertise, we found that our users wanted more scale. The social networks were helping them with reach, but not earning. We listened and pivoted our focus. From this blossomed Maven. It is one of the first social commerce network that allows everyone an opportunity to earn through personal relations.

What does the business model look like?

Users are sometimes skeptical and ask us, “How can I make money just recommending products? How does Maven make money?” We get it, it sounds too good to be true. Most people don’t know that there is a mature industry devoted to referring online business. In the past, this has been reserved for the large, high traffic sites or technology savvy individuals who have ample time to figure out the world of affiliate marketing. By marrying this world with social networking, we offer everyday people earning potential and scale in an easy to use environment.

We earn when they earn. Our fee is a small percentage of the commissions generated from referred retailer sale while passing the bulk of the fee to recommender.