It was always a dream of mine as a kid to get clothes for free — to be sponsored. Once I realized I probably wasn't going to be a pro skateboarder or model, I knew I had to find a different way to make that dream come true. Soon, I learned about referral programs. A referral program is a company’s way of promoting their product through various affiliates. This not only makes money for the company, but also for the person doing the referring. 

I wanted to go all out with one company in particular, Mizzen and Maine. I love their business attire because it is super high quality and doesn't wrinkle. My goal was to build an entire wardrobe of their clothing one hundred percent from referral benefits. 

I will preface this by saying, referral programs can come off as annoying. I wasn't that guy that was constantly asking my parents and Facebook friends to buy a product with my link or code. Nobody likes that guy! Instead, I ran an ad that targeted people who would like Mizzen and Main’s shirts. 

The Ad

In my Facebook ads dashboard, I created a new ad. Then, I set my target audience to users who had visited the Mizzen and Main site before and were between the ages of 25 and 45 (yes, you can target that specific of an audience!). Lastly, I linked my referral code. 

The Outcome

Within one week, I earned over $5,000 in store credit! I eventually was getting sent so many shirts that I decided to give some away! In fact, the CEO of the company reached out to me because he thought I hacked their system! It didn't seem possible to be making that much in store credit.

Eventually, the company ended up shutting the referral program down. Sorry if you wanted to join! My bad!

I remember the first order I placed with my gift card credits. The UPS guy kept bringing boxes upon boxes to my doorstep. They were literally stacked to the ceiling! I was actually surprised my strategy worked!

I want to clarify that what I did was 100% legal. The company simply did not expect their referral program to be used in the way I utilized it. Companies generally want you to refer your close friends and relatives. However, if you are a smart marketer, you take that same concept and accelerate so you are not only tapping into your close circle, but also an entire social media network. That is the power of ads and internet marketing! 

You can use my strategy across all niches of the internet. All you have to do is pair the right product with the right customer. Use that methodology however you'd like! Get a free shirt or get paid cash — the choice is yours!