Social proof has always been around. It is the result of a deeply rooted psychological bias which implies trust in other people.
The bias is most commonplace when we’re uncertain about to do in various situations. Just think of these common situations:
- If you are at a party where you don’t know anyone else, you behave like others (or, as the saying goes, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”).
- A dress code is meant for all attendees to comply to the event’s social proof, so as to avoid any form of embarrassment.
- A celebrity is seen wearing a certain dress, driving a certain car or visiting a certain restaurant – and all of a sudden the dress is sold out, car sales of that brand go up and that specific restaurant is booked out for months to come.
- Your friend has great hair, so you ask what shampoo she uses.
- Someone you know (and you may like or hate her) just got a huge bonus. You really want to know what she did to get it
You get the idea. We look at others and if we feel connected to them in some way, we tend to copy their behaviour.
Word of mouth is derived directly from social proof – you see someone do something (good or bad) and immediately tell your friends, offline or online.
The advertising and marketing industry
As a professional marketer I am all too aware of the techniques used to drive people towards a desired behaviour, be it to purchase something or to increase their brand awareness of a new product or service.
It just works.
Influencers and affiliate marketing are the result of social proof. Social media and blogs are their media.
Use social proof to your advantage
As a blogger, I am effectively an influencer – I share my opinion to whoever wishes to read it on my blog or my social media channels.
As a member of the FIRE community I think, write and talk about thinking differently in order to achieve a form of freedom (financial freedom) not often portrayed correctly or positively on mass media.
I have gained incredible knowledge, ideas and mental strength by reading other people’s blogs, books, social media posts, listening to their podcasts and meeting some of these people in person. This is an amazingly knowledgeable and caring community.
I respect my readers and FIRE peers – if I use an affiliate link, it is to put forward a product or service that I use myself and am genuinely happy to recommend. I do not refer stuff that is not useful, I do not use or is against the FIRE mindset.
The moral of the story
Use affiliates to your advantage.
As a rule of thumb, if someone refers something to you, you both get something in return.
Are you thinking of buying something or signing up to a service? Don’t just buy it – look up if they have an affiliate link, and if they do, ask someone to refer you, be it a friend or someone online.
That is how I do it, and I get excited about every little reward I get 🙂
What should you sign up for?
Never buy something you don’t actually need, that is a waste of money. (We’ve all made this mistake at least once, but we should strive to minimise how often we do it.)
British Airway miles – use this American Express credit card* (and always pay your balance in full!) to earn BA miles. We use it as much as possible – we even use it to pay for our daughter’s nursery! – and get a companion ticket (i.e. one person travels for free) every year plus hundreds of £££ off via miles on other flights too.
Revolut* – if you travel to countries with a different currency, there is no easier and more cost-efficient way of carrying foreign currencies than using a Revolut card. Signing up for your account and card is easy and you can convert currencies at market rate simply via the app. They make money with their premium version, so basic users get a whole lot of benefits for free. Sign up for your account and card using this link* and you’ll get an £8 bonus.
Amazon – if you want to buy a book for example on financial independence, check if your library stocks it or if you can request it. If not, or if you want to own your copy or give a present, check out the links on this page*.
Look after my bills – we should all switch energy and gas provider regularly to get the best deal. Except it possibly the most boring thing to do. These guys do the switching for you – you sign up once, then they check regularly for better deals and switch you if they find you a better one. If they can’t find a better deal for you, they let you know so that you have peace of mind that you are not missing out. Love them! They get a referral commission from the energy supplier so that their service is free to us end users. And if you use this link, you and I both get £20 as a thank you.
Blogging – besides helping me organise my thoughts, this blog allows me to be so much more visible in the FIRE community. People can actually find me online and reach out to me, starting a conversation I’d otherwise not have. Just for this reason, I think people should start a blog of their own. I use Bluehost* for my domain name and hosting – read here how to get started blogging
Funding Circle* – my husband and I each have an ISA with them for the bulk of our emergency fund. The interest is great (currently 6%) and if you need to access the money, you can transfer it out fairly quickly.
Pensionbee* – if you’ve had more than one job, you probably have at least one old pension lying around somewhere in limbo. Pensionbee* is a UK pension provider that will locate and combine all your old pensions for free. If you’re not convinced of its value, in the past I’ve been quoted £500 + VAT to move only one old pension! The other reason I think they are great is that they have good funds, including a green fund – and my pension value has grown by over 10% since I joined them.
Vanguard – I have part of my money invested in their Stocks & Shares ISA. They are the low-cost index fund provider even JL Collins brags about in his Simple Path to Wealth. Vanguard do not pay people to refer them, they are so good they don’t need to 😉
Finimize* – this is my daily financial & business newsletter. They explain in simple terms what is going on in the world, and normally it takes around 3 minutes to read it all. Awesome.
Job Spotter – an app I recently discovered. You can take pictures of job signs in shop windows, upload them on the app (owned by Indeed, the jobs portal), then they pay you a small amount in Amazon vouchers for every job you spotted. I like to use this app during my lunch break, combining a walk with something useful. They don’t pay people to refer them, but I still recommend it as it is a very easy side hustle. Warning: it’s very addictive!
Crunch accountants* – a great accountant for contractors with a very user-friendly website and app and quick support via email and phone.
Mortgage broker – Crunch accountants* also have a division that deals with mortgages.
KidStart* – if you are a parent, or want to save some money for a child, then KidStart is a great way to earn cash back on everyday expenses from retailers like Amazon, Ebay, Sainsbury’s, Booking.com, John Lewis and many more.
What are your favourite affiliate programmes? Did I miss out a great one? Share your gems in the comments below.
*these are affiliate links. If you click on them and buy something, we will both get a small reward
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