I’m a Viner!
Technically, I’m a Gen Xer (by a few short days), but I relate more with the Boomer… and now, I’m a proud Viner!
A lot has happened since I posted back in November. Besides the fact I closed our restaurant on December 31st (a whole different post), I have been accepted to the Amazon Vine program and have also been selected as an Amazon Influencer. Whew! I have been working on that for a few years now. (By writing reviews on everything I’ve ordered from Amazon.com since 2014.)
Amazon Vine is a program where I can choose up to 3 products a day with a value of less than $100 and they will ship those products to me free of charge. I am, however, obligated to write honest reviews, good or bad, about the products I receive. I am trying to take pictures but also produce video reviews.
We’ve been at it for about 1 month (first order 22 JAN 2023). We have received 75 products and I’ve written 44 reviews. I need to order 100 or more products in 6 months and write at least 90 reviews on those 100 products, and then I am promoted to the next level. The gold level “Viner” can order up to 8 products a day and there is no $100 limit on those products. Oh yeah, this is going to be great.
One of the challenges I face is, “How do I make money doing this?” You see, I am not allowed to sell or give away any of the products we order through the Vine program for 6 months. So it’s not like I can just order a bunch of expensive products and have a yard sale every Saturday… or can I? I’m already 1 month into the program which means I am 5 months from being able to have a big lots sale. It could happen. We have already implemented a process of cataloging and storing the stuff we want to sell. It could work, but will likely work in a larger market like Tallahassee. We’ll figure it out.
The ”influencer” part of the equation.
I have been selected as an “Amazon Influencer” which provides me with more ways to make money. Have been an Amazon Affiliate for years and made a little money last year, mostly on my meat slicer video. But as an influencer, they give me a page on Amazon.com to list products to purchase from which I can make some money. Oh, it’s not chump change either. For every $315 slicer sold from the link on the YouTube video, I made $15+. This added up quickly.
So the plan right now is to continue to write reviews like crazy and post them to Amazon but also post them here and on YouTube. Depending on the product, I will either post the videos on our personal channel or on my cooking channel.
Yes, I am keeping some strategies to myself. If it works, I will share.
