Article Update: See more about the partnership between the Dallas Morning News and The Blastoff Network here. Blastoff Network Partners With Dallas Morning News

 When I get forwarded e-mails or Facebook messages about joining this or that I am immediately suspicious. In fact I am considered by my friends to be one of the toughest people to deal with when it comes to making a purchase. That instinct came out in me when I first heard of the Blastoff Network. "Sign up and earn from your friends" said one e-mail.

For one thing I don't like to sign my friends up for anything or make money off of them. I began reading the online marketing blogs and chat boards about Blastoff to find out what kind of scam it was.
The more I read the more I was convinced that there is really nothing wrong with the site. You sign up, then use the site as a gateway to visit the actual official websites of hundreds of merchants and businesses like Avis, Best Buy, Target, and so on. When you make a purchase you earn cash back.

Buying From Yourself On The Web And Earning A Commission, A Good Idea Right?

A couple years ago, after I started a website, I was excited about joining Commission Junction so that I could buy my own products for my business and earn a commission on myself. Same thing for Amazon Associates. I thought it would be easy to get five or six percent back on everything I bought online by 'buying it from myself" after joining the affiliate programs of these merchants.
What I didn't know was that CJ and Amazon don't allow this. They record your home address and you can't earn a commission from any product shipped to your name and address.
What is really nice about Blastoff is that it will pay you part of the cut they get for referring you to merchants like Bass Pro Shops as a cash dividend in your Blastoff account. It's like being an affilliate of hundreds of companies AND being able to buy your own products. No selling of anything or other funny business.

How Do They Do This, And Is Blastoff Network Legit?

The Frequent Flyer Program Analogy:
One of the best examples of how Blastoff works is a frequent flyer program such as Continental airlines. When members go to Continental's website and log in, then go to the "Preferred Merchants" tab and from there go on to one of the merchants websites and buy something, they earn frequent flyer miles.
The airline is not just being nice to members by giving them airline miles for shopping Old Navy. The airline gets a percentage of your transaction and gives you a little reward in the form of frequent flyer miles. They make money, you get miles, and the merchant paid for it because it saved them from having to advertise as much.

That's how the Blastoff Network gets it's money and how they give you a portion of it as cash back.

You don't have to pay anything to join or any other fees. When you refer friends you get a small portion of what Blastoff gets from the retailer and your friend gets just as much as they would if they had signed up on their own. It's network marketing at it's finest, without having to sell anything. Only to promote the idea to use a single website as a gateway to the rest of your shopping sites on the web. I think it's an awesome idea and one that is going to revolutionize how we buy things. On a side note, I booked a trip, got a rental car and hotel room from three different partners and got $15.00 in my account last week, just for going through the website.

Will We See Copycats?

There is no doubt that there will be other sites that seek to copy Blastoff Network. Retailers like Target and Priceline are more than willing to take sales that didn't require as many advertising dollars to generate. Just like with Google, eBay and Yahoo, those companies that establish themselves in the beginning end up large in the end. There may be even bigger and more generous sites to come, but for now Blastoff seems to have the market cornered on "social network marketing" as I call it.

I hope this article clears up some of the misconceptions out there. It's not Amway or anything that you sell to anyone. Nobody buys anything from you or pays you any fees. You simply share in the commissions on you and your friend's purchases. And finally, if you never refer a single friend that is OK too. You just do your online shopping as usual, at the same websites, after signing into your Blastoff Network account and so you will get the cash back credit.
For more on how to get cash back on almost anything you buy online go to  Blastoff Cash Back