Old School Still Works

FOR YEARS...... whenever we did trade shows (or even webinars) we would pass out NYDLA Golden Ticket cards. Over the years, paper cards became virtual (digital) cards.

The concept was simple: make it super easy to joinNYDLA.org - first month free. $25 bucks covers you and your small team (up to 9 people). $250 covers your larger team (up to 99 people). 100+ or more, let's talk about a custom membership plan. After all a 3,000 person Landscaping Company has very different needs than a 3,000 person Law Firm. Or school. Or hospital. Or trucking company. Or...

So we just started telling existing members: You know what - just use the form NYDLA.org/GoldenTicket and just put in your friend's information. At the bottom, instead of 'event' put in YOUR email. Done. Simple. If they joinNYDLA.org they will get $25 and you will also get $25. Tip of the hat to Willy Wonka.

“Friends telling friends” is the purest form of word-of-mouth marketing—organic, trust-based, and ridiculously effective. When someone you know and like recommends a product, service, or idea, it carries 10× the weight of an ad because:

Trust is pre-built – You already believe your friend isn’t trying to scam you. Social proof kicks in – If it’s good enough for them, maybe it’s good enough for you. Reciprocity loops form – They shared something valuable; you feel inclined to try it (and maybe tell someone else).

Why it works so well

Low friction: A 30-second text (“You have to try this app”) beats a 30-minute sales pitch.

High conversion: Studies (like Nielsen’s) show 92% of people trust recommendations from friends over any other channel.

Scalable virality: One friend tells three, who tell nine… exponential reach without ad spend.

Real-world examples

Dropbox: Gave existing users extra storage for inviting friends → grew 3900% in 15 months.

Airbnb: Early hosts invited traveler friends with referral credits → fueled hypergrowth.

Tesla: No traditional ads, just owners evangelizing to their networks.

How to trigger it intentionally

Make sharing dead simple – One-tap invite links, pre-written messages.
Reward both sides – “You get $25, your friend gets $25” beats one-sided incentives.
Focus on delight – People only tell friends about things that wow them.

It’s the original growth hack—before “growth hacking” was a buzzword.

Expert Level: when we see more than 10 Golden Tickets from a single person, we reach out. "Hey, you are really good at this. We should talk about making you a BRAND AMBASSADOR of the NYDLA.org. You can make way (WAY) more than $25."

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