HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE USING GSM SHORTCODE

 HOW TO START GSM SHORT CODE BUSINESS

In August 2008, Barack Obama's presidential campaign made a political spectacle when it attempted to announce Joe Biden as the vice presidential candidate over SMS text message. Before the campaign could send the text message announcement to supporters, mass media scooped the news and broke the story, but the magnitude of the campaign's mobile efforts is noteworthy.

It was estimated that the Biden text was received by 2.9 million mobile phone users in the U.S. over the course of that weekend, making it one of the biggest, broadest mobile marketing stunts to date. Why make such an important announcement over a text message? It's no new insight that the media landscape exploded in the past decade to yield dozens of new marketing channels. Why tap text messaging as the outlet for one of the campaigns most important messages? Surely not for buzz alone...

 The announcement over texting is a highly visible example of short code marketing-marketing messages sent over text message through a Common Short Code (CSC), or short code. A short code is essentially an abbreviated phone number used for text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messaging. Today, short codes are used not just for marketing vice presidential candidates but for marketing TV shows, cars, soda, deodorant and dozens of other goods and services. In the past two years, the medium has become a mainstream marketing vehicle, so much so that Obama's use of the medium yielded not just buzz but also a large and engaged audience for the Biden announcement.  

What is Short Code?

Have you ever participated in a promo where you have to send a word or letters to a certain number and then have your phone credit deducted?.

     SMS short code is a 5 or 6 digit number, just like a phone number, but shorter and easier to remember. SMS short codes are used to receive and send out text messages to consumers and are issued by the short code provider. Short codes are leased (not owned) on a monthly basis by companies or SMS service providers. Many companies use SMS short codes to run their mobile marketing campaigns because they allow consumers to text back to any messages received. This facilitates customer interaction and two way communication, which builds relationships, customer loyalty and generates many opportunities for targeted mobile marketing.

To send out messages to consumers you must use an SMS short code - this is a requirement of network operators, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) as part of their best practice guide and may soon be covered by legislation. SMS short code simplifies the process of launching a focused text messaging campaign - whether you're interested in using dedicated short code or shared short codes, for long or short term campaigns, whatever industry you're in, there are mobile marketing solution for you.

Now, you too can join in this mega money opportunity. You can start your own promotions using short code or you can sell short code to others. In this step-by-step article, I will expose you to the huge potential in short code, both as a user and as a reseller who wants to operate your own short code business. This will be an eye opener for you. You may have been hearing about short code and wondering how to get into it, here is your biggest opportunity to join in the short code bounty.

How Short Code Works

A short code makes it possible for you to bill customers through their phone credit. It's the fastest way of getting millions of people to donate money if you are an NGO, or Church, etc. or get paid for digital products like music, ringtone, etc. Also, it's the fastest way to promote your business and get paid, or offer lottery service. However, in simple layman's language, it's the easiest way to get millions of people give you money in exchange for something as an incentive. Good short code content can rake in millions in 120 days or less.

For example, when you sign up for a short cord you get a keyword to help you direct your traffic to yourself. A keyword is your own personal name in a short code number. when anyone text that keyword to the short code number, the persons phone will be debited for a certain amount and from that amount the network operators will pay you a percentage of it for being the owner of that keyword. This money will be paid to the short code provider, who in return sends your share based on the amount stated to be paid per SMS received. If the amount is N15 per text-in you will receive when people text-in 100,000 SMS to your keyword within that period, you will get paid for 100,000 SMS multiplied by N15 - and that will be N15 million.

There is no official „Code of Practice‟ or PRS Regulatory body in Nigeria. Therefore, service approvals are granted by the Nigerian networks. If you wish to launch a campaign, please send all of your promotional material, plus the expected message flows to your short code service provider. They will pass this onto the operators for feedback. Adverts are usually in EnglishIt is standard practice and there could be penalties if you don't include:

• Price displayed in local format, e.g. Nxx + standard network rates·, e.g. "Text NIG (which is the country code) (space) ABC (which is your keyword) to 35810. Cost: N100 + standard network rates.

• Price immediately following the short code/keywords.

• Price in at least 50% font size of the short code keywords.

• Service promoted by {insert your address, P.O. Box numbers not allowed}.

How Short Code Services Work?

Once you have signed up for a short code and gotten your keyword, you need to develop a service or product through which you can then solicit for people to send texts to that short code. As many people or times text were sent to the short code bearing your keyword you will get paid. However, you must engage in good publicity to attract high volume of text, backed by good SMS content to encourage more people to text-in. Note that people are not just going to text-in to your short code if what you are offering does not offer any value to them.

And apart from getting short code for your use, you can also get short code and give to your local radio or TV presenters to use on their show. This will attract high volume and both of you can share the proceeds. A good radio or TV program has a lot of followers and that will give you a lot of traffic to earn good money from your short code service.

How To Choose A Keyword

When you signed up for a short code you will need to choose a keyword that your „texters‟ would type each time they text the short code. A keyword can be any name, it can be your name, company name, anything, but a name somebody else have not used on a short code. Once you choose a name, availability will be done first to check if that name you choose is still available. If it’s not available you will choose another name. And each time you are advertising your short code service you must tell your “texters” to send your keyword name to the short code number. If they send text to the short code without your keyword name the network operators will not pay you for that text.

How To Buy a Short Code Service

Before now, short code services are exclusive for the rich and big companies. It was expensive and made so difficult to obtain. Most of the reason for that is to avoid “yahoo-yahoo” boys from coming there too. But now, it has been made open for genuine customers to use short code to run their business or even make money legally selling the service to others. However, once you are fingered for fraud, you lose your short code service and all the money generated will not be paid to you. You may even end up in EFCC cell. So, don’t even think of using a short code for fraud because you will lose.

A short code service cost N15,000 to set up one keyword name and extra keyword costs N15,000 each. Also you pay N5,500 monthly fee for each keyword you want. This amount is paid quarterly when you are ordering your keyword name for setup. That means you pay N15,000 plus N5,500 for three(3) months will be N16,500 and that makes it a total of N31,500 to get your first keyword setup and run for three months till you get your first payment from your keyword. From the proceeds you make from your first payment you can then continue to pay for other month renewal fees.

Do not fail in paying your monthly fees. This may result in the short code operator deleting your keyword. A non-payment of your monthly fees can also stop the payment of your revenue from text-in, and if someone else registers that keyword they can benefit from all the hard work you’ve put in promoting that keyword.

How You Get Paid From Short Code Ser vice

When you sign up for short code service you have also signed up to get paid, getting paid from other people’s money. Every time someone text-in to that short code using your keyword the network operator credits some money into your account. Although, they don’t do this immediately someone text-in, but in every 120 days they will calculate all texts received in your keyword and send the money through your short code provider who will finally pay you. That means in one year you will get paid three times by the network operators. You are only paid for the number of texts received from your keyword and it’s just a percentage of the amount collected, and it’s about 5% to 20% of the amount billed per SMS. Some pay more, while others payless. Before you sign up with a short code provider or their agent or their reseller ask for the amount the operators would pay per text received on your keyword – network by network.

When 120 days billing period is reached, the short code operator would present your account to each of the network operator represented in your short code and the operator will pay for the number of texts received on each of their net work. Which the short code provider then remits your own share into your bank account or issue you cheque covering the amount. And for transparency, request for a statement with details of all question to confirm actual payment received. In some cases network operators may have a bill different from what is in your statement. Due to their superiority in this matter, their statement is the one used for payment. It's what they say that you will eventually get at the end of the end of the day.

Short Code Services That Makes Money

Once you have a short code the next thing is to make money with it. You need to know how best to make money with your short code. The most common idea is to run lottery. I'm not against lottery, but I must be frank with you, lottery, would require so much to be profitable for you. The biggest challenge with running lottery is publicity. You need to create huge publicity if you want your lottery to work and that would require a lot of money to pay for TV, Radio and news paper advertisements. Alternative is to go for sponsors, but they can be hard to convince. If you cannot muscle the funds for lottery, I advice you create other contents that can generate traffic with ease. I recommend you partner with radio, and TV presenters to promote your short code service. You can buy a keyword just for their show for their viewers or listeners to text in during the program. If it's a daily program, you are made. Weekly program with huge fellowship is not bad. Alternatively you can lobby for a free slot in your local radio or TV station to run your own program. Most of these local radio or TV stations have local content. They need new programs. You can create one and then use your short code service to receive responses from viewers.

Another block buster in the short code business is voting contest. This kind of short code service gives you big leverage among politicians; if you organize a voting contest in partnership with your local TV or radio station for your kinsmen to text-in, either to choose which party they want in the next administration or which contestant is best suited to run the state, you will be surprised how many votes that would pour in. Space would not permit me to fully express the huge content of short code opportunity.

Shared Short Code Agent

An agent can buy bundle of keywords, which they in turn resell and keep all the profits. There are four different short code bundles an agent can buy at ridiculous low rate and resell at N15,000 per keyword. The starter short code bundle contains 10 keywords and an agent buys it for N25,000 only and sells each keyword for N15,000. That gives over N150,000 income from an investment of just N25,000.

The bronze bundle is 20 keywords at N35,000. The agent makes over N300,000 from selling the 20 keywords. The silver bundle is 50 keywords at N55,000. The agent makes N750,000 from selling 50 keywords. While the gold bundle is 100 keywords at N75,000. The agent makes N 1.5 million from selling 100 keywords. You are receiving a genuine offer. The only challenge you may have is if you do not market it well. As for this business, it's a bomb. You can also buy as many bundles as you want. For instance, if it's the starter bundle you can afford now, you can start with that and later when you finish selling you can buy a bigger bundle. My only advice is for you to start now that the business is still very young before many people get to know this and the competition becomes stiff.

Shared Short Code Resellers:

The big one is to become a shared short code reseller. The advantage over being an agent is huge. As a reseller, you can even sign up your own agents to sell for you. Unlike the agent that earns money just from selling keyword, a shared short code reseller will earn money from short code monthly fees paid by the short code customers. This one is big because every month your customer will pay for their keyword service fee of N5,500 and a short code reseller keeps all the monthly fees collected. If you have about 100 customers, every month when they pay their N 5,500 each to you, that's about N750,000 every month to setup a Gold reseller plan is N125,000 and you get to sell 500 keyword as a gold reseller, and every month you pay N45,000 maintenance fee to the short code provider. For a platinum reseller setup fee is N250,000 and he gets to sell unlimited keywords. A platinum reseller also gets some share in the text-in revenue.

Both a gold and platinum reseller will have online access to create keywords themselves and to manage keywords and view text-in traffic from their customer's keywords. To be a reseller you will need to know how to use the internet.

GSM Short Code Provider

Then the biggest of them is to be a short code provider yourself, having a dedicated short code number to yourself. You can sell keywords, hire your own agents and even sell to resellers. Most corporate organizations prefer to own their own short code rather than to share that of the short code provider.

If you have your own short code it makes you a fully fledged short code provider. You can then sell to customers from your short code. It's more profitable to have your own short code if you can afford it. The setup fee is N750,000 while monthly fee is N125,000. The main advantage is that you can share in the text-in revenue of your customers. Although, your cuts per SMS is so small but the advantage is in the volume if you have good contents running on your short code.

If you are really interested in making money using the internet, this is your number one opportunity to get started in the short code business before many others gets in before you. You can sign up with a short code provider directly, or sign up with a reseller if you just want to be an agent.