One of the most beneficial features provided by Dreamhost is often overlooked because many people don’t realize how simple it is to use. DreamHost Rewards are credited to you through three different methods.

The first method is the easiest to use because all it takes is a simple copy/paste of the automatically generated referrer URL provided to you through the Rewards page in the DreamHost administration panel. The URL should look something like: http://www.dreamhost.com/r.cgi?12345, where 12345 reflects your unique referral number. When a user clicks on a link that uses this URL and then signs up for a new account with Dreamhost, you are credited either 10% of all future payments made by that user or a one time $97 payment depending on your reward settings. You can change back and forth from the 10% recurring and the one time $97 by clicking on a button provided in the second block on the page.

The second method for referring a person, and what I consider to be the worst option, requires a user to enter your email address as a referrer when they sign up for a new account. This method will probably not be very successful unless you explicitly tell everyone you refer to enter your email address. By using the .cgi link provided as the first method, you don’t have to make sure that users enter your email address and make things much easier on the person who is about to earn you some $$$.

The third and often most successful method is referring people through coupon codes. Coupon codes can easily be set up through the web panel and they will probably represent the bulk of your referrals, since people love saving money. Even though a lot of referrals will come from coupons, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will make the most money from it. Coupon codes depend on you offering large discounts on hosting, and in order to do that you sacrifice how much money you will earn through the referral. Each referral through coupon can earn you up to $97 per customer. You are given control over how much of a discount each customer gets, but for every dollar you save the customer you will lose a dollar yourself. There are also restrictions on giving too much of a discount on less expensive accounts, this stops you from giving $97 off coupons to people who are signing up for $100 accounts.

Cashing Out

Dreamhost offers two methods for using your hard earned referrals. The first method lets you apply your earnings to your DreamHost account so you can pay your bills. The second method lets you transfer your earnings to a Paypal account. The Paypal payments are sent out once a month and you lose 5% of your earnings by transferring your money out of Dreamhost. It’s a bit of a bummer that there isn’t a third option for them to write you a check or direct deposit to a bank account, but Dreamhost is in the business of web hosting not advertising so it’s understandable.