On the way to making Moneysupermarket.com the leading financial comparison site, founder Simon Nixon reaped £126 million by selling shares in the site’s 2007 flotation. Now just executive deputy chairman, Nixon has set his sites on a new venture – Simonseeks.com asks readers to submit holiday reviews, and will pay commission for every excursion booked. He’s pitching the site to amateurs and out-of-work professional travel writers – but negative reviews, of course, won’t earn scribes a buck. So can Nixon work his Midas touch again… ?
— Early growth “If you think about it, The Sunday Times or The Daily Telegraph on a Saturday and Sunday might have five or six new travel guides… we’re getting 50 new guides on average a day and we’re not paying anything for those commissions — we share revenue.” Writers are given half of revenue generated through affiliate marketing deals with hotels, holiday operators and flight carriers and writers range from travel enthusiasts to professional writers — many of whom are facing redundancy from newspapers and magazines. Nixon adds that early growth has been achieved without any marketing spend, although a big marketing and advertising push is planned for two to three months’ time including SEM, paid search, display and print ads.
— Revenue lag: But no one’s getting paid just yet: “Most of our deals are on a cost per action (CPA) basis so we get a report from the provider about six weeks after we start operating with them showing how much revenue has been generated and they pay out six weeks after that. You get paid on your first bill three months later — you’re always getting paid in arrears, it’s just the way the industry works. So no one’s made a penny yet. Though we’re obviously generating sales.”
— Business links: If you’re setting up a travel site, it does help if you’ve already founded a successful price comparison site and Nixon is making the most of business links built up through Moneysupermarket, where he is a 54 percent shareholder: “We’ve got travel expertise and really good business links with everyone out there in the travel market so we’ve been able to negotiate very good commercial deals. With a new venture you normally have to start at the bottom but we’ve gone in right a the top.”
— No targets: Nixon is confident the site will eventually make money, but like so many start-ups — he cites Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Facebook as inspirations — it’s about building reach first. “We don’t have a financial target; my motto is always how many people can we engage with and how much of a fanbase can we build up? If we do those things then the money will follow… All the best businesses work on that philosophy.” He told FT.com in June that the site had a two-year profitability target.
— Good news zone: Simonseeks works by recommending holiday destinations and specific holidays and driving traffic — and sales — to affiliate partners’ sites. So if you want to make money from your travel article, there’s not much point saying anything negative. Nixon says a scathing review — like you’ll read on Holidays Uncovered — might be interesting but “the problem is, the writer won’t make any money from that because people won’t book anything. The philosophy around the site is that you write about your favourite places and then you inspire people with your passion.” Nixon says reviews will be scrutinised by readers for accuracy, in case writers feel like talking up a holiday just to drive sales and maximise profits.
— Moneysupermarket: Nixon is concentrating on his travel site but still spends one day a week at the site he founded. The company is in the midst of a big brand advertising campaign featuring Dragons’ Den inhabitant Peter Jones and Nixon says “I know MMSM are planning to launch in lots of other verticals, I can’t mention which ones. Our strategy has always been to diversify.”

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