Eric Nagel

Eric Nagel

CTO, PHP Programmer, Affiliate Marketer & IT Consultant

Unique Perks in Affiliate Marketing

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

A Christmas Story House
A Christmas Story House
As an affiliate, I enjoy some perks that come with the job:

  • I work from home
  • I set my own hours
  • I can create a passive income
  • I get to travel to different cities to attend conferences, and often never have to pay for a meal

Yet this past week, I experienced a perk like no other: I got to spend a night in the house from A Christmas Story.

I first met Brian Jones at the ShareASale Think Tank in Chicago this past May. Brian owns the house that was used for the exterior shots of the movie, A Christmas Story. He also owns the company that sells reproduction Leg Lamps and other products from the movie.

The Leg Lamp at A Christmas Story House
The Leg Lamp at A Christmas Story House
I visited the house before, back in 2009. Once I saw A Christmas Story House was going to be at Think Tank, I registered a domain and decided to build a site.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I manually built BuyLegLamps.com (at the time, they didn’t have a datafeed). I outlined the entire process of building this site in another post, An Affiliate Website Anyone Can Build.

After exchanging emails with Brian (about the program, and getting a datafeed set-up), I mentioned that I was going to be in Cleveland, and wanted to get together. He’s still in San Diego, but offered to let me and my family spend a night in the house!

A Christmas Story House isn’t a typical bed & breakfast. Only a handful of people have spent the night (if you want to spend a night, watch for auctions on eBay, but be prepared to drop about $5k).

My daughter wasn’t too excited about it at first (she started crying, screaming “NO!” at me, then kicked me in the shin, twice) but she was OK after calming down a little.

Sleeping with the Red Ryder BB Gun
We all gathered on the couch and watched A Christmas Story on our DVD player. It’s amazing, watching the movie and looking around the house at the details they’ve captured in recreating the interior of the house.

After the movie, we all went up to bed. I slept in Ralphie’s bed, and my other daughter slept in Randy’s bed, while the rest of the family slept upstairs in the guest suite.

The next morning, I even got to meet “Randy” from the movie, Ian Petrella! (I’m not sure he was too excited about meeting me, as I think we woke him up to hand over the keys)

Ian Petrella ("Randy" from A Christmas Story) and I
Ian Petrella ("Randy" from A Christmas Story) and I

If my accountant asks, this wasn’t a vacation… I was procuring content. The dozens of photos I took and video tour of the house will be some nice, unique content for BuyLegLamps.com.

The kids opening gifts under the tree
The kids opening gifts under the tree

Thanks to Brian for hooking me up on this unforgettable experience!

Comments
  • Liz Gazer
    Posted September 1, 2011 4:47 pm 0Likes

    That’s one of my all-time fave Christmas movies and that was a great story, Eric! Not *everyone* can say they slept in the “A Christmas Story” house. What a great way to “procure content” for your site! And what a great example of how it pays to think outside the box, as an affiliate.

  • Joe Magennis
    Posted September 1, 2011 5:08 pm 0Likes

    I’m assuming you would have informed us if one of the kids had uttered the queen-mother of dirty words …

    • Eric Nagel
      Posted September 1, 2011 5:09 pm 0Likes

      I had to explain to my 8-year-old what “Oh Fudge” was. “Eff dash dash dash”

      She got it after a while

  • Morgan Nagel
    Posted October 3, 2014 8:50 pm 0Likes

    Dad you are so funny and now that i am 9 i understand it. Thank you dad so much for the trip!!!

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