Value per Action… now that’s a new one. And just when I thought I was getting a hang of the dozens of three letter acronyms associated with Internet Marketing. At first there was PPC, and then CTR, followed buy CPA, CPC, AOV and CPO, not to mention CPM, CPT, CPI, and ERS! What a PITA! I have to admit though, VPA is probably the most exciting three letter internet marketing related acronym yet.

The Value Per Action business model is similar to the Cost Per Action (CPA) model. CPA is where the merchant would pay a “commission” only when a shopper clicks on an ad and completes a purchase, whereas under a Cost Per Click (CPC/PPC) model, the merchant would pay a fee every time an ad is clicked. VPA is different because instead of just taking a commission when a shopper completes a sale, the consumer would receive a percentage of the commission as a discount, lowering the bottom line price.

CPA removes a lot of risk for merchants, but with VPA, there is value built in for both the merchants and the shoppers. It’s a win-win situation. This business model is a breath of fresh air for merchants who are sick of paying CPC’s in excess of .70-.80 on many of the major CPC Shopping Engines.

Leave it to Jellyfish to take this already remarkable business a step further with what they call “Smack Shopping”, a Live Internet Shopping Game Show that combines a shopping community with daily auctions, games and prizes (not to mention the host, Smack Daddy). Smack Shopping was Jellyfish’s answer to those who questioned how they were going to attract customers and build brand awareness. I can’t think of a better way myself, to build a community around a source of entertainment that will have every “sneezer” out there talking about it. +2 for Jellyfish.

Any Online Marketers who read Seth Godin know this industry was in need of a Purple Cow, and I think we might just have one.