Yelp wants to get on the action of the discounted deals and has started offering Yelp Deals to businesses here in Portland, Oregon. A few weeks ago, they announced this in their newsletter, so I logged in to check it out.  I thought I might try it out for my web hosting plans, but hesitated until I got a chance to write this blog post and research it more.

Here’s the scoop:

• *Yelp will retain 30% of the discounted price from each deal sold.
• *Yelp will pay you monthly, you Yelp Deal will appear on your Yelp page immediately after you sign and create it.

*The Deals are showcased on the top of each business’ Yelp page. The regular price and discounted percentage will also be listed so your customers know what deal they are getting. The Deal will also be highlighted in your search results and a dedicated Deals section of yelp.

*All of Deals are accessible via iPhone and Androids, just like Groupon and LivingSocial. The app allows you to see which deals are offered at nearby restaurants, etc. This is a direct competitor for Groupon Now, a mobile app wanting to accomplish the same thing.

The one advantage Yelp has is that its apps are already popular and used by over 4.5 million people a month. Groupon is still struggling to find that audience with Groupon Now. Slight differences in Yelp Deals approach is announcing deals 1-2x a week, not daily and a slow roll-out. The Deals are only available in 12 cities right now, with new ones being added.

I’ve decided to wait and see how my colleagues do with Yelp Deals, I want to be sure to offer something I don’t mind discounting, especially if there is a payoff through marketing and getting the word out.

It’s gonna be interesting to see which company races along to offer the most deals. Will this trend continue on how we do business day to day? Will customer always expect deals from small businesses, even when we are out of the recession?

Share

Related Posts:

• Groupon, is it helping or hurting small businesses

When I recieved my Google+ invite in my email two weeks ago, I didn’t know much about it. Once I logged in, I realized that hardly any friends or family were invited yet so I’ve been waiting to see how things would progress. So far, it’s interesting to see which colleagues, friends, and family are joining the new social network.

Google+ could be a huge competition to Facebook, but one huge part that’s missing is Business Pages. Google+ claims they will release their own version later, but it in order for Google to compete, waiting to introduce it later may not benefit them at all.

Even though Google hasn’t set up a section for businesses to list their information, businesses are still doing it. Google stated they plan to run an experiment to test brand profiles in the next few months. In the test group, they will observe how users interact with commercial brands Profiles through various Google+ services like Circles. If you are a business interested in participating in this test should fill out this web form.

In the meantime they plan to take down “non-user profiles to help deter businesses from doing it. This hasn’t stopped businesses from setting them up, Mashable was one of the first to create a Google+ profle: . Ford Motor Company has also created a Google+ profile.

Word on the street is when the business profiles exist, they will function similar to Facebook Pages with Adwords and Analytic integration. They will be indexed, “followable” and posts/updates can be +1′d, just like the “like” button in Facebook. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Share

Related Posts:

• 5 Easy Ways a Small Business Can Use Social Media Sites to Sell Online

There are a lot of change happening in the world of mobile. No one would have believed you could make payments with a phone 10 years ago. I hope you enjoy reading about these as much as I did, it’s pretty exciting to see how the world is changing and adapting with different technologies.

As Ferris Buhler said it best “Yup, life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you might miss it”.

Digital Stamps: The Denmark Post now has digital stamps available and can be purchased via text message. A simple code is sent to the customer and it can be written on an envelope instead of the old fashioned stamp.

Euro McDonald’s are adding a point of sale touch screen to 7,000 European stores. The screens include swipers for cards, reducing the need for human cashiers and speeding up transactions. Burger King is also following suit.

Google Wallet, an Android App, allows someone to make payments with their phone. Users pay by tapping their phone on a Mastercard paypass terminal. Users can also receive offers and loyalty point with the app.

In developing countries, mobile is playing a huge role. South Africa’s First National Bank has a service that allows customers to take out cash from an ATM using their mobile phone. The customers receive a text message from the bank with a temporary pin that allows them to use an ATM within 30 min.

A Spanish based clothing company called N-spired Story encourages people to send in interesting photos, stories, news or videos. One of those stories is printed as an image on an short-run edition t-shirt each month. Users can then use their phone to link to the story online.

Don’t have time to shop? How about for just 4 seconds? That’s the amount of time a sale is listed. A Swedish business called “Papercut” launched a site called Speedsale, offering discounted books, DVDs, and more for only 4 seconds and then the sale is over!

Don’t have time to read all the reviews of a product? Just Buy This One takes care of it by gathering an average rating of product reviews and offers a single recommendation. Includes 9 categories overall.

Want to buy your friend a drink without being in the bar? You can in Germany, a company there called frinXX lets users buy drinks at any bar and you don’t have to be there. A code is generated from the transaction and sent to the recipient’s cellphone with a custom message.

Share

Related Posts:

• Who are using tablets? Are they your customers?

They always say it’s easier to keep a customer and sell to them again than to get a “new” customer. It takes a lot of energy to bring on a new customer, establish trust and make sure everything feels right. What if you feel like your customers could use a little more love? Customers and clients want to feel appreciated and loved. Want to have more devoted customers, take a look at five ways to win them over:

1) Don’t guess

You might think you know what your clients want, but do you really or are you just assuming? Many businesses fail because they are trying to create or meet a demand that really doesn’t exist and hasn’t been tested properly. It’s always better to test out a product or service and get feedback from a small group of people. Take the time to listen to feedback and really hear what people are looking for in a solution. Finding out what their largest problems are and providing a solution for that can be very rewarding and target a better market.

2) Keep in Touch

Don’t be afraid to talk candidly to your clients. Check in on how they are doing, what’s going on in their life and if their problems are being solved. Just pick up the phone and call them out of the blue.

3) Send a Card

Just a simple note let’s people know you care. How many times in the last month have you gotten a hand written note? Exactly, stand out and do it a few times a year with your customers, I bet you’ll be surprised at the results. Even use unique stationary if you can, something funny or touching can really help you show your emotions.

4) Set up a loyalty program

Look at other programs that you’d like to base your program on. Learn what’s working for them and what could be improved on. Read up here for some examples on customer loyalty reward program.

5) Do your Best

To keep customers coming back, ALWAYS promise what you deliver. If a problem pops up, let your customer know and create a plan on how to deal with it.

Share

Related Posts:

• How to promote Mother’s Day and other Holidays on your Ecommerce Website

Have you checked out the latest version of Skype ? It’s pretty slick, the interface on my MacBook is such a huge improvement since the version they had a year ago.

I use Skype to talk to friends and family overseas, in different states, to talk to colleagues and much more. Skype is connecting people all around the world, here’s a story about how Skype allowed a Father in Iraq to experience his son’s birth via Skype and iPhone .

It’s such a fun tool to use for video conferencing. Using Skype reminds me of Blade Runner and how they would talk to each other through video. I have a 5 month old daughter and since my daughter’s grandparents live in different cities, Skype has allowed us to talk to them via web cams easily. It’s a fun way to watch her grow up and change each week and connect with her through voice and games.

I’ve been using Skype as a business tool for many years. I’ve been using it as my main phone line for my business since 2008. I was able to buy a phone number through my account as well as voice mail so if I miss a call, I can catch who called me. One of the best features that I like to use is having the app set up on my iPhone so even if I’m not at my computer, I can catch a Skype call on iPhone. For more business and freelance ideas using Skype, check out this article: http://freelancefolder.com/how-to-use-skype-to-win-clients-and-grow-your-freelancing-business/

Did you know that you can call for free when you call one Skype account to another Skype account? The latest version of Skype works on mobile phones and certain flat screens as well. They even have a feature that lets you do group video calling http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/group-video-calls/ On the Skype blog, there’s a section called “User Stories”: http://blogs.skype.com/play/user-stories/ Definitely a nice “pick-me-up” on how technology is helping to improve our lives.

Microsoft is looking to aquire Skype, let’s hope it stays a great tool. How does Skype help you in your business or personal life?

Share

Related Posts:

• A creative solution for a business line