Digital coupons and social buying are all the rage right now. Should we thank Groupon for all the excitement and hub-bub? I’ve had multiple clients ask me what’s up with Groupon and if it’s changing the way we do business online.

First, it’s important to know that Groupon is the fastest growing company in history, attracting lots of competitors such as LivingSocial. Groupon rejected Google’s $6 billion offer and is now reporting to prepare for a $25 billion IPO.

Secondly, does everyone benefit from Groupon? Not always. Some businesses have been hurt by using the daily deal as a way to bring in new customers. Some businesses have had new customers walk through the door and only use their coupon and not purchase additional items. Another big question is loyalty and trust. Many establishments like salons and beauty industry have customers who have been with them for years and don’t always believe in attracting new customers through coupons or deals. Some folks out there wouldn’t go to just anyone for a haircut, massage or waxing.

Groupon isn’t fading from the spotlight anytime soon. They have something new up their sleeves! CNN recently released an article called “Groupon’s ambitious plan to change how and when we eat” – Groupon is releasing a new mobile app called “Groupon Now“. If a user opens up the app, they are presented with two buttons: “I’m hungry” and “I’m bored”. Clicking either button will list timely daily deals based on their location. The offer of buy $5, get $10 worth of food still stands, but they aren’t one time offers. The restaurant can choose when they want to deals to happen. For example: A restaurant does a great job on Friday night, but wants to drum up more business on Tuesday nights. The app allows the restaurant to promote the deal for the slow Tuesdays. It’s clever because it gives food establishments a chance to manage their perishables and not waste food and money.

What are your thoughts about Groupon? Do you use it or its competitors to purchase deals? Have you used it for your business?

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It’s the end of the month and I’d to do a quick wrap up of the top articles I think you can apply to your business and marketing. Lots of information on mobile and mobile commerce this week!

COLOR

Have you heard about Color? It’s the latest mobile social software app and it’s taking off like wildfire. Read the latest: http://www.webpronews.com/color-next-big-thing-or-just-overblown-hype-2011-03

Blogging Mistakes

Blogging is such a huge part of marketing for small businesses, learn what are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them: http://www.inc.com/guides/201103/7-blogging-mistakes-that-small-businesses-make.html?partner=newsletter_Success

Top Industries of 2011

What are the cutting edge industries for 2011? I bet you’d be surprised, but one of them is “e-commerce” -http://www.inc.com/ss/6-top-performing-industries-for-2011?partner=newsletter_Success

Mobile Commerce

Learn more about overcoming the barriers of selling via mobile – http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7285-mobile-commerce-25-essential-tips

Top Facebook Business Pages

Looking for inspiration for your Facebook page? Check out the top 48 Facebook Business pages: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/2667-48-Facebook-Pages-for-Businesses-

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The Internet has grown up in past 15 years and very few people can really be true “Webmasters” (doing everything: programming, animation, graphic design, SEO, information architecture).  It’s better to rely on folks who have a speciality in their field. Hiring professionals who are very skilled within their field can save you lots of time and money as a business owner.

There’s a slew of reasons how a website consultant can help you, but here’s some useful suggestions to get you started:

1) A professional is trained to have an overall view for detail, design layout, search engine optimization, information architecture, usability, and functionality. They also know how these factors play a role in the project and which talent to hire.

2) Talking to a consultant can save yourself hours of research when trying to find the right solution to solve a number of problems for your website.

3) A professional can step into your company and give guidance and direction for your website and provide different suggestion and methods to help you achieve the results you want.

4) A consultant can help you organize your website assets before even beginning the website design process. Usually this step is over-looked and done at the last minute.

5) A professional can help provide your business a road map and assess your needs that you may not even realize you have right away or may not encounter until business has a growth spurt. Experts can look into the future at the bigger, overall picture.

Now that you’ve decided to hire a Website Consultant, how do you find them?

• Referrals – Other web firms, designers, developers can refer you to great consultant they know and work with. They can help match you up with the right people.
• Online Forums that are up-to-date and well regulated
• User/Group Lists
• Craigslist.org

Some Items to Keep in Mind When Hiring:

• Timezone. Do you want someone local, or anywhere in the world?
• Personality. Do you find that you immediately like the consultant’s style? Do you like the way they communicate?
• What kind of clients has the company/consultant worked with in the past?
• Diversity of skill sets – perhaps your project involves complex database problems or e-commerce solution. Has the website consultant has experience in those fields of work?
• How does the company/consultant handle project management?
• Do you like how they tackle problems, do their problem-solving skills match the style of your business?

Hiring a professional to help you undertake an overwhelming website project can be a great experience. There is keep in consideration when you are wanting to solve a billion different problems at once and aren’t certain of the solutions that are out there. Talking to professional can calm your fears and help build the foundation to help you solve those problems and move forward to a better future!

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My company Blue Deer Designs has been offering web hosting as a service for the past five years. I’ve really been wanting to move towards being more of an eco-friendly company and make the web hosting a bigger part of the business. Wanting to make a big change, we moved our server to using wind powered energy. The server itself is a green dedicated server with efficient CPUs (lead-free and halogen-free), that generate very little heat, and consume less power than other servers. The best part is the server is  super secure, watched and monitored 24/7 in downtown Portland. I love the idea of keeping things local and businesses’ money circulating within the city itself so having it in Portland was very important!

Read the rest of this entry »

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I tend to move back and forth with my laptop and office materials all the time and wanted a way to separate my business calls from my cell phone. It’s really good to keep work and play separate, right?

So my husband suggested Skype and after looking into it, I was super excited. I already had an account, where I talk to family members. I found I could get a phone number, (even one with a local area code!),  a voice mail service, and a monthly subscription that allows me to call anywhere in the US for around $15

/mo. Pretty awesome!

After setting everything up, I bought a Plantronics headset with a USB plugin off of Amazon. I did a few configurations with my Skype account and set up my voice mail. I started switching my cell phone number to my new business Skype number and have been a happy camper since. This has been a great solution to help me keep track of business calls and save money in the process. I highly recommend this phone setup for other small business owners such as graphic designers or programmers that are on their computer a lot and need a business line.

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