LivingSocial Archives - Monetization Magic

Using Groupon can be very exciting for a business. Sometimes it can be too exciting. Take for example this bakery in the UK who says they lost $19,500.00 due to having to pay for supplemental labor during the Groupon special. The bakery owner underestimated how popular the special would be and 8,500 people signed up for the offer. What was the offer? 12 cupcakes for $10 which were normally priced at $40. She lost between $2.90 and $4.70 on each dozen.

What can be learned from this? The bakery owner’s goal was more business. Obviously Groupon upheld their end of the deal there. It sounds like in this case, too much of a good thing was…well, too much!

Limit Your Exposure

Groupon does allow you to limit your offer so if you know you’re not willing to bring in extra staff and train them for the rush that Groupon will create, limit the offer to the first X number of orders. The trick is managing the mind tricks that will inevitably come when the rush is over and you tell yourself, “Gee, I bet we could’ve done 50 more orders”.

Know What Your Normal Staff Can Handle

The worst thing that could happen is that your staff is stressed during the offer and they walk out on you leaving you with an enormous amount of offers that you cannot fill. Look at your current production. Are you able to handle any more orders without bringing in help? Ask your team for their input. If they don’t think they can handle and extra 2500 orders or whatever your limiter is, then there’s your answer.

Bring in Extra Help and Train Them

Have a meeting with your team based on the questions you asked them about the temporary increase in production. You did ask them, right? Our example bakery was only used to making 100 cupcakes a month. Let your team know that their jobs are secure and that you are bringing in extra help for the Groupon offer only and you’ll be letting the temporary help go after the offer expires. Also let your team know that you’ll be treating them to something special after the offer expires as a thank you for their assistance during the busy time.

Give a coupon or book of coupons for repeat business.

With each Groupon offer that you fulfill, include a coupon or book of coupons for special offers that you will be having on your own over the course of the next year. This will cost you very little and the payoff can be huge! Get creative with the offers such as buy one get one, refer a friend and get half off, buy 2 get 3rd free and so on. By extending the specials over the course of the year, there are many ways for that customer to return to you. Most customers will only take you up on one or two coupons through the course of the year.

Check back for more ideas in the second part of this article which will appear in a few days.

Surely by now you’ve heard about the coupon sensation called Groupon? If you’re a small business owner, this is an excellent service! Since the buzz created with Groupon produces paying customers rather than just browsers, I consider this the best advertising for small business owners!

Groupon will use the social networks for you to get the word out about your special offering. They encourage deals to be sent out to friends or being using by friends to add to the fun. Prospective customers can use their social networks to arrange plans and further spread the word about your business.

Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. They send the deals to thousands of subscribers in their free daily email, and they send your business a ton of new customers. These are not just browsing folks on the internet, these are actual paying customers that have already purchased and are ready to redeem their coupon purchase. That’s the Groupon magic!

There are no out of pocket costs associated with being featured on Groupon. They make money by taking a piece of each Groupon they sell. In other words, they only win if you win – and you know what you’re getting at every step of the process.

Since a minimum number of people must buy for the offer to be valid, Groupon guarantees paying customers. These subscribers are not looking for “the perfect deal.” They’re looking for the perfect excuse to try something new. They get them to your business, and you bring them back again and again.

A Groupon feature puts you in front of thousands of subscribers in each Groupon city – with thousands more opting in each day. Their subscribers share your offer with everyone they know via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. This buzz will continue to attract new customers for months following your feature.

Just as you’ve seen people who have appeared on Oprah before they are ready, you should also be ready to receive a flood of customers to your business prior to advertising on Groupon. It makes you look better when you’re prepared and there’s less stress that way! Before advertising with Groupon, think ahead of time about how you will bring these new customers back again and again by offering a special promotion just for them once they visit your store.

Do you have a fitness business and you’re offering New Year New You packages? Perhaps you’d like to offer a special on a cruise celebration once they’ve reached their goal weight to show of their newly acquired physique? Or perhaps you could do a buy one get one at half price special for the cruise or other special event?

Groupon allows you to target a specific area which makes it great for opening up a new area of your town or state or section of the country. Perhaps you would like to couple it with a fund raising event to double your exposure and donate to a good cause as well.

Be ready to create a buzz about your incredible offering and get your message out to thousands of people for your next big launch. Contact Groupon today!