• On April 1, we released a brand new responsive coupon and deal software platform. This allows clients to launch a new savings site in minutes with deals, coupons, or third party plug-ins.
• Today we released a new website showcasing our fully responsive platform and performance based coupon network

Here is a screenshot of the homepage and please let us know what you think.

• Don’t underestimate the importance of a strong, active email list. Always be focused on growing your email list via contests, events, etc.
• As general rule, don’t depend on TV spots to sell vouchers. TV does work if a well-known brand is featured but will not move the needle for lesser known merchants.
• TV can and should be leveraged to get top tier merchants to sign on with your program—that is the advantage you have over Groupon, Living Social, and other programs that don’t have access to TV audience
• Recommend 1 dedicated seller for your deal program…do not depend on traditional TV Acct Execs to source deals…they will come in sporadically
• Provide 2-3 new sales leads to your business development team on weekly basis. They will not be thinking of selling your daily deal program as much as you would like them to be, make it as easy as possible for them to identify strong targets.
• Loop in your stations social media lead on your program and get him/her to post deals to the station’s Facebook and Twitter
  

  Sean Monzet, Dir. of Integrated Media, NBC 7 San Diego

  pages. Be sure to tag/hyperlink merchants social accounts in your posts.

• Leverage your stations “A” programming to bring in top tier merchants: Super Bowl, Olympics,US Open, Oscars, etc. If you have avail inventory try to reserve a :15 spot for your deal program in these programs—the revenue achieved through your deal should exceed what a :15 would have brought in through standard spot sale.
• Position your deal program as an “audience reward” program. This will help you get buy in from news, producers and promotions to get you more promo time

Some of our clients are already on track to make 30K a month this year, well over their gross revenue from last year. Moreover, we wanted to share these stories of success and stop all the negativity surrounding the daily deal and coupon industry. Below are several case studies from Deal Current Network clients who took small steps in their deal and coupon program to experience big rewards.

WLNS TV 6 Lansing, aka “6 Savings” proved that bundling online coupons with additional low cost advertising is a win/win for both the client and the program. The innovative idea uses coupons as a lead in to sell additional TV spots. Customers who have never advertised on TV are given the below options to get a taste of how it can change their business.

Pricing Model:
$99 per/mo coupon only
$275 per/mo coupon + 20K online impressions/ads on WLNS.com
$475 per/mo coupon + 20K online impressions/ads & 3 TV spots (most popular option)

Spealo,a standalone, independent local commerce site is run by an entrepreneur who started from scratch in Chicago. She secured 44 coupons in just two months through unique promotional pricing. Local deals are offered, but as a follow-up to a successful coupon.

Pricing Model:
$50 per/mo for 1-3 locations
$75 per/mo for 4-10 locations
$100 per/mo for 11 or more locations
$10 per/mo for an independent distributor ( Mary Kay, Tupperware, Tastefully Simple, etc.)
$25 per/mo for an in home businesses–no storefront (1-3 employees, possibly a seamstress, house cleaning service)

Initial rate: free for the 1st month (client puts in their own credit card for first month then switches payment to advertiser).

Client Testimonial:

“Giving one or two months for free is working GREAT! It only takes me 5-10 minutes to do my sales pitch and fill out the form! I walk in and tell them who I am and tell them I’d like to do some free adverting for them. They are all ears! Then I go back with the Coupon Contract prior to the free trial ending so they renew their advertising coupon campaign. It’s been working GREAT!” - Heather H, Spealo.com

Here is a full copy of the article, Deal Current Network helps businesses online, by Tierney Plumb

Deal Current Network, a private-label daily-deal software company, is giving away valuable tech tips through a campaign called Take Back Local.

Its executives are teaching local owners of businesses ranging from tour companies to yoga studios how to improve their online marketing.

San Diego-based Deal Current’s e-commerce platform for daily deals, gift certificates and coupon marketing is used by about 100 media companies nationwide, including NBC and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“Anyone who needs a deal or coupon platform,” said Jimmy Hendricks, chief executive officer and co-founder of Deal Current.

The campaign was born when Deal Current’s media clients voiced the need to educate its advertisers — small businesses such as restaurants, spas and retail stores — about online best practices.

The company’s survey last fall of 17,000 merchants revealed that many businesses are clueless when it comes to the basics of online marketing.

As a result, Deal Current decided to hold a string of seminars targeting business owners and marketing directors that have run a daily deal or coupon in the San Diego market.

“In the last three years Groupon and LivingSocial abused a lot of the merchants,” Hendricks said. “If you give people a lot of ways to run their business effectively, they will have more money to spend on things like advertising.”

In addition to learning about simple website design, seminar attendees learn how to land their website on the first page of Google, rather than paying an SEO company to do the same.

Businesses also get a rundown on the San Diego daily deal and coupon space, how to make coupons work for their business, and performance-based coupons versus flat-rate coupons.

Companies also get tips on trading services with media groups for advertising.

Prime-trade candidates include lower-margin consumer businesses, such as a boutique that can trade gift certificates in exchange for TV ads.

“Then (you) let the media company sell those to make money. We want to educate business owners that that is an option,” Hendricks said.

The first seminar, in February, had 65 attendees at One America Plaza. The landlord, The Irvine Co., offered free space.

Deal Current will move its headquarters in June from Little Italy to the nearby skyscraper at 600 W. Broadway, doubling its square footage.

Two more seminars will be held in March and April, and depending on demand, they could continue monthly.

“We feel it’s a way for us to build a relationship with people without selling them something,” he said.

The hope is that pleased seminar attendees will refer other businesses back to Deal Current and their media clients.

The campaign will be developed in San Diego for six months and then piloted in such markets as Pittsburgh or Miami, where Deal Current has clients.

“The goal is to put together a local playbook and give it to our clients for them to use in other markets,” he said.

The company’s team of 13 is looking for local sales reps to work with merchants and plans to hire software engineers in the summer.

The campaign initially launched with an “anti-Living Social and Groupon” message, but that was toned down to avoid legal fallout.

Despite Deal Current’s head-to-head competition with the daily coupon giants, the company isn’t on their acquisition list.

“They couldn’t buy us because we are technically enabling their competitors,” Hendricks said.

His company raised $700,000 last year from San Diego members of the Tech Coast Angels and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Canal Partners, and expects to break into profitability in the next four months.

Other companies haven’t been as lucky in the crowded daily deal software segment. A year ago, Deal Current had about 10 competitors, but those numbers are dwindling.

In January, Group Commerce laid off 28 percent of its staff, according to several reports. Carlsbad-based Analog Analytics was bought by Barclays Group PLC last year and hasn’t been as heavy in the space since.

Deal Current’s remaining top competitor that also offers an e-commerce product is St. Louis-based Second Street Media Solutions.

About a dozen TV, radio and newspaper media clients are signing up each month for Deal Current, Hendricks said.

The company is considering a pilot program next quarter with restaurant rewards program Mogl.

“You can sign up for Mogl as part of buying a deal through one of our media companies,” he said. “We have a great offers product and Mogl has a great loyalty product.”

One of the challenges Daily Current faces in signing clients is the fact that online revenues sometimes aren’t a large part of the bottom line.

“If a TV station is making $50 million in a San Diego market, they are only doing half a million or $1 million in online,” he said. “So the roadblock we have is getting them to invest in the future.”

Deal Current’s selling point is they have a fully hosted service that makes it easy for the media companies.

“They are not technology companies — they don’t want to invest in support,” he said. “They want to sell advertising and products that are useful, that fit their audience.”

The companies investing online are sticking around, he said, citing The New York Times’ strong pay wall revenues.

“It showed there is value in content. Some people act like media is going to die tomorrow – it’s just going to slowly transition online,” he said.

                   See What Attendees Had to Say

                       Sample Seminar Content:

Yesterday the founders of Deal Current Network, Jimmy Hendricks and Patrick Dillon, spent 90-minutes teaching San Diego businesses owners how to market their business online. In attendance were media representatives from NBC 7 San Diego, San Diego Magazine, Fox 5 San Diego, Get1Free Magazine, Pacific Magazine, and San Diego Family Magazine. Small businesses owners like Laura from Pacific Nature Tours, Connie from Click Through Coupons, Tomio from AVI Technologies, Bonnie from Sanctuate, Michael from Infinity Financial Services, and Anthony from Aserenity Skin and Body were able to network with media representatives as well as gain valuable information for their business.

Hendricks, talked for about 40-minutes on simple website design and key SEO techniques get your website on the first page of Google. He also discussed, which social media profiles are a must, and how to trade your services with media groups for advertising.

“I came in here thinking I know a lot and I probably learned about eight new things I didn’t know. I highly recommend it, it was very organized, amazing presentations—these guys know what they’re talking about.” – Connie, CEO of Click Through Coupons and Marketing Director at FIT Athletic Club

Dillon, wrapped up the seminar talking about the San Diego daily deal and coupon space, how to make coupons work for your business, and performance based coupons versus flat rate coupons.

“Our business does a lot of daily deal marketing and to see all the different opportunities available in San Diego was very beneficial.” Laura, Pacific Nature Tours

“I was very excited about the digital coupon section because one of the things I found the digital coupon does is it gives you incredible track-ability and flexibility. You can see where your clients are coming from and make adjustments to the coupons that are not effective for you, opposed to print and other types of media.” Anthony, Aserenity Skin and Body

Overall, the morning was a success for both Deal Current Network and San Diego business owners. Take Back Local was able to gain valuable feedback to make the next seminar on 3/29 an even bigger success.

“I highly recommend this seminar to anybody who is a business owner or marketing person. They talk about different strategies that I think are useful and things that are up and coming that you should be aware of.” Steve, NBC 7 San Diego

For more information watch us on San Diego CW6 below or visit TakeBackLocal.com

Yesterday, San Diego Living’s Lynda Martin interviewed Jimmy Hendricks, the CEO of Take Back Local and Deal Current Network. Organized by Deal Current Network, Take Back Local is a grassroots outreach program, teaching small business owners how to profit from online advertising. The business is hosting three free seminars at the One America Plaza from 9-11am on:

• February 28^th
• March 29^th
• April 26^th

Co-Founder and CEO of Deal Current Network, Jimmy Hendricks will show attendees how to leverage loyalty programs, trade for advertising, and the San Diego Coupon Network for their business. Attendees will walk away with clear actions and tracking methods to take their business to the next level. The program is partnered with NBC7 San Diego, Get1Free, San Diego Magazine, San Diego 6 CW, and over a half dozen other publishers.

Groupon’s struggles aren’t isolated. Living Social has struggled to attain profitability and in November slashed 400 jobs trying to do so. There’s even been a shakeout with the white label daily deal software providers, the vendors that help media and others develop the long tail of the deal industry. Two years ago, there were 15-20 providers, including most notably Analog Analytics, Deal Current Network, Deal Pigg, Group Commerce, Nimble Commerce, and Tippr, providing software to local TV, Radio, and Newspaper groups in the daily deal space. At the end of 2012, there were only a couple top providers operating profitably and gaining market share. The rest have closed down, stopped accepting new clients, or diverted resources to new projects.

However, merchants are still in search for a low-cost way to reward regular customers for their purchases. So what should publishers and merchants be focused on in 2013?

1. Marketing fewer deals with higher quality. Daily deals continue to work for some, but not all merchants. In one sample of a major TV deal program in San Diego, 43 percent of the total annual deal sales came from just 25 deals, or about one tenth of the total deals ran that year by that publisher. Deal programs should focus on working with the right type of merchants, not all merchants.

2. Picking the right loyalty program. Many companies are trying to figure out what’s next after an initial new customer is introduced to a local business. Older organizations in this space like Rewards Network/iDine, are seeing a new wave of competitors with some major venture backing. Companies like Belly, Mogl, andLevel Up are putting a heavier focus on making things fun and easy for consumers and simple for merchants to track. The trick that loyalty concepts will need to prove is that their programs bring in new incremental business, not just deal seekers, and are not just garnishing a percentage of revenue from existing customers.

3. Trading advertising for services and products. The daily deal industry started long before Groupon, but back in the 90’s and early 2000s it was a booming trade business. Merchants would trade their products and services for a no-cash required media trade.  For example, Jim gives his local radio station fifty $100 gift cards in exchange for $5,000 in advertising credit on air. The radio station turns around and sells those gift cards at a discount and recoups the free air time given. It’s a win-win for everybody (merchant, radio station, and consumer who gets a great discount.) This brings more perceived value to the local merchant because Jim now gets an email blast and $5k in air time.

4. Competing with banks? How financial institutions affect the local offer market will be seen in 2013. Last June the daily deal white label Analog Analytics was purchased by Barclays Group, and JP Morgan Chase just announced the acquisition of Bloomspot.  Other financial institutions are sure to follow. These organizations see this as a consumer benefit and won’t need to be profitable as a stand-alone business. Some banks, like Bank of America with their AmeriDeals program are starting to go after this market on their own.

5. Investing in digital coupons. Google Adwords and Facebook’s advertising platforms work great for the large and savvy merchant. Local merchants are still in search of an advertising outlet that costs nothing upfront and only costs money when customers take action. Coupons.com, Coupon Cabin, and Retail Me Not have proven that performance based digital coupons work at the national level and Emarketer reported that 92.5 million people redeemed a digital coupon in 2013. We expect local merchants will start searching and requesting a similar marketing channel in 2013 and beyond.

If you are considering adding digital coupons to your site, but haven’t yet then you should read this article from Emarketers.

eMarketer estimates that 92.5 million people in the US redeemed a digital coupon in 2012. By 2014, US adult digital coupon users will surpass 100 million.

We don’t believe that coupons are replacing deals, but we 100% believe that offering deals and coupons will lead to a bigger opportunity.

As a result, we are going to be sharing a lot of market knowledge and to start here are three tips to running a successful coupon program.

1) Make Sure You Get a Great Image From an Advertiser

We see so many merchants use bad photos, out dated photos, cheap stock art in advertisements and wonder why they don’t get a response

Here is a great example of an image that is awesome from, Cafe Ventana, a St. Louis bistro. They have a great picture and their logo placement is clean and clear.

2) Use Great Tags, Not Just the Business Name

Remember consumers aren’t typically looking for a specific business, but a business type.

So use tags that help a customer find what they are looking for in a certain category or neighborhood.

We recommend at a minimum: City, Neighborhood, Zip Code, Specific Services or Food Type.

3) Create Incentives to Sign-Up & Advertising Packages

When you first launch your coupon program, give new advertisers an incentive to try online coupons:

• $29 a month for the first 3 months, then $49 a month
• Get 3 months free, when you sign up for 12 months

Create packages to entice advertisers to run more than one coupon at a time to increase your revenue faster. In our system, you would just divide the monthly spend and enter that for each coupon.

• $99 per month for one coupon
• $179 per month for two coupons ($89.50 a month)
• $249 per month for three coupons ($83 a month)

Bundle coupons with additional advertising to increase performance and your average sale.

• $99 per month for one coupon
• $199 per month for a coupon and 20,000 impressions promoting the offer
• $499 per month, 30,000 impressions, and a 15 second radio or TV ad (if applicable)

SignPost, Local Offer Network, Boomtime, Analog Analytics and Second Street Media now incorporate a range of local offer formats. These can include deals, coupons, gift certificates and contests. So is San Diego-based Deal Current, which is specifically focusing on coupons to move beyond deals: both traditional, flat rate coupons, and performance-based coupons.

While deals remain attractive for their games- like excitement – especially in high margin categories — coupons are preferable to deals in many instances. They don’t churn as much and aren’t as time pressured – coupon customers tend to stick with the channel for years on end, and tend to add to their budgets as results are proven. They also work everywhere, unlike mobile-limited channels such as Groupon Now; and they don’t require businesses to share revenue.

Deal Current’s innovation with coupons is offering a performance-based option. It enables publishers to work with advertisers with no upfront costs. As President Patrick Dillon notes, “It is like AdSense, but better because you don’t pre-fund the account.”

Dillon notes that a performance-based model incentivizes publishers to circulate the coupons around the Web with SEO and aggregators. A performance based coupon, in fact, might look and perform like a text ad, but will cost 40 percent less than comparable online ad choices.

To see a live example click here, San Diego Coupons, or contact us via email for more information.