Getting the word out
Any ideas on getting the word out affordably AND still getting value for your services??
Or has the whole world been trained to cheapen every service and good out there??
(Can you tell I'm a little irritated by the whole trend?!?)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alac on
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I enrolled in groupon just to see what they "offer", most of the times is just junk.
Yelp is doing the same with "yelp deals", and there is also findeals.com and some other sites.
The truth is that the this is for desperate business, and it hardly makes any sense to anybody (except consumers).
If somebody in your town is offering any of these... They are hurting and they will hurt even more.
Number of business that repeat a Groupon offer has to be close to Zero.
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Permalink Reply by Gina Williamson on
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So Alac- what do you suggest in place of this type of coupon deal? I am feeling the "pressure" to succumb to one of these coupon ventures just to get a live body in the door, but my heart is telling me to not immediately jump on the discount coupon bandwagon... I just opened my doors (in July), I am trying various marketing ideas, still feeling some insecurity putting myself "out there" but getting better at it (I'm a rather quiet person who keeps to herself so it's a BIG comfort-zone stretch!)- but so far not much is paying me back.
I know it takes time to make connections, and build referrals. That is how I'd prefer to build my business- word of mouth- instead of just a mass discount to the masses.
I'm also trying to stay specific to my area.
I also have nearly ZERO budget for advertising, so I'm working primarily from personal networking and free social media.
Thank you!!
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Permalink Reply by Kellie Campbell on
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Gina,
If you have ZERO buget for advertising and you are just starting out this is a great way to go...... It doesn't cost you anything to groupon to do it.
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Permalink Reply by Michell Jones on
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You can try the Groupon situation and then develop a VIP membership to those clients so that they can continue to come in to see you but it won't be at such a huge discount. Besides once you keep them coming even with a discount you'll still get a boost in oncome because now the deals will be inhouse and Groupon won't be taking 50%
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I have to disagree with you Alac, I did a groupon offer and sold 335 treatments, that's 335 clients I may not have had the opportunity to meet and it didn't/hasn't cost me a fortune out of pocket expense. Yes there are many consumers who use groupon for the deals only.... however I have had several rebookings, upsells and retail purchases. When all is said and done I will have made a lot more money doing this than not doing it and by giving out referral cards have and will continue to get more clients. There are a great deal of SUCCESSFULL not hurting businesses in my area doing groupon, living social, seize the deal etc. It's a great way to get new clients in the door and in my opinion we can never have enough clients.
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Permalink Reply by Christine Cochrum on
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We've run three Groupon promotions, and while I'll admit it is NOT a way to make money initially, we have been very sucessful with getting clients to return again and again. We ran two promotions for massage and one for skin care. Each time a client checks out from their Groupon service we offer a discount for booking again. I would say that 75%-80% re-book. Once they come back for that service they've now become a loyal client.
If you are a solo practitioner and just want to get new clients in the door, it's a great idea, as long as you are able to handle the influx and are able to get them to re-book. I think the problem with these Group Buying companies is they prey on businesses and tell them that they will make thosands of dollars instantly (which we did), but then we have to pay our therapists and pay for products and all the other overhead for the length of the Groupon (ours was a year). So unless you invest that money you get from them right away you can really screw yourself.
With all this said, we have decided not to run any more promotions with Groupon, but we are considering running one with Google Deals, they offer a much better percentage and, well it's Google.
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thanks Christine- keep us posted on how you do with the Google Deals....
The rebooking discount makes a lot of good sense. you definitely would want to avoid the "one-hit wonders" if you can!!
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Permalink Reply by Susan Ferguson on
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Do you have a website? I have been getting most of my business through the internet. ASCP has a free site with your membership. I chose to get a .com address and made my website through Intuit. It is around $20 per month for basic service I think. Then I went on Google, Yahoo local, Merchant Circle and several others and set up profiles. It is a bit of work but it has started to pay off. I could not afford to have a service do all that for me so I took the time and did each one individually on my own. I am now coming up in the top few on the first search page.
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I do have a website. I did it through godaddy.com.
I recently set myself up on Google places, Manta, and LinkedIn. I haven't done Yahoo or Merchant Circle yet.
I haven't done the ASCP one yet either- I should do that.
Thanks Susan!
p.s. what is your website?? I always love to see what others are doing.
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Hello Susan,
How long it took you to do all of this? ...., starting from creating your website till setting up your profile.
I tried to make my own website through ASCP. But, could not finish. I did only 2% of it and got confused:(.
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Permalink Reply by Denise Ivers on
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Violetta,
Try intuit.com. Very easy and affordable. Mine took a few months to complete. It's easy to go in and make changes to prices/services etc.....Be sure to have several people proof read it for gramatical errors and content. You can always link your website on ASCP's site.
here is mine.
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