Groupon essentially sends you a new huge coupon every day for your region. The deals you find in these coupons can come from pretty much any business that signs up with them, and are often pretty significant. Groupon is the definition of a "win win" solution. Consumers win because they get a huge discount at many local businesses, and businesses get exposure and new customers.
Anyone who has a local business should check out the great promotional opportunities that partnering with Groupon has to offer them from their web page.
Should you Sign up With Groupon?
Because Groupon is still pretty new, it's understandable that a local business owner might be a little apprehensive about working with them. This is especially true because often local businesses don't have the same web presence or savvy as nationwide businesses (despite the ease of use of modern website software), and often rely more on word of mouth, foot traffic and regulars to make their money.
Well, hopefully a quick overview of the numbers will help you change your mind about featuring your business in Groupon. For starters, there are over 24 million people subscribed to Groupon. There are over 150 US cities that Groupon operates in. It's been featured on all the major networks and news stations, and it can easily bring in thousands of new customers with a single feature.
If you're still not convinced, then hop on over to their free business website and check out their "Success Stories" section and you'll see some real-world case studies of local businesses that expanded greatly by participating with Groupon.
First Things First: Make Sure you're Ready
There are plenty of small businesses that expect to only get a couple hundred new people coming in to their store who are then swamped by one to two thousand people coming in and redeeming their deals. While overall this is a good thing, if you aren't ready for a huge surge in customers you might want to prepare before getting set up with Groupon. You should also make sure you create a website before getting featured if you haven't already.
You also want to make sure the numbers work out. In general you need to offer at least a 50% discount on your services, and you are likely going to have to give away 50% of your remaining revenue resulting from the offer to Groupon itself. While there have only been a couple people who were actually hurt from signing up with Groupon, it's important that you make sure the numbers work out in your favor before you dive in head first.
Getting Set Up
That being said, it's really pretty easy to offer a deal for your local business with Groupon. All you have to do is go on their website, look at their digital portfolio of successes, and then click on their "Get Featured" link. You'll have to fill out some information (normal information like name, address, business name, etc.) You can also give them a call at (877) 788-7858 if you'd prefer to give your information to someone on the phone. After you submit your information, you will be contacted by one of their sales reps who will speak with you about what you'd like to offer and who will help you get everything in order to be featured.
Once you have your deal in order, then all you have to do is wait to be featured and then help out all of your new clients! Create a website, get your business ready for the rush of customers, and then enjoy the benefits of this great new form of promotion.
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