Your opinion on this business model will save kittens from dying

[jdmitchell]

Hey hey,

I am about to test out a biz model, and wanted to hear your opinion on weather or not it is a scalable, viable, or formerally used model.

Would like to know potential downsides, and angles we may have not cosidered.

The model is to intercept traffic flowing towards local businesses, and setup a referral sytem.

1. Use keyword research to find local terms with decent numbers
2. Make a referral deal with local businesses for a specific keyword
3. Setup an optin page optimized for the specific keyword and target customer so it is super targeted, and offer a rebate, or %off their visit
4. They optin and recieve an email with the code word that they use when they call/visit the store/dentist etc....
5. We collect the referral fees

Thinking of scaling by building template squeeze page, and email messages, and then just plugging in the customized messages for the keywords. Also thinking of different ways of ensuring honest reporting from the busineses. Could have hundreds of refferal sites setup.

Any feedback, especially from advanced, and wise warriors is appreciated!

Thanks,

JD..

[ExRat]

Hi,

Your opinion on this business model will save kittens from dying

What's the kitten connection?

[Neil Morgan]

Advertising to local businesses isn't really my field but I have an opinion that may or may not be relevant to your situation.

In the past, when local businesses have asked me about having an Internet presence to generate leads, I ask them if they wouldn't just be better to spend the money on local offline advertising and promotion.

After all, local businesses simply want to let everyone in their community know that they're there and what they offer. I've never been convinced that the Internet is the best way to do that.

I mean, there are a thousand and one ways to make sure that everyone in your town knows you're there that don't rely on the hit-or-miss hope that they'll stumble over you online.

As I say, this all might not be relevant to your local community, but it definitely is to mine.

Cheers,

Neil

[Matt M]

Originally Posted by ExRat

Hi, What's the kitten connection?

My thoughts exactly.

I've seen a few of these now and where do we draw the line?

I understand the "Amazing, Powerful, Greatest..." but these totally disconnected off-the-wall statements are bugging me.

The ONLY reason I stopped here to read this thing was because of the dying kittens. Not that I am a kitten lover or hater but I was interested to see if you had come up with a new twist on fund raising.

False advertising should also apply to wasting someone's time.

[Andrew Maule]

I just drowned an entire litter of kittens just to spite this thread.

[ExRat]

Hi Matthew,

I don't know why the OP used the line, because they haven't answered my question. But if it is just to 'get attention to my thread' as seems to happen so often, then here are a couple of things I believe to be worth considering -

a) if someone does something like this, they only have to ask themselves 'what would the forum be like if everyone did it?' to understand whether it's an action that is considerate of others or not.

b) if someone else chooses to ignore it, and answer the person's question, they are indirectly approving of and continuing the problem.

These things escalate easily. And once the majority are doing it, it becomes ineffective so people have to step things up another level.

I still hope the OP can give a satisfactory reason for the kitten reference.

[jdmitchell]

Originally Posted by Matthew Maiden

My thoughts exactly.

I've seen a few of these now and where do we draw the line?

I understand the "Amazing, Powerful, Greatest..." but these totally disconnected off-the-wall statements are bugging me.

The ONLY reason I stopped here to read this thing was because of the dying kittens. Not that I am a kitten lover or hater but I was interested to see if you had come up with a new twist on fund raising.

False advertising should also apply to wasting someone's time.

Are you guys kidding???

It is called tongue and cheek, and a sense of humour. No deception, and no "misdirection". Just a saying... This is a marketing forum, and the headline better be attention getting. Don't get your forum morals all up in my post. If some of don't get it, that is not my problem.

It specifically states in the headline that I am looking for an opinon, NOT looking to sell, or share an oppertunity. This is so funny. Please stick to advice, and opinions on the model, like I asked, or just leave this thread.

Thanks for the input Neil.

JD

[Neil Morgan]

b) if someone else chooses to ignore it, and answer the person's question, they are indirectly approving of and continuing the problem.

I feel the question was a good one and worth answering for the benefit of the OP and others.

Sure, the subject line is an issue (that has now been addressed) but, for me, it didn't warrant ignoring the entire thread. There are methods of moderation open to people who don't like it and the thread will vanish if those are exercised.

Cheers,

Neil

[Paul Myers]

JD,

Please stick to advice, and opinions on the model, like I asked, or just leave this thread.

"It is unwise to insist on a decision you are powerless to enforce."

Roger's point is entirely valid. The question, "What would the place be like if everyone did this?," is the best guide there is for posting practices.

I personally expected to see some creative humor when I opened the thing. So disappointing... [sigh]


Paul

[jdmitchell]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

JD,"It is unwise to insist on a decision you are powerless to enforce."

Roger's point is entirely valid. The question, "What would the place be like if everyone did this?," is the best guide there is for posting practices.

I personally expected to see some creative humor when I opened the thing. So disappointing... [sigh]


Paul

Roger, and Paul,

Please teach me why my headline was out of line, and not relevant.
I felt it to just be a cute way of saying that I want an opinion on the model we are considering. Is there something I am not understanding, and need to learn?

[Matt M]

Originally Posted by jdmitchell

Please teach me why my headline was out of line, and not relevant. ...I felt it to just be a cute way of saying...

Relevant according to Merriam-Webster dictionary: "having a significant bearing on the matter at hand".

The kittens had nothing to do with the matter at hand ( business models ).

As far as being cute or funny, Paul stated his disappointment in not finding anything funny not that he didn't get your humor, you didn't even attempt to deliver on that angle either.

So any way you look at it, it was totally irrelevant.

How are we to decide which posts we are interested in learning more about if the titles are not related to the post.

[Magic Johnson]

Originally Posted by jdmitchell

Roger, and Paul,

Please teach me why my headline was out of line, and not relevant.
I felt it to just be a cute way of saying that I want an opinion on the model we are considering. Is there something I am not understanding, and need to learn?

You fail at communication.

That's why.

This is place where we discuss and try to improve on marketing skills and our web businesses. Not the place were we try to be a smart ass to get eye balls.

You may say you did nothing wrong for a hundred years, I think you are wasting peoples time with your BS headline.

[Jared Alberghini]

Originally Posted by jdmitchell

The model is to intercept traffic flowing towards local businesses, and setup a referral sytem.

If I were a local biz, I would NOT want you stealing my traffic or leads.
I would want them on my own site or my own list.

This sounds almost like SEO keyword blackmailing to me.

As for your uber-lame thread title, I would read this if I were you :

A new low is reached in email subject lines

Jared

P.S. My cat (16yrs old) died last summer, is my opinion on this thread going to bring her back or something? Also, a friend of mine's cat very recently had kittens, they were malled by her own dog while she was at work, and they were all killed (one of which I had planned on adopting). Hope that makes you feel better about your humour.

[Valdor Kiebach]

jdmitchell has poor fluffy kitten blood on his hands now, how does he sleep at night?


Please dont drown us!

Originally Posted by Andrew Maule

I just drowned an entire litter of kittens just to spite this thread.

[Paul Myers]

JD,

Please teach me why my headline was out of line,

This is going to sound silly to some, but you made a promise you didn't deliver on. In this case, some saw a promise of humor, others of some charitable process. That creates a disconnect for some of the people who opened it with that "promise" in mind. So, they respond to the part that was missing.

That means it fails to accomplish your purpose, and it annoys people. It didn't break any rules, and it's not really a big deal, but it's a practice that, if imitated, will lead to more "LOOK AT ME!" type headlines.


Paul

[Neil Morgan]

Hopefully this thread can get back on track sometime soon.

I was looking forward to a discussion on the merits or otherwise of promoting local business online. It's a topic I'm interested in.

Cheers,

Neil

[Kay King]

Paul -

Sometimes your signatures say so much!

[fushigi]

I am disappointed! as a kitty lover I was truly hoping you'd be saving dying kittens

[sevenish]

I expected only for the OP to describe a business "model". The subject line was just a bit tongue-in-cheek. I certainly didn't expect for the theme of kittens to be addressed more in depth. I mean, what's it coming to around here if we can't occasionally and off-handedly threaten kittens, bunnies and such?

To the OP, I don't see anything exactly wrong with your idea if you can segment the optins so that your emails are relevant to their expressed interests. You might provide extra value to the service/product providers by allowing their branding collateral on that first outgoing email with the discount. I think that might pique some real interest amongst your local merchants too.

Ok, gotta run feed my kitties.

Edited.

[Paul Myers]

Kay,

Sometimes your signatures say so much!

Ummm...

I don't think that one applies to JD. But, yeah. I've noticed a few cases where it was so appropriate that the "target" probably thought it was part of the message.


Paul

[Kim Standerline]

The problem is, he killed any hope of that by using a silly deceptive subject line

I actually started writing a reply as soon as his op went up, but changed my mind, thought it would be interesting to see how others reacted to it, (and it was as I thought)

Kim

Originally Posted by Neil Morgan

Hopefully this thread can get back on track sometime soon.

I was looking forward to a discussion on the merits or otherwise of promoting local business online. It's a topic I'm interested in.

Cheers,

Neil

[jdmitchell]

Lesson learnt.

Thanks guys, and will be more careful next time. That kind of humour fits well in my personal life, but obviously not in wriitten communication especially when it is not followed up on, or even acknowledged in the post itself. I can see how the thread title would have got people fired up, although some got way too emo.

Jd.

[jrailsback]

The kittens were being saved from this:



but now its too late. All the kittens are dead.

[jrailsback]

But seriously... the model seems sound. But the question could be, is it ethical? Are you truly helping these local business grow or just trying to take their money for something that is useless to them? As long as what you're doing is truly beneficial to them I don't see a problem with it.

The model is a nice one, just make sure to keep your head and heart in the right place.

I don't know how scalable this model would be but I'm sure it could be duplicated for many businesses.

[jdmitchell]

Originally Posted by jrailsback

But seriously... the model seems sound. But the question could be, is it ethical? Are you truly helping these local business grow or just trying to take their money for something that is useless to them?

The model is a nice one, just make sure to keep your head and heart in the right place.

Yeah, im not scarcity driven or anything. So it is cool, and for the right reasons. Thinking I can more efficiently drive traffic to what I percieve as the most quality business for the customer for a specific keyword. eg "sedation dentistry for children in Miami".

There is no morality issue here, and definately not keyword blackmail (what the hell is that about anyway), but more of a partnership with a business I choose for a particular keyword in order to give the targeted prospect a laser pointed, quality referral.

[jrailsback]

Then go for it and see what happens

[ExRat]

Hi jdmitchell,

I can see how the thread title would have got people fired up, although some got way too emo.

Not fired up, or too emo.

Just had a misguided loyalty problem and a desire to help to stop the deluge of trash posting that has descended on my favourite forum, due to the advent of member moderation that only some of us have taken on as a responsibility.

It is called tongue and cheek, and a sense of humour. No deception, and no "misdirection". Just a saying...

You don't say. Tell me more about that sense of humour thing, it sounds interesting.

This is a marketing forum, and the headline better be attention getting.

Ooh yes, it must, it must. Or alternatively, you could just post useful stuff and people will read your posts when they see your name.

Don't get your forum morals all up in my post. If some of don't get it, that is not my problem.

It isn't my problem either, I was just trying to be a responsible forum citizen. Forum morals? Lol. It's about consideration of others. Oh I forgot, this doesn't count if you're a real marketer.

Hi Sevenish,

You disappoint me.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your support, as always. It's a shame there aren't more like you.

Tara-abit...

[Martin Luxton]

jd

I didn't post much on the forum this week because I got a bit fed up of trying to politely help people who don't "get it" about how to use this forum.

However, what you said here

Please stick to advice, and opinions on the model, like I asked, or just leave this thread.

really pissed me off.

You sound like a 15 year old arrogant SoB.

Sorry, but I'm all polited out.

Martin

[jdmitchell]

Originally Posted by Martin Luxton

jd

I didn't post much on the forum this week because I got a bit fed up of trying to politely help people who don't "get it" about how to use this forum.

However, what you said here



really pissed me off.

You sound like a 15 year old arrogant SoB.

Sorry, but I'm all polited out.

Martin

Then let it piss you off. I suggest some Yoga, Mr. fed up about politely helping people use the forum wisely. Some of use have a learning curve, and some of us need a little guidence in certain areas. I asked for help after that post, and then took it in, and learned from it. You are looking to be pissed off here.

Useless to bring up my old response, when I have already clearly sought for understanding, and stated that I have learnt my lesson.

To everyone else:

There is nothing else to say here. I get it now. Let me be an example of what not to do, because it obviously does not go over well.

Respect to Paul, Roger, and a few others for attacking the stupidity of the thread title, and not my person. I will let this thread die now, as it is a waste of our time to chat further when I have learned what not to do.

Signed,

The cat murderer.

[Clark]

The business model is similar to Shoe`s... where you might pick up a few more details:

Making Money Online With Local Affiliate Programs - ShoeMoney®

Just a brainstorm here but I was thinking that you could create a tightly niched local portal with Opt-In where you could sell ezine ad space (and sequential autoresponder promotions) to local businesses wanting to be profiled... similar to a local portal directory but different in that, all promotions will be delivered via email & are current whereas, local portal directories are nothing more than Yellow Pages static ads with no promotional value.

From there, you could also sell them on their own list building soultions for their website after they see the results from your promotional efforts from your niched portal site.

Again, just an unpolished brainstormed idea with dying kittens in mind

[Paul Myers]

JD,

Okay. Now that the noise has died down...

This is almost exactly the model I used on my very first commercial web page. Seriously. I set up a deal with a long distance company that gave out cell phones to new clients. This is back when there were still very large rate differences between various providers.

One thing that I would recommend. Tell the merchants that you'll send a reminder email to the prospects, with a survey included, and that you'll give them the feedback, along witrh the extra business that comes with the reminder.

Make sure you get copies of every lead email that's sent, along with having the surveys sent back to you. It adds value for the merchant, and reminds them that you're in contact with these people. More defense against the few who'll try to avoid paying you. Or the slightly more common ones who'll try to shave your fees...

This is a very workable model. Once you have the page pulling in traffic, it's easy to arrange a trial run. The fees can be significant.


Paul