Seems to be notes from the Dan Hollings step-by-step Mobile webinar - thanks

Great idea Scott!

Too bad summer is right around the corner, although I know a lot of students go to school year round, but the time to capitalize on this would be late summer before the school year begins.

I just looked up UNLV and their enrollment is 29k+. My head is spinning with ideas.

I'd also like to hear the feedback of creating a business model such as this vs. setting up individual businesses and creating their own respective campaigns, as discussed so heavily this past month.

The coupon/advertising would seem to be an easier sell. On the other hand, custom individual campaigns would allow us to name our fees...most likely much higher, comparatively, per client.

i m intrsted in mobile marketing...thanx fr da info!!!

My head is still spinning with ideas. We all know that Groupon is killin it right now and most people are getting their coupon via email. Imagine a Groupon, but it's actually texted to you.

Deal of the Day texted to your phone. 30 days, 30 businesses, 30 messages sent out. Build up a list of at least 250 people and charge the business owner $100 per blast to start and see how it works

Building a digital list for businesses is a profitable niche....how we can educate business owners building there own "buyers list" as most local business don even know how to build a email list...if you go to any of the sites that are using Groupon, living Social ect...they don't even have a opt-in box to capture emails...if they did have a opt-in and a text to 1234...both with a call to action you would capture a good % of Groupons list to the business owners list email and digital...now the business owner can send there own deals making much more on their ROI....all of us here on the WF hold the key to business owners understanding the power of the Internet and now mobile...this is a marketing and advertising paradigm shift going on liked the Internet in the 90's...with your knowledge we all get just here in the WF we can write our own check in the offline world!

This is a great idea with great potential and big $$$ but i think it's good only for those who live in big cities.
You could do it in a small city but you are limited to the number of prospects i guess, still you could do some money with very little effort after you set-up everything and you get your first clients to use them as references.
Would love to hear some results from people trying this.

What is the youngest age that someone can opt in? I think 17 - 18 year old age group would be good to target (i.e. pizza coupons) because they might pass them on to their parents, or get their parents to sign up. Can anyone comment on this please?

I believe Scott's idea of creating a list to sell, one that the client can expand on is fantastic. Or as Scott does - allows clients to purchase a coupon for the list.

Here's another problem with this model.

Groupon is all about businesses getting new customers. The business creates a loss leader to attract new business in the hope that that new customer comes back and pays full price eventually making them a profit.

This model would only be effective the first time (or few at a push) that the texts were sent out. Businesses are not going to constantly run at a loss they will have to make a profit at some point.

Let's say I am a subscriber on that list. I get a text from joes coffee shop saying that I can get a coffee for £1. That's great I go and become a new customer, choosing to have my coffee there from now on. What incentive has that business now got to send me another discount coupon. They want me there now paying full price

They only want the loss leader to hit non customers but the list is static, they are hitting the same people over and over. To start with a percentage who are interested in the offer will become new customers but the effectiveness will drop very rapidly until uninterested parties will have seen this offer so many times that they will start to see it as annoying and unsubscribe from the whole thing.

If the people that are interested in the offers keep getting the discount then they will just wait for this weeks text and go and get another cheap coffee. The business is now paying to get it's existing customers through the doors and not making any profit from them.

The simple fact is that the subscribers either need to be exposed to new offers all the time like groupon does, or they will just capitalise on the fact that they constantly receive their discount code like clockwork and never actually end up making any of these businesses money.

You can't just sign up 1000 people and 30 businesses and keep sending the same offers to the same people.

The other big difference between this model and groupon is that the cost of sending an email is way lower than a text. You would have to seriously manage this cost as it would be very significant. If your list goes viral you could be seriously out of pocket very quickly. It could. Be managed but it's not as easy as just saying to the business 'just sling me £100 every month' you would need to either get them to pay per text or cut the list off at 1000 subs and start building a fresh one.

I've been to the site where the OP got this method from. When I first read it I thought it was interesting. It has all the ingredients of the moment LOCAL, LIST BUILDING, SMS MARKETING, COUPONS and should be able to work somehow. But once you start really thinking this through there are a lot of little problems with it and i really wondered if the guy had actually done this like he said.

This method is his loss leader to get you to sign up to his $1200 course and seems to be written in a way to get the mind racing with possibilities rather than going into the gory details.

Even if you could iron this out and get it to work, I wonder how long it will be before people get pissed off with SMS spam. I know that I personally don't give a monkeys about email spam, i just either delete it straight away or create a separate spam account. My mobile number though is a different story - it's private and I don't want it ringing every 5 minutes with crappy texts. This is fresh now but at the end of the day it will become just like email marketing. But hey, ride the wave until the next thing comes along why not!

I see your point but I think that the profit can be made off of each person if the offer is right. I also think there is a big difference between a "Deal" and a "Coupon".

Your enticing a person to new/repeat business that you may not have received. If i get a coupon for a free beer at a local bar, am I gonna show up, drink 1 and then leave? Doubt it. Im gonna make a night of it. So I may not have even been considering going to a bar or I may have been considering going to a different bar but now the coupon has persuaded me.

I think the key here is the actual offers ( coupons ). They dont have to be drastic groupon type deals. This could be a simple cost effective way to distribute coupons rather than a newspaper or valupak for ex.

Doesnt seem worth the hassle to me but instead of monthly residual for the program, you could solve your issue by getting new businesses signed up each month ( just like groupon ). Then it would be a 1 and done for the business and if they wanted they could sign back up for another round at a later time.

What texting services do you use to build the list and send the mass text out?

I've built a platform (http://www.iBuyFrom.com) on the Dotgo.com service which offers VERY low rates. We also offer single keyword options (for example, CFACOTTONWOOD works by itself, you don't have to do iBuyFrom CFACOTTONWOOD).

DKText also uses Dotgo.com service and has some nice prices.

scotth,

your groupon numbers are pretty right on,but my question is what is the best way to generate those opt ins? weekly newspaper classifieds? low cost tv commercials thru Google? Youtube Ads? what are your thoughts on this

Can you use the college name in your promotions or is that not allowed?

Can I use the mascots picture and name?

Also Scott, whats the cost to get started, sms service , then .....?

Scott, i went to your sig link but when I click "add to Cart" the page just refreshes?

Thanks for your pm.
Also Scott, whats the cost to get started here, sms service , then .....?

Nice, How much does it cost to send these text?

Hi im intersetd in this and have read a fe sites that say they teach you mobil marketing but your never sure about quality of education. Id like to kno if anyone has done this in europe eg denmark or england. Are their no las against mobil spamming. Im not very technical but in past have orked in sales and marketing and that as selling memberships for leisure restaurant travel etc. Id been looking at a job advert for a company here thats looking for freelancers to get clients they are doing a groupon type thing.
Im not a techi but if someone can help ith simple site or has anyone set up a site so that I can have a look. I do have an idea for a site and it can be discussed.

scott do you think it would work advertising to the general public to get opt ins say weekly newspapers etc.

Are business owners interested in getting their clients # or emails?

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Thank you for the share. Though very busy, I will try the method and see. I know it will work. I have been in the SMS marketing business since the year 2008 but this idea is new and looks golden to me. Since I have my own SMS platform, I will recruit college students to implement the idea. Thank you once again.

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thanks scotth, any updates on your success with this

Sounds interesting for 2nd world countries that have more phones than computers too.

Scott I really appreciate your help man. You always help me out from the problem by your useful threads. Thank you so much!

I agree with your information scott,good going,keep it up.

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I am telling you guys. SMS/Text marketing is a waste. I know some of you don't believe it but I can tell you. It is annoying as hell to get a text, and think its from a friend, check it out, and realize it is somebody trying to push something. You would be better off creating an App that holds all the info/deals/coupons on it than text it to people.

Thanks for sharing this idea with us. For folks like me who are looking for more related markets, this is a killer strategy. Like anything else, though, it won't work if you don't work it.

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Just want to say that this is a great forum full of smart, mature people with some great ideas. This idea has hit me like a perfect storm! Over 10yrs ago when IM and all its possiblities were in its infancy, my sister and I, let the gravy train pass us by. I vowed never to let any new trend get away from me again.

I live in a big city that is very diverse and host or is relatively close to 5 universities. Also the suburbs which surround us are growing not only in residents but with major corporations. So the ideas are pouring in. My best guess is that if I create a college list, it will probably be the one that will steadily grow posing a potential cost control problem.

The way I propose controlling cost with a growing list is to bundle them by groups of say 300. That way the business can go with group A this month and group B next. Or they can pay for both. So in other words offer them a min amount of text (leads) they would have to purchase to ensure you make a profit on the sale and if they elect to purchase more again it doesn't effect your bottom line. Does this make sense?

Good information Scott,it is very valuable.

I used a service like this for my store. Every time I do it for my store, I get mad.
Annoying, cheap people shows up and they are here just for the deal.

I only paid $80~100 for over 5000 people on the list.
I had 50~70 people for Buy 1 Get 1 Special.
Let me give you some math example. 60 people X $5 (average sale) = $300
So I brought extra $300 because of this txt blasts but I gave out $600 worth of stuff.
My gross margin is 50% so it costs me $300 just for food. (not counting rent, labor)
In the end, $300-300-80(txt fee) = I am at $80 loss after working crazy with more traffic that day. What person would want to work and pay out of their pocket at the end?
Would they come back to pay the retail price? (twice as much wow)

why I can't give out like 20% off deal to make some profit?
Because people won't show up unless it's 50% off.
I did Buy 1 Get 1 with $5 min purchase. (very reasonable I think)
It dropped down to 15 people.

I don't think groupon would last long since business owners usually end up losing money.
It's all about whether business owner find it profitable to them. If you help them make money, they will love you. If you take their money and they don't get that back, they won't come back.

This local company does about 20~25 blasts each month. I don't know how much each business pay. but let's say it's $150 x 25 = $3750.
Not a bad business for one man operation?

I would really like to know how to build the list of subscribers. Any good ideas?

@OP: You're thinking cross-platform, when the market hasn't reached the tipping point of cross-industry... Groupon is daily deals for everything, and there are many imitators that focus on niches. And only a few have really been blown up into noteworthy competitors to Groupon itself. Although you do make a good point that mobile is the way to go!

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...

I think text/SMS coupon message will be a good marketing tool. Almost everyone has mobile phones and would rather read text messages than scroll over the email for the coupons.

Plus if this text coupons somehow bleeds into the twitter format, many more people can get the coupons. Which means more potential customers.

I like where the mobile industry is going.

But the big question is: how are you going to be able to get coupons from businesses if you have just started and have no list?

I got my friend to do exactly that. She has a spa and does the daily deals, then markets to those new customers. I have her do a text deal for a last minute opening the same day or next day. As time slots for services are perishable so she might as well discount them to generate some revenue. She'll do a product upsell discount as well.

Any rules of thumb people have discovered on how often customers will allow to be texted w/out getting annoyed?

I love this concept. I live close to NYC and wonder if I should start hanging up flyers and such to see if I get any optins?