Offline Idea. Thoughts please!

I would talk to the businesses first, see if they would be interested in promoting their business through you.

I think the list building idea itself is great, however I'd probably want to sign kids up for an sms list instead of email.

Get a list of 1000 students you can send a "deal of the day" to from local businesses and I don't think you'd have a hard time selling local business owners on the idea.

I'd play around and test to see which incentive gets you the most signups too. Yes, an ipad may work great, but you might also get a great response if you can get local businesses to offer up some free gift certificates for their products or services.

Cheers,

Steve

Shaun, those are really good ideas/input coming from these guys. I would'nt set up anything that involves alcohol though, it could become a liability but i can see the interest it would bring. LOL

I think you shouldn't go first offering deals that you haven't quite closed yet.
First make the email list , and then offer , be a good salesman man, sell to them the idea and make it sound great, talk about the advantages.Don't let them doubt your idea.
This is the best way to do it.

Shaun,

It sounds to me like you were spending $$, I would invest that $$ in something that can help you build a residual lasting income, with the ideas you have, I would venture to say SMS suits that well.

I am finishing up some things with my business partner, and we are going with advid mobile's complete reseller program. Which cost a pretty penny. That have much cheaper "entry level" programs, which I think would get you where you need to be.

I like what avid mobile has going on, on the re-seller/training level, that is why we are going with them. There are numerous platforms, due your research, there are some good threads around here about some SMS platforms, even Warriors with their own platforms with a $97 set up fee and that is it. (plus the text you send a month). Since we plan on re-selling the technology to franchise type operations to train them on how to use it and charge monthly for the use/set-up, Avid mobile is right for us.

Different platforms have different pricing points: either you pay for the keyword a month + so many cents per text, etc etc. All you do is price your services above what you are charged, and "consult" them on the best marketing strategy, i.e. you build your list this way (text beer to thisnumber for 2 free drafts on your next visit!), and only send a few texts a month (to many and they will opt out 3-5 is usually a safe number). You are charging for your "time" and for the text/keywords they want.

SMS can be used in so many different ways, if you think outside of the box, and SMS is not going away anytime soon. You seem to have an out of the box mind, so I think you can do well with it.

I am moving forward with SMS/Mobile as my 2012 main strategy strategy, but still offering SEO, since I can completely outsource it.

Maybe if you have a good friend there, take him on as a partner, show him what you know, it is easier for 2 minds to colloborate, or if he is not interested, maybe he is interested in selling for you, just give him some good commissions, there you have a salesman.

I showed a few college students right on my phone and SMS demo, and they instantly knew this was where it was at, and even said "this makes sense, I want to be on these lists, I was in a bar the other night they had some huge thing going on, I whish I had got a text about it, I only knew about it because I happend to be there"..they are ecstatic about selling SMS/mobile sites for nice front end/smaller residual commissions.

There are a 1000 ways to skin a cat!

Ryan

I also meant to say:

We started with twilio / open vbx, as it is cheap ($1 for the number/month, 1 cent per text, unlimited keywords), but we have to many things lined up and cannot manage the way we need with that system. I still use a twilio number as 1 of my demos though!

Ryan

Shaun,

my 3-5 is an example for 1 business, let's say a bar. They have table tents, servers, etc., getting the word out, and getting people to opt in to their list. The advert may say "Join our VIP list and get 2 free drinks with the purchase of 1 drink on your next visit! Text freedrink to number here". The person opts in, receives a text that says "Welcome VIP Member - show this to your server at your next visit, offer expires XX/XX/XX - visit our site for more info www.mobilesitehere.com" (by the way showing the SMS demo, we have a mock up mobile site, easy upsell and not having to push the product, they want one )

So we got that down. Now, over the next 30-60 days, lets say, they have 300 subscribers, 1 keyword (free drink) , and 300 text a minimum has came in and gone out for 600 texts total.

To this point right here, your cost is: whatever the keyword cost you, and whatever you are charged for each text, let's say the keyword cost you $30/ month, the text are 1 cent a piece. so $36 dollars is your cost so far. Now, say Thursday is their usual slow night, or they want to run a promotion, or just get people in their door, wed, you send out the text (to all 300) "Buy 1 pitcher of beer, get 1 FREE! Valid only good through XX/XX show this to your server - visit SiteHere for more info", with the open rate the way that they are, people wanting free stuff, you think the owner isn't going to see people pulling out their phones showing the text wanting that free beer?

Cost to date $39 -

Now, if this is what you are being charged, you can charge the owner on a package "X-amount of texts per month = X amount of dollars, plus my consultancy to help with marketing ideas, and to make sure you are getting people in the door"

If you set all of this up for $250 up front and then charge him so many cents per text, or roll it into a "package" 500 txt / month , $47 , 1500/ month $97 .. then come up with a number to bill per text if they exceed the limit ..or whatever you can decide on as long as you are turning a profit, and that all depends on what your cost are up front, that is why choosing the right platform is huge for your ROI. So it is hard to say how you should price it, because it is based on numerous variables, starting with what you have to pay.

So back to the $39 total, lets say he sends out 1500 txt total (300 x 5 promotions) your total cost (not including time) is $54 , with the figures I provided. Anything you charge over that is profit.

In this situation, for this bar owner, we want to stress 3 things:
A. You do NOT want to send a text every day
B. You want the offer to be juicy enough that people come in your door
C. You want the offers to have a 'viral' effect such as; "buy 1 beer get 1 free if you come in by XX/XX, tell a friend to text 2for1 to number here and you get 2 for 1!" (instruct servers to give them the special 2 for 1 if their friend shows that text)

With C you have created a viral effect, a rewards type program, AND another keyword you can charge them for.

The ideas, possibilities are endless, and owners go nuts over this, especially the ones who realize mobile is where it is at.

Like I said, I am still working SEO clients, but I am making a huge shift with my business partner for 2012, we have SMS lined up, sales team lined up (and current sms beta customers on the twilio/vbx platform, for lessons learned!), customers waiting for us to go, just finishing up our technology part of it

Ryan

Hey Shaun! I like the way you spell your name as I spell it the same! =)

I like the idea and building a list in your area is something that could prove to be profitable in many different areas.

Try different methods to get them on your list rather than free iPad fliers....do FB groups....try SMS (as discussed above)....or spend the $15 to put an ad in the local student newspaper to reach the masses if your school is big enough.

College markets are huge and you being a part of one right now is the perfect time to capitalize on it!

Good luck!

Hey Shaun, you can always Skype or pm me questions, it is what the WF is all about , discussing, helping , etc. I have been helped immensely here and other forums.

Ryan

Sounds like a good idea to me. But make sure you do market research first. Call up a few local businesses and ask if they would be interested. You could also ask a few students at your uni if they would be interested. Make sure they are aware of the deals part as well.

To get more money, you could expand to other universities or even companies. Maybe you could have an iPhone/Andriod app? You can pay a programmer a little bit to develop it based on your website, and then put the deals on your website, emailing your list whenever you add a new one.

Good luck!

forget about the radio, most university radios are bs and nobody listens to them...

and yeah, it'll be better if you actually went with building an sms list. You can also give them bookstore gift card instead of a free ipad, to make it seem more realistic, because, personally if I saw an ipad giveaway contest, I would think other people outside of campus are participating too, so there will be a lot of competition and I won't sign up... on the other side, a bookstore gift card of the ipad value(say 500$) can be used in different ways, as buying textbooks and even buying an ipad from there as most bookstore carry them nowadays

good luck and keep this thread updated on how it goes.

You don’t have to pay out anything if you do it right. Why not set it up where you do not pay for the Ipad itself. Set aside your cash for the ipad but once you have your list built 50% to 75% of where you want it, make a deal with a business to sponsor your list by buying the ipad and in exchange you will promote their specials to your list of a certain amount of time. 6 month to a year. That is cheap advertising for them. You can do this without taking a dime out of your pocket.

I think I would do this but only with a cell number or facebook like. And like TolyZ said, get the businesses signed up first. College students are notoriously hard to market to but you may have a good plan in place. Test it on small scale first and ramp up what works.

Great idea! I'm at uni at the moment as well, so this is right up my street.

I love the "Deal of the Day" text angle, as students are always up for a bargain - especially an exclusive, limited-time one.

Let us know how it goes if you end up giving it a shot.