Groupon. As a small business owner on Main Street and beyond, does it make you want to run for the hills?
Before you click off this post, PLEASE STOP, read and learn – because knowing how to run a daily deal on a site like Groupon the right way can bring in new customers, clients and patients you’d never be able to reach on your own, and can put more money in your pocket.
There’s a stigma out there – perhaps you’ve heard it, perhaps you’ve even said it: “Don’t do a Groupon. It doesn’t work. You’ll lose money.”
I “get” it because that’s what I heard, too, when I was looking for a strategy that could bring in customers now and give me cash fast. You see, just a few years ago, I was $500K in debt, and I didn’t know where my next customer was coming from. It’s a story I share here if you want to know more about how I took my struggling coffee and smoothie business that was $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business.
The reason there’s so much negativity out there about running daily deals is because small business owners are running deals that are “a piece of pizza.”
What do I mean by that?
A piece of pizza is just a piece of pizza right? Sure, Joe’s pizza may have more toppings, and Franco’s pizza may have a thicker crust, but it’s still just a piece of pizza. It’s a commodity — anyone can get it anywhere, and most people will just look for the cheapest price (with some minimum level of quality, of course!).
And that’s why so many businesses fail when running a daily deal on a site like Groupon. I’ve seen it before, dozens of times: “Get $20 of pizza for $10” deals. It’s a race to the bottom. All that is going to do is bring the bargain shoppers, who likely won’t return, because “a piece of pizza is just a piece of pizza.” They can get it anywhere, and they’re just going to be looking for the next deal.
But what if that same pizza shop were to create an experience with their pizza deal? Here’s how that pizza shop could create not one but two different experience packages for something as simple as “pizza”:
ROMANTIC ROMP/DATE NIGHT
- Valet parking
- Bottle of wine with meal
- Special menu with “romantic names”
- Chef writes your name or makes a heart of toppings
- Candles on the table
- Live/romantic music
- Take their picture
FAMILY NIGHT
- Play DC/pick the music
- Toss your own dough
- Put on your own toppings
- Name your pizza
- Have your picture taken and posted and shared
- Unlimited (non-alcoholic) beverages
Since these packages offer more than “just a slice,” they also warrant a premium price – and people will pay it because it’s an experience that they’ll go and brag to their friends about and post all over social media. This is the kind of attention that can bring you more new customers.
This is what I did in my coffee and smoothie business. Instead of offering a “smoothie” say for “$20 for $10 deal,” I offered “The Ultimate Hawaiian Getaway Without A 12-Hour Flight” — catering packages starting at $575 where a professional “tikitender” will come out and setup an authentic tiki bar and serve gourmet all-natural fresh fruit smoothies topped off with a Hawaiian parasol. A real “vacation in a cup!”
Which would you rather have? The smoothie or the vacation in a cup? Yeah, same with the other people who bought my Groupon deal.
Transforming a commodity into an experience completely took the bargain shoppers out of the equation. Price didn’t matter – people wanted this package. Because I was not offering higher priced packages, I made money on every deal sold — and, because they had to contact me to reserve their event, I was able to (1) get their contact information right then and there to build my list, and (2) offer upgrades such as alcohol service, additional hours, decorations and more – extremely profitable that were outside of the Groupon deal and went straight to my bottom line.
Whether you run a daily deal or not, the lesson to be learned is: Don’t be a “slice of pizza.” Be a “pizza” experience!
NOTE: If you want to learn how to use daily deal marketing to SKYROCKET YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH, check out the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program!
About Stacey Riska
Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.
