We like the idea of using corporations as a distribution base for media and services. In the 1990s, The Family Education Network built a great newsletter business distributed in corporate lobbies. The concept’s been widely extended with the addition of email and the ability to more effectively target employees based on different criteria.
NextJump, for …

Payment processors and related companies work with most SMBs and are increasingly seen as a potential sales channel for reaching them with additional services. This week, we talked with one processor, Boston-based Merchant Warehouse, about its efforts to leverage its base of 75,000 business customers beyond terminal sales.
CEO Henry Helgeson told us the 15 …

Is appointment scheduling poised to be a new anchor for service promotions? That vision –”look for an appointment, get a deal or upsell ” — has been articulated by a number of scheduling vendors, such as Agendize, FullSlate and Schedulicity. Most recently, RedBeacon founder Ethan Anderson has launched MyTime as a scheduling supermarket …

Ads aren’t just valued for bringing in calls and walk ins. Local businesses increasingly place value on consumers looking up maps and directions, or participating in loyalty efforts, notes SuperMedia Director of Mobile Development Chris Folmer, who was speaking on a panel at The Local Search Association conference April 16 in Las Vegas. “There are …

The newspaper consortium-owned Wanderful Media is rolling out a retooled version of Find & Save, a shopping info site that it hopes will reinforce ties between the newspapers and the national retailers and brands that have traditionally driven their (estimated) $4 billion circular/insert business.
The new version is a localized shopping platform that boasts standard features …

It was just a matter of “when,” but Groupon has finally relieved Andrew Mason of his CEO duties after a quarter in which Groupon widely missed its mark because of its very high expenses and serious international issues, despite growing 30 percent year over year. Vice Chair Ted Leonsis and Executive Chair Eric Lefkofsky …

Living Social has won a lifeline from some of its existing investors today with a new infusion of $110 Million. The new cash lets the #2 deals company, which has been 31 percent owned by Amazon, proceed after sustaining very large, unsustainable losses. (It isn’t clear whether Amazon participated in the new raise).
The …

Red Beacon founder Ethan Anderson has unveiled his latest project, MyTime, a “scheduling supermarket” that sets dynamic pricing for unfilled appointments. Online scheduling intrigues us as a gateway towards promotions and transactions, but it remains underutilized by SMBs and the space is also highly fragmented.
The site launched today in Los Angeles …

Loyalty sales (including analytics) are typically associated with large brands such as Hilton and United Airlines. But a number of companies have been also trying to crack the code on SMBs, where the volume is.
This week, Edo Interactive announces it is doubling down on its SMB loyalty efforts, going far beyond what it has …

Deals are fading for many publishers. Group Commerce Inc., for instance, is just the latest company to cut back on its support of local deals. But for local businesses, deals remain potent building blocks for a wide range of promotional sales formats.
SignPost, Local Offer Network, Boomtime, Analog Analytics and Second Street …

Google Commerce last week introduced Zavers by Google, a coupon/transaction marketing management and loyalty rewards service that it purchased last November. Using Zavers, shoppers find offers on their websites and save them to their Zavers account. The offers are then automatically redeemed in real time when shoppers present their reward cards, mobile wallets or type-in …

Scoutmob, the Atlanta-based, mobile deals provider, has been taking a fresh approach to the deals space since its launch. It has focused entirely on mobile to leverage geo-location; changed the business model from commissions on deal value to flat fee; and hired dedicated sales and editorial people in each of its 13 markets instead of …

“Buy 10, Get 1″ loyalty programs are directly descended from paper punchcard programs and serve a general purpose. They are especially effective for transactions that are always about the same (i.e. coffee, pizza and the movies).
But how do you spur more buying and more frequent buying when transactions are highly variable? This was a question …

Declaring that deals have officially “jumped the shark” could well be an overstatement, considering that revenues are still on the uptick (BIA/Kelsey forecasts that the U.S. market will grow to $5.5 billion by 2016) and hundreds of companies continue to invest in the channel. However, the broad deals market is clearly evolving and segmenting in …

Local media companies have increasingly zeroed in on smaller SMBs for growth. In many cases, however, they don’t have the resources to go after them. Enter DataSphere, which handles telemarketing, content and search optimization for its growing list of media company partners, while harnessing the media company’s local brand in each market.
The company was …

American Express is seeking to move beyond its narrow image as a blue chip premium credit card company, and open the doors to new business opportunities, customers and revenues. Its ticket? The group of emerging payment products and services — deals, loyalty, prepaid cards, ewallets and mobile.
At OMMA Mobile MCommerce in Los Angeles …

When was the last time you got a manicure special in your in-box? If you are a man, it didn’t do much for you. In fact, many deals, offers and other promotions aren’t especially relevant to their recipients. Even when they are relevant, they pop up out of context in media where recipients …

One of the most promising concepts in local are “Write Once, Publish Everywhere” platforms for SMBs. With local businesses needing to communicate more and more deals, new features and special events to their customers, it makes sense to get them on a network to reach more people with one effort.
Yext and Google’s “tag” networks …

The success of the deals space and emergence of big data has opened the door to transactional marketing that drives new revenue for businesses. Key revenue streams are emerging such as monthly/annual fees, commissions for loyalty business, bounties for new customers and mark-ups on transactional fees. Major tech players and VCs …

The opening day of BIA/Kelsey’s SMB Digital Marketing conference provided a stark reminder of the persistent challenges in reaching local businesses. Groupon VP of Global Merchant Marketing Sanjay Gupta offered a different view – a reality check of the assumed reality checks. Call it the “what SMBs think vs. what they do” dynamic. As just one …