Can he do it? Who knows...Is he doing it? Yes.

[Lex DeVille]

Well it's Friday. 3 full days left before deals begin. Breaking 2k Instagram followers today, and a fair amount of those are local or at least within the extended local area.

Still don't have any donut places on board. Drove from corner to corner in town yesterday trying to find donut decision makers. All I get are employees who 1. don't speak English, and 2. don't see the value. Not giving up hope on donuts, but it's not looking good at the moment.

On a bright note I connected with another pizza place yesterday and I think this one will run free pizza. That would be a big win since people love pizza.

Here's some other highlights:

• Confirmed several deals for next week
• Added a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studio for deals next week
• Added a frozen yogurt shop for deals next week
• Added a car glass repair shop for deals next week
• Very close to adding a second liquor store
• Very close to adding a tattoo parlor
• Very close to adding a massage therapist
• Teamed up with a local news blog for cross promotion
• Teamed up with a local food truck to promote their freebies
• Met a personal trainer who said a similar service worked well in his home town
•• He'll probably do some kind of freebie deals if not next week, at least the near future.
•• He also immediately shared my card with the gym owner, who also owns local Zumba & physical therapy studios.
•• At least 2 out of 3 of these will likely be on for deals very soon
• Shared business cards all over town including 3 more car dealerships
• Started building connections on LinkedIn, growing slowly

Some things I learned:

• Some businesses aren't really a good fit for the service due to the way they operate
• For instance one tire shop loved the idea, but they can't handle very much business at once
• Another store (a sign shop) only sells b2b and 90% of their customers are return owners
• Some places seem to think it doesn't make since to have help with social media when they have a Facebook page...
• Planning a route for in-person visits is probably way more efficient on gas
• However, driving around town randomly results in discovering parts of town & shops I never knew existed
• When calling people who don't answer, leave messages. Sometimes they call back.
• When calling people who don't answer, don't assume it's because they're blowing you off.

Mental State:

Confident, but nervous. As a big picture thinker it's easy to see how this can work in the long-run. It makes sense. It will as long as I keep putting 1 foot in front of the other. In the short term I have random sporadic fears about the deals not working well, or not having great response next week. Trying my heart out to get more deals, but this first part is really rough since there's no proof that it can work. With proof it'll start to snowball as @tafy says.

Just do it.

 

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[tafy]

Its difficult when you have your small little balls, you think ppl are laughing at them, and you don't have the confidence that you would have with big balls. Its all in your mind man, you just know that your balls will grow and people will be impressed one day.

 

[LateStarter]

Decided not to do 10/90, so not tracking anything like that.

Maybe I missed it but if you're not doing the 10/90 how are you monetizing this?

 

[Lex DeVille]

Maybe I missed it but if you're not doing the 10/90 how are you monetizing this?

 

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[Guest3722A]

In the short term I have random sporadic fears about the deals not working well, or not having great response next week

You're trained well and you're smart. Your instincts will guide you through this. I guarantee it

 

[LateStarter]

You can't expect to get it 100% right on the first at bat. Iterate and improve. Businesses understand that and will work with you if there is a shared benefit.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Today was exhausting.

After going balls to the walls for 3 weeks, deals finally launched today. The response feels positive so far, though I'm not 100% sure yet. None of the posts really took off, and most averaged about 20 likes. People did tag each other, and at least one post had 10+ comments, so that felt good.

None of my early deals felt like they were strong enough to command attention, so I went out and took shit into my own hands. I spent $40 at a pizza buffet and bought 5 buffets, then promoted them as "5 free buffets" as if the pizza place hosted them.

I'll probably spend around $150 before the week is over to get freebies going, and to keep people interested. After that it's up to the biz to start sustaining itself. Hopefully I can use the purchased freebies as a way to tempt other businesses to give it a shot. But even if they don't offer something totally free, it's no big deal as long as they offer a great deal.

I ran paid ads through Facebook and Instagram to the deals. Pretty sure they didn't work all that well. I don't think they went live fast enough to make much of a difference, so I may need a new strategy for running paid ads.

Other Updates:

• Some douche started commenting on my deals saying "It's all fake, I just talked to the assistant manager."
• I deleted his first post. On the second he got blocked. Guess he didn't want deals.
• A local startup news blog ran an article on my bus. and promoted it out to their followers.
• A lot of local businesses have started following, and my LinkedIn connections are growing fast.
• Some of the businesses running deals commented on the posts, so that was helpful for adding legitimacy.
• Tomorrow I'm connecting with local animal shelters as my followers loved the idea of helping find homes for animals
• My friend was going to be social media manager and take over that aspect, but I think he may have ditched
• So I guess I need to hire a freelancer for that, because it's getting overwhelming fast

Off-The-Wall Update
• I made my first Amazon sale on a product I imported and listed months ago and forgot about...wtf lol?!

 

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[tafy]

If your city was bigger and younger I think you would get a lot more traction by now. Maybe new year new city?

 

[Lex DeVille]

So the first week of freebies is almost over. Here's a few highlights:

• Some of the freebies worked much better than others
• After about 2 days of deals followers started dropping off - mostly people who aren't local
• Organic traffic trickled in, but it's starting to pick up a bit
• I still haven't secured a donut shop...dunno why this is so insanely hard
• Also haven't secured the other coffeeshop. Haven't gotten a straight answer about who makes friggin decisions there.
• Bought 2 pizzas yesterday to drive traffic to a local pizzeria. People liked this deal.
• Seems the same few people are liking the photos, but I haven't followed up much to see how well the deals really worked
• My friend apparently didn't ditch, so I'm gonna meet up with him over the next few days to see how serious he is about being part of this
• Linkedin connections are up to about 200

Right now I'm challenged with a few issues.

Christmas is a pain in my a$$.

Every place in town is already running deals and getting a lot of traffic because people are out shopping & buying stuff. So it's kind of clouding their vision about the value of what I'm offering. Once the holidays are over and the world returns to normal, there's a good chance it'll be easier to get businesses started with this. I don't expect much, if any progress to take place over the next week since most decision makers are with family, or focused on family stuff.

Decision Makers not around.

Finding it a real pain in the a$$ to get decision makers. They're never in... Sometimes I get them on the phone or get them in person. Then 1 of 3 things happens: 1.) I run my pitch, which changes every time because I get too caught up in what I'm trying to say. That means I end up leaving things out, or not getting the service across clearly. Usually this leads to numbers 2 & 3 which is leaving a business card, and sending an email with the details. For all of these I've only gotten an email response from 1 person who was committed to running deals with me for one day. I've had people confirm the date they'll get back to me by, and some even promise to get back with me by that date and then they don't. This usually leads to the next challenge...

Limiting mindset issues.

Every time I go home empty handed it gets harder to go back out again. Every time someone blows me off it's like someone looking me in the eyes and saying "go F*ck yourself"...Every failure sucks. I run a thousand reasons through my mind about why it's not a good time to go out or to move forward. There's a limited number of restaurants left in town and so far I've got only 1 who agreed to a 30 day free trial of the service to run deals that aren't freebies. I'm still pushing forward, just a bit more slowly than before, as you may have noticed by the space between updates.

Feelings of depression?

Ugh, I hate to call it that. I hate to even think of it like that, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's not like I don't know what to do, I just don't do it sometimes. Instead I do things that are counter-productive, or perhaps just not productive. It's insane how alone you can feel sometimes, and still choose to press on. I've only been doing this for like 3 weeks, but it feels like 6 months.

Need to follow up

I need to follow up on all the deals I ran this week. This is another thing I know I need to do, but I keep putting it off for one reason or another. Probably because the results may not be anywhere near what I want them to be. So I guess this really comes down to some silly fear I need to get over. These businesses have already used my service once, so I need to talk them into doing more for a longer period and getting real results.

On a positive note I think from the customer side word of mouth is starting to spread. Now if it would just work on the business side.

So yeah, that's pretty much it for now. Looking forward to the new year. As soon as it's here I'm going to Austin to launch there. It's a much larger city, and entrepreneur friendly so there's a chance it'll go better. There's also a chance it won't, but it is what it is, and it's worth a try.

 

[Martin Tale]

Feelings of depression?

Ugh, I hate to call it that. I hate to even think of it like that, but I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's not like I don't know what to do, I just don't do it sometimes. Instead I do things that are counter-productive, or perhaps just not productive. It's insane how alone you can feel sometimes, and still choose to press on. I've only been doing this for like 3 weeks, but it feels like 6 months.

I have had that as well.. You're not the only one.. I have already said it that you inspire me so how about if you just keep going, so will I?

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I have had that as well.. You're not the only one.. I have already said it that you inspire me so how about if you just keep going, so will I?

I'll keep going; I don't give up that easy. Not over feelings. It just means things progress a little slowly at times.

They still progress a lot faster than those who aren't moving at all.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Organic traffic slowed back down after the last freebie deal. I've followed up with most of the businesses who ran deals, or at least tried to follow up, but can't seem to get in touch. Not sure if they don't want to talk, don't have time or don't care.

Moving forward I've made little progress in the way of bringing new clients on. There was one success with a local boutique. The girl instantly understood the value of what I'm trying to accomplish. She asked for details by email, and never replied. I'm pretty sure a followup with her will at least get something going.

I did connect with one of my clients who ended up running 2 deal posts last week. She ended up with 12 new clients for her esthetics business, so for her the service was a success. I wrote a case study article about this and posted to social outlets. She's agreed to run more deals.

A few days ago someone emailed asking for a Facebook group so I set one up. Not many joined, but it may grow with time and patience.

Beyond that stuff this town, despite having more than 120k people, is stuck in the dark ages as is most of West Texas. Most places are stuck in old ways of thinking, spending thousands per month on traditional advertising, and barely touching other outlets...not a wise choice moving into 2016 if you ask me, but what do I know.

It's actually kinda surprising considering we have 4 or 5 colleges and a large military base...

Here's some other highlights:

• Emailed a bunch of personal trainers & wellness types - no response so far
• A local radio station was liking all my photos so I messaged them to ask about teaming up.
• They responded and want to get together to chat about working together after the holidays.
• Picked up a photographer client to run deals for free on a trial period last night
• Started researching the next city for launch. They're more open-minded & opportunity is much bigger.
• Scheduled time to meet with my friend about having a role in the business. After re-thinking my structure, I don't think he's a fit for a co-founder role, but there may be some other things he can do if he wants to participate.
• I'm excited about taking this to a bigger city where they're already on board with the concept of giving great deals to get customers
• Paid for a $5 logo on fiverr. It turned out like shit. lol (In the past I've had $5 logos that turned out well)

Next Steps

• Work on pre-building my audience in Austin, and will start securing clients for pre-launch soon too.
• Rework the website a bit so it doesn't just target the town I'm in, and other towns can use it too.
• Work on growing my LinkedIn presence with more articles to help people learn about me organically.
• Work on giving decision makers the education they need, without it feeling like I'm selling to them.
• Work on a better networking strategy to help get referrals faster without hoping they come to me.

Challenges

• Mentally I'm feeling pretty good. Had a few small wins, and feeling a bit more motivated.
• The next city is 3 hours away, so logistically I'm not well-prepared, but I'll figure it out.
• Need a better plan of attack when it comes time to meeting business owners in Austin so my time isn't wasted.

That's pretty much it for now. I don't expect to see any major breakthroughs over the next week due to the holidays. I've been running weekly specials by local businesses that they're already running just to keep things going, but I don't think this is a wise long-term strategy. Anyway, I'll do my best to keep moving forward over the next few days and once the new year hits it's go-time again.

 

[Guest3722A]

Congrats on your progress. Have you thought about finding business networking meetups on meetup.com? This may or may not be a potential place for finding users of your service in one place or even people who may have helpful ideas. Another thought is having a sit down with a local SCORE mentor who has experience in what you are trying to accomplish. I've found with SCORE that some of these guys will open up their personal network to you which can help give a trajectory as well as make additional connections.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Congrats on your progress. Have you thought about finding business networking meetups on meetup.com? This may or may not be a potential place for finding users of your service in one place or even people who may have helpful ideas. Another thought is having a sit down with a local SCORE mentor who has experience in what you are trying to accomplish. I've found with SCORE that some of these guys will open up their personal network to you which can help give a trajectory as well as make additional connections.

Our local meetups are virtually non-existent. We have one I've attended, but it wasn't worth it. There are no local SCORE locations. The closest are 2 to 3 hours away. When I head to Austin next month I do have plans to attend a co-op space meetup, and see what opportunities are there. Austin is a startup hub, so there's a great chance I'll find things move much faster there.

Locally I'm making connections. It's really not that hard to get out and meet people, it's just hunting down decision makers has been a pain. I have their info - everything from names, to times they work, to phone numbers & emails, but somehow they slip through the cracks.

Austin does have SCORE so I'll keep it in mind for while I'm down there as a potential way to build connections.

 

[LateStarter]

These businesses have already used my service once, so I need to talk them into doing more for a longer period and getting real results.

Keep reminding yourself and your customers that it's only been 3 weeks. Building businesses and consumer relationships take time. Don't expect this to be viral as you're sorting out your process.

Have you discussed with your customers what it would take to call this a 'success' in their view? What are those metrics? What is it in your own mind? From my view, in order to get businesses to buy-in on a longer term service you need to understand what they want out of it in terms of quantifiable numbers, then you have to provide those numbers to them and explain why you're over/under that. Your case study is probably a good start in this area, but each market and each specific business is going to have their own results. Unfortunately you're too early to know what those reasonably expected returns might be.

If it were me, I would try to focus on a couple of key businesses that would be willing to partner with you for a longer period regardless of success/failure and allow you to experiment with the process and the offer to sort it out. Pick a couple of different markets if you can and just see what you can deliver (even if it's at a loss to you).

How are you advertising your service to consumers? Purely social? Are you doing any in-store promotion on your daily deal service? It might be worth designing and printing some counter top promo boards with info on your service and putting them into participating stores. This may help to get existing patrons on-board and perhaps help to increase the LTV of each customer. You can also try to add a flyer to things like pizza deliveries.

Keep diggin Lex. This is the grind. Building momentum is hard and this is where most people give up. But as you keep pushing your momentum is slowly building and one day this will have enough inertia to keep moving without you.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Keep reminding yourself and your customers that it's only been 3 weeks. Building businesses and consumer relationships take time. Don't expect this to be viral as you're sorting out your process.

Have you discussed with your customers what it would take to call this a 'success' in their view? What are those metrics? What is it in your own mind? From my view, in order to get businesses to buy-in on a longer term service you need to understand what they want out of it in terms of quantifiable numbers, then you have to provide those numbers to them and explain why you're over/under that. Your case study is probably a good start in this area, but each market and each specific business is going to have their own results. Unfortunately you're too early to know what those reasonably expected returns might be.

If it were me, I would try to focus on a couple of key businesses that would be willing to partner with you for a longer period regardless of success/failure and allow you to experiment with the process and the offer to sort it out. Pick a couple of different markets if you can and just see what you can deliver (even if it's at a loss to you).

How are you advertising your service to consumers? Purely social? Are you doing any in-store promotion on your daily deal service? It might be worth designing and printing some counter top promo boards with info on your service and putting them into participating stores. This may help to get existing patrons on-board and perhaps help to increase the LTV of each customer. You can also try to add a flyer to things like pizza deliveries.

Keep diggin Lex. This is the grind. Building momentum is hard and this is where most people give up. But as you keep pushing your momentum is slowly building and one day this will have enough inertia to keep moving without you.

A lot of really great points in your post. Thanks for reminding me how short a time it's been haha. I keep forgetting that part! Plus Xmas on top of that.

I've asked a few about what success looks like for them. Mostly I've gotten clouded descriptions at best. Probably due to my own lack of clarity for the first couple of weeks about what I'm offering. I haven't really asked about numbers, but I guess it makes since to bring that up.

There's a distinct advantage for businesses currently using Groupon since my service is so low-cost compared to Groupon's commission structure. So getting businesses to test it, even for free (which is what I'm doing) should be enough to get their attention as long as it actually brings customers. But before that happens I actually have to make contact with the right people.

As for advertising, it's mostly social and word of mouth for gaining followers. Counter-top promos are one of my next steps for in-store. Considering flyers too, but mainly for giving to potential clients in case I'm not describing the service well in-person.

There's a pizza delivery service here that would probably be willing to do what you described since they were open to running deals with me last week, so I'll ask them about it in a couple days once x-mas is over.

Thanks for the suggestions & the encouragement. Momentum is definitely building.

Feels like pushing a dead car at the moment. Sucks balls moving it by myself, but once it gets going or once others get on board and help push, then it moves a lot faster.

 

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