Try It Local goes for the win-win-win relationship

Member Minded, a company that I invested in last year, has launched a new product that I’m really excited about:

Try It Local matches local retailers to local customers online with a new awesome deal, every day.  Big discounts give consumers a great deal and give local businesses a chance to get new customers to walk in the door for the first time.

For example, today’s deal is a one-hour massage for $30….normally $65.  The Highlands Center for Therapeutic Massage will probably get more than 50 people to come in and experience their excellence….that’s 50 people that might not have even heard of them prior to today’s deal.   Even if they are just breaking even on the revenue they get from the deal….or hell…even if they’re losing $10 per deal-seeker…..THAT is a marketing strategy that every small business should be interested in.

Tell me what other promotion would get people walking in the door and experiencing your product for break-even.  A billboard?  A radio spot?  Come on.  This is fully trackable, free, and can only work.

But as you know, this “deal of the day” isn’t anything earth-shatteringly innovative.  Groupon has been crushing this idea for the past year and Woot even caught the attention of Amazon recently.

So what makes Try It Local so exciting?

First of all, I wouldn’t be anti even if this was a purely copycat company.

But what makes Try It Local even more interesting for me is the fact that it involves the local chamber of commerce.  That’s what Member Minded does so well, and they’ve found a way to leverage it.  Now, the local chamber has a product that it can take to its members and say “here look, we’re going to help bring you exposure, revenue, new customers and social buzz!”  Win-win-win.

Incentives are aligned  (see #9) and that makes for a long-term winner.

So do me a favor….the next time you talk to your local Chamber of Commerce, tell them to take a look at partnering with Try It Local….they’ll love it and so will you!

Win.