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_I got a friend who runs a small business in Houston who ran a deal in one of the big deal sites recently. Everything went well. He did not expect unimaginable profit but he did gain more customers which was his intention to begin with.

Running A Deal

The only mishap he encountered was not putting a cap on the number of vouchers he originally wanted sold. It was a good thing that he fixed the problem with the website's merchant assistance program. He followed my advice to put the information in writing and with proof on the deal site's system.

Lessons Learned

Selling a tremendous number of vouchers may seem exciting in the beginning but if you have a small business with very few employees, you may soon find yourself bombarded with customers you can’t possibly handle. Worse, over selling vouchers is a sure way to put unnecessary financial stress on your business.

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Got deals. But do you have reviews?
_The significance of reviews on Google Local pages has increased with Google no longer pulling in reviews from Yelp and other third-party sites. If you must know, product or service reviews are just one of the many factors that affect Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings. The secret is in getting many reviews -- good ones hopefully -- that can let your business stand out.
 
Where To Get Reviews
 
It's usually disgruntled customers who leave honest reviews, but there are still mild-mannered opinions about the product or service that you can find online. It won't help that you have many reviews but 80% are pointing out your merchandise flaws.

A strategy to help make your product deal matter online is to send a message to your Facebook fans or email list and ask them to leave a review at your Google Place page.

Also, try sending out follow up or reminder postcards with a call-to-action to review your business. Present it as a link asking for a review on your web site.
Or you can display a sign by your cash register or hand them a flier with their receipt asking for a review.

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_It's that time of the year for filing tax computations. A good deal I spotted over Dealster shows a service with a low price of just $39 ($119 in value that include both personnel and small business packages).

The company is Comp-U-Tax and I rummaged online to find good reviews about the company, so you're in good hands with these guys on board.  If you don't have your W2(s) by now, Comp-U-Tax promises that the W2(s) from last year should be arriving in your mail box soon. They have a simple online form with Live Email, Chat, and Phone Support. Check the deal here.

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Scosche iPod Nano adjustable armband
_When shopping for a high-end merchandise at the mall, you can make your own deal. Simply request to speak with the store manager and  inquire about the product. When you've gauged that the stock for the product is low and that the store is willing to sell  it right away, you can request for a small discount. Just make sure that you make the request explicit to the manager so that the latter can come up with the specific discount.

I experienced haggling with the manager for a $2.00 discount on a laptop backpack which I got. I was also lucky to get an Ipod exercise accessory when I bought an Ipod which happened because I attempted to request for it for free along with my purchase.

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_Do you ever wonder how some companies choose which product or service they want to run a promotion for?

A marketing manager does not wake up one morning and just feels it's alright to give 50% on a certain product of his company. Or a business owner does not mindlessly put a specific service as a deal without thinking about the losses and profit.

Before the internet age, making promotions is a marketing science that had to involve pricey surveys and studies. Since most people are on social networking sites nowadays, what most businesses do is let the people decide which product or service is the best one to give a discount for.

On Facebook, some appliance gurus find it effective to share merchandise info and images for them to track how many times subscribers will click on the "Like" button per merchandise. They've transferred the strategy to their respective official websites where their followers can also click on the "Like" button.

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_In most cases of problems with your chosen deal, the daily deal websites can't help you resolve issues with the company you bought the deal from. The best advice is to work with the company or merchant directly. State exactly what happened and how you would like to have the situation resolved.

If all else fails, you can always use tips from this USA.gov sample complaint letter to help fix the problem.

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