How long has StartAGroupBuy been around and how did you get started?
StartAGroupBuy was founded in the summer of 2006 by a group of guys trying to save money on expensive toys. Back then, “daily deals” were called “group buys” where if you got enough buyers together, you could convince a merchant to give you a big discount for ordering as a group. Our goal was to get deals on things like electronics, car parts, and other big-ticket items. The problem was that managing deals was a nightmare. Deals were so disorganized that many of them fell through due to poor management.
That’s when we decided to build a system that would make managing group buys easier. Fortunately, we were all software engineers. Between the four of us (co-founders), we had all designed and developed enterprise-level systems for both the Department of Defense and Federal Government. We also built commercial Web-apps for the private sector at the height of the Dot-com bubble. So building something to solve our own problems wasn’t out of reach. Within a few months we launched GotoGroupBuy.com, which was one of the first websites of its kind.
Fast forward to 2010 and sites like Groupon and Living Social were growing explosively. We started to get odd calls from people asking who built our website. The phones started to ring off the hook and more people were interested in buying our system, than actually running deals with us.
That’s when we had our “Aha” moment. Why not offer our system to other start-ups? After all, we spent the last several years perfecting the art of running a group deal. We also realized that our passion was for perfecting the system, not running the deals. Lo and behold, by Christmas 2010 we had re-engineered our system and called it StartAGroupBuy. Since then we’ve focused solely on becoming the planet’s fastest, easiest, most affordable daily deal platform.
Who are your clients exactly?
We work with people just like you who have a great idea for a daily deal or group buying website, but are having trouble figuring out how to get started. They are business savvy but not necessarily technology savvy. They enjoy running their business, but not necessarily running their technology. That said, the websites we’ve helped launch run the whole gamut from websites that target their local cities, specific demographics, to those that target a niche market.
How are you different from other companies?
We don’t just sell you a piece of software. We offer a complete system. Our goal is to provide our customers with a system that allows them to focus on their business, not their technology. Rather than simply handing over a program and letting you deal with it, we provide all the technical expertise to launch and maintain your website. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to managing a daily deal website. We free our customers from having to manage things like servers, software, data backups, and Web-scaling on top of everything else they manage in their business.
What type of customers do you work best with?
The system offered by StartAGroupBuy is designed for people who are great at marketing and business, but don’t consider themselves “tech-savvy”. They are motivated by things like driving traffic to their site, signing up merchants, selling deals, and dominating their niche or market. They don’t enjoy managing IT resources, and understand the value of outsourcing this task to the experts. They understand that running a successful daily deal website means working less on managing their website, and finding the right partner to manage it for them.
Is there anyone you don’t work with?
Please know that StartAGroupBuy isn’t for everybody. StartAGroupBuy is not for those that have the man-power, expertise, and resources to manage their own servers, software, data backups, and the whole nine-yards. People often ask if they can buy our system and host it on their own. Our system is proprietary and is the result of several years of real-world experience and development. For that reason, we often refer prospects to other solution providers.
Also, the StartAGroupBuy system is NOT for those who have no money coming in. It’s been our experience that people who don’t have the money or are not ready to invest in a proper launch simply don’t do the work required for long-term success. If you fall into this category, it’s absolutely OK. We’ve all been in times of financial crisis at one point or another. Do yourself (2) favors.
- Get some money coming in to fund your start-up for at least three months. This will put some positive pressure on you. As human-beings, it’s natural for us to work more diligently when our money is on the line. We don’t want clients that don’t appreciate the value of our system. More importantly, we want customers that have potential for long-term success.
- Sign-up for our StartAGroupBuy Success Newsletter. (Click here to subscribe) The free information will get you started towards running a successful daily deal website.
What exactly is StartAGroupBuy and what does it include?
StartAGroupBuy is a comprehensive daily deal website solution. Our “just-add-water” approach offers one of the fastest, most effective, most affordable ways to launch and maintain a daily deal website. Here is what the StartAGroupBuy system gets you to do:
1. Plan ahead for success
With over a decade of experience developing web-applications from concept to full-blown production, we share what we’ve learned about running a daily deal website. Even though you have a great idea, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed success. We observe the daily deal industry in action on a daily basis. It’s what we live and breathe. In our reports we’ve even identified common success factors shared by the best in the business. More importantly, we’ve learned from our own mistakes. You’ll get access to our reports, which will help you understand what goes into a winning strategy. Obviously, we aren’t guaranteeing that your website will be a success. However, we can certainly improve your chances by sharing what we’ve learned. Click here for a free sample.
2. Launch your website painlessly
If you’re like most of our clients, you have a basic understanding of what it takes to manage a daily deal website. However, you don’t have the expertise to do it effectively and efficiently. That’s where we step in. Our team of experts handle all the logistics of getting you up and running. We provision all the hardware, software, and resources to support your new venture. We also handle all the server configuration and networking requirements to get your website online and public. We will spend the time to launch and manage your website properly so you don’t have to.
3. Set it and forget it.
Other than picking your favorite colors and uploading a logo, you can pretty much relax. When you work with StartAGroupBuy, you’ll benefit from not having to maintain your website. We monitor the health of your website and make sure things are running smooth. As your business grows, we also scale you up to meet the increased demand. We provide daily maintenance such as backing up your data and offer a level of redundancy that virtually eliminates downtime.
4. Publish deals without a creative department
You will be able to publish deals quickly and easily without a creative department or any web design experience. We provide you with a Deal Publishing Wizard that makes publishing and managing deals painless. With just a few clicks, you can set your tipping point, count-down timer, and upload pics. The result is a beautiful web page showcasing your deal. You’ll also be able to schedule your deals in advance, making it easy to control when your deals are published.
5. Monitor, track, and manage all your deals
We have designed our system from the ground up with you in mind. Our deal management tools are easy-to-use, and don’t require a huge learning curve. We’ve implemented features that make it easy to track your buyers, manage communication more effectively, and monitor deals at a glance.
6. Setup an email marketing campaign
One of the first things you’ll want to do is start collecting email addresses from interested visitors. This way, you can broadcast your deals to them, which is critical to a successful daily deal website. We’ve integrated our system with Aweber, one of the fastest and most reliable providers of email marketing tools. We’ll help you get an account setup properly, and integrate it with your website to start building your audience.
7. Get paid faster
We get you setup with a secure, reliable online payment processor to make buying on your website easy. We integrated our system with PayPal and Authorize.Net, two of the world’s leading online payment gateways. Unlike other companies that distribute your funds at a later date, our system pays you directly and immediately. This gives you full control and gets you paid faster.
8. Connect with Social Media
Spreading the word about your website has never been faster or easier. Your website will integrate with social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. If you have a Facebook Fan Page or Twitter page setup, you can publish your deals to them seamlessly. This saves you time and extends your reach. Visitors can also “Tweet” or “Like” your website, which puts you in front of a wider audience for free. If you are new to Social Media Marketing, be sure to check out our Beginners Guide To Facebook Marketing and Beginners Guide To Twitter Marketing.
9. Publish unlimited deals with your own rules
Unlike other solutions, we do not restrict you on how many deals you can run or what rules to abide by. You will be able to set whatever works for your business. You can even set your deals to tip with just one buyer. Our system also allows you to setup price-tiers, in which prices decrease as the number of buyers increase. Our system also supports shipping if you require additional shipping costs to be added to your deals. The bottom-line is that StartAGroupBuy was designed to handle almost all types of deals.
10. Send out coupon codes and vouchers.
Once a deal ends, StartAGroupBuy will email a coupon to all your customers. These coupons are sent in PDF format making it easy to print and redeem.
11. Give your merchants self-help tools
Here, your merchants will have access to tools that will save time and effort for both you and the merchant. Merchants can submit deals for your approval. Merchants also have access to our redemption tool, which makes it easy to keep track of coupons that have already been redeemed. For merchants that are offline, you can also print a list of coupons that they can manually check off as they are redeemed.
Does this really work?
Yes! The result of our system is an approach to launching and running a daily deal website that, over time and with your dedication, works consistently to generate profits.
What results can I expect?
You can expect to:
- Be up-and-running in 60 seconds
- Officially launch to the public in about 30 days
- Publish your first deal immediately
- Publish professionally designed deals without any design experience
- Monitor, manage, and track your deals effortlessly
- Enjoy hands-free website maintenance
- Get peace of mind knowing that your data is backed up daily
- Spend more time on making deals with merchants instead of managing your website
- Spend more time on marketing your website to new buyers instead of managing your website
- Begin building your audience by collecting contact info
- Easily broadcast deals to your audience
- Create greater exposure for your website through social networking integration
- Create greater exposure for your website on Google through SEO friendly URLs
- Get access to reports, articles, and insider-tips that show you how to market your way to a profitable website
- Get secure, reliable hosting with 99.99% up-time guaranteed.
- Get access to technical support to ensure all your questions are answered
- Save more time and effort when it comes to managing deals
Can I contact some of your former clients to see what it’s like to work with you?
StartAGroupBuy takes our client’s privacy seriously. Our strict privacy policy ensures that we remain a 100% white-label solution. As our customer, we will never disclose that you are outsourcing your technology to us. At the same time, we hope you understand that this is done out of respect and best-practices. Alternatively, we do provide demo websites that are not live for your viewing.
How quickly can I expect to be up and running?
We can have you up and running in 60 seconds. You’ll have access to your website and can begin publishing deals immediately. However, that does not mean you’ll be ready for your official launch in front of a live audience. Most clients spend some time customizing their website, making deals with merchants, and doing some initial marketing before their official launch. Obviously, your official launch date depends on you. Having said that, virtually all clients officially launch within 30 days.
How can I guarantee myself a successful and profitable daily deal website?
Pay special attention to the tutorials we send you. They are meant to help you get started quickly, learn from other’s successes, and more importantly learn from other’s failures. Be totally totally focused on your daily deal website. Understand that launching your website is just the first step. Growing your website into a profitable business requires focus and commitment. It can take you 30 days to turn a profit or it can take you several months. All of our clients that have diligently applied our tools, tutorials, and tips have successfully grown their daily deal websites.
Will I recover the investment I put into StartAGroupBuy?
Yes, a resounding Yes! Many clients are excited to report that they were able to cover their monthly investment by running just one deal. I want you to stop reading for just one moment to ask yourself, “What is the average revenue I will make from just one deal, and how many deals can I run in one month?” Chances are, that amount will more than enough to cover your StartAGroupBuy investment. Most likely, you will make 10 times what you invested into StartAGroupBuy.
Based on everything I’ve read and heard about you, I know you’re the one I want to go with. What are my options for getting started?
For nearly 5 years, we’ve offered group buying programs to the public in the form of merchant and buyer solutions. We no longer offer these and now offer a program targeted specifically at those wanting to run their own branded daily deal websites. We truly believe that StartAGroupBuy is the planet’s ultimate turn-key daily deal website solution.
We’ve broken down our offering into two distinct plans. Both plans come with the same functionality and features. The main difference is the level of support and customization you will receive with each plan.
Standard Plan – This plan comes with everything we’ve discussed above to launch and manage your daily deal website. You will have the ability to customize the look-and-feel of your website using our DIY theme changer. You can also upload a logo. You will have access to our Technical Support Forum, where you can post technical questions and discussions about your StartAGroupBuy website. We monitor the forums daily and will respond within the same business day. This plan is priced at $250 per month or a 3% commission of your website’s revenue (whichever is greater).
Premium Plan – This plan comes with everything we’ve discussed above to launch and manage your daily deal website. You will have the ability to customize the look-and-feel of your website using our DIY theme changer. You can also upload a logo. We also include custom design services beyond our theme changer for a completely unique design that stands out from the crowd. You will have access to our Technical Support Forum, where you can post technical questions and discussions about your StartAGroupBuy website. We monitor the forums daily and will respond within the same business day. In addition, you will have access to our Online Support Concierge, where you can submit help requests with a guaranteed response time of less than 8 hours. You will also have access to our Toll-Free Telephone Support during normal business hours. This plan is priced at $850 per month or a 3% commission of your website’s revenue (whichever is greater).
OK, I know which program I want. How do we get started?
Great! Did you know that one of the most prominent characteristics of successful people is that they take action? They take educated risks, are decisive, and they move towards success faster as a direct result of this. It’s a well known fact that these people make decisions based on their gut-instinct. So, that being said, if this feels right for you, then go for it.
Here’s what you do: just click on the Plans & Pricing link above or if you have a question, give our support team a call at (888)916-4446 or email us at support@startagroupbuy.com and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have. We can’t wait to meet you in person or on the phone to get you started on your path to running a successful daily deal website!
If I’m not sure I’m ready to get started, how can I sample your work at low cost to see if it’s the right solution for me?
We understand your concerns completely. To be honest most of our clients have felt the same way when they first stumbled upon us. That is why we offer a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. In fact, we won’t even bill you until after your first 30 days. If for any reason, you are not 100% satisfied just cancel your account within 30 days and you will never be billed.
OK, I’m ready to do this, but I have a couple of additional questions. Can I call you?
Yes, if you have a couple of questions, just email our team at support@startagroupbuy.com or call us directly at (888)916-4446 and we’ll be happy to walk you through the different options to see which one will be the very best for you. We can’t wait to help you take your idea from concept to reality. Let’s get going!
I’m ready to sign up, how do I get started?
Click here to sign up for a free 30 Day trial.
