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If you haven’t visited The Million Dollar Homepage, take a look. Go now and come back to this article in a moment . . . .
What’d you think?
A million pixels at $1 per pixel . . . and it’s sold out!
What’s that have to do with franchising?
What’s that have to do with franchising — cause you know that everything I do has something to do with franchising!
About a thousand and one things . . . leading to a million dollars-plus!
Why not a similar site for franchising?
When marketing strategist Martin Greenbaum landed at The Million Dollar Homepage, he didn’t just think, “Interesting,” as most of us might. He thought, “What if I created a similar site for franchising?“
Now you know what this has got to do with franchising.
Looking at it from Marty’s view
Marketing people tend to look at the world differently. So Marty knew that there were dozens (who knows how many) of Web portals offering information about a zillion (that’s an exaggeration, of course) different franchise concepts. Consumers land on these sites like flies on watermelon on a summer day (I used that analogy only because I was just enjoying some watermelon until the flies landed). The sites are free, the information is free, everyone is (seemingly) happy . . . but is everyone well served?
The birth of 1001franchises.com
So it occurred to Marty that while a million franchises would be over-stating it (there are probably 2500+ franchise concepts in the USA; no one knows for sure), 1001franchises.com might be exactly what the franchise community needs. It might be what franchisors and prospective franchisees really want when it comes to online shopping for a franchise!
“I thought of all the portals out there (in cyberspace),” Marty explained, “and I am not looking to compete with them. So I created something different. It’s not as big as some of the other sites, but I’m giving franchisors a cost-effective alternative that will out-produce a typical site.”
As Marty sees things, here are the benefits:
- 1001franchises.com is low cost (in fact, right now, Franchisors, it’s free!)
- Marty promises it will provide better ROI to its franchise advertisers (hard to argue because it’s low cost!)
- The site sends consumers directly to the franchisor’s Web site without collecting data
- There’s no lead sharing! (That got the Franchisors’ attention).
The department store of franchises
The experience is sorta like shopping at Macy’s. So if you haven’t already visited 1001franchises.com, go there now and you’ll see what I mean.
Marty expects your reaction will be, “‘Wow, there’s a lot (of brands) there!’ They’ll see big brands and lots of others, and when they roll (their cursor) over a logo, more content (appears) about that brand.”
Only 250 franchisors represented so far
Currently there are only about 250 franchise brands on the page and more than half the page remains blank. While space remains available, a franchisor can select the pixels of their choice and once owned, forever owned! In other words, the franchisors keep their pixels of choice (and their position on the page) so long as they pay the rent! Like Macy’s, there’s a limit to the shelf space and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
As the “store” fills up with products (i.e. franchise brands) consumers will browse at their leisure and who knows, they may stumble across a brand that catches their interest, even though they never heard of it before!
Many name brands have already landed
They’ll also find well-known brands: PostNet, Blimpie, Mr. Electric, Glass Doctor, Action Coach, Sterling, Maaco, Oreck, Arby’s . . . they all stand out, along with Great Clips, American Leak Detection, Cold Stone, Molly Maid, Ace, Rita’s, Pillar to Post, etc. Many have smartly selected their pixels!
No data entry will put a smile on consumer faces
Consumers will enjoy the fact that they can instantly get info about these companies without entering any data about themselves. 1001franchises.com is not in the data gathering business (imagine how many lies that’s going to save!). Now, that’s different for a franchise sales portal!
Franchisors also like the idea that their lead is their lead and it’s not shared or sold with other franchise companies! (As though that’s really important — look for a future blog on that issue).
But Marty, where’s the money?
So how does Greenbaum Marketing Communications, which “powers” the site, make any money?
The rent is free only for a year. Then it’s $50 per block, and the minimum space per advertiser is 18 blocks, or $900 annually. Yea, so it’s about a hundred grand short of a million dollars in revenue, but who’s counting? This isn’t about money, this is about shopping! . . . Of course, the fee won’t stay at $900 and the site provides lots of back-end opportunities for generating revenue, even without collecting data.
Get your free ad now
Right now, Franchisors, if you enter promotion code IFA2009 when you reserve space at 1001franchises.com, you’ll get free rent for a year!
Congratulations to Marty Greenbaum and his marketing team for conceptualizing a different shopping experience for the franchise community. Creativity and differentiation are two of the signs clients look for when selecting a good marketing team.
Webinar: How To Capture & Keep The Right Customers
Interested in learning How To Capture & Keep The Right Customers? That’s been my most popular live seminar through the years and while I’m still teaching it at franchise conventions, the economy has discouraged me from scheduling a public seminar. That’s why I’m turning the seminar into a Webinar. In the near future I’ll post a date and time when you can get this valuable information live, online, when you join my Webinar. Interested? Franchisors: Line up your entire network of franchisees for this important information! Franchisees and Suppliers: Invite your most valuable customers to join the Webinar — in fact, pay for their registration as part of your customer retention plan! If you want the details sent directly to you, click here. Be sure to let me know that you want info about the HTC&K Customers Webinar.
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