Small Business in Canada Needs to Get More Out of Online Marketing

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Aug 08, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Finding the best value in group discounting is maybe most difficult
for small business. Small business owners in Canada have learned over
time that the benefits of group discount can be mixed and don’t
provide a sustainable approach to building business. Now a “born in
Canada” digital marketing platform, CentrSource is promising a better
alternative and launching a “Win Big” contest on Facebook to promote
themselves as the better alternative.

Group discount models routinely offer discounts ranging 50-95 percent
off at restaurants, spas, clothing stores and similar small business
operations. The remaining revenue is then split with the group
discount marketing platform, leaving the retailer with little or no
margin in the sales generated.

“Small business owners face enormous challenges every day to market
their business and reach new customers,” said John Kiru, Executive
Director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement
Associations (TABIA). “Getting your business marketed online is a
challenge for many and having to do it with razor thin margins is not
a choice that works well for everyone.”

Created by Canadian founder, Bob Westrope, CentrSource is a new
digital marketing platform that empowers business of all types and
sizes to generate sales and qualify leads by letting them create and
control the type of promotion they promote to customers and manage
their own budget in a unique “pay for results” approach. To highlight
the unique benefits of this alternative model, CentrSource has
launched a “Win Big” promotion that enters business owners in a
competition to create their own ad on CentrSource with consumers
voting for their favourite ad to award a prize of $15,000 and 6
months free advertising.

“From our perspective CentrSource is the better choice for local
businesses across Canada that doesn’t box business owners into the
“one size fits all” approach common among our competitors,” said Bob
Westrope, Founder of CentrSource. “CentrSource offers small business
an online marketplace where they can compete and succeed on their own
terms. Our Win Big contest is a great way to get introduced to this
concept and win a big deal for your business in the process.”

The CentrSource Win Big contest is open to any small business in
Canada between now and August 31, 2011 simply by registering on
CentrSource and creating an ad for consumers to vote on. The ad that
generates the most votes on the CentrSource network will be given
$15,000 in prize money and a 6 month term of unlimited free
advertising on the CentrSource network. CentrSource is a network that
not only brings together buyers and sellers but made available in
Canada through media publishers such as Corus Entertainment, the
Pattison Group, CBC, AOL Canada and many more.

Westrope believes that the appeal of CentrSource will be quickly
apparent to small business owners who can use the platform to extend
the reach of the approach they know works well for their unique
business. Of particular importance according to Westrope is the
localization features of CentrSource which allow business to target
the ads only to consumers in their local area if that’s what they
want. When combined with the ability to create an offer that fits
best with their business and their circumstance Westrope if confident
that small business owners will find the experience preferable to
what is offered by the traditional online marketing models.

“When you know what works well for your business you don’t want
someone else pre-judging or restricting your options for reaching
customers,” says Westrope. “Unlike many group discount platforms,
CentrSource won’t limit offers to one per day but instead empowers
business and consumers to post and receive as many different types of
offers as they want, when they want and not according to some
predetermined schedule.”

Because CentrSource is a flexible and open digital marketing
platform, it is well qualified to help business create offers that
arise from the changing circumstances of everyday business. Small
business can use CentrSource to quickly and effectively promote a one
day sale or one time promotion that may relate to an unforeseen
perishable or opportunity in their business. Because the platform is
flexible to timing, content and localization it is ideally suited to
meet the needs of small business owners who must manage and
capitalize on opportunities as they occur. It is an approach that has
attracted the strategic alliance support of Canada Post.

“This unique online advertising capability will deliver value to
Canadian businesses on many levels,” says Laurene Cihosky, Senior
Vice President, Direct Marketing at Canada Post. “This customizable
service will offer enhanced geographical targeting, valuable
measurement capabilities and the potential for significant return on
investment.”

For Canada Post, entering the online-advertising arena is a natural
extension of its business. “We have the experience, brand recognition
and network to help businesses connect with their customers, whether
it is through physical or electronic channels or a combination of
both,” says Cihosky. “By extending our Admail services to include
online advertising and CentrSource, we can offer Canadians more
choice and flexibility than ever before.”

About CentrSource

CentrSource is a digital marketplace that helps people find the best
value on goods and services available from a wide range of local,
national and on-line businesses. We connect people with offers that
matter to them through a new network of well-known and emerging
media.

Strategically aligned with Canada Post, one of Canada’s most trusted
and respected organizations, CentrSource allows businesses of all
types and sizes to generate sales and qualified leads in keeping with
their needs and budgets. Created in Canada, CentrSource is the
preferred choice for local business who use the service to profitably
engage customers when, where and how they choose. For more details
visit
www.centrsource.ca .

        
        Contacts:
        C2E Consulting
        Lars Hansen
        416-406-9966
        lars@c2e.ca
        
        
        

SOURCE: CentrSource

        mailto:lars@c2e.ca
        

Copyright 2011 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

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‘Facebook My Favorite Song’ Blends Hip Hop, Social Networking In YouTube Music …

Facebook is a hugely popular service. There are over 750 million of us who use the social network. Most of us look at Facebook for a few minutes a day to update a status and untag some unflattering photos but some of us like Facebook a little too much.

The New Crew, a hip hop duo, have written a song entirely dedicated to their love for Facebook. In the song they proudly state that Facebook is their favorite thing to do when they’re alone. It seems like the pair spend an awful lot of time on their smarthphones — even more than I do, and that’s kind of shocking. They even admit to using the service to pick up girls with hot profile pictures. At least they’re honest!

The New Crew might be completely obsessed with Facebook, but it obviously spoke to YouTube users. At the time of this writing the video has over 50,000 views. Sadly, their Facebook Page has just 24 fans, which leads me to believe they actually do have a lot of work to do when they’re logged in to help increase their fan base. Perhaps writing a song that’s a little less repetitive would help.

What do you think of this song?

[h/t BuzzFeed]

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