Groupons and Adwords

One Internet marketing site that is getting a lot of buzz lately is www.groupon.com. Groupons are coupons that can be purchased during a one day period and are valid only after the group size meets or exceeds a preset limit. Once the limit is reached anyone who signed up for the deal gets charged and is sent a link where they can print the coupon. Groupons don't have to be used on the day they are purchased, but they will have an expiration date. That's what I was able to gleen from their FAQ page. Most of the Groupon examples on the site are for discounts of 50% or more.

The only problem I see at this point is that you can only list (and use) Groupons in about 45 major cities in the US. In order for a business to list a Groupon, they need to contact a market representitive at Goupon.com. The system isn't automated like Google Adwords or Ebay. They must have decided that having a marketing rep for each major city would be the best way to control who is listing and would maximize profits during the startup phase. Groupon.com gets a piece of each Groupon sold, so they have a vested interest in your success. It's a great concept, but you may have to wait a while before it gets to your city and with interest so high right now, good luck getting in touch with them.

I recently setup a new Google Adwords account, but I've had trouble with delays in getting the new ads approved. The ads are sitting in the dreaded "Pending Review" state. A search of the Internet shows that many other people are in the same boat and frustrations are running high. My old Adwords account is running well and I have not noticed any delays when adding or modifying ads. I did open the new account with a $100 coupon from Google, so I suspect they may have a lot of new customers who took advantage of that promotion. Other rumors are that Google has cut back on their ad approval staff. Google makes a lot of dough from their advertising system, so I'm surprised that this is happening. It just makes it that much harder for a Internet Marketing consultant like myself to deliver positive results.

Hand-Made Greeting Cards

There isn't a better time of year than the Holiday Season to buy greeting cards, and the one-of-a-kind designs by Kara's 101 Creations, LLC make excellent gifts for your friends and family. The personal design possibilities are endless and Kara can help you select the style and color scheme to meet your needs. And, with prices starting at $2 each, they are often more affordable than mass produced greeting cards. Kara's web site makes it easy to request more information on a variety of hand-made products. Also visit, Poetlady's Craft Store for more great gift ideas!

Podcast Mixer

This is the XENYX 502 mixer which comes with the USB Podcast studio from Behringer. I recently purchased this mixer for use with GotoWebinar. In addition to the mixer, the Podcastudio comes with a microphone, headphones, and a USB adapter all for around $100.

I had been using a USB headset for live audio and a digital recorder connected to the mic-input on the computer to play recorded audio. The problem with this is that you have to go into the audio setup on the webinar control panel to switch between the two devices. Connecting a mixer to the USB port on the computer solves this problem. This setup allows me to add the recorded audio into the mix without any delay. The USB adapter acts like a sound card for input and output between the mixer and the computer. I have headphones and external speakers connected to the mixer in addition to the microphone and digital recorder.

The sound quality on the microphone is excellent with very little noise. It would be nice to have a mute button on the mic input. (You have to turn the level down to zero in order to mute the mic.) Other improvements on my wish list are an on/off switch and a more solid plug for the power adapter. The control knobs are made of plastic and don't feel like very high quality, but for 100 bucks, you will feel like you have moved up a level with your Internet broadcasting.