In less than a year, Scott Bailey has seen the germ of an idea explode into an online advertising powerhouse. And it all came from the thought that he wasn't seeing many small business advertisements anymore.
"Newspaper and television advertising was out of the reach of a lot of small to mid-sized companies," says Bailey, the CEO and founder of LocalGreatDeals.com, which began operating last year. "We started to think about how we could not only grow our business, but how we could help other small businesses do the same."
The website, which began operating in Cincinnati before branching out to other major Ohio cities, offers smaller businesses the chance to get their names in front of local consumers by offering what it calls "a unique and unparalleled local deals/coupons advertising experience." Now spread throughout the east coast and midwest and partnering with local television affiliates websites, Bailey estimates the site has brought more than 500,000 new contacts to its roughly 5,000 clients.
"Consumers go to our website because they can find great deals, and businesses come to us because that's where consumers are," says Bailey.
The website now operates in 25 cities, and expects to expand to 100 by the end of the year.
In October, LocalGreatDeals.com launched sister site DealsThatGiveBack.com. The new site also offers many of the same consumers deals from local businesses, with the added twist that 10 percent of all purchases go to charitable organizations, local schools and churches selected by the consumer. Plans are to launch DealsThatGiveBack in other cities in the near future, following the same footprint of LocalGreatDeals.
Bailey's company continues to grow exponentially, after adding 25 new employees to its Loveland call center in 2010. As both websites expand, so too, will new jobs.
Source: Scott Bailey, DealsThatGiveBack, LocalGreatDeals
Writer: Dave Malaska