May 2007 Archives

Passing along a note posted on the QuickRewards blog yesterday:
"Very Important Information Regarding Clicks
Today our site was down again for a few hours (this happened 3 times in the past week). We finally figured out what is causing it. A lot of members are opening clicks in 20 different windows(one per click). This has a huge effect on the server and that is why it keeps crashing when a lot of members do that at once.

We will be redesigning the system not to allow it. Until then please stick to one window at a time. I don’t know why you even need to open multiple windows if none of our clicks have timers. If members will keep abusing this system we will have to go back to timed clicks like most other rewards programs have.

Please feel free to pass this message to others. We want to make sure that everyone knows about this."

Remember, the QuickRewards shopping promotion ends tomorrow!

Today's L.A. Times had an interesting report on United Online, the parent company of MyPoints. It discussed the company's history, starting with dial-up internet access provider NetZero, the company's merger with Juno, and its recent strategy to diversify into other websites as the dial-up market dwindles (more slowly than expected).

Stock analysts interviewed had mixed opinions on the company's long-term viability, but it was noted that United Online's stock is up 23% this year, and that MyPoints and Classmates jointly brought in 265,000 new members this quarter, versus just 91,000 the previous quarter. (There wasn't a breakout of how many were new MyPoints members.)

The full article is here.

Greenpoints has entered into a partnership with Harps Foods to offer Greenpoints to customers at their grocery stores.

Harps Food Stores was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Arkansas. The company has a total of 52 stores, in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

Greenpoints' other grocery partners include Lowes Foods (North Carolina and Virginia), Foodtown (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), D’Agostino (New York), Shop 'n' Save (Ohio), and Red Front (Virginia).

Looks like they're heading further south. Hey, Greenpoints, we buy groceries down here in Louisiana, too! :)

Yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an interesting article about the MyCokeRewards program.

The article talks about Coke's use of the program to gain information on 5 million of their customers. The company uses "cutting-edge database technology to collect, enhance and analyze what marketers call 'psychographic' information about its members. Unlike demographic information —- age, residence, race —- psychographic data include likes, dislikes and interests."

For instance, they examine your site searches, your redemptions, and your answers to optional surveys, and then make conclusions about your interests...which allows them to target offers to people who are more likely to respond.

Here are some interesting stats featured in the article:

Time the average user spends on the site: 9 MINUTES
A new user registers every: 5 SECONDS
Registered users: 5.2 MILLION
Number of point codes entered: 7 PER SECOND

If you're interested in joining MyCokeRewards, please email me for a link to join -- thanks!

MyCokeRewards members, earn nearly 100 free points with the codes I posted on Tipblog!

According to a study released on Saturday, 64% of the top 50 financial institutions -- those that account for 67% or more of debit signature spending -- have adopted at least one debit rewards program, up from 40% last year.

11 of the top 50 institutions adopted their first debit rewards program last year. 18 of the 50 institutions actually offer more than one debit rewards program for their members.

The full report is only available to members of the Mercator Advisory Group, but a snippet of their findings is available on their website here.

I've heard some concerns lately about incorrect account balances at Freeride.com, particularly since they've added some re-clickable links on their main page to HotJobs and Smithsonian.

Freeride put a pop-up on their site yesterday, and followed that up with an email to all members, stating that they were working on improvements to their database to speed up the site, and that accounts would be properly credited with points earned on Wednesday the 30th.

To read the full text of the Freeride email, click Continue Reading.

On Monday, legislative auditors for the state of Nevada charged that Nevada's former treasurer and Upromise spent some $6 million over the past 6 years without legislative approval, a violation of three separate state laws.

From Tuesday's Nevada Appeal: "According to Paul Townsend, head of the audit division, the program earned the state more than $11.2 million in program fees since it started in 2001. But only $5.2 million was ever deposited in the state treasury.

The remaining $6 million was spent by the program’s primary contract manager, Upromise, at the direction of [former Nevada treasurer Brian] Krolicki and his staff, according to the audit."

Parents' contributions were not mishandled, the auditors say, but money earned by the state for the program was spent without legislative authorization. Basically, Nevada's legislature authorized $1.2 million for marketing and advertising, legal expenses, and the plan's advisor... but instead, $7.2 million was spent on this -- an additional $6 million!

"Krolicki said he believed the money was not state funds but money the administrator of the college fund, Upromise, was supposed to contribute to marketing efforts to build the plan."

The Nevada auditors are submitting their findings to their state attorney general's office for investigation, saying that at least three laws were violated.

Read the full article here.

Fans of Jellyfish.com's Smack Shopping will be pleased to know that starting today, Smack Shopping will be offered on a 24 hour basis. Here are the details: These will move along slower than regular hosted shows (which will continue on their regular schedule of noon central on weekdays plus 8 central on Wednesday nights, in addition to other ad hoc sponsored events)...but some deals will move along at a faster pace than others. There will only be a quantity of ONE item per deal. 24/7 Smack will not feature guru guessing, but the Outwit game will take place in between every deal.

More on how the Smack Shopping reverse auction works here. Go ahead and join Jellyfish.com here!

QuickRewards.net is doing a shopping rebate bonus promotion starting tomorrow and running through the 31st. In addition to their regular, very competitive cashback rates, you'll get an additional bonus on every order (with the amount depending on your order total; and eBay purchases are excluded from the promotion). Here are the details, from the QR Blog:

"Order Amount*: Bonus earned:
$0.01-$25 ------------$0.25
$25.01-$75.00 ------------$0.50
$75.01-$250.00 ------------ $0.75
$250.01+ ------------ $1

*order amount excludes taxes, shipping and coupons.

NOTES:
-You must mention this promotion when you email us the order confirmation
-Promotion ends on 5/31
-If you place too many very tiny orders just to take advantage of the promotion multiple times we have the right to limit the amount of bonuses you receive (e.g. ordering a $0.50 pen at a office supply store that has free shipping)."

I shop through QR a lot and am very happy with them -- they credit your account with your cashback the same day or within two or three days, and you can cash out immediately to PayPal (no minimum balance required...you can cash out 5c if you want). If you prefer GCs, they have a varied selection, some emailable and some sent by snail mail. If you're not a member of QR yet, please join with my link -- thanks!

What's the big deal about customer loyalty? Why is it important to have happy customers?

- An unhappy customer tells an average of ten people.
- It costs five times more for a business to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Loyalty matters to the bottom line. Customer service is one of the keys to loyalty. Studies show that when customers complain, and their complaint is handled well, they're very forgiving -- only 5% will not repurchase. But if they complain and it's NOT handled well, they will leave, and 90% of them will tell others about their bad experience.

Over the course of the last two weeks, my internet hosting company of three-plus years, IPowerWeb, lost me as a customer. They decided to transfer my websites to a new server, knowing I'd experience downtime, without notifying me first. They had problems with the transfer, causing more downtime. Repeated chats with live customer service resulted in bot-like responses, every time promising the sites would be back up in 24 hours... promising this daily for two weeks. Phone calls resulted in 45 minute hold times followed by hang-ups.

How could IPowerWeb have kept me as a customer? First, they should have notified me in advance about potential downtime from the server move. Even if they had neglected to do this, they could have salvaged my business by offering a sincere apology, a discount on my bill, intelligent responses from informed customer service reps with realistic time frames for my service to return. These folks screwed up in every conceivable way. And I'm not just telling 10 people, thanks to the blogosphere.

Companies, take heed: there's a lesson to be learned here. Treat your customers right, or suffer the wrath of negative word of mouth...and bad feelings that last for years. Memolink can attest to that. "Fool me once, shame on me..."

Sorry 'bout the recent downtime, folks. Glad to be back.

On Thursday, Lowes Foods (well, actually, their PR/advertising firm) won an award for a commercial they made for Lowes' in-store GreenPoints program. The ad won a bronze award in the Regional 28th Annual Telly Awards. The press release announcing the award is located here -- if you'd like to see the commercial (it is kinda cute), click here. My review of GreenPoints is here.

Last night, Jellyfish.com unveiled a new game played among members during their Smack Shopping show, "Outwit the Smack." In this game, a member is chosen at random to play against other members of the viewing audience for points and prizes. This contestant will be asked to guess the most popular answer given by the studio audience to a particular question, while the rest of the audience is asked to guess the LEAST popular answer. Update, 6/13: The rules have been changed -- the contestant and audience are all asked to guess the least popular answer. If the contestant wins, he gets 3 guru points and a prize. If the audience wins, they get 1 point. The Jellyfish member with the most guru points at the end of a calendar month gets a Smack Pass (the ability to buy any item sold during the Smack at the best cash-back percentage).

Yes, it's a little confusing, but bottom line, it's just another way to get folks involved in the daily Smack Deal reverse auction. There are great deals to be had there, so be sure to check in at Jellyfish every weekday at noon central time!

I got a nice email today from Tyler at FusionCash.net letting me know about a few recent improvements to their program.

All PayPal payments are now processed without fees, and while e-Passport was removed as a payment method (few people used it, he said), FusionCash added a new, unique payment method: Direct Deposit! You can choose to have your FC earnings sent directly to your U.S.-based checking or savings account, something no other program offers!

In addition, the site has put in some fraud protection measures to help the program continue to offer such aggressively high offer payouts, including an automated telephone verification system.

I've been very happy with FusionCash over the years -- they always pay when they say they will, they have helpful (and prompt) customer service whenever I have a question, and they do have great rates on their offers -- some which require a credit card and many that do not. They actually have NINE PAGES of offers up that credit instantly upon completion! So, if you're over 18 and a US resident, you might want to give FusionCash.net a shot -- please join with my link!

In a not-so-surprising move yesterday, Freestyle Rewards (the rewards program owned/operated by Q Interactive, who also owns CoolSavings) announced they were closing down effective immediately. I had reported back in October (scan down to Lowest Shopping Rebates, under FreestyleRewards) that I had questions about the program's future because they had decided to eliminate their affiliate program (never a good sign). But in a move that did surprise me, FSR announced they were transferring all their members' accounts over to CreationsRewards.net! Yay, Chris! When I asked Chris for a public response to this big announcement, here's what he said:

"I am pleased to extend FreeStyle Rewards members a warm welcome to CreationsRewards. FreeStyle Rewards members have had their account information transferred over to CreationsRewards where they can begin earning points immediately. I will be sending out an Email to all members within 24 hours to introduce them to CreationsRewards and enable them to login. If any FreeStyle Rewards members had accumulated 2,500 points at FreeStyle, they must visit www.freestylerewards.com to redeem them since we will not be transferring the point information. I look forward to enhancing CreationsRewards even more in the coming months, with a new site redesign underway to improve the CreationsRewards experience. CreationsRewards is here to stay, and it is only going to get better as CreationsRewards continues to grow."

Huge congrats to Chris and his staff at CreationsRewards!

As reported here last June, Levi Strauss & Company sued Memolink in December 2005 for trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, and violating CAN-SPAM. Memolink had been promoting a "Free Levi's 501 Jeans" offer (without Levi's approval, of course), one of those Free* offers similar to the Free iPod offers, et al, that require you to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to receive something for free.

Levi's complained that not only were they not a partner in this offer, the difficulty (if not impossibility) of someone actually receiving their product for free from Memolink created poor good will and a bad reputation for Levi's.

So, Levi's asked for something like $1 million per incident, court costs, three times Memolink's gains (or Levi's losses), yada yada yada.

Memolink responded in February of last year, denying specific complaints of Levi's or saying they had no idea what Levi's was talking about, and further saying Levi's complaint was a subjective characterization of Memolink's offer... kind of a "Says you" mixed with a "I don't know what you're talking about."

The parties agreed to mediation last May, and I've just learned that in September, they agreed to settle out of court.

The details of the Memolink/Levi's settlement include the following: Memolink had to pay Levi's $75,000, Memolink is forbidden from mentioning Levi's in any of their promotions (except in a situation where one of ML's merchants, an authorized Levi's retailer, contracts with ML for advertising), and Memolink had to give 5,000 points (worth about $25) to everyone who attempted the Levi's offer -- unless they have already opted out of future communication with Memolink (which, think about it, is probably 99% of the people...because the suit was filed in 12/05, and the settlement was issued in 9/06). The wording of the Memolink email (see the above link; it's on page 3 of the document) stated that ML neither admitted nor denied Levi's claims.

Do innocent parties agree to pay $75,000 plus $25 per person? I don't know...I'm just floating the question. You tell me.

I think this case has been interesting on a lot of different levels.

First and foremost -- I think Memolink has done an OUTSTANDING job of keeping this out of the media. The average Memolink member has no idea what their rewards program has been getting into and which major corporations they've been ticking off. People considering joining Memolink are equally in the dark. Bravo to Memolink's PR department, for keeping this under wraps while issuing a succession of press releases touting the company's support of well-known and respected organizations such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Toys for Tots, and others. This December Memolink press release, in which Memolink founder and CEO David Asseoff asks, "What better way to celebrate the spirit of the season than sharing our success with another well-respected program?" [italics mine] is a perfect illustration of Memolink's marketing strategy -- try to associate yourself with WELL-RESPECTED organizations in order to garner good will from the public... while keeping them in the dark about what other WELL-RESPECTED organizations like Levi Strauss & Company really think about Memolink.

The second angle that I think makes this case interesting is that it opens the door for other companies whose products are featured in those Free* offers to stop other marketing companies from tarnishing their reputation by association. Why hasn't Apple stepped in to stop the incessant promotion of free iPod offers? Maybe they'll be next.

As always, I welcome your comments.

For a recap of Memolink's past dirty deeds, please view the Related Articles here.

SunshineRewards.com Review

Please click here to join.

Date Launched: 2006
Reward Per Dollar Spent: Varies
Minimum to Redeem: $10 for GCs, $20 for PayPal, $20 for Disney Dollars
Prizes Offered: GCs, PayPal, Disney Dollars, Advertising Credit
Earn Points For: Shopping, signups, visiting websites, referrals, auction bids, reading emails
Participating Merchants List: http://www.sunshinerewards.com/leads_sales.php

Limit One Account Per: Individual 18 years+ with valid email address (minors with parental consent)

Dollar Value of a Point: 1 Credit = $1
Daily "Free" Points: .01 Credit from site visits, .60 Credit for completed daily survey
Value of those Free Points: $.61

Common Rewards for Shopping and their % Equivalents: Shopping rewards are given in % so no conversion is required

Notes:
1. Get $2 for signing up.
2. First 600 daily to visit Sunshine Scratch-Off area of the site have a chance at winning 1 to 3 cents.
3. Miscellaneous earning opportunities via email offers (sometimes up to $4 an email).
4. Members earning 100 credits ($100 dollars) per calendar quarter receive "Super Member" status, which includes "extra paid clicks, extra paid emails, increased shopping percentages, increased payout on some offers, and more."
5. Management is very helpful and willing to accept suggestions.
6. Sunshine Rewards' forum is located here.

Related Articles: 2007 Shopping Rebates Comparison Chart

Upromise isn't calling it a Mother's Day Promotion, but I noticed today that they have temporarily increased their rebate rates on several merchants that folks traditionally shop with for Mother's Day gifts.

These sites have all been increased to a 12% rebate through 5/13:
1-800-Flowers.com, Cherry Moon Farms, FTD.com, Hallmark Flowers (they also have a free shipping on $49+ banner), ProFlowers (and its sister sites Secret Spoon and Uptown Prime), Shari's Berries, and Teleflora (they also have an extra 15% off banner).

Also, HSN was increased to 6% through 5/14 (plus a code for 15% off your first order), and Hickory Farms was upped to 15% through 5/15 (plus a "Save up to $10 on Mother's Day Gifts through 5/8" banner).

Remember, you can opt to receive a rebate check from Upromise instead of putting the money in a college fund. If you haven't joined Upromise yet, please click here - thanks!

Freeride.com has a Mother's Day promo going on through 5/13 -- for every 500 points earned at participating merchants, you'll get a 100 point bonus. Earn 5,000 points or more and you'll be entered into a drawing for a $50 SpaFinder.com certificate or a Virtual Visa. The odds of this drawing aren't provided, which to me makes it look amateur and maybe even a little fishy. And Freeride members need to be sure they understand that only purchases at certain merchants qualify for the bonus -- see the list here: http://www.freeride.com/mday.out.php

Colloquy.com announced the release of a new white paper study that analyzes household participation in loyalty programs. They found that total membership in US loyalty programs is around 1.3 billion, and that the average household belongs to 12 (but is only active in about 5).

The findings include a recommendation that loyalty programs remove their inactive members in order to improve the programs' success. This is something the programs don't want to do, because they like to boast high membership numbers.

I think maybe the best thing to do is to keep all members, but to segment or tier the programs' promotions and rewards in order to entice participation.

Anyway, the full report is available free of charge here (registration required).

I enjoy reading the transcripts of the quarterly conference call between MyPoints' current owner, United Online, and their stock analysts. There are always some interesting tidbits to be found.

This quarter's transcript, released late yesterday, is no exception.

In it, Mark Goldston, United Online's Chairman and CEO, described MyPoints' performance as "impressive," saying it "perform[s] at a very high level for its advertising clients," and as a result, the advertisers return.

However, another comment that I think was significant and may foreshadow changes at MyPoints was from Charles Hilliard, United's President and CEO. "I also want to point out that MyPoints, which we didn't know in the year-ago period, does carry relatively lower margins..." That, my dear friends, is talking about profitability. In response to an analyst's question, Hilliard replied that United plans to "modestly expand the margin this year."

How does a company like MyPoints improve its profit margin? Couple of ways: reduce overhead (for instance, the new building MyPoints just leased probably has lower rent), or drop the rebate percentages it pays members, keeping the difference (in other words, increasing the points cost of their redemptions).

In perhaps a related note, there was big news about a new MyPoints website coming soon. CEO Goldston: "...We made a commitment when we purchased MyPoints that we would dramatically improve the look and feel of the website. The website redesign has been in process for several months at MyPoints, and the new design is exciting and it has performed very well in user testing...Our goal is to have the new MyPoints website launched in the second half of 2007 with the objective of making MyPoints a more appealing shopping destination for the now more than 5 million members and the new potential members, who land on the MyPoints.com web home page."

Now, folks, put two and two together and whaddya get? They need to increase profit margins, and they're releasing a new website. Hello?

United also discussed the possibility of an IPO for its Content & Media subsidiary (which includes MyPoints and Classmates.com). They're still "exploring" and "contemplating" it, so it wouldn't be any time soon.

Thanks to SeekingAlpha.com for the transcript.

MyPoints just signed a 5 year lease on new office space -- 28,500 square feet of it, in fact. Their new office will occupy the entire 34th floor of First Market Tower in San Francisco, on 525 Market Street. It's less than a mile from their current location on The Embarcadero. I'm betting the rent's less, since they're moving away from the waterfront. Interesting bit of trivia: MyPoints' headquarters and Ebates' headquarters are within a mile of each other (even with the new location, they'll be within two miles). I just find that amusing. :)

Click to read the full text of the MyPoints relocation article.

Here's a list of open positions witht MyPoints if you're interested. Hey, you'll get a (relatively) new office out of it. New to MyPoints, anyway...the building is actually over 30 years old.

Ebates.com is doubling rebates for one merchant every Tuesday. Today, Ebates' double-rebate merchant is Coldwater Creek! Instead of their usual 4% rebate, all orders there today will earn 8%! There are over 400 items at 50% off or more in their Outlet, and they offer free shipping on $150 purchases!

Check out the Home & Gifts outlet section for some great Mother's Day ideas -- they have a pretty canvas Magnolia print (we like magnolias down south, hehe) for $17.99, marked down from $45...there's an Amarylis one, too. Look also for the vintage floral pillow for $16.99 (was $35), and they have two heart suncatchers for $3.99! In the Jewelry outlet, there is a sterling and garnet necklace and earring set for $19.99 (was $79)! Spend some time browsing, you'll find lots of goodies!

And I can digress for one second here? Guys, if your wife has had children, yes, you are expected to get your wife a Mother's Day gift. My husband didn't know this, and neither did my brother. Yeah, it's one more thing you have to buy, but look at it this way -- you get a gift on Father's Day. :)

Never used Ebates before? They'll give you an extra $5 sign-up bonus when you join and place your first shopping order!

I've used Ebates for years and it's one of my favorite rewards programs. I recommend them highly...check 'em out!