New Development

Recently Milos and I had a long discussion about what to do next with Tabblr and we decided to change things up. We had several things lined up that we wanted to work on but we decided to put those on hold and concentrate on our monetization model. Tabblr has been free for both users and businesses and has worked out great so far, but we feel we need a way to monetize so that we can continue to grow.

Our monetization model will concentrate on features that will allow Tabblr to cater to the individual needs of businesses. We will have different types of business accounts that take into consideration the # of promotions and users a business has. Accounts for smaller mom-and-pop stores will be different than accounts for mid-sized businesses. And accounts for mid-sized businesses will be different for national brands. In additional to the new account types, we will offer a new rewards program that businesses can use to retain customers as loyal customers. We will be spending a lot of time on the rewards program because we have an extremely addictive hook that we like to introduce.

Over the next few months it might get a bit quiet from us but rest assured we are working hard on implementing our monetization model. Stay tuned.

Scheduling Calendar and Future App Update

Sorry about waiting so long to update the blog, this past month we have been working hard on improving the business side of Tabblr. The biggest noticeable change is the business scheduling calendar which replaces the old scheduling list. The calendar is extremely robust and easy to use. Businesses can now list promotions visually and make changes on-the-fly with drag and drop. Another feature we worked on was on the backend, a communication tool from us to our members. This tool allows us to email users and businesses with ease.

We are now shifting our focus at improving the user's side of Tabblr. Milos and I have discussed many things and we finally settled on the direction we want to go on the apps and webpage. Our first goal is to get users more involved with businesses. And our second goal is to provide more content on the apps so that anyone from the US can jump on Tabblr. We believe we got something at will satisfy both goals, so stay tuned!

The last few weeks...

Well the last few weeks have been very exciting for us! We continued pushing and we can definitely see that our adoption rate is growing faster than ever before, especially among users. We aren’t seeing a hockey stick type growth yet, but it’s a start. :)

We gained lots of coverage from the press this last week, the biggest one from The Next Web. We talked with Alex (a Chicago native) a few weeks back and he thought Tabblr would be a good addition to his piece on TNW that talks about Chicago startups.

The Next Web

We also talked to Becky from Tech.li (formerly Flyovergeeks) and updated her on how Tabblr has developed since we first talked about 3 months ago.

Tech.li

And finally due to the article from TNW, NBC Chicago decided to do a gallery of the startups mentioned.

NBC Chicago

In addition to the press coverage, Milos and I decided it might be a good time to try to expand outside Chicago. Tabblr has always been open to everyone nationwide but to be honest Tabblr served no purpose outside of Chicago since there was nothing to see. But that’s going to change! We are proud to announce that we have officially expanded to New York! We wanted to give the Big Apple a try since there were several businesses that already reached out to us. Chicago is still going to be our primary focus but we are going to shift some of our marketing efforts on New York and see how that goes.

That’s it for now, stay tuned and keep tabs on Tabblr!

How do you master customer loyalty?

The big question every business has been trying to solve is how to master customer loyalty. Any business can draw in a huge crowd by offering ridiculous deals but does the crowd come back when there are no more deals?

We spoken to many business owners over the last few months and one of the big grips they have is about customers who only come back when there is a deal being offered. Business owners tell us that once you get customers hooked on even the smallest of deals such as 10% coupon or a weekly special on hotdogs for example, they only come back when the deal is offered.

The whole purpose of offering a deal is to draw customers in so that they can come back later and pay for service/food/items at regular prices. But there is a physiological factor that comes into play which makes people feels like they are getting ripped off if they pay full price after getting a deal the previous time.

Offering daily deals is certainly not the answer, daily deals in fact is offering coupons on steroids. The business will get TONS of new customers in the door, but most of them will never come back unless another daily deal is offered. Think about it, after paying $5 dollars for a $10 dollar meal, why would they come back and pay full price?

Using social media is a good step in the right direction. Social media allows businesses to promote and make a personal connection with customers. The idea is to get customers involved with promotions and hopefully get them to spread it to their friends. But these days, it’s simply too easy to “like” or “follow” a business. The exclusivity is no longer there and often times people just ignore the messages coming thru from the businesses because they made the mistake of “liking” or “following” too many. Social media also does a poor job at getting new customers thru the door.

So what is the solution? How do you master customer loyalty and still draw in new customers without breaking the bank with deals? That’s the next big thing we are working on at Tabblr.  Of course it’s not going to be perfected right away but we think we are going in the right direction. Stay tuned!

BTW in terms of our business sign-ups, we are now hovering close to 150 businesses. We are gaining momentum with both businesses and users and we can’t wait to see what Tabblr will be like in another 6 months.

Up to 80

We now have 80 businesses up on Tabblr! The number is steadily growing but adoption rate is still lower than what we like it to be. Still trying new ideas and seeing if we can pick up more businesses and users at a faster pace.

Yesterday I tweeted that we have something special coming up, it's huge! We are working on "featured" activities and also another big feature that I won't name for the time being. "Featured" activities will give an option to businesses who want more visibility for their activities. Within any given search radius, the activity will show up first on the list and be highlighted so that it will clearly stand out. The other nameless feature will involve a very unique twist on how businesses can offer deals. Totally unlike any of the daily deals that are floating around and businesses won’t lost an arm or a leg by offering it.

Lastly we made a little viral video for Tabblr, here it is!

60 Companies Up on Tabblr!

We now have 60 Chicago-based companies signed up with Tabblr! A lot of changed within the last few weeks and we are seeing record hits on our apps and websites.

We were able to talk to a couple of VCs the last few weeks; we got some good advice and were told to reach out back to them after we gain more momentum. We take that being positive because they both seemed to like Tabblr but just thought it was too risky at this point. We totally understand so we are going to continue work hard at getting more momentum.

Memorial Day Special Results and Other Updates

We had our first exclusive coupon offered by Akira this past weekend and the results were pretty good. Jon Cotay the owner of Akira told us to put up an exclusive 25% coupon for the Akira Men Store this weekend and we brought in 120 views. That's pretty good considering people have to be nearby the store to be able to view the deal. We don't have statistics on how many people actually went into the store, we'll have to get that info later on this week. We'll be working with Jon and Akira on getting more exclusive deals down the road and hopefully get something going for all the stores around Chicagoland.

Leona's Restaurants told us that they will be running a few test runs of promotions on Tabblr soon; we'll have to wait and see what kind of specials they run! :) Buckle is still on hold because of their website reconstruction. They are concentrating all their efforts on their new website so plans with Tabblr have been postponed. I'm still working with them on getting Tabblr up with Buckle as soon as possible.

In terms of everything else, we have been reaching out to businesses either to have them sign up on Tabblr or for partnership talks. We are going to initiate talks with a large coupon distributor here in Chicago next week. If a partnership is formed, we believe will be greatly beneficial to both parties but we'll see.

Exciting times ahead, make sure to KEEP TABS on Tabblr!

iPhone App is LIVE!

Finally after 8 days of waiting, the Tabblr app is approved by Apple!

Link

Now with both Android and iPhone apps out, we feel like we are ready to dominate the world! J/king, we realize there are still plenty of people out there that are using Blackberries and the new Windows 7 phone. We will eventually get to them, but we want to get established on tablets first. Our next app will definitely be for the iPad. We have some exciting plans for the iPad and plan on adding a few additional features.

Besides app news, we will be featured in on Crains and Flyovergeeks this week; we'll link the articles up on the front page as soon as they are posted. In terms of national clients, we are still talking with Buckle and now Great Clips. Our meeting with Akira Chicago has been postponed so we are still looking forward to that. We are also looking to talk to park districts and forest preserves around Chicago and getting their events listed up on Tabblr.

Waiting...

We been waiting patiently for Apple to approve the Tabblr iPhone app and our patience is about to run out! :) We are hopeful that we will hear something back this weekend or early next week. The Tabblr app is extremely cool and we think people will really like it.

We are going to roll out a few minor changes on the webpage soon. Something we really want to change is our About page because our current about page is too wordy and too long. Our new version will be short, to the point and with pictures. Who doesn't like pictures?

And lastly with sign ups, we are slowly gaining traction. We held out on going hardcore door-to-door promoting because we have been waiting for the iPhone app. We are also waiting to hear back from the big clients we talked to soon, keeping our fingers crossed.

Android App Complete!

Get it while its HOT! The Android app is complete finished and now we are working hard at getting the iPhone app done. We believe the iPhone app should be done within 2 weeks.

Here is the link to the Android Market: Click here

We also finished designing our window decal. We will be sending them to businesses that have signed up with Tabblr as soon as we get them. Exciting times!

Android App Preview

Big Meetings Coming Up with Huge Clients!

It seems like the hard work we put into Tabblr is starting to pay off! :) We had great success talking with clients so far and we just set up a meeting with a huge client, Buckle! Buckle is a fashion clothing retailer that has 400 stores in the US, 17 in IL alone. We are very excited about the meeting and we are sure we can demonstrate to them the potential Tabblr has and the advantages it can bring to their stores.

Besides Buckle, we have a couple other meetings set up with huge Chicago-based companies, Akira Chicago and Home Run Inn. Akira Chicago is also a fashion clothing retailer and hosts many fashion shows here in Chicago. Home Run Inn is famous for their pizzas and also sells frozen pizzas to grocery stores all across the nation.

Lastly through a close connection, we attracted an executive's attention. He has some great connections within a few big restaurants chains such as Noodles & Co, Potbellys and Meetheads. We are waiting to see what they say. :)

Tabblr is hitting on all cylinders right now and we only been open for 2 weeks! We anticipate the Android and iPhone Tabblr app to be approved and be live by the end of next week.

Andriod App Almost Complete!

We are really close to finishing the Tabblr App for the Android Market! After the Android app we will be developing the Tabblr App for the iPhone and then for Windows Phone 7.

With the Apps out, we will then be able to demonstrate the true potential of Tabblr to users and to businesses. :) We estimate the Android App to be done within 1-2 weeks and then maybe a month or two for the iPhone App.

Keep tabs on Tabblr's blog for more details!

New "What is Tabblr?" Video!

GoAnimate.com: What is Tabblr? by Tabblr

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Attracting businesses...

Woohoo Tabblr offically launched 3/28/11! Although Tabblr took four months to program, we consider that the easy part.  The hard part is now convincing thousands of businesses to sign up. Tabblr is useless to users if there were no activities or deals posted so we recognize that we have to hit businesses right away and hit them hard. But how can we at Tabblr compete with the likes of Groupon or Living Social who have millions of dollars and thousands of sales people all across the country?
 
First of all, no matter how many businesses sign up with Groupon or Living Social, there are still millions of untapped businesses out there. There are plenty of business owners that don't take advantage of any online advertising or social media simply because they feel there is no need to, they are not tech-savy or simply they have been holding off. Although it will be a challenge, we believe getting these businesses to sign up is not impossible. We believe after showing what Tabblr can do and how simple it is to use, that there is no reason why the businesses we talk to won't want to sign up.

Second, we believe Tabblr's openness and free pricing structure is going to set us apart.  Businesses who are already taking advantage of social media and daily deal sites will immediately notice the openness of Tabblr. Tabblr allows businesses to have complete control over their business profile, their location details, and the activities and deals going on at all times. There is no need to for business owners to phone in for changes or feel the pressure of having things "locked in" for a certain time period.  Tabblr’s free pricing structure also doesn't hurt. :) There are no fees for signup, no profit sharing with deals and no advertising costs. Everything on Tabblr is completely free!

We believe Tabblr has a shot in a market that is saturated by Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, Living Social, Foursquare and more.  Although it seems impossible, just remember that a year in the tech world is equivalent to a decade in the real world.  Foursquare started less than 2 years ago, Groupon started less than 3 years, Twitter less than 5 years, and Facebook and Yelp less than 7 years.  As long as you have a unique new idea or a twist on an existing idea that people love, the growth chart is parabolic with tech companies.  We believe Tabblr is that next big idea, Tabblr wasn’t programmed to be like any one company we mentioned but more like the best things about each one meshed together in a logical and very easy to use kind of a way.  

More to come soon….

To Keep Tabs on Tabblr???

Tabblr is a totally new direction for us, Tabblr is the first site where we feel we didn't make things overly complicated.  During the design phase for basically all our projects, we plan and plan and add and add so much stuff that in the end the end product is too heavy and too difficult for people to use. Tabblr is designed with a very simple idea, to help people find things to do at any time.  With Tabblr there is no need to plan, no need to worry about putting in credit card numbers for deals, and no complicated logins. 

As you probably have noticed, Tabblr's visual design is very Web 2.0ish meaning everything is simplified and with big and easy to understand wording.  From the front page to the account page, we minimized all the steps that a user has to take to sign up, keep tabs on businesses, and to put activities on his/her tab.  And it's no different for businesses either, we took every step to make sure that activity creation would be as simple as possible and extremely easy to manage. 

As the weeks go on, we'll be sharing more about Tabblr in detail.  For now explore Tabblr and enjoy all the hard work we put into it.