Nathan Sauser - Arizona Digital Marketing

Getting my Groupon

Have you gotten your Groupon yet? If you’re not familiar with Chicago-based Groupon.com then you should be. Do you shop at Costco or Sam’s Club? Imagine Costco with one product available at a time, similar to Woot.com‘s Deal of the Day.

It’s a simple concept, quantity discounts. A particular merchant, typically a local business, works up a deal. A good example would be a meal deal where you pay $20 for $40 worth of thai food at a local restaurant. Hungry for Thai food? Get out your credit card and get your groupon!

Now in order for the “group” to get the deal 800 people must purchase a $20 meal deal. That’s where the collective buying power idea behind Groupon comes in to play. If 800 people don’t purchase the meal deal then you get your credit card refunded, just don’t go hungry.

I think the really inventive part of Groupon is the impact for local businesses. It creates a whole new way to acquire new customers. I don’t know what the cost is for the business running the Groupon but I would imagine it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than direct mail coupons, Yellow Page Ads, and Print or Radio Advertising. I will add Groupon to my Search Marketing toolbox. If you’re not working and hustling the electronic medium then you really need to get it together.

Do you hike?

Do you use a website or service to do your research when planning your activities?

Shortly after our wedding, my wife and I decided we would take advantage of the wide variety of hiking opportunities that exist in Arizona. That was a little over one year ago and we’ve really covered a lot of ground since.

We’ve been on the Woodchute Trail, Camelback – Echo Canyon, Humphreys Peak, and Badger Springs. We’ve hiked up in Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Page, Pine, and many other places and trails.

None of this would have been possible without my Garmin nuvi250, and my subscription to Trails.com.

I think the Garmin GPS goes without saying as most people know the features of a car based gps navigator. One cool feature I found was being able to send Google Map coordinates directly to my GPS receiver. There are benefits to being even a little connected!

The best investment we made in our new hobby was our annual subscription to Trails.com. Trails is site that has an awesome database full of information for any type of hike, bike, or outdoor excursion. Speaking of GPS, I noticed that the staff at Trails just recently added GPS features to their trail database.

What I found to be most helpful were the trail write-ups and the “my hike” features. Trails uses excerpts from major publisher hiking and trail books. You have to be a paid user in order to access the trail write-ups and topo maps, it’s $49.95 a year and in my opinion very worth it. We’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth in one year.

The “my hike” features are really neat because you can add your comments about the hike or trail you just walked. You can also add pictures and submit your comments and pages to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Do you use a different site, or have any suggestions on where to look for more information?

ReTweeting without the RT is stealing

I know that most non-tech savvy people have a hard time getting their arms around Twitter, as do I at times. In recent months Twitter’s growth has been exponential so it’s possible that new users aren’t sure how to properly retweet a tweet, got it? Good.

A Retweet is: A way for Twitter users to share Tweets or information that they find helpful or useful from someone they follow.

Ok, cool, but how do I ReTweet?

Glad you asked, according to Mashable here is the correct way to ReTweet:

Copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually put “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet. Here’s an example:

– The Twitter user @benparr tweets: I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!

– You retweet by posting RT @benparr I just heard that Apple is releasing new iPods in July!

So unless you’re lazy or don’t understand simple examples there is no reason not to use the RT @username to give the original author credit. Without the RT your followers don’t know that the tweet came from someone else and that’s just not fair.

Arizona Hiking Trails

Having been a boy that grew up in the midwest (Iowa in fact) I was excited but yet leary of the hiking opportunities that awaited in Arizona. I must admit that 5 years into my adventure in the “Valley of the Sun” that I am pleasantly surprised at how much fun I’ve had on my two feet.

Best Trail In Phoenix, Az:

Camelback Mountain

Hiking to the top of this mountain is not for beginners. This is not a tourist destination unless you’re willing to work. The summit trails are not for beginner hikers. Camelback Mt. can be deadly in the hot Arizona summer. The false summits on this hike can drive anybody crazy. Do your research and preparation and you’ll be fine. In addition you’ll get a great view of the ENTIRE Phoenix Valley.

Best Trail In Northern Arizona:

Humphrey’s Peak

Humphrey’s Peak is the highest point in what is known as the San Francisco Peaks. Humphrey’s Peak is the highest point in Arizona at 12,637 Ft. Humphreys Peak was named in about 1870 for General Andrew A. Humphreys, a U.S. Army officer who was a Union general during the American Civil War, and who later became Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. However, a General Land Office map from 1903 showed the name San Francisco Peak applied to this feature (apparently borrowed from San Francisco Mountain on which the peak stands). Thus the United States Board on Geographic Names approved the variant name in 1911. In 1933, the application of the names was rectified.

If you live in Arizona or are planning to visit let me know and I can get you details on these two hike or other hikes in Arizona. Give met a shout at nathan@nathansauser.com.