How do reward app companies get paid for consumers scanning receipts? How do they turn that into revenue? Are they selling to data brokers?

Here's an evernote file of things I've found and liked around the internet re: 2 sided marketplaces. All digital, although not sure exactly how "successful" they are - but more for reference. Quality / Copywriting https://www.yourmechanic.com/works#mechanics https://www.airbnb.ca/?locale=en http://powhow.com/ Community Engagement http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks https://www.healthtap.com/ https://www.airbnb.ca/wishlists/popular https://www.wello.com/class/set/Yoga/ Categories / Search http://www.etsy.com/ http://fiverr.com/ https://www.airbnb.ca/s/moncton?source=hdr http://takelessons.com/search?q=4gq30T Deliver of Service www.hotelstonight.com www.uber.com https://www.medicast.co/ www.wello.com www.takelessons.com www.taskrabbit.com How it works https://www.taskrabbit.com/how-it-works https://www.zaarly.com/howzaarlyworks http://takelessons.com/students/how-it-works https://www.wello.com/how-it-works/ https://www.medicast.co/how-it-works https://www.healthtap.com/#how_it_works https://www.wello.com/how-it-works/ https://www.odesk.com/info/howitworks/client/ http://www.guru.com/emp/takeTour.aspx The Why http://nest.com/smoke-co-alarm/why-we-made-it/#nobody-ever-looks-up Supply Side https://www.elance.com/q/find-work http://www.guru.com/pro/index.aspx https://www.odesk.com/info/howitworks/contractor/ http://takelessons.com/teachers https://www.zaarly.com/selling http://www.skillshare.com/teach https://www.udemy.com/teach/ www.powhow.com/open-your-own-studio https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/new Conversions http://www.justanswer.com/ http://www.skillshare.com/ Referals http://www.powhow.com/open-your-own-studio uber.com/invite/rjif2 Subscriptions http://www.powhow.com/open-your-own-studio http://premium.docstoc.com/subscribe/plans http://www.rocketlawyer.com/plans-pricing.rl Help Center http://help.zaarly.com/ https://www.airbnb.ca/help Pricing http://www.rocketlawyer.com/plans-pricing.rl http://www.powhow.com/open-your-own-studio http://premium.docstoc.com/ http://mixergy.com/premium/ http://wistia.com/pricing https://teamtreehouse.com/subscribe/plans

The best way to work around something like this is to map out the long-term strategy in phases. Build out a brief project map that outlines what they will receive within the 1-3 month period, the 4-7 month and the 8-12 month period. Set micro objectives for each period and this will give the client a bit more confidence in the short-term plans as well as the long. The key thing to remember here is that the client will often be worried about being tied into a contract that doesn't deliver results. As a result, you need to show why you need the time that you do. One thing that I often throw in is an extra incentive for longer contract lengths - for example, an extra PR/content campaign or some paid advertising extras. Try to assure them of some shorter term results that you can obtain as 'quick wins' and build their confidence this way - the major targets will always be longer term but if you can demonstrate that there will be progress between then they will be a lot more receptive.

You have a lot of options to market to boomers and seniors. That age group is facebook's fastest growing segment. Build ads that target that age group and think about having a facebook page to supplement your efforts there. Older people search just like the rest of us as well, so build an adwords campaign around keywords that might align with your product. Contact me if you'd like to chat about some options or need some help building your campaigns. Good luck!

I started on Clarity just by answering questions last summer. I used to love Quora but really disagreed with a number of changes they made and so when Clarity launched answers, I started answering questions. I'm incredibly busy but let's face it: we all have extra time. We spend it looking at our phones, on Facebook, socializing with friends, whatever way each person does it, we all spend time on non mission critical stuff. Because I genuinely enjoy helping others, I treated Quora as a way of relaxing the same way others would read news sites or blogs. And so I switched all that time to Clarity by answering questions. I don't recall the exact specifics but by providing real answers (not just, "call me, I can help you), I had my first call request within about a month of my first answer. And I got a nice review. And some more questions answered, and a couple more calls, and a couple more reviews. And from that point, the call volume increased. Simultaneously, I started referring all "can I pick your brain" requests on LinkedIn and email to my Clarity account. And so some calls initiated that way. More reviews. Now, a year later, I have done over 200 calls, with the majority of it inbound from Clarity. Take it from me, if you make the time, and provide genuine help to people, you will get rewarded for it. But like anything in life, if you're not willing to invest the time and resources, you're unlikely to see any return.

I don't even know how to answer this. Do you know what the difference between McDonalds and the local burger joint that is filing for bankruptcy is? It's marketing. McDonalds is worth billions of dollars not because of the quality of their food, but because of their marketing. Marketing is not an expense. A janitor is an expense. Your computer is an expense. Marketing is an INVESTMENT. Would you shop around for the cheapest heart surgeon? Of course not. Because you would likely end up dead. Why, then, do you shop around for a marketing expert? Are you ok with your company going bankrupt? Is that worth the small savings to you? No. Of course not. Hire someone who is good at marketing. Hire someone who knows what they are doing. Buy yourself a Lamborghini with your profit the first quarter. Get a beach house in hawaii. Grab a yacht. Or, try to find your business the cheapest heart surgeon you can and then spend the next five years wondering why such a solid business idea failed in the first 6 months. I'm passionate about this exact topic because all those statistics you read about "70% of businesses failing in two years" are solely because of horrible marketing.