Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : TIGI : Building Innovative Marketing Relationships -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jazzbo who wrote (118)	3/25/2000 9:41:00 PM
From: ztect	Respond to of 177

(cc) Card ideas and synergies............ The last several PR's plus the new management team's prior connections open up an whole realm of "combo card" possibilities.... ==================================================== Note some recent PR language...... "...Virtually all of Lufthansa's 98 million travel customers..." (March 24, 2000) "...first of TSIG.com's myCards that enables its users to buy multiple products with a single card...." (March 24, 2000) "...TSIG and Affinity will provide a broad range of travel-related products to TSIG's established marketing partners...especially the disability community.." (March 13, 2000) "...serving the American disability community..." (Feb. 28, 2000) "...the leading provider of guestroom telephones to national hotel chains, including Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and others...." ( Jan. 28, 2000) ============================================== One common theme is travel. Lufthansa, Affinity, hotel chains. Another theme is servicing the needs of the disabled community. Just some wild speculation on the first theme... My product cards offering discounts at hotels, car rental agencies? My coffee, phone or music promo cards purchased and promoted by Marriot or another hotel chain for marketing info on patrons? Purchases of tsig products that count toward miles on Lufthansa or other airlines? Tourism is a huge business. Kerigan was tied into the hospitality industry through his prior company. Teleglobe and Lufthansa are connected globally. I'd venture to guess that some sort of corporate cards are in the works that connect many of these seemingly disparate deals into some pretty interesting synergistic partnerships. z

To: Jazzbo who wrote (118)	4/1/2000 9:31:00 AM
From: ztect	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 177

(marketing) New Distributor Model Did anyone ask about an affiliates programs or distributorships? My thinking on this one is that the prior structuring of the distributorship program was the problem, not the concept of distributorships. Just to remind everyone, the prior structure consisted of three levels or tiers, each with a different cost, territory and level of support. The least expensive was $7,000 or something like that The next expensive was around $17 or $19 thousand and the top tier was $32,000 The most expensive gave the distributor exclusivity to an area determine by population, a number of cards of both promo and 20 unit types, training and support. The least expensive gave no exclusivity and you could lose access to your immediate area if someone purchased a $32,000 distributorship. All distributors were suppose to get some cut per card of programs they helped to facilitate like Life Time Learning. The distributors got a much larger cut per card of deals they initiated. Now there were some inherent conflicts with the old distributor model and the new national card and corporate card strategy. For example, one of the most lucrative places for card sales for prior CCI distributors were the many groups within schools. Another problem was the cost of entry specifically the cost of the distributorship was a large cost to recoup. Plus the history of mistrust betw. CCI and distributors carried over causing additional problems. Tsig.com IMO rightly concluded that the cost of overseeing, managing, implementing, training a distributor program at the time last fall when they decided to put a hold on this program, would be a drain and diversion of limited resources But the distributors served a very useful function. They put a human face on, plus provided personal interaction, follow-up and through to the prior Music Card program at a grass root level. They also initiated a number of new other less dramatic deals at the local level. Looking theoretically at the impact they could have had on the Babe Ruth and Life Time Learning Deals gives a much greater overview of the out reach a distributor type program could give tsig. With distributors contacting schools or coaches after receiving materials, these distributors could effectively and quickly answer any and every question facilitating participation leading to much greater overall participation in national deals. But does tsig.com have to ressurrect the old complicated multi- tiered high cost of entry distributor program to get this outreach, face time and follow through? The answer is NO. Online affiliations models and surf the net precedents could offer some clues to how a simpler less exclusive more grass roots oriented program could work. Online affiliation model usually offer a percent of each sale on a "click through" a banner placed on one's web page. Your (JWC's) sites has these banner click throughs. So does tsig.com with their booknow links. The surf the net model offers an aggregating incentive for each new member signed up by an existing surf the net member. Your site I beleive has a link to one of these as well. Now tsig could do something comprable online like I suggested before by offering a reward for referring people to the site who buy cards. For example, get five people to buy a card and receive another 10 free units or with a mileage card one could receive 50 bonus miles for each card referral to use toward air travel. However, with tsig.com prior distributorship model, the programs like Life Time in place, and the strategy of using the card to drive off line traffic online to tsig and tsig partnered sites, a grass roots efforts could and should be utilized based on a small profit share with additional incentive so any share holder in theory could function as a distributor. For example, a share holder has a child in school in a French Class needing to raise money to go on a trip to Paris. That share holder's school received the LL package of info, and it got buried on a desk. Other clubs hitherto in that school were satisfied selling rapping paper. Now the share holder goes into that French class and provides the face to face, and follow through leading to a tsig.com fund raiser in that school that otherwise would never had occurred. Sure the shareholder has an INDIRECT incentive to promote the my cards. What adds to the bottomline of his investment ultimately will help his investment. But the shareholder should also get a DIRECT incentive like a distributor. For example, for a fund raiser tied to a pre-existing arrangement like LifeTime for every card sold through a share holder's instigation, the share holder should get a profit share for EACH card sold. Say the fund raiser in the French class sold 200 cards, the share holder would maybe get 25 cents per card or $50. What does tsig.com get for these efforts? Gross cards revenues of $2000 plus the purchasing of these new customers. A $50 dollar profit share isn't asking too much. The cut per card for the share holder could and should increase for the number of cards sold. Eg. 0 to 500 cards - $0.25 per card ....500 to 1000- $0.50 per card ....1000 up- $1.00 per card. There could be additional incentives for reaching higher thresholds plus additional rewards ie. generate $100,000 in gross sales get a profit cut of 10% on top of cut per card. NOW for new deals instigated through share holders for new deals with one's church, or business add some to the profit share Eg. 1 to 500- $0.40 per card ....501 to 1000- $0.75 per card ....1001 plus.........$1.50 per card So in effect any share holder through a profit share incentive could effectively become a distributor. Former distributors could be back in business, or effective sales people could make selling cards a second business. Tsig has to surrender a profit cut. But the efficacy of programs like Life Time Learning will be much much more effective and direct than through mailings, thus tsig.com will have a much bigger customer base simply by giving its shareholders incentives to implement existing and new programs. Deals with promo cards would be tweaked differently, but in principle the model would be the same possibly with reload or percent sale residuals. Anyway, comments thoughts? z cc. tsig.com