Year-end thoughts by a fellow citizen and entrepreneur

Dear family, friends, colleagues and SoRewarding community,

Before the hustle and bustle of the holidays begins, I wanted to take a moment and thank each of you for your continued support of SoRewarding and our mission to spread goodness and integrate giving into people’s daily lives.

Today, an incredible man named Nelson Mandela passed away.  As I read all the kind words and farewell posts on social media from around the world, I’m reminded that no matter how long a person lives (in Mandela’s case – a good long 95 years), our time on Earth is still limited.  So the question is: What is it that you plan to leave behind? In Mandela’s case, he left behind a wealth of love along with examples of how to care for one another and promote peace.

His life is a good reminder that serving others, doing good, and spreading love is so much more fulfilling than only serving ourselves.  I work a lot – almost 18 hours a day between the two companies I founded, SoRewarding and Demetrio Tequila.  But recently, I’ve also tried to make more of an effort to appreciate each day and enjoy the people whom I’m fortunate to have in my life. 

Many of you who know me know that my goals in life have been simplified over the last few years.  I want to live a life that I can be proud of, try and never hurt anyone, help those in need, spend time with the people I love, take care of my family, and help as many people as I can without any expectations or needing anything in return. 

I’m sure most of you aspire to some similar goals – and I’m sure you all know how easy it is to get distracted by “the daily grind” and forget about what you want to get out of life. I’ve struggled with it for years and continue to even today.  But I’ve realized that when I truly stay focused on achieving these goals, I find myself to be a much happier and grateful person.

If you stop and think about it, most of us are extremely fortunate.  If we have something to eat, a roof over our heads, the love of family and friends and the spare time to be reading this crazy rant of mine, then we’re doing better than most of the people in this world.  But how often do we actually stop and feel grateful for all that we have?  For me, it actually takes quite a bit of reminding each day and then only does my day start to really feel spectacular.

2013 has been an interesting year for SoRewarding, to say the least.

I knew when I founded SoRewarding that it was not going to be an easy road.  Although social enterprises are somewhat of a hot topic today, five years ago, it really wasn’t.  So trying to convince investors and even nonprofits and businesses that we were building something truly innovative and useful that would benefit communities as a whole was difficult.  But with the help of a few investors and a great team, we headed towards making SoRewarding a reality.

After four years of tinkering around, research, development, re-development, etc., we finally launched our go-to-market site at the end of 2012 and we started off on full throttle, heading to the stars.  Towards the middle of the year, we ran out of gas as one of our lead investors and friend of mine exited the company for personal reasons.  This was an extremely tough time for the company and we had to lay off a good portion of our staff while we tried to figure out how to keep the momentum we had built up.

So, our lead investor leaves and there we were, trying to figure out what to do next.  Do we close up shop?  Do we sell it?  What to do?  Well, as it turns out, I was only good at doing one thing at that point.  I’m terribly embarrassed to say, but I just moped around for a few weeks while feeling extremely sorry for myself.  But more importantly, I felt horrible for having to let go of some of my colleagues who had also become good friends of mine.

So what did we end up doing?  The few of us who were left decided that we were going to pursue our mission of making SoRewarding the stellar site we knew it could be – so that’s exactly what we did. 

Today, I’m extremely thrilled to announce our latest and greatest release of our site.  Our CTO, our Director of Ops and our development team have outdone themselves with this release and I couldn’t be more proud.  Below are some quick highlights about the website, and some other exciting news from the past couple months:

• This week, SoRewarding.com hit its 1 millionth unique visitor – a big milestone for us.
• Today, we unveiled our newly designed site – a much cleaner and simpler experience with some really cool technologies.  Have a look when you get a chance. 
• With today’s launch, we also opened up our site for 3^rd party integrations. (http://www.sorewarding.com/developers)
• SoRewarding won the “Next Big Thing” award at Denver Startup week in September.
• We recently announced a really exciting new partnership with PVBLIC Foundation.  Together, we plan to make a lasting and meaningful impact in the philanthropic space.
• We are extremely proud to see a financial company like Janus Capital Group taking a leap into enhancing their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts.  We are seeing more big names join us in making a positive impact in the community.  Janus Capital Group has many cool initiatives planned, but one example of how they plan to work with SoRewarding is through the use of SoRewarding’s trackable “Spread Kindness” wristbands to promote kindness as a company – really awesome to see. 

 As 2013 draws to a close and we eagerly look forward to 2014, I’m truly energized for the future of SoRewarding and excited to watch as our platform continues to transform communities and make philanthropy and spreading kindness a part of people’s daily lives.

I guess all this rambling is a long way of saying thank you to all of you who have supported and continue to support SoRewarding and our mission. What I’ve learned is that if you want something bad enough and if you believe in what you’re doing, there is always hope.  And a big reason that this company has been able to come as far as it has is because of the people – our investors, employees, nonprofit partners, business partners, community supporters, family and friends. Together, we will continue to charge forward and make a difference in this world.

Remember that question I asked earlier about “What is it that you plan to leave behind?”  Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, I just want to cut out all the superficial stuff and enjoy each day, each person, each moment as though it was the last thing I did.  And when my time comes, I hope to somehow (not sure exactly how yet – I’m working on it) leave this world knowing that I hopefully made a positive impact in the lives of the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet, but also in the lives of those I didn’t.   

People – that’s what life is about.  Not material things, not our status in life, not ourselves, but others.  As 2014 begins, let’s focus each day on how we can serve one another and make this life worthwhile.

Here’s to a happy life!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7uIG8KYhg

Marion

Connect… Give… Grow… Community

It’s a novel concept, doing something that not only benefits you but also benefits others around you.  You may have heard of it as a ‘win-win situation’ – designed to benefit all participants.  People have heard about it, but not many of us have seen it in practice.  It’s more like some unachievable goal in a distant far off land, it’s possible, but takes too much effort.  Often times the mindset is something like this: for everyone to benefit – I’ll need to benefit first and then I’ll help everyone, which can results in a perpetual ‘me’ state.

SoRewarding helps you, your business, or your organization to make a positive and long-lasting impact for everyone in your neighborhood.  For this blog entry, let’s elaborate on how Businesses can use SoRewarding.

Connecting

For businesses, the goal is to make connections with people.  As a business, you make connections with a positive, kind and generous audience by creating a page on SoRewarding.com.  Individuals, fellow businesses and Nonprofits will see your business page on SoRewarding.  You’ll want to make sure your information is complete (links to your website, FB, etc.) so that users are able to explore who you are and make that initial connection.

Giving

To give… is easier said than done.  How can my business give?  I’m sure it’s something that every successful business owner has put some thought into.  After all, we’re here because of the loyal support of our friends, family and community… It’s only natural to want to give-back. 

How about offering your product or service at less than the normal rate?  This rewards your current customers and attracts new ones to try your business.  How about giving a percentage of the sales to a local non-profit?  … ready for the Matrix moment? 

What if I told you that you could do both, through SoRewarding.com and it’s easy.  It doesn’t take more than a couple minutes if you have your business page set up.  As to not detract from this blog entry, you can learn more about publishing discounts, here. 

Growth

I’ve connected with a new audience by having my business page on SoRewarding.  I’ve published an offer that rewards my customers and that also gives to local Nonprofits.  My question is this, has this really helped the growth of my business? 

Well, let’s look at the numbers.  In 2011, 65% of households donated to charity.² As a household that donates to charity, you should assume that that same household will also be more inclined to support businesses who donate to charity versus those who don’t.  A study conducted by Cone Inc. in 2010 found that 90% of consumers (about 278 million people) want to know what cause your business supports. A whopping 79% of consumers would switch to a brand associated with a good cause and 83% wish more of 

the products and services they purchase and retailers they use would support causes.³

Community

If you’ve followed along up until this point, I hope you’re able to paint a picture of how everyone in a community benefits from socially responsible businesses.  Focusing on philanthropic work as a local business has the added benefit of being able to see the people you are helping too.  So now that you’ve been given the information and the tools… get to giving! I invite you to use www.SoRewarding.com for an easy-to-use site that connects with kindness.

1.              http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42
2.              http://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-giving-statistics
3.              http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2012/01/31/philanthropy-and-small-business-win-win-situation/

Our newest SoRewarding Video Release

We recently released our newest SoRewarding video (above).  It was a struggle to squeeze everything we wanted to share with the internetz in a minute and a half, but I think we managed to do a decent job.   Besides, for all the stuff that didn't make it in the video, we can write about it in our blog, right? amirite?

So, in the video we tried to highlight how SoRewarding is a game-changer in the daily-deal space and is a win for EVERYONE.  Seriously, EVERYONE.  By everyone, I mean like each party involved in anything that happens on our site.  So, who is everyone?  Valid question.  Everyone starts with... you guessed it... YOU!  Then the businesses on our site.  And last but not least, our cherished non-profits.

Our beloved users win because they get to try new places, meet new people when we host events and of course, save money.  So we have deals on our site for users, but so what?!  A lot of sites do that.  OK, ok, i got ya... keep reading.  Here's where we are different, we don't consider our users little minions or sheep that we herd into buying specific deals. You can request your own deals... you know, on stuff that you actually want. We have a list of great local businesses.  You choose one.  You send them a request, say $10 for $20.  The business accepts, rejects or counter-offers within 24 hours.  If it's accepted or counter-offered the deal is published to our homepage, for everyone to buy.

Our darling businesses/merchants win because they get exposure to new customers, but here's the real kicker. The merchants on our site can publish their own deals, whenever they want, for any discount they want.  Oh, they don't want to publish any deals?  Well then, they can decide to accept, reject or counter-offer the deals our users request from them!

Now, onto our cherished non-profits... Our favorite part of this entire thing. For each and every transaction made on our site, we make a donation to a non-profit of the buyers choice.  We've got a lot of different non-profits to choose from so that there is something for everyone.  We've been lucky to have so many non-profits wanting to work with us.  The reason for this, we make a difference for them.  They receive donations and in-turn make our community a better and more connected place by furthering their worthy causes.

So, for our users, you can request and buy deals that you actually want.  Our merchants get to publish the deals they want or accept user requests they like.  And non-profits always win, they receive a donation from SoRewarding anytime a purchase is made on our site.  Now go onward and create the deals you want.  Support the causes you love. :-)

Cheers!

SoRewarding Merchants!

Hi Friends,

We’ve got some new merchants on SoRewarding.com for you to create deals with!  Some of the awesome merchants that are now taking deal requests are listed below: 

Aria Inspired Cuisine, Extreme Pizza – Denver, Japon, IndulgeWine bar, Pine Creek Clothing CO, and All Corners Carpet Cleaning.

All you need to do to send a deal request is: 

1.       Select a merchant
2.       Enter the value you want
3.       Enter what you’re willing to pay for it
4.      Select a non-profit to receive donations
5.      DONE

Send a deal request today and you’ll have a response tomorrow…   Get deals on the things you want and for the value you want, while helping your community. 

PRO-TIP:  Increase the likelihood of your deal being accepted or counter-offered by not asking for 100% off. J

Feature Your Business

Make your business more successful and recognizable among your community, right now.  Interact with non-profit organizations, the people who work there and their supporters.  Mingle with other business owners and their customers.   Publish an offer to your business for any discount you want to as many or as few people as you want.  Be a catalyst for donations to non-profits and the betterment of your community.

HOW?

Unlock the potential of your business by creating a Merchant Page for your business on SoRewarding.com.  You’ll be joining fellow merchants, great non-profits and potentially new customers on the site.  We like to think of it as a utopia, a setting for the growth of your business and the strengthening of our community.

Growing your business has never been SoRewarding.  Join our community today by making a personal profile and then adding a Merchant Page for your business. 

Questions?  Find us here:  contact@sorewarding.com

Make a difference today. Make a difference tomorrow. Make a difference now.

I think it goes without saying that many of us take for granted what Non-Profit organizations do for us, our kids and our community.  It is commonplace for non-profits to work behind the scenes, quietly providing help and care to hundreds, thousands, sometimes millions of people.  Not for accolades or recognition but based on the principle of humanity and to lessen the suffering of others.

At SoRewarding.com we have 15 non-profit partners.  We believe that each one of these profits offers positivity, happiness and immeasurable value to our communities.  You can learn about our non-profit partners by visiting each of their pages.  For example, the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado page can be found here:  http://www.sorewarding.com/page/big-brothers.

Non-profit pages make it easy to find a mission statement or get information like website or phone number, but the BEST part is that you can DONATE directly to your favorite organization through their page on SoRewarding.com!  Look at the picture below that shows the Mile High Leaps andBounds non-profit page, you’ll notice a ‘Donate’ button.

You can log-in to SoRewarding.com and make a donation to any of your favorite non-profit organization with the click of a button!  We like to think this will help raise awareness and increase donations made to these wonderful organizations and people who make so many things possible for the less fortunate.  Visit SoRewarding.com … save money, connect with your community and make a difference today.

Business owners! Have we got something for you…

Based on speaking, listening and meeting with business owners… We proudly present to you: SoRewarding.com - Merchant Pages.  Our merchant pages give you a way to increase your exposure and get involved with your community!  

See how our merchant pages look here:  Merchant Page, Get one!

Check out a few of the features for Merchant Pages below!

Publish your own deals

• No more time spent working with sales representatives from a thousand deal companies.  Create customized deals that benefit you and your customers the most.

Receive deal requests

• Have requests sent directly to your business from paying customers.  Accept, reject, or counter-offer the requests with a click of a button from your mobile device or on SoRewarding.com.

Enjoy new customers

• SoRewarding brings you customers in your area to your business so that you can win them over and keep them coming back again and again.

Get paid

• You don’t need anything upfront to run a deal.  On the day your deal runs, buyers will pre-pay and you’ll get paid in full a few days later.

Connect with your community

• Each time an offer is purchased on SoRewarding.com, we donate to a local non-profit.  Your business will receive recognition for making these donations possible and gain exposure among the supporters of different charity organizations and the community as a whole.