Martin Berns

Getting into the Swing!

2010-03-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

3/1/10….It is comfortable and high flying!

I am starting to become acclimated to my new role and I must admit that it is enjoyable.

I no longer have to spend my day to day hours administering MediaNet Group operations. That torch has been passed on to the new management leaving me the time to get back to my creative roots.

I am still the CEO of the BSP Rewards division but that subsidiary has a tried, true, dedicated and experienced staff that only requires a minimum of directions. With James Yagielo heading the technoid department and Stefanie Kitzes spearheading new business development (and a lot more)…I can concentrate on new growth initiatives.

I am developing a multitude of new incentive, distribution and payments initiatives for the DubLi division on MediaNet. It is a world wide effort and is bringing a new excitement back into my work day. I feel like a Special Projects Consultant looking for new and better ways to add value and expand the business. It is a mind boggling endeavor and therefore exceedingly engaging. We should be able to announce some of these milestones over the weeks and months to come….I am having more fun than ever!

Until next time…..

It’s a Funny Feeling!

2010-02-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

2/09/10… I’m sitting at a New Desk both physically and mentally.
Here we are in our new office digs and they are beautiful. I am sitting here and looking out my 6th floor window at glorious Boca Raton, Florida…..only 10 miles from our previous office but light years apart.

It feels like my whole life has been an entrepreneurial adventure that all of a sudden, has evolved into a corporate environment. What was a small company of 12 people a few months ago, is now part of a growing corporation of nearly 50 with offices in Berlin, Vancouver and Boca. By its very nature, the culture has dramatically shifted.

There is no doubt but that it is a change for the better with great future growth potential and an expanded and talented staff ready to take on the challenge…but I must admit that a part of me does miss the family style atmosphere of yore.
I now actually have more time to get back to my marketing roots and to take on special projects that could lead to new and exciting growth potential for MediaNet, DubLi and BSP- and the feeling is exhilarating!

Founding and running MediaNet and BSP left me with little time to concentrate on the new creative and expansive marketing programs. Now that I can focus more on BSP, I am will be able to take on specific growth projects. I can again put my ancient college marketing and advertising courses (if I remember them from over 50 years ago) to use as I did when I was had my own marketing consulting company. With any luck, some of the programs for DubLi and BSP Rewards will be operational and you will be able to see them in the months to come.

As I mentioned in my last blog, “I am really looking forward to seeing how the future takes shape. I am sure the ultimate result will prove to be interesting….to say the least.”
Until next time…..

We’ve Moved Uptown

2010-01-19T12:28:00.000-08:00

1/18/10… What promises to be an exciting New Year!

Together at last. The merger happened months ago, but DubLi, MediaNet Group and BSP Rewards are now physically coming together (in the USA) under one roof.

We have migrated into our new offices in Boca Raton and they are befitting a dynamic company on the move. It is the perfect location and office suite for us to meet and greet our clients, business associates and investors from around the world.

It takes a lot to excite and old geezer like me but I can actually feel the immense electricity generated by the young turks all around me. They emanate the aura of an established business but combined with the dynamics of true entrepreneurship. It is a great feeling and I can see myself becoming totally immersed in the process.

My wife and kids keep telling me it is time to retire but they know it is not in my nature. On the other hand I can see myself as a consultant someday, passing on whatever limited knowledge I have garnered over the years to those who might find it useful. Be it near or far, that time hasn’t arrived yet. Right now I have plenty to think about and do with respect to the tasks required for our new expansion.

The Grand Opening of our new “digs” will be on January 30th at which we will be fully operational with our great staff, our transplanted additions from the Berlin office and the new employees joining the team.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the future takes shape. I am sure the ultimate result will prove to be interesting….to say the least.

Until next time…..

Holiday Greetings to All

2009-12-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Where did the year go?

This is the festive time of year and it is particularly joyous for me. It is not just because of the holidays but due to the fact that this turned out to be a wonderful year for our companies (MediaNet and BSP Rewards) and for me personally.

As I have mentioned, we merged with the DubLi Companies and in the short aftermath, it has proven to be a real boon – technologically and economically, and brought together a whole new family of associates. Additionally, he stock market has acted very favorably with the announcement and our stock (MEDG) has been on an upswing – and I must admit that has been a nice year end benefit for our shareholders!

Right now I am feeling both nostalgic and excited with the oncoming of the New Year. Nostalgic because our little team has lived through a lot of growing pains over the years to help us reach this point- and as the company grows a little bit of the family community will naturally change. I am excited because of the opportunities that the future holds for the combined companies…. and I believe the cultures will blend harmoniously.

December 24th is the date of our annual Holiday party and if I know our team, and I do, it will be another fun filled event with everyone partaking in the games, gift giving and over indulgence of great food. James, our head technoid has not let us down yet!

My next blog will be in 2010 (where did the year go?). I wish all of you a wonderful new year! I am anticipating a great one, for both our old and new teams, and the company we will be building together.

Even more importantly, I wish my family, friends and associates the happiest, healthiest and most rewarding year ever!!

Until next time…..

My Job Just Got Easier

2009-11-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

…In fact, it’s a CINCH

MediaNet, through one of our subsidiaries just completed the purchase of a unique software platform for database tracking, monitoring, statistic tools and the widget known as CINCH and Connect.

Our BSP division has been searching for some time to find a desk top widget that would enhance our BSP toolbar. The acquisition of the CINCH platform brings applications to us that were beyond our expectations.

CINCH is a desktop application and personalized shopping assistant. CINCH assists customers by delivering one-click ease and security for access to online shopping by providing a two-way communications channel for personalized content and customer feedback controlled by the customer and without using a browser.

In other words, it allows us to offer our BSP Mall clients and members access to relationship and comparison shopping right on their desktop. For instance, if they are looking for a particular TV the CINCH searches all merchants and shows the results and prices…neat! It also allows us to send special coupons, announcements and special communications to the directly instead of using a browser and email….even neater! CINCH for smart phones is under development and will provide mobile access to the same powerful tools…..super neat!

We have been building and enhancing our BSP Mall (the largest in the Galaxy) for many years. By combining our platform with DubLi and CINCH, we will now be able to offer amazing nuances that can be introduced at record speed.

ON-line reverse auctions, Mall shopping and product search and desktop communication – a power play that is just the beginning of what I believe is a most exciting opportunity. The combination is destined to start everyone talking and along with the viral aspect, is making my job a whole lot easier.

Until next time…..

It’s Official

2009-10-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

It’s Official
MediaNet – BSP and DubLi are all one!

10/20/09… MEDG completes Merger Agreement

Our parent company; MediaNet Group Technologies (MEDG) completed the merger with CG Holdings, LTD, the parent of the DubLi Companies.

How does this reflect on our MediaNet/BSP Rewards business? Exciting positives all around!
For MEDG shareholders: DubLi adds financial strength, a state-of-the-art auction and trading platform and opportunity for the Company to expand world-wide. DubLi’s international expansion will add a new dimension to the DubLi/BSP combined programs around the world …and potentially bringing enhanced revenues and earnings to our Company – and ultimately building the value of our Company for our shareholders.

There are a multitude of synergies being explored that will establish DubLi Auctions and BSP Rewards Malls as truly unique, with competitors scrambling to try and play catch up.
The MediaNet combined DubLi/BSP offices are going to be headquartered in South Florida which will result is a smooth, day by day cohesive melding of operations.

We can see the rainbow and will be steadily moving toward that proverbial pot of gold that hopefully I believe will enrich all of our lives – socially, intellectually, technically and financially.
Today starts a new day…and I and the combined teams are excited!

Until next time…..

Big Travel Month

2009-09-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

9/22/09… The Travel Miles Are Piling Up

I haven’t unpacked my bag during most of late August and what now has continued into September.

When I moved to Florida in 1959 I made a vow never to go north during the winter so I am cramming all of the trips in while warm weather abounds.

I had a wonderful visit to New Jersey to meet with our clients at Univers and USI. They are substantial companies in the insurance space and we are working on multiple Malls for them and their clients.

We (Stefanie and I) went to Lexington for the annual Fortune Fest where we got to meet and greet over 2400 of their reps. Stefanie got to step on the stage and make a full presentation to the entire audience…..and did an outstanding job! We announced the formal launch of their Canadian Mall. Now their reps can partake in both the USA and Canada.

Then, as we were closed Labor Day, I snuck off the Chicago and Michigan for a quick vacation with friends and family – and I thoroughly enjoyed the few days. Should I feel guilty that I am already looking forward to the next holiday?

Then it was off to Santa Barbara for CJ University. Commission Junction is one of our large affiliate programs and we had the opportunity to meet directly with many of the large merchants we have in the Mall. The education and relationship building was sensational.

This week we have visitors coming in from NY so I won’t be on a plane again until next week – Boston.

I am not complaining. Actually the travelling is kind of exciting as we are meeting with clients, prospective clients and suppliers – and getting ready for what could be a great holiday season!

Until next time…..

2009-08-17T13:25:00.001-07:00

Good news for everyone involved with MediaNet and BSP Rewards

8/17/09… MEDG signs Merger Agreement

Last week the Company made a major announcement that could have a positive impact for MEDG shareholders and our BSP clients and Mall users.

Our parent company, MediaNet Group Technologies (MEDG) signed a merger agreement with CG Holdings, LTD, the parent of the DubLi Companies.

What does that all mean? A lot!

For the Mall users: The doors open for expanding the Mall platform with many additional and enhanced savings, benefits, games and technology.

For the Clients: The expansion of the Mall relative to Mall users should increase traffic and consumer benefits which would result in an enhanced value added proposition for you.

For MEDG shareholders: The present and future DubLi reverse auction visitors, clients,
Network of Business Associates and international expansion could add a new dimension to our BSP programs around the world potentially bringing enhanced revenues and earnings to our Company – and ultimately building the value of our Company for our shareholders.

The BSP Mall is continually growing (over 1075 merchants) as is our client and Member base. The business combination with DubLi offers us a multitude of benefits which will greatly add in our expansion.

I am excited with what looks to be a Win –Win for all parties.

Until next time…..

2009-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Audiences Are Getting Bigger

6/25/09… Stefanie Speaks Up

Stefanie Kitzes, our dynamic Director of Business Development, went to the Fortune High Tech meeting in Charlotte as planned. What wasn’t planned was the overwhelming reception she received from the multitude of attendees.

The reports that I received basically let me know that from now on I could stay home and send her in my place. Fortune Fest, their Hollywood scale event is coming up over the Labor Day Weekend in Lexington, and guess what – I’m not staying home! I wouldn’t miss that event for anything (but I will undoubtedly allow Stefanie do most of the heavy lifting).

This week we launched our first Mall for the Spanish Market. I didn’t realize that there were so many derivations of the language and only our version one is up and running. Fortune was kind enough to open it to their Spanish speaking reps for review and we expect to be getting input and tweaks for weeks to come.

As far as business goes, I am happy to be able to say that Mall transactions continue to grow in spite of, or maybe because of this bad economy. More and more people are going to the web for their purchases and everyone is looking for discounts, rebates and coupons. Happily our BSP Rewards platform includes all of those desired features.

In my next blog I should be able to tell you about an exciting mall expansion (even greater and grander) and some very interesting new clients.

Until next time…..

A Highly Successful Launch

2009-05-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

5/26/09… The DUBLI Mall Is Off and Running

The DubLi Mall was introduced two weeks ago and has proven to be one the fastest growing launches we have ever had the pleasure of bringing to market.

DubLi is a reverse auction company that features auctions on name brand items from Gucci to Harley Davidson. It is a unique program where the prices of the items are reduced with every bid – the opposite of eBay.

DubLi has been operating in Europe with over 1.5 million users and they are now expanding into the US and Canada. We are more than thrilled that we have been chosen to launch their shopping malls for both countries. You can view the auction and mall at www.dubli.com.

This weekend is travel time for another of our clients. One of the top representatives of Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing is hosting a meeting for about 2000 representatives. We have been invited to train new and old reps on the value of their private branded BSP Mall and how to get the most out of it for personal savings and as a valuable method of recruiting. Stefanie, our Director of Business Development, will be making the presentation and doing the training. We couldn’t have a better emissary!

Until next time…..

Great Business in Lexington

2009-04-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

4/28/09…I just returned from Lexington. The city and the people (our client Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing) were most hospitable.

We are in the midst of expanding our relationship and tweaking our mutual customer service departments to handle the increases in membership. We started with 15,000 Fortune members in our mall and the number has now increased to over 75,000.

Fortune representative enrollment is growing everyday and they are preparing for two more major launches- one for the Spanish market and opening of a Canadian division. BSP Rewards has built specific platforms for each and plans are in place for a May introduction.

Stefanie joined me on the trip and handled the customer service orientation beautifully. They now have an even more excited customer service department with a better understanding of the multi-faceted benefits of the Fortune Rewards Mall. We also discussed how we could improve and enhance our BSP customer service for them.

Additionally, they had Stefanie record an overview of the Mall to be given to all new representatives and I did a video to be offered to all their reps on the mall rebates and commissions. All in all it was a very productive visit and we look forward to presenting at Fortune Fest on Labor Day. They expect over 2,000 attendees – I better begin practicing the presentation right now.

Until next time…..

A Lot of MORE People

2009-04-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Scottsdale for the kickoff of a new, exciting and multi-faceted client – DubLi. They are a reverse auction company that has over 1.5 million users in Europe and they are now coming to the U.S. and Canada in a big way.

After an opening performance by Jordin Sparks (of American Idol fame) I introduced the DubLi Shopping Mall (powered by BSP) to over 1000 of their reps and partners. The reception was overwhelming for Jordin and the excitement carried over for the mall (I am happy to say that it was almost to the same degree).

DubLi is a worldwide online trading firm. It is composed of two very unique and individual business models; DubLi.com - a “reverse” auction portal for high level branded merchandise and DubLi Network - the business opportunity where anyone can establish their own business.

The most striking feature of the DubLi.com’s auction portal is that it hosts only high quality inventory from the top-notch manufacturers around the world. DubLi.com developed a breakthrough concept from the traditional bidding and revolutionized the concept of the “reverse auction”’ in a big way. DubLi.com serves to be the best ’reverse auction’ site on the World Wide Web and is now bring it to the North American Continent.

The BSP Shopping Mall is a value added benefit for both the shoppers and the independent sales reps. It offers savings, rebates and coupon from over 800 of the Nation’s top merchants… and a whole lot more. The auction shoppers and sales reps will be offered these additional savings while the reps additionally are able to utilize the mall as an exciting recruitment tool for the business opportunity.

The program is set to launch in May and we are looking for it to be one of the fastest growing shopping malls we have ever launched. I will keep you informed.

Until next time…..

A Lot of People

2009-03-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a client’s meeting and it was an eye popping experience in beautiful San Antonio.

It was the Fortune Hi-Tech Spring Fling with over 1000 of their reps attending for a good time and training. Stefanie Kitzes, our Director of Business Development was with me and right in the thick of it. (This was the small meeting. A greater number of the reps will attend the Fortune Fest in August for which we have also been invited).

We were invited, along with a handful other high impact suppliers, to speak to the crowd of 1000+ (15 minutes - me) and to man a booth for 2 days to answer questions (mostly Stefanie). We were overwhelmed and thank God for Stefanie…she was fantastic!

By the way, they held a business opportunity meeting during this time and I am happy to say, they featured the Mall as one of their important value added benefits for the program. The reps told us that it is not only a great savings feature in this economy, but also a powerful recruiting tool for the business.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND. BSP Rewards developed a private banded Mall for Fortune which started with 15,000 rep members. It has now expanded to about 67,000 and is growing by leaps and bounds every month. Needless to say, practically all attendees were already Mall members and their word of mouth brought the uninitiated to our booth - anxious to sign in.

The management and corporate staff of Fortune could not have been more gracious or hospitable. It was by far the most organized and informative shows I have attended. It is a pleasure to be associated with such a professional, high quality organization that demonstrates continually how dedicated they are to their representative organization.

The phone hasn’t stopped ringing (again, Stefanie to the rescue). In fact she had a telephone presentation and training for 100 people on Saturday – one of many to come.

Next month we will be in Scottsdale for a new direct marketing client. Again they expect over a thousand people. I anticipate that they will be just as excited about the Mall as the people were at Fortune. That’s good news for BSP.

Until next time…..

Making Lemonade...

2009-03-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

I believe that we are going to get some sugar for the lemonade.

The year has started with a bang and it looks like there will be more to come. Don’t get me wrong, 2009 doesn’t look wonderful for the economy or the stock market – but it does hold great promise for BSP Rewards.

Three things are true in these times. Consumers want (1) inexpensive entertainment, (2) to save money and (3) to save money. Accordingly, (1) movie ticket sales are up (2) Internet shopping is up and (3) money saving web mall traffic up.

We don’t have much to do with (1) except that we sell discounted movie tickets and theater gift cards on our web malls. But we have a lot to do with (2) with our Internet virtual malls and (3) having the most robust rebate and discount mall on the web. As luck (?) would have it…we are in the right time at the right place.

To illustrate the point, we are starting off the year with a growing lemonade stand.
We just announced that we have expanded its footprint within the network marketing channel with the implementation of a new programs for FHTM Canada, the Canadian branch of the successful Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing program in the U.S. and Your Ultimate Plan, a new product launched and marketed by JMG Net-Worth, AND …. also announced we have built the private branded web mall for Capcom® Entertainment as part of the Capcom Unity Visa Card program. The mall is a value added feature in conjunction with the release of Street Fighter® IV.

Capcom Entertainment is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and the first video game company in North America to offer a co-branded Visa rewards card program. The program offers accelerated rewards with retail and merchandise partners through the Capcom Rewards Mall, powered by BSP Rewards.

A pretty good start to the year, if we say so ourselves and the beauty of it is that there is more to come. Boy, I love lemonade.

Until next time…..

The Winding Road Through 2009

2009-02-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I turn it’s the same message. “2009 will be a rocky road (and no one is referring to the ice cream). As far as BSP Rewards is concerned, we are well positioned to weather the storm.
We are starting off the year with a excellent backlog of business. The malls we hoped to launch in Q4 of ’08 were delayed, but not shelved. Assuming there is no further change of plans we should begin launching those private branded malls in the first and second quarter. I can’t guarantee results but can say that the new clients we are working with are substantially larger than those of the past.

We are expanding our platform to be more flexible and versatile. We have added functionality tailored to the needs of many our market channels. These include enhanced rewards, expanded loyalty and incentives and our load to debit card functionality. These new features are proving to be the door opener that attracts major clients.

In keeping with our new client base, we are developing a new expansion and innovative design for the malls. Some of the items we are working on include: an expanded merchant network, doubling of the discount merchandise catalog, a desktop widget, expansion of our instant print coupons and a special program that allows coupons to be redeemed at specific merchants. Exciting stuff!

Changes are happening on the personal side of our corporate life. Christina, our amazing head of customer service is getting married next week (to a really nice guy). Thankfully for us, she is only taking a one week honeymoon. Can it be that she loves her job so much that she can’t bear to be away any longer? (Not).

Bruce, one of our web site technoids, and our jack of all trades around the office, has moved to cold Connecticut. Move from Florida to Connecticut? Would make me wonder! But fret not - he is remaining A BSP man and will be telecommuting to his desk in Florida.

So the road looks a little rough for the economy, but we remain optimistic. These are times when online shopping (our space) is on the rise and consumers looking to save money every way they can (our space) and companies and non-profits looking to increase loyalty and bring forth new revenue streams (our space).

So, the dire economic forecast for 2009 offers a fantastic opportunity for companies in our space…..and we think we may be in the best position to take advantage that opening.

Until next time…..

Was This The Best of Years or the Worst? Or Maybe Somewhere in The Middle...

2008-12-31T06:21:00.000-08:00

Well, 2008 is over and it does my heart good to say goodbye to the old and in with the new. It truly has been the most unique and frustrating I have ever witnessed (I wasn’t around for 1929.)

As for MediaNet and BSP Rewards, the year showcased many opportunities and several challenges.

Our stock started the year at around .17 and ended at about .04 with some people selling at the last minute for tax write-offs. The price reduction seems to reflect everything that has happened in the overall market (if indeed a stock of our size really reacts to market conditions.)

This was a year of growth, but maybe more so of development. Yes, we are going to end the year with an increase in revenue over last year (and that is good) – but the lessons we learned and the growing pains we experienced were worth their weight in gold.

The organic growth numbers from our existing rewards malls has been considerable. We have a pipeline full of programs that we hoped would launch during the last three months and are now scheduled to commence in the upcoming quarters. As the saying goes, “there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip” but if nothing spills, everyone concerned with BSP will be happy campers.
On the plus side of the ledger, we accomplished some pretty impressive things in 2008 which could result in some exciting growth in ’09. We were able to use our upgraded platform as a vehicle to create new, innovative rewards programs with our clients, several of which will launch early next year. Going into the year we have a better perspective on the extended scope of our platform and some unique areas where our program may exhibit higher usage and more attraction.

We signed agreements with two new marketing partners that have already borne fruit and we look forward to launching large scale programs through them in the coming months. These new relationships, combined with our existing marketing partners and in-house marketing efforts offer exciting opportunities.

On the light side of things, we had another fun-filled holiday party. It was held at the office as usual (to keep the costs down of course.) Our entire staff of 13 (and some of their family members) attended along with a few members of our Board. James (our head techie) and Ema (our all around administrator), and Stefanie (Business Development Director) planned, coordinated and acted as MC for the silly party games (great fun) we play every year. It felt good to share the camaraderie and laughter with the greatest staff anyone could ask for.
So to answer my original question….it was all of the above, but because of the roll over programs coming up, 2009 is looking good!

I will keep you posted. Until next year….

The 3rd Quarter

2008-11-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

How has the economy affected me and BSP?

On a personal level….Never mind, I don’t want to discuss it. I know the economy is a great big downer so I don’t open my statements to find out how just how much I am down. I have made a decision that the best policy is to wait a year and hope it recovers.

On the other hand, our BSP Rewards business is doing all right, and getting better.
We are in the right place at the right time during a bad time. What do I mean by that?

BSP is sort of in the retail business. We build private branded web malls for all types of companies, groups, debit card issuers and non-profits…and the retail industry is getting pounded – BUT the downturns are in the brick and mortar sector and not relative to internet e-commerce. In fact internet sales are increasing, which is a wonderful thing, as we have the “Largest Web Mall in the Galaxy”.

The year is proving to be quite interesting due to the changes is our merchant mix, new clients and enhanced profit margins. At the beginning of the year we dropped our largest merchant from the program. Although they created a great amount of transaction business for us (approximately $3 million), the margin was small and the cost associated with customization for them proved not to be economically beneficial to the company. We felt we could replace that transaction volume and do so at higher margins - and we did.

During Q3 we increase the number of merchants in our mall to 764 – a gain of 28. We increase the number of mall members from 555,104 to 572,651 and maintained our year to date transaction volume at increased gross margins – even without the big merchant.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2008, gross revenues increased 64% to $573,203 compared to $350,565 for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007 and the first nine months of 2008 resulted in a gross revenue increase of 138% to $1,767,689 compared to $742,482 in the same period of 2007.

Comparing the 2007 and 2008 nine month, after adjusting for the dropped client, the figures are even more impressive.

We recently announced additional branded web malls that are coming on board (WXEL Public Radio and Television) and Information Strategies (a large newsletter publisher) and we hope to feel a little of the impact from them starting in December. We are getting close to finalizing some significant new web malls for some major companies…. Please hope, along with me, that we can sign them.

I will keep you posted. Until later…

Where Have I been?

2008-10-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting time in my personal and corporate lives (sometimes it is hard to tell them apart – just ask my wife).

I have been doing a great deal of travelling over the summer – from the mundane to the exotic. Chicago, New York and Lexington, KY on the business side and London, Spain, Casablanca, France and Italy of the working vacation side.

New York was New York. It’s a wonderful city to visit and provides a great potential for business (both past and future) with the extended value of housing Wall St. The expo I attended was more of a boutique trade show focusing on direct marketing and although always an interesting expo, it does not produce a great deal of business. The prime reason for the NY visit was to meet with existing contacts and to let the financial market have one more glance at me before I hibernate in our Florida offices for the winter.

Chicago was decidedly more interesting. It is much more hospitable and has the added benefits of Chicago Hot Dogs and Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. In other words, it is a delight to a my gourmand palate.

The trade show was the largest venue for the Motivation Industry and all of the companies listed on the gift card section of the BSP Rewards Malls were there. I am not sure that it was such a great show for the exhibitors but it was excellent for us. There were substantially fewer attendees this year and even booth spaces that were paid for in advance by some of the companies remained empty. The economy strikes again!

On the other hand, our vendors had more time that they could spend with me and were more motivated to work with us on special promotions and greater discounts. We were welcomed more warmly than last year – but that was probably because of increased purchase volume we are attaining with them – you think?

The European and Mediterranean vacation was sandwiched in-between the two trade shows and frankly, I loved it. I was celebrating my 50th (yep) anniversary and my wife decided that she deserved a major vacation. The only caveat was that I could take my world BlackBerry and be on the hotel and ship’s provided computers for one hour in the morning and one hour at night. I have got a great wife who understood I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy myself for that length of time if I wasn’t able to be in contact with the office and clients.

So, I am back and rejuvenated and working on some interesting “stuff” right now so look for some interesting news in my next blog.

Until later….

Licensing at its best

2008-07-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

WOW! LIMA was a gigantic show.

I travelled to NY a few weeks ago to participate in the LIMA Show. To say the least, it was a unique experience.

To begin with I should tell you about the LIMA organization. It is comprised of over 1200 companies involved it the licensing of products or the use of their names. The members and exhibitors at the show ran the gamut from Disney, to Mattel, to Sony…actually the Who’s Who of Name Brands.

BSP Rewards has been appointed the official loyalty/rewards/incentive/promotional partner of LIMA – and we are extremely proud of that! Take a look at the web site www.bsprewards.com/lima. Needless to say, this opens up a world of possibilities for our BSP platform.

We stuck our toe in the water at the trade show to get a better feel of the industry and the potential and actually had a floor office to meet with potential clients. We presented with two of our outstanding strategic partners – The Ignition Network (a full service marketing and promotion organization) and Prepaid Solutions (the division of West Suburban Bank that issues debit/prepaid cards that promotional and BSP points can be loaded on to). Our trio of companies showcased a homogeneous platforms of promotional services that have never been offered before..really cool.

We did a little exploring of the show and visited many of the name brand booths. It was almost like visiting a theme park as the big company’s displays were both large scale and extensive.
I would like to give special thanks the LIMA staff for their assistance and enthusiasm. We are as excited to work with LIMA as they are with us.

As always, I try to accomplish as much as possible during my trips – especially when in New York. I travelled the day before the show to see some potential clients and spend a little time with Wall Street types. As it turned out, it was well worth the extra day – and not just for the 3 free meals.

But that may be the focus of my blog next time.

Until later….

Texas Payroll Card Show

2008-05-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

… Discover Card Strategic Partnership

Well I returned from my Texas trip thrilled with our relationship with Discover but not having time to see much of Austin.

The flight was interesting and bumpy. I flew to Dallas for my Austin connection and as fate would have it, we ran into the largest band of lightening storms Texas has seen for some time. I arrived a hour late into Dallas but the Austin flight was delayed as well.. no harm – no foul.

The Payroll Card Show was held in the convention center which was only a 5 block walk for my hotel. The offsite meeting I had the on the second day was at the Four Seasons Hotel and that was only a block for where I was staying. I had to walk right by it on the way to the convention center.

All in all, I had a walking tour of about five square blocks which wasn’t enough to take in what was described to me as one of the great cities in the U.S. Although I didn’t see much of the city, I saw a great deal of the APA Payroll trade show – and that was wonderful.

It is amazing how the doors open when you can go around to all the booths that Discover Card has a relationship with and are introduced as their strategic partner. Discover Card sent an email and a PowerPoint presentation a week before the show to all of the companies that had booths.
It outlined how the BSP program was an excellent payroll card “value added feature” which was “merchant funded” by our 750 participating retailers. Needless to say, it opened a lot of doors for us and we already did five demonstration follow ups in this first week after the show.

By the way, one of our clients, Global Cash Card, had a booth at the show. We had a chance to spend some time together and draw up the marketing steps for payroll card programs they already had us layered on to – Ruth’s Chris and StaffMark.

We came up with some exciting promotions that they will be utilizing on additional programs they are launching. By the way, Global Cash Card is a phenomenal company to do business with. Exciting stuff!

I will be updating you on our further inroads into the payroll card market. With Strategic Partners like Global Cash and Discover, it should prove to be a very interesting ride.

Until later….

Busy Times

2008-04-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

Canada, Trade Shows and Travel

It has been another interesting month which started with the Card and Payment prepaid debit card trade show. We jointly presented with our strategic marketing partner – Meridian Enterprises and their MeridiCard. The show was targeted to the banking and debit card issuers and our BSP “merchant funded” rewards platform got a lot of play.

We are in the conversation and proposal stage with various card issuers and have already announced our relationship with One World United to build them a private branded mall and to add the BSP platform to their Debit Cards.

What makes this so unique is that most of their cards are being issued in Canada and it opens the door for BSP to a large Canadian market. We already have nearly 200 merchants in our mall that service this market which gives us a giant head start on the program. We had plans to expand and serve our Canadian neighbors this year, and the One World Card relationship is our first step toward a larger and growing presence. Hail Maple Leaf!

We are now looking at the network marketing industry and some of their payroll cards that serve Canada as the next step in our expansion. We have already private branded malls for 5 such companies and initiated and launched a category on all of our malls that feature the Canadian merchants. We are now busy on developing a platform totally tailored to that market.

This past week was a busy one for us. Between a Board of Directors meeting and a guest speaking engagement and introducing our newly designed mall look, there was a great deal to prepare for.

One of our clients, Anserteam, is a professional group consisting of over 70 professional Staffing agencies across the country. We have already launched their association web mall and are now developing a program whereby their participating companies can feature their own private branded malls. The platform will be utilized as a value added bonus for their staffing employees as well as an incentive and referral rewards system.

Well it is now time for me to hit the road again…New York and the following week in Austin Texas…pretty diverse audiences.

I will give you updates later - pardner.

I’m Back..again

2008-03-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

… Not that you missed me.
It has been an interesting month with trips to NY and Las Vegas while the team at the office was busily working away on new client malls.

We launched a new BSP Rewards Mall for Challenger Sports and a unique rewards and loyalty program for a large national beer company.

I mentioned the trips first so I ought to tell you what they were about. NY served a dual purpose (1) Wall Street meetings and (2) new client prospects.

The Wall Street meetings were easier than in the past because we have a much better story and growing company to talk about. Tom Hill, our brilliant Director of Operations and Board Member was on the trip and handled about 2/3 of the speaking…and he does a much better job of it than I do. He did so well that I invited him to speak at an Investor Seminar later that week in Ft. Lauderdale.

The Las Vegas trip placed me in front of a totally different audience. I attended the Prepaid Card Conference and met with clients (Global Cash Card, Prepaid Solutions, The Ignition Network and EDebit Pay) as well as some excellent new prospects.

It was both a great education for me and an outstanding venue to meet and greet. Because our BSP platform layers seamlessly on top of debit and credit cards as a value added benefit, the show proved a perfect opportunity to expand our relationships.

By the way, I don’t drink much (one glass of wine), don’t gamble at all and I returned to my room by 9pm each night. Yep, Vegas doesn’t like visitors like me.

Back to our new clients. Challenger Sports is an interesting opportunity as it opens the door to millions of potential members. Challenger holds youth soccer camps for over 100,000 kids every summer and also work with soccer clubs across the country that embrace over 5 million members. Our role is to bring a money saving mall to the members and a fund raising program to the clubs.

Their members shop in our mall of over 700 national merchants and the clubs receive continuous passive revenue from every member transaction. Great for the member (receives cash value rebates), the Soccer Clubs (receives a % as donations) and BSP Rewards (you can easily guess why).

That brings me to the large national brewery…….let’s save that for next time .

I’m Back

2008-02-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

Please excuse my absence for the past 2 weeks, but I have a reason (an excuse actually). I had company…we had company..and also we were working on some new big clients; which I am happy to report – have joined the program.

First, about my personal visitors. Every year, during the winter season, our good friends come down for Chicago to spend 9 or 10 days. Needless to say, they like the Florida weather and have the added benefit of getting even with us for visiting them for 9 -10 days during the summer. Balancing the time between them and work posed its problems, but it all got done. (With the help of the great BSP Rewards staff).

My business visitors, if not fun, were a pleasure in a different manner. We had both the Board of Directors come in for a meeting plus our auditors for their annual “search and report” audit.
The Board meeting was actually wonderful and beneficial. We reviewed our progress for 2007 and outlined our expansion plans for 2008. It was an extreme pleasure to see grown men get so excited!

The auditors were pleasant and nicely efficient. They did the job of week long delving, questioning and peeking found that all was in order.

Then came the best part of the two weeks … the new clients and their large member enrollments. The one I will mention this week is EDebit pay – a very large debit card issuer who auto-enrolled their entire data base and is enrolling all new card holders as they receive their cards.

The fact that such a large company chose the BSP Rewards platform as a value added benefit for their cards (after reviewing our competition) is both praise and validation of our outstanding program. This not only provides an abundant amount of new members that can shop with our merchant in our web mall but also advances our plans to have a multitude of cards that will work seamlessly when we expand into the brick and mortar channels.
All in all, it was a enjoyable and productive two weeks.

Now it is back to full time for me and that could result in some new large scale clients..but that would be telling.

….Talk to you soon.

Charging My Batteries

2008-01-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

The holiday season proved to be wonderful and intense for BSP. We set new records daily and had to spend many extra hours coordinating the process.

My personal workweek included about 70 hours in the office and working from home. That is not a complaint as I love what I do and the people I do it with – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Annually I pick a week to recharge my batteries and the 5 days is coming up starting January 21st. I entertain visiting guests and work part-time (down to about 45 hours that week). I come in every day but normally cut out around 1PM to spend some time with the visiting dignitaries. But fear not, if anyone needs to get in touch with me they can easily do so as my Blackberry rarely leaves my hand.

I am going to need that little respite because, as I noted last week, BSP Rewards is about to go through a large and rapid growth cycle. The first quarter of ’08 will be filled with new branded site launches and what looks like, monumental membership growth….and really long work hours in order the handle it.

On the other hand, the staff will probably be happy to get rid of me for a while -except on that Friday. Every Friday I take the group out to lunch and they undoubtedly won’t be too thrilled if I miss it. (I may have to extend my work hours until 1:30 that day).

In the mean time I have a full week to work with the team on some really neat new things, so look for a couple of announcements soon.

….Talk to you soon.

New Year’s Resolution

2008-01-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

Well, 2007 is past and it is time to seriously contemplate what I would like to improve on in 2008. We came so far in 2007, with record breaking transaction volume and building our web mall to become the largest on the internet- and of course, we want to grow even bigger and more rapidly. It is time to capitalize on our momentum …so here goes.

First, my resolutions on a personal level;
1. Lose some weight (I won’t tell you how much). Well that’s enough about me personally!
Business wise the list of resolutions could be a lot more numerous, but I will limit them to the following.

1. Design a group of unique features for the BSP Rewards web malls.
2. Develop a new optional interface to enhance the member’s shopping experience.
3. Create a reminder program when a member shops outside the platform.
4. Develop a gift and event reminder program.
5. Expand the Mall with additional “great” merchants.
6. Build branded malls for larger national product and service clients.
7. Create marketing materials to increase frequency of member shopping.
8. Enter new channels.
9. Form mutually beneficial partnerships.
10. Hold a few surprises for later.
11. ….and of course increase sales volume and revenues tremendously.

All if all it is an ambitious list… but we have an outstanding team that can get it done.
Watch for some exciting announcements in the first quarter.
Look out rewards world – here we come!

2007 Reflection and 2008 Forecast

2007-12-31T07:25:00.001-08:00

2007 was a pivotal time in the growth of BSP Rewards and 2008 looks like it could be our major breakout year.

The year started out with a great deal of momentum and it just kept going, and going and going…yes, just like the Duracell Bunny.

We added a great many merchants to our mall and then elevated the platform to the status of the largest, most complete web mall ever. It now contains over 700 national merchants, a discount merchandise catalog of over 200,000 discount items, over 100 gift cards from national merchants, and printable discounts coupons at 7000 neighborhood restaurants. In January we will add thousands of “printable” discount coupons for both local and national merchants. A pretty good running start for 2008!

During the year we also built many new private branded malls for an ever expanding list of clients and added hundreds of thousands of new members. Our list of branded web malls grew continuously with larger and larger companies coming on board. These companies included national companies such as Clipper Magazine (a division of Gannet), Edebit Pay (one of the nation’s premier issuers of debit cards), VBN.TV a virtual TV network), Nation Safe Drivers (a National Roadside assistance company) ….. to name a few. And that is only a small sampling to what we expect in 2008.

The first quarter of “08 looks as if the dam will break and a flood of new clients will start to roll in. We can’t name the companies yet as the paperwork is being finalized, but all I can say is WOW! Not only are they big names, but they their private branded malls should be generating a continuous influx of new members – members that will be shopping in our mall and be available for our cross marketing efforts.

The increased membership this coming year should produce substantially enhanced income. 2008 will be a year of initiatives as we plan on commencing advertising revenue and income generating special promotions.

I won’t outline our expansion plans yet, but keep tuned. The first quarter is upon us and expect it to be an exciting prelude to the months that follow.

Happy New Year!!!

Holiday Party

2007-12-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

…A good time was had by all.

Last Friday we held our annual Holiday Party and if I say so myself, it was a lot of fun.

We hold the party every year and each year it gets a little bigger and better the year before. This party was no exception.

Ema and James are to organizers and manage to come up with a different, unique and outstanding theme each time. I don’t know how where all of their ideas come from but they were again at the top of their game.

Ema plans, invites, decorates and in charge of all the food. James is in charge of the games. (Silly as the games are they always provide great entertainment and belly laughs)

We always have the party in our offices. Where other companies normally hold theirs at a restaurant, we find that would be much too cold. We didn’t want an “eat and run” atmosphere that is generated by a restaurant setting -we like the team to stay around for more than just the meal.

BSP Rewards prides itself on a family work place and that goes double when it is time to celebrate. We have a very close knit group of (great) employees that work along, and get along, fabulously as an integrated team. An office get together gives us the opportunity to sit and chat like friends and even play some party games, laugh, and award prizes. It is like attending a game show – with food.

All in all, everyone had a terrific time and we all look forward to an even bigger party next year with and expand team to handle all of the new clients coming on board.

We wish all of you, a Happy Holidays and healthy and prosperous New Year!!!

…More next week

Gift Cards

2007-12-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Gift cards – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Gift cards are wonderful for the consumer - and we are in business to please the consumer.

BSP Rewards offers approximately 100 gift cards from a variety of national brands. These include cards from BP Gas Cards to the Gap, Macy’s to Timberland…Office Depot to Best Buy, Target to Sears and Chili’s to Red Lobster – to name a few.

The best of the best are offered because that is what our member expect and deserve.

We sell all of cards at face value (just like other gift card sites do) BUT we give back rebate points (like others DON’T DO). We look at gift cards from a different point of view. We sell a lot of gift cards (a real lot) but never planned to make much money on them.

As I stated, they are for our member’s convenience AND they fit perfectly into our platform and plan. To us, gift cards are a marketing tool.

We have built the largest mall on the web between our on-line merchants, gift cards, restaurants, a 200,000-item discount catalog, and soon thousands of discount coupons; the gift cards fit right in.

Whether of members shop our mall to get the gift cards, or they shop for gift cards to get to the mall…gift cards drive traffic. The results are to same – the more traffic, the more sales (and did I mention that our members love them).

We carry all of the gift cards in inventory so that we can fill all of the orders quickly. We even customize the card so that they can be delivered in the name of each branded site we build – and also carry the member’s special message. The enclosure can even feature items and messages to enhance the shopping experience.

Our member’s suggested that we create a printable “Everything Certificate” so they could print them at home. They wanted to give the recipient the opportunity to pick a card for the merchant of their choice. Of course we complied.

So you can see how the gift cards act as a marketing tool for the web mall and for our client’s ability to communicate to his members – with and end result of providing a world of good will and customer loyalty.

…More next week

Merchant Extra Benefits

2007-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

Merchants want increased sales.

You don’t have to be a genius to guess that retailers want to stimulate more traffic and lower their cost of acquiring a customer. I guess that is why I figured it out.

Accordingly’ we believe that we have developed a merchant program that will cause a paradigm in the industry.

BSP Rewards work with merchants on 4 levels:
1. E-Commerce
2. Gift Cards
3. In-store Merchant
4. Branded Rewards Program

The first level is easy (E-commerce) …that we why we have acquired over 700 merchants in our web mall. We simply place the merchant in our mall and watch the sales occur. As the merchant only pays for success; his only cost is when a sale is actually consummated.

The differentiating point with the BSP program is that we place that merchant in every mall we build and brand for clients - and that number is north of 50 (as opposed to a single mall). By the way, we with new malls being launched all the time.

Then we cross market them to all the members, in all the malls, through monthly newsletters and other unique marketing programs. For instance, every time the member makes a purchase from the merchant they send a them an email confirmation - and we send one also. Double exposure!

The merchant also sends another email when the item ships, at which time we send one to them awarding their points - again double exposure!

And the beauty for the merchant is there is no cost for this advertising exposure:

1. To be listed in the mall
2. To be highlighted in newsletters
3. For the confirmation email
4. For the point award email

A pretty neat multi-prong advertising campaign - and it is all for FREE. No wonder BSP has the largest mall on the web.

The mall has now reached critical mass. We have come to the point that we turn down merchants every week who apply. Of course we will allow some additional merchants to participate…but only if the meet our criteria.

Next week I outline our strategy relative to gift cards.

Our Clients...

2007-11-27T06:56:00.000-08:00

Everyone wants loyal customer or members

It doesn’t matter if they are a retailer, a church, an association or a service….you want people to be loyal to you.

They say it is 10 times harder to get a new customer than to keep him/her. The cost of acquisition is very high so you had better make sure you keep them happy once you have them. Whether it cost you money to acquire a customer (member) or it’s the cost of time invested, anyway you look at it it’s expensive. BSP Rewards has come up with a way to keep the cost down.

Incentives and rewards that are awarded to members the client’s name, but they don’t pay for. We arranged for the rewards to be given be the participating merchants making it totally “merchant funded”.

All the rebates, coupons and discounts are funded by the over 700 merchants in our mall so that it doesn’t cost our clients one red cent, The only exception to that rule is if our client is a merchant them self and then we have it set up that it only costs him/her on a completed sale – and they choose the amount.

A typical client has customers (members). He presses a button and places all of them in the program. Remember, the program is private branded for him and is actually his program…we only administer it for him. The member is then given the option to opt out - but very few do as it is free to them and they can amount of money they can save by shopping in the mall.

It works like this.
They auto-enroll their members or customers.
We send them a welcome e-mail explaining this new, wonderful, benefit (branded for the client) telling them of this new service that they have been given. They begin to shop the mall and see how much money the can save. They receive an email with each purchase (branded for the client) telling them how many points they have earned (every points = $1.00).
The email directs them to click a link to see how many points they have. It can link to a landing page (branded for the client) to promote whatever that client wants. Once a month we send out an email newsletter (branded for the client) promoting him and a group of special offers.

The bottom line is their branded BSP Rewards mall is a great communication tool and the client’s members love it because every time they receive an email it means they are making money.

So, as I said, the program is a great incentive to visit the client’s site, creates a high volume of traffic and builds a high affinity towards them. It creates more loyalty to the client and that results in a great cost savings in both acquisition cost and retention cost. By offerings the Mall as a value added incentive to become a customer, or member, and then a continuous loyalty program to remain one; our clients establish an excellent tool that costs them very little. Add that to the value of being able to have a consistent communication vehicle and it is a winning situation all around.

And if you are a merchant, you have additional benefits…but that’s a story for next week.

Discount Coupons

2007-11-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

Discount coupons are both new and old for BSP Rewards.

We have had one form of discount coupons for some time now. Members can click on the restaurant tab, click on restaurants.com and voila you are there. They can then see over 7000 neighborhood restaurants to choose from.

There are 3 neat things about it. Firstly, they are printable coupons; that means that they can be used the minute they came off your printer. 2nd, the coupons average a 60% discount… which is pretty darn neat. And to top it off, an additional 5% in rebates are earned with each coupon. It makes me hungry just to think about it. I have enjoyed many a good meal and they taste even better with a 60% discount.

The other coupon program has not launched yet…so you are the first to know. It will feature discount coupons from thousands of local, and some national, merchants. BSP has built a rewards mall for Clipper Magazine, known as My Clipper Rewards and can be seen at www.bsprewards.com/myclipper .

In turn Clipper coupons will be offered on all of BSP rewards sites as a value added feature. There will be no rewards given with these coupons BUT they will be instantly printable and offer great discounts at all sorts of local merchants from shoes to yogurt.

A special tab will be added to the sites that link directly to the coupon site. The Members will the be able to search for local merchants by zip code, print the coupon ad take it into the local merchant and receive their special price.

This new feature is scheduled to launch in December so be sure to visit one of the many private branded BSP malls to see it in action.

…more next week.

Additional Features

2007-11-12T07:07:00.000-08:00

So far I have only talked about the 700+ stores in the mall and the 100+ gift card selections. There is a lot more to the BSP Rewards Mall to puff our chest about that I would like you to know about.

When we looked around at all the rewards sites we found them to be lacking in many aspects (lucky for us). Sure they all had a way to earn rewards and a way to redeem them…but only in a limited manner. They had some merchants (far fewer than BSP), and some items you could redeem for (like a limited catalog or limited stores). At many of the sites they made it almost impossible to know what you reward value was (think airline miles). These limitations showed us an opening in the market and we took advantage of it.

First of all we made it simple. At BSP Rewards every point is worth a dollar. For instance if you buy a gift card for us for Macy’s you receive 7%. Say you were going to Cousin Gene’s daughter’s wedding and purchased a Macy’s gift card for $200. You would earn $14. Easy, huh?

Next we wanted to allow for an abundant amount of choices…. over and above our over 700 merchants and gift card selection. So we researched the market and found suppliers of items that would add even more value to our mall. We already had the largest mall on the web, but that wasn’t enough for us. Sure we wanted the biggest, but we also wanted to best…for our members.

So in addition to the wide variety of national chain restaurants, we added over 7000 local restaurants. All you have to do was search by zip code and find your favorite local eatery. You can then immediately print out a coupon for a much as a 60% discount and then take it to that restaurant and use it. By the way, you get an extra 10% in points on top of the discount.

But that still wasn’t enough. We wanted more! So we sought out a supplier with a catalog of over 200,000 discounted items and added that to our mall. We found one that not only offered to vast selection, but also offered the most savings. Then we decided to give reward points on top of the discounts. Wow…we wanted to be sure that savings would be stupendous.

Oh, did I forget to mention the printable discount coupons for all sorts of great local merchants around the country...thousands in fact.
I guess I’ll tell you about that next week.

Common Currency

2007-11-05T07:33:00.001-08:00

BSP Rewards is unique in that it is designed as program that allows the member to collect rewards from over seven hundred merchants as if they were a single entity.

Before I explain that lets put aside the rewards earned when you use your credit card as that is a given. Sure you earn those rewards as a start, but BSP rewards are on top of and in addition to those rewards.

Individual merchants offer rewards when you purchase form them. They then allow you to use their rewards only on their store. The bottom line is you earn slowly (only for that store) and have limited use of those rewards (only from that store).

We felt there ought to be a better way; a way to earn and redeem rewards. Our “common cash value rewards” does just that. Members earn from over 700 stores and spend them back for anything and everything at any store(s), no matter who they earned then from. In other words – earn rewards from Macy’s, Target, or Chili’s, etc., and redeem at Sear’s, Overstock.com, BP gas stations or any sore in the network.

Hence, BSP Rewards was born where Members (Membership is FREE) can shop at over 700 merchants (the web largest one stop shopping mall), accumulate common currency rewards, have an abundant number of places to spend them, including a catalog of 200,000 discounted items they can choose from - if they wish.

And if that is not enough we give them even greater choice – they can load all the points they earn as in cash onto a stored value MasterCard or Discover Card. They can then take the card, and spend their reward points, at any location in the world that honors those MasterCard and Discover (which is just about everywhere).

If they happen to spend them back in within the BSP network they can even earn points on points (Pretty neat).

So every time they earn additional point by shopping or redeeming at a participating merchant they receive points, then with a click of their mouse those points are automatically loaded to their card. (Double neat)….and they are ready to earn and spend again.

I have lots more “stuff” to tell you about. I can hardly wait to see what I have got to say.

Branded Malls and Our Customers...

2007-10-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote about customer service and concentrated on our members and how we take excellent care of them. They are 1 of the 2 aspects of our business that we can’t do without.

The others are not customers of the mall but are equally as important…and maybe a mite more. Those are the customers that we build private branded mall for, because without them we wouldn’t have the first.

We only build private branded malls - and do not build any that are marketed directly to members. In other words consumers can only join BSP Rewards through a sponsoring site. Having said that I should point out the conundrum of our business – how do you get the members without the organization? The simple answer is one at a time for most rewards companies. Since we do not try and obtain 1 member as a time our job is a lot more complex.

This is where customer service comes in. It is in the form of two parts. The first part is in regards to the client (the member provider) while the second part relates to the actual member. We covered the member last week so this week it is the clients turn.

We have a dedicated staff that handles the clients and makes sure that they are responded to quickly. It commences upon agreement at which time they receive a start up kit which shows all of the customization available. Then they are placed in the production schedule and then a go through a final check before going live.

After that it is an ongoing task to make sure that thing go smoothly and marketing materials are forwarded including as ongoing and continuing effort which includes a viral email campaign and a monthly newsletter to their entire database.

The work is coordinated by Ema who is a gem. She works directly with the production department to make sure all goes smoothly and customizes the marketing material to make sure the clients message goes out properly. To top it off she works directly with the controller and makes sure that the clients are billed on time. The truth be known, she keeps the joint jumpin”….and watch out for her when she is on a roll.

The concept is simple yet complex. A branded web mall is ordered, a member shops at over 700 participating merchant web site and earns rewards. All of the rewards accumulate as a common currency – cash- and can be spent anywhere. How they get there is more complex…but another day.

Our customer service personnel...

2007-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

10/22/07 Last week I spoke about the “Members Only” techies group. This week we put a little pink into the blog…our customer service people.

I am not being sexist when I say “pink”. Christina, our Customer Service Manager, thinks pink. You almost have to walk past her computer wearing sunglasses. Every program from Outlook, to Customer Service records and Merchant Purchase Orders swims in hot, iridescent pink. Even her cell phone is pink.

Having said that, and at the risk of a pun, Christina is the one that keeps BSP Rewards customers feeling in the pink. Whether it is a question about an order or details relative to how the rewards mall works, she is the answer lady. When she joined us it took her all of 2 days to learn the system and on the third day she started improving it. Lucky us!

Bethany is our quiet busy bee. She is the coordinator to make sure that all gift card orders are logged in and fulfilled properly and that the shipments go out in a timely manner. I guess it is a high adrenalin position because it doesn’t matter how may vanilla cupcakes she eats, she stays wonderfully slim (Yes, I envy her metabolism).

Jan is the one that double checks and packs the orders. She is precise but processes the shipments in a short order. I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for her even though she is the one person in the organization that doesn’t fully appreciate my constant singing (Others may feel the same, but Jan is the spokesperson).

Here we are nearing the big holiday season and happily our summer time helper Brandon will be off from college and helping us with the ever increasing number of orders. The girls, women, females (to be politically correct) all love him.

The Customer Service Group fully understands, and wonderfully performs, to our 2 basic operating premises.

Our business is not that of just operating the internet’s largest most complete rewards mall. Our business is pure and simple – 110% Customer Service.
Good communication will eliminate 98% of the problems in the world.

Customer service is the center of the BSP Rewards program and they maintain a great working relationship with the other departments and that helps us maintain our “Happy Member” philosophy.

Clients are of course customers as well…but that will be the subject of next week’s blog.

The BSP Rewards Team...

2007-10-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have been rambling on about BSP Rewards and the industry for some weeks now. Hopefully, I have given you some insight into our company, the industry, our philosophy and our growth. I guess the time has arrived to give credit where it is due.

As a coach and manager of our team I play one of the roles in our success. On the other hand, without the right players - I could coach and manage (as they say) until the cows come home and never reach our goal.

Accordingly, today and in the coming weeks, I would like to shine the spotlight on some highly talented and dedicated people. Today’s blog is about our tech team.

As I am fond of saying, “my hands were never meant for anything technical or brain surgery”. My most challenging task is to think up, and then ask for, the impossible - and then watch the techie team step up to the challenge…and then they tweak and enhance the concept to new heights.

James is our head “technoid” and the guy that developed our platform. He is not only a coder extraordinaire but also a person that understands our model; our customer profiles and the overwhelming need to expand and continuously advance the programs ahead of anyone else in our space …while focusing on the ever-evolving web user experience. Just to state that he is up for the task would really be a gross understatement.

James has been with us from day one and has been integral to helping us attain the heights we have reached. (By the way, he argues at about every one of my over the edge ideas and concepts (plus a few of his own) and then finds a way to improve on it and create the code in half the time he promises…what a guy!).

Our tech team has a “non-welcome” mat in front of their door that says “Members Only”. (Sometimes they are nice enough to give myself and other staff members a floor pass to stop in and visit). Each one of the technoids is a jewel in their own right.

James runs his group with a Velvet Revolver (his favorite band). They work extremely hard and operate as a well-oiled team – each assisting, and also relying upon, the others.

Dan is the guy that works with our web mall affiliates and merchants making sure that all transactions are accounted for and also brings in special deals and promotions for our members. He has a great disposition and handles the multitude of orders and member inquiries with a smile on his face. It is probably that smile, face (and body builder physique) that makes him so popular with the ladies of the world.

On the other hand, Rick is the quietest of the group. He is our graphics guru and has a knack for not only web graphics but is now designing a complete campaign of print marketing that will be customized and private labeled for our clients. One of the reasons he may by on the quiet side is that he just got married a few weeks ago and he is probably contemplating what a good move that was.

The fourth member of the tech team is Bruce. Sure Bruce does web design and html coding (and my personal site web designer), but he pitches in where others fear to tread. If we have a computer problem or new software to install and tweak…he is Johnny on the spot (and of course James is there if needed). Additionally, if we need to re-do a storage room, he is just as energetic about handling that as well (without James’ assistance I might add). We are now developing a new Yahoo Store program for one of our co-ventures. Who is the guy we call on? It is Bruce of course. By the way, if you ever pass by at lunch time and see someone fishing behind our offices…it is also Bruce of course.
…talk to you again next week

BSP Rewards and the customer...

2007-10-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

The loyalty/rewards web mall space is a crowded one so it takes a great deal of knowledge, power, creativity and uniqueness to break out of the pack.

To begin with, it helps to build the largest web mall of its kind…and we have done that. The next move is to keep expanding the mall with additional great name brand merchants and then add features and functions not available elsewhere.

As of this date, our web mall includes in excess of 700 of the nation’s finest merchants (and next month it will increase, as will the month after, and so on). The question of course is what makes one mall or loyalty program differentiate itself from another. As I mentioned previously, it comes down to building a proprietary platform that fits the needs and wish list of all participating parties….customers/members, merchants, clients and member provider organizations.

Today’s blog will review what we consider the most important element of the equation – the customer member. If they don’t shop and enjoy that experience, then no one wins.

I am about to give you a 50,000 foot, jet speed overview from the customer/member point of view. I am doing this from that height of course; to maintain a somewhat stealth mode relative to would be competitors.

So, what is on the consumer/user’s wish list? (These among others)

1. Being able to shop online at over 700 merchants with the click of a button… in an all encompassing single web mall. (While earning reward points)
2. Being able to purchase over 100 national gift cards that can be utilized right in all of the respective brick and mortar stores. (While earning reward points)
3. To shop in the mall or purchase gift cards and catalog items using any credit or debit card in their wallet and receive on top of rewards
4. The added value of earning up to 15%+ rewards on top of credit card rewards
5. The widest variety of stores to earn rewards from in order to earn faster
6. The ability to accumulate the rewards from all stores as a common currency
7. The ability to spend those rewards for anything and everything at participating merchants
8. The ability to earn additional rewards when they spend their rewards at participating merchants
9. The flexibility of spending their rewards even at non-participating merchants (utilizing a free BSP or affiliated stored value MasterCard or Discover Card)
10. The opportunity to purchase over 200,000 “discounted” items from a catalog and earn reward rebates on top of the discounts
11. The instant gratification of being able to “immediately print and use” discount coupons from tens of thousands of local restaurants and local merchants. (A great many of which include reward points)
12. Being able to earn rewards directly in-store (the beta program is launched)
Of course BSP Rewards fulfills all of these elements plus additional feature (pretty bright of us, huh!).

Well, I think you get the overview idea – our primary concern is all about offering each of our customer/members the ultimate experience, rewards and benefit when shopping through their own individual shopping mall.

Next week…more to come.

The Chicago Motivation Trade Show...

2007-10-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have to interrupt my historical dialog this week as I traveled to Chicago for the Motivation Trade Show and the show was interesting enough to discuss.

It was much more attention grabbing for us this year than it was in 2006….this time, almost every merchant and distributor was already doing business with us or had heard of us through the grapevine. They were anxious to discuss an initiation or expansion of gift card relationship. It was nice to know that we had reached the point of being courted.

We already have over 100 national merchant gift card in our program and the time had come for us to selectively add only those that we thought would be of interest to our expanding member base. Happily we did find a few and the additions will bring our expansive web mall to over 700 total merchants. (Boy, we have come a long way in the last year).
According to a survey by Discover Card, 58% of respondents said they would be "thrilled" to receive a gift card because they could buy what they want, and another 26% said they would be "touched" by the giver's thoughtfulness. Respondents overwhelmingly feel that gift cards are a thoughtful gift. The survey also revealed that 76% of respondents will consider giving a gift card because it ensures the recipient will ultimately get what he or she truly wants. Among the other leading reasons why gift givers will consider gift cards this year, 65% said they were easy and convenient for both the giver and the receiver, while 64% favor them because they provide the recipient with multiple purchasing options.
While we are on the subject of gift cards, I ought to mention that cards are still only a small percentage of our mall business. Although we sell the gift cards at face value (a must), we do offer points back to the members and participating non-profit member providers. Once you factor in the credit card and fulfillment costs the margins are relatively small.

So why do we do dedicate a category to gift cards? First of all, our members love them and that is of primary concern to us. It is also a marketing tool that creates increased member purchase activity in the main mall itself. And of course, the added benefit is that the purchase volume helps enhance our relationship with the merchants.

The show was very successful for us and we look forward to next year with a great deal of anticipation. Our membership base is growing very rapidly and our sales will grow even more so. Next year, we expect to be elevated to the red carpet and champagne star treatment.

…..more next week.

Merchants and Affiliates...

2007-09-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Retailers are continually endeavoring to understand the evolutionary metrics of their customers. The most difficult demographic and shopping profile analytics occur in the on-line space, as that arena does not have the historical data available compared to long standing, traditional brick and mortar sales and acts as a continuous moving target.

Most web merchants, and multi-channel merchants, rely heavily on Internet affiliate programs to drive traffic and sales to their sites. In this case, the debate has always been – quantity vs. quality. The old sales rule of 80-20 seems to be closer to 90-10 relative to affiliate driven traffic – with big box merchants standing on both sides of the equation.

At this point in time our branded BSP Rewards Malls are almost 100% web based (with a few test exceptions). We have researched the space extensively and it seems that we have built the largest on-line mall encompassing nearly 700 merchants, over 100 gift card merchants, over 7000 local restaurants, a catalog of over 200,000 discounted merchandise items and a soon to be launched discount coupon program that will include hundreds of thousands of in-store merchant locations.

Standard affiliates programs drive traffic and sales but we designed our model to concentrate on the high affinity (quality) programs that drive the most traffic/sales - affinity loyalty.

Our name, BSP is an acronym for Branded Service Provider. We are the engine, data base maintenance, communication, viral marketing, customer service, etc. – private branded platform for a variety of for profit and non-profit organizations. Accordingly, there is a degree of affinity that ranges from low to high depending upon the client and their organization type and their relationship with their customers and members.

We have built many private branded malls and our clients have stated a wide variety of reasons to have us do so. The reasons vary and are multiple ranging from loyalty, continuity and value added benefit to enhanced traffic, sales, awareness, continuous communication, speed to market, low cost of set up/administration and in some cases – revenue share. They particularly like the fact that our program is MERCHANT FUNDED (by the nearly 700 participating merchants) and they as a client, reap the benefits on an extremely low to even a no cost basis.

So now let’s get back to the loyalty aspect of today’s blog (as I seem to have delved deeper into the reasons rather than just the results).

Our clients have a customer and/or member base that have a varying degree of affinity and loyalty to them. We build branded programs for these clients and the clients then market the program as their own (which it is) - to their database. Accordingly, the client is in reality, our affiliate therefore brings of much higher quality to the table than if we targeted to a non-related quantity of non-interested affiliates that we could acquire through affiliate programs.

Accordingly, we are becoming a high sales producer for our participating merchants as we encompass a higher affinity, more motivated, shopper. We combine a super mall with the added incentive of giving our shoppers cash value points from every single participating merchants which of course produces- a large number of motivated shoppers. Especially when that shopper can accumulate the points from all as a “common currency” and spend them back everywhere for virtually everything they can imagine.

Our clients and merchant partners are seeing have seen industry statistics whereby the highest traffic and sales come from loyalty program members, and especially if those shoppers receive added value in the form of desired rebates.

According to the September 2007 issue of Internet Retailer Magazine, merchants benefit to a greater degree when sales are generated from loyalty sites (like the BSP Branded Malls are) as they offer something that the retailers can’t offer themselves – affinity relationships, and in our case, common currency rebates. The research proves that customers visit their loyalty sites more regularly than they do a particular merchant site and having a presence on those affinity sites is a valuable traffic driver to those merchants.

The bottom line is that loyalty sites encompass a higher-grade customer, who visits their affinity mall more often, and has a particular desire to help their organization, therefore drives a higher degree of traffic and sales to participating merchants. The results are enhanced further when the customer is automatically given a cash value added incentive with their purchase.

Hence, BSP has developed a program that sells merchant gift cards, drives sales to merchant web sites, and is advancing inroads into brick and mortar locations – therefore having the ability to add revenue for all 3 of the merchant divisions. …How sweet it is.

Staying ahead of the curve regarding content, merchants, enhanced incentives and increased member benefits is the interesting part of the game……..again that is another story for another time.

Martin Berns - Rewards Mall

2007-09-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

We have now reached the point of how we had to design, re-design and evolve into a working model relative to the over 675 merchants in our BSP Rewards mall.

As I mentioned previously, merchants want to enhance revenue but they are reticent to offer their trademark to companies that do not fit their criteria. (Let’s change “reticent” to “overwhelmingly protective”).

They have spent many years and an enormous amount of money building their name and reputation and are justifiably hesitant to allow it to be associated with any activity that could tarnish their name. Additionally, it is not worth their effort to establish a relationship unless they can forecast justifiable economic benefit. They are presented programs everyday whereby some entrepreneur shows them pretty graphs and overwhelming projections as to the extent of business they will generate for that retailer.

The merchant has heard it all and says to himself/herself “Another lunatic who believes he will conquer the world”…. and then passes on the program. They are very particular on whom they approve and factor in aspects that go beyond concept and background – it comes down to the basic questions. “How many members do they have? How many of those members are buyers we don’t already have. Do the members match our demographic? How much revenue can they actually generate?”.

When I was young the process of approval was simple. You went to the caveman selling dinosaur meat at the bottom of the hill and got a quick yes or no as to whether or not he would also sell your wooly mammoth tusks. Today the process is multi-layered.

The main benefit to the merchants is of course the prospect of new and additional sales revenue. The BSP Rewards program added unique aspects including advertising and marketing on multiple malls with the merchant only paying for a successful sale. We also appoint the merchants as authorized redemption centers whereby they actually receive the redemption profit, increased traffic and the up-sell potential….along with a special communication element.

But let’s skip to the part whereby we had a company and a program that the merchant liked and enough members for them to test their toe in the water. This is when we learned the full evolutional extent since the caveman. The sales process to the merchant actually turned out to necessitate a series of three separate sales and we had to adjust our approach, marketing and presentation accordingly.

Each major retailer normally had at least 3 separate divisions we were interested in bringing into the program: Internet, gift cards and in-store. Not only were they disparate operations, each considered itself in competition with the other two divisions.

We were therefore placed in the position of having to prepare materials that targeted the requirement of each department….and in many instances departments were sometimes represented by organizations outside of their own company.

……..again that is another story for another time.

Martin Berns Rewards Mall...

2007-09-06T08:45:00.001-07:00

I think its time for me to explain our philosophy relative to building rewards malls. The model is really simple. Define the participant groups, ask what they want…..and then build to suit.

There are literally millions of rewards and loyalty programs in the market place -Everything from credit cards, to big box merchants, to airlines to my favorite local yogurt store. Our task was to research the market, choose the aspects that worked and then add our own proprietary elements…..and unique platform to attract participants.

There are 4 basic participant groups involved in each private branded web mall that we build.

1) The individual members
2) The merchants
3) The member providers who enroll their members

…and of course the all important number 4 – the clients we build the rewards malls for.

When you are trying to build a large national rewards program you are faced with the age old question…which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The members want to be able to shop with a large number of recognized merchants before they join and the merchants require a large number of members before they participate.

A few years ago, as a startup, we had to utilize a small degree of smoke and mirrors and work a little magic….and make sure we designed a program and platform that was unique, sustainable and rapidly expandable. This meant applying our knowledge about each participating group simultaneously and quickly.

Let’s take a look behind the graphic you see above.

Members are just like you and me. We would all like something free or at least as close to it as possible. Studies show that some of the main detriments to any rewards program are:
Takes too long to earn enough points and is therefore not normally exciting
Point values are hidden so consumers don’t understand the value
Closed loop systems (earn and redeem at one particular merchant) are too limiting
Open loop systems (earn points that can be spent for products other than at the giving merchant – like air miles, catalog items or gift cards) offer limited redemption
Programs are normally based upon a breakage model (issue the points and set up blocks against using them)

As you can see in the graphic above, we set out to eliminate those objections. The additional benefit is that the member can earn and accumulate points from over 650 merchants in our mall and then spend those points like cash at any of those participating merchants for anything and everything they wish. Every point = $1.00 so it is easy to understand.

Members can even load their points onto a BSP Rewards stored value card and spend them like cash everywhere MasterCard (and soon Discover Card) are accepted. They even earn points on their points if they spend them with a participating merchant.

Now that is what is called rapid point accumulation combined with ease of spending and almost the total universe of redemption. The member spoke, and we listened.

We facilitate and encourage members to spend their points (usage model) as it makes them happy to do so and our participating merchants love it.

That brings us to the next participant group the merchants. They had their own wish list and it was even more complex.

But again, another story for another day.

About Martin Berns - continued...

2007-08-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

This blog has finally reached modern day. Wow, I covered 50 years in 2 weeks – the web is really quick.

So here we are with a web based mall of nearly 700 of the nation’s best retailers including over 100 great gift card merchants. In fact, we seem to have built the largest mall on the internet…an accomplishment we are quite proud of.

On the other hand, we at BSP Rewards also understand that we have a long way to go. Although we have built over 50 branded malls for a variety of clients; we did so following the normal rules of engagement - Start with the small and build towards the large with an eye on selling the enormous.

The small was not as easy as it sounds as even the diminutive companies ask the right questions and require answers that they feel will help them grow. Happily, our research and model were on target and sales commenced. Over the following year, we managed to get in front of some larger companies and organizations that “got it” and helped us progress to the middle of the second tier. (You can see a sampling of these branded malls at (www.bsprewards.com.) Just click on the “BSP Network” tab.

You are probably asking what I mean by the statement that we have reached the “middle of the second tier”. Of course I am going to tell you even if you were not curious. It translates to, companies and organizations of nice size that have the “potential” of producing meaningful transaction volume through the mall. Clients like ADP, AIG and member provider organizations such as the AME Church and 5 network marketing companies, additionally we are being layered onto payroll cards for companies such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Staffmark.

These are all great companies and organizations and are great additions to the smaller companies we work with. These programs have been, or just recently been, launched. The initial results are gratifying but a program of our magnitude takes time, marketing and seasoning to reach the results we stand on our toes for.

The wheel is now cranking and we should be seeing enhanced results by the 4th quarter of this year. When that happens, combined with the successful culmination of new agreements in the pipeline, we will have attained the top rung of the intermediate ladder. That is when the fun begins as we then shoot for the “enormous”.

But again, that is a story for another day.

About Martin Berns.....continued

2007-08-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Before I skip to modern day, I guess I ought to fill in a few blanks of the 40 years that passed since the ‘60s.

I am proud to tell people that I am a CPA. They somehow mistake that for Certified Public Accountant but I immediately explain that CPA stands for Certified Peddlers of America. Nothing happens in this country until something gets sold and it is my lot in life to guide marketing and sales program down the path of triumph.

Being of sound mind in those days, I immediately moved due south from Chicago until I reached South Florida, where I have happily resided ever since. Chicago is still my favorite city on earth and I visit it at least 10 days a year……but never in the winter.

When I moved to Florida in 1959, I opened a Dad’s Root Beer plant with my brother and after 2 years realized that I loved the soda but disliked the life of a bottler. My love was advertising, marketing and “peddling” so I went to work at a radio station selling advertising time. You can imagine how long ago that was. Larry King was one of the local radio personalities and a member of our weekly card club.

After a few years of on the job training I took a position with a small NY advertising agency that wanted to open a branch in Miami. It was my first education into the world of “real advertising” and it was very exciting for a young, would be executive. But after a few years, my entrepreneurial spirit again rose like a Phoenix and I got the notion that I would, and could, open my own little advertising agency. I soon found out that I knew a lot about advertising and marketing but little about business. Luckily, my largest client, a large real estate developer and builder loved the job I had done for him and he asked me to roll my agency into his company and become vice-president of sales. That’s when I really received my active combat training in the world of business.

After doing my time in that industry I again had the urge to branch out on my own and into marketing consulting. Consulting was an easy business to enter if you had a briefcase and an important looking business card. So I became an independent contractor and offered my sage advice to companies involved in a variety of fields ranging from real estate to water conservation programs for rental properties, to network marketing companies, to small corporate America...and then some.

About 7years ago I was introduced to cyberspace and the world of the internet. It was (and is) the most interesting industry that I have ever been involved in. It made me excited just to get up and run to the office (I can not tell a lie, I actually drove). I started consulting and then made the decision to become corporately involved. I founded a web based company that built small (actually miniature) portals for companies who wanted to build traffic and pretend to the world that they were larger than they were. As I pointed out to them, on the web…perception is reality.

During all of that time I never lost the mental link back to the 60s and the loyalty stamp business. I fell into the natural progression of researching the state of the rewards industry and related internet based programs. So about 4 years ago we commenced our quest. We researched, studied, and dissected that which was and was not being addressed in the marketplace. We approached the task from 4 directions- (1) Consumer, (2) Merchant, (3) Membership Organizations and (4) Debit/Credit Card issuers. There were a multitude of companies in the space but no one that fulfilled all of the needs and desires of the 4 participating groups we felt would most guide the market.

We envisioned and built a proprietary platform that included the basics we saw in others, but then added a bevy of additional features and functions that others had not. We tested, tweaked, changed, tested and tweaked again over a period of 2 years. After 2 years we had developed a unique and more robust platform than any other we viewed. Additionally, we could private brand and administer the platform for a fraction of the cost of other companies in the industry. BSP Rewards was thusly born and launched in stealth mode. It was important to stay under the radar until we were in a position not only to complete, but to win the competition.

But again, that is a story for another day...

Martin Berns - About

2007-08-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Martin Berns Blog Number 1 8/10/07

Hey, I never blogged before so this should be interesting. I will undoubtedly start out at novice 101 and after many months graduate all the way up to Beta 1.0.

I am not sure how this blog will evolve but my first thought is to just recite a little history as to how I arrived at this place known as MediaNet Group Technologies and BSP Rewards. (With the emphasis on our operating division BSP Rewards).

My family was in the soft drink business (my father was a founder of Dad’s Root Beer) so I naturally became driven to be an entrepreneur myself. Forgoing an explanation of my initial forays into business (and the lessons learned the hard way) my education lead me into the world of marketing consultancy.

Moving along to the early ‘60s I became intrigued with the rewards and loyalty industry. That was at the height of the era whereby licking and pasting stamps in books was all the rage. I was a young marketing consultant at the time looking for niches that might offer opportunity to spread my “I want o be in business” wings.

I was driving in Chicago one day when I came to an intersection that featured service stations on all 4 corners. 3 of those stations gave stamps as a reward and incentive but the one with the Dinosaur logo (Sinclair) stood alone as the sole non-participant. A friend of mine knew a top executive at the company and I asked him to try and ascertain their reasoning for not joining the trend. He came back with a very simple two word answer, “too expensive”. It seemed that they did not want to be involved in a program that was a straight cost with the only verifiable benefit going to the stamp issuer who both sold the stamps and was the redemption center that made the sale and profit. By the way, this is the same ‘upfront cost” redemption and breakage model used today by many rewards and incentive programs (think air miles and catalog/gift card providers).

I then had an epiphany (Of course in those days I had never heard of the word). I then asked my friend make an appointment for me with his oil company executive friend as I wanted to propose something to them that I thought might fit their model. He called and said he had set up the meeting and when I arrived I was shocked to find I was to present to their entire Board of Directors.

I explained the plan. They would give stamps but they would also become the redemption center where the books could be exchanged for their gas and products. They would turn the redeemed books back to us and we would pay them cash for the value of each book. In other words, they became the redemption center, made the sale (at their normal margins), benefited from the redemption traffic and of course up sold additional gas and services to the redeemers. I explained an additional feature of offering the program to local merchants surrounding their stations, again making the stations, along with the local merchants, official redemption centers.

It was the quickest sale I ever made. They immediately understood the benefits and the cost reduction – and possible new revenue and profit generating- and value of becoming a give and redeem merchant/redemption center for the program.

How that evolved into the modern BSP Rewards Mall platform is another story for another day.