12 Reasons Why I admire the Groupon Launch in Puerto Rico

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The last few days I shared the Video and Full Interview on Groupon’s Launch. We already saw Groupon’s first offer which myself and @lucymfel caught via Facebook:

Today is a big day for me because I will have an article posted on E-Turbonews where I interviewed the Director of Tourism of Puerto Rico and a few other posts on other blogs.

But as promised here is the overview of Groupon Puerto Rico and the positive information I got from the interview with Felipe Lyon.

12 Reasons Why I Admire the Groupon Launch in Puerto Rico

• Local and Hispanic Staff  – they hired local staff that are from Puerto Rico and the only other candidate that is not Puerto Rican is Hispanic, speaks various languages, and I am sure can understand our culture better than a non-hispanic.
• Local Office – You are going to be able to visit the Groupon office and have a tangible place where people who still have concerns with online companies can put their fears to rest.
• Receives Direct Payment- Although they are using Paypal, you are able to pay directly with your credit card and not have to open a Paypal account. Correct me if I am wrong I still have not made a transaction.
• Cost Effective Marketing Tool – Companies of all sizes can stop throwing away money with traditional media methods. Groupon’s model allows you to receive a profit or some type of income  while committing the customers to visit the location and build a relationship with the company who sold them their products and services.
• Permission based on subscription – I saw one of the Local Groupon clones spammed me and sent stuff when I had no interest in them. Groupon is such a solid company it is waiting for you to take advantage of the opportunity.
• Not investing in Traditional Media – Being that they are such a solid online company, they are going to let the brand do its magic instead of pumping cash to the Traditional Media Titans which will gobble up cash without the adequate ROI. Other local businesses pay attention.
• Users Are Key to the Content – Users primarily control the actions and the content. What other websites do you know that are business oriented and controlled by the consumers?
• Full Functionality – We will have full functionality on their website and in the next few months they will be trickling in the rest of the functionality that is in beta.
• In House Social Media Team – They control Social Media from the inside by an in house team.
• Affiliate Program – Opens the door for people like me to make some income by referring traffic to the Groupon.com.pr site.
• Quality over Quantity – During the interview Felipe expressed his focus on bringing the best quality stakeholders to the table and for me that is key!

Can you think of any more reasons?