Online Marketing "coupon" sites

I recently ran a coupon on one of these sites (such as Living Social or Groupon) and would like to share my experience.  I have heard other similar stories and so that this does not continue happening to Massage Professionals I'm passing on some tips if you decide to use these services.  First you need to set a limit up front of the total number of deals that you want to sell.  If you do decide to run an open ended deal and not set a limit, beware that they only report the total sold at the end of each day (midnight), and do not provide a live running total.  Next, ask if your deal will run ONLY on their site or sites of their co-owners as well.  I was not told that my deal was going to run on multiple sites and therefore I sold far more than I wanted to (400!).  Some colleagues suggested I reject the amount sold over my limit, due to false pretenses but I feel that it makes me look bad since my business name is connected to it, and I didn't want to ruin it for potential clients and other massage professionals.  So I chose to network within the profession and get a warning out.  I do believe it's a great way to gain new clients and get your name out there.  Also, I am not a new MT, I moved and I'm trying to build my business again, so this doesn't just happen to new MTs.  I have heard other MTs say it's a great way to gain some clients but keep in mind that there are "coupon hoppers" that won't return, so do it for the ones that have never had massage and will return as great clients! 

Hope this helps you be more aware and not get suckered like I did.