Tipping Point goal
To enhance the website with new features, including a job board, directory, dating, social commerce (etsy-like), classifieds sections, and banner advertisement.
Cost is approximately $15,000 in developers fees and software licensing.
Ultimate goal
The additional funding will enable us to reach out further by allowing us to expand the website membership via branding, social network marketing, and local search marketing to grow the presence in core college community cities and towns.
$5,000 is needed to fund our Black and White Tie Benefit Ball in the Fall (Facility Rental, Entertainment, Open Bar and Catering).
Mobile app and initial digital marketing: $5,000.
With the above funding, the site should be able to sustain and grow based on the below monetization goals:
The goal to monetization of GreeksTree is all about traffic on several levels.
1. Direct traffic to the site increases page views and page impressions. Page impressions and views help to sell online advertising to local merchants who need a venue to sell their products and services to university markets. It is the same principle
as the print media-the more eyes on a paper, the more valuable the ad space. Direct traffic will increase the value of the ad space.
2. Direct traffic also drives up rankings with Google. Traffic is a key indicator to the “value” of a site. Higher ranking will result in even greater traffic and add more value to the advertising space.
3. It is not about students and alumnus finding the site through online searches as much as it is about driving traffic to the site for the advertisers. Merchants will not advertise on a site unless there is a proven level of traffic and conversions-ROI.
Given the above, the following are methods to monetize greekstree.com
1. Mobile app-the mobile app will provide a tool to captivate site users. Students are the ultimate audience for merchant advertisers.
Besides the app functionality for site users, the app will allow merchants to push offers (coupons, deals, etc) and advertise on the app itself to gain exposure to their local student marketplace.
The app, given the above, is also an excellent proposition/feature to entice local merchants to buy ad space on GreeksTree. The app feature can be bundled with the directory listing or banner ad or other site features (see below).
2. Directory-YellowPage like directory. The directory is a place for local merchants to place their listing. It helps them in two ways. One, it is a local citation listing, which will gain the merchant’s business higher ranking in Google local search/places
(and as greekstrees.com gains popularity and importance to Google, that citation or listing becomes more valuable-a selling proposition). The directory listing will have free and paid levels, with enhanced listing features, similar to yellowpages.com.
3. Banner ads-already installed. The goal is to sell local merchant ads directly by the GreeksTree sales group.
4. Dating Module-this module would enhance the site’s “stickiness”, increasing user interaction and greatly enhancing page views. The result would be to add value to the site for local merchants, increasing the value of the ads, providing another set of
pages to run banner ads and of course, to upsell the dating listing itself (for example, match.com charges a monthly fee for enhanced listings and charges even more for video uploads, notify when match reads email, etc.)
5. Etsy/Fancy.com-like site social ecommerce module. Social ecommerce is a powerful tool that will enhance the usefulness of the site. It will provide a platform for local merchants to sell selected products to the student and local market. Payment is
made directly to GreeksTree through PayPal, which automatically splits off the fee to the vendor, greatly reducing accounting.
This will increase site traffic, increase user interaction and time on site, increase search engine ranking, increase merchant interest in GreeksTree advertising opportunities and increase merchant advertising sales.
6. Local Search Marketing and Social Marketing-this is a cost center but will result in branding and traffic on social sites and local search results. The result again is to bring greater traffic volume to the site, enhancing page views to the different
modules, higher Google ranking, greater opportunity to close merchant advertising sales as stated above. In addition, the local search would focus on products/services of the advertisers, increasing their ROI which will result in a long term commitment to
advertising on GreeksTree and availing GT more opportunity to upsell advertising clients on other modules.
7. Resell local search marketing-we are offering a partnership/reseller opportunity. If any local sales marketing clients results from GreeksTree activities on our behalf, we will pay out a referral/reseller fee. Your direct/indirect activities to sell
the other available monetization opportunities will result in a large pool of local merchants who may need our services-local search marketing, social marketing, mobile marketing, web design and development. We are offering a percentage of the setup and recurring
fees for each sale. To be discussed and agreed upon.
