Dear Friends, About two years ago, Andrew Mason, a 30-year-old native of my hometown of Pittsburgh, had an idea. He asked the owner of a local pizza shop a simple question: “If I guaranteed you twenty customers, would you sell them two pizzas for the price of one, and then give me part of your profits from those sales? The pizza shop owner did the math. His profit margin on each pizza would decrease significantly, but because his total sales would increase, his overall profits would also increase. Plus he would receive free advertising and a chance to build his customer base. So he agreed to the deal. Andrew then found twenty people who agreed to be one of those twenty 2-for-1 pizza buyers—but the deal was promised to them only if he could find at least twenty. Once he found twenty, the deal was “tipped.” That simple idea became a company known today by millions of people as “Groupon.” Every day, forty-four million subscribers receive a daily discount coupon offer in their inbox, and once enough subscribers agree to buy into it, the deal “tips” and it becomes available to all of them. Groupon earned over $500 million in 2010, and it now promotes some 650 regional or nation-wide deals each day, and more than 95% of them tip. Upwards of 26 million Groupon offers have been purchased world-wide, saving customers in the U.S. $850 million. In November, Groupon rejected a 5.3 billion buy-out offer from Google. According to Forbes, it is probably the fastest-growing company in history. Groupon works because both buyers and sellers win. Buyers save money while sellers make money, an idea that has propelled Wal-Mart to where it is today. Personally, I’ve never bought anything via Groupon because I’m not interested in most of what they sell, even if their discounts are huge. My wife, however, has bought into one Groupon deal on some organic food, and our daughter also bought into a Groupon deal for a major discount at GAP clothing stores that offered $50 worth of clothing for $25. She shopped at the mark-down rack and walked out of GAP with $180 worth of clothing for $25. Lots of other people took advantage of that same deal—445,000 in all. I wish I had thought of Groupon before Andrew Mason, and if I had, I wish I would have had the time to develop his idea as he has! Or, I wish I owned just a small stake of Groupon. If I did, I could have become Heaven’s Family’s major donor. And I would have been perfectly happy to live on my 2010 salary of $32,000 for the rest of my life, because I don’t need more than that. Why am I telling you this? Because I received an email a few days ago from my friend, Tony Dale, founder and director of House2House Ministries. Tony and his wife, Felicity, are both medical doctors who gave up their medical professions to build God’s kingdom all over the world through the multiplication of house churches. They’ve influenced a lot of people for good, including me. I learned in Tony’s email that two of his sons have launched a Groupon-like business named Moolala that has attracted venture capital and some very talented people to run the business. But instead of following Groupon’s win-win business model, Moolala has a win-win-win business model—a model that makes it possible for Heaven’s Family to be one of the three winners in that equation. In fact, their business model can also make you one of the three winners. How is that? It’s very simple. You sign up to receive Moolala’s email discount-coupon offers using Heaven’s Family’s referral code. Then you recommend others to sign up. Those people recommend others, who recommend others who recommend others. If any of the people in the first four tiers ever purchase any of Moolala’s discount deals, Heaven’s Family receives 2% of their purchase price. If any of the people in the four tiers below you ever purchase any of Moolala’s discount deals, you receive 2% of their purchase price. It is what is called “affiliate marketing” in the internet world, with the added benefit of commissions going to multiple generations. In Groupon’s business model, only Groupon and the businesses they partner with make profits on their discounted coupon sales, even though lots of people have helped them make their money by spreading the word about their deals to their friends. Moolala’s business model, however, is much better, because it incorporates the concept of profit sharing (a godly idea). Simply put, if you help me make money, I should share some of my profits with you, otherwise I have not loved you as I love myself. In contrast to Groupon and its many smaller imitations, Moolala will share profits with those who help spread the word about their discount deals. When Moolala makes money, those who helped them make money will also make money. So everyone benefits: the buyers save money, the sellers make money, and Moolala and its “sales force” make money. Obviously, Moolala has the potential to succeed in a big way. And if Moolala succeeds, then everyone who helps them will benefit. And that is why I’m telling all of you, my friends, about Moolala. You are the kind of people who are kingdom-minded and who love to show your love for Jesus by meeting the pressing needs of “the least of these” among His world-wide family. By signing up to receive Moolala’s discount offers and by asking your friends to sign up, you can help Heaven’s Family meet more pressing needs around the world, as well as receive some more blessing yourself. But wait! When you do sign up, make sure that you use this link: www.moolala.com/r/14CTT1M, or use this referral code in the appropriate box at Moolala’s website: 14CTT1M. Doing either of those things tells Moolala that Heaven’s Family referred you. After you have signed up, then please ask others to sign up as well. Moolala makes that very easy to do with simple tools at their website, so you can send a message to your email list, post a message on your Facebook page or Twitter, and so on. Moolala is just getting off the ground, and it is those who get involved in the early stages who stand to benefit the most. So please don’t delay signing up and telling your friends to sign up. Moolala will soon have a huge email list of subscribers, a list that will give them lots of leverage to approach national retailers who want to increase their profits through discount offers. It would be lovely if that email list was built from a foundation of people like us, who realize that we are not owners of anything, but only stewards of what belongs to God, people who love to lay up treasure in heaven. Finally, please remember that there is nothing wrong about making money, as long as it is made ethically, and as long as stewarded according to God’s commandments. I’ve noticed that the people who give to Heaven’s Family are people who have money to give! And most of those people work hard to earn what they give. For that reason, I naturally want all of the friends of Heaven’s Family to prosper—as long as their wealth doesn’t become their god. I’m very happy that, by telling you about Moolala, I can hopefully be a blessing to you, because you have been a blessing to Heaven’s Family. Sincerely in Christ, David |
David,
Great post. Thanks for sharing our story and being part of what’s happening.
And Happy New Year!
Jon
Co-Founder, Moolala
Do you have an idea on when the first deals will be posted?
Thank you!
The Frugal Free Gal
//thefrugalfreegal.com
Twitter: @frugalfreegal
Facebook: //www.facebook.com/pages/The-Frugal-Free-Gal/133890719973105
Moolala needs to collect a substantial email database before they can start offering incredible deals. They are tentatively hoping to be ready in about a month’s time. Thank you so much for your interest! God bless you.
I thought you should know that today’s “offer” was objectionable and I have withdrawn from the program.
We completely agree with you, Deb, and we want you to know that we do not endorse these kinds of ads and we earnestly hope Moolala doesn’t post any more like it in the future.