MarketSharing: A Different Kind of Daily Deals Site

I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting tools and sites. Many of them get featured on the podcast I do with my friend Stefan Halley (@LostInSweden) on I Can Haz Podcast, and I’ll often post some of the neat ones here too – especially the ones that are of particular interest to entrepreneurs like myself.

It seems like daily deal sites are a dime a dozen these days. Everyone is getting in on the action of offering serious discounts based on a certain number of users signing up for a particular deal. It’s big business, and the average consumer is cashing in on some cool new products, and companies are getting big marketing bang for their buck. Everyone wins, and that’s why these types of sites are so successful. Personally, I don’t derive a lot of value from those sites – I’m not much of a shopper, online or off, and although I like a good bargain as much as the next person, I am not inclined to seek them out unless it’s a product I really want.

However, my sense of getting a good deal changes when I consider if it’s of value to my business. And that’s where I think MarketSharing is onto something. They are taking the tried and true daily deals concept and applying it directly to the B2B world. In other words, they are seeking out deals that matter to me as a business person – things that can directly have value to my business, like deals on conferences, office supplies, that sort of thing. But they have some other cool features too – in addition to the “deal of the day” site, there is also a membership option for businesses, and a loyalty-based option for employees of businesses. This is intriguing to me, because it makes the relationships between the vendors and the companies the most important thing – and if you ask me, that’s far more valuable than a one time 50% discount on copy paper.

I’m very interested to see where things go with MarketSharing, and social daily deal sites in general. I think over time we are going to see a shift from just focusing on saving a buck here and there to finding clever ways to really build consumer loyalty and relationships between various different types of businesses.

If you’re interested, MarketSharing is currently offering a special introductory deal that I think is worth checking out. They have a half-price ticket deal for the Silicon Alley Insider Startup Conference in New York on Tuesday May 10 in New York.

To access the deal AND get a $25 credit to use on MarketSharing with no expiry date (open to first 1,000 people to redeem the code, just go to the MarketSharing website and register with your email address and the code BLOGVIP (not case-sensitive). This will allow you to check out the daily deals on MarketSharing, as well as purchase the half-price ticket for the Startup event (and get $25 credit into the bargain).

What do you think about daily deal sites, and particularly those geared towards businesses? Is it something you’d consider using? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.