Leading online appointment booking solution integrates into social loyalty platform to help appointment dependent businesses generate leads and acquire new customers

BOZEMAN, MT(October 25, 2011) - Schedulicity (www.schedulicity.com), the leader in online appointment scheduling for small businesses, announced today a partnership with SocialGuides (www.socialguides.com), a social loyalty platform that helps small businesses manage social marketing activities. As part of the partnership, Schedulicity will integrate into the SocialGuides loyalty tab, adding online scheduling into their existing social media capabilities, which include customer acquisition and lead generation tools that help its clients attract and retain customers and amplify word of mouth.

To launch the partnership, Schedulicity and SocialGuides are creating a “Social Salon Package” for Marló Beauty Supply, a Michigan-based beauty supply company servicing salons and professionals across the US. It is the first company to adopt the special offering, giving them the opportunity to launch online marketing campaigns, create content, and schedule appointments from the same platform. “Social Packages” can be optimized for any small business wanting social engagement and increased customer acquisition.

“Having a comprehensive social media presence is paramount for small business owners and service professionals looking to build credibility in their market,” said Schedulicity CEO and founder, Jerry Nettuno. “Our partnership with SocialGuides will provide small businesses with the necessary tools to increase loyalty and engagement without sacrificing valuable time that could be spent running a business.”

The need for small businesses to maintain a social media presence that is both informative and engaging is growing at a rapid pace due to consumer demand. According to The Kelsey Group, in 2010, nearly all consumers (97 percent) use online media when researching products or services in their local area. This is up from 50 percent in 2007 and 82 percent in 2008.

“Today, even the smallest businesses are finding that a social media footprint is the key to staying top-of-mind,” said Christian Gammill, president and co-founder of SocialGuides. “Our platform offers businesses a way to reward social fans for their likes and comments on Facebook, and incorporating Schedulicity gives our clients yet another option to retain business and increase awareness among social customers.

Schedulicity takes the effort out of time-consuming tasks by completely automating and streamlining the entire scheduling process for appointment-dependent small businesses. By offering online service scheduling 24 hours a day through its digital channels, these businesses are able to save time and increase profitability through eliminating the hassles of scheduling.

SocialGuides combines social commerce applications and social media onto one platform. Subscription-based and easily integrated onto Facebook, the platform features a welcome tab, which enables fan-exclusive content, and a variety of social loyalty programs, aimed to retain existing customers with exclusive offers, listings, and panels.

SocialGuides offers small businesses three, tiered packages: Plus, Pro, and Platinum. All subscribers are given access to a SocialGuides dashboard that enables easy access to data, deals, and fan activity. Depending on the package, the users may also have access to Social Deals and Social Listings.

About Schedulicity

Schedulicity is the leading online appointment scheduling solution for small businesses. To date, more than 6,000,000 appointments have been booked through Schedulicity (an appointment is booked every four seconds) in more than 1,900 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Schedulicity currently facilitates over $450 million in appointment-based commerce per year. Schedulicity earned the prestigious DEMOgod Award at DEMO Fall 2011 for exceptional potential to thrive in the market, and was also honored by Tech Awards Circle 2011 for Best SMB Service, which recognizes small to mid-sized companies that have created a truly outstanding technology service. To sign up for the service or to find a service provider near you, please visit http://www.schedulicity.com or Schedulicity’s Facebook page.

About SocialGuides

SocialGuides is a Social Loyalty and Commerce platform that helps small and medium businesses with their social marketing efforts. SocialGuides’ applications and platform make it easy for local businesses to grow their fan base (with welcome tab and coupon apps) and drive customer retention (with loyalty programs) – all tied to Facebook to amplify word of mouth. For more information, visit www.socialguides.com.

Some interesting news in the last few days.  The question for all of you is… “are deals dead?”

• After a four month experiment Facebook ends the program.

• via Facebook Kills Daily Deals, But Keeps Check-In Deals | TechCrunch.

• Yelp Follows Facebook in Scaling Back Daily-Deal Service

• via Yelp Follows Facebook in Scaling Back Daily-Deal Service - Bloomberg.

I tend to think they aren’t dead as a part of a larger marketing plan.  But as a stand alone line of business with a dedicated sales force?  Well that might not make much sense anymore.  Regardless, we tend to think there is a better way…

Stay tuned for some new announcements from us on that front!

“I just don’t understand why others need to know that you’re going to bed, or that you’re at the store,” were the exasperations from my parents when I first described Twitter and Facebook to them.  But that confusion is the modern analog of the usefulness of motion pictures or public libraries when they first appeared, or why aircraft carriers are now the kings of naval warfare and not battleships:  the core nature of what’s taking place has evolved.

What is taking place is not simply communicating every act we perform (however lofty of insipid), but offering our experience for others to take part. read more »