Ben Federman's Publications

• 1SaleADay Founder Ben Federman’s Strategic Decision to Lose Money and Help His Company Grow , 1saleaday 's Blog on Bigsight November, 2011 As Chief Executive Officer and founder of the popular online daily deal website 1SaleADay, Ben Federman has been featured in a number of national media outlets. In the past year, he and his company have been the topic of articles in Entrepreneur magazine and The Miami Herald, and Mr. Federman has appeared in interviews on NBC Chicago and the PBS Nightly Business Report. 1saleaday is premised on the innovative concept of selling just a few items online in 24-hour increments, at discounts typically in the 80 percent to 90 percent range. After launching the site, Mr. Federman quickly realized that, despite a new and marketable sales concept, he would not find it easy to attract large numbers of customers. A large and consistent customer base was exactly what he needed to buy in bulk and achieve the deep discounts he envisioned. Approximately six months into the venture, Ben Federman decided that he was going to lose money the next day, selling items under cost. He realized that no one could compete with a business willing to lose money on products. He also felt that, instead of going the conventional Yahoo! and Google advertising route, he would be better served investing in his customers, letting them spread the word about 1SaleADay. Surprisingly, Ben Federman’s strategy of purposely losing money worked. 1SaleADay’s exceptionally low prices got people communicating with friends and relatives about deals they found on the site. This in turn allowed the company to sell enough products on a daily basis to expand its purchasing capacity and range of goods. Established in 2007, 1SaleADay has been profitable for the past two years, not through raising prices, but through buying in much larger quantities. Instead of ordering a few hundred units from manufacturers and distributors, Ben Federman now orders 10,000 or 20,000 units of a particular product. The 500,000 unique customers who visit the 1SaleADay site each day have only five quality, discounted, products to choose from, ensuring sizable sales of each item.

• How 1SaleADay.com Increased its Facebook Fanbase by 30 Percent , 1saleaday's' Blog on Bigsight December, 2011 Online retail site 1SaleADay.com has been connecting virtual browsers with amazing deals since 2007, helping Americans to save over $1 billion to date. The site offers visitors the chance to purchase desirable products at up to 95 percent off the retail price. To keep things exciting, the company only offers one deal per day in each of the five categories. The categories include wireless, watches, family, jewelry, and Daily Deal. In order to spread the news about this great website, the marketing team at 1saleaday launched a social media campaign that has proven to be remarkably successful. With this campaign, the company’s Facebook fan base increased by 25,000 within a month. Vice President Ben Federman attributes part of the success to the company’s willingness to interact with fans on the Facebook page. When fans comment, 1SaleADay representatives take the time to comment back, personalizing virtual relationships. This Facebook presence allows the company to develop a more engaging persona. 1saleaday gets fans involved. For instance, one recent Facebook status declared that for each like it received, the company would donate a dollar to charity. That particular status gained 1,900 likes. Additionally, the company gets employees involved. Employees are encouraged to interact with fans on Facebook. This technique fosters the creation of a community between fans and 1SaleADay team members, allowing the two groups to interact and converse in a fun environment. Rather than constant promotion, the Facebook page primarily focuses on socializing. posted at fbcdn.net Thanks to this friendly approach, the 1SaleADay Facebook page increased its fan base by 30 percent within four weeks. With a continuation of the current strategy, the number of likes should increase.

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