Microsoft will pay you to use their Live Search.  Well… sort of.

Today Microsoft unveiled a new incentive to use their Live Search for your online shopping search needs:  cash back.

The big M will pay you cash back from purchases you make after searching for the products on their search engine.  So… you want a pair of shoes, you search for shoes at Live Search, click through to a product you find in the listings, and make a purchase… then you’ll get cash back.

From the article:

Products found during a search eligible for a rebate are denoted with a gold coin icon with a U.S. dollar sign in the center. The rebate is based on a percentage of the purchase price and is determined by the advertiser.

So it’s the advertiser paying the cash back, not Microsoft.  And looks like the amount you get back will vary from product to product and advertiser to advertiser.

But it’s still an interesting idea.  What Microsoft has done, really, is turn themselves into one huge affiliate network.  They don’t lose any money out of pocket for the rebates, and the system will theoretically bring them more search traffic.  Win win for Gates and Co.

Some other things to be aware of:

Shoppers must set up a Microsoft cashback account, where the rebate money is held. When the amount reaches $5, Microsoft will either mail a check or transfer the money to a PayPal account or bank account.

So, you have to sign up for an account… no biggie, I guess.  Other than that… you just shop online as usual, only using Microsoft as your shopping search portal.  It’s all going to hinge on whether or not people can find what they’re looking for with Live Search.

There may be other engines out there that handle shopping queries better–I really don’t know.  Of course, if none of the products I want to buy are being offered as part of the CashBack program by advertisers, then it won’t do me any good.

Hmmm, I wonder what happens if I search for operating systems like Vista… will Microsoft be a partner advertiser in their own cash back scheme?

Interesting concept here–definitely a move to try and grab some of Google’s traffic.  We’ll keep an eye on it and let you know how it performs.

Myself and several of my co-workers had the privilege of playing in Monday’s Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament at the Bluegrass Country Club.

The weather was perfect, the golfers were jovial, and the birdies were flowing–for some teams more than others.

Any of you who participated in the tournament have probably already heard about our guerrilla marketing golf balls. For the rest of you, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:

See, one of our fastest growing services is Search Engine Optimization–or, helping websites rank better on Google.  And we wanted to highlight that service to a tournament field filled with our core demographic… small business owners.  So we conceived of and designed some specialty golf balls. They were really nice golf balls, some of the nicest Nike makes. On one side we printed our logo, and on the other side was a catchy marketing message:

“Finding golf balls is easy. Finding your website on Google is hard. We can help. FoundGolfBall.com“

At 8:30, an hour or so before the groups all teed off, Eric and I hopped in one of the spare golf carts and headed out. We drove the whole course, “losing” 7 or 8 of our special guerrilla golf balls on each and every hole. Some were “lost” in the rough. Some were “lost” in the sand traps or near the edges of water hazards. Others were “lost” in the trees and wooded areas. Heck, we even managed to “lose” a few on or near the green on several holes.

The idea was that golfers are always on the lookout for free golf balls. Anytime a golfer hits a ball into the woods and stumbles upon another ball that someone else lost… it makes that bad shot just a little easier to take, because now he got a free golf ball out of the deal.

So we assumed that our Found Golf Balls would be found… often.

Anyone whose interest was piqued went home Monday evening and typed into their Internet Explorer address bar the website URL printed on the ball: FoundGolfBall.com, which took them to this page here on our website.

There they learned that the ball itself was a coupon, good for one free hour of Search Engine consulting with one of our Search experts (a $100 value). We’ve already had a few people email or call to take advantage of that offer.

What’s even more fascinating is the requests we’ve gotten to give estimates on recreating this Found Golf Ball promotion for our clients. Guess we should have seen that coming, as there were plenty of folks talking about it at the tournament’s reception.

So we’ve put together a nice, affordable package for any small business owners who want to make the biggest sponsorship splash of your next corporate golf tournament:

• 2-4 hours consulting time with our concept team. We’ll help you pick the perfect marketing angle and slogan for your guerilla golf balls
• 144 custom printed Nike golf balls
• A free web page to promote a specific service, product, special offer, or just your business in general. We’ll print the FoundGolfBall.com URL and a promo code on the ball, and anyone who visits the site and types in the code will be redirected to your special promotional page. This includes hosting and web design
• A handy PDF guide we authored with special instructions, tips, tricks, and suggestions to help make your golf ball promotion a rousing success

There isn’t a business or industry that these golf balls can’t help promote. Here are some examples:

Churches: “If only peace was as easy to find as this golf ball. Come join us on the journey at First Community Church.”

Golf Instructors: “If you were a better golfer, you probably wouldn’t have found this ball.”

CPAs: “Finding a CPA is like finding this golf ball… easy. Finding a CPA you can trust? Now that’s hard.”

So on and so forth. You see where we’re going here… any business can take this novel approach to marketing and, with the right guidance, come up with the perfect slogan.

Sure, you can sponsor the par-3 17th hole, like you do every year, and sit there giving away bottled water… like you do every year.

OR… you can do something that’s truly unique and totally memorable with the Found Golf Ball promotion from Keystone Business Solutions. Make a lasting impression on the CEOs and decision makers of local businesses in your area, and have some fun with it at the same time.

Give us a shout today to find out what it might take to get the ball rolling on your own amazing golf ball promotion.