The Man Behind Myzerr

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!SLADE SHERMAN is a 36 year old Australian entrepreneur with 15 years experience in the coupon marketing industry. Working with a partner, he set up The Rewards Factory, one of Australia’s leading coupon promotion companies. At the end of 2008 Slade left The Rewards Factory to begin the search that eventually led to Myzerr. (By the way, sorry ladies: Slade is happily married and has two young sons.) On the day that Myzerr Beta launched, 3rd February 2010, we spoke to him about his vision for the site…

Slade, what’s the inspiration behind Myzerr? Where did the idea come from?
“Increasingly over the past few years I’ve been driven to explore and understand the ways in which business can be social serving – how to build a business that can find the interface between social goals and building a customer base for that service. In particular I have been fascinated by the growth of Web 2.0 sites that help people to help each other, especially enabling users to contribute free content and for communities to collaborate for the collective good of those communities.

“Two years ago I was looking at, and thinking about, Wikipedia as an example of this very process. And then I had that ‘bang of blood to the head’ moment, when all of a sudden it occurred to me: business owners are likely to be motivated in the same way as individuals who contribute to the knowledge base on Wikipedia! As a small business, why wouldn’t I make use of a service that enabled me to promote products and goods to my local community if it was free and assisted with connecting me to more customers.”

“Driven by the need to explore this idea further I began to start thinking seriously about how to tap into this creativity of knowledge creation through online social networks where people access information and connect around a social object. I travelled to the States, started researching 2.0 properties and began to think about how I could enable communities, businesses and customers to come together for the benefit of all. And crucially, I decided that it had to be the case that everyone must be able to use whatever I built before it cost them anything. And that’s where Myzerr came from!”

What is your vision for Myzerr?
“Quite simply, this: Myzerr is a virtual meeting place, an online platform that connects communities and users with each other and with businesses using a social object – coupons, in this instance, or what we call ‘Zerrs.’ There are three aspects to Myzerr: individuals, communities of which they are members, and businesses of which the individuals and indeed the communities are, or could be, customers. So Myzerr is where all three can cooperate for the good of each.”

Currently Myzerr is free. Are there plans to change that?
“Read my lips: Myzerr is and will always be absolutely free for members to use. Myzerr is and always will be absolutely free for businesses to use. Myzerr is and always will be absolutely free for communities to use. That will never change.”

So how is it going to pay for itself, then?
“When a business uses Myzerr it costs nothing. When it sees that using Myzerr actually brings in new customers and rewards existing ones at no cost, it may well decide to test ways in which Myzerr can promote the business in other ways. And if that test works, then why wouldn’t the business continue to invest like that? It’s like me saying to you, give me a dollar and I’ll give you two. If that worked for you, then of course you’d be happy to give me dollars all day! It’s absolutely vital, though, to understand that Myzerr only offers advertising and promotional opportunities that are testable, and so that can prove that they are making more money than they’re costing.”

One last thing before I go. That peculiar name – what’s that all about?
“Ah it’s just a silly little pun on a miser, someone who likes to save money, with “My” at the front because it’s all about the individual and how she or he can make savings. That’s all there is to it!”

For more information and for interview requests, please contact Dr Steve Carey of Bloom Partners on 0423 793887 or email him at steve@bloompartners.com.au

Tags: Business Promotion, Myzerr, Slade Sherman