Groupon’s Secret Sauce (And How to Get Yourself Some)

• Google has a secret algorithm for ranking some web pages ahead of others.
• Facebook has that killer network effect — the more people use it, the more people use it (see previously: the fax machine).
• Amazon has selection, ease of use, and the kind of trust that can't be bought.

What secret sauce does Groupon have?

Umm, email? Basically, what Groupon does is send out daily emails with straight-out pitches for local deals.

Now, we here at Copyblogger are also email marketers. So are many of you.

In fact, wasn't email supposed to be dead? And yet, Groupon is set to go public soon, with an estimated valuation of $25 Billion.

Can't anyone replicate what Groupon does on a niche basis, and chip away at their customer base? Sure, I even told you how to do it here.

The difference is, Groupon has something you may not have. But you can get it, if you understand how important it is. Just realize that it's not necessarily the pitch, it's how it's delivered.

What Groupon has is a bunch of writers and tough-as-nails editors. 400 of them.

And I'm not talking about marginal Elance scrubs who think Microsoft Word gives them a license to write. I'm also not talking about people who can barely string words into a sentence in any language, much less English.

I'm talking about poets, and creative writing majors, and artists of every stripe. Writers.

We're a $5 million a year company (and growing fast) because of our misfit collection of rebels, hippies, and poets who can write well. Groupon hit the turbo button by hiring the same type of people in bulk, and their valuation reflects it.

It makes sense. After all, I can teach anyone who can write how to sell.

Hell, I can even teach you how to write a bit better.

But I can't teach you how to write. You learn to write by writing.

Do the work to become a real writer, or find someone who'll do it for you … and do it right.

The writer runs this show.

Groupon knows this. How about you?

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

Sent from James' iPhone