Additional Articles by NWV Southern Oregon Edition
City of Grants Pass ignores big money savings app for tourism
Grants Pass, Oregon. —Once again, Grants Pass is irresponsibly spending money without looking for less expensive and easier alternatives to funding the tourism and event promotions year to year for Josephine County. In these hard economic times frugalness would be wise.
April Bassett an enterprising single mom with two kids has a better solution to funding the tourism industry and the jail here in Grants Pass. What she has is a free application called Appeelz. This is an already up and running app (no web development needed) for I Phones and Androids that has a local focus on businesses.
A complete alternative to traditional advertising, a person could spend a small amount of time, 1 minute a day to keep up with their advertising and monitor their customer base at the same time saving thousands of dollars that would have to be spent to obtain the same level of exposure.
Businesses can download the free app and pay $299.00 for a whole years worth of advertising (comparatively inexpensive) or $899.00 for lifetime advertising that serves as a jump point for finding the right type of business response and clientele you’re looking for. If a business has video or radio ads they already use, all they have to do is upload them to the site in the app or share it on all the social media platforms.
According to Ms. Bassett, if she can get 500 businesses on board, and they use a special promotional code, she will send $50,000 of those sale proceeds to help fund the jail, and if she acquires 1000 businesses she can allocate $100,000 directly to the jail for staffing and beds. Ms. Bassett insists the money will go directly to the jail and not into the general fund where it could be allocated elsewhere. This kind of entrepreneurial action by this single mom of two should set an example for others to step up and do their part to make this a better community.
While using this app, a person could be directed to a mobile friendly business website, or it can be used as a simple marketing tool on anyone’s Iphone or Android even if you have no website. A business could conceivably; set up a point of sale that could run after business hours and when the business opens up the next day they will have sales to process. Even better if the city wanted to, they could pay $899.00 for life time of advertising for the tourism industry here with the capability of inserting video, media and any promotional ads at anytime with seasonal updating and far wider exposure through networking. At the same time, this enables the city to help fund the jail and dramatically reduce their cost for tourism advertising from $290,000 to under a thousand and reach far more people; but the city is not interested.
This app has the capability to be used as a point of sale right from the app. A business can insert, update, and broadcast daily promotions. They can add redeemable discount coupons and specials; add radio commercials, video and more.
The city or any business has access to change info from day to day, week to week, or month to month. Special events for a business or worthy cause could be uploaded to the events section of this app for someone to inquire about concerts, plays, or other social events and fundraisers taking place locally.
Tourist coming to town could get on their Iphone or Android and see what is currently happening in this town or find a good restaurant or motel here locally. The ease of this app could attract and keep more people here longer spending their hard-earned money.
The Appeelz app can replace most traditional venues of advertising at a fraction of a cost, and reach many more potential customers using this very easy to manage application. A one stop advertising shop, that can expose your small business, your functions, your band, your church, or any kind of event with ease, and be on the same level playing field of advertising as the big box stores.
Fact, 79% of consumers use their smart phones for shopping local and 74% make a purchase based on their smart phone search. Fact, 95% of consumers use their smart phone to seek local information, and then 88% take action that same day. Those kinds of stats are unheard of with traditional advertising because this form of advertising is available any time night or day with the push of a few buttons. You do not have to buy a paper or watch the tube at certain times to get the message thereby putting you in more control of your time and time means everything to a business schedule or social gathering.
Another smart thing this app does is it can track your revenue stream, and you are able to watch your customer base grow. For more info on this app for your business or event, go to www.appeelz.com and click on advertise with us and sign up and tell them April Bassett sent you to receive a special promo code used to help fund the jail.
If you are a small business looking for inexpensive advertising with big exposure or someone wanting to expose their events this is the app for your future growth. I highly recommend this app for any business especially, this city of loose spending.
Ms. Bassett approached Jon Bowen about this app many months before his contract with the city was signed in June of 2014, for reasons of promoting his restaurants Roux 26 and Jimmys’ drive through. According to Ms. Bassett, Jon was rude, arrogant, defensive and said he did not like the branding and was not interested in what she was selling.
This all happened at a time when Mr. Bowen was going bankrupt and needed a financial boost. Did he already know he was a shoe in for the contract?
Then approximately two and half months ago, Ms. Bassett approached Mayor Darren Fowler who expressed interest in this idea and said he would like her to meet with his tourism person Jon Bowen. At this point, it is needless to say, that meeting went nowhere, as again Jon was defensive and later did not return any of Ms. Bassetts’ calls.
Jon Bowen in conversation with Ms. Bassett, claimed to have a similar app being developed (who’s paying the developers and how much) but when asked to show it to her by Ms. Bassett, he replied he had no ad-hoc to show for the app and just said it would be ready in June. June is almost gone and so far, no app has appeared. At the upcoming July 1, 2015 meeting of the city council Jon Bowen is supposed to make a yearly presentation (required by contract) on his progress so far, and should be complete with accountability for spending (receipts) and should produce this app he speaks of, if it is indeed ready. The Rogue Allure Jon claims to be producing is not feasible due to differing service providers in the motels and hotel cable systems. (Read previous article here)
Jon Bowen should honor the contract, which should be easy with $24,361 every month, or the city manager Aaron Cubic and his assistant David Reeves responsible for getting him the contract, should pull the contract for breach. If Bowen shows, he produced nothing and this continues after the July 1, 2015, yearly required report then it would be obvious the city is at least negligent in their duties to manage monies, as well, making a good case for malfeasance, collusion, and misappropriation of public funds on Mr. Bowens’ behalf.
The Appeelz app could be a game changer for our local economic health and that could equate to a big boost in sales for local Mom and Pop shops reviving the dying downtown. We must have something besides empty commercial buildings downtown and a packed Wal-Mart parking lot to show our tourist but the city is not interested.
Considering this fiat US economy has been engineered to fail, it would seem rather idiotic to spend so recklessly on tourism expenses unless the original intention was not honorable to begin with.
Upcoming Articles:
NWV will reveal how your high paid public servants want to:
1- Put meters on your well to monitor your water consumption.
2- The power company (working with the government) will install (by force) a Smart Meter on your house so they can monitor your electric consumption.
3- Fine you for burning wood to heat your home for polluting the air
4- Charge you for every mile you drive your gasoline or electric powered car.
5- Confiscate food storage from the people during a manufactured or natural crisis.
6 – Create a snitch society to turn your neighbor in for anything that the government deems inappropriate. (It’s called, “See something say Something”)
7- Create Community Oriented Policing.
All they need to accomplish this is your money and blind trust.
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