Our developers are just about ready to give you the first look at the McBidz site. We are wrapping up loose ends and should have a direct link in on our blog here within the week. As mentioned previously this doesn’t mean we will be launching at this time as there still is supporting work that needs to be finished before a timeline is giving for our launch date. I am considering staggering our guerilla advertising as well in NY and LA so I can fly in to oversee this advertising being executed. The countdown is very fluid at this time and we talk everyday to make the delivery of the new platform as smooth as possible.

As for our new subsidiary I have submitted the paperwork to the SC Secretary of State to start this procedure and am having our programmers start to develop ideas for a simple splash page/website. We will have a link out from the McBidz splash page to our new subsidiary before we officially launch.

For the past several days I have been working on a new idea to service the EV (Electric) automobiles that will be more prevalent in the United States in the coming years. Currently this involves long conversations with several organizations specializing in these types of hybrids so I can get a handle on the equipment I will need to launch. It’s a little questionable if the technology is available at this time for my plans. The new company would be created as a subsidiary of McBidz operating as a separate entity, but under the umbrella of the McBidz Corporation. I will delve into this more later on once the subsidiary has been formed and I have something more solid to report.

I had mentioned our new mascot “Chuckster” was in the works of being created by a company which I was originally going to go with “offshore” located in China. I started having second thoughts about the quality issue and the fact that it wouldn’t be made in the USA. Both of which I wasn’t very fond of. I have located a MFG. here in the USA which has agreed to make our mascot for us although considerably more, I feel the quality will be much more to my liking.

Nate from Street Virus (An LA marketing firm) was in contact with me today as well for the guerilla marketing we have been planning for our launch. This marketing should generate quite the buzz and kick off simultaneously in NY, LA, and SC. We discussed several new ideas which look promising which may include our mascot. This is being pushed back so I can work with my guys to create an information page which will link out from the main McBidz site to our new Subsidiary to generate interest.

This past week has been pretty busy. Our team is just about finished now doing the layout for the entire site and we should most likely finish this process next week. This started me thinking about our marketing plan for the launch process which is equally important to get the word out about McBidz not only in the general area, but around the country. To this end I have been in talks with Street Virus, a nationally recognized Guerilla Marketing company which deals with the likes of Microsoft, Disney, and Fox. Of course our marketing wouldn’t be to the scale of those giants, but something that will definitely catch the attention of national media. The current markets we are looking at are NY, LA, and SC to start with and wouldn’t be your traditional advertising venue; but something more ground level in high traffic areas. We aren’t going to announce what the plan is until after the marketing has been executed. Should generate some real “Buzz” for the new McBidz platform.

Sometimes news comes along that just has to be mentioned. The last couple weeks watching the stock market tank on financial news most businesses large and small will be effected. While McBidz is not insulated to bad news on the street we are in a position of being near recession proof. Not only because of our close-knit community of loyal McBidzers, but how our price structure is laid out. While most of us are taking a hit from everything from groceries to gas we have plans set up on the new McBidz that offers something for everyone even during times of financial hardship. One example is our “Classifieds” section where you can post your advertisement for a whole month for just .99 cents. We have many examples of our low cost (best bang for your buck) on the new McBidz for all your personal/business needs.

One of the most important aspects in getting the new McBidz ready for launch was deciding how to position McBidz back in the marketplace. The first launch was pretty easy; get as many auction sellers/buyers together by targeting advertising, creating “buzz”, with competitive prices. The new McBidz had a much more thought out positioning plan which we constantly adjust to where we want to be construed in the marketplace. Price to low and we would be seen as just another site trolling for customers just to get the numbers for advertising revenue (higher membership=more you can charge advertisers for banner placement). On the other hand pricing upwards didn’t fit into the format I wanted for our McBidzers, we always want to keep the upgrades within reach for all of our members who want to use them. So after crunching the numbers we do feel the pricing for upgrades is at a level commensurate with our goal to give you the best bang for the buck you will find anywhere on or off the internet.  

Discussing our fee structure we wanted to make certain to include a free plan for most of our scripts. While McBidz is a working business model designed to be a sustainable entity long ago before we decided to restructure McBidz into the upcoming mega site I promised free plans for our users. A lot of our members do upgrade according to our data from the first McBidz; but a free plan for our student “McBidzers” who want to use the site, but can’t afford to use the upgrades was important to the overall design idea. You will see these free plans while you browse through the “Fees Page” when we launch in the coming months and our most popular scripts have a step up plan called “McBidzers” which contain the most used features for a small upgrade fee usually good for a whole year.

While watching the business channel CNBC today they speculated most people prefer to do all their shopping in one place. This brings me to the theory behind the McBidz platform. With the first launch of McBidz we included not only auctions, but a business listing, jobs, and classifieds section as well. The thought behind this is that most people would post classifieds, look for jobs, and post adverts on their own business while hunting/posting auctions. Since our main focus was going after the auction crowd that one section took off abnormally fast shooting to upwards of over 50,000 auctions and 3,600+ members in just a few short months. While the other sections saw few post because we neglected to create “buzz” outside of auctions.

This brings us to the new McBidz mega-site taking shape. Our new site goes way beyond any site we know of bringing all the major and most popular scripts to one place on the internet. We will no longer focus only on the auction platform, but the site as a whole and the enormous popularity and effect it could have in the USA. As a McBidzer you will have a one stop place on the internet to truly accomplish all your task. From dating to posting a classified the new McBidz is your place. Our new social script “McBidzers” will bring in a new era of socializing amongst our members where you can gather and be truly interactive while watching videos, chatting, passing pictures, etc.

Be assured we continue to work hard daily getting everything in order for our launch with you in mind. When the launch date draws near you will see a countdown clock on the splash page starting 45 days out so be sure to check back weekly.