Co-Ops - A New Cooperative Marketing Program

Co-Ops allow marinas to present time sensitive offers within ActiveCaptain when they need to drive more boaters to their marina, all risk-free, starting today.

CASTINE, Maine, March 15, 2010 - ActiveCaptain announces Co-Ops, a new innovative, risk-free way for marinas to market to boaters. A Co-Op is a time sensitive offer that marinas can turn on and off to drive more business to them when they need it. Unlike membership clubs, coupon offers, or other ongoing discounts, a marina can utilize a Co-Op when business is slow and an extra discount can bring in more boaters. They can turn off Co-Ops on days when business is brisk, allowing them to maximize income. Marinas pay nothing to create and display Co-Ops. They pay a small fee of $1.99 when a Co-Op is actually used by a boater and the transaction has completed. We only win if they win.

In January 2007 the ActiveCaptain website went live. After three years, 20,000 users, almost 50,000 points-of-interest: marinas, anchorages, local knowledge and hazards, tens-of-thousands of marina and anchorage reviews, and almost a million user updates, the ActiveCaptain website is moving to the next phase - allowing marinas to take advantage of our success.

At last month's Miami Boat Show, MaxSea/Furuno showed ActiveCaptain data on their latest software release. Other marine navigation solutions will announce support shortly. ActiveCaptain has now reached the critical mass needed to become a force in the cruising marketplace. ActiveCaptain's next goal is to leverage this power to help marinas drive more business to their facilities while providing ActiveCaptain users with access to money saving offers. It's an innovative, cooperative relationship between ActiveCaptain, marinas, and boaters with each benefiting. Cooperation is shortened to Co-Op and that's where the word comes from.

"The Internet's real power is its immediacy. News appears as it happens. Users communicate in real-time with comments and blogs. We're bringing marinas this power to market in real-time to users on their boats in their immediate area," comments ActiveCaptain founder, Jeffery Siegel. "By providing a flexible, risk-free environment for marinas to market in, Co-Ops promote experimentation. We encourage them to be bold, think outside the box, try that wild idea. You never know what just might bring in those new boaters."

Most Co-Ops will be relatively brief in duration - a few hours, an evening, or a day - plus there is no cost commitment unless the offer is used. This allows experimentation. In addition, the ActiveCaptain website provides real-time statistics to the marina on how many boaters are requesting the offer and how many are using it so marinas can gauge an offer's success and adjust accordingly.

For more information watch the 2 minute teaser video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdJwTpQvsMc

Then read the 2 page white paper for marinas at: http://www.activecaptain.com/Co-Ops.pdf

ActiveCaptain Co-Ops will go live on the website April 12th. Marinas can enroll in the program now by contacting Karen Siegel at: karen@activecaptain.com.

The ActiveCaptain web site has the largest database of marinas, anchorages, hazards, and local knowledge on the web. And by largest, we mean the most content by any metric available, period. Its wiki-style interface allows users to enhance and correct the information, and to add their own uncensored reviews.

For more information on ActiveCaptain go to www.activecaptain.com or contact Karen Siegel at karen@activecaptain.com.

ActiveCaptain
The Interactive Cruising Guidebook
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2010-03-15	Co-Ops - A New Cooperative Marketing Program
2009-07-15	Web site redesign and expanded awards
2009-01-27	ActiveCaptain wins SAIL Magazine award
2008-10-27	ActiveCaptain Mobile for Windows Mobile
2008-03-12	ActiveCaptain Mobile!
2008-01-21	Inlets released
2007-11-29	One hundred thousand updates reached
2007-07-10	Local Knowledge markers released
2007-02-12	One thousand registered users, anchorages capability released
2007-01-23	ActiveCaptain website released

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