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By ALYSSA BOYER
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Many Appalachian State University students know which Web site to visit in order to find the best food and drink prices in Boone. Many don’t know, however, that this site was created by an ASU student, who drew his inspiration from an Understanding Entrepreneurship class he took back in the fall semester of last year.
BooneDeals.com is a Web site created by Russell S. Snyder, a senior and marketing-management double major. With three paid advertisers already,
BooneDeals.com is a thriving business that has the potential to begin raking in a profit.
After
devising a plan for the site in the fall semester of 2007 and receiving
encouragement from his Professor Benjamin C. Powell and friends, Snyder
decided to create the site in January. Ten months later, the site is
increasing in popularity with a new design and features such as a blog
section and games.
Snyder went into creating the site with little knowledge of computers or web design.
“I just thought there might be some money that could be made there and it might be fun to do at the same time,” Snyder said.
After
spending countless hours designing the site and gathering information,
Snyder has created a site that requires minimal weekly maintenance to
keep it up to date. It features food and drink specials for each day of
the week, as well as a list of restaurants that offer student discounts.
Snyder’s
focus is now on advertising. He spends his free time contacting
restaurant and bar owners and setting up meetings to introduce his Web
site.
“As a
twenty-two year old college student it’s somewhat intimidating,” Snyder
said, “I’m going to introduce it to them and they’ve never even heard
of it and I want to leave with some of their money, so it’s a difficult
thing to do.”
Snyder says that his friends have also helped to promote the site.
Around
campus he is often recognized as the “BooneDeals guy”. “Everybody
thinks I’m the walking billboard of what the drink specials are,”
Snyder said.
Although it can be challenging to get the word out on a low budget, Snyder is optimistic about the future of the site.
“I think
it’s something that’s going to be here in Boone after I’m no longer in
Boone,” Snyder said, “It’s something I can still run and make money off
of hopefully ten years from now.”
After graduation, Snyder plans to pursue a master’s degree and eventually pursue a career in finance and investments.
However,
he says that he is always on the lookout for the next BooneDeals.com,
or other business idea that could meet with equal or even greater
success.
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