Enlighten is increasingly becoming more about the software products it puts out than the services it has rendered for the last three decades.
The Ann Arbor-based firm has traditionally focused on digital marketing services. That focus is starting to shift. Last year Enlighten released two photo-oriented software products last year,
WhatWasThere.com and
YearlyMe.com. This year it plans to release a coupon and marketing software program called OffersNow that's aimed at helping small businesses.
WhatWasThere.com is a mobile app that allows users to upload historic photos of everyday places. The idea is to help show how communities and places evolve over time. YearlyMe.com works in a similar function. Instead of buildings, the users upload pictures of themselves through the years so they can show off their own evolution.
"It's really fun to see people over time," says Steve Glauberman, CEO of
Enlighten. "We have had 50 people in the agency do it. You can see that you were a nerd in 1985 and in 1986 and in 1987."
OffersNow will be a subscription-based software service that lets small businesses (think mom-and-pop restaurants) create and manage coupons. The subscription fee pays for an online marketing push to help get out the word about the deals and build that business' online brand. Glauberman says a few local chambers of commerce are interested in it and Enlighten plans to launch a Beta test for 100-150 local businesses in May.
"We think that is going to be a really successful product," Glauberman says.
Enlighten has enjoyed its own overall success over the last year. Its revenue is up 10 percent and the company has hired nine people, expanding its staff to about 100 employees and a few interns. It also has a couple of job openings right now.
Source: Steve Glauberman, CEO of Enlighten
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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