Sacred Heart University Senior Finds Success with Self-Created Website

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: Portrait of AnyLuckyDay.com founder Giancarlo Massaro of Woodbridge, CT, a senior at Sacred Heart University. Sacred Heart University photo by Tracy Deer-Mirek

FAIRFIELD, CT (10/05/2010)(readMedia)-- FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Owing more to persistence and less to chance, Sacred Heart University senior Giancarlo Massaro's AnyLuckyDay.com web site is flourishing.

Massaro, who is majoring in Communications and Technology and minoring in Business Administration, is the creator and operator of www.anyluckyday.com, an interactive advertising platform which enables companies to promote their products and services through social media and then gives consumers a shot – or more – at winning them. Now in only its second year, the site has been highlighted on CNN, MSN, AOL and CareerBuilder.com.

The AnyLuckyDay.com homepage opens to reveal that day's product or service, along with a blue button for visiting the sponsor and an orange button for posting a comment, both of which are required for a chance at winning. Scrolling down a bit, users will see a YouTube video created especially for the promotion. Users can gain additional entries in the contest by clicking on buttons to "share" on Facebook and "retweet" on Twitter. Each promotional period and contest is 24 hours, and winners are drawn at random.

For advertisers, the site provides a calendar showing the days that are available for promotions and the fees. Massaro's fee structure for 2010, which was intended to reward early commitment, started out at $1.50 for Jan. 1, $3 for Jan. 2, $4.50 for Jan. 3 and so on up to $547.50 for Dec. 31. For each day a company purchases, it receives a contest giving away their product or service, a video featured on both YouTube and AnyLuckyDay, and posts on Twitter, Facebook, and AnyLuckyDay.com. The company also gets its logo and link on the calendar.

Massaro, of Woodbridge, Connecticut, got an early start in working with websites. When he was 12 and playing on a club soccer team that needed publicity, he went online and created a free site so people would know who the players were and what their schedule was. The site ran for a year or so, but as the team progressed in the rankings, Massaro thought "something better" was needed. "I contacted a few companies and I was able to get a web design company to sponsor and build a website for our team. Through the website I was able to get about 10 companies to sponsor us and we ended up raising about $5000," he said. Following these successes, he started creating other sites.

Although Massaro temporarily stopped working on the web when he started at SHU, he turned his attention to it once again as a sophomore in search of an income. In December 2008, "I was watching TV late one night and an infomercial came on, and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool if I could try out these products to see if they actually worked before I had to buy them? Maybe I could create a website from this idea.' So with a little tweaking, that's how AnyLuckyDay came about."

The site launched in January 2009 and in order to get started, he began by buying products to giveaway himself. "I bought an iPod, a speaker system, a mouse and a keyboard to give away in the first month." By the end of January, his site had its first sponsor and soon attracted more. Throughout 2009, it was free for companies to receive promotion on AnyLuckyDay. "They sent me their product, and I would do a contest, write them up, and promote their company for the whole year. I had to build up an audience and credibility so it would get more companies interested." Then last December, he said, "I was thinking, 'All right, it's time to start monetizing the site.' So I implemented a calendar and the pricing structure for January 2010."

Massaro said his goal has always been to have his own business. "I don't like having someone over my shoulder all of the time. I like doing things that I'm passionate about, and I'd rather just work on something that's mine. I own it, and I'm passionate about it."

Massaro intends to run AnyLuckyDay as his full-time business after he graduates in May.

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About Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. More than 6,000 students attend the University's four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its guides "Best 373 Colleges: 2011," "Best in the Northeast" and "Best 301 Business Schools: 2010." U.S. News & World Report ranks SHU among the best master's universities in the North in its annual "America's Best Colleges" publication. As one of just 23 institutions nationally, SHU is a member of the Association of American Colleges & Universities' (AAC&U) Core Commitments Leadership Consortium, in recognition of its core, "The Human Journey." SHU fields 31 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu