Pooling money to increase buying power, get better deals, and generally make things happen isn't exactly a new idea.

But PLAY@Savvy Circle has put a Web 2.0 spin on it.

Here's how it works. Savvy Circle gets a deal with a participating merchant and features it on their website for a limited amount of time. One merchant, one deal at a time. Each deal requires that a minimum number of people participate. If you as a customer want in on the deal you click the "GET IT" button. When the maximum threshold is reached or time runs out the Circle closes and participants get a link to a voucher. They print out the voucher and redeem it with the participating merchant. Nice and easy.

Not enough people to complete the Circle? No deal, no charge. What's clever about this isn't just that customers get a great deal if the threshold is reached, which hasn't been a problem for eateries like JJ Dolan's. From the standpoint of a local business there is the promise of a guaranteed return and a chance to attract new customers. Even if the deal falls through the merchant benefits from the free exposure.

Note the link to Facebook, Twitter, and email directly on the homepage screen above. If you want your steak and want to eat it too, you've got a personal incentive to get your friends together to chip in. Meaning you end up doing the advertising for the merchant and the deal via all the familiar community-building Web 2.0 communications tools.

What's it cost a business to participate? A small percentage of sales, or far less than would typically spent in traditional advertising channels. Is this the future of local small-business advertising? Pull a seat up to the table, pass the creamed spinach, and let's see.