Some of us are on our way to the annual Investor Relations (NIRI) Conference in Orlando. We’ll be sharing a booth with our strategic partners at NASDAQ and hosting our own Lunch & Learn Session on Tuesday, June 14^th.

We’re excited to meet and talk with Investor Relations Officers from many of America’s finest companies. For many, this will be the first time they’ve heard about our technology, our Customer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP.)

Our CSOP technology enables companies to sell their stock directly to their customers right on Facebook, in just 3 clicks. And consumers can invest as little as $10 and pay no fees to buy or sell stock. This is innovative stuff.

Our revolutionary technology represents an enterprise-wide solution, and often requires internal champions from both the IR and marketing sides of the house. This is a unique partnership and it makes what we do particularly cool.

The IR team gets involved because we’re transforming stock ownership into a powerful loyalty currency. We’re taking stock and transforming it into an innovative strategic and competitive weapon, an up until now completely underutilized asset.

The marketing team gets involved because by converting ownership into a branding and loyalty currency, this is the first time marketing has ever had a program that serves as a promotion, while also building brand -- and locking in retention.

So what we like to tell IR executives is that your company’s customers are your customers too.  You hold the keys to the kingdom and can help marketing drive unprecedented value.

And what we like to tell marketing executives is that they’re your shareholders too. And now you have an opportunity to create measurably more valuable customers, and by doing that, for the first time ever, truly own your customer.

Last week, LOYAL3 launched its Customer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP), a sophisticated technology that enables you to buy stock on Facebook directly from the brands you love, in just 3 clicks, with investments as low as $10, and pay no fees to buy or sell.

It was a wonderful week for all of us. 

Click here to see some of the press coverage.

Click here to see the Opening Bell Ceremony.

Click here to read the press announcement.

Below please find the Opening Remarks from our Chairman and CEO, Barry Schneider. It captures the essence and spirit of what we’re doing and why we do it!

Barry’s speech at The NASDAQ Opening bell, June 2, 2011:

There’s so much to say, I’m here because of some amazing people, who have spent the best part of two years building a technology that will democratize the markets, that will make ownership, for the first time ever, easy and affordable for tens of millions of Americans.

And I’m proud to be here today announcing this partnership with NASDAQ, who understands the power of technology, and who, through our Customer Stock Ownership Plan, our CSOP, will allow public companies to use ownership, stock ownership, to create more loyal and valuable customers.

We will help these public companies scale their loyalty through the combination of our technology, and the power of the web and Facebook.  

We talk about first times, starting next week, people will be able to buy stock from their favorite brands, they’ll be able to buy NASDAQ stock, on NASDAQ’s Facebook page, or their web site, with 3 clicks, for as little as $10, and they will pay no fees. 

This is about empowering people. This is about the American dream of equality and leveling the playing field. 

So I want to take this opportunity to thank our team and everybody who has worked so hard. We have a lot to do.  Thank you for everything.

Our engineers have built the world’s most innovative Web & Social Media platform designed to enable you to buy stock directly from companies you know and love, in just 3 clicks.

For the first time in history, it’s as easy to buy stock as it is to buy a product on-line.  If you can buy a book on Amazon, you can buy stock from your favorite companies using the LOYAL3 Customer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP) platform.

Why did we work so hard to make buying stock easy?  One important reason is because the stock market has become the realm of the elite. Over 80% of American families don’t have direct ownership of stocks – most stock is held by institutions.  It wasn’t always that way.  It used to be that people owned stock - people like you and me.

The reasons are many, but key among them is the fact that it’s economically unfeasible to invest small amounts of money, and that it’s a complicated, time-consuming - and even intimidating - process.  Not anymore.

With our technology, everyone can invest in companies they know, love and do business with.  All it takes is 3 clicks.  The companies charge you no fees whatsoever and you can invest as little as $10, regardless of how much a share of stock cost (click here to learn about fractional shares).

Our CSOP is not designed for people who want to “play” the market.  It’s designed for people who want to own companies they know, most likely customers, people who will hold that stock a long time, or more likely, invest small amounts every month, over a long period of time, understanding that a stock may increase or decrease in value.

We at LOYAL3 believe that as companies use the Web to sell stock directly through our technology, fresh capital will flow into the markets.

Our primary research shows that 48% of Americans are likely or highly likely to buy stock directly from companies they do business with, if it was made simple.

According to our research, the average amount invested will be approximately $57 a month, though many people will invest $10-25 a month.  With the CSOP, this is now possible.  And most of these new investors will hold their stock 5-7 years.

Our engineers have built something amazing.  They’ve opened up the stock market to Main Street.  They’ve taken technology and used it for the betterment of all.

What they’ve built and what we will soon be launching is an extraordinary step forward for all of us.  In a way, it’s ironic that cutting edge technology, combined with the Internet, will help bring all of us back to our core principles: owning the companies we do business with, thereby owning a piece of the dream.

In the simplest of worlds, there are two kinds of shareholders: Institutional shareholders - companies that own huge chunks of American companies; and you and me, individual shareholders (also known as retail shareholders).

Companies traditionally favor institutional shareholders because there are fewer of them to manage.  And individual shareholders have been a historic hassle, taking up precious time and resources to manage, as well as being expensive to support.

LOYAL3 changes all this.  We offer companies a Web & Social Media Platform, called a Customer Stock Ownership Plan, or CSOP, a way for your favorite companies to sell you stock with as easy of a process as they sell you products, in just 3 clicks.

Why is this a good thing?  First of all, it provides an easy, convenient and affordable way for you to invest and own stock in your favorite companies, the ones you do business with anyway, understanding that any stock may increase or decrease in value.

Second of all, it benefits the companies because as an owner, research shows that you become more loyal and valuable.  In a very real sense, ownership becomes the ultimate loyalty program.  We care more about things we own, including companies.

Lastly, it’s good for everyone, because research shows that as a customer-owner, you will hold your stock an average of 5 years, and the more people that buy and hold stock, the more stable the markets become over time.

The LOYAL3 CSOP uses technology and the Internet to democratize the stock market, the way it once was, the way it was supposed to be, with individual Americans owning the great companies they know and love.  It’s time.

What if your favorite companies made it easy for you to own their stock?  In fact, what if they made the process as easy as buying a book on Amazon?  What if you didn’t have to pay any fees at all?  What if you could buy as little as $10 to get started, regardless of how much the stock costs per share.  And I’m talking about real stock ownership, the kind Wall Street buys and owns.  Is that crazy?

At LOYAL3, we’re working with great companies to make this happen.  We’re working with companies that care about their customers.  After all, companies spend billions of dollars on ads and offer you cash all the time through discounts, loyalty programs and promotions.  Why not make it easy for you to own their stock, directly from them.

There are 3 reasons this will happen:

1.     By not charging you fees on stock transactions, companies turn you into a more loyal and valuable customer.  Based on research, customers who own stock in companies they do business with spend an average of 54% more a year.  This is a way for them to gain a more loyal and valuable customer, and you gain genuine stock ownership in a company you love – a partnership made in heaven.  For them, this is worth paying for.

2.     They believe you’d make a great shareholder.  Customers who own stock make great shareholders, holding stock for an average of 5 years, one-third for 7 years or longer.  When more shareholders hold stock for longer, it could have a calming effect on share price and over time it can actually help stabilize the entire market

3.     They think it’s the right thing to do.  Companies and America as a whole benefit when more Main Street owns stock and holds on to that stock.  People who own the companies they love are good for business -- and the economy

You invest your hard-earned money buying products from companies you do business with everyday.  Perhaps you should consider owning them too?