Do you have a New Year’s resolution? Mine is to lose weight. Heck, this has been my resolution every year since my mid-30s. You’d think that 2 pounds a month until I was satisfied with my loss would be easy, right? Doesn’t seem that way. And it isn’t just a Jan 1 resolution either, it is a Feb 1 resolution, July 28th resolution, the third Thursday in October reso… er, you get the idea. Other than that blog-butt, I am pretty darned happy with my life though.
Last year when I began this blog I had a pretty simple Blog Mission Statement. Some items on this Mission Statement have changed during 2009; for instance I am now pretty good at html and I transferred all my Bargainshare info long ago.
Other parts of this Mission Statement will never change on Coupons, Deals and More:
This blog will concentrate on coupons, refunds, and good deals.
This is the time of year when I am supposed to sit back and figure out what I see for this blog in the next year, or five years. Truth be told I’ve never been a five-year-plan kinda gal. My goals for 2009 were to hit XX number of readers per day, and that has happened… well, Friday through Monday. Mid-week, not-so-much. My monetary goal was to pay the server bill and for blog improvements via ad and affiliate revenue, and thanks to all of you, that has happened!
My goals for next year? It could be as simple as trying to get paid for my time, but only if that does not compromise my integrity.
I could start to welcome PR. I really think the fact that I do not openly welcome PR hurt at Christmas time. I did not have established corporate relationships to offer some nice prizes via a contest, and it showed compared to some other blogs. On the other hand, I noticed cash really was a nice contest prize and that comes from the affiliate sources here so it is a give back to my readers. I like giving cash. But, I gotta tell ya I wouldn’t mind giving corporate gift certificates. Hmmmm how do I approach that? Sure I’ll be happy to shill for you but only for XX dollars in gift certificates that I can give away to my readers? Not sure that will fly with them or with me.
Here are some realistic goals for next year:
• Get my readers more involved. I love to hear from you folks either via an email or as a post response. Some of the best tips and information posted on this blog come from you. I need to work on getting my readers to respond more! (Any ideas!?)
• Keep the blog coupons, rebate and deals oriented. Do not give in to the dark side. 
• Establish and expand more relationships with other bloggers via deal write-up trades.
• Work towards better scheduling and using my time. I really need to streamline the deal write-up process. It becomes a crunch on Thursdays, although I have worked very hard the last two months to add coupons as I go which has resulted in taking Thursdays down from a 12 hour day to a 9 hour day.
• Gather more subscribers. This is a personal obsession based in wellllll my own nuttiness.
• And, as hubby told me, be grateful for what I have accomplished to date. The jump from forums to blog seemed like a segway, but being responsible for all the posts, behind the scenes information and technical upkeep, as well as keeping readers happy and informed was bit more than I bargained for initially. I truly am happy with the way things have worked to date (and I hope you are too!), but initially it was a challenge.
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Ann, my mom always says, “A closed mouth don’t get fed” meaning ask your Corporate Sponsors for those gift certificates. Give-aways are so much fun to enter…although, I’ve never won anything but it’s always nice to think I might win. Nothing wrong with wanting to increase your readership…and it’s not being a sellout.
Can I also suggest more Linkys, please? It gives us more opportunities to show off our deals. Maybe something like “Your Best Deal Find” Linky.
Now, I gotta think of a “mission statement” for my blog.
Ann, it’d be a great idea if you set up a forum on this website, that way your subscribers/readers can be more active with deals, freebies, etc!
Ms Benjamins do you have corporate relationships? How did you go about it?
Another Linky! Sure I could do that but what day? Sunday? But everyone else does Sunday… maybe Saturday?
Ann
Hi Carol,
I just came off nine years on the forums (six as a moderator), I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet!
Ann
Ann, thank you for all your hard work!
Happy New Year!
I love your Blog! Wouldn’t change a thing! I wish you wouldn’t try to get more readers though. It’s hard enough to get the good deals before they are all gone, what if twenty of us end up wrestling on the floor of Wags for that one last pack of dental floss??? Can’t we just keep this good thing between us…….
Hi Dawn,
I’m actually not actively trying to get new readers, just keep the ones I have! While I would like everyone to show up on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well as the weekend, I understand people have real lives and can’t always pop in!
That said, I would never turn anyone away.
Ann
Hi Tatiana,
Happy New Year to you too!
Ann
HAPPY NEW YEAR, ANN & EVERYONE! May the new year bring tons of new deals and freebies for all! I wouldn’t change much about your blog, either. I love your Sunday to do lists and updates, so please keep doing those
Hi Loxie!
Happy New Year!
Ann
Hi Ann! I would like to say thank you SO much for this amazing Blog and all of the time you spend on it. I am always wondering why more people don’t comment. I wish that I was able to more often but i don’t have internet at my house and I can only come online on my cell phone which usually won’t let me leave comments. I live in Tonawanda Ny and you are the only Blog i have found that has a Tops. I esp. thank you for those deals
I don’t have any Corporate relationships but I’d probably do like Couponing to Disney and just start contacting like SC Johnson, for example or Olay.
You can also do Sponsored Tweets just google “Sponsored Tweets” What about a Coupons, Deals and More Face Book page? My coworkers and relatives are addicted to Face Book.
Everyone has their Linkys on the weekend…I recommend a Wednesday Linky. Wednesdays are normally slow in the Blogosphere.
Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!
Ms Benjamins you should see the Coupons, Deals and More facebook page. Pathetic is a great definition! I suppose I could do the automatic posting to facebook like I do to twitter, but how much “social media” can any one person participate in?
Don’t answer that. I have a 21 year old, so I can make a good guess.
Re: Wednesday for a Linky… the numbers here on Wednesday are low. Sunday is usually the busiest day and Wednesday is the slowest. Mid-week can be 40% lower than weekend traffic! I’m not sure how many people would even link-up on a Wednesday.
Ann
Hi Amanda,
Hmmmm more competition. Maybe I should lay low?
If you ever get a Catalina print out with upcoming Catalina deals at Tops and could shoot me an email with the info, Amanda, it would be greatly appreciated!
Ann
I love your blog! Thanks for welcoming comments. I do comment often, but sometimes I hold back because I do tend to talk a lot. It seems like I ALWAYS have something to say. I just don’t always post it. If you like/want more comments, then maybe I will not be so hesitant to say something. As far as getting OTHERS to post comments, I don’t know. You seem comversational, and respond (sometimes VERY quickly!) to your readers. I have posted comments and questions on some blogs that I wonder if the writer EVER reads any of them. I guess they are too busy getting sponsors?
As far as the Wednesday linky….that could potentially lead to MORE readers on Wednesday….do people link up only on the link day or are they able to link later? Do people only read it on the link day or do they refer to it later? I check a blog that has a rather LARGE linky on Wednesday! (Over 200 links, usually) You might think about it.
Rachel, please, do not ever hesitate to post! I love comments. Your experiences help me (and others) learn.
Holy cow! What has a 200 blog linky on a Wednesday? With Target-ing Mondays, people usually link-up on Monday and Tuesday. I have seen people link later than that, but it is rare. Then, when I go to Target later in the week (usually Wednesday), I make a special post and link over to the linky one more time.
I notice people here don’t click the linky links that much after Tuesday. The first person on the list can usually count on several hundred hits but after the top spots the clicks dwindle. That has been my person experience when I link up somewhere else though too… if I am high up the linky, I get lots of hits. If I am buried in the middle, not-so-much.
Ann
Check your email
I will definately keep you posted on anything i may find that you haven’t mentioned yet. just wondering….is anyone else here a Tops shopper?
Amanda~
I do not have any Tops in my area. Or Rite Aid – I see all Ann’s money makers and wish that store was anywhere close!
Hi Amanda,
I know of several dozen people that come here for Tops (due to post responses or email). Who knows how many more lurk.
Ann
Hi Rachel,
You really don’t want to be in Tops territory… that means you never get those wonderful loss-leaders most normal grocery stores put out!
Tops may be expanding soon. They have a bid in on all the bankrupt Penn Traffic stores. From what reliable sources say, the Tops bid should win over other bidders because Tops will take all the stores, they have financing and the same unions. Now if Tops kept all the Penn Traffic stores, Tops would double in size. That would also have them expanding to VT and NH. They are currently located in NY and PA.
Ann
Happy New Year. I love your blog & wouldn’t change a thing. I had no idea it was only a year old. Great job growing it thus far.
I love that you share Tops deals. For a while I felt like the only blogger shopping there. I also love that you don’t drink the Wegmans kool-aid (or is it W-Aid). Living in WNY that can be difficult. The only thing I’d like to see more of is maybe make things a little more WNY-centric. Like coverage of the smaller WNY grocers if possible, Budways, Dash’s, etc, or some of the smaller neighborhood grocers that Buffalo is so fortunate to have (Scime’s, Spar’s). You rock!
Hi Jay,
Ooooh I LOVE Dash’s. Hands down my favorite store in the entire world. How they can have 20 different whatevers in their small stores, and Wegmans carries two whatevers (and one is a Wegmans brand) on the giant Wegmans warehouse stores, is beyond me.
Budweys is my husband’s favorite store. He loves when we are up in Newfane so he can make the stop.
You know, I have never heard of Scime’s or Spar’s. South Buffalo perhaps? East Side?
The blog actually isn’t even a year old. I left Bargainshare the first of April and, while I had added pages prior to that, April is when Coupons, Deals and More was open for business.
Happy New Year Jay!
Ann
Scime’s has the best Italian sausage & Spars the best Polish sausage. They’re both total throwbacks & in North Buffalo.
Google map
Google map
And they have deals, Jay!?
Ann
Sales, no. Deals, perhaps. It depends what you’re shopping for. They’ll beat Wegmans on meats.
I’m just wondering what kind of places do people shop at besides the big grocery chains to find good prices or good local product.
Hi Amanda,
I too came here for the tops deals. I’m in Arcade NY and we have a wags, a RA and a Tops. But I also make ventures into the “big city” (Hamburg area ha ha) and go to Target and CVS. This is the only blog I check daily. It has saved me so much money. I have gone from clipping a few coupons, to getting all my friends papers to…. yes I’ll admit it dumpster diving for them! (If only I could convince my daughter to let me throw her in it would be so much easier to gram em.. he he he) Last night I went to Target and had a cart full of groceries for NEGATIVE seven dollars! I had to throw some 75% off xmas stuff in the cart to get it to be positive. I LOVE THIS!!!
Hi Jay,
We’ve bought a pig and a cow before story here
We currently have no room in any of the freezers (four) because hubby stocked up at Budwey’s in November. He’s always on the look-out for meat deals. We used to go to Quality every Sunday morning for the mark-down and they’d have coupons attached. We haven’t been there in months though. If I am the one buying meat, I always get it at Dash’s. Wegmans is the one place I will not purchase meat because I am not going to buy cryovaced stuff.
Ann
YAY! For dumpster diving for coupons Dawn!
Ann
I feel safe enough here to acknowledge I have done the same. I found a ‘good’ dumpster….actually, its a recycle bin….where there are many papers with inserts intact. I wish I could find the Mother Load where newspaper carriers dump their recyclables! Better yet…befriend a carrier that will bring them to me! That’s my wish for 2010!
We were having fun dumpster diving until we got yelled at, now my kids are afraid to go with me. They are 10 and 11, girl and boy and we were getting coupons out of the recycle bin behind the elementary school. Besides the coupons there were really cool hardcover books thrown out. My son loves to read and he found “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and some books about electricity and experiments. He felt like it was Christmas until a teacher came out the door and started screaming at us. I have thought of so many things I should have said to her since then, but unfortunatly not at the time. I guess she prefers books to be thrown out more then read………
hey,we are here to listen, learn and save money.
thanks