You Pinspire Me
In my social circle, I was one of the first subscribers to Wagjag & Groupon (I can’t remember how far in Living Social, DealFind, & TeamBuy were by the time I signed up…). I was on top of it – what the best deal was, how to get it for free by sharing it first, all that stuff. However, after about two years, three things became painfully obvious:
1. My email inbox was so full of “Deal” notifications (since when did store flyer delivery to my inbox become a fantastic deal that I NEEDED to know about?!) that I couldn’t find my REAL email anymore! In other words, SPAM.
2. I wasn’t actually SAVING money on many of them because I lost track of which deals I hadn’t used yet and they expired unused. 🙁 Sadness.
3. I have a LOT of friends who are small business owners, and learned that when a restaurant sells $50 of food for $25 on one of the above sites, they actually only take home $12.50 on that purchase! Not great for our local economy.
I LOVE DEALS! I also looove being the first one to find a deal – it’s a bit of a rush to be able to send all your friends to the right spot – but I unsubscribed from the above companies because of the reasons above. A lot of people say that the only people who buy the deals are bargain hunters and that businesses won’t gain a loyal customer base by offering them great discounts, but I’m proof that that’s not at all the case! I found a great hair salon through a deal find service. We explored a local zoo thanks to a deal – and have been back many times since! Yes, I’m cheap. (There, I said it!) But. I’m cheap in the sense that I really don’t want to pay a premium price only to find out that the services providers are sub-par or the products are not worth their weight. Once I find a restaurant, service, store, or product that I love, I’m all theirs. Sure, I might not come back every month if I can’t afford it that often, but I will be back. Cheap consumers can be loyal consumers, so I absolutely support the philosophy behind deal sharing sites.
And so, I’m thrilled that we’re working with LocalSavings.ca to help promote their new service leading up to their official launch on October 14! To start with, they’re launching in the Ottawa & Golden Horseshoe area – but keep an eye on their site if you’re outside those areas, because they plan on expanding throughout Ontario!
What makes Local Savings so different than the OTHER deal find sites?
It’s actually the brainchild of people who are small business owners in their own right in the Golden Horseshoe – they knew there had to be a better way for businesses to get the exposure than giving away their time & services for practically nothing! Local Savings allows local businesses to offer sales and discounts at absolutely no cost to them (besides the discounted service or product, obviously!), which is great, because the small guys have enough overhead expenses – and the happier local businesses are, the happier our community & local economy will be! Local Savings gives the businesses the opportunity to offer substantial discount coupons, We the Consumers pay Local Savings from $1 to $5 to download the coupons, and everyone’s happy!
Overflowing Inbox? Not with Local Savings!
Local savings will only send you one email per day for each region that you choose – so if you choose the Hamilton Region, you’ll get one a maximum of one email per day for all Hamilton deals. If your parents live in Ottawa, however, and you want to keep an eye out for discounts on fun things to do next time you’re in town, you can subscribe to both Hamilton and Ottawa, and you’ll be getting a max of 2 emails per day. If you live in Ancaster (a region of Hamilton) and you find that you don’t really leave Ancaster, you can choose just that area within the region.
Referrals
If you want to share a deal with your social network, friends & family, Local Savings will give you a unique code. When anyone buys that offer, you’ll get “Local Savings Credits”credited to your account, which you can use to save money on future purchases.
Expiring Coupons
Besides being able to see all of your past & present coupons when you log into your Local Savings account, they’ll also send you an email before your coupon expires. Handy! And, in case you miss that email and it does expire before you get the chance to use it, you’re only down a maximum of $5. ….not the ~$75 that I’m down right now with the other sites.
Let’s Review:
1. We all love saving money.
2. Local Businesses need to tell us that they exist.
3. We sign up at LocalSavings.ca and buy coupons for great discounts for only $1-5.
4. We get credits on our account for sharing the news.
5. We get to try out businesses in our community & hopefully keep patronizing them!
6. Businesses are thrilled with the results, so they (hopefully!) offer more great deals! 😉
7. For the 1st 12 hours that LocalSavings.ca is live on October 14th, the coupons are FREE to those already registered!
I’m sorry, did I forget to mention that one earlier? Sign up now so you can grab some great deals for free on October 14th! Head over to Facebook and give their page a like, too, so that you can stay on top of any exciting developments in your neck of the woods!
Not in the Ottawa or Golden Horseshoe regions? Head over to Local Savings on October 14th where you’ll find a section to subscribe to a notification that will be sent when your city goes live.
Are you a business owner in the Ottawa or Golden Horseshoe regions? Check out their FAQs for businesses looking to get some local exposure, and take a look at this video explaining how it goes down. As a business owner, you can have one account for purchasing coupons and sharing your own deals – one fewer passwords to keep track of!
Jenn vanOosten
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