hotcouponmama
08-19-2007, 03:55:06 AM
Sometimes in life, you'll get the opportunity to be a part of something amazing. It could be the traditional things we normally think of when we think of special times in our lives - births, weddings, personal accomplishments.
But then there are chances to be involved in other things that are bigger than your own personal circle, and have a positive impact on others. For both myself and Heidi, Hotcouponworld has been one of those times where being involved with others in creating this site has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we've no regrets about how we came to be......
Six year ago, Heidi (who was Busybeemomof3 back in the day) and I met at Fatwallet, a deals site that, at the time, had a grocery coupon section. I can remember when she was as new to couponing as some of you might be now. But she asked a lot of questions, and like many others here, quickly learned how to get in the coupon game. I had personally been a couponer for nearly 10 years, although not nearly to the extent that I had become since having an online community in which to participate.
About a year or so into our time at Fatwallet, the site owner there opted to get rid of the grocery coupon section. The people we'd come to know and trade with were scattered between different sites when the grocery section closed in winter 2004. Two members from Fatwallet offered to create a new home for us, and Deal-a-gogo (DAGG) was born.
Heidi and I, with a handful of other Fatwallet refugees were brought on as moderators. In fact, several are here today in that capacity. The board existed for about a year and a half in which time, we saw a mix of members come and go, but held a pretty good core group. In May, 2006, the board owners opted to sell DAGG to a larger web-publishing company. Most of the mods and members were willing to hang in there, but I didn't have any interest in doing so.
One night, I called Heidi. We'd never spoken personally on the phone in all the time we'd been online. It was like talking to someone who you grew up with...a sister, or a friend...someone who you'd known forever. We recalled the same stories and laughed about funny things we'd seen happen over the past few years on the grocery sites where we'd been members.
It was in that conversation we thought we might have a shot of building our own site. We kicked around several ideas, but also talked about challenges and what issues might arise. One thing was clear....if we were going to own and operate a site, it would be "By couponers, For couponers" and that we would be active members who do exactly what our members do - chase deals and try to save as much as we can for our families.
We resolved to open Hotcouponworld. Heidi relayed a story about a time when her family had been struck by hard times. Her husband had been injured at work, she was pregnant with the twins, and she'd broken her foot. Things couldn't look much worse. And then she shared that it was a post I'd made in a thread at Fatwallet about stockpiling that made couponing click for her. Someone had asked about storing stockpile items and I had posted pictures there for folks to see how our shelves had been built...the first "stockpile pictures" that I think any of us had seen before online. The combination of the information and the visual helped her understand coupons and was a start of turning her into the super-saver she is today.
Her story cinched it...we would start the site, that it would be run professionally as a real business, and that we had a purpose in helping others. Mark (my husband and our technical support for the site) and I were committed to funding the site indefinitely.
The relationships we'd built with others over the past few years were too important for us to get scattered to the edges of the web. And the timing was perfect. I'd just quit a job I loved with a boss I hated, and hadn't decided what to do with myself. Hotcouponworld was a great outlet for my energy in the early creation stages.
We moved pretty quickly into action. We spent several long nights working on design, terms of service, and content arrangement. When we felt we were ready, we contacted the moderators we trusted most and invited them to see the new site. We asked if they would be a part of Hotcouponworld. All but two of the original DAGG mods came over to be with us here. They hopped in and quickly helped with design, content, and brought forth great ideas that we hadn't thought of previously.
In 10 days, we'd put together what was the beginning of the site you see now. Through the work of our admin team, and our wonderful, original super-mod team (Mama22Qts, MrsPinecone, NrPeace17, Pappys, and SBP) and a few helpful members who had backstage passes to check us out and give feedback, we were ready to open.
July 10th, 2006, we opened with 176 new members to the site - core members with whom we had been traders, info-swappers, and friends. For some, this was the third site we'd been on together. We made a promise it would be the last.
Three years later, Hotcouponworld is a thriving community that welcomes new members no differently than if they had been with us six years ago when Heidi and I met at FW. The sheer volume of information, combined with our members and mods extraordinary talent to search out deals has made Hotcouponworld the best site online for deals discussion. Comments from our Anniversary Forums reaffirmed our decision to continue to build and grow Hotcouponworld into a site that is one-stop-shopping for information, coupons, and friendship.
When we read your stories that you share with each other, we are impressed by your shopping adventures, amazed by how you handle your struggles and accomplishments, and humbled that you choose to spend a part of your day with us. That we've created a site that helps bring people together, empowers our members, and encourages people to support one another....well, I can't speak for Heidi, but for me, it's been one of my proudest personal accomplishments.
And now you are apart of our story. Your participation, knowledge, and willingness to share with our community is what sets Hotcouponworld apart from every other deals discussion or couponing site on the web. We know you have a choice where you search for deals - that you've chosen Hotcouponworld speaks to our wonderful members and our amazing moderators and the caring atmosphere everyone has worked so hard to create.
Heidi and I thank you for being here and sharing your stories. We continue to learn from our members, and your insights help us personally save money as well.
Everything happens for a reason - and Hotcouponworld is the reason my path crossed with Heidi's six years ago.
But then there are chances to be involved in other things that are bigger than your own personal circle, and have a positive impact on others. For both myself and Heidi, Hotcouponworld has been one of those times where being involved with others in creating this site has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we've no regrets about how we came to be......
Six year ago, Heidi (who was Busybeemomof3 back in the day) and I met at Fatwallet, a deals site that, at the time, had a grocery coupon section. I can remember when she was as new to couponing as some of you might be now. But she asked a lot of questions, and like many others here, quickly learned how to get in the coupon game. I had personally been a couponer for nearly 10 years, although not nearly to the extent that I had become since having an online community in which to participate.
About a year or so into our time at Fatwallet, the site owner there opted to get rid of the grocery coupon section. The people we'd come to know and trade with were scattered between different sites when the grocery section closed in winter 2004. Two members from Fatwallet offered to create a new home for us, and Deal-a-gogo (DAGG) was born.
Heidi and I, with a handful of other Fatwallet refugees were brought on as moderators. In fact, several are here today in that capacity. The board existed for about a year and a half in which time, we saw a mix of members come and go, but held a pretty good core group. In May, 2006, the board owners opted to sell DAGG to a larger web-publishing company. Most of the mods and members were willing to hang in there, but I didn't have any interest in doing so.
One night, I called Heidi. We'd never spoken personally on the phone in all the time we'd been online. It was like talking to someone who you grew up with...a sister, or a friend...someone who you'd known forever. We recalled the same stories and laughed about funny things we'd seen happen over the past few years on the grocery sites where we'd been members.
It was in that conversation we thought we might have a shot of building our own site. We kicked around several ideas, but also talked about challenges and what issues might arise. One thing was clear....if we were going to own and operate a site, it would be "By couponers, For couponers" and that we would be active members who do exactly what our members do - chase deals and try to save as much as we can for our families.
We resolved to open Hotcouponworld. Heidi relayed a story about a time when her family had been struck by hard times. Her husband had been injured at work, she was pregnant with the twins, and she'd broken her foot. Things couldn't look much worse. And then she shared that it was a post I'd made in a thread at Fatwallet about stockpiling that made couponing click for her. Someone had asked about storing stockpile items and I had posted pictures there for folks to see how our shelves had been built...the first "stockpile pictures" that I think any of us had seen before online. The combination of the information and the visual helped her understand coupons and was a start of turning her into the super-saver she is today.
Her story cinched it...we would start the site, that it would be run professionally as a real business, and that we had a purpose in helping others. Mark (my husband and our technical support for the site) and I were committed to funding the site indefinitely.
The relationships we'd built with others over the past few years were too important for us to get scattered to the edges of the web. And the timing was perfect. I'd just quit a job I loved with a boss I hated, and hadn't decided what to do with myself. Hotcouponworld was a great outlet for my energy in the early creation stages.
We moved pretty quickly into action. We spent several long nights working on design, terms of service, and content arrangement. When we felt we were ready, we contacted the moderators we trusted most and invited them to see the new site. We asked if they would be a part of Hotcouponworld. All but two of the original DAGG mods came over to be with us here. They hopped in and quickly helped with design, content, and brought forth great ideas that we hadn't thought of previously.
In 10 days, we'd put together what was the beginning of the site you see now. Through the work of our admin team, and our wonderful, original super-mod team (Mama22Qts, MrsPinecone, NrPeace17, Pappys, and SBP) and a few helpful members who had backstage passes to check us out and give feedback, we were ready to open.
July 10th, 2006, we opened with 176 new members to the site - core members with whom we had been traders, info-swappers, and friends. For some, this was the third site we'd been on together. We made a promise it would be the last.
Three years later, Hotcouponworld is a thriving community that welcomes new members no differently than if they had been with us six years ago when Heidi and I met at FW. The sheer volume of information, combined with our members and mods extraordinary talent to search out deals has made Hotcouponworld the best site online for deals discussion. Comments from our Anniversary Forums reaffirmed our decision to continue to build and grow Hotcouponworld into a site that is one-stop-shopping for information, coupons, and friendship.
When we read your stories that you share with each other, we are impressed by your shopping adventures, amazed by how you handle your struggles and accomplishments, and humbled that you choose to spend a part of your day with us. That we've created a site that helps bring people together, empowers our members, and encourages people to support one another....well, I can't speak for Heidi, but for me, it's been one of my proudest personal accomplishments.
And now you are apart of our story. Your participation, knowledge, and willingness to share with our community is what sets Hotcouponworld apart from every other deals discussion or couponing site on the web. We know you have a choice where you search for deals - that you've chosen Hotcouponworld speaks to our wonderful members and our amazing moderators and the caring atmosphere everyone has worked so hard to create.
Heidi and I thank you for being here and sharing your stories. We continue to learn from our members, and your insights help us personally save money as well.
Everything happens for a reason - and Hotcouponworld is the reason my path crossed with Heidi's six years ago.