Meet Michael of Goobospot.com

Goobo Spot is a website that sells gift cards and a variety of other products (tech products, household products, and more), too. Check out the site regularly to find new deals. The interview below is with Michael, the founder of the site.

1. What made you decide to start Goobo Spot?

I started my website so I could sell products that are new and rare, and I wanted to be able to bring people together so we can help unfortunate kids around the world by selling gift cards at a low price.

2. What does the name "Goobo Spot" mean, and why did you choose it?

The reason I picked the name Goobospot.com is because I wanted a unique, fun name. I wanted something memorable for people who see the name and visit the site.

3. How do you afford to sell gift cards for below their face value?

I can sell gift cards at a low price because we charge a little bit extra for some other products we sell.

4. What have been some popular products for the holiday season this year?

Our hot selling items this season are gift cards, drums, and pet supplies/gifts.

Thanks, Michael!

Meet Gail Porter-Harris, Marketer at Coupon Chili

Gail Porter-Harris is part of the marketing team at Coupon Chili, a coupon code and promo codes website that partners with US retailers to offer discounts and deals on products. In this interview she talks a little bit about her role, the current promo codes on offer, and why US consumers should use coupon codes when shopping online.

1. How do you find deals to feature on Coupon Chili?

It works in a number of different ways. Sometimes we are contacted by online retailers who have seen the good work that we are doing in other industries and actually invite us to feature their deals and discounts. A great example of that would be the McAfee software company. They approached us after seeing the great work we had done with other anti-virus products and asked if we would feature McAfee promo codes on the Coupon Chili website--of course, we said yes!

In most cases, though, it's via the affiliate marketing networks that we are members of. When a new retailer launches in the affiliate space, we will connect with them to see if they would like to feature coupon codes and promo codes on our website and go from there.

2. What are some of the new deals you're featuring from McAfee?

The main McAfee promo codes that we currently range are giving a massive half-price-off all the software products, including, for example, McAfee Livesafe, McAfee Security Center, McAfee Total Protection, and so on. Your readers can try out some of the McAfee promo codes on our website by visiting our McAfee coupon codes section.

3. What are some other popular deals on your site?

We find that coupon codes are very seasonal. At the moment with Christmas time coming, we are finding that a lot of people are using our Garmin coupons. Personally I think that's down to the time of year when people are driving to see their relations around the country and want to make sure that they have the most up to date GPS maps available--that's the only reason I can think!

We are also seeing a lot of volume at the moment on our generic GPS navigation coupons which I assume is for similar reasons. Then of course, the cosmetics companies that we work with are also seeing some uplift--that time of year I guess!

4. Personally, I always look for coupons online before making a purchase, but I know many people don't. What do you think holds people back when it comes to using coupons online, and what would you say to encourage people to start using coupons?

Perhaps laziness is the reason? I am the same as you--I will always seek out a bargain, no matter how long it takes! The McAfee promo codes are a fantastic example of why you should use online coupon codes. If you didn't, you'd be paying full whack, and by using Coupon Chili you save half price. Surely that's a compelling enough reason? But then, not everyone's as Internet savvy as we are, I suppose?

5. From the perspective of business owners, why is it important to offer coupons as part of an online marketing strategy?

Great question! Well, if you think from an SEO perspective by having coupon codes on various websites it can really help a retailer with their backlink profile.

From a more traditional marketing perspective, though, it's about matching the competition. Every retailer worth their salt now does coupon codes, so if you aren't, then the consumer might look elsewhere. That's my view on it, anyway.

Thanks, Gail!

Introducing Yugster, a Site Featuring Daily Deals

Who doesn't like a website which passes along deals to online shoppers? Yugster Daily Deals is a daily deals website whose name comes from the words, "Yours Until Gone." They post a new product every morning at 6:00am eastern standard time, and it's available until it sells out.

When you register with the site, they'll send you an email to give you a heads-up about the deal of the day. A cool thing about the site is that when browsing, I found several items available, in addition to today's deal. The site has special offers and other promos to keep visitors interested.

Some of the Yugster deals are members-only, and there are other features for members, too, such as the YugPoints you earn with each purchase and can apply to future purchases. In other words, they make it worth your while to sign up!

The site will appeal to shoppers who like Woot and other tech-friendly daily deal websites. They regularly feature tech products, so it's a good site to check out if you're checking for tech deals on the net.

Meet Marc Chili of CouponChili.com

Marc Chili is the CEO of CouponChili.com which is rapidly becoming one of the web's fastest growing coupon code, discounts, and promotion code websites.

1. What inspired you to start Coupon Chili?

A few years ago I was buying a new CD player from the Best Buy website and noticed that there was an option in the shopping cart to enter in a Best Buy coupon. I'd never used online coupon codes before so searched Google to try to find a valid one to enter. I must have spent 30 minutes trying to find a valid and working coupon code before I gave up. As I already knew how to build websites, I thought to myself that there was probably an opportunity to build a coupons website that had valid content on it, instead of the sites I was visiting which always had out of date offers. The next day I started researching the market and spent a number of weeks developing the website and then launched in 2012--although it's only been this year that I've started to dedicate the majority of my time to the website and have expanded CouponChili.com to include many varied retailers.

2. What does the day to day running of the Coupon Chili website involve?

I've got a large checklist of future developments for the site which I try to work through with my programmers which is taking up a lot of the time at the moment. The pure basics of running a coupon code site, through, are what take the majority of hours in a typical day. This involves talking with the online retailers to get access to any new codes, adding them to the website, testing them, responding to customer feedback, and also reaching out to other websites online to find advertising opportunities.

3. How often do you update the deals on your site, including checking on the coupons and promo codes to make sure they still work?

This generally depends on the retailer. Most of them tend to release new coupon codes each month, so I tend to be at the busiest updating the promotions during week one of any given month. However, I am constantly looking to develop new partnerships with new websites, so on a daily basis I am adding new coupons and promo codes to the website to make sure that it's as up to date as possible with the latest offers.

4. When it comes to shopping, are there certain items that you particularly recommend as online purchases, rather than in-store buys?

Definitely. Obviously it goes without saying that any form of digital purchase will always need to be fulfilled online, but outside of that there are some items which tend to be best bought over the web. From my experience any form of computing equipment. There are simply no bricks and mortar stores that can compete with online retailers in this space. As an example, Coupon Chili works with Dell and has a range of offers on their XPS Ultrabooks and laptops. If you were to buy one of these in a physical shop versus buying online at Dell (with a Coupon Chili promotion) then the savings can be anything between $300 and $500. It simply makes sense.

5. What are the current best deals and coupons that are available on Coupon Chili that might appeal to our readers? 

From my perspective the Best Buy offers are great value for money at the moment, which is kind of cool considering it was because of them that I first got into this business! Other ones worth mentioning are RingCentral, Overstock, Tire Rack, BH Cosmetics, and Karmaloop--so a nice broad spectrum of retailer types there which should mean most people can find a bargain on the Coupon Chili website.

Thanks, Marc!

Meet Mohammed Shaker, Entrepreneur

Mohammed Shaker is an entrepreneur who launched Panda CashBack LLC last year. PandaCashBack.com is a rebate website that rewards shoppers with cash back for shopping online when they shop with affiliate partners. Panda Cash Back currently partners with over 2000 online retailers. Members can also get the latest coupons and offers for these stores as well as locate the best local deals in their city.

1. What inspired you to start Panda Cash Back?

I was always interested in helping people save money. When I was a student, I enjoyed the idea of student discounts, and I ended blogging about them, but I always felt I wanted to do more. I wanted to help people everywhere save money on their shopping without going through a lot of trouble (it sometimes takes hours for a user to find a legitimate coupon on a coupon website). I knew that rebates are a great way to save money, and so we established our website to help shoppers get rebates. We were also able to find a way to allow online shoppers to get the latest coupons directly from the merchants on our website. Our users now can enjoy both coupons and rebates without going through the trouble of lots of searching, or running the risk of using expired coupons.

2. In reading the "about us" page on your site, it seems to me that your company turns the concept of affiliate marketing into a profit-sharing model. Is this a fair way to describe how your site works, and what are some of the brands/companies you partner with?

That is true. Affiliate marketing has always been a one way street for affiliates to earn money. We are changing that trend. Most online shoppers are not aware that a single click can bring hundreds of dollars to an affiliate marketer.

We have more than two thousands partners, and they include big brand name stores in the USA like Macy's, GoDaddy, 6PM, and FTD, and we do have global partners as well.

3. Do consumers need to disclose any personal information to use your site?

We require a minimum amount information from our users: name, email, and payment information.

4. What has been the feedback/response you have received from consumers since you started your site a year ago?

Our feedback has been good since we first started because our priority is always customer service.

5. What suggestions do you have for people who want to get the most for their money when buying online?

Always check if a store has a coupon or offer on our website. On PandaCashBack, we provide our users with the latest coupons and offers. For the majority of the stores on your site, the user can both use coupons or offers and earn cash back.

Thanks, Mohammed!

Meet Laurie Cohen, Entrepreneur

Wife, mom, grandma, and entrepreneur, Laurie Cohen is the party-planning expert behind the Celebrationz4U family of websites: Birthday Party Kidz, Halloween Kidz, and For Bride and Baby. For craft ideas, party planning tips, deals on party supplies, recipes, and more, follow Laurie on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

1. Would you describe the Celebrationz4U network of websites and what the sites offer to readers?

In 2007, taking the cue from some of my friends and reaching back to find something I knew and could share, I developed my first website, ForBrideAndBaby.com. Within the pages of the site you will find some of the most unique ideas for weddings and babies that the web has to offer. With the success of For Bride and Baby, I felt the desire to expand my business to include a websites where my current--and hopefully, new!--subscribers can find all the information necessary to throw fabulous children's birthday parties, and I started BirthdayPartyKidz.com. In 2010, after seven grandchildren, I decided to start HalloweenKidz.com as a place to find Halloween costumes to match any theme, as well as fun costumes and accessories for kids to use year-round while playing dress-up.

2. How did you first become interested in the party supplies / party planning business?

I have been an entrepreneur for over 30 years. Twenty years ago, I was the owner of the Northbrook, Illinois-based Kreative Kids and Parties, Inc. where I taught music and imagination classes to local children ages two through five. I also created a music and imagination class that I performed at children’s birthday parties. Kids and their moms still run up to me on the street and tell me I sang at their parties or at their children's parties!

From those parties came a personalized entertainment service selecting and contracting over fifty entertainers for parties. Several years later, I opened a complete party goods store providing the party goods and goody bags for children's parties--and favors and centerpieces for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other parties. Now on its third owner, Kreative Parties is still a prominent business in the Northern Chicago suburbs.

3. What are some of your personal favorite ideas for party themes?

I have three daughters, so I'm partial to princess parties. Little girls love to dress up as princesses and invite their friends to court. The classic princesses like Cinderella are still popular. Princess party supplies are abundant and you'll find everything from tiaras to thank you notes for all the princess parties. Now that I have three grandsons, I get to see some boys birthday party themes like the Avengers, Batman, Spiderman, trucks, and tractors. I'm not sure that I have a favorite!

I also love Halloween parties. They can be made colorful and fun without being scary, and who doesn't like candy?

4. What do you think are the special touches that make a good party into a great party?

That's an easy one! Planning for every detail of the party is vital. I've created a birthday party checklist to eliminate forgetting anything; the checklist is available at BirthdayPartyKidz.com. There's also a bridal shower checklist and Planning a Baby Shower Ebook available on ForBrideandBaby.com.

The best parties have contingency plans and a complete schedule of activities from the time the guests arrive until you hand them a party favor. For kids' birthday parties, I always recommend getting some extra help. For less than you think, you can have your babysitter or a local college student or high schooler come and help with the kids and the serving. It's a lifesaver.

In planning parties with my own kids, we always started with a theme. It was often a decision based on many days of serious discussions between my daughters--who had minds of their own--and me, wanting to make them very happy.

5. Do you have advice for ways to find bargains and keep costs down when it comes to buying party supplies?

My number one tip is that you have an at-home birthday party. It's warm and fuzzy, and even with a professional clown or magician, it costs less than the local "in" place. At-home parties are also perfect for bridal showers, baby showers, and most any celebration. Once again, with the money you save in hosting your party at home, you can always spend just a little extra and hire some outside help.

Thanks, Laurie!