Meet the queen of coupons on BigTent

Kathy Spencer grew up with a passion for saving money and finding great deals. Today, the Boxford, Massachusetts, married mother of four shares her savvy with thousands of followers in her BigTent group, How to Shop for Free.

Following a bevy of coverage in WalletPop and other blogs, The Boston Globe,  and a call in segment on Denver radio station Alice 105.9 (click on “Wanna Save HUNDREDS on Groceries? Here’s How…”), consumers have flocked to Kathy’s group in hopes of slashing their grocery bills. After hovering around the 1,500-member mark, How to Shop for Free has welcomed 4,000 new members this month. Way to go, Kathy!

The BigTent team had an opportunity to interview Kathy after she started her BigTent group in July 2008:

Q. We’d love to know more about you. When you’re not managing How to Shop for Free, what else are you juggling?

A. I have four kids, ages 3 to 18, so life is never dull in my house. I LOVE and I always will love, to save money and find great deals. I also run an Ebay store, which has enabled me to dress my kids in designer clothes like Limited Too and Baby Gap for free, and I can help others do the same.

Q. Why did you switch from Yahoo! to BigTent?

A. Our group talks about so many different stores and subjects, it was challenging to keep things organized by categories. BigTent has been such a huge time saver, and the group runs so much smoother now. I love it!

Q. What makes your group unique?

A. We do group meetups where we all meet to exchange coupons. Then we help newbies get through the grocery store, with a cart of super-cheap goods.

Our group chat also has a language of its own, with our talk of cats, Ecbs, onyo’s, tearpads, and blinkies. There’s also an imaginary friend, KWIM. Most newbies think we are nuts, but within no time they’re sharing coupon codes — and mentioning KWIM.

Q. Why does it cost $1 to join the group?

A. The fee is just there to make sure we build an active community that keeps out spammers and is full of people who really want to learn the secrets to coupons.

Q. What are your future hopes and plans for the group?

A. I would like to focus more on charity work with the group. We all have large stockpiles of items, and many members already donate to family, friends, churches and soup kitchens. I know we could do more as group.

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Join our FREE webinar: How to Engage Your Group

Hello again, awesome admins and community leaders!

I’m pleased to announce that our last webinar was a huge success, drawing over 40 group leaders from across the country. To continue the conversation, we’re hosting another free session on Thursday, September 10, to share best practices for engaging your group.

During this webinar, I’ll share 10 tips and tricks on how to increase online and in-person participation for your group. We’ll discuss how to nurture your members’ interests, how to keep members logging into your group site, and more.

Here are the details:

How to Engage Your Group
Thursday, September 10 @ 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern
Register for FREE: bigtent.webex.com – click on “How to Engage Your Group”

I have used the tips covered in this webinar to get members active and participating in my own group, Moms and Tots San Diego (www.bigtent.com/groups/mtsd) . I have also partnered and shared best practices with over 3,000 groups on BigTent.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information. I hope you can attend!

Best,

Jaine, BigTent Community Coach since 2007

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bigtentgroups

Happy BigTent-iversary, MPOMC!

This week, BigTent celebrates the third anniversary of bringing on our first group, Marin Parents of Multiples Club (MPOMC). On August 13, 2006, BigTent issued over 100 invitations for members of the Northern California parenting club to join the site.

BigTent had just finished its original product definition when MPOMC called for help.

“The person who managed our club account couldn’t remember the Yahoo! Groups password that had been set up, and we were locked out of our account,” says Jenn Hagerman, former Co-President of MPOMC. “Luckily for us, I knew Laney [Whitcanack] and that she was getting BigTent up and running. The timing was perfect, and we were thrilled to partner with BigTent as we moved more of our programs online.”

As an early employee of BigTent, I look back fondly on the time our team spent sheperding MPOMC members onto our site. I recall sending personal email follow ups to each member, explaining a bit about BigTent and the need to finish activating one’s club membership online.

Among the many key learnings of moving over our inaugural group, the need for browser compatibility testing became readily apparent when our site layout wouldn’t display on Internet Explorer for Mac. We quickly put up signposts, recommending that users stick to Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari when using BigTent.

Luckily, the browser fix paved the way to much smoother sailing.

“One of the most memorable parts of switching to BigTent was getting email from members about how easy it was to sign up and thanking the club for finding such a great tool to support it,” says Jenn.

Hats off to MPOMC for taking the plunge with technology. We’re proud that you call BigTent your online home!

Best,

Mia & the BigTent team

Join our FREE Webinar: How to Grow Your Group

Hello admins and awesome community leaders!

My name is Jaine and I’m one of BigTent’s Community Coaches. I wanted to let you know about a fun, free, and educational webinar I’m hosting next Thursday, 8/13, on how to grow your group. I have grown my own group, Moms and Tots San Diego (www.bigtent.com/groups/mtsd), from zero to 700+ members in just three years. I have also partnered and shared best practices with over 3,000 groups on BigTent.

During this webinar, I’ll share 10 tips and tricks on how to grow your group. We’ll also have a portion devoted to sharing our best practices so we can learn from each other. Here are the details:

How to Grow Your Group

Thursday, August 13 @ 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern

Register for FREE: bigtent.webex.com – click on “How to Grow Your Group”

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information. I hope you can attend!

Best,

Jaine, BigTent Community Coach since 2007

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bigtentgroups