All about Influenster

It's Groundhog Day! However, there's a huge snow storm outside. I think I could've made my own, "Winter is not over" prediction! What does everyone think of the prediction? I'm ok with it! If you can't beat them then join them, right?

While it's the beginning of the month, there's not too much shopping wise going on for me. The stores are packed the first week of the month and while I like people, I'm not too fond of crowds. Today I want to share a little bit about Influenster. I've linked to the about section because it will do a better job of explaining Influenster than I ever could.

I want to tell you about my experience with Influenster. Influenster has multiple different programs throughout the year. They call their programs a Voxbox. I joined Influenster July 10, 2012. Since I have been a part of Influenster, I have participated in three Voxbox programs. These Voxboxes have been:  College Voxbox '12, Slimfast Sexy Summer Voxbox, and the Violet Voxbox. Here's the cool thing, each of the Voxboxes I have received have been packed full of products to try and review through social media outlets and through the Inluenster community itself. You can link your Influenster account to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Pinterest, Youtube, and yep-you guessed it, your personal blog.

I've received pens, candy, press on nails, Slimfast, hair products, hair accessories, make up, nail polish, skincare-all for free, all from Influenster. Now these things all seem pretty relevant to me and my lifestyle. This is the innovative aspect of Influenster. You  complete surveys and gain expert and life style badges based on who you are. Influenster does not waste my time ever. To give you an example, upon joining, I got to choose five expert badges. My expert badges are : Decorator, Tastebud, Mosquito, Eco, and Beauty Queen. Here's a little more information about my badges-decorator is about home decor, tastebud is food and drink, mosquito is camping and outdoor type things, eco is recyclables and green products, and beauty queen is where the make up lovers go. See, I mentioned I had a wide array of interests. Lifestyle badges are unlimited and can range from "I voted badges, to bookworm, to dog lovers.

When you receive products from Influenster, there are very few required tasks. The tasks are to check in your Voxbox when it is received and then after the testing period is complete-do a broad survey on the products you received. However, when you fully utilize Influenster and review the products through the social media channels, your score goes up (which increases the chances to participate in more and more Voxbox programs) and there is an opportunity to win prize packs from the brands tested. I have not won any prizes to date but my fingers are crossed!

Influenster is not for females only. There are badges that are for the men and as you can see, a couple of my badges would also be appealing to men as well as women. In fact, this past November, Influenster had a campaign to attract more male members titled Movember. Influenster is after a broad community so when companies want feedback about their products, Influenster can get into some depth with the proper target market. This is when I might geek out a tiny bit about the marketing aspect of this. It is genius,  I love it and I wish in addition to testing the products, I could see some of the data that Influenster acquires.

If you are interested in joining the Influenster community, I have a few invites-so you can immediately join, otherwise you have to wait on an invitation. You can leave your e-mail in the comments or message it to me somehow since I'm still getting the hang of all this. I encourage you because I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Influenster nation. You never know what you will get to try out! If you don't want to join, next time I am invited to a Voxbox program I will happily share my experience and the product reviews with you!

XOXO,
The Redheaded Life

      

Get to know me and my blog!

Who's going to gain a legion of loyal followers without establishing a little credibility and sharing about themselves? No one. With that being said, I am dedicating my very first post (hopefully not my last) to that, so here goes nothing. I live in Oklahoma and I do not drive. Therefore, I do a lot of online shopping but I do get out every now and then to see what the brick and mortar has to offer. Usually I am disappointed, but nonetheless, I find some good stuff-things that make me happy. That's why I'm here. I want to share my triumphs with YOU. Yes, you. I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets excited about these things, so I invite you to share with me, as I will share with you.

I graduated college with a B.B.A. in Marketing and have a minor in Professional Sales. That being said, I do not have a lot of money to throw around. I like to make what I do have last and really get the most out of it. I do this by doing a bit of research. I use a couple sites frequently that I will gladly share with you. I will only tell you about three today since there will be plenty of time to share the rest.

The first I will tell you about is Ebates. Ebates has a few commercials so you have probably heard of them but are unsure if they are credible or not. Let me tell you, they are completely legitimate and the whole process is really interesting. Ebates has hundreds of stores that participate with them and if you do a lot of online shopping, it is a community you must be a part of. For every purchase you make, if you complete the purchase through an Ebates link, you get cash back. Essentially, you get paid to shop. They have several different ways to get the cash back such as donate to charity, through paypal, or you can opt for them to send you a check (if your cash back is $5 or more) quarterly. I opt for a big fat check and a few days ago, They gave me the option to immediately redeem for an Amazon e-gift card. Amazon is a site I frequent (I will talk about it shortly), so I took them up on the offer and successfully used the balance on a purchase yesterday.

The next website/store that I want to share my love for is Ulta. Ulta is a beauty store and they are definitely a go to for me due to their coupons, special offers, and rewards program. I have included a link to the earning page of the rewards program. Here's my tip: redeem your rewards at the 250/350/450/etc. balances. Here's why: 100 points=$3.00, which means that every 50 points would be equivalent, to $1.50. However, at the 250 point mark, the reward is $8.00, but when you add it up in 50 point increments, The reward would only be $7.50. You get $0.50 extra if you redeem at 250/350/450, I realize that's not a lot but it is how to maximize Ulta rewards. The entire reward system is consistent with that. It's also worth mentioning the special weeks, birthday months, and promotions where you can take advantage of up to 5X the points.

The last site that I will talk about today is Amazon. Who doesn't love Amazon? Amazon has recently upped their free shipping offer. The offer used to be free shipping on Amazon fulfilled purchases over $25, now the offer is free shipping of Amazon fulfilled purchases over $35 dollars. However, Amazon offers several programs to make purchases even more affordable such as Prime, deals of the day, AND coupons. Yes, Amazon has coupons! With all coupons, some are better than others. Recently, I got 2.00 a Kotex product and got the 24 count wipes for a little over $2.00-shipped, that was a good coupon! Could I have gotten it cheaper? Yes, some people have in fact, by opting in for "subscribe and save" and being Prime members. I am not a prime member, nor have I played around with subscribe and save but the deal I got was good enough for me. I'm not always out for the best deal. If it's a good deal and convenient, I am usually sold.

Hopefully, I have communicated what I want to do. I hope even more, that you enjoy it and are interested enough to give me some opinions, share your stories, share my blog with your friends, and get to know me even more! Stay in touch for good deals, freebies, product testing communities, and subscription boxes. I look forward to next time!

XOXO,
The Redheaded Life