Showing posts with label business 2 blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business 2 blogger. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

My New Glasses

So, a while back I wrote a bit about Business 2 Blogger and their great opportunities for bloggers to make a little cash-ola and/or some nice parting gifts. (Joke! I know you're not going anywhere! ...You're not going anywhere, right?)

Anyway, I was selected to participate in an opportunity provided by Glasses USA - get a free pair of glasses in exchange for a blog post. I thought, why not? They have great looking eyeglasses for a fraction of the cost that most places do. They have a lot of styles to chose from, including progressive lenses and sunglasses.Glasses USA is an international company with a US office headquartered in New Jersey, and I'm all about supporting US businesses these days.  And they "recycle" all returned glasses by donating them to charity. Their philosopy is that "Seeing properly shouldn’t be a luxury – it should be a necessity".  I think that's awesome.

I have had prescription eyeglasses since I was in college when I quickly discovered that I had a hard time focusing between my note pad and the blackboard.  Over the years, as I get older (wait, what? that's a filthy lie!) I have found that my eyesight is getting progressively worse. It's not that bad, but I have trouble reading street signs and that kind of thing. On the flip side, I'm finding my close vision is not quite what it used to be either.  On the plus side, I have discovered I quite like the way I look with glasses and now have several pair so I can change them up depending on what I'm wearing.

Now, I have to admit, when I first went to Glasses USA and saw their prices, I was a little skeptical.  I mean, most of them were really inexpensive and, unfortunately, it's hard to equate "cheap" with "quality". But they had a lot of super cute frames, and really, what do I need a designer's name on my glasses for? My purse, maybe. My glasses? Not so much. So I found about 10 different frames that I liked, ranging from $18.00 (I know!) to about $67.00. And that's for the whole pair, lenses and everything (I know!) Plus they have a great FAQ section that even answers questions about your prescription and how to read it. And if you still can't figure it out, you can fax or email your prescription to them and they'll fill out the form for you.  I finally settled on a pair that I thought was really cute and was something different than anything else I owned. The ones I picked were the Maya frames.


 I had several other concerns about ordering glasses online: what if I didn't like them? What if they didn't fit right? But Glasses USA has a really great return policy - you can return your glasses for any reason, and get an exchange or a refund. So really, free glasses never sounded better. All it cost me was a little time and a blog post. Fantastic!
And the reality was that they arrived fairly quickly and they fit just fine and look great! That "quality" I was worried about? Great.  In fact, I like them better than the ones I just bought a month or so ago for over $300 at a local eyeglass boutique store. (Seriously, I'm not just saying that...) Even Secret Agent Man said they were cute. The frames are light weight, they are almost exactly the color they looked online (a great bonus-no surprises) and I didn't have to adjust them at all.

I have already shared the experience with several of my glasses-wearing friends at work. A couple of them are already picking out glasses to order.  And for you, my friends, Glasses USA has included a special code: Mommy5  to use if you order glasses from them and it’s good for 5% off your final order. It may not sound like much, but their glasses are such a good deal, you really don't need much of a discount! Or - if you go "friend" them on Facebook, I see they have other codes, coupons and promotions going on all the time.

So go check it out.
Really!

FTC Compliant Review Policy: The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Business 2 Blogger

I don't know if any of you have checked this out yet, but I found it through Jay at Halftime Lessons. He and a couple of gorgeous gals named Shauna and Holly have started this website - Business 2 Blogger - to help blogs (and business!) make some money and/or swag and generate some business.
Oh yah - it's free, too! Seriously! No, really... FREE!

What they do is send you an email with several blogging opportunities. You are provided a link to submit your interest in whatever campaign you choose. If you are selected, you get an email telling you the details of the campaign and what is required for you to participate. There are free books to people who will read and review, or clothing to try, etc. Others just want you to write about something using certain words to see what happens on web searches. They differ. Go check out the site, it explains it better than I can.

Anyway, what I discovered is that most of the business want you to have a certain page rating or a certain amount of people reading it everyday. Being a relatively new blog I'm not too high up on the ranks yet. But a couple days ago I submitted my site for a campaign for Glasses USA. Usually by the time I get around to it, the chances are gone (typically they only want 5-20 bloggers for whatever) but this time I was actually able to submit my name. And even though they wanted someone with a page rating of 4+ (mine's only 3) there was an area to type some info if you wanted. So I said I had been a glasses wearer for 20 years and was always looking for stuff to blog about. And they picked me!

So now I have to send them my prescription and pick out a pair of glasses, then review them when they send them to me. Great! I just wish I'd seen this before I went out and bought a new pair of glasses 2 weeks ago! Dang those things are gettin' 'spensive!

Anyway, go check it out. It's interesting at least to see who's wanting what and maybe it'll give you some ideas. Best case scenario is you'll get some cash-ola or some nice "prizes"!

Now I just need to figure out how to get Ford to give me one of these if I agree to blog about it...!