The Problem With Online Coupons - Why Using Coupons on the Internet Could Be Hurting Your Business

Traditionally, advertising with coupons has been an excellent way to capture new customers and retain existing customers. Using the Internet, promoting your business with coupons has become quicker, cheaper and easier than ever before. Unfortunately, Internet coupons for "Brick and Mortar" businesses may have become ineffective and quite possibly have a negative impact on your business if not used properly. The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Printing coupons from the Internet is like printing money, it devalues the coupons for the customer as well as for the merchant.

Coupons really are a form of currency. They are an agreement between the customer and the merchant. The merchant uses the coupon to say, "I will give you a discount or a special deal, and in return you will patronize my business." This is the basic give and take relationship that the coupon establishes and works very well, but only if there is just one coupon at a time.

The problem with most Internet coupons is that they are infinitely redeemable. Most of the time, patrons can print Internet coupons as many times as they want so that they can effectively receive the same discount every time they go to that merchant. If we were all able to print money from our computers in the same way, then our currency would instantaneously lose all of its value. By using printable coupons this way, the customer reduces the value in his or her mind of the products that the coupon applies to and therefore the coupons themselves. The merchant on the other hand must devalue the coupon similarly since it is no longer effective in creating a "give and take" relationship but rather just permanently discounts their products or services.

2. Having coupons always available further devalues them. If they are always there for the taking, then there is no urgency to go get them.

Similar to the point above, having a coupon always available to print off or redeem has the same effect as printing off hundreds of copies. Traditional print coupons have always been distributed periodically in a newspaper, magazine, postal mail, etc. This meant that you were only going to receive one and only one of those coupons until the next periodical was distributed. Therefore, if you had any sort of interest in possibly using that coupon in the future, then you would cut out the coupon at that moment and be ready to use it. With Internet coupons, knowing that you can always revisit a website and print off a coupon whenever the need arises has the effect of also making the coupon worthless. This is because, (a) most will forget that they ever saw the coupon and will therefore never go back to print it off and (b) most importantly, the coupon loses its promotional value of trying to get someone to take action now.

3. Most coupons on the Internet are on a "pull" model instead of a "push" model.

When customers have to go out and get coupons, instead of the coupons being "pushed" out to the customer, then they only get used by the true coupon frugal fanatics and not by first time customers or customers who have forgotten about you. Again, traditional coupons have always been sent "pushed" out to prospective customers and therefore acted as a great way to proactively promote businesses.

Also, Internet coupons on a "pull" model, where customers must visit a coupon website and see what coupons are available, have no market testing value. One of the greatest advantages of marketing with coupons since they were first studied by Claude Hopkins in the early 20th century, was to be able to scientifically test marketing messages by "pushing" out the coupons and then tracking the ones that came back to you. Although this could still theoretically be done in a "pull" type scenario, the benefit of the "push" test system is that you could send out your message to a specific number of recipients within a specific time period and then receive back a specific statistical sample to draw conclusions from.

The Right Way to Use Internet Printable Coupons

The solution to "The Problem with Online Coupons" is to use the Internet to distribute your coupons while eliminating the issues stated above.

First, use an email marketing solution. Sending coupons in email solves the "push vs. pull" problem by delivering coupons to specific group of people who have opted-in to receiving updates and specials from your business. Sending coupons via email also solves the problem of having coupons always available. Email allows businesses to mimic and even surpass the benefits of traditional print periodicals. Businesses can test to find the ideal sending frequency that keeps their business in the forefront of their customer's minds while also maintaining a sense of urgency and timeliness. Also, make sure to use expiration dates and/or "print by" dates to further increase the sense of urgency.

Next, incorporate a secure "one-time" printing system for coupon distribution. This will allow each email recipient of your coupons to be able to print them once and only once for each coupon sent. This may seem somewhat trivial or possibly even petty, but the reality is that coupons that can only be used once allows the merchant to be more comfortable with promoting bigger discounts and better deals while at the same time giving the customer higher perceived and actual value of the coupon.

Using these tools will allow you to not only dramatically cut advertising costs compared to traditional print coupon advertising but also allow you to use coupon advertising in the best ways possible. Actively promote your business to new and existing customers while using scientific testing to discover the best possible marketing messages for your business' success. Create a real marketplace for your coupons and their value will increase to everyone who uses them.

Scott Knight is Founder and CEO of ZoomDeals.com, an email service provider for small and local businesses focused on secure printable coupon distribution. ZoomDeals is an innovative combination of a powerful do-it-yourself email marketing platform and a unique cross-promotional network of printable coupons that are searchable within a geographic area.

My Cash Back & Online Coupon Shopping Secret

In my twenties, I had dreams of becoming a millionaire by the time I was 30 years old. In my thirties, I had dreams of being a millionaire by the time I was 40. I'm sure I will have many more dreams as I grow older, but reality has set in and I've realized that my destiny lies in other pursuits. To compensate for this, I have found ways to make the money I do have last longer and travel further. One of those ways is through the use of "online coupons."

Over the last 10 years, shoppers have figured out that they can avoid lines and traffic and get better prices on the internet than in the shopping malls. Since most online purchases are made across state lines, the cost for shipping is usually offset by not having to pay sales tax. When you drive to a brick and mortar store, park in the parking lot, and walk into the store, you are now trapped since there is no way you are leaving to visit other stores to comparison shop. On the other hand, the internet is located in your living room where thousands, if not millions, of stores compete against each other driving prices as low as possible. In addition, online stores pay much lower rent for warehousing their products compared to retail lease prices for brick and mortar stores. This allows them to lower their prices even further and keep much larger inventories on hand. Obtaining better prices online is quickly outweighing the impulsive need to have your purchase immediately upon checkout from a brick and mortar store. This is increasing the number of online shoppers every year as people across the country catch on to what others have already figured out.

Now I'm not saying that the great prices found on the internet are anything to sneeze at, but that wasn't enough for me. Since my first online purchase in the late 90's, I have become addicted to saving even more money by utilizing online coupons, coupon codes / promo codes, and cash back shopping.

Online coupons are just like normal coupons that you would use at the grocery store, but they are only for purchases made on the internet. Instead of cutting them out and providing them at the checkout counter, online coupons are redeemed during the online checkout process. There are two types of online coupons. The first is a "coupon code" which I've also seen called a promo code, promotion code, promotional code, and a discount code. The shopper just needs to enter the coupon code in the appropriate place during checkout and the discount is reflected immediately. The other online coupon I have encountered is usually provided by online coupon websites. Once you click on the coupon-embedded link displayed on the online coupon website, you're directed to the retailer's website in a new browser window to shop as you normally would. The coupon discount is automatically factored into the price at checkout. I find this method easier than tracking down coupon codes (but maybe not as much fun).

But when I discovered another method of saving money called Cash Back Shopping, online coupons alone weren't enough for me. I'm going to share a secret with you that took me a number of years to uncover about how online shopping works. In order to generate sales, online stores use a method of marketing called Affiliate Network Marketing. The online store signs up with an affiliate network for a fee. The network then displays links to the retailer's website for coupons, deals, promotions, and sales. Website owners copy these links and display them on their own websites in the hopes that their visitors will click on them and place an order. The website owner is paid a commission for each visitor who goes to an affiliate's site and makes a purchase. Commissions on sales range from 3% to 10%. Hence, the birth of the online coupon website to earn commissions by bringing traffic to online retailers signed up with affiliate networks.

Soon after, cash-back shopping sites began to appear. These sites give back a percentage of the commission they earn, in the form of cash-back, to the actual online shopper making the purchase. So now online shoppers could redeem valuable coupons, such as 15% off your entire order from the retailer and then earn another 2- 5% cash-back from the online coupon website. On most cash-back shopping websites, money accumulates in an account and is then paid quarterly by check to the shopper. The fact that you can combine online coupons with cash-back shopping makes cash-back shopping websites that offer coupons a much better option than the plain old online coupon websites of the past.

Now that we have a brief history of online shopping under our belts, let's move onto my latest discovery. I recently found a website that has taken online coupons and cash-back shopping to another level. Until now it was only possible for website owners to make commissions from affiliate networks by displaying coupon links on their websites. However, the site I found, http://www.CouponCactus.com, allows shoppers to earn money as well as save money.

Coupon Cactus developed a program so its members can automatically display a link to their own "Cactus Page" in the signature line at the bottom of all of their emails. If a person reading your email clicks the link in your signature line and makes a purchase through your Cactus Page, you will earn a commission. Nearly every area of the online arena has been utilized for major profit, except for the real estate in our own personal emails. To demonstrate the power of marketing in personal e-mails, here's an example. Let's assume the average person sends 10 emails per day, including both original emails and forwarded emails. If you send an email of interest to 10 friends, such as a funny joke or story, by tomorrow it will be in 100 inboxes and it will be in 1,000 inboxes by the day after. In the span of just two days, your one email with a link to your Cactus Page could reach 1,100 potential online shoppers. That's not to mention the other nine emails you wrote that day. I personally send about 100 emails per day and have already begun to reap the benefits of Coupon Cactus membership. I've actually earned more than I've spent over the holidays! It was then that I was driven to seek out the owner of Coupon Cactus to find out more about how they came up with this idea and what was on the horizon.

I had the chance to interview David Fitterman, President & CEO of Coupon Cactus, LLC, which hosts the http://www.CouponCactus.com website, an online coupon, coupon code, and cash-back shopping website with a commission program for the average shopper.

John: David, first I'd like to thank you for giving me the tools to make some cash this holiday season on top of some very cool coupons I used to buy presents.

David: It's our pleasure! You know, it's not just a holiday thing though. Our members are pretty smart and they'll be earning money year-round. I knew the idea made sense, but I'm surprised at how fast it's taken off.

John: So how many members do you have, and what are the different ways the website is being used?

David: Sorry John, I can't reveal any specific details about our membership since privacy is of the utmost importance. But I can say that we're very pleased and much further along than we'd imagined at this point. We already have some great success stories about the ingenious ways our members are using the website.

John: That works for me.

David: Well, you already know that each member gets their own Cactus Page but we are currently beta testing functionality where they can personalize the top banner with a welcome message and display a picture or a logo. We have one beta tester who placed a picture of his two-year old son on his banner. His son is suffering from an illness and he's raising money in his son's name by sending out links to his Cactus Page explaining that all commissions on purchases will be used for his son's medical treatment.

John: Wow, that's a great story.

David: Yeah, we're pretty proud of that one. I'm just glad that we're able to offer him the tools to earn money for such a good cause. We have another member who's using her Cactus Page so she gets commissions on all of the gifts purchased for her baby shower next month. There's actually one other member doing the same thing, but for her wedding. It's a cool idea. If their friends and relatives are going to be buying them presents anyway, they might as well earn cash-back on all of the purchases to buy something extra for the baby or to use on their honeymoon.

John: Man, I wish you guys were around when I got married!

David: Sorry about that! At least you know about us now and can use Coupon Cactus for all the other events and ideas you come up with. We also have a few beta testing companies who are using corporate Cactus Pages as an employee benefit. It's a win-win situation. The employees use the coupons on the website to save money, and the company earns commissions on all the sales. One of the companies is using the earned commissions to pay for the annual holiday party for their employees. It turns out that the company is ending up using the coupons, more than the employees, to lower their business expenses and get cash back on top of the discounts.

John: That sounds like a pretty smart company. Now I know you're busy and I really appreciate the time you're taking to talk with me, but can you tell me anything more about future plans for the website?

David: Well, you know I can't be too specific, but we do have a number of plans in the works. I can tell you that we recently implemented a new feature where if you refer someone to Coupon Cactus and they become a member, you'll receive 25% of whatever they earn for as long as both of you are members. There are a number of sites out there that only give you just $5 for telling a friend. We looked at that model and it just didn't work for us. This is the age of Web 2.0 and we figured our members should share in all of the profits. For example, if you refer a friend to Coupon Cactus and he earns $100 this quarter, he'll receive a check for $100 and you'll receive a check for an additional $25. Let's say that the next quarter you refer nine more friends who each earn $50 and your first friend makes another $100... Hang on, let me get out my calculator... You'll get a check for $137.50 for that quarter, just on the commissions made on your referral members. Not a bad deal for just referring some friends, and we have absolutely no limit to the number of referrals you can make.

John: This feature was the reason I had to track you down and talk to you. It's brilliant, and like I mentioned earlier, it paid for all the presents I bought this year and then some.

David: You know, when this article comes out you should include your membership number so you can get referral commissions on anyone who signs up after reading it.

John: In this case I am one step ahead of you. Thank you again for sitting down to talk with me, and I wish you great success with Coupon Cactus.

David: Thanks for having me.

Now that I have disclosed my secrets on how shopping can actually be profitable I will shamelessly ask that you return the favor by entering my Cactus membership number 100033 as the member who referred you to Coupon Cactus when you sign up for free membership at http://www.CouponCactus.com. Who knows, maybe my dreams will come true and I'll get to be a millionaire one day.

John Goldberg has written many articles on saving money, online coupons, cash back shopping, and the internet and has a Cactus Page on http://www.CouponCactus.com.

Ordering Coupons Online Can Save You Money

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. But there is another way, and that is ordering them online.

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. This really isn't news to anyone, but it's probably the most widely used method of gathering up coupons. Once you figure in the price of the newspaper, compared to how much money you can save...it's worth doing it. You can also ask friends and family that get the newspaper if they use the coupons. If they don't, they are usually more than willing to give them away since the coupons will typically be thrown away anyways.

One drawback to getting the newspaper is that you never know what coupons will be in it, and if they're for the items you will use. I've picked up a newspaper a number of times, and there were only a few coupons I could really use. So getting the newspaper sometimes can be a "hit/miss" situation.

The newspaper is not the only way you can obtain coupons. There are a few Websites out there where you can order the coupons you want and will actually use when you go shopping. I know the concept seems strange and you're probably thinking, "Why should I order coupons when I can get them free?" Technically, if you purchase the newspaper for the coupons they are not free.

Ordering coupons and paying a small service can still save you money in the long run. Let's take a look at how the savings add up. For example, let's say you spent $10.00 and ordered 25 coupons all with a face value under $1.00. If you use all the coupons, that's an automatic discount savings of $25.00. Now you have to subtract what you spent when you ordered the coupons, which is the $10.00. The total savings is now $15.00, which is pretty good. Looking at from this perspective, you really got your money back in grocery savings that you would have normally spent anyways.

The above example is a pretty good savings, but it gets better. Because you ordered coupons all under $1.00 face value, many grocery stores will double coupons up to $1.00! Using the above example, this brings your savings up to $50.00 that's a substantial savings!

Here are a few tips you can use when ordering coupons:

** Order only what coupons you are going to use. Some sites will allow you to order up to 50 coupons at one time with flat rate service fee. 50 coupons is a lot and you may or may not end up using them all. If you have a friend that also uses coupons, maybe you could split the coupons and costs between the two of you.

** Choose coupons with a $1.00 face value or less. Many stores double coupons and you can double your savings.

** Some sites charge a handling fee per coupon on top of other fees; do the math to see how much you will be saving before placing your order.

** Check expiration dates. The farther off the expiration date is gives you more time to use it.

** Watch for sales! You can save even more money if the product you have a coupon for goes on sale. Here's a quick example. I had a coupon for 55 cents off dry cereal. The cereal was on sale for $1.67, the store doubled the coupon and I only paid 57 cents for a name brand box of cereal!

** Check more than one store for sales. If you live where more than one grocery store is in close proximity, you can plan your shopping list to buy specific items at different stores using your coupons.

Using these tips, a little planning and ordering your coupons wisely, you can save up anywhere from 50% - 70% on your monthly grocery bill!

Michelle is the webmaster of Coupon Emporium (http://www.couponemporium.com) which provides coupons, printable coupons and coupon codes from across the web.

The Problem With Online Coupons - Why Using Coupons on the Internet Could Be Hurting Your Business

Traditionally, advertising with coupons has been an excellent way to capture new customers and retain existing customers. Using the Internet, promoting your business with coupons has become quicker, cheaper and easier than ever before. Unfortunately, Internet coupons for "Brick and Mortar" businesses may have become ineffective and quite possibly have a negative impact on your business if not used properly. The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Printing coupons from the Internet is like printing money, it devalues the coupons for the customer as well as for the merchant.

Coupons really are a form of currency. They are an agreement between the customer and the merchant. The merchant uses the coupon to say, "I will give you a discount or a special deal, and in return you will patronize my business." This is the basic give and take relationship that the coupon establishes and works very well, but only if there is just one coupon at a time.

The problem with most Internet coupons is that they are infinitely redeemable. Most of the time, patrons can print Internet coupons as many times as they want so that they can effectively receive the same discount every time they go to that merchant. If we were all able to print money from our computers in the same way, then our currency would instantaneously lose all of its value. By using printable coupons this way, the customer reduces the value in his or her mind of the products that the coupon applies to and therefore the coupons themselves. The merchant on the other hand must devalue the coupon similarly since it is no longer effective in creating a "give and take" relationship but rather just permanently discounts their products or services.

2. Having coupons always available further devalues them. If they are always there for the taking, then there is no urgency to go get them.

Similar to the point above, having a coupon always available to print off or redeem has the same effect as printing off hundreds of copies. Traditional print coupons have always been distributed periodically in a newspaper, magazine, postal mail, etc. This meant that you were only going to receive one and only one of those coupons until the next periodical was distributed. Therefore, if you had any sort of interest in possibly using that coupon in the future, then you would cut out the coupon at that moment and be ready to use it. With Internet coupons, knowing that you can always revisit a website and print off a coupon whenever the need arises has the effect of also making the coupon worthless. This is because, (a) most will forget that they ever saw the coupon and will therefore never go back to print it off and (b) most importantly, the coupon loses its promotional value of trying to get someone to take action now.

3. Most coupons on the Internet are on a "pull" model instead of a "push" model.

When customers have to go out and get coupons, instead of the coupons being "pushed" out to the customer, then they only get used by the true coupon frugal fanatics and not by first time customers or customers who have forgotten about you. Again, traditional coupons have always been sent "pushed" out to prospective customers and therefore acted as a great way to proactively promote businesses.

Also, Internet coupons on a "pull" model, where customers must visit a coupon website and see what coupons are available, have no market testing value. One of the greatest advantages of marketing with coupons since they were first studied by Claude Hopkins in the early 20th century, was to be able to scientifically test marketing messages by "pushing" out the coupons and then tracking the ones that came back to you. Although this could still theoretically be done in a "pull" type scenario, the benefit of the "push" test system is that you could send out your message to a specific number of recipients within a specific time period and then receive back a specific statistical sample to draw conclusions from.

The Right Way to Use Internet Printable Coupons

The solution to "The Problem with Online Coupons" is to use the Internet to distribute your coupons while eliminating the issues stated above.

First, use an email marketing solution. Sending coupons in email solves the "push vs. pull" problem by delivering coupons to specific group of people who have opted-in to receiving updates and specials from your business. Sending coupons via email also solves the problem of having coupons always available. Email allows businesses to mimic and even surpass the benefits of traditional print periodicals. Businesses can test to find the ideal sending frequency that keeps their business in the forefront of their customer's minds while also maintaining a sense of urgency and timeliness. Also, make sure to use expiration dates and/or "print by" dates to further increase the sense of urgency.

Next, incorporate a secure "one-time" printing system for coupon distribution. This will allow each email recipient of your coupons to be able to print them once and only once for each coupon sent. This may seem somewhat trivial or possibly even petty, but the reality is that coupons that can only be used once allows the merchant to be more comfortable with promoting bigger discounts and better deals while at the same time giving the customer higher perceived and actual value of the coupon.

Using these tools will allow you to not only dramatically cut advertising costs compared to traditional print coupon advertising but also allow you to use coupon advertising in the best ways possible. Actively promote your business to new and existing customers while using scientific testing to discover the best possible marketing messages for your business' success. Create a real marketplace for your coupons and their value will increase to everyone who uses them.

My Cash Back & Online Coupon Shopping Secret

In my twenties, I had dreams of becoming a millionaire by the time I was 30 years old. In my thirties, I had dreams of being a millionaire by the time I was 40. I'm sure I will have many more dreams as I grow older, but reality has set in and I've realized that my destiny lies in other pursuits. To compensate for this, I have found ways to make the money I do have last longer and travel further. One of those ways is through the use of "online coupons."

Over the last 10 years, shoppers have figured out that they can avoid lines and traffic and get better prices on the internet than in the shopping malls. Since most online purchases are made across state lines, the cost for shipping is usually offset by not having to pay sales tax. When you drive to a brick and mortar store, park in the parking lot, and walk into the store, you are now trapped since there is no way you are leaving to visit other stores to comparison shop. On the other hand, the internet is located in your living room where thousands, if not millions, of stores compete against each other driving prices as low as possible. In addition, online stores pay much lower rent for warehousing their products compared to retail lease prices for brick and mortar stores. This allows them to lower their prices even further and keep much larger inventories on hand. Obtaining better prices online is quickly outweighing the impulsive need to have your purchase immediately upon checkout from a brick and mortar store. This is increasing the number of online shoppers every year as people across the country catch on to what others have already figured out.

Now I'm not saying that the great prices found on the internet are anything to sneeze at, but that wasn't enough for me. Since my first online purchase in the late 90's, I have become addicted to saving even more money by utilizing online coupons, coupon codes / promo codes, and cash back shopping.

Online coupons are just like normal coupons that you would use at the grocery store, but they are only for purchases made on the internet. Instead of cutting them out and providing them at the checkout counter, online coupons are redeemed during the online checkout process. There are two types of online coupons. The first is a "coupon code" which I've also seen called a promo code, promotion code, promotional code, and a discount code. The shopper just needs to enter the coupon code in the appropriate place during checkout and the discount is reflected immediately. The other online coupon I have encountered is usually provided by online coupon websites. Once you click on the coupon-embedded link displayed on the online coupon website, you're directed to the retailer's website in a new browser window to shop as you normally would. The coupon discount is automatically factored into the price at checkout. I find this method easier than tracking down coupon codes (but maybe not as much fun).

But when I discovered another method of saving money called Cash Back Shopping, online coupons alone weren't enough for me. I'm going to share a secret with you that took me a number of years to uncover about how online shopping works. In order to generate sales, online stores use a method of marketing called Affiliate Network Marketing. The online store signs up with an affiliate network for a fee. The network then displays links to the retailer's website for coupons, deals, promotions, and sales. Website owners copy these links and display them on their own websites in the hopes that their visitors will click on them and place an order. The website owner is paid a commission for each visitor who goes to an affiliate's site and makes a purchase. Commissions on sales range from 3% to 10%. Hence, the birth of the online coupon website to earn commissions by bringing traffic to online retailers signed up with affiliate networks.

Soon after, cash-back shopping sites began to appear. These sites give back a percentage of the commission they earn, in the form of cash-back, to the actual online shopper making the purchase. So now online shoppers could redeem valuable coupons, such as 15% off your entire order from the retailer and then earn another 2- 5% cash-back from the online coupon website. On most cash-back shopping websites, money accumulates in an account and is then paid quarterly by check to the shopper. The fact that you can combine online coupons with cash-back shopping makes cash-back shopping websites that offer coupons a much better option than the plain old online coupon websites of the past.

Now that we have a brief history of online shopping under our belts, let's move onto my latest discovery. I recently found a website that has taken online coupons and cash-back shopping to another level. Until now it was only possible for website owners to make commissions from affiliate networks by displaying coupon links on their websites. However, the site I found, http://www.CouponCactus.com, allows shoppers to earn money as well as save money.

Coupon Cactus developed a program so its members can automatically display a link to their own "Cactus Page" in the signature line at the bottom of all of their emails. If a person reading your email clicks the link in your signature line and makes a purchase through your Cactus Page, you will earn a commission. Nearly every area of the online arena has been utilized for major profit, except for the real estate in our own personal emails. To demonstrate the power of marketing in personal e-mails, here's an example. Let's assume the average person sends 10 emails per day, including both original emails and forwarded emails. If you send an email of interest to 10 friends, such as a funny joke or story, by tomorrow it will be in 100 inboxes and it will be in 1,000 inboxes by the day after. In the span of just two days, your one email with a link to your Cactus Page could reach 1,100 potential online shoppers. That's not to mention the other nine emails you wrote that day. I personally send about 100 emails per day and have already begun to reap the benefits of Coupon Cactus membership. I've actually earned more than I've spent over the holidays! It was then that I was driven to seek out the owner of Coupon Cactus to find out more about how they came up with this idea and what was on the horizon.

I had the chance to interview David Fitterman, President & CEO of Coupon Cactus, LLC, which hosts the http://www.CouponCactus.com website, an online coupon, coupon code, and cash-back shopping website with a commission program for the average shopper.

John: David, first I'd like to thank you for giving me the tools to make some cash this holiday season on top of some very cool coupons I used to buy presents.

David: It's our pleasure! You know, it's not just a holiday thing though. Our members are pretty smart and they'll be earning money year-round. I knew the idea made sense, but I'm surprised at how fast it's taken off.

John: So how many members do you have, and what are the different ways the website is being used?

David: Sorry John, I can't reveal any specific details about our membership since privacy is of the utmost importance. But I can say that we're very pleased and much further along than we'd imagined at this point. We already have some great success stories about the ingenious ways our members are using the website.

John: That works for me.

David: Well, you already know that each member gets their own Cactus Page but we are currently beta testing functionality where they can personalize the top banner with a welcome message and display a picture or a logo. We have one beta tester who placed a picture of his two-year old son on his banner. His son is suffering from an illness and he's raising money in his son's name by sending out links to his Cactus Page explaining that all commissions on purchases will be used for his son's medical treatment.

John: Wow, that's a great story.

David: Yeah, we're pretty proud of that one. I'm just glad that we're able to offer him the tools to earn money for such a good cause. We have another member who's using her Cactus Page so she gets commissions on all of the gifts purchased for her baby shower next month. There's actually one other member doing the same thing, but for her wedding. It's a cool idea. If their friends and relatives are going to be buying them presents anyway, they might as well earn cash-back on all of the purchases to buy something extra for the baby or to use on their honeymoon.

John: Man, I wish you guys were around when I got married!

David: Sorry about that! At least you know about us now and can use Coupon Cactus for all the other events and ideas you come up with. We also have a few beta testing companies who are using corporate Cactus Pages as an employee benefit. It's a win-win situation. The employees use the coupons on the website to save money, and the company earns commissions on all the sales. One of the companies is using the earned commissions to pay for the annual holiday party for their employees. It turns out that the company is ending up using the coupons, more than the employees, to lower their business expenses and get cash back on top of the discounts.

John: That sounds like a pretty smart company. Now I know you're busy and I really appreciate the time you're taking to talk with me, but can you tell me anything more about future plans for the website?

David: Well, you know I can't be too specific, but we do have a number of plans in the works. I can tell you that we recently implemented a new feature where if you refer someone to Coupon Cactus and they become a member, you'll receive 25% of whatever they earn for as long as both of you are members. There are a number of sites out there that only give you just $5 for telling a friend. We looked at that model and it just didn't work for us. This is the age of Web 2.0 and we figured our members should share in all of the profits. For example, if you refer a friend to Coupon Cactus and he earns $100 this quarter, he'll receive a check for $100 and you'll receive a check for an additional $25. Let's say that the next quarter you refer nine more friends who each earn $50 and your first friend makes another $100... Hang on, let me get out my calculator... You'll get a check for $137.50 for that quarter, just on the commissions made on your referral members. Not a bad deal for just referring some friends, and we have absolutely no limit to the number of referrals you can make.

John: This feature was the reason I had to track you down and talk to you. It's brilliant, and like I mentioned earlier, it paid for all the presents I bought this year and then some.

David: You know, when this article comes out you should include your membership number so you can get referral commissions on anyone who signs up after reading it.

John: In this case I am one step ahead of you. Thank you again for sitting down to talk with me, and I wish you great success with Coupon Cactus.

David: Thanks for having me.

Now that I have disclosed my secrets on how shopping can actually be profitable I will shamelessly ask that you return the favor by entering my Cactus membership number 100033 as the member who referred you to Coupon Cactus when you sign up for free membership at http://www.CouponCactus.com. Who knows, maybe my dreams will come true and I'll get to be a millionaire one day.

John Goldberg has written many articles on saving money, online coupons, cash back shopping, and the internet and has a Cactus Page on http://www.CouponCactus.com.

Ordering Coupons Online Can Save You Money

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. But there is another way, and that is ordering them online.

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. This really isn't news to anyone, but it's probably the most widely used method of gathering up coupons. Once you figure in the price of the newspaper, compared to how much money you can save...it's worth doing it. You can also ask friends and family that get the newspaper if they use the coupons. If they don't, they are usually more than willing to give them away since the coupons will typically be thrown away anyways.

One drawback to getting the newspaper is that you never know what coupons will be in it, and if they're for the items you will use. I've picked up a newspaper a number of times, and there were only a few coupons I could really use. So getting the newspaper sometimes can be a "hit/miss" situation.

The newspaper is not the only way you can obtain coupons. There are a few Websites out there where you can order the coupons you want and will actually use when you go shopping. I know the concept seems strange and you're probably thinking, "Why should I order coupons when I can get them free?" Technically, if you purchase the newspaper for the coupons they are not free.

Ordering coupons and paying a small service can still save you money in the long run. Let's take a look at how the savings add up. For example, let's say you spent $10.00 and ordered 25 coupons all with a face value under $1.00. If you use all the coupons, that's an automatic discount savings of $25.00. Now you have to subtract what you spent when you ordered the coupons, which is the $10.00. The total savings is now $15.00, which is pretty good. Looking at from this perspective, you really got your money back in grocery savings that you would have normally spent anyways.

The above example is a pretty good savings, but it gets better. Because you ordered coupons all under $1.00 face value, many grocery stores will double coupons up to $1.00! Using the above example, this brings your savings up to $50.00 that's a substantial savings!

Here are a few tips you can use when ordering coupons:

** Order only what coupons you are going to use. Some sites will allow you to order up to 50 coupons at one time with flat rate service fee. 50 coupons is a lot and you may or may not end up using them all. If you have a friend that also uses coupons, maybe you could split the coupons and costs between the two of you.

** Choose coupons with a $1.00 face value or less. Many stores double coupons and you can double your savings.

** Some sites charge a handling fee per coupon on top of other fees; do the math to see how much you will be saving before placing your order.

** Check expiration dates. The farther off the expiration date is gives you more time to use it.

** Watch for sales! You can save even more money if the product you have a coupon for goes on sale. Here's a quick example. I had a coupon for 55 cents off dry cereal. The cereal was on sale for $1.67, the store doubled the coupon and I only paid 57 cents for a name brand box of cereal!

** Check more than one store for sales. If you live where more than one grocery store is in close proximity, you can plan your shopping list to buy specific items at different stores using your coupons.

Using these tips, a little planning and ordering your coupons wisely, you can save up anywhere from 50% - 70% on your monthly grocery bill!

Michelle is the webmaster of Coupon Emporium (http://www.couponemporium.com) which provides coupons, printable coupons and coupon codes from across the web.

Online Coupon Codes & Printable Grocery Coupons - Online Shopping Tips

Are Mommies shopping smarter with online coupons and printable grocery coupons ?

Some of us search endlessly for bargains online and easy ways to save money while some of us are content with just a small discount or deal .

Whether we are shopping online for clothes , auto parts , gifts , electronics , or computers , We all share one thing in common , we all want a great bargain , or some sort of reasonable discount .

We all know that discount coupons are great ways to save money , and IM sure all the mommies out there can agree with me .

10 years ago many of us would wait for those Sunday newspapers , catalogs or magazines in order to clip some discount coupons , I call them coupon mommy savers because 90% of consumers who use coupons are mommies . (lol)

Today mommies are shopping smarter , with the Internet the old days of clipping coupons are soon fading away , they are noticing that there are great coupon savings online .

There are also great online coupon sites that spend their entire days searching for printable grocery coupons and online coupon codes , they provide consumers with a list of free discount coupons that are very much appreciated , however you must take precautions .

Here are some online coupon shopping safety tips for beginners :

1) Stay away from online coupon sites that ask you for your personal information in order for you to print your discount coupon , You will get 100s of spam emails for every discount coupon they give you . Is it Really worth it ?

2) Distance yourself from online coupon sites that have too many pop-ups , they are extremely annoying and can download viruses or freeze your computer .

3) Online printable coupons and coupon codes are free , don't pay any online coupon sites to give you coupons ,you can get most of them for free on the Internet .

4) Many online coupon sites offer many freebies or irresistible deals , there is nothing wrong with freebies but please be vigilant and don't be naive . Don't get yourself into their idiotic scams that waist your precious time .

5) And last ...Never complete online surveys to get free stuff , discount coupon codes or printable grocery coupons unless they are from reputable companies like huggies , target , pampers ....etc. ..You will be wasting your time , take it from me ,I've tried them all (lol)

There are many great online coupon sites - heres one i found that has valid online coupon codes http://www.mommysavesbig.com/

You can also try this site for printable grocery coupons http://printable-coupons.blogspot.com/

My Cash Back & Online Coupon Shopping Secret

In my twenties, I had dreams of becoming a millionaire by the time I was 30 years old. In my thirties, I had dreams of being a millionaire by the time I was 40. I'm sure I will have many more dreams as I grow older, but reality has set in and I've realized that my destiny lies in other pursuits. To compensate for this, I have found ways to make the money I do have last longer and travel further. One of those ways is through the use of "online coupons."

Over the last 10 years, shoppers have figured out that they can avoid lines and traffic and get better prices on the internet than in the shopping malls. Since most online purchases are made across state lines, the cost for shipping is usually offset by not having to pay sales tax. When you drive to a brick and mortar store, park in the parking lot, and walk into the store, you are now trapped since there is no way you are leaving to visit other stores to comparison shop. On the other hand, the internet is located in your living room where thousands, if not millions, of stores compete against each other driving prices as low as possible. In addition, online stores pay much lower rent for warehousing their products compared to retail lease prices for brick and mortar stores. This allows them to lower their prices even further and keep much larger inventories on hand. Obtaining better prices online is quickly outweighing the impulsive need to have your purchase immediately upon checkout from a brick and mortar store. This is increasing the number of online shoppers every year as people across the country catch on to what others have already figured out.

Now I'm not saying that the great prices found on the internet are anything to sneeze at, but that wasn't enough for me. Since my first online purchase in the late 90's, I have become addicted to saving even more money by utilizing online coupons, coupon codes / promo codes, and cash back shopping.

Online coupons are just like normal coupons that you would use at the grocery store, but they are only for purchases made on the internet. Instead of cutting them out and providing them at the checkout counter, online coupons are redeemed during the online checkout process. There are two types of online coupons. The first is a "coupon code" which I've also seen called a promo code, promotion code, promotional code, and a discount code. The shopper just needs to enter the coupon code in the appropriate place during checkout and the discount is reflected immediately. The other online coupon I have encountered is usually provided by online coupon websites. Once you click on the coupon-embedded link displayed on the online coupon website, you're directed to the retailer's website in a new browser window to shop as you normally would. The coupon discount is automatically factored into the price at checkout. I find this method easier than tracking down coupon codes (but maybe not as much fun).

But when I discovered another method of saving money called Cash Back Shopping, online coupons alone weren't enough for me. I'm going to share a secret with you that took me a number of years to uncover about how online shopping works. In order to generate sales, online stores use a method of marketing called Affiliate Network Marketing. The online store signs up with an affiliate network for a fee. The network then displays links to the retailer's website for coupons, deals, promotions, and sales. Website owners copy these links and display them on their own websites in the hopes that their visitors will click on them and place an order. The website owner is paid a commission for each visitor who goes to an affiliate's site and makes a purchase. Commissions on sales range from 3% to 10%. Hence, the birth of the online coupon website to earn commissions by bringing traffic to online retailers signed up with affiliate networks.

Soon after, cash-back shopping sites began to appear. These sites give back a percentage of the commission they earn, in the form of cash-back, to the actual online shopper making the purchase. So now online shoppers could redeem valuable coupons, such as 15% off your entire order from the retailer and then earn another 2- 5% cash-back from the online coupon website. On most cash-back shopping websites, money accumulates in an account and is then paid quarterly by check to the shopper. The fact that you can combine online coupons with cash-back shopping makes cash-back shopping websites that offer coupons a much better option than the plain old online coupon websites of the past.

Now that we have a brief history of online shopping under our belts, let's move onto my latest discovery. I recently found a website that has taken online coupons and cash-back shopping to another level. Until now it was only possible for website owners to make commissions from affiliate networks by displaying coupon links on their websites. However, the site I found, http://www.CouponCactus.com, allows shoppers to earn money as well as save money.

Coupon Cactus developed a program so its members can automatically display a link to their own "Cactus Page" in the signature line at the bottom of all of their emails. If a person reading your email clicks the link in your signature line and makes a purchase through your Cactus Page, you will earn a commission. Nearly every area of the online arena has been utilized for major profit, except for the real estate in our own personal emails. To demonstrate the power of marketing in personal e-mails, here's an example. Let's assume the average person sends 10 emails per day, including both original emails and forwarded emails. If you send an email of interest to 10 friends, such as a funny joke or story, by tomorrow it will be in 100 inboxes and it will be in 1,000 inboxes by the day after. In the span of just two days, your one email with a link to your Cactus Page could reach 1,100 potential online shoppers. That's not to mention the other nine emails you wrote that day. I personally send about 100 emails per day and have already begun to reap the benefits of Coupon Cactus membership. I've actually earned more than I've spent over the holidays! It was then that I was driven to seek out the owner of Coupon Cactus to find out more about how they came up with this idea and what was on the horizon.

I had the chance to interview David Fitterman, President & CEO of Coupon Cactus, LLC, which hosts the http://www.CouponCactus.com website, an online coupon, coupon code, and cash-back shopping website with a commission program for the average shopper.

John: David, first I'd like to thank you for giving me the tools to make some cash this holiday season on top of some very cool coupons I used to buy presents.

David: It's our pleasure! You know, it's not just a holiday thing though. Our members are pretty smart and they'll be earning money year-round. I knew the idea made sense, but I'm surprised at how fast it's taken off.

John: So how many members do you have, and what are the different ways the website is being used?

David: Sorry John, I can't reveal any specific details about our membership since privacy is of the utmost importance. But I can say that we're very pleased and much further along than we'd imagined at this point. We already have some great success stories about the ingenious ways our members are using the website.

John: That works for me.

David: Well, you already know that each member gets their own Cactus Page but we are currently beta testing functionality where they can personalize the top banner with a welcome message and display a picture or a logo. We have one beta tester who placed a picture of his two-year old son on his banner. His son is suffering from an illness and he's raising money in his son's name by sending out links to his Cactus Page explaining that all commissions on purchases will be used for his son's medical treatment.

John: Wow, that's a great story.

David: Yeah, we're pretty proud of that one. I'm just glad that we're able to offer him the tools to earn money for such a good cause. We have another member who's using her Cactus Page so she gets commissions on all of the gifts purchased for her baby shower next month. There's actually one other member doing the same thing, but for her wedding. It's a cool idea. If their friends and relatives are going to be buying them presents anyway, they might as well earn cash-back on all of the purchases to buy something extra for the baby or to use on their honeymoon.

John: Man, I wish you guys were around when I got married!

David: Sorry about that! At least you know about us now and can use Coupon Cactus for all the other events and ideas you come up with. We also have a few beta testing companies who are using corporate Cactus Pages as an employee benefit. It's a win-win situation. The employees use the coupons on the website to save money, and the company earns commissions on all the sales. One of the companies is using the earned commissions to pay for the annual holiday party for their employees. It turns out that the company is ending up using the coupons, more than the employees, to lower their business expenses and get cash back on top of the discounts.

John: That sounds like a pretty smart company. Now I know you're busy and I really appreciate the time you're taking to talk with me, but can you tell me anything more about future plans for the website?

David: Well, you know I can't be too specific, but we do have a number of plans in the works. I can tell you that we recently implemented a new feature where if you refer someone to Coupon Cactus and they become a member, you'll receive 25% of whatever they earn for as long as both of you are members. There are a number of sites out there that only give you just $5 for telling a friend. We looked at that model and it just didn't work for us. This is the age of Web 2.0 and we figured our members should share in all of the profits. For example, if you refer a friend to Coupon Cactus and he earns $100 this quarter, he'll receive a check for $100 and you'll receive a check for an additional $25. Let's say that the next quarter you refer nine more friends who each earn $50 and your first friend makes another $100... Hang on, let me get out my calculator... You'll get a check for $137.50 for that quarter, just on the commissions made on your referral members. Not a bad deal for just referring some friends, and we have absolutely no limit to the number of referrals you can make.

John: This feature was the reason I had to track you down and talk to you. It's brilliant, and like I mentioned earlier, it paid for all the presents I bought this year and then some.

David: You know, when this article comes out you should include your membership number so you can get referral commissions on anyone who signs up after reading it.

John: In this case I am one step ahead of you. Thank you again for sitting down to talk with me, and I wish you great success with Coupon Cactus.

David: Thanks for having me.

Now that I have disclosed my secrets on how shopping can actually be profitable I will shamelessly ask that you return the favor by entering my Cactus membership number 100033 as the member who referred you to Coupon Cactus when you sign up for free membership at http://www.CouponCactus.com. Who knows, maybe my dreams will come true and I'll get to be a millionaire one day.

John Goldberg has written many articles on saving money, online coupons, cash back shopping, and the internet and has a Cactus Page on http://www.CouponCactus.com.

Enjoy Online Bonanzas with Smart Bargain Coupons

Whether there is an economic crunch or not, smart shoppers use smart bargain coupons to get better deals online and offline. Why should you be left out?

Wise Coupons Savers

After the cereal coupons, there's more. This time around, more big name brands have joined the coupon wagon - which is the easiest way to the consumer's heart. That you can get a brand new desktop or a crystal bracelet with 12% to 20% discount will start you hunting for online big name brand coupons.

Your first time in any coupons sites will reward you with the 12% new buyer discount when you make an order. That's enough enticement, isn't it? But don't get lured with the amazing offers. You still have spend money wisely, so buy smart. Bargain coupons should help you stretch your budget not empty your money clip.

Sign Up With The Bargain Hunters

Signing up with a coupons site will give you several advantages like alerts to the latest online promotional codes, discount codes and coupon codes for almost all items imaginable.

Read on. . . you'll even get discounted coupons for a dinner date in a plushy restaurant or save up on free shipping coupons for a purchased item. Isn't this smart? Bargain coupons have gone a long way indeed from the cereal coupon heydays.

Shops offer discounts for all occasions and holidays. Just do not get carried away with clearance sales just for the heck of it. Unless you really need a new dishwasher, start saving coupons and cash. Online or offline coupons do not mean you will no longer need cash. They are around to let you buy more for less.

The extra money from the discount will allow you to get more other items which you couldn't do normally. That's how your frugal mom was able to get you more of your favorite cereals. Simple logic really.

Keep Tab of What's New

The coupons sites always synchronize with the product promotions aired on TV. Just watch Jewelry Television. There will always be offers from the manufacturers on selected items or a fixed discount on all items for an entire month. Your coupons site will surely have the coupons to the promoted items.

It's knowing what's going on that gives you the lucky edge. You can go online to your favorite coupons site and start saving coupons for a stunning dress watch or pendant just shown on TV. It's not always about jewelry though. There are home improvement gadgets, home appliances, and books. It's a matter of knowing where to look that counts.

Get out of the full price rut. Get discounts like other buyers. You don't have to be Citizen No. 1 to get coupon codes. Your friendly coupons site will give you the discounts you deserve as a faithful taxpayer.

Click Through Best Bargains

When you find a smart bargain coupons site, browse all products until you find what you need and click the link to activate the discounts. If you are required to enter an actual coupon code or a promotional code number, just follow the instructions on the user-friendly pages. It is all so easy and convenient to get your coupons.

Smart shopping begins and ends with Smart Bargains Coupons. Visit discountspies.com now before the Christmas holidays for your jewelry television coupons. For your seductive lingerie gift ideas, go to this site now for Lane Bryant Coupons. Shop wise now.

The Power of Online Coupons

Gosh I love a good deal! You can really get some great deals online when you use coupons. For example, last year I bought a leather office chair at Office Depot.com for $49. The original price on this chair was over $100, but with an online coupon plus a sale that they were having I got a fantastic deal! The idea of coupons has always been a love/hate relationship for many consumers.

You love them if you have them but you hate the effort it takes to use them. In the past, to use coupons you needed to find them in newspapers, magazines, etc., clip them out, and sort them so they could easily be found. This often took up more time than it was worth. But now that we live in a digital world, using coupons is as simple as typing in a code while checking out of your favorite online retailer. This code is known as a 'coupon code' or 'promotional code' and many of the most popular online retailers have them available to the public. These retailers include practically every store you might see walking through a major mall and some that are only familiar to avid online shoppers.

What Exactly is an Online Coupon Code?

A 'coupon code' is offered by retailers to encourage spending and customer loyalty. The coupon might read like this 'Free shipping on your $25 order, enter coupon code 'FREESHIP' at checkout', or 'Save 10% off your $50 order, enter coupon code '10OFF' at checkout'. With the tough economy that we are experiencing and the increasing costs of shipping, online coupons can be a real life-saver to families, especially around holidays and birthdays.

Where Do I Get These Online Coupons?

How do you find most things on the Internet? You search for them and coupons are no different! Let's say you are shopping at JCPenney.com and you find that perfect outfit that you can't live without. Perhaps you are thinking it is a little more than you wanted to spend. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a coupon for free shipping or $10 off your $75 order? This is what I call a 'Coupon Moment'! Simply go to your favorite search engine (I prefer Google.com) and type in "JCPenney Coupons" and presto, you will immediately be bombarded by sites that collect and organize coupons for you! Some coupon sites are better than others as they are updated daily and rarely have out-dated coupons. I recommend bookmarking or adding your favorite coupon site to your browser 'Favorites'.

I Have My Coupon Code, Now What?

Once you have found your coupon, just enter the coupon code into the appropriate box during the checkout process on the retailer's website. Remember, the location where you enter your code varies by retailer. You will be prompted to enter your coupon code anywhere from the 'shopping cart' page to the 'billing' page. Look for a box saying coupon code, promotional code, promotional discount, discount code, or any variation of these terms and enter it in the corresponding box.

~More Important Coupon Tid-Bits~

#1 - Make sure your discount/coupon is reflected in your order total before you confirm or finalize your order, otherwise you are up a creek without a paddle. In other words, the retailer will have no sympathy for you if you forget to enter the coupon code or fail to realize that the code you entered has already expired. There is nothing worse than paying full price when you don't have to.

#2 - Worried about using your credit card online? Always look for a little locked padlock (often yellow) at the bottom of your browser window. Secondly, always verify that the url (web address) at checkout changes from http:// to https://. These two security checks verify the site has gone through the appropriate measures to ensure their site is SSL Secured and is safe to enter your credit card information.

#3 - Always print out your receipt for your records just in case any problems arise with your order.

Follow the advice I have given you in this article, and I ensure you your wallet will grow. Once you start using online coupons, you will never go back to paying full price!

© 2007, Kyle James

Kyle is the owner of an online coupon Web Site, http://www.rather-be-shopping.com He lives in northern California with his wife and three children. You may contact him via e-mail at ratherbeshopping@sbcglobal.net

Shop Smarter With Online Coupons

Have you ever had a friend or colleague say, "Wow, I just bought an MP3 and I paid the full retail price!"? Probably not since people don't usually brag about paying full price for something. There is nothing to get excited about when paying full price for an item from a traditional store that could have been bought online for less using a coupon. So why doesn't everyone shop online with coupons? Not that I have the full answer to that question, but many shoppers buy in traditional stores because they want it, whatever it may be, now and don't want to wait for the item to be shipped.

A smart shopper really can save a good amount of money on an item by using an online coupon. This may be a good time to do a quick summary about online coupons. Many online stores offer discounts to attract consumers. These discounts are called coupons, which are similar to the grocery coupons people clip out of the Sunday morning newspaper. Instead of using a coupon to get $0.50 off a can of baked beans, you use an online coupon to get $15 off an MP3 player, as an example. Online coupons offer a dollar off discount, a percentage off discount, or even offer free shipping on the order. Coupons are also sometimes referred to as discount codes, promotional codes, or offer codes.

There are hundreds and maybe thousands of websites out there that publish coupon codes. I have looked at quite a few of them myself. Finding a coupon code for a specific online store is clearly not a problem. You can start by Googling the store name followed by the word "coupons" and you will have more than enough results. However, the smart shopper will soon realize that many of these coupon sites have expired coupons and discount codes listed, but don't be discouraged by that. With some patience, a requirement of the smart online shopper, you will be able to locate a coupon site that consistently publishes current online coupon codes and any restrictions associated with the coupons.

To be a real smart online shopper, try combining online coupons with automatic free shipping based on shopping cart total. Some online stores offer free shipping coupons and other stores offer free shipping based on a minimum dollar amount spent. For example, there are opportunities where an online shopper can redeem a dollar off coupon and also get free shipping based on shopping cart total. For example, I just purchased a 20 inch LCD monitor from Buy.com last month using a $15 off coupon and free shipping. Buy.com, like many online stores, offers free shipping on many items that are priced above a certain dollar amount. Some online stores allow you to use multiple coupons on a single order, also called coupon stacking, but not many. Dell, for example, allows the shopper to stack certain types of online coupons in a single order. For the most part, you can only apply or redeem one coupon per order.

As I stated earlier, there is no shortage of online coupon publication sites out there, but not all are created equal. I have spent literally hours going through many of what Google considers to be the best ranked coupon sites. I will recommend two coupon sites so you don't have to spend your valuable time searching.

My favorite online coupon sites are CouponCrib [http://www.couponcrib.com] and ScottishWallet [http://www.scottishwallet.com]. Not only are these sites easy to navigate, but they also contain a long list of coupons that will enable you to save money and become a smart shopper. You will soon be able to gloat to your friends about how much money you saved while shopping online with coupons.

Ordering Coupons Online Can Save You Money

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. But there is another way, and that is ordering them online.

One way of saving money with coupons is to pickup your local newspaper in order to get the weekly coupons insert. This really isn't news to anyone, but it's probably the most widely used method of gathering up coupons. Once you figure in the price of the newspaper, compared to how much money you can save...it's worth doing it. You can also ask friends and family that get the newspaper if they use the coupons. If they don't, they are usually more than willing to give them away since the coupons will typically be thrown away anyways.

One drawback to getting the newspaper is that you never know what coupons will be in it, and if they're for the items you will use. I've picked up a newspaper a number of times, and there were only a few coupons I could really use. So getting the newspaper sometimes can be a "hit/miss" situation.

The newspaper is not the only way you can obtain coupons. There are a few Websites out there where you can order the coupons you want and will actually use when you go shopping. I know the concept seems strange and you're probably thinking, "Why should I order coupons when I can get them free?" Technically, if you purchase the newspaper for the coupons they are not free.

Ordering coupons and paying a small service can still save you money in the long run. Let's take a look at how the savings add up. For example, let's say you spent $10.00 and ordered 25 coupons all with a face value under $1.00. If you use all the coupons, that's an automatic discount savings of $25.00. Now you have to subtract what you spent when you ordered the coupons, which is the $10.00. The total savings is now $15.00, which is pretty good. Looking at from this perspective, you really got your money back in grocery savings that you would have normally spent anyways.

The above example is a pretty good savings, but it gets better. Because you ordered coupons all under $1.00 face value, many grocery stores will double coupons up to $1.00! Using the above example, this brings your savings up to $50.00 that's a substantial savings!

Here are a few tips you can use when ordering coupons:

** Order only what coupons you are going to use. Some sites will allow you to order up to 50 coupons at one time with flat rate service fee. 50 coupons is a lot and you may or may not end up using them all. If you have a friend that also uses coupons, maybe you could split the coupons and costs between the two of you.

** Choose coupons with a $1.00 face value or less. Many stores double coupons and you can double your savings.

** Some sites charge a handling fee per coupon on top of other fees; do the math to see how much you will be saving before placing your order.

** Check expiration dates. The farther off the expiration date is gives you more time to use it.

** Watch for sales! You can save even more money if the product you have a coupon for goes on sale. Here's a quick example. I had a coupon for 55 cents off dry cereal. The cereal was on sale for $1.67, the store doubled the coupon and I only paid 57 cents for a name brand box of cereal!

** Check more than one store for sales. If you live where more than one grocery store is in close proximity, you can plan your shopping list to buy specific items at different stores using your coupons.

Using these tips, a little planning and ordering your coupons wisely, you can save up anywhere from 50% - 70% on your monthly grocery bill!

Michelle is the webmaster of Coupon Emporium (http://www.couponemporium.com) which provides coupons, printable coupons and coupon codes from across the web.

The Problem With Online Coupons - Why Using Coupons on the Internet Could Be Hurting Your Business

Traditionally, advertising with coupons has been an excellent way to capture new customers and retain existing customers. Using the Internet, promoting your business with coupons has become quicker, cheaper and easier than ever before. Unfortunately, Internet coupons for "Brick and Mortar" businesses may have become ineffective and quite possibly have a negative impact on your business if not used properly. The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Printing coupons from the Internet is like printing money, it devalues the coupons for the customer as well as for the merchant.

Coupons really are a form of currency. They are an agreement between the customer and the merchant. The merchant uses the coupon to say, "I will give you a discount or a special deal, and in return you will patronize my business." This is the basic give and take relationship that the coupon establishes and works very well, but only if there is just one coupon at a time.

The problem with most Internet coupons is that they are infinitely redeemable. Most of the time, patrons can print Internet coupons as many times as they want so that they can effectively receive the same discount every time they go to that merchant. If we were all able to print money from our computers in the same way, then our currency would instantaneously lose all of its value. By using printable coupons this way, the customer reduces the value in his or her mind of the products that the coupon applies to and therefore the coupons themselves. The merchant on the other hand must devalue the coupon similarly since it is no longer effective in creating a "give and take" relationship but rather just permanently discounts their products or services.

2. Having coupons always available further devalues them. If they are always there for the taking, then there is no urgency to go get them.

Similar to the point above, having a coupon always available to print off or redeem has the same effect as printing off hundreds of copies. Traditional print coupons have always been distributed periodically in a newspaper, magazine, postal mail, etc. This meant that you were only going to receive one and only one of those coupons until the next periodical was distributed. Therefore, if you had any sort of interest in possibly using that coupon in the future, then you would cut out the coupon at that moment and be ready to use it. With Internet coupons, knowing that you can always revisit a website and print off a coupon whenever the need arises has the effect of also making the coupon worthless. This is because, (a) most will forget that they ever saw the coupon and will therefore never go back to print it off and (b) most importantly, the coupon loses its promotional value of trying to get someone to take action now.

3. Most coupons on the Internet are on a "pull" model instead of a "push" model.

When customers have to go out and get coupons, instead of the coupons being "pushed" out to the customer, then they only get used by the true coupon frugal fanatics and not by first time customers or customers who have forgotten about you. Again, traditional coupons have always been sent "pushed" out to prospective customers and therefore acted as a great way to proactively promote businesses.

Also, Internet coupons on a "pull" model, where customers must visit a coupon website and see what coupons are available, have no market testing value. One of the greatest advantages of marketing with coupons since they were first studied by Claude Hopkins in the early 20th century, was to be able to scientifically test marketing messages by "pushing" out the coupons and then tracking the ones that came back to you. Although this could still theoretically be done in a "pull" type scenario, the benefit of the "push" test system is that you could send out your message to a specific number of recipients within a specific time period and then receive back a specific statistical sample to draw conclusions from.

The Right Way to Use Internet Printable Coupons

The solution to "The Problem with Online Coupons" is to use the Internet to distribute your coupons while eliminating the issues stated above.

First, use an email marketing solution. Sending coupons in email solves the "push vs. pull" problem by delivering coupons to specific group of people who have opted-in to receiving updates and specials from your business. Sending coupons via email also solves the problem of having coupons always available. Email allows businesses to mimic and even surpass the benefits of traditional print periodicals. Businesses can test to find the ideal sending frequency that keeps their business in the forefront of their customer's minds while also maintaining a sense of urgency and timeliness. Also, make sure to use expiration dates and/or "print by" dates to further increase the sense of urgency.

Next, incorporate a secure "one-time" printing system for coupon distribution. This will allow each email recipient of your coupons to be able to print them once and only once for each coupon sent. This may seem somewhat trivial or possibly even petty, but the reality is that coupons that can only be used once allows the merchant to be more comfortable with promoting bigger discounts and better deals while at the same time giving the customer higher perceived and actual value of the coupon.

Using these tools will allow you to not only dramatically cut advertising costs compared to traditional print coupon advertising but also allow you to use coupon advertising in the best ways possible. Actively promote your business to new and existing customers while using scientific testing to discover the best possible marketing messages for your business' success. Create a real marketplace for your coupons and their value will increase to everyone who uses them.