Competitions from Both Sides of the Fence

Competitions from Both Sides of the Fence

Published in Issue 23, June 2013

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou
www.WowThankYou.co.uk
Best Cuppa In Town

www.bestcuppaintown.com

Can you remember where you were on Thursday 15 June 2006? I can. At approximately 12:20 I was getting ready to drive to an acupuncture appointment in mid-Wales, about a 40 minute car ride from my home on the coast in West Wales. The phone rang – I didn’t really want to take it as I didn’t want to be late – but I’m SO glad that I did. It was the Daily Express calling to inform me that I’d won a £30,000 convertible car … wow! I had entered the competition the previous weekend by text, having seen it while visiting my parents. I was 30 weeks pregnant with my first child at the time, and I had been an avid ‘comper’ for about two years. It was the pinnacle win of my hobby, and alas my commitment to it fell along the wayside when my daughter was born and I ran out of spare time!

The hobby of competitions becomes addictive. I remember entering 200 postcard competitions in a single evening (golly, think of the cost of doing that now!)  – and when I posted them all, I felt a huge wave of achievement … and the excitement and anticipation kicked in that I could be sent a winning letter with some wonderful goodies.  Over the two years I won more than a car – prizes ranged from a £1200 Currys voucher, 2 x coffee machines, a crate of wine, a range oven, a weekend at Gleneagles in Scotland, a toaster, kettle, Kenwood food mixer, a camera, a camcorder, lots of baby goodies, hair care items (brushes, shampoo, straighteners) … I loved awaiting the postman each day!

Why am I telling you all this? 

Well, I wanted to explain what it’s like when you spot a competition on a website or in a magazine, when you are a comper … I’ve lost count of the number of competitions I’ve ripped out of magazines at the hairdressers, or items I’ve needed to buy in order to enter a prize draw – as I said, it’s an addictive pastime, and you want to enter everything you can find. My hobby introduced me to brands I’d never heard of before, took me to websites I’d never visited before, read product descriptions in order to answer a question … and I was never alone in doing this…

A typical competition on the internet gets over 6,000 entries. 6,000 people who, like me, want to win the item on offer. And if we need to find an answer before we can enter, we look for it – carefully, in order to ensure it is correct. There are thousands of people in the UK scanning websites every day looking for competitions to enter – and there are online competition portals and forums that pretty much tell you where to go. OK, people may not hang around on the site for very long post-entering, as when you’re in the ‘competition zone’ you are pretty much looking to enter as many as you can in the time available. But you do get to know these websites and you remember them and revisit them when you need to purchase something specific. 

I remember being introduced to the website Firebox.com this way – I visited their site every month to enter their competitions – and that following Christmas I purchased some presents from them and have done ever since.

As I mentioned, since the birth of Millie-Mae and then Toby I’ve not been as active a comper as I’d like to be. And now the children are in school and nursery I am looking to free up a few hours here and there to get into it again … but for now I’m putting my experience to good use on the flipside of the coin…

I believe I have good knowledge of how a comper ‘works’, and I use this information on WowThankYou by regularly offering competition prizes. I also list the competitions on the competition forums I mentioned earlier – I WANT compers to flock to the page to enter because I know that this is a sure-fire way of introducing them to the WowThankYou brand, and they WILL come back and purchase from us at some point. We average between 2,000 and 2,500 entries per competition over the month that it runs. The numbers are slowly climbing, which I put down to persistence and continuity - When you place an order on the WowThankYou website during the checkout process you are asked where you heard of us and we’re starting to see ‘entering a competition’ given as their answer.  

With our competitions, you need to answer a question that is hidden somewhere within the seller’s store (who has donated the prize). I make sure it isn’t too easy as I want them to really see the items they are looking at. We can attribute a huge rise in sales to some sellers who have either currently or previously offered a prize – and this prize could cost as little as £8-10. There’s not many opportunities where this amount of money will get you 2,500-3,000 visitors …

And that’s the joy of competitions – compers don’t care what the value of the prize is as they enter everything, because they know there’s a higher chance that they’ll win the ‘smaller’ items rather than the cars, campervans, exotic holidays etc. To a comper, a win is a win, it’s as simple as that.

But yes I know what you’re thinking – “why encourage these people to enter?” Simple answer – because they are also online shoppers! Trust me – as a comper online, you are pretty nifty with a computer as you spend so much time on one entering prize draws, and quite honestly you simply don’t have time to go out shopping so buy online instead. It’s a winning formula, it really is.

So if you are looking for ways to get noticed, think about offering a competition prize on your blog, FB or twitter page. Don’t just run the one – when it ends, start another … keep doing it and people will slowly start to remember you and your brand. And then when they need to buy something, they’ll return not as a comper but as a customer, which is what we all want to see!

Millie - Mae & Mummy Makes - A Wooden Plaque for Grandad's Garden

Millie - Mae & Mummy Makes - A Wooden Plaque for Grandad's Garden

Published in Issue 23, June 2013

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou

www.wowthankyou.co.uk

You will need:
Wood (for plaque and stake)
Wooden letters
Paints (various colours)
Lots of brushes
PVA glue
Clear varnish
Decoration (stickers and stick on figures)

Step 1. Because our piece of wood wasn’t 100% suitable for living outdoors, we started by painting it all over (twice) with some white ceiling paint.




Step 2. Once totally dry, paint the plaque with your chosen background colours – we chose mainly yellow with a blue section at the bottom (the pond).

Step 3. While the plaque is drying, carefully paint the wooden letters. Leave to dry, then repeat.

Step 4. Once totally dry, use the PVA glue to stick the letters onto the plaque.





Step 5. While the letters are drying, carefully add your decorations (stickers, etc.) Leave overnight to dry.

Step 6. Attach the stake at the back (drill a hole, and use screws), paint it white all over. Leave to dry.As this is for outdoor use, once all the decorations have dried, we gave the plaque two coats of clear varnish.





Step 7. Leave a good 24-48 hours for the varnish to set hard, then wrap it up and present as a gift to granddad, who promptly put it in place behind his garden fishpond.


Millie-Mae (6) is the daughter of Tracey Kifford, founder and owner of the online marketplace WowThankYou.

Toby & Mummy Makes... Pineapple and Mango Upside-Down Cake

Toby & Mummy Makes... Pineapple and Mango Upside-Down Cake

Published in Issue 22, April 2013

Written by Tracey from Wow Thank You

http://www.wowthankyou.co.uk

A blast from the past, I remember pineapple upside-down cake as a child.

My mum was a school cook, and I basically grew up on tray bake leftovers! 

Pineapple upside-down cake was one of the better desserts I recall and I thought it would be fun to revisit this retro culinary delight with Toby, while Millie-Mae was at school. 

It’s quick and simple to make, so perfect for the short attention span of a 4 year old.

You will need

For the topping:

50g softened butter

50g sugar

Pineapple rings in juice

Mango (optional)

Glace cherries

For the cake:

100g softened butter

100g sugar

100g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

1tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

Greaseproof paper

21-25cm square or round tin or Pyrex dish

Step 1. Heat oven to 180C (160C if fan oven)/gas 4.

Step 2. For the topping, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. 

Step 3. Line your tin/dish with damp greaseproof paper, then spread the mixture over the base and a quarter of the way up the side.

Arrange the pineapple rings and mango on top of the mixture, placing a cherry in the centre of each pineapple ring. 

Step 4. To make the cake, put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl (butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, eggs) along with 2 tablespoons of the juice from the tin of pineapple rings. Beat to a soft consistency. 

Step 5. Spoon over the top of the pineapple and cherries, smoothing it out so it’s level. 

Now it’s allowed to lick the spoon …

Step 6. Bake for 35 minutes, then leave to stand for 15-30 minutes. 

Step 7. Turn out onto a plate, and after admiring, eat while still warm! 

The Power Of Love

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou

www.wowthankyou.co.uk

The Power Of Love

With St Valentine’s Day upon us again what do you know about this very famous saint? Was he a great lover? Was he nice to his mother? Or did he suffer from a serious case of unrequited love? Here I will briefly examine what lies behind this day where love and romance take precedence and cards, chocolates and flowers fly off the shelves to help declare love everlasting.

St Valentine's Day, which is more accurately described as the Feast of Saint Valentine, is a saint’s day observed each year on February 14. Today Valentine's Day is celebrated in the majority of ‘westernised’ countries around the world, although it is not normally a day off. This festive day began as a church celebration of around three early Christian saints all named Valentinus. The most popular story associated with Saint Valentine was that he was confined for performing weddings for soldiers, who were forbidden to marry by the Emperor Claudius, and for spiritual ministration to Christians who were victimised under the ruling Roman Empire. During Valentinus’ imprisonment he is said to have cured the daughter of his jailer, Asterius, of blindness and just before his execution he wrote "from your Valentine" as a farewell to her. In addition, as a true Christian, Valentinus was constantly converting pagan Romans to Christianity and as a result not making himself too popular with the Emperor. Valentinus was said to have cut hearts out of parchment and used these as a secret symbol for the converted who wanted to listen to his lessons and get married. There is therefore some evidence to connect Valentinus to the modern symbology of the St Valentine’s Day celebration and also the endurance of love and romance.


Officially St Valentine’s Day was first associated with the concept of romantic love by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which love was expressed by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greetings. Valentine's Day symbols still used today include the heart, doves, and the winged Cupid. Since the Victorian age handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. Now St Valentine’s Day is a big money spinner and a welcome halfway point between Christmas and Easter for retailers. St Valentine’s Day 2013 will hopefully provide some respite for the restaurant trade as well as florists and chocolatiers.

For your valentine this year, why not make it extra special with something personalised and unique? It’ll be worth it ;)

Millie - Mae, Toby and Mummy Makes - Rocky Road and Chocolate Truffles

Published in Issue 21, February 2013

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou
www.wowthankyou.co.uk

Rocky Road

You will need:

150g Unsalted butter

200g Dark chocolate

2-3 tbs Golden syrup

100g Mini marshmallows

100g Milk chocolate chips

100g Raisins

100g Mixed nuts

200g Shortbread biscuits

Step 1. Place 100g of mixed nuts into a pan and lightly toast them until roasted. Remove from heat

Step 2. Break the chocolate block into small pieces and place in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the bowl. Heat over a pan of boiling water until totally melted. Set aside to cool a little.

Step 3. Add 2-3 tablespoons of golden syrup.

Step 4. Place the roasted nuts into a sandwich bag, and give them a bash with a rolling pin to break up. 

Step 5. Crush the shortbread biscuits into small pieces, and then add to the chocolate mix. 

Step 6. Add all remaining ingredients and stir well. 

Step 7. Wet some greaseproof paper and wring out – this makes it nice and pliable. Line a square tin or glass dish with the paper.

Step 8. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin/dish. 

Step 9. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Step 10. Remove from dish and with a sharp knife slice into fingers or squares. 

Step 11. Arrange on a plate and lightly dust with icing sugar.

Step 12. Enjoy!

Chocolate Truffles

You will need:

100g Unsalted butter

100g Dark chocolate

2 tbs Golden syrup

200g Icing sugar

Few drops of vanilla essence

Chocolate strands/sprinkles

Step 1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 2. Add 2 tablespoons of golden syrup. 

Step 3. Add 3-4 drops of vanilla essence.

Step 4. Add icing sugar while continually mixing. Keep adding until the mixture thickens and has a consistency that will allow you to roll into balls. 

Step 5. Take a teaspoon sized lump of mixture and roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the chocolate sprinkles and place on a plate to set. Continue until all the mixture has been used up.

Step 6. Place the truffles in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
Place in a decorative box lined with a pretty paper napkin and offer around the grandparents when they visit. Guaranteed to impress!

Millie-Mae (6) and Toby (4) are the children of Tracey Kifford, founder and owner of the online marketplace WowThankYou.

The Rise and Rise of Wow Thank You

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou

www.wowthankyou.co.uk

The Rise and Rise of Wow Thank You

Let’s start by going back in time – to 2009 in fact. I was feeling particularly sorry for myself during that summer as a massive writing contract had been discontinued through no fault of my own and I was licking my wounds. Working as a freelance writer had its perks (working around the demands of my young children for one thing), but I’d had enough of working short-term assignments, not knowing if I’d find the next one. I still wanted to be my own boss, but the time had come to look to pastures new.

The eureka moment occurred during autumn 2009 when, over a coffee with a friend, we jointly decided that it would be good fun to set up a competitor website to – well – the ‘other’ marketplace we all know. So we set about designing a website and deciding on terms that would make us favourable – the key to this being lower commission rates and increased advertising. We signed up a graphic designer friend to put the website together, and we thought we had it all covered … hmmm


Version 1 of WowThankYou was launched in the early hours of 5 March 2010. The week leading up to the launch was so hectic – we converted our dining room into a multi-laptop office; the four of us, myself and Huw (husband), Georgena and her husband Steve, worked in shifts – loading products and looking after our four young children, and when the website finally went live, we stood outside the house and popped the cork on a bottle of champagne (that in honesty we were too tired to drink! – I can’t actually remember sleeping during that time!) It was a lot of fun though. Launch day was my mum’s 71st birthday and we spent the day at the zoo with my children, and my friend and her children. It was a nice day out – though tense, as we wondered how well the site would be received. Before that week had ended, we realised that the website was not remotely user friendly – we had to load  all the products ourselves because of the complexity of the system. We persevered anyway and although we did ok, we certainly didn’t strike any kind of fear into our competition! Alas the workload became too much for my business partner, and we went our separate ways, leaving me with a website that certainly couldn’t be managed singlehandedly. So I was faced with a ‘do or die’ situation – throw everything I had into it, or walk away. Not one to shirk away from a challenge, I cashed in my savings account and took on a top notch website developer to sort the business out. I asked all the sellers on the site what they needed it to do; I told them that I needed it to be as automated as possible, so I could manage it myself …. and the upshot of that was 9 solid months of website development, starting from scratch again.

Version 2 of the WowThankYou website was launched in May 2011 – much, much better! It was still early days, but the site looked good (we were mentioned on a lot of worldwide web design sites, which was promising!) There were lots of new features – the sellers managed their own stores, the site was faster, so much more professional … but I still wasn’t entirely happy. There were still features I wanted to add, but had exhausted my funds so had to sit back and hope the site carried on getting stronger and growing … it didn’t help that all this was happening during a recession (I couldn’t have timed it any better had I tried!)The first real test of the website was the Christmas period 2011. I had held funds back for a full-on advertising campaign in lots of national magazines – but even with these in print, would we get sales? The answer was yes – we did ok … but can you hear the lack of excitement in my tone?! I guess I just expected more. I was relieved that we’d had decent sales, but at the same was disappointed that we didn’t take the world by storm. I guess I’m never satisfied! 

By Easter 2012 I had already drawn up plans for WowThankYou Version 3! The bank offered me the money to get it all underway, but I was nervous as I’ve never taken business loans out before. In the end my father in law loaned it to me – and off we set to deliver an even better website! This was launched back in August … typically just as I was going on holiday! Because of the complexity of the new features, there were teething problems, but I’m touching wood as I type this – we ‘seem’ ok now!

Version 3 has totally changed the fortune of WowThankYou. Not all features have been added as yet, but as soon as the site was made live, sales that had been trickling in started to flow – and we’ve seen some surges too! I’m hopeful of a sales tidal wave at some point – but I really cannot complain about where we’re at, right now, in November 2012. I have a website that I can manage (just about) on my own; it has a fabulous SEO-friendly design; it is full of amazingly talented designer makers; and I just find it a happy and positive place to hang out these days! We now have 972 sellers listing on WowThankYou and since this new design was launched we’ve had over 10,000 products listed. We average 6500 unique visitors every single day. We have been well received in the press too, which is hugely important and something we intend to build on during 2013.

Why have things turned around for us? It’s a good question, and I’d like to think that the answer lies in the phenomenal support that I’ve been shown by all the sellers who have probably hoped as much as myself that the site will ‘fly’! Without their constant support and advice, I wouldn’t have got this far. I still vow to keep commission rates to a minimum and to make the whole selling experience an affordable and enjoyable one. I also will continue to offer features and opportunities that the ‘more costly’ competitors offer their sellers … I have no overheads as such, other than this laptop that I am typing on, and by having an automated website that pretty much does everything for me, I don’t have the worry of thinking about staff and offices (and the costs associated with these). I believe that once you start thinking about employees and premises you have to change the way you think regarding your business, as you are committing to pay wages, rent … To me, this is when it becomes a job – and I don’t want that! I want to work from home, have the freedom to take an afternoon off – yet work late at night or during the weekend when needed – I don’t want a 9-5 job! My children (aged 6 and 4) benefit from having mummy at home all the time and we can go away on family holidays, just as long as there’s a good Wi-Fi pick up wherever we go! I firmly believe that there’s no limit as to how far WowThankYou can go – we don’t need plush offices to prove our success! Some people see this as a lack of ambition (WowThankYou has lost out on some business awards because of this I believe) – but I see this as my way of keeping my commitment to sellers of having a low costs selling platform. You’re helping me grow the site and establish the brand – why should you then pay more for the same service just because we’ve hit the big time? It doesn’t make sense to me … there’s nothing I can’t do with perhaps some ad hoc freelance assistance – we can be as successful as the best of them, but I don’t have to sit in a posh chair in a contemporary office block to achieve it! I love being part of WowThankYou – especially now it’s doing so well

Where next? Simple – more of the same, with yet more refinements. The lesson I’ve learned since those early days back in 2010 is that there will never been an end point – a website of this nature has to keep up with technology and therefore will be constantly changing and advancing. So long as the funds are in place to make the changes, the changes will continue to be made! Without giving too much away, we have plans to perhaps launch versions of WowThankYou into new markets, we are constantly looking at possible strategic alliances that will benefit the brand as well as the sellers, and we’re not frightened to think outside the box and trial new ideas. At the end of the day, sellers are happy if they get sales, and I’m happy as I get the commission to put back into the website


I’ve recently dipped my toe into the world of Blogger and have set up a blog about me … it’s not all about WowThankYou, because there is more to me than this website you know! It’s still early days and I’ve a lot to learn with how it all works etc. – but please do take a look, all nice comments will be most welcome! http://ohwowtracey.blogspot.co.uk

To end this article I’m going to tell you a secret … Earlier this year, at the time when I was putting together a business plan for bank loans, I was approached by an agent working on behalf of a large High Street organisation enquiring whether I’d be interested in selling WowThankYou. Rather thrown by the whole thing, I played it cool to find out more, and the figure they mentioned was over three times the amount that I was hoping to raise at the bank! It would have paid me back with a handsome profit, but they mentioned buying the ‘goodwill’ that I’d built with my sellers … and I didn’t like that at all. And I said NO. I have too much emotion invested into WowThankYou to see it swallowed up by a big brand, and I don’t want to see it go … so please carry on supporting me and the website, and let’s see how far we can take it together – deal? J If you are not yet a seller on WowThankYou, pop over to Creative Connections – you might just find a tempting joining promotion …


Have a great Christmas – there’s still time to buy last minute stocking fillers on WowThankYou, wink wink xxx 

Millie - Mae & Mummy Makes... A Gingerbread House

Published in Issue 20, December 2012

Written by Tracey from WowThankYou

www.wowthankyou.co.uk

Millie - Mae & Mummy Makes... A Gingerbread House

I made a house of gingerbread

It was so sugary sweet

It took me all day long to make

But, it lasted just a week.

Monday I ate the ceiling.

Tuesday I ate the door.

Wednesday I ate the windows.

Thursday I ate the floor.

Friday I ate all four walls.

Saturday I ate the lawn.

Sunday I licked up all the crumbs.

My gingerbread house is gone!

I have never, in my 40 years, made a Gingerbread House – so this was an easy project to pick to do with Millie-Mae. 

If you are considering having a go yourself, make sure you have plenty of time and can be patient – there’s a lot of waiting around for icing to dry! 

Ingredients

175g butter

175g soft dark brown sugar

3 tbsp golden syrup

700g plain flour

1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Zest and juice of 1 orange

2 medium free-range eggs

For the decoration

Boiled sweets for the stained glass windows (we used rhubarb and custards)

500g box royal icing sugar, made up nice and thick

Long ‘straw-like’ chews for windowsills

Liquorice comfits for the shutters

A LOT of white chocolate buttons for the roof tiles (I bought 14 bags of Cadbury ones!)

Hundreds-and-thousands for the chimney (though our chimney didn’t survive!)

Jelly beans, sprinkles, other sweets for decoration

Method

1. Put the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup into a pan over a very low heat, stirring until the butter and sugar have melted. Set aside to cool.

2. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and orange zest in a big bowl. Crack the eggs into another bowl.

3. Add the butter mixture to the flour along with the eggs and orange juice. Mix well, then use your hands to bring together into a ball. Sprinkle a little flour over a clean work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. 

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll out on to sheets of baking paper. Roll until the gingerbread is about the same thickness as a £1 coin.

Templates: I cheated and printed one from the deliciousmagazine website. Cut out the different pieces (re-rolling the trimmings), then transfer the gingerbread shapes, still on their baking paper, to 3 baking sheets.
Put boiled sweets in each window hole (they will melt in the oven and create a stained-glass effect), then bake for 9 minutes.

5.Carefully slide the gingerbread (still on the baking paper) onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool, preferably overnight.

6. To decorate the house use royal icing to stick on the chew ‘straws’ windowsills and use the liquorice comfits for the shutters. Set aside to set.

7. We assembled our house on a cake board, but a chopping board will give you more garden! Use royal icing to stick the sides, front and back pieces together, and stick the pieces to the board to stabilise the house.

8. Decorate one roof piece: use a knife to spread icing all over the roof, then cover with white chocolate buttons. Start from the bottom adding the buttons in rows that just overlap to look like tiles.

9. Decorate the chimney pieces with icing and hundreds-and-thousands. Wait until the icing is completely dry – we didn’t and it collapsed … so we left it off!
Brush or pipe the icing onto the sloping edges of the front and back of the house to create ‘icicles’. Attach both roof panels, using royal icing, making sure you spread some icing in the middle to glue them together. Stick the chimney pieces together, then attach to the roof with royal icing. Carefully cover the untiled side of the roof with white chocolate buttons in the same way as before. Attach the door to the house and choose a sweet for the door knob.

 

 I have no idea where to store it, no idea how long it will last … but it’s one pretty cool Christmas decoration! Millie-Mae’s nana visited earlier and she thought it was amazing! It was a really fun project to do, although it did take, on and off, a whole weekend. I must leave the last words to Millie-Mae herself when she announced “that has got to be the best thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life” …

Merry Christmas xxx