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SALT LAKE CITY — Want the best Black Friday deals without leaving the comfort of your own home? A Utah blogger shares the story behind her successful deal blog, Mint Arrow, and breaks down the best way to get the most bang for your buck this weekend.
How it all started
Two years ago, 30-year-old Corrine Stokoe was a new mom struggling with postpartum depression.
“It was in the middle of winter, dark and cold. I had a couple friends that said, 'You need to get out of the house,'” Stokoe recalled. “So I took my baby and we just went shopping. We went to Target, Nordstrom or would walk around the mall. I’ve always been good at finding deals so I would take pictures and post deals on Instagram for my friends.”
Stokoe's friends started encouraging her to turn her knack for deal-finding into a business. After a couple of months of working out the details, she launched Mint Arrow, a high-end deal blog that focuses on fashion and baby gear.
"When I started my blog I knew I wanted it to be a business. That has helped my success,” she said. “It hasn’t been an afterthought or a hobby, it has always been a business.”
Stokoe already had the odds stacked against her by starting a blog in Utah — the place that has been considered the blogging capital in the U.S. By networking with already-successful bloggers across the Wasatch Front, she was able to grow a huge online presence in a matter of months.
"I did take classes on blogging and social media and took a lot of advice,” she added. “Susan Peterson from Freshly Picked continues to be an idol and inspiration for me.”
After just a year and a half, Mint Arrow has 38,000 followers on Instagram, 10,000 Pinterest followers, almost 9,000 Facebook likes and over 2,300 Twitter followers. She gets over 450,000 page views and almost 100,000 unique visitors to her site every month. Stokoe said she sees veteran bloggers who struggle to build a following and get discouraged when they see newer bloggers get a big following. She credits all her success to hard work.
"A lot of people aren’t willing to put in the time,” she said. “When you start a blog, you need to be eating, breathing, sleeping around your blog 24/7.”
A day in the life of a successful blogger
Blogging may not seem like it can be a "real job" but bloggers who put in the time and effort can now make enough to earn a living. Stokoe gets up every morning at 6 a.m. and works on her blog searching for deals and answering emails for two hours. Then her toddler gets up around 8, and she does “mom” stuff all morning.
"But during that time, I am on social media answering questions on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. I’m doing media while I’m a mom,” she said. “As soon as she goes down for her nap, I do blogging for two and half hours, the entire time she's asleep.”
A quick glance at her social media pages proves she's constantly answering her readers' questions. After her afternoon shift of work, Stokoe, her husband and daughter then have dinner. When she puts her child to sleep, she's back at it from 8 p.m. until she goes to sleep.
Because of her hard work, she's been able to collaborate with Kate Spade, Nordstrom, Ann Taylor, and most recently, Target. She often posts exclusive coupon codes for these stores and other companies, and that helps keep her content unique, she said.
Stokoe was also invited to New York Fashion Week in September to keep up-to-date on fashion's latest trends. You can even find her on Buzzfeed for her popular DIY Shellac nails post.
Black Friday secrets
She's now in the busiest time of the year with Black Friday just days away. Stokoe has started posting guides on how to find what you want for the best price. She is also a big believer that people should be spending quality time with family during the holidays, not standing for hours in a line out in the cold. So she's put together a plan of attack for people who want to avoid the crowds and stay home.
She's found the best prices on TVs, laptops, computers, tablets, cameras and other electronics and breaks down how to price match through Amazon.
“Amazon will be price-matching like mad on Friday (meaning drop their online prices to match competitors),” Stokoe posted on her blog on Tuesday morning. “Also, free 2-day shipping if you’re a prime member? Yes, please. Also, they will deliver it to your home (no struggling to get a TV home in the car without breaking it) and it’s white-glove delivery service, so they’ll unpack it, set it up for you and dispose of the box after if you want. For free.”
Last year, Amazon price-matched Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Costco. Mint Arrow will also post price comparisons to make online shopping easy for her readers, but don't think Friday is the last day for deals.
“Black Friday is not the biggest retail day of the year. It's actually Cyber Monday,” Stokoe said. “And Mint Arrow will do stuff for both days. As it gets closer to Friday and Monday, I'll be posting live updates to Facebook and Twitter.”
To see what other deals Stokoe has found, visit mintarrow.com.
Editor's note: This story is a part of our new “Blog of the Month” feature. If you would like to see your Utah-based blog featured on KSL.com, email tsnowder@deseretdigital.com for more information.
