Over the last eight years, many of you have gotten SMS alerts from KOAB via a free Twitter service.
Like many free things, you often got what you paid for it. The service was glitchy and a touch unreliable. But it was free and it did the job for many of you who wanted instant notifications about KOAB deals.
Sadly, last month Twitter decided to eliminate this service rather abruptly. In fact, I didn’t realize it had happened until a few days later, when readers started asking me, “Why did KOAB text messages stop all of a sudden??”
Over the years, I have experimented with various SMS text messaging services to replace Twitter. Some of you may even have signed up for one of my various experiments.
While those services worked well, they were INSANELY expensive. I was paying 7-10¢ per message per person. It cost me a few thousand dollars just to run a one-month trial. Yipes! That (obviously) was not sustainable for me as a long-term solution.
That’s why back in November, I decided to open up a WhatsApp group to instantly share HOT deals from KOAB.
The group proved to be very popular! Today, we have 9 Hot Deals groups (WhatsApp caps each group at 256 members, so as soon as I hit the limit, I have to open another group) and they’ve been working great for the members — and for me!
But Twitter was still filling an important role for those readers who wanted to know about every new deal, not just the ones that I have deemed as “hot”.
That’s why I’ve spent some time exploring my options for continuing to offer regular SMS messages to readers who want to stay in touch with KOAB via their phone. (Thank you for that!)
I’ve decided on the following two options for you:
#1. WhatsApp
As I said, the KOAB HOT DEALS WhatsApp group is working really well and so I will definitely continue to operate it. I typically only send one to three deals per day to that group — and it is usually only the deals that I think have a high likelihood of selling out before the end of the day.
Over extremely busy periods — like Black Friday — the frequency of notifications does increase. If you’d like to join the WhatsApp group, click here.
#2. Telegram
After several requests, I have also decided to also set up a KOAB Telegram channel to which I will post all KOAB deals.
If you’re new to Telegram, it is a free, cloud-based messaging platform — very similar to Messenger or WhatsApp. I just set up the KOAB Telegram channel and my plan is to use it like I did with Twitter — i.e. every deal will be “pushed” to Telegram, whereas WhatsApp will continue to be just for “hot deals”.
You can join the KOAB Deals Channel on Telegram HERE.
If you don’t yet have the Telegram app, you must first download it (by the way, Telegram can be used on your phone, tablet or computer — and it will sync across all platforms). Once you download Telegram, you can click HERE to join the KOAB Channel.
Tip: Make sure you have your notifications set to ON for the KOAB Deals channel, so you don’t miss a deal!
FAQs
Yes, 100%! I’d love to have you join me on both platforms!
No, there is no cost to users to join either app. Both are free to download and install — and free to receive messages on, whether or not you have unlimited text messaging with your phone plan.
No, not at all! On both WhatsApp and Telegram, you will only receive messages from ME. No one else can post to the group / channel, so don’t worry — they won’t blow up your phone!
Any other questions? Leave a comment here or shoot me an email! I’m happy to try to help!
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