Eighteen Months with 'What's Good To Do'
Eighteen Months with 'What's Good To Do'
We joined 'What's Good To Do' (WGTD) in August 2019 on the recommendation of a friend and, without a doubt, its one of the best decisions we have ever made. To date, as a family, we have enjoyed two dozen free experiences and products!
So what is it?
WGTD is a family and friends run community which brings together reviews of days out, theatrical and musical productions, a vast range of products and services, online in one place to inform and guide consumers. The majority of the reviews are written by volunteers like us in exchange for free tickets to the theatre, days out/overnight stays and complimentary products to keep and test at home.
How have we benefited from it?
For us, the majority of our reviews have been of theatre or musicals, either as a couple or with our children - the first being 'Madagascar the Musical' at Stoke Regent Theatre.
If we are lucky, we go to the theatre twice a year, since August 2019 we have had 12 free visits, all Stall seats (costing on average £35 per ticket) - including the circus and a panto! Unbelievably, at most venues, you are treated like Press and receive complimentary drinks, snacks and a programme. This has of course been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but I’m sure when theatres reopen the benefits will resume.
We have also had a day out at ‘Ironbridge’ which saved us £66. As well as numerous products, including a new to market ‘Skip Hop’ Ride on Toy which made for an amazing 1st Birthday present for our niece.
WGTD has enhanced our family time and given us more opportunities, we can't thank them enough!
The latest product we reviewed was an incredible robotics and coding kit from ’Robo Wunderkind’ - definitely something we would not have been able to afford for our children without WGTD.
How do you get involved?
Community members have a private forum (and Facebook Group) on which a simple taxi rank system is used to ensure a fair allocation of available items. Once offered usually via email/Fb, you have the option to accept or decline. Declined items are then offered to the next person in the queue. Additional items are also offered frequently under the ‘Help Out’ scheme when a PR agency is looking for a quick response or other members have turned them down. You can accept or put your name forward for as much or as little as you wish, there's plenty to go round and the management team always work on a fair distribution model.
Is there a cost?
Yes: time taken to enjoy the experience- which could be an evening at the theatre, a day out with the family, or a week to test a product; time to write a minimum 500 word review (we've found this takes approximately 2 to 3 hours and it's important to get it right - low quality reviews diminish the brand); plus there's a £40 annual administration fee.
It sounds too good to be true.
We thought the same! So we did our homework, as well as visiting the main website, we browsed their Facebook and Twitter pages of WGTD - you'll see the posts of reviews by numerous people and how they have been liked or reposted by theatres/companies.
There are lots of PR and Marketing agencies out there who are eager for consumers to reviews their products. The owners are just sharing the benefits, workload and joy.
If you’d like to check the integrity of the review mentioned above, please visit the website and use the search function with the ‘key words’.
We highly recommend WGTD to family and friends, the larger the community the better for everyone - more people equals more presence online and more interest from agencies.
If you enjoy trips to the theatre, days out or new products and have the time to write the reviews, join today - you won't regret it!