Whether you have a Shmoopy or are Shmoopy-less this Valentine’s Day, we posted loads of great Valentine’s Day ideas last week.

Cupids on Call!

This week, our wonderful interns and friends of RME have volunteered to scour the city as cupids! They are handing out handy-dandy promotional cards that entitle the bearer to hire a cupid to do any errand for free (up to $15) PLUS we will be at Downtown Crossing on Thursday from 11-2pm signing people up for our AWESOME raffle.

What, prey-tell, will be raffled off, you ask? FOUR boxes of Hotel Chocolat Estate Cocoa Taste of Winter Boxes filled with three different types of delicious pralines, milk chocolate batons, and chocolate baubles. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being “pure blissful happiness,” this box is said to induce a level 11 happiness; “TDF: To Die For!”We’re doing our best to control ourselves…

We will also be raffling off a GRAND PRIZE – A Special Private Chocolate Tasting valued at $200 at Aroa Chocolate in the South End of Boston. What an amazingly delicious night this will be for you and your Shmoopy/BFF/favorite sibling or parent!

Come find our Cupids as they flutter around Boston! Some of them even have delightful accents. They can be found hovering at the following locations:

Tuesday – Coolidge Corner (7:30-10am)

Wednesday – Newbury Street (12-3pm)

Thursday – RAFFLE DAY! Downtown Crossing (11-2pm)

Friday – Brookline @Longwood (12-2pm)

and!

Friday – Newbury Street (4-6pm)

Don’t forget that RunMyErrand has over 200 Cupids on call at all times to help you! What do you need done? We’ll take your to-do list to-done. Put your feet up and relax, we’ve got it covered!

So maybe you don’t like Valentine’s Day. Maybe you would rather not be the lucky recipient of a 2lb box of off-brand laxative-like chocolates this year. Maybe Cupid never returned your phone calls. Whatever the reason, we’re here to help. Let us be your Cupid this year!

Top 5 Ways to Treat Yourself on Valentine’s Day:

5. If you are a parent on-the-go treat your little munchkins to a Valentine’s Day gift from Magic Beans at their new location in Cambridge. While you’re there, enter their Raffle for loads of awesome prizes. The bonus? All Raffle winners get their prize delivered directly to their door by an RME Runner!

Cost: Free Raffle.

Pamper Level: You are your child’s first Valentine.

4. Take your pooch to Polka Dog Bakery to buy him or her a much deserved Valentine treat. Go hang out with the other dog-lovers that pop in and out of the puppy bakery. And who knows, you never know where you might meet a new Valentine. While you’re there, sign up for the RME Pet Food and Treats Replenishment Program to have dog food automatically delivered right to your door. Fido and Kobe need their nom-noms.

Cost: $10 for delivery of nom-noms.

Pamper Level: You’ll get loads of sloppy puppy kisses.

3. For a little something special, stop off at Essence on Newbury Street to make your own custom-blended perfume, or choose from the essential oil version of any popular fragrance. What’s better than a unique scent that you’ve created? Master Nose, Julian Harding, will help you blend a long-lasting fragrance. 1/4 ounce bottles (when used every day will last approximately 1 year) cost $20-$80 depending on how many ingredients you use. But you know that Shirley from the office will be green with jealousy over your one-of-a-kind scent.

Cost: $20-$80.

Pamper Level: The sweet smell of success + lavender + white tea = a very high pamper level.

2. Have flowers delivered to yourself from Twig in the South End a la Cher from Clueless. Select a gorgeous arrangement and have it delivered to your office on Friday with some pomp and splendor provided by a Runner Cupid. The water cooler will be buzzing about how popular you are. Use promo code RME2010VAL for 20% off your Valentine arrangement.

Cost: $95.

Pamper Level: In full bloom.

1. Book a Spa Treatment at Equinox at Back Bay or Franklin St. You deserve a nice deep tissue massage at the hands of an expert masseuse, followed by a Purifying Deep Cleansing Facial and an Upper Lip Hair Removal Wax Treatment (Hint, hint.) While you’re there, check out their state of the art facilities. We love the chilled Eucalyptus towels that we always get upon arrival. It helps keep our sweating problem at orange level.

Cost: $260.

Pamper Level: Very high, but you deserve some TLC.

This Valentine’s Day, let RunMyErrand pamper you. We’ll handle those lamo chores and you can use that extra time to indulge yourself on something special. We’ve kept meaning to ask this, but we are a bit shy….will you be our Valentine?

Don’t worry. I’m going to address this from both angles.

Let us be your Cupid!

For the Valentine’s Day lovers among us, I’ll post the Top 5 Valentine’s Day Errand Ideas for your significant Shmoopy.

Tomorrow’s blog post will feature ideas for the Anti-Valentine’s Day sentiment that is alive and well out there. I’ll be posting the Top 5 Ways To Treat Yourself.

Top 5 Valentine Gift Ideas from RunMyErrand for Valentine’s Day Lovers:

5. Hire a Runner to pick up a selection of desserts from the top local Boston bakeries for your hunny. Might we recommend a Cherry Crumb Tart from Petsi Pies in Somerville/Cambridge, a few Red Velvet cupcakes from KickAss Cupcakes in Davis Sq., and a few mini Boston cream pies and mini Tiramisu from Finale in Harvard Square.

Cost – approximately $30.

Taste Level – Extremely High.

4. Set up a Chocolate Tasting at Aroa Fine Chocolates in the South End. Aroa Chocolatiers will walk you and your Shmoopy through an exquisite tasting of a variety of various truffles, Pate de Fruits and Caramels. Chocolate IS an aphrodisiac, you know.

Cost – $10.

Taste Level – Exceptional.

3. Hire a Runner to pick up and deliver a bunch of gorgeous flowers from Central Square Florist. Perhaps your Runner will also help you compose a beautiful love sonnet a la Cyrano de Bergerac? Use the promo code ValDay2 for $5 off your delivery. Might we suggest a nice bunch of Cala Lillies for your Shmoopy? Why Cala Lillies? Because I like them. That’s why.

Cost – $55.

Taste Level – Personalized and Memorable.

2. Hire a Runner to cook a fine dinner for you and Shmoopy. Put your feet up and relax! Let a Runner pamper you! We have loads of culinary experts at the ready who will create an exquisite menu from organic and local ingredients, like duck,  purchased at Whole Foods. What would you like prepared? How about a warm goat cheese salad with pears and walnuts, a delicate Rack of Lamb with Herbs de Provence, and an indulgent Venezuelan chocolate mousse with mint. How can you say no to that?

Cost – $150.

Taste Level – Major Yum.

1. Have a Runner put together a sexy mixtape for your Shmoopy. NOTHING says endless love like a mixtape featuring the likes of Milli Vanilli, Air Supply, ABBA and Styx.

Cost: Some would say $7-$10. I would say “priceless.”

Taste Level: Dubious at best.

Use promo code ValDayRME first time users for $15 off your first errand! And feel free to take all the credit for that mixtape idea.

Amanda Connor

I’d like to properly introduce myself. My name is Amanda Connor and I’m very excited to join the RunMyErrand Team. I’ll be working as the new Community Manager for RME. What is a Community Manager? Well, in short I am the complaint department, community ambassador, event planner and social media manager all in one.

Who is that woman behind the Twitter curtain? That’s me! Who coordinates promotional events? Me! Who can you go to with questions, suggestions or problems as a Runner or customer? You guessed it. Me.

You can view my full bio here. I like to be out and about in the Boston and Cambridge area so if you see me on the street stop and say hi! I’d love to meet each and every one of you!

Next Wednesday (Feb. 10) I’ll be at the Finagle a Bagel across from the Lechmere T stop (First Street – Cambridge) all afternoon (from 12-5pm). If you are a super runner with 100s of errands under your belt, or have never even run one errand – I want to meet you! Pop in – the coffee and hot cocoa are on me!

And to sweeten the deal, I even get to hand out my own promotions this month. Good for up to $15 off of your first errand, or $5 off any errand thereafter. I’m not above using bribery to get you to love me. Use promo code FREEFEB15.

My motto is “How can I help you today?” Challenge me!

On a personal note, I love karaoke (note: I did not say I was good at karaoke) and I love bustin’ a move to a solid 90’s groove tune. I’m also a dog lover, so you may find me hanging out at the local puppy parks.

I can’t wait to meet you all!

Twitter @RunMyErrand
email: Amanda@RunMyErrand.com

The idea for RunMyErrand.com started on a cold February evening with a dog.  An account of the story is part of our website.  The name came to me very quickly, I thought “what would we call this idea”, punched in “RunMyErrand.com” into GoDaddy on my iPhone, and it was available.  I couldn’t believe it.  It’s so tough to find available domains these days, so I snatched it up, and 18 months later the seed of an idea for RunMyErrand, has snow balled into a Service Networking phenomenon.  I literally spent all of 5 seconds thinking about the name, and although the name RunMyErrand has gotten us this far, I remain convinced it is just about the right time for a change.

For many reason, I have never wavered from this point of view.  On my personal blog, I wrote about changing the name a few times, and loved hearing people’s comments, feedback, and name suggestions.  I think our main problems with RunMyErrand are:

• - It is too long – 4 syllables can be a mouth full
• - The word “errand” is too narrowing, we are so much bigger than errands.  We’ve replaced car batteries, picked up puppies from the airport, and even scouted out potential apartments for our members.
• - It only describes one side of our community
• - It doesn’t speak to our awesome businesses who see the value in using us for on-demand deliveries.
• - We need a name that matches our spunky personality … and we are spunky!

We are having fun revisiting these name games and would be thrilled to hear from you.  Over the next week or so, we’ll be sending out surveys and actively engaging you in the discussion.  We are a Service Network with a vibrant community in Boston, which is why it is so important to us to have your input.

Congratulations to two very special runners who have broken into RunMyErrand.com’s 100 Club – John I. and Richard T!

Each with over one hundred errands under their belt, and perfect 5 star ratings to boot.  They are truly amazing people and beyond helpful …. I guess that goes without saying!!  If you consider the amount of time they have saved their fellow RunMyErrand community members, it is astounding.  Consider the hour saved for every errand completed.  That means John and Richard have saved the community a cumulative 200 hours.  That’s 5 weeks of work, 25 nights of sleep, or watching the new movie Avatar 74 times in a row!

To celebrate their awesomenss, we surprised them with a $100 Amazon Gift Card so that they can treat themselves to something special!  We are also signing a big GroupCard (another cool fbFund company), and if you’d like to contribute a little note, just send me (leah at runmyerrand dot com) your email address and I’ll get you an invite!

Good day RUNmyERRAND! It’s Steve here wishing everyone a season’s greetings from London, UK where I’m studying for the year. Among other things, I’ve been checking out the entrepreneurship scene here and there’s some pretty cool stuff going on! Here’s four companies to give you a taste of what the Brits have to offer. Who knows, you might even start seeing these names in the States soon:

7digital: When it comes to digital music, the market is dominated by iTunes and Amazon, but 7digital is trying to break their dominance. The company has secured rights to a fairly large library with many of the mainstream hits of its larger rivals as well as some indie artists. However, 7digital is trying to differentiate itself with its online locker feature, which remotely backs up all your music. It also has a pretty strong B2B business going and there are plans to add video and ebooks soon. 7digital is available in the U.S., so check it out!

eCourier: This one has a strong American connection (founded by Dartmouth grads) and may be particularly interesting to RUNmyERRAND fans. Unlike traditional family courier operations, eCourier uses GPS, algorithms, and scale to optimize the effectiveness of its courier network. The company’s main clients are banks, law firms, and other business clients who need to send highly sensitive documents. They hope to become the UPS of same day local deliveries. eCourier is only available in London right now.

DIY KYOTO: DIY KYOTO makes the WATTSON, a cool little device for all those environmentally conscious consumers out there. It plugs right into your electric meter and helps you monitor how much electricity you’re consuming. You can also hook it up to your computer and get additional details about your energy consumption and effect on the environment. The WATTSON is not available in the U.S. yet, but as people become more conscious about the energy they use, don’t be surprised if you see this and other devices in a Brookstones in the near future.

Skimlinks: Calling all bloggers and online retailers out there! Skimlinks provides an innovative way to advertise on the Internet. It places links for products mentioned on a certain website to a retailer that sells it. In exchange, the webmaster earns a commission for every successful conversion. This works great for sites and blogs that review products and services. Skimlinks should be available in the U.S., so this could be a good way for some of you to earn some extra bucks!

Of course, one thing we don’t have here is RUNmyERRAND! With the crazy London weather and traffic, I sometimes wish we did. For those of you in Boston, take full advantage of it!

Have a safe and happy holidays everyone! Cheers!

For every errand completed this Holiday season, RunMyErrand will donate a toy to a very special organization called Room To Grow.  a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development. Room to Grow supports the Boston community and we wanted to give back to them as well.

If you have anything you wish to donate to Room to Grow, we can collect it for you. Here is a list of items they accept.  Have a runner help facilitate the donation, by posting it as an errand on the site.  We would be happy to help!

We are pumped to be Groupon Boston’s side deal today and tomorrow.  What does that mean?  It means you can get an outrageous deal through Groupon by purchasing through their site.  We are offering $30 worth of errand for $15 … plus everyone gets their first errand FREE!  Groupon is a super cool “deal of the day” site, and they’ve always got the best deals in Boston.

Check out our reviews section on Groupon:

RUNmyERRAND is a social networking inspired web and mobile marketplace that provides people and businesses an easy and trusted way to get everyday tasks done in their own hyperlocal community. – Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch

RunMyerrand is a great example of how a flash of genius must have a genius behind it to bring it to light. – Robin Hauck, Misstropolis

I may have just found simply the coolest, most awesome, most convenient, time saving, money saving, most awesome (did I say most awesome?) service in downtown Boston – RunMyErrand.com. – Anthony Longo, The Boston Condo Loft

RunMyErrand is partnering with a local retailers to make them your holiday headquarters!  We have dedicated runners standing by at each location, so that you can get your items lickity split!

Voted Boston’s favorite toy store, Magic Beans, offers a handpicked selection of toys, both tried & true and fresh & new. Shopping for the perfect gift for your favorite kid? The Magic Beans gift guides are a great place to start. They are filled with some of the best toys and games for kids of all ages.  Check out the Magic Beans blog for more details on our partnership!

Let Petsi Pies be your dessert of choice this holiday season. Our pies are baked fresh each day. We make each pie by hand using the best butter from Vermont, the crispest apples from local orchards, roasted nuts that are still warm when they arrive to our bakery, and the highest quality fruits and vegetables around. We use only real, all natural ingredients; no mixes or fillers of any kind.