Well I'm excited to be the first one to tell you if you haven't!
We are super psyched to be participating in the first ever Have You Heard trade; the brain-child of the lovely Kim over at A Blackbird's Epiphany. If you're anything like us, you are trying to make a go of your small business and you will be doing everything in your power to gain interest/exposure without breaking the bank in the process. With so many people competing for attention online, it can be difficult to get your amazing products seen :(
Well, we have a proposition for you that is just too good to turn down...
What is it:
Have You Heard? is the opportunity for sellers to send a batch of their own business cards to other relevant sellers around the world and have them dispatched with others' purchases. It costs nothing but the postage to send them there.
How do I participate and what is involved?
It's quite simple! You can apply through A Blackbird's Epiphany blog. She assesses every shop that applies and then pairs you up with someone selling products with a similar theme to yours. (Not the same product line, ie jewelry shops will not be paired with jewelry shops as that would be silly!) You will then be contacted with the address to mail your cards out to. Then you simply post your cards within the month and then each seller will include their partners card with each sale made online (and vice versa.) That's it!
There are 3 deadlines for this event. The first is the date you will need to apply by. The second is a week later allowing you to pull out of the event should you change your mind. The final deadline is for you to have sent your cards to your allocated seller. This makes sure that everyone is fair and square and no one is being messed about. Who doesn't love that level of organization?!
Where can I get my business cards?
If you don't have cards for your business already you can get some free ones over at Moo. All you need to do is pay the postage. Heck yes!
Based in the UK? Just swap "us" for "uk" in the URL. Score :D
How are categories sorted?As mentioned, instead of sorting by product, the categories are sorted by theme. It would be silly to pair two jewellery makers together if one works with a gothic theme and the other creates woodland creatures, because there will be little interest on the buyer's end of the new shop. Themes will be:
Nature (animals, landscape etc), Kitsch & Retro, Whimsical, Miniature, and so on. New themes will be added if enough shops are submitted.
Nature (animals, landscape etc), Kitsch & Retro, Whimsical, Miniature, and so on. New themes will be added if enough shops are submitted.
Doesn't that sound like a great opportunity?
You can send as few as 25 business cards or as much as 100 and all it costs to get involved is the postage to send them to your partner! We're involved already so make sure you sign up asap :D
Here are the all important deadlines to apply:
Post deadline: 16th July
For further details and to apply pop over to A Blackbird's Epiphany's blog.
We hope to meet you there!
What a great idea! No, I hadn't heard. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what happens if you are paired with someone who doesn't sell items every day or week like myself. Some months I sell 3 or 4 chalkboards, others I am lucky to sell 1.
Good luck to you! I'll be checking this out!
Hi Window By The Sea
DeleteThanks for commenting, we're delighted to share the news as we think it is crucial us wee sellers stick together :D
The beauty of the trade is that it doesn't matter how often you sell your products, it's about reaching a new audience who may not have heard about you. Naturally some shops will run out of cards first, but it's irrelevant as the trade runs until all the cards are gone. If someone is out of cards but would like more, they can request them from their partner and it is up to you if you would like to send out more. There is no pressure for pushing sales and no stress involved, just sellers supporting each other :)
We hope that helps! Any other questions please give myself or Kim a nudge :D
Interesting concept, thanks for sharing. I might just jump in. Although like the previous commenter - I do not have a lot of sales to show for...
ReplyDeleteThats ok CW, as long as you continue to include a card with every sale you do make it's all good :) no one is expecting to be making a huge volume of sales; we're all in the same boat. It's just about helping each other out as we know it isn't easy to get your business seen :)
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