Coupon Lovers

Ok, this is what I don't quite understand.... I can see how many people read my blog.

So far (if I have entered information correctly) nobody but me.

That's fine, I don't take it entirely personally. I moved it from towards the bottom of my website to the top and put a note over it, letting people know they can get coupons by reading the blog.

Still no response. Are people afraid I am going to track them to their home, send telemarketers to their door, spam them?

Well, whatever.

In any case, here we go...


This month's coupon, good for the rectangular bookplates on my website, is ...
(oh, and in addition to this, you know, you get free shipping if you order over $50.00 worth of bookplates)


BLOGJAN2010 (One per customer)


TWITTERFIRST2010 (One per customer)

What is a bookplate for?

My daughter in law gave bookplates as gifts this Christmas and reported back that most of the recipients loved them! They thanked her and told her how they had been looking for something to mark their pages in their books.

Err and ummm.

That made me realize, it is really time to add something to my packaging that explains to people who are getting bookplates what these nice little things are. So I've designed these litle labels (shown above) which I'll attach to the packaging, hoping people will read it and find it helpful!

And speaking of packaging, over Christmas, I was finally able to get rid of plastic packaging and now use recyclable paper, tied with twine. A bookplate is on the outside. It has a nice look to it. The sticker above will be added to the back, in hopes that people will have an "aha" moment!

For those who still are not certain (because that's a tiny little label and the print is pretty small), I've also got some explanations they can read on-line and pass on to friends.

What is a bookplate and why would I want one?

and

Affixing Bookplates

Closed for the holidays!

Yes, we closed for the holidays, though that's somewhat of an illusion. We will be closed and not working for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but then we'll be working behind the scenes.

Even a teeny tiny little business like mine has stuff to do.

There are records to do for tax filing, inventory to be taken and this year I am hoping to upgrade the website (behind the scenes). It's also time to come up with some new designs, both for the bookplates and booklover items.

And assessment of what's going on with the sites where we carry other items. It would also be lovely to have feedback (and replies!) about what works and what doesn't, from customers.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday!

A new year coming, new directions...

There is a lot of bookplate competition out here these days -- when I first started back at the turn of the century (!!!!) there were only a couple of other bookplate sellers on line -- now there appear to be hundreds.

When I tried to purchase Antioch Bookplate, the President told me you can't make a living selling bookplates, so he was bundling it with the rest of the company (bookmarks, journals, other paper products). My answer was, I don't have to make a big living -- and I don't have to answer to a board of directors where I make a huge profit. AND I do have other things I design and sell.

But.. off went Antioch Bookplate Company, leaving me in the dust. I have a nice stock of inventory yet, so I'm not terribly worried. And some of my own designs which sell well.

And I recently changed the packaging -- I'd been looking for a long time for something to replace the plastic packaging Antioch used. I tried colored envelopes but they always looked like.. colored envelopes.

Christmas 2009 I started using plain brown wrappers with the bookplate on top, then added a twine to close it. Recycled, recyclable. This is all hand done, mind you. Heaven help me if Oprah ever features me (I think I'm safe).

What lies ahead is exciting -- more of what I'd love to hear from customers -- what designs are missing, what would you like?