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moneymabel

Thanks Megz that's great, my website is in the final stages of completion so expect it will be in the next week or so. The photos I have on my website are good but not professional so hoping if they are interested that I don't have to pay out again!!

Horace

Morning alll

Mabel - well done you on contacting the wedding magazine, have you thought about contacting Wedding Ideas magazine too (they're just fab). I can send you some details for County Wedding magazine (they produce swanky wedding mags for various counties of England - its the magazine that I have just advertised in).

As you may remember I sponsored the insurance on a charity vehicle (my logo is splashed all over it:j) well, I had a call today asking for my help in organising a charity cricket match so I have a meeting about that on Wednesday night. My help would be free but I have been told that I will get a testimonial from it:cool:

Have spent the morning trying to sort out a business phone line - may well go with NTL Business (the business arm of Virgin Media) as I can have 20Mb broadband for £40 plus VAT including a free phone line - it will be better than just relying on a mobile phone as folks are less likely to call mobiles. I am not going to jump in just yet though as I need to work out my finances - it could be that I have another expense to reclaim from the business.

Mabel - here is the link for Kline Davis - they not only print County Wedding magazines, but Attire Bridal (wedding trade mag), Gift Focus and Craft Focus.

http://www.klinedavis.com/brands.cfm

moneymabel

hi Horace, thanks for the links-I was considering advertising in Devon Lifes magazine 'guide for the south west bride ' but decided against it as because I only have a website local advertising won't really be of ant benefit over a national mag.
I contacted Wedding Ideas a few weeks ago, they only feature products from companies that advertise with them ( so I'm no longer impressed with other jewellery sites that have pics of their stuff featured in there every month- they've just paid to be featured!) I am considering advertising but the prices were very steep
You'll have to let us know how many customers you get from your
advert- afraid you're the guinea pig on this advertising lark!

Horace

Mabel - one thing that I was told by a photographer friend of mine - never ever pay the first price offered by the publication where you want to advertise, negotiate them down.

I shall be contacting the people who do my site later - I want some quotes from them to change my website, mind you I shall also be getting quotes from elsewhere too (for setting up a new website). I have looked into meta tags and the company I am with have a package where they will charge £75 set up and £75 a month thereafter:eek: so I am thinking they can get knotted. I am also worried because I paid for my domain name and the registrant has moved to them would I actually be allowed to keep my domain name and move it elsewhere?

Well, I have just been invited to help FastAid collect money at a local carnival as the response car that I have sponsored will be there it will be an opportunity for me to promote my business as well. Plus I shall be organising their charity cricket match on a no fee basis but again it is beneficial for me as it is boosting my contacts and promoting my business at the same time:j

dippykitty

Hi everyone! Spent most of the day stripping wallpaper in the bedroom and am lacking in motivation now that I've settled down to finish off my last outstanding article. This nice weather isn't exactly helping that either!

Horace - I'm not 100% on this but depending on who you got your domain name from, there may be option to transfer it if you choose to sign up with another hosting provider. There is probably an extra charge for this though but I can't say how much as I've never done it.

Purpleroses

Horace the domain name is yours so if you move to another company/server the domain will still be yours, i've done this a few times.
We change the website ourselves. The prices some companies charge just for a few changes is insane!
Have you thought of buying google ads as a way to get your domain up at the top?

Definately haggle mm most if not all places will bring the price down. We got into an issue of field magazine which was costly but probably one of the best things we did so it's well worth taking the risk and getting into these mags.

Sorry to go on i'll be quiet now.

moneymabel

Thanks you two- will have to try my hand at haggling then !

Horace

Thanks Dippy & Purple.

Mabel - haggling works as I got my quarter page ad down from £250 plus VAT to £95 plus VAT with County Wedding magazine :j

Talk about putting the pressure on - the charity have asked me to provide some flyers for the carnival this weekend:eek: thankfully I have a hotline to the printers and they are sorting out 500 for me at a cost of £135 plus VAT for A5 size printed in full colour on one side, I have just sent the wording and artwork off to them for them to work their magic. They need to go to the printers tomorrow for me to be able to collect them on Friday:eek: Solihull carnival should be good as Solihull is a very wealthy area:D

When I pick up my leaflets on Friday I will talk to the printers again about websites - they have already given me a quote but I need to know more before I commit because I am sick of not being able to amend my site myself plus the fact that the host company often leaves me without email access:mad: I don't want to throw good money after bad so it might be better to cut my losses and move my site.

TCM_3

Mabel, I agree, don't ever pay the full asking price for advertising - I haggle with everyone regarding advertising, from the phone book to business cards and flyers but especially the newspapers and glossy mags. I, like Horace, managed to get a full page in a posh outdoor mag from £650 plus vat to £100 plus vat which shows just what they can do!

Its absolutely DEAD in here this past 2 days. Had 10yr olds sports day today and had the drama of him not getting placed in any of his races because it was either someone else had come into his lane or his sack for the sack race was not in the right place and I didn't even ask what was wrong with the egg or the spoon! Oh dear!

I have also been talked into a charity "pony club games" competition for the over 40's by one of my reps! Its not till September but I may start the training now to be able to get on and off the pony without having to stand on a wall or a ladder because I don't bend very well anymore! The sunshine must be affecting my thinking and decision making!

Have fun everyone, enjoy the sunshine!
T

Horace

TCM an adult pony club sounds fab.

I banked another £15 in my business account today, yesterday I put in £20 - all this money is from mystery shops and I need money in my account to pay for my insurances.

The charity for whom I sponsored the insurance on a vehicle have asked for my help with fundraising so tomorrow night I am off to a meeting regarding a charity cricket match adults v kids - tv and radio need to be involved in this too. I also discovered late yesterday afternoon that my presence is required this weekend at Solihull Carnival to help fundraise so I have just forked out for some leaflets to promote my business and including the little words "We are proud to sponsor FastAid" on them. Now I would have included their web details but there wasnt enough room for theirs and mine so only mine have gone on there. The leaflets will be ready for me to collect on Friday so I shall arrange a mystery shop for that day too:D

Today has been spent looking at proofs and sorting out an advert to go onto the YourWestMidlandsWedding website because I am an advertiser it would appear that I am allowed a free advert on their website:j