Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere to share the ups and downs of starting a craft business, with plenty of tips, mishaps and the odd glass of wine!

Saturday, 10 August 2013

Being Featured on The Guardian Website

A couple of weeks ago I had a very exciting phone call from someone at The Guardian. The phone call was to ask me as a member of the Guardian's Small Business Network (which I joined a couple of months ago) if I was planning to enter the Showcase they are running:



I was rather taken abact - they'd done their homework on my business, been on my website and even read some of my blog posts and wanted me to enter the Home Business Innovation section.... so I have and guess what? I've got my entry published on their website!!!


That means I've got past stage one - The Editors!! They basically weed out all the entries that don't meet the criteria or that are not suitable for the showcase and then they publish the ones they've selected to go forward to the next stage.

The second stage is the shortlisting, which starts on the 9th August 2013 and this is where the panel of judges will choose 3 companies. These three will have a write up done by a Guardian journalist for the main website and the Finance section of the newspaper and then ultimately there's an awards ceremony next year (May 2014) where they announce the winners of my category and all the other categories.

I don't really expect to get shortlisted as there are some amazing companies already through and there are more to come, but just to have got this far feels wonderful!

Anyway, you know I'll keep you posted!!

Now I'm off for a scoot round the Handmade Monday Blogs with a cuppa and some naughty (but very nice) chocolate brownies!
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

26 comments:

  1. Gertie10 August 2013 at 17:15

    WOW !!!! Many congratulations. You must be over the moon. Fingers crosses you get through to the next stage xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown11 August 2013 at 20:38

      Thanks Gertie! I am really pleased (and still quite surprised as I don't think of myself as being in the same league as the other businesses that have entered!!) Simmi x

      Delete
  2. Highland Monkey's11 August 2013 at 20:33

    Gosh, how exciting. So pleased for you. I hope you get through to the next round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown11 August 2013 at 20:39

      Thank you :-) I have no idea how long it will be till they announce the 3 shortlisted companies, so I'll either wear out the F5 button on my laptop or I'll have forgotten all about it!! Simmi x

      Delete
  3. Wendy11 August 2013 at 20:39

    Wow! That is sooo exciting! Well done and good luck with it! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown11 August 2013 at 22:19

      Thanks Wendy! I'm still feeling quite surprised to have got this far! Simmi xx

      Delete
  4. Lucy Blossom11 August 2013 at 21:27

    How exciting, congratulations to you. I always love reading your blog and looking at the fabulous things you make and I'm sure lots of other people will too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown11 August 2013 at 22:20

      Ohhh Lucy, thank you, that is such a lovely thing to say :-D Simmi xx

      Delete
  5. itsamistry11 August 2013 at 22:51

    Oh that's fantastic well done and good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  6. CatkinJane12 August 2013 at 07:07

    Wonderful!
    Good luck with the next stage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. say it12 August 2013 at 10:47

    Wow, congratulations! I'm very excited for you :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 August 2013 at 07:58

      Thanks :-) I'm hoping they announce the shortlisted companies this week. Simmi xx

      Delete
  8. Christmas Pie Crafts12 August 2013 at 10:47

    Well done Simmi - great news. Really looking forward to reading about your progress. Hope you have a good week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 August 2013 at 08:00

      Thanks Jill :-) I'm thinking of doing a blog post about the 3 shortlisted companies (even if I'm not one of them!!) when they make the announcement - it'll be really interesting to see out of the 50 odd entries which they feel are the top 3 - not a choice I'd like to have to make! Simmi x

      Delete
  9. Free Spirit Designs12 August 2013 at 11:15

    oh yay! well done that's fantastic :) the recognition is well deserved and a celebratory brownie or two entirely appropriate! Best of luck with the next stage xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 August 2013 at 08:00

      Hehehe Nat - I do believe I might have indulged in one or two ;-) Simmi xx

      Delete
  10. testing12 August 2013 at 11:43

    Wonderful news well done

    ReplyDelete
  11. Handbags by Helen12 August 2013 at 20:53

    Wow, very exciting for you. Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  12. Magdalena12 August 2013 at 23:20

    That's very exciting! I joined the Guardian Club too, so will be for the look out on your entry. Congratulation and best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 August 2013 at 08:02

      Thanks Magdelena :-) It's a good one to belong to - the newsletters almost always have something I want to read and they do a good job of interacting with their members, not just publicising to them! Simmi x

      Delete
  13. Anonymous13 August 2013 at 10:31

    Congratulations that is fantastic and so exciting! I read the guardian but hadn't heard of the club so I mustn't be reading it properly. I'll look out for a mention of you now though - hope you get through to next stage xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 August 2013 at 08:04

      Thank you :-) I don't know how much of a mention the club gets in the actual paper, but they're quite active on the website. Simmi x

      Delete

I really appreciate all comments made on the blog (it reminds me that I'm not talking to myself!) so just wanted to say thanks for adding your thoughts. Simmi x

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Sharing Buttons