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!

26 comments:

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

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    1. 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

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

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    1. 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

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

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

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  4. 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.

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

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  5. Oh that's fantastic well done and good luck.

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  6. Wonderful!
    Good luck with the next stage.

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

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

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

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    1. 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

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  9. 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

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

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  10. Wow, very exciting for you. Good luck

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  11. 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!

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    1. 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

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  12. 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

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    1. 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

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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

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