Tag Archives: Swap

Swap and Tell: Q & A

The first Swap and Tell link up swap starts Wednesday, and the excitement is building! My co-hosts and I have received a lot of questions as well as encouraging comments, so it’s time to share the ins and outs of linking up. The unique concept, with a general description of how it all works can be found here. The following Q & A details the specifics of what will be required from those who participate.

Swap & Tell Q & A

Q. Is this link up like others for general posts about DIY, recipes, decor, etc.?
A. No, this link up is tailored to shop owners for the promotion of their products and services.

Q. How do I let someone know I would like to swap products?
A. Just visit as many links as you like and leave a comment with the one you want to swap with

Q. Do I have to swap every week?
A. When you swap and with whom is completely left to your discretion. Remember, it’s all about promoting and helping one another. A swap means a review for your product too!

Q. If no one “bites” can I offer the same item the next week?
A. If you don’t make a successful swap you are free to offer the same item again.

Q. Can I offer gift cards in the swap?
A. Absolutely!

Q. Does the product or service I offer need to be of a certain monetary value?
A. No, the range of items offered will be varied, both in type and value. It is up to each participant to decide the suitability of the value of their item as well as the item of those offering to swap. Again, the value of the swap is in more than the products received, but in the exposure you will receive from reviews.

Q. What about shipping?
A. Exchange address info with your swap partner. Each person will pay shipping
for the item she/he is sending.

Q. I only have large items in my inventory that can be costly to ship. How can I participate?
A. Yours is a case for when gift cards are the perfect swap.

Q. Will I receive a plug for my shop on the party?
A. Although there will be featured swaps from time to time, the “plug” you will receive will be from whoever you swap with, not on the party itself.

Q. Will you offer sponsorship spots?
A. As the party grows we will offer sponsorship spots.

Q. How long will the link up stay open?
A. Each link up will be live for 4 days.

Q. What are the time requirements for shipping the product?
A. Please be prepared to ship your product no later than one week from the time the swap ends. (The timetable for services will be worked out between those swapping.)

Q. What are the time requirements for posting the review?
A. Reviews should be posted no later than two weeks from the time the swap ends.
(The review timetable for services will be worked out between those swapping.)

Q. Can my link be from Etsy, or does it have to be from a blog, Facebook, etc.?
A. Etsy does not allow outside links within a product description. So if you are swapping a product from Etsy, the workaround is to post it on a blog, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram before linking up.

Q. If I don’t have a blog how can I post a review?
A. If you don’t have a blog, you must have Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram on which to post a review.

Q. What is required in the review?
A. The review should contain a photo of the product received; your own scoop on the product; and a link back to the product, shop or person (their choosing)
*The review for services may or may not include a photo, details to be worked out between those swapping

Still have questions? Please leave them in the comments and I will promptly give you an answer! Hope to see you Wednesday!

P.S. For those of you that prefer video instructions, I’ll be posting one of those just for you so keep watching!

Announcing Swap & Tell: Shop Owners Trading Products and Posting Reviews

Swap & Tell Link Up
Starts in 2 weeks!

I am seriously excited to get this party started! If you are a shop owner (i.e. someone with goods or services), my three co-hosts and I would like to invite you to Swap & Tell, where you can trade products with other shop owners and review / get reviewed in a blog post or on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

Why a product swap?
As shop owners and creative people, we value our product and want others to value it too. This means advertising and reaching people by word of mouth. The best advertising comes when someone talks about your product to those they know. When you send one of your products in a swap, think of it as an advertising investment.

How Does It Work?
Participants will link their product to swap from their blog, facebook, pinterest or instagram account. After completing a swap with another shop owner each participant will blog, facebook, instagram or pinterest about what they got and link back to the shop it came from in a new post the following week. Specifics about the rules of exchange will be posted with the link up.

Who Can Participate?
Anyone in the U.S. with
A) a product or service ~ Etsy shop owners, Website owners, brick and mortar shop owners, consultants, designers, etc.
and
B) a blog, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram account

What Kind of Product or Service Can I Link Up?
Whatever you sell that you would like to swap, whether it’s goods or services. Handmade items, vintage wares, beauty products, clothing, jewelry, books, linens etc. are all acceptable goods. One of the services I will be swapping is a custom graphic design element, such as a button design, a blog banner or logo.

By participating in Swap & Tell, you can expect:
* Exposure for your shop: Your products/shop will be introduced to new audiences

* Opportunities to help fellow shop owners: Great and unexpected things happen when you extend kindness to others

* New connections with other shop owners: Networking opens up new collaboration possibilities and new friendships

When you participate in the link up, your link will be visible on all 4 blogs simultaneously. Be sure to check out my co-hosts as they will be sure to post updates on the swap! Heather at Woods of Bell Trees, Donna at Distressed Donna Down Home and Tina at What We Keep.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, August 13th!
I hope you’ll join in the fun!

Video Announcement! New Link Up Starting Soon!

Hi Readers! I’ve got some news and I decided to tell you in person (via video)!

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would record myself and post it for the world to see, but I’m stretching myself and expanding my territory.

So, here goes!

Enjoy your weekend! I’ll be away on the lake with no computer, so I’ll be out of reach till Monday!

Talk soon,
Ann

Drop It or Swap It Link Up #10

Welcome to Drop It or Swap It, the weekly linky party where you can link up with a picture of something old or new, vintage or modern, thrifted or retail. Something that you loved at one time but have dropped from your favorites. It can be clothing, accessories, craft supplies, books, small home decor items, ANYTHING really that you don’t mind mailing. It can have its own dedicated post or be tagged onto the end of another post.

As a blogger you get all the benefits of linking up (new friends, traffic, etc.) PLUS the added perk of new stuff, while purging your own stash.

Did you know?
WEBSITE AND ETSY STORE OWNERS can link up an item from your store that you would like to swap. Just add it to a current blog post, Facebook post, Pinterest pin or Instagram feed!
COMING SOON: An addition to Drop It or Swap It that will help promote YOUR PRODUCT!

And it’s not just for bloggers, non-bloggers can participate as well! The more that participate in Drop It or Swap It the more fun we’ll have, so please share with your friends!

This is week ten of the link up and many of you have said you would like to participate, so why not jump in this week! We’re still building momentum so I welcome any feedback.

This is a SWAP so please ONLY link up posts that contain a picture of an item you would like to swap and have fun shopping around!

Now let’s start the swap!
Please read the guidelines and ask any questions in the comments.

* Link up a post that contains a picture and description of your swap item, using a permalink to your individual post not your general blog URL.
(Non-bloggers click here for a modified version of this)

* Look around at the other links until you spy something that interests you. Visit
as many as you like and when you find something you’d like to swap for, leave
the other blogger a comment with a link to your posted item.

* Leave as many swap offers as you like with different bloggers, but please
be courteous and only leave one comment each. If you don’t get a response
just assume the other blogger is not interested or has already swapped.

* Once you have committed to a swap, please edit your post with a note that
your item is already swapped so you won’t continue to get offers.
(Non-bloggers click here for a modified version of this)

* Exchange address info with your swap partner. Each person will pay shipping
for the item she is sending.

* Please follow your host, Tarnished Royalty with one of the following methods:

* Please include the Drop It or Swap It button or text link in your linked post.
(Non-bloggers click here for a modified version of this)

Questions? More good info about Drop It or Swap It can be found here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Drop It or Swap It Link Up #9

As a blogger you get all the benefits of linking up (new friends, traffic, etc.) PLUS the added perk of new stuff, while purging your own stash.

Did you know?
WEBSITE AND ETSY STORE OWNERS can link up an item from your store that you would like to swap. Just add it to a current blog post, Facebook post, Pinterest pin or Instagram feed!
COMING SOON: An addition to Drop It or Swap It that will help promote YOUR PRODUCT!

And it’s not just for bloggers, non-bloggers can participate as well! The more that participate in Drop It or Swap It the more fun we’ll have, so please share with your friends!

This is week nine of the link up and many of you have said you would like to participate, so why not jump in this week! We’re still building momentum so I welcome any feedback. This is a swap so please only link up posts that contain a picture of an item you would like to swap and have fun shopping around!

Now let’s start the swap!
Please read the guidelines and ask any questions in the comments.

* Exchange address info with your swap partner. Each person will pay shipping
for the item she is sending.

* Please follow your host, Tarnished Royalty with one of the following methods:

* Please include the Drop It or Swap It button or text link in your linked post.
(Non-bloggers click here for a modified version of this)

Questions? More good info about Drop It or Swap It can be found here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thrifted! What I Scored + My Swap Items

If you’ve been to my blog before, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I love to thrift shop. What other activity combines girlfriend time, adventure i.e. thrill of the hunt, and shopping without breaking the bank?

Some of my favorite things are items that I have found while thrifting, or as some call it, junkin’. My closet is peppered with vintage and modern pieces of clothing that I’ve picked up at places like estate sales, goodwill and other local thrift shops, vintage markets and yard sales. I have furnished (almost) my entire home, all 3900 square feet of it, with thrifted items. I’d love to show you some of my favorites but that’s a whole other post.

Here’s a pile of treasures I scored recently while hitting a thrift shop, a flea market and a yard sale.

I got the bookend because I have a collection of old books and a thing for bookends. I plan to paint it, not sure what color yet. The pottery pig just spoke to me (weeeee) and for a buck I couldn’t pass him up. I have a metal boot just like this already that I use to hold my business cards. I’m sure I can find another use for this one or maybe I’ll sell or swap it.

The architectural piece will be used somehow, somewhere, and of course I plan to use all the jewels and brass findings in future jewelry design projects. I was absolutely smitten with the “R” piece.

I think I got a pretty good haul and I probably spent under $15 for the whole shebang. Do you love to thrift shop? What are some of your recent finds?

So I’ve sent out the invites to come to my Drop It or Swap It link up and I’m ready to swap! I’ve had some great swaps with Donna of Distressed Donna Down Home and Tina of What We Keep. But where is everybody? Come on girls, I really want to see what you’ve got! I’m not offering anything new this week since I have some fun things (I think) that haven’t been spoken for at past swaps. So here’s a recap of some of my things, all of which are available at this week’s Drop It or Swap It link up starting tonight at 7PM central.

I have been purging my jewelry and am working up to putting a new, organized system of storage and display in my closet area. So here are 2 necklaces and 2 bracelets that should belong to someone else. The multi-strand multi-color beads are plastic. The bracelets are stone chips and are the stretch type.

If you would like to make a photo display like this one and would love to have all the supplies delivered right to your door, you need to come back and check out the swap! I’m swapping everything you need to make your very own sea shell photo display! Items from each of these categories, with hand picked selections from the tiles, buttons/jewels, and small shells categories.

And last but not least, this cute vintage beaded handbag. The white color makes it a good summertime choice. It’s a little bit of a fixer though. The clasp closes but it’s not a really tight hold. I think it might have to do with the hinges on the sides of the bag, not sure though. I think you could just add some velcro inside to ensure it stays closed.

Drop It or Swap It runs Wednesday through Monday (linky opens Tuesday night for early birds). I’ve got some new info to share with you at the party so I hope you’ll come back and link up! Click the image below to see more about how it all works.