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I too have bought more than I would have because of this site!! ;) I too get very excited about any and all SU news!! - Who wouldn't?? Thankfully, my dh supported my decision to be a *demo*. I understand wanting to know first, I understand wanting to be the ones to tell your customers first too. However, (inserting MY opinion here) I don't care if my customers or friends hear it elsewhere first because they end up calling me about it and I can discuss it with them or find out about it myself and return their call. I tell everyone I can about this site - why because I end up selling more!! It's gotten everyone I know to become more excited about stamping. Friends have seen cards that they just have to CASE - well, guess who gets the order?? Yup, me! This site is a get place to share info, excitement, designs, sales (Viking - no one complaining about that, right?), and support.
You are the most infectious person on this website. I admire your courage and honesty. You are pure of heart and did nothing wrong in "leaking" the colors. Go mamk and em too!
Stampin up is a well established company and wouldn't announce if they didn't want it to get out. We should be sharing ideas, not fighting about who had them first.
Amy
I'm a demo and I say leak away. Let's just all have fun stamping. And sharing and gossiping about what is new and fantastic in the stamping world is FUN. Anticipating and talking about the mini catalog is FUN. Girls just wanna have FUN. If your customers come to this site and read the forums regularly, they are DEDICATED stampers and therefore DEDICATED customers. They aren't going to be anything but excited about new information. They will think the new info is FUN. So let's just all have FUN.
"I get by with a little help from my friends." Mama Kim, you are definitely a friend. Take care and don't sweat it.
__________________ Life is too short: eat chocolate and stamp up a storm. It will come out OK in the end.
Location: Living imperfectly with great delight! AB, Canada
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I'm a demo and as I'm reading this thread, I keep thinking, 'what was leaked!' and when?
My goodness, is it about the colours? am I confused? but didn't our Stampin Success tell us to let our customers know that the colours were retiring... and told us how to handle a situation if someone orders Magenta.
Is there some other big news I should know? Spill and leak again, so I learn what it is!
I agree with jmwalker2 when she says we should prepare our customers and give them info to make good decisions. I was so glad I knew about the 50% sale items ahead of time... I told all my gals and booked gobs of parties, also, wouldn't let anyone order those sets in the 2 weeks prior, when they could buy 2 later... doesn't that make sense...
I love ya mamakimberly and your gallery and love it when you make a comment on something I've posted (picture or forum), 'cause your persona rings with kindness.
Laurie
MamaK, you do totally rock & we love ya! You're seriously taking one for the team...like I told you in a pm, you're right that there are waaaay more demos willing to spill the beans, if it weren't for their fear of getting flamed!
My demo admitted to me that she had had second thoughts about sharing this site with us (her customers) because she was worried that we wouldn't need her anymore. What a riot that's been....since I've found out, I know that she's gotten several thousand $ in orders that she wouldn't have gotten because of all of the people that I've shared it with & all of the people that I've gotten into stamping now that it's fun for me! I've had stamps & supplies for about 7 years now, but only in the past year, since I've been coming here, have I been really into it! I've bought more in the last 2 months than I'd bought those 7 years altogether! And a friend of mine, who doesn't even have internet access, but has benefitted from my access to it, just got started stamping a couple of months ago and has easily spent over $1000 herself!
Okay, we've heard from several customers in this thread and all have said the "leaks" only added to their excitment and buying fervor, so how could there still be ANY demonstrators out there who still aren't getting it?!!!! It doesn't matter how your customers find out, or even if they find out before you do, you're still getting way more business because of this site than you would without it!
My demonstrator has three little ones at home and doesn't visit here as often as I do. Quite often I'm the one to tell her the latest news, (I believe she may have been introduced to Stampin' Up! at my home!) but when she does get any news, she tells her customers as soon as she can.....no "secrets", and it's paid off for her, big time!
So my advice to any demonstrators who are still upset....lighten up and enjoy all the extra business this type of excitement generates.
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
Last edited by Happy Heart; 04-30-2005 at 01:42 AM..
Thank you MamaK for posting and to everyone who shares information. I am one of the unfortunates that has a demo that does not pass on much information and when she does it is not in a timely fashion ( my demo told me about the April sign up discount on April 22) so I REALLY appreciate the information I get from this website as I am able to plan purchases
I also find that this site generates excitement about stampin up for me in a way that otherwise would not happen! If it were not for this site, I would not hear about new products, new ideas, new techniques and would think stampin up was limited to what is printed in the big idea book and a few supplements that come out 'whenever' ( 'cause as a customer I would have no idea that the supplements come out regularly- again my demo does not tell me.).
But for this site, I would not know about the new colors. I would not know about the pending retired list- I would postpone some purchases until I really felt like having something- knowing things are retiring really motivates me to purchase. That translates into more 05 sales for my demonstrator.
But for this site and the information shared, I would not have known that the canvas stamp was available for an extended period ( my demo STILL has not mentioned it).
If it were not for this site, I would not have purchased the balmy breezes set, which I love. There are companies who make similar stamps and I would have purchased some of those. Instead, I decided to wait for the set in the featured mini and purchased the stamps from stampin up. Again, more 05 sales for my demonstator.
I heard about the half price sets through this site, NOT my demo. I wound up purchasing some sets that I had my eye on for a while as well as the sincere salutations set. I had already been planning to puchase a similar sentiments set from TAC . Learning of the special from this site preempted my TAC purchase and also resulted in $100 extra business from me for my demo.
But for the information on this site I would not be plannning to purchase a large amount of rose romance items. I heard that this was retiring from this website, NOT from my demo and I am thankful that I will have the opportunity to purchase this color before its gone- I was otherwise planning to wait until July for my next Stampin Up purchase. Since I rarely place a stampin up order for less than $80, I'll be ordering some other items and that will be more business for my demo that she otherwise would not have had. More 05 sales for my demo.
In sum, I dont understand the opinion that getting information to customers in advance somehow hurts Stampin Up demonstrators. I think it only helps. Regardless of the source of my information, my demonstrator gets sales from me. Advance information has benefited my demonstrator to the tune of many hundreds of dollars. IMHO, the longer your customers have information about a product, the more excitement will grow about it and they will be that much more eager to have the products when they are finally released.
Thanks again MamaK and to all those who share!
Last edited by rubberinker; 04-29-2005 at 03:11 AM..
My former demo also kept me in the dark about a lot. For example, she told me of the March special on March 5. I mean, come on. I am on this site several times a day, I love it, except when we have uproars like this. But I think that there is another point of view that is not being considered, and as it unfortunately could cause great harm to ignore this aspect of the issue, I'm putting on my armor to do so.
My concern about all this is not with the color issue, but definitely the scans of the minis, or ANY OTHER IMAGES COPYRIGHTED BY SU!
Sorry to shout, but let's get real here. THINK about what you are doing. We all love SU! and this website. What if SU!, to protect their business (OUR business), had to come down hard on Tracy and Daven?
Would this website:
*remain open to the public?
*Open only for demos?
*Have to close all together?
Is this the result you wish to see for the "right" to share your excitement?
Remember all the MP3 mess, and lawsuits over music downloads? Same thing.
Demos-- and I'm sure SU!--love excited customers. But companies have to protect themselves from any who "leak" **whether** the intent be malicious or innocent. After all, once those scans are passed on, can you guarantee they won't end up with a competitor?
__________________ julia www.juliascreativemusings.blogspot.com
I'm not going to chime in about the right vs. wrong and cause more uproar, I just found this thread this morning. But as I was reading it, post by post, I just felt the need to tell Stardust that I COMPLETELY understood the intent of your first post, and I'm so sorry people here sent you flaming PM'S! Good grief, what are we, Kindergardeners?? Just so you know, there are some REALLY nice people here, not everyone is ready to attack.
That's it, I have to go get my exercise ball out!
Debbi
__________________ "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works," Hebrews 10:24
Much appreciated Kim, but not necessary since you've already apologized once before. I hope the sincerity in your little speech shines through to the nay-sayers amongst us.
You Rock the Big One!!
And your sister...she's okay.:rolleyes:
Just kidding! You Rock the Big One, Em!!!
Last edited by dncbanks; 04-29-2005 at 05:15 AM..
Reason: spelling errors
While I appreciate that some demos feel the need to keep things secret, I don't agree. I have more than once had a customer thank me for telling them something early so they could better plan for their purchases. I don't have unlimited funds for stamping and neither do my customers. I would hate for them to be bummed about missing out on something due to lack of funds and be unhappy with a purchase. .
Not just bummed...
In the 8 months I ordered $40-$100 of stuff every month from my old demo, she never told me squat -- like "if you wait until next month to order those sets, you'll get the wheel for free. Even the one that is not available until the next catty." But no. She took the sale. Now that I know demos have warning on stuff like that, I really see she was not representing the interest of SU! I have spent more with my new demo every 2 months than in the 8 with the old one.
One of the above posters is just naive about the electronic age. Things will leak. Embrace it, be prepared for it. Afterall, it is your position that you want to "break" the news. It is your business, if you don't want to be caught off gaurd, be prepared.
But don't tell me that as a customer I am not affected by the leaks and it is unfair to you wherever in the world you are at. These "leaks" affect my wallet.
In the 8 months I ordered $40-$100 of stuff every month from my old demo, she never told me squat -- like "if you wait until next month to order those sets, you'll get the wheel for free.
I'm not defending your old demo, but please be aware that we demos don't always know what's coming up. Some times SU springs these promotions on us, too, like the free shipping in December.
My concern about all this is not with the color issue, but definitely the scans of the minis, or ANY OTHER IMAGES COPYRIGHTED BY SU!
Sorry to shout, but let's get real here. THINK about what you are doing. We all love SU! and this website. What if SU!, to protect their business (OUR business), had to come down hard on Tracy and Daven?
Would this website:
*remain open to the public?
*Open only for demos?
*Have to close all together?
Is this the result you wish to see for the "right" to share your excitement?
Remember all the MP3 mess, and lawsuits over music downloads? Same thing.
Demos-- and I'm sure SU!--love excited customers. But companies have to protect themselves from any who "leak" **whether** the intent be malicious or innocent. After all, once those scans are passed on, can you guarantee they won't end up with a competitor?
I'm with Julia on this one. I don't mind at all when someone using their real ID tells people in their own words something exciting about an upcoming mini or new color change. As far as I'm concerned, that's not a leak, that's generating excitement.
I have a problem with one thing that seems to follow the "leak" threads (in quotations because once it is released to demos it isn't really a leak IMO). That is, that people would allow their excitement about an upcoming mini to override their concern for the *law* and SCS and ask people to break the US copyright law. And people who scan a mini and share images *are* breaking the law. It's wrong, even if you don't get caught. Period.
I'm also a little concerned that people think that their demos want to keep them in the dark. Because SU! doesn't dictate the way we run our businesses, some demonstrators choose to "tell" customers about mini catalogs by spending money to *send* them one and don't necessarily think the first thing they should do once they hear about a mini catalog that customers won't be able to order from until June 1 is to call the customer and tell them all about the mini catalog sets they won't be able to order from until June 1. See what I mean? I know that my customers will be getting a mini catalog mailing from SU! around the middle to end of May because I paid to have them sent to them. I work full time and so do many of my customers. LOTS of my customers don't even have E-Mail (or don't want to be on my E-Mail list) so it's more efficient for me to call them once they get the minis. I'm not the best demo in the world, and sometimes I forget to call (or really, make excuses about why I wouldn't want to call - I don't want anyone to think I'm pushy LOL).
I do like reading these threads to understand what the customer might perceive - that their demo is trying to keep them in the dark - when it really might be that the demo isn't working her business the way she would like to (I'm speaking for myself here!)
Just some food for thought and some of it is more the equivalent of me opening my mind and letting you watch me chew my "food". Sorry about that. LOL
Cheers,
__________________ Kelly
Stampin' crazed since 2001 Dean's wife, Andy and Matt's mom, and Jesus' sister.
mamaK, you crack me up, I love your humor and it scares me that I get it,lol ! But then again I have always loved dry humor. Anyway I know 2 demos and only one shared the new colors with me, so off I went and ordered $40 worth of c/s from her because I would be hoppin' mad if I didn't have enough Rose Romance because SU ran out before I could order. < now that's a run on sentence. Not going to comment on anything else in this thread since everyone is entitled to having an opinion and I am so grateful for this site. Have a great day everyone and Happy Stamping!!
My concern about all this is not with the color issue, but definitely the scans of the minis, or ANY OTHER IMAGES COPYRIGHTED BY SU!
As I have said before I do not endorse or participate in the scanning of copyrighted images. This has nothing to do with that. I don't do that and I won't do that.
I just wanted to put a public apology on here for Stardust. I did send a rather harsh pm regarding what she had said. I misunderstood where she was going with her post. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. I can only say I am a bit testy from what has been going on around here, but it's no exscuse for contributing to the headache. I apologize for upsetting you Stardust and I hope we can put this all behind us. Only nice things or nothing at all for me!!
Emily, I'm proud of you for apologizing. I, too, am sorry if I overreacted. here I was asking for people to give other people the benefit of the doubt and assume good intentions... and I assumed negative intentions on your part, stardust.
I'm sorry. You deserve to be treated better than that.
mamakimberly---I love your sense of humor and your enthusiasm! I am a devoted SU customer and I truly live for all of the new news! I can plan ahead for purchases and the anticipation is so fun!!!! Thanks for your fun, caring, and happy personality......
Hugs, Kimberley aka Kim
I'm not defending your old demo, but please be aware that we demos don't always know what's coming up. Some times SU springs these promotions on us, too, like the free shipping in December.
I really would like to second this thought....SU is definitely NOT consistent in how they announce things. Last year's free shipping special for example. It was just announced on a late Monday morning that effective immedialy, shipping would be free. If a demo had put in an order earlier in the morning, too bad. Over the weekend? Too bad. You have NO idea the anguish a lot of demos went through. I mean, yeah, free shipping, awesome! But to tell your customer that placed an order yesterday that she couldn't get it, and that you didn't know about it yesterday? Ugh.... I had placed a large order for my SIL that weekend...certainly if I'd known about the special I would have waited to enter it! It was basically the same scenario with the free calendar promo.
So, please don't think poorly of demos across the board on this issue of SU specials....
Just a friendly FYI-this isn't the only site that customers see this info on. I know of a least one other site where a SU! demo posts new info the same day, usually within minutes, of it being posted here.
Personally, I think SU!, CTMH and other companies, take into consideration that things like this will be "leaked" ahead of time. I don't think they would even be letting demo's know ahead of time if they didn't want it to be known. Actually, it's probably all part of their marketing strategy.
I am a confessing lurker...............I have hopped skipped and jumped over several of these threads lately about leaks and I must say, you said everything I wished I could have said Kimberly. I love SU products, I get excited to hear what new things they come up with. It gives me the heads up on orders. My demo is wonderful, creative, and quite talented (she is my sister but I still think all those things and more), I think the excitement I find on this site just adds to the excitement and then orders I have for what she presents during workshops. I know there is another point of view and although I just don't understand it, I respect it. Thanks for your thread Kimberly and for your sister who shares the latest SU info with you.
I love the card Kimberly!! You are too creative and witty! I love the energy that you and your sister create on this site. You two remind me of my sister and me. Keep your energy flowing. As a sahm, I need it to get me through the days of no contact with the adult world!
__________________ mel mom to carson, cooper, cole, and cammie
Ok, I'm hijacking this thread for a post...what the heck is up with flaming pms? I've read that so many people get flamed and that's just plain wrong. If ya don't agree with someone or something said, then be big enough to state it on the open forum or move on about your business. I've never received a flaming pm (until this post I'm sure) nor have I or will I ever send one.
MamaK and Emily, you girls rock!! You're so sweet, funny and have such big hearts.
Off my soapbox...back to your regular posting now.
I'm not defending your old demo, but please be aware that we demos don't always know what's coming up. Some times SU springs these promotions on us, too, like the free shipping in December.
Of course. That was quite obvious it was a surprise to even the demos. I got my little postcard, too.
I mean like last year when SU offered the wheels for free with the purchase of Like your Style and Wild Things sets. I didn't even have my sets yet when she sent the email with the special. Or the 50% off March sets last year, she told me after I had placed my March order for her club. I really believed she was incompetent or deceitful with that one.
THINK about what you are doing. We all love SU! and this website. What if SU!, to protect their business (OUR business), had to come down hard on Tracy and Daven?
Would this website:
*remain open to the public?
*Open only for demos?
*Have to close all together?
Is this the result you wish to see for the "right" to share your excitement?
Remember all the MP3 mess, and lawsuits over music downloads? Same thing.
Demos-- and I'm sure SU!--love excited customers. But companies have to protect themselves from any who "leak" **whether** the intent be malicious or innocent. After all, once those scans are passed on, can you guarantee they won't end up with a competitor?
This is what I am most concerned about. I am a demo and have stayed a demo because of this site. I've tried other sites and they just don't have the samples, etc. that SCS does. I don't see anything wrong with leaks as long as they aren't against the law, etc. No, I am not a rightious person, but just remember what this could do to Tracy and Daven. Remember Tracy is a demo and SU could make her shut this site down if we keep up the friction of what is right or wrong. We (whether we are a demo or a customer) know what is right or wrong and if it's wrong, just don't do it here. If you think it is wrong, ask yourself "How would this effect Tracy as a demo"? and then go from there. I would really hate to see SCS close down or only be open to demos.
Let's stop all this and get back to stampin'!
__________________
Powerful Women's Motto:
Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says.. 'Oh sh*t....she's awake'
I'm on info overload - trying to take in everything this site has to offer. Note quite sure how I *missed a memo or something* LOL! so I don't know what prompted your letter. First it was VERY articulate and well thought out. Second information is NEVER a bad thing. It's what people do with it that makes it positive or negative. As a demo if I rec'd a call from a customer about something I didn't know yet - I would make some sort of self depricating remark about mommy brain and find out for her. I wouldn't want to miss out on a sale! Third I tell ALL my customers about this site. It releives their anxiety about having to *create* their own cards. Then I make a joke about how my secrets out and that they'll never look at me as the stamping goddess they once did when they see a card we made at a w/s right here on this site! LOL! Like a message above I can't count the number of sets that come out that don't really catch my eye at first and then I keep seeing the great cards here and get "talked" into HAVING to have it. likewise when cards are posted made with sets that aren't released to the public yet. By the time they are available I HAVE to have it and so do my clients.
LONG LIVE SCS and the wonderful, enthusiastic stampers that live here!
__________________
~AnneMarie~
How we say something is often more important than what we are saying ... "AnneMarieism"
I'm on info overload - trying to take in everything this site has to offer. Note quite sure how I *missed a memo or something* LOL! so I don't know what prompted your letter.
This thread is from April '05 - almost a year ago. That's probably why you feel you "missed something".
I'm guessing this maybe appeared at the bottom of a page of another thread you were on - where it says related threads. A lot of times those threads are super old so it's a good idea to check the date on them.
Welcome to SCS! You're right about there being a ton of info here! Enjoy.
This thread is from April '05 - almost a year ago. That's probably why you feel you "missed something".
I'm guessing this maybe appeared at the bottom of a page of another thread you were on - where it says related threads. A lot of times those threads are super old so it's a good idea to check the date on them.
Welcome to SCS! You're right about there being a ton of info here! Enjoy.
Whew Jami I thought it was starting all over again. Then when I saw my own reply I really got scared. For a minute I thought I was going to have bring out that " Don't Get your Panties in a Bunch " card of mine again,lol
Wait a minute, is this up here again because today is April Fools ?
