client inspiration – Page 2 – custompaper.com/blog

May 11, 2014

The trouble with online reviews – How do you decide who to listen to?

A close friend of mine just had one of the worst weeks a small business owner can have. There are many challenges we face and overcome from every angle you can imagine but one of the toughest is from difficult people. He had to fire an employee this week that may end up dragging out into much drama over the next several months (or even years if it goes all courtroom). I think the hardest part for him were the very personal attacks that this employee threw around like so many dangerous, virulent seeds. These squeaky wheels get so much more attention than they deserve and as the one under attack, we often feel that there must be some truth to their accusations, otherwise they wouldn’t be saying those hurtful things right? Not so. Some people are only happy when they are stepping on other people. We need to be able to filter those people out.

With that in mind I have found a way to address an unhappy individual that I dealt with last November. I wanted to respond to her Yelp review, I wanted to find her own Yelp business page and leave her a few choice comments, I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum, but I chose to not dignify her comments with a response. And then today we received a lovely email from a customer and this is how I have decided to address the issue; by speaking about it here on our own blog.

Thanks for reading and understand that in our very connected world your every action has the ability to ripple into far greater lengths than ever before, so be nice!

Hi Kevin!

I happened to go on Yelp today and noticed that you have two Of The Earth pages on Yelp…and the more current one has only one review, a repeat of the one negative review from your original page. I wrote my own review with five stars, but combined with that other one you still only have a 3-star average.

If you didn’t create that Yelp page you can probably claim it and delete it — it’s better not to have two, so you should be able to just update the address on your original one, I’m not sure about that though. Let me know if you do delete that one and I’ll be happy to put my review on your other page.

Thanks again for the invitations — they are amazing!
Anna

Anna,

Thank you for your message. I am very glad that you are happy with your invitations.

Thanks for the gift of your time in leaving a public review for us. We really do appreciate it. I think Yelp can be a helpful tool (I have used it to find out about yoga studios close to home) but I have a bit of a beef with them (as you might guess) for more than just the Of The Earth listing but also from our many business owner friends who have spoken of their feelings of extortion when dealing with Yelp sales people.

We moved our business last July (and five years prior to that move). When we moved in 2008, our one five star review (at the time) moved with us. When we moved in 2013 to our dismay we discovered that our Yelp page was not going to move with us. Yelp had changed their policies and we had to rebuild, with new images and data our Yelp page for our new location. None of our reviews moved with us.

In December of last year we received our first review on Yelp in our new location. In Yelp’s business plan it made sense to them to ensure that that review was posted on both locations. You see, if we pay Yelp $1000 a month (no joke I talked to them at length) they ensure that any bad reviews are pushed to the bottom of the stack, perhaps even get lost on a back page, as long as the payments keep coming.

In life you have to take a few lumps, so we have put pictures and data and our hours of operation on Yelp but we don’t have to pay them or support them in any way. We also don’t have to tolerate extortion from potential customers, even if that means facing an unpleasant public statement of questionable veracity.

I am excited to read your review and again thank you for taking your time to let folks (on the interwebs) know that you were happy with your experience with us.

Wishing you the best,
Kevin

Kevin Graham
kevin@custompaper.com
www.custompaper.com
Of The Earth
7706 Aurora Avenue North
Seattle WA 98103
1.888.294.1526

January 29, 2014

Hand addressing envelopes – how to stand out from the junk mail.

Calligraphy sample from Long Village Lettering — How to stand out in the mail

In this incredibly busy week as we gear up for the new bridal season and work on last minute plans for tomorrow’s flight to New York to set up our booth at the National Gift Show in Manhattan I was stopped for a moment, long enough to sit down even to enjoy a piece of mail that the dripping wet postman just delivered. It was a hand written thank you note from a woman in North Carolina who runs her own Calligraphy business. She sent us one of our own seed embedded envelopes back in the mail with beautiful hand lettering on the front and a business card and note on the inside.

I think this can stand as a clear testament to the power of the personalized mailing. I know everyone is busy, I know I am busy, and yet this simple act of handwriting really can stop someone in their tracks for a few moments and draw their attention to the message you are sending.

For all of you brides out their considering printing your guest’s names instead of hand writing them, don’t. Just take the extra time to let the people (you care enough about to invite to one of the most exciting days of your life) know that you really care. You really want them there and your own handwriting spells it out for them. It is that personal touch missing from so many areas of our lives today. Your extra effort will be noticed and appreciated. It really does make a difference.

Okay so clearly we don’t all have amazing handwriting like the image above, but still you have family you can enlist to help, you can pick up a book or watch a video demo for pointers and tips on improving your own handwriting. Start early and it will be manageable, and worth it.

October 25, 2013

Northlake Wedding Event Programs

Here is a quick look at the Northlake Wedding Program for the Center for Urban Horticulture event space. We are using our Earth Silk ribbon blend #016 in conjunction with the lotka seed paper, black print and a light weight slate background. We think this says Whimsical Romance! What do you think?

October 2, 2013

THE GOOD EARTH CANDLE COMPANY

We often write of the custom orders we create for clients’ worldwide, commissioned projects remain to be some of our favorite and most memorable endeavors. Recently we had the pleasure of working with Jeanette Maurer of The Good Earth Candle Company.

“The Good Earth Candle Company features a thoroughly sustainable product, it is carefully crafted in the US in collaboration with a number of skilled artisans and small companies. All candle components are made of natural and renewable materials.”

Jeanette discovered us at a trade show and worked patiently with us to create the right combination of petals and seeds to pair with her line of soy candles. The paper we make for her acts as both a label and a protective cover for her product.

“The last touch to her candles is the unique cover. Jeanette partnered with a creative “eco” printer Jen Merrill, and Kevin Graham who handcrafted the beautiful paper. The paper is infused with real flowers, ferns and seeds that can be planted into the soil to beautify our wonderful planet even more. Jeanette has passion and pride in everything she creates and is very excited to pass this on through offering high quality, very special, “Eco Elegant” products to her customers.”

Upon completion of the project we chatted with Jeanette about her experience working with us to create unique packaging for her candles.

“Kevin and his team have been amazing! When I came to him with my custom project I was impressed with his ability to seamlessly design and execute the elements for my candle covers. He continues to be gracious, generous and helpful even after our project has technically been completed.”

Thank you, Jeanette! We so enjoyed working with you!

April 15, 2013

Client Profile: Theo Chocolate

We consider ourselves lucky to call the amazing Seattle-based Theo Chocolate a client. They not only create insanely delicious products, they are also committed social entrepreneurs and conscious stewards of the environment. It is always exciting to see how they incorporate our ribbons and papers into their displays.

Last Friday Theo introduced a new Collection in connection with their “ongoing commitment to sourcing cocoa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)”, the Congo Confection Collection was “designed for Mother’s Day and inspired by the women of Congo (a portion of each box’s sale will benefit ECI’s work with women in the region)”. We created the custom ribbon for this gift set and think it beautifully complements the already colorful and gorgeous package designs.

To learn more about Theo’s commitment to the Congo, please check out their blog. Purchase their Congo Confection Collection here.

Working with businesses, small and large, passionate about using environmentally responsible products and practices is always exciting and encouraging. If you know of a company searching for a way to instill better practice please, send them our way! We create beautiful custom products that meet the strictest client specifications and leave the smallest wake in the process.

March 27, 2013

Creative Clients

We have the pleasure of meeting and working with wonderful client and shop owners all over the world. The creative and inventive uses they find for our products never cease to amaze our staff. On occasion, we receive emails from our contacts showcasing the amazing ways they have integrated our paper and ribbon into their displays, and sometimes even into their wardrobe.

Lila Bulis of Lila’s Scrapbooking sent these photos of her lovely display of our handmade papers.

Lila’s is located in Everett, and she currently carries single sheets and cards, pressed flowers, silk ribbon and eco-twist from our line. Her store is a great resource for crafting and scrapbooking aficionados.

A recent customer used our build green ribbon to dress up a hat for her son’s upcoming nuptials. We were both impressed and delighted by her stylish use of the ribbon. “I used the ribbon on the brim and also as a kind of hatband round the scarf, which goes through slots at the side of the crown so that you can tie your hat on in a high wind”. Lovely work, Ceri! Thank you for the inspiration!

Do you have a project you want to share with our readers? Please submit your creations to ote <at> custompaper.com.