2009 Handmade In California Spring Gift Guide is here!

There are a number of exciting changes from the Holiday Guide so please read carefully. The Spring Gift Guide is optional and all CCCOE members are invited to participate. All participating shops in the Gift Guide must be CCCOE members. The cost for each shop to participate in the CCCOE Gift Guide is $8.00. This includes 6 images per shop, listed under 3 different and appropriate categories of your choice. If you have more than one shop, each shop must pay $8.00 to be included. If you have more than one shop, sharing items between your shops is not allowed. (For example if you have Shops A and B, you cannot combine items from Shops A and B and pay only $8.00.) You can see an example of how the guide pages will look here: http://www.handmadeincalifornia.net/samplelayout.html ·To reserve your space, go to http://www.handmadeincalifornia.net/guide-reservation.html and follow the reservation instructions Once you reserve your space and categories, you will receive an invoice to pay for your listing within 24 hours. All spaces are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Upon making your reservation you will be guaranteed your first category choice. No shops will be added after February 1, 2009 unless you are a new CCCOE member. Each category will be limited to 15 shops. The categories are as follows: Art Aficionados Décor Eco Friendly Fashion Forward Etc. Gifts by Price Range (choose a sub-category): Under $25 Under $50 Under $75 Luxe – items $100 and over For Her For Him Tot to Teen Jewelry (choose a sub-category): Necklaces Bracelets Earrings Rings & Things Adornments Paperie Spa Special Occasion Indulgences Supplies are not included in the Gift Guide. Some categories are empty until shops are added to that category. The front page of the gift guide will rotate and each member should be on the front page 1-2 times between launching and April 30, 2009 depending on the number of participants. These will also update automatically from Etsy. Each store is marked as a favorite when they sign-up to be certain that the items rotate often. A press release will be sent to several newspapers, tv and radio stations and stylists throughout the state. If you would like your bio sent with the press release, please forward to anniek at anniekclothing [!at] google.com. Some newspapers thought the press release was not relevant to their readers without having a shop in their area. Money collected from guide listings and advertisements will go towards promoting the Spring Gift Guide via web ads. (i.e. project wonderful, blogs and other places that the PR Committee determines to best suit the advertising needs of the Gift Guide.) During the Holiday Gift Guide, over 250 ads were running consecutively. If the budget allows, we will also print postcards to hand out at shows, with packages, etc. Suggestions are most welcome. Other expenses such as payment of the graphics and other items will also be used from the fees. Advertising will be accepted for the front page and each category. Ads will be 125 x 125 pixels. Front page ads cost $20 each and category ads cost $10 each for CCCOE members. Ads will run through April 30, 2009 The Gift Guide may also have advertising from non-CCCOE shops, but still must reside in California and be handmade. The PR Committee reserves the right to refuse any and all ads from non-CCCOE shops. The price for these ads will be $25 and will also be 125 x 125 pixels. NEW CHANGES The pages of the guide have been redesigned to allow more exposure for shops and better ad placement! The first 30 CCCOE members to reserve space on the guide will be featured on the front page under the new "SpotLight" section. Shop Spotlights will run for 3 days. Members who reserve their space after the first 30, will be featured on Spotlight sections under appropriate category pages. The "Chatterbox" is a new section where buyers can find sales, promotions and the latest news. Guide participants may email their news and shop updates to: buttercupbloom [!at] gmail.com. During our last giveaway, 100 new members signed up for email updates and of course, a chance at the giveaway. More information to come on the giveaway. We have added Twitter and Facebook pages for the Spring Guide. When the guide launches, links to these accounts will be sent to CCCOE members, please share them with friends and mark them as favorites. Please review the guidelines carefully and feel free to contact AnnieK or Wrenay should you have any questions.