{"id":6752,"date":"2016-11-16T19:57:32","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T19:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=6752"},"modified":"2016-11-21T20:04:55","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T20:04:55","slug":"the-ladder-club-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ladder Club 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The Ladder Club 2016 was one of the best I have attended in thirteen years of speaking at the event. This year’s seminars for new and aspiring publishers were held at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea\u00a0and featured a host of greeting card experts to help those starting out or seeking\u00a0to grow their greeting card businesses.<\/p>\n

Founded by Lynn Tait<\/a> and now organised by Jakki Brown, editor of Progressive Greetings Magazine<\/a> the Ladder Club has been an incredible support for so many artists, creatives and newbies for the last 17 years helping them to save time, money and heartache. If you are new to the card industry and have never attended, I would highly recommend doing so.<\/p>\n

Here are some photos and a summary of the two days at the Ladder Club 2016:<\/p>\n

\"TheIf you ever attend the event it’s worth\u00a0staying over the night before and attending the delegates dinner at the Westcliff Hotel<\/a>. Speakers are seated amongst delegates on every table.\u00a0It’s a great opportunity to\u00a0network and pick up some informal tips from the experts.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Day 1 at the Ladder Club 2016<\/strong>\u00a0was for absolute beginners and those considering setting up a greeting card business. The day started at 9am sharp with an introduction from Lynn and \u00a0Jakki. After the speakers were introduced, Sharon Little the Chief Executive of the Greeting Card Association<\/a> said a few words about the GCA and why it’s worth being a member.<\/p>\n

\"TheKaren Wilson and Claire Williams then gave a wonderful news reader style presentation of the highs and lows of their company Paper Salad<\/a>. Then\u00a0Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun<\/a> (that’s me) spoke on how to wear different hats within your greeting card business and the different ways of thinking\u00a0needed to run a successful greeting card company.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

After a short break, Julie Brightley from Enveco<\/a> talked us through the nitty gritty of envelopes. Mark Jessett\u00a0from GF Smith<\/a>\u00a0gave an amusing\u00a0talk on how to choose the right boards for printing your cards on. Bob Short from The Imaging Centre<\/a> took us through printing digitally. His son Adam demonstrated their fantastic new online ordering and marketing system called Simplicity. Simon King from Sherwood Press<\/a> spoke on litho printing. Sharon returned to wrap up the morning’s session telling us\u00a0what to include on the back of our greeting cards.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

After lunch we\u00a0learned about PG Live<\/a> from co-founder Warren Lomax and Tracey Arnaud who runs the a section of the show called Springboard for new publishers. Jim Bullough then took us through the practical aspects of exhibiting at trade shows. I wrapped the section up with a short talk on how to evaluate the success of trade shows.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Midlands sales agent, Ian Bradley<\/a>, showed us the inside a sales agent’s brain. Miles Robinson from House of Cards<\/a> shared the independent retailer’s perspective. Finally, Ben Hickman and Mark Williams from Brainbox Candy<\/a> talked about standing out from the crowd with effective marketing.<\/p>\n

Day 2 at the Ladder Club 2016<\/strong>\u00a0was for those who have already exhibited at a trade show or are turning over several thousand pounds. Day 2\u00a0is more about climbing the ladder once you are on it.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe day was filled with some fantastic talks from Ladder Club alumni. Jack and Hannah Dale of Wrendale Designs<\/a> who have grown their business from \u00a30 to \u00a32.5 million in four years shared their story and insights. Tish Bas\u00a0and Hazel Williams from Paperchase<\/a> gave a large multiple retailer’s perspective and answered loads of questions from an inquisitive audience. Jessica Hogarth<\/a> spoke brilliantly on licensing and copying issues.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I shared\u00a0my experience of\u00a0export, cash flow and financial growing pains. Mark Coulson from Coulson Macleod<\/a> discussed warehousing and fulfilment options. Gale Astley, Warren Lomax and Jakki Brown spoke on PR and how to generate sales and leads through PG magazine. The day ended with a panel Q&A session with the speakers and an interesting discussion on price increases that are expected in 2017.<\/p>\n

The Ladder Club 2016 was a fantastic example of\u00a0the wonderful and supportive nature of the greeting card industry. I loved speaking at it and am so grateful to Lynn and Jakki for starting it. It has helped so many publishers and creatives over the years. If you are thinking about setting up a greeting card business don’t miss it next year.<\/p>\n

10 Top Climbers from the Ladder Club<\/a><\/p>\n

10 Ladder Cub Alumni on their way up<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ladder Club 2016 was one of the best I have attended in thirteen years of speaking at the event. This year’s seminars for new and aspiring publishers were held at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea\u00a0and featured a host of greeting card experts to help those starting out or seeking\u00a0to grow their greeting card businesses. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[22],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ladder Club 2016 - BES Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Highlights from the Ladder Club 2016 seminars for new and growing greeting card publishers held at the Cliffs Pavilion in Essex from 15-16 November 2016.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ladder Club 2016 - BES Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Highlights from the Ladder Club 2016 seminars for new and growing greeting card publishers held at the Cliffs Pavilion in Essex from 15-16 November 2016.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BES Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlueEyedSun\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-16T19:57:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-21T20:04:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/TheLadderClub2016-Day1-Delegates.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a44ac7e126af314343cfeb7e5fdc75d2\"},\"headline\":\"The Ladder Club 2016\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-16T19:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-21T20:04:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\"},\"wordCount\":741,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/TheLadderClub2016-Day1-Delegates.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Ladder Club\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Card Industry News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.blueeyedsun.co.uk\/blog\/the-ladder-club-2016\/\",\"name\":\"The Ladder Club 2016 - 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