I had been toying with the idea of making some purple "Father Rights" or " NCP Rights" magentic ribbons for the back of automobiles to help spread the word....these kinds of ribbons sell like crazy down here and I thought that perhaps they might do well in "our" communtiy too. Out of curiousity how many here might be interested in a custom printed purple ribbon to stick onto the back of their vehicles? Also should it say "Fathers Rights" or "NCP Rights"? Anyone have some input? If I see there is enough interest in having these made I'll have them printed up, but I would need at least 100 people or more before I could jsutify doing this. They would most likely sell for $5.00 each due to the cost of printing them.
Is this a good idea or no? I am open to constructive criticism.
Thanks,
Chris
Some time ago, Joni posted ideas on this. You might want to go back in the archives and see what she had in mind. I think it was just before Christmas.
I like the idea, show support and spread the word.
When I have spent so much time at the courthouse, I made business cards spreading the word about Sparc. You can tell the fathers who are in there, just by looking at their faces. They look lost and empty...
Like their souls have been taken away. I bet I look the same.
"Children learn what they live"
I like the idea and would be interested in buying one or maybe even more than one so I can give them to some others! Keep us updated!
I Think I have a design down. A bright purple ribbon, magnetic so it'll stick to the back of your car, that reads "Kids NEED BOTH Parents"..... what do you think? I like it because it works for NC dads and moms. Kinda sends the message too that we don't want to take away the chldren...we jsut want our fair share.
I am still looking for a way to afford gettingthe first batch made though. We are looking at several hundred dollars to get the minimum of 250 made. I had thought about perhaps talking to KRights radio and seeing if they wanted to purchase an advertising spot on the ribbons (the center cut out part perhaps). You can view perview of what I had in mind on my website:
http://help-a-dad.blogspot.com/
If anyone has more input it is welcomed. If I goto the trouble and expense of creating these things I want them to be what the "community" wants. Not to mention I want them to help us give our cause a voice.
Thanks Again.
Chris
I love the idea of the slogan Kids need both parents!! Thats great! This way it can fit both cp as well as ncp.
I am a CP and a SM so it would fit BOTH situations!!
I LOVE IT!!
Thats an AWESOME idea!
I like the car ribbon idea alot. I'm involved two fathers' groups in Michigan who would probably buy them from you if you can give me a firm quote, I'll present your proposal to them.
RIBBONS....RIBBONS....RIBBONS
Here's the way to spread the word. Like the old Herbal Essence commerce featuring Heather Locklear...I told two friends...and they told two friends...and so on, and so on.
I found and contacted a web site that sells purple enamel lapel pins. A dozen for $9. The vendor has a large inventory. I had a thought that if everyone bought a box and gave the other 11 pins to friends and family to wear, it would help put out the word.
//www.theribbonlady.com/pins.html
I would emphasize NEEDS, have it bold print in another color, separate from the other words. Underline it...
I would be interested in a few myself
"Children learn what they live"
From the sounds of it I think that we got ourselves a winning idea for the car magnets. I had thought about all caps on the NEED actually...don't know why I didn't put it on that one...hehe oh well.
I like the lapel pin idea as well Joni. Sadly I don't know that many people...haha.
As of right now I do not have a direct quote from the company that produces the car magent ribbons as to what it would cost...it varies depending on the number of colors....purple according to them is also a special color so, of course more money. I want to keep the costs of the car magnets down though, since they are going to be printed special they are going to sell for more than the $2.00 magnetic ribbons you can buy at the gas stations, but I want to keep the price under $5.00. Is that a good price? Also I wanted to check out shipping cost for the thing. I don't expect that shipping them would cost a great deal...maybe a $1.00. Anyway as you can see I am still tying up the loose ends. I wanted to get some input from the community and to see if there was any interest. I don't want to be stuck with 250 purplre ribbons...although it would be funny to see what would happen if you stuck them ALL to your car at once..haha.
As I find out more, I'll let you all know. I very much want to do this if everyone is interested. Any other input, please let me know. Thanks
I updated the purple Kids Rights or Non Custodial Rights magnetic car ribbons and have posted it on my website. I used some of the suggestions you all gave me. Let me know if these are acceptable.
I double checked with the manufactorer and these ribbons are 3.5" by 8" so they are pretty big....enough for everyone to see.
Please note to defer the cost of producing these ribbons I might see if K-Rights or some other kids/parents rights group (maybe even SPARCS) would want to purchase advertising space in teh little center heart where I have the "We the people demand family law reform now!" statement. Is that a good idea?
I was sitting here in front of the computer doing what I do most every morning after getting the kids all out the door to school. (checking in on Sparc) I was reading the above post and went to your web site to see the update and had this thought......
How about : WE THE PARENTS DEMAND FAMILY LAW REFORM NOW!
Just an idea, whats everyone else think?
Well the final revision of the purple NCP rights magnetic car ribbon is posted at my website: http://help-a-dad.blogspot.com/
I have set up a seperate page for ordering the ribbons which uses pay pal to make it safe and easy for everyone to order.
The ribbons will be $5.00 each plus shipping+Handling (about $1.00 per ribbon) and I set it up so you can order as many as you want. I will most likely be taking pre-orders of the ribbons sometime next week and then once I place the order with the manufacturer they should be to me with 10 business days and to everyone who orders them a few days after that. I am ordering 500 to begin with to see what kind of response we get. Already I have 30-40 orders...at least people saying they WANT to order some anyway. Whether they do or not is another thing.
I sincerely and honestly hope that these ribbons can help raise awareness about our battles. Also perhaps I can earn a little money to help with my move to Colorado. I have tried to keep the cost of the ribbons low because of the fact that most of us are broke...well at least I am..haha.
I will post something next week when I am ready to begin taking orders. Thank you again for all of the input and support.
Sincerely,
The Ribbon Guy
Chris Alexander
[email protected]
Just checked them out and they look good, I like the heart in the middle.
Keep a few in your pocket at all times, check out local gas stations and see if they would be willing to add them to other ribbons they sell.
Did you mention these to other groups?
"Children learn what they live"
I have mentioned the ribbons to 10 different fathers rights/ NCP rights yahoo groups, IndianaCRC.org, KRIGHTS, and several others. My fingers are cramping from all the typing hahaha. There has been a very good response. I have counted...for those who mentioned numbers in their e-mails, approximately 70 orders and I won't be taking orders till next week. That's not bad considering 99% of those responses came back to me in a 2 hour period.
I have the website where I will be selling these all set up. I am in the process of creating a purple ribbon web link button to the order site for people to put on their web pages.
I had thought that for an organization who could afford it these would be great to give out to the public like at a non-violent protest or someting. I had not really thought about ti until now but I might be able to work out some kind of discount quantity pricing for orders of 100 or more.
Anyway tell your friends, tell members of any and all NCP or fathers rights websites you can think of and perhaps we together we can give our cause a voice. Also PLEASE tell everyone you know because I am biting the bullet here are spending almsot everything I got to order 500 of these magnets. I really need to sell them all....I don't have enough car for 500 magnets..haha.
As soon as the website is ready to go and take orders, post the link to all the organizations you can. Word will get out. Once they are visible on the vehicles, word will get out that way too.
You might think about working up some business cards, this you can do yourself. Pass the word to all local merchants in your area.
When you send snail mail, include the card, or at the very least, enclose the website at the end of your closing.
I really think this will take off...
"Children learn what they live"
What about Ebay and Yahoo! Auctions?
See if you can do the Buy now thing on Ebay instead of auctioning them off.
On E-bay you have to have a merchant reputation built up before you can use the "Buy now" feature. I jsut signed up for them about a week ago and haven't had anything to sell so no reputation so can't use the Buy-now feature. If I can't sell all 500 ribbons through the communtiy I will use them or perhaps talk to some local merchants to see if they would stock them. One way or another I MUST sell them all. I hope that this will be easy and I can order another 500 or so to sell. The more of these we get out there and on cars for people to see the more we can draw others to our fight.
Do I sound like a broken record yet? haha Sorry I have been hard at work on this thing and I'm getting kind tired. Please bear with me.
Sincerely,
Chris
How much does each one cost you?
It depends on how many I order. The price per unit goes down the more I order, but the number I must sell to break even goes up.
Just hoping you would make some kind of profit to help with your move.