Sew Many Places

by Jim West

“QUILTPOSIUM” PROGRAM OFFERS FREE TRIPS

I have mentioned before in this column, that providing some kind of special service or product in the quilt industry will set you apart from the competition and generate great income if what you are offering is attractive. I would like to take this concept a step further and introduce to you an opportunity to generate additional income for yourself and your business with our newly introduced “Quiltposium Program.”

As many of you may know, Sew Many Places has aggressively and innovatively been fulfilling the needs of the quilting community and taking quilters to exciting places around the world for some time now. This year, as our corporation turns 10 years old, we are actively seeking individuals who want to join our SMP family and earn money in addition to traveling for free on any of our trips.

During the past year, various quilt shop owners and quilting teachers from around the country have contacted our office asking us to plan a quilt cruise or tour they could sponsor. In looking at this idea further, we have now created a program for anyone who might be interested in making this win-win-win scenario.

Our “Quiltposium Program”works in this way: First, if you are a shop owner and interested in participating, you must contact our Sew Many Places office and ask for Bunny. She will give you a merchant identification number.

Once you are registered, you will receive a list of all of the tours we are currently working on and currently in development. Choose the trip that looks the most attractive to you, and this will be the trip you focus on helping us sell.

We will e-mail you a copy of the flyer for that trip that you can download. Place the merchant number you have been given on the top of the flyers and leave them on the counter where your clients check out. For every person who calls us, signing up on that trip because they picked up the flyer in your store, you will receive a point. If you get 20 points, you go on that trip for free. If you don’t quite make 20 points, we will discount the price of that trip, based on the points you have accumulated, or give you money back for every point you have acquired and pass on the trip. Either way, there is something good in it for you.

Some of the cruises and tours you currently have to choose from include China, Tuscany (Italy), Spain, an Alaska cruise, Germany/Austria, France, Australia/New Zealand, South America, the Netherlands, Caribbean cruise, Canada/New England cruise, the quilt expo in Birmingham (England), Hawaii cruise and Ireland.

Some store owners have contacted us and told us specifically where they would like to go, based on their friends and clients who live in that area. For example, a group from northern Michigan wants to get away from the winter cold, so they asked us to put together a winter getaway cruise in the Caribbean in January. We make all the arrangements for you, do all the work, and then give you money back from the commission we receive from the cruise lines or tour company.

The same principle applies for a free trip. Get 20 people to join you on your specially designed trip, and you go for free.

For any quilt teachers who think they have a following, you can work in the same way. Register beforehand with Sew Many Places, and then decide where you would like to take a group. It will be up to you to hand out the flyers we sent to you, but we will also add your trip on our Web site to help promote it.

A word of caution for quilt educators -- I have seen many teachers who think they have a big following and when we put the trip together for them and advertise it, they end up with only 12 people. Not at all what they expected or what we expected. You must be able to get 20 people, or the trip will be cancelled.

I like programs where everyone wins, and I personally think this is one of them. Quilters win because they have an opportunity to learn more about the different kinds of quilting trips that are available to them. You win because you have an opportunity to make extra money and/or travel on one of our trips for free. And we win because it helps us generate business we may have never had.

So what have you got to lose really? For more information on how to register for our “Quiltposium Program,” call Sew Many Places at 1-877-887-1188, or e-mail Info@SewManyPlaces.com

Jim West is the founder of Sew Many Places and is one of the most sought after travel experts in North America. He has sailed on over 885 cruises during his career as a professional cruise director. Jim has traveled to 76 countries around the world, explored all seven continents, is the author of four best-selling travel books, including The Essential Little Cruise Book and Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul. You may contact Jim at Jim@SewManyPlaces.com or call him 1-877-887-1188.

Reprinted from Quilting Now, October 2007