6 lessons we learned from freebie sites 

Yesterday, we announced our [sticker sample kits](https://www.stickermule.com/samples) were ready to ship. Little did we know of the Internet freebie world.    Within 2 hours of posting the 1st [freebie site](http://www.ilovefreethings.com/) caught us and at 2am the requests came pouring in.  I thought maybe they'd stop around the 100 - 200 mark and we'd be safe.  24 hours later and we're at 1,000+ requests.

This was a frustrating experience, but the best thing about being under pressure is it forces you to learn.  Here's what we learned from our encounter with the world of freebies.

## Lesson #1: Be careful with the word “free”

Marketers love the word “free”.  It attracts attention. What they neglect to realize is that it attracts attention from people that don't want to pay for your product. In retrospect, we could have just said "sticker sample kits are available" and omitted the f-word.

## Lesson #2: Automate creating sample kits

Up until today I was hand-packing sample kits at night.  That process was scrapped.  Instead we took 10 of our coolest stickers, fit them on 1 sheet of material and printed 1000 sheets in a row.  As we're cutting the 1000 sheets we're packing the kits; it's a much better  process.  The downside is, we're no longer able to browse Google Reader while the cutter is running.

## Lesson #3: Bulk mail

Shipping 1000 sample kits 1 at a time isn't going to be fun.  Luckily we can bulk mail and get them out fast and at a lower cost.  This wasn't high on our list of priorities, but this experience forced us to learn how to do that fast.  It was something we needed to learn anyway so it's good to have it down.

## Lesson #4: Wufoo is amazing.

[Wufoo](http://wufoo.com/) was a lifesaver throughout this process.  I was continually tweaking the sample request form and eventually added a $1.00 fee.  Without Wufoo this would have been a nightmare.  They made it effortless to integrate PayPal and all of our data is nicely formatted so we can easily download it.  We already started work on a sample management app that integrates with Wufoo too.

## Lesson #5: Charge, even if it's a small amount

After request 1,397 we finally decided to charge [$1.00 for a sample kit](https://www.stickermule.com/samples) and instantly people started actually paying us. The volume of requests went down and quality went up.  By the way, our samples are awesome too. Many of our customers spend $500+ on stickers. $1.00 isn't much in the scheme of things.

## Lesson #6: Look for the upside in everything

At first we were frustrated that 1000+ freebie requests might be drowning out our customers.  We wanted to let our genuine customers to know that they could ask for samples, but the volume of requests was overwhelming. It's just not feasible for us to ship 1000 samples every day; not to mention it's expensive.

There was a temptation to just delete any mention of sample packs from our web site, but we didn't want to cave.  Instead we used the chaos to learn. We're faster, more efficient and showed 1000+ people that we're decent people too.

In a sense, "look for the good in everything" is becoming the modus operandi for Sticker Mule. It's worked well so far and we don't plan to break that formula.

1000+ requests for free sample packs in 24 hrs. 6 lessons we learned from freebie sites.

What's missing from Sticker Mule

We started building stickermule.com in February and made a goal to launch within 3 months - even if it was missing some features we'd like to have. So, we hope you'll excuse any noticeable omissions and keep in mind we're always improving.

Here's a list of features we put off building in order to go live quickly.

### International shipments
Although a few Chinese friends are eager to buy some stickers, international shipping isn't possible at this time. Canadian sticker lovers, don't fret. We can still take care of you.

__Update:__ [we now ship to all these lovely countries](https://www.stickermule.com/support/international-shipping-cost).

### Expedited production
Want to pay extra and have us ship in 5 days instead of 10? We contemplated offering expedited production, but 10 days isn't bad. Is it?

__Update:__ our production time is now just 4 days as standard. Plus, you can [rush your order](https://www.stickermule.com/support/can-you-rush-my-order).

### Faster shipments
We ship for free using UPS Ground service, although on occasion we use USPS if there is a large cost difference.  If you want 2 day delivery or overnight it's not possible.  This wouldn't be too hard to add, but if you're waiting 10 days for production, what's another 3 - 5 for shipping?

__Update:__ we now offer 2nd day air as standard, with a [next day air option](https://www.stickermule.com/support/do-you-offer-expedited-ship-methods) too.

### Design online
What's the likelihood we implement a design online system in 2010? < 1% We're not fond of design online systems.  Most are unresponsive and confusing to use.  However, the geek in us would like a slick design online app that puts all the crappy ones to shame.

### Larger quantity orders
Pricing on the site goes up to 10,000 units, but we're experts when it comes to massive orders too.  Like, 500,000 stickers massive.  We have high-speed equipment that's built to bang out these types of orders at a low cost. For now, contact us if you need pricing on a huge order.  Eventually we may add higher quantity pricing to the site.

__Update:__ [order stickers in bulk](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/bulk-stickers), up to 200,000 units per order.

### Templates
Our [sticker templates](https://www.stickermule.com/templates "Custom Sticker Templates") are going to be awesome.  They're also going to be live in the next few weeks.

__Update:__ [sticker templates and more are live!](https://www.stickermule.com/templates)

### Reviews
You can't review our products yet.  I'm guessing this will get done in the next few months.  We're still trying to decide how we want reviews to work.  For example, should you be able to attach a photo to your review? Should we use a 3rd party review system or build or own? 

__Update:__ [You can leave reviews now](https://www.stickermule.com/reviews). There are many.

### Contact form
We don't even have a proper contact us page with a web form.  Yes, it's embarrassing, but one will be added soon. 

__Update:__ [You can contact us here](https://www.stickermule.com/support/contact).

That's the short list.  Some of these you'll see added in the next few months.  Others may never see the light of day.  We're obsessive about making the site simple and acutely aware that many of these so-called features add complexity.  For example, rather than offer 5 day production for an upcharge, we'd rather find a way to make that the standard.

Anyways, hope you like what we created so far.  If you have feedback let us know in the comments or [@stickermule](http://twitter.com/stickermule) on Twitter.


Sticker Mule just launched. Find our what's on our agenda to do next.

Hello, need stickers? 

Welcome to Sticker Mule, I'm Herman Mule – which you may have noticed is spelled like "[He-Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-Man "Wikipedia entry on He-Man")", but with a little extra ARRRGH!

HEE HAW! HEE HAW!

Forgive me, I often laugh at my own jokes.

Anyway, the pack and I are really excited because today is our official launch; so *sticker*-round. We'd love to help you iron out any wrinkles you have in your artwork (on the barn... err, the house... err, for FREE!), address your printing questions, and get those adhesive pieces of joy to your doorstep like my wife and [adopted foals'](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foal "Mules, sadly, cannot reproduce.") lives depend on it.


Herman Mule thinks Sticker Mule is the easiest way to buy custom stickers. 

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6 lessons we learned from freebie sites

What's missing from Sticker Mule

Hello, need stickers?