Here at MOO, you might have noticed we’re pretty much always celebrating small businesses, showcasing what our customers have designed to promote their small businesses, or bringing you tips from our experts to provide advice across a wide variety of different topics.

What’s MOO doing for Small Business Week?

We’re supporting Small Business Week by offering a Small Business Starter E-Kit, full of partner offers that will help your small business flourish, plus a top up to your MOOlah account.

What do I do? What do I get?

Simply enter the promo code “SBW2012” at checkout on moo.com when you order $60/£40/€50 worth of products (excluding shipping) from now until 11:59pm PST on May 26^th, 2012. You’ll be sent an email within 2 business days letting you know how to claim your offers, consisting of:

• 30% off a SmugMug Pro account, to create a unique site for your photo portfolio
• 20% off Intuit QuickBooks Pro, to stay on top of invoices and bills
• 30 day Shoeboxed Classic free trial with 100 additional free document scans, to keep track of your receipts and expenses
• $100/£62 voucher for new US or UK Google AdWords Express accounts, to display your US or UK business in Google search results
• And last but not least, $7.50/£4.50/€5.25 of MOOlah, to spend on moo.com products!

All in all, over $250/£150 worth of offers to help your business shine.

Our new tickets are designed to look and feel like fair tickets. They are a simple way to share in the joy of your new purchase. With their compact MiniCard size and perforated folds they are easy to rip and share your unique codes with your friends so you can earn MOOlah.

So take a look in your next order. You should get a unique line of tickets that you can use straight away. So roll up, roll up and start earning MOOlah now and have fun while sharing your tickets.

This got us thinking about the cards we don’t see and what famous characters’ cards might look like. Kicking things off with Zeus, because the King of the Gods seemed like a good place to start, we settled on the following design:

Not bad hey?

Still, it’s not fair for us to have all the fun, so we want to see your designs! Given that designing some cool cards for the Zeus is on par with the twelve tasks of Hercules, everyone who sends us a design will be entered into our competition to win $300 cash and $100 to spend at MOO.

Simply send your Zeus card designs to designs@moo.com or leave a link to them in the comments below by midnight (PST) on Wednesday 23rd May and Monika from our design team will pick a winner.

Good luck and we can’t wait to see your Zeus card designs!

• MOO Products: Business Cards

Wherever you are, it’s very important that you choose the best turnaround options to suit your needs. Rather than babble on about all the options available, we thought we’d group these into three easy rules of thumb:

I have a tight deadline

Whether it is a wedding, a trade show or an important meeting – it is imperative that you choose the fastest possible option, or you run the risk of turning up empty handed (d’oh!).

First of all, if you’re ordering Business Cards (excl. Luxe) or MiniCards, be sure to select rush printing  – this means your cards will be dispatched within 48 working hours.

In regards to shipping, from both our EU and US stores, we offer an Express option, which is fully trackable and normally arrives the day after dispatch (outside the UK/US delivery takes longer). We highly recommend you choose this option, that way you can track its progress along the way.

When on the shipping options page, we provide an estimated arrival date, so make sure the date matches your needs before hitting the order button.

My office is next to MOO’s office

If you live or work near MOO’s UK headquarters in Shoreditch, London or close to our US office in East Providence, Rhode Island – you can email our support team and we’ll arrange for you to collect them in person. Please note, this is not an automated service and you must let us know your order number to mark the order for collection.

You’ll need to place the order as normal and if you need them quickly, you’ll still need to select rush printing (where available). In most cases, they’ll be ready within 48 working hours and as soon as you’ve received the dispatch email, that’ll mean they are ready to collect.

I need an affordable shipping option

Our standard printing takes up to 4 working days (excl. stickers) and is included in the shipping option charge. Depending on where you are, and which store you are ordering from, there are a number of affordable shipping options.

From our US store…

First Class shipping to US addresses takes up to 5 working days from dispatch and is not fully trackable. Priority to US addresses can take as little as 2 working days, is fully trackable and we recently made it flat rate (which means no matter how much you order, the charge remains the same).

From our EU store…

When ordering to UK addresses, we use Royal Mail First Class, which usually takes 2 working days, is not trackable and is fairly reliable. When ordering to non-UK addresses, we use Global Mail Priority, which can take up to 7-15 working days, depending on your location.

Whatever your needs, you can do your research in advance. To get an estimated turnaround time, without having to create the cards and navigate checkout, simply follow this link.

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask our dedicated support team.

A bit about The Luxe Project

For a full year, we’re partnering with renowned designers and illustrators to offer exclusive Luxe Business Card designs. These limited-edition designs will be available for one month only, with a new collection debuting each month throughout 2012. And since we believe great design can change the world, 100% of all net proceeds will be donated to the designer’s charity of choice.

A bit about Katie and her lovely designs

Katie Barcelona has worked for various design firms including Vanderbyl Design, Interbrand, and Pentagram Design in New York under partner Michael Bierut. Her client list includes Harley-Davidson, MillerCoors, the Kimbell Art Museum, Manhattan School of Music, New York University Abu Dhabi, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Katie’s pack was inspired by a lifelong passion for travel (which in turn was inspired by a lifelong desire to escape her small town roots.) She stumbled upon a box of vintage cigarette papers in a flea market in Barcelona – and here they are!

Tiny Papers, Big World

All net proceeds from the sales of these two packs with benefit GVI, a non-political, non-religious organization, which runs over 100 projects in 25 countries. GVI volunteers fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development. As a lifelong devotee to international travel, Katie’s choice is an inspired one – because what makes GVI unique is its commitment to its volunteers. The charity offers safe, responsible travel experiences, exceptional training and career development opportunities, as well as helping people make real difference to local areas. And we’re really happy to help!

Here’s what Katie had to say, “Travel is the texture of my life and the ink to my creativity. I grew up in a painfully small town lacking any diversity, and since leaving there have been constantly drawn to new cultures inhabited by people different than myself. Stumbling upon a flea market in Barcelona one day, I found these vintage cigarette-papers originating from all over the world. I’ve been carrying them around for years and thought this Luxe project with MOO was the perfect opportunity to use them for inspiration.”

Welcome, Katie! We’re so happy to have you on board.
______________________________________________________________________

Katie’s designs will be available on Luxe Business Cards only, now through June 15, 2012. Check out her beautiful pack, Tiny Papers, Big World. 100% of all net proceeds from the sales of this pack with benefit GVI.

The first workshop focused on the technical side of things – folding paper and making pop up cards, while the second workshop turned our attention to the more creative elements of paper engineering – cutting paper and building layered dioramas.

Here’s some of the MOO Crew getting to grips with the new skills in the workshops:

Of course, everyone had plenty to say about the paper engineering, including these gems:

Sometimes it’s nice to take your eyes away from the monitor and channel your creativity on something physical. Papercraft is awesome!

Paper workshops are great, it shows there’s more to paper than  printing out pictures of cats!

The perfect opportunity to put these skills to good use turned up when our design team were tasked with a new project – Felix and Rob disappeared for a couple of days and then reappeared with a magnificent stage setup made from paper:

And you know what, sometimes, it’s just nice to play with knives at work!

• Industry: Crafting

Why MOO?

I have always liked working with customers to make their experiences the very best they can be. So offering the personalized service that the MOO Business Services Account Managers provide is right up my alley!

What does a MOO Business Services Account Manager do?

I work with each client from first inquiry through to the first order. Some clients require more attention than others, but that’s not a problem, it’s just part of the job!

One, in particular thought they were requiring a lot of attention, but in reality, they were quite average actually! When their cards were ordered they were quite happy with the process and how easy it was.

What’s been your best experience so far?

When one of our clients received the cards, there was an issue with the layout that required us to make a small adjustment and reprint their cards. We got a new set out to them as soon as possible and a few days later a box from this client sent to my attention showed up on my desk.

I assumed it was the original cards and didn’t pay too much attention- I was surprised to see that there were no cards in the box but a set of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo headphones!

But you may be wondering what makes these two people so special? Well, they both earn money from promoting MOO on their sites. And you could too!

Whether you have a blog or a website and are an experienced affiliate or a novice, it’s easy to earn money by promoting MOO. And the best news? You can earn up to $300/£200/€250 for every MOO order you send our way!

All you need to do is sign up to our Affiliate Program via either Commission Junction or Affiliate Window. As soon as your application has been approved you can get started.

If you’re wondering how it all works, don’t worry, there’s a dedicated team looking after affiliates here at MOO and we’ll be happy to guide you through the whole process. In a nutshell:

• You add a MOO link or banner to your website.
• A user of your website visits moo.com (via the link on your site) and then places an order for business cards (or any other printed products) with MOO.
• You then earn £1.50/$2.50/€2 - £200/$300/€250 commission for this order.

You don’t have to take our word for it though, here’s what Scott at nuwomb.com had to say about the affiliate program:

“I’m not an affiliate marketer and promoting MOO doesn’t make me feel like I am. I started promoting MOO before I knew there was an affiliate program. I was inclined to add some links to my site. I’ve only just started and I’m making about $100 per month right now. Adding the links is literally a cut and paste job.”
Scott Webb (www.nuwomb.com)

And just in case you need a little more proof how easy it is, Robyn Pullman (another MOO fan and affiliate), from paperieboutique.com had this to say:

“Signing up to the MOO Affiliate Program was easy. In just a few clicks I had a MOO banner on my blog, and started receiving commissions. It’s a great way to earn a little extra money too!”
Robyn Pullman (www.paperieboutique.com)

If you have any questions on signing up, uploading banners or anything else affiliate-related, you can contact Laura on the affiliate team at affiliates@moo.com

Of course, the next logical step was to create an infographic on the subject, and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact we just like making them. So, without further ado, here’s 32,000 years of sharing and communication wrapped up nicely in a single image:

April has been all about giving here at MOO. We’ve offered Double MOOlah with our Refer a Friend program, given away $1000 for telling us about your business and had some fun discussing strange gifts you’ve received on our Facebook page.

We thought we’d see the month out with one final competition, and this time, we’ve decided we want to meet some of you and your friends in the real world – Yay!

It’s quite simple really, this Friday, Charlotte and Dan will take to the streets of London and find somewhere nice to settle for lunch. We’ll share some clues to where we are on our Twitter feed and the first person to turn up WITH A FRIEND gets lunch on us (and maybe some MOO goodies too).

Of course, we know it’s not fair to limit it to London, so our US office will be doing the same in Providence, Rhode Island when it’s time for lunch on the other side of the Atlantic – Rebeka and John will be out and about waiting for someone to turn up and claim a lunch!

So, if you and a friend fancy the chance of winning a free lunch on us then circle this Friday on your calendar and keep your eyes peeled to our Twitter feed and the hashtags #MOOlunchLDN and #MOOlunchPVD

Good luck everyone!