| Booze and Pub related stuff nobody tells you about, | | | | you ask without sounding brash and undeserving?) |
| until now! | | | | FIND YOUR TARGETS! |
| For years, me and the wife had had dreams of | | | | Next, to find the possible targets to canvas for your |
| setting up a bar in our house, obviously not a real | | | | blog campaign. If you were to search for each and |
| bar, but one that we could prop up and to entertain | | | | everyone of the breweries and drinks firms in your |
| our guests when we had a celebration or party. The | | | | geographic region, you would take months. So look |
| first attempts were dismal failures. We had almost | | | | for sites that list as many of the ones you need, |
| given up, when one day we managed to get a nice | | | | save the sites in your faves so you can come back |
| teak home bar for £50 from Ebay. Finally, | | | | to it regularly. I am in the UK, so I went primarily to |
| maybe the gods of beer were smiling upon us. When | | | | UK companies, but this method of blog will work |
| we put it in our front room, we discovered that | | | | where ever you are, just use target companies in |
| even so we had this nice looking teak home bar, it | | | | your country or near abouts, as if you contact other |
| kind of looked like a shop counter, not the boozy bar | | | | ones in different countries, you probably will have |
| we had always desired. How could we get the corner | | | | little or no luck (trust me, I tried quite a few |
| of our room looking the part? Would this cost us an | | | | European ones and had hardly any response) Make |
| arm and a leg? From some searches of the web, we | | | | sure the ones your contacting have an office or |
| found that some of the much needed dressing was | | | | contact address in your own country, as they will be |
| quite expensive. Was there another way? | | | | more likely to respond with what you are after. |
| Of course there was, and as the saying goes, where | | | | Some of the sites that I used are: which has great |
| theres a will, theres a way! I asked about to all and | | | | global brewery links, , a great UK one, for people in |
| sundry, did they know where I could acquire the | | | | the trade, outside of the UK though, it may be |
| stuff I was after? All anyone ever said was ask in | | | | limited of use, and this great one for real ale & |
| your local Pubs to see if they had any surplus or old | | | | micro breweries, again, more for the UK, but with a |
| stuff going begging they no longer needed, or | | | | bit of searching around for similar listing sites in your |
| "borrow" items, like pub ashtrays, glasses, beer mats | | | | own country, I'm sure you will dig up loads of similar |
| and so on (We do not condone stealing anything | | | | sites that will suit your purpose. Also search out the |
| from any public house, this method is not acquiring | | | | printing companies who print the bar runners and drip |
| free stuff, its theft, plain and simple) While these | | | | mats for the companies, more than often they will |
| methods might get you a few items, it wasn't going | | | | send you a load of random samples if you ask nice! |
| to net you any great stuff in a short time. | | | | RESULT |
| I needed to populate my bar with brewriana as soon | | | | Within a few days of contacting the first few, I was |
| a I could as Christmas was fast approaching, so I | | | | surprised at the response, soon enough sets of pint |
| came up with this tried and tested way of my new | | | | glasses were arriving, tons of beer mats, bar runners, |
| hobby of being a brewriana collector. (As you | | | | posters, flyers, point of sale advertising stuff and |
| probably know all things beer, drink, pub and bar | | | | much much more started to flood through my door |
| related collectibles is known as brewriana) | | | | each day. I can say it kept the postie busy! I had |
| THE BLAG | | | | very few that turned me down, and those who did |
| It was simple, I would politely ask as many drinks | | | | tended to be the bigger companies who you would |
| manufacturers, breweries and pub suppliers for | | | | have thought would be able to spare a bit of the |
| anything that they may have that they could send | | | | advertising crap they sell their products with (Not to |
| me! Yup, you read it, I would ask nicely. Simple as it | | | | name names, Coca-cola, Pepsi, Coors, Fosters and |
| was, I then looked to the net for the details of as | | | | some other big firms told me that if I wanted stuff, |
| many as I could. There were hundreds! | | | | to visit their online shop. Skinflints!) It would be |
| If I had had to send letters to ask, the postage | | | | ridiculous to assume that every single one would |
| alone would have cost me in excess of £100 | | | | oblige, but I estimate at least 65-75% of all I |
| easily, so I opted for the cheaper and easier way. | | | | contacted, sent me something or offered to if I sent |
| Email. So I figured, it wouldn't cost a penny to email | | | | a SAE. That is why, the amount of places you must |
| them as opposed to sending loads of letters through | | | | contact is as many as you can find. This may take a |
| the royal mail, but I then realised, I would have to | | | | few days to contact the most companies (It took |
| write hundreds of emails instead! Time consuming or | | | | me 3-4 days to canvas 300+) but this way will |
| what? | | | | ensure that you will receive plenty of stuff. I can |
| No, not at all, here's how I did it. | | | | assure you, this does work 100%, follow my method |
| I wrote a catch all message on notepad basically | | | | and you will not fail. |
| saying that I had a new home bar, and that I would | | | | THINGS TO BEAR IN MIND |
| like to ask if they could send me anything that would | | | | Many breweries and companies now will not give |
| make it more pub like. I never personalised the | | | | some items away (Such as pump clips) this is |
| message to target any one type of manufacturer, or | | | | because of greedy collectors in the past, taking |
| company, just kept it nice and generic. Any how, | | | | advantage of blogs like mine, but instead of keeping |
| here's my original message, Although, you could use | | | | the stuff, they sold on the things they got for |
| the same one that I did, try and be a bit original and | | | | inflated prices to other collectors. After catching on |
| create your own, you don't know how many others | | | | to this, the companies stopped giving stuff like that |
| before you may have used mine (Not to mention, | | | | away and many now sell pump clips instead. If you |
| me!) so create your own as if its been used a lot, it | | | | are attempting this blog, make sure that you don't |
| will definitely ruin your chances of getting anything. | | | | get greedy and try to get more than you really |
| Hi there, I'd just like to make an enquiry, I am | | | | need, if too many people get greedy then they |
| currently making a home bar in my house and are | | | | probably will not give stuff out anymore, and we |
| trying to find some drinks advertising posters/beer | | | | don't want that. Also make sure from your emails, |
| mats/advertising to add to it just to make it feel like | | | | you don't sound like a professional collector, or even |
| a real pub (Its only little though!) I was wondering if I | | | | worse, a private dealer. If they suspect this, then |
| could request some such advertising from you about | | | | you will be refused. Always remember too that |
| your products, or anything else you could spare to | | | | manners cost nothing. Always be polite in your |
| help me make my home pub dream come true! I | | | | dealings, as many of the companies keep your details |
| know it is a bit cheeky asking, but hopefully you | | | | on their mailing lists and sometimes send parcels of |
| could help me fulfill my dream! If it possible, my | | | | new promotional items when a new one is released |
| details are: (Your details go here) Thanks, all the best, | | | | or new drink is launched. Please bear in mind that |
| (Your name here) | | | | patience is a virtue, and it may take a long time for |
| This is what I used for 95% of all the email enquiries | | | | some to get back to you, some you may think have |
| I made to the 300+ places I enquired to, sometimes | | | | ignored your message and will not be sending a thing, |
| changing the text slightly to personalise it to the | | | | only to discover two months later a parcel at your |
| particular place. I advise you, if you are going to use | | | | door from said company. Do not feel the need to |
| this method to blog, make sure that you save the | | | | send repeated mailings to blag further. Once is plenty, |
| original text in a simple notepad type program in a | | | | if they say no, go to the next. So, there you go, a |
| place you can find it, so you can copy and paste the | | | | totally tried and tested method to getting free |
| text to the body of your email. Of course you will | | | | Brewriana goodies, try it for your self and see for |
| have to type the subject line each time you send | | | | yourself, and remember, mines a pint! |
| one, mine usually said "An enquiry?" (How else do | | | | |
