What exciting news, Gift a Ball now has new owners who are raring to get this brilliant and unique gift idea out and known to all Aussies. Based in Brisbane and with many years experience in the Gift Industry and selling online between us we can only convey to you now that Gift a Ball is in for a bouncy and rolling time which in turn means lots of exciting new things will be happening. So keep in touch and keep checking the website for some changes over the next few weeks.
Hi guys,
Today, we received TWO great surprises! There we were, still chuffed about our first feature in City News magazine, when we received a knock at the door. Not only was it NOT a telco salesperson, it was a truck full of boxes... for GIFT A BALL (we don't get mail very often...)!.
I've posted a picture of our delivery below... kind of... We will be uncovering what was INSIDE the boxes very soon, but, for now, feel free to join the conversation about our mystery on our Facebook Page here.
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
As proud Canberrans, we like to support our community and keep up with what's going on. Easily one of the best ways to do so is through the free weekly magazine - City News.
This week, we were very proud to see the community supporting us back with a small story about Gift A Ball in the City News :) If you are from Canberra, please be sure to grab yourself a copy, however, don't fear if you're not - you can catch the article here!
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
Today I want to introduce to you Gifterati! Gifterati.com.au is an online gift giving website where you can post real gifts instantly via Facebook for delivery around Australia. Gifterati posts news of your gift instantly to your friend's Facebook page, while the item is shipped out Australia wide within 24 hours.They have a great range of gifts that most people like sending to their friends and family - everything from chocolates, to homewares, and even magazine subscriptions! Now, they have added an extra special gift choice for everyone looking to send a gift through Facebook - Gift A Ball's!!!
Check out their website, their Facebook page (and also this sneaky little article their wrote about us in their blog!). Keep these guys in mind the next time you see a friends birthday pop-up on Facebook :)
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
This weekend was the realisation of a loooonnnnngggg journey for Gift A Ball.
Many of you may have noticed the two counters in the footer of the Gift A Ball website - the top counter is the number of balls which have been gifted, and, the bottom counter is the distance in kilometres which our balls have travelled to bring out all those smiles we've been hearing about!
This weekend, after 5 weeks since our launch, we not only passed the '200-balls-gifted' mark, but we also passed the 200,000km milestone! How far is this? Let me give you an idea: if you had started your trip in Perth, then gone all the way around the world... five times, THEN driven from Perth, to Sydney, to BRISBANE.... THEN you'd have travelled about the same distance that our balls have so far :)
We think this is mind boggling!
Talk soon,
D.
PS the distance around the world is: 40,076km's :D
Hi guys,
This morning, November 7, we were able to HEAR, for the first time, the receiver of a ball take delivery! Mat, from Shoe String Launch, gifted a ball live to Angela on Eagle Waves Radio. We're trying to get our hands on the pod-cast as we speak, so we'll be putting that up as soon as we can :)
Before we go though, a small mention about Mat and Angela from the program. Angela is a long time entrepreneur and the recipient of awards such as 2007 NSW Telstra Business Woman of the Year. Most recently, she has turned to helping the greater good in passing on her business knowledge in 'Angela's Business Mix' (as well as other programs) on Eagle Waves Radio. Mat, the host of the 'Eagle Start-ups' program, has already been mentioned in our blog before - he started Shoe String Launch. He works hard at sourcing out and featuring Australia start-ups on his website (a site which is strongly bookmarked, and regularly visited, by us!). Click through the links above, and check out these two commendable people and their great work!
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
As you might be able to see from the ball counter on the front page, you have been keeping us very busy (let me tell you, with manual hand pumps being used, we haven't had a need for any gym sessions in a while)! So, today, we acquired some very serious ball-inflating hardware. As modelled by our male model (and involuntary, unpaid, assistant) Aleks below, we purchased a very fresh and new air compressor :)
With pumping time down to mere seconds per ball, we have more time to watch Beauty and the Geek :)
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
Melbourne Cup stopped everyone in their tracks today, and we had to get involved! Since we're not lucky enough to be attending the races in person, we ran a sweep on our Facebook Page.
The sweep had 1 simple rule - pick a horse before the race, and if you were the lucky one to have picked the winning horse first, you won (just ask Melissa how easy it was!)! Melissa won a free ball of her choice from our website :) We'll admit, we are a bit soft, so we even awarded a free ball to the second place winner Haz!
If you missed this comp, but would like to get involved in the future, make sure to 'Like' our page here: Facebook.com/giftaball
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
So, this morning (31st Oct), we woke up to a great surprise - Shoe String Launch had profiled Gift A Ball on their website!
We want to thank Mat and the team from Shoe String Launch for the article, it still seems surreal to be seeing our project discussed by people we look up to. It's no secret that the only way we discovered the article was through our regular stalk on their website! If you, much like us, like to keep up with the start-up scene in Australia, please checkout their website: www.shoestringlaunch.com
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
So here we are, working late on a Friday night (just after we hit our 100-balls milestone this morning), aiming to keep the smiles flowing, as is our business mission!
In the behind-the-scenes picture below, you can see a portion of the balls we stayed up to pump in order to get one last shipment sent out on Saturday morning. Arms still sore... we are glad it's over, and off to bed we go!
Talk soon,
D.
Hi guys,
On Friday 28th October - exactly 3 weeks and 3 days after we launched - we had shipped out 100 balls!!!
This was a HUGE milestone for us - 100 balls sent means 100 generous people, and, at LEAST 100 smiles gifted! (There was probably also a few grumpy Aust. Post bikies who had trouble fitting the balls in their mail bag :S oops!).
Keep ordering the smiles, and we'll keep shipping them :)
Talk soon,
D.
Maybe it's because we're jealous of their 'stay-at-home' status, maybe it's because we love 'Desperate House Wives', and maybe it's because they say flattering things about us. What ever the reason, we've taken to religiously following their blogs!
One such mum we've been following for a few weeks now is Lori from RRSAHM. Her interesting life keeps us entertained with every new blog post (there is something intriguing about following someone else's day to day life...*shrugs*). Anyhow, after a week of reading, we decided to send her a ball for the Chop! You might remember, we posted a pic that she tweeted of the Chop here.
Well, guess what? We got our very own proper mention in her blog!!! You can read the article here, or here (this is also where you can read it... FYI click on the underlined / highlighted words to go to the article).
All flattery aside, please go to www.rrsahm.com, and check out her blog, she's a pretty interesting woman!
Talk soon,
D.
If you have ever written to Gift A Ball with a question, a special request, or to say hi - you most likely got a response signed 'Dejan - Gift A Ball Team Member'. Dejan is in fact one of the proud co-founders of Gift A Ball, and his hard work was recognised today with the inclusion of his name on the StartUpSmart Future Makers 2011 list!
His inclusion on the list is supported by his involvement in Gift A Ball, and Gift A Ball is ultimately supported by all of you!! So, we'd just like to take the opportunity to thank everybody (yep, that means you, the one reading this blog post!) for your support, and constant flattering emails. Like anybody who has written to us would be able to tell you, please feel free to write to us with any comments or suggestions for Gift A Ball.
If you'd like to read the whole article, or to check out other successful young members listed by StartUpSmart, click here or the pic below.
Talk soon,
D.
Well apparently... yes!
We have been asked a few times now about the size of the balls we send out (Where is the trust guys?! You know we wouldn't rip you off!!). We'll admit - our fault for not making the people HOLD them in the banner shots - sorry!
We are working on this though, and I've attached some proof of this below. Thanks to the peeps who agreed to model and also a thanks to Ash Peak for the photography!
When asked 'what business are you in?', most people are confused by our answer.
Sure, the physical product we sell is a (very bright, funny, and totally awesome) bunch of balls, but really we are in the business of putting smiles on peoples faces. That might sound a little bit corny, but it's true! We sell balls! It's not a very serious business, we are not sternly serious people! There has to be more in this for us than (that elusive word) 'profit'...
Below is a perfect example of what we love seeing the most at Gift A Ball:
How cute is lil Chop?! Thanks to @Lori_RRSAHM for posting this pic it made our day!
Talk soon,
D.
In the latest post of Dark Angel's aptly named blog, Hammer & Heels, she gives Gift A Ball a complementing overview. Well... OK, OK, she ONLY says nice things about us (I mean she even referred to one of us as 'really really good looking'!!! We don't get that very often, so we'll definitively take it!).
You can read the whole post here, but, more importantly, give the other posts a read, you might learn something. For example, we learned that we are into house renovations (or at least, when she talks about it we are!).
In case you missed it the first time, I've created a link to her blog below - just click on the picture!
Talk soon,
D.
It is the end of day two since launching, and the smiles are already starting to pour in (we TOLD you we have quick delivery)! Pictured here is little Reegan who decided to accompany her mum to work on her school holidays. We can see that she has a little smile on, but we bet that mum is sporting an even bigger smile now that she has a temporary pink babysitter!
Today (Tuesday 4th October) we launch! To celebrate this momentous event, we have sent out a very generous coupon to our pre-launch subscriber list. If you weren't part of this list, you can send us an email at: bounce@giftaball.com.au and we'll send you the magic word!
The deal goes out to our first 30 gifters only (we can only give away SO many balls before we go broke!), so be quick to put a smile on someone's face :)
Talk soon,
D
After many arduous months of concept design, altering samples, and hundreds of emails - our first shipment of balls have arrived! We hope that you enjoy sending them as much as we do, and we look forward to your feedback!
Got an idea for a ball we NEED to stock? Send us an email: bounce@giftaball.com.au :)
Talk soon,
D
What others area saying
I gifted a pink birthday ball to my friend for her 30th, it was the talk of the party!
Karen, Woden ACTMy friend just received her ball - she LOVED it!! Success!! I will have to do it again.
Amanda, Cleveland QLDWhen my ball was delivered to me at work, my desk was swamped with colleagues wanting to know what/who/how!
Dan, Dickson ACT