How to Find Vendors (and Introducing the A-Z Directory!)

Today we are going to be touching base on another “burning question” we get asked all the time.

What vendors do you use?

First of all, the word vendor encompasses so many different business types. It can includes printers (letterpress, digital, foil, white ink, etc), ribbon makers, wax seal companies, drop shipping companies, mug printers, envelope suppliers, and so much more! It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start, and sometimes you just feel downright stuck.

Here are three ways you can find vendors:

SEARCH FOR LOCAL VENDORS ON GOOGLE

I’ll be using print shops in this example, but this applies to any sort of vendor you are searching for. Chances are, there is a local print shop near you! You just need to take the time to Google it with phrases like “Digital Printing in Marietta” or “Letterpress Printer Atlanta”… and then you need to take the time to actually research these business, visit them, and ask them questions. There no better way to get answers than to actually go in person and take a look around! They might be able to show you samples of past work as well as give suggestions for what you are working on.

Be aware, most local print shops don’t have a “gorgeous” exterior or curated Instagram feed. They are hole-in-the-wall businesses that are constantly operating a lot of heavy duty equipment and huge shipments of paper! Don’t be frightened off by a business front that doesn’t look Instagram or Pinterest worthy 😉

You can of course take your search to the non-local level as well – the vendors Cami & I work with normally aren’t in the same city as us, but it’s definitely taken time for us to find the ones we really love.

BE OBSERVANT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are following fellow creatives, chances are they are sharing about vendors that they love when they get a new printing shipment in, or any type of product shipment for that matter! It’s important to be super observant and make a note when someone shares a vendor, that way you can go to that vendor’s website to check them out and see if you would be interested in using them as well!

FYI – we don’t recommend DM-ing people on Instagram to ask, “What printer do you use?” First, that’s way too generic (there are dozens of types of printing) and second, it’s a slight invasion of personal space that’s usually not welcomed, especially if you don’t have a relationship with that creative. For more info on Instagram etiquette, listen to this episode of our Podcast.

SKIP THE SEARCHING, AND PAY FOR A VENDOR DIRECTORY

Y’all, there are so many a creatives releasing resource guides now. These can be an amazing tool for your business, especially if you are willing to pay a little extra for someone’s expertise, experience, and recommendations. Resources like this will save you a ton of time, and we have FINALLY decided to make a resource guide called the A-Z Directory for Biz Birthday Bash!

This one-of-a-kind resource library will be hosted through a membership site that’s built into bizbirthdaybash.com – we want to invite you to be one of our founding members. Next week (Feb. 18th – 22nd) will be our launch week, and you will have the chance to join the A-Z Directory for $50 off the usual price. The cherry-on-top is that you will be grandfathered in at that price!

The A-Z Directory is set up to be a yearly membership, so you will have access to this wonderful resource for an entire year and you can decide to renew (or not renew) when your year is up. With the discount code you will be paying $97/year, which is about $8.00/month. We think that is a total steal, especially because we have links to more than 250 sources organized in alphabetical fashion by category, which makes it super easy to find what you need.

We share our favorite vendors for printing wedding invitations, as well as drop-shipping vendors, greeting card vendors, stickers vendors, and so many more (the ones we love and use all the time will have a cake emoji next to them).

Oh, did I mention the A-Z Directory is always changing? Yep! Since it’s built into our website we can edit it whenever we want and add new vendors as we find them! It is seriously a dream come true.

AND THE BONUS? You will be invited to join our A-Z Directory Facebook Group when you sign up for your membership. This group will be a safe place to share your questions, difficulties, and successes when you need a little additional support!

We want y’all to SEARCH LESS and CREATE MORE and that’s exactly what the A-Z Directory is for.