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IBN Member Benefits
Back To Membership Application | Read Testimonials From Members
IBN has unsurpassed services to help you start, grow and "hype" your business. Many benefits are listed here! Just click on the benefit you'd like to know more about for a "jump" to more details! IBN has tons of benefits, so be prepared to stay a while and see how many ways we can help you become successful! For membership dues prices, visit our Membership Application.
| Indie Business Magazine Subscription |
| Your IBN membership includes your subscription to our full color glossy print magazine. The Indie Business Magazine is published periodically and members receive each issue as it comes out so long as their membership is in good standing. For more details about the magazine and how members can participate in it, click here. |
| Indie Business Forum |
| Your IBN membership includes your participation in the forum where members gather to offer their own unique brand of experience, tips and expertise to tackle your toughest Indie Beauty Business challenges. |
| Media Leads Program |
| Our Media Leads Program trains IBN members to interact effectively and efficiently with the media and encourages the cultivation of long term relationships with members of the media. The program connects members with writers, editors, authors, bloggers, reporters and others who are seeking people to feature in their stories, books, magazine articles, radio shows and blogs. Each day, IBN sends members who request this benefit a list of media leads targeted directly to the health, beauty and wellness community: television shows looking to feature health and beauty products, magazine editors looking for beauty products, freelance writers looking for small business owners to tell their stories, beauty editors looking for makeup, lifestyle writers looking for customized baby shower gifts and people in the beauty industry to discuss trends and the industry in general. This service also includes a monthly media training class, regular email media training and tips and helping participants edit two media pitches per month that they have drafted. This benefit is just $25 a month (no long term commitment required), in addition to annual dues. Like all benefits, this program is available to members only. |
| Discounted Classes In the Handmade Beauty University |
| The Handmade Beauty University (HBU) is the first and only program of its kind in the world, offering you the benefit of years of experience from the convenience of your own home or office. In 8 1-hour online presentations (some are 90 minutes) which you enjoy at your own pace, you'll learn how to move "beyond Betty's Lotion" to separate your business from the pack. As a member, you enjoy a substantial discount on the entire package of classes! For details, click here. |
| Display the 2008 IBN Member Logo at Your Website |
| Through IBN's logo program, IBN members may proudly show their customers and site visitors that their membership in the organization is current by displaying the 2008 IBN Member Logo at their websites. The logo has been designed specifically for members, and includes the year so your site visitors can see that your membership is in good standing. A new graphic is provided each year so members can swap it out and show that membership remains current. To learn more, click here. |
| Online Member Directory Listing |
| Your business will be listed in our frequently visited Online Member Directory where people can easily locate you by state/country or by using your business name. If you are a supplier of ingredients, packaging, services or other items, you will also be listed at our popular online supplier search engine, MangoButter.com. IBN members often receive inquiries from the public about their products through our online directories, and nearly 6,100 opt in subscribers to our weekly newsletter, the Indie Experience, are directed to the directory each week. When you join IBN, you are automatically listed in the directory with all of your contact information and the business description provided by you in your application. IBN also includes active links to your website to make it even easier for people to contact you about your products and services. All of this results in valuable increased Web presence, higher search engine rankings and worldwide visibility for your brand. |
| Product Photo In IBN's Online Member Directory and Home Page |
They say that a picture says a thousand words, and we believe it! Consumer marketing studies show that photographs can help boost the chances of a sale several-fold. We make it easy for you to
generate more sales by including a product photo in our member directory
and in the Featured Indie rotations you can see on our home
page. The photo of your products gives site visitors a sampling of
what they can get if they visit your website. The photo is accompanied
by introductory text about your business and a link directly to your
website. To enjoy this benefit, after you join IBN, simply prepare your
photo according to the below specifications and email it to
us with MEMBER DIRECTORY PHOTO in the subject line and it will be added
within a few days and let you know when it's done! Here are the specs:
|
| Indie Live! |
| Indie Live! is the place where IBN members gather each week by phone to discuss the hot indie business topics of the day. We join together for an hour-long conference call on each Monday afternoon from 3:00pm EST to 4:00pm EST to discuss such things as product liability insurance issues, any new legislative or legal issues affecting small businesses, upcoming trade shows, your ideas for new member benefits and opportunities, news about your company that you'd like posted at IBN's newsletter, media opportunities, marketing tips, etc. -- plus IBN's founder will answer your questions about how you can take advantage of IBN member benefits that you might not know about or just haven't had a chance to explore. If you miss Indie Live!, they are available for download at IBN's site for about 30 days afterward. For more information, click here. |
| Button Ad Design Services |
| To help you take advantage of IBN's branding opportunities, we have partnered with Fallen Muse WebWorks to offer members significantly reduced prices on the design of button ads suitable for use in any online application including your website and companies with which you are affiliated (including IBN of course!). Fallen Muse will design your ad and upload it to IBN's website in the Featured Member Rotation, and will send the ad to you so you can use it for any other applications you'd like. Fallen Muse usually charges $150 for this service, but IBN members pay only $75. That's a savings of 50% for something you can use over and over again to promote your business! To obtain your ad and discount, contact Fallen Muse -- they will check our Online Member Directory to confirm your membership so you can obtain the discount! |
| Products Liability Insurance Referrals |
|
The Power of Protection! In our litigious society, isn't it worth it to protect your company's assets (and your personal ones too if you are operating as a sole proprietorship) against possible financial ruin in the event of a lawsuit? Our Products Liability Insurance Program, provided through Stratus Insurance Services, can save you a lot of legwork, money and headache, and provide you with the documentation you need to do business with confidence with reputable wholesale accounts and customers of all kinds. To join IBN and take advantage of all of the member benefits you see listed here, plus get the insurance coverage in one single step, click here! |
| Discounted Public Relations Services |
| In conjunction with New York publicist Marla Russo Bella PR, IBN makes available to members discounted public relations services to help generate and maintain the "buzz" about you and your products! Bella's full services cost about $2,500 per month are offered to members and non-members alike, but they have developed a service especially for IBN members for just $1,200 per month. Through this service, you receive 100 copies of full color, original, fully designed media kits including news releases, photos (photos supplied by you), product line sheets and other things needed in professionally designed media kit that can be used at trade shows, displayed at your website and sent to the media. Your media kit will be sent to the beauty editors at dozens of long-lead and trade publications such as Allure, Glamour, Lucky, Women's Wear Daily, O, the Oprah Magazine, Elle and others. Bella will follow up on the leads for you and pitch story ideas to all kinds of publications including long-lead, short-lead, dailies, weeklies, online reviewers, regional publications and more. If this benefits fits your budget, email IBN for more details. |
| Discounted Products And Services From Other Members |
| Many IBN members invite other members to try their products and services by extending discounts to fellow members. Often times, these members choose to announce these discounts by sponsoring the Indie Experience. Other times, they offer continuous discounts, and when they do, they are posted here. As an IBN member, you can take advantage of any of those discounts, any time all year round! |
| Opportunities To Be Featured In Various Media Outlets |
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IBN has created valuable print materials that help
publicize the industry and the members who participate in it. For
example, our "Handmade Beauty Cookbook: Do It Yourself Recipes & Secrets From Members Of The Indie Beauty Network," which is endorsed by industry leaders, features recipes and contact information from dozens of IBN members. These books have been distributed around the world through exclusive programs where IBN members purchased the books wholesale from IBN and then
sold them at retail to their customers. The Indie Business Magazine is
another print media outlet that features members. Additionally, dM's
weekly radio show often features IBN members in a favorable light in
order to generate buzz and increase sales about them and the products
they sell. Not only do our IBN-controlled media outlets create a great way for IBN members to publicize their businesses, but they also
present attractive advertising opportunities for members who are
interested in reaching magazine readers, both members and non-member
subscribers.
In addition to our own growing library, IBN has also developed relationships with various members of the media, including freelance writers, authors, online beauty editors, print magazine editors, producers and others. On occasion, these people ask IBN members to submit products for possible inclusion in editorial features in the media outlets they represent. These opportunities are announced as they arise in Members Only Email Announcements. For more regular media opportunities, see our Media Leads Program. |
| Supplier Members Are Featured In Our Supplier Pages |
| IBN has created Mango Butter.com, a huge searchable online database of suppliers that is consulted by thousand of people each week who are looking for supplies, educational resources, packaging materials and more. Member suppliers are listed there with a "Power Profile" which enables them to edit their own company listing to include supplier specials, events and more. |
| Link To Your Blog From Indie Business Blog |
| Because blogging is such a fun, efficient and cost effective way to promote your business, we launched the Indie Business Blog to tell the world about the great things IBN members are doing and to offer tips and inspiration to help other Indies be successful. If you have a blog and you post at least once weekly, we will link from Indie Business Blog to your blog home page. In this way, we drive targeted traffic to your blog and provide a valuable way for you to grow your business. |
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