I am excited to share the news that Swap-bot is featured in the current issue of PaperCrafter Magazine! (It hits UK newsstands on March 28th.) Swap-bot is mentioned on pages 26 & 27 in Elaine Bennett’s article, Going Postal. The article explains how Swap-bot works and displays my photo of February matchboxes. And, Swap-bot user Aankee is interviewed about her postal hobbies on the article sidebar. So cool! I hope the mention attracts a few new European swappers!

A few of the other postal mail projects and sites also mentioned in the article:

Postcrossing – for sending Postcards all over the world!

Post Pals – a charity dedicated to sending mail to sick children.

Anchor & Sing – Aankee’s personal blog.

A Month of Letters – daily letter writing challenge.

The Postcard Happiness Project – a postal kindness initiative.

Mail Me Art – a mail art project and book.

Coleman’s Craft Warehouse – for supplies.

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PaperCrafter Magazine is mostly sold in the UK, but you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can get an international subscription or sign up for their email newsletter.

Thank you, PaperCrafter, for including us in your postal round-up!

It is always so thrilling when Swap-bot receives a little press! And this time it was a total surprise… a friend recently clued me into the fact that Swap-bot is mentioned on page 89 of the September 2011 issue of Disney Family Fun magazine. We are mentioned in an article about ATCs as a good place to find ATC swaps. That is definitely true!

If you ever see Swap-bot mentioned in print or online publications, please let me know! It helps me figure out how users are learning about the ‘bot.

I was so excited to discover that Swap-bot’s cards (and my glittery matchbox) were included in an article on the Overnight Prints blog about the “Best Business Cards.” I love designing Swap-bot merchandise and business collateral, and this just gets me more motivated to create some new items! Thanks, Overnight Prints!

We are in the big leagues! Well, not exactly… 300,000 is a very large number, but it is still fun to see how Swap-bot compares to the most popular websites in the world. NMAP.org created a cool interactive visualization using the favicons (the tiny icons seen in your web browser’s address bar) of the top 300,000 sites (with favicons) based on Alexa traffic data. The size of the icon in the visualization is proportional to each site’s level of traffic.

You can search for Swap-bot.com and find our icon in the lower right corner. It is tiny, but I am pumped that it is not the tiniest! Yay! I think it is awesome that we even made it into a group of top websites… even if it is an extremely large group! ha!

IndieBizChicks.com is a website that provides business, marketing, and publicity information to “women who’d rather work for themselves, than work for the man.” The site was launched in the summer of 2007 by Crissy Herron, a writer, teacher, and speaker with a big passion for entrepreneurship and the DIY movement. She wants to provide helpful information and assistance to people in their 20s and 30s who are looking to become self-employed. If you have a small online business, like an Etsy store or a blog, that you would like to promote, IndiBizChicks.com is a great place to learn about online marketing and business development.

I met Crissy last weekend, first at the Etsy Crafty Blogging Panel, and then we spent time hanging out at the BlogHer10 conference here in New York City. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to just about anything related to running an independent business online and she is a professional and informative speaker. I was impressed!

The Indie Biz Chicks site is a helpful, daily blog and much more! Crissy also creates instructive products, like eBooks and Podcasts, and hosts live e-classes. Some of her products are free and some are available for purchase. For example, Crissy is offering an upcoming, live Holiday Marketing Tips e-class for just $3. I am also very interested in the collection of Summer Biz Sessions podcasts. For $15 you get the podcast recordings of interviews with some amazing small business owners, like Ali Edwards and Jennifer of Naughty Secretary Club.

Even if you aren’t interested in running your own online business, Indie Biz Chicks is a great place to learn more about online social media and female-owned businesses. Definitely sign up for the free Indie Biz Chicks Newsletter. (Simply enter you email address in the Newsletter form in the upper right hand corner of the site.) Crissy sends out newsletter emails once a week with great biz tips. Today the email contained tips on how to pick the right domain name. Very helpful info if you are just starting out!

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p.s. Swap-bot was recently featured in an IndieBizChicks “Biz Profile.” Check it out if you would like to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes at the ‘bot!

If you enjoy home decor or gardening, check out Be@Home. The blog, which is updated a few times per day, has multiple contributers and covers topics such as interior design, home decor trends, home and garden maintenance, product reviews, and fun link roundups. Recent articles include one on inexpensively making your home more cozy and one on mixing modern and victorian decor. The wide variety of info shared on the blog is sure to include something you find helpful or inspiring.

The Be@Home blog is a part of the Become.com blog network that includes ten different blogs with a wide variety of shopping tips and cool finds. Become, Inc. was founded in early 2004 with a mission to help people make ideal buying decisions.

Golda, one of the Be@Home bloggers recently wrote a very excellent spotlight article about Swap-bot. I think her description of the ‘bot is even better than the ones I write! Thanks, Golda!

We are still thrilled that Swap-bot is featured on CraftCritique.com this week. Also, check out the interview of me, Rachel Johnson, and then browse through the tons of other informative craft product reviews on CraftCritique.com.

Swap-bot is featured on the Busy Beaver Button Blog today! We are excited to be mentioned on their blog because we love their business and buttons! I have been ordering buttons from them for years and they are always super-fast and the buttons are of the highest quality. I really cannot recommend them strongly enough. Thank you, Busy Beaver!

A Swap-bot Spotlight was published on the AOL Holidash blog today! Thank you to the reporter, Erin Loechner, and to Swap-bot user, Felicia Luera, for the awesome quote! Press is always great because it means more crafty peeps will find out about the fun of Swap-bot!

Your friendly peeps here at Swap-bot HQ have gone a little crazy over an article about the ‘bot in today’s NY Daily News. We are so excited! Super-awesome reporter, Barry Paddock, contacted us a few weeks ago and interviewed us last weekend, along with NY Swap-bot users luluvision and Provadia (that is luluvision in the photo above, and the adorable dollhouse matchbox I received from cobaltgypsy makes an appearance in the photo below). He was incredibly nice and we are so thrilled that he wanted to write about Swap-bot. We love press!

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Your friendly peeps here at Swap-bot HQ have gone a little crazy over an article about the ‘bot in today’s NY Daily News. We are so excited! Super-awesome reporter, Barry Paddock, contacted us a few weeks ago and interviewed us last weekend, along with NY Swap-bot users luluvision and Provadia (that is luluvision in the photo above, and the adorable dollhouse matchbox I received from cobaltgypsy makes an appearance in the photo below). He was incredibly nice and we are so thrilled that he wanted to write about Swap-bot. We love press!

](http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/07/2009-12-07_site_unites_crafty_artists_who_make_everything_from_ornaments_to_stuffed_animals.html)

Exciting press coverage today: Swap-bot was mentioned on Mashable.com as one of the top five websites for Secret Santa gift exchanges. Very sweet! Mashable is a popular tech blog that covers internet news and up and coming websites.

Swap-bot was written up on Hello Craft by writer, Kelly Rand. I like her marketing tip: “No matter the swap, include a business or show card in the package. If your swap item is of exceptional quality, you might create some buzz around your work.” Thanks, Hello Craft!!

Quick announcement! I am going to be interviewed LIVE tomorrow for the TerriO Radio Show about Swap-bot. TeriO is the spokeswoman for the Craft & Hobby Association and she hosts an online radio show called “Empowering Creativity” on wsRadio.com. I am going to be on tomorrow’s show (Thursday, September 25th, 2008) which is broadcast live from 1-2 Pacific Coast Time (4-5 EST or 3-4 Central). If you are by the computer tomorrow afternoon, <a href=http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-radio.cfm/shows/Terri-O-Radio:-Empowering-Creativity.html”>listen to the program here</a> . I will be interviewed during the final segment (last 15 minutes) of the program. It should be fun! (The show is also archived as a podcast for a year, so I will post a link to that later.)

UPDATE: You can download the MP3 of my exciting interview here. Swap-bot was featured in the fourth segment and the interview is only 6 minutes long. Check it out!

Associated press reporter, Holly Ramer, interviewed me a few weeks ago for an article about internet swapping. Her article has now been released online on MSNBC and other news outlets. Read it here. Thanks for the coverage, Holly! We love press!

The swap-bot section of the article:

At Swap-bot.com, a site devoted exclusively to swaps, the most popular ones tend to involve artist trading cards — small works of art that let participants share their artistic styles with others. At any given time, the site features 500 active swaps, and it has hosted more than 20,000 since 2005.

Swap-bot uses a computer algorithm to mix up participants and assign partners, sends out reminder e-mails to participants, and includes a feedback system to deter “flakers” or cheaters who don’t send their packages.

But why go through the trouble of making something for someone you don’t know?

“I think the number one thing is that the lure of getting a package in the mail is pretty strong,” says Rachel Johnson, 27, of Eugene, Ore., who founded the site with her husband. “But I like to think it’s also a way of connecting physically with someone you only know as a screen name. People are meeting and connecting with people from different countries and different cultures.”

If you are interested in indie artists, crafters, and designers, you must check out <a href=http://www.purplepinkandorange.com/blog/”>PurplePinkandOrange.com</a>. The site’s curator and creator, Amy, reviews fabulous indie shops, products, and designers on a daily basis. Readers of PurplePinkandOrange have access to an impressive monthly list of promotions and exclusive sales from indie retailers. Plus, there are always amazing giveaways going on. Definitely go sign up for those giveaways!

PurplePinkandOrange was one of the first sites to organize public swaps through Swap-bot over three years ago. Amy was a great supporter of Swap-bot and we have missed her fun monthly swaps… but guess what! A new PurplePinkandOrange swap is going on right now! Sign up for the Friends of purplepinkandorange.com postcard swap! The swap is international and everyone is welcome. Each participant will send postcards to three partners by the end of August. The sign up deadline is August 15th. Have fun!

A solid article about Swap-bot </u> by Tonya Froemel for Associated Content, and another by Marina Otin on How To Keep Your Swaps from Overtaking Your Life.

Swap-bot has a nice, little write-up on Indie Crafts, a member of the Craft Gossip site. Thanks, Laura Henry!

A little while ago I was interviewed by Sister Diane of CraftyPod. We talked all about Swap-bot and how it relates to the craft community. I am so excited because the podcast of the interview is now up on the CraftyPod website! It is only 16 minutes long and I think it turned out quite well. Check it out!

CraftyPod is a great website where you can find craft related podcasts as well as daily bloggings about crafty goodness. Sister Diane is the organizer of a chapter of the Church of Craft in Portland, Oregon.

Thanks to Swap-bot member Gem for sending along info that we were mentioned in February 2007 issue of Quick and Simple Magazine. I tried looking for the magazine last night, but didn’t find it. Their website has a list of locations to get the magazine, so I’ll continue my search tomorrow.

The Magic Yarn Ball swap and Swap-bot were featured on the Craft: blog today. So cool! We love Craft: magazine and Natalie Zee Drieu, the associate editor. For all of you crafty swappers out there, Craft: is hosting a handmade, recycled Valentine’s Day card contest. Sounds fun… and there are prizes!