Breastmates

well for the past 9 or 10 months, I have been working towards a whole new website with the help of Lynny and Kym. I just outgrew my old one.

I got this hilarious email from Lynny today, it was a nice surprise as I didn't know when our actual launch date would be:

Pack your bags for the hospital, I predict you will have your first contraction at about 3pm today your time, and baby will arrive at approx 8.25 pm tonight.

This new baby is referring to my new website

So excited!!

Bras for Africa - Truck 1

I have been collecting preloved bras to send to Africa. Well I have received so many!! Hundreds turned into thousands over the space of about four weeks.

Maybe in my next life I should get a job in PR?!!

My garage was getting so full, that we arranged for our first lot of the collection to be taken into storage. I'm still collecting the bras, they keep coming in, I just needed some more space.

I want to say huge thank you to everyone that has donated bras already, and that have dropped them off recently. Lots of people even organised to collect bras from their friends and colleagues too, so I have been getting really big bags coming in.

I have received anonymous parcels in a box that I set up on my driveway, parcels in the mail (thank you postie!), and parcels from people who have knocked on the door and chatted to me. And I have lots of phone calls from people who wanted to know more.

The people who have been donating items were initially my database of mothers from my business Breastmates.co.nz, but thanks to the newspapers the story spread and more people were informed. I've had young women, students, mothers, professionals, grannies, people who have lost weight, people who have gained weight, ladies that have had mastectomies, and even some transsexuals donating their preloved bras.

A big thank you to Kim Herewini the Account Manager at Express Logistics Group Limited (http://www.xprs.co.nz/) who organised to get this first truck load of bras collected from my place this morning at no charge.

Another thank you to the Auckland suburban newspapers, T&E, BIGfm, Oh Baby, Littlies, and TV3 Sunrise who have all helped to publicise this campaign for me.

I've tried to take some photos of the first truckload, but its really hard to show the quantity in a picture.

This is my first stint at charity work, and I have really enjoyed it. Sure it takes some time, but it is something that I can do, that WILL make a difference.

Thank you!

http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2009/03/bras-for-africa.html

http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2009/03/stuffconz.html

http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2009/03/knickers-for-africa.html

http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2009/02/bras-for-africa-press-release.html

On TV

So remember last week I told you in a blog post that I had an article published in the suburban newspapers? http://breastmates-nz.blogspot.com/2009/03/stuffconz.html

One person that read the story in the paper was Ali from TV3's Sunrise Morning Show. The reporter and camera-man came out to my place yesterday and we shot this story. It was great fun.

And I have had a great response - so many bras!!

Stuff.co.nz

We've had our story published in our local suburban newspaper this week, and its also on their website http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/2248299/Used-bras-bound-for-Zimbabwe

They just made two mistakes in the article

1. They said we are also collecting money that people may donate. This is not correct. We are only collecting bras.

2. They said we are doing the bra collection from February to May, and gave our Auckland address. This is not correct, the Auckland address is only valid until the end of March, because after that Breastmates is MOVING and I don't want people to send in bras if I am not here any more.

But we will notify the delivery address on our website www.breastmates.co.nz/africa.html so that you can still send them in until the end of May.

I have got tonnes of bras here now already!! Great response.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/2248299/Used-bras-bound-for-Zimbabwe

http://www.madefromnewzealand.com/stories/2009/03/23/bras-for-africa/

Sexy Pregnancy Lingerie Shocked NZ

Sometime last year, I sent out a newsletter to my Breastmates Newsletter subscribers (people who had requested to receive a newsletter from me about our website's freebies, sales, giveaways etc). That edition of the newsletter was informing customers about the gorgeous range of Hotmilk sexy pregnancy lingerie and sexy maternity lingerie that we had started to sell.

The email I sent included pictures of the pretty maternity lingerie and sexy maternity photos. Shame on me!
I was really surprised to receive a few complaints from customers - saying the images were "inappropriate" and "verging on soft porn". Oh my goodness - what pregnant or new mother wouldnt want to be notified about this new lingerie we were selling? Its such a huge improvement on the old boring granny-style of black, white or beige. What do you think of these shots?

The people that received the newsletter were either pregnant, or new baby. My target market. I wasnt sending SPAM, and I wasnt sending the email to granny's or a non-relevant auidence.

Mothers these days want a bit of glamour (myself included!)

So we asked the question - was it because the lingerie models were pregnant that people couldnt handle the marketing shots? I guess so. Thats the only thing that differs with these shots compared to department store junk mail. I have included the maternity lingerie photos in this blog post - these sexy lingerie for Yummy Mummy's styles were from the first season.
The story then featured on newspapers around New Zealand and finally the manufacturers were interviewd on the John Campbell news show on TV3. Several blog writers around the world also have mentioned this news story and its links to Breastmates! Of course we loved this fantastic exposure of this gorgeous range of maternity lingerie!
Bare in mind that it was only a few people that complained - not the whole nation. So dont think all New Zealanders are such prudes!

Since the story hit the news, we have had two new ranges of nursing lingerie for the summer and winter season, including breastfeeding sleepwear and maternity PJs. There are lots of styles on our website of really sexy maternity underwear to choose from!

We even have more new styles coming. These are expected to be available soon so check the Breastmates website for more information.

Our Breastmates product's are now world famous. We can send to any location around the world, just order online.

To view all the sexy lingerie styles that we have available now, check this page http://www.breastmates.co.nz/lingerie.htm

Currency conversion makes these a great deal!