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Press Articles & Releases |
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Spreading the Love : How An Australian Business is Winning the Hearts of America!
www.propulsionbusinessnetwork.com.au
Sunday, 16th May 2004
By Angela Perkes
It all began in the autumn of 1998 when Melbournian, Amanda Hegedus had to board an international flight to Indonesia for yet another business trip. Although a seasoned business traveler, Amanda never found it easy to say goodbye to her husband and endure the separation of business travel. This particular farewell was the most difficult, because Amanda was traveling to a country that had recently experienced minor rioting in its remote areas. Upon arriving in Indonesia the level of tension amongst the people could be felt everywhere, and it escalated into one of the worst riots the country had ever seen. Shaken and distressed by the turmoil and destruction that was unfolding around her, Amanda returned to Australia, lucky to be alive and determined to bring the dream of starting her own business to life!
The Dream
Realising just how dangerous her Indonesian trip was only reinforced what Amanda previously believed: life simply is too short. This realisation and the pain of being separated from her husband while away inspired Amanda to come up with the idea that was to become Message Scrolls. "I used to miss my husband terribly when I travelled," Amanda says thinking back to her high-flying career days. "I knew my husband would be quietly eating dinner alone while I was away in some foreign hotel, and we'd both be thinking of each other and wishing we were together. The thing I really wanted to do when I was away was send my husband a love letter and I thought message scrolls, delivered by a porter, were the most romantic way to deliver the message."
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"Amanda with a Guest Sign Book Scroll". |
During those difficult times, Amanda came to realise that no such services existed and there was a huge hole in the market waiting for her to fill, and that's how Message Scrolls began.
The Launch
Unlike many businesses that commence with one major launch, Amanda decided on an alternative soft launch approach in September 1999, which involved spending countless hours registering www.messagescrolls.com with internet search engines. "Looking back on that huge task now, the time we spent really paid off for us. Today we are listed very highly with major search engines thanks to effective key words, and this ultimately has been how our clients have found us," Amanda says.
Soon after, in January the second phase of the launch commenced in the form of a media and advertising campaign. Media releases were written and distributed to media outlets throughout Melbourne. So successful was the campaign, Message Scrolls received editorial coverage in the Herald Sun and the local paper, and St. Valentine's day news coverage on Channel 10 Melbourne. In addition to this, Amanda offered the Message Scrolls products to internet businesses and local radio stations as competition prizes. Message Scroll advertisements started appearing in local newspapers and Amanda pounded the pavements doing letterbox drops. It was after this that the launch's grand finale came in the form of a unique idea that Amanda had. "I was extremely keen on taking our marketing to the streets and arranged for our porters to hand out flyers at major train stations in Melbourne City," Amanda says. "In fact, even I handed out flyers at one stage because the finances were really tight. I will never forget handing out flyers from 6am until 9am at train stations and then racing back to the office to take phone orders from people who had just received the flyers!"
After her successful advertising and marketing campaigns, Melbournians really responded to the Message Scrolls concept on St. Valentines Day - the day that each year is the most popular day for occasion scrolls.
"The US came to us!"
Perhaps one of the most interesting facts behind Message Scrolls was where their first order came from: Canada! Amanda attributes this totally to the hours spent registering the Message Scrolls websites with search engines, yet admits that the strong international response was somewhat underestimated. "Initially, we didn't realise just how big overseas orders, particularly from the US, were going to be for us," Amanda says. "Six to nine months after we launched our website, we started to receive a lot of enquiries from the US for handcrafted wedding scroll invitations - a product we didn't even think of when we started the business. We took advantage of that situation immediately and we have now met that strong demand." Americans were finding out about Message Scrolls through major search engines and literally flooding Amanda and her team with enquiries and orders. ""The major obstacle we faced was the volume of enquiries," Amanda says. "The emails would come through overnight when the majority of Australia is fast asleep. It was and still is thrilling to open email each morning to see what business has come in."
Dealing with the large volume of enquiries and orders has now become so much easier for Message Scrolls, thanks to the development of processes that sort real enquiries and firm orders, from those people that are only expressing a slight interest.
"The fact that the US came to us is directly attributed to search engines," says Amanda. "That is as simple as it was."
Two years after launching, Message Scrolls had developed an outstanding brand and reputation for service throughout the US, with annual US sales doubling in 2003. "It took around a year to build the strong brand," says Amanda. "Online customers are just the same as customers that walk into the shops - they talk about good service and bad service. Our service is outstanding so word spread quickly."
That outstanding reputation for service still stands strong today, with sales continually increasing and the fact that Message Scrolls is the only business in the world to provide such a service.
What Next for Message Scrolls?
Despite the phenomenal growth that Message Scrolls has experienced in its five years in business, there is still a long way to go with Australian and US markets according to Amanda. "To compare the Australian and US markets, they both readily accepted our products, however each market approaches the internet in differing ways," Amanda explains. "We found that US customers were very internet and email savvy. They are very comfortable shopping with credit cards and online ordering, whereas the Australian public are still wary - this will change though and in time it will become more widely accepted."
With regards to the US market, Amanda believes Message Scrolls has only just started to penetrate the US market. "There is a lot more opportunity there for us," Amanda says optimistically. "Although our manufacturing operation is all based in Australia, we will be expanding further into the US in terms of distributing our product via agents and establishing points-of-presence that would provide a 'face' to the US market, but still be based on the Australian operations."
Amanda admits that the biggest challenge for the business is yet to come - that of selecting distributors via agents, equipped with the same high service quality standards and values that will enable them to represent Message Scrolls in the US. It is this challenge that will result in Amanda taking extended leave in the coming months to plan this new introduction into the US over the next two years. During this time she will consult Austrade's expertise for assistance in this complex phase of expansion into the US retail arena.
So, in addition to further international expansion, what else is in the pipeline for Message Scrolls? There may be some expansion into the Australian retail arena among other things, but one thing is definitely for sure: Message Scrolls will continue to do what it does best, and that is spread the love and bring loved ones closer together. |
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Sending the right Message
Northcote Leader
Wednesday, 29th January 2003
By Steve Pogonowski
Picture: Tony Gough
Marriage proposals have been written on them, high profile celebrities hope to get one in the mail.
Message scrolls is a fast-growing business, thanks to the inspiration of a Northcote woman who was frustrated with the lack of decent message services.
While Amanda Hegedus was working overseas she sought a service to hand deliver a love letter to her husband.
After only finding companies that offered song, dance or strip, she spotted a hole in the market and started the Message Scrolls telegram delivery business three years ago.
The small home business now ships 75 per cent of its product to the US and Mrs Hegedus said about 80 per cent of orders were placed over the Internet.
"We are now the only Australian business that offers a service such as ours and there are only a few such companies in the world," she said. "We ship thousands worldwide, mainly to the US, and continue to hand deliver telegram scrolls throughout Melbourne for special occasions." The company handcrafts, prints and delivers the scrolls to local and overseas clients. |
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Message Scrolls launched its revised website, www.messagescrolls.com late last year and Mrs Hegedus said enquiries have already doubled. "Enquiries from Asia which have been slow over the years have started to com in since the launch," she said. Message Scrolls plan to concentrate on the US market over the next two years and then start marketing throughout Britain and South East Asia while increasing its Australian presence.
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Scrolling Along in the USA!
Media Release
A small business tucked away in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, ships 75% of their product to the USA. In just 3 years, Amanda Hegedus has developed her product of a 'Message Scroll' as a gift, to wedding invitation scrolls and thousands of invitation scrolls are sent to the USA each year. From California through to New York, right through to Florida, the staff at Message Scrolls no longer have time to find the state that they are shipping to in the atlas. "I remember two years ago when we first started shipping to the USA - the atlas would be out and we would be amazed that someone from what seemed like the other side of the world was ordering our product. Now, orders pour in - we handcraft then ship - no time to get dazzled by the international interest!"
It started as a unique idea for a novelty message gift service throughout Melbourne. Amanda used to travel overseas in her job before starting the business. Even though international travel sounds exciting to some - it was difficult, tiring and often dangerous. Amanda missed her husband dearly, and would have given anything for a normal 9 - 5 job or even better, to work from home. "I was caught up in the Jakarta riots of Indonesia in May 1998 - I was lucky to come out of it all unharmed. It really made me think about my future, many people died in those riots. I quit the international traveling job soon after the riots and pursued my idea for the Message Scrolls telegram delivery business. While I was overseas, I wanted a love letter hand delivered to my husband without a song, dance or strip! But there was no such service. I developed the Scroll telegram service, then enquiries for small wedding invitation scrolls soon started to come in, the demand for these type of scrolls was increasing. We are now the only Australian business that offers a service such as ours, and there are only a few such companies in the world. We now ship thousands of invitation scrolls worldwide, mainly to the USA, and continue to hand deliver telegram scrolls throughout Melbourne for special occasions."
While many internet sites failed during the dot.com crash of the late nineties, the Message Scrolls business flourished. Amanda states that "clients contact us to say thank you again and again for answering their email enquiries. Many vendors just don't return email enquiries! We run our site like we would a shop front - it seems there are still business owners that launch a site, let it sit and don't realize that the service behind the site is the driver. Also, our product is unique and stunning - we are one of the few in the world that handcraft scrolls so we have really filled a gap. And the other main success factor for us is that for both our US and Australian customers, our scrolls are very reasonably priced."
Message Scrolls launched their revised website www.messagescrolls.com late last year and already enquiries have doubled. "We hadn't updated our site for many years as business has kept us running. But finally I stopped, took a step back, and saw how outdated it was - it desperately need a spring clean! Enquiries from Asia which have been slow over the years have started to come in since the launch. Message Scrolls plan to concentrate on the US market over the next two years and then commence marketing throughout the U.K and South East Asia while increasing their Australian presence.
Amanda Hegedus, manager, is available for interview and photographs  contact us!
Media Release 12.02.02
Message Scrolls - a unique and personalised service
A unique Melbourne based business that handcrafts Scrolls and delivers the Scrolls by a uniformed Porter (actor), courier or by post is gearing up for St Valentine's Day. As far as the manager Amanda Hegedus is aware, there is no other such service in Australia or the world. "Our Porters are very well experienced actors, who read out the message on the scroll to the lucky recipient or simply hand it over and bow out. There are no songs, no dances and each delivery is different." Amanda goes on to say that "of course, we do receive requests for our Porters to slightly embarrass the recipient. A common approach is for our Porter to arrive at the delivery destination and walk through shouting out the recipient's name, just like the Porters at large hotels do, with a bell. This approach is usually carried out at party's, in offices, wherever the customer wants and is a great way to make a big entry - and really surprise!."
Message Scrolls have the business down packed, they even provide verses via their site www.messagescrolls.com or customers use their own words to send a special message in an old world way. Their busiest time of the year is St Valentine's day where Porters and couriers deliver Scrolls with beautiful love messages all over Melbourne. People who cannot be with their loved ones from interstate or overseas order Scrolls, or others that have done the flowers, wine, chocolates thing and are looking for something a little different, more lasting - order Scrolls.
Amanda explains that "we are internet based only, and have a secure online form so people can order safe and securely over the net. This means we can receive orders 24 hours round the clock and always confirm orders with customers so that we know exactly what the tone, feel, specifics will be for each Scroll delivery whether by Porter, courier or post".
"Some scrolls are even sent anonymously and we promise the sender not to tell when called after the delivery by the curious recipient! Our base price for hand delivering Scrolls by one of our professional Porters throughout Melbourne is $94, and customers can add chocolates, wine, flowers, other gifts to suit their budget. Alternatively, courier delivery is also available and prices start from $40 for this service across Melbourne. International customers don't miss out, we regularly send our Scrolls by Post and courier right around the world".
For further information contact us!
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Media Release 30.01.01
St. Valentine's Day Gift Giving - Message Scrolls Delivery Service
A Melbourne business that Porter delivers Message Scrolls for special occasions is preparing for another busy St Valentine's Day this February 14th.
As far as the management of Message Scrolls know, they are the only business in Australia, if not the world that handcrafts scrolls and has them Porter delivered (and read out if requested) for any occasion. Orders are regularly received nationally and internationally, from people who can't be home on special occasions. Big event days, such as St Valentine's Day, make up the bulk of orders and account for up to 20% of sales for the year.
Amanda Hegedus, Manager of Message Scrolls, says that "each Scroll is handmade which means no two are exactly alike. This was a big selling feature of our service last year, along with the method of delivery - via our professional, uniformed Porters. We found that there were lots of people who used our prewritten verses, as they had real trouble putting their feelings into words. We assisted and mixed our prewritten verses with their words to come up with the perfect message for their loved one."
Message Scrolls will be delivering Scrolls from early morning to late in the evening on St Valentine's Day and orders are taken over the telephone or via their internet site at www.messagescrolls.com
For further information and photo opportunity of a Porter reading a Scroll contact us. |
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Media Release 07.12.00
Northcote business forecasts international sales increase for Christmas Message Scrolls Delivery service - a home grown product set to soar
Message Scrolls delivery service sales increased dramatically during November and sales look to continue increasing, particularly from overseas markets during the Christmas period.
Message Scrolls, an internet occasion based business, launched their service on St Valentine's Day this year and Porter delivers handcrafted Scrolls (with tailored verses) to all areas of Melbourne. The professional nature of the service, coupled with the attention to detail in the production of the Scrolls, sets this business apart from any other Telegram or Gift service.
Amanda Hegedus, Manager of Message Scrolls, is thrilled with the overseas orders, particularly since it is an idea that her and her husband came up with and built from an idea into a fast selling product. "We are receiving orders for all occasions from the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia wide. We've even had an order from Laos without any targeted marketing in that country at all - people just find us on the internet, love the idea then order via our secure online order form."
It's predicted that orders will increase over the Christmas period, particularly from people who are overseas or interstate that cannot make it home on Christmas day. Message Scrolls staff will be delivering Scrolls throughout Christmas morning in Melbourne, and also send Scrolls interstate or internationally by Post or Courier.
For more information contact us! |
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Porter with a Message
Thursday, 7th December 2000
Northcote Leader 9.2.00
A Northcote company that delivers old-fashioned love letters is expecting Valentine's Day to be its busiest yet.
Business owner Amanda Hegedus will have 20 porters on stand-by to deliver medieval-style message scrolls on Monday. "Our main client group are busy professionals who may not have time to go out and look for a special gift," Ms Hegedus said.
Porters dressed in 1940's style uniforms bowed as they delivered the romantic messages to lovers' homes and offices, she said.
"Saint Valentine's Day should be our busiest day of the year. That's what we're about - bringing romance into people's lives," Ms Hegedus said.
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A Canadian who found the company's website had ordered a message scroll, flowers and champagne for an Australian couple celebrating their wedding anniversary. |
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