I wanted to reach out to a wider audience, and although that was possible on the web through things such as creating a Facebook page and utilising the Better Blogger Network, it just didn't quench my curiosity.
And curiosity is something which has always been one of my highest needs, and I like to believe it is human nature to be curious.
Therefore I came up with the idea of Scarphelia stickers.
These stickers, half of them with 'Scarphelia.com' on, and half of them just a plan scannable QR code on, when stuck in places peple would be surprised to find them, would ignite people's curiosity enough to want to find out what on earth they mean.
I began sticking them more or less everywhere I went, and in places I knew people would be looking, without realising they were looking there.
For example, I'd stick them round the edges of the mirrors in public toilets or the back of toilet doors, on the desks in the library for those procrastinating essay-tacklers, begging for a distraction. I stuck them on coffee shop tables, bus seats, inside newspapers, on post boxes... pretty much anywhere I went. When I first received them, I stuck them on a very important person without realising it, which you can read about here. I even once stuck one on the inside of an aeroplane tray table, so that my blog would travel the world.
And they were a roaring success.
At first, my friends began to find them in unexpected places, tag pictures and tag me in them on Facebook saying 'Look what I just found!' but soon, more and more people began seeing them around, and online, and thinking 'what the hell is Scarphelia?' and more and more hits came pouring in.
What's cool is that from Google Analytics, you can tell just what proportion of the hits to your blog come from scanning the QR code, and to my absolute delight, the majority of them were returning visitors.
So it wasn't just the fact that I was conning people into viewing my blog by tempting them to scan an anonymous QR code, the people who'd found my blog from scanning the code were the ones who were staying and coming back time and time again.
The most amazing thing that has ever happened as a result of these stickers, was about two months ago, I ventured into the unknown territory of the 'other' box on my Facebook messages, and I found this email from a guy from Poland:
A-MAZING.
So, recently I have decided to kick start the Scarphelia Stickers campaign again, and this time with the added incentive of a prize, woohoo!
The person who sticks a Scarphelia sticker in the most exciting place, wins!
Step 1
To enter, just leave your name and full address in this box here, and click 'ask'. I will do my best to have posted the stickers to you within a week. (May be longer for overseas) The closing date for the competition is the 1st October 2013.
Step 2
Once you have received your stickers and stuck them somewhere awesome, then you MUST take a picture and submit it to this page here along with your name and email address (in case you win)
Step 3
Winner will be determined by the most 'likes' on a picture, and my final say on which I think is the most amazing.
The prize is £50 GBP, and something else which I will spend my summer thinking up :)
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Step 3
Winner will be determined by the most 'likes' on a picture, and my final say on which I think is the most amazing.
The prize is £50 GBP, and something else which I will spend my summer thinking up :)
Here are some of the first entries, from JK from The Wonder Crew, who took a batch to the Krankbrother's Street Party in East London. Can you beat these?
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