This former governor and presidential candidate has shaken hands with many prestigious politicians and business leaders over the years. But I’m sure never someone so “prestigious” and “businessy” as me! In all seriousness though, we were very proud to meet Governor Pawlenty and have him and his wife as our customers!
We had a great time at the Lake Home and Cabin Show and Minneapolis and loved meeting ALL our customers! Thanks again to everyone who helped us out at the show and especially those who bought our maps!
Lake Home and Cabin Show – 4th Straight Year!
For the 4th straight year we will be showing our maps at the Largest Lake Home and Cabin Show in the Upper Midwest. Today through Sunday the Minneapolis Convention Center will be filled with Cabin owners dreaming of the upcoming summer. If you happen to make it down there, we are in the back row, booth 6. Also look for our ad in the Official Show Program!
2016 Recap – Busy As Ever
We are happy to announce that 2016 was another great year for our business, and an even better year for our family. Our 3rd child, Hazel, was born in September. This has been a great blessing to us and she is the sweetest baby. Her brother and sister love very much her too, but along with all our other responsibilities, she has made us tired!
We still been able to find time to fulfill our map orders however and we strive to put out the highest quality product, combined exceptional customer service for each and every customer. In doing so we were fortunate to received 12 new reviews on ETSY this year, and EACH of them were of the highest ranking… 5 STARS!!! Here are a few of them:
“My husband and I love this map! Amazing detail and a beautiful piece of art. Thank you, Blueprint Maps!” Jane Hixson on Jan 22, 2016
“We love our map! Exceeded our expectations. Brad was great to work with!” Kristi Bruckschen on Jul 25, 2016
“We love our map of the Whitefish chain! It came packaged extremely well and in time for Christmas! Thank you for a beautiful gift.” Kristi Halverson on Dec 26, 2016
In addition to these, we received many emails and phones calls. Hearing from our happy customers, and discussing our product with new customers is always one of our favorite parts of this business.
Lake Minnetonka – Sepia / Antique Color Option
Here are some of the key highlights from 2016
• In February we wrapped up another huge year at the Lake Home and Cabin Show in Minneapolis. Thank you to all the customers and my “helpers” who made it possible.
• Our online sales through Etsy has really taken off. Now 70% of our sales come through that website (and only 20 of our lakes are listed on there). You can visit our Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/blueprintmaps
• Had a very successful 3 days at the Lake Home and Cabin show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
• We donated maps to the silent auctions for Feed My Starving Children and New Life Family Services, both events were a huge success!
• One of our maps was featured in the Parade of Homes…which led to a boost in sales and many great compliments!
• We were able to get away to the lake on a quite a few weekends, which has always been our favorite place to be.
• We began a small Facebook Ad campaign, leading to greater exposure and new sales. We hope to figure this out more in 2017 as you can target specific lakes.
• As mentioned above, our youngest daughter Hazel, was born in September. We now have 3 kids, ages 4, 2, and baby.
• We cranked out quite a few new lakes this year including: Big Sandy, Ten Mile, Clearwater, and more!
• We also have been contacted by more and more retailers from various parts of the state who desired to sell our maps.
• Lastly, our orders which featured Custom Icons went up again in 2016. We love making our maps even more unique and personal, so if you are interested in that option we are happy to help!
As things get busier we will never forget the days when we first started. We had a simple belief that every cabin should have a map of the lake and worked so hard to make sure every customer loved their map. We have tried our best to make a beautiful product and are so grateful our work has become a favorite piece of art for you and your guests. Thank you so much for coming along side of us on the blessed journey. We are looking forward to 2017 with great anticipation!
Brad
Parade of Homes – Lake Minnetonka Map
A few months ago we were approached by the owner of a beautiful home on Lake Minnetonka that was set to be featured in the Parade of Homes. She was looking for a large map of the lake, so after discussing the various options, she choose a Premium Quality, 60″ x 40″, in the Original Color. I haven’t been out to the home to see how it looks yet, but based on the email we received today from a new customer it must look great…
Hello Brad,
The builder and designer are jealous.
More inquiries about the map than building a home. 🙂
I live in Excelsior. What size is the one on that wall, and if I wanted just the one you have there, how much is it, with a pickup in Eden Prairie….so no shipping? Went to the Etsy site.
Can we do this?
We SO appreciate getting emails like this… makes all the hard work and time spent worth while!
Here is the link to our shop if you are interested in purchasing the same map as these customers:
Lake Minnetonka – Canvas Lake Map on ETSY
2015 Recap – Epic Year!
Hi Everyone! First off, I do realize that it is February 2016 and we are long overdue for a recap of what our little map company accomplished in 2015. But my excuse is that we are busy! Which is a good thing of course, but I will apologize to the 13 or 14 of you out there who eagerly await this post each year. ; )
First off, since we opened up shop in 2009 we have been able to grow sales at an increasing clip each consecutive year and 2015 was no different.
The prior year was record setting for us yet we blasted through that record by the end of July!
By the end of the year we had set a great new mark in total sales which was capped off by our best holiday season ever!
Detail View of the Whitefish Chain Map (Original Color Option)
Great quality! Exactly what we were looking for! Seller was quick to reply to questions and very helpful with a quick delivery. Definitely recommend!
Here are some of the key highlights from 2015
• We created a brand new website with lots of new content!! (You are on it right now, check it out!)
• Moved our Online store to Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/shop/blueprintmaps
• Had a very successful 3 days at the Lake Home and Cabin show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
• Created maps for local celebrities (I can’t say who but they are on TV all the time).
• My Daughter caught a truly massive sunfish off our dock!
• Increased the number of Realtors and Builders who use our maps as housewarming gifts.
• Received many 5 star reviews on Etsy. Click the link above to check them out.
• Grandpa bought a new pontoon!!
• Our sales of XL sized maps really took off with nearly 40% of all the maps we sold from 42″-60″ wide! We ship these maps for the same low rate as smaller maps by the way.
• We cranked out many new lakes this year including: Whitefish Chain, North Long, Woman Lake, Minerva, Deer Lake/East Lost and more!
• Last but not least, we also received the great news in December that we are expecting a 3rd Child! We are so excited!!!
I will bring this in for a landing by saying this; we are so GRATEFUL to everyone who has helped us grow our business these past 7+ years. Each map we create means a lot to us and are so honored that our customers choose our product to become a part of their special lake home.
We have tried to honor God by doing things the right way and giving back. He has blessed us with grace and guidance as we grow. Each new customer is a blessing in itself and we are so thankful for you all!!!
Brad
We are Moving our Store to Etsy!
Just a quick update to let you know that we are beginning the process of moving our online shop to Etsy. This will make for a better user experience for our online customers and help us reach a larger group of people with our maps. Etsy is a very well known online store for products just like ours, and they have perfected the art of shopping for unique, custom made gifts.
Here is a link to check it out. All of our latest photography is shown on this site:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/blueprintmaps
FYI: Just so you know, blueprintmaps.com isn’t going anywhere, and we actually have some big improvements in mind. We have just decided to streamline our online shopping experience all through Etsy now. Please check our our store there!
2014 Recap – Our best year yet!!
2014 was a year of transition for us as we looked to expand the reach of our lake maps while steamlining our business to accomodate our growing family. We continued the 5 year streak of increasing sales each year since we began; bolsterd by some unexpected TV time! We also had the wonderful gift of our second child being born in August. Having a second child at home helped illustrate the need to expand our team to help fullfil orders so we could focus more on family, customer interaction, and creating new maps.
Here is a list of some of the cool things from 2014.
[unordered_list style=”tick”]This guy does such a nice job! -Emily Engberg (Twin Cities Live Reporter)
- In February we attended the Lake Home and Cabin show at the Minneapolis Convention center. It was our first year at the show and didn’t know what to expect, but we were welcomed with an amazing response and even met our goal of selling 1 map per hour! Thank you to Dave, Joel and Tammy for helping out at the show.
- We added a few new lakes to our inventory including: Prior Lake, Marion Lake and Pokegama / Cross and a really cool map featuring a portion of the Mississippi River.
- We began the process of moving all of our online sales onto Etsy, which should make life simpler and more convienent for both ourselves and our customers when ordering maps online.
- Our maps were featured on the TV Show Twin Cities Live in August It was a great segment and we began recieving phone calls seconds after it was broadcast! See the clip here.
[unordered_list style=”tick”]What a beautiful gift to have in your home if you have a cabin up north! – Elizabeth Ries (Twin Cities Live Host)
- Leo David was born on August 21st in Waconia, instantly doubling our amount of children (and future map makers) but putting a tempory halt in production.
- Also, we have improved our processes to increase our order capacity and reduce shipping times.
- Speaking of shipping, we have dropped all of our shipping costs by over 50%.
- Lastly we were honored to help with silent auctions throughout the year by donating maps and again donated a portion of our profits back into charities throughout the state of MN.[/unordered_list]
A heart felt thank you to all those who have supported us this last year. We so appreciate every compliment, referal, and sale. We look forward to seeing what 2015 brings! God Bless you all!
-Brad, Tammy, Ellen and Leo Neuerburg
Limited Time: $1 Shipping!
Hello All,
Until December 9th, we are offering $1 shipping on all our maps. Our maps come packaged in custom sized boxes that offer great protection to your map and also make for easy wrapping! Order that perfect gift for the lake-lover on your list today!
As always, call us anytime with questions or if you want a larger sized map or customization!
Merry Christmas!
Brad
651-230-2719
Twin Cities Live!
Our maps were recently featured on the Twin Cities Live television show. A Lake Minnetonka and Pelican Lake map were featured in a segment named “Show your Minnesota Pride”. Along with our maps they featured other local products that represent Minnesota. We were honored to be selected and had a great response from viewers immediately as we started receiving calls just minutes after the segment aired!
Here is the segement (we are the last product they talk about):
Summer Update – Fun in the Sun!
As I am sure it has for most of you, our spring and summer has flown by so far. We are on pace for our biggest year yet and combined with the fact that baby #2 is due any day now makes things especially busy. But thankfully we have been able to find time to make it to the lake nearly ever other weekend (up to this point) but that will surely change as soon as “junior” arrives this month! Here are some of the highlights of the year so far:
- We participated in the 2014 Lake Home and Cabin Show in February at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The show was 3 days long and we were blown away with the response to our maps. Not only did we meet so many wonderful people but we sold maps at a rate of 1 per hour and walked away with a list of over 200 customers who were interested in a map of their lake that we hadn’t made yet!
- We were honored to donate a map to Ella’s Halo for their silent auction in April at their annual Bowling for Babies event. The map was sold to a lucky bidder and we were happy to help raise some money for a truly great cause!
- We spent a week up at Lake Vermilion with our family for the 4th of July and we were blessed with great weather. The fish were not biting, but atleast everyone walked away with all of their fingers after shooting off fireworks.
- We have been very busy all year keeping our retailers stocked with maps, for whatever reason a few of our stores have been selling maps like crazy!
- We were able to add some helpful pages to our website, such as the Completed Maps Listing, and we have lots of other ideas coming in the near future as well.
- We have also been in negotiations to help our business take the next step and create a large capacity… more on this down the road a bit, but we are very excited about the possibilities!
- I was able to take my 2 year old daughter on her first jetski ride and now she cannot get enough!
- Lastly, as we patiently wait for our second child to be born, we must say thank you not only to our friends and customers, but to God for blessing us with our family, our health, and with the skills and abilities to create a product that people love so much! We have been given much more than we deserve and are truly grateful for this life!
- That’s all for now… thanks again to everyone for making this a great start to 2014!
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