With ECMeetup still pretty much in the air – I’m typing while snacking on goodie bag items – I thought I’d tell you guys about a special collab we did with Locally Yours Market this time around.

For those who don’t know Locally Yours Market, it’s a monthly market that is run in PE where all products have to be locally made or sourced, giving entrepreneurs a fighting chance against cheap imports…so what does that have to do with blogging?

Well, it’s not the market itself but more the ethos of the organisation. The brains behind the market (who would probably be annoyed I called her that, as she is crazy humble) Annelize Botha came to chat to us about how the entrepreneurs in her group work together encouraging each other and have come out stronger because of it.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a side to this where we as bloggers are in competition – I’m under no delusions about this. I’m human, I’ve seen a friend on a campaign or receiving a press drop and then I can feel that tinge of jealousy that makes you say #mustbenice. But at the end of the day, I’m still there to help them as I know they are there to help me.

Annelize’ s group of entrepreneurs have a similar way of working, and the group has grown from 10 to over 100 in about 3 years – ECMeetup has had a similar journey.

Something that I loved hearing was how they pool resources and skills. You’re a photographer so you assist the graphic designer who then gives you logos in return. As a writer, I’ve paid for a few things over the years with my words. Mutually beneficial trades are great for starting out with a thin wallet.

Something to think about…Give and you shall receive.

Some of the Locally Yours Market entreperneurs, actually sponsored meetup this weekend

Green Fairy focusses on small batch body products handmade by Qualified Aromatherapist using locally sourced ingredients, they added soap to the goodie bags and sponsored a prize

Acclaimed artist and art teacher Sharon Boyd gave two stunning paintings to give away

We received a lovely hamper from Happiness Lifestyle. They stock a selective range of accessories and gifting either handmade or locally sourced and one branch of the business makes the most amazing fudge, which our foodies got to try out

Mooks is a small business that uses locally sourced ingredients to create small batch delicious products and sponsored us with pesto

Hello is a craft brand offering small-batch products such as muesli and rusks they gifted all the bloggers, both of these products and some awesome prizes

S&A Screen Printing is a printing company with a different. Apart from making your personalised gifting dreams a reality with embroidery, silk and screen printing they also have a range of the quirkiest cutest little gifts like printed aprons, t-shirts and bags. They gave us a selection of leather key chains and pretty notebooks for the goodibags

Mr Mustard Beard Oil was a novel addition to the men’s goodibags. Mr Mustard deli is behind the gin and tonic mustard I’ve been raving about but another part of their business is beard and hair oil which I’m dying to try out.

I was introduced to Life is grape at the Locally Yours Christmas market. They do wine and wine related gifting and thanks to wine tasting vouchers everyone else gets to experience their fun take on wine expertise

Last but not least we had Calm PE (Annelize’s business) sponsoring us each with a hand made jewelry item…so special

For everything else in the goodie bag check out my facebook page