Thursday, September 21, 2006

Give Away Free Greeting Card Samples

Give Away Free Greeting Card Samples

Yes you read correctly - Free Samples

If you have had some experience in making greeting cards then all you have to do to start getting some customers is to give some of your cards away.

Why?

Simple: While you'd rather charge for your greeting cards, what you're really doing is investing in your skill. See, in return for giving away some free cards, you ask for a testimonial from each customer.

Is that really worth it?

Sure. Once people can see proof that the cards you are making are great quality you will find your paid work will increase dramatically.

Testimonials (written recommendations) provide proof that you can do what you say you can.
For instance, what if you had a testimonial like this:

" David did a fantastic job of my wedding invitations. Every guest at the wedding make a point of how beautiful they were. Book her while you can, because once more people find out about her level of creativity and quality, she's bound to be booked out for months."
Jane Smith, Los Angeles, CA

See how powerful that is?

A collection of testimonials like that is worth thousands of dollars to you in sales down the track. That's why giving away some cards for testimonials is such a good idea.

Of course, I reveal all the tips and techniques about how you can explode your sales in "How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business".


If you're serious about making some money from your favorite hobby, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity than this. Grab your copy now and get started.


Talk Soon
David W. Allen

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Test Your Greeting Card Market

Test Your Greeting Card Market

In yesterdays post I showed you a way to spy on your competition and see what they are doing to sell their greeting cards.

Today we're going to look at ways to test your market.

Have you heard the story about the two Fishermen who were fishing on the same big lake.
One Fisherman was catching lots of big fish while the other Fisherman on the other side of the lake wasn't catching a thing.

What was this Fisherman doing wrong? He is fishing in the same lake as the other Fisherman, at the same time of day, using the same boat and fishing tackle.
What is the successful Fisherman's secret?

He knows exactly what part of the lake the biggest and most fish are and he also knows what bait they are attracted to.

This Fisherman has tested different types of bait in different parts of the lake and now, from that testing he knows that each time he goes to the lake to fish his is guaranteed to catch a fish or two or three.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The same thing applies in business. The big market out there is just like the lake, its full of people looking for products to buy but you need to find where your market is then try out different types of bait on it until you find what it is they bite onto.

So this is what you do.

Go out and approach some businesses that some how are related to the types of cards you sell, for example, a Wedding Photogapher.

Let's say you make Wedding invitations and thank you cards. A Wedding Photographer would be a great place to start because his market is also your market.

So what you can do is set up a "voucher" system. The Photographer simply has a big pile of your "vouchers" he can give out to his customers and prospective customers when they come into meet with him/her.

This voucher offers a free gift ... free Thank You Cards with each order of Invitations (let your mind run free with ideas!), and then include your contact info.

But each voucher also contains a code which is unique to the store.
When they present the voucher to you, you can see this code. Which means if the person presenting the voucher to you becomes a paying customer, you give the Photographer an agreed percentage of the sale.

See, the great thing about this strategy is that you only pay AFTER you have a client. Which is better than paying up front for advertising when you don't even know if it will work!
It's called an "endorsement." And could send a flood of potential customers your way in no time at all.

Of course, I reveal all the tips and techniques about how you can explode your sales in "How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business".

If you're serious about making some money from your favorite hobby, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity than this. Grab your copy now and get started.

Oh yeah, here is a pic of my new book. I know, but I feel like a proud Father at the moment.







Talk Soon
David W. Allen

Find Out What Your Competition is Doing

Find Out What Your Competition is Doing

In yesterdays post I showed you a way to find your market.

Knowing your customer intimately is the first step to easy sales. Until you know (1) who your customers are, (2) what they want, and (3) what motivates them to buy, you can't prepare an effective strategy to sell your greeting cards.

Today we're going to spy on your competition.

Using the information you gathered yesterday we are going to go out and take a look at what your competition is doing.

A great way to sell your greeting cards is to find out what your competition is offering then find a way to do it better and make your cards more appealing to your market.

How do you do this?

Simple: You go to one of the major search engines like Google and type in the search terms you listed yesterday that relate to the market, greeting cards, you are targeting, and start searching.

Now go through some of the top listed websites and see what they are doing, what types of cards are they offering and the prices they charge.

This will take a little leg work but it will pay off in the long run. I would also recommend you bookmark the sites that are doing what you want to do so you can come back to them later.

The good news is there is a piece of software called WebFerret that is free that will go out and search and find all the websites that relate to the search term you are looking for.

I suggest you go and get a copy at:http://www.ferretsoft.com/index.html

There is a paid version for only $29.95 that will give you all the features of the software.

This is such a time saver.

So go and start spying on your competition now and you will be amazed at what you find and the ideas you get from others.

Doing this bit of work in the beginning will pay off in the long run - trust me.

Of course, I reveal all the tips and techniques about how you can explode your sales in "How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business" - available at:
http://www.greetingcardprofits.com/greetingcardbusiness.html

If you're serious about making some mo~ney from your favourite hobby, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity than this. Grab your copy now and get started. http://www.greetingcardprofits.com/greetingcardbusiness.html

Talk Soon
David W. Allen

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Find A Hungry Greeting Card Market

Find A Hungry Greeting Card Market

If you have been trying to sell your greeting cards already but you just can't get any sales or enough to live the comfortable lifestyle you dream of, then the reason for this is simple: You're probably doing what 90% of other struggling businesses are doing - shooting in the dark and hoping to find a customer.

This is why the vast majority of marketing efforts fail!

You don't know where your market is!

If you have experience in making greeting cards, all you have to do in order to start getting customers is to find a market.

How?

I'm glad you asked.

Simply this: The cheapest way to find out if their is a market hungry for your greeting cards is the Internet. Go to this website: http://inventory.overture.com and start typing in terms that relate to the types of greeting cards you are trying to sell.

This free tool will give you a list of search terms people have been typing into the search engines in the past month.

If you find no one is searching for greeting cards then you're in trouble but I did a test on the term 'Greeting Cards' and the results were amazing - 316,770 people searched for this term in July 2006,and this is only on the Overture search engines, this doesn't include Google.

Is that what you've been looking for?

So what now?

Go through the search terms and find the ones that relate to your type of cards for example: Wedding Cards, Photo Greeting Cards, Sexy Greeting Cards - Yes, this will stimulate your creative juices that's for sure.

The real money is in finding a small niche, don't try and sell to the most popular market because there will be a lot more competition.

See how powerful that is?

If you find a small niche market and give it what it wants you will make more sales than you can handle. This is a proven formula that works!

Of course, I reveal more tips and techniques about how you can explode your sales in "How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business" - available at:
http://www.greetingcardprofits.com/greetingcardbusiness.html

If you're serious about making some money from your favorite hobby, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity than this. Grab your copy now and get started.


Talk Soon
David W. Allen

Thursday, September 07, 2006

New Book Reveals: How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business

How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business

I am so excited to announce the new release of my eBook "How To Start Your Own Greeting Card Business".

It covers nearly everything you need to know about the quickest ways to start selling your greeting cards online and offline as soon as TOMORROW.

Imagine being able to work from home and get paid doing something you love. Wouldn't that be great?

And imagine being able to start your own greeting card business part-time, working from home when it suits you while still working your current job?

To find out more about how you can get your copy now just go to:http://www.greetingcardprofits.com/greetingcardbusiness.html

Oh yeah I almost forgot! I am giving away over $700.00 of FREE Bonuses to the first 50 people who buy a copy. To find out how you can get your copy and all your free bonuses just Click Here Now.

Take Care

David W. Allen

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

What!? Christmas is Just Around The Corner!

Yes I know but its true. So if you've been thinking about designing greeting cards for the festive season then now is the perfect time to take action and get those creative juices flowing.

If you have a home based business selling greeting cards then you should be putting some designs together and start promoting them and start taking orders. You don't want to leave it to the last minute and get swamped with orders.

I have just read a great article by Alison Hodges of PhotoAffections.com I recommend you read and take a look at her website, Its a great business she has there. I posted the article at my greeting card business site.

Regards

David W. Allen

Friday, September 01, 2006

Having a Web Site - How is it Important for a Greeting Card Business?

Having a Web Site - How is it Important for a Greeting Card Business?

A web site is not only one way you can market your business, but it is also a way that you can start your business storefront or an alternate storefront. Having a web site gives you the ability to show and sell your cards on a global scale.

It also allows you to do business 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without you having to run the storefront. Instead, you can collect orders and payments online and handle shipping during your regular working hours.

If you do not have a business web site you are simply losing money. Every day more and more people are doing business online and its increasing.

Did you know?

79% of people in Australia alone are spending online. That’s 79% of a 22Million population and its growing.

Over 2000 Australian’s are making a living on Ebay

According to Forrester Research in the USA, online spending was US$95.7 billion last year and that by 2008 they predict it to rise to US$229 billion.

Nearly 5 million new households in the US will shop online in the next 5 years.

There are 55 million households in the US already shopping online.

By 2008 there will be 63 million households in the US shopping online.

If you are serious about building a greeting card business then you need to have an online presence.

For more greeting card information go to :www.greetingcardprofits.com