Selling Greeting Cards

Selling Greeting Cards

Making greeting cards is a world wide hobby and favorite past time, but have you ever thought about selling your greeting cards?

You would be so surprised at how many people would buy your greeting cards and one of the best places to sell them is on the internet. Go to Ebay and see for yourself.

More blogs about selling greeting cards.

Your Greeting Card Niche - Establishing it.

Your Greeting Card Niche - Establishing it

A part of developing your greeting card marketing strategy should be dedicated to how you will establish your niche in the greeting card marketing with your target customer.

A niche can be described like this; instead of advertising yourself as a greeting card designer why not target a specific niche like dog and cat greeting cards. A niche one inch wide and a mile deep is always going to be better than a mile wide niche that is only one inch deep.

The idea is to specialise in a specific niche of greeting cards, that's where the money is. This means that you will define in your greeting card marketing and/or advertising plan how you will marketing or sell to your target customer.

By creating a plan to sell your greeting cards, you not only gain focus in knowing your target customer, but you also gain knowledge by creating a baseline plan from which all of your sales can be measured and the plan adjusted whenever it needs to be.

You could test out different niches, for example, you could target Dog lovers and then target the market for Naughty or Funny greeting cards and see which one is the most responsive. Remember, give the market what it wants, not what you want to give it.

Some of the most important methods for establishing your greeting card niche are by:
Keeping a list or database of potential customers, referrals, and customers.

Regularly contacting your potential customers, referrals, and customers of new releases, specials, or new services.

Regularly updating your customer list or database whenever a potential customer, referral, or customer enters the shop, logs in to your web site, or gives his/her mailing address information for a catalog.

Send customers a newsletter or catalog by mail or Internet showing new greeting cards and coupons they can use in the store.

Let customers know of seasonal sales and events.

Click the link: sell my greeting cards for my helpful tips to sell your greeting cards.

Talk Soon

David W. Allen

How to Research Your Target Market/Customer

How to Research Your Target Market/Customer

In order to communicate a message through the grapevine about your greeting card business a marketing/advertising plan should be developed. I have listed some steps for you to follow to help you do research on your target market.

The first step is to research industry trends that are and are not favorable.

The second step is to find your potential market(s) or “total” market(s) within the list of favorable trends. When you find each potential market, look at whether the market is at beginning growth, growth, maturation, saturated, or declining stage.

The third stage is to choose your target market and sales strategy method(s) to reach each target market (e.g., buying mailing lists, internet, direct mail, etc.). This step also involves predicting how many greeting cards your target customer will buy in a month, quarter, and/or year in order to determine how much revenue you can expect in the same period of time (e.g., one customer could buy ten cards per year, five cards per year, etc. depending upon the target market they are in).

The fourth step is to document your research and sales strategy into a marketing/advertising plan.

Hope this is helpful.

Please post a comment ofr contact me at david@greetingcardprofits.com if you have any questions or visit my website at: www.greetingcardprofits.com

Promote Yourself as a Greeting Card Expert

Recognize and Promote Yourself as a Greeting Card Expert in the Field

If you see yourself as an expert in your field, others will, too. The following tips will help you gain notoriety and respect in your field.

Write articles and How To’s to gain recognition from your peers and customers.
Write a newsletter to send to your clients.
Become a member of the Greeting Card Association.
Give classes on how to develop greeting cards.

Create Your Sales Pitch
Creating your own sales pitch is one of those things that seems easy, but, when you get in a spot, can really trip you up if you are not prepared.

Potential customers are potential willing listeners. So take advantage of their listening skills whenever possible.
I will take you through the Sale Pitch process in my next post.

Cheers
David W. Allen
Greeting Card Business

How to Promote Your Greeting Card Business

How to Promote Your Greeting Card Business

A new way to promote your greeting cards is by using a blog. This is best and cheapest way to promote your greeting cards because its free. Because blogging is still relatively new, so it is a lot easier to get your blog listed high in the blog search engines than it is to get a website listed in Google if you know the secrets the pros are using.

Its very hard to get a top 3 ranking in Google, MSN, or Yahoo. And it can get very expensive using pay-per-click advertising to drive traffic to your website.

So this is why you definitely can't afford to miss this.

Because a fellow mentor of mine, Derek Gehl and his elite team of Internet marketing specialists has put together test results and case studies that *prove* there is still a FREE way to blast your website to a #1 ranking in Google, Yahoo, and MSN... Yes, I said FREE!

Sell your greeting cards online without any upfront costs

Sell your greeting cards without any upfront costs

I just discovered a really cool way to sell your greeting cards online without having to put up any money until you get the sale.

You can have an online presence and an online shop that handles all the transactions and shipping.

Interested?

Good. This is what you need to do.

• You set-up a Blog at Blogger.com which is free.


• You go to Cafepress.com and set-up your own greeting card shop for free.


• Post articles about your greeting cards and photos of your products on your Blog with links to your Cafepress online store where visitors can buy your cards.
  

Now the way Cafepress works is you only pay for the stock you sell when you sell it. Cafepress will produce your cards with the artwork you upload to create your cards, and they will handle the online transactions and the shipping for you.

All you have to do is promote your Blog and online store and sit back and watch the sales roll in.

You could also place your cards on Ebay and when you get a sale you use Cafepress to produce the cards and send them to your customer. You just have to remember this VERY IMPORTANT factor when using Cafeprees this way.

You have to remember to check the box in the order section of Cafepress that says: “Check if this is a gift order”. If you don’t check this, Cafepress will send out an invoice slip with the goods stating the price you paid Cafepress for the cards not what you sold them for.

You don’t want you customers to know your bottom line for the cards you sold them do you?

Go to both of the sites and get started now. And you are not limited to just selling greeting cards, Cafepress let you create a lot of different products like T-Shirts, Calendars, Postcards and a lot more.

Enjoy and let me know how you go with this I would love to hear from you.

-David W. Allen

How To Start A Greeting Card Business

How To Start A Greeting Card Business

The Quickest Way To Start Selling Greeting Cards - By David W. Allen

The quickest ways to start selling greeting cards are to go to a craft fair, hold an open house, or rent a kiosk. However, one single method may not get you going as quickly as using more than one method at the same time.

Another method a lot of greeting card makers are using is Ebay. This is a popular way to start a greeting card business.

Click the following link to read the complete article on how to start a greeting card business.

Greeting Cards

Greeting Card Business

What I would do if I could make decent card; I’m still working at it. But if you have a talent for card making and you would like to make a dollar or two from your works of art, then I would look for a specific niche.

What I mean by niche is instead of trying to sell all types of greeting cards I would focus on, let’s say, Pet Greeting Cards for example.

By finding a specific niche like this and creating quality designed greeting cards that cater for that specific greeting card niche, you will be surprised how well you do.

You can position yourself as the number one Pet Greeting Card maker.

Lets face it how many people love their pets?


greeting card business

Greeting Cards - Did you know you can start a business selling your greeting cards?

Greeting Cards - Did you know you can start a business selling your greeting cards?

As you probably already know making greeting cards is a world wide popular hobby. But did you know you can turn your greeting card hobby into a business.

I am amazed at the amount of talented card makers that have never thought of this. You only have to take a look at Ebay and see how many people are selling their greeting cards there and a lot of the cards are poorly designed.

click here to continue the article.

Free Ecards Guide

You need to read this article jam-packed with free e greeting card info and links plus how to get free software for making greeting cards. Its a must read!

Free Ecards Guide - by Ivan Simurina
NATURE OF ECARDS ON THE WEB...

Ecards bring beauty and smiles to thousands of people worldwide but what folks need to be aware of is that some of these cute ecards carry malware with them ranging from simple spam, while some will install nasty spyware and on rare ocasions even viruses!

As a result many people have decided to ignore them completely, however there are many really Beautiful cards, you just need to know where to look for them.

click here to continue the article...

Selling Your Own Greeting Cards

Selling Your Own Greeting Cards - Do You Have What It Takes?

If you ever thought about how to go about selling your greeting cards then now has never been a better time to start doing it. One of the most powerful ways to sell your greeting cards is on the Internet. You can do it as simply as starting a blog, which is free to set-up, get a paypal account, and display your greeting cards on your blog with links to buy at your paypal account.

But do you have what it takes to start and operate your own greeting card business?

Before going into any greeting card business you need to evaluate yourself in order to define what strengths and weaknesses you have. If you are proficient in one area and lacking in another you need to identify this. When doing your self-assessment, try answering the following questions:

click here to continue article.

Make Your Own Greeting Cards

Make Your Own Greeting Cards

I think you will find this article by Flora Tan very useful if you need some tips on making greeting cards. This article also shows you nine of the basic supplies you need to start making your own greeting cards.

"Make Your Own Greeting Cards "
by: Flora Tan

Card making is a popular craft that anyone can enjoy without spending a lot of money. Most of the supplies needed for card making can be found around in your home. Look in your children's' rooms or schoolbags and you should be able to gather the basic tools and materials. "

...article continued
Follow this link to read the rest of this article and get some greeting card business tips on making your own greeting cards.

Handmade Greeting Cards

I came across this article by Linda Pace, a very talented and spiritual greeting card designer. I think you will enjoy taking a journey with her on how she approaches her greeting card design.

handmade Greeting Cards by Linda Pace

My handmade greeting cards are the result of my deep trust in Spirit. Each one is always different and unique, and they are all imbued with great love and attention to detail. Following is an explanation of what I call the "Pace Process:"

After creating an environment of peace and tranquility, I begin with prayer and meditation, invoking assistance from Spirit, and letting go of self-doubt, worry and self-criticism. I paint with my heart and soul, not my head. I reach for colors that attract me, and I use brush strokes that feel good. Losing track of time and space, I often paint for hours, sometimes filling the room with sheets of art-filled paper. I know when I'm done, so I stop and leave the works to dry overnight. I am always amazed and delighted when I return the next morning. The sheets of paper take on an entirely new look once they are dry. This is the first step in the process of creating my handmade greeting cards.

The second step begins with cutting the large sheets into the smaller versions that fit on the card stock. Again I invoke Spirit, and trust that I will cut the pieces at just the right place. Then I assemble the artwork onto cards, and leave them to dry overnight.

I begin the third day, and step three, by again invoking Spirit with great trust and love. I take each card and look deeply into what it's trying to convey, and if guided to do so, I assist it with little additions of paint, 'pen-work,' or glitter. As I do this, I meditate on the message it wants to express. I simply ask for the message, and then write whatever first pops into my head.

I know and trust that this message, or the name of the artwork, is just perfect for the person whose hand receives it. Sometimes these messages are quite profound, or mysterious, or downright irreverent! Step four, the last step, begins with signing and numbering if appropriate.

After this is completed, I fold all the cards and turn them over, artwork sides face down. I ask for an "angel word" for each card. Again, I write whatever word first comes to mind, trusting that it is exactly the perfect word for the receiver. This completes the "Pace Process" of creating my handmade greeting cards.

The original article, handmade Greeting Cards, can be found in PDF format, at ArborAria.com
Article Service by DET-Online

About the Author
Currently working in watercolors, Linda Pace focuses primarily on abstractions expressing her emotional, psychological and spiritual life journey. Many of her works have been inspired from her native Oregon upbringing, her love and respect of trees, the natural environment, and her ever-evolving spiritual beliefs. Linda's Blog is a spiritual journey of discovery, creating Handmade Note Cards.

I think you will agree, Linda's approach is different, she takes a spiritual journey and uses her angels and the divine spirit as her guide. I think I will try this approach to help me find new inspiration and I get to meditate at the same time. How relaxing and fulfilling.

Till next time.
Greeting Card Business

Great way to keep in touch with customers

Send Your Customers a Newsletter or a Catalogue

Another way you can maintain communication with your greeting card customers is by sending them a newsletter or catalog via mail, email, or a web site.

The newsletter can be used to communicate fun events, such as customer birthdays, holiday events or shows, craft shows in which you will be attending, and special sales or other incentives.

In your greeting card business a newsletter is also a personal way of letting your greeting card customers get to know you.

For example, you can write a regular column on progress made in the store in the last period, print pictures of employees who went the extra mile for a customer, or print pictures of customers who have been long-standing customers.

Articles could be written on each person, not to target your product, but to help other customers understand that the customer, the article is about, is just like the customers reading the article.

That way, the readers will subconsciously think, “this person is just like me, and the greeting cards are working for them. I better buy some, too.”

This may be a simplistic way of describing it, but marketing through a newsletter does not have to be difficult on you. Just remember to keep it factual, fun, friendly, and like family, and you will do fine.

As described before, a catalog can be used to inform a customer about your products and services. Catalogs can be fun to look at, but their primary purpose is to be a reference guide for customers to use in viewing all products available, and the prices at which they will be sold. The catalog can also have a description of your custom greeting card making service with estimate prices, a phone number and web site to use for more information, and examples of past custom greeting cards made.

When you develop your catalog, keep the following in mind.

How often you will need to update it based upon the types of cards you can produce by template and the types of services you can provide for custom greeting cards.

How often your customers will want to receive a catalog.

The type of catalog (printed or online via e-book or web site) the customer would prefer to receive.

The cost of printing the catalog compared to the cost of publishing it online as an e-book or on a web site.

Developing an item tracking number system for your greeting cards so that each card has its own identification number that is shown in the catalog and tracked in the system.

Till next time.

Mothers Day Ecards - How Are They Different Than Father's Day Ecards?

Mothers Day Ecards - How Are They Different Than Father's Day Ecards?: "Creating and selecting ecards or greeting cards is an art. Ecards are used for different occasions. To wish Mother on Mother's Day, to wish Birthday to a dear person or to convey Good Luck. Similarly ecards are designed for Father's Day also. Both mother and Father are parents, but the ecards are very different for both. Why and How? Let us examine.


For most of the children, mother is always closer. The child looks at mother's face and feels her body most during the infant days. That makes the child recognize mother as a protector and provider. During the early days of growth, children don't interact with father more. It is only after they grow up a little that fathers get more interested and involved with children. During the initial infancy, most of the fathers don't play with their children much as they don't know what the child wants and how to communicate.


As child grows, father becomes a major figure. Father takes the child outdoors, teaches him/her fishing, plays with them and is always there to guide and protect with the physical activities of the child. Mother is still very much involved as a provider of comfort and food. Children rush to their mother when hurt during the early growth. As they grow more, both father and mother come to occupy equal space in the child's mind. And as a child grows to an adult, he/she develops own personality.


The ecards for Mother and father are supposed to depict these differences in words and designs. The ecards for mothers are soft in color and talk more of love and affection. The ecards for father are manlier and the language is designed to convey more of what father taught and how he guided. Both father and mother are important for a child's growth and both play different roles. These are clearly seen in the ecards for Mother's Day and Father's Day.
CDMohatta writes for ecards, greeting cards and online cards.

The subjects include - Mothers Day eCards, Fathers Day eCards and Birthday Ecards To Mother
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CD_Mohatta

Greeting Card Selling Tip

Here is the last tip on the quickest ways to sell your greeting cards.

Kiosks

Before you rent a kiosk, you will need to do research on your target market, the rental fees associated with the kiosk, any insurance fees associated to renting the kiosk, and differences in renting kiosks from one mall to another and one season to another.When doing this comparison, it may be easier to develop a spreadsheet or list where you can list each kiosk rental opportunity and its associated fees. The spreadsheet would allow you to compare each kiosk to see which is the best opportunity for your business.

When doing kiosk research, ask the rental agent if they can provide information on how much each kiosk is making that is currently being rented at each location. This will not only tell you about each location and how much income can be expected at a particular location, but it can also help you project your future earnings for each location.

Hope this was helpful. Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your comments.

Signing off.

www.greetingcardprofits.com

Another Greeting Card Selling Tip

Like I said here is another tip to help you start selling greeting cards faster.

Open House

If you are just starting your greeting card business, but do not have a business location to open, use your house. Spend time researching your target market and then make a list of those you would like to invite to your open house.

An open house can be formal or informal; however, you will want to make sure you invite not just family and friends, but those who fall in your target market (e.g., local small business owners, financial services business owners versus software services business owners, etc.).

If it is a formal event, you may want to invite someone from the press. Your target market group and the press will be looking for:

1. A presenter or more than one presenter,
   
   
2. A press kit with materials about your business and about the products and services you provide,
   
   
3. A portfolio of your work or displays that they can peruse, and Refreshments.

When sending the invitations, be sure to include with the invitations a map to your house, a schedule of events, and a short article or public relations piece that describes the purpose of your business and of the event. The invitations should note who the speakers are, the business owner, special guests, the date and time of the event, and address. It should also note what refreshments will be served.

Tomorrow I will give you the other greeting card selling tip.

Till then.

One Quick Way To Sell Your Greeting Cards

One of quickest ways to start selling greeting cards are to go to a craft fair. However, one single method may not get you going as quickly as using more than one method at the same time.

1. Craft Fairs or Trade Shows

A craft fair or trade show is a good way for new business owners to get started because you can schedule to attend the event in advance, prepare the cards you need for the event in advance, and test your knowledge of your target market at the show.

If your target market research did well and you picked the best event for your market, then you will most likely sell some greeting cards. If the show did not do as well as you anticipated, you can learn from the event and go to another show. This is a good thing compared to those who immediately open a shop and find they did not pick the best location for their target market.

But do not let it stop there. As you are meeting people at the show, hold a raffle for a free box of gift cards. Collect everyone’s name, email, and mailing address as a way to promote your business later. Keep a database of all customers, potential customers, and referral customers so that you can send the promotional materials and catalogs in the future.

Tomorrow I will give you another way to sell your greeting cards.

Till then signing out.
Greeting Card Business

Greeting Card Templates

Template greeting cards are greeting cards that have been developed so often that the process for developing each card was refined, documented, and standardized. The development of each greeting card template was documented and tested to ensure the template would recreate the same card the same way every time.

Creating template greeting cards can save you a great deal of time and money. By creating and saving template cards, you are enabling yourself to do business better and faster. For example, let’s say you are a painter and have some greeting cards with hand-painted scenes you want to sell. Instead of selling the original immediately, scan the pictures so that you can use the images on the cards that you sell. Prepare the cards with the digital images to be sole rather than the original painted cards so that you will always have the original if something goes wrong. Then when you have sold all of the digital image cards, you can create more in a short period of time using the template created with the digital image.

If you did not have a template, chances are you would have to paint every card that you wanted to sell. Maybe you could sell the painted cards for a little more money, but that might not compare to the number of cards you could sell using the digital image template. The template card would also be faster to produce because it could be printed; whereas, the originals had to be hand painted.
Just a helpful tip from my greeting card business book 'How to make money selling your greeting cards'.

Photographic Greeting Cards

My favorite way of making greeting cards is using my photographs. I'm into photography too and one of my favorite subjects was my best mate Jackson. Jackson was my dog up until recently, unfortunately I had to let him go.

On a happier note his legacy lives on in all the greeting cards that I made with him on them. I'm not much of an illustrator nore am I as talented in the craft area like some of the greeting card designers I know. My mum's friend produces just beautiful cards and she just does it as a hobby. I told her she should start a small business because she would do very well.

What sparked me to write this post was an exclusive pet shop I found and it sells jewelry, studded collars, custom made jackets and so much more. Its where you go to really spoil your pet. But while browsing the shop they had a small display of greeting cards all of dogs but the dogs were dressed up in different theme's they were so cool. I asked the shop owner what company produces the cards and she told me it was not a company but a local guy.

He just focuses of this specific niche market of greeting cards and he does very well out of it too.

Thought it might help spawn some greeting card ideas for you.

Please leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers for now

David W. Allen
Greeting Card Business