HOW TO START A GREETING CARDS BUSINESS

by Randy Wilson

Do you like to create pictures and designs, or writing? Do you love to look at the greeting cards in your local stores? Then a greeting cards home business could be for you. This is a business with incredible growth, and income potential. It also gives the greeting card home based business owner several options in the business itself.

A greeting card home business opportunity can have you doing only one part, such as drawing or writing. This same business can be selling e-cards or cards sold in stores. It could also entail purchasing a territory from a larger card distributor.

The first step in how to start a greeting card company is to decide what part of the greeting card business you want to focus on. As a freelance greeting card artist, you would focus only on designing cards for other companies. There are costs associated with this option and could include the purchase of a computer and graphic art software if you don’t already have these items.

If you decide to be a freelance greeting card writer, your home based greeting card business would focus on only writing the phrases to be used on greeting cards. For this, you only need a computer and quick turn around time.

Of course, you can always freelance as both a writer and artist. To get jobs you must contact companies to see if they are in need of freelancers. They pay from $50 an assignment to several hundred dollars per assignment. However, until you build up a portfolio of samples, and sometimes even after, jobs can be hard to find.

Another option is to purchase a vending route from a larger greeting card company. This route becomes your way of starting a greeting card company. You are required to keep current clients stocked in cards, replace old cards with new ones and get new clients to build your income. You have start up costs that can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars in inventory. However, when you take the cards to the clients, you receive your payments right then.

If you want to start your own line of cards, your greeting card business plan would focus on all aspects of greeting card businesses. You will design and write each greeting card inside and out. Your creative freedom would not be hindered by someone telling you what they want. You would make all the decisions and it would truly be your greeting cards business.

Being a greeting cards home business owner would make the internet your best marketing tool. You wouldn’t be able to compete with larger greeting card companies, so you will want to create a special niche for your cards on the web and in small local stores.

This option requires research before beginning the creation of cards for your greeting cards home business. You will need to price printing services and software. Once you have these ready, you can being creating. Go ahead a start creating cards, but at the same time, think of a name for your greeting cards home business and create a website.

Websites are very easy to create, depending on the provider you decide on. Research domain name registries and web site providers. The more web pages and information you want to provide will influence the charge of the web site. A greeting cards home business web site should be able to be effective without many extras at first. The extras can come later.

Once your website is ready, put pictures of your cards and ordering information into it. If you create the web site yourself or pay someone else to do it, make sure the site is search engine optimized. This will bring more people to your greeting card web site and start selling your cards.

Since some people like to hold cards and feel their quality before purchasing, it may be best to have your greeting cards home business web site offer one free card, or one free sample package per household. This gets your cards on the market and helps drive customers to your web site. Also, consider creating a special “Thank You” card that you personalized by you for all inquiries and orders. This is another way to let people know the quality of your cards.

Have the cards printed as the orders come in to the web site. Offer personalized cards to increase sales. Make sure you have plenty of designs for each category. You want your greeting cards home business website to look full, but not cluttered.

You now know several of the options available to start your greeting cards home business. Now all you have to do is to decide which is the best option for you. This business can grow to be as large or as small as you want it.

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© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

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