How To Start A Greeting Card Business

How To Start A Greeting Card Business - Background Info:

Perhaps the most popular greeting card business angle is to design and distribute your own, original greeting cards.

There are a few different ways to get involved in the greeting card business. Perhaps the most popular greeting card business angle is to design and distribute your own, original greeting cards.

This greeting card business plan can be quite lucrative if you hit upon just the right niche, but don't get involved expecting your greeting card business to make a killing with every new card you put out there.

You should probably decide on a kind of mission statement for your greeting card business. Greeting card businesses tend to develop a reputation as the greeting card business that makes funny cards, or the greeting card business that makes cute cards, or the greeting card business that makes crude cards.

In some ways, it may not be quite fair that greeting card businesses tend to be typecast as it were as a company that only produces one sort of card, but keep in mind that retailers have to peruse literally hundreds of different greeting card business catalogs and websites looking for the right cards.

By having a focused greeting card business plan for what kind of card you hope to sell, you may be able to take the lead over some of your greeting card business competition by the fact that your buyers will know exactly what kind of product you sell just by looking at your greeting card business's name or glancing at your website.

This is true whether or not you plan on dealing with retailers. If you're hoping to sell directly to the consumer through a website, a focused greeting card business plan can still be of help.

If your greeting card business is working with retailers, though, know the market you're dealing with before sending blindly. Sorry to be crude, but if your greeting card business focuses on fart jokes, Hallmark might not be interested. On the other hand, novelty stores like Spencers tend to love such a greeting card business.

What you'll need to get your greeting card business started will be:

A Few greeting Card Designs
Don't spend money on this. If you're not an artist, you probably know a talented artist who would do the work for a percentage of your greeting card business sales.

A Trip to the Local Print Shops
If you don't want to put your home printer to the task of printing dozens and dozens of cards (and yeah, you probably shouldn't try to print dozens and dozens of cards with a consumer grade computer printer), you'll want to shop around the local print shops like Kinkos and Staples.

Check the phone book and other local listings, call around, and see who's willing to give you the best deal on printing some cards (maybe just a few hundred for now, and if those sell, you can reinvest into producing more cards).

A greeting card business can also allow some degree of self expression. Yes, your business goal is simply to say "Get well soon!" or "Happy Birthday!" but allowing your own sense of humor, your own artistic sensibilities to work their way in and, hopefully, if enough people share your unique view on things, you might just be able to get a decent start in the art and entertainment industry through the greeting card business.

How To Start A Greeting Card Business - Tasks And Skills Needed:

Business Specific Tasks:

If you are planning to do all the business tasks or hiring or subcontracting tasks, here's a list of tasks that need to be attended to when it comes to the business side of running a greeting card business:

Bookkeeping

Filing, general office tasks

Advertising/Marketing

Industry Specific Tasks:

Same as above if you plan to do everything yourself or get help, here are some of the tasks necessary to operate a greeting card business:

Promotion

Advertising

Website development

E-Commerce development

Inventory control

Bookkeeping

Shipping/Product Delivery

How To Start A Greeting Card Business - Approximate Daily Hours Needed:

General Hours of Operation: - When your business is open - Because this business is a creative endeavor, your hours of operation are not standardized, outside of appointments with clients who may wish to carry your greeting cards.

Hours Needed to Prepare - Before Opening and After Hours Activities - Design greeting cards, shop for stock and supplies, set appointments with shop owners, monitor website and fulfill orders.

Number of Employees Needed To Run This Business:

Minimum Number of Employees -During the Start Up Phase: You can start this business yourself on a full-time basis.

Number of Employees - Once Your Business is Up and Running Successfully:

Website maintenance

Record/Bookkeeping

General office

Customer Service

Skill Requirements for This Business:

Creativity

Ability to design unique greeting cards

A good sense of what sells; what the public wants

Ability to juggle sales appointments between designing

Licenses:

Make sure that you apply for a business permit in your locality to make your business legal. After doing this and getting hold of your business permit you can now start advertising.

You will also need a tax i. d. number for purchasing products as well as a resale license.

Approximate Minimum Start up Cost:

Bare essential: - $500-1,000. The cool thing about the greeting card business these days is that small press publishing and home-brewed graphic design have become so accessible that anyone with a good idea can make a name for themselves in the greeting card business.

Because of the low start up costs for a greeting card business (you probably won't spend more than a hundred bucks to print more than enough greeting cards to supply the first retailers who place their orders), the greeting card business is fairly low risk, however, there's no guarantee that retailers are going to share your vision.

You can always sell online, but even there, there is no guarantee. Your greeting card business is playing largely to individual taste, so if you don't get it right the first time, you can always just try again until you stumble upon your greeting card business's niche.

Minimal exposure - There are many places to advertise for free online but the best way to get going is by making cards for events coming up, especially those in relation to work or in a corporate environment. Also consider a website where you can keep samples and a portfolio of your work for an easy reference and for selling online.

To market your business, begin by showing your products to your friends and family. Show them to as many people as you can and invite their comments. Ask them probing questions whether it can generate interest and would sell. Perhaps you can work and promote your idea through "word of mouth" advertising and with help from your friends in your vicinity.

Necessary Equipment to Run A Greeting Card Business:

Necessary Start-Up Equipment & Supplies:

Computer

Printer

Cell phone

Website

Imaging software

Card stock or heavy-weight paper

Supplementary Equipment: - Equipment or helpful products that you can acquire to once your business is off and running:

Printing press

Screen printing equipment

Die cutting tools

Embellishments such as rhinestones, glitter, ribbon, etc.

Specialized paper stock such as rice paper for wedding announcements

Monthly Expenses To Consider:

Wages
Phone/cell phone
Internet access
Permits
Advertising/Marketing
Electricity
Water

Special Requirements and Considerations For A Greeting Card Business:

Find out all you can about the trends in the industry. Know your competition, in particular, their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you identify your competitive advantage. In other words, this will help you figure out what you can give your customers that they're not getting from the other businesses. And keep from emulating the competition's strategy. Instead, make the most of your own advantage points.
Freelancing to the greeting card companies is the easiest (and cheapest way to go). As a freelance artist, you will submit your works to a greeting card design company. The advantage of being a freelance artist is that you focus on the creation and design of the cards. The disadvantage is that you have to sell your services to a company who may accept or reject you.
As a greeting card artist, you can work in any medium or style that you prefer - pastel or oil, abstract or impressionist, illustrator or photographer, sentimental or serious - somewhere out there is a company producing cards, calendars or wrapping papers in need of new designs. you don't need to be a writer or even have a writing partner to submit material - if the company likes your work they'll buy it outright, or possibly assign you a writer.
Write the companies (or email if available) that interest you to request for guidelines. Always inquire first before sending samples of your work. Be sure to enclose a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) with your request. Once the guidelines are received, follow what the company wants. Most companies require samples, and you can send a portfolio of four to six pieces. One important reminder: never send originals; instead simply send prints or high quality Xerox copies.
There are two keys to success as a freelance greeting card designer: being prolific and ability to take rejection. As soon as a rejection comes back from one company, write a new cover letter and send your samples out to the next one.
You can increase your chances of success by doing the right research. Study the various cards on the market. Visit local card shops to find the names of companies whose product line is compatible with the kind of work you do. Then take your list to the library and look up in the current issue of Artist's Market to find out their submission procedures. You can get ideas from their submission guidelines. Learn what they're looking for, study the cards they have on the market, and check out how they want you to submit your graphics or verses. Find out what's working for them, then integrate these lessons in your own operation. This will give you a firm idea of the designs that would be sellable to other people.
You also need to know about the "technical aspects" of this business -- where to sell your cards; printing and color; buying the right paper and envelopes; renting spaces and finding a sales rep or distributor. You have to experiment on various materials to come up with original designs. The more original your designs, the better alternative you are offering to the market, the greater your chances for success. You also need to have a good writer as your partner or as a business associate to assist you in producing the verses for the card.
The best way to test your concept and see what kind of market there might be for your cards is to professionally print up a small selection of designs and take them to a local boutique or card shop. Ask the manager if he or she would carry them for a few months to see how well they sell. Another option would be renting a space at a street fair or flea market for a few weeks and displaying your cards. Ask shoppers for feedback and test several price points. If your cards are so unique and eye-catching that you make a lot of sales, you'll know to move forward with your plans. If not, you won't be out much money and you'll have gained experience. Remember that sales are what count, not nice comments from polite passersby.
You will probably need to seek out an agent to act as your representative because many card firms shun unsolicited portfolios for fear of copyright lawsuits. Another idea is to approach local nonprofits and specialty associations and ask if they could use your designs on cards they might use as fundraisers or promotional tools.

Pros And Cons of Opening A Greeting Card Business:

The Pros of Running a Greeting Card Business:

If you are an artist, it is fairly simple to turn your full-size paintings, etc. into greeting cards

This business is highly expandable such as also offering magnets, bookmarks, and the like

There are many ways to make greeting cards using different materials, which makes greeting card design fun

The Cons of Running a Greeting Card Business:

Although it sounds like a natural way to monetize your original artwork, selling greeting cards is actually a difficult business to make a go of, experts say. The quality of a homemade card probably won't be high enough to sell, and producing cards professionally—with quality paper, fine inks, professional folding and packaging—is expensive. Then there's the complexity and expense of copyrighting your work and the risk that it will be pirated, no matter what you do.

Greeting cards command a very low price and have a relatively short life cycle, yet require a fairly high expenditure in advertising and marketing to acquire clients. One would need to sell many greeting cards in order to absorb the required initial marketing, packaging, and advertising expenditures,

The business has really changed with the Internet and computer printing. So many companies have gone out of business because they sit with the inventory and there's no remainder market like there is for books.

Type of Customers You Need to Attract:

Your customers are everywhere from those who impulse-buy to those who like to purchase special greeting cards for special occasions and holidays.

Greeting Card Business Statistics:

Even with the growing threat of e-cards, the greeting card industry remains very strong. Industry estimates show that over 7.4 billion cards were sold to Americans last year; that breaks down to approximately 235 cards sold per second! The good news is -- about 1/3 of these cards are created by freelancers. If you have the talent for photography, painting, calligraphy, and writing, this may be the business for you.

Revenue:

The Greeting Card industry is a whopping 7.5 billion dollar per year business in the United States alone.

Overall, the greeting card industry can make a little or a lot, especially when it comes to highly individualized and specialized cards. Look at the cost of cards at local retailers and imagine how much more you would be able to charge accordingly.

Customized greetings cards vary from about $15 to $30 overall---or more---especially in the case where a card can be framed as artwork.

Greeting Card Business Resources:

Industry-Specific Websites:

Greeting Card Business

Making Greeting Cards

Courses:

Your Easy-to-Follow, Step-by-Step Guide Shows You: How to Start a Greeting Card Business

Equipment and Supplies:

Create for Less

Kooky Kards

Forums:

Craft Site Directory

Franchises:

VentureWorthy

Signature Greetings

Associations:

Greeting Card Association

Books:

Greeting Card Profits

The Complete Greeting Card Set: Techniques, Equipment, and Projects for Making Beautiful Handmade Cards (Reader's Digest) [Hardcover]

Amazon Book Listings: Make Greeting Cards

Software:

Greeting Card Maker

Hallmark Card Studio

Greeting Card Studio

Other:

How to Start Greeting Cards Home Business

Deaf Greeting Card Business Owner

Starting A Greeting Card Business Successfully Part 1

Self-Publishing Greeting Cards

How to Make Handmade Cards with Rubber Stamps

Businesses To Related to a Greeting Card Business:

Gift basket design
Scrap booking
Craft Supply Sales
Gift wrap design
Slogan and logo design
Advertising and promotion