Archive for May, 2008

As with many other businesses, it is important that you know your target market well, even when it comes to having a scrapbooking business.  Let’s face it, there are literally thousands of possibilities of things to scrapbook, resulting in various styles and possibilities for not only the scrapbooking supplies you may carry in your business but also for the types of clients you will target with your services.

This is why you should from the very beginning choose a very specific niche that you will focus on with your scrapbooking business, or maybe you will want to choose two or three, related niches.

As previously stated the possibilities might seem endless, from sports to weddings, from babies to racecar enthusiasts.  There are quite a few options, but the decision ultimately is yours to make.  Think about it, what do you yourself enjoy scrapbooking?  This will help you in your decision making process because, honestly it will be much easier to provide the service or get excited about the products and supplies if they are in the niche which you yourself enjoy.

Most of us love to learn something new, once we have learned it and get excited about it, we want to share that excitement with others.  So, why not share your love for and excitement about scrapbooking with others through workshops in your home or church.

This is a great way to take your love of scrapbooking to a new level and begin to create an income for yourself doing something you love.  Workshops are one fun and un-intimidating way that you can share your scrapbooking skills with others.

Workshops will allow you to not only share the fun of scrapbooking but also showcase the skills that you have learned and your talents and abilities.  In turn, people will realize that you are serious about scrapbooking and may come to you for advice, for products, or even for services, wanting you to do theirs for them, rather than having you teach them.

Whatever happens holding the workshops is a great place to start when attempting to create your scrapbooking business.  Getting the workshops going is relatively easy as well.  Simply ask a few friends or associates if they would be interested in getting together to scrapbook.  If they are a little hesitant, assure them that you will be there to help and share your excitement and expertise with them.

Business marketing is one of the most important parts of any business.  Therefore, when beginning your scrapbooking business you will want to be sure to determine some marketing strategies.

Creating a marketing plan is always a good idea.  This plan will establish which avenues you will use to market your business.  Some suggested ways are through the use of business cards, flyers and brochures, by word of mouth, via a website, or even through paid advertising.

Though all of these options are good, you will have to make your decisions based upon your budget and go from there.  Business cards are an inexpensive route to take and can even be made yourself, or you can purchase them from a local print company or off the Internet.  Business cards give you something tangible that you can leave with a potential client or customer as a reminder to contact you.  You can also leave them in public places for people to pick up and as a result get in touch with you.

Brochures and flyers can also work in this way and can be distributed in public places, pinned up on bulletin boards, and shared with potential clients and customers by your current clients.  They too are inexpensive to have printed or can be printed at home with your own computer.

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again for Mommy Fest. It’s the 5th Annual Fest and by far this one from what I can tell is the biggest turnout yet. I’m the last speaker for the event and it was great to get together and chat once again with Marie Ynami.

We discussed bringing your business to the internet.

You can listen to the interview here.

Here are the questions she asked me…

As a scrapbooking enthusiast the love for scrapbooking may run through your veins and as a result, you have decided to pursue scrapbooking as a business.  This is a win-win situation but can be challenging as well.  One of the challenges you may face is growing your client base.  So, what do you do?

One of the ways that you can increase your client base is through home parties.  What could be more fun than getting together with a group of people who share your love for scrapbooking or introducing scrapbooking to a group who have never done it before?  Either way, it is a wonderful opportunity for you to gain more clients.

The setup is simple you find someone who is willing to host the party in their home, business, church or elsewhere and you set up a time with them to hold the party.  They then invite family, friends, coworkers and others who they feel would be interested in scrapbooking to come.  At the party, you give them a sampling of what scrapbooking is, and allow them to complete one scrapbooking page or project to get them interested.  You might also want to have some completed scrapbooks of your own to show them to peak their interest.

Sometimes it is ok to toot your own horn; in fact, it may be down right necessary.  When beginning a business, any type of business really, you may have to do a little shameless self-promotion in order to get it started on the right track.  Once you have made it past this step, others will most likely take up the slack and begin promoting you as well, by word of mouth.

Word of mouth is a wonderful way to promote your scrapbooking business.  After all, people talk, and if you are doing a fabulous job with your scrapbooking services or have some really cool products and supplies others can use to create their own scrapbooking creations then they will tell others about it.

Then there is the notion of referrals.  There is simply nothing wrong with asking your clients and customers to refer their friends to you for their scrapbooking supply needs or services.  Plus, you can ask for referrals of people they specifically know who might enjoy the products or need your services and then you can get in touch with them yourself.