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Greeting Cards from the Heart Do you enjoy writing and seem to have a flair for saying just the right thing at the right time? If so, creating greeting cards online may be the perfect way for you to earn money. The greeting card business is a multi-million dollar industry, and growing. For years, just a few greeting card companies monopolized the market but today, we see smaller companies and individuals popping up with fresh and exciting ideas. By creating greeting cards from home and online, you can use your skill for images, words, and designs. Unfortunately, many of the cards seen in stores today leave much to be desired. Why not use your creativity to step outside the box, creating something unique. Take the "Maxine" greeting cards for example. The creator of these cards took a chance in going in a completely different direction from what you typically saw - the result - HUGE success. With a home-based greeting card company, you have a wide range of opportunities. For instance, you might focus your work on greeting cards for people in love, or perhaps birthdays, or maybe friendship. However, you could also branch out and offer something for everyone, which would obviously boost your customer base and mean more money for you. If you are excellent with words but find your artistic flavor lacking, then you might have a family member or friend that could handle the design side while you take care of the words. Once you have decided the type of greeting cards you want to offer, then you need to purchase supplies so you can get your business going. Typically, you might start small, buying quality paper, ribbon, glue, embellishments, and so on, from your local hobby or stationary store. With this, you could do a test market to see what, if any, changes would be needed for mass production. Keep in mind, one of the most important investments you would make for this type of online business is a laser printer, and the right software. Another option in addition to the printer is to take time to learn calligraphy, which is simply beautiful. For instance, if you were going to sell romantic greeting cards, such as those for newly engaged or married couples, anniversaries, or just to say, "I love you", then calligraphy would be the perfect, personal touch. The results would be a beautifully designed card with a handwritten note. You can be sure the person on the receiving end will be highly impressed. Of course, your online greeting company will also need a name, which would then be trademarked. To set yourself apart from other online greeting card companies, we strongly recommend you find a special niche. Again, going back to cards such as Maxine, a broad but also specific audience is being focused on. Finding clients is your next step. For this, you can create an inexpensive website that links to various search engines helping to get the word out. Of course, word of mouth to friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors is also important. Finally, have business cards printed, which can be left by a grocery store register, on countertops at the bank, or passed out to anyone you meet. To get the person's attention, you want business cards that would reflect the caliber of your greeting cards so do not skimp on this investment, as it will pay off. |