How to Start Your Own Scrapbooking Business

Scrapbooking! Yes, turning other people’s neglected photos into gorgeous albums can earn you good money, if you approach the process wisely. Unfortunately, many scrapbookers think that because they’re great scrapbookers, they will be great business people as well. But no sooner do they get started than they soon find that scrapbooking as a business is much different than scrapbooking as a hobby.

Here are the three biggest mistakes scrapbookers make when attempting to start a scrapbooking business:

1. They scrap for themselves, not for their customer. When you are working with someone else’s photos, you need to keep their preferences and wishes in mind. But while you may prefer clean and simple pages, your customer might want a frilly, shabby chic look with a lot of distressing and lace and doo-dads. You need to be clear on what style you can offer your customers, and ensure that it matches what your customers are expecting. Also clarify whether you have their permission to write on photos, crop them, or make other permanent changes to their pictures.

2. They don’t keep track of their expenses. When you have an office full of scrapbook supplies such as patterned paper, ribbon, and other embellishments, you can forget that all those supplies come at a cost. The more products you use on a page, the more expensive the process is. More products raises your bottom line costs, which is fine if you are keeping those numbers in line when calculating your prices. One other note: Don’t forget to include your time as a cost. The more time you spend, the more expensive the page becomes.

3. They don’t market themselves. Thanks to Kevin Costner, we all believe, “Build it and they will come.” But when it comes to business, that’s not true. You can’t just decide that you’re a professional scrapbooker and expect people to show up. You need to spread the word! Pass the word among friends, and think about what types of markets you’d particularly like to serve. For instance, if you love doing baby albums, put flyers out at your OB/GYN’s office and Babies ‘R’ Us store. Adore weddings? Tell others in the wedding business, like florists, caterers, etc. and ask them if they’d like to cross-promote with their clients.

For more ideas on how to make money scrapbooking, visit Lain Ehmann’s blog at http://www.layoutaday.com. Through scrapbooking videos, tutorials, projects and inspiration, Lain helps her readers make their scrapbooking fun, fast and fabulous!

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how to start your own scrapbooking business

How to Start Your Own Scrapbooking Business

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