Kate Harper's Blog: How To Find a Greeting Card Sales Rep: Tip #5

Here is an excerpt from the book "Get Your Greeting Cards into Stores."

Tip #5: Visit Trade Shows

Trade shows are a good place to look for reps. These are events where manufacturers (and sales reps) display products to prospective buyers. The primary goal of a wholesale trade show is for manufacturers to sell their products to retail stores.

As an artist, you might feel like an oddball when you visit a tradeshow, since you are not a buyer, seller or exhibitor, but I believe it is good idea to visit at least one show before you start working with reps.

Visiting a tradeshow will help you see where you fit in the industry. You can learn how different publishers and manufacturers present their products. It is very different from going to a craft fair.

All shows have special requirements for entry, and in some cases you might be asked to pay a $50 or $100 fee to get it. Most shows are free, but it is usually worth paying it since there are classes and seminars available at the show.

The most popular show for greeting card designers is the annual National Stationery Show http://nationalstationeryshow.com/ but if you can’t get to New York, it’s still very helpful to visit a gift show near you. There is a list of tradeshows on the Greatrep blog at http://www.greatrep.com/trade_shows.asp

As an artist, there are etiquette guidelines you should be aware of when visiting a show. For example, you should not interrupt a buyer and seller talking in a booth. Make sure the booth is empty before you enter it and keep your conversation brief. Once you determine if the person in the booth is a rep, ask her if she ever looks at new lines, and if she does, ask her if it would be OK for you to send her some samples of your cards. You can request her business card for later contact.

It is helpful to bring greeting card samples to a show and have a one-sentence description of what your line is about. More often than not, she will be helpful and sympathetic. If you meet some potential reps, it’s always good wait a couple of weeks before you contact them since they are often busy processing orders after a show.

If you can’t make it to any shows because you live too far away, go to the tradeshow’s website, and look for the list of exhibitors. Often, there are several names of sales reps in the exhibitor listings.

*Read Tip #6 (of 7) next Wednesday.

This Article is an excerpt from the book: Get Your Greeting Cards into Stores: How to find and work with Greeting Card Sales Reps

If you already make your own greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them sell nationwide. Included are guidelines on: how to price your cards for a profit, how to get professional feedback, where to find a sales representative and and what industry standards you should follow. All the information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals, calendars, collectibles, etc.

BOOKS FOR THE CARD DESIGN

These are books I own and recommend. Some may be out of print, but used copies may be available. Check link.

Start & Run a Greeting Cards Business Book covers starting a card business in the UK. Good basic info, but financial/measurement info is in different monetary units.

Greeting Card Design Book that shows examples of professional card design.

Publishing Your Art as Cards How to make and sell your own cards for an extra income.

Pushing the Envelope How to work with greeting card sales reps.

Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design and Illustration Great Book on understanding the greeting card profession and how to develop a style.

1000 Handmade Greetings: creative cards and clever correspondence This is not a simple craft book for hobbyists,instead it is a picture book of professionally handmade cards by leading companies and designers.

By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More Book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards.

How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, Tshirts and Other Fun Stuff

Sell the Fun Stuff: Writers' and Artists' Market Guidelines for Greeting Cards, Posters, Rubber Stamps, T-Shirts, Aprons, Bumper Stickers, and More!

Writing Card Sentiments

Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.

You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.

Finding the Right Words One of many basic books of this series that tells you how to add words products, cards, etc.

Licensing Your Art to Companies

Licensing Art and Design

Licensing Art 101 Good beginners guide on the art licensing business.

2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market List of greeting card companies, art licensees and agents.Detailed information on submission guidelines.

Gift and Product Design

Start with a Scan One of a kind book that tells you how to transform your art into a scan and what to do with it from there.

Design Your Own Repeat Patterns Simple book on learning repeats.

Twentieth-Century Pattern Design Great book for inspiration and creative approaches to designing patterns.

How to Break into Product Design Overview of product design in all industries.

Designing a Digital Portfolio Shows you how to put a digital portfolio together for the modern era.

Mary Engelbreit: The Art And The Artist Amazing story of how Mary ended up doing licensing.

Principles of Pattern Design Good info on pattern design

Imagery on Fabric Basic info on putting images onto fabric.

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing Yearly updated guidelines for pricing for people in art careers.

5,000 Years of Textiles Far East, Americas, Africa, Scandinavia, and Egyptian. Good for studying fabric design.

Abstract Design and How to Create It Over 380 illustrations, diagrams, designs, border patterns and textile patterns.

Creative Illustration Workshop Exercises for integrating illustration with other mixed-media techniques, and scan and layer your illustrations using a computer.

Print Workshop Hand-Printing Techniques for low budgets. Interesting ways to put imagery on products. Perhaps a good technique for putting our designs on model items to show what they would look like on real products.

Digital Alchemy Printmaking techniques for fine art and how to transfer images to a variety of surfaces. It includes decals and skins.

Critical Mass Cutting-edge developments in international printmaking. Since printmaking is fundamental in most surface design concepts, this book's goal is a modern approach on a traditional printmaking.

Tradeshows and Booth Design