The Greeting Card Business: 101

Card Design Tips

Learn about the fundamentals of card design.

Greeting Card Sales Stats

Greeting Card Design Tips

Things to avoid in Card Design

Greeting Card Association Artist Guidelines

You know you are a greeting card designer when…

Starting a Card Business

Learn how to manufacture and sell your cards to retail stores.

How to Present Your Card Line

Test Marketing Your Card Line

Getting Your First Greeting Card Account

Getting Professional Feedback on Your Card Line

Pricing Your Cards

Pricing and Profits: The Tale of 2 Greeting Card Businesses

Good News for Indie Card Artists: New Sales Trends

Online Class: Design and Sell Your Own Cards

Starting a Card Line on Your Own

Backcopy:What to print on the back of your cards

List of Books on the Greeting Card Business

Book Review: How to Run a Greeting Card Business

Book Review: Pushing the Envelope

Setting up Card Ordering Codes

All About Envelopes

Greeting Card Quiz: How much do you know about the industry?

Ginger McCleskey, Greeting Card Rep, Talks about Trends

Greeting Card Buying Statistics 
 

Marketing Cards

Learn how to market cards.

12 Unusual Ways To Market Your Greeting Cards

List of Trade Shows for Greeting Card & Gift Designers

How to Sell Art Through Social Media

List of Trade Magazines for Card and Gift Industry

How to Use Email to Sell Art & Get Leads

How to Sell Designs Online: Jude Maceren

Venues for Selling Greeting Cards Online

How to Find Greeting Card Sales Reps

The Handmade Card Business
Learn how to run a thriving handmade card business.

How to make a living in the Handmade Card Business

How to Set Up a Handmade Card Factory

Making Cards: Questions to Ask

Simplify Card Making for a Profit

Paying People to Make Your Cards

3 Parts of a Greeting Card

8 Advantages of the Handmade Card Business

Interview with Former Greetings etc. Editor, Kathy Krassner

Handmade Greeting Card Business Directory

Card Writing
Learn How to Write Greeting Card Sentiments.

Meet the Master of Greeting Card Writing

Audio Interview: Getting into the Greeting Card Writing Market

How Poets Can Write Greeting Card Verse

Interview with Hallmark Card Writer

Artist & Writer Submission Guidelines for Card Companies

Breaking into the Greeting Card Writing Market

How to Write Greeting Card Verse (VIDEO)

7 Mistakes Card Writers Make

 Licensing Your Designs to Companies
Learn how to license your designs to publishers.

Submission Guidelines for Card Companies

How to Mail Promos of Your Designs to Card Companies

How to Organize Greeting Card Submissions

How to get Started in Art Licensing

How to Make a Good "Art Licensing Website."

How to Deal With Rejection: Tips for Card Designers

Resources on Greeting Cards and Licensing

Greeting Card Licensing Information from the UK 

List of Licensing Agents in the US

Support
Learn how artists manage their time and set goals.

How to Make Time for Art

How to Start a Buddy Meeting System

How to Start an Art Licensing Support Group

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Books - The Greeting Card Business

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Get Your Greeting Cards Into Stores: How to Find and Work With Sales Reps (Updated 2017 paperback) If you like to make greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them nationwide.  Learn about changing trends in the indie card market and niche opportunities available for artists. Book includes detailed guidelines on pricing cards for a profit, getting professional feedback on your designs, finding sales representatives, pitching your card line to them, approaching stores, and the industry standards you should follow. Information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals and calendars.

Start and Run a Greeting Card Business From a British author, whose country has a long history of greeting card design, she takes you step-by-step through the process of starting and running your business with lots of useful practical advice to help you, including: - Deciding what type of cards to produce - Finding your market - Dealing with printers - Copyright and licensing - Pricing and profit. Kate's note: Some specs are different (card sizes) since it is UK standards.

Greeting Card Design This volume features a vast array of fun, elegant, simple and imaginative greeting cards designed by internationally-known artists, illustrators and calligraphers. With over 300 full-color photographs of creative, popular, and inspiring greeting card designs, this invaluable sourcebook showcases the very best of what is happening in the industry today. Accompanying text explores the history of the greeting card industry and examines the major contributions from the leading innovative companies.

How to Start a Profitable Handmade Card Business

For over 15 years I ran a handmade card business with over 2,000 accounts and dozens of sales reps.

People often ask me how to make a living selling handmade cards. There is a big difference between making cards to sell in a craft market, and creating a handmade card manufacturing business. There is also a big difference between a commercially printed card business and a handmade card business. Craft cards are usually one-of-a-kind that can't always be repeated, and printed cards don't require as many supplies and hand skills as handmade.

Many designers have very different experiences in beginning a business, and here are some suggestions, of steps I took when starting out.

Step 1: Create a Handmade Card Line

• Develop a line of 25-50 cards.

• Make sure you are following industry standards such as:  parts of a greeting card, backcopy, card codes, envelopes.

• Also consider 3 basic card design tips on 3 things to avoid in a card design.

• Order swatch books, envelope, paper and bag samples from suppliers.

Step 2: Get Feedback

• Take cards around to local stores to get feedback. Don't try to sell them, just ask for professional advice.

• Learn how to present your card line to reps or consultants.

• Experiment with different designs and styles and get feedback from the Greeting Card Designer Facebook Group or professional consultants. Try to get feedback from at least 5 people or stores.

• Don't rely on feedback from just friends, relatives, classmates, or anyone who doesn't work in the industry.

• Communicate clearly that you want brutal honest feedback, and that you won't get your feelings hurt if they don't like them. Be ready to accept rejection and learn how to deal with rejection.

• If they don't like the cards, make sure you never leave that meeting without taking notes on how you can improve the line and recommendations on what direction you might pursue.

Step 3: Refine and Adjust

Readjust your designs according to your feedback. If line needs to be completely redone, start at phase 1 again. If only minor adjustments are needed, perfect them. Expand designs you do well with, and drop cards that received negative responses.

• Understand why you must manufacture on a large scale, so you can grow.

• Learn about handmade card production and how to make a handmade card factory.

• Think about how to simply your manufacturing.

• Take the manufacturability test.

• Understand your pricing and profits and what to avoid buying for your business.

• Make sure your cards are profitable. If they aren't profitable, make adjustments.

• Calculate your costs and see if your designs are cost effective.

• Keep receipts for all your supplies.

• Research suppliers and find several suppliers that carry the materials you need. Compare prices and find the most reasonable one.

Step 4: Get Your Business in Order

All of the following activities may be done earlier in the business development process, but about this time is when you need to start thinking of these things.

• Get a PO Box. Unless your home address is very stable, get a Post Office Box. This will help keep your business separate from your personal life.

• Get licenses. A business license is obtained in the city where the business is located The zoning license is usually obtained with your business license, in the city where the business is located.

• Do you want a fictitious name? If you create a name for your business, you need to get it approved with the county clerk.

• Get a resale license so you don't have to pay sales tax on manufacturing supplies. A resale license is obtained at the State Board of Equalization.

• Get a bank account. Open a checking account for your business, separate from your personal account.

• Set up credit accounts with suppliers. Submit your resale number with suppliers you think you will be ordering from. Apply for a credit line.

• Research Stores. Start searching for the types of stores that you feel your cards will do well in. Collect their names and addresses on index cards or a database.

• Create a one page business plan. Make an outline of how much money you plan to spend and how much income you hope to make for the first 6 months. 

• Talk to a lawyer. Find a lawyer that will answer basic questions about copyrights, and protecting your designs.

• Register your Copyright.

Step 5: Get Your Paperwork in Order

• Design a logo and create stationery letterhead. Include your business name, your mailing and shipping addresses, a telephone number and a one line slogan of your card line. An example of a description might be: "Greeting cards for a New Age" or "Handmade cards with a touch of humor".

• Design a simple brochure that can be put into a loose leaf binder. Create an inexpensive brochure with all your card designs. Include a price sheet and ordering information.

• Decide what stores you will approach first. Clarify specifically what stores you will approach and be prepared to sell.

• Make sample deck. Prepare your sample deck with codes and prices per dozen/half dozen on the back.

• Print or buy invoices, mailing labels. Order invoices and mailing labels with your business name, address and phone number on them. 

• Set up your books. Keep track of your supplier names and addresses, expenses, income, what cards sold per month, and any other information you need to refer to.

• Create a bill. Design a simple form for billing labelled "Overdue Notice". You will have to remind stores when their 30 days are up, in case they forget to pay on time.

Step 6: Practicing Selling on a small scale

• Make sure you have all your manufacturing supplies for at least sales of at least 2,000 cards.

• Familiarize yourself with local sales trends and what kinds of card people buy. Sell cards to at least 5-10 stores in your community and learn the lifecycle of a card sale. You will also learn what your top sellers are, which will help you plan your card line for the future.

• Get shipping boxes. If you are on a shoestring budget, find stores that throw out small boxes (make sure they have not had food in them) and start collecting them. Otherwise find a local supplier. You can order free priority tape, mailing labels and boxes from the post office, and they will also pick up your packages for free at your doorstep when you register online. Once your business picks up, you may want to investigate other shippers such as UPS and FEDEX.

• Go around to local stores and try to sell your cards. Set a goal to get at least 10 accounts.

Step 7: Find Reps

• Collect rep contacts. Before actually contacting reps, start collecting their names and territories, so you can contact them later.

• Make sure you are ready for a rep.

• Contact reps. Once you have determined that stores are buying and reordering your cards, you may be ready to contact reps.

• Learn how to work with a rep and set up rep paperwork. Set aside a file folder for each rep. Keep records of your correspondence, commissions paid, commissions due, pre-printed labels of their mailing address (you use these a lot!).

Step 8: Prepare to Grow

• Make sure you are ready to grow and that your suppliers are dependable. Are you able to order larger quantities? Do you need to readjust your line of credit? Can you manufacturer two, three or four times as many cards? Stock up on emergency supplies that are hard to find.

• Evaluate workspace. Set up your workspace for assembly line work. Determine where you will store large amounts of supplies and how you will organize and label different boxes of cards.

• Investigate or invest in computerized record keeping. Evaluate record keeping programs such as Quickbooks. Look for programs that track inventory and commissions. Take a class at a local adult school and see which program you like.

• Design new cards every three months. Get into the pace of putting new cards out in the market about every three or four months.

• Promote your line through industry publications and websites and learn the mistakes artists make when they send press releases.

See errors or bad links? email Greeting Card Designer Blog.

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Books on The Greeting Card Business

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Get Your Greeting Cards Into Stores: How to Find and Work With Sales Reps (Updated 2017 paperback) If you like to make greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them nationwide.  Learn about changing trends in the indie card market and niche opportunities available for artists. Book includes detailed guidelines on pricing cards for a profit, getting professional feedback on your designs, finding sales representatives, pitching your card line to them, approaching stores, and the industry standards you should follow. Information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals and calendars.

Start and Run a Greeting Card Business From a British author, whose country has a long history of greeting card design, she takes you step-by-step through the process of starting and running your business with lots of useful practical advice to help you, including: - Deciding what type of cards to produce - Finding your market - Dealing with printers - Copyright and licensing - Pricing and profit. Kate's note: Some specs are different (card sizes) since it is UK standards.

Pushing the Envelope Things the small greeting card manufacturer needs to know about finding, recruiting and retaining a winning sales force can be found in this easy-to-read handbook. Written from both the manufacturer and sales rep perspectives, this nuts and bolts guide is full of industry information, sales tips and guidance for building successful and profitable rep relationships. Kate's Note: This book was written by my top selling sales rep in the country.

Should you license or self-publish your designs?

A lot of card designers ask me this question.  Based on my experience of self-publishing for 15 years and licensing for about 5 years, I can say they are completely different ways of working in the greeting card industry. Here are the main differences I've found between the two. My opinion comes from running a full-time, self-supporting business in both industries.

Studio Space
The amount of space you need to run your own self-publishing business is dramatically larger than licensing.  When you manufacture cards you need a large space for storage, packing, shipping and possible staffing. In licensing, at bare minimum, all you really need is a computer for sending digital images.

Decisions Over What Gets Published
When you self-publish, you have complete control over what gets published. If you want to create edgy, bohemian cards, you can do it. It is easy to design, print and sell a new design in as little as 2 weeks.  If you try to license those same designs, you might not be able to get a publisher to take a chance them, especially if the topics are controversial. Also it might be 18 months before the card ends up on store shelves.

Costs
When you manufacture cards you take a financial risk.  It’s possible you could spend several thousand dollars printing your own designs and not be able to sell them (that’s why you should start small with local stores), whereas in licensing there are very few costs other than buying a computer and a graphics program (which you probably already have).  I do not count trade shows and advertising as an expense because I have not found them to be a very significant factor for success in either businesses.

Time Investment
Manufacturing cards is very time consuming.  If you are successful, you will find most of your days involve the movement of card stock and packing boxes.  In the evenings you will probably be doing paperwork, paying reps, tracking orders and other details. Also, employees, sales reps and stores depend on you, so you can’t just stop working and take a spontaneous vacation. In Licensing, you can work as much or little as you want, but the less you work, the less you will make. Also, when you submit cards for licensing, you don't know how many will be selected, so you may spend time creating several designs that are never published.

Income
I found self-publishing to be a more profitable and reliable income, mostly because I could respond to trends and steer the direction of my business. For example, the odds of my cards selling good one day in 2,000 stores, and then suddenly failing the next day was pretty slim. I could rely on those accounts, and I could add sales reps slowly as my business expanded. In licensing, an artists does not have control over what gets published or how long cards will stay on store shelves. Therefore, it is hard to predict income.  The upside is that it is satisfying to create one piece of art and continue to get royalties from it several months or years later.

What is your experience licensing or self-publishing? Share your comments below or on the Greeting Card Designer Facebook Group.

Art Licensing Book

  

   

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Dealing With Rejection: Tips for Card Designers

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Dealing With Rejection (Part 1 of 5)

You've decided to start a card business and you've been working on designs for six weeks. Your friends love them. Your mom loves them. Your coworkers love them. You think they'll be hot sellers.

In your car, on the way to the printer, you decide to stop by the local card store to show them to Sally, the owner.

With a smile, you pull out your cards and wait for Sally's reaction….but slowly, like a candle melting in Death Valley, you can see it in her face... she doesn't like them.

Your heart hits the ground as she tells you what all the problems are, but you don’t hear anything because your stomach hurts, even though she continues to give you great advice for the next 10 minutes.

Rejection hurts. You slowly wrap up the cards, put them back in your bag, and decide on the spot you want to go back to school and become a radiology technician.

WAIT....STOP! REWIND this story. What happened here?
This isn't a story about rejection. This is a story about an artist who doesn’t know what to do when their designs are rejected.

Book on strategies.

Remember, rejection is not a bad thing. It's a great opportunity to learn from an expert!

Most professionals in the card industry are happy to help artists who are willing to adjust and try new things. Ask Sally what your next step should be. Just like envelopes and paper are part of the card business, so is rejection.

Your goal in card design, is to get emotionally close to your customer. Rejection by a store can help you steer your art towards knowing your customer. Just make sure you never leave a meeting without a notebook full of advice. Find out WHY you were rejected. Otherwise, rejection will only be experienced as something negative.

In the story above, imagine what would've happened if the artist just drove to the printer first, and not the card store? Not only would she experience rejection, but she also would have lost money by printing a poor design! This artist was really smart to seek out professional advice, and not just limit it to family and friends.

I experienced similar feelings when I started my business. My first two card lines were rejected, but I went on to try a third, a forth and a fifth, a sixth, most of which were successful. Store buyers were even willing to meet with me after hours and help me. The more I tried, the better things got.

If you are ready to give up and go to radiology school, first stop and ask yourself these ten questions below, so you can learn how to deal with rejection in a more rational way.

10 Questions to ask when you're Rejected
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Part 1
Introduction

Part 2
Tip 1: Are you approaching the right market?
Tip 2: Are you trying to sell handmade cards to a drugstore chain, or in a rural area?
Tip 3: Did you get feedback on "why not"?

Part 3
Tip 4: Is this just one person's opinion?
Tip 5: Are you taking rejection personally?
Tip 6: Are you willing to make adjustments?

Part 4
Tip 7: Have you thought about luck and timing?
Tip 8: Are you making weekly goals?
Tip 9: Are you in the waiting phase?

Part 5
Tip 10: Who in your life really wants you to succeed?

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What kind of Greeting Cards do People Buy?

I  asked Meryl Hooker some questions about the retail scene and what artists should know about greeting card trends.

She has worked with many independent card designers as a greeting card sales rep, won several awards for her sales skills and has a special talent of pinpointing what people want. When I worked with her, she was often my top selling rep.

She is now the card and gift buyer at Pulp, a trendy store in Washington DC. (more bio below).



What do customers want these days?

One thing I see every day is that people still want, and actively seek out contemporary items that reflect who they are. We have a national drugstore chain one block away from the store and people could choose to get their cards there, but they come to Pulp instead. That says something to me about the quality of product and aesthetic our customer base is willing to pay for.

Going from a manufacturer's sales reps to a greeting card buyer at a store, my plot point has moved and I'm closer to the customer than I was. I am exposed to vast amounts of raw, uncensored data every day in terms of what customers want, think, and are willing to spend.




For the independent card designer, what do you think they should pay attention to? What should they stay away from?

My best advice for independent card designers is:

• Build the strongest, most cohesive, sellable line you can. 
• Create a strong collection of birthday, thank you, sympathy, wedding and baby cards. 
• Blank cards still have legs provided the designs are strong. 
• Learn how to run a business and understand it is, first and foremost, a business. 
• Learn about the industry from both the creative and retail side. 
• Ship on time. 
• Be professional and easy to work with.
• Stick with a traditional 5x7 size and stay away from square cards.

I recently interviewed six stores who sell handmade cards and they all said card sales have increased over the last 2 years What do you attribute this to?

People have an innate need to connect with other people. As sexy and convenient as social platforms are, ultimately, they lack human warmth. You can't send a text to the birthday boy at the party when you hand him the gift and even in our practically etiquetteless society, you still can't email your condolences.

At the end of the day, each of us wants to feel connected to other people and just the right card can express how we feel. No matter how tech savvy any of us is or becomes, we can't get away from that basic need.
The primary thing I've noticed is how much paper we still sell at Pulp. Cards have always been a key category and I'm really happy to say it continues to be true. I've seen so many independently owned stores move away from greeting cards as a major category in favor of gift items so I was pleasantly surprised to see that cards are still cranking at our registers.



As a buyer, what are the important things you look for, when selecting cards for the store?

I am primarily looking for a solid lines that will meet the needs of my customers in terms of purpose, price and design. Every card on my shelves must pass the "why would someone send this card?" test. The price has to be consistent with the type and quality of the card and, most importantly, the design has to fit in with the Pulp brand. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of card lines that I personally love but will not bring into the store because they aren't the right fit. Believe me, it's hard to turn so many brilliant companies away, but the business manager side of my job has the final say over the creative, artistic buying side.



MORE ABOUT MERYL

Meryl Hooker is an independent business development expert dedicated to helping locally owned businesses thrive in a big box world. She is an internationally recognized speaker, consultant and writer currently serving as the General Manager & Buyer at PULP in Washington, DC. In 2012, Meryl retired after nearly 15 years of serving as a Mid-Atlantic sales representative for greeting card and gift companies.

She was a partner at Center Aisle Group and co-authored a book for the greeting card industry  "Pushing the Envelope: the Small Greeting Card Manufacturer’s Guide to Working With Sales Reps" and"Showtime! The Greeting Card and Gift Company’s Guide to Trade Show Success".
 
A self-described sales nerd, Meryl takes great pride in the fact she’s seen the legendary rock band, KISS, 19 times – and counting—and openly credits KISS, Inc., as the model and inspiration for her business structure and success.

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The Greeting Card Business

---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Get Your Greeting Cards Into Stores: How to Find and Work With Sales Reps (Updated 2017 paperback) If you like to make greeting cards, this book explains how to get your cards into stores and sell them nationwide.  Learn about changing trends in the indie card market and niche opportunities available for artists. Book includes detailed guidelines on pricing cards for a profit, getting professional feedback on your designs, finding sales representatives, pitching your card line to them, approaching stores, and the industry standards you should follow. Information is also applicable to gift items, such as magnets, journals and calendars.

Start and Run a Greeting Card Business From a British author, whose country has a long history of greeting card design, she takes you step-by-step through the process of starting and running your business with lots of useful practical advice to help you, including: - Deciding what type of cards to produce - Finding your market - Dealing with printers - Copyright and licensing - Pricing and profit. Kate's note: Some specs are different (card sizes) since it is UK standards.

Greeting Card Design This volume features a vast array of fun, elegant, simple and imaginative greeting cards designed by internationally-known artists, illustrators and calligraphers. With over 300 full-color photographs of creative, popular, and inspiring greeting card designs, this invaluable sourcebook showcases the very best of what is happening in the industry today. Accompanying text explores the history of the greeting card industry and examines the major contributions from the leading innovative companies.

Good News for Indie Card Artists: New Sales Trends

If you publish your own cards, or design handmade cards, there are some positive trends leaning your way.

Since most sales statistics for the card industry are based on figures from large or publicly traded corporations, it is hard to know what is going on in the independent card market.

To find out what is happening in the alternative card industry, I interviewed six independently owned gift and card stores in Berkeley.  I talked to ten different people and asked them what trends they are seeing in card sales. Some of the best news was that there is an increase in sales of handmade and hand-embellished cards.

Here are the notes from my interviews:


SALES TRENDS 

Here are what the stores reported on sales trends:

• All stores reported an increase in greeting card sales over the last two years.  When I asked them to respond to negative news articles I'd read on the greeting card industry, they felt those statistics did not apply to their store.  

• The gift oriented stores reported that cards are a popular item in their store and customers often look at the racks.

• Most stores are selling more artistic, handmade and local artist's cards.

• One store manager who had a significant increase in card sales this year attributed it to "people want to touch paper again." 

• One stationery store reported that it was common for a customer to come to the register with $35-$40 worth of greeting cards. He said that customers will buy a lot of cards because they like a particular art style or theme (and not necessarily because they need greeting cards).

• One upscale greeting card store is expanding to two local branches. 

• All the stores said they felt they served a completely different market than chain stores that carry greeting cards.  One store reported "People who buy cards in our store take time to evaluate them.  People who are just running errands or need to buy a card out of an obligation tend to buy cards in drugstore chains."

CUSTOMER TRENDS

Here are what the stores reported on customer trends:

• Buyers are now willing to spend $5 per card.

• Younger "hipster" buyers are coming into the market.

• Two stores reported that customers will buy cards to keep and frame for inspiration. 

• One store reported that their customers often ask for help when selecting a card.

• Some stores reported that customers ask about "the story" behind the card publisher or the artist. 

• One store clerk said she received special training on learning about the artists, and the different paper qualities of cards.

CARD DESIGN TRENDS

Here are what the stores reported on card design trends: 

• More cards are now being packaged and protected in individual cellophane bags because they are handmade or have embellishments added.

• Almost every store strongly emphasized that their customers buy cards for the interesting imagery, and not for text. Text is not as important as it might have been in the past.  

• One store said trends are moving towards "thought-provoking" imagery.  These are images that make the customer ask "what is this about?"  

• Here are some examples of images the stores pointed out as being good sellers:

1. A moose riding a bicycle.
2. Mute-colored, over-sized serious clown with a tiny head.
3. A loosely drawn ballerina with glitter sprinkled on it.
4. A geometric-shaped man that only covered a small edge of the card.
5. Green letter press card with a man's exterior head and internal ribs.

*Note: None of these cards had words on them.

• Two stores reported that they make a point of encouraging customers to come up with their own text for the inside.  One store specifically advises customers to search on google if they get stuck.  These stores seem to prefer blank cards. 

ADVICE FOR ARTISTS

I asked stores what they suggest artists do if they want to succeed in the card business today.  Here are their responses:

• Pay special attention to your image. It is more important today than it used to be.

• Witty text isn't as necessary as it used to be. For example, leaving it blank or just saying "happy birthday" can be good enough.

• Designers should create more cards that can be bought any day of the year (and not limit them to an occasion). 

• Artists should try to make cards that are curious and unpredictable. 

• If an artist is just starting out, they should focus on creating Birthday, Thank You, Valentine's day and blank cards (no words).  

• One store said that artists should be very careful about over-investing financially.  She said some of her favorite designers did not display at a recent gift show* and she later found out they had quit the business because they couldn't afford it.

*Kate's note: Some gift show fees can range from $5,000-$8000.


CONCLUSION

While my informal survey was limited to Northern California, the responses are also consistent with the IBIS World Procurement Report on the state of the greeting card industry.  This report stated that overall corporate card sales were down, but that "Areas of growth are likely small geographic areas and niches in the market." 

If you are an independent designer or handmade artist, what is your experience?