HTML Geeky Greeting Cards

Check out this neat article on greeting cards using html web coding text by Costas Papaconstantinou.  If you do any website coding, you will probably find these humorous.

Greeting Card Association Convention this September!

The Greeting Card Association is extending an invite to greeting card artists and designers to attend the GCA's 72nd Annual Convention, taking place September 18-21 at The Westin Savannah Harbor in Savannah, GA.

Themed "Turn It On," card artists/designers can attend informational sessions at this year’s Convention – including guest experts on:

• Generational Behavior 2.0
• Licensing
• Design and Color Trends
• Paper and Process Trends
• Youtility:  Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype
• Retailing 

There’s also an option to "Ask the Experts" on several topics relevant to card artists/designers, including "Licensing 101" and "Small Business Ownership."

There will also be fun, food and networking opportunities. For more information and to register, visit their conference website page at http://www.greetingcard.org/AbouttheGCA/MeetingsEvents/2013AnnualConvention/tabid/272/Default.aspx.  or for a pdf of the event click here.

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35 Free Photoshop Tutorials

Here are some interesting photoshop tutorials on dzineblog.
Check out the list at http://www.dzineblog360.com/2013/06/35-newly-released-free-photoshop-tutorials-of-2013/

Here are some examples:

Making Poster Mockups

Matte Paintings

Texturing Text

My Greeting Card About Doing Chores

Here is another one of my cards published by Leanin' Tree:

Best time of day to post on social media

Here's a nice graphic that tells you when is the best time to post things on social media.   I'm assuming the time means when it arrives (according to the time zone of the person reading it).

Exchanging Greeting Card Advice for Yoga!

Because I write a blog about the greeting card business, artists often write to me and ask if they can pay me to consult with them on their card business.

I often volunteer my time helping people through quick emails -- but I really can't afford the time to talk to someone.  Otherwise, I'd be volunteering full-time.

In general, I feel a bit uncomfortable asking people to pay for my advice.  I'm not really an industry expert, I'm more of a learn-by-trial and error hacker designer.  I started out running a handmade card business for fifteen years and then transitioned into licensing.  Nowhere in my college were either of these courses offered (joke), so I had to learn on my own.

Awhile back, someone made me a funny offer.  They said they'd give me an Amazon gift card, if I would just chat with them on the phone for 30 minutes.

This request made me laugh out loud (since I'm a big Amazon fan), so I agreed just for the heck of it, and with that gift card I bought art books. This experience felt like a gift exchange, and I found it refreshing.

A week later, another artist contacted me, wanting to pay for a consultation. Normally I would have referred her to a professional gift industry consultant, but since her greeting card business obstacles seemed easy to resolve in a conversation, I suggested we try another "Amazon Barter".

I didn't put a fee on my time.  I let her decide what my advice was worth to her, and then she could apply it to an Amazon gift card. With her generous gift, I was able to buy $100 worth of yoga equipment, books and a DVD.

Now every time I do yoga, I think of Sara at Paper Loop http://www.paper-loop.com/

Both of these experiences were a fulfilling exchange, especially since I don't feel any pressure to perform as an "industry expert".  I can just say what I think, based on my own business experience in the card industry.

If giving greeting card advice helps me do more yoga and art, well... HEY, I'm all for that!

How to Succeed in the Handmade Wholesale Greeting Card Business

Here are some articles to read if you are seriously considering making and selling handmade cards nationwide.

For 15 years I did this as a full time job and it was a wonderful, rewarding (and busy!) experience.  I had over 2,000 accounts including national chains, and up to 50 independent sales reps who carried my line.  I wrote these articles to offer tips to artists considering this business:






1. How to make a living in the Handmade Card Business

2. How to Set Up a Handmade Card Factory

3. Making Cards: Questions to Ask

4. Simplify Card Making for a Profit

5. Paying People to Make Your Cards

6. Advantages of the Handmade Card Business

7. Interview with Former Greetings etc. Editor, Kathy Krassner

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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.