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Your
#1 Resource For: Starting a Successful Scrapbooking Business Growing Your Existing Scrapbook Business Insider Information on the $3 Billion+ Scrapbook Industry |
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You have arrived at the latest online issue of Scrapbook
Industry News, the email newsletter sent to scrapbooking professionals
from Fun Facts Publishing. Subscribe to Scrapbook Industry News! Fun Facts Publishing's E-Newsletter "The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Back issues of this publication are available online at: IN THIS ISSUE: 1. News and Updates Please Visit This Issue's Sponsors:
Ezine Sponsorships Click here for more info! Hello everyone! This is Michael, writing to you from my newly renovated office! Actually, it's just a desk from Ikea and an office chair, but it's taken me months to arrange the area so that I really feel like I am in an office - it's much more conducive to work. I feel bad for the people who live below us because I am constantly sliding my chair to and fro because my new office is located in the hallway between the living room and the kitchen. I can just picture them looking up at the ceiling and thinking "What are they DOING up there?!" I call it my office but I have no privacy in here and no windows and I am constantly interrupted by hungry people making their way to the fridge. But that's fine. This space is mine and I like it, so there. If you are working and living in the same place, it is imperative that you set up an office area, even if it's in the hallway - you'll get much more done! I am actually very proud of my space and I think CBS would agree. That's why I have decided to become America's new diva of domesticity. That's right! CBS is starting a new reality show and they are looking for Domestic Divas. I searched the rules and it doesn't say anywhere that you have to be female so I signed right up! I mean seriously, no one is more domestic than me. Not only do I cook, clean, and do the laundry, I also push myself to the limits of interior design - I mean you gotta see this office, it's FABULOUS! Constructing living/working spaces is difficult enough, but when you factor in the cramped New York City apartment style, it's an extra accomplishment in my book. Anyway, if you think you have what it takes to compete with me and the thousands of other Domestic Divas who live to see their face on TV, you can sign up by clicking here. Good luck and I'll see you in the studio! What a great month it's been! Graduation season brought us to our old stomping grounds in Los Angeles to witness my brother Antonio receive his diploma from the Annenberg Center for Communication at USC. (Congrats again, bro! I love you!) We had no idea how much we missed the sun until we spent a day at the beach in Marina Del Rey. The day was perfectly hot and I left Sue on a blanket with magazines to go body surfing and footballing with my brother. But when we got home, the pain of the LA sun set in and poor Sue hadn't worn ANY sunscreen! I always protect myself with a thick coating of SPF 30 or higher (basically mayonnaise), and Sue NEVER wears sunscreen at all. However, the years we have spent in the shade of New York buildings made her into solar lightweight and she got the worst sunburn of her life. Poor Sue! She spent the next two days face down on an air mattress softly groaning and loudly screaming whenever it was time to apply burn cream to her tender skin. Mix that with a heavy dose of dehydration and what you get is a really unhappy wife who will think twice about underestimating the power of the sun again. I felt so bad for her, and to make it worse, there was really nothing I could do to help. We had to delay our flight home until she was OK to travel but she was still in serious discomfort the whole 7 hours it took to get back to New York. I suppose I should talk about the scrapbooking industry at some point, so here goes: Fun Facts Publishing was at the National Stationery Show in May. We were scheduled to lead a seminar called "Catching the Scrapbooking Wave" - designed to teach retailers outside the world of scrapbooking (Yes! That place really exists!) how to incorporate scrapbooking into their stores and thereby carve themselves a piece of the humungous and ever-growing money pie that is the scrapbooking industry. The seminar went smashingly and the audience was really surprised to hear about this industry which is exploding right under their noses. These people were really newbies - only a couple of hands went up when I asked if anyone had ever heard of "crops" before! They couldn't believe that hundreds of people gather in one place to scrapbook all day and night. Oh, did I mention that Sue was still recovering from our day at the beach and I led the seminar all by myself??? Gulp! It was the first time for me, but according to the evaluations, I did pretty well. I closed the seminar by telling them that scrapbooking will be BIGGER THAN BASEBALL. And I truly believe that. I mean, think about it. The baseball industry is huge, right? Lots of money in there, right? Well, how many people do you know that contribute to the industry of baseball? What's the percentage of people that you know who attend games, buy paraphernalia, collect baseball cards, or do something that contributes to the economic growth of the baseball industry? In my life, I would say that 25-30% of the people I know actually contribute to baseball, and that's pushing it. It's probably more like 5-10%. Now, think about how many people you know that would contribute to the scrapbooking industry. For me it's 100%. Every single person I know, except babies and toddlers could contribute to this industry because EVERYONE HAS PHOTOS. Photography leaps over generation gaps and cultural divides. Taking and keeping photos is as human as breathing and because of that fact, I am sure that in the next 5-10 years, scrapbooking will indeed be bigger than baseball. Now I'm not saying that all of these people would actually buy products and scrap, but the fact remains that everyone has photos and EVERYONE wants to see their photos in a scrapbook. This creates a wonderful opportunity for those of you who want become custom scrapbook artists! Everyday, I hear stories of scrapbookers showing off their albums and being told "This is incredible - can you do it for me?" If you have ever been asked by someone to create scrapbooks for them, you have the makings of becoming a custom scrapbook artist. This lucrative career is exploding and will continue to explode for years to come. Jump on board, this is going to be a fun ride! We are doing great and things couldn't be better! We have been working non-stop to make the Web site and the Platinum membership much better with all-new enhancements coming soon. Many of you have written to ask when the May issue of the Platinum Edition is due to be published and I'm sorry to say that with everything that has happened it will be delayed for awhile, but plan to see big things from us in June! Until then please check out the updates we have made to our classifieds page and our media links page, where we document all the media outlets that have mentioned or featured scrapbooking.And speaking of scrapbooking in the media, Fun Facts Publishing, and more to the point, yours truly, was recently quoted in the New Jersey newspaper The Times of Trenton. I thought it was a very positive article which focused on the fact that the real potential of the scrapbooking market has yet to be tapped. They didn't use my "bigger than baseball" quote, but that's all right - the point was made. So many people haven't even heard of scrapbooking that the future is wide wide wide open. So let's get out there and spread the gift of scrapbooking to everyone! Let's get those photos out of the closets and into albums with journaling that will be cherished for generations to come! We all have a job to do but if we work together, the journey will be fun and exciting! Thank you for subscribing to Scrapbook Industry News, and thank you for helping us elevate this industry to a whole new level. Yours truly,
These tips come to us from Maria Mills-Benat, owner of Ladybug Scrapbooking in Florida: "I have a lot of Kids' Birthday Parties in my store," Maria tells us. "They love it! The parent asks the guests to bring pictures, and for five dollars per child I supply two pieces of cardstock, usually cut to 5x7, some stickers, and some die cuts. Sometimes the mom buys each child a 5x7 album as a party gift. I give them a Quickie Scrapbook Class and let them have at it! The kids absolutely love it and usually come back to continue." This second tip from Maria involves promoting your business by attending local events: "Many cities have functions such as Wedding Expos and Kids' Events," she notes. "As a scrapbooking store, I often offer complimentary 'Make and Take' projects for these events. This gives the people attending hands-on experience with card-making or scrapbooking." And here comes the best part: "In exchange for offering these projects at each show, oftentimes the event organizers will waive the table fee, saving me 100 to 500 dollars," Maria reveals. Now, that's smart marketing! Great tips, Maria - thank you! Do you have a business tip or article you'd like to share? You will receive a $25 credit for our products for every article or tip we choose to use, along with your byline and contact information. Send yours in to this email address: tips @ funfactspublishing.com.
Four Platinum members will be receiving a scrapbooking special delivery this week! Scissor Sisters Stickers has generously provided four complete sets of all 20 of their sticker designs as part of our Summer Special. The new owners of the Scissor Sisters Complete Collection are... Thanks to everyone involved in our Summer Special, especially Scissor
Sisters! Visit them here:
"Dear Sue, I received my book 'Make Money Scrapbooking for Others' yesterday and everything I had read about it is true. I can't put it down. There is so, so much that I didn't know that I needed to know. Thanks for doing all this research." - Jodie Rosen, Memories in the Making "Sue, I received your 'Make Money Making Scrapbooks For Others' manual and read it over the weekend in two sittings. As I'm sure many others have told you, it's very informative and motivating. Let me tell you how grateful I am to have found your publications. Tomorrow I'm going to the county office building to apply for my DBA!" - Lisa "Sue, I cannot tell you how wonderful your book 'Make Money Scrapbooking for Others' has been. I have been referring to it religiously while starting up my new business. Thank you!" - Catherine Seeley, Heirlooms Scrapbooking Service Wow! Jodie, Lisa, and Catherine, thank you! I am so grateful that this book is able to help you in your careers, and I look forward to hearing about all of your future successes. The manual these Custom Scrapbook Artists are talking about is 'Make Money Scrapbooking for Others,' our 200-page tutorial that guides you through every step of building a successful Professional Scrapbooking Service. We believe very strongly in this career, and we're committed to establishing it as a recognized, legitimate, and respectable profession. We want you to succeed...and this tool will help you. Read about everything that's included in this book, along with more letters
from readers, a detailed FAQ section, the Table of Contents, and much
more, by
clicking here.
But we're not the only ones recommending charging what your time, knowledge, creativity, and artistic ability is worth. That's why we've included the following article about pricing your service, written by the Founder and Executive Director of the Association of Coaching and Consulting Professionals on the Web. Enjoy!
"When your fee is at least $3000, then the speaking bureau will be interested in you." - Sandra Schrift, Public Speaking Coach How many years did it take you to become good at what you do? How many books did you read, how many courses did you take? Are you willing to give the knowledge and experience you’ve gained over the years for just a small fee? When people hire you, they do so because they have no knowledge in your field and need your advice. I am assuming that you’re really good, and your advice could greatly improve the quality of your client’s life, business or health. The biggest misconception about pricing among professional business start-ups
is that the smaller your fees are, the more clients you will attract.
The truth is, the same type of service may cost $100 or $1000 - the one
with the lower price will attract price-shoppers who are frequently more
demanding and difficult to work with, while the one with the higher fee
will attract more serious and pleasant-to-work-with clients.
The truth is, if you’re still charging a minimum price for your services, you may be attracting the most difficult clients to work with. People who are on a tight budget will often ask you to explain every dollar you are charging them, which they have a right to do, but makes it more difficult for you to relax and focus on the project goal. Of course, if your target market is business start-ups or people with financial or job problems, you already expect such situations and must be prepared to justify every fee to your clients. You should also keep in mind that you’re in business of helping people who can’t afford to pay a lot. Just like doctors or public defenders who help people with little or no money. While I am writing this, I can hear Dan Kennedy, one of the most reputable business marketers say, "You are in the business of doing business... Don’t work for free." In other words, why did you go into business in the first place? To make money, right? Then raise your prices to attract better clients. Clients who CAN afford to pay you, and who won’t complain about each dollar. Raising prices will also improve your image and make you more desirable to your prospects. To demonstrate why you absolutely SHOULDN’T charge minimum prices, here is a brief illustration. I just moved into a new house and need to have a rug installed on my staircase. I ask around about prices and realize that I need to have approximately $200 to have it done. I make a call to ABC Rugs & Carpets Company and ask them how much
they would charge me. The answer is, "It will take us about an hour
and a half, so it will cost you $65." What goes through I make another call to Home Furnishings and ask them the same question. "Our professional installer will do it for just $175 for you. When would you like to schedule this for?" I immediately answer "Great! Let’s make it this Friday." Sale closed. What happened is that as a customer, I assumed that just because a company charges that much, they must be good. Their price gave me a peace of mind - so much so that I didn’t even bother asking them about all the bells and whistles. I was sold on the price alone. Higher prices create a higher perceived value of your service, your quality of work and your image. If you tell your prospect that you can coach them four times a month for $100, they’ll question your services more than if you charged $400. To make yourself feel good about raising your prices, re-read this article - it will make you look at your business fees from a different perspective, and never hesitate about your prices again. Milana Leshinsky is the founder of the Association of Coaching and Consulting
Professionals on the Web. ACCPOW offers more than 300 articles, dozens
of e-books and tutorials, monthly teleseminars, and much more, to help
service professionals better market their businesses. This article was
adapted from Milana's 120-page guide, "I Want Clients: A Complete
Internet Marketing Blueprint for Service Professionals." Learn
more about this association here. Return to top of page Since immersing myself in the Total Overhaul of FunFactsPublishing.com, I've logged hundreds of hours in front of my computer in the name of research. But I shouldn't be the only one to benefit from this learning experience! So in this, and upcoming issues, I'm going to share some of my favorite resources with you. In this issue, we're focused on Optimization. Basically this means reducing your web site size and complexity to maximize speed, so visitors (and potential customers) don't get annoyed and click away. Here are two resources I've tried and really like. You can get in-depth analysis from both of them for a price, but if you're happy with just the basics, they each offer a complimentary service as well. Here's what you get with that option: WebsiteOptimization WebSiteOptimization.com offers a basic "Web Page Speed Report" within seconds of typing in any URL. They'll tell you the total size of the page, along with the total Images size and total HTML size. You'll also find out how long the page will take to download using different connection rates. They also offer Analysis and Recommendations for reducing the size of your page. Like many Web experts, they recommend trying to keep your HTML size to 20K or less, your Images size to 15K or less, and your total page size under 30K. I was able to optimize my images in PhotoShop and use the "Optimize HTML" feature in FrontPage 2003, which helped get me down to just under 30K on some of my pages. The great part about this service is you can keep using it as you optimize, so you can watch your file sizes shrink! NetMechanic This service offers up a Page Summary that includes detailed reports on Link Checks, HTML Check and Repair, Browser Compatibility, Load Time, and Spell Check. They give you a rating of one to five gold stars for each report, along with recommendations on how to improve. NetMechanic also offers a graphics optimization tool, GIFBot, that will help reduce image file size. Just pick the image you'd like to optimize, and NetMechanic does it automatically. Fun Facts Publishing's Scrapbooking Business Resources Check here for an updated listing of scrapbooking media links (more than 20 new links added!), trade shows and magazines, industry links, and recommended books and industry tools. Fun Facts Publishing's Scrapbooking Business Articles More than 70 articles in our library of information and inspiration! Marketing, business, taxes, promotions, industry-specific, and much more. Feeling stressed and overworked? Read our "Inspiration and Motivation" articles to remember why we chose the joys of entrepreneurship!
Our Classifieds section features scrapbook business owners who are looking for help. If you're a teacher looking for a place to teach, or an event organizer looking for a teacher, this is the place to do it! If you're looking to sell your store, or hire some help, this is the place to do it! Several new classifieds have been added this month. To view the current list, please click here.
Fun Facts Publishing's mission is to help present and future scrapbook entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with solid information and inspiration. We offer a wide variety of books and reports, a monthly industry trade publication, national seminars, personal consulting, Web design, and an informative Web site, http://www.funfactspublishing.com/ . We also publish this ezine, "Scrapbook Industry News," currently going out to over 9,000 subscribers. Fun Facts Publishing, established in 1998, is owned and operated by Sue DiFranco and her husband, Michael Venzor. Please visit our Web site to learn more! Fun Facts Publishing Administrative: Like this ezine? Forward it to your friends and colleagues! Back issues of this publication are available online at:
Or... Send an email with the word "subscribe" in the subject line
to this email address: If you would no longer prefer to receive "Scrapbook Industry News," send a blank email to this email address: unsubscribe @ funfactspublishing.com. To update your email address, please send the change to this email address:
info @ funfactspublishing.com. If you would like to contribute articles and tips on scrapbook business
related topics, please send them to this email address: articles @
funfactspublishing.com. You will receive a 25-dollar credit for our
products for every article or tip we choose to use, along with your byline
and contact information. Our policies are listed here:
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Lori Hudson
How much other successful
scrapbook artists are making (up to 10,000 dollars - and more! per album)