How to Start a Photo Greeting Card Business
Greeting Card's website states about 100,000 retail stores in the U.S. sell greeting cards. Many of these stores are looking for new artists that will bring a fresh look to their selection. Photo greeting cards are inexpensive to produce and amateur and professional photographers generally already have large amounts of material to start creating cards.
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Instructions
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Join photographer forums online to get software suggestions from other photo greeting card sellers. They can help you choose the best desktop publishing program software for the style of cards you wish to create. Many companies will allow you to download a free trial of its software.
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Select your photos carefully to showcase your best work. Look for clarity, focus, subject and quality. Study businesses that sell cards by local photographers and try to choose pictures that are different. For example, if there are pictures of local landmarks and wildflowers in abundance, offer photos that showcase the area from a different point of view.
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Obtain a standard photographer's model release form for anyone whose recognizable image appears in your photos. You will also need this for private property and pets. Keep these forms on file in case a situation arises.
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Compare printer brands to find the best color printer to use for your cards. According to the Red River Catalog, the features to look for in a good printer are speed, color quality, price of ink and ability to feed paper in a continuous motion. Find an office supply store that will allow you to test various machines. Compare photo print-outs and use your artist's eye to choose the best printer.
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Market your cards through local shops, craft booths on "town shopping days," or online through craft sites or with "print on demand" shops that allow you to open a free store and pay a commission based on designs sold. The more work you do to market your product, the better you will do.
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Tips & Warnings
Be careful when using photos available from stock photography websites. Many of these sites do not give resell rights.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit photographer"s photographer image by Lee O"Dell from Fotolia.com
