Scrapbooking as a Business
By Stephen Bucaro
What ever happened to photo albums and scrapbooks? They have combined into a
rapidly growing craft called "scrapbooking". With scrapbooking, you don't just line up
your photos and memorabilia in the pages of a binder. Instead, you display your photos
in an artistic and creative way using decorative backgrounds, borders, frames, stickers,
and whatever else piques your creative whimsey.
This new combination of photo album and scrapbook is often referred to as a
"memory book". Scrapbooking is the fastest growing craft in the U.S., generating 1.4
billion dollars in annual sales. This presents a tremendous opportunity for an individual
with a passion for scrapbooking and an entrepreneurial spirit.
First decide which area of the scrapbooking craft your business will serve:
1. Scrapbooking supplies. Buy supplies wholesale from a source like
Scrapbooking Factory Outlet and sell
them at retail, or better yet design and manufacture your own scrapbooking supplies.
2. Books and training materials. Become an affiliate of
amazon.com or
barnesandnoble.com,
or better yet write your own book or develop your own website that provides scrapbooking
instructions and tutorials.
3. Develop Kits. Combine your scrapbooking ideas along with instructions and
materials into kits.
4. Publish a newsletter. Keep crafters informed about the latest events, ideas and
trends in scrapbooking. This could be a paper or electronic newsletter.
Why not choose to serve several, or all of these areas?
Scrapbooking Business Example
Melody Ross, an Eagle, Idaho mother of five had been scrapbooking for a while, but
she couldn't create the charming prose that she saw in some scrapbooks. She began
writing down any interesting prose that she came upon. Eventually Melody collected 400 quotations.
In response to a suggestion by fellow students in a scrapbooking class, Melody ran
an ad in a hobby magazine selling a booklet containing the quotations. She was
surprised to find her mailbox stuffed with over 2000 checks for $8 each. Now all she
had to do was actually create the booklet!
Today Melody Ross makes over $500.000.00 annually selling her scrapbooking
products at more than 4,000 stores across the U.S. and at her website www.chatterbox.com.
For more examples of successful scrapbooking businesses, visit Joan Miller's
website Once Upon a Page and
Caroline Meisel's website My-Memories .
Mrs. Grossman's is a
very interesting stickers site.
Scrapbooking is the fastest growing craft in the U.S., and it looks like this trend will
continue for some time to come. If you have a passion for scrapbooking and an
entrepreneurial spirit, starting a business serving the craft of scrapbooking might be
your path to success.
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