Marketing, marketing, marketing!
Understanding the true meaning and power of marketing will be the difference between succeeding in your greeting card business, succeeding, or failing. You are reading this article because you want to know how to start your own greeting card business, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that no matter what product or service you want to sell, you have to understand this: you are in the marketing business!
What you are selling is somewhat irrelevant because without the knowledge of how to market your greeting cards, no matter how great your cards are, no one will buy them if you are overflowing with marketing. This brings me to the next point: your marketing plan.
What is an Advertising/Marketing Plan?
An advertising and/or marketing plan is a comprehensive analysis of your customer, your target market, your products and services, your competition’s products and services, and how you plan to outsell your competition through targeted advertising and marketing.
The plan must include at least one possible advertising strategy and/or marketing strategy, as well as the methods in which you will implement the strategy.
For example, if you are targeting Internet users, then your advertising/marketing strategy will be to set up a website and use Internet technology to advertise to your target market. This is a method that I highly recommend given its low cost compared to a brick and mortar business. Internet technology you might use would include your website, Facebook, Twitter, and email to existing customers, email newsletters, banner ads posted on other websites, and other shopping websites where you might set up alternative stores (for example, Amazon .com, Yahoo.com, eBay.com, and PayPal.com).
NOTE: Find alternative storefronts for Amazon.com, Yahoo.com, eBay.com, and PayPal.com.
Methods You Can Use To Promote Your Greeting Card Business
Possible advertising methods you might use to promote your business include direct mail, a yellow pages ad, Internet advertisements, press releases, direct response sales letters, brochures summarizing your products and services, seasonal advertisements, and promotional flyers placed in magazines and newspapers, trade fair and craft fair booths and advertising related to an open house at your store, giveaways promoted through brochures and advertisements, storefronts and alternative storefronts such as kiosks in malls, websites and mail order catalogs.
All of these methods reach customers who are looking for a particular way to review their greeting cards and purchase them. As you learn more about your customer and your target market, make a list of the top three methods your target market customer would use to find and purchase your greeting cards.
Now let me share with you one of the greatest marketing secrets of all time. You must promise to record this in your brain and never forget it.
“If you focus all of your marketing, sales, and service efforts solely on what your customers really want, you’ll be rich! Guaranteed!”
This is one of the most common mistakes made by most of the companies and if you just follow this secret you will earn money. It makes sense when you stop and think about it: give your customer what he wants and he’ll buy it.
With this now firmly in mind, think about the types of greeting cards you produce and other ancillary products that your customers want, and which customer is most likely to want to buy the cards. Is there a market for the cards you currently make or is there a demand for a different type of greeting card, perhaps humorous cards? Then think about how you would present your product to that customer and how they would find your product if they were actively searching.
By identifying these answers, you will identify the advertising method you should use to reach your target customer base and start living your dream of operating your own greeting card business from home.