The scrapbooking industry is one of the fastest-growing craft markets in the world. Each year—in fact, each month—new trends arise demanding more ingenuity to market them and implement them into the customers’ expectations. This is all good news to the entrepreneur who not only wants to join the band, but would like a shot at conducting.
This chapter deals with the larger scope of things and offers new avenues open to the scrapbooking business enthusiast.
There are some adventurous souls out there who have combined their love of scrapbooking with their skills for organization and creative thinking to become scrapbook event planners. Whether designing an event for themselves or approaching scrapbook stores, home-based businesses, and groups, these people are putting on full-scale productions and making a profit from the ticket sales and booth rental charges.
Putting on a larger-than-life production takes many different skills and a lot of patience, tact, and organization. Whether you are organizing a trade show, hosting a large seminar, designing a gala buffet for a scrapbooking convention, or planning a one-of-a-kind workshop symposium, you will have to wear many hats.
Special event planners coordinate. Plain and simple, they coordinate a plethora of details into a polished result. They are paid for their time, creativity, expertise, and attention to detail. The buck stops here when you’ve been retained to put on a production, which is basically what you are doing.
I’ve created many elaborate shows in the past years and have loved every minute of it. I adore the brainstorming, designing unique props, and strategizing about the advertising and marketing that will make the event a success. The challenge of doing something different and “jaw-dropping” always appeals to me, and I’m one of those nuts who loves to organize chaos into manageable compartments.
So let’s take a peek at some of the areas you will be overseeing if you decide event planning is for you:
Security: Research, plan, and oversee parking, fire codes, and maximum capacity for your venue.
Technical: Check out lighting, sound, pin lighting, power availability, speaker equipment, A/V setups, special effects, photography, video needs, and staging.
Entertainment: Coordinate speakers, workshop teachers, travel and transfers, accommodations and scheduling; breakout rooms, rehearsals, bands or boxed music, and signage.
Décor: Choose themes, floral arrangements, wall features, ceiling décor, stage plans, stage apron, tablecloths and covers, napkins and trims, invitations, guest tags, etc.
Venue/Caterer: Oversee site, menu, budget, waiters, beverages, crew meals, tables, chairs, dishware, glassware, cutlery, bars, liquor liability, serving stations, heating, and air.
Marketing: Prospect invites, film video, articles, direct mail, promotion, advertising, pledges, sponsors, aim/objective.
Legal: Coordinate insurance permits, licenses, contracts, trademarks, and copyright.
Transport: Oversee load in, load out, truck rental, limousine, bus/taxi, and air transport.
Staffing: Take charge of our team, volunteers, contractors, and committee.
Administration: Coordinate timelines emergency and key contacts, contingency, travel bookings/accommodation, post-event, management fee, stationary extras, phone and fax costs.
Financial: Keep track of budget, cash flow, invoicing, statements and accountant.
Miscellaneous: Oversee printing, signage, programs, banners, posters, and corporate gifts.
Obviously these requirements are for large events. If you are more comfortable planning a neighborhood get-together for ten to twenty people in your home or a hostess’s, you will not need to face anywhere close to the number of details just listed.
You may want to brainstorm ideas for holding small, intimate seminars and workshops or crop parties. You select the venue (place where it will be held), advertise the event, decide if you will provide food or drink, and check out the site to make sure you have ample room and outlets, if needed. Tables will be arranged, or chairs if it is a lecture; tools for creating albums can be offered or required for the attendees to bring; and entertainment (if any) can be planned and scheduled. You will check for ample parking and outdoor lighting if your event runs into the evening, and find out all restrictions pertaining to your site, such as nonsmoking laws, seating capacity, fire codes, etc.
Two huge ideas for scrapbooking seminars and workshops are retreats and cruises geared specifically toward scrapbook enthusiasts. The allure of a mini-vacation while learning new scrapbooking techniques and hanging out with enthusiastic hobbyists is going strong. With imagination and the right setting you can add to your home-based, retail, or Internet business by offering the perk of getting away and scrapping your little heart out.
A retreat can be anywhere. Those that do particularly well are found in remote or exotic locations that can double as vacation destinations. Mountain cabins, seaside resorts, areas rich in history, or fun-filled attractions all work as a magnet to pull in scrapbooking enthusiasts looking to add to their horizon line.
A lot of thought and planning goes into opening a retreat. You have to look at the following considerations:
Do you have a suitable location that meets zoning requirements for running a business and offering enough parking space? Do you pass the building code for number of overnight accommodations? Licenses to run a B&B? Are you registered as an operating enterprise with tax ID number? Is your business name registered with the State?
Will you be serving food? If this is a remote location, you pretty much need to provide meals. Now you are in a different area of regulation, meeting the health code for your kitchen and serving requirements will be another element to consider.
How many people can you accommodate? How many beds, linens, and pillows do you have? Do guests get private rooms or are you setting this up like a bunk bed camp?
Do you have regulation bathrooms that will accommodate handicapped customers? How many bathrooms can be available to guests? Can your hot water heater handle ten or more people showering and doing laundry?
Where will guests park? Do you have a handicap-accessible ramp to the main doors?
Where will the scrapbooking area be? How many tables and chairs do you have? Is the lighting and ventilation good? Does the traffic flow easily?
How many supplies, tools, and wastebaskets do you have on hand? Are you providing all the materials, or asking them to bring projects and simply to utilize your tables and tools?
Are there fun things to do nearby that will give them entertainment and a break? If there is water nearby, do you have a place for wet towels and bathing suits? If you have an outdoor deck, are there enough chairs for everyone?
Are there some area attractions that you can possibly talk to about offering coupons for the guests?
How will you handle meals? Is it “serve yourself” or will they be waited on? How will you figure portions? Midnight snacks?
What will you charge? You must cover overhead expenses such as an increase in your utility bill, rent, laundry costs, supplies, food, instructors, scrapbooking magazines, advertising, trash removal, zoning permits, and miscellaneous expenses such as extra plates, utensils, coffee mugs, plastic bins for supplies, extra tools, soap, shampoo, and so on. Decide now what your one-time fee will cover and what you will be asking your guests to bring along, such as toiletries.
Will you be providing them with a tote or thank you gift at the end of the retreat? What about printing costs for instructions, brochures, flyers, and ads? Keep receipts for tax time!
How are your people skills? What if some people clash with each other, don’t want to share a room, or have food allergies? Are you patient enough to give one-on-one time with five, ten, twenty, or more people?
Remember to have gift certificates available for purchase. A scrapbooking retreat is a great gift for the scrapbooking-aholic. Try to advertise your retreat ahead of time to snag the Christmas bunch who feel more crafty with the holidays coming up.
If you don’t have a set location for your retreat, try offering different locales at certain times of the year. How fun it is to entice your clientele with a different place to crop, craft, and create! One time may be in the tropics and the next in a mountain setting. You will be the go-to person who offers not only great classes, but also great venues!
If you need help finding places that can be rented in different areas, try www.craigslist.org under Housing/Vacation Homes and Swaps. If you feel nervous trusting a website, call a realtor in the city you are interested in visiting and tell them your needs. The chamber of commerce in different cities may also have some ideas. Timeshares are another idea.
Jacque from Camp Crop is the perfect example of someone who came up with a great idea and ran with it:
“Camp Crop started in 1997 as a wild idea,” Jacque told me. “My best friend and I thought that a whole weekend away to work on our scrapbooks with no other responsibilities was a great idea. Our husbands laughed at the thought that anyone would pay money to go away for a weekend of scrapbooking. Our first season, we rented a series of vacation homes in Big Bear, California. Each Friday that we had a retreat, we had to drive carloads of supplies up to the mountains. That proved to be too much for my girlfriend, and she bowed out of the business. Believing that I had a still great concept, the next year, I bought a vacation house in the mountains of Wrightwood, closer to my home, and it became the full-time location of Camp Crop. Now we are celebrating our ninth season, and Camp Crop is probably the longest-running scrapbook retreat around. Our home is a full-service bed and breakfast catering to eight scrapbook enthusiasts.
“Because we are committed to providing unparalleled personal attention, Camp Crop has a well-deserved reputation of being a luxurious getaway. Each all-inclusive getaway offers two days and nights of uninterrupted time to work on memory albums. Amenities include gourmet meals and desserts, housekeeping services, popcorn and movies, optional massages, and scrapbook shopping.
“Our best advertising is from word of mouth. Most guests are repeats, and many bring new friends with them each year. We have a website at www.campcrop.com, which generates a lot of interest.”
Dorothy Reiner runs Lake Miltona Scrapbooking/Quilting Retreat and Reunion House in the beautiful Alexandria Lakes region in Minnesota. In the Lake Miltona area of Alexandria Lakes, Minnesota sits a spacious vacation home that has been turned into a retreat for vacationers and those interested in a haven for craft projects, such as scrapbooking and quilting. The house sleeps twenty people and will accommodate fourteen individual workspaces. The rate for the retreats is based on a minimum of guests, but you can bring up to sixteen at no extra charge. A thank you gift awaits guests at each crafting table. The base rate for ten (add up to six more people at no additional charge) is $1,200 for a weekend retreat, which runs from noon on Friday to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Add a Thursday or Monday for an additional $100. There is a 50 percent deposit at the time of booking with the balance due within thirty days prior to arrival.
Please see their website www.minnesotascrapbookingretreats.com for additional information or to book your own scrapbooking retreat for your customers as an extra way to increase business and add variety and creativity to your brick-and-mortar, Internet, or home-based business.
According to Dorothy Reiner, owner of the retreat, “We use the retreat for summer vacationers and reunions during the summer months, and for crafting retreats between mid-September through May.”
I want to thank Dorothy for taking the time to talk to me about her wonderful business. I am thrilled for her success!
Using the retreat for vacationers during the tourist season is a great idea, and offering it as a craft retreat in the off-season means dollars in the coffers year-round.
According to polls on varying scrapbooking websites, the following are suggestions offered by scrapbookers who have attended retreats on what they would like to have in the offering:
“If I am traveling to a retreat, I would like the larger tools to be on hand so I don’t have to pack them.”
“Are there scrapbook stores nearby in case I need something not provided?”
“Having a Sizzix machine on hand would be wonderful!”
“I need a coffee maker . . . and a microwave.”
“Having a supply cart on wheels works great to allow more table space to create. If it has places to hold your drinks and snacks, even better. It only takes one over-turned coffee on a table to ruin several projects.”
“I feel the buffet-style meals work best and are easier on the host. Have your group leader [the person in charge of your group going on the retreat] choose from a menu. This way the retreat host knows ahead of time what to buy and is not worrying about cooking different meals for everyone. Make sure the group leader knows her group’s food preferences, allergies, vegan, etc.”
“I found having a water cooler nearby was nice, and a mini-fridge.”
“One crop I went to had the food catered. It was decided ahead of time what type of food the group wanted and the cost was factored into the retreat fee. This way the host did not have to do the cooking. Some retreats ask that you bring your own food and the cost of the stay is less, but I’ve found people inevitably don’t bring enough food, forget seasoning, cutlery, etc. It seems easier to handle the meals yourself if you are the retreat owner. Then you know all the bases are covered.”
“I wish they had offered two things. . .background music. . .and alcohol!”
“I would want a ‘Cricut’ with cartridges available. A sewing machine with different colored thread would be nice as well.”
“Wi-Fi 3G and Internet access! Someone is going to want to look something up, such as a pattern idea, etc. Plus, who today doesn’t need to check their emails? A printer is a must as well, one that is hooked up to the Internet.”
“If your retreat location is really remote, have a backup generator and a ham radio for weather alerts and outside contact.”
“Blades, cutting mats, scissors . . . all the things you shouldn’t have to pack.”
“One retreat host set up a table with auxiliary supplies such as photo paper for the printer, extra glue, etc., with a small charge posted for people who wanted to use supplies that weren’t part of the package. I think that is fair. Photo paper can really add up. She also had higher end snacks for sale and mini-bottles of alcohol. You need a liquor license for the alcohol.”
“I found having individual table lamps at each seat a great idea for those evening crops.”
“I didn’t like being told to stop for dinner, lunch, etc. Most people don’t like to be interrupted and you are usually using the same tables for meals, so you have to clear away all your stuff. If you are going to have set times for meals, let everyone know ahead of time, or tell them they can eat when they want and reheat their food.”
“Have lots of waste baskets. Messy tables are no fun.”
There you go . . . straight from the crafters’ mouths. These are great ideas for making your retreat a relaxing and welcome place to go.
Retreats need not be held on solid ground alone! The cruise ship industry has weighed anchor on this successful craft craze, and is offering incredible getaways that provide album-creative classes with little umbrellas in the drinks.
Ann Kingrey with Get Gone Cruises enlightened me as to just how much versatility these floating crop shops offer, and how offering fundraisers were a great way to incorporate two loves at once.
“I saw an ad in a local paper about a breast cancer fundraiser a local scrapbook store was doing in Texas (I used to live there). Joan and I are business partners, but also sisters. We lost our mother to breast cancer in January 2002, and we incorporated fundraising into our business. I approached the owner about doing a scrapbook cruise that was also a fundraiser for the Avon Breast Cancer Foundation. Since scrapbookers are mostly women, we thought that would be a good match. She involved other stores in the area, and we were able to sell 100 cabins and raise over $11,000 for Avon.
“We like to sell at least 100 cabins to make the donation to the foundation a good size. However, that is not always possible. We do like to limit the number of scrappers onboard to about 100 people. This makes the group manageable and also easier for class product and goodie-bag donation. A lot of people will bring on friends, spouses, and/or children who don’t scrapbook but want to come have a good time.”
When asked how she advertises, Ann said, “We have advertised a couple of different ways in the past. We’ve advertised directly through scrapbook stores, in local papers, and using online advertising like www.scrapbook.com and www.scrapjazz.com. We have a lot of repeat cruisers and word of mouth. We will also be advertising in scrapbook magazines like Paper Works. We also have a cruise set up with PaperKuts that will benefit an autism foundation.
“We’ve done five- and seven-day cruises before. We have four different cruises planned for next year, each offering a different itinerary. Our cruises range from $446 to $839 depending on the length and time of year of the cruise. We have a five-day scrapbook cruise that is benefiting a SIDS foundation that is $446; our seven-day breast cancer scrapbook cruise in October 2005 is $656, and the PaperKuts cruise in November is seven days and runs from $839.”
I spoke with Cheri Thomas at Cruise and Crop about their wonderful cruise business for scrapbooking enthusiasts. Here is what she had to say:
“Cruising with your customers is a great way to build customer loyalty. In most cases, if you get enough people to go with you (sixteen-plus cabins), then you, the host, could cruise for little or no cost. We organize an average of fifteen Cruise & Crop cruises each year. Our hosts range from manufacturers, to store owners, to independent consultants of home-based businesses.
Cruise & Crop works with each of our hosts to help select a great cruise date and itinerary that suits their needs. We can book any cruise line, anywhere in the world. Cruise & Crop does not charge our hosts any fees to help them plan their cruise vacation. Our cruises are not limited to scrapbooking but could feature a variety of hobbies including stamping, quilting, paper crafting, general crafts, knitting, and more. Our cruise hosts would agree that cruising is simpler and more affordable than hosting a land-based crop.”
Please see more about Cruise & Crop and their wonderful scrapbooking cruises at www.cruiseandcrop.com. You can subscribe to their e-newsletter via their website. Be sure to check out their blog at www.CruiseAndCropBlog.com. You can find Cruise & Crop on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/cruiseandcrop or on Pinterest at www.Pinterest.com/cruiseandcrop.
I want to thank Cheri Thomas at Cruise & Crop for taking time to tell me about this wonderful opportunity to enhance your creativity and market.
The following chapter, “Let’s Advertise,” will cover in-depth all your advertising options. For this particular area of scrapbooking, however, let me recommend a few other avenues:
Approach cruise lines with your ideas for scrapbooking cruises. Ask about discounts for groups or bulk parties. Offer to advertise their cruise line on your website as a recommendation to your customers.
Talk to travel agencies and let them know what you are doing. They may specialize in putting together cruise and retreat packages. You could start a great collaboration this way. Again, offer to advertise their company on your website, as well as on event signs in your retail store and on flyers and brochures.
Take flyers to your area scrapbook stores and ask if they will post them or hand them out. Ask if they would like to offer discounts or coupons to your group parties as you will be buying supplies from them in bulk for the retreats and cruises. This goes for online stores as well. Reciprocal links are big online business tools. Offer to link their website to your store’s site.
Talk to retreats that offer numerous cabins or rooms and tell them about your business. Ask if they offer discounts for large parties. Ask if you can post a flyer on their bulletin board.
Send your information to online women’s groups who are listed under the “Outdoor Adventure” categories. Offer to speak at your local women’s groups or to give a free class and hand around your flyers advertising your retreat and/or cruise.
Think outside the box on this one. What type of customer would be interested in your retreat? Find your target market and then advertise where they shop, meet, or play.
You can specialize in setting up special events for scrapbooking symposiums, tradeshows, holiday events, or any number of entertaining ideas to bring the world of scrapbooking to the foreground. Planning an event is not easy. The myriad details involved could sink the Titanic. You will need to know all there is to know about dealing with the hospitality world, booking conference rooms, theaters, and recreation centers. Then there is the attention to audio/visual equipment, coat rooms, parking, props, tables, draping, name tags, giveaways, podiums, projectors and screens, seating, possible food, entertainment, booths (along with their dividers, electrical outlet concerns, signage and chairs), advertising, and guest speakers or instructors. That’s just a sampling.
An event planner will . . . well . . . PLAN the entire event and earn her money based on the ticket sales, after she has paid the venue, overhead, and expenses. There is great news for event planners today. Take a look at the following statistics:
The average event planner makes between $49,850 and $79,540 annually.
Event planners in the biggest cities, such as NYC, DC, and San Francisco, make higher incomes than in other areas, with the East Coast leading the way.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting a 44 percent increase in jobs for the event planner between 2010 and 2020! More than any other market factor.
A degree in hospitality management and certification credentials will be helpful in landing the bigger events.
A knowledge of virtual technology and today’s social media advertising is a must.
Everyone appreciates value. Door prizes, giveaways, new product demonstration, guest speakers, and a simple table of treats can make the difference between your event and the dry, regimented one your customers attended last month. Keep the energy level high and add humor. Laughter reduces stress and adds an element of fun. Your enthusiasm will carry over to your guests and make the event memorable.
The way to surprise an audience is to offer something unexpected. For instance, you’ve provided them with an outstanding event, fulfilling everything you offered in your advertisement; now, there are five minutes remaining in the allotted time and you are thanking them for attending. “Oh! One last thing . . . If you will check beneath your chairs, I believe you will find a small token of my gratitude for attending this event! Once again, thank you for coming, and I look forward to seeing you at my next promotion.”
They reach beneath their chairs and find an envelope taped to the underside. Inside is a scrapbooking tool or embellishment, new to the market, and preferably one you introduced to them during the workshop. They now have it to take home and use. Also in the envelope is a schedule of your upcoming events in the form of a refrigerator magnet. You could include a discount coupon to a scrapbooking store that you have set up a deal with beforehand. Consider the costs of these promotional items when you set your registration fee. You may be able to get a manufacturer to toss in some free merchandise as a way to advertise new products.
You should carefully consider every moment of your event, and try to make it extra-special by taking it up a notch and doing the unexpected and innovative in design, props, entertainment, giveaways, etc. These extra touches have such a great impact that I cannot emphasize it enough. It drop-kicks you up from mundane into extraordinary. Use lots of color and relaxing background music; humor and fun; entertainment if you can; and always, your uninhibited enthusiasm.
Take plenty of pictures and document your events. These can later be submitted to scrapbook magazines spotlighting crops and workshops and showing the reader the latest in innovative events. If it is a larger event, contact the industry magazines and see if they would like to list it or cover it for an article.
You can also use your documentation in ads for trade publications. Crop-A-Lot Retreat was recently advertised in Memory Makers magazine. This “Scrapbooker’s Camelot” is held in the beautiful Adirondacks of upstate New York. It includes nonstop cropping, prizes, surprises, classes, a diverse tool table, and much more. You can see the company’s website at www.cropalot.com.
As I mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, you can approach scrapbook stores, home-based businesses, and clubs to gather clients for your event. If you have gotten your name out, they may approach you.
If you have been hired to put on a large scrapbooking event that requires a special venue such as a rented hall, ballroom, conference area, retreat, or resort, then you will need to be very professional during your meeting with the client. First impressions are critical, and your attire and materials should be polished and professional. Your presentation will speak volumes about what your event will be like: creative and professional versus sloppy and disorganized.
The profile of work is the event planner’s major tool in an initial meeting. It contains the record of your achievements, experience, and skill as well as testimonials from previous clients in the scrapbooking world who are singing your praises.
The portfolio should contain pictures of previous events, showing your versatility, the magnitude of the production, and the different styles you offer. Organize your album by themes, clients, or special effects. Take photos from different perspectives, including overhead shots and detailed close-ups. Make the clients feel they are there so they can almost hear the music or excited voices.
The standard display portfolio is 24" x 18" and uses black reversible pages. Since you are in the scrapbooking business, you may embellish your pages, but I would keep it subtle. The emphasis should be on the volume of your work, not the cutesy brads in the corners.
The professional portfolio should contain:
Career achievements in precise bullet-point form
Brochures of your professional services
Photographs of current work
Testimonials from clients
Potential client contract and invoices
Business cards
Always listen carefully to the clients; they usually have firm ideas of what they are looking for. Listen to what is being said between the lines: If the topic of budget comes up often, you may assume that the money allotted is tight and your ability to fulfill the client’s needs within a financial parameter is very important. Perhaps a dissatisfaction with a previous planner is alluded to—find out specifically what the problem was and address how you will handle it differently. If you really listen, you will pick up nuances you may play off of and secure the bid.
When it is your turn to speak, keep it concise and to the point, and don’t ramble. Let your enthusiasm shine through and pull them into your dream of the event. Personality is a huge seller; don’t leave yours at home.
A sample contract checklist and overview sheet will be provided in Chapter 13, “Contracts, Forms, and Checklists.” An excellent book for planning large-scale events is Lena Malouf’s Behind the Scenes at Special Events. How to Develop and Promote Successful Seminars and Workshops by Howard L. Shenson is another great source.
We will discuss ways to advertise your events in the following chapter, “Let’s Advertise.”
A trade show is a large convention open only to businesses in the trade, and requires a business license, resale tax identification, or other proof that you are in a business that would benefit from the show. Some trade setups require you to present your resale tax number and a check showing your business name as proof before allowing you to enter.
At these types of shows, retailers peruse the manufacturer booths to see the latest in merchandise and store displays. These tend to be a little more formal than expos, but can still be stimulating and fun, with door prizes, giveaways, speakers, and entertainment.
Expos are large events laden with booths shouting out their wares to happy scrappers, and are open to the public looking for the newest in merchandise and ideas. Often there are demonstrations, crops, and guest speakers. Activity is high and the expectations huge.
If event planning requires you to be detail-oriented and a master strategist, so does running expos and trade shows—only more so. The scope of some of these events, in terms of amount of space and capitalization needed, types of contracts necessary, promotional effort required, subcontractors, unions, vendors, and attendees involved, may well exceed anything you’ve ever done before. Be sure that you have a good idea of what you are about to do before you don the mantle of Expo Impresario. These events must be well coordinated in every detail, and concerns such as guest safety, handicapped accessibility, and parking must be high priorities. A fire marshal will have to sign off on your affair and will examine types of table dressing, room capacity, exits and entrances, and aisle spacing. You will need to check for adequate electrical outlets for the vendors, lighting, air circulation, and monitoring to reduce theft.
Are you offering anything to make the little ones happy, thus making the parents happy? Do you have a play area, strollers, baskets, clowns, face painting, etc.?
Most expos take on an almost carnival-like feel, which opens up the decoration possibilities. Never underestimate the power of visual stimulation when someone enters one of these giant productions. Balloons, ceiling streamers, bold banners, music, and the smell of popcorn or funnel cakes all bring out the wallets and the smiles.
Your advertising should be as aggressive as your client’s budget allows. Advertise well in advance, especially during holiday seasons. Prominently announce any special entertainment, door prizes, or guest speakers you will be offering. Perhaps you have booked a popular author in the scrapbook industry and he/she will be signing books during the event. Is there a petting zoo? Are areas provided for workshops or crops? List them all in your advertising. If you’re doing radio spots, hit the date and venue address hard. Repeat it often and in a clever way, if possible, so your customers will remember it.
If you want to research other trade shows, there are several Internet sites touting the location and times of upcoming trade shows and events. Go to www.scraplink.com for listings of major scrapbook happenings. The HIA (Hobby Industry Association) Trade Show is now called the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) Trade Show and is usually offered in late January or early February. You can find their information by searching for “scrapbook trade shows” online. The Memory Trends Trade Show is sponsored by Craftrends magazine; their site is found at www.memorytrends.com. The Association of Crafts and Creative Industries (ACCI) can be found at www.accicrafts.org. Their main show is usually in July. Study these sites to get an idea of trade show and expo requirements, along with contact information, if you are interested in putting on large-scale productions.
There are scrappers out there wanting more information about their favorite craft. Seminars can be their introduction or emergence into this popular hobby. These can be one-day affairs or weekend retreats. Guest speakers and scrapbook experts abound, as well as ample time for hands-on training. These are structured events, and the timeline must be carefully executed to cut down on wasted time for your teachers, speakers, and guests.
Venues must be canvassed carefully and consideration taken for meals (if offered). Podiums and A/V equipment must be provided for speakers, along with ample room for workshop tables and chairs. Display areas for posters, products, and any other promotional items will be added to your square-footage needs. Leave room for easy movement and those with handicapped needs.
Invite manufacturers to display their products and introduce new lines or upcoming trends and merchandise. Never be afraid to approach these people; you are offering them exposure, and your request generally will be well received. They may charge you for travel expenses, or lay these aside in deference to the size of your audience and their chance to get their product out there. Always get a signed contract and assess their needs ahead of time for microphones, slide shows, etc. Find out how much time they would require and keep them on schedule. Ask how they would like to be introduced and if they will be leaving any promotional material. Decide whether they will be selling their product, or merely introducing it. If sales are a part of their presentation, will they require a credit card setup or petty cash? Will you need bags to carry merchandise home?
Penny McDaniel invited manufacturers to conduct seminars at her store. “We have had two different manufacturers lead a seminar. The first charged $25 per person, which I passed on to the customer—but no markup for me at that rate! We had a minimum of ten people. The kits she gave out were really good and I was pleased.
“The other did not charge me, but she was not as experienced, and I had to make the kits and samples up, etc.”
It’s a good idea to find out ahead of time just what your manufacturer is offering in the way of expertise, speaking capabilities, and handouts. Don’t get caught off guard once the seminar has begun.
Advertising your seminar will be covered in the next chapter.
Take advantage of holiday, seasonal, and community events to host a workshop, retreat, or crop. Put together something based on the appropriate theme, rent the space or use your home, send out invites and post notices, and you’re on your way.
Christmas, Halloween, and Easter are obvious biggies, but Thanksgiving could be highlighted to play on the nostalgic ancestry note. Scour scrapbook magazines for the latest trends and come up with a few creative ones of your own. Back to School, Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day can all be expounded upon for sentimental value. What better gift to give a parent than an album commemorating her family? Summer is vacation time, so host a “Vacation Album Extravaganza.”
Advertise well in advance for seasonal themes to allow guests to book your workshop among their holiday parties or vacation plans. Detail all the benefits of attending your workshop and play up the joy of a completed album for their recent event while memories and journaling thoughts are fresh. For Christmas, advertise the unique gift-giving quality of an album instead of the standard shirt or canoe paddle. These are presents that will be treasured for generations.
Decide on your venue and how many customers it will seat comfortably, allowing for “roaming” room and a treats table. Create your theme, and design decorations and matching refreshments.
Will you offer tools, or should they bring their own? Are children welcome, or should people please them leave at home? How many ideas will you demonstrate? Will you focus on one style of Christmas page, or offer a few different ideas, varying from antique Victorian to Frosty the Snowman? How about a workshop just for kids to create a small album of the toys they would most like to have for Christmas? Can you imagine how cherished that little book will be down the road when they have graduated from miniature cars to Air Jordan high-tops? The album wish list could be added to each year.
Play festive holiday music in the background and offer some cute giveaway that ties in with your theme. Be creative. If you are doing antique Christmas albums, give each guest a small Victorian fan or skeleton key that could be used on an album page. I love the little “keyhole” keys they sell at flea markets and antique stores. You can sometimes get five for a dollar, and they immediately bring back the feeling of the olden days. Flea markets also sell old postcards from the 1800s and early 1900s, which would add an air of nostalgia and would be completely unexpected and treasured by your attendees.
Use your sense of humor. If your theme is Frosty the Snowman, send each guest home with a small Ziploc bag of giant marshmallows labeled “Snowman Poop.”
If the albums will be used as gifts, offer gift tags and scatter creative boxing ideas around the room using—you guessed it, scrapbooking supplies. Don’t leave the ribbons and punches on the page; curl them into gift-wrapping bows and sprinkle them across the wrapping paper.
If you thought modern technology couldn’t touch something as sentimental and hands-on as scrapbooking, think again. Now, without leaving your chair, you can create entire pages complete with photos on your computer, and print them out. The only real manual labor will be the intense effort it takes to slip them into an album. (Yawn!)
David Sutphin is an avid scrapbooker, as well as the owner of Dream Maker Software and the publisher of Cliptures clip art. You can find information about his scrapbooking software at www.computerscrapbooking.com and www.CoolClipArt.com. David was kind enough to explain just what computer scrapbooking (more popularly called Digital Scrapbooking today) is:
“Digital scrapbooking is anything related to using a computer to enhance or create scrapbook pages!
“Most people begin the adventure into computer scrapbooking by using their computer to create design elements that are printed, cut out, and then attached to regular scrapbook pages. Creating text for journaling (captions) and toppers (headlines) is an easy first step. There are a huge variety of computer fonts available that are great for scrapbooking. Using computer clip art is also very popular, and economical too. Two big advantages with both computer fonts and clip art is that their supply is unlimited (you can always print more), and that there is much more flexibility in sizing them to best fit the scrapbook page’s designs.”
“The next step in computer scrapbooking is creating scrapbook pages on the computer that are printed as an entire page,” David Sutphin continued. “This is an easy progression from doing print, cut, and paste. The difference is that decorations and text are arranged and formatted on the computer and printed as a single page, except for the photographs and possibly the photo frames. The page is used as is, or the unprinted edges may be trimmed off and the page attached to a complementary backing paper. Regular photographs are still used and are attached to the computer-generated page.”
“For many people, once they are comfortable with doing complete scrapbook page designs on the computer, this next step is too hard to resist! At this point, not only are the pages being done completely on the computer, but digital photographs are also used so that the complete page, photographs and all, is combined and printed as a single unit. Quality scanners are today very economical, and can be used for scanning old or new photographs, as well as all kinds of memorabilia that can make wonderful additions to scrapbooks. The popularity of digital cameras is growing by leaps and bounds, with many of the newer models offering excellent photo quality. Using scanned or digital photographs also opens a world of possibilities that were impractical or impossible before. Software programs abound that will let you manipulate digital photographs or add special effects in an almost unlimited number of ways!”
My thanks to David Sutphin of Dream Maker Software for sharing his expertise on Digital Scrapbooking techniques.
As we mentioned in Chapter 8, “Designing Your Own Products,” the digital page has gained huge momentum. Though we covered several areas of creating and selling your digital designs, it bears repeating here.
Today, computers greatly enhance and expand the things we can do for scrapbooking, while at the same time making the craft easier and more economical. Digital technology will continue to open up all kinds of new ways for people to create and share scrapbooks. There are lots of fun things just on the horizon, but we’ll save that for another time!
There are many ways you can cash in on this computer-enhanced opportunity for scrapbooking. Obviously, clients could pay you to use your artistic skills and create pages for their albums, either with or without the photographs inserted graphically.
You can create your own ready-to-buy pages and sell them to scrapbook retailers.
How about designing amazing pages and submitting them to scrapbook magazines, or creating a book of your own on how to design and produce your own unique pages?
The Internet awaits you as well: You could sell your pages from your own website or entice an existing online retail store. Post your services on their message boards or join chats and tell people about your new venture. In-home scrapbook businesses may be interested in offering your pre-produced pages to their clients for a slight markup.
In case you didn’t catch it, you can take this new revolutionary procedure into every avenue we’ve discussed in this book. I realize this technological way of producing a legacy without the adhesive-applied rick-rack, glitter, and buttons is a bit shocking. Let’s just say that there is room out there for both what is created by hand and what is created by computer. Many would argue you are creating by hand even when using a computer, since just as many hours are involved to create the page of your dreams.
Some of the software offered for creating digital scrapbook pages is found here in the 2013 Best Digital Scrapbooking Software. They appear in order of excellence:
My Memories Suite
Memory Mixer
Craft Artist Platinum Edition
Foto Fusion
Art Explosion Scrapbook Factory Deluxe
Photo One Print
Photo Mix
Smilebox
Photo Collage Studio
Choose what works best for you and enjoy!
There is money to be made in writing for magazines if you have a talent for the written word and an expansive knowledge of your subject. Just because you can whip out the most impressive album pages known to man doesn’t mean you have what it takes to transfer that expertise into writing that will engage a reader.
Magazine articles offer a speedier way to make an income than does writing an entire book. Many women’s publications, such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and others, offer as much as $2,000 an article. The typical craft/hobby magazine will pay a much smaller sum, from $25 on up, or you may be asked to submit your material for free. You can see a listing of popular scrapbook magazines in the section above for Creating Digital Scrapbook pages. Look up magazine publishers in the Writer’s Market (see below) to find a listing of their needs and prices. You will either receive your check upon acceptance of the finished article by the publisher or upon production of the article in the magazine.
A wonderful tool for finding magazine publishers is the Writer’s Market. This impressive tome contains every publisher in the writing industry in every category, from books to screenplays, greeting cards to magazines. They list the publishing house, its needs, payment policy, the time in which you can expect a reply after your query or complete manuscript is received, titles of recently published works, mailing address, and person to contact.
Always address your query letter or manuscript to the person in charge of the department you’re interested in. You will waste your time and theirs by sending it to the head editor unless that person is listed as the one to contact.
A query letter is a one-page introduction to what you are offering. In a concise format, you must tell them what your article is about, why you are qualified to write it, why it would appeal to their audience, and roughly how many words it will run. Most magazines have precise guidelines for how long they want their articles to be.
Query letters will either make or break you. If your writing comes across as unprofessional, with many spelling errors, poor sentence structure, or rambling, this tells the editor that your article will likely be just as poorly constructed. You must also, in a brief amount of space, “hook” editors by offering something fresh and innovative. They receive hundreds of queries a week—sometimes thousands. Yours will need to stand out from the crowd.
Study the back and current issues of the magazines you are interested in querying. What has not been offered? What has been offered but would benefit from a new twist? One pet peeve of editors is authors who don’t do their research, and send material that is just not appropriate for that publisher. They expect you to have done your homework and respect their time and requirements.
I asked Michele Gerbrandt of Memory Makers magazine what they look for in magazine articles. “We have never been ‘tapped out’ for creative ideas. There are always new ideas. The market (for scrapbooking) is just beginning. You can never have enough talent.”
When asked what types of articles seem to be the most popular, she said, “It isn’t a matter of what types of articles are most popular, it is a matter of what is coming up on the editorial calendar. Or they (the writers) would look at how our content works and send in something for a specific department.”
Michele told me that art ideas included with a query letter are very helpful to give them an overall idea of the article’s appeal.
When asked to explain their process of needing articles well in advance for holidays and seasonal issues, Michele informed me that deadlines are six months in advance for all issues, not just seasonal and holiday. “We have two editorial planning retreats a year, and mostly fill in the calendar then for the next six months. Writers interested in submitting query letters should address them to Debbie Mock, Executive Editor, 12365 Huron Street, #500, Denver, CO 80345, or email editorial@memorymakersmagazine.com.
Brandi Ginn has been a serious scrapbooker for the past six years and worked professionally for the last four years. She has written numerous articles for Memory Makers magazine and is publishing her own idea books with coauthor Pam Klassen of Memory Makers next year.
I asked Brandi how she approached a magazine for publication.
“My approach was a little different. I had made up a list of article ideas and asked Debbie (Mock of Memory Makers magazine) if I could have a meeting with her to go over them. I had been doing freelance artwork for the magazine for about six months prior to our meeting. During our meeting, there were several ideas that Debbie seemed interested in pursuing. The first topic dealt with sewing on pages. She gave me the assignment to go ahead and work on the art for the article. About a week later, I asked her if she’d be willing to let me write the article as well, and she agreed. I was later told that I was the first person the magazine allowed to both create the art and write the article. Having an artist who could also be a writer proved valuable to the magazine, especially in writing art captions. I can look at a page, know how to copy the techniques, and write about them, which gave me an advantage I feel very blessed to have. Things snowballed from there, and I continued to email Debbie with article ideas. After writing a few articles, they started to contact me with their own article ideas that they would want me to research and write. Sometimes I would also provide artwork. I have written all the art captions for two different books, and regularly write captions for each subscription issue and several SIPs (special-interest publications).”
When asked if the publication typically tells her how long an article they’re looking for, Brandi said, “Yes, I have always been told how long the article should be. Typically, I’m given a word count for an introduction and told whether or not they would like sidebar information.”
I was under the impression that some publications prefer to see artwork separate from the written word, and I asked Brandi if she found that to be true.
“I’m not sure. Whenever I’ve just written the editors with article ideas, I’ve only provided the idea. Once I showed Debbie Mock several pieces of artwork that were all ‘themed’ with the same idea. She ended up publishing all the artwork, but someone else wrote the article. I think that was because the writer had queried her with an idea that happened to go with my artwork. On other occasions where I’ve been asked to write an article and provide the art, it’s never been requested that I show them the artwork before the text or vice versa.”
When asked about magazine pay rates and if they pay by the word or the article, Brandi told me: “Over time, my rate for writing art captions has gone up significantly, and I’ve been thrilled about that. I’ve never been told if it’s by the word; I’ve always just assumed it’s by the article. Once I researched, wrote, and provided artwork for an article about what adhesives to use when working with 3-D embellishments. For that, I was paid more because more work was involved. For other articles where I’ve provided one or two pieces of art, I’ve been paid one rate for the writing and another for the artwork. When I write art captions for the magazine, I’m paid per caption. However, when I wrote all the art captions for the books department, I was paid a flat rate.”
When interviewing different scrapbook magazine’s editors, I found they were reluctant to comment on the exact fees paid to writers and merely stated that they vary widely. I would recommend querying the different “rags” out there to find out what they are willing to pay for your particular idea.
I finally asked Brandi if she had any suggestions for new writers or artists starting out in the scrapbook magazine submission business.
“I think the best thing for artists to do is to be seen, whether it’s layouts posted on the Internet or published in magazines. They should enter as many contests and design team opportunities as possible, take art and design classes, and flat out ‘scraplift’ other people’s work (to practice with). This enables them to see how the creation was made and encourage them to use those techniques in pages of their own. To be honest, I think I got lucky with the writing aspect of this job. I grew up with a mother who is very eloquent with her words and writing abilities. In college, I took advanced writing classes and always did well, but I don’t have any formal degree in the subject. I will say this, though. If writers are fortunate enough to be asked to write for a magazine, don’t be afraid to ask for help, and always ask how you can improve.”
One final idea for this category is to offer to blog for online scrapbook magazines. Submit a sample of your blogging style and topic capacity. For instance, choose a hot scrapbooking topic, write an engaging blog with current statistics, and submit it to the magazine. Scrapbook magazine websites will have a “Contact Us” section in the top or bottom headers. Look to see if they have a “Careers” section. Send along your constructed blog, labeling it a sample, and ask if they are hiring bloggers for their site. By using the word “hire” they will understand that you are not doing this gratis (free).
Magazine editors use mostly staff-created artwork, but they do hire freelance artists with unique styles and fresh, innovative ideas. They will request to see a portfolio of your work. The more versatile you can be, the better. Or maybe you can offer a truly unique style, like the artwork of Mary Engelbreit.
“A scrapbook designer needs to show her work like any graphic designer or illustrator—the more professional the better,” Michele Gerbrandt added.
The more proficiencies you have in different areas, the more talents you have to market. For example, Michele noted, “Digital scrapbooking is growing; we just did a special issue on it this summer.” So if you have computer skills to combine with your scrapbooking abilities, you can take advantage of this trend.
There are many good books on this market’s teaching format, style, and illustrative procedure. Illustrator’s Market, companion to Writer’s Market, lists all the publishers looking for artwork and their pay scales.
Study the magazines to determine their preferences, but keep a lookout for something different and refreshing you can offer them.
Don’t limit yourself to scrapbook magazines. Publications such as Women’s Day, Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart Living, and Ladies’ Home Journal all run pieces about popular craft trends.
I will not kid you here—breaking into the publishing world is not easy. You will need something to rival the books already in print. There are more and more books geared to the scrapbooking industry popping up each month. Selling your idea to a publisher will require tempting them with something they know will sell.
Spend some time at your local bookstore or library and scout out the books already on the market concerning your topic. Look at www.Amazon.com and search for the keyword “scrapbooking.” This is a great avenue to use to look at books fresh on the market and find their publishing details: who the publisher is, how many pages the book runs, the date published, reviews, etc.
Buy Writer’s Market and check the back section for publishers interested in crafts and hobbies. Then look up each publisher in the book and note what their requirements are. Some will want simply a query letter. You may be asked to submit a query plus two or three sample chapters, or the entire manuscript. Writer’s Market will tell you if you will be offered royalties or an advance on your book, and when to expect a response from the editor concerning your submission.
Most royalties for a first-time author run between 4 and 10 percent. The advance can be as little as $100, up to a few thousand dollars. It all depends on the publishing house, how they perceive the value of your book, and whether you have published other books, giving you credibility and bankability.
You can go the self-publishing route, but it is expensive, and you will be in charge of all the advertising, marketing, publishing, and printing costs. The ability to get out and pound some pavement or make waves on the Internet will determine the success of your book. There are many books on the market teaching you how to publish your work. If you plug “self-publishing services” into a search engine, you will unearth a lot of companies that will shepherd you through the process of book production—for a not insubstantial fee. Make sure you do you check them out before you sign a contract. Amazon has now entered the publishing arena and will publish a book for you for varying rates depending on your needs. It’s called Create Space and is very innovative and user-friendly.
Also, make sure you have done your research on the books on your specific topic. Many are in full-color detail and were expensively manufactured. Can you top that? What about offering a specialized area of the scrapbooking field, such as journaling, quotes, or poems that album creators could use without copyright infringement? Clever ideas for borders, pop-ups, and holiday specialties would all be good choices. It’s hard to run out of great Christmas book ideas. Most publishers are always looking for new holiday books, as so many people collect them.
Check out Writer’s Market for advice on writing query letters, how to format a manuscript, and other tips to help you along the publishing path. I have included a sample query letter in Chapter 13, “Contracts, Forms, and Checklists.”
Ebooks and downloadables are all the rage. In this world of “I want it faster!” downloading a book right from the Internet onto a laptop or smartphone is a great way to get information fast and for less money.
There are many forums online that will show you how to create an ebook. Amazon now offers its own publishing house for authors. If you have a website, you can offer your own downloadable ebook for a fee. Most ebooks average between $12.95 and $19.95 in price. You will need a credit card setup on your site to accept payment. PayPal is a universally accepted form of payment that most people are comfortable using.
Make sure your ebook offers enough information, and a unique angle, that your customer will be willing to pay for it. Tons of information is offered for free on the Internet, so you either need a following or something really valuable to entice the web shopper to part with their money.
You can Google, “How to create an ebook” and look at the different instructional offerings. The information is free and very easy to understand. You can literally create an ebook, post it, and take orders in a few short days, depending on your content.
As for the e-commerce side of it, make sure your shopping cart stipulates how long your offer is available and how many people can access the buying code (the correct answer is one). Do everything you can to discourage your buyer from sharing your content with others.
There are many freelance writing services online. Companies such as www.Iwrite.com, act as a liaison between the writer and businesses looking for a writer on certain subjects. The subjects are listed, along with how many words they are looking for in the article, and what they are willing to pay. Look for articles needed on crafts and scrapbooking, submit your bid, and you are off and running. You can write as many as you can fit into a day’s work. The more you write, and the more positive feedback you receive from the buyers, the more you get paid.
You can write for online article services such as www.EzineArticles.com. You don’t get paid for these, but you can be picked up by online businesses and websites who want great article and blog content. The more you post on their websites, the more name-recognition you receive, and then you may be on your way to becoming known as an expert in the field. It is also a great way to build your writing portfolio if you want to submit to magazines and show your work. If you have your own website, having others use your articles and blogs with a link back to you is great for marketing and SEO. Remember to pepper your articles with your keywords, such as “scrapbooking” and “scrapbooking pages.” Whatever the topic is for your article, use the name(s) of the subject often throughout the text.
For ways to advertise all these wonderful adventures in Scrapbooking, please see the next section on Advertising.
We have touched a little on cross-marketing in our section on retail stores when we advocated the idea of coupling quilting with your scrapbooking resume. Cross-marketing is the hottest trend in “sharing with the other kids.” By approaching other companies that offer services and products complimentary to scrapbooking, you partner up to create new and unique product lines and packages. For scrapbooking, the possibilities are endless.
Jewelry stores and online websites—beading, gemstones, antique chains, wire, broaches, pearls, and so on, can all be embellishments for pages and covers.
Fabric—sequins, fabric scraps, embroidery, buttons, threads, and more.
Ceramics—small ceramic pieces, cameos, polished shards, and more.
Floral silks—silk leaves, flowers, ground cover, and more.
Dolls—small miniature dolls and toys meant for dollhouses can add to pages for a nostalgic feeling or for children’s scrapbooks.
Cookbook websites—recipe pages for that down-home feeling in Grandma’s scrapbook or for commemoration of certain holiday events.
Military and history websites—images, diagrams, maps, and more.
You are only as limited as your imagination when it comes to thinking of businesses that would benefit from adding scrapbooking components to their websites and brick-and-mortar locations, just as you are adding them to your repertoire. Approach them with the idea of cross-marketing your wares on each other’s websites and in brick-and-mortar retail outlets. You will both be expanding your customer-base and your bottom line. Plus, Google loves outside links, and for each person you are linking up with, you are adding to your SEO!