Photo boxes are a great size for holding spools of ribbon and these come in clear also. Another great solution is to hang a pretty curtain rod on your wall and thread those ribbon spools on the curtain rod.
Paper is one of the most important staples and storage is also a major problem for most at home scrap booking businesses. Paper comes in hundreds of different colors, patterns, textures and weights. It needs to be kept dry and clean, be photo safe and stored in plain sight.
Paper can be stored in a wide variety of ways but horizontal is the best. There are lots of wonderful products out there, from wire storage racks to clear stacking plastic trays and are very good investments.
You’ll also want to start some sort of inventory control system so you always know what you have on hand at any given time. This doesn’t have to be a complicated task. Start an Excel spreadsheet and update it every time you make a sale. We’ve included a sample spreadsheet at the end of this book for you to look at as a starting point.
When you become a direct sales consultant, you may wonder how you go about selling your product. Usually, the first outlet people think of is to sell at an online auction site like e-bay. However, many companies have restrictions against selling this way.
Home parties are going to be the best and most economical way to market your product. Tupperware ladies and Avon consultants have been selling this way for years. Count on friends and family to host parties for you. Don’t count out co-workers either. Distribute your catalogs and be sure your phone number and e-mail address are featured prominently.
We’ll have a separate section on marketing your business, but you may also want to take out a small newspaper ad occasionally offering your services as a scrapbook consultant. You’re selling supplies here, so always have your selling hat on.
See if your community college offers scrapbooking courses and see if the instructor will distribute some of your business cards to those taking the class. They’ll usually be happy to do so unless the college prohibits it.
You can also sponsor workshops where people get together to work on their scrapbooks. This is a prime opportunity to strike while the passion is hot. People may look at your book and love what you did with the page about your family vacation. That’s a perfect time to whip out your catalog and show them the papers or die cuts that you used from your company.
Another perk about being a direct sales consultant is that you will get a discount on your own supplies. When you love scrapbooking, you know as well as we do that you can never have enough stickers or cut-outs or custom scissors. Being able to buy these items at a discount or even earning these items for free can be addicting and extremely motivational as well!
As we’ve said, there are many, many companies out there who offer direct sales opportunities to you.
Cricket vinyl machine use self adhesive Vinyl in your scrapbooks, home decorations and photo albums. Put your talents to work for you by starting a greeting cards business using the Cricut machines. Any crafter will tell you the Cricut Expressions machine is an expense, but is it worth the cost?
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