The most important tool in creating a successful small business is Relationships.
Your relationship with everyone from your paper suppliers,local printer,business associate,friends and family all contribute enormously to your success.
For example we have found that when you are researching companies to provide your paper needs, the right approach can often get you many free samples to experiment with and often use for a few final products. What a great cost/benefit ratio. You then of course return the favour with future business and personal recommendations for that company. The same goes for your local printer, they will often professionally score all your paper at little or no cost if they believe in the relationship. They also come in handy when you need bulk cutting, your own business cards etc.
The primary rule is to try to under promise and over deliver while always being upfront and sincere about what you are trying to accomplish. We will be posting more tools and tips to help with your success and we wish you all the best.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Beautiful greeting cards are one thing, website ranking is another.
For years we designed beautiful handmade greeting cards that were a labor of love. Some designs could be done in about an hour and some took as long as 18-20 hours. We started about ten years ago when the internet was still fairly new and developing quickly. We gave little thought to keywords and website ranking as the Art and Creating always took precedent. As a result our cards were beautiful and our sales were almost entirely local,(which is a good place to start).
About two years into the business we turned our attention to keywords, search engine optimization and other not-so artistic, but very important matters. With a few focused changes our business began to rank higher and higher on search results and sales began to come in from all around the world. Local business soon became the minority percentage as we sold cards to England, Israel, Morrocco, India, Lithuania and more. We were truly astonished. We now rank in the top 10 on google for the keywords 'handmade greeting cards' and 'handmade birthday cards' as well as the top 50 for 'handmade wedding invitations'. Go ahead and search those keywords in google and when you see http://www.creativecards4u.comthen you have found one of our very first sites. Word of mouth was a great start, however to really grow and sustain your small business, a website is priceless.
The reason I am sharing this with you is that as a Creative person and you know if you are one, it helps to know the importance of getting started on your website as soon as possible. It can and will open up a whole new world for your Art and lead you to places you may have never dreamed of going. As a result of our success we are currently developing over 15 different websites that will be premiering worldwide very soon.
So while you are perfecting your designs,and we know how that goes,get your site going and the two (your Art and the site ranking) will gel at the right time.
After 10 years of using many different site builders and host we are truly comfortable recommending the following link:
Free Website Builder - You will love it!
It will allow you the artistic freedom you need while offering tons of video tutorials to guide you through every or any step you want help with.
We will be posting our personal tips on building your Art business right here, so check back regulary or follow this blog. All our Best.
About two years into the business we turned our attention to keywords, search engine optimization and other not-so artistic, but very important matters. With a few focused changes our business began to rank higher and higher on search results and sales began to come in from all around the world. Local business soon became the minority percentage as we sold cards to England, Israel, Morrocco, India, Lithuania and more. We were truly astonished. We now rank in the top 10 on google for the keywords 'handmade greeting cards' and 'handmade birthday cards' as well as the top 50 for 'handmade wedding invitations'. Go ahead and search those keywords in google and when you see http://www.creativecards4u.comthen you have found one of our very first sites. Word of mouth was a great start, however to really grow and sustain your small business, a website is priceless.
The reason I am sharing this with you is that as a Creative person and you know if you are one, it helps to know the importance of getting started on your website as soon as possible. It can and will open up a whole new world for your Art and lead you to places you may have never dreamed of going. As a result of our success we are currently developing over 15 different websites that will be premiering worldwide very soon.
So while you are perfecting your designs,and we know how that goes,get your site going and the two (your Art and the site ranking) will gel at the right time.
After 10 years of using many different site builders and host we are truly comfortable recommending the following link:
Free Website Builder - You will love it!
It will allow you the artistic freedom you need while offering tons of video tutorials to guide you through every or any step you want help with.
We will be posting our personal tips on building your Art business right here, so check back regulary or follow this blog. All our Best.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Handmade greeting cards and extra income
Happy New Year!
Starting today I am going to publish articles on how to earn extra income with handmade greeting cards. It's a fun way to earn money doing something you love that helps others to share their appreciation for one another.
If you enjoy creating, you are more than half way there already. A digital camera and a computer and you can eventually gain worlwide exposure for your handmade greeting cards.
One of the most important things you can do towards getting your handmade greeting card projects turned into a business is to get started right away with a website. Don't worry about any technical issues, the website builder we recommended below is loaded with video tutorials that walk you through every aspect of site building and answers all your questions. Here is the link:
Free Website Builder - You will love it!
Getting started now is important because it is one of the factors taken into cosideration by search engines that are going to help your business get a higher ranking. Higher ranking means more exposure. In other words, the longer you are online the better, so don't allow yourself to get in your own way with excuses. There are currently 1.6 billion people using the internet and that number is increasing daily. You have the opportunity to begin reaching out to people you never dreamed of before with your designs, so start today!
Starting today I am going to publish articles on how to earn extra income with handmade greeting cards. It's a fun way to earn money doing something you love that helps others to share their appreciation for one another.
If you enjoy creating, you are more than half way there already. A digital camera and a computer and you can eventually gain worlwide exposure for your handmade greeting cards.
One of the most important things you can do towards getting your handmade greeting card projects turned into a business is to get started right away with a website. Don't worry about any technical issues, the website builder we recommended below is loaded with video tutorials that walk you through every aspect of site building and answers all your questions. Here is the link:
Free Website Builder - You will love it!
Getting started now is important because it is one of the factors taken into cosideration by search engines that are going to help your business get a higher ranking. Higher ranking means more exposure. In other words, the longer you are online the better, so don't allow yourself to get in your own way with excuses. There are currently 1.6 billion people using the internet and that number is increasing daily. You have the opportunity to begin reaching out to people you never dreamed of before with your designs, so start today!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)