Day 87

Day 87 - 1/14/08   

It took a while, but here's where my wholesale order from last year ended up. Cut and Paste was one of the first online handmade boutiques I discovered many years ago (I think they even pre-date Etsy) and I was so honored to be contacted by them!

I think alot about wholesale vs retail. I really admire the business model of Maria of port2port press. Maria does a bit of custom work, releases limited edition designs once a month, does artist collaborations, and runs a card of the month club. What she doesn't do is sell large amounts of cards to retailers. In this way, she keeps her product limited so that customers have to come directly to her to purchase it and she gets 100% of the profits. I really admire that aspect of her business and I'm always thinking of ways to incorporate that into how I'll build my business.

One way to do this is by doing custom work, and that's where you come in. I want to start doing custom printing of business cards and stationery and then eventually gift wrap sized sheets and fabric. But I need some practice before I put myself out there for paying customers, sooo I need some volunteers who want to get free stuff.

If you have a small business and need some business cards made, email me at rifferaff at gmail dot com.  I'll screen print you 100 one-color  business cards (of your design or I can help you design it) for free. In exchange, I'll want to get feedback from you about my ideas for pricing, packaging, and the process of coordinating a custom job.  Please include a link to your store or pics of your work  in your email and I'll pick two or three people to be my guinea pigs.

Anyone interested?

Comments

[Alexia]

ooh - I'm interested! :)

[Alexia]

p.s. if your current work is any reflection on how the cards will turn out, I'm sure everyone will be very pleased!

[Uncle Beefy]

Now THAT is a generous (and smart) offer, Shannon. I too admire Maria's business model. She's very inspiring because of her delicate balance between artist and business person. Something to aspire to.

[Jay]

I'm a recent reader to this blog. I'm really impressed and interested with how you're honestly discussing setting up in business. I'm sure you'll be inundated with people taking you up on your very generous (and very clever) idea. Wishing you much success!