The quickest ways to start selling your greeting cards is to go to a craft fair, hold an open house, rent a kiosk or build a website.

However, one single method may not get you going as quickly as using more than one method at the same time.

Craft Fairs or Trade Shows

A craft fair or trade show is a good way for you to get started selling your greeting cards because you can schedule to attend the event in advance, prepare your greeting cards you need for the event in advance, and test your knowledge of your target market at the show.

If you followed the steps to find your target market you will now be able to pick the best event for your greeting card market, then you will most likely sell some greeting cards. If the show does not do as well as you anticipated, you can learn from the event and go to another show.

This is a good thing compared to those who immediately open a shop and find they did not pick the best location for their target market. But do not let it stop there. As you are meeting people at the show, why don’t you hold a raffle for a free box of gift cards. Collect everyone’s name, email, and mailing address as a way to promote your business later.

Keep a database of all customers, potential customers, and referral customers so that you can send the promotional materials and catalogs in the future.

Open House

If you are just starting your greeting card business, but do not have a business location to open, use your house. Spend time researching your target market and then make a list of those you would like to invite to your open house.

An open house can be formal or informal; however, you will want to make sure you invite not just family and friends, but those who fall in your target market (e.g., local small business owners, financial services business owners versus software services business owners, etc.). If it is a formal event, you may want to invite someone from the press. If you’re going to get the press in you may want to hire a room for this.

Your target market group and the press will be looking for:

1. A presenter or more than one presenter,

2. A press kit with materials about your business and about the products and services you provide,

3. A portfolio of your work or displays that they can peruse, and

4. Refreshments. When sending the invitations, be sure to include with the invitations a map to your house, a schedule of events, and a short article or public relations piece that describes the purpose of your business and of the event.

The invitations should note who the speakers are, the business owner, special guests, the date and time of the event, and address. It should also note what refreshments will be served.

Kiosk Rentals

Before you rent a kiosk, you will need to do research on your target market, the rental fees associated with the kiosk, any insurance fees associated to renting the kiosk, and differences in renting kiosks from one mall to another and one season to another.

When doing this comparison, it may be easier to develop a spreadsheet or list where you can list each kiosk rental opportunity and its associated fees. The spreadsheet would allow you to compare each kiosk to see which is the best opportunity for your business to sell greeting cards.