Ever since the arrival of my Fabulous Brown Girls cards at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how other people can start their own greeting card lines, and how they can get them into stores.
First, let me be up front: My greeting card line didn’t start with T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. In fact, I had been selling Fabulous Brown Girls online for a few years before the stores took notice. I now have a licensing agreement with a manufacturer who produces my cards for the stores, but I still sell a number of my designs independently.
Whenever someone asks me how they should get started, the advice I give them is always this:
Share and sell your work online.
The Internet makes things incredibly easy these days, and there are a variety of ways you can use it to share your work and reach potential customers.
So if you have artwork you’re ready to turn into cards, here are three ways you can do it:
Sell through “print-on-demand” sites.
Sites like Society6 and RedBubble are specifically set up to help artists sell their work, without having to worry about printing, shipping or inventory. You can turn your images into cards, posters, phone cases and even pillow covers (among other things), and when someone places an order, the website will print and ship the product on your behalf. I have portfolios on each, and RedBubble is where I still sell many of my greeting cards.
Sell through your own online shop.
Etsy, Shopify and Big Cartel are just a few of the many e-commerce sites out there set up to help small businesses start selling online. You’ll have to print your own product (either on your own, through Vistaprint or through a local printer) and you’d be responsible for keeping inventory and shipping to each customer. But you’ll also have more control over the quality of the product and the pricing.
Shop your portfolio for a licensing deal.
This of course, will take the most time, effort, and you might be met with a bit of rejection. Shopping for licensing deals is a big undertaking (in most cases, you should already have a good portfolio of artwork ready to show), but if you’re successful, it can be rewarding. Licensing is a MASSIVE industry and there are a lot of deadlines, guidelines and general best practices to be aware of, so check out blogs like Art Licensing Blog and All Art Licensing to learn more.
Again, I’m a big proponent of taking advantage of today’s technology to share your work with the world. With sites that print and ship for you and social media channels that can help you advertise, it’s easier than ever to launch your own creative business. Hope this all helps!
