Gc issue 17 editor lorraine stylianou

the magazine dedicated to greeting card publishing and entrepreneurship

Gypsy Chic

magazine Issue 17 - 2017

WHITE PAPERS FOR YOUR

TREND

MARKETING ARMOURY

WATCH

SO LONG UNICORN

PODCASTS - WHO’S LISTENING?

BOOK NOOK

... h it w s w ie v r e t n I !

INSIDE!!

Chancellor d Giana De Dier an

Lizzie

CONTENTS 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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INTERVIEW WITH... GIANA DE DIER

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KICK START SEPTEMBER

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PODCASTS

P.4 P.12

10 EBAY´S ENVIABLE FEATURES 12 INTERVIEW WITH... LIZZIE CHANCELLOR 15 BOOK NOOK 16 A WEEK IN THE LIFE...

18 TREND WATCH

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20 INDUSTRY WHITE PAPER 22 FREE PDF CONVERTOR 23 QUOTES

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LfrEomTthT E R e Editor

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ewsflash! I’m back!

Hope you have had a great summer, caught some rays, and had some duvet days too. I’m deliriously happy to be back in Blighty. I feel like running through cornfields.

There is a different energy here that I missed terribly while I’ve been away. I needed a short break from writing my e-zine in July and August as I was busy moving – and what a rollercoaster that was. It never gets any easier. I’m SO done dismantling furniture, buying multipacks of brown tape, and stock piling Tesco shopper bags to chuck all my stuff into ready for moving day. You’d think you could relax a little once everything is on the van, but then you spend the next 24 hours worrying that the drivers make it safely across on the ferry, that your things don’t mysteriously disappear, or the tailgates haven’t sprung open on the motorway between the docks and your new home. Thankfully none of that happened, and I’ve now got as long as it takes to unpack. Just wish I had the luxury of more space to sort my card stock and feel really organised.

So now on to Issue 17. As is my norm, I have included a mix of business themed articles, interviews, a book review and other musings to welcome in September. It’s the month everyone returns to new courses of study, creative endeavours, and business in general.

The cooler late summer weather

suits my Celtic disposition much better than those tropical 28oC days of June and July so I’m hoping to get back to producing some new designs for Autumn, Christmas and beyond.

With all kinds of economic malaise, pending doom, and financial collapse predicted in the mainstream media, it is wise to limit the time we spend imbibing the fear. Instead we need to ramp up our creative efforts, sales drive, and marketing plans of action. With that in mind, I’ve included a number of marketing suggestions to set you above your competitors!

Fancy researching your industry to produce a White Paper? Or looked at creating your own greeting card podcast? The latter is completely underutilized by greeting card designers. My daily marketing plan may also be helpful to keep marketing at the forefront of our minds.

NB: if you snooze you lose!

For this issue, I feature two supertalented designers. The artwork of Giana De Dier from Paraquay, Central America jumped out at me from my Instagram feed. Her monochrome designs are so adaptable – I can see them on gift wrap, notebooks and greeting cards. Lizzie Chancellor has also contributed to this issue – her vivid animal print designs add a big burst of colour to many a greeting card spinner as they do on my computer screen and I can see her ranges adapted for pocket mirrors and pin badges.

I hope you enjoy this month’s content.

Grab yourself a beverage, take a breather and enjoy the read.

Lorraine www.lorrainestylianou.com

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Interview with .....

Giana De Dier

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1. WHEN I SAW YOUR WORK ON INSTAGRAM, I KNEW I HAD TO FIND OUT A LITTLE MORE ABOUT YOU, YOUR WORK AND WHAT INSPIRES YOU. TELL US HOW YOU STARTED YOUR ARTISTIC PATH, AND YOUR METHOD. lll I studied Visual Arts at the University of Panama but didn’t work on my art full time until approximately four years ago. I had been feeling the need to communicate certain concerns about issues and discriminatory practices here in Panama regarding natural hair in people of African descent.

I’ll work the graphite first and then add ink. For the collages I usually draw with pencil first, then ink the drawing and finish off with the paper collage.

My inspiration comes from all the beautiful images you can see online of all the black people who embrace the beautiful hair that grows out of their head. How creative we are as people in styling it and making it a very visual representation of our identity. And when you see how and why people in the African continent have been styling their hair over centuries, you understand how important hair is.

3. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR GALLERY EXHIBITIONS AND WHAT OTHER WAYS YOU GAIN VISIBILITY AS AN ARTIST. l l l So far I’ve been exhibiting locally at galleries, universities and at alternative venues. This has helped people to get to know the work and also has sparked some interesting conversations on hair and identity.

Most of my visibility comes from posting my work online via Facebook and Instagram. I’ve received a good amount of feedback from people who have been engaging with the work. I’m still learning the best way to navigate the virtual world. F

2. DO YOU ILLUSTRATE FULL TIME? lll Not full time because I divide my practice between the illustration pieces which are relatively small and the larger portraits. Many of the illustrations I’ve been working on came about as experiments which I would really like to animate some day. As for the larger pieces, the plan is to create live sized work.

I’m also a mother and have to find balance between my work and spending time with my son.

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4. WHAT INFLUENCE DOES LIVING IN CENTRAL AMERICA HAVE ON YOUR WORK, IF ANY? lll Panama has been receiving migrating groups for centuries. All these groups of people have helped shape the country I live in. My great grandparents came to Panama to help build the Canal and many families share a similar background.

This has mostly influenced how I see myself and how I navigate different spaces. It’s interesting because everyone identifies differently even when they make look just like me.

The diversity shown in my work is important and a direct reflection of the women and men I see every day.

5. I LOVE THE STRONG, BOLD EFFECT MONOCHROME PATTERN HAS IN YOUR PORTRAITS. WHAT PENS DO YOU USE, AND ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR PORTRAITS PERSONALLY KNOWN TO YOU? lll Thank you Lorraine! I haven’t settled on a specific brand yet. I feel I’m still new to ink and determining which brands work best with each type of paper. I’m currently using Prismacolor and Staedtler pens. I used Micron in art school and might try those out again next. For now I’m happy with the results I’m getting with the materials I’m using.

I use photos I find all over the internet that I feel are interesting. Sometimes combining faces and features with different hair dos depending on the look I want to achieve. For the bigger projects I’ll be working on soon, the plan is to work with friends and people I know as models.

YOUR DESIGNS TAKE YOU AND WHAT PARTNERSHIPS WOULD YOU CONSIDER? l l l The greeting card business and art licensing are all areas I’d love to work in but are very new to me. I’d really like to see more variety on what consumers in Panama have access to from stationary and greeting cards to notebooks and school supplies.

I have been looking at brands to partner and collaborate with but everything is still at the initial research stage. At the moment I’m focusing most of energy on larger work, organizing exhibits and collaborating with other visual artists whose work I love and respect.

6. AS A GREETING CARD PUBLISHER, I THINK YOUR WORK HAS REAL POTENTIAL IN TERMS OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION, THE GREETING CARD AND STATIONERY INDUSTRY, AS WELL AS HOMEWARES– WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE

GIANA DE DIER

Website: www.gianadedierstudio.tictail.com Email: gianadedierstudio@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/gianadedierstudio

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KICK START SEPTEMBER

7 DAYS OF ATTRACTION MARKETING: MONDAY: Comment on 5 blog posts you follow citing your web address

TUESDAY:

Find bloggers you like and invite them to do a guest blog on your site, linking back both ways

WEDNESDAY:

Draft some ideas for new video content, shoot it, and upload to Youtube or Instagram

THURSDAY:

Focus on a new market/location and list a few ways you can reach independent gift stores in this area.

Then pencil in when you will visit buyers

FRIDAY:

Post interesting content on some of the social media platforms your customers are using and tag them

SATURDAY:

Write to your email list with a discount coupon

SUNDAY:

Try out Periscope or FB Live by reviewing products in a shop nearby you don’t even have to appear on camera! Link to your business page

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POD

CASTS

THE LONG TAIL OF YOUR MARKETING MIX

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’m guessing the majority of us have experienced slumps in sales at one time or another, and panicked at how we might get our business moving again. If we are honest, we have to do more a lot more than just turn up at trade fairs in order to boost sales, and get those designs of ours on stockists’ shelves.

There are many different techniques we can employ to help us and podcasting is just one avenue worth exploring. It might sound peripheral – a bit weird and wacky, but platforms like Audible on Amazon show us how important auditory material is for busy people. We can get on with things while we listen to a show/ have a book read to us in a way you can’t do whilst watching something on the internet. Whilst my teenage son maintains podcasts are for “oldies”, I’m certain there is mileage in the idea of a greeting card radio show on iTunes if the content was good enough. My latest habit is to

click on the podcast app on my phone at night and listen to some entrepreneurial chat shows I’d never otherwise get round to tuning in to. At the very least they help me fall asleep.

If you are not too sure what you might talk about, do an internet search and find out what other people include in their podcasts. Even type in “podcasts on podcasting” to get all the techie lowdown on analytics, hashtags and trends to make your broadcasts go from good to great.

Could you get a friend to record you answering questions about your business? By reimagining things about our business, we can boost some life into the message we give out, and repurpose it into podcast material, blogs, and other content. Here are the main benefits of podcasting. Like any other form of PR, they help to set you up as an expert in your particular industry. Like any other “asset” a business develops, they help you spread your message. They

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MICROPHONE

increase customer loyalty since you are showing up, talking about your product or service, and raising brand awareness. If used professionally, they are a useful sales channel. Like a Youtube channel, a podcast can be used for advertising, attracting sponsorship, and other revenue.

If they really take off, you could also charge your listeners to download episodes.

The iTunes store puts loads of free podcasts within our reach but there are only a handful on greeting cards, sadly. One of these (The Four Listeners) should come with a Parental Advisory warning as some of the content is below the belt (literally) but it is valuable in showing us what little regard the men who take part in the recording place on greeting cards. Can we teach the average American male to be less cynical about cards as a way to communicate a message, feeling etc. Perhaps that’s what your next podcast could be about?

If you widen your search on iTunes to include “stationery” you get a couple more examples but the very lack of material in these directories gives greeting card publishers a massive opportunity. A stationery company like HoneyTree Publishing has used their appearance on a podcast to good advantage – I wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise. www.honeytreepublishing.com/greetings-cards

www.amazon. co.uk/gp/product/ B00XOXRTX6/ ref=s9_acsd_zgift_hd_bw_b6DqPuh_c_x_w?pf_ rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_ s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_ r=9Q2KZTMJYDKEBK57BFRJ&pf_rd_ t=101&pf_rd_p=77a96c6c-1d4d-5ac1-a1776fe58fd207c6&pf_rd_i=5701382031

USB CABLE

www.amazon.co.uk/StaggHigh-Quality-MicrophoneCable/dp/B002YUAK54

USB INTERFACE

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01E6T56CM?tag=oprmkt-opr-uk-21&ascsubtag=1ba00-01000-ubp00mac00-other-nomod-uk000-pcomp-featurescomp-wm-4

If you know absolutely nothing about putting a podcast together, or getting it into the iTunes store there are lots of courses on Youtube, and elsewhere. Here are a few links to FREE training I came across: 1) www.udemy.com/video-podcasting-101-forbeginners/learn/v4/overview 2) www.udemy.com/radio-promotion/ and an inexpensive link to learning how to upload your own podcast to iTunes: 3) www.udemy.com/create-your-first-podcastfor-free-and-submit-to-itunes/

Without trying, we will never know our ROI, but one thing is for sure – I now know one company to recommend for super quick personalised stationery (this not being a service I currently offer). If being known as the “go to” person for greeting cards came as a result of one podcast, surely that’s a sum worth spending.

My in-house podcast expert reckons it is worthwhile buying a good microphone, microphone cable and a USB audio interface. His equipment recommendations total the princely sum of £130.25.

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EBAY IS PROBABLY NOT THE FIRST SITE YOU THINK OF TO SELL GREETING CARDS but it has superb SEO s the little Ebay book points out the website has become an integral part of our daily existence and whilst it is probably not the first site you think of to sell greeting cards it has some enviable features: superb SEO, marketing, and global reach. I revisited this site as a seller over the summer (when their listing fees are lower or nonexistent) to test the waters again and haven’t been disappointed.

Granted, I wasn’t selling my latest ranges – I save those for cherished stockists, or trade fair launches.

Some serious creatives are happy to pay shop fees to have a pretty door symbol on their account info - the shop front logo - but I’ve found this isn’t really necessary. What entices buyers to buy can be a combination of things – how appropriate your card designs are for their needs, an attractive price, or a combination of a next best offer, free postage or even collection in person. In this age of austerity, people do actually check against postcodes to save on postage under the Advanced search feature.

There are some tips and tricks

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to keep your costs down as a seller and to maximize your sell through. This will include availing of eBay’s listing offers, scheduling the time your listings go live (and therefore end), and using the correct words in your title.

THINK CUSTOMER

There are people out there who salivate at the words “Job lot”, “Wholesale” or “Bulk” so it is worth split testing your listings to see what works. A job lot can be anything from 6 cards to 6000.

As with other global websites, a buyer can filter their greeting card search to include 1) the cheapest items first, the highest priced in descending order, the lowest postage and packing, the newly listed, those ending soonest, or

the nearest first (for collection in person). Having looked at a variety of current listings, the ones that garner most interest are humour cards, handmade cards, and cracking price offers where postage is free.

For the serious sniper on Ebay, watching those offers that are about to end first can yield the best results. I’m not sure I could better 4300 cards for £500 – each card at the jaw dropping price of 11p each but that is one way of getting rid of dead stock. Great photography, and lots of images (you can upload 12 for free) will help maximize sales. As we all know retail success if a combination of many things (positioning, offering a personalised service, and luck to name a few). With big card sending card opportunities approaching – Halloween, Diwali, and Christmas , it may be worthwhile reconsidering Ebay.

Do let me know how you get on.

Interview with .....

Lizzie Chancellor

2. WHO WOULD YOU DESCRIBE AS YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER AND WHAT SORT OF PROFILE DO THEY HAVE – BRING THEM TO LIFE FOR US l l l It’s taken me a while to understand my customer and what they look for but I think I’m getting there! My customers enjoy clean, simple designs and love to carefully choose the perfect card for someone. They are looking for something different which they haven’t seen before and take time to write their messages inside. My customers are amazing!

1. TELL US HOW IT ALL STARTED FOR YOU AS A CARD PUBLISHER. lll My first job after university was working as an assistant for a contemporary British artist and I really wanted to set up my own business but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I’d always loved drawing and used to make birthday cards for my friends and family and when I got engaged I designed and made my wedding invitations. After that, I decided to have a go at designing some cards. I had a very small collection at first (about 6 designs!) and I started doing a few markets around my local area. My early designs were created by carving the images into rubber and hand printing each design! As you can imagine, there was a lot of waste and I ended up producing more duds than good ones so I had to develop my style into something I could digitally print.

After some research I came across the Ladder Club and signed up to go to their Day 1 seminar, this proved to be so helpful and gave me lots of information about trade fairs (of which I had no clue about).

I then went on to design 4 new ranges for my first trade fair, which was PG Live back in 2015.

3. I’VE LOVED READING ALL ABOUT YOUR PULSE EXPERIENCE LAST YEAR ON YOUR BLOG AND SEE FROM YOUR PHOTOS SOME GORGEOUS BIRD DESIGNS. TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THIS RANGE – WAS IT ONE YOU LAUNCHED AT THE SHOW AND WILL YOU BE EXPANDING IT IN TERMS OF ADDITIONAL DESIGNS AND DIFFERENT PRODUCT? l l l The range you are talking about is my Wild Thing range which is one of my first ranges I designed and it’s still very popular today. You can see in this range the cross over of hand carved and hand printed images to digitally printed images.

I’d love to expand this range as I believe it appeals to different shops compared to some of my newer designs. I like to have a big offering where shops can take what they know they will sell well and then perhaps try something new they haven’t had before. This year I launched my Animal Print range and Volume 2 of my Tessellation range at Pulse. They are both very bright, bold and contemporary and therefore caught a lot of attention!

We had quite a few orders for these as well as all my other ranges. My ranges are all quite different but still sit together well which is nice so people like to order a variety. We had such a good show at F

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Pulse this year, it was actually our best show yet so we were thrilled. Having a show in the diary actually makes me a lot more productive as I always like to have new ranges launching at the shows.

4. YOUR TESSELLATION RANGE IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITES WITH ITS INTERESTING GEOMETRIC DESIGNS. HAVE THE EXTRA COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FOILING BEEN WORTHWHILE IN TERMS OF ORDERS? lll Once I started foiling I knew there would be no stopping me! It came from some advice I was given in the past-I went to the Liberty open call in 2016 and managed to be first in line to see the home and gift buyer! Myself and my husband got up at 5am to join the queue at 5:45 and we were one of the first there, it was such a cold morning and we had to sit there for a few hours-I was also pregnant but in my first trimester so wasn’t showing. It was all worth it though as showing my cards to the buyer turned out to be really worthwhile.

She said she really liked my style and she thought it lent itself well to finishing and suggested I try adding foiling/glitter or another finish to it. That was the start of my foiling obsession and now I can’t seem to design a range without foil!

The tessellation range came to me as an idea whilst at a trade fair, I find I get a lot of ideas for new designs when I’m surrounded by creatives.

5. DO YOU CURRENTLY EXPORT, AND IF SO, WHERE? HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED ANY MAJOR HEADACHES SHIPPING OUTSIDE THE UK? l l l I don’t export just yet, I’ve been speaking to a few for a while now but haven’t taken the plunge! I sell a few cards on etsy overseas but they’re pretty simple as it’s just one or two cards!

6. IT’S 2025 – WHERE DO YOU SEE THE BRAND? l l l Ooh good question! It’s always good to set yourself a goal. I’d love to be in a lot more shops and also some bigger shops.

I’d like my brand to be well known for it’s quality and unique designs and I’d love to have a team of people working with me and growing the brand!

LIZZIE CHANCELLOR

Website: www.lizziechancellor.com Email: lizzie@lizziechancellor.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/LizzieChancellorStudio Instagram: www.instagram.com/lizziechancellor

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THE BOOK NOOK THE LOST ART OF CLOSING

BY ANTHONY IANNARINO

l September’s book recommendation is The Lost Art of Closing

by Anthony Iannarino. I confess to only flicking through his book in the library rather than a cover to cover read but think it is an interesting take by a very passionate salesperson on how to improve your B2B sales. He talks about the 10 commitments to improve closure, walking the reader through many of the topics covered in earlier books of his.

This is an expanded version of material he has covered previously, the goal being to get you from target customer to decision and execution more quickly.

He advises we act as a counsellor to our potential stockists, becoming a trusted advisor to them whilst getting them to make commitments to the sales process too.

When the price comes down a little, I’ll buy my own copy but for now it is available on Amazon for around £14.

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AGENT SELF:

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF AN ARTIST, GREETING CARD PUBLISHER AND SALES AGENT

SUNDAY

Catch a flight (on “other” business) armed with a laptop and new card pdfs ready for my favourite printer…..

Just before I throw some clothes into a suitcase I get my graphic designer to edit pdfs, removing all words from the card fronts. I forward to my printer

by WeTransfer, requesting a next day collection.

My feather sleeping bag is a life saver when I get to my old, cold flat. lll

MONDAY

Take lots of photos of famous city landmarks and public works of art that will feature in a new range of tourist greeting cards.

I have found my niche (after years of trying different things) in bringing the architecture and animals of a town or city to life through line drawings. That won’t stop me painting canvases in bright, bold colours, however… lll

TUESDAY

Before collecting my gorgeous card stock, I spend a couple of hours sketching buildings freehand, and making notes of the colours I will get my team to add to the outlines in Illustrator.

Three of my freelancers message me for more work! Spend the rest of my free time popping in at random to potential stockists and getting their views on the designs….. as well as checking out my competition. (so much talent, and variety).

Dealing with gatekeepers isn’t particularly productive. A lot of staff representing stores are dreadful brand advocates….. Dismissive, overtly inquisitive…. or rude. Aren’t they taught that they need new work as much as we need stockists…. and the store isn’t even busy!

(More customer service training needed, me thinks). Great to see my printer’s business is going from strength to strength with three new staff at reception. lll

WED

Hot foot it across to a museum with just 9 new designs in a folder and get an instant order in exchange for exclusivity. Note to self: I’m happy with that. If my work is relevant, I can pick and choose who I do business with – it is not a one way street. I decide not to pursue a previous contact in the same vicinity. A firm order, when I’ve made the effort to call by, is much better than a lukewarm “maybe” and an illegible email address on a scrap of paper. I now see the benefits of being my own agent – I can travel to my favourite places whilst getting sales. A small win-win. lll

THURSDAY

Have some “me” time, and lunch with a friend before catching my return flight. Just as I board my connecting coach, (fumbling with two suitcases and excess hand luggage) I get a repeat card order by phone. Good work. lll

FRIDAY

After a delayed flight, a 2am return home, limited sleep, and a “to do” list as long as my arm, I dispatch three carefully packaged orders at my local post office, the bemused cashier wondering how I pack it all in. lll

SATURDAY

Scan across new sketches to my team so they can work their magic, while I try out a new software package called Affinity…..lots of new shortcuts to learn. lll

SUNDAY

Write a number of articles for my e-zine, whilst checking Sunday lunch, and paying my printer’s invoices. So little time, and so many cities to represent visually (cartography, sketches, and vectors)...

I love what I do.

lll

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t u O r a F

TREND WATCH

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Unless you have lived under a rock these past 12 months you can’t but have noticed Unicorns on everything – from stationery, clothing, homeware, food and drink products, cosmetics and hair dyes.

In the design world, the craze started (if it ever stopped) about two years ago, peaking this summer with Paperchase’s new school products and Primark’s pool accessories. Artists and graphic designers from around the world have excelled at representing this mythological beast in a multitude

of ways, in environments made up of floaty rainbow colours, psychedelic lines and sparkles.

Having read some recent online commentary, however, the Unicorn’s time may be up. A few media outlets think it is time to pull the plug on this playful theme, concerned it has been overplayed and we are all at risk of being infantalised. If you have made bags of cash from your unicorn designs, well done you….but the design world may be about to move on. The mainstream media (if you believe them) are now suggesting it is ridiculous that adults are heading off to Uni carrying unicorn embellished backpacks, or lying on their dorms in Halls of Residence drinking from their Unicorn cups. Whether or not you agree with them, it is always wise to have Plan B, C and D in your design portfolio.

Like all good things, the swirly rainbows, magical clouds and fantastical beasts may need a break. Whilst they have no doubt helped children and grown ups escape in some way the stark reality of the world around us (super powers grand standing on nuclear issues, global terrorism, and environmental catastrophes) new trends are already taking centre stage.

SO WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2018?

We will be seeing lots more eclectic creatures, and anthropomorphic animals, with an emphasis on collage, and overlaid fonts. The wild is calling loud and clear. Safari and woodland

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themes are very visible whilst darker more simplistic botanicals, and geometrics will continue in new ways. A quick glance at Ikea’s art gallery is always one way of predicting what we’ll be seeing on next seasons cushion covers.

A cursory look at High street clothing stores shows that zebras and penguins are very much in vogue. M&S are sticking with all things Bear for boys – Sloth, Panda, Brown and Koala in every guise. Girls fashion will feature felines of all types – domestic cats and beautiful cheetahs.

So while illustrators clamber to get their new designs off to the printers in time for Top Drawer and Spring Fair, I’m off to Paperchase for the reduced-price Unicorn money box I’ve been coveting all summer.

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INDUSTRY

White Paper

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hite Papers are a really effective and economical way of becoming your industry’s “go-to” person. If written well, with lots of interesting data, you can gain “expert” status immediately.

However, from my point of view, the underused White Paper is one of the best sales generating mediums out there from a B2B perspective.

The history of White Papers goes back to the emerging computer industry where they were widely used but the trend now cuts across almost every conceivable business.

For the purposes of definition they are documents that shine a light on business topics in a valuable way, helping the reader to learn more about their industry, to make sales decisions, and to solve problems.

Any content like this can have massive potential in a public relations sense. They have been shown to be the one format business leaders (those responsible for making decisions for the company and staff) use to evaluate new products and services – and are widely shared and distributed within organisations.

White Papers are used by bloggers, writers and Youtubers as secondary/tertiary content as they give content creators lots of juicy material for blog posts, and articles and vlogs. They are also cheap to produce but give the perception that they are “high-end”. They tend to be produced in a more formal way that typical newspaper articles – usually typed in a simple Word documents that can be shared and circulated as pdfs rather than being very attractive visually.

SO HOW DO THEY IMPACT SALES? They are a precursor to a sale, since you can raise a lot of the objections a potential customer may ask, building trust, and answering concerns in a factual way.

For a greeting card designer, the title of your paper might well be: • “How to survive your first year as a freelance card publisher” • “A buyer’s survival guide to keeping stock exclusive, and maintaining supplier loyalty” • “The challenges to card export post Brexit”

A white paper should, in some way, alay the common fears associated with buying, pricing, getting good sell-through, and encouraging a positive sales decision.

If you get some innovative ideas down on paper and illustrate these with examples, including some sales data, interviews from various parties, or feedback, clients will receive this information more readily that a salesy brochure that whiffs of a hard sell. Unlike a normal brochure that highlights your card and gift wrap ranges, a white paper will talk about bigger issues than just describing products. It can be emailed across to a potential client without them having to meet you – allowing them to avoid human contact with you until they’ve established if you’re worth their time.

more substantial than any blog post, website or sales brochure you are likely to create.

In Issue 18, I will elaborate more on what White papers typically look like, what the body of your document should include, and how you gain the information for them in the first place.

WHAT RESULTS MIGHT YOU ACHIEVE? You should be able to build up a contact list of relevant prospects whom you get your agent or sales team to approach on your behalf.

You build content that gives you personal insight into aspects of the industry you wouldn’t ever have gained otherwise From a writer’s point of view, white papers are

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FREE PDF G

CONVERTER

ot lots of industry views to share? Why not get them typed up in word and then transfer them into a pdf document with zamzam.com

The site is being built, but all the links will click through to useful downloadable software to get you started.

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As we enter the busy Autumn season it is worth using our time wisely ....lots of card sending occasions to prepare for, Autumn fairs to attend, and planning our Brexit export strategy, so here are a few “timely” quotes.....

“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”

SAM LEVENSON

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”

JIM ROHN

“Time and tide wait for no man.”

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

A window on the world of a greeting card publisher

Gypsy Chic magazine