How to Make and Sell Greeting Cards From Home

As a crafter, have you ever thought that starting a handmade greeting card business at the comfort of your own home can be a good option for you to be productive and self-supporting? 

Photo from Unsplash

Calling most of the shots as a result of being your own boss can also pave the way for financial freedom.

Starting A Handmade Greeting Card Business From Home: The Advantages

Low Overhead Costs

Starting a handmade greeting card business at the comfort of your own home means you don't need to maintain a brick-and-mortar store filled with racks and racks of greeting cards. 

In order to carve out time for your business, you can do meal preps one week in advance and assign days for laundry and cleaning.

The Option to Work on the Business Part-Time First

Lest you think that starting a business can be scary, you can work on your enterprise part-time first. 

In fact, giving up just 1-2 hours of screen time a day will accumulate to a substantial amount of time over a week that you can devote to making greeting cards.

The Option to Market Your Business Online 

Marketing a handmade greeting card business online can be cost-effective because you're not competing against giant greeting card companies. 

While you do need to develop and continuously refine your line of handmade greeting cards, this has more to do with product development and staying consistent to your brand.

The Option to Delegate Other Aspects of the Business

Over a period of time, your handmade greeting card business doesn't need to remain a one-man enterprise. 

You can hire professional freelancers to design your brand's logo and marketing materials, like business cards and packaging. 

You can also delegate tasks like order-taking and invoicing to a virtual assistant.

Having Multiple Methods to Get Paid

If you have a savings account, you can receive payment through a bank or wire transfer. 

For convenience and faster transactions, you can also download a couple of payment apps on your phone. 

Handmade Greeting Card Business: The Fundamentals

Know your niche.

Cultivating your own niche is crucial to the success of your home-based enterprise. 

A fun Christmas card with
pigs in Santa Claus hats

To give you a few ideas, you may wish to deviate from the traditional tone of messages found in greeting cards from major card companies. 

Or, you may want to create a line of greeting cards for themes other than grief, loss, or sympathy, or occasions other than birthdays, anniversaries Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's, and Easter.

A good exercise to determine your niche is to brainstorm possible names for your handmade greeting card brand or enterprise. 

Here are a few examples: 

Kathy Creates -- We Sell Handcrafted Cards for All Occasions

Dylan's Greetings -- Masculine Cards for Woke Dudes 

Snail Mail Revival 

Card Couture 

Heartfelt Sentiments 

Life, Love, and Laugh Lines

The Joker and the Jester Cards 

Here are other ways to develop your niche: 

Incorporate humor, puns, and witty one-liners in your greeting cards. 

Specializing in humor is a good way to appeal to the funny side of greeting card buyers. 

Just remember that not everyone appreciates all kinds of jokes or humor. 

Add 3D elements to your greeting cards. 

Consider adding materials like washi tapes, lace, die cuts, corrugated board, or using glue dots to give your greeting cards a 3D effect. 

Try pop-up greeting cards. 

Pop-up greeting cards can fetch a much higher price than ordinary, "flat-looking" cards, and may end up delighting children and adults alike.

Showcase your art through your greeting cards.

If you've painted with watercolors or acrylics in the past, see if you can incorporate your artworks into your greeting cards.

Cater to specific groups.

You may wish to draw caricatures of cats and dogs in order to get pet lovers to buy your greeting cards. 

You can make your greeting card graphics and text appeal to bookworms, gamers, fashionistas, travelers, musicians, or foodies.

Add something extra to your greeting cards.

Adding an extra item that corresponds to the theme of your greeting card is one of the best ways to raise the value of your handmade cards. 

You can do this by designing and inserting a gift tag or bookmark. I have also seen greeting cards with accessories like beaded bracelets.

Offer limited-edition greeting cards.

You can release greeting cards with designs in limited quantities during occasions like Easter, Halloween, or Christmas. 

To command higher prices, arrange a set of 10-12 handmade cards with corresponding envelopes in attractive boxes. 

Consider investing in plain boxes exclusively made for packaging, and decorate them by applying techniques in decoupage.

Handmade Greeting Cards: Craft Materials

Here are some of the craft materials you must buy: cardstock (plain and with patterns), felt-tip pens, glue, scissors (regular and scrapbook scissors), cutter, and craft punchers. 

Handmade Greeting Cards: Creative Ways to Advertise Your Business on A Tight Budget

Harness the Power of Social Media 

Using your phone's camera, take photos and upload them onto your Facebook Page and accounts on Instagram and TikTok.

Have Your Business Listed on Facebook Marketplace

You'll be asked to upload photos of your handmade greeting cards and give a detailed description of your products. 

You must also provide your preferred mode/s of payment and delivery.

Ask for Referrals From Satisfied Customers

Some of the best and most cost-effective forms of marketing are word-of-mouth and glowing testimonials.