Scrapping by Design

K & Company gets my vote for great customer service.  Back in May, I bought a K & Company post bound album. I was visiting Calgary, a city that is a little hop skip and jump across a mountain range.  In other words, a 12 hour drive or an hour or more by plane.

When I returned home and eventually got around to using the album, I discovered that the extender posts included in the package did not match the posts in the album.  Clearly, returning the album to the store was not feasible, due to the location. Not only that, I had discarded the sales slip so could not prove purchase in any event.

More than a little annoyed, I visited K & Company web site to see if I could get the posts replaced through them directly. Unfortunately, I found a FAQ page with the following question and answer:

“If I purchased a defective album from my local store, can I return it directly to K&Company?
You must return the product back to the store where you purchased it.”

I decided to see if the policy was written in stone. I sent an email message to customer service, explaining the situation.  Much time passed with no response. Then last week I received an email message apologizing for the error and saying they were sending me the replacement posts by mail.

The posts arrived today, just as promised.

I am quite impressed with this company.  This is the kind of customer service that instills loyalty. They could have easily ignored my message, but they did not.

Good for you, K & Company. You get my vote!

I recently read an ebook called How to Make Money Scrapbooking. The author, Brad McFall  takes you through the steps of starting a scrapbooking business. At 91 pages, the ebook gives you plenty of good material. Plus in addition, you receive bonuses that cover advertising and how to write advertising copy.  McFall’s background is in advertising so he knows what he’s talking about.

If McFall’s information is correct,  scrapartists can make as much as $100 an hour.  He furthermore says that some scrapartists in the US are charging and getting paid as high as $5000 for a wedding album.

That is big money, no matter how you look at it.

I have occasionally sold commissioned scrapbook projects, but I have never really looked at scrapbooking as a business venture.  When I think of scrapbooking as a business, I picture a lot of face to face meetings and conversations trying to decide how to create the kind of scrapbook that the client wants. i don’t view that as enjoyable.

I’m the sort of crafter who wants to create according to my own whims. I want to do scrapbook albums when I want, how I want, and according to my own schedule. I want to design layouts depending on my mood at the time. I want to chose colors and embellishments and themes that fit whatever frame of mind I’m in.  If I’m in the mood for whimsical, then I’ll create whimsical. If I want a heritage look, that’s what I’ll do. I don’t want to restrict myself to creating the sort of album that a customer wants.

And, of course,  that attitude is the kiss of death to a business. Srapbooking as a business is all about pleasing the customer. That means finding out their style, their preferences, their hopes and dreams, and creating a book that speaks to them at that level.

For those scrappers who would enjoy doing that, I think scrapbooking could be a moneymaking business. This ebook would definitely be a good starting point.

The well-written ebook contains a lot of good  content, including links to sites where you can find free materials, layouts, etc.  Since this is a book about starting a scrapbooking business, the topics include how to get started, the basic materials you would need, how much to charge, how to find customers, how to promote your services, taxation issues, etc.

If I have a complaint with this product, it would be that McFall makes it sound too easy.  In my opinion, he minimizes the skills needed to create good scrapbook designs. The book seems to suggest that a totally inexperienced scrapbooker could start a scrapbook business easily.  I disagree. There are skills needed here, and a total newcomer to scrapbooking isn’t likely to learn them overnight.

However, for anyone who already has good scrapbooking skills, and wants to make money doing something they love, then How to Make Money Scrapbooking is well worth the reasonable price you’d pay.

I’m curious to know how many site visitors are like me. Would you be happy scrapbooking according to someone else’s tastes, or would you prefer to work at your projects when and how you please? Leavea comment and let me know where you stand on this topic.