"We must do that which we think we cannot."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

by Jami Petersen

How we perceive potential customers has a lot to do with whether they will become actual customers. Guest author, Kindra Foster Lindbloom, suggests that semantics may play a role in those perceptions. Can we open the door to new opportunities by changing our language? Kindra has some compelling arguments that are worth considering.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

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Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.

Orem scrapbooking club. "Between noon and midnight on one Saturday each month, women from ages 11 to 60 work on layouts filled with pictures and embellishments and creativity. The Amiron Scrapbook Club, named after the condos where the group meets, has become something that each one of them looks forward to each month. It allows the women to leave their husbands, children and to-do lists at home and take some time for themselves."

Holton & Associates proudly unveils Serif's new Digital Scrapbook Artist to South Africa. "Scrapbook artists are increasingly turning to digital images and computers to preserve memories such as a trip abroad or a child's first day at school. Recognizing this trend, Serif, a leading developer of professional design and graphics software, today introduced Digital Scrapbook Artist, its photorealistic digital scrapbooking program."

Wooky and Paris Hilton Launch New Craft Lines. "Wooky Entertainment, a leading provider of art & craft products for the tween and teen market, announced a worldwide licensing agreement with Paris Hilton Entertainment to establish Paris Hilton The Creativity Collection™, a multi-faceted line of fashion crafting kits from some of the most popular craft segments including scrapbooking, jewelry making and fabric embellishment."

Sakura of America

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The reflective sheen is distinctive and the vivid colors add zest to any card, scrap page or handwritten note.

Take advantage of Sakura’s promotion of the 15 dozen Metallic display (#57402)
- an extra 10% off during February and March.

Contact a Sakura Sales Rep for details! 

http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/Pen-metallic

by Kindra Foster Lindbloom, Foster Executive Writing & Editing

Although it’s true that people doing their first scrapbooks could be called “beginners” or “newbies,” I’d like to encourage retailers to avoid both of those terms. The reasons have to do with the needs of two audiences—both of which could be keys to the expansion of retail scrapbooking businesses.

The first audience is made of people who truly are newly entering the world of scrapbooking. As Fran Saperstein points out in the last issue’s guest article, this audience needs a different approach than the “scrapaholics” we are all used to catering to. We need to make scrapbooking more accessible for them by providing easy-to-use products, basic instructions, and ways to enjoy scrapbooking even as they learn new techniques.

On the other hand, it’s important to remember that no one likes to be a “newbie” or “beginner”. It implies that other people think we have a steep learning curve ahead—and that we are not as “good” as others who have been building skills for years. If we find a way to make this audience feel they are doing wonderful things now, we might get them to come into our stores more often.

The second audience is made of people who have been scrapbooking for awhile, but are interested in preserving memories without showing off artistic skills. They dislike the constant pressure to “improve” and learn complicated techniques. They are still experts at what they do; they just prefer a simpler style of scrapbooking.

This kind of scrapbooker will not progress to scrapbook pages with fancy embellishments and artistic flourishes. If you call them newbies, you give them one more reason to leave their photos in their closets. They are scrapbookers with different needs than highly-artistic experts, and they are prospects with just as much validity.

This simpler breed of scrapbooker will be looking for pre-designed layouts, easily accessible photo storage options, and short-cut techniques to jazz up pages. They are probably good candidates for easy digital scrapbooking. Some customers in this audience will no doubt “catch the bug” and expand their skills and techniques—thus expanding the number of products they buy. But others will never do anything more than throw photos and labels into albums, as they did into shoeboxes. Do we really care, as long as they are buying the albums from us?

To be profitable, a storeowner should approach each of these audiences distincly, both in a different ways than we are used to approaching “beginners”. If we don’t, we might push them away and limit our thinking about potential consumers.

I suggest we use new labels when talking about customers in these two market segments. They need to be terms that are flattering and fun, so a person would want to aspire to them. Maybe we could borrow terms from other craft market segments. Quilters, for example, look for easy, intermediate or advanced patterns to match their skills. The quilter decides which skill level she wants to tackle. What if we rated scrapbooking products and projects with “easy”, “intermediate” or “advanced” to help scrappers choose their own categories — then make every category fun and interesting?

Maybe the key is positively describing the style of pages these scrappers make. How about “minimalist scrapbooking” (to borrow a term from the visual art world)? We could call it “shutterbug scrapbooking”— for folks who emphasize photographs and de-emphasize artistic embellishment. A “grassroots scrapbooker” would be someone who uses basic, fundamental techniques on purpose. Another possibility is “fundamental scrapbooker.” Regardless of the terms, we need to cater to these people as viable new customers with specific needs today. We won’t get anywhere trying to force them into a complex form of scrapbooking they don’t want to tackle or won't enjoy.

The primary point of scrapbooking for most people is to preserve memories, not to show off artistic skills. Easy scrapbookers and shutterbug scrapbookers can be just as passionate about preserving memories. We do need to think of other new ways to expand scrapbooking to make it profitable, but making it fun and accessible for all types of scrapbookers is a good start. 

Kindra Foster Lindbloom of Foster Executive Writing & Editing has a long history in the scrapbooking world as a product manager, communications manager, editor and writer for manufacturers, retailers and publishers. Need an affordable flyer, article, press release or Web site text? Call Kindra at 402-601-5483 or visit fosterwriting.com.

PSRO 

Dedicated to those helping consumers preserve treasured memories.

The Professional Scrapbook Retailers Organization™ (PSRO™) bridges together retailers and suppliers for insight into the memories market.

Through educational programs, business services, industry research, networking, and events, PSRO leads its members to discover, understand, and act on new business opportunities.

For more information, or to join PSRO, visit www.psro.org or contact our member service department at 517-788-8100.

Scrapbooking’s Most Beloved Designer Content Now Available as Scrapblog’s Web Application

Scrapblog.com, the leading service for creating, sharing and printing scrapbooks online, announced the launch of the Scrapblog Marketplace™, giving users access to purchase never-before available digital content from the most popular companies and designers in the scrapbooking industry.

Scrapblog’s new marketplace provides users with high-quality content in a fun and easy-to-use environment. It also enables top scrapbook companies and designers to sell their designs directly within the Scrapblog application, which is free and has been used to create over 4 million scrapbook pages to date.

“Our users are always craving new content that inspires their creativity. The Scrapblog Marketplace™ provides a platform for content creators to sell their designs digitally in an environment that is safe from piracy,” says Scrapblog Founder and CEO, Carlos Garcia. “Millions of scrapbookers are going digital and now they can get content from the brands that they love ‘a la carte’, in the same way that they purchase music on iTunes.”

The launch of the Scrapblog Marketplace™ marks a significant milestone in the shift to digital of the $3 billion scrapbooking industry. It also highlights a broader trend of consumers increasingly purchasing virtual goods, or products available only in digital form such as Facebook gifts, currency in virtual worlds and accessories for playing online games.

Recognized experts are enthusiastic in their support and believe that Scrapblog Marketplace is addressing the needs of the scrapbooking industry and its consumers.

“I've been exposed to a lot of digital scrapbooking tools and resources,” says Stacy Julian founder of Big Picture Scrapbooking. “Scrapblog is a truly innovative digital site. From a connected and passionate community of users, to high-quality printing and premium content from brands scrapbookers know and love – I was sold after creating my very first Scrapblog. It was so easy that I've decided to include a Scrapblog assignment in my popular ‘Library of Memories’ course at Big Picture Scrapbooking.”

“Yes, I'm a scrapbooking ‘expert’ but I don't want to be a Photoshop expert and I don't want one more thing to track and organize on my computer,” adds Julian. “I just want to create! Simply put, Scrapblog removes the requisites of skill and organization from digital scrapbooking. Now all anyone needs is an Internet connection and a story – sounds pretty inclusive to me!”

“I've been calling Scrapblog ‘next generation’ digital scrapbooking since I first saw it in action,” says Renee Pearson, bestselling author and digital scrapbooking expert. “Scrapblog’s ease-to-use features are perfect for beginning and occasional digital users, while its growing, high quality content appeals to savvy digital scrapbookers as well. I believe more and more of us will use Scrapblog to share our memories and express ourselves creatively. From now on, I’m calling Scrapblog ‘now generation’ digital scrapbooking.”

Launching with both well-known paper and digital scrapbooking companies and designers, the Scrapblog Marketplace™ offers professionally designed themes and thousands of individual creative elements to Scrapblog users through a credit-based system. To purchase premium content, users need only enter their credit card information one time and load credits in $10, $25 and $50 installments for 500, 1,250, and 2,500 credits, respectively. Stickers are priced between 10 and 30 credits, while backgrounds are priced between 25 and 75 credits. Once purchased, users are able to create Scrapblog pages with the premium content again and again. In addition to premium content, Scrapblog will also continue to expand its free library of high-quality content pieces and themes.

Top traditional scrapbooking and design companies see the benefits and are among the first to partner with Scrapblog’s Marketplace. “Our partnership with Scrapblog marks the first time our content will ever be digitally available,” says award-winning paper and scrapbook designer, Anna Griffin, president of Anna Griffin, Inc. “The new Marketplace not only allows us to introduce ourselves to those who may not know our products, but also allows us to connect with those who do in a fresh, new way!”

Digital scrapbooking author and designer Ali Edwards adds, “More than an online store, Scrapblog’s Marketplace will help scrapbookers to find just the right embellishments to tell a story with their photos.”

“Scrapblog has made it so easy for us to go digital in such a secure environment,” says Cosmo Cricket Co-Owner Eric Comstock. “The Scrapblog Marketplace gives us full control to easily organize and price our content.” “We have been impressed by what Scrapblog users have created with our designs,” adds Julie Comstock, Co-Owner of Cosmo Cricket.

About Scrapblog, Inc.
Launched in April 2007, Scrapblog is the leader in online scrapbooking and offers a free, web-based service for creating and sharing multimedia scrapbooks. Scrapblog's intuitive interface allows users to easily mix their photos, videos, audio, text and thousands of creative elements. Users can share their creations on Scrapblog's online community, through email, or post them on the Web's most popular photo sites and social networks. Users can also turn their creations into high-quality keepsakes, including books and greeting cards. Scrapblog is based in Miami, Florida and has received multiple awards for its ease of use. Most recently, Scrapblog received Adobe’s prestigious MAX Awards in two categories: Best Rich Internet Application and People’s Choice Awards.