Business SMART:

Did We Forget?
 

By: Dennis A. Conforto
A-Z Media Group

It seems to me that the industry is always in search of the next great thing. We have pushed hard to be innovative in the creative aspect of scrapbooking while consumers push for the perfect layout, the latest color and the next trend. There is a competition within the industry of what and who is the best.

In our trade publications, we strive to see who can outshine whom with the best layout. Even readers want to know who the hottest new designer is in the industry. If you attend consumer trade shows, scrapbookers stand in lines to get autographs of individuals whose creativity is regionally or nationally known.

In one way its fun to see the hoopla, yet in a more profound way, we are missing the point of scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is first and foremost about the photo and the story behind it. It’s a moment in time which we are trying to capture and preserve so that we can remember the lives of those around us.

We have chased so hard after the fashion side of things I fear the industry has lost its real purpose. We have taught scrapbookers about archival safe products so a scrapbook can last 200 years or so. However, what do you think people 25 or 50 or 200 years from now will care about the embellishments used or what the latest colors were when you created the scrapbook?

I have a feeling they will not take much notice of the embellishments or paper used but the pictures and the stories of the lives that guided their family history. It will help them understand more about who they are and maybe even why. Will they notice the paper and stickers and embellishments? Sure they will, they will learn something of our creative side. But for them, the creativity will be secondary to the story we have paid forward.

Now why would I bring this up since, as an industry, we really survive on the additional products we sell? Because at the end of the day it’s not about how or what scrapbookers do, it’s about why they scrapbook! If we convert the public to knowing why they should scrapbook our retail stores will be full of traffic and manufacturer’s products will fly off the shelves.

If, however, we focus purely on the craft side of our message we will convert few and the passion for what we do as an industry will be lost in a vast and overwhelming sea of never-ending products. It’s gotten to the point where there are rules of what makes a good scrapbook and what makes a poor scrapbook. For me there is only one rule: that everyone has a scrapbook, makes a scrapbook and creates another one.

Consider this, how many men as a percentage do you really think are interested in the creative side of scrapbooking? Less than 1%! However, how many men do you think should take the time to write down who they are, how they feel and the story of their lives? Now, why do you think it is that only 4.5% of women scrapbook? We have data that shows 50% of all women are simply not interested in the craft, others do not have the time and still others do not have the funds to spend $7 to $15 per scrapbook page. Yet, 100% of these men and women have a story to tell and we need to make it easier and faster for them to do so. Our publications in many cases push the general public away with stunning but complex and expensive scrapbook pages. While there is a place for this high end market, which should never be the overwhelming focus of our industry.

The industry has pushed and improved its message to the expert scrapbooker who will most likely only be an active scrapbooker for 7 years. Thus, our message must be to the masses. Our products, stores and publications all have to be focused on converting, not retaining. Retention is already built into our systems and our ways of doing business. But clearly as we have progressed with the experts who we once had to convert we have digressed on converting the newbies with our real core message.

Anyone can scrapbook because everyone is worth a picture and every picture has with it an awesome story. When we can convert people to that one simple message and create products, stores and publications that support the message, we will create a powerful world-wide movement that will take on a life of its own. And that is what being business SMART is all about.