Sympathy cards for pet owners
May 15, 2012 17:58:03 #
Need u r opinion. I'm starting a card business. Have an appt this week with a vets office. The office mgr I will b mtg with I have known for at least 15 years...I told her abt my business & asked if she would like to meet with me to look at my cards to purchase as sympathy cards for their clients...I do not take pics of pets/animals. My pics are all about landscaping and flowers...do you think landscape & flowers would be appropriate??
May 15, 2012 18:00:42 #
Yes.And, being Mom to a household full of rescues, I think your idea. is wonderful. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Annie
Annie
May 15, 2012 18:01:53 #
Why not? After all, people now treat their pets as if they are their legal heirs. There are pet cemeteries, and pet hotels. And people will pay more for surgeries on their pets than they will surgery on their parents!
YOu might want to add some 'pet' photos to your flower and landscape lines - you know - common pets that can be the subject of appropriate verse. At least you'll be giving your client base more options.
YOu might want to add some 'pet' photos to your flower and landscape lines - you know - common pets that can be the subject of appropriate verse. At least you'll be giving your client base more options.
May 15, 2012 18:09:39 #
Thank you Annie...I will keep u posted...I also have sold my cards to the oncology dept in our local hospital...
May 15, 2012 18:11:49 #
Yes, I will try to do that. It's not my one of my strengths in photography...no patience.... Lol!
May 15, 2012 19:05:44 #
May 15, 2012 21:44:54 #
GrandmaJoy
Loc: North Carolina
Sympathy cards are a wonderful idea. I can't count the ones I have received from my vets after having lost a pet. I visit a website often. I don't know if I can mention it on here. I will send private message.
May 15, 2012 23:33:59 #
You seem to be on the right track. I have a card business that does well. I sell to customers in all 50 states and 5 other countries.
One difference is that I hand paint people's pets, scan the paintings and print them on cards...not postcards, but folded cards with verses inside.
Another difference is that mine are not just sympathy cards. I do blank note cards, Christmas cards, Thank-You cards and all occasions...new baby, anniversary, birthday, whatever they want.
I do more horses than anything else and they always sell. My same customers come back over and over. Some have many different cards with different pets, according to how many pets they have.
Some will have their dog on a Thank-you card, their horse on a Christmas card, their cat on Birthday cards....people just LOVE having their animals on anything they send out for others to see.
Besides the custom work, I also have cards I make and sell on ebay.
You can look at some examples here:
http://www.jozart3.com
I never have to guess whether my customers want teddy bears, ducks, deer or landscapes. I target horse and dog people and I know that's what my customers are looking for and they WILL sell. I have done this for 45 years..on a large scale since 1993.
Best wishes.
One difference is that I hand paint people's pets, scan the paintings and print them on cards...not postcards, but folded cards with verses inside.
Another difference is that mine are not just sympathy cards. I do blank note cards, Christmas cards, Thank-You cards and all occasions...new baby, anniversary, birthday, whatever they want.
I do more horses than anything else and they always sell. My same customers come back over and over. Some have many different cards with different pets, according to how many pets they have.
Some will have their dog on a Thank-you card, their horse on a Christmas card, their cat on Birthday cards....people just LOVE having their animals on anything they send out for others to see.
Besides the custom work, I also have cards I make and sell on ebay.
You can look at some examples here:
http://www.jozart3.com
I never have to guess whether my customers want teddy bears, ducks, deer or landscapes. I target horse and dog people and I know that's what my customers are looking for and they WILL sell. I have done this for 45 years..on a large scale since 1993.
Best wishes.
May 16, 2012 02:34:32 #
saycheese wrote:
Yes.And, being Mom to a household full of rescues, I think your idea. is wonderful. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Annie
Annie
What she said.........
May 16, 2012 06:06:33 #
May 16, 2012 06:59:43 #
I love your idea! That's been kind of going around in my head also. Do you take the pic or do you use a favorite of your customer??? One of my patients recently asked me to make note cards for her daughter with a photo of their dog. it was fun & she loved the cards. It kind of got me thinking in that direction. Though I don't know how to get it started....
May 16, 2012 07:14:46 #
I spent most of last year in Oncology departments and gave them some framed photos to brighten the place up.
Sorry but I find Oncology and dead pets a difficult subject to make money from but I suppose someone is going to, so I wish you luck. No offence intended.
Sorry but I find Oncology and dead pets a difficult subject to make money from but I suppose someone is going to, so I wish you luck. No offence intended.
May 16, 2012 07:23:14 #
Maggie678 wrote:
Need u r opinion. I'm starting a card business. Have an appt this week with a vets office. The office mgr I will b mtg with I have known for at least 15 years...I told her abt my business & asked if she would like to meet with me to look at my cards to purchase as sympathy cards for their clients...I do not take pics of pets/animals. My pics are all about landscaping and flowers...do you think landscape & flowers would be appropriate??
GREAT idea! As a pet lover who still misses my beloved "Muggs", receiving a card like this would have been comforting. Just recognize how much pain many folks will be going through. They have lost a "family member" who has given them unconditional love. Tread lightly and carefully with the messages and photos and all the best. :thumbup:
May 16, 2012 09:57:55 #
Maggie678 wrote:
Need u r opinion. I'm starting a card business. Have an appt this week with a vets office. The office mgr I will b mtg with I have known for at least 15 years...I told her abt my business & asked if she would like to meet with me to look at my cards to purchase as sympathy cards for their clients...I do not take pics of pets/animals. My pics are all about landscaping and flowers...do you think landscape & flowers would be appropriate??
You might want to think about get well and congratulations (new pups or kittens).
May 16, 2012 12:00:50 #
Maggie678 wrote:
I love your idea! That's been kind of going around in my head also. Do you take the pic or do you use a favorite of your customer??? One of my patients recently asked me to make note cards for her daughter with a photo of their dog. it was fun & she loved the cards. It kind of got me thinking in that direction. Though I don't know how to get it started....
Maggie, if that's me you are asking, I am an artist, so I hand paint their pet, then I scan and print them on cards. Most of the time, I just use the photo for looks, color and sometime the pose. I often change the pose because the photos are most often NOT good ones.
My customers come back year after year for their cards because they LOVE sending paintings of their pets to their friends.
They usually send me pictures in E-mails.
If I did photos on the cards, YES, I would take the photos myself, but that would mean travel time and a "sitting" fee, so I would probably stick with the painting.
Here is one thing to think about.....................
IF you had to travel to get the photos to put on cards, think about this:
Charge a SMALL fee for making their photo and for travel expense OR get them to bring the pet to you...either works..
THEN, make them sign a release form stating that you may sell cards with their pets on them as you see fit. THEN, you are free to sell them on Ebay or from your website as I do. many of the cards on my website have people's pets on them, but I can sell them around the world.
When people see a pet that looks like theirs, on a card, on Ebay, they go crazy over it and buy it.
I make half a year's living just on Christmas cards during November and December.
I sell most of them from my website.
It's easy to get started.
Shoot some dogs and cats...make cards from them...put them on Ebay and watch them go! Take a table full of cards to some dog shows and take pictures of those fabulous champion dogs while you are there. People will come by your vendor table and go crazy over cards with dogs that look like their "babies" and will buy them like crazy!!! (I did horse shows)
Your logo and website address will be on the back of the cards and they will go looking for you!
That will build your customer base because those people will look for your cards every year.
If you need a website and don't want to pay a big price for someone to build you one, let me know. I'll show you how to build one.
This has worked for me for many years and I am willing to help you all I can. just let me know if you need more info.
Jo
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