So much of selling online has to do with creating a brand, something customers will recognize and be able to easily associate with your shop. Business cards and product packaging will go a long way toward that goal and it’s a great idea to set a standard for these as soon as you start selling your crafts online.
Every piece of my polymer clay jewelry that I send out is wrapped in tissue inside a cotton lined jewelry box. The tissue helps protect the faux finish and keeps it from moving around inside the box. Inside each box I also place a gift card (which I print at home) that has my shop name and tagline on the front, along with some care instructions and links/contact information on the back. Since many of my pieces are purchased for gifts, the inside is left blank for a note. The box then goes into a bubble mailer along with the invoice and a business card.
Here’s how I package my polymer clay pendants for mailing.
I have done this from day 1. I like the materials I’m using and they’re affordable and readily available. The simplicity of it fits wells with my understated brand and doesn’t upstage my product. Consider these things as you’re picking out your own packaging. If your product is cute or upscale, then your packaging should be as well, but don’t let the packaging become the main event.
If you’re selling anything anywhere, you need business cards, that goes double if you’re selling online. Your business cards are a part of the whole package, the brand that says this product comes from your shop, so try to keep it cohesive. Customers need to be able to recognize and associate your business card with your shop.
Does that mean shrink down your shop banner and put that on your business card? Probably not, but it’s something that really depends on your banner and what you’re trying to achieve. Most shop banners are large and wide giving you room for lots of elements to help give customers an idea of what they’ll find there, business cards are small. I find busy business cards not memorable, not intriguing, and they usually leave a bad impression on me. When I designed my business cards, I decided anyone seeing them would probably already have seen something of mine and that’s why they’re getting it or seeing it, so I kept my design simple. My business cards are double side printed, the front has a simple image with my branding logo and tagline that matches my shop and website banners but doesn’t have any extra elements. The back side also has my logo and tagline along with my shop links and contact information.
My Business Cards
This is actually an old card from when I was only using my artfire shop, the new ones focus on my website shop =) but is basically the same. When I started out a large part of my goal was to appear professional and I think these cards help get that across very well. These cards were printed at Vistaprint on matte cards… glossy isn’t a good match for my brand, so think about that when you get your cards. Most business cards should probably be glossy, but if your brand is simple and low key like mine, you might consider matte instead.
Also consider the fonts you use in your cards. Use easy to read fonts for your contact and website information, don’t make customers struggle to read information you need them to have. Customers should be able to read this information quickly. Notice how I use different sizes of fonts on my card, consider if you have all that information the same size and the same fonts, it will all kind of blend together. Using different sizes helps to break up the information into discernible blocks of information so it is easier to read.
Using readable fonts and different sizes for different blocks of text is something to remember on your websites and shops, too, so always keep that in mind. The easier you can make anything on your customer the more likely they are to stay and want to order. When I see a shop that has fancy fonts and I can’t even read the categories list, I leave, it’s just not worth the trouble for me to take the time to try and read it. Make your logo your branding, but make sure your shop and website are easy to use.
I hope you found this helpful, these are the things I considered when I first started selling my polymer clay jewelry online and I’ve been happy with my choices. Certainly every crafter, artist, and seller is different and my ideas here are not to say that everyone’s cards should look like mine, but simply to share what things were important to me so maybe you can realize what things are important for you as you make these decisions for yourself. It’s important to take the time to really think about what you want to convey about your shop, about your product, even about yourself as an artist, and decide how you can convey those ideas in your branding while still creating a professional and pleasing appearance.
