Scrapbook for Money

By Christina VanGinkel

If scrapbooking is your passion, but you scrap so much that everyone in your immediate and extended family is becoming a little shy when you come towards them once again with camera in hand, or heaven forbid, you are constantly running out of your own things to scrap, maybe it is time to focus your scrapping energies outside of your own. Accomplish this by opening your own scrapbook business. This way, you can continue to enjoy the hobby you so enjoy, and make money at it at the same time.

There are actually several avenues someone could follow to have a business that revolves around scrapping, with one of the more obvious ones being a consultant. While this can be a good job, and comes with benefits such as discounts on supplies, it has its drawbacks, possibly that you would be spending so much time selling and hosting shows, you would miss your own personal time to scrap. With that said one business that involves scrapbooking that seems to have growth potential as more people discover scrapbooking but do not have the time to devote to it themselves, is to put together layouts and albums for others. You get to scrap, albeit for others, and you are paid for it!

Scrap Other People's Pictures

Starting a business such as this would take some planning and thought. You would have to question yourself on whether you think you would be comfortable talking to others about what they would expect. Some people might like the idea of just handing over a box of old photos and telling someone else to organize them all into an album or two. Others might have a few select pictures that they have definite ideas about, but lack the creativity, time, or inspiration to pull the layouts together themselves. Others might have very specific ideas in mind, but do not want the bother of the time or gathering of the materials, or maybe they do not have a place to scrap. For all of these reasons and many more, there is a client base out there just waiting for some scrapbook enthusiast to come foreword and offer to do it all for a set rate.

If you are the sort who loves a challenge, can converse well enough with others to find out what they expect, and have the room to work on projects for others, this could be the ideal job for you to involve yourself in. Do keep in mind that while you know you will enjoy the actual scrapping part, the dealing with the people can be tough.

Setting prices will also be something you will want to give thought to beforehand. Supplies and time can add up, so you will want to have a set rate for all that you offer up front. This will help avoid any disagreements when it comes time for clients to pay too. Also, plan to ask for the cost of supplies, or at least a portion of them, up front. The nature of the business, where the work cannot really be sold elsewhere due to its personal focus, will require this. If someone does not pay, this way you are only out the cost of your time (still a big factor), but at least not the cost of the supplies.

Scrap Ready to Fill Layouts and Albums

Another way to approach such a business would be to create finished layouts and albums based on themes, where you sell the finished products, and the buyer inserts their own pictures. You get to create an almost finished product, following your own specifications and no input from others (this can be a major improvement over having to deal with people directly before you create), and still make money. You could still take requests as far as themes go, if you wished, but avoid having too much direct contact with buyers before the product is all ready to go. As for selling pre-made layouts and albums, online venues such as Ebay have specific listing just for these, and you could sell through craft shows and word of mouth.

Making money from the hobby of scrapbooking can take work, but it can also be an enjoyable way to spend more time doing something you love to do, and make some money at the same time.