Do you love to scrapbook, and have been dreaming and thinking about how to turn that love into a career? Perhaps you have been thinking about starting your own business making scrapbooks for others. You may have friends and family members that love your work, and have been encouraging you to start your own business doing it for other people. If you are the person I'm describing here, I encourage you to take that step, after investigating all of the business aspects, of course. I am not going to talk about the business aspects here. There are many resources online where you can find the information you need. What I would like to talk about here is what I consider the best way to make a profit in a business like making scrapbooks for other people.

One of your biggest challenges, as a paper scrapper, is to find a way to speed up the process of scrapbooking so that the time you spend making a layout doesn't take away from your bottom line. For the most part, the materials don't cost a whole lot, when split up over multiple layouts, that is, if you keep your layouts simple, which I strongly recommend. Your biggest cost is in the time you spend creating the layouts. I urge you not to undervalue that time. Time is money, as the saying goes, and as an artist creating unique pages (works of art, really) your time is very valuable.

The more time you spend on a layout, the more expensive that layout is going to cost for your client, of course. For instance, when I was in the business of making scrapbooks for others, my basic charge for an hour of my time was $25. So, even if it only took me an hour to do a layout (which would have been very unusual), that layout would cost $25, plus materials and overhead. That's a costly layout, and oftentimes makes it difficult for a customer who wants to have an album like this, but can't afford to spend upwards of $600 for a complete album.

There is a better way, however - digital scrapbooking. Many of you may stop reading now, thinking you could never enjoy digital scrapbooking. You enjoy getting your hands messy and touching the product. And that's fine. I do suggest that you keep that way of scrapping for your personal albums, and consider digital scrapbooking as a wise business decision.

Let me explain why turning to digital scrapbooking for your scrapping for others business is a wise business decision. Basically, it's fast, with very cheap products you can use again and again, unlike paper products, that are gone once you've used them once. If you keep your layouts simple, again, as I encourage you to do, you can often complete a layout in a half hour. Let me introduce you to some products that can really speed up your scrapbooking, and help you create beautiful pages that you and more importantly, your customers, will love. I admit this is going to be a bit of a commercial for Scrap Girls, but I truly believe Scrap Girls has the products you need to have a successful scrapping for others business. You see, at Scrap Girls, we have what we call Digital Layout Templates. These are layouts all planned out, basically like the sketches in the paper scrapping world. With the digital templates, you apply your paper over top of hte pieces of the template, and your layout is completed. It is so fast and easy. And we provide Commercial Licenses for these products at very reasonable prices. You can purchase the Commercial License, and that template is then yours to use over and over again, as much as you'd like. Talk about fast scrapbooking!

I do have to insert here that while we don't sell Commercial Licenses for our premade paper collections, we do sell Paper Templates, which allows you to have the design of papers that you like which you can then color to suit any color scheme you need. And again, once you buy the Commercial License, that Paper Template is yours to use over and over again, as many times as you need to.

Now perhaps you're skeptical, thinking that this is all well and good, but what about start-up costs. What about the costs for a digital imaging program and the like. Well, chances are, you already have a computer, and you may already have an image editting program such as Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. If you do, then you're all set. If you don't, then yes, you will need to purchase one of these programs to work in. But as with any business, there are always start-up costs, and all of these will be business expenses that you can write off on your taxes. Once you get flying with digital scrapbooking, you will make up those expenses much faster than if you were paper scrapping. And of course, the bottom line of working this way is that a complete album will cost less, making your product more appealing to your customers, and possibly opening up a whole new customer set which wouldn't have been able to afford a paper scrapped album.

Now, perhaps you are intimidated at the thought of digital scrapbooking, thinking that you already have a love/hate relationship with your computer. (Don' t we all! Hee!) I admit, it's always intimidating to learn a new skill like this. At Scrap Girls, we have just what everyone needs to get started in digital scrapbooking and be flying in no time. I encourage you to check out the E-Book tited 15 Things You Need To Know To Become A Great Digital Scrapbooker that I have linked on my home page. Scrap Girls also has video tutorials that will show you every step you need to take to create your first layout. These tutorials are the next best thing to having your own private tutor sit with you and show you how to start. And if that's not enough, Scrap Girls also has the friendliest message board in the digital community, with hundreds of ladies always willing to answer questions and give support when needed.

I hope I have convinced you that digital scrapbooking is the way to go if you want to start a career in scrapbooking for others, or even if you are already working in that area, but are not seeing the profits, or the interest, that you had hoped for. Digital scrapbooking for others may be the wisest business decision you'll make this year.

If you have any questions about this topic, or digital scrapbooking in general, please feel free to send me an email at . I'm always happy to help.