Catholic Millennials
Hi friends, I haven't been here in a while, my apologies!
Lots and lots has been going on and this post will be a little sporadic and have some run-on sentences.
One, I moved last month, hip hip hooray! Two, as of last week, I'm offically in an artists' show?? Crazy. I've never been in artist show before so I will for sure let you in on the deets when it goes down, but so far it's slightly stressful since I have no clue how I'm supposed to bring on my stuff to this place without a car... without breaking anything. I have framed art you know! I also think it's a little ridiculous they don't provide the artists chairs/tables, but they provide a grid "wall".
Anyway, the greeting card business has been a bit slow, but with the show coming up, I think I need to have at least two new cards out and I haven't been focused on them since I still have to finish a commissioned piece. I don't have time for commissions to be honest, but for my friend who agreed to pay me enough money, I couldn't say no.
Many ideas have been buzzing through my head as of late, or as I described to someone recently when I was really tired "roly-polying in my brain at high speeds", or something like that, haha, and I'd like to share them with you if you don't mind.
I've been listening to a lot of business/motivational type audiobooks the past month and they have been really itching me to do what I want to do! Which you know of course is making lists of what I want to do.
One of the main reasons I wish to do freelance full-time is so I can have my own schedule and have no one to report to but me (and my clients/customers). But to counter that, I actually get very stressed making art for money, for clients, etc, and makes me question if that IS really what I want to do.
One way a business can take off or thrive is if it is to help people, or to provide a solution to a problem that people have. I'm not entirely sure greeting cards is a solution, BUT for people who do buy greeting cards and give them to people, there IS something they are looking for in a card. Clearly it's not my sense of humor (at least, mostly) since those cards did not sell. My mother's day card sold like hotcakes because it was a solution to a problem:
Customer: has Catholic mother who needs appreciation on mother's day
Me: Provides a beautiful card she will appreciate
Greeting cards thrive on the holiday business of course, but thank you cards and get well cards and birthday cards are almost year round...BUT you could go into nearly any grocery store or convenience store and pick one there. So why and how could my cards stand out? How do I make them special and desireable enough that I gather enough of an audience to buy my cards instead of Hallmark's or American Greetings? Why are my cards special?
Well, for one thing, I really do want to provide better religious cards because the ones I almost always see are tacky or just poorly designed, or old-fashioned. I like to put my own twist and sense of humor into my cards that I hope connect better with ...essentially, Catholic millennials. That's my audeince, essentially, and I can figure out what that audience wants. I AM that audience! A part of that audience.
What do the Catholic millennials want?
Something beautiful/meaningful that is affordable and accessible, AND useful, in some way. Well, I can do that. I think that is what the bigger picture is asking for, anyway.
Another idea I have is to send my cards to parishes in the area promoting myself and saying, hey, do you need a unique thank you card according to your patron saint? Call me! We'll talk! Because the older Catholic generation also likes beautiful/meaningful things that are affordable and accessible, but their definition of beautiful and meaningful differs than that of a millennial (not always, but it is very interesting to observe the differences in people's tastes by generation).
For example: Bible quotes in a fancy cursive script with some nature in the background on a card is a classic Christian-type card that most baby-boomers know and love (from my observations, mind you) but millennials (like me) can't stand because it's cheesy and boring, and...protestant-like.
Perhaps with my cards I can help other generations open their hearts to different types of greeting cards, but mainly, I think, my audience is the average Catholic Millennial.
Are you a Catholic Millennial? Let me know what you look for in a card! Tell me I'm right (or wrong)!
Lots and lots has been going on and this post will be a little sporadic and have some run-on sentences.
Anyway, the greeting card business has been a bit slow, but with the show coming up, I think I need to have at least two new cards out and I haven't been focused on them since I still have to finish a commissioned piece. I don't have time for commissions to be honest, but for my friend who agreed to pay me enough money, I couldn't say no.
Many ideas have been buzzing through my head as of late, or as I described to someone recently when I was really tired "roly-polying in my brain at high speeds", or something like that, haha, and I'd like to share them with you if you don't mind.
I've been listening to a lot of business/motivational type audiobooks the past month and they have been really itching me to do what I want to do! Which you know of course is making lists of what I want to do.
One of the main reasons I wish to do freelance full-time is so I can have my own schedule and have no one to report to but me (and my clients/customers). But to counter that, I actually get very stressed making art for money, for clients, etc, and makes me question if that IS really what I want to do.
One way a business can take off or thrive is if it is to help people, or to provide a solution to a problem that people have. I'm not entirely sure greeting cards is a solution, BUT for people who do buy greeting cards and give them to people, there IS something they are looking for in a card. Clearly it's not my sense of humor (at least, mostly) since those cards did not sell. My mother's day card sold like hotcakes because it was a solution to a problem:
Customer: has Catholic mother who needs appreciation on mother's day
Me: Provides a beautiful card she will appreciate
Greeting cards thrive on the holiday business of course, but thank you cards and get well cards and birthday cards are almost year round...BUT you could go into nearly any grocery store or convenience store and pick one there. So why and how could my cards stand out? How do I make them special and desireable enough that I gather enough of an audience to buy my cards instead of Hallmark's or American Greetings? Why are my cards special?
Well, for one thing, I really do want to provide better religious cards because the ones I almost always see are tacky or just poorly designed, or old-fashioned. I like to put my own twist and sense of humor into my cards that I hope connect better with ...essentially, Catholic millennials. That's my audeince, essentially, and I can figure out what that audience wants. I AM that audience! A part of that audience.
What do the Catholic millennials want?
Something beautiful/meaningful that is affordable and accessible, AND useful, in some way. Well, I can do that. I think that is what the bigger picture is asking for, anyway.
For example: Bible quotes in a fancy cursive script with some nature in the background on a card is a classic Christian-type card that most baby-boomers know and love (from my observations, mind you) but millennials (like me) can't stand because it's cheesy and boring, and...protestant-like.
Perhaps with my cards I can help other generations open their hearts to different types of greeting cards, but mainly, I think, my audience is the average Catholic Millennial.
Are you a Catholic Millennial? Let me know what you look for in a card! Tell me I'm right (or wrong)!
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