one delightful business: packaginggggggg

on this series: I have thought for a little while that it might be fun for me to share some things I have learned from owning my own small business. There is certainly a lot I do not know, but I have been running one delightful button for over four years now (hard to believe!). And I feel like there are a lot of tips and tricks and lessons I have learned along the way.

This is one of my hills to die on for small craft businesses. If I am going to buy some thing from someone that makes items themselves, I still I want it to look like I bought it from someone else and did not just make it myself. If I wanted to make something for a friend, I would make something. And sometimes the packaging itself sells the product more than the product itself.

My first cards were scrapbook paper cut in small squares and then with hand-stamped letters spelling my website. They weren't terrible, but my main beef is it took too much time. I was stamping each letter myself. I used dollar store jewelry boxes and printed clear labels with my business name on it. It worked, but I knew it was a temporary solution.

Next I started to order kraft jewelry boxes, embellished them with washi tape and then put a clear label on again.

I was still not super satisfied by that, even though I do love wash tape and a reason to buy it.  I now do a simple kraft box with my logo hand-stamped. My logo is stamped on a shipping tag. I have stuck with that same simple look for a few years now because I like the shipping tag and I like the extra touch of all the hand-stamping.

I have done all the logo design myself. I used to have photoshop, but now use pixelmator, which is a knock-off version that works fine for me. However, I took a class in high school where I learned photoshop - otherwise, I don't know if I'd invest in it. It is not the most intuitive thing. Picmonkey is a great site if you are not super familiar with graphic design and is free! 

Include promotional materials such as business cards...My new business card...

You could do a handwritten note...

Embellish the package cute stickers...

Tie it up with baker's twine or fabric...

Washi tape...anywhere...everywhere...

Just a few ideas...so many ideas on pinterest that I am sure you have pinned. My point is going the extra mile with packaging will make your item more memorable and giftable.