Hey-ho!

I made this cute little gift card envelope for the plethora of  graduation, teacher, and wedding gifts I have to come up with in the next few weeks.

Seriously…

• 11 teacher gifts
• One college graduation
• One engagement
• One wedding
• One high school graduation…

I’m tired just thinking about it!

But  this little envelope will make it much easier. And I’m gonna send it out to my email list subscribers just because they’re cool. Yup, look for a link on Friday!

What?! You’re not on my email list? Well, why the heck not?? Sign up here:

http://www.layoutaday.com/sqzgp/

You know you want to.

P.S. When you become a subscriber, you’ll get regular goodies from me. I promise to entertain and enlighten you!

It’s another fantastic episode of Layout a Day: The Simple Scrapbooking Podcast! Today, we’re discussing minimalist scrapbooking. Never heard of it? Well, it’s time you did! We’ll be discussing:

• What Mondrian and Raymond Carver have in common
• Who said, “Less is more”
• Why so many scrapbook layouts I see are hot messes,
• and much, much more!

Links in this episode:

• The State of the Scrapbooking Union blog post
• ScrapHappy, the nicest group of scrappers on the internet
• True Scrap (planning for True Scrap 4 is underway!)
• One Little Bird Digital Designs
• Liz Tamanaha/Paislee Press
• Danielle Young Designs

P.S. Over 1500 downloads a week! THANK YOU!

I just finished this really simple scrapbook layout and thought I’d share. It’s cloudy here in MA, and I really needed the pop of bright colors!

Can you believe it? A layout with no journaling? Haha! In some cases, I’m just highlighting a cute picture rather than telling a story. Any words I could add (above and beyond the date and place) would just be redundant.

Here’s a closeup of those cute letters and stickers:

Nothing earth-shattering. Just a fun page.

Carry on.

P.S. We are up to almost 3000 images in the Layout a Day (LOAD) gallery. Can you even BELIEVE it??? 

By now you’ve probably heard the news. Scrapbooks Etc. will be ceasing publication with its August issue.

On the SBE blog, editor Michelle Rubin said, “Due to the longer term business forecast for the franchise and the industry, the corporation has chosen to cease publishing within this marketplace.”

I’m of course saddened to see the demise of yet another scrapbook magazine (RIP Simple and Scrapbook Answers, to name two). But with with some 350,000 subscribers and newsstand readers, you have to ask, “WTH?”

After all, it’s not like people aren’t scrapbooking anymore. It’s not like people aren’t taking pictures and making photo books and digital albums and hybrid pages and traditional scrapbook layouts.

As Lynnette said on my Facebook wall, “Hey Lain…would you say the long-term forecast for scrapbooking is unstable? To me it seems stronger than ever. Magazines can fold…paper companies may go out…but nobody’s stopping me from scrapping MY memories!”

I agree! So what gives?

Here’s my take on the matter.

The success or failure of scrapbooking magazines has almost nothing to do with the strength of the industry.

What it DOES have to do with is the viability of traditional magazine publishing.

Magazines have traditionally relied heavily on advertising to pay their operating costs. The cover price and subscription price account for a fraction of the average cost per issue to produce and distribute:

Image from CyberCollege

As this lovely graph shows us, if a magazine “makes” $1 million a year (just in round numbers), less than half of that comes from subscriptions and newsstand sales; the rest (about $550,000, I’d say) comes from advertising.

But what happens when those advertisers realize they can get better return on their advertising dollars by sponsoring posts on blogs, advertising in the sidebar of leading blogs in the industry, running their own social media campaigns, or advertising via online ad networks or on Google, Facebook, or Twitter?

Let’s find out.

According to Gaebler, a full-page, black-and-white ad in SBE runs about $22,676. (Note: When’s the last time you saw a black and white full-page ad in a scrapbooking mag? Chances are, color would bump that cost significantly, but let’s go with $22,000 just for giggles.)

Let’s take a for-instance: Betty’s Bodacious Baubles (entirely made-up name!) wants to sell more baubles. So she takes out a full-page ad for $22,000 in SBE, thinking 350,000 people will suddenly be rushing to the local scrapbook store to look for her beautiful, bodacious baubles.

But it doesn’t quite work that way.

Of the circulation of 350,000, not everyone will see the ad. Let’s say half actually pick up their magazine and read it and are then potentially exposed to the ad (just because you read the mag doesn’t mean you see the ad). That’s 175,000 people.

In fact, only a portion of THOSE 175,000 will actually notice the ad and recall it later. According to Marketing Charts, recall rates for magazines is an unremarkable 9%! In other words, of 100 people exposed to an ad, only 9 will be able to recall it later. Eek.

Poor Betty. Instead of having 350,000 exposed to her baubles, she’s down to 15,750.

Of THOSE 15,750 people, only a percentage will remember Betty or her baubles the next time they head to the scrapbook store. And only a small percentage will change their buying behavior because they saw the ad. (Put it this way — did you want a Silhouette Cameo because you saw it advertised in SBE or CK, or did you want one because you read about it on a forum or saw a Youtube video?).

But let’s say Betty’s ad performs VERY well, and 5% of the people who actually recall it decide to go online or to their local scrapbook store in search of baubles. That’s about 788 people directly influenced by the ad. Will they actually buy? Who knows? Shopping cart abandonment rates for online merchants are estimated to be as high as 72% this year, according to SeeWhy.com (you’re guilty of this too — shopping merrily away online and then deciding not to order when you see the grand total or the shipping rates!). And even if people do head to the store in search of bodacious baubles, they may get distracted by other items, or decide they don’t like how they look in person, or that the price is just too high, as bodacious as those baubles are.

But let’s be generous and say that of the people out in search of baubles, half end up buying. That’s about 400 new sales for Betty as a result of her full-page ad in SBE.

Not too shabby, right? For a small manufacturer, 400 sales is a lot… isn’t it?

Not if it comes at a cost of $55 per sale:

$22,000 advertising cost (divided by) 400 sales = $55/sale.

Those numbers might work if you were selling a high-ticket item. But Betty’s baubles (and most scrapbooking items) are low-ticket, sub-$10 in most cases. Betty is going belly up in no time if she’s relying on traditional advertising to bring customers her way.

Contrast this with online advertising. For $50 a month, Betty can advertise on a very targeted blog, or sponsor a scrapbooking podcast, or buy 458 Facebook ads at $.12 a click, specifically targeting the age, gender, country, language, and a host of other demographics. Or Betty could package up a bunch of her baubles and send them to reviewers, or run her own social media campaign for free.

See the problem?

Consumers are becoming more and more fragmented. One size does NOT fit all, and traditional, broad-based magazines cannot survive in a world of specialized blogs, tiny sub-niches, and high printing and distribution costs. As businesses and potential advertisers like Betty go through the numbers above, they see that print advertising isn’t gonna help them pay off the house or send their kids to college or even make payroll for the next month. And they’re going to take their advertising dollars elsewhere.  It has almost nothing to do with the viability of the scrapbooking industry as a whole. 

What we’ll see is the rise of niche “publishers” like Ali Edwards, Jennifer McGuire, Nichol Magouirk, and yeah, even yours truly — people who recognize their little market and serve them very, very well. We will NOT see the “demise” of scrapbooking. If anything, I’d venture that the idea of capturing your story, creating beauty, and connecting with others who do the same will become even more of a soul-level imperative in these uncertain and often unpleasant times.

The oracle has spoken.

P.S. If any manufacturers have some free advertising bucks they want to throw my way, just let me know.

P.P.S. There are other reasons for print advertising, like brand awareness. But branding via print advertising is best left to the big dogs who aren’t looking for immediate ROI on their print advertising dollars. 

Photo courtesy of AMagill on Flickr. 

OH yes, I’m back with Episode 47 of the Simple Scrapbooking Podcast! This week it’s short and sweet. I talk about:

• The three areas you MUST claim as your own
• What kindergarten “mean girls” have to do with the scrapbooking industry
• mom jeans and Jessica Simpson

Links for this episode:

Layout a Day (LOAD) 512

The podcast on Scrapbook Overwhelm

ScrapHappy, the happiest group of scrapbookers on the internet

Listen and subscribe on iTunes

The Facebook community for Layout a Day

P.S. If you love this podcast, tell a friend or Tweet/FB Like below.

Coolio! Haven’t ordered your Mother’s Day present yet (for your mom or for yourself)? No worries! Grab a super-sweet 8×10 canvas from the Canvas People — you pay shipping and not a cent more.

Offer good through this Sunday 5/13.

Hey Scrappers! Welcome to the latest episode of the Simple Scrapbooking Podcast – a can’t miss for anyone who’s serious about this hobby of ours. And that, of course, includes YOU!

In this week’s episode, I’ve got a BUNCH of updates for ya, as well as some feedback from listener’s to last week’s episode on scrapbooking overwhelm. Let’s go to the links:

• Free “Increase Your Blog Traffic” webinar with Danny Iny
• May’s “scrapinar” with Monica Bradford, Washi Tape Wahoo
• Last week’s podcast on “It’s All Too Much”
• Leave a review for me here on iTunes (and subscribe for free!)
• If you’re looking for a group of happy scrapbookers who care more about each other than using the latest papers and embellishments, check out ScrapHappy.

P.S. THANK YOU for listening!  

Keith Williamson/Flickr

Are you a writer?

Your first gut reaction might be, “Heck, no!”

But I’d like you to challenge that. If you are a scrapbooker, you are a writer.

If you are a blogger, you are a writer.

If you write tweets, emails, or Facebook status updates, YOU ARE A WRITER.

In fact, I’d argue that — even with the advent of YouTube, video chatting, and podcasts — at no time in history has the power of the written word been greater.

Most of us write something for public consumption each and every day — and we’re being judged on the content, style, and strength of our writing.

That might be a tad scary for those of us who don’t consider ourselves to be particularly fluent with the written word. You might think that writers are born, not made. Or that you flunked 12th grade English with Miss Haywood and so there’s no way in heck you could be a writer. Or that you have abysmal spelling and questionable grammar, so what’s the point?

But stay with me here… you can become a better writer, no matter where you’re coming from. And I believe that as scrapbookers, it’s our duty to become the best writers we can. If our goal is to share stories and document memories, we need to be comfortable and fluent with the written word. Period. 

Sound tough and uncomfortable and decidedly un-fun? It doesn’t have to be! All it requires is a little effort on your part. No, I won’t suggest you go back and assume your seat in the third row in Miss Haywood’s class (that’s where I sat, right next to the door, next to Mike Jolls and Neel Chatterjee — which might have been part of the problem! They were pretty funny guys).

Nope, no grammar lessons or spelling quizzes. In fact, there are LOTS of ways to become better at writing, and I’m going to share some of them here (they won’t hurt, I promise!):

1. Do more of it. It’s inevitable; studies show that the more we do of something, the greater the chance ofcoming up with something worth keeping. That doesn’t mean that if you take 1000 photos or write 1000 blog posts, that every one will be a keeper. But it does meant that the greater the output, the greater the chance that you’ll find something in your body of work that is not just okay, but pretty darned good.

(I believe it was the poet William Carlos Williams, when asked how he could possibly write a poem every day, responded, “I have very low standards.” He went on to win the National Book Award for poetry. Not too shabby.)

2. Find a role model. Do you love Cathy Zielske‘s wry humor and to-the-point observations? Or do you prefer the Seth Godin school of one-liners? Or are you more philosophical, long-winded, short-winded, bullet-listed, or flowery? Doesn’t matter how you want to write, find a model and follow them. Read what they write and read it again and read it every day until you start hearing their voices in your head and suddenly something close to what they might write comes out of your fingers one day, and you say, “Gosh, that was kind of cool.”

3. Experiment. Maybe you think you’re a short and to the point gal. Great. But just as I’m encouraging people in this month’s Scrapbooking Outside the Box, you need to push the limits every so often. Try a stream-of-consciousness approach if you’re usually a list-maker. Try writing a page if you’re a Twitter-type. Try deleting all adjectives and adverbs if you’re usually a flowery, descriptive writer. Try new things. Take what works and leave what doesn’t. Just the process of trying new things will expand your horizons and give you more tools in your tool box.

4. Read a book. There are tons of books on writing. Here are a few of my favorites:

• The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. The absolute most clear and concise guide on good structure for your writing.
• If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman. If you think you can’t write, start here. The author teaches how to use your conversation skills to improve your writing and storytelling abilities.
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. The queen of “getting it on the page,” Lamott will inspire you and let you know that even talented, experienced writers feel angst on a daily (if not hourly) basis.
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. A Zen approach to writing, including embracing the beginner’s mind.

5. Take a Class.  As you already know, I’m a huge proponent of online learning. And there are a TON of fantastic classes online for anyone who wants to increase their comfort with the written word. Even though I’ve written several books, thousands of articles, and have made my living as a writer for almost a decade and a half, I still take classes to refine my craft and push my boundaries (see #3 above).

The class I’m in the middle of right now is Write Like Freddy from Danny Iny, a popular blogger and super-cool guy (he sent me brownies a few months ago!). He’s known as the “Freddy Krueger of Blogging” and is also the author of Engagement from Scratch, which is on my bedside table.

The class is aimed at people who want to increase their blog readership and make money from their website, but I think it’s applicable to ANY type of public writing you do, whether it’s a Facebook update or an Amazon review or journaling on a scrapbook page.Here are a few of the things I’m learning, that are directly related to scrapbooking:

No, I’m not offering you the last round of margaritas. Instead, I’m letting you know that there are only 19 18 spots left for Layout a Day (LOAD) 512, starting TOMORROW!

Want to create 31 layouts in 31 days?

Want to make 400 new friends?

Want to expand your concept of what scrapbooking is?

Want to learn how to make layouts more quickly, to love your scrapbooking more, to use what you have?

Then get thee to LOAD512!

For more info on the challenge, or to sign up, click here.

Not sure you should sign up? Here are just a few testimonies from scrapbookers just like you:

From Chelle:

“I cannot wait for the fantastic challenges ahead… you should totally check out LOAD and sign up as the girls over there will inspire you beyond belief! I am always amazed by the amount of diversity to each challenge…. go on be brave and just do it!”

From Debbie:

“A couple of years ago I would have never been able to complete one layout in a single day, let alone one layout per day. I can be a bit of a perfectionist, and LOAD truly has helped me get over my need for the perfect product, perfect embellishment, etc., etc., to create my layout. You cannot believe the wonderful feedback you get on your work and the fantastic friends that you make. The LOADsters are some of the nicest and the most talented people you’ll ever meet!”

From Nadine (whose first language is German, but who wrote in English for us):

“This will change the way you see the world. This is the vitamin power you need for inspired and MEANINGFUL scrapbooking, if your battery has become low power. It’s worth each penny and you’ll be blown away by what it makes with you.”

From Tobey:

“I took the last LOAD class for the first time. It was sooo awesome. I accomplished things I never thought possible and did all 29 pages. It pushed my limits and really for so fun. I work full time but still managed to get it done.”

From Emma:

“Crafty friends you need to listen: in feb this year I completed 35 layouts in 29 days with the help of Lain and the girls who run LOAD. If you wanna be super scrappy and in craft heaven join me this May in the new Layout a Day challenge.”

Still not enough to convince you? Then please know that this May is the LAST public Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge for 2012. If you don’t get in for May, you’ll have to wait nine (NINE!) months for LOAD Feb ’13. And who wants to do that?

So grab one of the 19 spots left and join us TOMORROW for LOAD512.

P.S. While I was writing this email, one spot was nabbed. That means there are 18 left. Don’t let YOURS get away! http://www.layoutaday.com/load512

It’s time for the next episode of Layout a Day: The Simple Scrapbooking Podcast! Today, we’re talking about overwhelm in our scrapbooking. Lately, I’ve been feeling like what started as a pretty straightforward thing — documenting our memories on a scrapbook layout — has gotten WAY too complicated. You with me?

In this episode, we’ll talk about:

• The reasons scrapbooking has suddenly gotten really complicated.
• How the amount of choices we have actually DECREASES our satisfaction.
• Why more options layers the level of complexity involved in our favorite hobby.
• What word gives me the heebie-jeebies.
• …and much, much more!

Links in this episode:

• True Scrap
• May’s Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge
• Peter Walsh’s “It’s All Too Much” book

P.S. If you’re loving this podcast, subscribe via iTunes, and leave a review! With 41 five-star reviews, I must be doing something right. Haha!