Tuesdays with Tammy: Sell More Maya Road Products

Posted by Tammy Miller

One of the best parts of my job is sharing with customers the idea of how to use your AccuCut machine and dies to help sell more product in your store. Not only do you want to cut scrapbooking shapes out of cardstock and chipboard to sell, you can use our machine to cut cardstock in just the right shape to layer over tins and chipboard books.

In our new 2008 Craft Catalog we just announced our new line of Maya Road dies to coordinate with 18 Maya Road products. (Retailers buy the dies from AccuCut and buy the Maya Road "bare" products from Maya Road.)

Some of my favorite new dies in our Maya Road line coordinate with their tins and coordinating chipboard books. For example, the Maya Road Coffee Tin die cuts three shapes, the top of the tin (which also fits the inside of the lid), the front panel (with a notch for the latch), and the back panel. The Maya Road tins are great because the handles are removable and you can put them back on after you layer the top with paper.

Here is a finished project using the tin decorated with die-cut shapes:

And the Maya Road Coffee Break Chipboard Book die can be used to cut the pages for the book that fits inside the tin:

Here are what the shapes on that die and the "bare" chipboard book look like (below). Cut two of the top shape to wrap around the outside of the book and then the rectangle piece fits on the spine. The bottom two shapes are nice because you can cut more pages faster, plus you can have a continuous pattern across the inside of the "spread". You get all of that on just one die!

If you buy any of the Maya Road dies, here are ways to use them in your store:

1. Offer classes on Maya Road projects. Teaching a class with a bare Maya Road Tin could be time-intensive, but with the die to match the tin you can quickly cut the kits for the class, giving the instructor and the student more time to be creative. The great part about classes for tins is that students will need to buy more product to decorate the tins. Plus, it's a great way to show customers what the purpose is for these dies and they'll want to make more.
2. Pre-cut paper and sell kits to decorate the tins. Display the pre-cut package and a sample of what it creates near the tins so your customers can just grab and go. Make kits for upcoming holidays (Easter is around the corner!) or for events such as "back to school" (teacher gifts).
3. Let your customers’ creativity shine -- and sell more tins! -- by having a contest. We all love to show what we have created. Get your customers involved in your store and inspire them to make something by offering the chance to win a store gift certificate or other prize. Plus, everyone loves a friendly competition where they can see everyone else's ideas. Whether it is for Mother's Day or celebrating the upcoming seasons, adding ribbon, stickers and rub-ons to Maya Road tins can be fun and satisfying to any artistic individual.

I know you can be very successful with these dies. Good luck!

Comments

[Nancy Dill]

Smart Business Tip:
Cut-out packs: Cut misc. shapes like hearts, butterflies, flowers, small circles for flower centers, leaves out of wool felt and sell them in zip-lock bags. A sample of a pillow or wall hanging next to the packs gives customers ideas.

[SimplyVS]

I use my machine and dies to make party and wedding favors and invitations locally. I've posted on places like Craig's list to advertise items and I also check-in with local bridal shops and craft stores for people who look fairly lost in the wedding section.

[steve banfill]

buy the 6x6 album, then buy the greek alphabet, then have all your drinking friends save six pack beer cartons, then hang out at fraternity parties and sell photo albums. O.K. this is kind of a joke, but this could be adapted and is very green. I have all the above dies so I am always trying to figure out how to use them. My only other problem is that I don't drink, so I have to have to have my adult kids and their friends save the beer cartons for me. (Soft drink cartons are great too) The graphics in commercial packaging come out quite interesting when cut up into accucut things.

[Tara]

Business Tip: marketing! Give die cuts with a paper purchase or special purchase at your shop. Have dies prepackaged and put a creative little note in on what to do with them - a mini project, embellishments for a journal, etc. - make it fun and something the customer can work with when they get home. I like to prepackage coordinating dies and give a few "creative hints" with the pack - lots of customers get curious and want more!

[Nan Hood]

I love the our 6x6 book dies and use them for classes all the time. I even use the chipboard scraps and cut them with my other accu-cut shapes and sell them in a basket in my store.