Turning a Photo into a Business

You’ll be amazed at how I’ve been spending my non-hockey time lately. This year, because it’s time to launch the other hobby of mine, I’ve been doing a lot of research into how to market my product in new ways. I’ve been taking cues from sites like ZeroPassiveIncome.com to get a better idea on how I’m going to not only make a little extra money this year, but also to have some money trickling in as I live in a new country.

In other words, I’ve been setting up my new business. 

Since I have thousands of photos in the wings ready to be turned into buyable pieces of artwork for the home, it means finding the right photo printing companies, researching DIY tricks of the trade in creating canvas art, and finding companies that will supply the frames and all the mod podge that I need.

So what suppliers have I found to create this piece into a canvas for little money?

For the 16×20 print of the photo above, I went to Snapfish. Why? Because they’ve sent superior products to me, capturing the essence exactly how I saw it…and in some cases…exactly how I created it.  It’s cheaper for me to go with a place like Snapfish to mass produce my photos, because there are times I’ll get the photo for a penny a piece.  That’s cheaper than printing the photo at home.

Shopping around for canvases, School Specialty has offered some great prices on pre-stretched canvases.

For the Mod Podge…people complain it’s so expensive!  Well, Ben Franklin.com offered me the lowest prices around.  I remember the store from when I was a kid, so it’s nice to see that they’re still around kicking in the digital age. 

As for the decorative paper (i.e. the surprise of the canvas), I decided to go with Paper Source.  They offered some of the most colorful and the most beautiful pieces around.  This is actually the splurge to upscale the canvas.  The paper is so delicate, it actually will add to the element of the canvas.

When I finish up the new office, you’ll get a sneak peek at some of the work that will be available for purchase.  This is just one arm of the business.  There are more arms…but for now…there’s a canvas in the works.