Article by: JustAddSweat.com’s “Start a Santa Letter Guide”

With the uncertainty surrounding the economy these days, many people are trying to think of ideas to make money from home. You don’t want to fall for a scam but you do want something that is easy to do and still have time for your families.

Starting a Santa letter business may be the answer you’re looking for.

What Exactly is a Santa Letter Business?

Each year thousands of children write letters to Santa Claus, and never get a response, but your Santa letter business can change all that.  By owning your own Santa letter business, you can give children something to cherish for years to come.  A parent pays for a “letter from Santa” for their child and you write a personalized letter in response.

What Type of Equipment and Supplies are Needed?

There aren’t a lot of equipment needs for this business. In fact, you can get started with nothing more than a computer, Christmas stationery, a printer, and a way for parents to contact you.

You may want to consider getting a post office box for your business so you won’t have people sending letters to your personal address.  In fact this is highly recommended as it will allow you to batch your work – outside of “peak season” collect your mail only two or three times per week, process the letters between collections, and despatch them when making your next collection.  During November and December, increase this frequency to daily, maybe even twice daily, as this is when you can expect the most orders.

What Skills and Attributes Will You Need?

A good command of the English language and the ability to type are all the skills you’ll really need – for the English-speaking market.  But this business can be targeted for any language, because Christmas, and Santa, are known worldwide. If you love children and can relate to them, you’ll do well in this business.

How Do You Decide What to Charge?

Parents want their children to be happy and to encourage the magic of Christmas as long as they can. It’s not unusual for Santa letter businesses to charge as much as $10 per letter (I’ve even seen adverts for over $20).  Of course, you may be able to find them cheaper online, but the quality of the letter leaves much to be desired. Deliver great quality and command a better price.

Think about what you would be willing to spend to have a personalised letter sent to your child from “Santa”, and that will give you a good starting point for the price.  Factor in your costs – stationary, postage, and printer ink – then add a little to the price of the letter to help pay for those items.

Use Creative Marketing Ideas.

Don’t wait too long to start advertising your new business. In fact, if you haven’t started by the first week of November, you may have waited too late.  Sell letters from Santa on auction sites. You can also create order forms that can be given to schools and preschools to send home to parents.

Consider creating a website and advertise there, send out postcards to people in your home town, or put up fliers in local businesses.  Set up your computer in a booth at a Christmas craft show and have letters made on the spot for parents and grandparents to take with them.

To Learn More:

Setting up a Santa letter business is a fun and lucrative business to start with a minimum of money and equipment. Get step-by-step help, download letter templates and more, by grabbing your “Just Add Sweat Guide to Start a Santa Letter Business”

Disclosure: This article was provided by the authors of the books and guides mentioned in the article. BuildaSkill will receive a small commission, if you buy any of the mentioned products, to help keep this site online.