3 Line Sheet Mistakes I See All The Time

A persuasive wholesale catalogue helps you guide retailers through the perfect buying journey, without having to cold call them, set up a meeting or spend hours emailing back and forth.

It’s like having an expert salesperson working around the clock on your behalf, except you don’t have to pay your catalogue a salary or endure it belting out “What’s New, Pussycat?” at the office Christmas party.

If you’ve only got a line sheet at the moment (and that’s how most makers start,) the good news is that you’re already half way towards creating a proper catalogue…

As long as you don’t make these common line sheet mistakes.

Mistake #1 – Not upgrading your line sheet

Got a simple, one-page line sheet that’s bringing in wholesale orders?

That’s great. You should still upgrade it into a full-blown wholesale catalogue.

That’s because a simple line sheet can only get you so far. A proper wholesale catalogue is the ultimate showcase for your work. It gives you the very best chance of winning orders from stores, and it reassures retailers that you’re robust, professional and established.

Take what’s working in your current line sheet and remix it into something more developed. Relying on a basic line sheet for too long will eventually limit the growth of your wholesale business.

Mistake #2 – Holding back because you’re not a trained copywriter, photographer or designer

Or because you can’t afford to hire people who are.

Line sheets are basic – they’re not fancy and they’re not supposed to be. If you don’t have much design or writing experience, this can be comforting. Retailers’ expectations are lower when it comes to line sheets, so you stick with a line sheet.

But you don’t need to know everything there is to know about copywriting, product photography or design to produce a persuasive wholesale catalogue.

You only need to know the bits that apply to this specific project.

It can take years to train as an expert (and years to save up enough to hire three of them,) but with help and a little guidance, you can master the subset of skills you need in a fraction of the time.

You’re already the world’s leading expert on the lovely thing you make. Learn enough to fill in the gaps in your wholesale toolkit, using your own voice and style, and retailers will love you for it.

Mistake #3 – Waiting for the perfect time to work on your line sheet.

Creative people sometimes think they need the perfect branding, exactly the right collection of products, a stunning website and a huge stretch of free time before they start work on their wholesale catalogue.

That’s a long wait for a train that never comes.

The perfect time to start is now. Are there other things to work on in your business? Of course there are – but when your catalogue is firing on all cylinders and money is reliably rolling in from wholesale orders, taking care of that stuff will be easier.

Get started now, before you think you’re ready. Six months from now, you’ll be so glad you did.