Why do people buy greeting cards? In this age of telephones, email, IM, video link-ups, and even e-cards, why do old-school paper greeting cards persist? The answer is that there are situations that call for something more formal, more permanent, and more thoughtful than any of those greeting-card options listed above.

While people still give love greeting cards, and romantic greeting cards, the situations they address have changed. Love cards are not just for a couple on Valentine's Day; they can address an array of people in your life for a plethora of reasons. In this guide, we'll look at three new categories of "I love you" greeting cards:

1. Celebrate marriages as they come and go with a new generation of love cards.

2. Personalize cards for lovers and other love cards for specific ethnic groups and races.

3. Seize the day — any day — with romance and love cards for moments big and small.

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Share in relationships as they begin and end with a unique love card

Wedding cards are one of the most popular and traditional love greeting cards. Today, gay marriage is a fast-growing segment of the wedding card niche, and romantic greeting cards are available for these new couples. Ending a marriage is another important rite of passage that needs formal acknowledgment from friends and loved ones, and love cards show caring for those going through divorce.

I recommend: Read up on the business niche created by gay wedding cards at Yahoo! Finance, and check out "Celebrate Your Divorce with a Good Old Greeting Card" at the Huffington Post.

Avoid cookie-cutter emotions with ethnically and racially distinct romance and love cards

When people send love and romance greeting cards, they want a tricky combination of generally accepted and uniquely personal. For instance, everyone celebrates the birth of a new baby, but there are special traditions for these celebrations in different cultures. Some celebrations are completely culturally specific.

I recommend: Chopsticks, Please, has an informative article on love and romance cards for Asian Americans. Learn the fine points of Quinceanera love cards at Hallmark.com, and consider "I love you" greeting cards for mixed-race people and families at Mix It Up.

Make every moment special -- or just make a moment -- with 'anytime' love and romance cards

Anniversaries, birthdays, graduations--these are the formal events that greeting cards celebrate. But consumers are opening up to making the most of love and romance cards by noting happy vacations, business trips that separate a couple, new diets, and more 'occasions' big and small. These 'anytime messages' allow people to show their impulsive feelings on an almost daily basis.

I recommend: See "Card trends envelope social expression" at BNet for an overview of this new greeting card industry. I Love Greeting Cards covers anytime messages from a writer's point of view, but illustrates the appeal of the genre.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Cards for Hispanic occasions don't have to be in Spanish; English-speaking friends and loved ones need to find love cards celebrating Latino events whose sentiments they are sure they understand.

Who doesn't like romantic greeting cards? Expressing the sentiment of love and affection is a natural and welcome emotion in our society, and the consumer use of love and romance cards is a true testament of our feelings even in the worst of economies.

A person may not be able to afford the top of the line new car or diamond necklace for his or her mate, but most consumers will shell out a few dollars for affection and love greeting cards.

Want to start selling love and romance cards? Here's what to do:

1. Stock up on romantic greeting cards and products.

2. Sell "I love you" greeting cards. Love isn't just for spouses. It's for parents, children, grandparents, friends and more.

3. Keep cards for lovers in your inventory. The bottom line is that passion sells.

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Look for online distributors of love and romance cards

The greeting card industry is a competitive one. So most card distributors will be happy for you to carry their line in your store.

I recommend: Emotions Greeting Cards and Fine Prints is distributor of love and romance cards. They offer a wide selection of photographic bases greeting cards that are vibrant and eye catching. Flavia is another popular brand you might consider carrying. Flavia is a leading contemporary inspirational artist who looks to provide hope for the human spirit.

Add an entire line of love greeting cards or other cards to your store

If you are going to add a product line, consider going big. Calculate how much space you have available in your store, and decide the product impact you are trying to make. If you have room, the budget, and a good product, consider dedicating an entire area of your business to greeting cards.

I recommend: You can not only add a Hallmark product line to your store, but you can also consider adding an entire Hallmark department to your store. InterGreet.com sells American Greetings cards wholesale. Hallmark and American Greetings are the number one and number two selling cards companies in the US.

Consider purchasing love and romance cards from smaller distributors

Many small card companies are actively seeking stores to carry their lines. Most have a minimum purchase, but those are usually quite reasonable.

I recommend: Leanin' Tree sells a line of love cards, and so does the Majestic Greeting Card Company, Inc. Leanin' Tree sells fine art cards and gifts, and the Majestic Greeting Card Company is an online retailer of card products.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  You can find any number of love cards distributors out there, and depending on how new they are, you can probably work out a bulk purchase deal that easily suits your needs and budget.

Love and romance cards don't have to be your profession to pursue love and romance cards design education and training. Whether you are in the business of selling romance cards or just buy greeting cards for lovers, resources abound to suit your interests.

From the commitment of a college degree to simply learning the tricks of computer software, anyone can be versed in creating love greeting cards. The minimum requirement is an interest in card design and a creative spark. Explore the following possibilities when looking into love and romance cards design education and training:

1. To make romantic greeting cards for a living, find a college that offers love and romance cards design education and training.

2. Software packages specifically designed for creating greeting cards can help inspire you and teach you more about making a romance card.

3. Browse the Internet to find step-by-step directions to create cards for lovers.

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Get a degree in creative arts to help you design romance cards

Research colleges to find one that specializes in art and creative design. These types of programs can help you hone your natural artistic ability into being able to create something eye-catching for consumers. Turn your continued education into a career by opening your own greeting card business or expanding an existing venture.

I recommend: Rhode Island School of Design is known for offering classes where students learn by using all their senses to create artistic design. Studying illustration at Savannah School of Design can help you in your pursuit to design love and romance cards.

Explore software to create romantic greeting cards

Romance and love cards can be created both by hand or on the computer. Using specialized computer software can help you with the creation of a romantic greeting card in an easy to understand, step-by-step method. These tools can also help you with the selection of the proper materials to use when printing these specialized cards.

I recommend: Top Ten Reviews compares several card making programs so you can find the software that will best assist you in designing cards for lovers. Smart Computing highlights some of the features of a popular card design program.

Locate tutorials online to teach yourself how to create romance cards

The Internet is a great resource for tutorials that will show you how to develop and create love cards. You can learn the fundamentals of designing a greeting card and adapt them to specifically create love greeting cards.

I recommend: Adobe Photoshop has a helpful blog with links to various tutorials to inspire you. Unique Photoshop Tutorials also offers an assortment of greeting card templates and step-by-step instruction on how to create a greeting card on the computer.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Use the knowledge you acquire from designing romantic greeting cards to create cards of all kinds. Try your hand at creating birthday cards, get well cards, wedding and anniversary cards as all of these designs will allow you to apply some of the same principles as love cards.

Love and romance cards make up a large portion of any card aisle. From new and old love, to anniversaries, Valentine's Day and more, love and romance cards are big business. And with the reasonably high profit margins on each greeting card, they are an excellent way to bolster the bottom line of your business.

Take the time to learn some of the terms associated with love and romance cards that you'll know how to order them for your place of business. Here are some of those terms along with some resourceful links to get you started.

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Printable love and romance cards

Printable love and romance cards refer to greeting cards that are designed online through greeting card companies. The love and romance cards are then printed. This gives the sender the luxury of saving the time and cost of getting a card, while allowing the sender to compose a special greeting or sentiment, and save some money at the same time.

I recommend: Go to the website for Greetings Island for more information and examples of printable love and romance cads.

Love and romance card categories

Love and romance card categories refer to the various types of love and romance cards that are offered. Be sure to carry multiple types for your card-based business. For instance there are marry me, new love and Valentine's Day cards just to name a few. Card manufacturers often break down their love and romance cards into further categories so that the card-based business can peruse the specific types of cards.

I recommend: Visit the website for 101 Romance.com for an example of romance and love card categories. 101 Romance.com is an e-card designer of greeting cards.

Musical romantic cards

Musical romantic cards refer to greeting cards that play a musical song when the recipient opens them. These are another form of greeting cards commonly found in card-based businesses. Their higher price tag also produces a larger profit margin.

I recommend: Go to the website for Z Works.com for examples of musical romantic greeting cards that you may want to offer for resale in your card-based business.

Love and romance postcards

Love and romance postcards refer to a single piece of card stock that you may be sent through the mail with a message regarding love or romance. Love and romance postcards are cheaper to send and also sometimes have quicker mail delivery signs. They are a common addition to any card-based business.

I recommend: Go to the website for Cafe Press for more information and examples of love and romance post cards. The company produces many different forms of greeting cards, including love and romance cards.

Interactive romance cards

Interactive romance cards refer to e-cards that ask the recipient to participate in the reading of the card. Usually by clicking the mouse, the recipient turns opens the card, turns pages, plays songs or makes character choices as the story of the romance card unfolds.

I recommend: Go to the website for USA Greetings for more information on interactive romance cards. USA greetings provides e-cards solutions for individuals and businesses.

Love and romance e-cards

Love and romance e-cards refer to greeting cards that are focused toward sharing romantic sentiments between two people. These cards are filled out by a sender and sent to a recipient through email. There are many online love and romance e-card companies offering many cards for any special occasion.

I recommend: Visit the website for 1LoveCards.com for examples of love and romance e-cards.