Business name (as appears on Facebook) :
InkPink Design – Photo Invitations & Announcement Cards
Proprietors name(s):
Carmen Payne
Do you have a website?
InkPink Design
Do you have children?
2 boys aged 4 and 7
Please describe your business, product range or services:
Custom designed photo invitations, announcement cards & thank you cards for all occasions. We also create photo wall art and collage designs.
How did you hear about The Mummy Tree?
Through a shout-out from another WAHM
How long have you been operating?
Officially my business has been running nearly 3 ½ years – unofficially, I have been doing this type of design work for nearly 20 years, since I was 19.
Why did you decide to start this business- what made you decide to choose this area to focus on?
My first proper job when I left university was in a graphic design studio for a production and event agency where I worked on all sorts of event stationery and logo designs along with graphics for corporate video, television and even a bit of 3D animation. For a bit of fun and if I wasn’t too busy, I would design photo invitations and greeting cards for myself and others at work and also for my friends and family. One of my first photo invitations was for my 21st birthday party (I’m nearly 38 now) – my face superimposed on an image of Carmen Miranda. Back then, Photoshop was a lot more limited in what you could do and we could only print in black and white in the office. As technology has grown over time, I have discovered that there were all sorts of fun things I could do with photos for invitations. My family and friends kept telling me that I should sell my designs and cards and so after my second child turned 1, I finally bit the bullet and created InkPink Design, hoping to have a bit of supplemental income. I have been amazed at the response and popularity of my cards and it’s now become a full time job, albeit one that I work quite odd hours at, around my 2 children.
Where are you based?
Melbourne, Vic
Are your services/products only available on-line?
Yes, we sell online, but I also welcome customers to my house to discuss their needs in person, particularly for locals.
Do you send products worldwide, within Australia or a limited area (if so please advise where)? We can post to anywhere in the world, however with our overseas customers, we prefer to offer a design service where they can print the final product themselves – this saves on postage time and the risk of the parcel going missing in transit. I have a sister-store in the USA called Cards by Jeannine that I regularly design for, but these are printed and posted out directly within the USA. I also have a few regular worldwide customers that I design for and email them a printable file.
What do you think is special about what you offer? Being personalized, the photo designs create an emotional response in people. They are not a stock standard store bought stationery product, so when people open them, there is always a surprised and delighted reaction to seeing a photo invitation or announcement card. I see photo cards that I have made on people’s fridges that have been there for 3 years now and have not been thrown out. Other people like to frame them or place them in a photo album as a special keepsake, particularly for new baby announcements.
What are your most popular products or personal favourites?
I would say that anything to do with babies would be our most popular products – birth announcements, 1st birthday invitations, and Christening / Naming Day invitations. I absolutely adore working with all of the gorgeous little baby photos that I receive and I would say that I receive lovely thank you / feedback emails from 90% of my customers who are mums or dads, as they love to see their little cherubs featured in their own design. It’s very rewarding when that happens.
Do you have any specials, great buys or competitions you would like to let people know about?
We offer a regular 10% discount to all of our Facebook friends and returning customers. However, for the next week, we will increase this to a 15% discount. The discount coupon code to use on our website to receive this discount is FACEBOOK – 15% discount offer will be available from 11th – 25th May, 2010.
Do you have any changes or new products coming soon you would like us to mention?
I have a whole book full of ideas that I wish to implement at some stage! However, here are our plans for the next 12 months:
I will soon be launching a new website, currently under construction, called Artful Images – Creating Wall Art with your Family Photos. We offer family heirloom type of designs such as Photo Family Trees and Family Collages, Sports Photo Collages, as well as some more fun designs such as Fantasy Fairy Photos, Children’s Wall Art, Photo Storyboards and Collages. You can see some of our work to date for this new site at Facebook I am planning to launch a new range of themed wedding stationery designs late this year/early next year. These will not be photo invitations. I am currently working on some themes which I hope will be quite different to many of the current stationery themes that are out there, therefore bringing some fresh ideas to brides looking for something unique for their wedding.
Lastly, we will be offering a broader range of matching party accessories at InkPink Design such as bonbonierre cards, loot bags and lolly boxes, party banners etc. I am currently running a mini-survey on facebook to find out exactly what type of products our customers would most like to see in our store. There will be a few random $10 gift vouchers given out to genuine responses, so if anyone has any ideas, please post them on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/inkpink
Do you have any interesting /funny stories of things that have happened whilst you have been in business you would like to share?
I had a friend order from my online store once, not realizing it was actually me. She didn’t want to ask me to create her invitations, as she knew that, being a friend, I would not want to charge her for them and she didn’t wish to feel as though she was taking advantage of me. After looking for a design that she liked on many different sites, she ended up picking one from my store quite by chance, and got quite a surprise (along with a bit of embarrassment) when she received a confirmation email with my name on it.
What have you learnt from running your own business? I have learned that there are not enough hours in the day! No really, I have learned that if you find something that you love to do, then you should go for it, be creative and see what happens.
How do you time manage effectively (if you do)?
Having 2 young children that need time with their Mummy and also need to be dropped off, picked up and taken to various activities such as kinder, school, swimming, basketball, play dates, parties etc, plus running a household, I don’t really have a time management plan and I don’t believe that I could operate my business if I tried to! I fit work in whenever I can, usually in several 1-2 hour blocks throughout the day and night. That might be at 5am, 11pm, weekends, while my children are at kinder and school, when they are in bed, when hubby is home to look after them etc. I check my emails whenever I can in between so that customers never wait too long for a response.
Anything you would like advice on?
I am always looking for new ways of increasing our exposure in a cost effective way – so general advertising and marketing ideas are always welcome.
What are your business goals for 2010? I wish to continue providing a quality, personalized product for my customers as well as launching Artful Images, our new Wedding Range and new Party Accessories later this year.
Anything you wish you knew before you started?
I wish I knew just how much time and passion is put into creating a business from scratch. Starting a completely new business is all about finding your own way, when you can’t see what is there in your future. You can’t know if your products will sell, but you have to have faith in yourself and take the plunge and see where it leads you.
Anything else you would like to add that may be of interest?
Whilst we offer a regular discount to our Facebook friends, we also have a mailing list that you can become a member of on our website InkPink Design where we regularly send out news and special offers that may not be available on facebook.
