1. Describe your
business: type of business, where you're located, how
long you have been in business, website URL's, etc.
My business is Heartland Graphics and I
have been in business for four years now. I am located
in Illinois about 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis and
my website is located at
www.heartlandgraphics.org
I also own and operate
Prim Talk Radio,
Frugal
WAHMs Talk Radio,
Prim Web Designs, and
Primitive Times Magazine.
2. How did you decide on your business name?
I live in what people call the Heartland so
I knew I had to incorporate that in my name and so I
thought the easiest and catchiest name was Heartland
Graphics to reflect where I live.
3. What were the first things you did to get your
business going?
Well I was a part of online groups that
taught you how to do tutorials using Paint Shop Prop and
so I self taught myself how to create and draw graphics.
After awhile I had people requesting that I join their
groups as staff members because they liked my work so
much. Finally my husband said "Angie quit giving away
your work for FREE and see if you can make a business
out of it" so that is when I decided to give the
internet a try. And within a few short months my
business was soaring! So first I had to figure out all
the ins and outs of advertising and the best places to
advertise, how to setup and run a website. It was quite
funny because I was so new to all of this! My first
website honestly was an unorganized disaster but you
live and learn along the way.
4. How long did it take you from the time you decided to
open your business to your Grand Opening Day?
It took me about four months. I wanted to
make sure I had enough graphics to appeal to everyone,
and to make sure I had enough graphics to fill a website
with. Then I had to learn the basics of just setting up
a website and learn the basics of HTML and advertising.
I joined a lot of message boards to learn the proper
ways to go about advertising and designing my site.
5. What was the best thing you did to get your business
going?
Networking! I can't say enough about
meeting people in your similar field. Not only do you
make great friends along the way but it is a wonderful
way to get customers. I would say 40% of my sales are
simply from my networking and online friends. They are
either sending people to me, or referring people to me
all the time. And in return I do the same for them to
help support their business endeavor.
6. What was one thing that you did
that you would advise others not to do?
When I first started out I advertised
everywhere if it was affordable. The problem with that
is I wasted a lot of money on sites that either were not
getting a lot of traffic, or that did not bring in
traffic to my sites. I thought, hey it is affordable and
I will get my site seen. But when the site I was
advertising on was not bringing in the traffic it did me
no good at all.
7. How do you network? What do you find works
the best?
I network basically through joining
crafting message boards and meeting friends. I have met
a lot of friends through my podcast, and also through my
blog. I find a lot of my online friends and networking
friends are ones that have asked me for advice, and the
more we talk we become online friends and networking
partners because you develop that trust factor.
8. Do you advertise? If so, what type of advertising works the
best for you business?
I do advertise a lot. I set out money each
month to devote to advertising of my sites and tend to
advertise on Craft Marketplaces, Topsites, and WAHM related
sites. I also love free advertising such as leaving my plugs
on plugboards that tends to bring in a lot of traffic too!
9. Do you have any
advice to give someone thinking of getting into their own
business?
The best advice I can offer
is to give your business time to develop and grow before you
expect to make a profit. Too many business owners want to
quit if they are not breaking even or seeing a profit after
say a year into their business. But if you stick with your
business and promote it as much as you can you will start to
see a lot of repeat business and also start to see a profit
emerging.
10. What type of products do you find are 'hot' right
now?
Right now my
individual graphic pkgs. are really hot! Mainly because I DO
NOT require anyone to have a commercial license so I see a
lot of crafters buying them to use in their crafting
projects and also scrapbookers. Seems like I am constantly
getting requests to draw new graphics and to add more
graphics that I am having a hard time keeping up. LOL
