What does your business do?
Whimsies are a line of over 200 cartoons that can be personalized with names, titles, sayings, dates and any other text the person can think of. Whimsies is different from other personalized cartoons companies in that I can change, at no extra charge, details in my cartoon characters according to what the customer wants. This means that I can change hair color, style, length; eye color, clothing color, skin tone, even add a moustache, a dimple or some freckles! We also make up little fluffy pets such as the Pet Computer Virus, The Pet Dust Bunny (face it, we ALL have dust bunnies in our house, might as well tame them and keep them as pets, right?), and The Diet Bug.

Heather's Note: Changes to above: "Whimsies are a line of over 1200 cartoons now (styles available: Whimsies cartoons, Friendly Folks, Name-That-Toon and Amazing Cartoons) that can be personalized with names, titles, sayings, dates and any other text the person can think of. Whimsies is different from other personalized cartoons companies in that I can change, at no extra charge, details in my cartoon characters according to what the customer wants. This means that I can change hair color, style, length; eye color, clothing color, skin tone, even add a moustache, a dimple or some freckles! (We can change only the skin tone for Friendly Folks however, but we can add any text you like though!)"

When and why did you start the biz?
I've always been an avid people-watcher and have loved to re-create many of life's comical moments in cartoon form. I've had many opportunities to observe people by being co-owner/assistant D.J./lighting engineer and computer operator (phew! What a mouthful!) for a disk jockey service, by owning a personalized banner service (special occasion banners created by computer) and delivering them dressed up in a clown suit, with a little electronic robot assisting me (!); by being a competitive ballroom dancer (THERE, you're talking animated cartoons. Some of the things you'd see on the dance floor and in the dressing rooms were enough to send a budding cartoonist off for her drawing tablet!) Then, I found a personalized cartoon on my best friend's bathroom wall one day; I was drawn to it (excuse the pun). I decided on designing a few to see what they looked like after many, many attempts of trying to come up with a cartoon character of my own styling, one that I was satisfied. So, I opened up my Personalized Cartoon business on my birthday in May 2001.

How Many People are in your Company?
Just the two of us... (isn't that a song? :-)

Where's your office?
Separate room in the house - a combination workshop, computer room, office. This room sports two computers on two side-by-side desks. You know how 'normal' couples have HIS and HERS towels? Well, we have HIS and HERS computers.

What's the toughest part of running your biz?
Juggling tasks. But, I've learned how to prioritize, for one thing. Actually there are so many things I learned in starting up my business and am still learning; namely promotional ideas, creative marketing, search engine optimization, website creating, writing articles (I've even written a book on making homemade chocolates). I think the worst thing that I can think of is the fact that when you're in the process of finishing an order, you'll run out of something and rush to the store only to find out that whatever it is you've run out of is on back order!

What's the most fun part?
The most fun part is either the look on my customers' faces when they open up their package containing their personalized cartoon or their fuzzy Pet Virus, Diet Bug or Pet Dust Bunny. Also the emails to thank me and to let me know the comments from their friends and family members!

Anything you would have done differently?
I think I would have taken more time to research the internet on how to market at the very beginning. I learned this as I went along but, I guess, the hard way.

What's next on the horizon for your biz?
Continue to design more personalizable cartoons and create more furry critters to brighten someone's day.

What advice do you have for others?
The most important thing to me is to believe in your product or service. Be proud and excited about your product because your feelings will project outwardly to others. If you look at or think of your product and you get goose bumps, this is good! And no matter what happens don't give up too quickly. Believe in yourself. Advice for others contemplating a home business? If you are going to have a website, expect to devote a lot of time and hard work to get things ready for the internet and to be successful at It. Read everything about websites, online marketing, promotional ideas and search engine optimization that you can get your hands on. I put together an article about this entitled, "21 Free or Low Cost Ways to Promote your Online Business" which can be found at http://www.whimsies-online.com/promotionalideas.htm But as for business in general, whether or not you will be 'online', creativity in business is self-explanatory; persistance and perseverance are definitely needed to succeed. All too often we hear of small businesses 'going under' because the owners get discouraged and gave up too soon without really giving it a fighting chance.

How do you use Idea Cafe to help your biz?
Oh, definitely, the tips, profiles of others, the coffee talk - there's so much to read on Idea Cafe and to learn from - what a bunch of wonderful ideas from so many obviously talented people. Really gets your creative juices flowing!

School (where, still in school, degree)?
Just high school and a smidgen of college night courses

Prior jobs or business?
Co-owner/assistant D.J./light engineer and computer operator for a disk jockey service. Owned a personalized banner service and delivered them with me clad in a clown suit, with a little electronic robot as my assistant. The usual office jobs (secretarial, etc.)

Favorite Food?
Pralines 'n Cream Ice Cream!

What are your pets' names?
Snowy and Sunny

Do any of these pets help with your biz?
They're budgies...they're really good at shredding paper - I saved money on buying a personal paper shredder for our office now that we have two 'live' ones :-)

Is there any one person or event in your life that led you to go into business for yourself?
My husband said one day, "Let's see if we can start up a business when we're retired." I mulled over that one for awhile and said to myself, "Myself, why wait?" And my husband backed me up all the way, even though we're STILL not retired!

Anyone you publicly want to thank?
My husband, definitely! And my best friend Cheryl, whose bathroom wall was a source of inspiration to me in the start of my personalized cartoon business!

Contact Info:
Heather Diodati

Website:
http://www.whimsies-online.com