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Business Profile: Name: Heather Diodati Business: Whimsies Personalized Cartoons Business Description: Whimsies are a line of over 200 cartoons that can be personalized with names, titles, sayings, dates and any other text you can think of. Whimsies is different from other personalized cartoon 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! About Your Business: Why did you start your business? 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./light engineer and computer operator (phew! What a mouth-full!) 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!) How did you find your business? It was when I found a personalized cartoon on my best friends 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 with. What is the BEST thing you learned in starting your business? 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), that I can't really pinpoint just one BEST thing - I think they are all really part and parcel. What is the WORST thing you learned about business? 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 do you think is the MOST important thing to know about home business? 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! How did Bizymoms help you in starting your business? Oh, definitely the wonderful articles on the Bizymoms website. What a wonderful bunch of ideas from so many talented people! I found myself referring to a lot of the articles often and checking back to see what other articles had been added to give me other ideas to help me in my business. Where do you plan to take your business from here? Future plans for Whimsies? I'd like to add another line such as "The Baby Collection" which would be personalized cartoons about babies, children, new moms, obstetrician, pediatrician, etc. I have a good start.I have two cartoons along these lines already. One is a Daycare and the other is a Baby Shower. I think this collection would be a lot of fun to design and a great follow up to my Personalized Wedding Collection :-) Also, with regard to weddings, I found that so many people were clicking on my wedding info pages that I decided to create a whole section devoted to Weddings. I am rounding up a ton of information to help anyone create the wedding of their dreams, from articles and ideas on planning everything, crafts, decorations, the cake, honeymoon ideas, vows, favors and much, much more. It's still a work in progress but you can take a peak here: weddingstoremember.htm As for my dance cartoons, I have quite a few contacts in the dance world. I decided to create a whole new website devoted to ballroom dancing for dance lovers everywhere: www.ballroom-dance-resource.com Also, I've been writing two monthly ezines for the last five or so years; one named "On A Whim" which has lots of fun articles, jokes, hints etc. and the other is "Dancing On Air" an ezine for ballroom/latin dance fans. You can sign up for one or both on: www.whimsies-online.com Phew...that's it for now - seems like my head is constantly swimming with ideas - must come up with an idea for a clone or two of myself !!! Do you have advice or words of wisdom for others starting a home business? 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 promotionalideas.htm. But as for business in general, whether or not you will be 'online', creativity in business is self-explanatory; persistence 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. Do you have a favorite marketing tip you'd like to share? Sure, here's one I use often . distribute your business cards EVERYWHERE. Print a money-saving coupon on the back using either a rubber stamp that you had made or a sticker that you've printed out. Voila! A double-duty card! (You can even use those free business cards such as the ones from Vista Print - they have some text on the back saying something like "Free from Vista Print" - your sticker can even cover that part so people won't know they were free!!) About Your Family: How many children do you have? (Yes, you can include their names if you'd like.) My husband, actually, has two, if you can call them children (!) - Kelly is 22 and will be starting her last year of university and Kevin is 25; he just moved out with his girlfriend. Does your family help you with your business? My husband is a wonderful help. He is my computer whiz, business advisor, packer, shipper, and all around 'second pair of eyes' to make sure I'm on the right track! I am pretty good at the website building portion with regards to HTML coding (I never used an HTML editor or any kind of software to create my websites) and the creative portion whereas he is wonderful with Windows and DOS; and all the inner workings of the computer; the technical side. What are you favorite foods to eat at your desk? Coffee, coffee and MORE coffee!! I get up around 4 a.m. or even earlier some days so I can get a head start on my business and websites! You have had a busy workday, what is your favorite meal to make on the go? Probably some pasta. My husband makes a wonderful pasta sauce, much better than mine which is really funny because I'm the one who is Italian; he is Polish-Ukrainian! Do you have a quick tip for balancing family and business? Yes, let your husband and kids have the computer once in awhile!!! However, I can say this much, my husband and I each have our own computers so I guess it would really apply to the internet usage. When the kids would bring home friends and take them on a tour of the house; when they got to the computer room they would comment that we have his and hers computers like other people have his and hers towels! Do you have any last comments you'd like to add? I have some motivational sayings that I keep on my office wall - just re- reading them once in awhile helps me get out of a rut! 1) An idea is a funny thing.it does nothing unless you do. 2) Once you start, keep going. Once you stop, you'll have to start all over! Remember, there's no such word as "can't"; if THEY can do it, YOU can do it! Please enter your contact information below (be sure to include your website): Main contact info: Heather Diodati www.whimsies-online.com E-mail: info@whimsies-online.com Back to Press Releases and Articles 
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