Furnishing Home Plaque Wall - Meet Jamie Lentzner
By sandy.naidu | Category: How To Sell CraftsWelcome back!
| My guest today is Jamie Lentzner, the founder of Jamie’s Painting and Design. The company designs and manufactures ‘name tiles‘, ‘name plaques‘, ‘personalized baby name plaques‘,’birth certificate plaques‘, ‘ornaments‘ and ‘plates‘ for kids. The company was started by Jamie in 2002. Soon (after a lot of hard work) the products became popular and the orders kept pouring in. Jamie received coverage in numerous magazines. By 2006, the company had grown to such an extent that Jamie and her staff had to move to 1600 sq ft office. Her business now also designs and sells personalized plaques for your pets. | ||
| Her products have even appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show. Despite all the success, Jamie is extremely down to earth and is always willing to help other mothers with businesses.Read and get inspired | ||
| How did you come up with the idea for your business? | ||
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After my daughter was born I was trying to find a decorative way to personalize her room. Having found no letters that were theme based I decided to create them myself. I had never worked on tile before, but always had a fascination with it and decided it would last longer than wood - hence be a lasting keepsake. | |
| What was your main motivation behind starting your own personalized plaque business? | ||
| I have a degree in art, and worked in children’s software for years before deciding to stay home with my son. After 3 years at home I wanted to do something, I wanted to create; I wanted to do artwork again. I also did not want to work for someone else. When I was pregnant with my son, working on my last project at The Learning Company my heart was not in it. I knew if I were to do something it would have to be something I was passionate about. | ||
| Your blog http://jpd.typepad.com is a great read . How important are blogs for today’s businesses? |
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| Thank you for the kind words first off. I think they are a great tool business owners can use to test out ideas, get feedback and really connect with their customers. I love writing the blog; it is by far one of the best parts of business. When I started the business in 2002 the resources, blogs, support groups did not exist like they do for today’s women entrepreneur. I also think it is our obligation to give back and support other women. | ||
| Achieving work life balance is always tough for a mother with a business. How do you plan your day? | ||
| Get organized, get help and get your husbands support. I have a great support system that includes, grandparents, baby sitter, gardner, and house cleaner. I also have a husband that supports me blindly. Having your husband on board is key. As for time management tips: I pick out clothes the night before (for the kids and me), get breakfast dishes out the night before, bathe the night before, lunches made the night before. If we go away I pack days before we go. Everything in our house has a place, so when you come home you need to put it away. I also love to cook, love to throw parties, love to garden – but I cheat. I will make the salad, but purchase the cooked chicken. Once I decided I did not have to be Martha Stewart I was able to relax and do what I could handle | ||
| What is your number one stress relief tactic? |
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Alcohol…no I am kidding. Silly to say, the blog is one stress relief tactic. It makes me sit back and relax and reflect on the day. As for weekends we have family night every Friday with the kids and we laugh….a lot. I have stopped working weekends and decided to enjoy my family. I decided awhile ago to only spend time with people that made me happy – laughing is the best stress reliever. | |
| What is the cheapest, most effective bit of marketing you have ever done? |
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| Email campaign to existing customers was a great for us. The email newsletter was free, the sales were great. We gave them each a 5% discount and we got a 20% return on the email. Seth Godin always says that you need to pay attention to your top 10% of sales – these were our customers, who bought from us direct. | ||
| Finally, your five keys to success? | ||
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| Sites Of Interest | ||
| http://www.jamiespnd.com | ||
| http://jpd.typepad.com | ||
| http://www.poshpetgifts.com | ||
| Visit one of Jamie’s websites to get more information about her personalized name plaques business. | ||
| This interview was published on 10th May 2007 | ||
| To read more stories about women who sell various kinds of crafts click How To Sell Crafts. | ||
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[...] Home Based Business Moms - Get Business Ideas And Read Interviews With Successful Business Moms wrote an interesting post today on Plaques and Plates For Kids - Jamie Lentzner of Jamieâ??s Painting and DesignHere’s a quick excerpt [ Jamie-Lentzner-of-Jamie’s-Painting-Design] My guest today is Jamie Lentzner, the founder of Jamie’s Painting and Design. The company designs and manufactures ‘name tiles’, ‘name plaques’, ‘birth certificate plaques’, ‘ornaments’ and ‘plates’ for kids. The company was started by Jamie in 2002. Soon (after a lot of hard work) [...]
[...] Home Based Business Moms - Get Business Ideas And Read Interviews With Successful Business Moms wrote an interesting post today on Plaques and Plates For Kids - Jamie Lentzner of Jamieâ??s Painting and DesignHere’s a quick excerpt [ Jamie-Lentzner-of-Jamie’s-Painting-Design] My guest today is Jamie Lentzner, … and get inspired How did you come up with the idea for your business? After my daughter … . What was your main motivation behind starting your own business? I have a degree [...]
[...] Home Based Business Moms - Get Business Ideas And Read Interviews With Successful Business Moms wrote an interesting post today on Plaques and Plates For Kids - Jamie Lentzner of Jamieâ??s Painting and DesignHere’s a quick excerpt [ Jamie-Lentzner-of-Jamie’s-Painting-Design] My guest today is Jamie Lentzner, the founder of Jamie’s Painting and Design. The company designs and manufactures ‘name tiles’, ‘name plaques’, ‘birth certificate plaques’, ‘ornaments’ and ‘plates’ for kids. The company was started by Jamie in 2002. Soon (after a lot of hard work) [...]