Interview with: I Love Photo Gifts

Meet a mom who's driven and passionate about her business and shares her experience and the importance of writing a business plan from the very beginning.


[The WAHM Spot]: Who is I Love Photo Gifts? Where are you located?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: ilovephotogifts.com is owned by a sentimental mom in NJ who is constantly on the search for unique high quality custom photo gifts, art and accessories. Not being a photo mug or mousepad kind of girl, I knew there had to be more out there! I am always
searching for artists and other mom owned business that create unique items that will
help consumers cherish, store and display their precious memories.


[The WAHM Spot]: How did you come up with your business name?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: The business originally began back in 2003 as Expressions Photo Design and many customer still know us as that name. We just re-branded based on feedback from many people we admire that we needed something easier to remember, something that clearly stated what we did. So, ilovephotogifts.com seemed perfect! I love photo gifts and most of my customers love photo gifts, so it will be easy to remember!
[The WAHM Spot]: When and why did you decide to start your own business?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: In 2002 I gave birth to my best gift ever, and I began my search for the perfect baby book-which I never found. We have no family, it is just the 3 of us. When I began reading through these baby books I realized how many empty pages there would be do to our having no family to fill in the blanks. So I began what was called digital scrapbooking
and created a custom photo baby book and had it bound at a professional bindery. The response by my friends was overwhelming, from this interest I also started doing custom photo art including collages and pop art. This was the core of my business until around 2006 when I decided to start offering gifts, not what everyone else was carrying, but different gifts, hard to find upscale gifts. Two years later I have what i think is the most unique photo gift store on the web and am loving every minute of it!


[The WAHM Spot]: How did you get started?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: Inspiration from friends started me on the path of local trade shows to gauge interest in my custom photo art and books. I had an overwhelming response and received several orders. A few months later I started my first website, and although I did not get much business from it, I did not give up. I kept modifying my site to make it more user friendly to the site that exists today.
[The WAHM Spot]: What motivates you to keep your business going?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: PURE PASSION! I am driven and I am determined to make this work for so many reasons. My husband has been my biggest supporter both emotionally and financially no matter how bad my ideas may be. I need to not let him down. I need to be a role model to my daughter that she can BE and DO anything that her little heart desires. And of course the emails I get from customers telling me about the joys of giving a gift they purchased from me, or the emails from the recipients. I have a job that makes people happy, there is nothing better!


[The WAHM Spot]: Do you have a particular product that's a best seller on your site?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: The jewelry and photo insert totes are by far our best sellers. I am thrilled to be working with some of the best jewelry artists many that are exclusively working with ilovephotogifts.com who said they would not do retail online! I have been blessed to locate some
amazing talent![The WAHM Spot]: How do you advertise your business? Which methods proved successful/effective?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: Tricky questions here! In 2006 I spent a HUGE sum of money on local and online advertising, all in all it was a complete waste of money. I have not done ANY advertising since. NONE! I concentrate on SEO, word of mouth referrals, taking care of the customers I have and online networking. The growth is definitely slow, but it is steady. There has yet to be one thing that has brought me any great traffic or sales successes. I think if there was an easy way to do this, we would all be doing it!


[The WAHM Spot]: How do you juggle family and work at home?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: Badly! I am completely absorbed in the business at this time and thankfully have a husband who is comepletely supportive. I feel like I am at that point where I am finally getting it to "the next level" and work about 15 hours a day right now. I do take a break from about 3-5 to spend some time with my daughter and get dinner ready...then my husband takes over. But it will not always be this way! My family IS My priority which is why
I am working this hard!

[The WAHM Spot]: What advice would you give to moms seeking to become a WAHM?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: My one advice is to really sit down and evaluate why and how you will implement a business. I did mine with NO plan at all and wasted a ton of time and money. It is only the last 6 or so months that I really felt like I have direction and a goal. And do not believe all the lines of "you can start a business on $29.95" things you hear and read. You cannot just put a website up and expect them to come. I can go on for hours about this topic!!!!

If you are SERIOUS about a business, do a business plan, evaluate your market potential, how are you different from your competition. Start off on the right foot and be professional in your image..meaning.. well designed business cards and promotional materials, website and product packaging. These are all things I failed in building my "brand", but am making up for it now. And it is extremely important to have a supportive family, I know many women who have tried to do their own business only to be deterred by husbands who did not believe in them.


Current promotions/specials at I Love Photo Gifts:
Use the promo code "ITSNOTWORK" and receive 10% off you entire purchase through 6/30/08. One coupon code per person, not valid with any other offer.


[The WAHM Spot]: Anything else you'd like to add about I Love Photo Gifts or about being a WAHM in general?
[I Love Photo Gifts]: It is both the best and worst job in the world...lots of work, no pay but a whole lot of thanks and fulfillment and I would not change a thing. I am in this for the LONG haul and will not quit until I can sell the business and make millions! It is not an easy journey, but oh so worth it!


Visit I Love Photo Gifts at: http://www.ilovephotogifts.com


(Note: All images courtesy of I Love Photo Gifts. Please respect their work and do not copy and/or alter their images. Thank you! )