What It's About
Wedding stationary design helps an ad rep scratch a creative itch.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
In a visual-based job, you need a portfolio. Fill it up by finding people around you that you can create for and build a body of work. If you have nothing to show people, nobody will trust your vision.
Fun Fact
Wedding invitations can really set the tone of your wedding. When guests receive your invitation, they get a small glimpse of what the wedding day will be like. Will it be elegant or rustic? Will it be fancy or intimate? Nobody knows, which is why your guests can only base it off their impression of the invitation.
Notes from Chris
Episode 791
Anyone who has ever planned for a wedding knows that it is no easy task. Brooke Sankey, who works at an advertising agency during the day, discovered this first-hand three years ago when she was roped into her sister’s wedding preparation. It all began when Brooke’s sister found herself approaching her budget with wedding stationery and programs yet to be made. There was also the problem of style—almost all the available designs looked like carbon copies and fresh off a template. Nothing suitable was available. When Brooke learned about this, she thought that it couldn’t be too hard. Although she had only taken a few college classes in design, she knew enough to work from video tutorials on YouTube. Sure enough, Brooke was able to put together a draft program that her sister loved. At that moment, Brooke realized how fulfilling creative design was, and she knew that she wanted to help others bring their visions to life as well. That marked the start of Brooke’s journey into wedding stationery design. One of the first things she did was to reach out to local businesses and ask if there was any work she could do. She offered to do work for free, knowing that any experience she gained would be valuable. This proved to be a good move, as Brooke was able to showcase all the work she had done for clients on her website. In fact, a few friends reached out to her for help with their own wedding designs and became her clients as well. Since then, Brooke has never looked back as more people hear about her services through word of mouth. (And she doesn’t do it for free anymore.) Last year, she had to design the stationery for her own wedding. You’d think that with her experience Brooke would have no problem, but the stakes were never higher, prompting her to start her design from scratch numerous times. … she says she was her pickiest client. Today, Brooke’s designs include everything from wedding programs, menus, welcome signs, to seating charts and even table numbers. It’s not just weddings either—she also gets clients who want her to design invites for bridal and baby showers, Christmas cards, wall art, and other personalized gifts. With her startup costs consisting only of Adobe software and other creative assets, Brooke made $5,000 in profit in her first year. As she tells us, she knows that if she challenges herself, she’ll continue to grow and nudge that number higher. Speaking of that, she has made marketing her number one business goal this year and hopes to eventually match the salary of her day job. Having already designed the perfect wedding for herself and so many others, she’s now working on designing her ideal career.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Brooke Jacobi: Learn more about the work Brooke is doing over on her website!
- Designer Illustrates Success with Personalized Wedding Products: A graphic designer in New York City taps into the wedding e-commerce market and turns her side hustle into full-time work bringing in multiple six-figures
- Australian Uses Online Classified Ads to Sell Wedding Flowers: After hearing about the Craigslist Wedding Photographer (Ep. 9), a woman in Australia books $7,500 in wedding clients for her newly-acquired floral arranging skills
- Wedding Bells Ring Brighter if the Bride’s Not Broke: A New York professional rents high-end accessories to brides who want the glam without the buck
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