Scrapropos

This is a question I get asked a lot. In fact, this entry is a direct response to a comment left by a reader last week. I promised to answer her question of how I got here.

It’s really not as romantic as you probably imagine.

When my boys were born within a year of each other, it became evident to me very quickly that it was going to actually cost me money to continue working. Daycare for two babies was more than I would be bringing home! I loved my job of creating invitations and doing design, and I loved the people I worked with. But I had to let it go. In the meantime, I needed to find another way to help supplement Darren’s income. I knew what I wanted to do: scrapbook.

I’d been lucky enough to have one job fall in my lap already. A woman came in to the store where I worked and asked if I knew anyone who scrapbooked. I immediately said, “I do!” Then she asked if I’d consider doing it for hire. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. The next day, I showed her my work and she hired me. (Incidentally, she’s the woman I blogged about a few weeks ago - the woman who journaled on the plane ride to Hawaii.)

So a year or so later, when I got pregnant with Ian and knew I’d need to quit my job, I used that woman as a reference. When people asked me what I did, I always answered, “I scrapbook for people who have the desire, but not the time to do it themselves.” I knew the market for this type of thing was out there, but I didn’t know how to tap it. So I began telling everyone I came in touch with that this is what I did. Soon enough, a friend approached me and said she was working with a lady who might need to hire a scrapbooker. Several months went by before the lady actually got around to hiring me, and only because I pestered her until she did. LOL! The first books I did for her were very simple, and even so, I undercharged for them. It took me about a year to figure out that my time was worth more than I was charging. My first advice to new scrap-for-hire people is to charge what you’re worth from the very beginning, because it’s very difficult to raise your rates once you’ve established them with a customer. I was afraid that if I charged too much, I’d not get the job. I sold myself short.

Eventually, that job led to another…and another…and another. Word of mouth keeps me in business. I’ve never spent a nickle on advertising. I always intend to run an ad in some of the neighborhood association newsletters, but I haven’t yet. After three years, I decided I needed a website, and I hired a very talented friend to do the job. I designed everything in MS Publisher, thinking I could convert it to HTML myself. WHOA. I was so wrong! I sent her everything I’d done and she worked her magic and made a pretty penny in the process. My site isn’t designed to attract new customers, but rather to serve current customers and to answer questions for potential clients. When someone asks, “What do you do? What’s your style? How much do you charge?”… it’s so much easier to send them to my site than to try to explain it all with words. Scrapbooking and style is such a visual thing. They need to see it.

I had business cards printed at the same time. I haven’t done much with them, though. Sometimes, I think I’m afraid to grow my business too much. Is that crazy, or what??

I love love LOVE what I do. Truly, it’s the best job in the world. I currently have clients in California, Nebraska, Uganda, New York and several here in Fort Worth. I’m very near wrapping up two of my biggest clients, though, and then I’ll have a big void in both time and income. I need to fill those spots. I might need to advertise, huh?

My favorite thing about scrapping other people’s photos is that I’m able to move really fast. A friend used to call me a Scrapping Machine when she’d watch me work. With client photos, I’m not emotionally attached, so I don’t spend any time reminiscing, or trying to cull 8 photos of the same kid playing with the same toy down to one, or worrying too much about the layout. I just look at the photos and GO. Boom Boom Boom, I’m done. I have one client whose only requirement is that I stay current with industry trends, and that has done a world of good for my creativity. It keeps me from getting in too much of a rut, and it gives me an excuse to try things I might not try otherwise.

Another neat thing is that I get to know people in an odd sort of way. It’s almost like being a peeping Tom or a stalker. LOL! I recently finished a high school album for a woman’s grown son. I watched him grow from chubby 9th grader to a good-lookin’ captain-of-the-football team Senior as I worked on the job. I got to know his friends, his hobbies, his cousins. I told my client that if I ever saw Garrett on the street, I’d have the urge to run up and hug him and say, “Garrett!!! How ARE you? What are you doing now?” He’d think I was a freak. But I feel like I know him. Weird, huh?

I have another client who lives in Nebraska. We’ve never met in person, but we now exchange Christmas cards, and through our emails and through the photos I scrap of her family events, we’ve become friends. When her grandfather passed away two weeks ago, she emailed me and asked for prayers, which I readily offered. I wished I could be there in person to hold her and let her weep. Scrapbooking for others is such a personal thing. In some cases, the relationship is one-way. But in cases like Amy’s, the friendship is mutual. I’ve been very blessed to come in contact with some amazing, beautiful familes through this job of mine.

One of my first clients was a local family who never knew I scrapbooked for them because their personal secretary contracted me to do the work. I scrapped probably 12 years worth of photos for them, though, so I knew all the ins and outs of their lives and those of their close friends. One time, Darren and I were at a restaurant and two couples came in and sat near us. I nearly choked on my food, because here were these people whom I’d seen in every imagineable scenario - including the man prancing around in nothing but a jock strap, with a huge pink mum stuck in his butt. (Too bad I scrapped those pics before Prima flowers were available. OH the layout I could’ve done with those! LOL!) It was difficult for me to be dignified during dinner. I kept wanting to stare at them. I kept having to stifle my huge BWAHAHAHAHA.

The downside of scrapping for others is that my own family’s albums have fallen behind. I used to work on my own photos and stay almost caught up at weekend scrapbooking retreats, which I try to attend 3 or 4 times a year. Last year, though, I was so busy and always so near a deadline that I ended up working on client’s photos at retreats. I suffered severe burnout as a result, and this year, I resolved to only work on my OWN photos when I get away. It’s hard for me to work on my own alongside a client’s job, because I’m such a messy scrapper. When I’m mid-job, my studio is a maelstrom of papers, photos, embellishments… there’s not an inch of space that’s not covered. I’d be a fool to try to pull my own stuff out on top of it all.

This year, I intend to submit for publication, and to apply for a design team or two. I’ve never done either. Again, it’s that “fear of growing” thing that I’m so paralyzed by. Right now, I make enough to supplement Darren’s income and make a comfortable life for us. I have a goal of being able to pay a housekeeper to clean once every week or two by year’s end. And I’d love to make enough to start putting some in savings for future home improvement projects. Those are my business goals and dreams.

Whoa. This got long! But there it is. Nothing stupendous or earth-shattering. Just a girl with a dream, a passion, and a real need to make it happen. I am truly blessed.