The Lonely Marketer

The Lonely Marketer SBM-In-Action Interview Series: A Milestone Paper Co.

What is it that makes you feel 100% confident of a purchase? For me, confidence comes from seeing a product or service in action before buying or from having a product or service referred to me by a friend. Our first interview in the Lonely Marketer SBM-In-Action series, has a knack for creating those experiences for people and instilling that confidence in potential customers.

When my wife and I had our second child, we realized our time was limited and the chances of doing a baby announcement ourselves was slim. We had seen some examples of products created by A Milestone Paper Co. and really liked the uniqueness of each piece. Thus, we asked them to do our announcement and we felt they created the exact piece we wanted. They captured every feeling and emotion we were after.

And what have we done since? Talk up and recommend the company to other friends and family.

Sarah Glad, Co-Owner of A Milestone Paper Co., might not say it, but she knows marketing. Sarah has the ability to create a buzz that gets customers talking about her and her business. How does she do it? Through personal touches, understanding the needs of her customers, and a passion for “..creating an emotion”.

But, enough from me - I’ll let her tell us more about it. Sarah was nice enough to sit down with me and discuss her small business and what role marketing plays in her plans.

Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time today to talk about A Milestone Paper Co. For some of my readers who are not familiar with your business, can you give us an overview?

“We create custom paper products including: invitations, cards, baby announcements and business correspondence (business cards, fliers, mailing labels, gift certificates, conference/party gift bags). We are unique in that the process is entirely custom. We meet with each couple or client, usually in person, but sometimes by phone or e-mail to get a solid feel for the style they are after. I think our very personal approach, meeting clients face to face in locations convenient to them, showing true interest in their events, designing products that are reflections of who they are, is critical to our success. There are very few limitations put on our customers with regards to style, color, font, graphics or design. We are in the process of developing a less custom line—more similar to the traditional wedding invitation vendor with a range of designs and a limited choice of colors and fonts. We are after the couple who want quality paper products, but are either not interested in the extra effort the custom process requires, or don’t have the time for it.

My sister, sister-in-law and I own the business together and we got started after my husband and I realized that the custom wedding invitations we really wanted were far out of our budget. He and I created our own, and then my sisters and I created invitations for their weddings. From there news spread by word of mouth. We really wanted to be able to create for other couples what they really wanted for a more reasonable price. As a side note, I’ve always created handmade Christmas cards for our family. When I began to offer that service business picked up, not only for holiday cards but word spread and brides and grooms and new parents started calling for birth announcements and wedding invitations.”

I love your tag-line “set a mood….create an emotion”. You’ve done a good job of creating an image for your paper business. What was your inspiration in creating your image and what are you trying to convey to potential customers?

“I really want people to realize that an invitation is much more than event particulars on a piece of paper. It is a powerful way to connect with friends and family. When people receive a thoughtfully custom designed invitation, they notice. Their reaction is different than it would be to an ordinary invitation. Guests are intrigued and drawn in. They get a sense of the style and feel of the event to which they’re invited. The same is true of holiday cards or birth announcements. I have a client who shared the story of her financially conservative brother-in-law who received a Milestone holiday card and insisted that his own family have a custom designed card next Christmas. He was touched by the card he received. That’s what I’m after.”

What types of marketing are you using to convey this image and brand to the marketplace?

“The majority of our marketing is done for us by our clients. Word of mouth is very important to us. This business is nice in the sense that one client may send out 200 invitations. Often at least one of those recipients has a need for our services. The second most useful marketing tool for us is a paid ad on theknot.com, a wedding planning website. We get a fair number of inquiries from that ad. However, we’re finding an interesting trend in the type of bride who spends a lot of time on The Knot. More on that in my response to the next question. There are wedding related websites that offer free vendor posting. We also list our business there.”

Can you describe for us your current target market and as a follow-up to that question, who do you think your target market will be in five years?

“Our target market is evolving as we speak. We pride ourselves in being able to work with almost any budget. I often quote a project with several different options for lowering costs. I would say our target market now for wedding invitations is the mid to mid-high budget couples. They tend to be busy, career oriented individuals who want nice invitations without blowing the budget. We have an option for couples to do the assembly themselves, which is a popular choice for two reasons, it saves money and it involves the couple and often family and the wedding party in this part of the wedding.

The younger couples (early twenties) have more time and energy and less money. They often choose the do-it-yourself (DIY) route. Incidentally, what I’m noticing is that the brides who are really active in The Knot community (message boards, biographies, etc.) seem to be the younger brides. They encourage each other to do their own projects. There are templates for everything from invites and programs, to aisle runners and card boxes. We’ll need to evaluate the appropriateness of putting advertising dollars there as our target market shifts.

As for the future, I see our target market heading towards the higher end. I get more design confidence and I’m learning to use higher end paper products. The average price per piece of the projects I create is inching up as I learn more. My ideal would be to have our target market firmly established as the mid-high budget couples, with services that still appeal to mid budget couples and projects that suit the tastes of those with a high budget as well.

The same trends follow with birth announcements and holiday cards as well.”

How has your product and/or focus evolved as you’ve learned more about your customer base?

“We began carrying a line of paper products, pocketfolds, tri-folds, petal folds, metallic papers etc., about a year ago. That move significantly changed the course of our business. Couples completely derail their budget so they can utilize these products. Recently I met with a couple who gave me a firm top dollar. I worked hard to find creative ways to stay within their budget in preparation for our meeting. At the meeting they saw the pocketfold and nearly doubled their initial budget. As I mentioned earlier, our use of these products and my growing design know-how has changed the look and cost of our typical project.”

Can you talk about what challenges you face now or anticipate you will face as you continue to grow and market your products against larger competitors?

“I feel most challenged by trying to determine when to go to the next level, i.e. get more sophisticated equipment, spend more on advertising, and charge more for projects. Also, continuing to differentiate ourselves from our competitors is a top priority.”

Thank you Sarah for taking the time for the interview! We’ll look forward to catching up with you later this year.

Be sure to check out examples of the company’s work! They truly do a great job. You can also contact Sarah directly if you’d like to inquire about her services.