Thursday, February 28, 2008

Enter Deco-Pages

When one door closes, another door opens. As a result of my relationship with Patti Bravard and her design position at Deco-Pages, she put out a couple hints to the owners that I might make a good designer. I didn't have much of a resume other than the Valentine Be Mine kit I put together for the Inspiration Challenges at Scrap2Basics and a mini kit addition to the May Mega Kit also at Scrap2Basics.

On May 20, 2007 Pat suggested I contact Deb Ammerman about the possibility of being a designer at Deco-Pages, which I did...

"Hello Deb,

My name is Tom Dillion. I have just been chatting with good friend Patti Bravard. She suggested I contact you about the possibility of being a designer at Deco-Pages. Designing kits is something I have been working toward. I have many ideas in my head. So far I have created one full kit in a Valentines theme and one mini kit in a Mother's Day theme, (which is part of the Scrap2Basics May Mega kit). There are many techniques I want to learn so I can include them in future creations. I would be very interested to know the requirements of being a designer and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Tom Dillion..."

Deb replied the same day...

"Hi Tom,

I saw your Valentines kit on your blog a while ago, when you first visited our site. :) I thought of contacting you, but did not want to step on anyone's toes. I mentioned to Pat that I had seen your kit, and she thought you might be interested, so I asked her to talk to you. Deco-Pages is about creativity and friendship Tom... we are very easy going. We make suggestions, never demands. We love working together as a team, and we are very supportive of one another. We ask our designers to try to create at least two kits a month to add to the store, however we know that making memories with our family and friends comes first... so if may find you get one kit done in a month, and three finalize in another... no one will ever yell at you if you do not get two kits done per month.

Best Regards,
Deb Ammerman
Co-Owner
www.deco-pages.com
deb@deco-pages.com"

I replied 2 days later on May 22, 2007...

"Deb,

I must admit this is very tough decision. My loyalty has been to Scrap2Basics through and through. Pamela Gibson, Jennifer Riggins and Heather Heinzer have taught me a wealth of information and have given me the chance to succeed. I will forever appreciate what they have done for me. It's so depressing for me to see what Scrap2Basics is becoming. I have done everything I can do to promote the site and it's still not looking as good as I had hoped. I think the site is lacking just one little thing to make it a great scrap site and attract people. I have run out of ideas on how to find it, and it's time for me to move on...

I look at Deco-Pages and feel I have found a new scrap home. I love the friendship aspect of the site. That's one of the most important things to me. I love that I have become such great friends with Pat. I'm sure if she lived closer to me, she would already be kicking my behind for not jumping at this opportunity before now. She's such a wonderful person! There is one thing I told her though... scrapping my last cruise comes first before creating kits. I have about 30 layouts created so far and I want to complete my album, so my wife, family, friends and fellow cruisers can enjoy it. It's one of the things that definitely inspires my creativity. I have another cruise coming in January, so I really need to be finished scrapping the last one before then.

I would like to thank you for your wonderful invite and accept your wonderful offer to join Deco-Pages as a designer. This will be fun. You'll have to let me know what I must do and how to participate in the Club Deco program because it sounds very inspiring and fun. I look forward to your reply.

Again, thank you very much,

Tom Dillion..."

Deb replied the next day, May 23, 2007...

"Hi Tom,

I am very excited that you have accepted my invitation to join our design team! :) Please see my comments below....

I am not quite sure what to say... I do not know anything about Scrap2Basics or what is going on... I do know that I am sorry that you had an unpleasant experience, for me, this has to be about creativity, friendship and fun... I hope that you will always feel free to express any concerns you have about anything with me and the Design Team at Deco-Pages. We truly are a team, and we love working together... our friendships are very important to all of us... it is what makes Deco-Pages that site that it is, and we extend that friendship to anyone who finds our site... We love digital scrapbooking, and we value our friendships. We believe in the golden-rule... these things are the foundation on which Deco-Pages is built... it is a very strong foundation. :)

Pat is such a sweetheart... I just love her... she has been on our Creative Team for so long, and has just recently joined the Design Team with her husband. We are having so much fun together.... I can understand how you feel. :)

If I might make a suggestion... (I do this from time to time, and I tell the designers from the beginning, that you should always take what you like and leave the rest.) If you create elements and backgrounds to use for your cruise pages, put them together into a kit to sell, and kill two birds with one stone. One of the things that I tell the designers is to create for yourself... then package it up, and put it up for sale... if it sells, it is icing on the cake, and your kit will be wonderful, because it is something you love.

Tom, one of the things that a designer needs to understand about the digital scrapbooking market (this is something I tell all the new designers who come on board with us) is that no one is getting rich doing this... I don't want you to come into this thinking that you will put a kit up for sale and sell hundreds of them in a matter of days... hey, I would love it if someone proved me wrong, but it just has not been our experience. I want our designers to come into this with their eyes wide open, so that there is no disappointment. This is about creativity and fun... otherwise it would be a horribly bad paying job. That is why we create what we love for ourselves, and any sales we make are just pure fun! Now, don't get me wrong... if you leave a kit up long enough, over time (With a lot of patience), you will get enough sales to justify the time you spent on it... I am NOT saying you will never sell anything... I just want you to know we are honest, and we do not try to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.

I am going to attach a contract for you to look over and sign. Basically, we have to have something in writing because we are a business. I want you to know that you will always be treated with friendship and respect... if you have any questions or concerns about the contract, please let me know and I will do my best to address them. Once you sign the contract and send it back to me (which you can do via email) we will print, sign and send a copy back to you via snail mail, so please include your mailing address on the last page of the contract. After I get your contract back, I will change some settings in the forum and make you a Designer & Moderator, at that point you will be able to see a private section we have in the forum that only our Design Team can see. At that point I will also send you a link to a Welcome Packet for New Designers that explains about Club Deco, about setting up products in the store... and has other important information you will need to know.

Thank you, I am looking forward to getting to know you better, and to sharing this wonderful hobby, and lots of creative fun in our little family of designers. :)
Best Regards,
Deb"

I replied the same day with a signed contract!!! Deb replied May 24, 2007 with...

"Hi Tom,

Welcome Aboard!
I have created a little Welcome Area for Designers, it is a little web site in itself with answers to questions you might have, and links to the tutorial on how to set up your products in the store. I will have to set up user names and passwords for you for the shopping cart, and for FTP. I will send those to you soon.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions. I do have to let you know that I work a "day job" as a graphic designer for a monthly publication that is going to press early next week, so this is an extremely busy week for me. So please forgive me if I do not get back to you as quickly as I would like to. If you have a pressing question, you can post in the private section in the forum for the Design Team, and if I cannot answer you, one of the other designers will be more than happy to help if they can.

Again, I am very excited that you have decided to join us! Welcome aboard! I hope you have lots of fun! How are those cruise pages coming? Have you been creating any elements of your own to use on your pages? Can't wait to see some of them in the gallery!
Best Regards,
Deb"

Wow... a Designer!!! I need to get busy designing!!!


# posted by Tom... : Thursday, February 28, 2008




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