Meet Patricia Bolaños, an entrepreneur looking for inspiration in New York for her business of wedding invitations and other wedding decorations: Print the Legend.
How did you get started in the world of illustration and how did you make it your business?
After finishing my degree in Architecture and working in several offices as a designer, I started making wedding invitations for my friends. At first I did it as a hobby, but suddenly and thanks to word of mouth, I started to receive orders from third parties and I realized that if I wanted to, I could start my own wedding invitation business.
What were the beginnings like? How did you get your first clients?
In my case, word of mouth was fundamental. Wedding invitations have something very good, and that is that they are in themselves a letter of introduction. When you receive a wedding invitation that you like you immediately ask “wow, who did this?”, and it worked very well for me. The next step was to create the website and social networks: Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest were the most useful in my case.
What customer acquisition methods do you use?
Facebook ads work wonders. By being able to segment your target audience by age and tastes, the possibility of reaching people who really value your work is huge. Also, blogging or collaborating with other reputable blogs helps me get my work out to more people.
Which social networks are most useful to you?
Since it’s a very visual job, no doubt Instagram for visibility and Facebook to gain clients. When I started I opened a Twitter account. I think that was the only time I used it.
What publication formats do you usually use?
For Instagram I usually use photos of the day to day of my work: production, sketches, when I go to stores to choose materials… And also, of course, photos of the finished product. On Facebook I use more the post format, to share things I see on other pages or articles related to design that I find interesting and that I think may be of interest to my clients.
Which publication has worked best for you?
Well, in terms of participation, collaborations with other blogs or contests are what work best in my case. It is a good way to take the pulse of the public, because you realize if they like your product, and also to make yourself known in an organic way.
What future projects do you have in mind?
Well, after 4 years telling the stories of others through wedding invitations, what my body is asking me is to tell my own stories. Right now I’m writing a blog about my adventures in New York (the city where I currently live) The sappy hour and I’m also writing a book about breakups and heartbreak. Ha, you see, in the blacksmith’s house, a wooden knife.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Work hard, be patient and above all be constant. It is very easy to get discouraged at the beginning, but when you believe in your project and it is born from a dream, it creates a genuine and unique voice that makes the project come to life. That is what differentiates it from the rest.
