Sabain in Lancaster, PA   - Quote from Sabain - "I SURE LOVE WHAT I DO!!!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! This has brought me so much joy and satisfaction! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Thank you, Lori! Because of your program, I am able to stay at home with my boys and run a successful business! Your step by step instructions and the ability to email with my crazy questions is worth every penny! I love what I do! I get a great amount of satisfaction and joy from each basket that I make. Sabain. 

Brandi in Converse, TX  Yay!  Everything looks really nice!  I LOVE the brochures and post cards!  Great for marketing!  I like the clear pictures in the instruction manual.   It probably would have been a while before I could have had someone design materials for me –I would have had some home made things, but no way would they look near as nice as yours!  I am definitely glad that I have the privilege of being one of your “apprentices”.  Thank you so much!   Brandi

Kim in Bryant, AR - see picture below in training - blue shirt

Melody in Fayetteville, AR - Quote from Melody - "I have really had fun practicing and it helped me so much to see what we worked on to remind me of how creative I can be."  Melody

Debbie in  Benton, AR - see picture below in training - red shirt

 And Apprentices coming soon.........
 Delia C. in Orlando, FL
 Carol Y. in Franklin, TN
 Lucy D. in Pensacola, FL     Welcome ladies!


Here are a few pictures of our new Apprentices Kim and Debbie training in our workshop in Conway, Arkansas.  Kim and Debbie were so excited to get started.  On this day, their 2nd training day, they told me they already had 10 orders!  Way to go!  See, there ARE plenty of new babies to go around!  And they did a fantastic job making their first personalized diaper gift baskets! Just beautiful! And that's our goal! To create beautiful, unique, not seen everywhere, gift baskets!
  

In January of 1996, I was thinking of leaving my job of 10 years as a marketing coordinator for a large cable company to start my own business. I had seen an article in the local paper about a lady who had bought a business called “Inklings” from her neighbor and they made personalized diapers. The article said her phone starting ringing the day it was installed in her home (the phone number had not changed). She thought she would have some time to get it organized, but demand for her product was already there. I thought personalized diapers sounded like a great idea - after all, people will always be having babies – and so I set out to figure out how to do it.

In a previous job I had learned how to imprint napkins for weddings and baby showers with a heat imprinting machine and I thought that looked similar to the method they were using for the personalized diapers. After researching for many months, many late nights on the computer with only a very slow dial-up connection and AOL to help me, I cashed out my 401K and in July of 1996, Diapergrams was born.

It was expensive to start – with over $4,500.00 for the initial imprinting machine, font types, air compressor and all the other gadgets I needed, I spent about $9,000 just to get started. Then I had to make it work.I had to get customers.I had to market myself.I had to get out there and make people know Diapergramseven existed.

Then I found out something else. Everything costs money.I had figured out how to imprint on the diapers so I had a product.But, I needed business cards and letterhead =$, marketing materials =$$ which you can’t even start on without pictures =$$$. You can do your own but they will look like you did. (Have you ever seen those pictures on eBay that you can see the dining room table and kitchen curtains?) Professional photographers were very expensive and could never see my product like I could see it in my head.I knew there could be better pictures made of my Diapergrams.

For my very first pictures, I got lucky because I have a brother who was beginning his career in photography, lighting, video, editing, etc.He and a friend of his said they would take pictures for me in the professional studio they worked in.I finally had all my samples done about 10pm on the day they were available. I got there about 11pm and they took pictures for me well into the night.They did a great job and that’s where my first marketing materials came from. I couldn’t do much more than postcards because brochures were too expensive.

I did every event I could get to over the next couple of years: from chamber of commerce business expos to maternity fairs to flea market set ups. And, everything else I could think of.

After 2 years, I decided it was time to start a website. Then I had to navigate that scary front and was even told once the internet was the wild, wild west of our time. You had to be very careful who you trusted and do a lot of homework to make sure you didn’t get taken on items like just registering my domain name - which I did. Get taken that is. I think I paid someone about $70.00 to register my name and then found out later it could have been done much cheaper. But I didn’t know anything about it. That is just one of the lessons I learned over the years.

Last year, I consulted a friend of my husband’s on how to go about setting up a website and a new business. I was surprised how easily the answers came to me and how much I really knew. I had just been going about the daily operations of my business and raising a family and a husband (hee hee), that I had not noticed the valuable information I had accumulated.

Over the years, I have been asked many, many times if I would franchise my business. I could never see doing that because I put up with a lot of production problems, lots of messed up diapers, lots of money spent, and lots of times my husband would wonder when I exactly I would make money. I could not see anyone else putting up with all I had to put up with.

Our program will include professional marketing materials with my photographs personalized with your contact information. Since you will be learning my designs, you can have instant marketing materials. With my program you will be still be able to be creative and design your own products and create your own marketing materials when you are able to but you can hit the ground running with pre-made materials. Believe me that was one of the hardest parts for me to get started.

With my Diapergrams program you will be able to order affordable new marketing materials anytime you need them with low minimums and professional quality and we will update and change your choices along the way so things will not stagnate.

This program will NOT be a “franchise” of Diapergrams and will not operate like one. Which  means there will be no franchise fees, no monthly participation fees or any fees based on your production.   Our relationship will strictly be a mentor/consultant.  In a true franchise set up, you would have access to the use of my name and I would have power over your quality control.  I  do not want to micromange any one and I think I would not have wanted anyone to micromanage me when I first started. If you need a system that is in place 100% and you just want to follow it, then this is not for you and maybe you do need to look elsewhere for an actual franchise.  I am providing information and marketing assistance on how to make a certain product. You will have your own name for the product and you will control your own quality and you will be solely responsible for the success of your business.  You will set your own way of doing business and be free from any type of control from me.  The only thing that is required of you from me is your complete non-disclosure of what you learn from me.  You at no time will own the rights to my information.  The information  I provide you is for your personal use only and will remain my property.  You will not be allowed to disclose any of it in any way and that is the main responsibility you will have to me. You will not be affiliated with Diapergrams, because that opens up a whole can of worms legally and I do not wish to operate in that manner. You will name your own business, as Diapergrams is my trademark and I intend to keep my business as well. As I said, I think there are enough babies out there to go around!

My costs for this program are nominal for the wealth of information you will be getting and not to mention the learning curve you will not have to endure.

If you are interested in learning more about our Apprentice Program, please let me know. You can reach me by email at loricanon@diapergrams.com. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have and look forward to hearing from you.                                                                                   

Sincerely,                       

I will try to get these questions answered with the new information in a couple of days. Thanks so much, Lori Canon, January 26, 2008

First question we always we get asked is:

What is a Diapergram?
Diapergrams are beautifully packaged gift baskets to welcome new babies that consists of disposable diapers personalized with the new baby's name on the hiney- plus other goodies if you so desire.

Then we hear: disposable diapers? aren't they just going to wet in them and get thrown away?
Yes, while this is true, they will also offer the new parents a unique photo oppotunity and be able to show off the new baby that is so special he/she deserves personalized diapers!

What kind of diapers do you use?
I would say this is definitely a frequently asked question! Actually our diapers are sort of our secret formula! We use a high quality fully featured diaper that many moms have asked to just buy from us because they worked so well!

What if I want to have the name in another color?
We are able to imprint in many colors. You can choose your imprint color on the order form. We have found that some colors do not adhere to the diapers very well, but Pink,Lt Blue, Royal Blue, Kelly Green and 14kt Gold always imprint well on the diapers.

How many letters are you able to get on the diapers?
Letters differ in width, so it really depends on the name. We try to stick to one line, because it makes a better imprint and names like Isabella Kaitlyn and Jackson Kyle fit just fine. Just fill out the form with your first choice for an imprint and we will let you know if it needs to shortened like Anthony Michael Johnson may need to be Anthony M. Johnson, for example.

What about sayings? Can you put Future Football Star?
With something like this, it may fit, we just have to set it up to see. Usually we can work out something to the same effect. Once we had an order for a customer's pilates instructor and we put "Bottom by Pilates" on the diapers! What a hoot!