Ruth Bleakley of Concertina Press has been following her bliss for some time. “I've always loved art and making crafts,” she says. “I was a studio art major in college, but I always enjoyed making things when I was growing up. In college I learned a lot more about design.”
Bleakley's love of design landed her a job at The Paper Tyger, a stationery shop in downtown Falmouth. “While I was there,” she says, “I had the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of custom stationery and wedding invitation design, working with brides who were getting married in the area. When the shop closed in March 2011 (due to the owner moving), I decided to start designing my own line of nautically inspired stationery and wedding invitations.”
Bleakley was wise enough to give herself the best chance of success by gathering as much information as possible bout the market she was entering. “I did a lot of planning and research when I started,” she says. “I looked for stationery trends (vintage illustrations) and areas that I felt were under represented (not enough cool invitations for scientists and marine life enthusiasts), and planned to form a niche business that provided nautical wedding invitations and stationery using antique scientific illustrations. I had already been selling my handmade journals at local craft fairs and online, so I knew online success was possible.”
Bleakley carved out her niche by offering distinctive designs, and knowing her customers. “When I started out I felt like some of the options out there for beach wedding invitations were a little...well, boring,” she says. “Also, there are plenty of folks having non-traditional ceremonies on the beach or who met because of a shared love of the ocean - so far I've done invitations for couples who met while on scuba diving expeditions, at an aquarium enthusiasts club, and marine biologists who research algae in Hawaii.”
A major part of 21st century success is social media, and Bleakley was well prepared for that reality as well. “I have a part time job as a social media manager for a children's classical music company called Maestro Classics, which has shown me the real benefits that engaging in social media (Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and Pinterest) can have for your business,” she says. “It made me realize the importance of a strong online presence, especially if you don't have a storefront. People want to see that you're a real human being.
“I try to make it worthwhile to follow me on Facebook by giving sneak peeks of what I'm working on, asking for input while I'm developing new designs and sharing interesting links. On Pinterest I collect ideas that customers of mine might like on my Vintage Nautical Wedding board. On my blog I show off orders that I've sent out (I love packaging!) as well as interviews with other neat artists like a nautical crochet extraordinare and a wax seal jewelry maker. One mistake that many folks make when they have a blog or Facebook page is they just show their own stuff for sale and never put their 'real voice' online - it's like a ticker tape of advertising – boring!”
While much of her business is done online, Bleakley keeps her designs rooted in her geographical location. “All of my work is nautical, with a heavy use of blues and whites,” she says. “I'd say that's pretty full of the spirit of Cape Cod! I find that more often brides on the Cape are interested in more traditional designs like my Navy Compass Wedding Invitation and Pennant Wedding Invitation, but I know that many of my scientific illustration designs like my Jellyfish Thank You Notes and Octopus Thank You Notes are popular with the scientists down here in Woods Hole. Next on my list of priorities is developing a Cape Cod wedding invitation to coordinate with my Cape Cod Save the Date.”
Her distinctive designs have become Bleakley's trademark, and have led to rewards far beyond the monetary. “One of the most rewarding parts of my work is hearing how much wedding guests enjoyed receiving their wedding invitations,” she says, “despite (or maybe because of) how unusual they are.”