2020 Business Bucket List

Wow, I finally got back to blogging after the holidays! I didn’t realize how much I needed a break until I took one. Doesn’t it feel great to occasionally do nothing? Don’t get me wrong, I am a very motivated and a slightly Type A kind of person but as busy I tend to keep myself it does feel good on occasion to just let it all go. In fact, I realized that this year I need to delegate more. I need to give myself more breaks so that at the end of the year I don’t feel like I need several weeks off to regroup.

When my virtual assistant and I had our most recent meeting to discuss goals and how I wanted the business to grow this year I decided it was the perfect time to start handing more things over to her and boy did it feel great.

Before our meeting, I sat down and wrote a list of all the thing I love to do, all the things that must be done and all the things that I’d love to hand off. For 2020, I’m focusing more on taking risks, no regrets and living large. It was time to review the business bucket list so to speak and it felt great. The older I get the more willing I am to just go for the gold.

Have you had time to sit down and decide what you want your 2020 to look like? I realize we are three weeks into the new year, yet I imagine if you are busy like me wrapping up the end of the year responsibilities, February 1 feels more like the start to the new year.

If you haven’t already, schedule some time in your calendar before the end of the month and create your list of goals for 2020 … or your 2020 Business Bucket List. Post your bucket list where you can see it and be ready to cross things off as you accomplish them. Bucket lists are fun and rewarding, so dream big. Life is an adventure and your business is part of that life. Want to see a sample 2020 Business Bucket List?

1. Start an email subscriber list

2. Create a list of rock star vendors

3. Attend KBIS

4. Hire a virtual design assistant

5. Have an article published in an interior design magazine

6. Do an interior design segment on a local news channel

7. Pitch a new design show to HGTV

Let’s all be more adventurous this year and accomplish dreams we never thought possible! Feel free to share your bucket list with me. Sometimes accountability is key!

XX, Danae

2020 ... Let's Light It Up!

Can you believe that 2019 is almost over? This year has flown by and although I’ve had a lot of fun and growth in my business, I am really looking forward to 2020!

2020 is going to be an exciting new year in the interior design industry. If you are looking forward to growing your business here are some great idea to consider for the new year!

1.       Email subscriber list. When it comes to social media, the number one fastest growing way to get more clients has become the email subscriber lists. There are so many people competing for real estate on social media platforms that it has become increasingly difficult to be seen. So why not market to the people who want to hear from you? Why not market to your exact target market? Even a small email subscriber list can generate you more business than trying to market to the masses on social media.

2.       Local workshops. People love being educated, which is why courses are become extremely lucrative. Courses take a lot of time and energy to develop, market and maintain and although they work great for some designers if you prefer to generate local business then create a workshop for your target market. Local workshops are a great way to get in front of a lot of potential clients and be able to tell them about yourself and teach them something they can do in their own home.

3.       Video. Everyone wants to see you, get to know you and watch you. Yes, we’ve become a society of voyeurs and reality tv is influencing the way people conduct business. Create videos about before and after projects, shopping for décor, working with contractors, working with the clients … whatever you are comfortable with, start sharing videos.

4.       Thinking of you cards. I know a lot of people send holiday cards to their past clients, if you aren’t doing this you should consider it. It’s a great way to drum up more business from them. They see your card and think … I need to hire them to do my kitchen, or whatever it is. If you don’t send holiday cards you might consider a thinking of you type card that you send a year or two after you’ve worked with them. Staying in front of people is how you get them to hire you again and some say repeat clients are the best clients.

5.       New packages. Look back on the last few years of your business, is there a service or package that was far more popular than others? Are there a few services you offer that clients no longer ask for? Refresh your offers to reflect what your clients are asking for today. Also consider offering new services that align with your new goals for the year. Perhaps you want to include e-design, redesign or staging into your business for the new year.

Whatever you decide to do for 2020 you need to be thinking of it now. Write down your goals, update your website and social media and get ready for the best year ever … it’s only 21 days away!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I wish you the most amazing end to 2019 and the most exciting beginning to 2020!

XX, Danae

Create Your Own Subscription Box

Subscription boxes are fun and they are popping up everywhere! People love a surprise in the mail every now and then so how can interior designers cash in on this popular sales technique?

Create an interior design subscription box that your clients or prospects can order. Use this box as your marketing as well, this is especially a great way for e-designers to promote their services as they can be used by anyone anywhere!

So how do you start a subscription box service?

First think of a great idea. Who are your customers? Who is your competition? What is your niche? What is your brand? If your niche is farmhouse than do a monthly curated box of farmhouse style accents. If your style is coastal then come up with a coastal box. You can curate a box for any style. Need ideas for what to put in the box?

1.       Candles

2.       Place mats

3.       Pictures

4.       Small vases

5.       Kitchen hand towels

6.       Cloth napkins

7.       Coasters

8.        Old books

9.       Small décor items

10.   Decorative fillers like pine cones, sea shells, rocks … whatever relates to your style

11.   Marketing materials – your business card, maybe a monthly How To guide – How To Style a Coffee Table, How to Style a Master Bed, etc. Also include coupons for your services.

Figure out your price point. How much do you think your target market is willing to spend per box per month? Home décor boxes typically run anywhere from $29.99 to $59.99 per month.

Build a prototype. Once you’ve come up with ideas to put in the box and your price point, it’s time to build a prototype. Most boxes offer 4-6 items per box. You’ll need to come up with vendors, a box, marketing materials, the items in the box, etc. A lot of businesses build a prototype, market it, start getting orders and then build the rest of their business.  

Marketing. You’ll need to create a website for your new business or add this site to your existing interior design site. Once the site is up, start marketing on social media.

Ship your boxes! Ship your items to your customers and listen to their feedback. You want to build the best box for them and the great thing about a subscription boxes is that it’s a new box every month, so you have the opportunity to switch up the box as needed.

I realize this is a high-level overview of starting a subscription box business. if you’d like more information please see the article at Cratejoy in the link below.

https://www.cratejoy.com/sell/guides/how-to-start-a-subscription-box/

Cratejoy is sort of like the Etsy of the subscription box world. You can sell your subscription boxes on Cratejoy for more marketing exposure.

Just remember - do your market research. There are several home décor boxes out there already. See which ones are the most popular and why? Is there a hole in the market? Is there something else people are asking for and aren’t receiving?

Have fun with your box. Building a subscription box service could be a really fun venture!

 XX, Danae

Create an Online Dropshipping Store

Dropshipping has become a very popular way for people to run online stores. It enables you to create a site and sell products without having inventory or even paying for the products until they are sold. Interior designers are creating their own online stores using dropshipping.

How to start a dropshipping business:

1.       Find a supplier. You will need to find dropshipping suppliers to work with. Oberlo is a marketplace that allows you to find products that you can sell online with dropshipping and according to them the home décor industry will be a $664 billion dollar industry by 2020.

Other dropshippers to consider for home décor: Eastwind Wholesale Gift Distribution, Koehler Home Décor, Park Designs, Wholesale Interiors, Sage Brook Home, Aspire Home Accents, Classic Touch Décor, Designs Direct, LLC, Home Spice.

2.       Build your store. You can use Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, GoDaddy or BigCommece. If you decide to use Oberlo (mentioned above) they work hand in hand with Shopify.

3.       Market your website. Create a marketing plan and post your website on social media, your blog, email subscriber list and anywhere else you can to gain exposure.

When looking at marketing your dropshipping business some trends for 2020 to consider are:

*Mobile sales are significantly increasing which means people are using their phones more than ever to purchase products. Make sure your site is mobile friendly!

*Business owners are optimizing their website’s home pages and turning them into product pages. Sell the products front and center instead of having a Shop tab.

*Video descriptions of products are going to start showing up more and more on websites.

*Another random note that may or may not help with creative brainstorming when trying to figure out what to sell on your site – subscription boxes and personalized products are on the rise. Consumers love personalizing items and millennials love subscription boxes. Stay tuned in December for a post about creating subscription boxes for the interior design industry.

A dropshipping store can be as lucrative as you like if you do the marketing, social media and get the word out there. It’s a huge undertaking and if you don’t have the time … well you know where to go. :)

Earn Passive Income with an Online Store

Many interior designers make just as much money, if not more, on the commission off the products they are selling to their clients than they are on their design fees. There are only so many hours in a week to be able to create designs so a great way to grow your business is by selling products.

You can earn a great passive income by creating an online shop where your clients and target market can shop goods that are curated by you.

Curious how to get started?

1.       Set up trade accounts. I’m guessing most of you have several trade accounts set up already so research which vendors allow ecommerce sales. These are the vendors you can work with in your online shop.

2.       Create an inventory plan. Every vendor will be different in what they require for order minimums and re-order minimums. Start small and grow from there meaning start with small inventory number but a larger range of products.

3.       Create your site. There are a lot of ecommerce site templates you can purchase to make this part easy. Popular ecommerce site builders for small business are Squarespace, Shopify, Weebly and GoDaddy. You will need to calculate shipping costs so have your weights and dimensions on hand. Once your inventory and shipping are loaded connect your site to your preferred payment processor and you are ready to roll.

4.       Add content. Consider SEO when typing in descriptions for your items and use professional looking photography.

5.       Market your site. Showcase your site on social media, your blog, in a video, to your email subscriber list and anywhere else you get exposure.

There are a lot of great articles and videos online that will help you create a gorgeous ecommerce site. However, if you need help you may want to consider hiring a professional with experience creating ecommerce sites for small businesses.

If the above sounds too complicated another option might be to consider using a dropship service where you don’t have to worry about inventory for your online store. I’ll share more information on dropshipping next week!

4 Trending Revenue Streams for Interior Designers

There are several ways to create income as an interior designer other than just offer your typical services and trade products.  Depending on your situation some of them may be more inline with your current business. A few of the most popular ways I see interior designers growing their businesses today are below.

1.       Affiliate income – You can become an affiliate for several vendors selling furniture, home décor, art, fabric, window treatments and everything else your clients are already purchasing. Add your links to social media and start making sales from people who don’t hire you for your services. I know interior designers who have created mood boards with shopping lists and posted them on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, their blog and subscriber email to make more sales.

2.       Courses – Online education is huge and there are people all over the world making millions of dollars selling their online courses. It is a lot of hard work to create a course, market it and manage it but you can create one course and sell it over and over again, even while you sleep.

3.       Online stores – You could create your own store and sell a variety of things such as a book you’ve written, fabrics or artwork you’ve created, refurbished furniture pieces and a variety of other things.

4.       Coaching – Online business coaching is another growing industry and there are many people who benefit from working with a successful interior designer in the industry. Your target market will pay for your mentoring, expertise and knowledge to help them gain success in a quicker fashion than if they were to have to reinvent the wheel themselves.

I’ve personally seen interior designers successfully implement the options above into their businesses. At the end of the day you’ll yield the best results with the options your most passionate about. With any of the above you won’t make money overnight but with some time and dedication you have the potential to make more money than you ever thought possible.

With the new year quickly approaching, what are your goals for your business for 2020? Are you ready to add another revenue stream?

Grow Your Business with a Copywriter

Copy sells and a huge part of marketing is the copy. Your target market is reading about you on your website, social media platforms, subscriber emails and any other vehicle you use to get your message out to the world. Unfortunately, very talented and skilled professionals can be missing out on business solely based on the copy they are using.

Often business owners are amazed at how much a copywriter assists in driving sales. Every piece of your marketing requires copy. Below are just a few things that you need copy for and with great copy they all have the potential to generate sales.

1.       Blog posts

2.       Emails

3.       Website content

4.       Search engine traffic

5.       Marketing pieces/advertisements

6.       Social media posts

7.       Client stories

8.       Video scripts

I understand not everyone is interested or feels they have the budget for a copywriter but consider this; Are you comfortable writing copy? Is writing copy the best use of your time? If you aren’t comfortable writing copy are you willing to put in the time to learn? In the long run, hiring a copywriter can actually save you time, money and increase your sales. It’s all part of the investment back into your business that is necessary to grow.

Your copy is what sets you apart from the rest – let’s say you are an amazing interior designer specializing in residential coastal design in California. And potential clients are looking at your website and social media along with another really good coastal designer in California. The work is similar, maybe your processes are similar, so they are going to go for the better copy. Which copy spoke to them more and which copy drew them in and made them excited about doing business with an interior designer.

Your copy can also be what got you noticed in the first place. You had great copy, so they looked at your work and stayed on website or navigated to your website. Even with individuals who have images to show for their work, the copy is still what people read. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work to just throw a bunch of images out there with zero copy and hope to get sales, people want to read about you and your story.

Please always feel free to email me with questions about working with a copywriter. Or if you want to start small you can always purchase emails from the Shop on my website for only $15 per email. We have several emails but a few of them are:

1.       Is Hiring an Interior Designer Worth It?

2.       5 Easy Steps to Update Your Living Room

3.       How High to Hang Artwork

4.       How to Choose The Right Sized Rug

5.       Thank you for subscribing (this is an email you’d send after someone subscribes to your email)

6.       Email Client Review (this email asks your clients to leave a review and where to leave it)

Remember, copy sells!

The Importance of Interior Design

Sometimes it’s fun to explore a new angle of interior design. Interior Design isn’t about wanting things to be perfect or providing a beautiful outward appearance to peers or even about having the best of everything. Interior design is about providing a beautiful space to further enhance where a person and/or family spends their time, makes their memories and strives to be their happiest.

As an interior designer I don’t have to tell you about the science behind interior design or the psychology behind color but do your clients know the value you bring to them not only as an interior designer but as an expert in creating a happy space?

I know every interior designer treats their business a little bit different, every interior designer has their own ‘why’ and their own branding.

A post I think you should consider sharing with your target market either as an email or a blog post would be The Value of Using an Interior Designer. This is great for residential and commercial. Commercial spaces need happy people, too.

In addition to writing about the time and money savings involved in using an interior designer include a bit about the science behind design and the benefits interior design can have on mental health. More than ever people are striving to be happy and that starts by waking up in a happy space, eating in a happy space, winding down in a happy space, spending time in a happy space, working in a happy space and making memories in a happy space.

There are several ways to look at the benefits of interior design and at the end of the day which of those benefits most resonates with your target market? Figure it out and promote that benefit or benefits the most and if you are looking for a new angle to promote - promote a beautiful and happy space!

Need a Few New Sources?

Sources for interior designers

I know a lot of interior designers talk about sourcing and where to find great products. I’m sure you have your favorite go-to sources but it’s always great to find a new one now and again. Below are a few great new sources that other interiors designers have been raving about recently, so I had to share!

OKA – www.oka.com

Originating in England, OKA offers exquisite, original collections of furniture and décor that are designed to inspire practical living and effortless entertaining. Synonymous with good taste and excellent style, we have furnished homes all over the world for the past 20 years.

This company does offer an affiliate program with a 6% commission.

Maiden Home – www.maidenhome.com

They offer heritage quality, direct from craftsmen, minus the retail markup. These are timeless pieces that are built to last. Located out of North Carolina they do offer at trade program.

Society 6 – www.society6.com

This source is very popular among designers for artwork, but they offer a variety of items from tapestries, pillows, shower curtains, comforters, window curtains and more.

McGee & Co – www.mcgeeandco.com

Their products are refreshingly modern and endlessly classic. They offer everything from furniture, rugs, décor, bed & bath, wall décor, lighting, kitchen items and even holiday décor. They offer a trade program for interior designers and are actively looking to build their brand.

Is sourcing not your thing? Please let me know if you need help. We have some great virtual design assistants who love helping our clients with sourcing.

How To Hire An Assistant

Business is booming and you need help! I match virtual assistants to help interior designers manage and grow their business but not all interior designers want to work with someone virtually and that’s okay. You need to do what’s best for you and your business. Are you at a point where you could use some help? Are you getting so busy you are overwhelmed? Are there certain aspects of your business that you dread and continue putting on the back burner? Have you recently considered hiring help? If you answered yes, to any of those questions then this post is for you!

You’ve realized you need help, now what? Take a few moments and make a list of the things you need help with – what tasks do you feel would be the easiest for you to let go of, what tasks do you dread doing and what tasks would really make you feel less overwhelmed if you could outsource them.

Now review that list of tasks – is it possible to outsource them to a virtual assistant or should you consider hiring an in-office assistant? Are these tasks going to take someone 40 hours per week or 20 hours per week or are they really on an as-needed basis? If you need a lot of help with renders, floor plans, administration, sourcing, social media and marketing among other things those can all be outsourced to a virtual assistant. However, if you need help with organizing fabric libraries, running errands, site visits and overseeing projects than an in-office assistant is what you’re going to need to hire.

Whichever route you take it’s best to put together a job listing including the required education, experience and details of the job. The clearer you can be on the job description, qualifications and your expectations the better. You are going to need to advertise for the position online, in a local job board, on LinkedIn, in a Facebook group or in the local newspaper to start generating some resume. Review the resumes and set up interviews.

There are pros and cons to hiring both a virtual assistant and in-office assistant.

Virtual assistants are typically 1099 contractors, they work on an as-needed basis and you can either hire one direct or through a virtual assistant agency. You don’t have to worry about providing them a work space, equipment, benefits or keeping them busy for a certain number of hours. The great ones are super reliable, professional and easy to work with.

The con to hiring virtual is that they are virtual – they are not able to run errands, do site visits or organize things in your office. If you don’t need these types of services, then there really isn’t a con to hiring a virtual assistant.

When you hire an in-office assistant, they are typically an employee that is going to need a work space, equipment, set hours and benefits. They are there in person to help with tasks that require them to be in the office or at a job site. Some business owners like knowing they can see their assistant face-to-face on a regular basis.

Along with the tasks you need completed, your personality also plays a big part in whether you hire virtually or not. I’ve worked in the virtual world for thirteen years and am very used to working with people over the phone, email and Skype or Zoom. Some people aren’t comfortable working in that way and that is okay!

Just as becoming an interior designer isn’t for everyone, working with a virtual assistant isn’t for everyone. And sometimes working with an assistant period isn’t for everyone. But if you are struggling and you need help please let me know.

I’m always happy to answer questions about hiring an assistant whether it’s a virtual one or one that’s in your office.