Project Management Software for Interior Designers

Project Management Software can be a game changer for your business. There are so many effective options out there… So how do you decide which software is the best for you? We’re highlighting four project management programs that can help take your business to the next level. 

Monday.com

As an interior designer, Monday.com  is a project management software that can help you manage vendors, contractors, and clients, manage inventory, and collaborate with your team, track and bill your time or create purchase sheets. You can store contact information, collaborate, and keep everyone in the loop. This makes Monday.com a great resource for a team of designers or a solo designer who wants to manage workflows with other vendors and contractors. 

Pricing:

Individual - $0 forever 

Basic - $8 per team member / month 

Standard - $120 per team member / month

Pro - $16 per team member / month

Get started here.

ClickUp

ClickUp is another great project management tool that can boost productivity. ClickUp offers spaces, where different aspects of your business or design business are stored. It also provides templates for interior designers that can allow you to store your specs, images, and proposals all in one place. This software is helpful for improving delivery times and tracking project statuses to stay on track and meet client expectations. 

Pricing:

Free Forever - best for personal use

Unlimited - $5 per month and best for small teams

Business - $9 per month and best for mid-sized teams

Business Plus - $19 per month and best for multiple teams

Try it here.

Asana

Asana is a project management tool that allows you to track and manage your work, use commenting to ask questions and provide feedback on tasks, and to easily find files related to various projects. Asana is a great tool for teams to track their projects, allowing design requests, teamwork feedback, and collaboration to take place easily among team members. 

Pricing:

Basic - $0 for individuals or teams just getting started

Premium - $10.99 per user per month 

Business - $24.99 per user per month

Sign up here.

GatherIt

GatherIt is another great Project Management tool for interior design teams that employs a visual approach to organization. This program allows teams to collaborate and have easy access to important project information. This software specifically helps visually organize projects, source products faster, stay on top of status dates and produce resorts and design deliverables. 

Pricing:

Studio $199 per month

Firm $349 per month

Start a free trial here.

Each of these software programs have different benefits and features that uniquely make them the best fit for your business. Consider trying out a free trial or continuing to research how other designers are using these programs to help decide which software is the best option for you. 

Are you looking for more resources that can help your business? Check out our other resources here.

xx, Danae

Should You Join A Buyer's Group?

Are you tired of being shopped by all of your clients? Are you frustrated that your trade discount isn’t large enough to add your markup and still be less expensive than retail? Savvy consumers are shopping everything these days and one of the biggest frustrations I see are interior designers tired of their clients shopping them online.

Buyer’s groups are hoping to change that for the industry. So what is a buyers group? A buyer’s group is a group of similar independent businesses coming together to leverage their combined purchasing power to receive better net costs and terms on the products and services they buy/use.

In the interior design industry, many buyer’s groups are comprised of a small group of designers located in the same region that all know each other. Unless you know someone in the group, they can be hard to find. This is one of the reasons why Heather McManus and her partner Tracey Taylor created The Designs Collaborative. This group is open to interior designers across the U.S. and Canada.

Another major reason The Designs Collaborative was created was because Heather became frustrated with vendors threatening to remove her stocking dealer price when she didn’t meet their yearly minimum. She decided it was time to get creative and comprised a way to not only help herself but also her fellow designers.

The Designs Collaborative started with five people and has now grown to 150 members and over 200 vendors. Interior designers need to apply for membership on the website and if accepted pay a membership fee of $370 per year, which is about $30 per month. Benefits of being a part of the group include:

*Stocking dealer price plus 10%
* A Facebook group
*Monthly masterminds
*Emergency fund for extenuating circumstances
*Discounted price on coaching

Working with a buyer’s group can not only save you time and money, it can continue to make you competitive in the industry. You will be able to take advantage of new purchasing power due to the pricing and revenue, plus instead of hiring full-time staff to help with sourcing and deciding what to charge, many interior designers can now hire a virtual design assistant at a fraction of the cost to help with their sourcing needs.

According to Heather, The Designers Collaborative is comprised of a group of kind, honest and hard-working interior designers. The members really love the group and are grateful for its existence.

For more information about The Designers Collaborative, please check out www.thedesignerscollaborative.com or contact Heather McManus at admin@thedesignerscollaborative.com.

**When considering working with a buyer’s group please do your research, get references and make sure you understand what your membership entails. There are some excellent groups out there, such as The Designers Collaborative, but there are others who may not be structured properly or are not prepared for extenuating circumstances.

Fashion Favorites for Interior Designers

Are you going through your closet this weekend? Between client meetings, running around to different projects and working at an office or at home, you’re always on the go. It’s important that you feel your best and can show up confidently. 

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but how you dress and present yourself is important. This has nothing to do with your clients, although, of course, they are important too. But this is really about YOU feeling confident in the way you look. 

Have you ever put on an outfit, looked in the mirror...and thought WOW I look good. Then you go to your client meeting and you just carry yourself in a different way? And of course, the client starts the project. 

That is no coincidence. Your confidence is everything! And if you dress well, you will appear more competent and powerful. 

Because of this, I put together this board of some mix and match outfits that I think interior designers will not only love, but will feel amazing in. This board is designed so that you can mix these pieces however you want. 

Beyond fashion choices, here are a few extra tips for feeling confident when headed into a design meeting. 

• You are the expert: Never forget this! This person decided to book a consultation because they know that you know much more than they do about this subject (or let’s hope they do….we’ve all had “those clients.”)

• You are worth the price you charge: If you’re struggling with this one, just remember those projects where you charged too little for your services and it felt like your soul was aching. We’ve all been there. Maybe we’ll do another email on how to figure out what to charge for your services. hmmmm….

• Plan: If you are just starting out OR if you are a seasoned designer, plan out some talking points. How will you bring up your processes? In what order will things be discussed? Is there a way you can make the verbiage easier for your client to understand? Is there anything you would like to change from your last project? Can you provide visuals for them so that the process is more exciting? 

How do you show up for client meetings? We’d love to hear any confidence-boosting tips that you may have. 

Click here to shop this look:

Have a great weekend!

xx, Danae

Get Published - How to get your work featured in a magazine

Having your work featured in a magazine is an accomplishment to celebrate! You’ve worked hard to create a space worth sharing… so how do you go about seeing your work published in a magazine? We’re sharing a handful of tips that can help you get your work featured.

Keep it offline

This first piece of advice may seem counterintuitive. Wouldn’t a high profile project that draws lots of attention be a great project to feature? The answer is yes; however, magazines are looking for original content to feature. You can share bits and pieces of your project in Instagram stories, where they expire after 24 hours, but wait to add this project to your portfolio until after your article has been published. Once your work is out there, go crazy sharing it on social media and updating your portfolio. This is a great opportunity to mention the feature as well. 

Hire a professional photographer

While this piece of advice is important for all your projects and work featured in your portfolio, it is especially necessary to hire a professional photographer to capture photos of your projects that you’d like to send to magazines. High quality photos make all the difference.

Keep it exclusive

Focus on reaching out to one magazine at a time. It can be tempting to reach out to many different journals and magazines to increase your odds of getting published in at least one, but an exclusive feature is much more appealing. Be patient, it may take time to get your project featured in a magazine that is the right fit, but persistence will pay off.

Focus on the story

While beautiful photos are essential, an interesting story will captivate the audience. What made your project unique? Did you use different materials or experience any particular hardships during the design or construction process? What was your inspiration? Did the client have a good story you can share? Focus on the story behind the design when you pitch your project. 

Have you had your work published? Share your publication with us – we'd love to hear from you!

Marketing Ideas to Attract Clients

As an interior designer, you’re in the market of creating beautiful spaces, but you can also use your creativity to create effective marketing for your business. Here are a few ideas to try!

Build a beautiful portfolio

Capturing photos of your projects are essential. Consider hiring a professional photographer. Keep your website updated with your latest projects and share your photos on your social media accounts. Photographs of your finished work will help attract clients that resonate with your style.

Get featured

Reach a greater audience by getting your work featured in a magazine or journal. This is a great way to feature unique projects and share your work. You can also reach out to other design blogs or websites and offer to do a guest post. These guest posts can feature your work, design tips, and much more, while getting your name in front of a larger audience.

Offer tips to potential clients

Blog posts aren’t the only place to share tips and tricks that benefit your audience. Grow your newsletter or following by posting useful tips and tricks on your social media or in your newsletter. By sharing information that your audience can put into use, you’re gaining their trust and potentially opening the door to future projects.

Showcase testimonials

Have you received praise for your work? Showcase testimonials on your website or other marketing material. This is another way to gain trust and show that you’re the expert in what you do.

Market yourself with branded products

Take a fun and creative approach to marketing by offering branded T-shirts, coffee cups, client gifts, bags, and more. Physical products can be a great marketing tool and a fun giveaway during project kick-off, after the completion of a project, or during the holidays.  

Not only can T-shirts be a great option to market your business but you can also market your profession. Are you interested in winning our Created to Create T-shirt, visit our Instagram page here to enter our giveaway! The winner will be announced on Friday.

View more fun t-shirts for interior designers by visiting our online shop.

Three Go-To Breakfast Recipes to Try This Week

Your weeks are busy, but why not slow down this weekend and try something new? You don’t need to be an expert chief in the kitchen to master these recipes. We’re sharing three go-to breakfast recipes today that are sure to kick off your weekend right. Even if you’re a grab-and-go type of person, these recipes are simple but good!

Avocado Toast with Kale Pesto

Camille Styles shared her take on a trendy breakfast staple, avocado toast. This recipe combines kale pesto and with the bonus of saving some cash by making this dish at home instead of heading out to a restaurant and splurging. 

Bonus, avocados are good for you because they are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats.This recipe even includes tips for adding additional protein or other swaps that can be made to this recipe. 

Be sure to give this recipe a try by finding all the details here.

Strawberry Yogurt Bowl

If a quick and refreshing breakfast is the option you’re looking for then this strawberry yogurt bowl is a great choice! Jenny from the Nourished Kitchen shares this dish that combines protein, fat, and carbohydrates with the fresh taste of fruit. 

You can find this strawberry yogurt bowl recipe at the Nourished Kitchen Blog here.

Protein Packed Pancakes

Our third recipe recommendation is another one brought to you by Camille Styles. These protein packed recipes are filling and delicious. Pancakes are always a fun breakfast choice that gives plenty of options to customize the flavor with different toppings. 

This recipe even includes a few recommendations, including blueberries, mashed bananas or chocolate chips for a fun twist on traditional pancakes. 

Check out this pancake recipe on Camille’s blog here.

Give these recipes a try and enjoy a slow morning with a hot cup of coffee. I hope you have a great and enjoyable weekend!

XX Danae

Collaborating with Builders

As a designer, you love being your client’s go-to for design and referrals, but have you considered being your local builder’s go-to designer as well? Building relationships with builders and general contractors can lead to new clients and more projects. We’re diving into ways that you can add value to your relationship with builders and grow your business. 

Bring value to the project

Ask yourself, what can I do to add value to this project? Not only can you create beautiful spaces, but you also possess knowledge and experience that a builder may not. Is a local builder simply sending their clients to a showroom to tackle selections on their own, or are they even taking time out of their busy schedule to attend these types of meetings? Let them know how you can help by sharing your knowledge with their clients and making the process run smoothly. Think about your strengths and how you can leverage them!

Have a great team or system

Fine-tune your systems so that your design processes not only create a great experience for the client but so that your builder can have an exceptional experience working with you as well. Processes and systems are always evolving and there are so many ways to improve and grow as a designer and team. Maybe you need to hire additional help to take on these new projects.  

Communicate

The first step to working with builders is to network and introduce yourself. This task of sending emails, attending local events, and reaching out to contacts can be a smooth process when you’ve thought through the topics above. Work on a pitch that clearly communicates your strength and the value that you will provide.

Once you’ve established a relationship with builders, be sure to communicate often and clearly during your projects. Discuss what options work best for communicating with the client and clearly define responsibilities related to project completion and client expectations. 

Be willing to learn

You may hear a lot of “no’s” before you find the right builder to work with. Don’t give up! Once you’ve established a good relationship, be open to change and be willing to learn. Builders may have a system that works well for them so it is important that you’re flexible and able to work with their processes. This can also be a great opportunity for you to learn and improve your client experience. 

No matter what, be confident. Designing beautiful spaces is your superpower and you may be the super hero that your local builder is looking for to improve their client experience.

Site Visit Essentials - Must Have Items for Interior Designers

As an interior designer, you will inevitably end up visiting a job site during various stages of your design projects. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or attending your first site visit, you’ve probably found yourself asking the following question… What should I bring on to a job visit?

You may find yourself taking photos and measurements during an initial consultation or maybe you’re visiting a job site during the busy construction process when the site is filled with people working on various trades. While visiting your projects may require different tools for different phases, there are a few essential items that you can keep on hand to be prepared. 

Tape measure and/or laser distance meter

Correct dimensions are so important. Not only are measurements useful for space planning and furniture layouts, but it is also important to have a grasp on the ceiling height when planning artwork and wall decor. A tape measure is sufficient for obtaining most measurements, however a laser distance meter is helpful for capturing those wall-to-wall dimensions and creating accurate plan drawings.

Paper and pencil

Grab a notebook or pad of graph paper and your favorite pencil or pen. Create a sketch of the space and write down dimensions as you take them. You can also explore digital note taking apps but be sure that whatever you’re using allows the freedom to draw and add dimensions if needed. 

Camera (aka fully charged phone)

Needless to say, almost all of us are glued to our phones so I’m sure you’ll have your phone on hand when you visit a project or job site. Capture plenty of photos of any areas of your client’s home or furniture that you may want to reference later. Take more pictures then you think you’ll need because you can always go back and delete some later. Make sure your phone is charged, because there is nothing worse than having your phone die before you’ve had a chance to capture all the information you need. Snap a few photos that also show your tape measure capturing a useful measurement in tricky locations because this helps create a useful frame of reference.

Paint deck or other samples 

Samples are required during different phases of the design process but it can never hurt to have a few options with you. A paint deck, fabric samples, or a few different samples for various surfaces can be useful during the early stage of a project to help visualize how a design will come together.

Bonus “I’m the Person to Talk To” T-Shirt

It can be intimidating to jump into the middle of a busy construction site. Command attention and make it clear that you're in charge with the "I'm the person to talk to" T-Shirt. No more confusion, we all know you're the boss! This t-shirt is one of many fun designs for interior designers that we’ve added to our online shop.

Organization Tips that Stick

Happy Saturday!

It’s no secret that being organized can make day-to-day tasks easier to manage and lead to happier moments. With the high energy that is focused on goal setting and changes in the new year, why not make this the perfect opportunity to fine-tune your systems and get organized. Let’s get started with a few suggestions.

Get a planner

It doesn’t matter whether you use a paper planner or a digital calendar but it’s essential that you are using some sort of planner for both your professional and personal life. Recording meetings, tasks, and priorities can help you feel prepared for the upcoming days, weeks, and months. It can be helpful to review your schedule in advance. Consider setting a specific time each week or each day, such as in the evening, to review upcoming activities and prepare accordingly.

Color coordinate

Not only is color coordination visually appealing, but it can also help you find items quickly. Organizing your books or pantry in rainbow order may be a popular trend right now, but this system is also functional. If color coordination isn’t your go-to organization method, consider keeping items in alphabetical order or using another system that makes sense to you. The key is that having a specific system will allow each item to have a spot it belongs, making items easier to find and use.   

Time block your organization time

Chances are that you’re already implementing time blocking strategies in your work schedule and personal life, but I’d challenge you to time block specific time to maintain your organizational systems. Try scheduling a short session each week to organize your email inbox or dedicate time to one of your other organizational goals. A small, intentional block of time can translate to a large impact with maintaining your systems.

Declutter, declutter, declutter

This one doesn’t need much explanation. Decluttering your mind and environment can go a long way to help you feel more relaxed and focused. However, you don’t need to declutter everything at once. Start my doing a “mind dump” at the end of the day by creating a list of tasks you didn’t get to. Empty your purse once per month or clean up one drawer per week. Start small to avoid overwhelm, but know that decluttering even the smallest of spaces can create major results.

How do you stay organized? Do you use any of these tactics? I hope these ideas are helpful!

Have a great weekend!

XX, Danae

Implementing Sources of Passive Income as an Interior Designer

With the new year comes new opportunities to grow your business, and the best part is that you don’t always have to trade time for money to generate income. It’s possible to sit back, relax and make money while you're sleeping, eating, or on vacation. With a little work upfront, you can implement sources of passive income in your interior design business!

There are many ways that other interior designers are making passive income from digital downloads, online shops, courses, design workbooks, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, membership sites, and even art. 

Here are a few tips to consider if you’re interested in implementing various sources of passive income in your interior design business:

• Figure out what you enjoy creating. Do you love teaching? Then maybe a course on a subject that you’re an expert on is a great opportunity for you.

• Listen to what your clients and others are asking you. Are people always asking you where you source your products and decor from? Maybe it’s time for you to create an online shop with your favorite products.

• Network with others. If you’re interested in creating a corporate partnership, sponsorship, or licensed products, it’s essential that you build relationships with these companies.   

• Focus on a consistent social media presence and marketing. If you’re interested in affiliate marketing or creating digital downloads, it’s important to get those products in front of your audience. Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of ways you could market your business. Instead, focus on consistently showing up on a platform that will have the biggest impact for you. 

Do you want to learn more about passive income for interior designers? Check out my ebook, Creating Passive & Multiple Income Streams for Interior Designers, to learn more. This ebook contains 37 pages of tactical advice and steps for creating a variety of different sources of passive income, including a bonus chapter on marketing. Learn more about digital downloads, online shops, courses, product licensing, affiliate marketing and more. Once you create your passive income stream you must market it. 

What source of passive income are you ready to implement in the New Year?

xx Danae

10 Tips to Attract More Clients

Start fresh in the new year by implementing a new business idea. Below are some ways I’ve seen other interior designers continue to stay in front of clients and continue to offer services that will keep their businesses thriving in our current climate.

1. Nurture that email list! Spend some quality time creating some really heartfelt and genuine emails to send to your contact list. Create emails that let your subscribers know that you understand what they are going through, you are here for them if they need anything and outline the ways you can still help them. Start an email series right now that will help them during these times.

2. Offer virtual consultations. Let clients know how they can still work with you during these times. You may be surprised how many people just need a consultation right now. They are spending more time in their homes than ever and they are sick of looking at it. It’s time for a refresh!

3. Create shoppable concept boards and renders. Share your favorite products and make money using affiliate links. People who shop your style may be more inclined to work with you.

4. Share your portfolio. Start inspiring people with your work and share what makes you happy about what you share.

5. Update and share. Now is the time to get caught up on housekeeping issues like updating your portfolio, creating content, organizing your processes and share what you’ve learned. People connect to you and your story … use this time to share your story and how you are growing and changing during quarantine. What silver linings have you found in this pandemic?

6. Share your e-design services. Share how people can work with you during this time, outline this process and make sure your target market is aware that you are still working with others. Perhaps you have a remote only service and perhaps you have a remote hybrid service. However you are working with clients at this time, share it!

7. Create interest. Write a blog post about why now is a great time to update your home, or how interior design can affect your mood or about the psychology of color. Write intriguing posts relevant to the times to get people interested in your brand.

8. Continue to educate yourself. Now is a great time to start listening to an interior design podcast or to get continuing education through interior design platforms. Many of them are offering free video conferences and webinars at this time. Use what you learn to attract more clients.

9. Create videos. People have time to watch stuff now so create some fun videos about refreshing a space, your process, choosing the right rug or something else that you know your target market will love.

10. Be real. You will attract the clients you are looking for just by being yourself. Stick with a positive message, share a sneak peek into your quarantine life and use humor if that’s your thing. Sometimes we are afraid to be ourselves but it’s only when we are ourselves do we find growth.

Our world will forever be changed so we have to adapt and grow. We will be stronger and our industry will thrive.

Stay safe & well!

XX, Danae

Services you can start offering in your interior design business in 2022

It's always wise to offer multiple ways that your clients can work with you. The best way to do this is to create a value ladder, with services in all different price points. I suggest choosing at least one service in each price point, low, mid, and high. 

Not only does this widen your reach on who you can work with but when someone buys a lower ticket offer, they are then more likely to purchase a higher-ticket offer from you when the time comes. They'll know, like, and trust you after their first buy and they will have no hesitation about moving forward with more work with you.

Here are a few ideas for low, mid, and high ticket offers that you can create now and start selling in 2021!

Paint Color Palette (low): This is a popular one! You can do pre-made palettes that your clients can purchase or you can offer color consultations that are priced a little higher and are customized for their particular space. Either way, this is a great first offer that shows your client that you are the interior design expert that they need in their lives.

Ask a designer (mid) : Another popular term for this is "designer on call". This term means that the client is taking more of a DIY approach but you will be guiding them along the way. This typically does not include deliverables of any kind beyond design advice and/or confirming that the client is on the right path.  This can work a couple different ways. Some designers choose to let clients buy a set # of hours for a specific price that they can use over a period of time and some designers require their clients to purchase weekly or monthly packages.

Turn-key and/or custom curation (high): This is a service that the majority of interior designers offer in their business and is usually placed at the top of the value ladder. This would involve working on an entire room or home, product curation/design and project management. This is a great way to make a profit on custom designer items and bring more money into your design business. 

Whatever services you decide to offer, make sure that they are aligned with what your ideal client is looking for and market it in places where they are hanging out online!

Need help to create a value-ladder for your business? We can help. Contact us today to get paired with the perfect elite design assistant for your needs. 

Holiday Traditions to Start This Year

The holidays are quickly approaching and the end of the year is almost here. While we’re sure you’re busy wrapping up projects, it’s important to take time to enjoy this time of year. 

We’ve put together a list of fun holiday traditions that you can start right now. 

1. Deck the halls - As a designer, this one may be a bit of a no brainer, but sometimes you spend so much time designing for your clients that your creative energy can be burnt out when it’s time to decorate for yourself. Take time to put out your favorite decorations and find new ways to get in the holiday spirit in your own home.

2. Participate in a book exchange - The holidays can be a time to slow down and enjoy time with friends and family. Scheduling a book club evening or participating in a book exchange can be a great way to connect and unwind. Whether you’re reading the latest business books or enjoying popular fiction books, you’re sure to have a fun time discussing with friends. 

3. Plan a holiday meal - Maybe you love cooking in the kitchen or maybe dining at a fancy restaurant is more your style. Plan a festive meal at a new restaurant or whip up a dish that celebrates your heritage or a tradition. 

4. Throw a holiday party - Love to entertain, then this tradition is a great one for you to start. 

5. Trim and maybe even chop down your own tree - Fake or real - it’s up to you! But the tradition of trimming the tree is a fun one to do with friends and family. Decorate with your favorite ornaments or try a completely new theme this year (remember the Home Edit’s rainbow tree… goals!). If you’re looking for an even bigger adventure, try cutting down your own tree at a tree farm. 

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

No matter what traditions you love this time of year, we hope this season is filled with joy and laughter. Happy Holidays!

xx Danae

Client Gift Guide for Interior Designers

Whether you’re giving a client a gift for the holidays or celebrating the completion of a design project, a thoughtful gift can go a long way to express gratitude and appreciation for your clients. Read on for four occasions to give a client gift and four thoughtful client gift ideas.

 Four Occasions To Give A Client Gift:

1. At the start of a project.

Especially if you’re working with a new client, the start of a project is a great time to set the expectations for the experience your client will have while working with you. Think of this as more of a welcome gift to kick-off your time together.  

2. After wrapping up a project.

There is no better feeling than completing a beautiful project and celebrating with happy clients. This is a great opportunity to add value to their new design by providing a gift that can be used in their new space such as decor and other accessories. 

3. During the holidays.

While Christmas tends to be the main gift-giving holiday, any holiday throughout the year can be a great opportunity to show appreciation for your client. If you know your client loves to celebrate a specific holiday, use this as an opportunity to give them a festive gift that shows you know them well.

4. Anniversaries or big events.

Celebrate the anniversary of your business, client relationships or other big events. If you have a client that has hired you for multiple projects over the years, celebrate their anniversary with a thoughtful reminder that you are grateful for the trust they’ve put into your expertise. You can also celebrate big events in your clients’ lives, such as weddings or the birth of a child, by providing a simple but meaningful gift.

Four Client Gift Ideas:

1. Food and beverages

Food and beverages can be very thoughtful and personalized for the right occasion. This type of gift is often appreciated because it can be used or consumed. Skip the generic fruit basket and focus on items you know your client will love. If their minibar (that you helped design) is always stocked with their favorite bottle of wine, consider gifting that with a meaningful message to show how well you’ve gotten to know your client. 

2. Paper products or books

Coffee table books are a great opportunity to add to their home. You can also give books that showcase their favorite travel locations and serve as the perfect accessory for their styled shelves. Paper products such as customized stationery are also a useful gift that can provide beauty and a practical purpose.  

3. Thoughtful decor and finishing touches

You are the design expert and therefore, you’re uniquely positioned to provide accessories and decor that complete their space. Trays or candles make a great gift for a living room, while hand towels and vases can be a wonderful opportunity to style a powder room or kitchen. Have you recently renovated a bar for a client? This is a great opportunity to give fun accessories like a beautiful cocktail shaker or glassware. 

4. Branded items

You can include your logo or other attributes of your brand on customizable items such as mugs, candles, or paper products, but be sure to consider that a client gift is about providing an experience for your client and not just promoting your business. There are so many fun options available that can be customized. 

Remember to keep your gift personal. If you’re giving the same item to multiple clients, be sure to add a thoughtful note. Select gifts that will have an emotional connection with your client and that are on brand and make sense with your business. 

Do you give client gifts. We’d love to hear from you! What is your go-to gift?

 Looking for help finding the perfect gift? Don’t forget to check out our new online shop for client gifts, fun t-shirts for designers & more!

4 Bookkeeping Tips for Interior Designers

It’s no secret that running an Interior Design Business involves significant time on business tasks that can sometimes take away from the time spent creating beautiful spaces. While designers like yourself may be fueling your passion, your business is also your primary means of making a living. Successfully managing your bookkeeping can be a key part of your business process that lets you focus on the core of your business – design.

Here are 4 bookkeeping tips to help your interior design business thrive:

 Implement a system for starting each project

Prepare for each project by starting with a project proposal and client agreement that clearly presents the scope of work, design investment, and payment methods. While the bookkeeping activities occur on the back end for actions that have already occurred, organized day-to-day activities must be performed in the correct manner. Better yet, you can even enter all your preliminary project details into a project management system to help properly execute all bookkeeping procedures.

Stay on top of purchase orders and payments

Once your project is underway, you’re most likely more focused on creative goals than bookkeeping items. However, staying on top of purchase orders and payments can help alleviate a source of mistakes. In addition, be sure that necessary payments are collected before completing purchases. Whether your process involves collecting deposits or full payments, consider breaking up proposals by project phase so that all items that are ordered at one time can be completed on one proposal.

Tie up loose ends at the end of your project

Ensure that all bank statements, cash, and credit card statements are reconciled at the end of the project. Utilize reporting tools or other designer programs to run reports to ensure that all your numbers are adding up. Managing an interior design project involves many financial transactions and moving parts, but implementing a plan that you can carry through from start to finish is essential to successful bookkeeping.  

Hire a bookkeeper who knows the business

Hiring a bookkeeper can be incredibly instrumental to your success as a business because bookkeepers have a thorough understanding of business fundamentals. A bookkeeper who is experienced in the interior design industry offers specialized experience and education that allows them to navigate the gap between design and business.

Did you know that Elite Design Assistants offers bookkeeping services for interior designers? Our bookkeepers are experienced and here to help.

If you’d like to work with an experienced bookkeeper who can help with your interior design business, respond to this email and we’ll get you setup with your personal design assistant. We’d love to help you tackle your bookkeeping needs!

 Looking for the perfect client gift or a fun t-shirt for your design team? Don’t forget to check out our new online shop for fun t-shirts for designers, client gifts & more!

The 5 most popular outsourced tasks that an elite design assistant can handle for you

Running an interior design business is no walk in the park. You wear so many hats and end up juggling all of the work...including those pesky tasks you hate!

As a busy designer, you should be focusing on creating content, networking and building relationships, and planning new growth strategies.

Many clients come to us because they’re feeling overwhelmed with all that they need to accomplish in a given day while balancing all of their clients. So we wanted to make you a list of the tasks that you may be doing in your business that we could take off your plate!

These are the 5 most common things that designers hire us for:

1. Administrative tasks. This could be a variety of things but mainly procurement like placing orders, tracking shipments and dealing with vendor.

2. 3D Renderings

3. CAD drafting

4. Sourcing. This is a very common task that designers decide to outsource. Finding the perfect furniture piece, fabric, etc.

5. Blog writing/social media management

*Bonus - Bookkeeping – Our bookkeeping service for interior designers has also taken off and our professionals are experienced in the industry.

The great thing about Elite Design Assistants is that our assistants are actually designers or have design experience themselves, making it easier for them to complete even the most intimate designer tasks like sourcing and writing blog posts.

We match virtual design assistants with designers based on a variety of skillsets, talents, personality and software knowledge. So if you need an assistant to create 3d renders and you aren't choosy on the software, we got you. If you need someone to create 3d renders specifically in Chief Architect or 2020 or Revit or SketchUp or another program, we got you.

If you need administrative help specifically in Ivy or MyDoma or Studio Designer or other, we got you. Let us know what you need and we will find the virtual design assistant to match your specific needs.

If you have a task that’s really weighing you down, respond to this email and we’ll get you setup with your personal design assistant. We’re here to help!

Don’t forget to check out our new online shop for fun t-shirts for designers, client gifts & more!

Online Shops For Interior Designers + A Special Announcement

Happy Small Business Saturday, designers! 

Online shops are increasing in popularity as we move into 2022, so I wanted to use the email this week to go through a few popular ones you may want to use to create for your business. Also, stay tuned for a super special announcement at the bottom of this email.

Let’s jump right into it...

RewardStyle

RewardStyle itself is not a shop, but you can create your own shop and list items through RewardStyle. For example, if you have a website, you can create affiliate links using their link creator (called Link Ninja) and then host those items for purchase on your website using the link. 

There are no fees at all for RewardStyle, since your items will all be hosted on your website. You may, however, need to pay fees to your website. Squarespace for example offers an ecommerce plan directly through your site.

Try it here.

SideDoor

Did you catch our post a few weeks ago all about SideDoor? You can check it out here.

SideDoor allows you to create “collections” on their site of things you like and want to share with your clients/buyers. You can then embed or link those collections to your website depending on what works best for you. 

Clients will buy the items through the SideDoor Website at retail pricing, and you will make the difference between wholesale and retail. 

Try it here.

Etsy:

Etsy shops are hosted on Etsy, meaning that you will pay them to list your items and they will not be on your website. You can of course link them on your website but they will link to your etsy profile. 

Etsy will collect a fee which is usually about 10cents per listing per month. 

You can also pay Etsy to advertise your listing on Google. This is an investment and is priced per listing, however, your listings are getting significantly more eyes on them than they would if you did not sign up for advertising. You can have them advertise these listings with the click of a button and can set a pricing limit based on how many people you would like to see the listing.

Etsy allows you to advertise all sorts of things and they specialize in homemade items. A few  years ago, they made it possible for you to sell digital items as well. With these, you set it up so that your client gets an instant download after paying. You can sell services, digital downloads, or physical decor items. 

Clients are able to leave a review on your item which ultimately brings you more buyers. 

Whether or not you have a listing for everything you offer, having a profile on Etsy will have people messaging you for more info on your other services. 

You are able to remove listings without additional fees if you decide down the road that you don’t want to host items on Etsy.  

Try it here.

Shopify

Shopify is a software that use a monthly subscription model and gives small business owners access to an admin panel where you can enter store data, add products, and process orders. 

Once you choose your pricing plan, you can create and develop an online store to promote your products. 

Shopify is very easy to set up and get things started, and they offer a 14-day free trial if you’re not quite ready to fully commit without trying. 

Shopify is similar in price to most websites, with plans starting as little as $29/month and the highest at $299/mo.

Shopify can be connected to card-readers to accept payments. 

You can also create email marketing campaigns and Facebook ads through the platform. It is full of templates to help you create beautiful looking emails that will sell your products with ease. 

Try it here.

This brings us to our special announcement…..drum roll please….

We now have an online shop of our own! You can check it out here.

What to expect from our shop...

Our online shop carries curated products for interior designer, including a fun selection of stylish t-shirts. Command attention at a job site and make it clear that you’re in charge with the “I’m the person to talk to” T-shirt or browse other fun inspirational designs like the “Created to Create Beautiful Spaces” t-shirt. Our line of t-shirts is available in a variety of colors and sayings.

Whether you’re selecting accessories to add the finishing touches to your client’s home or celebrating the completion of a project with a client gift, we’ve got you covered. Check out our selection of Turkish hand towels, wood cutting boards and trays, and more.

We will be adding more and more items to this shop as we move into the new year, so make sure to check back every couple weeks to see what we’ve added!

Need help creating your own online shop? Contact us so we can pair you with the perfect design assistant. 

XX, Danae

Tips For Getting Along with Contractors

Working with contractors seems to be a major pain point for some interior designers. Contractors and interior designers can have very different work strategies that can cause issues on a project. I’ve visited with a lot of contractors and interior designers over the years and this issue continues to come up.  So I started thinking … what are some best practices when dealing with contractors?

1.       Start off on the right foot. With any relationship, it’s best to lay all your cards on the table from the beginning. When you meet with a contractor, you both need to discuss your goals and expectations for the project. If you want the contractor to be considerate of your time, then you should be considerate of theirs as well. Stay open-minded and flexible … we all know these projects rarely proceed without a hitch.

2.       The squeaky wheel gets the grease. When you are discussing the goals and expectations ask the contractor how they best like to communicate. Some of them need you to stay on top of them, and others hate constant communication. A lot of times you can get a lot done by being ‘top of mind’ and other times an irritated contractor could decide to put your project on the back burner, however, in most cases, I did find that a charming persistence helped move the project along.

3.       Show appreciation. If the contractors you work with feel appreciated, they are most likely to work well with you on your projects. Occasionally drop off their favorite cookies or bring them their favorite coffee. Small appreciative gestures can go a long way.

4.       Ask how you can make their life easier. I’m not saying you should kiss butt, however, life is so much easier when people get along. Maybe there is a minor change you can make in the way you work with a contractor that can make a world of difference, but you won’t know if you don’t ask. Each contractor goes about his/her job differently and let’s face it … we always want to be on the good side of the contractors.

5.       Learn to manage personalities. I’m going to make an educated guess and assume that if you are a great designer you are great at managing your clients. Managing contractors is the same thing. There is a stigma among contractors that interior designers expect them to be miracle workers or that contractors don’t take interior designers seriously. Many contractors feel that interior designers set unrealistic expectations for their clients. If you know something can be done and a contractor is giving you grief over it by all means stick to your guns … the contractor is being paid to do a job. If a contractor is really dragging his/her feet then talk to them about it, come up with some kind of solution … again, the contractor is being paid to do a job.

6.       Create a team-like atmosphere. Contractors don’t like to feel like they are working for an interior designer. The contractor and the designer are working for the client, therefore the contractor and interior designer are a team and if there is a team-like atmosphere where both of you bring something valuable to the table that can go a long way!

At the end of the day, what I’ve learned is certain personality types work well with others and occasionally you can run into a personality type that doesn’t work well with anyone. If you are working with a contractor that is an absolute nightmare then by all means … find another contractor. As long as there is a mutual respect and appreciation you never know what your team can achieve! Or perhaps, contractors and interior designers are like cats and dogs … however, I have seen a lot of cute photos of cats and dogs getting along. 😊

Find Clients with Email Marketing!

Email marketing is where it is at! You can have small list and generate a lot of business from that list. Social media is still great but instead of putting content out there for the whole world to see knowing that fewer and fewer people are seeing it every day, put more effort into the content that your target marketing is seeing.

You may have thousands of followers on Instagram, thousands of likes on Facebook and millions of view on Pinterest but even if you only have a couple hundred on your email list you could be making a lot more money with your email list than all of your other social media combined.

Why are email lists so important? Email lists are comprised of people that want to hear from you. They are interested in what you have to say and are interested in updates having to do with your business. Social media is a very valuable tool but unless you are paying for targeted ads it’s not as specific to your target market as your email list is. The email list provides you with a go-to list of people to contact when you decide to run a special, offer a new service or have great news and updates to share.

Starting an email list is fairly simple for someone who knows what they are doing.  I’ll be honest, my virtual design assistant set mine up for me. The easiest way to start one is to create an opt-in on your website. You can attach this opt-in to all your other social media as well. The opt-in is a pop up that will appear when someone visits your website and it will ask for an email address. A lot of designers offer a freebie in exchange for the email address. You can offer a style quiz or a how-to guide for the most commonly asked questions you receive such as how to hang curtains, how to hang a gallery wall, how to choose the appropriate sized rug, etc.

Once you have your freebie and your opt-in ready you will need to link it to an email capture service like MailChimp, ConvertKit, Constant Contact or SquareSpace. These services allow you to keep an email subscriber list and allow you to set up email campaigns. You can create an automatic email campaign or go in and schedule new ones to go out as needed.

The most common thing I hear from designers is they don’t have time to write the emails. We can help you! We can write them for you or you can purchase them directly from our site at https://www.elitedesignassistants.com/eda-emails-for-purchase.

After searching the internet, I found that email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools for small businesses. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average sees a 4300 percent return on investment (ROI) for businesses in the United States.

This is because email marketing is easy to manage, gives you full control, and allows you to establish a direct contact with your customers.

Now that you are considering doing more email marketing, what marketing services are out there?

I talked to several interior designers and came up with the 4 most popular email marketing services among interior designers. Three of them were listed in an article at wpbeginner.com and one of them is fairly new but it’s becoming a real contender.

CONSTANT CONTACT

Constant Contact is one of the largest and fastest growing email marketing services in the world. It is also the easiest to use and beginner friendly.

You can easily manage your email lists, contacts, email templates, marketing calendar, and more.

Each account gives you access to easy tracking and reporting, built-in social media sharing tools, free image library, list segmentation, Facebook ads integration, and a powerful eCommerce integration for Shopify stores. If you sell product from an online store this could be great.

Their Email Plus accounts also come with powerful features like email automation, surveys & polls, coupons, online donations, and subject line A/B testing which helps you send targeted emails to maximize your open rate.

Constant Contact offers unmatched support with live chat, phone calls, email, community support, and a vast library of helpful resources.

Aside from online training, they also offer in-person live seminars across the United States. This allows small businesses to quickly learn the basics of email marketing and start using it to grow their business like a pro.

For all the reasons above, several sites have rated Constant Contact the best email marketing service for small businesses.

Constant Contact has a 60-day free trial (no credit-card required). After that their pricing starts as low as $20/month.

CONVERTKIT

ConvertKit is a robust email marketing platform for professional bloggers, authors, and marketers. It is extremely easy to use and incredibly powerful.

ConvertKit allows you to easily offer content upgrades and incentives with email signup forms. It also comes with easy to manage auto-responders allowing you to send drip emails.

With ConvertKit, you can easily segment subscribers into those who are interested and those who have already purchased. This helps you increase conversions with automated emails that feel more personal. In marketing terms, this is called targeted email marketing.

ConvertKit offers email-based support and has an extensive knowledge base with great learning material.

ConvertKit offers a 14-day free trial, and their pricing starts from $29/month. They also offer a 30-day refund policy.

MAILCHIMP

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing service providers in the world primarily because they offer a forever free email marketing service plan.

Mailchimp comes with an easy email builder, autoresponders, segmenting contacts into groups, and simple tracking for analytics. It also allows you to setup delivery times based on user’s time zones, and you can setup segmenting based on geolocation.

You can easily integrate Mailchimp with WordPress, Magento, Shopify, and many other platforms.

When it comes to marketing automation features, Mailchimp platform is quite limited when compared to other providers such as ConvertKit.

In the recent years, Mailchimp has attempted to add many of the “advanced” features, but I’ve read some you have tested these and don’t feel that they are truly advanced.

Mailchimp support is offered by email, live chat, and a large tutorial knowledge base.

Mailchimp offers a forever free plan which allows you to send 12,000 emails for up to 2,000 subscribers. This plan is limited because you don’t get features like send-time optimization, advanced segmentation, multi-variate testing, etc. You are also required to display their branding in your email. Finally, support is restricted to email only which is fine if you’re a hobbyist but as a serious business, you need reliable support that you can count on.

Their paid plans start from $10/month for up to 500 subscribers, and the pricing increases in the increment of 500 subscribers.

As limited as Mailchimp sounds it’s still a great free option to get you started with your email marketing. As you grow you can upgrade to a different system if you chose. At the end of the day it’s your content that sells.

SQUARESPACE

Squarespace is a popular website design program for interior designers so when they came out with their email marketing service it made sense that interior designers kept their email marketing in the same space as their website.

It’s super user-friendly, has integrated analytics, responsive design and offers consistent content from your Squarespace website to email, which is super great from an ease and branding perspective. You can start for as little as $5/month (annually) for 3 campaigns per month, 500 emails and unlimited subscribers.

Squarespace doesn’t have as many features as Mailchimp and it’s not free, but most interior designers who have a Squarespace website love the new email marketing feature and are willing to pay a bit per month to be able to have the easy of creating emails directly from their website without having to copy and paste or search for links.

Hopefully you know enough now to feel confident about starting and/or maintain that subscriber list of yours! It’s a great tool to generate clients when you need them and to keep your pipeline full.

Please let me know if you have any questions on how you can use email marketing to grow your business!

 XX, Danae

Accepting Credit Cards in Your Interior Design Business

Hello Designers!

Many small businesses, particularly in the interior design field, are hesitant to accept credit card payments from clients. However, in today’s increasing fast-paced and remote world, digital payment is the most common payment method in almost every other industry. Here are a few reasons why accepting credit cards could benefit your business and bring our industry into the modern age. 

It’s Faster 

In today’s market, credit cards are the fastest way to receive payment. Digital payment is almost instant. Gone are the days requiring multiple trips to the bank to deposit cash or interfacing with a client over a bounced check. Online credit card payment systems are more convenient for the client as well, especially with today’s modern merchant service options such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal and Square. 

Programs Are Designed to Help 

Nowadays there are many industry specific programs designed specifically to help your business accept credit card payments. Both Ivy (now HouzzPro) and DesignFiles use the payment processor Stripe to allow businesses to accept online credit card payments. You can invoice your clients, receive payment and automate your books all in the same place and all within hours rather than days. 

Smaller Margin of Error 

With online payments, it’s less likely your client will show up with the wrong amount of cash, or write a check for an incorrect amount. When paying online they are sent an invoice and cannot change the amount billed. Therefore, you spend less time following up if they haven’t paid the full amount. 

Flexibility 

Many designers who are not yet fully comfortable accepting credit card payments opt for only allowing product fees to be paid by card, whereas their design fees must be paid by cash or check (or vice versa). If you’re hesitant to make the switch, this may be a good place to start. 

Speaking About Fees 

Paying with a credit card often requires a processing fee for each transaction, but many programs let you to offset that fee to the client. For instance, in Ivy’s software, the fee will be shown as a separate line on each invoice, providing complete transparency to the customer. If a client prefers to not pay a processing fee, you could then offer them the option to pay by cash or check, allowing for the client to choose whether they prefer convenience with a charge, or a cash transaction. There are only five states that prohibit passing the charge to the customer: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine and Massachusetts. 

Added Bonus of Going Green 

Finally, online credit card transactions have the additional benefit of being the greenest payment option. Your business will lower its environmental impact by decreasing paper and transport usage with less invoice printing and bank trips respectively. Going green is always a good look for small business.  

Contactless

And finally, in a post pandemic world, paying by card is now arguably the safest way to pay. According to overseer.com, “more than 57% of consumers now choose businesses based in part on the payment methods they offer,” bringing necessity to quick and safe transactions. Credit card usage is up by more than 10% post lockdown. Paying by card has never been more in demand. 

Overall, customers are usually happier paying by card. It’s more convenient for them, faster, and greener. It’s also beneficial to you and your business, by saving you time and energy and generally being more convenient for both parties. 

I hope this was helpful for you. See ya next week!

XX, Danae