Celebrate International Literacy Day Coming Up on September 8th!

The cooler season approaches, evoking images of crisp air and curling up with a book and a hot drink. Is it any coincidence that this month marks International Literacy Day? Celebrated since 1967, UNESCO established this day, September 8 each year, “to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.”

Surprising as it may seem, there are an estimated 750 million adults in the world who cannot read: not this blog post, not a road sign. Nor are they capable of holding a simple text message conversation, since literacy also encompasses the ability to write. In other figures, there is 90% literacy in the world for all males, and only 82.7% for all females.

In an impactful dialogue photographer Brandon Stanton held as part of his acclaimed Humans in New York project, a young Pakistani recounts, “My father used [his] knowledge to teach me how to read. I started with local newspapers. I learned that our village was part of a country…And I learned that there was an entire world around this mountain. I learned about human rights. And now I’m studying political science at the local university. I hope to be a teacher one day.” His story is just one example of the powerful ripple effect that learning to read and write makes on someone’s life, at all stages of development. It makes all the difference, both on a personal level, and when it comes to moving up the socioeconomic ladder.

Reading is also important for our health. Reading books, in particular, can improve concentration, attention span and memory. It has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia later in life by maintaining brain health as we age.

So let's use the day to raise awareness of this issue and appreciate our own literacy, which can be so easy to take for granted. Here are some things you can do to participate in International Literacy Day.

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY ACTIVITIES

Donate books. Round up a box of books that you or your kids don’t read anymore and hand them off at your local library, a US organization such as Kids Need to Read, or an organization that benefits African children, whose overall literacy rate is the lowest in the world, such as Books for Africa. These types of organizations also often accept financial donations in lieu of books.

Start a community lending library. These adorable mini-libraries are popping up all over and foster a love for reading, as well as a sense of community and goodwill. In fact, there is an official network of over 100,000 locations, so check on Little Free Library’s map for one near you, or find tips for building your own and register it for others to find!

Gift a book. Pick out a book for a special adult or child in your life that shows you were thinking of them. Books make great gifts for birthdays and holidays, but you don't have to wait until then. International Literacy Day or any other day is the perfect opportunity.

Create your own reading haven. Make it a priority to enjoy reading or writing by setting the perfect scene for yourself. Start by refreshing your personal library with a new book or notebook, get cozy in your favorite sweater, light a candle, and prep a mug of your favorite drink.

So get out there and celebrate International Literacy Day! Also, check out our Shop the Look for International Literacy Day for fun book-related items to treat you and your loved ones with.

xx, Danae

How Can We Help You?

Elite Design Assistants Wants Your Feedback on What You Would Like!

Are you super busy and overwhelmed? Do you feel like you are spinning in circles and need to take some time to get your business in order?

As you know, each week I love sending you valuable information regarding popular topics in the interior design industry and lifestyle topics that pertain to interior designers. Today, I’d love to hear from you. What topics would you like to learn more about? What types of things are you interested in but don’t have time to research? What are your pain points?

Are there other templates, prewritten content or other digital downloads you’d like to see? Do you need help with marketing, organization or streamlining processes? Are there services, courses, software programs or other things you’d like to see and/or learn more about?

Whether you use my services or not, my hope is that the weekly emails are beneficial to your business and that you are able to continue to learn and grow.

I want everyone to be successful, so please feel free to reply to this email and let me know what you need! And it doesn’t all have to be business related. Maybe you want to learn more about fashion, food, travel, fitness, self-care, whatever it is, let us know!

I hope you are taking some time to relax and enjoy the summer! It’s going fast!

Take Care!

Danae

Tips For Handling Difficult Clients

You might already have a recent clash in mind. As with any profession that deals directly with clients, it’s simply inevitable that friction will arise at some point. A problematic client is the last thing we want, because it can cause a once-promising project to fall apart, result in a horrible experience for everyone involved, or even damage your reputation as a designer. Given that, it’s crucial to have some tools in your belt that will help you to defuse tensions and move forward with these clients, if it’s meant to be. Let's look at some types of difficult clients and essential tips that will help you the next time you encounter such a case.

Disgruntled Clients

Disgruntled clients can range from disappointed to combative. It’s likely that their energy stems from a fear of losing control over their time, finances or control in general. Or perhaps there has been a misunderstanding about your services and they feel dissatisfied or even cheated. If a client has a reasonable complaint and respectful approach, they’re not included in this category.

HOW TO DEAL:

Take a deep breath, don’t take it personally or get defensive, and let them express their grievances in full to understand the root of their concern (unless they become outright aggressive). It’s better to resolve issues over the phone or in person than by email. Despite the saying that “the customer is always right”, you don’t necessarily have to agree with them. Be assertive, but do proceed constructively, it’s important to really listen and acknowledge their sentiments so they feel you care. Show you understand by saying “I’m hearing that you are concerned about X. Is that correct?” Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but offer a solution if at all possible. You may tell them you need 2-3 days to work out a solution that they’ll be happy with. If they continue to protest, it may be necessary to reiterate the limitations and part ways once you’ve followed through on your end.

Overly Demanding Clients

These clients may not realize or respect the time and resources involved in satisfying their numerous requests. This could mean them asking for one revision after another or for accommodations that aren’t included in your agreed scope of work, or having unrealistic budget or timeline expectations.

HOW TO DEAL:

Much of this can be prevented by being meticulous from the very beginning about the terms of agreement. This means detailing every step of every phase of the project, specifying the scope of work as well as responsibilities. That way, when the client comes to you with an exorbitant demand, you can kindly remind them that this is not included in your agreement (and be able to show them these terms in the paperwork they signed if it comes down to it). However, you should always try to accommodate clients’ requests if possible. You want a reputation for going above and beyond for your clients, but you also need to be compensated fairly. So, if you can, tell them, “Yes! We can absolutely do that for you. That service will come at a surcharge of X amount."

Know-It-All Clients

Despite hiring you for your expertise, we can occasionally come across clients who feel compelled to finish your sentences or outright explain to you how to do your job. For whatever reason, they may be under the impression that you are unqualified or inexperienced, or perhaps they just enjoy an audience to flaunt their knowledge.

HOW TO DEAL:

In any case, it’s not worth getting into a battle of egos. Stay patient and cordial, and don’t let them wear you out. It’s important to get your word in so you can be thorough in walking them through your own professional process. Use sentences that begin with “Our design firm…” because it instantly neutralizes the relevance of how they or other firms do things. You can refer to your portfolio and respond with “In all my years of experience in…” to reaffirm your position. At the end of the day, the client has to decide whether they want to trust you with their project or not, so let them know how you work and see if you’re a good fit for each other.

Uncommunicative Clients

Getting to know your client (and vice versa) is essential to avoid surprises of any kind when you are further along in the project. Clients who have difficulty expressing their wants or needs make it hard to help them effectively. Uncommunicative clients also might take too long to respond and cause delays in the timeline.

HOW TO DEAL:

When it comes to people of few words, it’s important to take those words seriously. But in order to gather enough information to carry out a successful project for them, you’ll need to start with a very detailed intake questionnaire. If their answers are vague or incomplete, print it out and go over it with them in person to fill in the gaps you need. If they say things like “You’re the expert, you decide,” they’re probably not clear on what they want. So propose an option or direction, but always get the client’s approval before moving forward. As part of the onboarding process, be explicit about the commitments needed from the client in order for you to be able to stick to the timeline. Your contract should include terms that protect your company from negligence on their part. Finally, send friendly reminders leading up to things like meetings and payment deadlines.

Prevention and Damage Control

Issues can easily arise that aren’t your fault, but you can still learn from these experiences. For example, your process or contract may have been crystal clear and gone smoothly with other clients, but you may find that there are certain steps or clauses that are worth fine-tuning and emphasizing more with future clients - just in case - so that expectations are clear from the get-go.

You can improve client relationships by avoiding impersonal templates in email communication and responding in a timely manner. Make sure your team is trained and equipped to handle these kinds of clients, as well. And if you do end up with a negative comment that could tarnish your name, be sure to respond publicly with a polite explanation so that prospective clients can see your attentiveness and your side of the story.

Finally, since dissatisfied clients are more likely to take the initiative to leave a review, always ask your happy clients to write positive reviews in order to bolster your company’s reputation. Fortunately, there are plenty of people who notice and appreciate quality customer service, so do everything you can and don't let difficult customers get you down.

xx, Danae

Top 5 Myths About Passive Investing

Passive investing is a long-term investment approach with the objective of building wealth gradually over time. By minimizing buying and selling, passive investing increases long-term returns through cost savings. Passive investing continues to gain traction as more and more investors abandon actively managed funds in favor of passively managed alternatives. However, if you want to get involved, take a look at these myths first so you don't start off misinformed.

 Passive investing is only for inexperienced investors.

Not necessarily. It’s true that passive investments such as index funds or ETFs are very easy for investors to track and comprehend. For individuals who want a simpler investment without having to continually monitor their portfolio, passive investing is ideal. But it’s also appropriate for more experienced investors who are cost-conscious and hesitant to assume financial risks associated with choosing a fund management.

 Passive investing typically yields lower returns.

It’s getting harder for actively managed funds to outperform the benchmarks. While actively managed funds aim to surpass the market returns, passively managed funds aim to mirror market returns. However, this does not imply that passive investments produce inferior returns. And in the long term, passive investments are rarely outperformed.

 The returns from passive investing match those of the index.

Not always. Theoretically, passive investment tools generate returns that are identical to the index. However, there may be circumstances in which a specific passive fund is unable to match index returns due to a variety of factors, such as the need for an index fund to keep cash on hand for redemptions, mutual fund costs, or the inability to purchase a stock at the index price. This disparity is called a tracking error.

 Passive investing limits portfolio diversification.

It’s debatable. Passive funds provide broader market access because they follow an index. Additionally, there are passive funds that monitor foreign indices as well as funds that bring regional diversification to a portfolio. Sectoral ETFs can also provide sectoral exposure at a lesser cost.

 Passive investing is a risk-free alternative.

Overall, passive investing has the same risk as active. Despite the lower costs associated with fund management, equity markets are vulnerable to systematic risks. These could be economic, geographical, political, or interest rate risks. If you’re investing internationally, you also face current rate risks.

Put simply, because of its potential to be relatively inexpensive and straightforward, passive investing is quite a promising approach. But regardless of how you invest, you should always keep in mind and put the fundamentals of investing into practice. These include paying attention to your risk profile, asset allocation, and maintaining diversification.

xx, Danae

Most Popular Ways to Value-Add to Real Estate Investment Properties

The added value of the property is that differentiating factor that will help you to highlight the properties you sell. In such a competitive market you need to know what it is and how to present that plus that your offer has. So, if you are looking to shine in your real estate business, you should read all the way to the end.

A value-add property is an investment that gives investors the chance to boost an asset's cash flow through upgrades, rebranding, or putting together a strong management team. Such investment properties may be dilapidated because of negligence on the part of the owners or a lack of funds for repairs. Investors can acquire these properties at a discount to market value, and then can improve them structurally, physically and operationally. This will increase rents, attract more tenants and reduce vacancy rates.

So what are some of the most popular ways to add value to real estate investment properties? There are countless elements that can be optimized, but the most common could be summarized as property renovations, management restructuring, and marketing efforts.

Property Renovations

Interior and exterior renovations directly impact the emotional response of the potential buyer. From the moment they pull up, they want to see a well-kept exterior. On the interior, make sure you are making the most of the square footage by analyzing the floor plan. Look for areas that waste space and could be used to add a home office, which is more in demand than ever. A modern, updated kitchen is especially appealing to the new wave of first-time homebuyers. Increasingly, people tend to prefer open-concept plans for common areas, so see if knocking down some walls would work for the space. Remodeling the basement is one way to significantly increase living space. Tenants also highly value security features, such as a gated entrance, and additional amenities, such as a community pool or gym. Improving the appearance and functionality of a property makes a powerful impression and multiplies the value.

Management Restructuring

Management restructuring, a less apparent improvement at first to buyers, is one way to improve efficiency and thus operating costs. A good property manager will ensure that your property and its tenants continue to receive the maintenance and attention they require. He or she will see to it that the units are kept full, maximizing revenue. Finding a property manager you can trust also frees you up to invest in multiple other properties at the same time.

Marketing Efforts

As with practically any service or product, the perceived value has much to do with the way it is presented to the consumer. It’s all about highlighting the value that is there through professional photos, enticing ads, a curated pitch, and a professional buying experience from start to finish. You may consider taking advantage of a home staging service to allow viewers to project themselves in the space and see its potential. For multifamily properties, a solid marketing strategy could also include rebranding the complex with a fresh concept that people want to be a part of.

In summary, when investing in value-add real estate it is vital to ensure that you have the right team, an optimized property and effective marketing strategies in place to ensure that your value-add investment strategy is carried out correctly. With effective execution, value-add investing can be highly lucrative.

xx, Danae

The Best Ways to Scale Your Interior Design Business

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In the business world, what got you to one stage probably won’t get you to the next. It’s true that changing your structure or way of working, investing, and creating a work team can feel like a lot, especially if you have been working on your own for a while. But it’s a reality that you have to face in order to scale your business and take it to the next level. When you've gained enough traction to expand your team or move to a larger office, that's great news. But how can you start increasing your revenue without significantly increasing costs or effort?

Is it Time to Scale my Interior Design Business?

First, it is important to make moves at the right time. Enlist the help of a financial planner to crunch the numbers and conduct a study of the current market as well as the performance of your business so far. This will help you determine what, if any, changes are in order. A couple of indicators that it may be time to reevaluate things, too, are if you're getting more client requests than you have time to handle or are overwhelmed with administrative tasks. Basically, if you feel maxed out and like you’ve hit a revenue ceiling, take heart. It gets better.

Review Your Business Plan

Scaling can look different for different business models or directions. Write down the aims and values of your company, niche, and target client profile. Write your business goals and get help in mapping out strategic 1, 3, and 5-year plans, even if you later decide to make adjustments. Budget for slow seasons, such as the winter holidays, and be intentional about your investments. Having all of this established will position you to spot the best opportunities.

Renovate Your Service Offering

Evaluate whether any of your current service offerings should be repackaged or repriced. See what complementary services you could add and upsell, creating multiple revenue streams. And, perhaps best of all, establish additional passive income streams that will add to your revenue on an ongoing basis with minimal upfront investment. Some examples are promoting brands on your blog, earning through product affiliate sales, using platforms like Sidedoor or Like To Know It, becoming a brand ambassador, or selling digital products like an ebook or pre-made mood boards.

Be picky about your projects

Since you have already determined what your ideal projects and clients look like, don't waste time on projects that don't fit. Each project involves a certain amount of resources, and there will be projects that will strengthen your portfolio and reinforce your brand better than others. If you filter the requests you receive accordingly, it's another way to get the most out of your efforts.

Put Technology Tools to Work

To level up you will need to improve your digital marketing strategy. It's time to work with online marketing automation and CRMs, and perhaps improve the quality of your social media content. Don't skimp on tools that save you time, and help you organize, improve, and automate processes. There are many project management programs out there designed specifically for interior design studios that could make a real difference in your productivity.

Streamline Your Processes

Your company should have a manual with standard operating procedures outlining the order of tasks and responsibilities for each stage of a project, as well as administrative maintenance and growth initiatives. Analyze and write down what has worked so far, and keep your manual updated with any new insights. This will allow you to stay on top of your company's management, not let leads or other opportunities slip through the cracks, and also keep your team on the same page as part of your ongoing communication with them.

Train and Delegate

Design and administration are equally important to the success of your business, but there will be times when your need for the support of one skill set is greater than the other. Take inventory of the skills that aren’t your strong points and see if they fall into a similar category in order to hire one person to take them on. Start there and expand your team gradually, depending on your company’s needs at each juncture.

Properly training new hires and working side by side with them, especially in the beginning, will save you time in the long run. Keep in mind that the onboarding process can take a few months, so be prepared to invest that time and your salary amount, even before their work really starts to reflect in the company's profits. If you’re not ready to take on a new team member full-time, consider working with a virtual assistant who is able to help you with a wide range of tasks.

As you can see, scaling your business has everything to do with optimizing its various facets. It's about staying open to doing things more efficiently and taking advantage of revenue-generating opportunities while your day-to-day efforts are right where they need to be.

xx, Danae

Beat the Heat with these Healthy Summer Treats!

Under the long-awaited summer sun, we all need refreshments to get us through the hot days. If you want to keep yourself cool and satisfy your sweet tooth, all while staying healthy, check out these healthy summer treat recipes!

Fruit Popsicles

They are one of the stars of the summer because of their simplicity, refreshing effect, and the ability to be creative with them! Start with a popsicle mold and pour in your own mix, with a touch of the sweetener of your choice, to freeze between 4-8 hours. You can make a sorbet variety with mixed berries or watermelon and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Or try mixing Greek yogurt with fruits like blueberries or bananas for a creamier version.

Peanut Butter Banana Cups

You’ll need ¾ cup chocolate chips, 1 medium banana, ¼ all natural peanut butter, 1 tbsp melted coconut oil, plus baking cups. First, melt the chocolate. Separately, combine the melted coconut oil with the peanut butter. Pour 1 tsp of melted chocolate on the bottom of the baking cups, then 1 banana slice, 1 tsp of the peanut butter mixture, and lastly, ½ tsp of melted chocolate in the center. Freeze for about 1 hour and they’ll be ready to go.

Milkshakes

Sugar-packed milkshakes at the drive-thru are another story, but you can make many delicious and healthy smoothie recipes yourself. Start with a base of 2 plain single-serving yogurts, 2 cups of ice and add the blend of your choice. Try peach-mango, cocoa-banana, banana-papaya or strawberry-coconut. Blend, and it’s ready to serve (approx. 4 servings)!

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

For a richer option, try this recipe, which doesn’t taste like avocado, by the way! Blend until smooth: 2 ripe avocados, 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder, 1/4 cup Dutch cocoa, 3-4 tablespoons milk of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon salt and a sweetener of your choice to taste. You can serve it immediately (approx. 4 servings), chill it in the fridge first, or even make fudgesicles with it!

Fruit Skewers

Cut up bite-size square chunks of different fruits about half an inch thick to create a variety skewer. Some great options are fruits like cantaloupe, pineapple, peach, mango and strawberries. Stack the squares, alternating the fruits, and add them to the wooden skewers. You can garnish with a light drizzle of chocolate, honey or finely grated coconut.

Salted Chocolate-Dipped Mandarin Slices

All you need is 5 mandarin oranges, ½ cup chocolate chips and a pinch of sea or coarse salt. Melt the chocolate chips, dip each orange slice halfway or more into the melted chocolate and set them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt, refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened and enjoy!

Have fun with these recipes and experiment with your own combinations!

xx, Danae

How to Use 'Like To Know It' and Build a Design Template for Passive Income

As you look to expand the financial reach of your interior design business, you'll likely be drawn to finding new passive income opportunities. It’s just smart to invest a little bit of time into building sources of revenue that will work for you time and time again.

What is Like To Know It?

Meet Like To Know It or LTK (formerly known as RewardStyle), founded by fashion blogger Amber Venz Box. It’s an app used by brands, content creators or influencers, and consumers. So it works much like social media platforms, where users can browse, search, “like” and save posts, follow creators, and shop links. LTK offers over 5 thousands retailers, including item categories like beauty, fashion, and home goods.

Like To Know It invites interior designers, architects, and other professionals to bring their style expertise to the platform and reap the benefits. As a content creator, you can post shoppable photos and videos and receive a commission.

What kind of content can I create on LTK?

First, start with an idea for a curated product collection. Here are some examples for inspiration!

• whole room composition based on a style and color palette

• a gallery wall of art

• objects for shelf styling

• favorite new items from a brand

• statement pieces

• organization solutions

• home office essentials

• a selection of season decor

• outdoor furniture options

• gift guides

• throw pillow combinations

• must-haves for entertaining

• other lifestyle items in line with your business

How do you build a design template for Like To Know It?

Sourcing from one or multiple brands, put together a digital collage of the products you choose in an attractive editorial style, and post. In order to make their collages, many creators use tools like Canva, which is very user-friendly. And once you’ve got a few designs in your inventory, you can use them as templates for future posts, which will save you time. Here are the basic steps for creating a collage design:

1. Take screenshots of the products you want to include in the collection. Make sure you’re getting a high quality image.

2. Open a blank canvas. You can start with Canva’s template for a square Instagram post, or size to 1080 x 1350 pixels to upload to LTK.

3. Add the product images to the canvas. Use the upload button or simply drag the image files.

4. Remove the image backgrounds. Use the built-in background removal tool on Canva if you have a Pro account, or otherwise a free online tool like Adobe’s and upload the photos to Canva afterward.

5. Arrange the products. Use your design instincts to arrange the products in a harmonious, aesthetically pleasing way around the canvas, whether symmetrical or in a zig-zag fashion. Similar products should be scaled to the same size. This step is very important to achieve an eye-catching result.

6. Add final details. Using your business’s fonts and colors throughout. You can add the title of the collage to the canvas, as well as some simple graphic accents to complement the design. For LTK posts, add your logo and LTK handle. Keep it very clean, simple, and unified. Finally, download the file to your computer to then upload to the app.

Next time you have a concept that could use the same layout, revisit your designs in Canva, make a copy of the most similar layout, rename the new design, and simply drop your new images into the old ones. They should seamlessly take their place. Make any necessary tweaks to the sizing or spacing, change the title if there is one, and you’ve got your new collage!

How will my content reach shoppers?

Using LTK’s web and mobile tools, you can create, share, and track content from the same place. The Like To Know It app itself sees over 300K shoppers each month. But the impact really comes with sharing your creations with the affiliate links elsewhere, including platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. From there, you can begin to grow an audience of high-intent shoppers and multiply your earnings.

Brands rely on your ability to sell a vibe or lifestyle to consumers through beautiful yet accessible content. And with the wide variety of brands LTK offers, you can stay true to the essence of your signature style or niche for a truly personalized collaborative partnership.

How can I get started on LTK?

So is there a catch? Just that you’ll need to complete the application process and be approved in order to start posting. While LTK doesn’t list specific criteria in order to join, here are some tips. To be an ideal content creator candidate on LTK, you must have an active public profile with an engaged following on Instagram or YouTube, or otherwise a blog. Ideally, you’ll have more than one of these, but Instagram may be the most important. They’re looking for high quality relevant content with a significant following and engagement. If your Instagram profile is a weak point for you, take some time to improve it before applying to LTK. The good news is, if you don’t get approved the first time, you can reapply again in the future.

xx, Danae

Lead Generation Ideas: Build Your Audience and Gain Potential Clients

We've all been there. You go to download a freebie and a window pops up asking for your name and email address in order to get the download link. That freebie is called a lead magnet, and it’s a way to encourage people who are already interested in content related to your interior design business to volunteer their information and consent to receiving marketing-infused content from you. And that's the beginning of your opportunity to build awareness and trust, and pre-qualifies or primes them for a great experience working with you.

First Things First

Before anything else, according to the concept of the digital marketing funnel, you will need to get the word out about your business and drive traffic to your website. You can achieve this through social media content, search engine optimization and paid advertising. It’s all about attracting the type of client you want to work with.

How Do Lead Magnets Work?

Once on your website, if you don't ask for your potential clients' contact information, you may lose them forever. This could be a pop-up, in the footer of your website, or at the end of a blog post. You can also promote them on your social media accounts. Show them an eye-catching image and title of the content you’re offering. In exchange for something they find really valuable, they’ll be willing to give you their email address. And generally, they should automatically receive an email with a download link, for example to a shared Google Drive or Dropbox link. You can set this up using a tool like MailChimp, AWeber, or ConvertKit. And once you have a mailing list, you can send new content to already-existing leads to remind them about you - as well as just offering useful content!

What Should Lead Magnets Include?

Use Canva or PowerPoint to create a PDF file format. Use your brand’s logo, fonts, and colors throughout. Focus on just one topic, and it should be easily digestible with images and include headers and bullet points wherever it makes sense to.

When your potential client opens the file, they should immediately recognize it to be what they were looking for, or else they will feel tricked. But it’s important to introduce your company as the voice of authority behind the content they’re about to consume. Include a photo of your team and a brief blurb about your company. Be intentional about the tone you use, appeal to their emotions, and emphasize the pain point they’re looking to solve. The content you give away should be useful in its own right, but it must always also include a call to action (Book a consultation!), to encourage them to take the next step and seek your help.

What Are Some Lead Magnet Ideas?

Consider your niche and your ideal client. Homeowners looking to renovate and entrepreneurs opening a new coffee shop are going to be interested in different types of content. What questions and needs might come up for them?

Lead magnet ideas include:

• style tips (How to Create a Color Palette for Your Home)

• mini guides (How to Budget for your Home Design Project)

• listicles (Top 5 Most Impactful Design Upgrades You Can Make)

• checklists (Home Staging Checklist to Sell Your Home)

• case studies (How Interior Design Increases Property Value)

• design quizzes (What’s Your Personal Style?)

• newsletters (your company's content is delivered regularly to their inbox)

Other Ways to Generate Leads?

While developing lead magnets, you can also generate leads through networking and building collaborative relationships with other industry professionals who are not your direct competitors. You can also make yourself known on online platforms like Houzz, where clients can find you when they search for the service they're looking for. And when you complete a successful project with a client, be sure to always ask them for a testimonial and for them to recommend you to their family and friends if they are happy with the result.

Creating quality lead magnets and getting the flow going can be time-consuming, especially in the beginning. But you can save time by creating templates for future magnets, so it will be faster. And you'll see how upping your lead magnet game is essential to your marketing success and well worth the investment.

xx, Danae

Are You Sleeping Well? Best Sleep Apps and How They Can Help You

According to the American Sleep Association, about ⅓ of Americans struggle with insomnia or other sleep-related problems. They explain that sleep is not a passive part of our lives, but a very dynamic period for our nervous system, and adults over the age of 25 need between 7 and 9 hours per night to function properly. If you find it hard to quiet your thoughts or relax at night, you can benefit greatly from the help of a sleep app. Here are some of the best ones out there right now.

Best Free App

Insight Timer (Insight Network Inc)

An extensive free library of nature sounds, relaxing music, and meditations that you can filter by category and duration. Start with a curated selection by answering a few questions about your beliefs and preferences.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best Meditation App

Headspace

Known for its guided meditation tracks and mindfulness exercises geared to all moods and topics, Headspace has expanded its menu to sleep stories called "sleep casts" and calming music.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $69.99/year or $12.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best Sleep Tracker

Sleep Cycle (Sleep Cycle AB)

Optimize your downtime by using this app which operates with its “smart alarm clock.” It tracks and analyzes your sleep throughout the night to wake you up during your light sleep phase, helping you rest better and feel less groggy in the morning.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $39.99/year or $9.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best White Noise App

Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds (Peak Pocket Studios)

This app provides soothing sounds from diverse atmospheres (forest, beach, etc.), binaural beats, healing frequencies, and white, brown, and pink noises. You can also save custom sounds.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Expert Sleep Coach

Sleep Station

This is a web-based app that is actually an online sleep support program designed by experts. They offer packages including sleep analysis, a sleep improvement plan, coaching, and ongoing support.

• Starting at $149.

• Available online.

Lucid Dreaming Tool

Awoken

If you're interested in making the most of the dream world, this app offers tools to help trigger lucid dreams, including a pin-protected dream journal, reality check reminders, dream pattern reports, and more.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android.

Best Overall App

Better Sleep (Ipnos Software)

Formerly known as Relax Melodies, this comprehensive sleep app offers all kinds of seamless sleep-inducing sounds, bedtime stories, and breathing exercises, in addition to sleep tracking features.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $59.99/year or $9.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

One caveat: apps that offer a free trial usually automatically switch to an annual subscription after the week is up, unless you opt-out, so mark your calendar if you're not convinced.

If you've never tried a sleep app, you may be in for a real game-changer. However, you can also find other sleep aids beyond these apps. Spotify Premium also has a great offering of audios and podcasts to help you sleep, and you can set it to automatically shut off when it ends or after a certain period of time. There are also countless free YouTube videos with white noise or meditations, though you should make sure you have the autoplay option turned off. If you're comforted by soft, repetitive sounds, there's a whole world of ASMR to discover. And while we're on the subject, remember to set your screen to automatically switch to soft, warm light at least an hour before you go to bed so that the blue light doesn't disrupt your circadian rhythms.

Most of the time, the root cause of sleep difficulties requires addressing the big picture, through lifestyle changes or one-on-one therapy sessions. But sleep apps, like the ones mentioned above, can be an excellent complement to help you relax your body and mind, and even offer insight into your sleep patterns to improve them.

Sweet dreams!

xx, Danae