The Gibson Design Management website will be down this evening (3-28-10) for maintenance, but do not worry, we’ll have everything back up and running by Monday morning!
If you are trying to contact us about membership, please e-mail Alexandra at alexandra@gibsondesigngroup.net.
Unless you’ve been stuck under a pile of F. Schumacher sample books for the last two years, you have probably heard of the social media phenomenon with the cute bird mascot. Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows you to post status updates that range from personal (“Why are there so many crumbs in my purse?”) to educational (“Pantone announces its new color for 2010 is turquoise”) to conversational (“@gibsondm That was a great article about 5 steps to start Twitter”). Your tweets are limited to 140 characters.
While this article is not about why to use Twitter, I must devote one quick paragraph to my soapbox. Twitter has helped grow our business. I’ve hired people that I first interacted with via Twitter, created business relationships, found clients, been interviewed for USA Today, been interviewed for a marketing book, and more. If you still don’t get how it can help your business, email me and we’ll discuss.
Getting your feet wet with Twitter is the right way to start.
Here are 5 easy steps:
1. Go to http://twitter.com. Click on the big button that says “Sign Up Now”.
2. Select a username. Your username will also be called your Twitter “handle”. You’ll want to choose something that is close to your name or close to your company name. Make it as simple as possible. If I could do it all over again, I would have chosen my name “alexandragibson”. Unfortunately, that name is no longer available and I’ve developed a following with my current handle—@gibsonmd.
3. Write a profile and upload a picture. Be sure to do this before following anyone. Your profile is limited to 160 characters; I suggest using a mixture of professional information and personality. My profile is:
CEO of Gibson Design Management; MP for Gibson Design Group; social butterfly; type A (personality not blood); competitive horseback rider; martini drinker
4. Enter your first tweet. We typically write things like “Just getting started on Twitter. Thanks @gibsondm for teaching me! 
”
5. Start following people. This will both mean that their tweets will update in your newsfeed and that they will be alerted that you are also on Twitter. If I know that my friend Bob Willywog is on Twitter, I can find him by clicking “Find People” and entering his name. If I just want to start following people in my town, in my industry, or who have similar interests, I go to www.twellow.com and run a search. This will search profiles for your keyword.
If this all seems overwhelming, don’t despair. Contact us about our social media services. We can hold your hand through not only getting your business set up but also on how to use these tools to improve your marketing.
Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management
Last fall we had the fortunate opportunity to work with Schelfe and Associates, an interior design firm from Raleigh, NC, on a project located 90 minutes outside of Hong Kong, China. The project consisted of converting an existing villa into a high-end boutique hotel, that, when built, will have 6 guest rooms, an owner’s suite, a cinema room, a game room, a karaoke room, a golf simulator room, multiple lounge areas, and more.
Gibson Design Management created four renderings for Schelfe and Associates to present to their clients, helping to better their understanding of the design concept through the renderings and an interpreter. Tim Schelfe, principal at Schelfe and Associates, took our renderings, a plethora of fabric samples and tear sheets, and more for the presentation to his new Chinese client. Upon return, Tim said that the renderings were a hit—they greatly helped bridge the language barrier between his team and the client. The client even said, “I want more pictures!”
Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management
Tim wrote the following testimonial about the process:
“Gibson Design Management was instrumental in allowing our firm to organize the creative vision of the project without getting bogged down on preparing our own interior renderings or color boards. With the renderings provided by Gibson I was able to present my client a very clear and precise vision of the finished interior. Our client was ecstatic with our presentation and signed off on our design as presented.”
Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management
What happens when you and your client both speak the same language? Should you still use renderings? There are countless times when a client will express his or her wishes using incorrect terms such as “I like modern” when what they actually like is “transitional.” Utilizing renderings can help combat these misunderstandings and ensure that you and your client are on the same page before the room is installed. Furthermore, the level of trust that is instilled once a client sees the renderings is immense—instead of just listening to your description, they can actually see what you mean.
A picture, or in this case a rendering, is worth a thousand words.
