As today is President’s Day (spelled President’s if you’re a traditionalist and believe it’s a day to remember George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s births) or Presidents’ Day (as a non-traditionalist, like me, to celebrate all presidents), I thought I’d share one of my favorite quotes by President Theodore Roosevelt.

“The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

While President’s/Presidents’ Day is typically to celebrate the leaders of our great nation, I encourage you company presidents and CEOs to reflect on your own presidencies today.

After deciding to go to Tucson for Thanksgiving, and extending my trip into the earlier part of the week, I decided it would be high time to visit those nice designers and knock on some doors.  I typically do not consult for just a few hours, but I wanted to reach out and introduce our company to an area that I felt we had not yet built much brand awareness.

How did I find the interior designers in Tucson?

I looked online…much like potential clients would.  LinkedIn was a valuable tool for me to search by and, when I came to the second designer in my LinkedIn search list, I found that her website didn’t link properly.  This led me to run a search on her name and up popped trouble.  Trouble was in the form of a very negative online review about this designer’s professionalism and abilities from a potential client.  This negative review was not emotionally written but carefully cited objective details, including a lawsuit.  Yikes.  Now I realize that there are two sides to every story and we have all had our share of bad experiences and bad clients.

However, what worried me more is that this designer may not know that this review is out there.  If I were a client, there is no way that I would contact her when there are so many others in the list.  As someone who works with designers, I was even unwilling to call on this woman because I figured that I did not “need the trouble”.

The sad truth is that we are all much more willing to write a scathing review when we’ve had a bad experience than we are to write a review if the experience exceeded our expectations.  That reality is not going to change.

Are you monitoring what people are saying about you online?

See my next two posts about tools to monitor your online reputation and what to do about a bad review.

The next time you think about writing a press release, ask yourself- “Will anyone really care?”  Chances are, besides your mom, the people in your company, and maybe your clients, no one will give a damn about the fact that you just signed a new client (unless it’s Google) or that you won an award for best decorated Christmas tree in your town of 5,000.

Am I saying that those things don’t matter and that you shouldn’t talk about them at all?  No.  They are very important parts of a comprehensive PR strategy, but they are not what a good release makes.  You should talk about the “smaller victories”–on your blog, on your Facebook page, in an email newsletter.

A press release should really make a journalists job easy.  They have to write A LOT and are always on deadline.  Don’t swamp them with mundane information that they will not want to write about or incomplete information that makes them have to spend their precious time digging for more.

If you’re going to take the time to write a press release,

• make sure it’s something more than you care about
• if it seems that it might be too mundane, think about a different pitch
• paint a picture and then sell your story
• include factual information (and never, EVER lie)
• include necessary links and information that the writer can quickly access to add under a tight deadline
• be readily accessible to the journalist for any additional questions that may arise

Press people- what do you think?  What makes a good press release?  What really peeves you?

Jam-packed with events and fun holidays, autumn is our favorite season to be outside and enjoy the color inspiration, fall fashion and crisp air.

Here are a few of our favorite things to do:

“The Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season.  In addition to the usual pumpkin carving and Halloween costume party traditions, one of my absolute favorite things to do every October is visit Markoff’s Haunted Forest with my friends.  This particular Haunted Forest beats ANY Haunted house/tour/forest/etc I have ever been to.  My friends and I love to go out each year, clutching to each other as we frantically make it through the terrifying forest.  Even their website is scary!“ – Amanda Butterworth, Senior Director, Creative Services

“It would have to be our annual drive into the Colorado Rockies to view the changing aspen trees – the colors are just delicious!  This year we drove over Boreas Pass which takes the route of an old rail bed from Como to the south and drops down into Breckenridge.  Breathtaking!” – Martha Kirkpatrick, Director, Member Services

Martha's photo of some gorgeous Colorado foliage!

“My favorite fall activity is college football.  As many of you know, I am a HUGE Boise State football fan (as an Idahoan) and greatly enjoy watching them trounce the competition on our controversial blue field.  In Charlottesville, it’s nice to get out, tailgate, and watch UVA try to hold it together in the ACC.” – Alexandra Gibson, President and CEO

Alexandra (in the hat), with Katherine and Martha Jane (both GDM Advisory Board members) on each end, and Bevin (GDM fan always, new Broncos fan)

“My favorite part of fall is throwing on my favorite fleece and watching football. Go tigers! (Hampden-Sydney).” – Lolly Rush, Project Manager

“I love visiting Martha’s Vineyard on fall weekends – eating clam chowder, checking out that famous New England foliage, and bundling up to take my dog for a walk on the beach.” – Jessye Aibel, Associate, Social Media & Online PR

A series to get your creative juices flowing for your interior design firm’s blog.  [Link to earlier posts: Introduction/first set, numbers 6-10, numbers 11-15, numbers 16-20, numbers 21-25, and numbers 26-30]

1. Promoting a post that you liked on another blog.  If a fellow design blogger posts a great post on her blog, show her some love.  You’ll get reciprocity and build goodwill.
2. Great finds from High Point or NeoCon. Talk about trends.  Show your favorite pieces.  Show what’s new.
3. Canopy beds.  Talk about the history of the canopy bed and how it translates into today’s interior.
   

   A dreamy canopy bed. Photo: Elle Decor

4. Green upholstery options.  Vendors that are now offering green upholstery.  What to consider and how to know if something is truly green.
5. Considering Living in Place when building your home.  Design of passageways, thresholds, roughing in an elevator, and more.

Plus two extra for the end…

• Historical uses of crown moldings.

Crown molding frames a pretty window seat. Photo: Traditional Home

• Splurges + steals- mirrors, cocktail tables, beds, etc.  This is your typical magazine article showing the Versace dress with its hefty price tag (that is absolutely to die for) and a BCBG dress that achieves the same “look” at a more affordable price.

We hope you enjoyed the series and found a few points of inspiration for your interior design firm’s blog.  If you found any of these suggestions particularly helpful, or if you’ve created any innovative posts for your blog,  please share your ideas with us! We’d love to see what you’ve come up with.

A series to get your creative juices flowing for your interior design firm’s blog.  [Link to earlier posts: Introduction/first set, numbers 6-10, numbers 11-15, numbers 16-20, and numbers 21-25]

1. A front door wreath for each season.
2. Using a stair runner. Using patterns or solids. Why you might want a runner.
3. Review of a recent hotel/resort you visited (from a design perspective).  What you liked and/or didn’t like. Interesting pieces or uses that your readers could translate into their lives.
   

   Tempo Miami. (Photo: Elle Decor)

4. A plug for your favorite charity and why you support it.  Show your readers what you care about.
5. Pictures of your holiday table.  Show them your personality and a glimpse into your life.

Check back next Monday for the remaining ideas in the series! (Are we saving best for last?)

A series to get your creative juices flowing for your interior design firm’s blog.  [Click to see the introduction and first set of ideas, ideas #6-#10, ideas #11-#15, or #16-#20!]

1. A definition of trims.  Educate your readers and expand their vocabularies (tape, braid, lipcord, etc.).
2. Your latest project and an interview with the client.  This could even be a video.
3. Multiple arrangements for the same living room furniture.  Show 5 or 6 basic pieces and how they can be arranged in a basic room to show a very different look.
   

   Interesting furniture arrangements create new life in a living room. (Photo: Elle Decor)

4. Appropriate height to hang art.
5. How to choose a tile grout color.  When to use contrasting grout.  What to think about regarding maintenance.

Stay tuned for five more blog post ideas, coming next week!

You might have heard mentions of our sibling company, OttoPilot Media, through the Twitter grapevine, but perhaps you’re wondering what OttoPilot Media is all about.  Make sure your tray tables are in the upright position– here’s the rundown:

In short, OttoPilot Media helps fly your business to a higher level through non-traditional marketing… but that’s more than just a catchy tag-line.  We work with companies to determine which social media platforms will be best for what they want to achieve.  Once that’s defined, we enhance and customize the necessary tools (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, and more) so each social media platform accurately reflects the brand or business.  We want our clients to look like the experienced pilots they are.

Plus, we take care of the hard part: effectively managing these platforms.  Signing up, refueling and applying a fresh coat of paint to these social media accounts isn’t enough– so we generate content, schedule posts and tweets, and make sure you’re always up-to-date, knowledgeable, and engaged with your online communities. You won’t have to worry about a thing– it’s like sitting in first class all the time!

Now, we all know that if a pilot got distracted while flying, the results wouldn’t be too favorable.  To avoid this, we stay focused and alert while your company runs on its familiar schedule (we know that can be a big distraction)– in order to deliver the best in-flight service and turbulence-free ride for you and your clients.

Moreover, we are specialists when it comes to helping our clients develop ideas and get people talking about their brand (and saying good things, of course).  We work with companies to define a manageable flight plan, and then implement our revolutionary tools  (i.e non-traditional marketing) to ensure our clients are visible across online platforms, and consistently sharing their unique brand with others.

Are the skies a little clearer now?  We hope you’ll get in touch to learn more about how OttoPilot Media can help your business fly to new heights!

Find us here:  and here:  

Practical, judicious and well-dressed, Scarlett O’Hara embodies more than just the charm of a Southern belle.  Her character gives us plenty of business-savvy lessons to work with– applicable to any time period, and regardless of proximity to the Mason-Dixon Line.

Here are four lessons to be learned from Scarlett:

1. Be resilient. Scarlett did not have an easy go of it after the Civil War.  She was forced to work the fields and manage the house after the death of her mother and the onset insanity of her father.  Furthermore, she had not a penny to her name and was deeply indebted to the tax collectors.  However, she pushed through.  We’ve all lived through the last 2 years of a terrible economic storm.  Even without poor market conditions, businesses will go through very tough times.  Resiliency, and will power, can often be the only thing to push us through the difficulty when it seems like everything is going to mud.  Sometimes it is about putting one foot in front of the other when things are really dismal.
2. Dress the part. When Scarlett goes to Atlanta to visit Rhett Butler in jail and ask for money to pay the taxes on Tara, she dresses the part despite being destitute (and wears the velvet drapes that Mammy fashioned into a gown).  As Thomas Fuller said “Good clothes open all doors.”  When you want something from someone—a sale, an investment, etc.—you need to look and act like you will survive without it.  Dress the part, inside and out.
3. Think about it tomorrow. Some days are overwhelming.  If you think about eating the whole elephant in one sitting, you will be sick thinking about the enormity of your task.  Not everything has to be done today.  Don’t bury your head in the sand but give yourself a break and realize that you are one person with the same 24 hours that everyone else has.  As Scarlett says, “I’ll think about it tomorrow.”  Some days you should do just that.
4. Don’t be foolish chasing after something that is not meant to be. Occasionally, we all really believe that a certain product or service is what is going to be our savior for our company.  We continue investing money and time, putting other lucrative services and products on the back burner.  Be honest with yourself about what areas of your business are really producing revenue.  Focus a majority of your efforts there.  Don’t spend your business life chasing after Ashley when Rhett is really the best fit.

I can already hear the rumblings of controversy based purely on this title.  Over the past few months, our social media division at Gibson Design Management and our subsidiary media company, OttoPilot Media, have been discussing objective ways to measure our social media efforts for our clients.  This has included discussion of customized metrics for each of our clients based on business and marketing goals.

I’m going to say it, so argue away: having more people “like” your Facebook business page is better.  This does not mean that you can just stop there.  You still need engaging content and someone consistently monitoring and responding so that it is a conversational platform.

When I first graduated from college and worked in sales and marketing for NVR, we were taught that a large part of sales is a numbers game.  If you don’t speak to anyone, and you don’t set any appointments, and then you don’t write any contracts, you’re not going to make any sales.  However, the (qualified) leads that you generated and the more appointments that you had meant that statistically you would be more likely to achieve your sales goals.

Don’t get me wrong- it did matter that these leads were qualified and that I was good at my job.  I wasn’t sitting down with 15 year olds who wanted to buy an $800,000 home.  However, these interactions were one-on-one.  It does not cost you any extra money on Facebook to reach 100 or 1,000 additional people via your page.

With Facebook, every time that you post, the number of people that post reaches is purely the number of people who “like” your page.  If that number is larger, you have a greater reach and reach is an important metric.  If your objective is brand awareness, having more people know about and like your brand is important.  If your objective is more sales, you are more likely to sell something with a greater audience.