1. Choosing towel colors.  How to use a spa-like approach or to accent with your bath towels.
2. 5 favorite pedestal sinks.
   

   Photo: Better Homes & Gardens

3. How to tell good upholstery from bad.  Possibly show pictures that will educate your reader on what they can look for when selecting a piece of upholstery.
4. Effects of glazing cabinetry.  How different glazes change the natural colors of woods.
5. Choosing the right area rug.  Size, style, and more.  Do you put the sofa legs on it?

Photo: Apartment Therapy

Be sure to check back next Monday for five more blog post ideas!

In 30 minutes, I developed 35 ideas for blog posts for your interior design firm.  I realize I am leaving this to you to do the hard part—the writing!  Most of them are residentially-inclined, but I know that they will spur ideas for the commercial folks too.  You are more than welcome to use these blog post ideas verbatim.  However, you will also be thinking about your own spin so don’t let these limit your creativity.  Hopefully this list will help you think of even another 35 things that you want to write about.  If it does make you think of some posts, will you share them in the comments?  Remember that posts don’t have to be long, but they have to be interesting.  What is interesting to your reader?  They’ll tell you by what they retweet on Twitter, link to from their own blog, or comment on your blog.  It’s a learning experience and you’ll probably end up being surprised at what they most want to hear about.

I’ve divided this list into groups of 5.  It will give you enough to think about for the week and we will post them every Monday for the next 7 weeks.

1. Pantone color of the year and its uses.  Show ways that it can be used as a base color or as a subtle accent.

2.  Outdoor living rooms.  The change in fabric technology and options are amazing.  Highlight this or something similar for your reader.

Photo: Martha Stewart

3.  Window treatments and appropriate uses.  Educate your reader on the different window treatment designs and when each might be used.

4.  Ceiling fans– not from your first apartment.  Choosing a fan with style.

5.  Painting floors.  What to consider with color and sheen.

Photo: Design Sponge

Stay tuned for five more blog post ideas for interior designers, every Monday!

It’s no surprise that the dirty martini, a symbol of refined revelry and exceptional taste, is also Gibson Design Management’s chosen symbol for a reward of member excellence. Each month, the Dirty Martini award is presented to one of our members, honoring the innovative, devoted and impressive achievements of the people we are so fortunate to work with.  What better way is there to applaud a job well done than by unwinding with a cocktail?

This month, we’d like to congratulate Lane Elisabeth Oliver of LEO Interior Design for her recent media recognition, which praised her skilled design sense and innovative approach when it comes to transforming an interior.  Although Lane’s work has been featured in many publications, last month’s Denver Life Magazine highlighted an LEO Interior Design project in a lengthy spread (“Tidy Transformation”)– describing Lane’s ability to “add life” to an outdated home interior by combining traditional elements with light colors, bold patterns and some impressive faux finishes.  (To read the full article and see pictures of the final interior, visit the LEO Interior Design website and download a PDF version.)

After a job well done, we think Lane deserves to put her feet up and enjoy a refreshing martini.  Congratulations again to Lane Elisabeth Oliver of LEO Interior Design–cheers!

Starting in 2007, the market for interior designers turned into quicksand.   The credit markets tightened, and projects that typically went to designers were brought in-house both residentially and commercially.

HGTV and the Internet created more competitors in the middle of the market from the consumers themselves, and frankly, for most designers, those weren’t and aren’t your best clients anyway.

High-end projects stayed fairly steady until the economic debacle of October 2008, and then many of the projects slowed, stopped or didn’t start at all.  Especially in markets tied to the financial markets like New York, the wealthiest clients lost their jobs and their sense of security if they were in jobs associated with money and wealth.

The commercial market was devastated by the credit crisis, and according to economists, the concerns aren’t behind us yet.

Even with this perfect storm, some designers were very busy.  Why?  They adapted to the market shifts, changed their pricing strategies, developed an online presence, spent as much as 10% on marketing, focused on a niche, learned how to differentiate themselves better, and didn’t wait for the phone to ring.  They took these conditions as a challenge and they worked even harder than before.

If commercial and hospitality is your preferred area of business, you’ll want to focus on renovations.  If you can show companies that an investment in renovation can lead to more dollars at the bottom line especially if they depend on consumer spending, then you have an opportunity to build a logical reason why a company should invest.  The commercial designers that become a marketing partner with their clients differentiate themselves and become a valuable solution-oriented team member instead of an expense.

If your specialty is residential design, bathroom and kitchen renovation is still steady.  The budgets might be smaller, but there is work in this specialty area.

A kitchen renovation featured on the Traditional Home blog

Some designers created packages of services they offered on their websites.  Why did that work for them?  The consumers wanted (and demanded) to know the investment required .

Other designers offered Value Based Fees because consumers resisted hourly fees.  ASID surveyed consumers a few years ago and approximately 70% said they wanted fixed fees.  Designers who offered this option found that it completely shifted their role from an hourly wage slave to a trusted advisor, and that helped many designers kick-start their businesses even during the last several months.

You could be the greatest designer, but if people don’t hear about you consistently, then your business will struggle.  These days, you need great photography, a great head shot, articles about you in magazines, online and in newspapers (third party endorsements), a web presence including a website, blog and social media and search engine optimization of your website and blog.

And, if you don’t have a written business plan, marketing plan, vision and strategy for your business, it’s time to get busy and take action.  Referrals and networking may have worked in the past, but they are less effective than ever, so that means it’s time to rethink and reposition your business.

[Originally written for Decorati Access Interior Design, Published June 11]

I’ve been an interior designer for over 20 years, so I’ve had plenty of time to make these mistakes.  Here’s a startling statistic (and I’ll bet it is higher during this recession) – 62.8% of all new businesses fail within 6 years according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and 96% fail within 10 years.  That means you’re lucky to be one of 4 out of 100 to make it past 10 years…or is it luck?

What if you could avoid the mistakes that these business owners made?

I’d like to see you avoid them, and if you’ve already done a few of them, now you can learn what not to do so you don’t waste your valuable time and money:

1. Not having a written “ideal client” profile – If you don’t know who your ideal client is, how can you tell other people who they can refer to you?  If you’ve ever had the client from &%$&, (or more than once) the key is to know what you don’t want in a client as much as what you do want.
2. Not knowing the lifetime value of your client – If you’ve been in the business even a few years, you can add up your billings and divide by the number of clients to get your current lifetime value.  You should also look at how long they stay as a client.  These two metrics are critical in your business planning and if you have this data as part of your Business Dashboard, it will help you grow your business.
3. Spending your time and effort marketing to new prospects rather than your current clients or inactive clients – Here are the statistics: your chance of selling a fresh prospect is 1 in 10 or even as low as 1 in 13; you chance of selling an inactive client is 1 in 3; your chance of selling to an active client is 1 in 2. Do you want to work less?  Sell more to your current clients, and once you’ve maximized that, work on reactivating your old clients.  Getting new prospects is your most expensive and hardest job. (Harry Mills – The Rainmaker’s Toolkit).
4. Not staying in touch with your clients frequently – Some of you do a really good job of sending thank you notes or birthday cards, but what about offering a special service during a slow period?  There are hundreds of strategies for keeping in touch with your clients without being a pest.  Be sure and share some of your best ones and we’ll compile a list to share with you and our members.
5. Not offering additional services at the end of an engagement – You are more likely to sell additional services to your client if you are in front of them and during the time when they are most excited about what you’ve done for them.  What can you offer them?  Is there a room you can “re-style” for them?  Chances are you’ll end up with new accessory, rug or window treatment sales.  This is like an upsell at McDonald’s – “would you like fries with that?”  You already have your wallet open, and besides, those fries smell really good!  In fact, you can significantly increase your revenues by this one strategy alone, and it is easy.  Even Starbucks knows that most people come in once per day, but if you come back after 2 pm, you can have a frozen drink for $2.  Guess what, that increases their revenue by 66% in many cases, and it is business they would not have gotten otherwise!
6. Inconsistent marketing – I can guarantee that if you are only marketing when business is slow that you are experiencing repeating cycles of feast and famine.  Not having a plan and marketing each and every day guarantees cycles that will make your hair go gray!  If you have a system in place and you work the system (assuming it is the right one), you will weather any financial storm.
7. Paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for costly magazine or newspaper advertising. Most businesses budget between 3 – 6% of their expenses for advertising, marketing and PR, but this is the worst possible place for you to be spending your money.
8. Not paying for professional photography – if you are serious about your design business, you need to pay someone to shoot your best projects.  Since my projects always took years to complete, I hired my photographer every two years and figured that a full day of photography cost around $1,500.  I used to shoot between 3 – 5 days in a row (which is exhausting).
9. Not having a strong web presence – 75% of designers do not have a website, and today, I don’t recommend spending money on a website.  A better option is a blog, social media and online directories.  Also, creating a digital portfolio and other new techniques of marketing are far more cost and time-effective than the traditional brochures and websites.  Please request a copy of our Internet Strategies for Architects and Interior Designers if you haven’t read it.  It will give you steps you can follow to join your competitors and be found by new prospects.
10. Not asking for testimonials and referrals from every client early and often – It is more effective to ask for both testimonials and referrals at the beginning of your engagement, and for sure, by the end of the project.  The easiest way to do this is have a pre-set list of questions for testimonials and interview your client while taking notes.  Ask them if you can write up the testimonial for them and then forward it to them with a date you want to receive it from them on their stationery.  Even better, get a video testimonial.  Be sure to get a testimonial release, too, so you can use it in your marketing materials.

Marketing and sales are the lifeblood of any business, and if you are consistent and observant about what works best, you’ll find that it gets easier and easier so you can focus on what you like to do best – interior design.

Design by Gibson Design Group | Rendering for Upcoming Charity House Show

Here are 3 ideas for using 3D renderings that you might not have thought about previously:

1. Work backwards. If you have a great project in your portfolio that you have already completed and photographed, why not render that project as well.  This will beef up your portfolio by showing potential clients what they can expect as a “before” (the rendering) and “after” (the photograph).  The similarities will be astounding to the potential client.
2. Project never built, but design done. Unfortunately, given the economy over the past two years, many large projects never got off the ground.  However, you may have done great design work for these spaces.  If you have a project that was not ever completed, or the client pulled the plug for budgetary reasons, why not render your vision and add that to your portfolio?
3. Substitute for traditional photography. While professionally photographing your best work is extremely important for your portfolio, there are some projects that might not be quite worth the thousands of dollars to photograph.  As a less expensive alternative, you can take photos of the spaces with a point and click camera and then have photorealistic renderings done to mimic them.  This is also an opportunity to add the window treatments, art, accessories, or additional pieces that were part of the design, but not purchased by the client.

Conventional or non-conventional uses aside, utilizing photorealistic 3D renderings in your portfolio is a great way to win that next client, and set yourself apart from your competitors.

This is a service offered to all members (and included in the price of monthly membership!), and one that has played a particularly important role within our clients’ businesses—allowing clients to fine-tune new ventures, determine how to effectively use their Gibson Design Management membership, and mold personalized strategies for branding, marketing, expansion and more.  Here’s what members have said about the importance of conversation and sounding board calls:

“I think of Gibson Design Management as a very capable employee that I have on call at all times. Whether it’s product sourcing, CAD drawings or advice that I need, Gibson is always there to save me!” — Marlene Oliphant, Marlene Oliphant Designs LLC

“I love working with Gibson Design Management!  Although technically a solo-entrepreneur, I have a team of knowledge, support and creativity on my side at all times.  Monthly member calls with Martha remind me that I never need to “go it alone”!” – Sarah Devaney-O’Neil, Storibook Designs, Inc.

“The monthly mentor calls with Martha Kirkpatrick have been very helpful.  Martha always immediately finds the answers to my questions and reports back to me within 24 hours, if not sooner.  I know that in Martha I have someone to go to if I ever have a question or a need and that it will be taken care of.” — Randy Trainor, C. Randolph Trainor, LLC

“For the past several months, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in monthly coaching calls with Martha Kirkpatrick.  As the owner of a small interior design firm, I have found the calls to be both productive and motivating. Martha has listened to challenges and helped brainstorm solutions for a variety of business topics. These calls have become, without a doubt, one of the greatest benefits of my membership with Gibson Design Management.” — Vicky Serany, Southern Studio Interior Design

If you are a Gibson Design Management member and have not yet taken advantage of the sounding board calls, please email Martha to schedule.  If you are not a member, and you would like to find out more about becoming a member, please email Alexandra Gibson.

The good people at Beasley and Henley Interior Design wrote a great post on their blog about the day in the life of an interior designer.  I found it helpful to hone my message, and I actually know what designers do.

Click here to read the full blog post from Beasley and Henley.

Interior designers- how do you educate your clients on what a designer does?  If you’re not an interior designer- what misconceptions do you think there are about interior designers?

To my delighted surprise, I was given the opportunity to pull supporting fabrics for one of her projects!  She had a presentation in several days, and could not fit the 5 hour round trip to the design center into her schedule.  She supplied me with the vendor and pattern numbers for the driving fabrics, and a few details about durability needs and budget.  The design center is 15 minutes from my office, and within 90 minutes, I had pulled approximately 60 fabrics from numerous vendors and showrooms, stopped at the FedEx store, and sent them off to be delivered to her doorstep the next day.

Here is a quote from her email:

“You spent half the time that I would have spent and found twice the number of selections.  There were at least a dozen out of the group that were extremely useful for the meeting.  My clients benefit because they don’t pay my high hourly rate and we still have a wonderful selection for them.  As you know, I was skeptical about having someone else make selections for me; after this process, I would absolutely use the service again.”

She was very happy with what was sent to her and was able to scheme for the presentation.  My greatest satisfaction was not that I changed her mind, but that I was able to help her and to exceed her expectations.

“One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” – Lewis Carroll