A series to get your creative juices flowing for your interior design firm’s blog.  Read the introduction here.

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!

Whenever I ask people what their main concern and block is for social media, a majority of them say producing content.  This is true.  All of a sudden, businesses that never had to write before are now tasked with being editors and journalists for their online diaries.  Blogging offers great opportunities to establish yourself as an expert, show your company’s personality, and be more searchable, but it can be overwhelming to think about coming up with a new idea 2-5 times per week.

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!

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.

While waiting for a pretty significant writer’s block to clear up, I thought a dip into my Twitter stream might help refresh me a bit. Even though it is against the general “how-to’s” of Twitter, I have focused my following to design, marketing and artistic tweeps— so that the noise doesn’t become too overwhelming. Well, lo and behold: when I really focused, some great new, inventive and interesting ideas and products revealed themselves. And, miraculously, the writer’s block vanished.

Below is a selection of some “twinspirational” Twitter finds.

@LadyFabrics (visit their website): Gorgeous, 100% natural, sustainable, biodegradable fabrics.

A wide array of colors from Lady Fabrics

@Alluminare (visit their website): Fully customizable fabric, wallcovering, pendants, lamps, pillows and so much more! Wonderfully interactive.

Fully customizable lampshades and more on Alluminare's website

@tracyhiner (visit the website) This is NOT your average wallpaper, it’s Art, and yes, with a capital A!

Two examples of Black Crow Studios' artful designs

@modernica (visit the website): Uber-cool furnishings that would make the Jetsons’ swoon.

Ultra modern chairs from modernica.

@HomeDecorNews (visit the website): A lot of something about a lot of everything for the design industry, from the DIY-ers to professionals.

@myperfectcolor (visit the website): Anything and everything you would ever want to know about Benjamin Moore paint.

The moral of the story: inspiration comes from many sources, Twitter being only one of many!

How can you make Twitter work for your business? Contact @gibsondm, @mandaleebee or @ProjectSupport (aka Alexandra, Amanda or Martha at Gibson Design Management).

Don’t you just love the sense of accomplishment after finishing a large project? It’s important to enjoy the gratification of completing a big job, but more important to make sure you and your client don’t become detached. Always leave something with your client to make them think about the next step. This could be an accessory you give them as a house warming gift or a tear sheet of that perfect console to fill the void in the hallway.

Recently I was hit with this client experience when picking up invitations from a stationary store. In the bag with my invitation boxes were cute monogrammed cups, a note pad, and match book. Naturally, the next task to check off my event to-do list was ordering favors. What a great way to hook me in as a client, encouraging me to do repeat business or refer the store to a friend.

There are many ways you can incorporate this strategy into your business.  For example, if you and a client just completed the living room and master bedroom, you could leave them with a stunning dining room centerpiece or an accessory that would look great in the study.

I will definitely use Paper on the Avenue again. It was a great finishing touch and lasting impression that I will remember for a long time.

Success comes in many sizes and forms, sometimes when you least expect it; and those successes are particularly sweet.  Recently, I was explaining the benefits of project sourcing to a potential client, a very talented, well known and respected designer, how we could assist by pulling fabrics or supplying tear sheets within the parameters that she would specify for us, staying true to her design vision.  She didn’t feel she would ever use that service, as she wanted to make those design decisions, she loved that process, and didn’t want to let that go.

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.

(more…)

For a limited time, we are offering our Social Media Launch Pad at a discounted price. Don’t miss out!

Our Social Media Launch Pad sets up your firm’s presence on all appropriate social media platforms. This starting point allows your company to jump into social media and learn along the way.

The Launch Pad includes:
• Kick-off call to explain the different tools and briefly discuss strategy
• Setting up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Ava Living
• Adding photos, information, and all other necessary details to the above platforms to create pages that will show that you not only have a presence, but have a robust presence and want to encourage engagement
• Creating a blog for your firm, using one of hundreds of wordpress.com templates that work aesthetically with your current web site
• 1 month of “co-piloting” to ensure that you have a resource for questions as you begin using the different tools
• 6 months of unlimited Flight School classes that teach you about how to use Facebook, Twitter, Ava Living, blogging, and LinkedIn for business

Special Discount from December 11-December 31, 2009!

Cost: $695 $595

To learn more about the Social Media Launch Pad, please contact Martha at martha@gibsondesignmanagement.com