Posts by Melissa Galt
From $70,000 in Debt to Six Figures and Debt-Free in 18 Months
I did not start my design business from a position of strength. I started it $70,000 upside down. No savings to fall back on. A cramped apartment, too many credit card bills, a whopper of a car payment, and jobless because I had been let go from Ethan Allen. (A quick aside: never argue with…
Read MoreSteal Back 10 Hours Every Week: A Better Workflow for Interior Designers
Synopsis ✔ You cannot manage time. You can only manage your behaviors around time. ✔ Time-shrinking thoughts like “I’m so busy” and “I’ll never get it all done” become your reality, because you live into your expectations. ✔ Track every waking hour for one week in 15-minute increments. It will reveal your revenue rabbit holes…
Read MoreThe Interior Design Welcome Kit That Wins Clients
Here is the reframe that changes everything about your welcome kit. It is not a thank-you gift you hand over once the ink is dry. It is a marketing tool you use before your client has committed to anything. That one distinction is the whole game. When you deliver a welcome kit after they have…
Read MoreThe One Word That’s Sabotaging Your Interior Design Profits
Your talent is not what decides the size of your projects. Your words are. I have watched gifted designers undersell, under-charge, and talk themselves out of the very projects they most wanted and deserved. Not because of their portfolio. Not because of their process. Because of the vocabulary they carried into the room. I taught…
Read MoreStop Hiding in Your Interior Design Business: How to Get Seen, Found, and Hired
Here’s something I see in interior design businesses all the time, and it has nothing to do with your talent. You’re hiding in your business. Not on purpose. But you’re hiding all the same. And hiding means you’re not being seen, you’re not being found, and you’re not getting hired. Let me share how I…
Read MoreIn-House vs. Outsourced Marketing for Interior Design Firms: Pros and Cons
Running a design firm at $500K or $1M+ in revenue means you’ve already made dozens of important business decisions. Yet many designers have never stopped to calculate what their approach to marketing is really costing them. Most design firm owners either underestimate what in-house marketing actually costs when you account for your own time, or…
Read MoreThe Perfect Design Contract: Protect Your Profit, Your Practice, and Your Peace of Mind
I have seen too many designers flying without a net. That is what I call it when you work without a contract, or when you work with one that has no real protection in it. I understand why. Agreements can feel scary and uncomfortable, mostly because they are written in legalese instead of plain English.…
Read MoreDigital Marketing vs. Everything Else: What Works for Interior Design Firm Owners Earning $300K – $2M+
You’re posting on Instagram. Maybe you’ve invested in SEO. Perhaps you’ve even experimented with paid ads. And yet your best clients still seem to come from referrals. If that’s frustrating, it’s also completely normal. After 25+ years in this industry, first as a designer and then coaching firm owners across the country, I’ve found that…
Read More9 Proven Ways to Fill Your Interior Design Pipeline with Ideal Clients
Most designers run their business job to job, project to project, client to client, with no wait list and no queue. That puts you on a potentially very unpleasant roller coaster. Roller coasters belong at Six Flags. They are no fun at all when the ride is your cash flow and your profit. Your pipeline…
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