Posts by Melissa Galt
In-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 ClientsÂ
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…
Read MoreWhy Your Interior Design Revenue Has Hit a Ceiling (And How to Break Through It)
You’re fully booked. The projects are coming in. Revenue looks respectable on paper. And yet you’re working harder than ever while wondering why your profit isn’t keeping pace. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. After 25+ years in this industry, first as a designer and then coaching firm owners across the country, I’ve found…
Read MoreAttracting Ideal Interior Design Clients: The 4 Intel Types Most Designers Miss
If you are not marketing specifically to your ideal client, you are marketing to a population. And marketing to a population is profoundly ineffective. For the first five years of my design practice, I took every client who showed up. I was not selective. I was not discerning. My workload was insane, 80-plus hours a…
Read MoreBad Interior Design Marketing Advice: 7 Red Flags Costing You Affluent Clients
How to spot the poor guidance quietly draining your design firm, and what converts affluent clients. You’re posting. You’re emailing. Maybe you’re even running ads. You’re doing all the things. And yet your revenue isn’t growing. That gap between how hard you’re working and what’s landing in your bank account? It’s often the very first…
Read MoreInterior Design Client Experience: 4 Things That Matter More Than Your Talent
Your client needs four things from you. Not at the end of the project. Not at the big reveal. From the very first interaction through every phase, every update, every decision, and every challenge along the way. They need to be Heard. Understood. Valued. Cared for. It sounds simple. It is profoundly nuanced. And when…
Read MoreHow Interior Designers Can Work with Contractors Without Losing Their Sanity
You cannot do design without contractors (and this includes installers of all kinds). Unless you are strictly furnishing and accessorizing, contractors are an integral part of every remodel, renovation, and new build. And even when your client hires them directly, you still must work with them. The challenge is finding quality ones, vetting them properly,…
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