Business Tips
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…
Why 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…
Bad 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…
Turn Dreams into Reality with Specific Goals
Vision boards have long been a popular tool for setting and visualizing goals, but many of them fall short because they’re too vague. Learn why traditional vision boards aren’t working and how to transform them into powerful tools for achieving your interior design goals. By turning your vision board into a celebration board with specific,…
How to Be a Successful Interior Designer
Do you know what it takes to be a successful interior designer? Being a successful interior designer requires you to maximize your revenues from every project. But how does someone do this? The most effective way to maximize your revenues is to deliver more of what your clients want in less time. Because time is…
Goal Setting for Interior Designers in 7 Steps
It’s almost time for goal setting for the new year! The final quarter of the year has launched. What were the goals you set back in January? Are you on track? Did you back your goals up with quarterly plans, monthly action, weekly achievements, and daily tasks? It’s easy to dream big once a year…
7 Savvy Reasons to Attend High Point Market (and Other Top Design Markets)
High Point Market is the largest home furnishings market in the world, but that’s not the reason you want to go. In fact, what I’m telling you here applies to every design market whether it’s High Point Market, Dallas Market, Vegas Market, the annual Architectural Digest Show in NYC, the ICFF Show, or the European…
How to be a True Interior Design Professional
In reading a lot of the conversations in online forums for designers, I’ve noticed something worrisome. It seems that many designers, new to the field in the last 2-10 years, are not stepping into being a true interior design professional. Instead they are abdicating the responsibilities that requires and acting more like hobbyists. Truthfully, you…
Interior Designer Resources: Where to Find a Quality Contractor
Whether your design practice is you as a solopreneur or you have a team, you’ll always want to know where to find a quality contractor. You may be looking for a reliable painter, a reputable plumber, a licensed electrician, or a quality cabinet company, throwing darts at Google isn’t the answer. Professional Accredited Industry Associations…
