Each month inside the Designer’s Oasis Membership, we invite guest experts to come share more about their area of expertise.  These curated individuals come and provide actionable insight into their areas of knowledge.  

 

Some months we have Design experts such as Porcelanosa who came and taught us about using their XTONE large format porcelain slabs which make beautiful and durable countertops, flooring and wall finishes,  or Surfacing Solution who came and talked about tambour wood - a flexible wood paneling product that is so popular in design right now. We learned how to specify it, different applications for it, and more. 

 

We also have experts in business who have come to discuss everything from money and finance, to wellness and mental health, to art curation. 

 

Today I’m taking just a few of these experts and sharing with you some of my favorite moments and insights from over the years. 

 

Consider this montage a sneak peek, but my HOPE for you today is that you find these excerpts to be powerful little nuggets of actionable knowledge YOU can take with you. And of course, if you like what you hear and want to catch the full episodes, you can always join the Designer’s Oasis Membership. When you do, you’ll not only get access to all the archives but access to join future LIVE guests where you can submit your questions to the experts in real time.  

 

Just a quick note before we get into these sessions - These were not recorded with podcasting in mind, so you’ll have to forgive the audio on some of them. I hope you can still take away some great insights from today’s episode.  

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[03:20] Molly Bird Casey - Nine Dot Arts - Curating Art for Your Clients 

Molly Bird Casey is the Chief Curator and Co-founder of NINE dot Arts, a full-service art curation and installation firm in Denver & Seattle but with projects all over North America. Their work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Forbes, LA Times and nominated this year for the Colorado Top Companies in Architecture and Design. 

 

We brought Molly in to talk about how to Curate art for your clients. You can find out more about Molly on her site at https://ninedotarts.com/

[12:07] Tracy Harwood - Is it Time to hire a VA in your business?   

Tracy Harwood, the founder of Rock Solid VAs, a Virtual Assistant Matchmaking service (one that I use) that helps pair busy professionals with a virtual assistant who can help them manage the seemingly endless daily to-dos. 

 

In my interview, I asked Tracy what she encountered over and over again from small business owners who are struggling to take that first step to hiring? You can find out more about Tracy and Rock Solid at https://www.rocksolidassistants.com/.

[24:50] Morgan Boudreaux - How to Create a User-Friendly Money Management System 

Morgan Boudreaux is the COO of Business by the Book, who offers Professional bookkeeping & accounting services for interior designers, home professionals, & other creative entrepreneurs. 

 

Mogan shares how to create a user-friendly money management system. Their team works with many interior designers and they have seen it all so they really are experts when it comes to understanding the nuances of the interior design industry. Find out more about Morgan and Business by the Book at https://www.businessbythebook.money/.

 

[30:39] Heidi Taylor - Ask like an Expert 

 

Intro: Next up I want to introduce to you a woman who has niched down so specifically, that her entire career is built on helping business owners craft the perfect intake form; one that qualifies buyers BEFORE the sales call.  I’m going to bet you’ve thought about, maybe even agonized over the questions you ask on your intake form? These are really important questions to ask, especially when selling high-ticket services such as interior design. 

To find out more about Heidi, you can head over to https://www.heiditaylor.ca/

[35:34] Natalie Norcross - Power of Public Relations 

 

Natalie Norcross is a public relations expert for interior designers. Her firm is called A Design Partnership.  She and her team have an unwavering passion for building brands in the modern design, architecture, lifestyle, and consumer markets. 

 

Natalie shares her definition of what a Brand is, as it relates to public relations. I love this definition. She then goes on to explain about the benefit of creating a Marketing Ecosystem and how the benefit of doing this on autopilot helps designers to achieve more work-life balance. You can find more about Natalie and A Design Partnership at https://adesignpartnership.com/.

 

[39:48] Chris Thomas - Successful Brands are Never an Accident 

My final guest that I’m sharing with you today was one of my favorite conversations with my friend, Chris Thomas, Creative Director at Cohn Marketing, a full-service branding and marketing agency. Chris’s fresh perspectives to marketing is heart-centered and authentic and is a refreshing approach to branding and marketing. To find out more about Cohn Marketing head over to https://cohnmarketing.com/.

 

I want to quickly just give a special thank you to the guests that I’ve shared with you today, Molly, Tracy, Morgan, Heidi, Natalie and Chris. We’ll link to a list of ALL the amazing guests and topics covered that are available ONLY in the Designer’s Oasis Membership. We’ve had more than I can mention right now, but you can see all of them on our website and we have some more incredible names lined up for the rest of this year and beyond. 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Molly Bird, Nine Dot Arts
• Tracy Harwood, Rock Solid Virtual Assistants
• Morgan Boudreaux, Business by the Books
• Heidi Taylor, Ask Like an Expert
• Natalie Norcross, A Design Partnership
• Chris Thomas, Cohn Marketing
• All Guest Experts - Exclusively inside the Designer’s Oasis Membership
• Membership:  Doors are open! Join Today!

Lack of clarity is debilitating. It prevents momentum, causes stress, is taxing on our relationships and leaves us feeling stuck! This feeling of being stuck is a sign of discomfort, which often means we are on the edge of a major breakthrough.

 

Regardless of where your lack of clarity is coming from, it can truly get in the way of your business via burnout, indecision, lack of success, lack of vision, etc. In today’s episode I want to share with you my story, plus methods to use to break free of the feeling that you are “stuck”.

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. What causes your lack of clarity and stress with your business?
2. Why do you feel like you’re on the edge of burnout so often?
3. What can you do to help get you out of this “stuck” feeling?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[02:00] I share why lack of clarity and lack of focus with priorities can contribute to feeling stuck and really affect your relationships and lives. We talk about how this leads to indecision and how that can affect how we feel.

[07:20] We go through why this discomfort can be a good thing and how it can help us progress forward and make strides leading to momentum in our business.

 [09:50] I dive into my own struggle with burnout and feeling stuck. I share about how I overcame my indecision, burnout, and how I wanted to rebuild my business.

[19:20] I share the 5 ways to move forward and get unstuck!

[45:21] I wrap up with information on how to join our community of interior designer’s within the Designer’s Oasis Membership. 

[52:30] Quick wrap-up of the episode with a few action steps to take today!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Designer’s Oasis Membership
• Fire Starter Sessions
• Worth Every Penny
• Rocket Fuel
• $100 Startup

Spotify - Beta Waves

Full Service is a high-end or luxury service designed for clients who are typically busy individuals (robust professional career or lifestyle - kids, volunteering, traveling, etc.) 

 

Today’s episode is all about how to attract the right kinds of clients for full-service interior design projects. It can be challenging to find clients who are wanting to commit full-service so I am going to share a few methods and tips for attracting these types of clients.  We are also going to dive into the benefits of full-service design (for clients and designers), how to attract the right clients and how to actually manage a full service project.

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How do I attract full-service interior design clients?
2. What are the benefits of full-service design?
3. Who is a good fit for full-service design?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[3:33] What can we doing in our businesses to attract the full-service interior design clients that we really want to work with?

[5:40] I jump into the benefits of full-service projects (for you and the client!)

[11:04] I share who is a good fit for full-service design projects and who this typically works well for. I share a few comparisons between a more DIY minded client vs a full-service client. 

[14:20] I dive into the customer journey and how to get a potential client from a lead all the way through to becoming a full-service client. 

[33:20] I want to share all the details on my upcoming masterclass - Project Management for Interior Designers LIVE on September 9, 2022. 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Masterclass: Project Management for Interior Designers 
• Podcast: Episode #2-  5 Types of Interior Design Services to Consider Offering
• Blog: 12 Tips for a Rock-Solid Consultation  
• Membership: Doors Open September 8th! 
• Masterclass: How to Sell your Interior Design Services with Confidence. 
• Shop: Services & Investment Guide Template 
• Shop: Welcome Packet Template
• Shop: Proposal

 

It is not a crime to make money! You can delight your clients, do great work, grow a team, AND make  a good living.

 

Have you ever dramatically underestimated how long a project would take? 

 

Maybe you were so far over on hours you couldn’t bring yourself to invoice the client every hour of work you completed, 

 

Perhaps you were so far in the hole that you just stopped tracking your time b/c you couldn't bear to know exactly how far off you were. 

 

If so, this is the perfect episode for you! This is a 2 part series called “How to Increase Project Profitability with Time Tracking”  

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How do you correctly audit your time when you look back on projects?
2. How do you make sure you are seeing  40 - 60% profitability in your projects?
3. What do you do if your projects are NOT profitable yet?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[05:15] I dive into a simple overview of how to track your time and what information you need to know for every project to truly audit your time and calculate your profitability. [15:20 ] If talking about money makes you a little queasy, I share my story of working with Money Coach, Jenny Karlsson to change my mindset and help build a business that would last. 

[17:50] What do you do if your projects aren’t profitable? I share a few strategies to help with this. 

[27:30] I share my challenge for you this week on auditing your projects to make sure you are able to increase profitability and build your own business that lasts.

EDIT: In today’s episode I used the term Total Project Cost but what I should have said was Total TIME Cost. The reason is, Total Project Costs would include additional costs such as client gifts, meals, paying for mistakes, etc. 

When you are auditing a project’s profitability, you’re going to also want to look at sales for products as well as project related costs.

But Since in this episode we are only focused on TIME, I should have said Total Time Cost or TTC vs TPC. The calculations are all still the same but I wanted to correct my terminology here. When you download the PDF you will see the correct term, “Total Time Cost or TTC” in the formula.

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Book:  Money Magic by Deborah L. Price
• Jenny Karlsson - FInancials for Creatives 
• Episode 9 - How hiring can help your bottom line  
• FREEBIE: Project Audit PDF

If you aren’t tracking your time, you’ll never be able to know exactly how profitable your business really is. You won’t have those benchmarks that you need.

Tracking time can be such a sore subject with entrepreneurs and business owners and the interior design business is no different. It is easy to forget, can feel like an interruption, and can be hard to enforce with a team BUT it is the KEY to finding out the profitability of your business, charging the right amount, and being transparent with your clients. 

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. What do you even track? -(Hint: it’s  more than just your hours)
2. What are the  different ways to track your time ?
3. How do you  go back and audit your project at the end?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[05:37] I dive into what happens if you’re not tracking your time and that can impact your business and your projects.

[08:30] How to build a new time tracking habit by working on your mindset first. 

[11:40] I share key tips for training your team and getting your team up to speed and in the habit of tracking time along with you.[13:50] What should you be tracking and how to organize your tracking into categories (P.S. there’s a freebie for you involved!)

[17:30] I talk through a few methods you may want to use to track your time and the pros and cons of each.

[19:50] I share a little bit about Harvest as a time tracking tool, why I use it and a little about how it works.

[26:30] I share my weekly challenge to you in regards to time tracking! 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Harvest Affiliate Link: http://try.hrv.st/7-31015 
• Episode 7: 3 Ways to Price your Projects
• Freebie - Timekeeping Categories 

Clients don’t do this everyday. When you normalize issues that come up, it helps to remind clients this isn’t a house of cards. This one issue (usually) isn’t going to affect the whole project. 

 

Client expectations start at the beginning of the design process. It’s imperative to build a good relationship with your client. Make sure you are open, honest, communicative, and direct. This will translate to more business in the future, through referrals or future projects. 

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How can I set goals for their time frame and also allow for situations which are out of our control?
2. How can I normalize issues that come up throughout the process?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[02:50] Why is this piece of the process so important? We talk about why it’s important for you as the designer as well as for the client.

[04:20] I share some tips for setting client expectations when it comes to a renovation. 

[06:05] I share tactical ways to normalize issues that come up throughout the renovation and design process.

[09:26] How to set up great communication and be a good listener and sounding board for your clients.

Today’s episode is all about building a successful relationship with your contractor and how many benefits this may lead to. 

Every project is going to have its road bumps. When you have a great relationship with a contractor with open, honest dialogue those moments will feel more like little speed bumps than giant potholes that cause a flat tire. The result is smoother projects and happier clients.

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How do you find contractors that are at the caliber you want to be working with?
2. How do you get off on the right foot?
3. How do you maintain a great relationship with your contractor? One that is built on trust, mutual respect, and excellent communication. 
4. Why does this really matter and how it can impact your design projects?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[03:33] How do you find a great contractor? I dive into the several ways to find a great contractor who also works at the same caliber as you in terms of clients.

[05:59] Once you have done your relationship, it’s time to start establishing a relationship. I share a few of my tips to make sure that you can get started on the right foot.

[10:30] I share my thoughts on how to maintain that great relationship with your contractor once you’ve spent time establishing it. I share my tips straight from 2 of the contractors that I truly enjoy working with.

 [14:34] Referrals! New information I have learned recently about referrals and liability that may come with your referrals (and how to avoid this!)

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• SHOP - 2-in-1 Legal Bundle
• Legal Article re: Referrals

Your first hire will always be the hardest. It’s kind of like having a baby. 

 

Imagine this - You just returned from a much-deserved 2 week holiday with your favorite person or people and while you were away any one(or perhaps all) of these things happened…

• You have a new client consultation on the calendar with a fully-vetted client. 
• You’ve received the as-built drawings and site photos from a brand new project you are kicking off. 
• Drawings for a new kitchen renovation are nearly complete and fully-detailed for next week’s presentation. 
• The ordering is complete for a project you recently presented to a client
• A light fixture arrived to the warehouse damaged, but a replacement is already in route.  

 

Sounds pretty good yeah?  I’m here to tell you that this level of support, and growth is totally doable. I’ll share the ins and outs of hiring in your business in today’s episode.

 

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How do you even get started in making your first hire?
2. How do you know if you’re ready to hire in your business?
3. How does hiring actually increase the bottom line in your business?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[06:50] I jump into how hiring can help your bottom line and the various ways it can greatly benefit your business.

[14:50] How do you know who to hire first? I share how to figure out what your needs are and what type of hire you need to make first!

[18:30] I walk you through the types of employees vs contractors and why you may want to hire each type, the pros and cons, and all of your options.

[22:15]] My challenge to you this week: Write your job description of the role you want to hire first or next. Define the skill sets they need to have, describe the environment, what kind of experience they need to possess.

I find it’s better to guide the client to the service type that you think is the best fit, versus laying out all the options and making your client decide. 

Years ago, I had a wonderful Discovery Call with a photographer who I was interviewing for a project.  When we wrapped up, she sent me a drop-dead gorgeous PDF that showcased her work and also broke down her process and all of the investment details. 

She offered premium services and it was a huge investment for me. I wasn’t ready to commit over the phone; however, after spending time reviewing the guide she sent, I decided to proceed and guess what…she got the job. 

It was at this point, I decided, I needed to create my own  guide, which I call the “Services & Investment Guide.”  And let me tell you my friend, it has been a game changer in my business. I convert more potential leads into happily paying clients faster and with greater ease. 

 

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How does your Design Services and Investment Guide work with a Discovery Call?
2. What are 3 Things the guide helps you achieve in terms of potential clients?
3. What’s Inside  the Guide? If you already have a services guide, keep listening b/c you may have some important information missing that you might want to add. 

 

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[05:05] We discuss how I use the guide in my Discovery Call to complement what we discuss and what may be ideal for their project.

[06:30] I share 3 things the Design Services and Investment Guide helps you achieve in your business.

[09:50] I start answering some of the commonly asked questions like “isn’t this info already on my website?” and why this guide is necessary to help present the right information at the right time.

[11:50] How is the Design Service and Investment Guide different than your Welcome Guide? I share a few reasons why I use both and how they differ.

[13:52] I jump into what is included, how to create, and how to grab a template if you don’t want to start from scratch!

[24:58] My Challenge for you this week! If you don’t already have a Services and Investment guide for your business, get started on that this week!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• BLOG - 4 Ways to get photos for your interior design business 
• BLOG - Why your business needs a services and investment guide

SHOP - Design Services and Investment Guide Template

In order to know your profitability at the end of a project, it’s helpful to see what you estimated in the first place. Just like a budget for money, we need to budget our time. 

 

Today’s topic is one of the most asked questions that I get about building your interior design business and that’s how to price your projects and come up with your service fees and feel more confident in your proposals when you send them out.

In this episode we answer questions like…

1. How do you decide what type of pricing strategy (or a few of them) that work best for your business?
2. Do you need to base fees on square footage?
3. How do you estimate your time?

Here’s a glance at this episode…

[05:22] Do you need to track your time? Is this important regardless of your fee and pricing method?

[06:37] I share what 2 factors your fees should be based on no matter what the project scope entails. How to continue to price projects well even as you and your team become more efficient at project management.

[07:45] I share a few other methods on how to charge  that may play a factor in how you charge for a project. I share how charging by the square footage or overall project cost are used by some interior designers (personally, this is not what I use and I share why!)

[11:50] I discuss how to charge for your projects based on time and the value that you bring to the project.

[16:45] I jump into the 3 types of pricing - hourly, flat fee, and hybrid. I share the pros and cons for each type and how we use them in our business.

[28:50] I share my challenge to you for the week!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Freebie - Design Process Asana Template 
• Harvest for time keeping (Affiliate) 
• Blog Post - How to Use Pricing Options in your Design Proposals
• Blog Post - How to Easily Track Time for Interior Design Projects   
• Shop - Interior Design Client Agreement

Shop - Interior Design Client Proposal