February 27, 2019

Marketing Your Interior Design Business for Vacation Homes with Nicole O’Dwyer

44 minutes

There is a whole untapped market out there for interior designers that you may not even be thinking about: Vacationers. People who buy second homes need someone to help them beautify it. That’s where Nicole O’Dwyer’s expertise comes in.

Nicole O’Dwyer is the owner of NS Interior Designs, and because she lives in Northeastern Pennsylvania, right by the Poconos, she specializes in helping with new home construction and second-home design. Nicole has worked hard to market her company to people who don’t even live where she works. No easy feat. And on today’s episode, she talks with Darla and Natalie about how customers find her.

What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social

[2:30] Info about the High Point event

[6:51] Nicole’s new-home construction business

[11:15] Show people their options

[15:55] Make sure you have the photography lined up

[17:30] How to manage a vacation house project

[22:54] Why Instagram Stories

[26:00] How Nicole budgets and bills

[30:08] The difference between clients

[33:09] Why geotagging is so handy and why Wingnut Social rules

[36:03] Whut up, Wingnut?

[38:17] A change of plans!

Connect with Nicole O’Dwyer

NS Interior Designs

Nicole on Instagram

Nicole on Facebook

Resources & People Mentioned

Come to LuAnn Live!

High Point Market

Ginger Kids on South Park

Ivy

Mydoma Studio

Branding Plus Interior Design

Word of Mouth + Social Media

Nicole told Darla and Natalie that word of mouth is hugely important when getting customers who are buying a second home. Knowing realtors and contractors in the area who can refer customers to you is huge. But that doesn’t mean social media isn’t important. Having that online presence amplifies word-of-mouth to help turn prospects into customers.

It’s not easy working with vacationers who often are only coming to their house once a month. On the one hand an absentee client may be a big blessing, but on the other hand, you have to really build trust and be prepared to make things as easy as possible for people when they are in town. Nicole has it down to a science, and walks us through how she has learned what her customers need, and build her customer service around them.

Geotagging for the win

One problem with working with remote customers is: How do they find you? People buying a second home could be coming from anywhere. And Nicole had a really smart answer: geotagging. By geotagging her social media posts correctly, prospective clients searching for designers in her neck of the woods can find her work online.

Nicole has found tremendous success with her Instagram Stories. While many Instagram posts show off the beautiful finished product, doing in-process stories allows customers to see different stages of a project, and inspire ideas for their own homes.

Connect With Darla & Wingnut Social