As an interior designer, window treatment professional, home stager, or professional organizer, you might not LOVE the sales process. You might cringe when your clients experience sticker shock over your very reasonable quote. You might wonder why they never reply to your proposals.

Today's guest on the podcast will set you on a path to sales that doesn't feel gross - plus it actually works!

About the Guest

Kathy Cragg Pace is a beacon of growth, empowering window treatment and design sales professionals to thrive by replacing outdated “closing” tactics with authentic connections and irresistible client experiences. With decades of experience—leading her own award-winning design franchise to nationwide sales teams, and influencing $450 million in sales—Kathy helps businesses reimagine their sales approach and address client hesitations with ease and confidence.

Through her courses, tools, and coaching, Kathy guarantees results and shares free resources at KathyPace.com. Let her 7-Day Sales Challenge guide you to a thriving future in design sales.

Resources:

Kathy Pace Website: https://kathypace.com

7-Day Sales Challenge: https://kathypace.com/kate

Topics Discussed

1. Does being salesly and relying on elevator pitches ever actually work? Might be a trick question... ;)

2. What does old fashioned sales look like for the home industry and what parts of it don't work?

3. What does modern sales look like and what are its key differences from the old ways of selling?

4. What is your advice to a home pro who HATES selling but needs to make a profit?

5. What is a Signature Selling Experience? How does it incorporate the Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

6. Could you describe how an interior designer or workroom owner could implement this in a real life selling situation? (Feel free to share any client success stories!)

7. What type of home pro is a good fit for what you teach?

8. Where can home pros learn more about what you teach?

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction and Guest Overview

2:47 Kathy Pace's Unique Sales Approach

7:13 Old-Fashioned Sales Methods vs. Modern Approaches

9:50 The Importance of Personalized Client Experiences

21:58 Selling Transformations Rather Than Products

28:41 Handling Resistant Spouses and Money Conversations

41:49 Kathy Pace's Resources and Courses

48:38 Final Thoughts

Remember this: If someone is offering website design but not SEO (which always includes copywriting, because where else would those keywords come from?), the end result is not a complete website.

If this describes you, don’t freak out. Here’s a quick way to know whether your website has proper onsite SEO that will help you be found in Google.

What is SEO? Search engine optimization, or SEO, determines how highly ranked your website is in search results. It’s a combination of copywriting / keywords, loading speed, and user experience.

Copywriting for SEO: Your headlines should contain keywords that are specific to your services, location, and / or ideal client. Most headlines are too vague, which is a shame, because that is the first thing Google and humans will read. Also, copywriting must first and foremost highlight your ideal client and their pain points, then provide a solution (your services). This is a great way to naturally use the right keywords in your body text.

Images for SEO: Every image on your website should be compressed to around 500 kb or less. Each image file name should be changed to contain the service provided, the location of the project, and the type of project. For example, a file name could be “interior designer Charleston modern white navy kitchen remodel.”

User experience for SEO: Basically, this refers to the design of your site. Your home page should contain these key 11 elements. Your about page should include your first-person bio. Testimonials should be sprinkled throughout the site. Your services page should list no more than three offerings.

What about Google Ads? Long story short, your website SHOULD be bringing you clients without relying on paid ads. If you have a great site and good SEO but still no leads, you still have options to help fix that organically.

“Uh oh, I don’t think my last website was designed with SEO in mind…”

Timestamps:

0:00 The Issue of Luxury Branding Experts Advising Against Copywriting and SEO

3:04 Basics of SEO and Copywriting

6:14 Images and User Experience for SEO

7:21 Google Ads and Organic Traffic

10:49 Client Email on Conflicting Advice About the Importance of Copywriting and SEO

20:08 SEO Stats and Best Practices

23:48 Effectiveness of Email Marketing

25:43 Challenges with Luxury Branding Experts

26:32 Final Thoughts

Getting more of the right clients for your interior design firm doesn't happen by accident, nor does it happen overnight. Today on The Kate Show Podcast, I'm talking with Porsche Williams of The Prototype, and she's spilling all the secrets on lead generation for luxury interior designers.

About the Guest

Porsche Williams is the CEO of The Prototype, a business concierge firm specializing in client experience and lead generation for interior designers. Passionate about streamlining business growth, she helps designers attract ideal clients, nurture relationships, and scale confidently while staying focused on their creative vision.

Through The Prototype’s expertise in client experience and lead qualification, Porsche ensures that designers can design freely and manage effortlessly, allowing creativity and operations to work hand in hand. Since 2020, her team has supported luxury interior design and architecture firms across the U.S., Canada, and Australia and partnered with IDS, ASID, Business of Home, MyDoma by Studio Designer, and more.

Now, she’s bringing her expertise to The Designer’s Guide to Reliable Lead Generation, a course designed to help designers build a scalable, stress-free lead generation system while strengthening relationships and driving long-term growth.

Porsche is a wife, a mom of two, and a champion of helping designers run their business, their way—without the overwhelm.

Learn more about her online course for interior designers here: The Designer’s Guide to Reliable Lead Generation https://www.theprototype.net/tdg

Topics Discussed:

1. What are the most common issues that prevent interior design firms from growing? A lack of clients is more of a symptom. What are the actual underlying problems?
2. If a designer is just starting to get her systems in place, what should her first few steps be?
3. What specific online automation or management tools do you recommend for designers?
4. When your team handles discovery calls for interior designers, what information does the designer need to give you ahead of time?
5. Because you are doing the discovery calls, at what point (and how) is the designer brought into the new client relationship?
6. Could you give us a general outline of the ideal lead follow-up process?
7. How does your firm help designers connect with referral partners?
8. Tell us about your course: Who is it for, and what will they gain from it?
9. Tell us how people can buy your course or get on the waiting list.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction and Guest Overview

(2:47) Common Issues Preventing Interior Design Firm Growth

(5:46) First Few Steps a Designer Should Make to Get Her Systems in Place

(9:39) Time Management and Estimating Time

(13:06) Tools & Systems: Project Management, Auditing, Organization, CRM

(28:04) General Outline of the Ideal Lead Follow-Up Process

(33:17) Building and Maintaining Referral Relationships

(44:29) The Designer's Guide to Reliable Lead Generation Course

(50:16) Final Thoughts

If you were hoping for an episode that tells you exactly how much you should be charging for your design, staging, or organizing services... This isn't it. It's next level. Once you've worked out your pricing with your business advisor, bookkeeper, or someone else who understands your business financials as well - if not better - than you do, the next step is to select a pricing strategy, not merely set a price and call it a day.

However, did you know that juxtaposing multiple pricing packages can make one package look better than the other - but it's often causing you to sell something you don't want more of?

For example, did you know that charging a flat rate versus an hourly rate has a certain stigma attached to it? And did you know that you can influence whether people will feel delight at your proposal or utter sticker shock and betrayal just by the pricing strategy you choose?

The right pricing strategy removes the pressure to offer a "better deal" than your competitors because you are instead able to position yourself as the BETTER FIT for your ideal clients - a total boss move.

Let's dive into it.

Stream The Kate Show Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and watch on Spotify or YouTube.

Resources You'll Love

• Why I deleted my business social media: https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate
• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

(0:00) Pricing Strategy Introduction and Overview

(2:26) Defining Pricing Strategy

(4:28) Bad Pricing Strategies

(13:09) Good Pricing Strategies

(22:19) Pricing Strategies for Service-Based Businesses

(25:51) Delivering Proposals Effectively

(28:14) Final Thoughts on Pricing Strategies

As an interior designer, stager, organizer, or window pro, you have an ideal client, and you likely know who that person is. The problem I often see, however, is that your marketing rarely states point-blank who that person is, nor are you services being presented as a solution that is truly tailored to THEM. This means that no matter how clearly you know your ideal client, they don't know you, and therefore they won't understand why they should hire you versus your competitor.

Today on The Kate Show, we are going beyond discovering your ideal client and diving into the SIMPLE WAY TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THEM so that you can actually start working on their projects.

Stream The Kate Show on Youtube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating and review if this show has helped you.

Resources You'll Love

• Why I deleted my business social media: ⁠https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate⁠
• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: ⁠https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar⁠
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: ⁠https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry⁠

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(2:14) The Role of Copywriting in Marketing

(3:39) Website Optimization for Ideal Clients

(10:21) How to Improve Website Content and Structure

(13:23) Components of a Clear and Relatable About Page

(14:45) Portfolio Page Optimization

(15:56) Services Page Optimization

(25:44) Contact Page and Lead Qualification

(28:20) Blog and Lead Magnet Best Practices

(31:57) Email Marketing for Effective Client Engagement

Having worked with so many home industry businesses over the last decade, I often see the same problem at the root of all struggling interior designers, stagers, organizers, etc. THEY HAVE NO CLEAR NICHE.

Some are resistant, fearing they'll lose business (even though they barely have any to lose) if they narrow down their focus. Others would LOVE to have a niche but don't know where to start or what having a niche even means.

Today on The Kate Show Podcast, I'm sharing a few client stories to show you what is possible when you create a specialty around your brand, and how to make it happen.

Resources You'll Love

• Why I deleted my business social media: https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate
• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

• (0:00) Episode Introduction and Purpose
• (1:18) Client Story: A Case of Hidden Identity
• (7:24) Client Story: A Case of Mistaken Identity
• (11:13) Takeaway: Clear Communication and Repositioning the Specialty
• (14:20) The Role of Objective Feedback
• (15:53) Importance of a Niche or a Clearly Defined Specialty

I started 2025 knowing that a few things needed to end in my business (even though innovation and invention are SOOO intoxicating!). Instead, I had a feeling that God was calling me to shut down several things. At the time, I wasn't sure why, but it has become clear that He intended to trim wasted time and effort from the agency, while increasing the value of client relationships. Pretty genius stuff, actually.

Today on the podcast, I'm sharing the impact that deleting social media is having on my business.

In place of social media, I created a non-business mailing list entitled "Just Kate," where I connect with my email subscribers in a much more personal way once or twice per month. If you'd like to join that list, go to www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate.

You can expect things like silly stories about my kids, photos of my family, my politically incorrect rants, what I'm currently struggling with (it's always something), life hacks that I've only just learned (because apparently I've been living under a rock), and of course, pregnancy / baby updates. Basically, it's girl talk in your inbox. Go to www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate to get on the list.

Resources You'll Love

• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

(0:00) Why I Deleted My Business Social Media

(3:11) Impact of Social Media on Business

(9:03) Changes in Business Strategy

(12:00) Marketing Masterminds and Client Interaction

(15:03) Advice for Cutting the Fat from Businesses

(21:39) Consistent Email Marketing and Evergreen Content

(23:27) Building Non-Professional Relationships

How do you know if your lead magnet is working? Should you change your lead magnet? What is the best lead magnet to have if you run a business in the high end, residential home industry? Today on The Kate Show, I'm giving you the exact answers.

Resources You'll Love

• Why I'm deleting my business social media: https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate
• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

(0:00) Common Questions About the Effectiveness of Lead Magnets

(01:13) Signs Your Lead Magnet Isn't (or won't be) Successful

(06:26) Effective Lead Magnet Formats

(08:22) Effective Lead Magnet Topics

(10:03) Setting Up and Promoting Lead Magnets

(13:57) Signs of Lead Magnet Success

(15:13) Email Marketing Best Practices

(18:34) Conclusion and Final Tips

It isn't often that I'm confronted with marketing advice that is just SO wrong that it's hilarious. And I am immediately sobered by the fact that I have seen my own clients' businesses harmed by following such advice.

"I was paying this coach thousands of dollars, so I thought she knew what she was talking about," is a statement my returning clients have made a little too often.

Let me be clear, business coaches are not marketing professionals. And marketing pros are NOT business coaches. I've been asked to provide coaching numerous times. I will always continue to say no.

Why? Because merely running one or two successful businesses doesn't qualify me - or anyone else - to be a coach. And being a business or branding coach doesn't mean they know anything about marketing.

This topic is pretty personal to me. I've read too many sad emails from my clients who were given advice that resulted in one of their worst, least profitable years in business.

Harmful advice such as...

"Stop blogging and email marketing. That is just for newbies." (No one is above marketing or consistent client communication.)

"You need to sound more elevated." (No, you just need to align with your ICA better, be personable, and talk to them consistently. See the first point.)

"Rebranding would solve your revenue problems." (This is a bandaid approach that costs YOU time and money without addressing the actual financial problem.)

Resources You'll Love

👉 Why I'm deleting my business social media: https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate

👉 Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar

👉 Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction: Laughable Marketing Tips and Their Impact

(4:01) Marketing Tips That Will Keep You Pointed in the Wrong Direction

(18:20) Marketing Mindset and Positioning

(23:15) 4 Principles of Building Brand Trust

As the owner of an interior design, staging, organizing, or window treatment business, you've likely had a few thoughts about your SEO. You might have even hired someone to work on it. But what if you haven't been getting increased website traffic after months of paying for that work? Or what if you WERE getting traffic and it suddenly dropped off the face of the earth?

If that describes your situation, your website might be using black hat SEO, and as the owner of the business, you need to get that fixed as soon as possible.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the difference between black hat and white hat SEO, the dangers of using black hat tactics, and how to know if those tactics were used on your website. Plus, I'll share what you can do to fix or improve your SEO the right way going forward.

Stream this episode wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on YouTube and Spotify.

Resources You'll Love

• Why I'm deleting my business social media: https://www.katethesocialite.com/just-kate
• Get a marketing plan for your home industry business: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Get a complimentary 1:1 marketing audit LIVE with Kate: https://calendly.com/socialite/socialite-vault-inquiry

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction to Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO

(5:00) The Basics of SEO and Its Importance

(8:07) What Is Black Hat SEO and Its Examples Tactics

(14:16) What Is White Hat SEO and Ethical Practices

(16:49) How to Fix Your SEO and Use White Hat Tactics Exclusively

(19:38) Warnings and Final Advice