How Much Do You Love Digital Marketing?

We all know marketing is a big part of a successful business. However it is not always a skill that comes easily - we don’t get taught it at design school along with all the business skills we need to run our businesses (hint - this is where More Time To Design can help you 🙂

I don’t really love the marketing side of business. Being super honest, it is something I struggle with and will ALWAYS go to the bottom of my todo list. As I said to Penny Wilson in this week’s podcast episode, if I loved marketing I would have become a marketer :). 

I am fortunate that my husband is in marketing - he loves it and is very good at it (proud wife boast) and he is great for bouncing ideas off and also correcting my course sometimes when I start to lose the plot a bit and go around in circles (anyone else feel like that with social media posts, blog, email marketing, paid advertising….ahhhh). 

Having someone in your corner, for things in our business which we are not as skilled in, is so crucial. It might be a business coach who helps guides you through things, a mentor or industry group who helps show your the ropes of parts of your business that you not comfortable with or it might be that you might outsource some areas of work to people who are more skilled in that area (think bookkeeper or digital marketing expert). Someone recently said to me that knowing the right time to ask for help is key to being successful in business. 

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues Podcast I talk to Penny Wilson who is an expert in all things digital marketing (yes that means more than just the social’s). 

Make sure to listen to the episode as Penny shares why it is important to have a strategy before you even start posting or sending out emails. 

Do you educate your clients

Ever been in a situation where a potential client reaches out to you, only for you to wonder afterward if they truly grasp what you do? It's a common scenario many of us in the design industry face.

Over the past year, I've engaged in numerous conversations with fellow designers, all echoing the same sentiment: we need to step up our efforts in educating the public about the role of interior designers and the immense value we bring to their projects. After all, the most successful project outcomes often stem from our involvement right from the outset.

But how exactly do we go about this? How do we enlighten our prospective clients?

In this week's installment of The Design Dialogues Podcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jane Ledger from Jane Ledge Interiors. Jane has taken the initiative to address this issue head-on by launching her own podcast, aimed at educating future clients on the potential benefits of working with an interior designer. I truly believe Jane's podcast serves as a valuable tool for everyone in the industry.

What strategies have you employed to showcase your value to clients?

Be sure to tune in to the episode and join the conversation.

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Are you in a rut?

Do you find yourself turning to the same suppliers all the time, always gravitating towards the same finishes. It can be hard to keep things looking fresh. If you are busy and just trying to get through the to-do list it can be hard to prioritize learning about and understanding new materials and what is the latest things out there. 

However it is one of the most important parts of our jobs as interior designers. With the engineered stone ban coming into effect, benchtops is one area where I know a lot of designers are needing to upskill on what are the best alternatives for their clients. For me I know going to supplier events to see the product and hear about what it can do is a great way to expose myself to the latest products - it's also great to get out and see my fellow designers. What are some of the ways that you like to learn about new products? 

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues Podcast I am talking with Gavin Hepper from Concepts by Gavin Hepper and we talk about all sorts of things but really understanding the materials we are specifying for our clients is a key part of the dialogue. 

Sometimes costs should be the last deciding factor when our clients make decisions on what to use in their project and our job as designers is to help them navigate the seven other factors they need to consider. 

Make sure to check out the episode here.

How good are your working relationships?

How many times have you been on site and regardless of how much prep work you put in and how organized you are something goes wrong. Especially if your project is a renovation and there are always a few little unknowns that pop up during demolition. 

How these situations turn out pretty much always comes down to the relationships you have and the people you can call on to help. Whether it be a builder on site who you have worked with several times and who you know will work through the issue with you to come up with the best solution or a supplier who will do everything they can to get something delivered for you quickly. 

These relationships we have can really make or break how these problem situations unfold. 

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues Podcast I am talking with Vito Marzullo from Anterior XL and the importance of having a strong working relationship with stone supplier and stone mason is really highlighted throughout our conversation. 

I know in my own design studio being able to call on these relationships has gotten me out of a couple of sticky situations over the years. 

The Challenges of Implementing a New System in Your Business

Have you tried to start a new exercise routine and started out really positive and enthusiastic and then your muscles started aching, you weren't as good as you wanted to be and was getting quite frustrated with the whole process and then after a few sessions or weeks you end up giving up because it's all too hard. You are not seeing any of the positives of the exercise routine yet but it is just too hard to keep going. 

This can be the same when you are trying to implement new systems and processes in your business. You know things aren't working and you want to improve them but you lose patience in the process of learning and implementing the system and you give up and go back to your old ways before you have seen any of the great results of having these new systems and processes in place in your business. 

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues Podcast I look at some of the challenges that you can come across when you are implementing new systems and processes in your business. I talk about some of the things I have learnt from my year of trial and error of trying to work out my social media processes. 

Just like anything you need to get better at, you need to put in time and effort to learn and implement the new systems and processes - it is definitely worth the effort (and sometimes frustration 🙂)

Make sure to check out the episode.

Are you trying to put a square peg in a round hole?

Have you ever felt like you are just not working with the right clients? Understanding what your clients really want can sometimes feel like the elusive secret sauce to a successful interior design studio.

Obviosuly doing lots of work on your marketing so that you can communicate to your ideal clients what you offer is really important however sometimes there are other factors that you should be considering.

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues I chat with Kylie Wilks from Felt and Stone. Kylie is based in Inverell (about 6 hours north of Sydney) and we talk about about how working out what her clients were really needing help with has been integral in forming her business.

It may be location, or the kind of work you want to do or the demographic of the area that you are based in that might be what you need to consider when you are thinking about what services you are offering - but making sure you are a square peg in a square hole is going to make all the difference.

Make sure to check out the episode here.

Do you understand your numbers?

I have heard so many times from studio owners that ‘I’m not good with numbers’ and that always worries me. Understanding your numbers is really the difference between running your studio as a hobby and running it as a successful business.

Just like good business processes and systems, like we have in More Time To Design, are so important, good financial processes and systems are crucial to running a successful and sustainable interior design studio.

In this week’s episode of The Design Dialogues I chat with Justin McLean from the Flossi Files about all things financial and the important foundations that we all need to have as small business owners.

It can be daunting - I know. I have been guilty at times of putting my head in the sand when it has come to understanding the figures of my business but once you get over that initial feeling of ‘oh my gosh am I ever going to understand these’ it is so emporwering knowing what is happening financially in your business.

Make sure to check out the episode here - you will learn so much.