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281: Anita Dawson: How to Work with Architects & Builders Successfully

We have Anita Dawson with us on the show today. She is the president and owner of the Dawson Design Group, a full-service interior design firm based in San Diego Southern California. DDG specializes in all things modern, and since 2007 they have completed more than a hundred projects in Southern California, Chicago, and Atlanta. They have been awarded The Design Impact Award and Design Excellence Award by the American Society of Interior Designers; multiple Home of the Year awards from San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles and also an Award of Excellence- Architectural Rehabilitation award from the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board. Anita has a really unique and interesting story to tell, so listen in today, to find out what she has to share with you.

Anita founded Dawson Design Group to fulfill her true calling in a creative and hands-on environment after her previous successful careers in the performing and visual arts. Anita’s clients gravitate towards the relaxed style and clean-lined approach that she has perfected in her design over the last decade. She and her team at DDG provide homeowners with sophisticated and interesting spaces which are unique to each client. Anita has been featured in HGTV’s Professional Network and she is a Houzz.com influencer and a member of Design Trust Ltd, which is an exclusive group of leading interior designers across the country. Listen in today as Anita shares some actionable ways for you to make yourself really valuable as a member of a full-service design team.

Show highlights:

  • How Anita’s firm got to be the type of firm that does the bigger projects.
  • The way that Anita’s maturity has contributed towards her level of comfort around high net worth clients.
  • The importance of being able to give really clear direction to your contractor to communicate what you want to have built.
  • Developing the kind confidence that’s necessary in order to get to the next level.
  • The value of not being afraid to say that you don’t know something.
  • Developing collaborative relationships with experts in certain fields, so that you can give up your control in those areas in order to make for a better overall project.
  • Some lessons that Anita learned while she was leasing a workspace within the space of an architect, who ended up becoming an informal mentor to her.
  • Some of the really helpful people that Anita hired, in the beginning, to help her set her business systems up.
  • The kind of marketing that Anita did in the first three to four years of her business.
  • The value of using ‘printed marketing’ in conjunction with Instagram.
  • Anita’s way of fast-tracking herself, while still maintaining her niche market.
  • How Anita managed to start attracting the kind of clients who are aligned with her values, through her whimsical and humorous style of advertising when she started out.
  • Some of the ways that Anita gave some value back to the architect who became her informal mentor in the beginning.
  • Some tips on how you as a designer can really bring value to the builders that you work with.
  • The importance of having a really great team for high-quality projects.
  • It’s okay to boost your photo shoots with some accessories that you bring along yourself- the client may even want to buy them if they really enhance the space!
  • Why you really need to be physically present at all your photo shoots.
  • Building great relationships with your vendors is really very important for your business!

Links: Things I learned from Anita Dawson:

https://luannnigara.com/anita/

Her website: https://dawsondesigngroup.com Anita’s Social: Instagram Facebook Twitter.com Linkedin Linkedin

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280: Power Talk Friday – Adam Urbanski: Dream Business Design Process – How to identify what you want most to sell to your most ideal client

The guest for today’s Power Talk Friday is Adam Urbanski, aka The Millionaire Marketing Mentor and he’s a real headliner in Online Marketing and Podcast circles! There are so many ways that Adam could really help and influence all LuAnn’s Designer friends to get that extra ‘something’ to tweak their businesses, so today, she’s decided to go with Adam’s Dream Business Design Process. Listen in to find out how this process helps Designers to identify what they want to sell the most and also how to sell to the most clients.

Adam, who has been in business for seventeen years now,  is really the ‘go-to guy’ for Coaches, Consultants and other Service Professionals who want to attract more clients, convert more high-value sales, build an authority brand, or grow a Lifestyle Business that has more impact and generates more income. Adam’s clients have often doubled, tripled and even ten times-ed their businesses, some of them in as little as ninety days! All of this and Adam started out with only $194 and limited English and he still managed to turn his first business into a seven-figure business in less than ten years! LuAnn knows that she’s in the presence of a true expert with Adam, so she’s very grateful that he’s on the show today! Listen in now, as Adam shares some really hot tips with you, to help you to become a way better business strategist!

 

Today, Adam talks to LuAnn about:

  • Becoming a master of, and being known for a very specific approach.
  • What his six question worksheet allows you to zero in on.
  • How he discovered his ideal clients.
  • That 90% of his clients are women and this happened by design!
  • That marketing is really all about listening.
  • Adam talks you through his six questions and how to best approach working with them.
  • Finding your specific magic, as a Designer.
  • Thinking about your dream income, per client.
  • Identifying your dream project.
  • Identifying the characteristics of your dream client.
  • What you’d need to do in order to execute your project in the best possible way. (i.e. identifying your Superpower)
  • Really understanding the expectations that you have to meet with your project.
  • Expressing what you’re really good at to your client.
  • Establishing systems for really clear processes in your business.
  • Knowing that everything is changing all the time, so you need to maintain a constant process of evaluation with your clients.
  • Asking yourself how much money you’d like to make from each project, per year.
  • Examining which three to six marketing activities you really need to focus on- to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
  • That you should really become a one track pony, in order to not lose sight of your core competencies.

Links:

Adam’s websites: https://www.adamurbanski.com or https://www.themarketingmentors.com

Adam Urbanski is also on Facebook

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279: Candy Scott: Practical Advice to Launch, Grow and Sustain Your Interior Design Firm

My guest for today’s amazing show is Candy Scott, the Principal of MOOD Design + Build, based in Chicago. She gives practical advice on launching, growing, and sustaining an interior design business. Candy has 15 years’ experience in both commercial and residential design. She graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, with a BS in Interior Design. You’ll hear her describe how her early experience working with a large developer and with large corporate clients, outfitting high-rise condominiums, lobbies, model homes, and showrooms all contributed to some of the principles and lessons she brings to her own business. She founded MOOD Design + Build in 2014, and continues to work with residential clients and small business owners with their homes, offices, and small-scale commercial interiors.

Show highlights:

  • Candy’s background and experience after design school
  • Benefits to working at a furniture store, learning customer service and different segments of the business
  • Making mistakes in the early years: “falling down and getting back up again”
  • The consciousness it takes to “get out of the drama”
  • Finding the place of relating to clients, vendors, and contractors with a sense of mutuality
  • Meeting clients where they are: hearing their frustrations and fear
  • The range of services offered by MOOD Design + Build
  • How the design phase and the build phase differ
  • Breaking down a project into smaller increments and tracking the data
  • How to be the go-to for referrals for the business that larger firms don’t want
  • Why you must attend networking events
  • Weekly sales activity: why you can’t let this part of your business go
  • Developing relationships with realtors
  • Candy’s blog post with 7 Initial Questions for Developing a Beautiful Space and 5 Steps to Making a Beautiful Space (check out her website!)

Resources:

Candy’s website and blog:

https://www.modddesignbuild.com

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/CandyScott_

Her Social: https://www.instagram.com/mooddesignbuild/ https://www.facebook.com/candy.scott.754 https://www.linkedin.com/in/candy-scott-049b1ba/

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278: Erika Ward – Master Business Skills 1st, Interior Design Skills 2nd.

On today’s show, we have the lovely Erika Ward! Erika started out as an accountant for a design, build company. While still working in corporate settings she started her own firm called “Erika Ward Interiors”. She used her background in financing and her creative side to grow her business and has since then built her business to the greatness that it is now. Erika not only works with individual clients but also works close with retail brands like Home Depot!

Links:

Her website and social: https://erikaward.com https://www.instagram.com/mrserikaward/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-ward-09a524a/ https://twitter.com/search?q=erika%20ward&src=typd

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277: Stephanie Chung – You Are a Salesperson and You Are an Interior Designer

Stephanie Chung

Welcome to another episode of Power talk Friday! Today LuAnn has Stephanie Chung with her on the show. Stephanie has a company called Stephanie Chung and Associates, where she offers Sales Training, Executive Coaching and also Small Business Mentorship, to companies nationwide. Stephanie also has a course, called High Ticket Selling Made Simple which has been designed to help business owners sell more and make more. Listen in to find out more about Stephanie and her company.

Stephanie used to work as a Sales Executive in the Aviation and Private Jet Industry, where she mastered the art of high ticket selling. She has mentored and coached numerous people, including some of the highest paid, most elite Sales Professionals in the country. She serves Business leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Sales Professionals, using her proven Executive Coaching and Sales Training. Stephanie is a contributor on ABC, CBS, and NBC and she’s authored Profit Like A Girl- A Woman’s Guide To Kicking Butt In Sales And Leadership and also Embrace The Suck- How To Grow And Succeed In Business. LuAnn is really beyond tickled with all of this, so listen in now, as she and Stephanie discuss the mindset moves that are necessary to really scale your sales.

Show highlights:

  • What it all really comes down to is your own version of your own self-worth. Your financial beliefs play a role in the whole equation and sometimes people tend to struggle with that when selling their intellectual property. Stephanie digs into all the factors that contribute to that struggle.
  • Financial self-worth and your mindset- why you should be very careful to never let your own financial beliefs creep into any sales conversation.
  • It’s never about you– it’s always about the buyer in front of you.
  • Stephanie explains how you can break out of a limited mindset. Remember that it’s not your concern how much your customer can afford. You need to ensure that your presentation of your product (your digital footprint), or service actually aligns with your product or service.
  • Run your business with excellence.
  • If someone agrees to meet with you, it means that they’ve already done some research about you and they have already decided that you are going to be worth their time.
  • Always approach a conversation with a buyer by looking at what it is that they want or need.
  • Ask the buyer questions that go a little deeper, because sometimes the buyer can’t really articulate what it is that they need.
  • Use the power of silence.
  • Really knowing your stuff and getting results will help build your confidence.
  • Stephanie shares a technique that she uses with her VIP clients, called Pre-emptive Strike. Know the objections that are going to come your way and bring them up in advance, so that you can control the message.
  • Remember to never bring your price down, if the buyer can’t afford it. Rather take something away. This way you keep your price integrity.
  • Only ask the buyer questions that you don’t know the answers to. This will help you better understand how to solve their problem.
  • After setting your agenda with a client, mention that you’re not necessarily the Designer for everyone…. Great for getting the right
  • If you really want to become a better salesperson, there is ample information out there, for you.
  • Stephanie has done courses before, specifically for Interior Designers. (For example, High Ticket Selling Made Simple)

Links:

Stephanie’s website: https://www.stephaniechung.com You can find loads of free resources there.

To get a free download of Stephanie’s book, go to: https://www.profitlikeagirl.com

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276: Judi Kieffer: Steps to Build a Hospitality / Commercial Interior Design Firm

My guest today is Judi Kieffer, who has over 24 years’ experience in hospitality, luxury residential, and restaurant design. Her portfolio is full of top-tier projects and satisfied clients. In our conversation, she shares advice about how she built and now manages her design firm in Boise, Idaho. Judi is involved as an advocate for the personal and professional development and for sustainable products and developments.

She participates in several local philanthropic and civic groups and is a mentor for women’s and children’s organizations. She was recently appointed as a spokesperson for the American Society of Interior Designers and is a certified Green Globe auditor. Her passions are yoga, fine wine, riding horses, hiking, and inspiring other designers to run more profitable and enjoyable businesses. Join me for this conversation with Judi!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • How Judi’s career began, working for three different companies before opening her own firm
  • The benefits of experience, classes, and various job positions before going out on your own
  • What it’s like to build your own design firm in the beginning: cold calling, mailings, projects, and referrals
  • What the builder or architect needs to hear from the commercial designer: how our services can fit into your project
  • How to use directories for leads on upcoming commercial projects
  • How to find free top sheets in your local area
  • The benefits of long-term relationships in the design business
  • Judi’s recommendations for software, including Quickbooks, Studio Designer, and MORE!
  • The challenges as your business grows: having systems in place and using personality profiles as you add more people to your team
  • Day-to-day running the firm: journals and calendars
  • Judi’s superpower? Using the interior as a marketing tool
  • Clear practices for charging fees
  • Judi’s advice to a new designer with no portfolio: show your passion and excitement, have confidence, ask questions, and present solutions
  • Judi’s interest in green building products
  • The recent surge in green products
  • Advice Judi’s received that is still with her:
    • Be absolutely true to your passion
    • Honor yourself
    • Allow yourself time to breathe, renew, and relax
    • Be transparent in communication
  • What’s ahead for Judi? Hiring an office manager and hosting eco-glamping retreats

Resources:

Website and social:   https://www.kiefferdesigngroup.com https://www.instagram.com/kiefferdesigngroup/ https://www.facebook.com/Kieffer-Design-Group-92036290457/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/kieffer-design-group/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/judikieffer/

For the free WindowWorks newsletter, text 444-999 and enter “designbiz”

https://www.usgbc.org  (Find out more about green building products)

Search the GreenWorks or Green Standard group in your local area

Judi recommends the following books:

ECO-preneuring by John Ivanko

The Northwest Green Home Primer by K.L. Smith and Kathleen O’Brien

The Philosophy of Sustainable Design by Jason F. McLennan

Women in Green by Kira Gould and Lance Hosey

Value Pricing for the Design Firm by Frank Stasiowski

A Guide to Principles and Practices for Interior Designers by Harry Sigel

Marketing and Selling Design Services by Mary V. Knackstedt

Interior Designers Business Handbook by Mary V. Knackstedt

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275: Replay: Andrea Schumacher: Managing a Mid-Size Interior Design Firm

Welcome back! Our guest today has been in the interior design business for 17 years! Andrea Schumacher started her own eight-person firm, Andrea Schumacher Interior Design, including herself in Colorado in 1999. Andrea has experience in commercial and residential spaces and she has set design for television at Days of Our Lives and Columbia Pictures! She has a BA in interior design from the F.I.D.E.R. accredited Colorado State University and a certificate in Universal Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Today she is going to share with us how she does things at Andrea Schumacher Interior Design and how she makes everything more efficient and successful and how you can too.

Show Notes:

  • She can have how many projects in the pipeline at one time?
  • How are the positions broken down at Andrea Schumacher Interior Design?
  • Did she work for anyone before she started her own firm?
  • How was Andrea Schumacher Interior Design started?
  • Explain how everything is broken down up front!
  • What about the customers that can’t be pleased?
  • When does the “process” go into the project manager’s hands?
  • Why doesn’t she like to hear a budget before the design project begins?
  • What was her aha moment that there needed to be a change with her accountant to get her books straightened out for her design firm?
  • Who is Chandra and what is her role in Andrea’s firm?
  • What are some ways that Chandra has increased profitability for Andrea’s firm?
  • How much has her profitability increased since Chandra has started working at Andrea Schumacher Interior Design?
  • Keep yourself as humble as possible and own up to your mistakes!
  • What is the next big thing for Andrea Schumacher Interior Design?
  • What is Design Leadership Network?

For the rest of the show notes, please visit our resource center: Window Works 

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274: Power Talk Friday: Kae Whitaker- Part 2 of Email Marketing for your Interior Design Firm

We have Kae Whitaker with us once again on today’s Power Talk Friday- this time for her fifth appearance on the show! She appeared previously on episodes #26, #66, #114 where she discussed branding, how to hire and train interns, how to conduct a proper year-end review of your business and last month on episode #259 she spoke about the subject and content of a typical sale funnel email sequence for interior design firms. Today she’s back to talk some more about email marketing and she will be explaining how to set up an email marketing system, with some great tips for doing it really effectively. She will also be discussing the main idea of email marketing, the difference between broadcast emails and triggered emails, how your blog actually connects and supports your email marketing and how to segment your list and what to do with the different lists. Listen in to find out more.

Kae is the owner and CEO of Kae Whitaker Solutions. She uses her more than ten years of experience in retail sales and marketing development to really focus on helping small businesses to stay competitive in their respective markets and to surpass their revenue goals.

Having worked with some of the nation’s largest retailers, Kae has now utilized her expertise in retail sales and marketing development to create her premium coaching programs that really assist small business owners to tune into what matters most in their marketing efforts and to streamline their processes while maximizing on their clientele. Kae’s highest achievements come through helping others to reach their goals, and she would love the opportunity to help you to take your brand to the next level, so listen in to find out what she has to share with you on the show today.

Show highlights:

  • How LuAnn initially found Kae through her online reputation.
  • Understanding the type of emails that you’re going to send and the categories of emails that exist within those types.
  • The importance of using a different approach when purchasing leads or email lists.
  • Kae’s advice is for everybody regardless of the size of your email list.
  • The role of email marketing in the customer journey.
  • Sending different email content to the groups of people who are at different points in the customer journey.
  • The difference between broadcast emails and trigger emails.
  • Segmentation campaigns- what they are and when and how to use them.
  • An example of a trigger email for interior designers.
  • What you need to look for in your email provider.
  • Why segmenting is really so important.
  • How to avoid becoming a victim of the spam monster.
  • What the engagement would look like if you hire someone to set the process up on your behalf.
  • When to use re-engagement campaigns.
  • Ways to grow your email list through intentional engagement.
  • How to target growing your email list geocentrically through the content that you’re putting out on social media.
  • Where email marketing fits into marketing funnels.
  • Why it would even be worthwhile to create just one funnel.

Previous episodes mentioned on this show:

Farrha Hyman #43

Cheryl Janis #41

Links:

Kae’s email: kaewhitaker@kaewhitaker.com

Kae’s website: https://kaewhitaker.com

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273: Dixie Willard: Visibility and Your Interior Design Firm

Welcome to today’s show! We have Dixie Willard, of Dixie Willard Design in Tennessee, with us today. Dixie is a co-host of the Design and Style Podcast with Rachel Moriarty, of Rachel Moriarty Interiors and today we will be talking to her about the  Design and Style Community and about how her partnership with Rachel and their podcast came about. Today, Dixie also discusses her own business and she talks about the Community Projects that she’s involved with too. Listen in, to find out more.

Dixie got her Design Degree at the Chaminade University of Honolulu, where she graduated with honors. She has worked for an Architecture Firm as well as having worked as a Designer and a Bookkeeper, for a high-end furniture store and she has done e-design for Pottery Barn Kids, PBTeen, and West Elm. In the middle of all of that, she also managed to earn her NCIDQ Certification.

After traveling around the world, Dixie and her Air Force husband have finally settled down in their forever home, in East Tennessee. Dixie loves taking continuing education classes for fun and reading Design Blogs, to keep up with all the latest trends. Listen in today, to find out more about Dixie, her Podcast and how she’s really changing lives, out there, one Designer at a time!

Show highlights:

  • Dixie talks about what it took for her to obtain her NCIDQ Certification.
  • Dixie’s work with Ethan Allen.
  • Dixie’s experience of being a Bookkeeper for a high-end furniture store.
  • The skill she’s learned from first being an Air Force brat and then an Air Force wife.
  • Their move from Oklahoma to Tennessee, where they knew absolutely no-one.
  • Dixie talks about how she and Rachel met, at a Mastermind in Oklahoma.
  • How the Design and Style Podcast came about.
  • All about Rachel and Dixie’s Visibility Challenge.
  • To join the Visibility Challenge, go to Design and Style on Facebook and ask to join.
  • The hardest part of the Visibility Challenge and the fantastic results that inevitably ensue, as a result of doing it.
  • What’s going to be happening in Dixie’s community, at The Visibility Lab.
  • The very exciting and special episode planned for the first Visibility Podcast for 2018, on the Design and Style Podcast.
  • Moonshine tasting in the Smokey Mountains with Rachel.
  • What happened at the Visibility Conference.
  • The fantastic Community and Service Projects that Dixie does and how she assists, design-wise, at the Restoration House of East Tennessee.
  • How you, as a Designer, can get involved with the Dwell With Dignity
  • The service work that Dixie does, for Kingdom Design Ministries, for children who have suffered a trauma, or tragedy in their life.
  • What it takes to rappel down a twelve story building!
  • The awesome gains that you could enjoy, as a result of being a part of a networking group.

Links:

The Design and Style Podcast website: https://www.designandstylepodcast.com

Design and Style can also be found on: Instagram Facebook Pinterest iTunes Youtube

Previous shows mentioned in this episode:

Remya Warrior #266

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272: Laura Thurman: Tips for Building Relationships with Industry Peers & Leaders

Today’s guest is Laura Thurman of Laura Thurman Design Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. She specializes in a global aesthetic that is filtered through a modern lens influenced by her upbringing in Los Angeles, as well as her world travels. Laura Thurman Design Studio services include custom interiors, re-design, weekend styling, and in-field developer selections. Laura talks about the importance of educating clients about the interior design process. To that end, she explains on her website to clients and potential clients the difference between “off the shelf” and “custom made.” We also discuss how she is harnessing the power of building meaningful relationships with peers and industry leaders in helping to grow her firm. In fact, our meeting is a direct result of her commitment to getting out her “box,” reaching out and asking for advice, and for remembering to return the favor. Laura is always thinking of ways to give value back to the new colleagues and mentors she has met. Laura is a delight, and I’m sure you will like her and learn much from what she has to share about intentional networking.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • How doors have opened recently because of networking and building professional relationships
  • What Laura has learned from Amy Flurry’s book, Recipe for Press: Designer Edition:
    • How to pitch an idea
    • Why you need to do your homework
    • How each project has multiple offshoots
  • Giving serious thought to your WHY
  • How to tactfully cultivate peer relationships, beginning with being intentionally present
  • Why “thick skin” is important for entrepreneurs to cultivate
  • How social media helps with networking
  • How doors open when you “put it out there”
  • Educating the client:
    • Mainstream and retail = “off the shelf”
    • Quality and exclusive = “to the trade”

Resources:

Episode 108, Amy Flurry

Episode 203, Darla Powell

Recipe for Press: Designer Edition, by Amy Flurry