Designers & the DIY Market



 
A New Conversation—Evolving your Business with the DIY Consumer”: Lloyd Princeton will lead an interactive program on the best ways to evolve a design practice to work with consumers who are flooded with the “do it yourself” messages and images. Learn how to position your brand, package your services, and optimize your pricing so that you can maintain design integrity, professional (and personal!) satisfaction, and give clients what they want—more control over their projects. You will be back in the driver’s seat after participating in this timely conversation!”


 
 
Contributed by Lloyd Princeton | Design Management Company
Image by Adam Borkowski
 



+++

How to Get Free Publicity With Holiday Tie-Ins

 
There are lots of ways to get free publicity by doing holiday tie-ins. Try to think of a way to tie your publicity goals to one or more holidays. Exactly how do you create a tie-in? I'm glad you asked. Let's start with Halloween.



What does Halloween remind most people of? Witches and ghosts and scary things. So let's use scary as the theme.



Say you're a building contractor. You might create a press release titled, "The 10 Scariest Things About Hiring a Building Contractor."



You then list 10 ( or any number) of pitfalls to look out for when hiring a contractor. By writing this release, and getting it published in a local paper or having a reporter do a story on you, the implication is: you're the kind of contractor who helps people avoid problems, so you're the one people will want to hire.



Here's another example, based on owning a health spa or being a health practitioner of some kind. Almost everyone knows that being overweight is bad for your health. But exactly how is it bad for your health?



You might write a press release titled, "10 Really Scary Reasons to Lose Weight Now."



You could write an article or press release that lists them: high blood pressure, increased risk of stroke or heart attack, adult onset diabetes, and so on.



Let's try another holiday, such as Labor Day. If you're not in the U.S., Labor Day is part of a three-day weekend to celebrate workers. How can you tie-in to it? Perhaps you could use the word "labor" itself.



If you're an accountant, you might write a press release or an article for business publications titled "10 Labor-Saving ways to Make Your Record Keeping Easier."



If you own a cleaning service, you might write a press release titled "7 Labor-Saving Techniques to Keep Your House Cleaner."



Now you may wonder if revealing such secrets will reduce your business. Not likely. Let's use a cleaning services as an example.



Those people who can' afford a cleaning service will still do their own work anyway, and you've done them a kindness. If they know someone who can afford a cleaning service and wants one, they might recommend you. Plus, having positive media coverage is good business any way you look at it. It will introduce you to people who are looking for a cleaning service, and it builds credibility.



The same holds true for just about any type of business.

The reason is, people who have stories written about them or who are interviewed on TV and radio are perceived as being experts, and as being better than other experts - because they are in the media.



One thing to keep in mind is that most newspapers, TV shows and radio shows plan for holiday-related stories ahead of time. So get your press release to them at least two - four weeks before the holiday. Magazines have extremely long lead times, sometimes as long as a year, so plan accordingly.



There are many ways to get publicity during holiday periods. So think about ways to do holiday tie-ins, and celebrate. your ever-increasing publicity and fame.
 

By Danek S. Kaus
Image by Steven Bulhoes 


Top 10 Items to Review & Build Your Business Now!

 

 
In building and running an independent private practice or small business, there are many items that need to be monitored closely and should be reviewed periodically. Year-end is a traditional time do this, and this week's Letter is a "Top Ten" of items to review as the year draws to a close, or whenever you decide to pause, reflect, take stock and re-assess.

1. Review your client statistics:

How many clients did you have? On average, how long did they stay? How did they describe their problem? What did they need or want from you? Does tracking by gender, age or other criteria, provide insight about your business?



2. Review your referral sources:

How do clients find you? Do you have a solid mix of referral sources? Too few sources makes your business dependent on them, while too many sources is inefficient. Who refers the most desirable clients? Who refers the least desirable?



3. Review your outcome statistics:

How many clients had successful outcomes? How many had unsuccessful outcomes, and why? How many left before you thought they should, and why? Which clients are you most effective with? Which do you enjoy the most?



4. Review your income, month by month:

Look for patterns or relationships with marketing efforts or community events that may impact your business. Does your business go up when school starts or after holidays? Can you capitalize on any of these cyclical patterns?



5. Review environmental changes:

Has the community's awareness of your skills or services been impacted by someone else's marketing, by news stories or controversy this year? Has your neighborhood changed? Have circumstances made your office more or less visible? Are other professionals moving into, or out of, your neighborhood?



6. Review office policies and procedures:

Do any of your forms, brochures, or signs need to be up-dated? Is it time to add color and graphics? Can office procedures be streamlined, computerized or contracted out for better productivity?



7. Review your insurance coverage, lease agreements, partnerships and other documents that impact your business.

Is this the year to incorporate? Consult a professional about making appropriate changes, and meet with your accountant for a year-end review and tax planning.



8. Review every aspect of your professional status:

 Review your CE requirements, renew your license(s), pay dues to your professional organizations, and be sure your liability insurance coverage is adequate and current.



9. Identify and study the 3 biggest mistakes you made relative to finances, business and marketing this year.

What did you do, or not do? What did you learn? What steps can you take so that particular mistake or set of circumstances never holds you back again?



10. Be sure to acknowledge and thank everyone who has contributed to your success this year,

including referral sources, advisors, colleagues, and especially your clients. Send holiday greetings, thank you notes, and where it's appropriate, send a gift or token of appreciation.

Have a great week! The holidays can be a time of stress - please accept our best wishes that this year it be a time for peace, joy, and goodwill toward all!

By Philip E. Humbert
Image by Gabi Moisa
 



+++

Types of Accounting: An Overview For Designers



Accounting is used for quantitative information of finances. But what is the accounting process and what's best for your design practice? Read on to find out.


Nor every company has an accounts department that looks after the accounting details of the company but accounting is important. An accounting department is the backbone of every business. It records all the business transactions and keeps a track of the incomes and expenses of the business. The business depends on these incomes for its profits and should know all the expenses that are incurred to keep it going. They also determine the correct financial position and financial standing of the business. All this makes the recording of transactions important. For the systematic and accurate recording of the transactions, accounting is important. For accurate accounting of transactions, an accounting process is essential. Let us understand the accounting process in detail.


The accountant should know the accounting process well so that there is no confusion in recording the transactions. Following the correct accounting process is mandatory as per accounting ethics and it also helps to understand and communicate the financial operations of your design firm. The following paragraphs are devoted to complete understanding of the accounting process.



Accounting Process Definition

The purpose of accounting is recording all the transactions honestly and accurately in the books of accounts. The accounting process is the method followed by the accountants to record the transactions. The accounting process can be defined as "the process that begins when the transaction takes place and ends when the transaction is recorded in the books of accounts". It is a series of procedures that are used to analyze and record the business transactions for a particular period of time.



The Accounting Process

The accounting process, also known as the accounting cycle process, includes the below mentioned steps. In order to follow these steps, you will need to know all the accounting principles and concepts well.

•The first step involves identifying the transaction and finding the source documents of the transaction.

•Analyze which accounts is the transaction affecting and what is the amount of the transaction.

•Record the entry into the journal as a credit or debit, according to its nature.

•Transfer the journal entries into the appropriate accounts in the ledger.

•A trial balance is then created which sees to it that the debit amount equals the credit amounts.

•Correct the discrepancies in the trail balance and balance the debit side with the credit side.

•Make adjusting entries in order to record the accrued and deferred amounts.

•Next, prepare the adjusted trial balance on the basis of the deferred amounts.

•Prepare the financial statements like the income statements, the balance sheet, retained earnings statements and finally the cash flow statements.

•Close the temporary accounts like revenues, expenses, gains, etc. by closing journal entries. These accounts are transferred to the income summary account and later posted into the capital accounts.

•Prepare the final trial balance on the basis of the closing journal entries.

There can be a slight alteration to the above accounting process flow. The financial statements can be made before the adjusting entries. Also, some companies add another step after the final trial balance. This step is called as reversing entries step. Reversing entries is done if an accrual or deferral entry was recorded earlier and needs to be adjusted to avoid a double entry. It is recorded on the first day of a new recording period. All the accountants follow the same accounting process sequence, except for the reversing entries. That is an optional step which may or may not be followed.


By Deeptee A



Successful Marketing Campaigns for Interior Designers



Successful marketing campaigns leave behind a legacy and brand establishment of the product in the hearts and minds of consumers. Marketing geniuses and advertising gurus have every now and then stated the crucial role of marketing campaigns in establishing the identity of a product and eventually making it a brand! For turning a product into a brand, successful marketing campaigns are of utmost importance. Be it Apple's iconic "Get a Mac" advertising campaign or its iPhone launch, they're undoubtedly one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever, not to forget Nike's "Just Do it" or "Think Small" of Volkswagen. Successful marketing strategies make the product stand in the elite class of legendary products and they're remembered for decades. For successful marketing campaigns, marketing teams have to focus on some crucial parameters. Let us know more about them.


Elements of a Successful Marketing Campaign

The importance of marketing is not a hidden fact for any firm. Instead, every firm is so much aware about it that the level of competition has become intense and challenging. Successful marketing campaigns and successful marketing techniques make a world of difference for every company. The main elements of successful marketing campaigns are as follows.


Hit the Bull's Eye

The hallmark of every successful marketing campaign is to create a niche market, a target audience that has to be reached through effective usage of marketing tools. As a part of your campaign, you've to ensure that you influence those customers who are in your domain of target audience. Now to zero in on the target audience, you've to carry out extensive market research. Neglecting this crucial parameter will deviate you from launching your product successfully.


Through marketing research, the marketing teams gather data, understand the psyche of consumers that is an inevitable part for achieving organizational goals. Marketing stalwarts acknowledge the importance of marketing research and so it forms the base of marketing campaigns. Marketing research also helps a firm to maximize its sales, enabling to make profits and thrive in the market. Read more about the basics steps of marketing research process.


Divide and Conquer

The social, economical and geographical patterns of a region significantly impact the consumers buying capabilities. Marketing is today a broad spectrum and inhomogeneous. One strategy may not work for varied family income levels, age, gender and lifestyles. Here arises the role of marketing mix strategy that you have to use at par excellence. The four P's of marketing viz. Product, Price, Place and Promotion form the four dimensions of marketing mix strategies.



Right Timing is Critical

Entering the market at the right time and with well-planned strategy is very important. This makes it mandatory for you to have a well-documented marketing plan as to when will you enter the market. Launching of your product must be in style, that is to say, enough to attract the eyes of consumers. The more creative you're in the usage of marketing promotion methods, better will be your chances of success. Being innovative with your marketing promotion ideas will help you to meet your objective of making your customers aware about your product and its qualities.

Successful marketing campaigns are a result of excellent marketing plan and boundless creativity. Catchy phrases and slogans give your product an image and their jingles become popular among the masses. Successful marketing campaigns give an identity to your product and help it to reap rich dividends. With proper planning and implementation, successful marketing campaigns are always achievable and every marketing team mobilizes its effort to succeed in a grand style.

By Kundan Pandey



Grants for Small Business Expansion

Photography by Leonard Ini
All businesses need money, more so  small businesses. A small business owner may need capital to invest in new assets. He may need money to pay the security amount while filing for tenders. Likewise, small business financing may be required for various other things, such as investing in office interiors or paying the taxes and salaries or to buy new equipment for extending the business operations. Lack of funds, many a times, makes it almost impossible for small businesses to grow. To make up for this lack of funds, the government, from time to time, provides various grants for small business expansion.


Grants for Small Business Expansion : How to Find

Grants and loan for small business expansion are two completely different things. While loan amounts need to be paid back with some interest to the lender, grant money for small business expansion, does not need to be repaid.


In order to find grants for small business owners, you need to look at the CFDA i.e. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. This contains thousands of options for getting government grants. There are various categories of grants, for example, there are grants for women starting a small business, then there are grants for minority businesses and some meant only for rural businesses. You will need to look for the government grant that you are eligible for and which suits your business purpose.


Some agencies may provide grants only for specific purposes such as providing training for your employees or for giving out tax exemptions or for buying business equipment, so if any of such grants suits your business goal, you may apply for these too. The business newspapers and magazines usually offer details of any new grants that the government might come up with for small business, so keeping a track of these will help you to find new small business opportunities vis a vis grants.


Another place to look for small business start up grants is your local Small Business Association (SBA) office. They provide the right guidance to small business owners with regards to what businesses to set up and how to get grants for starting a small business. Sometimes, they themselves may provide financial assistance to businesses.





 Grants for Small Business Expansion : How to Apply


Once you have met the eligibility criteria and found a suitable government grant that suits your business purpose, the next step is to apply for the same by filling an application form. You may hire the services of a professional to fill the application form accurately as the content and the information in the application form will finally determine whether you get the grant approval or not. If however, you are filling the application form yourself, make sure that you submit a complete application form as an incomplete one will give a very bad impression. Meeting the small business grant officer personally and knowing about their criteria for grant approval will help you fill the application form in a better way.


The business plan that you submit should specifically bring forth your understanding of the business you are in. In the business plan, mention how expanding your business will help not only your employees but the society in general. Also, stay in touch with the grant officer by making contact with him from time to time, to improve your prospects of an early approval.


If you look at the current scenario with regards to the grants for small business expansion, the federal government actually offers no direct grants. There are however, some programs by the government, through which grants for research and development activities that a small business might carry out are provided by the SBA. Then there are indirect grants in the form of small business loan guarantees as well as subsidized loans, wherein you get loans at reduced rate of interest from the bank as the government pays some part of your loan. Or if you default on your loan payment, the government pays the bank on your behalf. As you can see, there are opportunities galore for small business funding and grants, you just have to make an effort to find the one that is most suitable for your business goals. All the best!

By Aastha Dogra

Interior Design Branding QuickTip #1101

Interior Design Branding QuickTip #1101


Branding can take hundreds of different forms, but the best way to approach it is to think of your business as a separate entity with a personality of its own. The first step is to establish what kind of personality your business has, based on your industry, your strategies and your target market. A big part of branding is often evaluating where you'd like your target market to be, and striving towards cultivating that kind of image. Branding is primarily about relationship management with the consumer, so things like exposure (things like custom packaging that will have customers remembering you), reputation management (dealing professionally and swiftly with consumer complaints so that you build a trustworthy reputation) and market analysis and response (identifying growth areas or things you could improve upon and acting on this intel) all contribute to building your business's brand, and with it, your success.                                                         

By Peter A Philips




+++

Designer Q& A with IDRA Expert Lloyd Princeton

IDRA Expert Lloyd Princeton gave his signature presentation "Deciding What You Are Worth and Charging It!" at the CAPID monthly meeting a few days ago. Afterwards he engaged in a a lively and informative Q & A session with the attendees. Below are a few video clips where he discusses fees, hourly rates and communicating with difficult clients. Take a moment to view the videos below and glean from knowledge and his expertise. His insight is invaluable.

Best Regards,

V. Carr
Managing Director
The Interior Design Resource Agency

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 How should a designer structure their fees for answering client emails?


How do you establish your design fee, when a client doesn't want to work off an hourly rate?


"How should I communicate with a client with whom I'm having difficulty?"


Videos Courtesy of IDRA Expert Lloyd Princeton | Design Management Company




+++

8 Steps to Creative Client Attraction

Marketing for the solopreneur really means attracting more clients. People in my circle of influence consistently comment about my ability to be creative yet practical about attracting ideal clients for myself.

How do I do it? I have an eight step process that I follow consistently to keep my pipeline filled with my ideal clients. Not all of them are ready to work with me at the same time or in the same program, and that's perfectly fine with me. Filling my pipeline with my ideal clients and building a genuine relationship with them is paramount to my immediate and future success. Here are my eight steps.



1. Commit to Attracting New Clients

I find that most solopreneurs find it difficult, if not impossible, to find time in their day to commit to marketing. This is a big catch 22 because if you don't spend time on attracting your ideal clients, you will end up either working with anyone to crosses your path, even though they may not be ideal for you, or not finding any clients or customers.

What you can do today:

You calendar is your best friend when it comes to client attraction! Use it. Find a minimum of eight hours in your week to focus on attracting your ideal clients. Don't worry right now what you will do with this time. Just carve out time on your calendar by noting: Creative Client Attraction Time.



2. Profile your Ideal Clients

It may be true that anyone can buy your products and services, but figuring out who is most likely to buy your services will benefit you tremendously. When you know who is most likely to buy from you, you can spend some of your creative client attraction time to find large groups of these people. This allows you to be very strategic and targeted in the way that you use your time and where you spend your marketing budget. In addition, when you carve out a niche market, you become an instant expert! Who would you rather see if you have a heart issue: a family doctor or a cardiologist?

What you can do today:

Look at your existing client list - who do you like working with the most? Which clients and customers bought the most from you? What are common characteristics? Do they share a common trait - for example, are they all attorneys, mothers of preschoolers, business owners? Keep asking questions until you find some commonalities. These are clues to your target market.



3. Know Your Target Market's Problems

Now that you have identified your target market, it's imperative to learn what their struggles are. What are their pain points? What would they pay almost anything to have fixed? Once you have uncovered their problems, you can then create a meaningful solution. Once you create and communicate your solution, making sales and helping others becomes much easier.

What you can do today:

Understand that people don't really care what you do. They only want to know if you can solve their problems. Take some of the client attraction time you've set aside and figure out the problems that your niche wants solved. You can do this in a variety of ways: a written survey, an online survey, informal communication with your clients and prospects, a focus group or even an email with a single question.



4. Define Your Unique Selling Proposition

Chances are very good that you can name at least one other business that does the same kind of work that you do. So how are your clients and customers to decide who to work with? This is where your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) comes into play. Your USP tells the world how and why you are different than the rest. Think of the Food Channel. This channel is filled with cooking show after cooking show. We can see a variety of chefs prepare glorious meals and teach us how to make them in our own homes. What is it about each show that either draws us in or not? Here' an example, "I'm Rachael Ray and I make 30 minute meals." In 10 words, we understand what we're going to get from her. Fast meals. Is she the only person who can make fast meals in 30 minutes? Absolutely not! But she's the first one to say it and build her empire around it.

What you can do today:

During one of your Creative Client Attraction time blocks, write down 100 (yes, 100!) things that make you unique from your colleagues and competitors. The reason why I say 100 is that I want you to really dig deep and get beyond the superficial. Once you have that list, determine how you can use one or two of those things create statement that makes you stand out. Perhaps on Rachael's list she wrote down: Fast meals.



5. Create a Marketing Plan of Action

Now that you know all of the foundational pieces to your creative client attraction plan, you are ready to take a thirty thousand foot view of your current marketing activities. Your marketing plan of action is just that: an action plan that spells out exactly how you will reach out to your target market and, like a magnet, start attracting them to you.

What you can do today:

During one of your Creative Client Attraction time blocks, assign yourself this task: Make a list of all of the marketing tactics you are currently using. Which ones are paying off for you? Which ones are costing you money? Do you have the basics down: a great marketing message, an elevator speech, a high quality business card? Do you have a way to constantly reach out to your prospects, like an ezine? Do you have a compelling free offer to entice your target market to sign up for your ezine? Doing this assignment gives you the power to start making important decisions on where you spend your client attraction time and where you don't.



6. Leverage Your Business

Creating leverage in your business is imperative. By leveraging your knowledge, you can start to shift your business away from only working hours for dollars, as in, "I charge $1000 a month for my services." The truth is, if you only offer one way for your clients and prospect to work with you, you are leaving money on the table and are not serving them as well as you can. By creating packages and products, you can help more people and make more money. It's the definition of a win/win!

What you can do today:

What common questions, problems or concerns do you hear from your customers and clients? How can you bottle and sell your solutions? There are many ways to do this but here are just a few ideas: ebooks, membership programs, teleseminars, coaching clubs. You can really get creative in this area of your client attraction! Put this assignment in your Creative Client Attraction time blocks.



7. Create Systems in Your Business

Have you ever said, "I just need to duplicate myself!" If you have, then you are ready to create a system around whatever you are frustrated with. To get ahead and stay ahead, having systems in place will help alleviate your frustration. Plus, having systems makes scaling your business so much easier.

What you can do today:

During one of your Creative Client Attraction time blocks, add the things that you would like to systematize. Processes like your client intake system, invoicing and tracking, filing, appointment setting, social media are all good things to systematize.



8. Closing - Turn Prospects Into Clients


To be great at creative client attraction, you need to know how to turn prospects in to clients. Otherwise, you're just engaging in prospect attraction! Closing the sale does not ever have to make you feel pushy. If you are like most business people, women particularly, you have leads, but you don't follow up. Why? Most of the time, it's due to fear. Fear of being perceived as pushy, or having to talk about money or fear of being rejected.

What you can do today:


During one of your Creative Client Attraction time blocks, task yourself with making a list of your prospects. You will probably have between 5 and 50 if you really think about it. These are people who have shown some interest in your business. Make a decision to contact them and like Nike says, just do it.



By Meredith Liepelt
Photography by Jay Masta





© 2011 Meredith Liepelt, Rich Life Marketing Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, offers a free report called "101 Ways to Attract Ideal Clients, Build Your List and Raise Your Profile," which can be downloaded immediately at RichLifeMarketing.com.




+++



Specifying Artwork for Design Projects: A Checklist for Interior Designers

At one point or another, every interior designer is faced with the prospect of incorporating wall-hanging artwork into a design scheme. Unless you have an education or professional experience in the arts, sourcing artwork may be a daunting challenge. Although some designers choose to outsource this work to art consultants, finding great wall art for your projects is something you can do yourself. (Would you defer to an outside consultant to choose the furniture or floor and window treatments for your designs?)
 
 
Whether the art is a collectible original painting or an inexpensive printed poster, the choices you make for what to put on the walls reflect not only your design sophistication and your clients' style, it can also contribute to creating the ideal environment for the occupants of the space.
 
 
 
Here’s a basic checklist of considerations you can use when specifying artwork:
 

 
-      Budget - how much is the client willing to spend? Try to establish the budget for art early in the project.

 
-      Color palette - will the art contrast or complement the other elements in your scheme?

 
-      Style/genre - again with respect to the overall theme and motifs you're using, decide on the most appropriate style(s) for the art.

 
-     Medium - paintings, photography, dimensional art or wall coverings? Originals or reproductions?

 
-      Finishing - how will the art be made ready to hang? Framed or unframed; glass, acrylic and/or matting? Etc.

 
-      Installation - who will install the art, and when? (Be sure to specify this in the budget, too.)
 
 
 
Though a series of upcoming articles, we'll look at each of the above (and other topics) in more depth. My aim is for you to feel as comfortable choosing art as you are with choosing furniture, lighting and case goods. For now, here are some quick tips to make the process of sourcing art easier … and your results more successful!
 

 
1. Keep an ongoing file of resources.
 
 
Just like your resource library for other design products, keep a file for art and artists. You'll want to include materials related to working directly with artists as well as brokers/consultants. (However, when possible, working directly with the artist is better for you, your client and the artist.) Collect printed and electronic materials, as well as bookmark lists of web links, in an organized filing system. If you research art and artists in between jobs, it will be easier to find what you need when a project calls for it.
 
 
 
2. Narrow down the options for each project.
 
The most daunting task of selecting art for any interior design project is the sheer volume of options available to you. Based on your other design plans, try to form a clear vision for the art in the project. Make some decisions about where the art will hang, its size, medium etc. before you start reviewing possible product solutions.
 
 
 
3. Research online
 
Continuing from point #2, I recommend you wait to research art products until you've already formed an idea of what you're looking for. Otherwise, your design plans can be derailed by the myriad of choices you'll find when you start searching for art. When doing your research, review web sites using a combination of Google searches, well-known art wholesalers, independent artists and consultants. Again, if you know what you're looking for, you'll know when you find it!
 
 
 
4. Ask colleagues
 
Nothing beats a good referral. Ask your trusted associates for recommendations for artists or brokers whom they've had success with in the past or whose work they like.
 
 
 
5. Know your production options

 Usually, as the designer it will be easiest if the art you specify for a project is delivered ready to hang. However, if you're working with reproductions (or even with unframed originals) that's not your only option. You can choose to license digital images and then have your own vendor perform the printing and production. And in the case of originals, it's not uncommon for designers to have a hand in specifying framing and mounting options, so you'll want to develop your own resources for those services as well.
 

 
As an interior designer, you can have full control over the finished results of your designs. As with other elements such as lighting, floor coverings and window and wall treatments, the artwork you specify has a major impact on the success of the design scheme. I encourage you to learn as much as you can about modern art and its production, and I will strive to assist you in this process through these articles. Treat the selection of artworks with the same discipline as you do all the other aspects of your project.
 
 
By Nat Coalson
Image by CarlosPhotos


Nat Coalson is an international visual artist working in fine art photography and abstract mixed media. His studio, Nat Coalson Fine Art + Design, collaborates with interior designers to create innovative visual solutions for residential and commercial projects. For more information and to see Nat's work, visit www.NatCoalson.com
 
 


+++

Making DIY Design Pay Off for You

Below is a note and video from IDRA Expert Lloyd Princeton in which he gives invaluable insight on dealing with the challenges of DIY home designers and the effect the trend has on the current interior design market. Take a moment to read and watch the video. You'll be glad you did.

Best Regards,

V. Carr
Managing Director
Interior Design Resource Agency


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Hello,
 
When it comes to change, it’s always been my philosophy that people need to embrace it and adapt to it. No trend is affecting more changes to the design industry than the “Do-It-Yourself” or DIY mentality being adopted by more and more consumers.
 
Home-centric cable channels, the Internet and a slow economy have coalesced in a perfect storm to undermine the design professional’s perceived value in the home improvement process. Although, ironically, even the biggest do-it-yourselfer relies on professional advice and instruction at some point to accomplish a task, whether it’s reading a book or article, or scouring the Internet for resources. As a design professional, your education and experience can still be brought to bear. The key is how you position yourself.
 
More and more I am advising my consulting clients on strategies for addressing these challenges. Please take a moment to check out my short video message below where I provide some of my advice on how to embrace the DIY market and adapt to it.
 
All the best,
Lloyd
 





+++



Video Courtesy of IDRA Expert Lloyd Princeton | Design Management Company
Image by Adam Borkowski