It’s no secret that interior design is a competitive market. Interior designers need to stay front-of-mind with potential clients by consistently marketing their services. Unfortunately, we see a lot of marketing tactics that don't actually yield any measurable results for interior designers. In this post, I’m sharing the most common ineffective marketing tactics we see so you can STOP doing them and allocate that time toward something that actually generates revenue (or joy!) for your business.

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Dear Dakota, I have no leads coming and haven't booked a new client in a while. Do you think I should invest in having my website rewritten, or should I have it redesigned?

This question was submitted by a designer via The Weekly Install®, and here’s the thing: if you don't have leads coming in, it's …

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If you're anything like me, you have a gazillion things you want to do in your business. But how do you know where to start when you have SO MANY things you want to do? And on the flip side of that, if everything feels broken but you also want to add in more things, where do you begin?

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If you’re not booking interior design projects with five and six-figure design fees, don’t blame it on your market or your clients. Many things have to be in place to book those bigger projects that everyone so desires. And best of all: these things are all in your control. Woop woop.

Without further ado, here’s what needs to be true to book interior design projects with five and six-figure design fees (that’s design fees in the five and six-figures, not project budgets).

For many interior designers, a large source of business comes from past and current client referrals. I mean, of course! Who better to ask when hiring someone to help with your most important investment (your home) than a trusted friend who’s actually gone through it with your company?

It goes without saying: having an amazing client experience will have clients referring you from the day they sign on to years after they work with you, so it’s important to focus on delivering your services in an elevated and thoughtful way from day one. This way, when it comes time to ask for a formal testimonial, your clients will already have been singing your praises all over town so the ask won’t be a difficult one. 

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When you’re hit with the unexpected, it’s natural to spiral downward and feel out of control and hopeless. 

As a former wedding planner, I had to plan for the unexpected and also have a plan FOR handling the unexpected. Often the unexpected things I planned for (wine spilling on the bride’s dress, someone not rsvp’ing and then showing up anyway, fake eyelashes falling off, etc.) were never the things that actually happened (like how could I have planned for the wild goose that knocked over the chuppah, or the kitchen fire, or the cake table being invaded by ants, or the bridesmaid’s chiffon dress getting TAPED together and shredded before the ceremony ← PS: my brides never knew any of these things happened).

If I’ve learned one thing in life and business, mindset is everything.

In 2022, my team and I wrote 43 blog posts for interior designers (this one makes it 44). Today, I’m sharing the top ten blog posts for interior designers based on analytics (not thoughts and feelings), plus the two blog posts I enjoyed writing the most. 

Thank YOU for being here and reading my blog, The Weekly Install, and my Instagram posts.

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Most interior designers worry that following up too much will make them seem desperate. But what if I told you that not following up is the reason you’re losing potential clients?

Your prospects are busy, and in a sea of designers, the one who follows up professionally and strategically is the one who gets hired. So, how many times should you follow up? What should you say? And what’s the one email that turns indecisive prospects into paying clients?

I’m breaking it all down inside this article.

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