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Welcome to The DTS Files for Interior Designers

The DTS Files is a premium content hub for interior designers who want to grow their businesses with expert-backed strategies, real-world consulting insights, and proven frameworks.

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ACTIONABLE BUSINESS STRATEGIES

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MEMBERS-ONLY ARTICLES PUBLISHED WEEKLY

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PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT INSIGHTS & ADVICE FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS

| ACTIONABLE BUSINESS STRATEGIES I MEMBERS-ONLY ARTICLES PUBLISHED WEEKLY | PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT INSIGHTS & ADVICE FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan

Client Experience Tech Tip: How to Keep Potential Clients ON Your Website

The client experience is so much more than cards and gifts. (LuAnn Nigara and I talked about this here when I was first on her podcast). Your client experience starts the second someone lands on your website. They are experiencing your company and what it's like to work with you, whether you are there with them or not. 

So how do you make sure they start off on the right foot?

Make sure your website isn't turning people off or sending people away.

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DEAR DAKOTA, SYSTEMS & OPS, PRICING Katie McFarlan DEAR DAKOTA, SYSTEMS & OPS, PRICING Katie McFarlan

Dear Dakota | The Best Form of Additional Income for Interior Designers

Dear Dakota,

Outside of direct services, what is the best form of additional income for interior designers? What avenue is the most profitable and worth pursuing for a company with three employees? Furniture sales? Passive income downloads? Courses? Affiliate income?

Join The DTS Files to see the advice I gave this designer.

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan

Client Experience Tech Tip: How to Look Better on Zoom

An oldie but goodie! Although it may have come from necessity, Zoom meetings are sticking around for good.

For us, being a remote team who works with clients completely virtually, Zoom has been a great tool for our kick-off meetings, tech calls, and team meetings.

For our designers, we see them incorporating virtual meetings into their process to create efficiency and streamline the decision making process. It’s also a huge part of the process for our designers that provide a virtual or e-design service. 

There’s just something so much more personal about meeting face to face, rather than just a phone call. 

So, if you want to look better during Zoom meetings, they have a filter for that. 

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE Katie McFarlan CLIENT EXPERIENCE Katie McFarlan

What’s the Difference Between an Investment Guide and a Welcome Guide?

One of the most common questions I receive and one of the biggest mistakes I see people make in their client process is confusing an Investment Guide and a Welcome Guide. 

These are two completely different things with very different purposes. In today’s post, I’m sharing when to use each of these important documents and some common mistakes to avoid with each.

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan CLIENT EXPERIENCE, TECH TIPS Katie McFarlan

Client Experience Tech Tip: How to Elevate Your Instagram Client Experience

The first impression says a lot about your company and whether a prospective client will inquire about working together.

This week’s tech tip is all about elevating your client experience from the first time a potential client sees your stunning portfolio on Instagram.

Say “byeeee” to sending traffic (and dollars) to LinkTree and “hello” to sending traffic to YOUR website.

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE, PERSONAL, SYSTEMS & OPS Katie McFarlan CLIENT EXPERIENCE, PERSONAL, SYSTEMS & OPS Katie McFarlan

Mistakes I’ve Made Running My Own Business

Owning a business can feel a bit like an experiment at times. Packaging things up, testing them, refining them, and testing them again. It’s only by going through this process that you can actually know what works and doesn’t for you and your clients. 

With Dakota Design Company being my second business (my first was a wedding and event planning company that I ran from 2007 to 2014 in Arizona and Illinois), I’ve certainly experienced my share of failures, but I’ve always learned from them (even if I needed to grieve and beat myself up for a bit first). 

There are always lessons to be learned in failure. Something that I think resonates with my clients is that I am a done-for-you service provider, just like they are.

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.

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ACCESS A PRIVATE LIBRARY OF EXPERT ADVICE for INTERIOR DESIGNERS

My strategies have shaped the way thousands of interior designers and luxury service providers do business.

Inside The DTS Files, you’re getting the original insights straight from the source—tested, refined, and backed by my experience working with 100+ design firms.

And because this is a members-only space, I can go deeper than ever before—sharing the real strategies that help designers build profitable, sustainable businesses with confidence.

HEAR FROM SOME OF OUR MEMBERS:

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PRICING PLAYBOOK for INTERIOR DESIGNERS

The Complete Guide to Pricing Your Design Services

Grab my pricing playbook, The Complete Guide to Pricing your Interior Design Services, to learn:

  • the six most common pricing models for designers

  • who each one is best for, and

  • how to know if your pricing model is broken

NEED BUSINESS SUPPORT ASAP?

SHOP TEMPLATES

Plug-and-play templates, questionnaires, processes, and guides for interior designers who want to stop reinventing the wheel with every new project.

The Design Library helps you streamline client communication, set clear expectations, and protect your time—so you can spend less time in your inbox and more time designing. Inside, you’ll find:

✔ Professionally written client emails and marketing guides for every step of the process.
✔ SOPs to standardize service delivery and create a seamless, high-end experience.
✔ Contract templates with sample scopes to protect you, your team, and your clients.

What took me years to refine can be in your inbox in minutes.

Katie McFarlan Dakota Design Company Premium Client Process templates for Interior Designers

*for interior designers only, not interior design business coaches, consultants, mentors, strategists.

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SHOP WORKSHOPS & TRAININGS

Learn from my team (comprised of industry experts and educators) and me all the things they don’t teach in design school. And we know because two of the women on my team went to interior design school!

After consulting with and doing hands-on implementation for over 100 interior design business owners, I’ve seen what works (and doesn’t) across every business model imaginable. We are familiar with various software types, team structures of 1 to 20, and the challenges that are coming, whether you’re on your way to your first $100,000 or already making multiple millions.

On-demand trainings for your busy schedule.

Katie McFarlan Dakota Design Company Premium Client Process templates for Interior Designers

*for interior designers only, not interior design business coaches, consultants, mentors, or strategists.

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JOIN 16,000 DESIGNERS EVERY FRIDAY

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Proven strategies and tools to streamline and elevate your interior design business.

COMPLIMENTARY QUIZ FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS

Feeling stretched thin in your design business?

You’re busy—but is your business actually working for you? If you’re constantly putting out fires and second-guessing what to focus on next, this 2-minute quiz will show you exactly where to start.