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I welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion, because while every design is different, the process should remain the same.
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Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the Woo, woo, and probably a swear word or two.
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If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place.
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I'm your host. Michelle Lynn, you
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Michelle,
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hey, hey, hey, welcome back to the podcast designed for the creative mind. I'm Michelle Lin, and today we're diving into how to market without a portfolio. So whether you're tuning in from your studio your car, or with a glass of wine in hand, I'm so glad you're here, because building a business by design doesn't happen by accident. So let's get started. Okay, so when I started my interior design business, and I've coached hundreds of other designers since then, one of the biggest obstacles in our minds is how to market ourselves without a portfolio. Because maybe you haven't been in business for very long, or maybe you were working for another designer, and you can't use your work to promote yourself because you did it under their umbrella. There's all sorts of reasons why, but believe me when I say that this is I don't know. It's a speed bump. It's really not that much of an obstacle. It's kind of a small speed bump. It's probably a bigger speed bump in your mind. So maybe you also just have some projects that have paid the bills, but you don't think they reflect your best work, and you don't really want to publish them. I totally get that. I can picture a couple of projects that I did early in my career where I just needed the money and followed the guidance of what the client wanted. But lordy. Lordy, I was not looking for referrals based on some of those mint chocolate chip green walls.
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Or maybe your design skills are growing, but your past projects don't reflect that. Or maybe you're just launching your business, and the projects that you do have were more done as a hobby. Like there's, there's all sorts of reasons that you may not have a portfolio or an expansive portfolio, because I get it like we all think that we need to have a giant portfolio to get paid clients. But it's not true, and that's what we're talking about today, because we have to start somewhere, and you may need a good size portfolio to access the luxury market, but I know designers who haven't they have not had that portfolio, but they had the connections and the connections. Knew that they had the talent. So don't downplay that obstacle, that speed bump that you have right now, because you don't need to have one to be a well paid designer. You might be wondering, Michelle, what in the heck you talking about? Like, how do I how do you get how do you get around that? Okay, here are some tips that you can take your business to market without a slew of professional photos of your work. First of all, you can add a coming soon to your portfolio page. So on your website, you can put under construction. You can put coming soon, and that way your prospective clients, they know that you have something coming, they just don't get to see it right away. You could put mood boards. So create some mood boards and put those up there and put more images coming soon, or project images coming soon, because technically, project images are coming soon, but define soon, okay, it might be a year from now, but in the meantime, you can put those mood boards up there, or, or create a design, create a design and present it on a page, like, here's a living room that I designed, if you have the means, have it rendered photo realistically. And by that, I mean, yes, you'd have to pay somebody to do it, and then just put up there, you know, images or photo or photo realistic renderings of rooms I've designed. There's nothing more exciting than seeing a vision come to life. You can put some vignette photos of spaces around your house. Y'all, I.
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Just upgraded, like finally, to the most recent iPhone. And holy moly, that camera is amazing. If it would Photo Shop about 10 or 20 pounds off of me, I would say it's a perfect camera. You know, I don't know if you guys know Linda Holt. She teaches how to take photos with the iPhone. Look her up, tell her I said hi, but you really don't necessarily need to do that. You can take some cute shots of the pillows on your on your sofa, or a style bookshelf. So these are things that you can put on your portfolio page. In the meantime, what you can do as well on your website is focus on your blog. You want to build your reputation as a trusted authority. So they'll see some pretty pictures on your website for under your portfolio page, but then they'll noodle over to your blog, and then as you're writing blog and you are explaining the design process. You're explaining how to mix, like one of our most popular blogs still is, how do you mix metals or the size of a rug for the room? This is showing somebody that's interested in potentially hiring you that you know what you're doing. Will there be the people that are adamant that you have years of experience and a portfolio to show, yeah, of course, but you're not there yet. It's just like a child when they learn how to walk. You know you have to learn how to crawl first. So that's where you are in your business. Journey is learning how you know you're you're crawling, you you will learn how to walk with time. And if they're not okay with that, then they're not going to hire you. They weren't your client to begin with. And wouldn't you rather have a client that is understanding of the fact that you are launching your own business and they're cheering you on to success, and they want to be a part of something big. There are those people out there. So you're focusing on your blog. You can do the same thing with your social media posts. You want your audience to get to know you, so you're showing your personality and you're showing your expertise. So this solution is not reliant on photographs, but instead it speaks directly to what your clients are asking for help with Do you see how that can play out in the mind of a client, as well as seeing the images? Because here's the deal, unless you have a specific esthetic, the client is not going to hire you specifically based on your photos. Does that make sense? So for example, my, my, my interior design firm, ml interiors group, if you go to our website, we don't have a specific esthetic. So if somebody's coming to look so that their room will look exactly like my style. I don't have a style. My style is my client style. So that's a selling point. But what else is a selling point is the authority that we bring the processes that we have in business, the understanding of the design, the design process and the the way that you can mix, the way you can mix patterns and things along that line. So we oftentimes get in our own head that we have to have a beautiful portfolio in order to market ourselves. You're an interior designer, not a marketer, but somehow you're stuck spending hours on SEO, social media and email campaigns. Instead of doing what you love, designing beautiful spaces, marketing shouldn't take over your business. That's why sidemark was built by designers. For designers, we offer done for you marketing services like SEO, paid ads, email and even social media management, so you don't have to lift a finger not quite ready to let someone run it all for you. We also have done with you software subscriptions that include all of the tools you need, along with live coaching courses and 24/7 live support to help you market smarter with a clear plan, imagine getting back to doing more of why you started your business in the first place. Solve the marketing overwhelm and visit www.mysidemark.com
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today that's www.mysidemark.com,
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other things that you can do, for example, is on your social media, okay, so you understand how you can get around not having a portfolio on your website, because you can still create some content that's beautiful, that you can put up there, the mood boards, the Design presentations, and you could just say, this is how I present my design so nothing is left up to the imagination. There's a variety of ways that you can address that. So you guys understand how you can navigate marketing yourself without a portfolio on your website, and that is by taking your design boards.
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And saying, This is how I deliver my design, taking a design that you've created, even if it's just for yourself, even if it's just made up, having it rendered in a photo realistic manner, and, of course, giving a little disclaimer on your website, but these are options that you can do on your website. When it comes to social media, that's another obstacle that I that I've encountered myself, or that I have coached other designers on. And what you can do there is you can share content from other designers that you love. So for example, feel free to go to ml interiors group on Instagram and share one of our photos and say, What I really love about this image is and then, and then speak to it, because what's going to happen is your potential clients are going to hear you talk about the image, and they're going to recognize your design genius. Okay? And the heck in all reality, sometimes what happens is you share somebody else's photo with the Repost app, or whatever it is these days, and it goes up onto your feed and it looks like it's your image. So it's, it's just, it's a way that you can populate your page with something that inspires you, with something that you like, with something that you can speak towards. You can even just share products, products from some vendors that you know, like and trust. Let me tell you what I would do with this if you were to hire me. Okay, so there's, there's, there's some fun ways that you can navigate that other things that you can do is networking. When people get to meet you. When people get to meet you, they're going to recognize that you have this passion for what you do. They're going to recognize the intensity that you have, and are likely to give you the opportunity to display it. And what I mean by that is that they can give referrals or they might want to hire you themselves. So there's, there's a variety of ways that networking in person can be done that will get inquiries, and when you tell them specifically, like, let's and you know what we'll do is, I'll do another, I'll do another podcast on networking. So we'll talk. We'll talk about networking for interior designers, but when you are networking, it's okay to tell them that you haven't you know that you're still relatively new in business. It's okay to tell them that you're starting your own business. Do not be intimidated by the fact that you are relatively new to your own business, because, let's this is what I used to tell them. I would say they might be asking, so how long have you been doing this? Here's the response, I've been doing this forever. I just started getting paid for it. And if you're in a networking area, like, let's say this is a group that you are specifically there to network. They're going to understand that they're going to cheer you on. They're they're likely some some other entrepreneurs. Okay, so again, we'll do a podcast on that maybe coming up next, because networking in itself is its own topic. But this is how you can market without a slew of professional photos of your work, you can do presentations on popular topics in your community, to real estate agents, to the HOA to moms groups. So when, when you're out talking, the presentation is going to put you there as an authority. And then, if they go to your website and they see that you they see what you have up there, and then they ask you, how long have you been doing this? You have this entire conversation already mapped out. Presentations can be things along the lines of, what are the design trend. You know, what are today's design trends? What are some of the most popular paint colors? How do you mix metals like grab one of your blog titles and map that out. Use chat GPT to help you map it out and create a PowerPoint presentation. If you have images of rooms that you have created or whatnot, then put those in the presentation. If you don't, then just make sure you credit the image on the presentation. It doesn't have to be huge. You don't have to call to attention that it's not your work. You just give some credit. They'll probably be looking at the beautiful image, and assuming that you did it rather than reading the the point that it was somebody else's project, you are not lying. You are just navigating in your favor. And then again, if somebody says, Can I look at samples of your work, you can add, you can absolutely direct them to your website and say.
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This is what you've done now. Just because you have designs up there, you could even say these are designs that I've created. They just haven't been photographed yet. There's so many different ways that you can share your ideas without necessarily having to have the end result on your website or on your Instagram. I hope this makes sense, so don't let not having a portfolio stop you from marketing your services. We all have to start somewhere. If a client doesn't hire you because you don't have that experience, then they were not the client for you. Again, they were not your client to begin with, so you did not lose anything. Because I'll tell you, once you find the client who understands that they're getting, you know, somebody who's relatively new to the business, but who has this passion and talent, if anything, they're just going to be so grateful that they caught you before you got too expensive, and I tell you that based on my experience and based on coaching hundreds of other interior designers over the course of the past few years. So your your talent, your experience, they're all going to come out in your conversations and your explanations about what you do. So let's say our next our next episode, our next podcast. Let's do it on the networking and which, by the way, y'all this should be a two way conversation. If you have topics or if you have questions that you would like to be addressed, send them to me. DM me at designed for the creative mind on Instagram. Yes, I'm the one checking those messages. So DM me say, hey, I really liked this podcast. What I'd really like to hear from you next is blah, blah, blah. Or hey, I have this particular question. How would you handle it, and whether it is an episode that just goes down your bunny trail, or we wrap it up into something else as well. Again, it opens that conversation. So I love these podcasts. It's kind of weird sitting here talking to myself, but, but I'm at your service. Please don't hesitate to email me. Text me. Actually, you can't text me, but you can DM me. So I'd love to hear from you. So if y'all loved what you heard, please don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a fellow designer who could use a little bit of inspiration, some insight to the business, and let's keep this conversation going. Because remember, success doesn't just happen by chance. It happens by design. So keep designing your business with intention, and if you ever need a hand, I do have coaching and mentorship programs ready to meet you where you're at you've got this babe, I'm here to support you every step of the way until next time, make a great day.
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Hey y'all, if you love the show and find it useful. I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers, and if you like what you're hearing. Want to put a face with a name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business launch pad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training, and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fun. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally,
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I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast, so please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition, so let's work on elevating our industry one designer at a time. See you next time you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
