The Interior DesignHer Blog

real-world interior design business education

Business and Personal Strategies - Interior Design Success 2024
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Business and Personal Strategies - Interior Design Success 2024

Business and Personal Strategies - Interior Design Success 2024

2024 is going to be a big year for interior design and interior designers. Massive changes in technology are coming our way, BUT that doesn’t mean you can ignore the soft skills that are crucial to running a success business.

Today’s interior design business podcasts have should have you thinking about where you want your ID business to go in 2024.

Today’s interior design podcasts at a glance:

Dear Alice - Jessica Bennett and Suzanne Hall - Listener Questions December 2023 | Your Burning Design Questions Answered - 47 min

The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - Failing Your Way to Success: The Team Edition with Melanie Coddington - 56 min

Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: Use This End-Of-Year Strategy To Reduce Your Taxes - 13 min

Resilient by Design - Rebecca Hay - A Mindset Makeover for Interior Designers with Andrea Liebross - 42 min

Business of Home - Dennis Scully - The Thursday Show: Stark Carpet CEO Chad Stark on selling to consumers while sticking with designers. Plus: This year's AD100 is unveiled - 52 min

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Transform Your Interior Design Business in 2024
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Transform Your Interior Design Business in 2024

Transform Your Interior Design Business in 2024

We’re less than a month away from a brand new year.

How about instead of starting a new diet or signing up for a gym membership, we all make a determined, systematic and knowledge-backed effort to transform our interior design businesses???

2024 is going to be a year of flux for our industry. Between the rise of AI, higher than “normal” interest rates and an economy that doesn’t “feel right”, change will come for interior designers.

Why not get ahead of the game and make that change work for us?

Today’s interior design business lessons come from podcast hosts Terri Taylor, Michele Williams, Michelle Lynne, LuAnn Nigara x 2, Melissa Galt, Laura Thornton, Cheryl Kees Clendenon, Liz Lapan and Renée Biery.

Guests include Val Duvick - Val Marlene Creative, Jamie Van Cuyk, the owner and lead strategist of Growing Your Team, Susan Hayward & Jillian Hayward Schaible - Susan Hayward Interiors and Bessie Seeley, founder of Kardinia Interior Design.

School’s in session. Let’s put those thinking caps on:

Interior Design Business - Terri Taylor - Profitable Remodeling - 30 min

Profit is a Choice - Michele Williams - Financials are the Foundation to Work Life Balance - 49 min

Designed for the Creative Mind - Michelle Lynne - Keys to Hiring and Retaining Team Members for Your Interior Design Business - 43 min

Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - What Would Lu Do?: Seven Strategies for Business Excellence in 2024: Steps 1 and 2 - 32 min

The Affluent Creative - Melissa Galt - What Your Affluent Clients Want - 59 min

The Business of Beautiful Spaces - Laura Thornton - Let's Talk About How to Cultivate Lasting Relationships with Contractors with the Mother Daughter Duo from Susan Hayward Interiors, Susan Hayward + Jillian Hayward Schaible - 29 min

A Well-Designed Business - LuAnn Nigara - Bessie Seeley: Growing a Thriving Interior Design Firm From the Kitchen Table - 56 min

Damn Good Interior Design - Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Liz Lapan - Why your clients should not hire you - 35 min

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6 Lessons for the Business Side of Your Interior Design Business
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

6 Lessons for the Business Side of Your Interior Design Business

6 Lessons for the Business Side of Your Interior Design Business

We’ve got 6 kick-butt lessons for the business side of your interior design business in today’s collection of interior design business podcasts.

Today’s lessons come from podcast hosts Terri Taylor, Michele Williams, LuAnn Nigara, Melissa Galt, Laura Thornton and Kate Greunke. Their guest lecturers include Stacy Hernandez, the principal and CEO of Elegant Avenue Interiors and Rachel Krull, designer & owner of Monday Morning Interiors

School’s in session. Let’s put those thinking caps on:

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Is Virtual Reality the Future of Interior Design?
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Is Virtual Reality the Future of Interior Design?

Is Virtual Reality the Future of Interior Design?

Residential interior design is a luxury service. Period. AI and virtual reality are about to radically change how you deliver that luxury service.

In one of today’s four interior design business podcasts, interior designer Ellie Redders talks about her use of virtual reality as a tool to showcase her design concepts. And while this is pretty awesome for 2023, it’s nothing compared to what’s coming next.

Right now, Ellie’s use of virtual reality is way more impressive than floor plans and 3D renderings, but it’s nowhere near as cool as it’s going to be once AI really gets rolling.

Imagine this:

During your initial site visit, you use your next-gen LIDAR app to accurately measure your potential client’s home

You and your AI-powered design software create an amazing design concept

That design concept is automatically generated as 2D floor plans, 3D renderings and a fully immersive virtual reality space

In addition to the design, options for every piece of furniture, window covering, lighting fixture, etc are selected. These options will be classified by vendor, price, availability, etc

When you present your design concept to the prospective client, they will be able to view and interact with your designed space in a fully-immersive virtual space.

And once they’ve signed the contract, AI-powered software will set up a timeline, submit purchase orders, alert employees, vendors & trades to their roles in the project, etc

Now that sounds like luxury.

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Sales is NOT a Dirty Word - The Lesson Interior Designers Should Have Learned in Design School
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Sales is NOT a Dirty Word - The Lesson Interior Designers Should Have Learned in Design School

Sales is NOT a Dirty Word - The Lesson Interior Designers Should Have Learned in Design School

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!!! Odds are that you’re chowing down on turkey, hugging family and watching football instead of listening to any business podcasts today…I’m so jealous :)

For the rest of us, we’ve got 3 exceptional podcasts to share today.

Today’s collection comes from some of my favorite hosts Jason Lockhart, Mirjam Lippuner, Maria Martin, Kate Bendewald and Rebecca Hay.

Today’s sole podcast guest is Duane Becker - founder of SaPré Training, a leading provider of sales and presentation training tailored specifically for Kitchen and Bath professionals. Duane is a great guest and brings full value to the discussion in today’s Designer Discussions episode.

So much good advice for improving your interior design business.

Designer Discussions - Jason Lockhart, Mirjam Lippuner, Maria Martin - Boosting Client Services and Sales in Interior Design - 33 min

Designer’s Oasis - Kate Bendewald - Gratitude in Business - The Ripple Effect - 24 min

Resilient by Design - Rebecca Hay - Pricing your design services with confidence - 35 min

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Why do most interior designers suck at sales?
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Why do most interior designers suck at sales?

Why do most interior designers suck at sales?

It’s not just interior designers…most creatives suck at selling. Some believe it’s the combination of natural “creative” personality traits + a lack of confidence + an inability to set boundaries + an education that virtually ignores the business side of interior design.

In today’s A Well-Designed Business podcast, host LuAnn Nigara & her guest Matthew Finlin, CEO of The Human Potential Academy dive deep into why most interior designers suck at sales :(

Scroll down to learn more:

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Success Strategies for Interior Design Business Owners: Podcast Edition
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Success Strategies for Interior Design Business Owners: Podcast Edition

Success Strategies for Interior Design Business Owners: Podcast Edition

Today’s collection of the world’s best interior design business podcasts consists of six episodes from three of my favorite hosts Rhiannon Lee, Michael Boodro, Tobi Fairley, LuAnn Nigara, Kate Bendewald and Rebecca Hay.

Today’s podcast guests include Rebecca Hessel Cohen - LoveShackFancy, April Gargiulo - Vintner’s Daughter, Charlotte Lucas - Charlotte Lucas Interior Design, Anna Brockway - Chairish, Liz Toombs - PDR Interiors, Vita Vygovska and Jacinthe Koddo - Koddo & Co.

So much good advice for improving your interior design business.

Designing Success - Rhiannon Lee - Chat's that Convert, The webinar excerpt - 30 min

The Chairish Podcast - Michael Boodro - Four Female Founders & What They've Learned in a Decade of Success - 57 min

The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - How Niching Down Builds Business Resilience with Liz Toombs - 28 min

Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: Cost vs. Value: What To Choose - 13 min

Designer’s Oasis - Kate Bendewald - How to Style an Interior Photoshoot for Magazines - 39 min

Resilient by Design - Rebecca Hay - Why its important to be open about finances with Jacinthe Koddo - 50 min

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Real World Business Education for Interior Designers: Podcast Edition
Douglas Robb Douglas Robb

Real World Business Education for Interior Designers: Podcast Edition

Real World Business Education for Interior Designers: Podcast Edition

In today’s installment of interior design business podcasts, we’ve got six stupendous episodes from hosts Rhiannon Lee, LuAnn Nigara, Cheryl Kees Clendenon, Liz Lapan and Renée Biery. Today’s sole podcast guest is April Gandy - Alluring Designs Chicago.

Today’s Interior Design Podcast Episodes:

Designing Success - Rhiannon Lee - Navigating the line between what to give away for free and what to charge for - 20 min

A Well-Designed Business - LuAnn Nigara - April Gandy: The Key to Managing a Successful Renovation Project - 1 hr, 7 min

Damn Good Interior Design - Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Liz Lapan - Charging What You Are Worth Is a Crock of Cheese Curds - 45 min

Only Girl on the Jobsite - Renée Biery - Pricing with Confidence Starts with Knowing Your Value - 26 min

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