new interior design startups

I am looking for any tips or good reference books, etc., on how to build an interior design practice from scratch when you are in a new town with minimal local contacts. What type of advertising works, for example? We have been advertising in direct mail flyers with minimal result.

- Eric Lambeth

Eric,

''50 Ways to Market Your Interior Design Business' on http://www.dezignare.com/newsletter/marketing.html offers useful pointers.

Eric,

When I was first starting out I had tried all of the usual

Karen's recommendations are excellent...and real estate agents tend to know first who is new in town. Therefore, they are in one of the best positions to recommend a designer, especially to someone new in town, since they have already won the client's trust. You can also try a relatively obscure approach of offering your services to help realtors fix up a clients home for sale. How often have you seen a picture of an interior of a home for sale and thought 'Boy, they sure could use my help. They could get more money for their home if they just did this and that.' We know of a very successful firm in Colorado who got their start this way.

Let us know how it goes, and what seems to work best for you.

There are many ways to jumps start your business, and the other folks have given some great ideas. I found the best way for me is press releases. I have been in newspapers and magazines several times and each time gives a tremendous boost to my custom designed rug business. I also have helped other small businesses write press releases and get articles written on their business.

If you have a niche, focus on that area. I design rugs in Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie and Usonian Styles. The niche makes you stand out compared to other similar businesses.

Since you are starting out, write a press release about your business opening. There are several books on writing press releases that will provide the proper format. I recommend 'Bullteproof News Releases' by Kay Borden - amazon.com sells it. Kay includes advice and tips from newspaper editors - and these are the people who determine what stories get printed! They all said keep the focus of the story local! Don't make the mistake of turning your release into a commercial. - they will toss it.

Here is an example of a first line for you... Naperville, IL is chosen for the new home office of Eric Lambeth, Interior Design. 'We were looking for the best location for opening our full service interior design firm and Naperville proved to be perfect location,' stated Eric Lambeth principal of the firm.

The above paragraph gives the reason for the release and makes it personal and local in nature. A great way to learn how to write a press release in the style of an article is to take a similar article from the local paper and substitute your business name and your name in. Then replace the text sentence-by-sentence - only now related directly to your business.

Ideas for topics of press releases; grand opening, business anniversary, new employee hire, business or employee wins award, appearing in local trade show, trends in your industry. If you are really stumped, give away an award and make it an anuual event. It doens't cost much to have a plaque made up and engraved. Take a oicture of you giving the award away and have a press release explaining what the award is for and mention your business. Also look through your industry magazines. If there is an article about some survey, use those statistics (be sure to cite your source in the press release) and then give your spin on the survey. Example:

Design Weekly recently surveyed 100 paint stores and found that after white, taupe is the most popular interior paint color. 'We have seen the trend to colors on homeowners walls,' stated Eric Lambeth of XXXX. 'Clients in the Naperville area aren't afraid to use color in their main living areas.'

My cousin opened a second location of a carry-out pizza business. After six months he was seriously considering closing the new location. Coupons/advertising didn't work - so I helped him write a press release. The local paper did a phone interview and sent a photographer. They featured his business on the front page of the business section and included a color picture and an additional B&W picture on a subsequent page. He said the article brought him more business than any advertising, or promotions he had ever done. Three years later that location is flourishing and other pizza places have shut down near him.

It works. Email me if you have questions.

Jerry Aspen Carpet Designs - Mokena, IL

You are absolutely right Jerry. The problem with press releases is, after a company has spent hours designing the perfect press release, who is going to pick it up? Your local papers are a good option. But, a better option is the Internet. Press releases are released like wildfire everyday, but rarely do we see any by interior designers. It may be because they can be very expensive to distribute.

We offer an alternative and invite any business, product manufacturer or allied service trade (those promoting their businesses to the interior design trade with wholesale price structures) to submit their press release to us at no charge on http://www.dezignare.com/news_bulletin.html.

If you are not sure how to compose a press release you will find many examples here. Figure out an angle, any angle. They have all been used before. A catchy topic line helps. All the facts and figures are necessary, but anything goes, as long as it is professionally written and offers valuable information. The more public service oriented you can make it the better. No one wants to here of a 'me, me, me' story.

We hope to here about your projects you and the contributions you are making to the profession, whether it be an new approach, a new product, a new philosophy or a new project.

Dezignaré: Interior Design Collective PO Box 203476 Austin TX 78720-3476 TEL 512.249.2322, FAX 512.249.2325

Website: www.dezignare.com