Students applying for a job with an architectural firm should be prepared to discuss a lot more than just architecture.

A recent study of the challenges facing these students underscores the fact that traditional design industry job hunting strategies just won’t cut it in times like these.

The study by the Geogetown Center on Education and the Workforce noted that the 13.9% unemployment rate of architecture majors far exceeds that of students specializing in other fields. Contrast that figure with the 5.4 per cent rate of health industry majors, the students with the lowest unemployment rate.

Once, students who showed up with a degree, resume, and portfolio could count on getting a job.

Not any longer.

Now their chances for employment hinge on their ability to identify key challenges facing prospective employers — and offer solutions to them.

They need to sell themselves, and explain how they can help a company increase profits, save time and money, etc.

Twelve  Career Concepts to consider when applying for a a job with an architecture or interior design firm, or starting your own:

1/ You’re in Sales. First and foremost, you’re not selling sofas and space planning. You’re selling yourself.

2/ You’re Self-Employed. You’re the CEO of your own personal corporation.

3/ Your Work Doesn’t Sell Itself. Success takes more than pretty pictures.

4/ Create a Killer Commercial. Spell out your specialness in 30 seconds or less.

5/ Sell “Now!” as well as “Wow!” Explain why this is the very best time to hire you — or invest in your design services.

6/ Spread the Good Word. It doesn’t matter how good you are if only you know.

7/ There’s Stength in Numbers. Add  mentors, coaches, financial advisers and others to your Personal Team.

8/ Think BIG. It’s as easy to catch the cahunas (the super employer or client) as it is to mix with the minnows.

9/ Don’t Try to be “Busy.” “Financially independent” makes more sense. Make the most valuable and productive use of your time.

10/ Consider “Questions from Hell.” Prepare answers–ahead of time–for the questions you least want to hear.

11/ Ask! You probably won’t get what you don’t ask for: a job, a raise, a promotion, a sale, etc.

12/ Don’t Quit. Quitters never win. Winners never quit. The most successful design professionals are the most persistent.

Fred Berns is a career counselor, trainer and coach in the interior design industry.

It’s your online and print profile which spells out your specialness, and identifies who and how you help as an interior design professional.

You should make your bio available to everyone — everyone — you seek to influence in 2012.

There are numerous ways to use this vital marketing piece. Here are 19 of them.

Use your bio:

1/ in the “About Us” section of your Website

2/ in your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media profiles

3/ as an email attachment, when you confirm appointments with prospects. (“Looking forward to our meeting. I’ve attached some background info.”)

4/ as resource material for the media (reporters, editors, producers, bloggers, etc.)

5/ to inform your personal reference list, so they can more effectively refer you to others

6/ as a “fee justifier,” when you’re presenting — or raising — your rates

7/ as your personal profile in group directories(e.g., in the “Find a Designer” section of an ASID chapter website)

8/ as a “positioning” piece, when you’re seeking speaking engagements

9/ in catalogues promoting your seminars, courses, classes, workshops, etc.

10/ as a handout for those who attend your seminars

11/ as “about the author” information in your articles, columns, and blogposts

12/ as a link in every proposal you submit (“For more on my background and qualifications, click here”)

13/ as a link in your email “signature”

14/ for talking points in your “elevator speech” — or voicemail message

15/ in the “about the designer” material when your work is showcased (e.g., at a showhouse)

16/ as collateral, when seeking corporate sponsorships, partnerships, underwriting, etc.

17/ as a joint marketing tool, that allied professionals could distribute to their clients

18/ as an attachment, with you new product or service announcements

19/ as a supplement to your resume, when applying for a job with a design firm.

Make it a priority this year to create a killer bio.

If you’re up to doing that, go for it. If not, contact me (Fred@FredBerns.com) and I can help.

Fred Berns is a marketing coach and copywriter for interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

The results are available for immediate download.

Here are a few highlights:

+ 53.3% of the respondents  said total revenue for 2011 was below $100,000

+  62% said total revenue for 2011 increased or remained the same

+  56.4% of firm owners earned less than $45,000

+ 87.3% of survey participants are 36+

+  89.7% of survey participants are female

Download your copy of the 2012 Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey now!
http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=vbfebk

Fred Berns is a sales and marketing coach for interior design professionals.

People set — and soon forget — all sorts of goals this time of year. Here’s a goal to set — and get:

Develop a million dollar message.

Craft a killer commercial. Create an “elevator speech” that differentiates and dazzles.

Come up with a reply that resonates to the question: “What do you do?”

You have less than 17 seconds to effectively respond to that question, after which you’ve lost the attention span of the person who posed it.

Simply sharing your duties won’t make an impression.

Sharing your specialness will.

You won’t impress someone by telling them you’re a “window covering professional.” You will, by telling them that you help homeowners “add wow to their windows and substantially reduce energy costs.”

No, that response won’t precisely explain all that you do. But it will interest, intrigue and inspire your listener to find out more.

People could care less what your job title is.

But they care lots about who and how you help.

Tell me you’re a “home stager,” and I’m wearied. Tell me you “help people sell their homes for much more money in much less time,” and I’m wowed.

Don’t tell me you’re a” commericial designer for an office furniture company.” Tell me you ” provide furniture that helps companies increase productivity and profits.”

Develop a powerful personal marketing message, and your prospects will understand your YOU-nique selling proposition.

Fred Berns is an interior design industry sales and marketing coach and speaker.

So, why have you come to Canada?” the immigration officer at the Toronto airport asked.

“I’m here on business,” I replied.

“What kind of business?”

“I’m here to present a seminar.”

“Can I see your work permit?”

“My what?”

“Your work permit.”

“I, uh…don’t understand.”

“What’s there not to understand? You’re here on business from the U.S., so you need a work permit.”

“I really didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do.”

“How, uh, do I get a…work permit?”

“Well, you can buy one at that window over there.”

“What’s it cost?”

“$150.”

“$150! Are you kidding me?”

“Never been more serious in my life.  Sorry about that.”

“So am I.”

“Why did you say you’ve come to Toronto?”

“To present a program.”

“So who are you ‘presenting a program’ to?”

“CDECA. The Canadian Decorators Assn.”

“Did you say: ‘decorators?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess you’re in luck.”

“Luck? ”

“I’m going to let you through this time with just a warning.”

“Gee, thanks! But…why?”

“I happen to be married to an interior decorator.”

Fred Berns is a sales and marketing trainer, coach and copywriter for interior design professionals worldwide.

If you change your business model, adopt a “Brand Do” as well as “Can Do” attitude.

Has there ever been a time when so many interior design professionals are reinventing themselves?

Not that I can remember.

The uncertain economy and the construction slump have transformed some interior designers into home stagers, some architects into remodeling specialists, and some builders into commercial consultants.

It’s all well and good to reposition yourself to adapt to changing – and challenging — times.

Just make sure you rebrand yourself in the process.

When you sell new services, sell yourself in new ways.

Go beyond the new job title. Tell who and how you help. Spell out your specialness in your new specialty.

And spread the news, Suze.

Share new insights and start new conversations on Facebook and Twitter. Join new LinkedIn groups.

Write on, and Speak up.

Pinpoint the pain, and recommend yourself as the remedy.

If, for example, you repackage yourself as a window fashion specialist, discuss how local homeowners waste thousands of dollars on unnecessary energy costs.

And explain how your blinds can reduce energy loss and UV damage.

When you reinvent yourself, you must promote yourself more than before.

You must stand up, and stand out.

You must say it loud, and say it proud.

And you must Stand by Your Brand.

When you reposition yourself, don’t disregard your previous credentials.

Just repackage them.

Some examples of new branding phrases I created recently for coaching clients who are changing their focus:

+ (Name) is the region’s only home stager with experience and a degree in landscape architecture.

+ (Name) is the only area window fashion dealer who operated her own drapery workroom for 15 years.

+ (Name) is the only local showroom manager who formerly ran an interior design firm.

It’s by choice, not chance that each of these phrases contains the million dollar marketing word: Only.

As you roll out your new business, don’t tell me you’re different because you care about your customers.

Or because you turn design dreams into reality. Or because you have a flair for color.

Been there. Done that.

I don’t want your platitudes. I want you word.

I want your “only.”

Tell me what’s unique to you, and I’ll hire only you.

Fred Berns is a branding coach for interior design businesses worldwide.

That was the theme of my “Big Splash, Little Cash” presentation at the recent national conference of the Window Coverings Assn. of America.

Check out this quiz drawn from the Big Splash, Little Cash Marketing Materials Manual, and determine how you are doing as a moneysaving marketer.

True or False, you…

1/ attend one live networking event weekly.

2/ use a separate Facebook account for your business.

3/ have written three articles this year that have appeared in publications.

4/ are a member and regular contributor to at least three LinkedIn groups.

5/ distribute at least one news release monthly.

6/ have have created a YouTube video which demonstrates your design skills and expertise

7/ have delivered three presentations this year to groups of prospects.

8/ write a blog.

9/ update your website monthly (with a blogpost, video clip, etc.)

10/ use your voicemail as a marketing tool by including a 60-90 second promotional message.

So, how do you rate?

If you answered “True”…                         You are a….

10-9 times                                                       Pro-moter
8-7                                                                  On-the-go – moter
6-5                                                                  So-so – moter
4-3                                                                  Low – moter
2 or less                                                           No – moter

Fred Berns is a marketing coach and trainer for interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

Knowing your “No-No’s” will help you fireproof your future.

Want your design business to boom, rather than break in this uncertain economy?

Want to stay on track, and on target?

Then specify, and sidestep what you shouldn’t do.

A “don’t” list can be as useful as a to-do list. The ideas below will get you started.

If you’re serious about success in September, and beyond, then don’t

… wait for prospects to come to you. Go to them. In-home selling is hot.

… wait for prospects to call. Call them. “Smile and dial” at every opportunity.

… meet your clients’ needs. Exceed them.

… assume clients can’t afford expensive stuff. You don’t know what’s in their bank accounts.

… rely on a “good enough” website. In online marketing, good enough isn’t.

… spend big money on marketing. Some of the best promotion (blogs, seminars, etc.) costs the least.

… advertise. It’s so 2010. Join the conversation and build buzz on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other sites.

… just think locally. Think globally. Use social media and websites to position yourself in the international market.

… give away your time. Bill for consultation, installation, travel time and everything else.

… fear price objections. Embrace them. They’re buying signals.

… work harder. Work smarter. Make better use of your working time, and you’ll have more time for family, friends and fun.

… hold on to hardship. Underachieving employees and unprofitable products bring you down. Get rid of them.

… assume your job is secure. The client — or design firm — that hires you today can fire you tomorrow.

…work for jerks. Your time is too precious. Life is too short.

Fred Berns is a business success coach in the interior design industry.

Your business.

I’m offering 1-on-1, in-person coaching sessions Sept. 1-3 in Chicago, and Oct. 19-21 in New York to interior design professionals and design industry partners. I’ll be in both cities on other business.

So what’s in it for you?

A two hour, face-to-face discussion of your design business and career, your financial and other goals, your challenges — and/or any other topics you want to cover. All that, plus you’ll get a 30-day follow up period.

Do you have questions about the business of your interior design industry business? I have answers.

I’ve heard, and addressed a wide range of sales/marketing/pricing/ staffing/customer relations and other issues during my 25+ year career coaching interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

Are you committed to bigger sales, better clients and greater profitability this Fall and beyond?

If so, then commit to this live coaching experience near Chicago or New York.

For details about this fully-guaranteed personal coaching opportunity, contact me at Fred@FredBerns.com, or 303-665-6688.

Fred Berns is a business coach for interior design professionals and design industry partners.

The 2011 median income for U.S. interior designers with at least eight years experience is only $68,683.

For those with 4-6 years experience, it’s $51,962.

For designers in business for two years or less, the median is 37,647.

My source for those numbers: Salary.com.

My word for those numbers: “disappointing.”

Disappointing because design professionals work way too hard to earn that little.

Disappointing because they know so much about so much and don’t get adequately compensated for it.

Disappointing because they’re three times as skilled as other professionals who earn six times more.

The income numbers should give you a clear message: it’s time to quit.

Quit giving away your time and expertise. And negotiating your fees. And working with clients who can’t afford you.

Quit wasting your time on non-income producing activities. And taking on projects that are more trouble than their worth.

Quit thinking small.

Make More, Promote Yourself for Less

The best way to increase your income is to promote yourself more effectively.

You could spend lots of time and money promoting your interior design credentials.

But why?

Why not acquire a collection of all the forms you’ll need to sell yourself economically, in half the time.

The Big Splash, Little Cash Marketing Materials Manual is a collection of the most effective marketing forms used by design professionals.

It’s available in print, or digital formats.

Here, in one easy-to-use resource, are examples of outstanding articles, news releases, cover letters, follow up notes, website bios, social networking profiles, design service lists, voicemail messages, letters to prospective corporate partners, “only” statements — and a whole lot more.

All you’ll need to do is adapt those forms for your purposes.

Why “reinvent the wheel” with your marketing materials?

You can simply plug your information into the done-for-you forms in this collection.

If you want to make a major marketing impact for a minimal investment of time and money, you’ll want the Big Splash Manual.

For more information, and to order the Big Splash, Little Cash Marketing Materials Manual click here: http://www.fredberns.com/marketingmanual

Money Maneuvers

Your personal financial situation shouldn’t get you down.

It should get you going.

It should motivate you to take steps to earn the income you want and deserve.

Here are some strategies spelled out in the Double Your Dollars audio program:

Raise Your Fees. You improve clients’ work space and living space and lives. Now, charge accordingly.

Justify Why. Memorize 12 reasons why you’re worth your higher rate. It’s Price Objection Protection.

Walk the Talk. Conduct yourself — and your business — as if you already earn twice your price.

Differentiate Yourself. Talk up your experience, awards, design specialties and, above all, your “only.”

Look the Part. Make your promotional bio, design service list and other marketing materials look like a million.

Sell Yourself. Write, speak, network — do whatever it takes to get known by high end prospects.

Fred Berns is a success coach for interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

Wednesday is your last chance to save BIG on a coaching session designed to help you work less and earn more this summer.

Register by this Wednesday, and you’ll pay only $249 for the 90 minute telephone coaching session, and the one-week follow up. After Wednesday, the investment for the Summer Coach Call will be $299.

Once you register, you can schedule the Coach Call for any time this Summer.

How to substantially increase your profits before Labor Day — and spend less time doing it — is the focus of this coaching program.

You’ll learn no cost, no sweat ways to build your business over the summer months.

And I’ll show how you how to substantially increase sales in one hour a day.

You’ll walk away with what you need to know to connect with lots more promising prospects.

You’ll also find out how to double your database while you sleep.

And we can use this 1-on-1 session to review your design business goals and challenges.

The investment is $249 if you register by Wed., June 22, or $299 thereafter.

Once you register, you can schedule the Coach Call for any time this Summer.

Register now by contacting me at 303-589-3013, or Fred@FredBerns.com.

Fred Berns provides business success coaching for leading interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

You can’t get the business unless you ask for it.

And you’re unlikely to get other benefits without asking for them.

Referrals, for example.  And the OK to do Phase II.

And coverage in leading design publication. And deeper vendor discounts.

You won’t get everything you ask for. But, you may get not get anything that you don’t ask for.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll receive positive responses. But you miss 100 per cent of the shots you never take.

Are you taking enough shots?

Not if your interior design business isn’t where it should be. Or could be.

Better outcomes may be only a question away.

Ask for:
+ the appointment

+ the sale

+ the contract

+ higher fees

+ payment up front

+ referrals

+ letters of introduction

+ testimonials

+ Phase II of the project

+ financial support

+ better terms

+ better rates

+ other discounts

+ media coverage

+ speaking opportunities

+ the job

+ the promotion

+ the raise

XXXXX

Let’s talk about you, and let’s talk about summer.

Let’s discuss how you can work less and earn more between now and Labor Day.

Give me 90 minutes of your time on the phone for a Summer Coach Call, and I’ll give you no cost, no sweat ways to build your business over the summer months.

And I’ll show how you how to substantially increase sales in one hour a day.

You’ll walk away with what you need to know to connect with lots more promising prospects.

You’ll also find out how to double your database while you sleep.

And we can use this 1-on-1 session to review your design business goals and challenges.

Included in your moneyback guaranteed investment is a one week follow up period.

The investment is $249 if you register by Wed., June 22, or $299 thereafter.

Once you register, you can schedule the Coach Call for any time this Summer.

Register now by contacting me at 303-589-3013, or Fred@FredBerns.com.

XXXXX

That empty seat in First Class sure looked inviting.

The flight from Dubai, U.A.E. back to Washington, D.C. was going to be long: 15 hours, or so.

And I was plenty tired.

I had spent the week presenting seminars and serving as the emcee in Dubai at the conference of the International Federation of Interior Architects and Designers.

“Can I sit in that seat?” I asked the flight attendant as I boarded the plane.

“No, she replied. “You have an economy ticket.

“But the seat’s empty.”

“Why should I give you a free upgrade instead of anyone else?”

“Because I’m the only one who asked.”

“Hmmmm,”  she said. “You have a point there.”

And, within minutes, I had a First Class seat there. At no extra charge.

Ask the right question, and you get the right answer.

Fred Berns provides business success coaching for leading interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

Your prospects don’t. Your website visitors don’t. Even your clients don’t.

That’s because, if you’re like most interior design professionals, your promotional bio is a bust.

Chances are your printed bio sheet and your website “About Us” section undersell you. As a result, those you seek to influence don’t know all that you do, have done, and can do.

This is not to say you’re unqualified, or lacking in interior design talent and skill.

It is to say that you don’t adequately share that information on your website, and in your marketing materials.

Your personal bio is your most important on-line and print marketing piece.

Is yours boosting or blocking you?

The beginning tells a bundle. A sure sign your bio doesn’t work is if it starts by saying that you “launched your company seven years ago.”

Or that you’re a New York native. Or that you received your design degree in 1999. Or that you belong to an association.

Nor am I impressed when you tell me that you “search beyond typical design solutions.”

Or that you “believe that your home interior reflects your lifestyle.” Or that you feel that “good design enhances the quality of life.”

Oh, pul – eease!

Skip the baloney, and give me benefits.

Tell me how you can enhance my home value or increase my workplace productivity, and how you can save me time, money and headaches.

And tell me how you differ from your competitors.

Bio Boosters

What goes into a good bio?

The Superstar Selling System for Design Professionals recommends that you include your:

+ “Only” phrase (” ____ is the area’s only designer who…)
+ Awards and other honors
+ Design specialities
+ Experience
+ Accomplishments
+ Skills and capabilities
+ Other qualifications
+ Unique services and products
+ Publication history (where/how you’ve been published)
+ Client profile (who you serve and how)
+ Resources (vendors, contractors, etc.)
+ Affiliations
+ Educational background

Get it Written Right

If you’re up to creating a killer bio, go for it.

If you’re not, don’t.

You can spend long hours writing and rewriting, and polishing and perfecting your personal promotion piece.

Or I could write it for you.

Aren’t you supposed to do what you do best, and delegate the rest? What you do best is interior design.

What I do best is help design professionals earn lots more money and recognition by promoting themselves more effectively.

Give me an hour on the phone to interview you, and I’ll give you within three weeks the most powerful bio you’ve ever had.

“Hiring out” your bio isn’t cheap.

But, then again, what’s your current bio costing you in lost sales, projects and revenue?

Can you afford to continue using a bio that undersells you and disqualifies, rather than qualifies you for the kind of clients you want and need?

I can create for you your most vital personal promotion tool.

I have time this Summer to work with three design professionals on their bios. If you’re interested, contact me at Fred@FredBerns.com, or 303-665-6688.

Fred Berns is a business trainer and coach for interior design professionals worldwide.

Because they do.

That was my message this week in a guest lecture to the interior design students at the Art Institute of Colorado. I focused on the importance of self promotion in a highly competitive job market.

Twelve  Career Concepts to consider when applying for a a job with an interior design firm, or starting your own in the months ahead:

1/ You’re in Sales. First and foremost, you’re not selling sofas and space planning. You’re selling yourself.

2/ You’re Self-Employed. You’re the CEO of your own personal corporation.

3/ Your Work Doesn’t Sell Itself. Success takes more than pretty pictures.

4/ Create a Killer Commercial. Spell out your specialness in 30 seconds or less.

5/ Sell “Now!” as well as “Wow!” Explain why this is the very best time to hire you — or invest in your design services.

6/ Spread the Good Word. It doesn’t matter how good you are if only you know.

7/ There’s Stength in Numbers. Add  mentors, coaches, financial advisers and others to your Personal Team.

8/ Think BIG. It’s as easy to catch the cahunas (the super employer or client) as it is to mix with the minnows.

9/ Don’t Try to be “Busy.” “Financially independent” makes more sense. Make the most valuable and productive use of your time.

10/ Consider the “Questions from Hell.” Prepare answers–ahead of time–for the questions you least want to hear.

11/ Ask! You probably won’t get what you don’t ask for: a job, a raise, a promotion, a sale, etc.

12/ Don’t Quit. Quitters never win. Winners never quit. The most successful design professionals are the most persistent.

Fred Berns is a career counselor, trainer and coach in the interior design industry.

David Shepherd’s 8th Annual Business of Design Conference will be held September 1-2, 2011 in New York City.  This event focuses solely on the bottom line of interior designers and this year, in addition to David, you will hear from a variety of best selling authors and faculty members of elite business schools.

Do yourself a favor and visit www.bodconference.com and look at all the speakers, sponsors, and reasons to attend. Early Bird pricing for this conference ends May 31 so you can save hundreds by registering soon.

Then, if you decide to register, be sure and enter the promotional code berns and you’ll receive $100 off your registration fee as my gift to you.

Fred Berns is a coach and trainer for interior design professionals worldwide

Those words will enable you to connect with much higher caliber clients. And get much bigger projects.

And double the effectiveness of your marketing.

Learn those four  words, and your design business will boom this summer.

And learn them you will, when you tune into the FREE* tele-seminar scheduled for next Tuesday, May 17.

The program, entitled “Summer Survival Strategies: 10 Ways to Boost Your Business by September,” is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern on Tues., May 17.

Joining me in presenting this tele-seminar is Gail Doby, the Co-Founder of Design Success University, and an award-winning interior designer with more than 20 years experience running a firm specializing in high-end residential remodeling and construction design.

The  tele-seminar is sponsored by Luxe Home LLC, a company specializing in servicing the unique needs of the independent interior designer.

Luxe offers complete merchandising, marketing and business services to increase your profitability and reduce your administrative workload.

For registration and other information, click here: http://www.fredberns.com/summer-survival/

Fred Berns is a business trainer and coach for interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.

I’ve been asked to teach a sales and marketing course at a prominent interior design school this Spring.

Maybe that’s a good sign.

Maybe it’s a sign that schools are starting to see the need to offer more courses on the business of the design business.

It was nearly four years ago that I wrote an article claiming that design programs are “closed for business” because they failed to adequately prepare their students to run a firm, or apply for a job.

The article, reprinted below, drew lots of criticism from design school educators, and some praise from veteran designers.

What do you think: have things changed for the better, or for the worse?

Interior design schools are flunking when it comes to teaching business skills.

There’s a crisis in the classrooms at America’s nearly 150 accredited interior design schools.

The schools are doing a crummy job of teaching the business side of the business.

They aren’t providing adequate career training. Too many students graduate unfit and unprepared to succeed because they lack basic sales and marketing skills.

The result: many graduates flounder and fail financially.

The problem isn’t what the schools teach. It’s what they don’t teach.

They don’t offer courses — or, at least, enough courses — on business management, fees, contracts, customer service, communication skills, accounting, and strategic planning.

Their graduates join firms, or start their own, with little idea how to price their services, market themselves, manage their time, close sales, overcome price objections… and the list goes on.

That’s not to say the schools don’t offer an ample curriculum.

Catalogues are filled with courses on topics ranging from faux finishing to furniture, from textiles to technical drawing, from color to codes, from hospitality design to historic preservation.

But just try to find courses on how to sell those skills and services and products.

Good luck locating programs on the business of design.

Bottom line: many design schools hinder, rather than help their students when it comes to career development.

They dump their graduates into a highly competitive marketplace that requires the kind of sales and marketing insights they didn’t get in class.

It’s time for school administrators to get down to the business of teaching business.

For design schools to be relevant, they have to get real.

Fred Berns is a business trainer and teacher for interior design professionals worldwide.

You’ll recall I wrote about her challenges in landing employment and free lance work since she made the move.

Here’s a random sampling of some of the suggestions that came in….

Jennifer Aos’ LA dilemma serves as a cautionary tale.

It highlights the importance of aggressively promoting your business so it is not bound by the confines of geography.

As a relatively new designer myself, I am aware of my need for a strong website, I’m voraciously reading about how to promote my business to editors of local (and beyond!) publications, and maximizing networking opportunities. Hopefully these types of marketing will strengthen my business brand beyond my local community.

Having said that (“woulda, shoulda, coulda”), Jennifer sounds like she is in dire straits.

If she has the financial ability to endure the $20/hour “internship” with the well known designer she should take it. That designer’s connections could be quite valuable to Jennifer if she capitalizes on them.

If she cannot stomach that low pay, then I regret to advise that she should take the Ethan Allen job as a stop gap measure to ensure she has benefits and financial income to survive. Things will get better for her, but she is starting over in a new land and it will take time.

Best of luck to Jennifer Aos, and I hope my input is helpful.

Beth Rosenfield
beth rosenfield design
ridgefield, ct
(203) 470-3114

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For Jennifer:

If I was in that situation, I would go work at Calico Corners or Ethan Allen or even Penneys selling window treatments.

Okay, so it’s not glamourous, and you may have to get 2 jobs for a while. Another option is working for a closet company such as California Closets.

They all do in-home consultations and it would be an opportunity to get face to face with clients. You can share with them about all the other things you do off-hours and gradually the projects should materialize.

Have you joined ASID LA or another chapter? Talk to the more experienced designers and they will pass on smaller jobs that they are not interested in taking on. Talk with the vendor mambers too, as they are another good source of referrals.

Also join local organizations like your favorite charity or church. Get on committees and go to everything. Talk to everyone about how much fun you are having doing design for people, changing their lives. (You’ve done it before so you can fib a little about what you are doing here).

My friend Maya from Israel taught me that. She is a travel agent, and when we get together with other people she is amazing at talking to people, taking an interest in them, and sharing her experiences with her clients. She never fails to get someone to ask for her card.

Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be bullied into working for $20./hour. And that kind of an offer is truly an insult to the profession.

It’s too bad that companies like Gensler look so rigidly at education, rather than experience. Remember, Ralph Lauren started out as a tie salesman at Saks. He had no formal design training.

I know how you feel. I came to LA in l982 and started from scratch consulting for the food industry. Then I went back to school, to take a 2-year program in interior design, in 2002. I had to start all over again getting clients. Pretend you are someone you admire and just get out there every day and pound the pavement.

All the best to you!

Marlene

Marlene Oliphant, Allied ASID, IDS, CID

Marlene Oliphant Designs LLC
~Residential & Commercial Interior Designer~~
Voice: 818/244/1152  Cell: 818/415/6622  Fax: 818/396/5722
MarleneDesigns@sbcglobal.net
www.MarleneOliphant.com

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Oh this really hit home with me as I would love to relocate, but as my business and all my trades are based within 30miles from me I am torn. It would be like having to re-invent yourself all over…

Something I’m doing having been contracted for over 18 months on the design, build and project management of a huge house in the UK. Sods law is that I couldn’t offer myself for work while it was ongoing, but once we completed 2 months early I was out of a job and had lost touch with my market!

I have since made a huge effort to get myself out there again and have an almost full work schedule (for me full is 16 hours a day! I’m working 10!!)

I don’t see it as all negative though, imagine the positive aspects from starting over;
*Do your business plan all over and with your wealth of experience you can be a “specialist” in your field weather it’s residential or commercial interiors, home staging..

*Get to know realtors, retailers, offer to dress windows to get some exposure and leave your cards…

(I sell fabrics and furniture but don’t touch flooring, although a local retailer I use for all my carpets gives me commission, so I asked her if I could have a window to make a display and they agreed, so I used my fabrics and lighting with their carpets and offered their clients free colour advice with helping to choose the flooring, so I get a foot in the door to sell my design and fabrics = happy customers + happy retailer = happy designer!)

*Come up with an awesome marketing plan and present this to the bank to ask for a start up account/loan

I think the most important thing to do though is network, from my experience in the interior design business its not WHAT you know but WHO you know, so get yourself noticed, make a huge effort to move in the “right” circles, join high profile charity events, play golf, visit the country clubs, talk at the school gate… Because if nobody knows what you do or where you are, they don’t know you exist, network, network, network!

It’s just like starting over – act like the big boys and you’ll probably get the recognition, they all started somewhere. Don’t stop promoting yourself xx

Kind Regards,
Nikki Austin

Austin John Interiors
Spalding
Lincolnshire UK
T: 01775 712 115
M: 07939 000 388
www.austinjohninteriors.co.uk

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Hi Fred and Jennifer,

I am very interested in this as I may be facing this myself some day in the future.

Regarding this particular client, I think Jennifer should have a heart to heart with the client.

Tell her the situation. Obviously this client has selected her. This “sounds” like a great job for future contacts and exposure. Give her a rate you can live with, ($55-$65?) but perhaps be willing to estimate an overall fee for a result.

Don’t sell yourself too short on the estimated fee and be sure to outline exactly what will be included. She knows what needs to be done and she doesn’t want to do it. She wants YOU to do it. She doesn’t want the other people who will do it for $20 an hour.

Her house and current interiors doesn’t sound like the type of place that she “bargain shopped” for, so don’t let her do it to you, either. Don’t be a slave.

These types of people often take MORE time as I am currently experiencing with one very involved client. Do not agree to a fixed fee with someone like this or you will be working for free before you know it. She will pay it if she has to in order to get who she wants.

Anne

–
Anne Grice, ASID
Anne Grice Interiors
123 Emma Rd. #200 B
Basalt, CO  81621
(970)927-1074
cell (970)274-6674
www.annegrice.com

Fred Berns is an interior design industry trainer and coach.

If “Success” is your answer, what are the questions?

What questions must you ask yourself if this is going to be your best year yet?

Ask — and respond to — these 12 questions, and you can create a Roadmap to Riches for 2011:

/ What are your financial goals for 2011?

/ What are your other business goals for 2011?

/ What are the five major challenges facing your business?

/ Who do you see as your major competitors?

/ What is the target market you need to penetrate in order to meet your goals?

/ How many of your current and/or past clients can afford to pay the kind of money you need to make to reach your financial goals?

/ How would your current clients respond if you were to significantly increase your fees?

/ Which allied professionals (architects, realtors, etc.) could best help you achieve your goals?

/ Who has been your most lucrative client  — and what’s been your most lucrative project – thus far in your career?

/ What 2-3 marketing strategies have worked best for you in the past?

/ What part of your business now is the most lucrative?

/ What part of your business now is the least lucrative?

Fred Berns is sales and marketing coach and trainer for interior design professionals worldwide.

Times like these, for example.

It’s when we have the most time on our hands that we often make choices that profoundly affect our future.

This certainly qualifies as one of those slower times, thanks to the holiday season and the uncertain economy.

As a result, you have been given a gift — the gift of time.

Use that gift wisely.  Analyze your business and career, and figure out what worked and what didn’t during this past year.

Look back, and determine which of your design services and products, and what types of clients have been most profitable for you.

Look ahead, and develop a sales and marketing plan for 2011.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: our industry will never be the same once the economy bounces back.

Competition will intensify, and clients will be more demanding.

Those design firms that thrive as well as merely survive in the future will have to excel at sales and marketing.

When it comes to the business of design,  “good enough” will no longer be good enough.

So where does that leave you? Are you prepared for the challenges ahead — or is it time to consider other alternatives, and careers?

Some weighty questions there; the kind that you’ll need time to answer.

I recall confronting some wrenching questions of my own nearly 10 years ago,  in the aftermath of 9/11.

At the time, I was speaking and coaching in a wide variety of industries, of which interior design was one.

Within a few days after the attacks, I lost 13 speaking engagements and coaching contracts.  Suddenly, I had no business.

All I had was time.

I used that time to do some serious soul searching.  I sought answers to the question: what’s worked best for me, and which industry has been best to and for me?

The answer came to me late one afternoon: the interior design industry.

I realized that my best, most loyal and most lucrative clients were interior design professionals.

In that slowest of times, I made my biggest of decisions: to offer my coaching and speaking services exclusively in the interior design industry.

Fred Berns is a trainer, coach and speaker in the interior design industry.