Good idea.

Problem is, so does every other designer within a 500 mile radius. What to do?

Well, you can do what those others do. You can hang out at local HBA meetings, and pass out business cards.

Or, you can get a list of local builders, and start smilin’, dialin’ and leavin’ — lots of messages.

Then again, you can do something which makes a lot more sense: invite builders over for breakfast.

I’ve helped several designers create “Builders for Breakfast” events.

Invite a select group to a “builders networking event” at your showroom, or a nice local restaurant. Let ‘em munch and meet. Give a 15 minute presentation. Offer your design services. And then, send ‘em on their way

Promote it the right way, and you’ll be surprised how many builders show, and how many relationships you can develop.

Some Builders for Breakfast ideas to get you started:

+ Create a 20 minute presentation on how area builders can increase sales (sample topic: “How to Add Magic to Your Model Homes”

+ Promote your “builders networking event” and your presentation with personalized invitations.

+ Have the event catered. Or, select an upscale local restaurant to host it.

+ Include a simple handout, such as a tip list, and include your contact info and bio.

+  Announce your plans to partner with a few local builders, and offer yourself as a design resource for them.

+ Send handwritten thank you notes following the event.

Fred Berns coaches interior design professionals on how to increase their business by connecting with builders and developers.

Nothing can differentiate you, spell out your specialness, help you stand out and justify your fees…

…like your YOU-nique Selling Proposition.

Give me one hour on the phone, and I’ll help you discover yours.

Register for the Personal Branding Brainstorm, and I’ll help you identify your brand, create your killer commercial and develop your “phrase that pays.”

And you’ll get spot-on ideas on how to promote your YOU-SP.

If your key prospects don’t automatically think of you when they need design services, they don’t “get” what sets you apart.

But they will once you share your YOU-nique Selling Proposition.

I’ll help you find your “Only” (“I’m the only local designer who…”), and use it to add magic to your message.

I’ll help you position yourself as a YOU-niquely qualified, one-of-a-kind design professional.

The investment for the Personal Branding Brainstorm is $169 for the first 9 who contact me at Fred@FredBerns.com, or 303-589-3013.

It’s $349 for those who register after that.

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

I think you’re talking about your magnificent design services, but I’m not getting the message.

Sorry about that.

Maybe my problem is that I’m overwhelmed.

I’m living at a time when 294 billion emails, 250 million tweets, and one billion Facebook notes, photos and links go out every day.

Or maybe that’s your problem.

But I will hear you and listen to you and buy from you, if you do one thing.

Make me a meal.

I’ll even give you the ingredients for the main dish.

Start with your skills and strengths. Mix in your experience, expertise and accomplishments. Sprinkle in your awards.

Follow the recipe, serve the dish, and I’ll sit at your table.

Make it, bake it, and I’ll buy it.

Oh, and give that dish a name.

Call it your YOU-nique Selling Proposition.

I’ll like your YOU-SP dish, but I’ll love it if you add the special sauce.

The sauce is a blend of your benefits.

Its ingredient include how you save me time, money and headaches.

And how you help me enhance the value of my home, or sell my condo units more quickly.

Let me say this about your zesty YOU-SP casserole and tangy special sauce:

Mmmmmmmm!

Now, you have my attention.

 
Fred Berns provides marketing coaching and copywriting for interior design professionals.

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.

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.

If they don’t get it, you don’t get it.

If prospects don’t “get” how special you are, you don’t get their business.

Face it.

It’s never been easier to get elsewhere the interior design services and products you sell.

That’s frustrating, perhaps, but it’s fact.

But there’s one thing they can’t get elsewhere.

You.

Do you tell them that?

Do you remind them that, if they shop around, they’ll miss the benefits of exactly what you offer?

They won’t get your…

+ qualifications
+ experience
+ expertise
+ education
+ insights
+ skills
+ know-how
+ team (contractors, etc.)
+ vendors and suppliers
+ other resources
+ specialties
+ product knowledge
+ industry knowledge
+ commitment to customer service
+ availability
+ flexibility
+ guarantees
+ passion

  The Self Promotion Textbook

What makes you different?

How well you answer that question determines how prosperous you become.

How to identify your uniqueness – and then promote it with passion and purpose – is the focus of a book entitled Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters.

I’m one of 68 contributors to this remarkable anthology on the power of personal promotion.

This is the textbook on how to promote yourself with pizzazz.

The book contains dozens of low cost, no cost ways to stand up, stand out and set yourself apart.

It includes strategies, secrets and shortcuts from the nation’s leading self-marketing gurus on how to make the most important sale you’ll ever make: the Personal Sale.

Add this book to your library, and you’ll gain “how to’s” and insights on personal branding, networking, “niche- ing,” free publicity, online marketing campaigns, getting referrals and testimonials,and much more.

And you’ll learn outrageously simple ways to communicate with confidence, establish your expertise and create credibility.

It doesn’t matter how good you are if the right people don’t know.

You’re too good to be your own best-kept secret.

Stop being ashamed, and start being shameless about promoting yourself!

To order Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters, click here.

Two True
If a prospect doesn’t understand your specialness, you lose in two ways:

1/ You don’t get their business.

2/ A competitor does.

Fred Berns is a marketing coach and copywriter for the interior design industry.

The call is free, and it is this evening at 6 pm Eastern. Click here to sign up now at http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=pcsms

There are only 250 spots available, so don’t miss this call.

Quick question – Do you know DSU’s #1 secret behind getting others to promote them and why you want to do it, too?

Answer – It all starts with giving something of value to the other person. It engages the Law of Reciprocity.

Have you ever wondered how to get a steady stream of the very best interior design clients?

You need to have other people selling for you…for free! That’s why DSU calls this teleseminar Stealth Marketing Secrets.

If you want to get more business this year, don’t delay. These are phenomenal strategies you can use to get your business rolling smoothly…and the call is free.
http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=pcsms

And be prepared to take lots of notes. You’ll be amazed what you learn.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first annual Interior Design Meaningless Marketing Awards.

Here we recognize the design industry marketing words, phrases and strategies that are most likely to cause your business to bomb.

We salute those terms and techniques with the greatest potential to make your prospects, clients, fans and followers tune out and turn off your message.

The first category: Tired Terms: Cliches in website copy, social networking sites, and bios.

Our nominees are:

1/ “Attention to detail”

2/ “Flair for color”

3/ “Functional spaces”

4/ “(I)listen to my customers”

5/  (I turn) dreams into reality”

And the winner is: (I turn) dreams into reality!”

We love the way this “dream” thing is so way, way overdone.

Our next category: Senseless Statements.

Our nominees:

1/ “She graduated ____ University (Design School, etc.) in   ….    (If the year is recent, she sounds too inexperienced; if the year is long ago, she sounds out of touch.)

2/ Sentences including “but”     (as in: “We’re not the largest design firm in the area, but we’re the only one specializing in vacation homes.”)

3/ “We work with any budget.”   (Hear that, Walmart shoppers?)

4/ “No project is too small.”  (Sure, we’ll drive 82 miles and spend seven hours discussing your pillows.)

And the Oscar goes to….

Sentences including “but.”

Only powerful promoters banish their “but’s,”delete their deficits and accentuate their positives.

Our final category: Stupid Stuff

Only two nominees here:

1/ “How to Work with an Interior Designer”

2/ “Our Philosophy”

May I have the envelope please…

“Our Philosophy!” is the winner.

Do you care that the two words that best describe our philosophy are “Contrast” and “Texture?”

Didn’t think so.

Fred Berns is a marketing and sales coach and trainer for the interior design industry worldwide.

First and foremost, you’re not selling fabrics and furniture.

You’re selling yourself.

That will be  my message when I address the Canadian Decorators’ Association (CDECA) at 3 -4:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the International Center in Mississauga, ON.  (Details: http://www.cdeca.com/)

“Sell Yourself! How to Get Them to Buy from YOU” is the name of the presentation for CDECA, Canada’s leading organization for professional decorators.

Personal promotion is particularly important at this time when the economy is tight and competition intense.

Twelve self promotion success principles for decorating and design professionals to consider:

1/ You’re in Sales. The most important sale you’ll ever make is the Personal one.

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 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: the sale, higher fees, referrals, etc.

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

(Excerpted from the book: Sell Yourself!)

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

Their web sites are hindering rather than helping many design professionals.

That’s my conclusion after reviewing hundreds of sites of designers, window fashion professionals, kitchen and bath specialists, architects, industry partners and others throughout North America.

Most of the sites are long on meaningless generalities, short on specifics and lacking in useful information.

Many sites are difficult to navigate and wordy.

They’re packed with vague references to “imaginative spaces,” “value added facilities solutions,” “nurturing environments,” “conceptual expertise,” and “stylish flair.”

Huh?

These sites do a dismal job of differentiating the design professionals.

Then, too, the words on their sites are too big and the photographs too small.

All this, at a time when the average web site visit is two clicks and less than four seconds.

That means if a visitor to your site can’t figure out in two clicks and under four seconds what makes you special, you lose.

Bottom line: you’re better off with no website, than a bad one.

Too often, the problems begin at home.

If I review your home page, and will I “get it?”

Will I get…

+ what you do?
+ what makes you special?
+ who you serve, and how?
+ why I should care?
+ what you want ME to do (the Call to Action)?

If not, my confusion should be your concern.

Why?

Because 50% of website visitors never get beyond the home page.

“Killer Website” Audio Program

Is your website wimpy?

If so, it will disqualify, rather than qualify you for bigger projects and better clients.

Now there’s an audio program on how to generate more buzz and more profits from your website — or, create a new one.

“21 Keys to a Killer Website” is a 60 minute audio program, available in digital or CD formats, that gives you the steps you need to create a “knock their socks off” website.

You know there’s no more powerful marketing strategy than an effective website. That’s why you invested all that time and money in developing and polishing and promoting yours.

So, why isn’t it getting more traffic?

Why isn’t it bringing in more business?

Why isn’t it working?

You’ll learn how to revise it after you review this audio program.

You don’t need to spend lots of money and time to wow ‘em on the Web.

You don’t need to be a techno-wizard.

You need only to master the simple ideas and strategies in the 21 Keys to a Killer Website audio program.

For more information and ordering details, click here:  http://fredberns.com/Products_21KeysToAKillerWebsite.html

+ “Dirty Dozen” Website Woes
Your web site doesn’t work if it…

+ doesn’t include your “only” brand on the Home Page

+ fails to give a clear Call to Action

+ lacks a compelling “About Us” section

+ isn’t easy to navigate

+ isn’t interactive

+ isn’t updated regularly (with blogposts, articles, etc.)

+ contains too much “flash” and other special effects

+ includes photos without captions

+ contains text and photos that are too small

+ doesn’t list ALL of your services and products

+ makes the user scroll sideways

+ uses busy backgrounds that make text hard to read

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

What are they doing — and not doing — to make 2011 their best year ever?

They run their design businesses in many different ways, but they have one thing in common:

They’re all following seven simple sales and marketing strategies — none of which requires much time or money.

I’ll reveal those seven strategies at my presentation Tuesday night to ASID’s New Jersey chapter.

“Supersize Your Success! 7 Steps to Peak Profits in Challenging Times” is the title of the program, which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday. Oct. 18 at the Sub-Zero and Wolf East showroom, at 25 Riverside Dr. in Pine Brook, NJ.

If you’re in the area, I invite you to attend this program, which has been a big hit at design industry events throughout North America. Give me two hours of your time, and I’ll give you seven simple steps to finish the year with a flourish.

For more information and registration details, contact Rona Spiegel at 201-568-1769.

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

How can you finish this year with a flourish?

How can you dramatically increase your sales, income and profits in 2012?

Key questions, and I’ll provide practical and powerful answers to them at my presentation next Tuesday, Oct. 18 to ASID’s New Jersey chapter.

“Supersize Your Success! 7 Steps to Peak Profits in Challenging Times” is the title of the program, which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday at the Sub-Zero and Wolf East showroom, at 25 Riverside Dr. in Pine Brook, NJ.

The presentation will focus on simple sales and marketing strategies design professionals can use immediately to get bigger projects from better clients.

Attendees will walk way with “how to’s” and insights on benefiting from the current economy, getting clients to buy NOW, overcoming price objections, doing million dollar marketing on a shoestring budget, social networking, differentiating themselves…and much more.

The program, which is offered as part of ASID’s Distinguished Speakers Series, has been a smash hit at design industry events nationwide.

For more information and registration details, contact Rona Spiegel at 201-568-1769.

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

Peggy Morgans used to have a boring website bio.

Very boring…

It formerly opened this way: “Peggy Morgans is the owner of Parkway Window Works. She has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.”

But check out the new, more dynamic version I created for her.

Here’s how the opening paragraph reads now:

“Peggy Morgans is the only award-winning workroom professional in upstate New York who offers interior designers a complete line of services and educational resources to help them increase profits and save time.”

“I love the new bio,” Peggy told me. “I wish I had you do this months ago.”

The bio is a design professional’s most critical marketing tool.

It differentiates and brands you,  and does the bragging for you online so you don’t have to do it in person.

Peggy Morgans’ new bio will help her get bigger projects from better clients.

Why? Because it attaches value to what she does, spells out her “Only’s,” and explains how and who she helps.

Does your promotional bio do all that?

Or, does it undersell you and dis-qualify, rather than qualify you from the kind of clients and projects you want and need.

I have time this Fall to work with three design professionals on their bios. Interested? Contact me at Fred@FredBerns.com.

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

That’s a day I created a while back to “sell yourself on the idea of selling yourself  — and tell others how good you are.”

The day was included in Chase’s Calendar of Annual Events up until recently, when I chose to discontinue it.

I promoted Flute Day as a “day to celebrate you, to remind yourself that you’re too good to be your own best secret, to accept credit where credit is due, and to reject the idea that self-promotion is bragging.”

Those ideas, based on principles I cover in my book Sell Yourself! 501 Ways to Get them to Buy from YOU,  are especially relevant to design professionals in today’s uncertain economy.

If you’re not getting the respect you want — and the income you need — it’s not “This Economy’s” fault.

It’s yours.

You’re not doing a good enough job of telling others how good you are. You’re your own best-kept secret.

This is a bad time for that.

The most financially-successful design professionals today are not necessarily the best designers.

They’re not necessarily the ones with the most experience, affiliations or design degrees.

The most financially-successful design professionals are the ones who are the best personal promoters. Maybe that’s not right, or fair. But it’s fact.

The designers, architects, decorators, stagers, kitchen and bath specialists, retailers and others who are thriving this year are doing the best job of personal salesmanship.

They’re the ones who realize that, first and foremost, they’re not selling furniture, fabrics or flooring in this economy.

They realize that, first and foremost, they’re selling themselves.

It’s never been easier to get elsewhere the design services and products that you sell. But there’s one thing that prospects can’t get elsewhere: You.

Don’t just tell me you offer nice cabinets and countertops, and fixtures and finishes. I know that.

Tell me why I should buy them from you.

Tell me that you’re the ONLY design professional in your area offering such a wide selection of window treatments, or the only one with clients worldwide, or the only one working with five national restaurant chains.

Want to increase your sales and profits? Then treat every day as “International Toot Your Flute” Day.

Fred Berns is the interior design industry’s leading sales and marketing coach and trainer.

Want to finish 2011 with a flourish?

Consider these ideas, from my Big Splash, Little Cash Marketing Materials Manual, on how to generate short term income:

+ Position yourself as a design professional who helps high end homeowners in your area enhance the value of their homes in these challenging economic times

+ Launch a “Buy the Hour” interior consultation program, targeted toward those homeowners.

+ Use those consultations to “upsell” your way to additional work, by asking questions about, kitchen and bath remodeling, furniture upgrades, etc.

Charge 2-3 times your normal hourly rate for the program – and require a 2-3 hour minimum

+ Promote the service through news releases in publications (especially smaller, more targeted ones) that circulate high end area communities

+ Contact editors at those publications about the idea of submitting a timely article or column, on a topic like: how to do a million dollar home makeover on a shoestring budget in challenging economic times.

+ Smile and Dial – call and check in with past clients, prospects and everyone else you seek to influence – and inform them of your new interior consultation service, and ask for referrals.

+ Reach out to area builders, developers and realtors, and offer to advise and assist them in these challenging times.

That strategy has worked for others. One Washington, D.C; designer approached a leading developer with suggestions on how he could upgrade his condo models. Now, she has been offered a contract to design all of the developer’s models throughout the metropolitan area.

+ Take your 5-6 best clients out to lunch, collectively or individually, and ask their recommendations on how you can expand your business.

+ Offer to make holiday house calls at the homes of some of your best clients. Let them know you’re to answer any questions they may have, and/or discuss upgrades, updates and ways they can save on energy bills, in part by installing more effective window treatments.

+ Seek help (and referrals) from your key vendors and suppliers

+ Write and post on your website  a timely “defining” article on how to increase the value of your home, how to make the most of your home office or home theaters, how to make your new home more “green,” etc.

+ Offer more payment options, such as pre-payment discounts, whole house discounts, etc.

+ Contact “green” manufacturers and retailers in your area about the idea of offering seminars in their behalf, and writing an article on their website.

Fred Berns is an interior design industry business coach, copywriter and speaker.

Getting new business is not the primary goal of Facebook’s 50 million users.

But many interior design professionals are creating a “buzz” — and new customers — by adding Facebook to their marketing mix.

How are they doing it?

By directing traffic to their website. And by adding pizzazz to their profiles. And by joining and creating groups. And by contacting and conversing with promising prospects.

Want your to business to flourish on Facebook? Some suggestions:

+ Add a separate business profile. Mixing company and personal news doesn’t cut it. Think a mover and shaker cares about those photos of you and your niece at the zoo?

+ Use the “About Me” section to describe your services, clients, etc. When I create profiles for design professionals, I push their awards, specialties and personal brands.

+ Invite competitors to join you. Why create a group like “Memphis Window Covering Professionals?”  You’ll get lots of traffic. As the group administrator, you can position yourself near the top and include a discreet link to your site.

+ Share the good word. Be subtle with company news. Most of your feeds will show up on your friends’ personal pages.

+ Be Brief. Keep feeds short and simple: “Finished the latest kitchen remodel;” “Added a new fabric line,” etc.

Fred Berns is a marketing 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.

Some of the most powerful promotion costs you nothing at all.

How to do million dollar marketing on a shoestring budget is the theme of one of my seminars on Sept. 8 at the conference in Louisville, KY.
of the Window Coverings Assn. of America.

The seminar is entitled Market Smart: Make a Big Splash for Little Cash, and it’s scheduled for 10:15-11:30 a.m. at the Inspire 2011 conference.

How to take the “price” out of your promotion is the  focus of the presentation, which covers everything from Facebook to free publicity, from websites to webinars, from social media to seminars, and from email to voicemail.

If you’re spending lots of time and money on marketing, you’re probably wasting it.

You can implement each of strategies I’ll cover in Louisville in 45 minutes or less, for $25 or less.

I invite you to join me for this program, and my presentation at 3:15 on the same day. The name of that presentation: “Supersize Your Success! 7 Steps to Peak Profits in Challenging Times.”

For Inspire 2011 information, visit: www.WCAA.org.

Fred Berns is a business coach and trainer for window covering specialists and other interior design professionals.

It doesn’t take rocket science to attract bigger projects from better clients, and get higher profits in this challenging economy.

It takes seven simple strategies.

That’s the message I’ll share during one of my presentations in Louisville, KY. on  Sept. 8 at Inspire 2011, the national conference of the Window Coverings Assn. of America.

“Supersize Your Success: 7 Steps to Peak Profits in Challenging Times” is one of two programs I’ll present at the Inspire 2011 event. Program #2 is entitled:“Market Smart: Make a Big Splash with Little Cash.”

The CEU-accredited “Supersize” program in a nutshell:

+ Sell Yourself! Your most important sale in times like this is the Personal one.

+ Fail More. Only when you put yourself out there more, can you SUCCEED more.

+ Build Buzz on your Website. The more timely, relevant, and interactive it is, the more business you’ll get.

+ Sell “Now” as well as “Wow!” Tell why now is the very best time to invest in your design services and products.

+ Top-down Selling. Save your best for first.

+  Serve “Appetizers.” Attract wary prospects with introductory programs that can lead to major — and multiple — projects.

+ Don’t Quit. The most successful design professionals are the most persistent.

For Inspire 2011 information, visit: www.WCAA.org.

Fred Berns is a business coach for window covering specialists and other design professionals worldwide

I bet you do.

Do you want to invest the time, energy and headaches in writing and rewriting and revising them yourself?

I bet you don’t.

That’s why I’ve created the new Master Marketing Program.

For one investment, I’ll create your bios and profiles, an article, a news release and other critical marketing materials.

And I’ll coach you on where, how and when to use them.

And I’ll revise and rewrite your website copy.

And I’ll be available to you over a 45-day follow up period.

The Master Marketing Program is the most comprehensive, done-for-you promotion package available to interior design professionals and design industry partners.

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 industry professionals earn more money and recognition by promoting themselves more effectively.

What say we team up for your success?

To learn more about the new Master Marketing Program, click here: http://interiordesignbusiness.net/mastery/

Fred Berns  provides marketing copywriting services for interior design professionals and design industry partners worldwide.