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.

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.

That’s one of the findings in the NEW 2012 Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey eBook created by Design Success University.

The 80 page ebook is filled with optimistic news about the state of the industry, the latest information about appealing to the affluent market and many other valuable insights.

The book, a $179 value, is a free gift from DSU and you can download it  to help you plan your winning strategy for the year.

If you are struggling to earn even $45,000, be sure to consider Your 12-Month Quick Start class.  Once you download your eBook, you’ll be forwarded to information about this valuable class that will show you how to make more money in your business.

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

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.

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.

Every year at this time I run this message to remind interior design professionals around the world to appreciate themselves.

The message is especially important now, as we close out a year that was so challenging for so many.

Give yourself something over the holidays that doesn’t cost anything, come in a box, or sit under a tree.

Credit.

Credit yourself for changing people’s living space. And changing their work space. And changing their lives.

Credit yourself for saving them time, money and headaches.

Credit yourself for providing ideas and insights and inspiration to those who are clueless about interiors.

And credit yourself for turning houses into homes, and offices into creative working environments.

As you think about gifts this holiday season, appreciate your own.

You have more than talent for design. You have the gifts of artistry, creativity, style, vision, and resourcefulness.

You have the wisdom to solve problems, the expertise to manage projects, and the imagination to make dreams come true.

You have what it takes to be a contractor, coach, consultant and confidant.

Not to mention that one other gift you possess as an interior design professional: A Mass of Class.

May the new year bring you the recognition and rewards that you want and deserve.

Best Wishes for the Happiest of Holidays!

Fred Berns is a business success coach and copywriter for interior design professionals.

It’s a challenge facing a good many professionals who, by choice or necessity, have traded in their corporate credentials to pursue a design career.

One Canadian designer has an interesting perspective on her change from her position as a highly-successful human relations manager for a leading IT company to a designer who works on the homes of some of her former colleagues.

“First I was in their boardrooms,” she says. “Now I’m in their bedrooms.”

Fred Berns provides a full range of seminars, and coaching and copywriting services for design professionals everywhere.

Think of  early-January as “Show and Tell” Time.

It’s a time to connect with those you seek to influence, show them what you got, and tell them what to do:  check out this website, download that service list, call for a consultation, etc.

It’s a time to check in and check out. Check in with current, past and prospective clients, and help them to check out all the new stuff you’re planning for 2012.

Many interior design professionals  use this approach as part of  rate increase campaigns.

In recent weeks, I’ve helped several design pros craft January rate hike letters.

Their new pricing plans don’t appear until the final paragraph of these letters. Prior to that, the focus is on how clients will benefit from the changes planned for 2012.

Examples:  In the coming year, we’ll….

+ revise our website to make it more interactive, so you can quickly get answers to  pressing design questions

+ reach out to new vendors, so that you’ll  have access to more product lines

+ launch a new blog, to educate you about trends, design do’s and don’t's, and what’s hot and what’s not

+ expand our commercial design services, so you can hire us to redo your offices and waiting rooms.

+ add staging, to help you get the most money in the quickest amount of time when you’re ready to sell

+ hire a designer and administrative assistant,  to enhance our  service to you.

Interested in distributing a rate hike letter to your clients? Check out the samples in the Big Splash, Little Cash Marketing Materials Manual, or download the audio program entitled Twice the Price: Double Your Dollars as a Design Professional.

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

Interior design professionals can be — and too often are — their own worst enemies.

At my seminars in recent months I met four individuals who were more knowledgeable about their “can’t's” than their “cans.”

An interior designer told me she lacked the “credentials” to enter a design competition. A kitchen and bath professional declared he lacked the “track record” to raise his hourly design fee.

A window fashion specialist complained she lacked the “technical know how” to learn about and offer motorization. A showroom manager said he lacked the “facilitation skills” to conduct a focus group of her top customers.

In fact, the key thing they lack is the courage of their convictions.

Too bad so many designers, window fashion professionals, decorators, retailers and others are so attuned to their doubts about their ability.

Some suggestions on how to rid yourself of destructive self talk:

+ Recall past successes. Remembering yesterday’s achievements will empower you to tackle today’s challenges.

+ Refuse to lose. Heed the advice of Winston Churchill: “Never give up. Never, never give up.”

+ Refocus your energy. It takes lots of effort to dwell on your shortcomings. Rechannel that effort into focusing on your attributes.

+ Rehearse your responses. Develop –ahead of time — good responses to lousy questions. Preparing yourself for the “Questions from Hell” will boost your confidence.

+ Fake it ’til you make it. Accentuate the positive about yourself to the greatest possible degree. If you don’t toot your flute, who will?

+ Mind your own business. By comparing yourself to more “talented” competitors, you put yourself down. Comparison is a game without winners.

+ Consider the consequences. So what if you try something and fail? It’s not what you lose, it’s what you learn. Said Tom Watson, former IBM chairman: “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”

A LESSON FROM WESLEY SNIPES
Even the divas of design have doubts.

Cecil Hayes, a nationally-recognized Florida-based designer whose clients include prominent movie stars, athletes and CEOS, recalls her first meeting with Wesley Snipes.

Snipes, the actor and producer, hired her to design his home in an exclusive gated community near Orlando. But she worked with his staff, and never met him until he showed up to inspect her completed work.

Hayes remembers nervously preparing herself for the doubts she was sure he had. She suggested that he make a list of all the problems, oversights and modifications that he wanted her to address.

Snipes looked miffed.

“Why even bring up the negative without discussing the positive?” he asked. The house, he said, was “gorgeous” and he never doubted her ability to deal with the details.

Hayes says the experience taught her to attach a greater value to her work — and to herself.

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

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.

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.

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.

As an extra incentive, DSU will award one $100 Amazon gift card per week during the month of November. Four lucky survey participants will win.

Click here to take the survey now!

http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=11fss

The results of the survey eBook will be published in January 2012 complete with commentary about what the data means to you. You’ll receive notification when the eBook is available for download.

Each time DSU publishes the eBook, you receive helpful strategies to improve your business and profits. The eBook is a complimentary service provided by DSU and is valued at $179.

Your participation is greatly appreciated because your information helps us gather more accurate data about the state of the interior design industry. Don’t forget, you could win one of the $100 Amazon gift cards just for filling out the survey.

Click here to take the survey now!
http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=11fss

Click here if you’d like to receive the 2010 Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey eBook with DSU’s compliments. You’ll find out how your competitors fared in 2010, how they charged, and helpful information about how to market to affluent clients.

http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=vbfebk

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