Brand Messaging

How to Become Fluent in Your Ideal Client’s Language

When one of my sons was in kindergarten, he came home telling me a story about a girl in his class. As he was describing the girl’s clothing, he referred to her as wearing a “topless dress”. Since I knew topless dresses didn’t exactly meet the dress code standard at his school, I was curious to figure out what he actually meant by this!

As I got him to explain more, I figured out that the girl was actually wearing a skirt, but his 5 year old mind had adorably and hilariously decided it would best be described as a “topless dress”.

While a skirt technically IS a topless dress, I had to teach him that the correct word we use for that item of clothing is “skirt”.

The language that we use is super important, and as cute as his mistake was, I didn’t want him setting off any alarm bells by incorrectly describing his classmate’s clothing!

As a copywriter for interior designers, I know that the first step toward connecting with your ideal clients is to speak their language in your online presence. Because connections are formed between people who feel like they’re on the same page–like they’re “speaking the same language.” And in the case of your clients, they first need to be able to even find you online and using the same language they’re using to search for interior designers is critical.

Metaphorically speaking, if they’re searching for a skirt, but you’re calling it a “topless dress” on your website, they won’t be able to find you!

For example, when I first started my writing business, I must have tried every possible iteration for ‘writer’ on my website (‘freelance writer,’ ‘website writer,’ ‘interior design writer,’ ‘marketing writer’). Even though I knew I was a copywriter, it wasn’t until I learned that most website designers direct their clients to hire a copywriter that I realized my people were actually looking for me using that terminology. Making the switch to describe myself as a copywriter and providing copywriting services for interior designers was a game changer for attracting my ideal clients!

If you’re not using the keywords on your website that they’re typing into their search engine, then your site won’t even pull up for them, and that initial connection won’t happen!

Once you nail down the right keywords and they DO find you, speaking your ideal client’s language in your website copy will also build a deeper connection to you.

You know that amazing feeling you get when you finally find a trusted professional that can help you? It’s like a doctor who listens to what you’re experiencing, adds their experienced take on the matter, and presents you with solutions to address the problem. You feel so much relief and comfort knowing that you’re in the good hands of an expert who hears you and who can guide you.

That’s exactly how you want your ideal clients to feel while reading your brand messaging. And in order to spark that deeper connection, your marketing materials need to be using language that resonates with them. You need to talk like you’re already listening to them.

Now, to be clear, I’m not just talking about tone or brand personality here. I’m also talking about your choice of words!

When you’re trying to grow your business by attracting the attention of your dream clients, you can’t risk miscommunication. Connecting through language is essential to getting you in the room with these people. And getting in the room with the right people is how you create a business that you love.

You have to translate “business owner language” into your ideal client’s language

It’s important to stay true to the brand personality that feels authentic and original to you. You want to speak in your own voice, and write the way you speak. You don’t want to sound like a copycat version of someone else!

But the words you use to talk about your business and describe your aesthetic are usually different from how your clients think and speak. So while you want to choose website messaging that beautifully captures who you are, it must also be wording that makes sense to your ideal clients.

This means that for your messaging to be successful, it’s critical that you find a way to translate the language you use as a business owner into the language of your ideal clients.

I know it sounds complicated, and quite frankly, it is. Which is why you need someone with marketing expertise who’s fluent in both languages, and can effectively do the translating for you.

Empathy is the key to learning your ideal clients’ language

So how exactly do you figure out your ideal client’s language? My best piece of advice is to think of empathy as your secret weapon!

Use empathy to put yourself in your client’s shoes, and really think about where they’re coming from. You want to consider things like:

What are their worries, fears, likes, and dislikes when it comes to hiring an interior designer?
What do they know and what don’t they know about working with a designer?
Which of your brand’s values can you highlight that actually matter to them, as well?
Is there anything specific or niche about the home market they live in?

Speaking to all of this in your messaging will create major points of connection by helping your prospects feel seen and heard by you–especially if you express it all using words they can readily understand.

When I’m creating messaging for interior designers, I use empathy LIKE CRAZY! Empathy allows me to pick up on important nuances other writers may miss. I’m using empathy to listen for what my clients care about, how they run their business, and what will make them happy and fulfilled. And at the same time, I’m also using empathy to put myself in their ideal client’s shoes, and think about what type of language THEY need to hear. It’s an empathy-fest around here 24/7!

When you work with me, I translate your design business owner’s language into the language of your ideal client. I work to preserve who you are and what you care about but I also troubleshoot the words you love from all angles to make sure we get it right. Because I know that sometimes a turn of phrase that sounds good in your mind, may land differently with your client and cause problems in your working relationship. And that’s definitely not what we want!

For example, here are just a few common language mistakes I see interior designers make:

“We’re a collaborative design firm” – I see this one all the time! As a designer you might say this to mean you work well with other industry pros, like contractors, architects, and builders OR that you have a team and you all work together on behalf of your clients. You may even mean that you work closely with your clients upfront as you get to know them and their tastes and lifestyle needs. That’s all well and good but prospects can interpret this to mean you welcome collaborating on the entire design with THEM! So if you keep attracting clients who micromanage you, or who send you pics every weekend of the ‘amazing piece’ they just found for the design, you may want to delete this word from your website and vocabulary!
“We work with your project, no matter how small” – Another common one I see! Unless you truly mean that you’re happy to put everything else aside to help someone pick between two potential backsplash tiles for $50/hour, you really shouldn’t say this. Prospects don’t know why it’s important to some designers to adhere to minimums (let alone that a ‘small’ project to you actually means a $20,000 powder room).
“We make sure to work within your budget” – While I get that you may say this to mean you’ll be a good steward of your client’s investment, there’s just way too much room for interpretation here. Prospects can (and do!) think this means you’ll be able to make any amount they bring to the project work for the scope of their project. If you’ve ever been hit with a prospect who wants you to furnish their entire living room for $5,000, this could be the reason why (also, HGTV, but that’s another topic altogether!).

These examples may not be as off the mark as my kindergartener’s “topless dress” verbiage, but still! Really thinking about how the words you put out there will be received by your ideal prospects can truly make all the difference in who you attract.

Pay attention to the language cues your current clients give you

Getting to know your ideal clients on a deeper level is a building process that can take time. But with each client project comes more experience to draw from, and you’ll begin to understand these people–and the language they use–more and more.

You can start learning their language by taking notes on who they are and what they say.

Pay attention to how they respond to you in real conversation. Think about how your clients react to the things you say. What makes them lean in and excitedly say, “Oh yeah, I get it!!” vs. what tends to leave them with a confused look on their face? Pull language from these points of connection to use in your brand messaging, and stay away from the wording that tends to cause a visible disconnect.
Pay attention to the off-the-cuff words they use to describe your work. (Particularly in casual modes of communication.) Look for these clues in their texts and emails to you, instead of their official testimonial. For example, if they send you a text exclaiming, “I just saw the new living room. I love how light and airy it feels!” Boom – now you’ve got some great descriptive words to describe your aesthetic! You know that “light and airy” could really resonate with new ideal prospects, because this is the type of language your current clients are using to describe your work.
Pay attention to what they care about. Are your ideal clients people who love to go to the classical symphony, or are trendy music festivals more their vibe? Are they seasoned art collectors, or are you introducing them to original art for the very first time? You’ll need to speak very differently to these distinct groups of people.

As an interior designer, if you aren’t aware of the importance of thinking through your ideal client’s lens, you may end up trying to write your copy with words from your own head. Or you’ll end up cherry-picking phrases from other people’s messaging, which won’t sound truly authentic to you. Neither of which are speaking in a way that resonates with your ideal client!

However, when you translate your messaging into language your ideal clients understand, you’ll start attracting more of those clients. Recently, a designer I’m working with emailed me in the middle of our website copy project to say she was already noticing a huge change in more aligned inquiries, just based on the first pieces of messaging we started putting out there! I’m telling you, this stuff really works!!

So my question for you is – Are you absolutely sure you’re speaking the language of your ideal client on your website and messaging? If not, I can help!If it sounds amazing to have someone come in who’s fluent in design business language and the language of your ideal client, contact me here and let’s talk about it!

It’s About the People, People! The Secret to Creating a Fulfilling, Profitable Interior Design Business You Love

7/12/24 by Deb Mitchell

Let me ask you a question. Have your clients ever said anything like this to you?

“I don’t understand how you and the other 3 designers I’ve been through on this project can’t get it right.”

“This experience has been worse than bearing my husband.”

“I thought you were good at this, why can’t you figure out what’s in my head?”

“I would’ve thought that for $1500 you would’ve given me so much more than this.”

Believe it or not, these are all things interior designers have told me their clients have actually said to them. Yes, I’m for real!!

As you can probably imagine, working with the people behind these quotes wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for my clients. In fact, most of them were nightmare clients that made my clients miserable.

If you’ve ever experienced a nightmare client like this, then you already know how awful and stressful of an experience it is. It can take a toll on your confidence, and make you question your abilities. It can even make you start to wonder if you picked the wrong career! But the problem isn’t YOU! It’s just the wrong-fit clients affecting how you feel in your business.

And here’s the thing – there’s an abundance of great business advice out there. But all the best business tips and tricks in the world won’t make you happy in your business if you’re working with people who treat you badly!

After a decade of seeing my designer clients through all the many highs and lows of their businesses, it’s glaringly obvious to me that what makes or breaks their entire experience is their clients. You can have the best business model, be the most talented designer, have all the right logistical pieces in place, and still be miserable and unprofitable in your business if you’re not attracting the right kinds of clients.

If you want to build a profitable, fulfilling, design business that you love, it’s all about working with the right-fit people!

Right-fit clients and wrong-fit clients create two totally different business experiences

We all have past experiences–whether professional or personal–with people who’ve affected us negatively. We know how emotionally and energetically draining it can be to interact with someone who nitpicks, criticizes, micromanages, steamrolls, or just plain doesn’t seem to value us.

It’s no different in your design business. If you’re (unintentionally) attracting clients who push back constantly, put you on the defensive, and/or try to make you feel terrible about yourself and your work, you’re going to be miserable. Even the tasks that are usually super easy breezy for you will feel like you’re pushing a boulder up a hill.

If I had a dime for every designer who cried on calls with me because their clients were TERRIBLE! It breaks my heart for them!

Too much of this and you’ll end up hating your business altogether. Not to mention, you’ll be spending so much time and energy trying to please those wrong-fit clients that you’ll be leaking money left and right!

You’ll know you’re working with the wrong-fit clients if they:

don’t value you or your services
try to micromanage you
don’t trust your design advice or decisions
limit your creativity
are slow to pay you and question your fees
make you cry

On the other hand, when you’re set up to attract clients who are the right fit for you, your business (and life!) is a whole other ballgame. Taking your business goals, differentiators, and personality into consideration to figure out what kinds of clients you need to attract means you get to run a business that’s in alignment with everything about who you are and what you want–not just what others are saying you SHOULD do.

Messaging and marketing that get you in the room with clients who are the right fit for you will change the game, giving you a business you’re in love with again, filling your days with ease and flow, and letting your creativity and profitability soar! It’s ALL about the people!

Though the specifics of right-fit clients vary for every designer, they all…

value your time and treat you like a professional
respect and trust your expertise and experience
are good communicators
appreciate your creativity and love your ideas
pay you on time and without question

There’s a night and day difference between running your business with right-fit vs. wrong-fit clients, right?! I so want the better, easier, more profitable one for you, my friend!

Tailor-made brand messaging is the gamechanger you need

If you’ve followed me for a while you know I feel strongly about creating custom brand messaging for all my clients–and this is why. It’s the key to getting in the room with the right clients!

When your brand messaging is focused on addressing the needs of your ideal clients in language that resonates with them, you can’t help but attract them!

And we’ve already established that working with ideal clients = a design business you love, right?!

When done right, tailor-made brand messaging will:

Show who you authentically are – so that prospective clients get an accurate feel for you online. They want to hire a designer they can vibe with; someone who feels like “their kind of person,” who shares their values, and whose design style they love. The better you showcase who you really are in your messaging, the more you catch the attention of aligned clients!
Speak to the needs of your ideal client – so that they feel seen, heard, and understood by you on a deeper level. They want to entrust their home to someone who really understands their needs and who they can communicate with. The more effectively your messaging communicates this, the more on target you’ll be with attracting your dream clients!
Conveys the value you bring to your ideal clients’ projects – so that they aren’t left guessing why your fees are what they are, but instead start their projects knowing you’re worth every penny and more!

All in all, the right custom messaging is the tool to getting right-fit clients who’ll allow you to build a fulfilling, profitable, interior design business that you love.

My unique approach to creating brand messaging that gets you in the room with the right clients

My approach to creating effective messaging is a tried and true system that centers around your authenticity and your ideal client.

My goal is to get you in the room with good, kind, respectful clients who’ll trust you and value your work, and the way to do this is to work your business strategy and messaging around THEM.

But first, we have to deeply understand who those right-fit clients are for you. What do they value in their homes? What are they looking for in a designer? What kind of language can we speak to earn their attention and trust?

Once this is nailed down, I shine a spotlight on these clients in your messaging. Even when the messaging is about you, I angle it to show how it benefits them. We’re not trying to write a resume or an IMDB bio here, folks. This is all about your ideal clients and how you’re the right designer for them.

My Message LevelUp service is the first step. This is a deep-dive session where I ask you all the right questions to get everything out of your head and get a 360° view of you and your business.

Then I create a detailed written report called the Message LevelUp Roadmap, where I define your best messaging opportunities. I advise you on what to start doing and what to stop doing with your brand messaging, so that you start attracting your ideal clients like moths to the flame!

You’ll get a ton of value out of this service alone, but most clients opt to have me help them apply the recommendations to their messaging, web copy, and other marketing and communication touchpoints.

So, my question for you is – Which kind of business are you running right now?

One that you love or one that’s draining the life out of you?

If it’s the latter, and you’re ready to change that by getting in the room with the dreamy-fit clients you deserve, we should get in touch!

Schedule a call with me to learn more and see if a Message LevelUp session would be right for you!

Differentiate to Dominate: A Game-Changing Brand Strategy Approach for Interior Designers

4/04/24 by Deb Mitchell

Let’s face it – The interior design industry is a crowded marketplace and you need all the help you can get to stand out in it.

When prospects come across your website, the last thing you want to be is forgettable. You want the messaging of your brand to stand out, make a big impression, and grab the attention of your ideal clients so that you can own your market and dominate the field!

When I was in middle school, I went through a fashion phase that was inspired by the pages of Seventeen magazine. While everyone else was sporting edgy hair band tees and jeans, I was the girl in preppy sweater sets and loafers. You can imagine how much I stood out – Everyone knew who I was. Not so great in middle school, but EXACTLY what you want in the design industry!

I see a lot of designers falling into the trap of sounding like everyone else. They feel pressure to use the same designer-y words that other designers are using, because they think this keeps them on par and professional. But staying on par with what everyone else is doing is no way to stake your claim in the industry!

You want to show your ideal clients that you’re the absolute perfect designer for them, and that’s not going to happen by using vanilla-sounding language. You’re never going to stand out by wearing the same “hair band tees and jeans” as everyone else; you need to figure out what your “sweater sets and loafers” are, and nail that down in your messaging!

The better your brand messaging captures the magic of your unique essence, the better it’ll match you with the clients that fit your vibe.

And figuring out how you can authentically stand out from the crowd, is how you start to dominate the market.

Why differentiation is the key to brand messaging that stands out

If you asked me for a tried and true way to make your messaging “YOU”, I’d tell you the key is to focus on differentiation.

When I work with designers to create their website copy, uncovering their differentiators is my number one priority!

So what exactly are brand differentiators? They’re the features of your business that are unique enough to set you apart from the competition and resonate with your ideal clients.

Differentiators often show up in areas like:

Your aesthetic
Your background
The client experience you deliver
Your personality
Your processes
Your service offerings/specialization
The ideal client you serve

After working with interior designers for nearly a decade, I know differentiating yourself might feel a little daunting. As much as you want to stand out, you may also feel pressure to have a website that looks and feels just like everyone else’s–especially the big names in the industry (if I had a dollar for every time a client told me they want their site to be ‘just like Kelly Wearstler’s!’).

Or, you may worry that if you differentiate yourself too much, you might scare away certain clients, and you don’t think you can afford to do that just yet.

If that sounds like you, I get it, but I also know that these fears are unfounded. You’re far more likely to lose business by failing to stand out from the crowd in the first place than you are by repelling a few potential clients (who aren’t a great fit for you anyway!) because you differentiate yourself.

When you have killer brand messaging that’s built around your differentiators, that’s when you see your business really start to reach new heights!

Every designer has differentiators–no exceptions

Think you don’t have any real differentiators? You’re not alone. I’ve worked with many designers who started out thinking they weren’t special or unique in any way. But in nearly a decade of working with designers, I have yet to meet a single one who didn’t have their very own unique key differentiators.

Whether big or small, everyone has something that can make them stand out and attract the attention of their ideal clients. It’s just a matter of uncovering what that is and working it into their brand messaging.

Differentiators attract ideal clients and deter wrong-fit clients

One of the things I love most about leveraging differentiators in my clients’ brand strategies is that they pull double duty! First, differentiators put out a welcome mat for your dream-fit clients. When your messaging is crystal clear on who you best serve and why, it’s like lighting the way for your ideal clients to find you.

Secondly, and just as importantly, your differentiators also put up a big red stop sign for the clients that are less than ideal for you.

Again, even though it may seem scary, this is a good thing because wrong-fit clients tend to suck up your valuable time and can be difficult to please. They can even wind up costing you money in the end.

How to Figure out Your Differentiators

Because the approach I use centers around differentiation, we focus on finding all the ways–big and small–that you’re different from other designers, and how you’re the perfect designer for your ideal clients. While my process is pretty extensive as we dig deep into your background, your goals, and your talents to find your unique differentiators, it all boils down to two basic steps.

Step 1 – Understand your ideal clients on a deeper level

It’s not enough to know that your ideal clients have the budget to afford your services and that they want stylish, functional spaces. You need to understand your clients on a deeper level so you can better speak to their needs in your marketing. When you’re able to connect in this way, showing them you really understand them, you get hired.

Things like what your ideal clients are looking for in an interior designer, what scares them about hiring a designer, and what makes you the ideal designer for them, are what you’re looking for here.

Another important thing to think through is how your process and services match with what clients in your area are looking for. For example, is there a lot of new construction underway in your area, or is remodeling existing homes more so what’s happening? Do other designers in your area advertise a fast-tracked, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am approach to design while you offer a true white glove, concierge-level service clients there are clamoring for?

The last thing you want is to lean on differentiators that your market simply won’t support so make sure you’re leading with what clients near you are looking for.

Step 2 – Determine what makes you unique

Sometimes designers assume that if they want to stand out, they have to create a super specific niche.

But I’m here to tell you that even if you don’t specialize solely in designing playrooms for children of rock stars or using your Ph.D. in astronomy to create designs that capitalize on night sky views, no worries.

Differentiating yourself doesn’t have to mean niching at all. You can still stand out based on what’s authentic to you.

When I’m brainstorming with my clients about their differentiators, I’m asking questions like:

Is there something unique or counterintuitive about your designs?
What do you give your ideal clients that they wouldn’t get with another designer?
What do your ideal clients have in common with each other?
Is there something unique about your background or experience?
Is there one project type you prefer over others?
What part of your business’s client experience are you most proud of?
What positive feedback do you consistently receive about your work?

This 2-step approach works because it relies on who you actually are, and what you really want for your business; not what other designers are doing. It’s rooted in getting you in the room with the right kinds of clients who’ll value and appreciate you–and most importantly, who believe you’re worth every penny!

Some Dos and Don’ts of Interior Design Brand Differentiation

After years of experience working with interior designers, I’ve got differentiation down to a science. Here are some tips for using it in your own brand strategy.

The Don’ts

Don’t try to be different just for the sake of being different. This will only lead you down a path of focusing on the wrong things, leading to inauthentic vibes that won’t feel good to anyone. Your clients will be turned off, and you won’t be proud of your messaging.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. The terminology you use for your services and processes can and should be similar to the market standard so clients can have an apples-to-apples comparison. This is one area where trying to look different can actually diminish your credibility. Potential clients may get confused, or worse, conclude that you don’t know what you’re talking about because you’re speaking a different language from other designers they see online.

The Dos

Do keep your ideal clients in mind at all times. It’s all about the client. I’m not joking. Keep them at the heart of your messaging at all times, including choosing your differentiators. What differences matter most to them? What do they care about? If you think you have a differentiator but it doesn’t make any difference to your ideal clients, it won’t be valuable in your messaging.
Do communicate your differentiators with confidence. Don’t be afraid to really shine. Your confidence is what makes you stand out, commands the attention of prospective clients, and makes them feel like they’re in the capable hands of a trustworthy professional. Many of the designers I work with are lovely, humble people and they struggle with feeling ‘braggy’ when highlighting their uniqueness in their messaging. But if there was ever a time to toot your own horn, it’s in your brand messaging. Plus, being worried you might be bragging is a sure sign you have absolutely nothing to worry about!

When you use my “Differentiate to Dominate” brand strategy, you stand out in all the right ways. You position yourself to get in front of your perfect-fit clients and lay the foundation for a lasting connection with them. I believe in this method for good reason–I’ve seen it help my clients dominate their market of the industry again and again for over a decade.

Are you ready to uplevel your brand messaging by uncovering your differentiators, but don’t want to go it alone? We need to talk! Contact me to chat about working on it together! And in the meantime, check out my Easy Guide to Finding Your Brand Differentiators.

How to Optimize Your Houzz Profile (for Free!)

7/18/19 by Deb Mitchell

As business owners, you and I both know that it sometimes feels like you have to pay big bucks if you’re ever going to get yourself in front of your ideal clients.

Facebook and Instagram ads can be pricey – and let’s not even talk about ad space in magazines, even if they’re small local publications. It’s enough to make you consider closing up shop to eat bonbons on the sofa (please no!) or get an office job.

But we also know we sometimes have to pay to play, which is why so many interior designers just like you take the leap to buy into HOUZZ.com‘s business level.

If you don’t know what HOUZZ is, no shame but seriously, where have you been?! Ha! Just kidding, but I’d venture to guess you probably already know that HOUZZ is a sort of database/social network/online community based entirely around interior design, decorating, architecture, home building, and home improvement. And since homeowners primarily use it as a directory to find home professionals, it’s a no-brainer for any designer to have a presence there.

At first glance, it may seem that unless you pay for a pro membership, you’re not likely to get seen by paying clients in your area who are looking for a designer on HOUZZ. On the other hand, I’ve also heard a few grumblings that the pro level doesn’t always lead to paid projects either.

But here’s the trick, in order to maximize your potential for visibility on HOUZZ whether you have the pro membership or not, you can (and should) optimize your profile.

What exactly do I mean by that? You may not realize it but there are multiple areas on your HOUZZ page where you can add information, keywords and even links to your blog posts. By taking the time to get in there and do a little tweaking, you may show up in more searches by local clients who will then click through to your website.

Let’s talk about the specific actions you can take right now – for free – to make that happen.

Fully Complete Your Profile

That sounds obvious, but it’s incredible to me just how many designers don’t fully fill out their HOUZZ profile. This is the very first step you should take right now if you haven’t done so already since prospective clients will be curious about you and your business after they get a peek at your projects. You want them to be able to easily visit your actual website or send you a message after seeing your profile.

Add your headshot to your profile. You could add your logo instead, but people don’t hire brands – they hire people. Let them see your wonderful face!

Pick a cover photo that represents the kind of projects you want to attract. I always tell my clients to lead with what they want when it comes to project images because like attracts like. If you add a photo others seem to love of a project where you used a lot of orange but you never ever ever want to have to work with orange again, do not use that project as your cover image!

List every city/area you work in under “areas served.” You probably won’t show up in searches for neighboring areas you’d be happy to get projects in if you don’t list those areas on your profile.

Take full advantage of the opportunity to speak directly to searchers by making your “About Us”/”Overview” area sales-worthy. Remember that people looking to hire you don’t just need to know about you – they need to know you understand them and most importantly, they need to make a connection with you. While I don’t always recommend writing your bio in 1st person (“I,” “we”), I highly recommend it here. There’s just something about using the 3rd person (“he/she,” “they”) on HOUZZ that feels cold and uncaring even if it feels polished and professional on your site.

Be sure to connect your profile to all of your other social media accounts. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter – whatever platforms you’re on are all essential components of your online presence since they will drive people to your website, blog, and other content. If potential customers like the images of your work on HOUZZ, they’ll probably also enjoy all the other content you have to offer, so make it easy for them to find!

Use Strategic Keywords

When you build your website, the keywords, and phrases you use serve as some of the main ways for prospects to find you online. Google and other search engines latch onto these keywords, so when someone searches for them, your site will come up.

While you aren’t ranking in Google for keywords you use on your HOUZZ profile and photos, you can rank in HOUZZ searches for them! Every bit of text within your HOUZZ profile and projects is searchable – which means you need keywords that will help your ideal clients find you there. You should think about your keywords more like hashtags that will make it easy for people to find your content.

Using keywords in your content is actually really easy. Include them in both your profile and your project descriptions. To add keywords to your projects, go to your HOUZZ profile and select a project you’d like to edit. Here you can add descriptions and other info to your projects. Weave keywords (especially things like “interior designer your location”) into the descriptions you write for the project.

You can also add keywords to your project images, however, you have to be smart about them, only adding ones that will apply to that particular photo. You can add as many as you like, so be sure to add keywords for all of the furniture in the pictures, the colors, the type of room, the location of the property and your business, etc. The more, the better!

If you want more information about attaching keywords to photos, projects, and your profile, download this Optimize Your HOUZZ Profile – For Free!

Tag Products

I totally understand that the product information in your projects is often proprietary. But just bear with me here.

You may already know about how this feature works. Tagging products in HOUZZ is pretty similar to adding keywords, just a little more specific. You can tag any or all of the products you used in a project photo (you can even tag the walls of the room with detailed information about the color!) just like you would tag a person in a Facebook photo.

If you aren’t keen on the idea of letting the world know your product sources, consider using tags to your advantage. By tagging just one item per image that represents the level of the products you tend to use in your client projects, you’ll communicate a huge message that welcomes ideal clients and weeds out “looky lous.”

Furthermore, if any of the pieces in your photos are custom made, you can also tag those with a note telling visitors about them. This could very well put a stop to the loads of questions from HOUZZ users about where you got that fab piece! Huge time saver.

Link To Your Blog Posts (yep, that’s really a thing!)

Did you know that you can include an external link within a HOUZZ project that takes users directly to a blog post on your website? I mean, this alone can work some serious magic for your business, right?!

The only catch is that in order to be a good online citizen, you should be linking to a post about the actual project they’re looking at on HOUZZ. Otherwise, they could feel a little duped. And that means you have to have a post about that project. Which means that, yes, I’m saying you should write blog posts about all of the projects you have on HOUZZ specifically so you can link to them. I know it’s a tall order, but hey, at least it’s still free (as long as you do your own blog writing, ha!).

But the payoff is that not only will linking to posts help increase traffic to your website, it can also help get new subscribers to your newsletter and build up your blog comments, and of course, ideally, it can help you get great clients.

And by the way, you can add calls-to-action within those blog posts to transform them from simply being informational into being lead generators. You can direct a potential customer from HOUZZ to your blog post, then from that blog post to a landing page that leads them to a piece of opt-in content or to your services or contact page.

Reviews Are Key, Baby

You can post amazing photos of your work, write fantastic copy about your interior design business, and run one of the best marketing campaigns in history, but none of those can hold a candle to genuinely positive client reviews.

Word of mouth directly from a client to a prospect is one of the most effective ways to drum up business, and online reviews are almost as effective. Before someone hires you, chances are that they’ll do some research, including finding out what past clients have to say about their experience in working with you.

The more HOUZZ reviews you get, the higher you’re going to rank when people search for interior designers in your market. Every time you have a client, you should encourage them to write you a review on HOUZZ. All a customer has to do is click on the “Get Reviews” section of the site. In fact, you can streamline the process by sending them an email with a link that takes them directly to that page. Once they leave you a glowing review, you can copy all or part of it to use on your website, as well.

Don’t be shy about asking for reviews. I get it – it can feel awkward. But reviews are, by far, one of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal. Having some fantastic reviews up on HOUZZ will really boost your profile, whether you are paying for a pro subscription or not!

Even if there isn’t a measurable ROI to prove it, having a well-executed, optimized HOUZZ profile is super important for any interior designer. It’s where so many people go when they are looking for interior designers to hire for their home project. If they come across your photos and projects, they might fall in love with your work, leading to a wonderful new connection! Just because you aren’t paying for a pro subscription doesn’t mean your HOUZZ profile can’t be an invaluable tool for your business. Simply use some of these tips to create a HOUZZ profile that will draw in new clients, and maybe even take your interior design business to the next level.

If you don’t have a ton of experience writing compelling descriptions for your projects on HOUZZ, or you want to have some excellent blogs to link to on your website, contact me today and we’ll talk about how I can help.

Content Strategy: How to Communicate Your Brand through Content (plus a handy checklist!)

2/08/19 by Deb Mitchell

Designers ask me all the time if they “really need to blog.” And I totally get it – who wants to add something like that to their to-do list?! But the fact remains that content marketing (whether it’s written blog posts, video content, or even audio files) is one of the most powerful and effective tools in the marketing world – IF you use a solid content strategy.

You probably already know it’s not enough to try to skate by with slipshod content. Your marketing efforts need to provide your audience with some sort of actual value, whether in the form of information they can use in their own lives or simply giving them a little entertainment. You also know it’s important to deliver that value on a regular basis. This could be weekly, biweekly, or even just monthly blog posts/online content. You don’t want your followers to forget all about you when they don’t see anything new from you in ages, so you need to capitalize on the SEO benefits of continually adding fresh content to your website.

But something you may never have thought about is whether or not your content is bringing the best bang for your investment right back to your brand’s front door. Unless you’re regularly providing your audience with awesome value that’s also intrinsically tied to your brand, it’s not doing everything it could to move your business forward. In other words, you’re not using a good, solid content strategy.

Give Them a Taste of Your Brand

So what exactly does it mean to “intrinsically tie” your content to your brand? I’m sure you’ve heard of fruit-infused water, right? Mmmm! Watermelon water on a hot summer day is my fave! Anyway, think about how the fruit isn’t squeezed or pressed to release its juice; it’s just dropped into the water. This gives the water just a hint of its flavor; just a subtle touch.

That’s essentially what you want to do with your blog posts and other forms of content. You don’t want the content to be overwhelmingly filled with your brand since that would distract from its value as a genuinely useful piece of content. Nor do you want to force your brand into the copy, disrupting all the good stuff with sales-y sounding mantras or out of place mentions of your services. Instead, you want that content to have just a hint of the flavor of your brand. It’s not easy, but once you get the idea and start to put it into practice, it will become more natural and more effective.

Here’s How to Do It

When I wrote articles for magazines and large corporations, I was usually required to use the publication’s style guide. This was a document that listed all of the “dos and don’ts” their writers had to follow so that the overall voice, style, and messaging was consistent with their brand. The guides included things like examples of acceptable and unacceptable language and lists of approved terms. For example, “interior designer” may be preferred over “decorator,” and “outdoor furnishings” is acceptable while “patio furniture” is a big no-no.

While these guidelines could have seemed restrictive, they really weren’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. These guides gave me as the writer a solid jumping off point to help me match the voice of the article to the brand and ensure the terminology I used helped to underscore the messaging they were working to convey. That’s why I believe every design firm should have a brand-style guide in their back pocket, ensuring all their content maintains their “voice” and messaging. This is particularly true if the content creation is outsourced to external contractors or junior team members.

Creating a Style Guide as Part of Your Content Strategy

Don’t let this scare you – creating a style guide as part of your business’ content strategy sounds like way, way more work than it is in practice.

Start by putting together a style checklist. This should include things like:

What’s your unique point of view on design? What can you bring to the conversation that no one else can?
What’s unique about your brand and your offers?
What problems do your service offerings solve?
What are your brand values?
What is the voice of your brand? Is it more formal or more casual? Friendly and personal, or warm and professional?
What kind of phrasing are you comfortable with for CTAs (calls-to-action or “the ask”); for example, “Contact us!” vs. “Let’s chat!” vs. “Schedule a call?”
What gets your audience excited about your brand?
What are the words you want to use to describe your design aesthetic?

The good news is you don’t need to include any “writerly” stuff (like your stance on the serial comma or whether to follow AP or Chicago style) in your guide, like the ones I had to use in my magazine writing days – blech! Blogging is much more laid back than that. The important thing here is that you capture the essence of your brand (remember the fruit-infused water) in your guide so you can drip it into your content as you go along.

How to Use Your Brand’s Style Guide

Whenever you sit down to write a blog post, your brand’s style guide should be open in front of you (or whoever is writing the piece). As you write the content, use the guide to make sure that your brand’s preferred language and style is woven in throughout. Be sure to mention your values using your brand’s preferred language, highlighting the thing that makes your brand so special to your clients – without making it too overt or belaboring the point. Whether your topic is your latest client project reveal or a blog about lighting trends, it should be filled with on-brand language and messaging.

Keep in mind that your style guide is just that: A guide. It isn’t a list of hard and fast rules that must be followed at all costs. If you feel like breaking any of the conventions listed inside, feel free. And you certainly don’t have to worry about including absolutely every single item in the guide. Instead, carefully go through your checklist as you’re creating your content to make sure that you’re writing effectively and clearly communicating your brand’s personality and values. Do that every time you create content and voilà! You’re suddenly rocking a pretty awesome content strategy!

Post-Writing

After you’re finished writing (or the content has been delivered to you from your writer), make sure to give it a good read from a number of different perspectives.

First, read it as yourself, the CEO, asking if it says what you want it to say about your brand.
Next, try to read it as someone looking for information to help them solve a problem, to give them knowledge they don’t have, or to provide them with a bit of inspiration or entertainment as a bright spot in their day. Make sure it’s actually valuable content rather than just randomness.
And finally, the super important but often neglected perspective: Try to read it as a potential customer, asking yourself if the brand messaging is there. If so, ask what message is coming across, as well as if it’s too “in your face.” What you’re aiming for is messaging that’s only subtly there in the background, helping that potential customer get to know you and your brand a little bit better.

If it doesn’t meet your standards, no problem at all. Just get out the style guide again and look for places where you can sprinkle your brand into the content!

Don’t Stress About It

I don’t mean to give you added blogging stress here. Writing a piece of content is hard enough without you constantly worrying about whether or not you’re putting enough of your brand into it! Personally, I think it’s more of a mindset. If you go into writing a blog with your brand in mind, chances are that your values and language will be reflected in the content. Your brand’s style guide is kind of like training wheels. You may need to rely on it for a time, but once you’re regularly writing brand-infused content, you’ll be able to do it without even thinking about it!

If you want a headstart on tightening up your content strategy game by creating a style guide for your brand’s content, I have just the shortcut for you. Just download my free Content Style Guide & Checklist, where I’m giving you all of the questions you need to answer to subtly put your brand front and center in your content. All you need to do is fill it out and keep it handy for when you’re creating your content, and you’ll be all set!

Brand Writing Quick Tip: My go-to get-it-done-faster writing tip

9/21/16 by Deb Mitchell

Want great writing advice and ideas about getting your writing done faster (and better)? Click here to subscribe to Deb Mitchell Writing. You’ll get my free mini e-book, How to Write Fabulous, Client-Attracting Content in Only 15 Minutes a Day!

I’m kind of a writing geek in that I hang out on writing websites, read books and magazines about writing, and belong to Facebook groups for writers. I’ve even been to a few writers’ conferences. No judgment to my fellow writers, but interior design industry events are much more fun. Better swag bags too!

Anyway, I do all of that in-the-trenches, boots-on-the-ground wading through information about writing so I can deliver gems like this one to you:

My #1 tip for getting your writing done faster is when you sit down to write, set a timer for 15-20 minutes and slam out what content writing guru Ann Handley calls “The Ugly First Draft.”

It’s totally counterintuitive to the way I was taught to approach my writing as an English Lit major. I’m sure many of you can relate to my collegiate all-night essay writing sessions where about 90% of that time was spent laboring over my first draft – and then a mad 3:00 am scramble to polish things up as best I could.

Does that bear any resemblance to your current blog post writing method???

In her book, Everybody Writes (which I happen to love, but admittedly, you may not find it as fun and riveting!), Handley explains why that focus-on-the-first-draft approach is not only inefficient – it also results in sub-par writing:

“Recognize that brilliance – or anything close to it – comes on the rewrite. That implies that there is a rewrite, of course. And there should be.”

That’s why those 3:00 a.m. attempts at cleaning up my drafts felt more like desperately slapping on spackle and glitter rather than actually polishing a relatively well-written piece.

With The Ugly First Draft method, the clumsy, slapdash work happens in that initial 15-20 minute brain-dumping session. Two things are accomplished there:

1. Right off the bat, you’ve pushed past the biggest writing sticking point for most people: the blank page / screen staring back at you with no idea where to start.

2. You now have raw material (your general ideas) to work with, but you’ve avoided wasting time trying to make those initial (possibly misaimed) thoughts make sense.

And yes, it’s probably truly ugly. It may not make any sense; it may be totally boring; you may have veered horribly off-topic.

But that’s good because now you have a jumping off point. You’ve captured your ideas and thoughts and you can readily see where it’s gone wrong, where it’s gone right, and where it needs extra attention.

Now you’re essentially editing as opposed to writing from scratch.

You’re moving pieces and parts around, trying different wording, and inserting personality, humor, and even some of your brand messaging language.

It’s more like putting a puzzle together than trying to draw your own picture, which in my view is waaayyyyy faster and more fun than slaving over my keyboard for hours on end, trying to find the next word in my first draft and knowing that the rewriting is still ahead of me, as well.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m oversimplifying things a bit here in that I do believe in putting in some time pre-writing on planning and strategizing. Those are really what make a 15-minute Ugly First Draft session possible (and productive). You can check out my full ‘get-the-writing-done-faster-and-better’ method in my guide for How to Write Fabulous, Client-Attracting Content in Only 15 Minutes a Day by subscribing to Deb Mitchell Writing here.

Even with the extra planning, I find The Ugly First Draft method saves me loads of time and infinite frustration.

And probably most importantly, it makes me a better writer by helping me clear away the irrelevant junk in my writing sooner. That means I don’t waste time trying in vain to rewrite it into not being irrelevant junk.

Try out The Ugly First Draft method and let me know how it works for you.

Do you think this tip counts as writing ‘swag’??? I glammed it up for you as best I could!

Having a tough time keeping up with blogging and newsletter writing? Let me help with strategy and planning, implementation, or both. Call or email me: 980.292.0808 deb@debmitchellwriting.com

xo,

Older Posts