Growing Your Brand While Working

Katherine L. Branton October 25, 2023 in Interior Design - 5 Minutes

You have a lot to do when you start a new design company. For example, you need to figure out how to build your brand and work on other tasks.

You can accomplish most things (or even all of them) without drinking a lot of coffee. This will give you more time for other tasks. It may sound impossible, but it’s possible to achieve this wonderful land of extra hours.

It would help if you did this exercise before we discussed my tips on how to grow your brand as you work. It’s going to be a long exercise, but it will open your eyes.

Document your activities every 15 minutes. You will discover that you are wasting more time than you thought! This is what I experienced when I tried this exercise.

I was shocked to discover how much time was spent on social media. Scrolling on social media for longer than two hours a day. What a waste of time!

You’ll be surprised at how much time it takes to build your brand and do all the other things you have to do.

Know what you’re building

You may want your eDesign company to be a service-based one when you first start it.

You’ll soon find that your business can only expand so far without hiring employees or contractors. Go for it if that’s what you want!

If you have never dreamed of hiring staff, you will find that, like my clients, you want to work less in order to make more money. Do you know that working with clients can be difficult and tiresome at times?

You’ll want to find out your best income streams.

If you are at a stage where you don’t have any additional revenue streams and you only work one-on-one for clients, then you should figure out the time you spend working on each project. This goes back to recording your time on each task.

When you document a design, it may take you up to 40 hours. This will help you determine if the fee you charge is correct and if there are any improvements you can make to your design process.

This is all to show you that it’s important to know exactly what you are building and your goals so that you can focus on the right tasks.

Do Client Work First

When I was a child, I remember that I was told to start with the subjects I disliked and finish with my favorites.

It’s not that I don’t like my clients. But sometimes, when working on a project, there are some mundane tasks you have to do. Right? Right?

I could indeed spend countless hours fiddling with my website and creating graphics.

Schedule a time block every morning to start working on client projects.

Answer emails later in the day

It is not a good idea to check your email in the morning. As soon as you open the emails, all those other people in your inbox will be clamoring for your attention.

In your inbox, you won’t find any urgent interior design emails. Check your email at a specific time, such as between 11 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

You will not be able to get as much done if you keep checking your email all day.

In your welcome package, let your clients know how long it takes you to reply to their emails. This will help set a healthy limit.

Set boundaries around texting, too, if you let clients contact you.

You don’t want to feel like you have to answer every message unless your client has purchased a package that includes you being available to them immediately.

Choose Your Clients Carefully

You’ll find that when you look back at your design process, there are probably some things you dislike or even dread. My advice is to not try and compete with your competitors.

Even if you put a “BUY HERE” button on the website, clients will still contact you to discuss their project. You’ll then direct them to purchase on your site, but you will also have the opportunity to speak to your client (or perhaps you’ll design your funnel so that a consultation before purchase is required).

It would be best if you were selective in choosing your clients. You don’t need to be hired by every single client on the planet.

You can also help your clients choose themselves by explaining on a website sales page your design process and who you enjoy working with.

It is important to turn down clients so that you do not burn out.

BATCH YOUR WORK

It is important to batch your work. In the Society, there’s a class about batching that will show you how to batch tasks and improve productivity.

By grouping similar tasks, you can avoid having your brain switch gears. This will slow you down and cause more stress. Batching can be a wonderful thing.

SCHEDULE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

It can be hard to maintain consistency on social media if you post every day.

Scheduling allows you to stay consistent while sharing older content. You can choose certain times during the day when your posts will be posted and then go to that particular post to interact for 10 minutes with your audience. Back to work then!