Recently, GDM had the pleasure of making the aquantaince of Faith Monson, success consultant.  Faith is “crazy about two things – design and making things happen.”  Faith works with design firms and creative professionals around the country to help them “develop successful promotional campaigns to raise their visibility in trade magazines and the news media.”

I found the following article by Faith to be insightful and wanted to share it.  Whether you currently have a website or not, I hope you find some helpful information and food for thought.  To learn more about Faith, please visit her website at www.faithmonson.com.

Why Interior Designers Need Websites, by Faith Monson

Nearly half of U.S. small businesses have websites, according to USA Today. Even before the financial crisis, small businesses and solo professionals had begun turning to the Internet to reach a global audience and to better serve their customers right next door. Experts predict that companies without a web presence will be at a disadvantage as customers in all industries now expect an online site as part of doing business.

So why should an interior designer have a website? Here are five reasons why an online presence is well worth your time.

1. World-wide exposure. Too many designers never receive the recognition they deserve because their work doesn’t reach a wide enough audience to ignite fame. With a well-designed website, your portfolio can reach millions of people all around the world-potential clients, reporters, bloggers and corporate decision-makers. That can mean increased opportunities for projects, show houses, commercial bids and interviews.

2. Qualified, 24/7 referrals. Your website transcends time zones to work while you sleep. Today’s customers are more likely than ever before to bypass the media when looking for a solution and go straight to the Internet. If you’re relying on traditional media for articles and ads to reach clients, you’re missing out on an increasingly large share of the market that relies on web searches to find what they’re looking for. If you’re not on the web, they don’t even consider you.

3. Credibility. Americans now expect to find companies on the web. Companies that lack a web presence look less professional, more limited in scope, and less stable than those with good quality websites. Even if a prospect finds you through word of mouth, they may rethink their choice if they can’t find out more about you online.

4. Competitive advantage. Your website defines you. It provides a chance to see your portfolio, read about your recent projects, view or listen to client testimonials and celebrate your show homes or awards. Without a website, you lose the chance to define yourself, and others may not define your work or speak to your capabilities as well as you would.

5. Websites are a great venue for self-expression and creativity. Just as your workspace or your business card make a statement about you, your website can make a striking visual impression on prospects. Through the design of your site, you can showcase your personality. Visitors will know right away whether you are bold or restrained, modern or traditional. A website can express who you are as a designer and allows potential clients to see what you have to offer them. With web audio and video, you can showcase your talent in whole new ways with plenty of drama and panache.

Interior designers with websites have a big advantage over those who don’t. We live in a visual world, so the more visual a website is, the better you can communicate your talents and ideas. Today it’s surprisingly affordable to build a great website. You’ll find other cost savings to having a website, including reduced costs for printing and mailing, since you can refer prospects to pictures on your site rather than having to reproduce and distribute these individually. Even better, the information on your website is easy to update, so if you change your phone number, your address or other details you don’t have to scrap a box of expensive brochures that are now out of date.

A website is living; it is constantly being viewed and can change with your needs. So let the world see through your eyes. Share your creativity and design-driven thoughts with the world. A great website will help you achieve things paper will never be able to do.

Faith Monson is a Success Consultant who works with entrepreneurs, designers, retailers and sales-driven organizations. She makes people and businesses better by daring them to be great and helping them to reach their full potential. Visit www.FaithMonson.com or contact her directly at 703-237-2077 or Faith@FaithMonson.com.

What sets you apart as a designer?  Imagine being able to offer your clients a true vision of what their design project will look like when complete.  With Gibson Design Management’s CAD Services, your design firm has that capability.  Our members find this to be an excellent marketing tool.  These renderings enable you to provide your client with a beautiful picture of what the completed project will look like.  They are so impressive and realistic that your clients might just want to share these pictures with friends and family; an excellent tool for the word of mouth marketing that is so effective.

Recently our member Laurel Quint, Principal of Q Design, Denver, Colorado utilized our CAD Services to create renderings for 5 different kitchens in her portfolio.  With the information she provided we created two views of each kitchen.  Laurel plans to use these renderings of past projects for marketing purposes.  Already, Laurel says she forwarded one of the renderings “to the original client and she loved it!”  In today’s world of email correspondence, the opportunity for word of mouth of mouth exposure is endless.  Renderings not only allow your client the opportunity to visualize your design, they also provide a picture of their eagerly anticipated project that your client will, no doubt, want to share. 

“We can show our clients the space before it even exists, there can’t be a better sales tool!!”

Laurel Quint, Q Interiors, Denver, CO.

3D Rendering, GDM - Design, Q Interiors, Denver, CO.

“Thanks so much for your team’s work on our project.  The kitchen designs were immaculate, 3D work was stunning and the client is now very happy….I don’t yet know what the future holds for more work, but of course we would love to work with you again.  You stuck to it and never quit, and together we have satisfied our client who happens to be the world’s leader in their field.”  – David Bassett-Parkins, CEO, Ava Living 

Members Only Savings – $250 of free CAD Services

Let our rendering team create two 3D Renderings for your design firm between now and December 31, 2008 and you’ll receive 10 hours of CAD Services for future projects free, a $250 value.

Kitchen 3D Rendering – Gibson Design Management

Design by Q Design, Denver, CO.

For more information about our renderings or to get started with your next project, please contact Kristie Martin at CADServices@gibsondesignmanagement.com

What do you consider valuable?  Your diamond wedding ring, a prized art collection, that set of china you inherited from your beloved grandmother?  What about the “valuables” stored on your computer?  Isn’t it critical that we ensure our information (files, documents, contacts, emails, calendar) is safe should our computer malfunction, get stolen, or not survive a natural disaster (or that cup of coffee you accidentally spill on it!)

Recently, I had the misfortune of having my hard drive crash.  This put me largely out of commission for a week while it was being replaced and all the data was restored.  In an effort to learn from this experience I did some research that I thought might be helpful in keeping others from going through a similar scenario.

I work primarily from my home office, so after learning that my computer was officially out of commission, I decided immediately that we needed to get our house networked; this would allow me to log in from any computer and access all files and data on my work computer.  When I consulted with a few professionals about this need, I got the impression it was probably not cost effective.  Not wanting to give up, I decided to take my research online and there I found a few viable options for the small business.

1. Online Backup Software – while whining to my parents about my computer disaster, my apparently very tech-savvy, hip, 73 year old Dad told me about Carbonite.com.  For just $49.95/year you can “install a small application on your computer that works quietly in the background looking for new and changed files that need to be backed up.  It looks and feels just like part of your computer, and is integrated with your desktop – there’s no new interface for you to learn.”   The New York Times says, “It’s the easiest online backup software to use – in fact, to not use, since it’s completely automatic.”  Only you have access to your files, they are secure and encrypted.  In fact, the Wall Street Journal assures “you’ll sleep better at night.”  Of course, Carbonite.com isn’t the only company out there providing this service, but from what I read it gets my vote for #1.  Looks like “Father knows best” after all.

2.  Data Phone “Partners” – It seems like just about everyone has a Blackberry, iPhone, or other fancy phone that allows them to access emails, calendar and the internet at all times.  So, of course they have also come up with convenient ways to backup and sync data between your computer and phone.  Having recently purchased an iPhone, I quickly signed up for my MobileMe account.  For $99/year I can keep “everything up to date, anywhere [I am].”  Whether I’m on my phone, home computer or using someone else’s computer, “everything is in sync” and I “can manage it all from anywhere using rich web applications at me.com” because all of my “information is kept on their online server.”  For the Blackberry users, I also found a similar resource for you, IBackup.  If you visit IBackup.com you can learn about different pricing plans and features for this company that offers online storage, sharing and streaming for PocketPC, Blackberry and Palm devices.

3. Online Document Storage & Sharing – At Gibson Design Management we are big fans of just about everything Google.  One online resource that we utilize for sharing corporate documents that multiple team members need to access and update is Google Docs.  We also utilize Google Calendar for keeping track of each other and Google Chat for quick and easy communication with one another.  With much of our team in Virginia and a few of us in Portland, Oregon, this allows everyone to keep track of each other and feel connected.  Google Docs proved to be very helpful last week because I had access to many of the documents that I had been working on for various projects.  Although it definitely would have made for a much less hectic week to have had some of the safeguards in place mentioned above, this did allow me to survive the week and not completely lose my mind.  Best of all, the cost for this one is absolutely free.  

I know I am not the only person on the planet who didn’t have a back-up system in place so I felt compelled to share my experience and my research.   I’m sure there are many other resources out there; if you know any good ones please feel free to share so that we can all sleep better at night. 

Ava Living launched their redesigned site this morning.  It will now feature more editorial content and great information that you can use as a designer.

Check out the website as GDM has a featured article about Thriving Now as an interior designer.

Click here to read the article.