Passive Income for Interior Designers: Online Shop

In this blog post, we'll explore how interior designers can leverage platforms like Etsy, Shopify, or their own websites to open an online shop and create a lucrative passive income stream.

Identify Your Niche

Define your niche within the interior design industry. Instead of trying to cater to every audience, it’s important to find who your clients are and what about you resonates with them. Successful online shop owner Sydney Brisco, from justahomeowner.com brilliantly says, “There is a lot of competition for almost every aspect of starting an online shop as an interior designer. You need to remember that your opinions, your voice, and your style will speak to a specific group of people and not be discouraged. Find what makes you and your style unique and don't be afraid to own it.”

Create Exceptional Products

Whether it's handy printables, fun artwork, or home decor accessories, the key is to create items that captivate your customers and reflect your design style. Keep your chosen niche and audience in mind as you create your products. You can start by brainstorming about pieces that clients have loved or how a handy spreadsheet could benefit a client trying to make design decisions on their own. Take inspiration from your own projects and experience.

Professional Presentation

In an online shop, visuals are everything. Invest time and effort into capturing high-quality product photographs or creating realistic mockups that showcase your creations at their best. Presenting your products in a professional and eye-catching way can make your products more appealing to potential buyers. And don't forget to write informative descriptions that are search engine optimized to make sure that shoppers can find your products!

Set Up Shop

You can use a platform like Etsy or Shopify to host your online shop or many website builders like Wix and WordPress will allow you to add a shop to your website, which may be beneficial if your website gets a lot of traffic. This is one of the biggest steps, as you can’t sell anything without a shop. Sydney wisely adds, “The biggest hurdle to opening a shop is waiting for everything to be perfect. Especially for interior designers (let's be honest, most of us are perfectionists) we don't feel right publishing something that isn't 100% done. But if you wait for perfection, you'll never open. And once you open your shop, your view on perfection will change anyway. Once your product is at 80% perfect, publish it so that you can start learning and honing your skills to make your shop better and develop your product better.”

Marketing Matters

Promote your shop wherever you can, especially on social media. From Sydney’s experience, “your marketing will really depend on your platform. If you are on Etsy or Pinterest, for example, your best bet is to market with the platform's ads. But if you are growing your shop on your own site, Google ads can be tremendous. Also, don't forget to look at social media. There are several Facebook groups for design and home improvement with varying levels of allowing ads. Always ask before submitting an ad because it's more likely to not only get accepted but boosted by the moderators of the group. You can also develop a following on Instagram if you are good at taking pictures of your process. And "how to" design videos on YouTube are a great opportunity for designers to grow their base and their following.”

Excellent Customer Service

Excellent customer service is what keeps customers coming back. By promptly responding to inquiries, addressing customer concerns, and processing orders efficiently, you will build customers’ trust and improve their shopping experience, making them more likely to recommend and return to your shop. Build trust and loyalty by going above and beyond to ensure your customers feel valued and cared for.

Remember, success in the online world requires dedication, consistent effort, and a focus on delivering exceptional products and customer experiences. By utilizing the power of branding, marketing, and phenomenal customer service you can successfully stand out online and create a thriving shop to generate passive income for your business.

Thank you to Sydney Brisco at www.justahomeowner.com for contributing to this blog post. You can check out her online shop here - https://www.etsy.com/shop/JustAHomeowner

xx, Danae