Celebrate International Literacy Day Coming Up on September 8th!

The cooler season approaches, evoking images of crisp air and curling up with a book and a hot drink. Is it any coincidence that this month marks International Literacy Day? Celebrated since 1967, UNESCO established this day, September 8 each year, “to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights.”

Surprising as it may seem, there are an estimated 750 million adults in the world who cannot read: not this blog post, not a road sign. Nor are they capable of holding a simple text message conversation, since literacy also encompasses the ability to write. In other figures, there is 90% literacy in the world for all males, and only 82.7% for all females.

In an impactful dialogue photographer Brandon Stanton held as part of his acclaimed Humans in New York project, a young Pakistani recounts, “My father used [his] knowledge to teach me how to read. I started with local newspapers. I learned that our village was part of a country…And I learned that there was an entire world around this mountain. I learned about human rights. And now I’m studying political science at the local university. I hope to be a teacher one day.” His story is just one example of the powerful ripple effect that learning to read and write makes on someone’s life, at all stages of development. It makes all the difference, both on a personal level, and when it comes to moving up the socioeconomic ladder.

Reading is also important for our health. Reading books, in particular, can improve concentration, attention span and memory. It has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia later in life by maintaining brain health as we age.

So let's use the day to raise awareness of this issue and appreciate our own literacy, which can be so easy to take for granted. Here are some things you can do to participate in International Literacy Day.

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY ACTIVITIES

Donate books. Round up a box of books that you or your kids don’t read anymore and hand them off at your local library, a US organization such as Kids Need to Read, or an organization that benefits African children, whose overall literacy rate is the lowest in the world, such as Books for Africa. These types of organizations also often accept financial donations in lieu of books.

Start a community lending library. These adorable mini-libraries are popping up all over and foster a love for reading, as well as a sense of community and goodwill. In fact, there is an official network of over 100,000 locations, so check on Little Free Library’s map for one near you, or find tips for building your own and register it for others to find!

Gift a book. Pick out a book for a special adult or child in your life that shows you were thinking of them. Books make great gifts for birthdays and holidays, but you don't have to wait until then. International Literacy Day or any other day is the perfect opportunity.

Create your own reading haven. Make it a priority to enjoy reading or writing by setting the perfect scene for yourself. Start by refreshing your personal library with a new book or notebook, get cozy in your favorite sweater, light a candle, and prep a mug of your favorite drink.

So get out there and celebrate International Literacy Day! Also, check out our Shop the Look for International Literacy Day for fun book-related items to treat you and your loved ones with.

xx, Danae

How Can We Help You?

Elite Design Assistants Wants Your Feedback on What You Would Like!

Are you super busy and overwhelmed? Do you feel like you are spinning in circles and need to take some time to get your business in order?

As you know, each week I love sending you valuable information regarding popular topics in the interior design industry and lifestyle topics that pertain to interior designers. Today, I’d love to hear from you. What topics would you like to learn more about? What types of things are you interested in but don’t have time to research? What are your pain points?

Are there other templates, prewritten content or other digital downloads you’d like to see? Do you need help with marketing, organization or streamlining processes? Are there services, courses, software programs or other things you’d like to see and/or learn more about?

Whether you use my services or not, my hope is that the weekly emails are beneficial to your business and that you are able to continue to learn and grow.

I want everyone to be successful, so please feel free to reply to this email and let me know what you need! And it doesn’t all have to be business related. Maybe you want to learn more about fashion, food, travel, fitness, self-care, whatever it is, let us know!

I hope you are taking some time to relax and enjoy the summer! It’s going fast!

Take Care!

Danae

Tips For Handling Difficult Clients

You might already have a recent clash in mind. As with any profession that deals directly with clients, it’s simply inevitable that friction will arise at some point. A problematic client is the last thing we want, because it can cause a once-promising project to fall apart, result in a horrible experience for everyone involved, or even damage your reputation as a designer. Given that, it’s crucial to have some tools in your belt that will help you to defuse tensions and move forward with these clients, if it’s meant to be. Let's look at some types of difficult clients and essential tips that will help you the next time you encounter such a case.

Disgruntled Clients

Disgruntled clients can range from disappointed to combative. It’s likely that their energy stems from a fear of losing control over their time, finances or control in general. Or perhaps there has been a misunderstanding about your services and they feel dissatisfied or even cheated. If a client has a reasonable complaint and respectful approach, they’re not included in this category.

HOW TO DEAL:

Take a deep breath, don’t take it personally or get defensive, and let them express their grievances in full to understand the root of their concern (unless they become outright aggressive). It’s better to resolve issues over the phone or in person than by email. Despite the saying that “the customer is always right”, you don’t necessarily have to agree with them. Be assertive, but do proceed constructively, it’s important to really listen and acknowledge their sentiments so they feel you care. Show you understand by saying “I’m hearing that you are concerned about X. Is that correct?” Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but offer a solution if at all possible. You may tell them you need 2-3 days to work out a solution that they’ll be happy with. If they continue to protest, it may be necessary to reiterate the limitations and part ways once you’ve followed through on your end.

Overly Demanding Clients

These clients may not realize or respect the time and resources involved in satisfying their numerous requests. This could mean them asking for one revision after another or for accommodations that aren’t included in your agreed scope of work, or having unrealistic budget or timeline expectations.

HOW TO DEAL:

Much of this can be prevented by being meticulous from the very beginning about the terms of agreement. This means detailing every step of every phase of the project, specifying the scope of work as well as responsibilities. That way, when the client comes to you with an exorbitant demand, you can kindly remind them that this is not included in your agreement (and be able to show them these terms in the paperwork they signed if it comes down to it). However, you should always try to accommodate clients’ requests if possible. You want a reputation for going above and beyond for your clients, but you also need to be compensated fairly. So, if you can, tell them, “Yes! We can absolutely do that for you. That service will come at a surcharge of X amount."

Know-It-All Clients

Despite hiring you for your expertise, we can occasionally come across clients who feel compelled to finish your sentences or outright explain to you how to do your job. For whatever reason, they may be under the impression that you are unqualified or inexperienced, or perhaps they just enjoy an audience to flaunt their knowledge.

HOW TO DEAL:

In any case, it’s not worth getting into a battle of egos. Stay patient and cordial, and don’t let them wear you out. It’s important to get your word in so you can be thorough in walking them through your own professional process. Use sentences that begin with “Our design firm…” because it instantly neutralizes the relevance of how they or other firms do things. You can refer to your portfolio and respond with “In all my years of experience in…” to reaffirm your position. At the end of the day, the client has to decide whether they want to trust you with their project or not, so let them know how you work and see if you’re a good fit for each other.

Uncommunicative Clients

Getting to know your client (and vice versa) is essential to avoid surprises of any kind when you are further along in the project. Clients who have difficulty expressing their wants or needs make it hard to help them effectively. Uncommunicative clients also might take too long to respond and cause delays in the timeline.

HOW TO DEAL:

When it comes to people of few words, it’s important to take those words seriously. But in order to gather enough information to carry out a successful project for them, you’ll need to start with a very detailed intake questionnaire. If their answers are vague or incomplete, print it out and go over it with them in person to fill in the gaps you need. If they say things like “You’re the expert, you decide,” they’re probably not clear on what they want. So propose an option or direction, but always get the client’s approval before moving forward. As part of the onboarding process, be explicit about the commitments needed from the client in order for you to be able to stick to the timeline. Your contract should include terms that protect your company from negligence on their part. Finally, send friendly reminders leading up to things like meetings and payment deadlines.

Prevention and Damage Control

Issues can easily arise that aren’t your fault, but you can still learn from these experiences. For example, your process or contract may have been crystal clear and gone smoothly with other clients, but you may find that there are certain steps or clauses that are worth fine-tuning and emphasizing more with future clients - just in case - so that expectations are clear from the get-go.

You can improve client relationships by avoiding impersonal templates in email communication and responding in a timely manner. Make sure your team is trained and equipped to handle these kinds of clients, as well. And if you do end up with a negative comment that could tarnish your name, be sure to respond publicly with a polite explanation so that prospective clients can see your attentiveness and your side of the story.

Finally, since dissatisfied clients are more likely to take the initiative to leave a review, always ask your happy clients to write positive reviews in order to bolster your company’s reputation. Fortunately, there are plenty of people who notice and appreciate quality customer service, so do everything you can and don't let difficult customers get you down.

xx, Danae

Top 5 Myths About Passive Investing

Passive investing is a long-term investment approach with the objective of building wealth gradually over time. By minimizing buying and selling, passive investing increases long-term returns through cost savings. Passive investing continues to gain traction as more and more investors abandon actively managed funds in favor of passively managed alternatives. However, if you want to get involved, take a look at these myths first so you don't start off misinformed.

 Passive investing is only for inexperienced investors.

Not necessarily. It’s true that passive investments such as index funds or ETFs are very easy for investors to track and comprehend. For individuals who want a simpler investment without having to continually monitor their portfolio, passive investing is ideal. But it’s also appropriate for more experienced investors who are cost-conscious and hesitant to assume financial risks associated with choosing a fund management.

 Passive investing typically yields lower returns.

It’s getting harder for actively managed funds to outperform the benchmarks. While actively managed funds aim to surpass the market returns, passively managed funds aim to mirror market returns. However, this does not imply that passive investments produce inferior returns. And in the long term, passive investments are rarely outperformed.

 The returns from passive investing match those of the index.

Not always. Theoretically, passive investment tools generate returns that are identical to the index. However, there may be circumstances in which a specific passive fund is unable to match index returns due to a variety of factors, such as the need for an index fund to keep cash on hand for redemptions, mutual fund costs, or the inability to purchase a stock at the index price. This disparity is called a tracking error.

 Passive investing limits portfolio diversification.

It’s debatable. Passive funds provide broader market access because they follow an index. Additionally, there are passive funds that monitor foreign indices as well as funds that bring regional diversification to a portfolio. Sectoral ETFs can also provide sectoral exposure at a lesser cost.

 Passive investing is a risk-free alternative.

Overall, passive investing has the same risk as active. Despite the lower costs associated with fund management, equity markets are vulnerable to systematic risks. These could be economic, geographical, political, or interest rate risks. If you’re investing internationally, you also face current rate risks.

Put simply, because of its potential to be relatively inexpensive and straightforward, passive investing is quite a promising approach. But regardless of how you invest, you should always keep in mind and put the fundamentals of investing into practice. These include paying attention to your risk profile, asset allocation, and maintaining diversification.

xx, Danae

Most Popular Ways to Value-Add to Real Estate Investment Properties

The added value of the property is that differentiating factor that will help you to highlight the properties you sell. In such a competitive market you need to know what it is and how to present that plus that your offer has. So, if you are looking to shine in your real estate business, you should read all the way to the end.

A value-add property is an investment that gives investors the chance to boost an asset's cash flow through upgrades, rebranding, or putting together a strong management team. Such investment properties may be dilapidated because of negligence on the part of the owners or a lack of funds for repairs. Investors can acquire these properties at a discount to market value, and then can improve them structurally, physically and operationally. This will increase rents, attract more tenants and reduce vacancy rates.

So what are some of the most popular ways to add value to real estate investment properties? There are countless elements that can be optimized, but the most common could be summarized as property renovations, management restructuring, and marketing efforts.

Property Renovations

Interior and exterior renovations directly impact the emotional response of the potential buyer. From the moment they pull up, they want to see a well-kept exterior. On the interior, make sure you are making the most of the square footage by analyzing the floor plan. Look for areas that waste space and could be used to add a home office, which is more in demand than ever. A modern, updated kitchen is especially appealing to the new wave of first-time homebuyers. Increasingly, people tend to prefer open-concept plans for common areas, so see if knocking down some walls would work for the space. Remodeling the basement is one way to significantly increase living space. Tenants also highly value security features, such as a gated entrance, and additional amenities, such as a community pool or gym. Improving the appearance and functionality of a property makes a powerful impression and multiplies the value.

Management Restructuring

Management restructuring, a less apparent improvement at first to buyers, is one way to improve efficiency and thus operating costs. A good property manager will ensure that your property and its tenants continue to receive the maintenance and attention they require. He or she will see to it that the units are kept full, maximizing revenue. Finding a property manager you can trust also frees you up to invest in multiple other properties at the same time.

Marketing Efforts

As with practically any service or product, the perceived value has much to do with the way it is presented to the consumer. It’s all about highlighting the value that is there through professional photos, enticing ads, a curated pitch, and a professional buying experience from start to finish. You may consider taking advantage of a home staging service to allow viewers to project themselves in the space and see its potential. For multifamily properties, a solid marketing strategy could also include rebranding the complex with a fresh concept that people want to be a part of.

In summary, when investing in value-add real estate it is vital to ensure that you have the right team, an optimized property and effective marketing strategies in place to ensure that your value-add investment strategy is carried out correctly. With effective execution, value-add investing can be highly lucrative.

xx, Danae

The Best Ways to Scale Your Interior Design Business

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In the business world, what got you to one stage probably won’t get you to the next. It’s true that changing your structure or way of working, investing, and creating a work team can feel like a lot, especially if you have been working on your own for a while. But it’s a reality that you have to face in order to scale your business and take it to the next level. When you've gained enough traction to expand your team or move to a larger office, that's great news. But how can you start increasing your revenue without significantly increasing costs or effort?

Is it Time to Scale my Interior Design Business?

First, it is important to make moves at the right time. Enlist the help of a financial planner to crunch the numbers and conduct a study of the current market as well as the performance of your business so far. This will help you determine what, if any, changes are in order. A couple of indicators that it may be time to reevaluate things, too, are if you're getting more client requests than you have time to handle or are overwhelmed with administrative tasks. Basically, if you feel maxed out and like you’ve hit a revenue ceiling, take heart. It gets better.

Review Your Business Plan

Scaling can look different for different business models or directions. Write down the aims and values of your company, niche, and target client profile. Write your business goals and get help in mapping out strategic 1, 3, and 5-year plans, even if you later decide to make adjustments. Budget for slow seasons, such as the winter holidays, and be intentional about your investments. Having all of this established will position you to spot the best opportunities.

Renovate Your Service Offering

Evaluate whether any of your current service offerings should be repackaged or repriced. See what complementary services you could add and upsell, creating multiple revenue streams. And, perhaps best of all, establish additional passive income streams that will add to your revenue on an ongoing basis with minimal upfront investment. Some examples are promoting brands on your blog, earning through product affiliate sales, using platforms like Sidedoor or Like To Know It, becoming a brand ambassador, or selling digital products like an ebook or pre-made mood boards.

Be picky about your projects

Since you have already determined what your ideal projects and clients look like, don't waste time on projects that don't fit. Each project involves a certain amount of resources, and there will be projects that will strengthen your portfolio and reinforce your brand better than others. If you filter the requests you receive accordingly, it's another way to get the most out of your efforts.

Put Technology Tools to Work

To level up you will need to improve your digital marketing strategy. It's time to work with online marketing automation and CRMs, and perhaps improve the quality of your social media content. Don't skimp on tools that save you time, and help you organize, improve, and automate processes. There are many project management programs out there designed specifically for interior design studios that could make a real difference in your productivity.

Streamline Your Processes

Your company should have a manual with standard operating procedures outlining the order of tasks and responsibilities for each stage of a project, as well as administrative maintenance and growth initiatives. Analyze and write down what has worked so far, and keep your manual updated with any new insights. This will allow you to stay on top of your company's management, not let leads or other opportunities slip through the cracks, and also keep your team on the same page as part of your ongoing communication with them.

Train and Delegate

Design and administration are equally important to the success of your business, but there will be times when your need for the support of one skill set is greater than the other. Take inventory of the skills that aren’t your strong points and see if they fall into a similar category in order to hire one person to take them on. Start there and expand your team gradually, depending on your company’s needs at each juncture.

Properly training new hires and working side by side with them, especially in the beginning, will save you time in the long run. Keep in mind that the onboarding process can take a few months, so be prepared to invest that time and your salary amount, even before their work really starts to reflect in the company's profits. If you’re not ready to take on a new team member full-time, consider working with a virtual assistant who is able to help you with a wide range of tasks.

As you can see, scaling your business has everything to do with optimizing its various facets. It's about staying open to doing things more efficiently and taking advantage of revenue-generating opportunities while your day-to-day efforts are right where they need to be.

xx, Danae

Beat the Heat with these Healthy Summer Treats!

Under the long-awaited summer sun, we all need refreshments to get us through the hot days. If you want to keep yourself cool and satisfy your sweet tooth, all while staying healthy, check out these healthy summer treat recipes!

Fruit Popsicles

They are one of the stars of the summer because of their simplicity, refreshing effect, and the ability to be creative with them! Start with a popsicle mold and pour in your own mix, with a touch of the sweetener of your choice, to freeze between 4-8 hours. You can make a sorbet variety with mixed berries or watermelon and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Or try mixing Greek yogurt with fruits like blueberries or bananas for a creamier version.

Peanut Butter Banana Cups

You’ll need ¾ cup chocolate chips, 1 medium banana, ¼ all natural peanut butter, 1 tbsp melted coconut oil, plus baking cups. First, melt the chocolate. Separately, combine the melted coconut oil with the peanut butter. Pour 1 tsp of melted chocolate on the bottom of the baking cups, then 1 banana slice, 1 tsp of the peanut butter mixture, and lastly, ½ tsp of melted chocolate in the center. Freeze for about 1 hour and they’ll be ready to go.

Milkshakes

Sugar-packed milkshakes at the drive-thru are another story, but you can make many delicious and healthy smoothie recipes yourself. Start with a base of 2 plain single-serving yogurts, 2 cups of ice and add the blend of your choice. Try peach-mango, cocoa-banana, banana-papaya or strawberry-coconut. Blend, and it’s ready to serve (approx. 4 servings)!

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

For a richer option, try this recipe, which doesn’t taste like avocado, by the way! Blend until smooth: 2 ripe avocados, 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder, 1/4 cup Dutch cocoa, 3-4 tablespoons milk of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon salt and a sweetener of your choice to taste. You can serve it immediately (approx. 4 servings), chill it in the fridge first, or even make fudgesicles with it!

Fruit Skewers

Cut up bite-size square chunks of different fruits about half an inch thick to create a variety skewer. Some great options are fruits like cantaloupe, pineapple, peach, mango and strawberries. Stack the squares, alternating the fruits, and add them to the wooden skewers. You can garnish with a light drizzle of chocolate, honey or finely grated coconut.

Salted Chocolate-Dipped Mandarin Slices

All you need is 5 mandarin oranges, ½ cup chocolate chips and a pinch of sea or coarse salt. Melt the chocolate chips, dip each orange slice halfway or more into the melted chocolate and set them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt, refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened and enjoy!

Have fun with these recipes and experiment with your own combinations!

xx, Danae

How to Use 'Like To Know It' and Build a Design Template for Passive Income

As you look to expand the financial reach of your interior design business, you'll likely be drawn to finding new passive income opportunities. It’s just smart to invest a little bit of time into building sources of revenue that will work for you time and time again.

What is Like To Know It?

Meet Like To Know It or LTK (formerly known as RewardStyle), founded by fashion blogger Amber Venz Box. It’s an app used by brands, content creators or influencers, and consumers. So it works much like social media platforms, where users can browse, search, “like” and save posts, follow creators, and shop links. LTK offers over 5 thousands retailers, including item categories like beauty, fashion, and home goods.

Like To Know It invites interior designers, architects, and other professionals to bring their style expertise to the platform and reap the benefits. As a content creator, you can post shoppable photos and videos and receive a commission.

What kind of content can I create on LTK?

First, start with an idea for a curated product collection. Here are some examples for inspiration!

• whole room composition based on a style and color palette

• a gallery wall of art

• objects for shelf styling

• favorite new items from a brand

• statement pieces

• organization solutions

• home office essentials

• a selection of season decor

• outdoor furniture options

• gift guides

• throw pillow combinations

• must-haves for entertaining

• other lifestyle items in line with your business

How do you build a design template for Like To Know It?

Sourcing from one or multiple brands, put together a digital collage of the products you choose in an attractive editorial style, and post. In order to make their collages, many creators use tools like Canva, which is very user-friendly. And once you’ve got a few designs in your inventory, you can use them as templates for future posts, which will save you time. Here are the basic steps for creating a collage design:

1. Take screenshots of the products you want to include in the collection. Make sure you’re getting a high quality image.

2. Open a blank canvas. You can start with Canva’s template for a square Instagram post, or size to 1080 x 1350 pixels to upload to LTK.

3. Add the product images to the canvas. Use the upload button or simply drag the image files.

4. Remove the image backgrounds. Use the built-in background removal tool on Canva if you have a Pro account, or otherwise a free online tool like Adobe’s and upload the photos to Canva afterward.

5. Arrange the products. Use your design instincts to arrange the products in a harmonious, aesthetically pleasing way around the canvas, whether symmetrical or in a zig-zag fashion. Similar products should be scaled to the same size. This step is very important to achieve an eye-catching result.

6. Add final details. Using your business’s fonts and colors throughout. You can add the title of the collage to the canvas, as well as some simple graphic accents to complement the design. For LTK posts, add your logo and LTK handle. Keep it very clean, simple, and unified. Finally, download the file to your computer to then upload to the app.

Next time you have a concept that could use the same layout, revisit your designs in Canva, make a copy of the most similar layout, rename the new design, and simply drop your new images into the old ones. They should seamlessly take their place. Make any necessary tweaks to the sizing or spacing, change the title if there is one, and you’ve got your new collage!

How will my content reach shoppers?

Using LTK’s web and mobile tools, you can create, share, and track content from the same place. The Like To Know It app itself sees over 300K shoppers each month. But the impact really comes with sharing your creations with the affiliate links elsewhere, including platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. From there, you can begin to grow an audience of high-intent shoppers and multiply your earnings.

Brands rely on your ability to sell a vibe or lifestyle to consumers through beautiful yet accessible content. And with the wide variety of brands LTK offers, you can stay true to the essence of your signature style or niche for a truly personalized collaborative partnership.

How can I get started on LTK?

So is there a catch? Just that you’ll need to complete the application process and be approved in order to start posting. While LTK doesn’t list specific criteria in order to join, here are some tips. To be an ideal content creator candidate on LTK, you must have an active public profile with an engaged following on Instagram or YouTube, or otherwise a blog. Ideally, you’ll have more than one of these, but Instagram may be the most important. They’re looking for high quality relevant content with a significant following and engagement. If your Instagram profile is a weak point for you, take some time to improve it before applying to LTK. The good news is, if you don’t get approved the first time, you can reapply again in the future.

xx, Danae

Lead Generation Ideas: Build Your Audience and Gain Potential Clients

We've all been there. You go to download a freebie and a window pops up asking for your name and email address in order to get the download link. That freebie is called a lead magnet, and it’s a way to encourage people who are already interested in content related to your interior design business to volunteer their information and consent to receiving marketing-infused content from you. And that's the beginning of your opportunity to build awareness and trust, and pre-qualifies or primes them for a great experience working with you.

First Things First

Before anything else, according to the concept of the digital marketing funnel, you will need to get the word out about your business and drive traffic to your website. You can achieve this through social media content, search engine optimization and paid advertising. It’s all about attracting the type of client you want to work with.

How Do Lead Magnets Work?

Once on your website, if you don't ask for your potential clients' contact information, you may lose them forever. This could be a pop-up, in the footer of your website, or at the end of a blog post. You can also promote them on your social media accounts. Show them an eye-catching image and title of the content you’re offering. In exchange for something they find really valuable, they’ll be willing to give you their email address. And generally, they should automatically receive an email with a download link, for example to a shared Google Drive or Dropbox link. You can set this up using a tool like MailChimp, AWeber, or ConvertKit. And once you have a mailing list, you can send new content to already-existing leads to remind them about you - as well as just offering useful content!

What Should Lead Magnets Include?

Use Canva or PowerPoint to create a PDF file format. Use your brand’s logo, fonts, and colors throughout. Focus on just one topic, and it should be easily digestible with images and include headers and bullet points wherever it makes sense to.

When your potential client opens the file, they should immediately recognize it to be what they were looking for, or else they will feel tricked. But it’s important to introduce your company as the voice of authority behind the content they’re about to consume. Include a photo of your team and a brief blurb about your company. Be intentional about the tone you use, appeal to their emotions, and emphasize the pain point they’re looking to solve. The content you give away should be useful in its own right, but it must always also include a call to action (Book a consultation!), to encourage them to take the next step and seek your help.

What Are Some Lead Magnet Ideas?

Consider your niche and your ideal client. Homeowners looking to renovate and entrepreneurs opening a new coffee shop are going to be interested in different types of content. What questions and needs might come up for them?

Lead magnet ideas include:

• style tips (How to Create a Color Palette for Your Home)

• mini guides (How to Budget for your Home Design Project)

• listicles (Top 5 Most Impactful Design Upgrades You Can Make)

• checklists (Home Staging Checklist to Sell Your Home)

• case studies (How Interior Design Increases Property Value)

• design quizzes (What’s Your Personal Style?)

• newsletters (your company's content is delivered regularly to their inbox)

Other Ways to Generate Leads?

While developing lead magnets, you can also generate leads through networking and building collaborative relationships with other industry professionals who are not your direct competitors. You can also make yourself known on online platforms like Houzz, where clients can find you when they search for the service they're looking for. And when you complete a successful project with a client, be sure to always ask them for a testimonial and for them to recommend you to their family and friends if they are happy with the result.

Creating quality lead magnets and getting the flow going can be time-consuming, especially in the beginning. But you can save time by creating templates for future magnets, so it will be faster. And you'll see how upping your lead magnet game is essential to your marketing success and well worth the investment.

xx, Danae

Are You Sleeping Well? Best Sleep Apps and How They Can Help You

According to the American Sleep Association, about ⅓ of Americans struggle with insomnia or other sleep-related problems. They explain that sleep is not a passive part of our lives, but a very dynamic period for our nervous system, and adults over the age of 25 need between 7 and 9 hours per night to function properly. If you find it hard to quiet your thoughts or relax at night, you can benefit greatly from the help of a sleep app. Here are some of the best ones out there right now.

Best Free App

Insight Timer (Insight Network Inc)

An extensive free library of nature sounds, relaxing music, and meditations that you can filter by category and duration. Start with a curated selection by answering a few questions about your beliefs and preferences.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best Meditation App

Headspace

Known for its guided meditation tracks and mindfulness exercises geared to all moods and topics, Headspace has expanded its menu to sleep stories called "sleep casts" and calming music.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $69.99/year or $12.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best Sleep Tracker

Sleep Cycle (Sleep Cycle AB)

Optimize your downtime by using this app which operates with its “smart alarm clock.” It tracks and analyzes your sleep throughout the night to wake you up during your light sleep phase, helping you rest better and feel less groggy in the morning.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $39.99/year or $9.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Best White Noise App

Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds (Peak Pocket Studios)

This app provides soothing sounds from diverse atmospheres (forest, beach, etc.), binaural beats, healing frequencies, and white, brown, and pink noises. You can also save custom sounds.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android and iOS.

Expert Sleep Coach

Sleep Station

This is a web-based app that is actually an online sleep support program designed by experts. They offer packages including sleep analysis, a sleep improvement plan, coaching, and ongoing support.

• Starting at $149.

• Available online.

Lucid Dreaming Tool

Awoken

If you're interested in making the most of the dream world, this app offers tools to help trigger lucid dreams, including a pin-protected dream journal, reality check reminders, dream pattern reports, and more.

• Free with optional in-app purchases.

• Available for Android.

Best Overall App

Better Sleep (Ipnos Software)

Formerly known as Relax Melodies, this comprehensive sleep app offers all kinds of seamless sleep-inducing sounds, bedtime stories, and breathing exercises, in addition to sleep tracking features.

• Try the free 7-day trial, then $59.99/year or $9.99/month.

• Available for Android and iOS.

One caveat: apps that offer a free trial usually automatically switch to an annual subscription after the week is up, unless you opt-out, so mark your calendar if you're not convinced.

If you've never tried a sleep app, you may be in for a real game-changer. However, you can also find other sleep aids beyond these apps. Spotify Premium also has a great offering of audios and podcasts to help you sleep, and you can set it to automatically shut off when it ends or after a certain period of time. There are also countless free YouTube videos with white noise or meditations, though you should make sure you have the autoplay option turned off. If you're comforted by soft, repetitive sounds, there's a whole world of ASMR to discover. And while we're on the subject, remember to set your screen to automatically switch to soft, warm light at least an hour before you go to bed so that the blue light doesn't disrupt your circadian rhythms.

Most of the time, the root cause of sleep difficulties requires addressing the big picture, through lifestyle changes or one-on-one therapy sessions. But sleep apps, like the ones mentioned above, can be an excellent complement to help you relax your body and mind, and even offer insight into your sleep patterns to improve them.

Sweet dreams!

xx, Danae

Passive Investing in Real Estate Syndications

It’s time to start converting your income to PASSIVE INCOME

In a world where time is the most valuable asset I think it’s time we start taking some of that time back! Those of us that have been very fortunate to be successful in our businesses know that it typically comes with a price and that price is time. In our current climate, we’ve found ourselves busier than ever and often wonder how much longer we can continue at this pace. I’ve spent the last several years listening to my clients and listening to myself and so NOW I am starting an initiative to educate women on how we can start taking back some of our time.

With my background in real estate, the financial industry and interior design it made complete sense to me that passively investing in real estate would be something that I could educate others on. After a few years of research and constantly finding real estate gurus talking about creating passive income by purchasing short-term rentals and other real estate I realized I did not want to become a landlord. I wanted to find a way where my money could work hard for me, where I didn’t have to do any of the work. That is where I discovered real estate syndications.

Real estate syndications are companies that purchase real estate and fund it with money from a pool of investors. As an investor not only do you make a return on the investment either in the form of cash-on-cash return that comes monthly or quarterly, but on the profit from the sale of the property or both. It’s possible you can make monthly income plus profit from the sale. AND as an investor you become a part owner in the property which means you can deduct the depreciation on your taxes! So let me explain that again:

You and a pool of investors go together to purchase a property from a syndication. The syndication does everything and you sit back and wait for your returns. You can make money on the property in the form of cash on a regular basis or at the sale of the property or both. You can deduct the depreciation off your taxes – if you are familiar with this concept than you already know it’s possible to profit from real estate while showing a loss due to depreciation.

My mission is to help women take control of their finances and their lives. You’ve worked hard, you deserve to be able to find a way to make your money work hard for you and I’ve got the tools to help you!

We are developing a course, a Facebook group and monthly calls where we’ll hear from industry leaders regarding investment opportunities from women run syndications. It is a proven fact that women are better investors because they are more conservative and patient, so they end up making more money than men in investing.

If you are interested in learning more about our opportunities, please reply to this email.

Let’s make more money by working less! Are you in?

xx, Danae

Save Big on These Summer Fashion Items on the Final Amazon Prime Day!

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Indema and MyDoma: Top Project Management Software Programs for Interior Designers

Two of the most popular project management software programs reached out to me and asked if I’d send you updated information on their programs. They are listening to YOU! And since I want you to be in the know below are the updates!

Indema and MyDoma want to offer the best service possible and are proactively getting word out about their platforms, changes, what’s new, what’s coming soon, etc.

Indema

Indema states that they are the only tool your interior design firm needs. This cloud-based platform offers task management, time trackers and project reports to stay on top of your business performance. On the other hand, Indema covers your needs for contact management and contracts. Use the project or task templates and create vision boards with their clipper tool, keeping products organized and easily shareable with clients and vendors. Not only can you automate emails and billing for greater efficiency, but also social media posts, which is a feature that many other platforms do not include. However, similar to some others, Indema is designed to sync with QuickBooks for your accounting needs.

Pricing:

• Single $35/month or $385 annually

• Group $55/month or $550 annually

• Hub $75/month or $675 annually

Try it: Free 15-day trial. www.indema.co

New Features: (as of April 27, 2022)

• Email automation! You can now send out e-mail automation campaigns to leads and clients.

• New product review facelift where you can now show detailed information on the image popup, and choose what to show the client. Project-specific.

• You can now group items in estimates and invoices and show grouped item to clients.

• Added new certified partner program. (indema.co/partnership)

• In at Indema - A brand new community for designers. Coming End of May! Apply by going to indema.co/whose-in

• Added combine option on time-log invoices.

New Improvements Initiated:

• New support portal: $ Support.indema.co$ with updated articles.

• Updated billing page to show all billing and add-ons, as well as billing details in one page.

• Updated the sign-up flow (for new folks!), where its a single page sign-up process.

• You can now delete uploaded images from the visionboard.

• We've completely re-vamped our settings section to add notes, adjust some settings, and added more notification options for you.

• Added "QTY" column to products section

• Added "Spec #" column to products section.

• Improved performance by paginating products section so that it loads quicker.

• Made an adjustment to time-log invoices where it will no longer auto-bulk time logs into one. You can still do this by combining them and showing combined version to the client.

 Upcoming + Status:

• Adding new columns to the product section so you can manage the product even more. (Adding tracking, expediting, CFA approval date, PO sent date which will auto-generate, RFQ sent date which will also auto-populate, Ordered date, Quote received date, Lead time with a dropdown and pre-made date range of RTS, 1-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 6-12 weeks, and 12+ weeks, Status where you can create custom status for items, approved/declined which will auto-populate if client approved/declined and also be manual in case client verbally approved, and lastly a flag column where you can flag an item for follow up.

• A new set of 12 filtering options for the above to where you can show all products that don't have a quote date, or show products that are ordered, etc.

Currently Working On:

• XERO integration (No ETA, as we are running into conflicts with QBO)

• New File manager and project files User Interface. (NO ETA)

• inbound and outbound email capabilities with automation. (DELAYED TO JUNE)

• Specifications Module (DELAYED TO MAY)

• Integrately connection. API to connect other apps. (NO ETA)

Noteworthy:

• We have fully retired the "Payroll" section that generated pay statements.

Until the next update, TaTa and hope you all stay safe, healthy and enjoy your week!!

Indema is transparent and keeps everyone up to date on what’s working, bugs that are being fixed and what’s coming soon. You can see more here. https://feedback.indema.co/

MyDoma

MyDoma is a great organizational tool for your interior design projects. Many designers love the systems and processes and creating automations so that your business runs more smoothly, and MyDoma helps with this. The MyDoma platform helps with the onboarding process, a place to keep project info (e.g. space info, before images, measurements, inspiration images), and a place to collaborate with your clients. By using MyDoma, you are creating an online design studio/project binder to collaborate with your clients. You can have new clients sign contracts, fill out an onboarding questionnaire, and send initial payment all within the program. It’s a great option if you do e-design or offer smaller design packages.

This software is limited if you run a full-service interior design firm. For accounting, you can integrate MyDoma with QuickBooks, among other tools, but that means double entry for products and adding QuickBooks monthly fees to your total cost.

Pricing:

• Solo $59/month or $599 annually

• Team $79/month or $799 annually

• Agency $129/month $1299 annually

Try it: Free 15-day trial. www.mydomastudio.com

New Features: (as of May 18, 2022)

MyDoma NEXT

It’s no secret that the interior design business landscape has changed.

Client expectations and demands have grown and clients want information at their fingertips. Many designers struggle with keeping up and, as a result, remain in a very reactive place versus a proactive one. However, being reactive all the time is the fastest way to burn out.

Due to these growing demands, technology is no longer a nice-to-have… it’s a must-have. The old way of doing business with a pen and pencil or with clunky Excel spreadsheets, that you need to manually update, won’t cut it. Your clients want a platform they can access to get the information they want when they want it.

We’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of designers over the years and we rebuilt our beloved MyDoma Studio platform to meet the demands of the market. We’ve improved core features to fundamentally change how you work today but also into the future.

And, that is what we’re launching today… MyDoma NEXT.

While this first set of features is only the beginning, we think you’re going to find MyDoma NEXT to be intuitive and beautifully aligned to your business. It’s a fresh and modern user experience but it’s also familiar. Existing users will recognize the core features but will appreciate how they come together in a much more harmonious way.

With all that said, we’d love to introduce you to MyDoma NEXT and highlight some of the new and improved features that we think you’ll adore.

With MyDoma NEXT, you’ll get a full suite of time-saving tools so you can perfect your process and spend less time managing and more time designing.

Here is just a shortlist of the activities that you can manage inside of your projects:


• Appointments

• Files and media

• Notes

• Contract sign-offs

• Proposals

• Budgets

• Questionnaires

• And more…


The nice thing about MyDoma NEXT is that there are so many more customization options for your projects. Not only can you change the color scheme (hello, fresh look and feel!) but you can also turn on or off project features to reduce visual clutter and only show what you need.

Speaking of customizations, you can also create custom statuses that best reflect your workflow and visually move clients through the design process.

We also heard you say that you needed to save even more time on the administrative side of your business so we created project templates. With MyDoma NEXT you can replicate projects with templates to create new projects that reflect your workflow in seconds.

Learn more about our project management features.

xx, Danae

The Deals Keep On Coming With PRIME DAY 2022! #OfficeGoals

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It's Time to Take a Break: Mini Mental Vacation & Relaxation Techniques

With the prospect of summer vacation on the horizon, it feels harder than usual to settle into your office chair and get on with your daily routine. But we sometimes forget that vacation is not just having days with nothing to do or swapping one type of stress for another. Real vacations are mental. And they are possible and recommendable in our everyday life, so you don’t have to wait for your vacation days. You can enjoy many of the same relaxing benefits from a mini mental vacation no matter where you are. Here’s how.

Set a sacred time to unwind

Schedule some time, even if it’s just 5 minutes, to really set aside your problems and activities. Silence your phone. Nothing can burst your bubble during this time. It’s a non-negotiable getaway, all yours.

Live in the present

Many of us live worrying about the future and lamenting the past. There is peace to be found in connecting with the present moment by doing grounding or breathing exercises. Here is a simple one to try.

• Sit as comfortably as you can.

• Bring your attention to your breathing and begin to inhale softly and deeply. Pause and then exhale very slowly through your nose. Let your stomach deflate and release the tension from your chest and back. Repeat at least 10 times.

• It’s normal if your mind gets distracted, so when you notice this, bring your attention back to your breathing.

• Some people like to add a positive affirmation or mantra to repeat in their mind with each breath.

Meditate

For those of us who aren’t used to meditating, it can feel more daunting than freeing. But now, with a quick search, there are countless guided meditations available on streaming platforms and apps for all moods, tastes, and schedules, making the practice so much more accessible and effortless to all.

Don’t compare

It can be hard not to sigh when we see our friends or contacts posting selfies with turquoise beach backgrounds and drinks in their hands. Aside from the fact that social media often doesn't reflect the actual experience behind it, comparing yourself will only serve to make you bitter. Instead, send them good vibes and reconnect with your own present.

Make a gratitude list

More than likely, you already have a number of beautiful circumstances around you that you can bring to mind with gratitude. Write them down and take time to appreciate and bask in the sensation of each one.

Let yourself daydream

Beyond the here and now, take some time to envision a place you would love to be, and draw every detail you can in your imagination: the colors, the smell, the breeze, everything. Or you may even want to explore destinations online for a real future trip. It can even be intriguing to check out faraway places around the world on Google Street View.

Try new things

Breaking routine is stimulating to the brain and awakens our sense of discovery. You can achieve this by taking a different route to or from work, trying a new food or restaurant, or talking to someone new. Take a look at your routine and see what you can mix up.

Call a friend

While many of us are used to texts and emails that string together interrupted conversations throughout the day, a solid chat session with a good friend can transport you to their world, your shared musings, and upcoming plans.

Connect with nature

As part of the natural world, it can be very calming and healing to get in touch with nature. If you can’t go to the beach or a campground right now, take a walk in the nearest park and sit under a tree to listen to the leaves and birds or near a fountain to listen to the trickling water.

We all have different ways we like to disconnect from our stressful routines, but remember that a mental vacation is more than a temporary distraction. It's reclaiming time to actively connect with yourself and take care of yourself, and it's worth it.

xx, Danae

Elite Design Assistants: Did You Know We Offer THESE Services?

ELITE DESIGN ASSISTANTS

DID YOU KNOW WE OFFER THESE SERVICES?

Kitchen & Bath Design Assistant Services

Everyone knows that Kitchen & Bath design is a specialty service that not all designers OR design assistants love to offer. While kitchen and bath seems obvious to those who offer whole home renovations, remodels and new builds, there are other interiors designers whose niche is something entirely different. For those in Kitchen and Bath, it’s helpful to work with a virtual design assistant who has an interior design degree, extensive knowledge of residential building and construction including trim carpentry as well as the talent to not only create a beautiful space but one that is functional. If you are in need of a virtual design assistant with specific kitchen and bath experience, please let us know and we’ll connect you with someone soon!

3D Models

Are you an interior designer that orders a lot of custom furniture? If so, we have 3D Model experts on our team to create the 3D models of custom furniture pieces to put in renders. This is a great way for your clients to see what the custom furniture pieces will look like in their space.

Short Term Rentals

Investing in real estate has become a popular way to increase income and make a better return on your investment than having your hard-earned money sitting in a saving account. All of those investors are seeking out the expertise of interior designers to add value to their short-term rentals. If you are an interior designer that has a niche in this space and you need help, we’ve got VDAs with experience in this nice as well! Whether it’s Airbnb’s, hotels or other short-term rentals we can help you out. Plus, if you are interested in investing in the real estate industry, we have a Brand NEW service coming … we are going to teach you how to make money by investing in real state while not having to do any of the work. If you are interested, please email me at danae@elitedesignassitants.com and watch for our new posts on Passive Investing in real estate syndications and a bit more info below.

Vacation Homes

Vacation homes are an excellent niche especially if you live in an area where everyone is vacationing. People tend to design their vacation homes a bit differently than their permanent residence and we’ve got VDAs that love this space, too.

Outdoor Spaces

If there has ever been a time in our lives where people are bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out it would be now. With outdoor living spaces, outdoor kitchens, pools and more, if you need help from a design assistant trained in this space let us know.

Kid-friendly Designs

If you are used to decorating kid-friendly spaces, it’s always great to work with a design assistant with experience in that area.

AND … Coming soon - Passive Investing in Real Estate Syndications.

Watch for an email and blog post related to this NEW service. As savvy interior designers are looking for more ways to create passive income and make their money work harder for them, we will be offering courses, an investors club and investment opportunities in real estate. As real estate and interior design goes hand-in-hand this just makes sense. Some interior designers are already designing investment properties such as short term rentals and others are offering value add services to real estate investment trusts so you may know a bit about real estate investing. However, we are going to reach true passive investing which means your money works hard for you while you don’t lift a finger!

Please reach out via email to Elite Design Assistants to inquire more information on any of these services we offer!

danae@elitedesignassitants.com

xx, Danae

Brand New Template Bundles on Our Website!

We are always trying to offer our clients what they want and things that are super helpful to their businesses and lives. We now have a CAD Template Bundle and a Project Management Bundle.

The CAD Template Bundle includes everything you need to create professional CAD drawings and documents for your interior design project. It includes:

• Design Set Template

• XREF Titleblock Template

• Plot Styles

• Design Layers and Lineweights

• Paper Space Blocks and Symbols

• Furniture Plan Title Blocks

• Model Space Paper Size Outlines

For more information, please check out our site at www.elitedesignassistants/shop#tools-and-templates

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The Project Management Bundle will take your interior business to the next level. It includes:

• Budget Spreadsheet Template

• Cost Spreadsheet Template

• Installation Schedule Template

• Project Management Template

• Material and Finish Schedule Template

• Project List Template

• Room Product Checklist

In this bundle, you can either purchase things separately OR save money by purchasing the bundle. For more information, please check out our site at www.elitedesignassistants/shop#tools-and-templates

Of course, if you need CAD or project management services, please feel free to reach out! We are working hard to make your life easier so you can continue to grow and create the business of your dreams!

xx, Danae

Latest Trends in Summer Fashion

The long-awaited summer season is upon us and that means the rise of new (and nostalgic) summer 2022 trends that were already previewed on the runways and are now starting to be spotted everywhere, from fashion Instagram accounts to city sidewalks and your favorite stores.

Taking note of what we have been seeing emerging from fashion references over the last weeks, we know that many of the spring trends will carry over into the summer season, such as bright colors (especially pink, orange and green), bold prints (psychedelic or zebra) or a throwback to the "Y2K aesthetic".

HOOKED ON CROCHET

In the same vein, boho styles are back at the forefront, including loose crochet garments like tanks and bell bottoms, which can be paired with a bikini set underneath for a beach or festival look. If the knit pattern is too wide for the occasion, you can also try a light slip dress under a crochet dress.

GO TO GREAT LENGTHS WITH SHORTS

It's no wonder that one of the stars of the season is shorts in their many forms. This summer, we're ditching the micro hot pants in favor of comfortable, adventure-friendly Bermuda shorts. “Paper bag" shorts are sticking around this year, and the catwalks (Michael Kors, Chanel) have dared to bring back the capri pants, another tribute to the turn of the millennium.

SUIT YOURSELF

To the relief of office-goers everywhere, you can now find a wider selection of lighter weight suit sets with short-sleeved or sleeveless tops and short bottoms. Double-down on trends by choosing a brightly colored or color-blocked suit ensemble. More good news? This is a versatile look that is easy to dress up or down.

CUT OUT FOR IT

One-shoulder tops and asymmetrical cuts and hemlines are taking over and adding interest to the 2022 summer wardrobe. Cheeky cut-outs in dresses and jumpsuits are also here to lighten the mood.

STEP BY STEP

Lowering our gaze to the footwear of the season, strappy sandals (with or without heels) are coming in strong. They can be found in the same trendy bright colors we’re seeing in clothing, or in the gladiator-style model that has graced us since ancient Greece. Meanwhile, we’re experiencing the resurgence of a footwear style with roots in Ancient Rome: mules. Throwback much? But in 2022, we have mules with heels of all heights, pointed or round toe, and covered or open toe. And very fitting to their name, the debut of a hybrid: the sneaker-mule.

BEYOND APPEARANCES

Fashion goes much deeper than clothes, and these messages make a difference. In recent months, Rihanna has blown us away with her maternity looks by highlighting the changes that her body has been undergoing instead of hiding them. She is one shining example of the greater body-positive movement that, hopefully, is here to stay.

Will you try any of these latest summer trends?

xx, Danae

Is it Time for a Rebrand?

Rebranding is a marketing strategy that involves partially or totally modifying the set of elements that identify a business or brand, in order to improve or expand its positioning in the market. This could include anything from your logo to the fonts and color palette you use, and much more. Just as interior designers get to know their clients and gather information about their values and tastes in order to reflect who they are in their designs, your brand should reflect the spirit of your company, and your clients should see themselves reflected in it as well.

It’s a process that the biggest names have gone through, and many times over. Household names like Google, Nike, Apple and a host of others have rebranded over the years, but they have managed to retain certain elements to remain familiar and trustworthy to consumers, while communicating an expansion or new values.

So, is it time to rebrand your interior design firm? Think about what has changed in your company, whether your niche or target customer has shifted, and what you’ve done so far to illustrate those changes to the public. Here are some reasons to consider rebranding.

The industry is evolving - One of the most common reasons for rebranding is simply to keep with the times. Interior design is an industry in which it is particularly important to demonstrate up-to-date design knowledge and an awareness of new client needs. However, don’t just jump on a trend bandwagon and blend in with the rest. Standing out is one of the goals!

Your company is evolving - Perhaps you have decided to cater to a new or different customer and want to attract that profile with a relevant corporate image. When announcing news about your company, such as the launch of a new service, it’s time to review if your corporate image still represents the essence of your company or if it requires some adaptations to reflect the changes you are implementing.

A lack of clarity or consistency - Your logo, mission statement and overall style need to be congruent and harmonious. Aspects of the graphic design should also be versatile enough to be functional across platforms. You should work with a brand book with specific fonts, logo formats and colors as a reference to project a unified image. If you aren’t yet, you may be able to pare down and consolidate the styles and elements you’re already working with and see if that’s enough of an improvement.

As we’ve seen so far, rebranding may include a makeover of your corporate logo or colors. In some cases, it can mean changing the very name of your company. But it’s important not to neglect other elements you communicate, such as how you describe the company and present your team on your website. You may even need to reevaluate your usual processes, such as your intake questionnaire and briefing format, to make it all fit together and work. In short, rebranding is like renovating a house. We can simply redesign the logo or change the visual, emotional and functional aspects of the brand at a much deeper level.

However, rebranding is not always the solution. It’s a significant investment that can’t be taken lightly. In addition to brand consultancy services, you will need to update your website, stationery, business cards, or even company vehicles if you have them. Everywhere your brand appears. This transition can be done somewhat gradually if necessary, but it’s best to keep this period as short as possible. If you have a well-established brand, it’s a good idea to do thorough audience research before discarding the current one. Sometimes a few simple changes with a bit of guidance or “restyling” are enough to get your current brand aligned.

If you think that your interior design business could benefit from a rebrand, set up a meeting with a branding expert. Create a moodboard together that expresses the feel of your design firm. They should help you by studying your case and carrying out a market study to make the change meaningful and strategic, not just a makeover for the sake of it. You can even consider asking your followers on social media to vote on their favorite new logo options by creating a poll on your Instagram stories, for example. It’s a way to get real feedback before taking the leap, as well as boost customer engagement.

Once you do define your new corporate image, take the opportunity to announce it loud and proud to your audience with a marketing campaign, sharing and celebrating this new chapter in the story of your business and a new appeal to your clients.

xx, Danae