Finding Your eDesign Specialty + Clients
I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I got tired of every guru in the world telling me that I had to pick a niche and stick to it. It took years for me to understand it and when that light bulb finally turned on I realized why.
You may want to be known as the Jill-of-All-Trades interior decorator creating every beautiful room known to man, woman and child or the stylist for everyone from Great Aunt Irene to Mittens the lethargic cat, but I’m telling you now – DON’T. Pick ONE laser focused area to work in – or if you can’t get it down to one, get it as close as possible.
While you might think you're shutting off the pipeline of clients by being super specific and picking a niche market for your interior design business, you're not. There are plenty of peeps who want to work with a specialist. Like, if you need a heart bypass are you gonna go to a podiatrist? Like, no. Unless you want to die.
This is all going to help you out in the beginning of your design business. You can expand later, but when you are starting out, you will have lots of other tasks to take care of and if you pick too many specialties, you’re going to want to shoot yourself. Simply because you will not have the bandwidth to actively market all of them.
You and I both know that when you’re starting an design business you could design an awesome master bedroom and an awesome kitchen. But we also know that they aren’t really that similar.
If you get a client online who wants help with a complete kitchen remodel, including cabinets, are you prepared for all of that?
The best way to have lots of clients lining up to have you design for them is to pick something and be effing fantastic at it.
So, let’s narrow it down… look at the design services you want to offer.
Make a list of the services that make you the most money. Now make a list of services you love performing the most. The items that are on both lists are the ones you should keep.
Brainstorm 10 ideas. Then narrow it down to the top 3 that you would like to offer based on the tools and software you have available to you to offer those.
Your niche could be a type of design style, or who you work with like home-based entrepreneurs.
Vocation: Residential Interior Design
Niche: Vintage Interior Design
Niche: Paint Color Specialist
Niche: Nursery & Children’s Rooms
How to Identify & Find Your Perfect Clients
Define who you actually want to work with first so you aren’t a desperate little entrepreneur.
You don’t need to have people taking advantage of you and without a clear vision and no-nonsense policies they will. People will want you to reduce your fees. People will want you to give them a custom service for the price of a consultation. Don’t do it. Figure out now who you want to work with and stick to it.
And the answer to who you want to work with isn’t a 32-year-old mother living in St. Louis.
The real key to selling your stuff is knowing deep down who this person is and what they worry about when it’s 2am. It’s called a niche and the reason why knowing what your niche is very important… because when you know the conversation your client is already having inside their head; you can jump into that conversation and make the sale easily.
If you can’t figure out who your ideal client is our figure out what that problem conversation they are replaying in their head on the daily is… then you need to do some research and figure it out. This is a BIG one you must tackle. I’ve watched businesses try to wing it for a while. They don’t want to do this hard work and you know what happens? Their business fails because they don’t know what the purpose of their business is, who needs their help and why.
Even if you’ve never had a client in your entire life, you can figure out who this person is that you want to do business with is. Yes, it requires you to do some research and to think.
Let’s define them now before we go building a business for the wrong clientele.
Think back to only the clients you loved working with.
List all the traits that have in common like their gender, age/ stage in life (newlywed, 55+, baby boomers, etc.), income level, occupation, education, geographic location, lifestyle, marital status, values, beliefs, hobbies, magazines read, interests, charities, community groups, where they “hang out”.
Think about what they really need. How else will you know what type of package to create? You are creating solutions to their problems, not just random services they might stumble into buying.
Think about it this way. Say they bought a computer. You don’t care that they bought a computer. You want to know WHY they bought the computer. That WHY ….that is their motivation.
So why would they buy a room design from you? What problem are you going to solve? Here’s some ideas to get you thinking:
I help new parents design a nursery that will transition easily into a room that grows with their child.
I help Boomers redesign their home so they can continue to live there.
I help first time homeowners decorate their home by maximizing their budget and helping them find their style.
I help successful professionals create a blissful home by providing a full service design and installation service.
I help home-based entrepreneurs create a video-ready and productive home office.
I help soul-centered women create a sacred space that supports their spirituality.
I help busy families create safe and organized spaces.
I help people who have an idea of what they like put together a cohesive design that they can implement as the time and budget allows.
So what does your ideal client you just envisioned worry about?
Is she tired of her living room looking like a college dorm?
Does she know what she likes but can’t figure out how to put it together without wasting a bunch of money?
What is their biggest fear?
What is their worst-case scenario?
Now it’s time to get to work and figure this all out.
Need more help, join me in the Society and get step-by-step help and personalized advice to grow your eDesign business.
Hola!👋I'm Alycia. I help eDesigners land dream clients + get profitable with smart online marketing methods. Want in on the only membership group that will help you get organized, get visible AF, and get majorly PROFITABLE? Hell yes, you do. Follow me.
Hola! I'm Alycia Wicker and I help online interior designers grow their business.
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