The Kate Show is a marketing podcast for interior designers, home stagers, professional organizers and window treatment specialists.
In every episode, Kate explains simple, no-nonsense ways to effectively market your business online. To learn more or read the show notes, go to www.katethesocialite.com.
Guys, I am seriously over-the-moon happy that Instagram is finally taking steps toward removing their most addictive and harmful feature. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing how this change will affect your business Instagram account and what you need to do to be ready when your likes disappear.
We try to help people, right? Sometimes it just doesn't work out, despite our best intentions. In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing why you might be attracting bad clients unknowingly, the red flags you should watch for when entertaining a new prospect, and how to handle them when they slip into your schedule.
Blogging is a marketing beast that scares many interior designers, home stagers, and workrooms. It requires consistent creativity, a knowledge of SEO, and at least a decent amount of writing ability. With all these things in mind, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the idea of starting a blog, especially if you aren't sure what to say, how often to write it, or where to source your photos. More importantly, you might not even be sure whether having a blog is necessary for your business. I mean...
AirBnb is taking over the hospitality industry. These hosts are ready to make money. As designers and stagers, you are the perfect professionals who can help them maximize the aesthetics and comfortability of their spaces, which leads to more bookings and higher rates for the host, which circles back to you, greatly increasing the value of your services and the price you set on them. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing my top tips on how to create service packages that AirBnb hosts will love at ...
If you're on the fence about creating a team to support your business, if you still wonder whether you should be doing it all to "save money," or if you want to build a team and don't know who to hire first, you're in luck. Today on The Kate Show podcast, I am sharing the top subcontractors you should considering hiring to further your business. Plus, I'm sharing the contact info of several of the subcontractors I use virtually so that you can consider hiring them, too.
Tough conversations in business are unavoidable. Whether you are dealing with a disgruntled client, a wayward employee, or an off-the-rails subcontractor, you know that sometimes you just have to put your game face on and have "the talk." On today's episode of The Kate Show, my guest - a business coach for woodworkers - is sharing his simple formula for difficult conversations. His straight-forward approach and clear rules of conduct will help you communicate under tense circumstances without lo...
Have you ever been told that your business idea, new service offering, or passion project won't work? Unfortunately not every entrepreneur in the home industry has a support network behind them, especially if they attempt to do something that no one in their family, social circles, or industry has accepted as "normal." When you're doing something different, you'll be treated differently. Sometimes the objections we hear or the well-intentioned, "That could be a good hobby for you but..." can tak...
If you're on the fence about creating a team to support your business, if you still wonder whether you should be doing it all to "save money," or if you want to build a team and don't know who to hire first, you're in luck. Today on The Kate Show podcast, I am sharing the top subcontractors you should considering hiring to further your business. Plus, I'm sharing the contact info of several of the subcontractors I use virtually so that you can consider hiring them, too.
I am an achiever, a reformer, and a thinker. How do I know this? I've taken several different Ennegram tests and those results consistently appear. If you don't know what the Ennegram is, you're in for some breaking news: The Ennegram can be traced back to ancient Syria and Egypt and is a personality analysis based on a person's weakest points or the areas they need to improve. Each of the nine personality types have their own struggles: Anger, pride, and envy are a few of the key components. Ho...
What does it take to become an HGTV interior designer and receive public acknowledgement from the Real Estate Staging Association as one of the most influential people in the industry? My special guest, Rachel Moriarty will tell you. I have been following Rachel for years and was completely floored when she became a customer of Socialite. I mean, can I just be a fan girl for a minute? I had the opportunity to interview Rachel as part of the Socialite Vault Influencer Program and knew I'd need to...
Whether you're a new interior designer, home stager, or workroom owner...or you've been in business for decades, you may find a time when your business is *crickets.* No projects on the horizon, no leads coming in.... And you might start to worry. However, worry is not a good revenue generator and also tends to kill any creativity left in your brain. The decisions any of us make from this mindset tend to be regrettable. To avoid regrets and, ideally, to avoid the "famine" entirely, I'm sharing s...
Do you ever get the feeling you aren't doing enough to market your design, staging, or workroom business? Wouldn't it be nice to have a checklist that could tell you, in mere minutes, whether you were on track for success or dangerously close to derailing? In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing an 11 question checklist to help you determine the marketing and well being of your business.
"Should I make it obvious on my website that I am a one-person business or will that discredit me?" "How can I get clients to take me seriously when I only just graduated from design school?" "How can I reference my past careers without harming the validity of my current home industry business?" These are the questions I receive from entrepreneurs in the home industry. No matter how long or short you've been in the business world, you've likely experienced the insecurity that comes with starting...
Video is a big deal, but it doesn't have to be a colossal undertaking. Today on The Kate Show, we're chatting with home stager Tori Toth on why she started using video in her marketing and how it has helped establish her as a home staging influencer. Tune in to hear her realistic tips and strategies for becoming confident on camera and crafting a succinct message that your viewers can't stop watching.
Here's the truth: It's the small, seemingly insignificant things that will grow your business and multiply your marketing the most. Success doesn't lie in that one big event, that one special magazine feature, that collaboration, or that TV spot. Marketing your design, staging, or workroom business right into a state of success depends on the small details, the things you do consistently, the things you do wholeheartedly without wavering.
Well, this was fun! I asked you all on social media to send me your burning questions about marketing, about growing your business, and my personal life. This episode is full of easy-to-use marketing tips and juicy details about me that you either always wondered or never wanted to know. If you don't know me yet, you'll feel like you do after hearing this episode.
As an interior designer, home stager, or workroom owner, your project portfolio is one of your greatest marketing tools. Today, I'm sharing how you can leverage your portfolio - whether it is large or small - for the biggest and best marketing impact. We will cover the big things you should always do before and after adding new project photos to your website, how to make them work for you across Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, and why telling the story behind each project is absolute marketi...
When was the last time you gave your business marketing a check up? Much like having a physical done with your primary care provider, doing a check up on your marketing is preventative and serves to actively improve your business. Don't wait for a lack of leads or new projects before you assess your marketing, because that would be "too late" and make it harder for you to dig yourself out of that hole. Instead, remember that the current success of your business is because of the marketing effort...
Do you find yourself constantly starting at ground zero when brainstorming what you should post on social media, put in your newsletter, or write about on your blog? As interior designers, home stagers, and workroom owners, you already have way too much on your schedule. Reinventing the wheel with your marketing shouldn't be one more thing that eats up your time. On this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing my top tips for recycling the marketing content you already have, why most marketing con...
When I ask home industry business owners what their marketing goals are, I often hear the same answers: "I want more clients." "I want bigger projects." "I want to get featured by shelter magazines." However, these are dreams, not goals. A goal is something that has a step-by-step plan leading up to its front door. For example, if I said I wanted to spend two weeks in Ireland for vacation, that would be a dream. If I booked a plane ticket, planned my itinerary, packed my bags, and started drivin...
As an interior designer, home stager, or workroom owner, do you have a mailing list? I ask this question of my new clients often. ...And I'm often met with raised brows, followed by questions such as: "Why do I need a mailing list? I have social media followers." "What if my contacts don't want to hear from me?" "Isn't email marketing outdated? These are valid questions, and ones that need answering before we can delve into exactly how to grow your mailing list. If you're ready to discover how m...
Do you run a soft furnishings workroom? Do you struggle with marketing? I get it. After speaking with countless workroom business owners, I recognize the special challenges you likely face when it comes to marketing your business. Whether you serve residential clients, trade-only, or both, you'll find this episode of The Kate Show to be a helpful, actionable plan you can implement right away to start marketing your business more efficiently.
As many of you know, I'm due with my first baby in July 2019. As I'm preparing for her arrival, I realize that now is the perfect time to share a bit more about my business model, my team, and why motherhood won't be taking me away from entrepreneurship. (Shout out to all my working moms who hustle hard and hug their kids every day. Balance isn't perfect, but you make it look good.) If you're curious about my leveraged, passive income model, the team that runs it, and why my business was built f...
Have you been looking for a way to take your interior design or home staging business to the next level? Some of the most lucrative business ideas can be implemented within an existing business and marketed to your existing audience, and this new business venture is no exception. Most of us are familiar with AirBnb, the revolutionary hospitality platform that allows home owners and property managers the opportunity to rent out spaces to short-term guests and make nearly a completely passive inco...
As a home industry professional, you know how much your client's experience with you matters from day one. In fact, the ease with which you bring them into the fold of your company speaks to your level of professionalism even before your creative work has had a chance to shine. Not only will your on boarding process shape your client's expectations, it will also create a lens through which they will view your work, for better or worse. Do you have an on boarding process? Do you know what an on b...
If you're ready to develop a mission statement for your interior design, home staging, or workroom business - one that cuts the fluff and focuses on the heart of what you do - stay tuned. This episode of The Kate Show takes a magnifying glass to the often overlooked mission statement and analyzes why it is a necessary component of every successful marketing strategy.
"I spilled wine on her white sofa...and she laughed." That was the subject line of one of my most successful email newsletters. My customers used it to introduce their clients to the wonderful joys of Crypton Fabric, resulting in custom furniture and re-upholstery projects. Open rates went through the roof anytime the email was sent - and it didn't matter or big or small their mailing list was. Two years later, that newsletter is still one of the most popular in the Vault. (Vault is my online ma...
Are you so burned out and bewildered by the 1,000+ pieces of marketing advice flying in your face that you don't know what to do next? Are you so overwhelmed by marketing or even just your own client load that the thought of cranking out a blog post, a newsletter, or a month's worth of social media is completely ludicrous? If so, it's time that you partner with a marketer. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm digging into exactly how to find the right social media manager, website designer, ...
Did you know that Pinterest is a great way to promote your new line of home furnishings, your blog, and even your portfolio? While you might know it as a social platform, Pinterest is actually a search engine and an absolute powerhouse when it comes to sending the right traffic to your website. If you write blog posts that get very little attention, if your lead magnet isn't attracting new email subscribers, and if your website traffic overall is low... You need Pinterest. Learn how to use Pinte...
In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm pulling back the curtain on what marketing fear is, how to know if you have it, and how to address the real root of your fear. (Spoiler alert: Your fear isn't really about marketing.)
