Presentations are a great way to build your business credibility. Many of you have heard me promote FaceTime over FaceBook. In other words, get in front of the people who may be interested in your services. To help you do that, I am creating a series of blog posts that you can use as an outline for building a 20-45 minute presentation. Let’s continue with the Decorating Don’ts and then I will share the Top Ten Decorating Dos!
Tacky Theme Space
6. Don’t be the Theme Queen-Creating a beautiful room inspired by travels, culture, or a hobby is a common fallback for the non-professional decorator. There is a huge difference between being inspired and redundancy. A little goes a long way when creating a theme space. Think of unique ways to showcase the theme instead of the predictable. i.e. instead of a series of golf pictures on the wall, use golf clubs as the rods for a window treatment.
5. Don’t let someone else tell you what you like. The sign of a true decorating professional is one who doesn’t tell you what you need but helps you discover what style best fits your personality. A common problem for
the DIY, is the well meaning opinion of friends, which are skewed by their likes and dislikes. Soon, you have a hundred opinions and you don’t know what to do. Take time and create a style file, filling a folder with pictures that appeal to you. Once you have filled your folder with a variety of pictures, go back and analyze what appealed to you in each picture. i.e. painted ceiling, nickel hardward, wood floors, etc. If you have enough pictures, you should be able to see a trend. (PROP NOTE: Give each participant a decorative file folder labeled with your contact info. Share magazines with group and allow them a few minutes to tear out photos. Give them 2-3 minutes, then trade magazines. After a few minutes, gather magazines and tell them they have started their own style file. Your label is key to remind them of you whenever they pull it out and hopefully call you when ready for their next decorating project.)
Hope you are enjoying my tips.
JoAnne Lenart-Weary
One Day Decorating and The Decorating and Staging Academy
So true JoAnne. It is difficult to build there “wheel”, without a center hub. Many don’t really know what they like. By building a style file their likes will emerge. We had a workshop where we did like you suggested. We earned several jobs from that event plus it helped in building our credibility.
DesAnn
Design By DesAnn
Thank you for these tips, Joanne. I am collecting them and thinking about where to pursue a speaking opportunity.
I love the idea about having them start their labeled file right there – excellent!
I love the style files too. It helps clear the path to amazing rooms that are sure to please. Toss in the decorating fundamentals and it’s guaranteed success. My style files are now style binders. I love to flip through and see how my style has evolved.