Backwards marketing is a practice that starts with the end in mind, creating a clear marketing goal and breaking down the steps leading away from it.

Collaboration requires time rather than money, yet it can result in significant money earned in the end. Regardless of how you approach a collaboration—one time gig or ongoing—it has the potential to grow both businesses and, most importantly, serve your mutual clients at a higher level.

A year from now, you will look back on the first few months of your business and smile. You might cringe a little, too, and that's a good thing. You are going to learn so much about yourself and your industry from your first few years in business than any psychologist or MBA could possibly offer.

If you struggle with knowing what to say on your blog, website, or social channels, today's show is for you. I'm sharing my top three ways for blasting through the mental block that leaves even the most well-versed business owners speechless.

If you're ready to learn when, where and how to run a successful ad--and how to recognize when it's truly a waste of money--this episode is for you.

Do you overthink your decisions in business? I lean toward indecisiveness too, and I've found a four step process that helps me strategically navigate my options and make a decision that I can walk away feeling confident about.

Have you been wanting to launch your e-design business or add virtual interior design to your service packages? Whether you're a total newbie or an experienced traditional designer, this episode will help you set up a sales funnel to sell your e-design services on autopilot.

I chatted with fellow lady boss Albie Buabeng of Albie Knows Design and founder of The E-Design Experience, a virtual seminar and society centered on helping interior designers launch and grow a profitable e-design business (or simply add e-design to their list of services).

If you just started your interior design or home staging firm, you've realized a few things (and if you haven't yet...spoiler alert!). You are going to feel like you need to explain your reason for existing. You are going to feel uncomfortable and fake when you tell people what you do. You are going to feel judged. Period.

With the recent upheaval of Houzz and IvyMark, the interior design industry is #shook. Oh, and #woke, if you want to go with straight up Generation Z lingo.  Interior designers and their counterparts are on edge and scrambling to vet their vendors (perhaps a little too late) in an effort to protect their clients' information and their pricing structures.

Today I'm taking a break from hardcore marketing topics to get personal, real, and raw with you. I started my business four years go, and it has been quite a journey. In year one, I was a newly wed, a college grad, and I had four thousand dollars to my name. In year two, I rebranded, refocused, and basically started over. In year three, my husband was able to quit his day job in order to pursue his own dreams, and I was finally able to say adios to the many part-time jobs I had.

Now it's year four, and we are building our dream log home. How did I get here?

Have you noticed the plethora of marketing advice being thrown around on social media? Me too. Some of it is so smart and so brilliant that it makes me proud to count myself among the ranks of "marketer."

But not all advice is sound. In fact, I've seen and heard a few marketing tips lately that have been proven to do more harm than good. I know this because I've either tried these tips myself or because my clients have come running to me for help after trying them.

Let me be clear: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I'm sure everyone has a reason for imparting specific pieces of advice. However, it is my job to warn you if I see you being (potentially) led astray by the latest and greatest marketing ploy.

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I attended a build, remodel and landscape show here in Wisconsin. Aside from being a huge production, the show was also full of dynamic booths--some really amazing ones and some really awful ones. We ended up spending five hours at the show (thanks to good beer and good friends), and I picked up some alarming do's and don'ts about expo and tradeshow marketing along the way.

Marketing your interior design or home staging firm requires a healthy balance of both online and offline marketing strategies. In today's episode, we're talking all about how you can increase your know, like, and trust factor by creating lasting and profitable relationships with realtors in the various cities and suburbs that you serve.

If you are trying to grow or sustain your interior design business, you need to make sure you aren't self-sabotaging. For example, if you or your website use the phrase, "We design spaces based on your lifestyle," hold up! In this episode, I explain why this phrase cripples your potential new client's ability to confidently hire you. 

Wondering how to get more high-level clients so that you can focus on the quality--not quantity--of your design or staging projects? Today we are talking about the amazing selling power of specificity. The more specific you are with your brand and service offerings, the more your interior design or home staging firm will grow. 

Are you overwhelmed with the chore of marketing your interior design or home staging business? Marketing has become over-complicated and strenuous, thanks to social media, email, and video marketing. We feel that we need to be constantly posting on every social media platform, and we often find that we have nothing new or unique to say. Learn how to cut the extra marketing work out of the picture in this action-packed episode.