Unlocking the Secrets to Success

Just a quick note…check out yesterday’s giveaway post if you haven’t seen it already.  I’ve got some really cute pillows to give away! 

CLICK HERE to go to the post.

This weekend Erika from BluLabel Bungalow, Capella from A Curated Lifestyle and I spoke at the Lavish! conference about turning your readers into clients.  Since we consider ourselves designers who blog instead of bloggers who design it was a perfect topic for us.  We met a few times before the conference so that we could brainstorm on the best ways to reach out to potential clients and bring more readers to your blog. 

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the conference I thought I would share some highlights from our tip sheet.

Interiors & the Internet: Unlocking the Secrets to Success Through Your Blogging and Social Media Efforts

Why Launch a Blog?

~Blogging is basically free [at least monetarily free] marketing for your company.

~Posting consistently is extremely important when you first create your blog.

~Blogging is a great way to show your company’s personality.

~A blog is a great way to increase search engine optimization.

Blog Design

~Your blog’s design is your first chance to make an impression on readers & potential clients.

~Be recognizable and keep your graphics consistent throughout each of your social media platforms.

How Do You Reach Your Target Audience

~Step One…Determine who your target audience is.

~Engage your readers by commenting on their blogs, creating newsletters and email subscriptions and communicating on Twitter

~Making connections and networking is just as important in the blogging and social media world as it is in the real world.

Create Content that Keeps Them Coming Back

~Have a unique point of view and position yourself as an expert

~Blog with a plan, a purpose and consistency

~Engage your readers with questions/polls/surveys

Show Your Stuff

~Remind readers that you are a designer.

~Use your blog for progress shots and your website for professional portfolio shots.

~Emphasize your brand.

Inter-Networking & The Big 5 (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Linked-In, YouTube)

~Develop a content strategy that will engage your audience.

~Grow your fan base by posting quality content.

~Add Your Social Media info to your email signature.

~Learn which social media outlets your target markets use.

Transforming Readers Into Clients

~Be patient, building trust takes time.

~Offer something of value to your readers (ebooks, giveaways, newsletter, coupon codes).

~Be responsive, but not pushy.

~Ask for the business, Give quality service, Thank client, Repeat.

***Check out Erika’s Blog to download our actual tips sheet as well as see links to notes from other speakers’ sessions.

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And that is our presentation in a nutshell.  These were just some of the highlights.  It would be a pretty long post if I wrote out our our entire 45 minute presentation.  I hope this will be useful to those of you who have a design related company and are trying to turn your readers into clients. 

xo, Cristi