Do you dream of turning your interior design hobby into a successful career?

Do you have a sharp eye for interior styles and the latest trends?

If the answer is yes, then you’ll want to read on.

Let’s take a closer look into the career paths of several leading interior designers, and aims to arm you with the knowledge you need to break into the interior industry.

What does an interior designer do?

A typical day in the life of an interior designer is fast-paced and varied. The beautiful space that an interior designer creates for their client is the result of months of planning, creative thinking and hard work. From coffees with clients to finding fixtures and fittings, these are some of the main responsibilities of an interior designer:

• Source new clients and projects
• Prepare briefs, sketches and quotes according to the job specifications
• Create a timeline of the project
• Assess and evaluate the client’s requirements throughout the project
• Prepare detailed drawings from the initial sketches, usually done on a computer
• Source and find furnishings, fixtures and fittings
• Attend regular site visits and client meetings

Of course, this list is far from exhaustive. An interior designer must be flexible and quick to react to any number of problems that can arise throughout a project.

And what other qualities must an interior designer have? I spoke to a number of industry experts and the five traits below came out on top.

• Creativity
• Organisational skills
• Excellent communicators
• Attention to detail
• Commercially minded

All the interior professionals we spoke to stressed creativity as a crucial piece in the interior designers’ toolkit. Unsurprisingly, having great organisational and communications skills are also important. An interior designer’s eye for detail should be second to none, and all the above must be underpinned by an excellent awareness of current business conditions.

What qualifications does an interior designer need?

There are several routes that an aspiring interior designer can take to break into the industry. As a general rule, interior designers must have the qualifications that demonstrate an extremely high level of design ability and artistic talent. The most common ways to prove these skills are:

• Higher education – There are a vast number of higher education courses available to students. Some take a full-time 3-4 year undergraduate course in interior design or a design related degree. Others prefer to take a year-long foundation course first, which gives students a solid knowledge base before they take their studies further. A HND (Higher National Diploma) is also worth considering. These can take 2 years to complete and is equivalent to 2 years at university.
• Interior design diploma – These are short, intensive courses that generally take 1 year to complete. The KLC School of Design offers a full-time or blended learning (part-time) version of the interior design diploma which is one of the most well-regarded in the world. The National Design Academy also offer an interior design diploma, with good opportunities for distance learning.
• Short specialist courses – Build up your portfolio and enlist in as many short courses and workshops as possible. These are great for helping to build skills such as technical drawing, Photoshop or CAD.

Polly Williams from Camberyard, who specialise in helping interior professionals forge their careers explained that “[their] advice is always the same. Take the time to work out a career action plan so that you know what kind of designer you want to be and how you can realise your goals” She explains that “spending the time to work out what kind of interior designer you aspire to be before you embark on your career journey” can be one of the most helpful steps of all.

What is an average interior designer salary?

The salary of an interior designer is very much dependent on the level of experience. Junior and entry-level positions start at the lower end of the scale, while head designers can earn much more. Freelance designers set their own hourly rates.

• Senior Designer | £45,000+
• Experienced Designer | £25-30,000
• Junior Designer | £18-20,000

How can I further my career as an interior designer?

Once you’re a fully-fledged interior designer, how can you stay at the top of your game? Consider a membership to a professional institution, continue to network with other industry professionals and enrol in further training courses.

• British Institute of Interior Design – a BIID membership is extremely highly regarded in the UK and is well worth looking into if you are a practising interior designer with over 6 years of combined education and work experience. If you are an interior designer with less than 6 years experience, you can join the organisation and work towards a full BIID accreditation.
• Chartered Society of Designers – whether you’re a student looking to improve your opportunities at an early stage, or a fully-fledged chartered designer, a CSD membership is accessible to everyone in the industry. The membership levels change according to your experience level – but all offer access to a network of like-minded individuals.
• Keep learning – interior design is a constantly evolving discipline and it is crucial that designers stay up-to-date. Attending conferences, enrolling in classes and networking with other professionals are excellent ways to stay abreast of the latest industry developments.

16 Tips for New Interior Designers from Those Who Have Been Through It All

So you’ve decided to be an interior designer. Now what?

Every fledgling interior designer needs some guidance along the way, whether that is the specifics of running the business or secret tips for getting more clients.

And who better to give the advice other than experienced interior designers themselves, so here are some exclusive tips from the experts to help you get your business up and running…

Never Stop Listening

Anne Wall. Course Director, My Interior Design School

I would recommend having an interior design qualification!

Now you are probably thinking ‘she would say that’, but as the interior design industry is not regulated in terms of who can give professional advice to clients, it pays to know what you are talking about!

Even if you have lots of experience in renovating your own home or styling interiors for friends and family, it is vital you have a professional-standard qualification and the skills and knowledge to be able to run a project for a paying client.

My second piece of advice would be to ‘listen’.

This is key to improving your new business and working with your first clients.

When you first set out as an interior designer, confidence can be an issue. You may feel nervous about asking for help. But seek out anyone who can give you advice and listen to their words of wisdom.

When we started My Interior Design School 10 years ago, we worked really hard to get feedback from focus groups and our customers on many areas of our business – from our branding, course materials, content, and even the lunches we serve at our workshops.

Although the occasional negative comment could make difficult reading, it was really valuable that we listened to our customers and made us improve quicker.

We still ask for feedback, will always listen to our customers and now use a business mentor as an important sounding board too.

Listening to a client when taking a brief is one of the most important skills you can have as an interior designer and one that is often over-looked.

We provide templates for students on our professional courses so they ask their clients relevant questions. But the key is to listen.

How do they want a room to feel? Is this design a quick-fix to sell or to last 5 years? Who will be using the space and when?

Asking the right questions and listening to the client will lead to a great relationship based on trust and transparency. And hopefully the start of a successful career as an interior designer where you’ll be interpreting what the client wants and reflecting that in your designs.

And thirdly I would recommend immersing yourself in your new role!

What a fantastic opportunity and amazing job being an interior designer should be.

If you have set up your business well, you have your finances in order, you know your stuff (and you can enrol on a course with My Interior Design School if not!), you understand your customers and what they want, you know what your business is there for and have some fabulous branding in place – then add in some hard work, enthusiasm and passion and you can look forward to a brilliant career as an interior designer!

Focus On Your Clients

Carla Muncaster, Urban Grain Interiors

The key to being successful is being really practical and totally understanding how your clients live and what their needs are… for me, interior design is all about making client’s interiors work harmoniously for them…

Of course, it’s also about making interiors look great, but never at the expense of functionality… it’s also really important to stick to clients’ budgets and creatively deliver solutions which have longevity.

Watch Your Cash Flow

Adrienne Chinn, Adrienne Chinn Design

My best piece of advice would be to keep a close eye on your cash flow. Get paid for your time and for your work, otherwise you will be pursuing an expensive hobby rather than a professional interior design career.

Invest In Yourself

Anouska Lancaster, Noushka Design

Be prepared to work for free. In the beginning; I worked for free so that I could gain experience and create a portfolio of work. Don’t be selective about the work you take on. Accept anyone who is willing to pay you or give you an opportunity.

Be patient and positive. These things take time and do not happen overnight. I have had as many no’s as yes’s in my career.

If possible, try and support yourself financially through other means whilst you get your business up off the ground.

Work hard and be passionate about everything you do – it will definitely show in your work. Believe in yourself, and others will believe in you.

Research and educate yourself. Go to as many exhibitions, shows and galleries as possible to absorb other people’s work and gather inspiration. Travel is also key to personal inspiration for me. Take photos and compile albums of things that have excited you. Read books and magazines and follow other designers work online. I am always learning and always educating myself.

Network and meet people. Set up accounts on social media. It is a great way of networking as well as collating ideas. Join a small business club, and enrol onto a ‘business starter course’. I have done numerous additional courses at the KLC in Chelsea on subjects such as ‘how to run your own business’. Recognise your weaknesses and work on them. These will only drain your confidence and hold you back.

Listen To Your Clients

Anne Sowerby, Sassy Property Styling

I would say to a new interior design that the key to your success will be making sure that you, don’t give too much advice for free as a lot of people are good at thinking you will! Get to understand and know the market you are trying to build your business in and above all listen to your clients as it is important to create a scheme that suits them not you but have a little bit of you in it too.

Never Forget To Enjoy What You Do

Alison Green, Twist Interiors

Actually getting to design is only one of the very small parts of running an interior design business. It’s full of so many different areas costing, sourcing, scheduling, planning, negotiating, problem-solving, client relationship management, and a whole lot of learning, but don’t forget your passion and I’m a big believer in gut instinct.

Get a good accountant and account software I was hopeless with accounts until I discovered FreeAgent so simple to use and brilliant.

EstMac is a great software that helps you manage interior projects if you can start with that it will make life so much easier.

Most importantly enjoy it and welcome to this fabulous world of interior design.

Ask The Right Questions

Claire Horn, Atom Interior Styling

Never be shy of showing your own personal style but always remember to explore your potential client to find out their style, by asking the right questions but also studying them. What are they wearing? patterns? Neutrals or bright colours?

If they don’t already know they’re style be the one to help them find it. Some times the client has got in touch with you in the first place because they like the way you look but asking the right questions is the key to a successful relationship with your client.

Be Confident & Be Patient

Amelia Wilson, Amelia Wilson Interiors

My advice to new interior designers would be to have confidence in your ability and your vision, and not be swayed by trades doubting or criticising your plans before they’ve seen the finished results. Also be patient, it’s unlikely you’ll be an overnight success.

It can take 2-3 years to build up a profile and the reputation that will deliver regular work. And don’t be disheartened by the troughs as there will be peaks. Enjoy any quiet time you have and spend it productively, updating your website or brushing up on your software skills while you have the time.

Your Relationships Are Key

Anna Palmer, Anna Palmer Interiors

I have learnt, on my journey as an interior designer, that the most important aspect of my job is the relationship between me and my client.

Good design starts with knowing your client and learning to tap into what they like, pulling together a look that is not only unique to them but one that makes them feel proud in their new environment. I have been asked in the past by clients to tell them straight away what I would do in the space.

I have learnt to sometimes say I need to go away and think it through. Design is a process and one that can be changed along the way; it should not be rushed. Coming up with a design you are proud of makes all the hard work worthwhile, especially when your client asks you to come back to do more work!

Pick The Right Jobs

Bee Osborn, Osborn Interiors

My advice to a new interior designer would be to choose a studio to work in that you really resonate with their style. Don’t be tempted just to pick any job, really go with what feels right in the aesthetic as you need to create beautiful things that you love and relate to.

Respect Your Clients & Communication Is Key

Briony Reyne, Reyne Design

Respect your clients’ taste and brief – it’s not your home/place of work. You might not design your own home the same way but you aren’t the one living there. Your job is to answer the brief and guide your clients to achieve their aspirations by guiding them and pushing them gently to reach further.

Always be on time – building work is full of delays due to numerous factors, don’t be another reason for delays. Always be on time and if it is really out of your control, communicate with your clients. Be honest and let them know you are running late. Be a reliable aspect of the project.

Don’t undersell yourself – you have worked hard for your qualifications, your clients have come to you for those skills.

Dare To Be Different

Ann MacDonald, AMI Interior Architecture

My best advice would be:

1. Listen to your employers
2. Never Assume anything
3. Dare to be different and unique but make sure you answer the brief
4. Don’t specify anything without contact supplier and finding it fit for purpose
5. Always ask if you don’t understand anything.

Listen To The Building & The Project

Alexie Azoulay, Azoulay Interiors

After thinking about the question, I would say that the best piece of advice I would give to a new interior designer is to listen to the building and the project rather than impose a specific style and design to it.

In my opinion, an interior designer should not try and impose his or her own style but rather use and tweak it to complement each specific projects and to enhance the original features that are already there.

It is obviously very good to be able to have a signature touch, for example, specific use of colours or patterns, but as a starting interior designer, I would advise to stay really open, get inspired from all different types of styles and designs and draw from them to apply them to the different projects they will be working on.

Network, Network, Network

Andrew Smith, Chapter Seven Design

The contribution…

1. I’d say the most important advice would be to network, network, network.
2. Know your value.
3. If you’re spinning too many plates don’t be afraid to delegate.
4. Join the BIID.
5. Invest in your interior photography.

Embrace The Highs & Lows

Bhavin Taylor, Bhavin Taylor Design

Running an interior design business can be a real roller coaster ride and there will be many highs and lows as you embark on the journey. However with plenty of self belief, ambition and hard work you can turn your passion into a career.

For me, it is knowing that I am living my dream by doing what I love, along with the smile on my client’s face at the end of a project that makes it all worth it…

Follow Your Creative Heart

Anna Burles, Run For The Hills

My top tip to anyone starting out as a new interior designer is to follow your creative heart and find a way to work for a design agency which shares your own aesthetic.

If there’s a genuine affinity, it will show in your work and you’ll rise through the ranks faster. If you’re setting up on your own, avoid the temptation to take every job which comes your way, focus on projects you’re genuinely passionate about, to build a body of work which tells a strong story.

Helping you carve a niche, whether that’s a specific kind of look or style or a portfolio which showcases your design philosophy, such as sustainability or ethics. Being identifiably ‘something’ will help you stand out from the crowd.

Be Adaptable & Flexible

Anna Ward, Furnished by Anna

My best advice for a new designer would be to be adaptable and flexible. There are so many times when plans and proposals need to change – whether it’s a client decision, fundamental building issue or for budget reasons, and you need to be able to work through and with these changes to deliver a brilliant result for your client.

That doesn’t mean being a pushover! It’s not always easy to step out of comfort zones and embrace all the new ideas interior designers put forward – both as a client and a tradesperson – and designers need to be able to back designs up with a clear rationale for their proposals.

Ultimately it’s about working with clients so they are comfortable and excited about all the new changes that are going to happen in their home and with trades to ensure the project is delivered!

Woah, what a lot of incredible tips!

A huge thank you to all the designers who have took the time to contribute the to post with their hugely valuable insight in getting started as an interior.

Want more interior design clients?

Getting more clients can be one of the biggest struggles for interior designers.

Whether that is driving traffic to your site, converting a lead into a client or becoming more known within your area – there is a lot to consider when trying to grow your business.

With so many options out there, I’ve compiled the nine most effective tactics at driving new clients for your interior design business in 2021.

Let’s get into it!

Quick links:

1. Hyper-Target Potential Clients With Facebook Advertising
2. Drive Referrals With Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
3. Get Discovered by Potential Clients on Houzz
4. Let Google Help by Supercharging Your SEO
5. Spend a Little to Get a Lot with Google Adwords
6. Build Your Brand With Blogging
7. Create Your Own Tribe By Building An Email List
8. Get Added Support by Joining Associations
9. Unlock the Power of Instagram

Hyper-Target Potential Clients With Facebook Advertising

Facebook advertising for interior designers is a massively untapped channel for driving new clients. You can start with a small budget (£50 or even less) and test the waters to see how it works for your business.

One of the best features of Facebook advertising is the level of granularity with the targeting.

For example, you can target people who live in a specific location – the below image shows it targeting just people within 40km of Leeds. You can define it as a smaller or larger area depending on your specific business.

You can also define the age and gender of your advert targeting – so if you know that all of your clients are female between the ages of 30-55 then you can be that specific!

With even more targeted options such as interests, behaviours, and even education level – you can test out different adverts to see what performs best for you. For example, you can target people interested in interior design (so they are probably more likely to take pride in how their home looks) and engaged shoppers which is when Facebook knows they have previously made a purchase after seeing an advert on Facebook.

You can target people who like your Facebook page, attended events you’ve created and so much more, but all those details are best saved for a dedicated blog post.

As I mentioned, you can start with a small budget to test the waters. You can see how many leads you get and convert into clients – if it works for you then you can increase your spend from the money you make from the initial test.

I’ve seen some designers achieving phenomenal results with Facebook adverts, with some getting multiple new clients each week.

Drive Referrals With Word-Of-Mouth Marketing

Interior design referrals can be the lifeblood of your business. While they might happen organically, you can do a lot to ensure they happen on a regular, predictable basis.

So how can you help drive interior design referrals?

Firstly, as you are already working with the client and they are appreciating your talent, just ask them. Let your clients know how you are enjoying working with them and ask if they have any family, friends or colleagues that would also appreciate your interior design services.

As with any marketing efforts to get new clients – the key is to make it all about the client and not about you. Make them aware of how great they are to work with and mention how you’d love a few more clients just like them.

You can maximise your efforts to drive referrals by creating a reward system for your previous and existing clients to make referrals. Most clients won’t need or want a reward but it’s always great to say thank you, whether that’s a bottle of wine, a voucher for a great local restaurant or invites to an event you are hosting.

You could even provide vouchers for your own services as well to try and entice the client to keep coming back – they could also be giftable so they can be leveraged as an easy referral device.

Finally, the key is to keep asking. Not in a spammy and desperate manner. Occasionally check in with your client once the project has finished making sure they are enjoying the space you have created and mention again you loved working with them and ask for referrals. Subtle reminders of you can also help, things like Christmas cards, small gifts, additional recommendations of new products as you come across them.

Get Discovered by Potential Clients on Houzz

Houzz marketing can drive regular leads to your interior design business if used effectively. The key to the platform is to keep it updated and complete your profile completely. Use your profile effectively as an advert for your business.

Houzz’s platform has disrupted the traditional way homeowners find and choose professionals. They have created a powerful platform that has an immense amount of traffic from search engines around keywords such as ‘interior designs in london’ so making sure you are on the platform is crucial.

Houzz conducted extensive research on their users and discovered that they are:

• upscale homeowners (89% own their homes)
• have an average home value of $450,000
• Have an average income of $124,000
• 78% are married
• 27% are in their first home
• actively building, remodelling or decorating
• 72% plan to decorate or redecorate
• 40% plan to build an addition or remodel
• 10% are planning to have a custom home built
• are spending quite a bit on these projects (kitchen remodel is about $27,000, on average

As you can see these are prime candidates for finding interior designers – so you’d be crazy to not take Houzz seriously.

Top Tips for Houzz in 2021

• Houzz states openly that their algorithm includes the factors of recency and frequency, so staying active on the platform is very important.  
• Get as many reviews of your services on Houzz, not only will it help you appear higher on the platform – it will set your profile apart from others who have only a handful of reviews.
• Upload your most impressive projects, complete will as many high-quality images and a full description of the project and each image – most people just upload and forget, by adding more information you will really stand out.
• Interact with the community – ask and answer questions on the platform to drive both your accounts activity as well as building your network.

For more tips on how to get the most out of Houzz, check out the Houzz Marketing Strategy Tips guide.

Let Google Help by Supercharging Your SEO

I have had SEO described to me as a ‘dark art’ – which definitely makes it sound a lot more exciting to actually do than it really is. 

In reality, SEO can put new leads on autopilot for your business and can easily drive a consistent 10, 50, 100, 1000+ new leads each month once you’ve put in the work.

There is a lot of miss-information around SEO and hundreds of thousands of articles on many different parts of SEO which can make it seem extremely daunting for non-SEO specialists.

A quick note to start, in terms of the best platform for SEO to build your site – WordPress is the best way to go. Squarespace and Wix are great website building tools – but if you are serious about getting more clients (from SEO) you really need to be on WordPress.

The very first thing you need to do with SEO is keyword research. This forms the basis of pretty much everything you will do and it shows you the exact search terms you can target to drive more traffic to your website.

Now most interior designers that I’ve worked with have been locally based and servicing a particular area (for example they cover the county of Essex) – so for the workflow, I’ll presume this is what you are too. [Note: if you are not, reach out and I will help you choose your keywords to look at].

To do this (for free) head over to Ubersuggest. Put in your location + interior designer as the keyword (in the example below I’ve used ‘essex interior designer’).

You can see it then spits out the average monthly searches for your keyword – if it’s not zero then we’re in business.

Further down the page, there is a ‘keyword ideas’ section which will show some similar keywords – some of these will also be relevant (obviously keywords like ‘interior design jobs essex’ won’t be relevant to try and get more clients). 

Repeat the above process for any locations you cover, make sure you do a mix of town, city and county locations – as they all may have people searching for them.

Now you have your target keywords, it’s time to put them to work.

Including your keywords in core places on a given page will increase your chance of ranking for that keyword (note: there is such a thing as ‘keyword stuffing’ so don’t go mad as it won’t end well for getting traffic from Google). Try to include your keywords naturally in places such as:

• Page Title
• Meta Description
• Headings (H1, 2,3,4…)
• Body Copy
• Image Alt Tags
• Internal Links

Now it’s time to build some links. Links are one of the most important things you need to rank in Google. You don’t necessarily need hundreds and thousands to start competing but you need to try and keep the links relevant to the design world. Here are some ideas to get your started:

• Ask your suppliers to be featured on their site (maybe give them a testimonial) 
• Guest post on other interior designers blogs 
• Get featured in your local press – they love a success / new business story
• Source contributors for your own blog (ask bloggers or brands to write for you)

Finally, if you are a locally-based interior designer then you need to make sure you have set up your Google My Business page. If you are servicing a local market then this is an absolute must. They appear on almost every ‘local’ type search, you can see an example below…

Some quick tips on getting the most out of the Google My Business profile and increase your chances of appearing for these searches:

• Fill it out your profile as completely as you can
• Upload your best photos that best represent your style and the work you do
• Keep it updated, if you change office, change your address
• Ask clients to leave reviews – and respond to them
• Add posts & videos to maximise engagement 

Remember, SEO isn’t a ‘quick fix’ and takes time to really see the benefit of it, however, if you get it right you can seriously reap the rewards.

For more SEO tips for interior designers, check out this post on Topology.

Spend a Little to Get a Lot with Google Adwords

Appearing at the top of Google is easy if you pay them. But it needn’t cost you a lot of money.

The cost is dependent on how competitive the keyword is, in terms of how many people are trying to appear for the same keyword. Some locations, such as London, will cost you more for the traffic to your site, compared to other locations like Manchester, Leeds or Edinburgh. See the table below for the average costs you’ll pay for each visit to your website.

If you’ve done your keyword research to optimise your site for SEO – you’ll know exactly what keywords you can test out creating adverts for.

There are many moving parts of Google Adwords, but here is a very quick guide to get an advert set up.

Google has made this process very straightforward with a simple step by step form to set up your first advert.

Firstly, you need to choose your goal. Don’t worry too much about this but it is useful in more advanced features as you evolve your Google Ads knowledge. As we are looking to drive leads to our site, select that option.

Google Ads combine multiple different advertising options, from Search Ads, Display, Shopping, Video, etc. For our ad, we want to select just ‘Search’ to keep things simple to start with.

You then get asked the ways you’d like to reach the goal, as we’re trying to drive people to your website, just select ‘Website visits’.

Next up, you need to select your daily budget, there is no minimum amount you can put in here – but I would recommend you put at least £5. This does not mean you will spend £5/day – you only get charged if people click on your advert.

Then it’s setting up what keywords you want to target, you can use the keywords you found from your keyword research from your SEO work and simply paste them in here.

Finally it’s time for the advert itself. The ad is made up of two core components – headlines and descriptions. 

Google often stacks these next to each other (like in the image preview below). It’s important to call out your key value propositions you offer, such as free consultations, if you’ve won any awards, etc. 

It is also useful to include some of the keywords from your research in some form in the advert (such as location) to reaffirm to the searcher that your advert is the best to click on.

The best approach to spending on Google Ads is to target the right keywords, experiment with low spend and see if they convert into leads and clients – if they aren’t converting then it’s either the wrong keyword or your site isn’t selling yourself well enough.

Pro Tip: They key to maximising the return on your Google Ads spend is to send them to a landing page which has been created specifically for that keyword. This may be a different page with fewer distractions but focusing on your key strengths as a business with a simple form for them to get in touch.

Build Your Brand With Blogging

Businesses using blogs as part of their content marketing mix get 67% more leads than those who don’t. [Hubspot]

Having a blog can super-charge your interior design because and become a client generating machine.

It gives you an opportunity to really show off your skills, make sure you use imagery on your own projects to really make yourself stand out. But be careful not to make your blog posts too ‘salesy’ as it’s a perfect way to turn off your readers.

Instead, utilise your blog to build yourself up as an authority in the industry, whether that is the broad interior design industry, or if you niche down then you can focus on becoming an expert in specific rooms or styles of design.

Blogging is also a great way to make new connections – you can feature other (non-competing) designers, brands, bloggers who can end up a valuable source of new clients in the future.

A lot of businesses make the mistake of blindly writing articles and expecting miracles to happen with their traffic and leads. In reality, with a little extra preparation you can blow those competitors of yours who are doing that out of the water.

So what does it come down to? We’re back to keyword research!

But for a different purpose this time.

This time we’re looking for some keywords that people may be searching for when they want to solve a problem they have related to design.

And Google helps out a lot with this already, head over there and start typing in the search box something like “how to decorate a bedroom *” and see all of the different options that come up – these are all valuable, long-tail keyword ideas that people have actually searched for. Genius!

As before, now you have your keyword(s) you need to make sure you use them. Remembering the key locations being:

• Page Title
• Meta Description
• Headings (H1, 2,3,4…)
• Body Copy
• Image Alt Tags

When it comes to blogger it is crucial you have a great headline that makes people want to read. Something simple like “How To Decorate A Bedroom” doesn’t scream “read me now” whereas something along the lines of “How To Get A Hotel Bedroom Feel For Less Than £100” will make people really want to read on.

Pro (and Free) Tool: If you are using WordPress, make sure you install Yoast SEO plugin. It’s really simple to use and great to make sure you don’t forget anything when creating a blog post. Simply put in your keyword you are targeting and they use a traffic light system to guide you to make sure your article is suitable optimised.

Create Your Own Tribe By Building An Email List

Building an email list could be the single greatest investment you ever make to land more clients. 

Many designers think that it won’t be worthwhile but in reality, it can be a source of repeatable, high-quality clients who already love your work before you’ve even started working with them.

It doesn’t need to be a huge investment of your money and time:

• You can start for free, use ConvertKit which free for up to 1,000 subscribers and will keep you going for a while
• Set up a Welcome Sequence (I’ll explain more on that shortly), which will take you anything from a few hours to a few days dependant on what you want out of it
• Send a monthly newsletter, which can feature your latest blog posts, case studies, trends your seeing, anything that you think people who follow you will want to see – this should take no more than a few hours a month.

How to Grow Your Email List

Pop-Ups

Yes, you might find these pop-ups annoying but the truth is that they REALLY work! On average between 3 and 10 in every 100 people who see an email sign-up lightbox fill it in and sign up.

There are many tools out there that you can use for pop ups, one of the best is Sumo (which has a free plan). Which allows you to completely customise the pop up with headline, copy, call to action, images etc. – whilst being super easy to use.

Landing Pages

Using dedicated landing pages to collect subscribers for your blog’s email list is a very smart move.

Creating landing pages can be incredibly effective, some landing pages can convert visitors to subscribers so well that over half of the visitors to that page become email subscribers.

Landing pages give you a central place to direct traffic, the chance to sell what your subscribers are going to get.

On a basic level, having a few forms on your website will drive some people to sign up to your newsletter. This is absolutely fine if you are very strapped for time, but to really jump up those numbers you need to incentivise them to part with their email address.

The Content Upgrade. 

The faster you grow your email list, the faster you will get more traffic, and make more money from said email list.

The Content Upgrade, a term coined by Brian Dean of Backlinko, essentially puts your lightbox pop-ups on supercharge and can increase the number of people who sign up by up to 5 times. So rather than getting 5 subscribers from every 100 visitors. You could get up to 25 additional subscribers from the same traffic!

Content upgrades are uniquely crafted lead magnets designed to be downloaded based on the post a visitor is reading, a hyper-relevant additional resource for the reader. For example, if you have a post about Hygge, you could add a specific upgrade with The Ultimate Hygge Checklist.

They’ve Signed Up, Now What?

The very first thing to do once someone has signed up to your email list… thank them. Make them feel appreciated for taking the time and effort to give you their email address. 

You can do this as part of a welcome sequence. Depending on what they have signed up for, the first thing is to deliver whatever that was (a checklist, a guide, etc).

Then you can follow up every few days with bonus content so they can get to know you and what to expect from being on your email list.

As part of your welcome sequence you can also include:

• An invite to follow your social media accounts
• Showcase some case studies/projects you’ve worked on
• Educate them on your services if they were to ever need them

Your welcome series can turn potential leads into customers in no time at all if executed well.

After your welcome sequence, you should get into the habit of emailing your email list at least once per month with new content you’ve created, new projects you’ve worked on or features you’ve seen elsewhere. This will keep them engaged and keep you front of mind for them to become a client when they are ready.

Remember, you must give your potential customers a really strong reason to sign up and you must keep them engaged.

Get Added Support by Joining Associations

Joining professional organisations such as the British Institute for Interior Designers is a great way to make yourself stand from your competitors. These institutions often have pretty strict guidelines to be able to join so can’t be joined by just anybody.

They can help you get more clients in a variety of ways:

Building Your Network

Using the BIID as an example, they run numerous networking events all over the UK to connect interior designers together as well as relevant suppliers and potential partners in the industry. These can be great at acquiring new clients in future.

Direct Referrals

You get a dedicated profile page on their site where potential clients can find you – the BIID can be a starting point for many looking for interior designers so is a great place to be featured with client referrals sent directly to your inbox. 

Gaining Exposure

The BIID offers access to exclusive media and public speaking opportunities. Whilst these may not be everyone’s cup of tea – they provide a great platform to raise your own profile in the industry to become more known and drive clients directly to your name.

In addition to these client-driving factors, they often provide a lot of training to keep you up to date with the latest technologies, are available to give legal, HR and similar guidance as well as having exclusive access to discounts for insurance or suppliers.

Unlock the Power of Instagram

Instagram is the social media of choice at present and it fits perfectly into the interior design industry with its heavy imagery focus.

It can be an incredibly powerful tool to increase awareness of your interior design business and can showcase your style to potential clients all around the world.

Consistency is key, when someone lands on your profile then they should understand what you are all about. The style you resonate from your imagery – if you’ve got them this far this should be enough to convince them to follow you.

Naturally, the quality of your image’s need to be of the highest order. High-resolution images can add an extra kick needed to convert people from visiting your profile to pressing that elusive ‘follow’ button.

To drive some serious follower numbers you should be aiming to post 2-3 times per day. This is not always easy with everything else that is needed to run your interior design business, but using tools such as Schedugram or Later to bulk schedule your posts in advance can make it much easier to maintain.

When posting, you will need to make sure you are using the right hashtags. Users can search for Instagram posts using hashtags. This means they can find new accounts (like yours!) to follow. Using the right hashtags for your interior design business is a great way to attract new followers.

It’s crucial to engage both with your own audience as well as engaging with others posting similar content. Perform regular searches – and comment on other profiles posts but make sure your comments are useful and not just ‘great post’ as that is a sure-fire way to look spammy.

How to drive traffic to your site & get clients from Instagram

Now for the main part, getting more interior design clients from Instagram. Due to the nature of Instagram – there is a possibility that you will attract fans from all over the world so some may be outside of your usual ‘radius of work’ but I’ve seen some huge opportunities come about through Instagram which have made these more than worthwhile.

Firstly, you need to make use of your Instagram bio, and particularly the link. As links aren’t allowed in the posts, this link is your powerful tool to drive traffic to your site.

To encourage your followers to go to your site, you and direct them from your posts to your ‘link in bio’.

To maximise the return of this effort – you can adapt the link to be more relevant for the image. For example, if you posted an image of a recent project you’ve completed, you could link it to the case study of the project on your site so users can explore more of the same project.

Performing all of these tactics may seem like a lot of work, my advice would be to focus on one at a time to see the best results.

As an exclusive offer to my readers (and for those who are genuinely looking to implement tactics to grow their interior design business) if you want any advice or feedback on implementing these tactics on your interior design business to get more clients – feel free to contact me to get completely free feedback.

Happy client hunting!