Murphys Law...

Recently I had to delivery a sofa to a client's apartment. With so many things that I am usually concerned about on a job, the size of the elevator for a standard sofa delivery is not generally one of them. Well, murphy's law reared its ugly head once again.

I got the call that the sofa was downstairs and on its way up.
"Great!" I thought.
So I wait.
I wait some more.

For some reason it was taking a bit too long for the guys to be bringing up the sofa. I go to check the status and see them in the hall by the service elevator.

Now, the problem wasn't the actual elevator. It was the fact that the elevator was in its own room and couldn't fit out of the doorway from that area. What brilliant architect or designer did not realize that items coming up in the service elevator were larger than normal and would need to also fit outside of this doorway!!

So I stay calm as I have learned to do. Think. This is a standard 86" long sofa with a standard depth of 36". I cannot be the only person in the 23 story building to have brought in a standard size sofa. I am sure other people have sofas. How can this possibly not fit?

I stand in the hallway while the two guys speak Russian to each other and try to shimmy my sofa through the doorway. They lean it on its side, they stand it straight up and down, they do everything we can think of yet still the sofa does not fit. We even look into using the regular elevators which are not in a little room, but the ceiling is much too low for the sofa to fit in them.

So I find the super of the building. At first he is no help whatsoever. I practically have to beg him just to come up and take a look in case he knows something we do not. I finally coax him to come up. He tells us that for some reason (vents, structure, stupidity...) this doorway was built lower than every other floor in the building. Wonderful! (sarcasm if you missed that.)

So we get creative. The guys go back into the elevator and go down a floor. Since the door to the stairwell was also in that elevator room, we manage to fit the sofa through there since there was more room to maneuver and fit it through. This way we can walk the sofa up to our floor and bring it out of the stairwell doorway which is higher than the elevator room doorway. Up the stairs we go... slowly, carefully...

Finally, we get to the top and need to turn in order to get out of the door on to our floor. With the tight turning radius in that vestibule, it seems like all may be lost. The guys try again to shimmy, shake, rattle and roll this sofa to get it out of this stairwell. They give up. I am not giving up!! There must be a way. I refuse to believe with every bit of my soul that this sofa will not get to it's final destination. Thoughts of a furniture cutting company having to come and chop up this sofa to fit it through the door are running through my head. What a mess that would be!

Finally, when the guys see I am not letting them off the hook, one of them tries one last thing. He is able, just by a hair, to stand the sofa up on its side so that it is almost at the ceiling. This way, they are able to push the sofa through the small vestibule area and get it lined up to angle out of the door. I breath again. So relived. The sofa fits into the apartment with no problem.
One of the most stressful events turned out one of the most important lesson. Yes, there are times to give up and move on, but when you know that it is not one of those times, press on calmly and thoughtfully and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Marketing - Advertising and Social Media Continued...

Some time has past since I last wrote about ways to promote my business and how to proceed with the many options of social media. Here is the update. I am still overwhelmed by the may options that the internet provides in order to promote, grow, conceptualize, market and advertise my business. I realized that as wonderful as it is to have options, not every one of them will be helpful to my business. Now, that may seem obvious to some, but when every entrepreneur around me is tweeting, creating fan pages, blogging, creating Google Ad words, hoping on to foursquare or whatever the next craze is, it is hard not to feel the nagging guilt that you must also be keeping up with the "Joneses." Constantly.

I decided to evaluate my business model again and try to get rid of this social cloud tweeting around my head. (pun intended.) I realized that although it is great to develop myself as a brand, my time is better spent and my sanity is better saved if I choose a select 2 or 3 mediums to develop instead of spreading myself and my time too thin by developing too many networks that go nowhere.

What I have chosen to focus on at this time is:
1.) My blog, of course. It is a great medium to discuss relevant business topics, and give design advice to my readers.
2.) Twitter - At first I didn't really get Twitter, but now that I have a blog, what a great way to promote it along with be able to connect with my readers in a brief and succinct manor.
3.) Linked In - I do have a linked in profile but until recently have not really gotten involved with groups or discussions. I think it may be a great way to network with other business professionals.

I had also previously mentioned that I have tried paid advertising on a site called Interior Design Directory.
So far, I have not received any calls or leads that I know of from that site. I will let it play out of the year and see if anything comes of it.

I also started a Facebook page for Conceptual Interiors Inc., but haven't been able to keep up with the updates (fortunately because I have a lot of work at the moment.)
This will remain on the back burner until the other 3 can be developed and managed more regularly.

Although I am working on those media outlets above, I don't believe that they will bring me any direct business for awhile. It is more about building a name and a brand, which I do think pays off in the long run if handled correctly. What I do think will work and what I plan on working on next will be Google Ad Words. This way, I can manage my own advertising campaign and hopefully reach a targeted and specific client looking for my services as an interior designer.

Now that I have decided on a select few outlets for the time being, I hope to be able to strongly develop my brand while having time to actually do real business.

Someone's got a case of the Mondays!

Monday is here and surprisingly I always look forward to it. It is a great day to get my week organized, make some plans for the business and get my projects in order. This Monday is no different. I start the week with an overview of what I need to do for the entire week as well as for this specific day. It may be cliché, but when I have a task list and I can cross each item off as I accomplish them, I find I am 100% more productive than when I just jump right into work without planning. I even put a star next to the few items that I must do that day even if nothing else gets done. That way, I am my own boss and assign myself tasks to keep me on track.

Once I make my list, I find it is best to start with the items that are nagging at me the most. Usually the ones that have been rolling around in my head all weekend like a fly buzzing around that just won't go away. That way, if I can take care of those first, I find the rest of the day is much smoother sailing!

Being a designer there are two mindsets I need to get in to. The creative mindset and the business mindset. The creative usually includes starting out a design for a client like a furniture layout, apartment or home layout, or selecting decorative fixtures like tiles or lighting. The business mindset deals more with the organization of the business, billing, taxes and finances, and even project coordination and administration. Being your own boss in a small business means wearing all of the hats!

Mondays are usually better for wearing the business hat. It keeps me focused for the rest of the week and get's a lot of those nagging issues taken care of so I am free to design my heart away on Tuesday! :) Today's list looks something like this:

1.) Review Project 'A' and create punch list of outstanding items that need to be taken care of in order to complete job.
2.) Speak to custom furniture shop about Client 'B' regarding which wood samples we will need to get going in order to finalize selections with client.
3.) Continue selecting plumbing fixtures and vanity along with tile layout for presentation to Client 'C' this week.
4.) Set up any networking meetings for the coming week and next. Time is valuable so who is top on the list to meet and do business with this month?
5.) Quick check of bank account balances and client invoices. Who needs to be invoiced and what payments are still outstanding? Does the bank account match Quick Books? Reconcile!!

Well, that's the start to my day and week... Have a great Monday and check for more business development info next Monday.

Advertising, Marketing, Social Networking, EXHAUSTION!!

So now that I am back to work, I am looking for ways to start advertising and marketing again. Well, as wonderful as the internet is with all of its endless possibilities for advertising, it can also be quite exhausting! Everyday there are new sources, media outlets and networking opportunities that it makes it very difficult to figure out what is just hype and what will actually work for my business. Not to mention that a lot of advertising costs money, so deciding how to make the most of my advertising dollars is a big consideration as well.

The first thing that I did when I came back to work, which didn't cost me a cent was to email past and current vendors, clients and associates announcing my return, along with a photo of Benji. A lot of people appreciated the brief but personalized message and some people contacted me right away for work they needed. That was very encouraging and made me feel productive right away. It also was a good excuse to say 'hi' and remind people that I am here if they need anything.

The other place I am listed on now is the Interior Design Directory (check out Conceptual Interiors Inc.)
I haven't received any leads from this yet, but I am going to try it for a year and see what happens. I chose this website for two reasons. The first is that a colleague of mine uses it and said it has gotten him some business. The second is when I Google "New York Interior Designers" and other similar searches, a link to the page where my listing is comes up. I figured this was a good sign that people using Google for this type of search would find me.

Now it's time to move on to other advertising and marketing ideas. I would be interested to know what other small businesses do in order to get their company and message out into the world in a targeted way. There is so much speculation about social media, for example. Does Twitter and Facebook actually bring in business, and if so, for what type of profession? Is getting work the goal or is it more of a branding strategy?

I'm going to start experimenting with Google Ad Words before I get lost in the world of social media (aside from this humble blog and Twitter account - intdesignmom). Fortunately, my husband works in the field of computers and online advertising and will be able to help me (free of charge of course!) set up an account with Google Ad Words and get my advertising dollars working for me! I hope that this form of advertising brings in more direct and immediate business. My plan is to try a few avenues and put more effort into them rather than spreading out too thin both financially and emotionally!

Keep you posted on my progress. Let me know how you get your business!

Back To Work With Baby!

Well, it has been a busy first week back to work after a 3 month maternity leave. Although I had prepared mentally for this time, knowing that it would not be the same as before, it was still difficult to make that adjustment.

I had set up some phone meetings with potential clients for this week, only to find out that the day I had planned them, my nanny was unable to come as scheduled. This left me to decide whether to change the calls to another time, or take the chance that Benji would either be sleeping or quiet during the meeting. In the end I managed to get him to sleep about 20 minutes before, so I was able to keep the appointments. Needless to say it was another reminder that life as a working mom will not be the same as before!

On a positive note, I have realized that I am able to get a lot done in less time. I think there is actually room for more efficiency when time is more limited. We spend so much of the day wasted on checking unimportant emails, surfing or researching things that are not top priority. When faced with a more limited schedule, I found that I can actually get a lot more of the important stuff done. Working under pressure seems to be more productive for me in the end.

I read a quote this morning from an article in Entrepreneur.com that said "The only thing that separates those who become entrepreneurs from those who don't is moving forward despite any fear." Entrepreneur Mom
This speaks to me since there is always fear when taking on such challenges as raising a family and nourishing a business. Fear of financial stability, fear of failure and fear of time to name a few. Although there is this fear, there is also an excitement and drive to get to work. To have that independent feeling again and to use your brain cells for things other than singing the ABC's!

All in all, it was good to be back in the professional world and I look forward to the challenges of balancing my personal life with my professional life.
Have a great weekend!