It’s August, which can be slow for a lot of industries—including interior design. Everyone is either getting their kids ready for back to school or off on vacation, soaking up the sun, and suddenly those emails you usually get flooded with seem to have taken a little holiday of their own. But don’t let the quiet fool you; this downtime can be a golden opportunity. While everyone else is in summer mode, you can use this lull to recharge, get creative, and plan your next big move.

Think of it as the calm before the storm—the perfect time to update your website (is your press up to date??), plan out your goals for next quarter, or even catch up on those design books that have been gathering dust (guilty!). It’s also a great moment to nurture your network of industry peers, laying the groundwork for when things pick up again. So, while August might feel slow, it’s actually the perfect time to set the stage for an epic fall season!

When it comes to marketing your design business, or well, anything, people tend to mix up strategy with tactics.

A strategy is the overarching plan or approach designed to achieve a long-term goal or objective. It sets the direction and defines the "what" and "why" of your actions. For example, an interior designer’s strategy might be to establish themselves as a luxury brand in the market. It could be positioning your store as a design destination like we did for this client in the downtown L.A. Arts District. Once we achieved that, their strategy then changed to being taken seriously in the high-end design scene. The tactic was to first land their first major project published in AD—a goal we accomplished, and a dream for a new firm.

Tactics are the specific actions or steps taken to implement the strategy. They are the "how" of the plan. Tactics could include hosting exclusive events, collaborating with high-end brands, or hiring top tier photographers that work with the publications you hope to be in.

It's no secret that Maximalist interior design is having a big moment. Not only are we seeing this bold, unapologetic celebration of color, pattern, and texture all over social media, but magazine editors are really excited by it. After all, Maximalism has that wow factor that feels fresh and exciting —even if this daring approach to design isn’t necessarily what most people want to live in every day.

I always remind our clients that publishing is a business, and that business only survives if people read their stories. It’s also how magazine covers are decided—what person or image is going to sell it the most? This can shift based on trends. Remember in 2020 when all you saw were green kitchens? If you were a designer with a green kitchen in 2020, chances are, you were getting published!

So why do trends matter for your business if you want to get press? And what can you do if Maximalist Design isn’t your design style—or more importantly—what your clients want. Let’s dive in to all this and more:

In today’s world of ever-changing technology and endless content, information and news flies at us like rapid-fire. In order to cut through all the clutter and be heard amongst all the noise, your story needs to be more impactful than ever with several key factors that help determine whether it will be compelling to the media. Here’s a little “Journalism 101” based on some things everyone is taught in J-school about newsiness, plus what we know the press cares about based on our media pitching hustle over the years.

So here’s the thing—thought leadership is a buzz phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days, but for good reason.  As the marketing and public relations landscape evolves and the way consumers think, act, and buy changes in the digital age, brands must set themselves apart in ways that are more authentic and meaningful.  

A thought leader, as defined by Influence & CO’s CEO Kelsey Raymond in Forbes, is “an industry expert who shares his or her expertise with a broader audience for the purpose of education, improving, and adding value to the industry as a whole.”  Thought leadership positions a person or brand as an authority in their industry, while opening doors to new opportunities and building a more organic and loyal following.  Spanx founder Sarah Blakely and DryBar Founder Alli Webb are examples of thought leaders who get it right in our book, as they are accessible authorities in their space, who consistently lend their expertise in creative and powerful ways.  

If you are building a personal or corporate brand, at some point, you are going to need to understand the difference between traditional and digital PR, and why your strategy must include both approaches to garner the most success.

For some, being able to see quantifiable analytics that give an exact ROI is all that matters. And why not? If you're seeing sales, traffic, and engagement, isn't that the goal? It is, except when all h*ll breaks loose (as it has since March!).

In the last three months, I have managed more crisis communication than in my entire career. I have helped clients navigate divorce announcements in the middle of a pandemic. I have helped clients decide when or when not to let go of employees. I have helped clients figure out how to support Black Lives Matter in a thoughtful, public way that will extend way beyond an Instagram post.

Cancel culture is very real and we have all watched the take down ofcelebrities,CEOs,Editor-in-Chiefs, anddigital influencerswho gave very little thought (if any at all) to how their communication and actions/inactions would affect their long term reputation.

Your reputation is EVERYTHING. When people no longer trust you or believe in you, no amount of Facebook ads can save you.

I think we can all agree that the goal is to have people think positively when hearing your name, no matter the source of that positivity. It's why you have to first start with positive storytelling and thoughtful communication that will influence consumer behavior. When you have that foundation, digital PR is what can help take traditional PR to the next level. Read on for the difference and how they can work together.

Physically here, mentally on a boat in the south of France,
Molly

“Most of the world will make decisions by either guessing or using their gut. They will be either lucky or wrong." – Suhail Doshi, CEO, Mixpanel.

A few weeks ago, I shared a staggering statistic on Instagram about Netflix. A view is counted if someone watches a show at least two minutes—resulting in "Bridgerton" claiming that the show received 82 million views. Not gonna lie. I binged the whole series and consider myself a raving fan. But wouldn't a more accurate measurement be:

• How many people actually finished watching the show?

• How many people actually felt satisfied or liked what they watched?

• What parts of the show resonated most? (I know, I know, Regé-Jean Page, obviously)

Of course Netflix has way more data than we will ever know, but my point is that simply counting likes and views are not enough to know if what you're doing is working. If you dive a little bit deeper, you can use your analytics as a road map to figure out what is resonating with your audience and what you should do next.

No matter what you're trying to measure—social media, website traffic, email campaigns—analytics can feel like such an unsexy thing. They are as confusing and misleading as that great date you had and then never had again. But let me break it down.

Below are five things you need to know, so that you can stop going coo coo trying to beat the algorithm.

Channeling my inner geekdom,
Molly

“To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States." - George W. Bush

When you think of awards and public relations, I'm willing to bet that the first thing that comes to mind is the Oscars or the Grammys.

But no matter your industry, there's likely an award for it. Case in point, the Best Dog Walker as recognized by theBeast of the Bay Awards.Slow clap.

Awards equal bragging rights, generate buzz, and can even help land you new clients. At the very least, they can help you benchmark with others in your industry.

For example, when we won a Bulldog Stars of Tomorrow award (like how I worked that in?), the process was rather grueling. We had to submit lots of data to back up our application (client retention rates, revenue growth, etc.). The process of applying proved very eye opening and gave our team the chance to say...wow, we did that?!

That alone was worth the time and effort.

But there are things you should know before you apply. Small print if you will. I break it down for you below.

So honored to be nominated (Yeah, right.),
Molly