Your Interior Design Business – Party with a Purpose

Party season is upon us. Now that the kiddies are back in school and the holidays are right around the corner, why not take advantage of the upcoming festivities that the holidays inspire. . . and host a party? A party with a purpose is a great way to promote your interior design business and bring in new clients.

Although it’s still warm out across the country, the earlier you get started with your holiday promotion planning, the better results you’ll have. Below are a few tips for a successful promotional party –

1. Purpose – What is the main reason for the event? Some ideas include – increase visibility, improve your image, bring in new business, reconnect with past clients, introduce a new product line, exposure for an existing product, building credibility that shows you as the expert, etc.

2. What to do – The type of event can vary and will depend on your goal. It could be a workshop that educates clients and their friends in your expertise. It could be an open house showing off a product line, coffee and dessert to introduce new products, etc. The event is simply one which provides value to your clients and/or offers an experience of you, your product, services and company.

3. Should you charge – You can try to generate revenue with your event. However, if you haven’t hosted many of these types of parties with a purpose before, I recommend not charging a fee, but reconnecting with clients and their friends first and foremost. If a sale happens to take place, fabulous!

4. Advertise now – You’ll want to start sending holiday-related messages in September. Promote smaller, quick projects they can get done before their company arrives. Add more of a sales pitch with the added value that if they start shopping early they’ll save the last minute hassles, have a more relaxing December, and they might spare themselves a massive January credit card bill.

5. Advertise how – The more marketing mediums you use, the better. I recommend starting out with a nice postcard mailed about 4 weeks out, to let them know of the event. Then, if you have been collecting emails, remind your clients about once a week, leading up to the event. And finally, calling your past clients the week of the event is a great way to personally invite them and will produce great results!

The possibilities are endless of what you can do. However, the frequency of your events will create a greater result in your bottom line. Think of a good commercial on television. You’ve seen it more than once, twice, and three times even. Why should your interior design business be any different? Your business and services should be promoted as often as possible. Consistency and frequency are key!

Below is a list of ideas for events. Please feel free to post any promotional event ideas that you like and have worked for your interior design business.