How to Find Clients for your Interior Decorating Business
I have recently received an email from a student informing me that they have learned a lot through the interior decorating ecourse and now want to get some work, how do they find clients?
It is a very good question and one that I am sure many of you are also wondering what the best way to find clients is?
There is no easy recipe. Firstly you need to talk to friends and family, I normally don’t advise people to “work” for free, but when you are just starting out, it can be a good way to get some referrals. For example, if you help you sister choose her new paint colors and your sister’s friends come for dinner and admire the new scheme, there is your first referral, and it branches out from there.
You could offer to help with a local community project in return for put your advertising on their noticeboard or in their newsletter. This shows that you are a generous person in the community and it helps with gaining trust from potential clients.
You can visit local stores who sell decorating products and see if they are willing to have your business cards available in return for specifying their products.
You can advertise online but word of mouth referrals are the best way to get clients.
I would suggest starting with lots of small projects until you feel confident embarking on larger ones. It is better to make a mistake when you are learning on little jobs, the cost to fix things are small, if it happens on a large job and you don’t have insurance to cover it then your business can be over before you really get started!
Don’t forget to take quality photographs of the work you do so you can use it to gain more clients. Set up a brochure or album to show potential clients. Set up a website and you can direct people to it to see the projects you have undertaken.
I hope this give those of you who are thinking about taking interior decorating up as a career some tips on how to get started.
If you want more information on being a professional interior designer then visit prointeriordesigner.com
Thank you for the endorsement on Linkedin. I really appreciated it. I have also started staging some houses and find I really like that too. I am sure you have some great ideas and might even put some on your blog. Your course has encouraged me to follow my dreams and gave me the confidence to fly. Thank you Lee and Chris Brown for all the work you do on this site.
Yours Truly
Patricia Archibald
Interiors By Patricia
i enrolled with the idi and after a few months found your website,so i used your information to supplement my learning which i found very beneficial especially since this is a new field for me. i want to express my sincere gratitude for the proffessional strategies and practical inputs in interior design and decorating.i also found your post on not being afraid to ask for proffessional help when stuck with a scheme.I am ready to re-decorate our home now using the elements and principles of design and i have enlisted the guidance and assistance of an experienced, reputable interior designer and i want this project to go on my portfolio as i dont want a takeover as iam only stuck at marrying different styles for a more cohesive look and easy flow on the eye. This for more will help me gain confidence as i want to do it right so i can go on and tackle other projects. Pls advise if this is a fair approach.
Thanking you both trully
Nthabiseng Zulu
Johannesburg
I really appreciate that you are sharing your interior designing experience and is helping the people to get to know about it. Interior designing is a complicated course and requites a lot of skills.
Posted by | Interior Decorator
Very good advices.
Thanks.
– Mathi.