Wealth

In my work with designers, I’ve seen all sorts of tangled beliefs when it comes to money.

Designers who are so worried about the “tax man” that they stop themselves from earning more.

Designers who are so afraid to ask for the client’s budget—everybody has a number—that they cheat themselves out of appropriate fees.

Designers who know they need help, that getting help will bring results but who are afraid to commit to the investment in getting help for themselves and their business because it’s expensive. So they end up spending infinitely more time and even more money, ultimately earning less.

I was flying back from an event my coach hosted in Arizona when I noticed. Among the people sitting in the nine, first-class seats, I was the only woman.

It’s not the first time I’ve noticed the disparity between men and women in the front half of the plane but today it was particularly meaningful. I had just seen Cindy Eckert speak about founding a pharmaceutical company, selling that company for one billion dollars and then suing the buyer to get it back when they failed to bring the product she fought so hard to create to market, Addyi.

Happy International Women’s Day!

On this day that celebrates the working woman, I’d like to offer some blunt advice.
 
Don’t let people pick your brain.
 
Don’t barter in unequal measure.
 
Don’t work for free.

I feel like I just wrote about this but it begs repeating, everybody has a number. Everybody has a number. That potential interior design client who doesn’t know what their budget is? They have a number. Why do I know this? Because the minute you exceed it, they will tell you you’re too expensive. This […]

Earlier this week one of my interior design clients, who recently went through a massive brand transformation, including a name change, told me she was feeling worried because business seemed a slower than it was last year at this time. “I’m busy”, she said.  “But not busy like I’m normally busy.” Although the feedback on […]

With the rise of the Internet and designers’ increasing savvy to opportunities for licensing and information products, the phrase passive income has created a new sense of urgency. Everybody wants to start earning some, now. I get it. Earning money on the work you’ve already done, in perpetuity, sounds pretty good but unless you get […]

Recently a client of mine was going through the hiring process for her team. She had narrowed it down to the final two and told me she was going to check references. I suggested that she pay each of the gals to come in for a day, or even two, to get a sense of […]

Join me at the Laguna Design Center on October 30, 2013 for my 1-hr CEU Image 360°: Branding, Visibility And Money For The Design Industry. Ideal clients, consistent income and seemingly miraculous opportunities show up when you get the story of your business right.  But it’s not just what you say, it’s who you tell that […]

Some people won’t get the value of what you do no matter how well or often you explain it. You don’t have to worry about those one-off conversations; sometimes it’s not about you. But if you find yourself having the same conversation — sales, employee, spouse or otherwise — over and over again, guess what? […]

The one thing that’s standard among interior design professionals is that pricing their services isn’t. Whether you charge hourly, by the square foot, with markup or without, or as a percentage of the overall budget, every job and every client is unique and coming to consensus can be tricky. You’ve probably heard a lot of […]