I recently read what I think is questionable advice for designers about Instagram.

Just like we, as design business owners, want to put some filters in place when trying to attract the perfect client, we have to use filters for design business advice too.

This Instagram advice was about posting a picture of yourself every day for a month.

I mean, I can’t think of any more surefire way to run off my followers on Instagram! :-)

Maybe I’m missing something here, but I think interior design potential clients like to see what you’re working on mostly, on Instagram. They like to see interior design related content. They like a few peeks behind the scenes. They like some pretty pics of your work.

Maybe?????

My Top 9 Project Images from Instagram - Carla Aston, Designer

A selfie every now and then might be okay (mmmm, not me), but every day for a month?

I don’t know, I’m definitely not a pro at Instagram, but I do think we all need to evaluate our own goals before acting on advice of any kind.

My goals have helped me develop the characteristics of my ideal client

My Goals Might Be Your Goals, but then again, they might not

As far as the advice I share here, in this blog, it is totally from the view of my goals.

I hope whoever reads it keeps that in mind. I am mostly sharing my own journey, what works, what hasn’t, what mistakes I’ve made, what has accomplished something.

I’m at the point where I am very dialed in to what I want and most importantly, what I don’t want.

However, if you have different goals and dreams, then you might want to ignore what I have to say. What I suggest here, now and then, might not work for you.

For example, if you are a newbie designer and just looking for warm bodies out there to start with, then my client acquisition process might be too stringent for you.

However, it is nice to read how others, that are further down the road, do things. Because if you want to end up there too someday, then you might skip a few of the hurdles someone before you met. You know, #goals. :-)

Take a look below at some of my goals and see if anything there rings true for you too.

Small Overhead - I know I want a very small overhead moving forward with my business. I don’t like having to constantly keep employees busy, take jobs I really don’t want to make that overhead work, being tied down too much with lots of projects and responsibility. I’m not a good manager of people and I don’t enjoy that part of business.
Filtered Clientele - I want to be very selective with clients that I don’t have to constantly handle and worry about. I want to work with people that are just naturally easy to work with because of personality traits, budgets, lifestyle.
Fewer Clients - I want to work with fewer clients and have that work be more impactful and profitable, like this job I worked on last year. I’d rather have two or three clients at a time to have contact with every week than 12 or 15. Those emails, texts, phone calls, meetings, I have found, equate to almost the same across the board, no matter how big the project. And yes, I want to work less and make more. (And I’m not ashamed to say it!)
No Small Projects - I don’t want to juggle lots of little things to do. I want to get all in with a few projects and do them thoroughly, OR stay up in the helicopter mode and give some advice that people can do themselves. There is nothing in between, for me, that I have seen that works financially. I don’t want to go in and add a few things to one room for a client when it doesn’t make a big statement or render a decent fee, unless it is part of a bigger job.
More Travel - I want to travel more. I want to go to many industry events and have new experiences to broaden my perspective on design. It makes for good blog fodder and gives me a fresh outlook. That means less projects and juggling. It also means I need the money or the “free trip” to be able do it.
Grow Passive Income - I want to make more passive income or blog related income. Last October (a typical month) I made around $1800 on what I call blog income, that was basically very little effort. I want this to seriously grow. That comes from 1) Designed in a Click consultations purchased directly through my site, 2) PDF Digital Download sales, 3) Affiliate sales. None of that would be possible without building my site continually with quality blog content.
Put More Time Into Online Efforts - I want to add in advertising on my blog and work to create more digital downloads in the next year. I want to create content with stronger affiliate marketing opportunities. I can’t spend more time on this without easing up a bit on the client work that I do.

I think the most important step towards seeking advice for your business is defining your goals. Then you can wade through it all and start to edit to see what will work for you.

So, have you defined some goals for this year? It’s a good idea to write them down and even publish them somewhere to help hold yourself accountable, like for instance…..on a blog. ;-)

Is Blogging Dead?

Have you listened in to my recent interview with Darla Powell on the Wingnut Social Podcast? We talk about blogging and whether or not a designer should bother with it in this day and age.

Here’s the link to the podcast.