Meredith founded the “House of Huck” in 2020 as a passion project. She gave herself an ultimatum: If she wasn’t successful in three years, she’d go back to the corporate world. But in one year, she transformed her business into a full-time career.
She’s leveraged her unique background in corporate sales—and some genius social media marketing tactics—to build a thriving business. In this episode of Wingnut Social, Meredith shares some business tips for new interior designers that you just can’t miss!
Connect with Meredith Huck
Resources & People Mentioned
Why House of Huck grew quickly
95% of Meredith’s clients have come from social media. How does she leverage various platforms to gain visibility?
Meredith got in front of the camera. It allowed people to learn about herself and her life. She also embraced a unique social media marketing strategy: Throwing a scavenger hunt.
Meredith chose 5 local businesses, bought gift cards, and hid them around town. You had to follow her on social media and answer a riddle to find the gift card(s). Once someone found one, they had to tag her in a post.
She gained followers, gave back to her community, and it even led to a request for a design consultation.
Why Meredith doesn’t want to grow and scale a team
Meredith is struggling with a great problem to have: Getting too many requests for her design services. She’s learning how to take discovery calls, explaining how her process works, and scheduling out (sometimes weeks or months).
She sets the expectation that it may be weeks before she can connect back to work on their project. But then she communicates via email, notes in the mail, etc. She’ll have those clients work on creating a Pinterest board to fill in the gap during those weeks.
Meredith is busier than ever, but she isn’t interested in growing and scaling a team right now. She loves what she does and chooses to outsource when necessary. She works with a virtual assistant and outsources renderings and sourcing tasks.
Business tips for new interior designers
What has Meredith learned from her first couple of years as a new interior designer?
Tip #1: It’s not just about charging a design fee. Whenever you can, open up wholesale accounts and purchase furnishings directly from them. A large portion of Meredith’s revenue has come from the margin she makes on furnishings.
Tip #2: Trust your gut. Meredith agreed to do some design work for a couple despite seeing numerous red flags. Meredith requires her clients to request revisions within one week of her design presentation. After her design presentation, this client asked for more than a week to decide. Two months later, they asked her for a refund of her design fees.
Tip #3: Don’t take every job that comes your way. Only work with people who appreciate what you’re doing for them.
Meredith shares more tips, tricks, and business strategies in this episode of Wingnut Social. Check it out!
Connect With Darla & Wingnut Social
Subscribe to The Wingnut Social Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or TuneIn
Audio Production and Show notes by
PODCAST FAST TRACK
https://www.podcastfasttrack.com
REPLAY: How to Start Designing for Celebrity Clients
Creating Leverage in Your Personal and Professional Life With a Virtual Assistant
How to Make Authentic Connections on LinkedIn
Get a Licensing Deal by Building Relationships With Vendors
How Buying Fake Followers Damages Your Instagram Account | Mini News
Big Thinking and Empowering Entrepreneurial Women
Don’t Believe These Social Media Myths! | Mini News
Tips for Taking the Leap to Start Your Own Business
Getting to Know Your Ideal Client | Mini News
How to Get Brand Partnerships for Your Design Business
Why You Need to Engage With Your Audience on Social Media | Mini News
Triple Your Income by Changing Your Mindset
Utilizing Competitor Research to Market Yourself on Social Media
Renovating Vintage Vans and Airstreams: Can You Really DIY?
Why Instagram Stories Are More Relevant Than Ever | Mini News
Building Your Business Website and the Consequences of Collecting Data
Do Hashtags Still Matter? | Mini News
Will the Home Furnishings Industry Make a Comeback?
Are Spam Comments Actually Good for Engagement? | Mini News
Hiring a Virtual Executive Assistant: Is It Worth It?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dear Alice | Interior Design
99% Invisible
The John Clay Wolfe Show
Pollyanna
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Design Better
How to Decorate