Maria Killam is a decorator, stylist, speaker, educator, and true color expert in interior and exterior design. She’s also the creator of the Killam Color System™, a proven system for choosing color that anyone can learn.
Maria has always shared her work on her blog and has thousands of readers. But her Instagram never took off—until recently. Maria leveraged a popular Instagram trend and grew to 100k+ Instagram followers in mere weeks. Learn how she did it in this episode of Wingnut Social!
What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social
Connect with Maria Killam
Resources & People Mentioned
The evolution of Maria’s business
Maria Killam launched her career while working in a paint store. She took a color course and learned how to accurately describe colors. As she helped clients choose the right colors for their homes, she started painting out large color samples and used them over and over again.
She saw that beiges always had the same undertones: pink-beige, green-beige, yellow-beige, etc. The undertones expanded from there. Her goal is to help her clients understand undertones so their design choices are complementary and timeless.
Maria created a color wheel tool to help people identify the undertones in their spaces to choose the right neutrals. Now Maria offers online courses and eDesign to help both designers and homeowners create timeless spaces.
Keep listening to learn how understanding color and undertones influences every design choice you’ll make.
Maria’s Strategy to gain 100k+ Instagram followers
Maria has spent a lot of time on Instagram. Why? Because people judge you as a marketer, designer, and businessperson based on your number of Instagram followers. They’re either impressed—or not.
One day, Maria was watching an influencer who did a “10 ways to do something…” video series that they split into 10 parts. It was a light-bulb moment for Maria. So she launched her own 10-part series: “10 Finishes that Immediately Date Your New Build.” Her Instagram following grew by 100,000 followers in a matter of weeks.
Instagram is trying to be like TikTok. It’s ALL about video. It worked for Maria because her no-nonsense personality was fully expressed in these videos. Before, she followed different random trends. Secondly, you build trust faster when they watch a video. If you’re not on video, you’re going to be behind. So how do you get started?
Start sharing videos on your stories. They’re only 15 seconds and get you comfortable in front of the camera. Maria felt extremely awkward in her first videos. But you have to go through that awkward phase to become a rockstar on video. Maria has attracted a whole new audience. Learn how you can do the same in this episode of Wingnut Social!
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PODCAST FAST TRACK
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Learn to Rewire Your Brain Patterns with Adele Spraggon - Episode 230
Niche Until it Hurts: Erica Reiner’s Love for Eco-Friendly Design - Episode 229
Why You Should Use Case Studies to Boost Your Business - Episode 228
Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs to Charge What You’re Worth [Sarah Schneider] - Episode 227
How Using a UTM Will Transform your Marketing Metrics with Chris Mercer - Episode 226
An Unexpected Way Designers can Leverage Pinterest per Chandler Oldham - Episode 225
Interior Designers: You NEED to Network with Realtors [per Eric Reeves] - Episode 224
Rachel Gill’s Spectacular Success with Client-Facing Facebook Groups - Episode 223
Crappy Copywriting: How to Be More Marketable with Gregory Anne Cox - Episode 222
Conversational Commerce is the Way of the Future [According to Paul Ace] - Episode 221
Overcome Your Inner Shadows to Reach Your Soul Goals (with Anna Tsui) - Episode 220
How to Brand Your Design Business According to Mike Peterson - Episode 219
How to Use Pinterest to Up-Level Your Social Media Marketing [Kate Ahl] - Episode 218
REPLAY: Infuse More Play in Your Day with Jeff Harry - Episode 217
Here’s How to Convert Your Expertise to a Money-Making Consulting Business with Laura Meyer - Episode 216
How to Hire—So You Don’t Have to Fire [with Colleen Baader] - Episode 215
Transform Your Business with Powerful Self-Talk [Roy Redd] - Episode 214
Lauren Brown's Wins, Losses, and Lessons Learned - Episode 213
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