Diversifying Your Services & Income 101

One of the guarantees in life is that there will always be unpredictable circumstances. These surprises can come in many forms including job losses, major expenses, slow seasons, economic downturns, growing family, and much more. Though we can’t always predict what is going to happen next, we can try to prepare for it…as best we can. For interior designers this means diversifying your offerings, services, and income.

If you’ve just started out, you may not know what this means. Or if you’re in the middle of scaling your business, you might just not know where to start. Luckily, as an OBM I work with a lot of clients who want to diversify their services and income streams, so here is a quick 101 on ideas to consider, how to get started and why.

Why You Should Diversify

Working in a client-based services industry means the amount of work you have at any given time can ebb and flow making it hard to guarantee regular, dependable income. When you diversify your income stream, you can implement a few strategies that help ensure there is money flowing whether you’re in a busy season or not. It makes life a little more predictable, bills a little easier to pay, and cuts stress. Plus, you can use diversification to offer your already-established client base new and exciting services and products that continue to make you their go-to resource and contractor. It’s a win-win for everyone!

But what does it mean to diversify? Basically, this means you will be tapping into other sources like opening your own online store, utilizing affiliate links and accounts, creating e-books, or selling templates. Odds are you have a few skills that you can harness to build a side-gig to make you money when clients are not ready for a big investment. 

8 Ways to Diversify Your Services & Income

SideDoor.

SideDoor is a platform used by designers everywhere. Not only is it a great way to source and shop pieces for projects, but it can also be used to create shoppable collections that act as a source of commissionable income. Visit Onsidedoor.com, create an account, and start creating collections around specific themes, looks, and inspiration. Then market those collections for clients and followers to shop if they want the look! You can also integrate a shopping page on your website and post pieces through SideDoor right on your site (they even let you use your own branding!).

Check out this episode from Kate the Socialite on how to best utilize SideDoor.

HARO (Help a Reporter Out).

Become a source for reporters and journalists looking for professional input. HARO connects journalists and industry professionals who can answer questions and provide valuable advice and information on specific subjects. It gets your name out there, establishes credibility, and helps you reach demographics you might not have reached otherwise. It’s a different kind of marketing, another avenue for SEO that lends your name as a subject matter expert in Interior Design!

E-Design.

In our digital world, most interior designers make E-Design part of their services from the start. This concept-only design service allows designers to work for anyone, letting the client do the on-site work while you provide them with concept sketches, digital room designs, product links, and more. You can easily use programs like DesignFiles for the actual E-Design presentations and proposals, and Matterport to get schematics and before images of the full space.

Openhaus.

Openhaus is another way to do sell your completed designs with a 360* view walkthrough. In Openhaus you can create a full tour of your design with shoppable links, and even make “shop the look” examples for high end options, affordable options, or specific looks. You can also add video to your project talking about each space as the viewer takes the tour, explaining the design choices, products and more. Sharing this tour on your website, social media and other marketing platforms is so easy. Check out more on my website!

Virtual Design Assistance.

Become a VDA! Your design skills can make you an invaluable partner to other designers inundated with work, or even larger firms looking to outsource some work. You can offer floorplans, renderings, sourcing, presentation creation, etc. to supplement your income without losing your entrepreneur freedom and flexibility. Niche down as far as offering a single service such as photoshop touch ups, all the way up to a full design assistant workload.

Retail.

As an interior designer you have the trade connections, trend forecasts, and client network available to sell products as a retailer. Utilize your knowledge, experience and space by setting up an online store or, if you have the space, studio-based retail shop. This can be as big as furniture & accessories, all the way down to just wallpaper or artwork. What is your style niche, what are you known for, and what will those who cannot invest in full service options want to purchase to have their space influenced by your design style?

Print On Demand.

A side-income source that’s becoming more and more popular is print-on-demand products. These are forms, low-content books, notebooks, clothing, invitations, and other stationary items that can be designed by you, sold online. Some items could be ordered through an online print shop, printed, and mailed directly to the customer. Others could be digital templates. Although this sounds a little crafty and maybe not your style, consider also designer to designer type items such as client questionnaires or initial consult pricing sheet templates. Our industry is full of knowledgeable veterans that can truly offer business resources to those just starting out.

Offering a Variety of Design Services.

Essentially, this means adding to your service offerings, while still considering your core mission and values. Instead of only doing full-service home design, could you branch out to commercial, offer staging, E-Design, hourly consultations, procurement and organizing services? If you have a skill, chances are someone out there is looking for you, so don’t be scared to branch out and create new services or search out a new client-base.

No matter which route you take, you will not regret diversifying your income. There is definitely comfort in knowing that you are somewhat prepared for financial unpredictability in a volatile economy and ever-changing, luxury industry. 

For more advice about diversifying your income and help getting started, schedule your call with me today!