The Kate Show (Socialite Agency)

Life and business were never meant to be solo journeys...or a Ninja Warrior competition...or some weirdly long episode of Survivor. But, it can sure feel that way sometimes!

If you've felt a little lost in growing your home industry business (or any creative, service-based business, really) this episode of The Kate Show is for you. Today I'm sharing 11 business and branding lessons straight from the Bible itself. I hope this episode refreshes you the way these messages have for me. Running a business can make us feel worn out and lonely, and this might be just the encouragement your soul needs.

Listen anywhere you get your podcasts or watch The Kate Show on Spotify and YouTube.

You've just spent all year marketing your business - or trying to - and before you dive into a new year, you're probably wanting to know if you've been on the right track. I know I would!

Today on The Kate Show Podcast, I'm sharing the 5 things you should be looking at to appropriately grade your marketing over the last year:

1. Did you stay top-of-mind with leads, past clients, and colleagues every month? In what ways? What measurable impact have you recorded? If you weren't able to track any results, pause. This is literally the most important action step. Without it, you aren't marketing. You're just guessing. Pro tip: Monthly mass emails (newsletters) are statistically the most effective, low-cost way to stay top-of-mind. No algorithm, and no daily content to create. brilliant, beautiful, and simple.
2. Did you land at least three new referral sources (individuals, businesses, or organizations)? This often happens via in-person socializing or job site connections. If you have made new connections, ask one of them to do an Audience Swap with you in the new year.
3. Did you upload new photos of your work to your website at least once last year? This means you should be taking your own photos or getting it done. Photos should be a priority.
4. Did you post updates on your Google Business listing (GBL) at least every quarter? This is assuming your GBL is already set up and completely filled out.
5. Did you set up Google Analytics and connect it to your website? This is the best way to know whether your website traffic has increased and why. Saying "I FEEL like I'm not getting enough traffic," is always the wrong answer. Analytics are concrete evidence. Feelings should not dictate your marketing decisions.

If you answered "no" to any of these, you have your marketing plan for 2025.

Resources:

Stay top-of-mind with high-end clients in the way they prefer - direct email correspondence that feels brilliantly personal. We create luxury email marketing campaigns for interior design, home staging, organizing, and window treatment businesses. View our plans now: www.socialitevault.com

Online courses are all the rage this season because they promise passive income and the ability to serve people who can't afford your in-person rates.

But there's a catch: Building and maintaining a course isn't passive. Those who approach digital courses as passive income strategies end up being the least profitable.

If you've been considering adding a course to your interior design, staging, window treatment, or organizing business, there IS a way to do it. In today's episode, you'll learn what you need to do to create and sell a viable online course.

Stream this episode on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Need marketing help? Book a discovery call at www.katethesocialite.com

How do home pros like you get featured, published, or promoted by bigger brands and entities? They make themselves marketable, ask for or create their own opportunities, and most importantly, they pursue an ongoing relationship with the entities that feature them.

Making yourself marketable (meaning, making it easier for OTHER people to talk about YOU) is different than marketing your business, and doing this is essential in order to then ask for or create your own PR and media opportunities.

If you want to be proactive in the brand exposure and media coverage that your interior design, staging, window treatment, or organizing business receives, this is the episode for you. You don't have to be an influencer, nor must you have been in business for years and years, in order to make this method work for you. If you are a go-getter and love to think outside the box, you might be surprised where the method I'm sharing today will take you.

Using this method, I've landed several key media and PR opportunities for my own brand, namely: being featured by Brainz Magazine and recognized as a Top 500 global entrepreneur, becoming an educator and paid speaker for Honeybook, and becoming an official media partner for Squarespace and Patriot Mobile. I'm walking the talk and getting great results. You can, too!

Watch The Kate Show on Spotify and YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Resources

• Get a free media kit Canva template now: https://www.katethesocialite.com/marketing-calendar
• Flodesk and Mailchimp email templates are available NOW for home pros: https://www.katethesocialite.com/ongoing-marketing

Several years ago, I made the executive decision to design websites exclusively on Squarespace. Prior to this, my agency was designing websites on nearly any platform, largely Wordpress. However, we kept running into the same issues... Issues that cost my team hours of time and our clients hundreds of dollars. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing exactly why we recommend Squarespace over WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Showit.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm going to show you exactly how you should use social media as a home industry professional and what you should and should not expect from it. Spoiler alert: If social media is causing you stress, you are doing it wrong.

Wouldn't marketing be easier if you just knew what to say...ahead of time? Planning your content marketing in advance is smart for two reasons: First, it allows you to marinate on the topics ahead of time and avoid writer's block when the time comes to create. Second, it allows you to batch create content. I've adapted the process my agency uses for content planning into something that makes sense for home professionals like you. If you are looking to create cohesive, professional marketing content for your interior design, home staging, organizing, or window treatment business, you need to hear this episode.

It isn't every day I get to host an accomplished, award-winning interior designer on the podcast, and Michelle Lynne did not disappoint. With her Texas charm and no-nonsense approach to business, she and I hit it off the moment we first met back in Palm Springs last fall. I wanted to have Michelle on the show because: 1) she runs a profitable design firm without a huge team, and 2) she bases her design business coaching on the principles she had to learn the hard way. The best lessons come from mistakes — and could that mean learning from the mistake negates the mistake itself? To a point, yes, and that is what good entrepreneurship looks like. A successful business isn't born overnight, easily, or automatically. A business, be it in design or staging or organizing, is built successfully by a business owner who is humble enough to pivot when things aren't working and brave enough to charge forward when things get difficult. And they WILL get difficult. That's the nature of business. Michelle is inspiring because she's currently "in the moment" with running two businesses, maintaining a marriage, and raising a toddler. Her design business has survived many economic ups and downs, and her coaching company seeks to help you scale and do the same.

As you assess your expenses in the New Year, you might be wondering whether you're paying too much when you combine the costs of the dozens of online tools you use to run your business. Whether you use multiple platforms that happen to offer the same features, or you simply don't need the features you first thought you needed, now is the time to clean house. On this episode of The Kate Show, I'm walking you through how to assess and downsize the number of paid online tools you use, and pay for fewer (but more premium) tools that will get you further ahead in business. It's time to stop overpaying and underusing.

Can you spot a "bad client" a mile away? For years, I struggled with this and still occasionally let one slip through. After assessing my own misjudgments (late night worrying about how on earth I got my team into such a predicament, basically) and after speaking with many of you who have generously shared your "nightmare client" stories, I thought it was worth an episode. If you are new to the home industry, or if you keep working with PITA clients (that's pain-in-the-ass, in case you're wondering), you might be relieved to know there are clear red flags, and even some yellow caution flags, that should alert you to proceed with caution or simply end the interaction. Let's talk about them.

Your costs need to increase, and you aren't sure how to tell them. Lead times aren't getting any shorter, and demand remains high, at least for now. How do you expertly explain to your upcoming and current clients that they might have to pay more and wait longer for their projects to be completed? Today on The Kate Show, we are discussing exactly that, along with handy scripts you can copy and paste. If you struggle to find the right words, consider this your own personal podcast episode.

If you've heard the phrase, "Mindset is everything," and felt a little confused about what to do with that fact, this episode of The Kate Show is for you. Today, I'm having another conversation with fellow home industry marketing entrepreneur, Salimah Mamdani, about all the mindset shifts that need to happen if you are trying to grow your business as a designer, stager, organizer, or window treatment professional.

If you're flat-out scared to stop chasing every advertising and social media opportunity, but you're also exhausted from keeping up with the constant changes, you need to hear this episode. Today, I'm sharing five popular marketing tactics I don't use to market my own business. Trust me, you'll be surprised by what I don't do. I hope it gives you the freedom to "cut the fat" from your own marketing task list and simply focus on what has actually been proven to bring you new clients.

Do you struggle with how to price your services as an interior designer, home stager, window professional, or pro organizer? The real issue isn't how to price, but instead how to take control of your perceived value. Perceived value is another way of stating "how valuable you appear to be" to a potential client. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the top nine mistakes that are damaging your perceived value as a professional. Are you making any of these? Let's find out.

Whether you are an interior designer or not, if you would like a real-life perspective on how to thrive amidst discomfort in your business and flex your faith vs. worry muscles, this episode is for you. Being invited to speak at this high-level retreat in the distinguished Kimpton Rowan Hotel was a huge growth marker for my business and quite an honor. I had amazing conversations with luxury interior designers from Orange County and beyond over the two-day retreat, and I walked away with a deepened appreciation for the hurdles one must jump over to become a successful designer.

I'm not sure which is more difficult — figuring out a topic for a newsletter or blog post or actually writing the darn thing. Do you struggle with this, too? If you know what you want to write about but can't seem to craft the words around it, or you can't figure out what topic to write about (much less how to write it!), you are in the right place. Today on The Kate Show I'm sharing 10 blog post topics and 10 email newsletter topics, each with general outlines to get you started.

This episode of The Kate Show is for any interior designer, home stager, window pro, or organizer who worries that she'll never be successful, or that the success she already has simply won't last. For those of you who might no longer experience these struggles, you will find much camaraderie in this very personal, transparent episode.

The home industry is crazy right now. I have seen most designers, stagers, and beyond fall into one of two camps: Either they are wildly busy and losing their minds, or they are scrambling to make ends meet and wondering if their businesses will last through 2021. If your goal is to help your home industry business create steady revenue even when the economy does weird things, you need to hear this episode.

Often, the key to success in business isn't about knowing the right people, but about being the right person — one that is willing to learn and work hard. If you are looking for a legacy business that exemplifies empowerment, look no further. Today on The Kate Show, you'll learn that most of the obstacles we face as aspiring entrepreneurs are internal. What we believe about ourselves and the world around us holds us back. If you think you can't do something because: 1) You are too young or old, 2) You were born into rough circumstances, or 3) You don't look like everyone else in your community, well, then you are in for a really strong dose of hope and a whole lotta elbow grease. Let's get into today's conversation with Roger.

On today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm speaking with Openhaus co-founder Carson Clement. Rather than simply showing your customers a photo of your SideDoor product, Openhaus 3D home tours will let you show it in your client's actual home. This gives context to what you are selling and can make that sale so much easier. If you aren't selling products, Openhaus can be a great way to showcase your portfolio with professional, immersive virtual tours.

Today on The Kate Show, I am speaking with the charming Rick Campos of Design Biz Survival Guide. If you've ever felt like you and your design firm needed a survival guide, well, you were right. Building a strong business and creating a lasting legacy requires a community. In this interview, Rick shares deep insights on the struggles that home professionals face over and over again, why he calls himself a "recovering interior designer", and how he can help each of you move forward. Don't miss these words of entrepreneurial wisdom.

Guys, SideDoor recently released the best feature ever. You can now embed your collections and products directly into your own website. SideDoor's new iFrame embed feature is so exciting to me as a marketer because it makes implementing and selling products so much easier. If you haven't at least investigated this platform yet, you need to before you get left behind. Today, I'm going over my suggested step-by-step process for selling with SideDoor. It's one thing to have an amazing tool like this at your disposal, and it is quite another to actually start making sales. If you nail it, you can truly set your business up with a brand new income stream that doesn't require hours of unbillable time.

You have a great lead magnet on your website. But... No one is signing up for it. If this describes you, stick around. Today on The Kate Show, I'm revealing the three primary actions you need to take in order to get people to sign up for your lead magnet. You already know this, but I'll say it anyway: You can't set it and forget it. No matter how wonderful your lead magnet is, you still have to promote it in order for it to do its job.

The idea of marketing your business so that you can continue to grow when you are already being pulled all over the map (mentally, creatively, financially) doesn't seem feasible. Or does it? The truth is you can trim and lighten your marketing workload by letting go of a few mindset traps that our modern business culture has built around us. If you are ready to get minimal with your marketing, this episode is for you.

The feast to famine cycle (or the many clients to no clients pattern) that is so prevalent among designers, stagers, workrooms, and organizers can easily be circumvented. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing two productivity routines that I use in my own business to ensure I am never marketing more or less than what I should be, regardless of how many or how few leads are coming into our pipeline. While these productivity routines apply to nearly any creative business, I'm sharing them specifically from the perspective of applying them to the home industry.

If you are ready to refresh your social media, your content marketing, your website, and your client process with beautiful verbiage and flowy-yet-crisp designs, this episode of The Kate Show is for you. Get ready for your marketing to be completely transformed. Today, by popular demand, we are revealing a completely new marketing resource for interior designers, home stagers, professional organizers, and window treatment specialists.

Curious whether your website is making even just one mistake that is preventing your business from growing? In today's episode of The Kate Show, you'll learn the answer to this question.

Have you ever wondered how you could up-level your paid client consultations? Whether you are an interior designer, home stager, professional organizer, or window treatment specialist, your consultation time is valuable. If you aren't already charging a premium rate for those consults, you'll need to after gleaning all the wisdom from today's interview.

I can't believe how much time I used to spend marketing my business. Before I ran a marketing agency, I ran a copywriting business. A failing one. Looking back, all that wasted time and money was a rite of passage. I didn't know what I didn't know, but now that I know it, I'm sharing it with all of you. I'm that weird marketer who tells you to spend LESS time on your marketing, not more. If you are struggling with marketing overwhelm or flat-out marketing discouragement, you need to hear what I'm about to say today. You might be doing a lot of marketing tasks that you simply don't need to do. And you might be outsourcing tasks that don't even need to be done — by you or by anyone else.

As an interior designer, home stager, professional organizer, or window treatment business owner, you have too many responsibilities and not enough help (or time) to keep everything moving forward. Because of this, if you're anything like me, you may have started relying on apps for, well, everything. Today I'm sharing 10 amazing and fairly new apps, plus five core apps, that you and your home industry business will love. And they don't involve launching any tech devices across the room.

You started a business and now you are questioning everything about your identity. Your skills, your talents, the value you bring to the world — everything you once believed about yourself is now held in question. And the insecurities you had previously? Well, those have likely gotten worse. If this sounds like you, you need to take a few deep breaths and listen to this episode. I'm not going to give you some feel-good advice or tell you things that aren't true. I'm going to share something about imposter syndrome that the internet forgot to mention.

Today's topic was requested by successful home stager Theresa Ceglio of We Stage Jacksonville: Home stagers get a lot of push back in this hot seller's market both from the agents and home sellers. They feel they don’t need to do anything to their listings or properties because everything is selling so quickly. I work with agents that see the value in staging and won’t take a listing if they won’t stage it. How can we as stagers really get through to those who are leaving so much money on the table? They have the stats, they see what’s happening and I know they know what other agents are making in extra commissions but they just don’t budge. We educate constantly but so many are missing out and that translates to us missing out, too. If you're a home stager who is getting frustrated with the realtors in your area who simply don't seem to value staging, this episode is just for you.

If you don't have a defined sales funnel for your home industry business, you'll find that marketing feels very difficult and expensive. You might even feel like nothing is working - which is not a great feeling to have! I've talked for dozens of hours on the importance of having a sales funnel, and today I'm breaking down the framework of an ideal home industry sales funnel. Consider this a template for getting more leads, faster. This is your roadmap to marketing that is fruitful and measurable.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing a lightweight business model that has become popular with home professionals who want the flexibility of working remotely, but they don't want to offer e-design. The cool part about this consultancy business model is that you can still meet with clients in person, just as you would for a normal, on-site consultation. But unlike traditional services, you wouldn't then need to do all the planning and sourcing for the client - unless you wanted to offer that upgrade. Don't miss this transformational episode.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing five key areas in your marketing that are likely far too generic. If you are suffering from a lack of clients, despite an overall booming home industry (circa 2020 and 2021), the issue might not be external (i.e. the economy, your location, YOU). The issue could very well be that you just aren't vocalizing what you want. Today, let's put a voice behind those internal needs and desires and make them external declarations.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing 4 simple ways you can connect with followers. This will push you out of your comfort zone, as it should. This will help you achieve the goal of higher interaction rates on your posts, and it definitely isn't magic. It's about being a real person. It's about being yourself.

Are you stressed out because you aren't getting new clients from social media? Today's episode of The Kate Show might be one of the most enlightening episodes I've ever selected for the show. Listen to it, and you'll walk away with an entirely different perspective on what social media is actually supposed to be doing for your business.

Airbnb, VRBO, and the entire short-term rental market are BOOMING. As an interior designer, home stager, or professional organizer, there is no reason why you can't get in on this action. So if you are looking for a new niche, this might be it. Today on The Kate Show, I am interviewing two pioneers in the short-term rental entrepreneurship space, Annette and Sarah of Thanks for Visiting. This info-packed episode will inspire you to niche down and scale-up in the right ways - right for your brand and right for your host-clients.

As our businesses shift and grow, it is possible to outgrow your original ideal client. On today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing a strategy that will help you redefine your ideal client, restructure your flagship service offering, and actually speak directly to your leads in a way that makes hiring you not just a want but a need.

In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm teaching you how to become the home professional who knows the right people. If you've listened to Episode 153, in which I shared actual scripts for connecting with referral partners, this episode is not a repeat. Rather, it builds off the methods and strategies I shared previously, with specific positioning toward realtors and similar professionals. Business is about relationships. When you embrace this, the likelihood of your business growing quickly will greatly increase.

Blogging is so impactful that you know your home industry business needs it, but you're wondering how you can reuse the content you've worked so long to create. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing easy tips for reusing your blog posts as marketing videos. Don't worry, the process is short and sweet. In fact, your biggest hurdle won't be filming the video, but having the courage to hit "record." We're going to talk about that, too.

Writing blog posts for your interior design, home staging, professional organizing, or window treatment business doesn't have to become your next part-time job. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing everything from blog post writing strategies to best practices that can directly impact your SEO and result in faster content creation.

Pinterest is quietly making changes to its platform. While they have a right to make these changes, you have a right to be aware of how they intend to use your content and how those changes will directly affect your marketing as a home industry entrepreneur. Today I'm sharing a summary of these Pinterest changes and what you can consider changing in your Pinterest activities to potentially offset or circumvent any unwanted outcomes. The information I'm sharing today is crucial.

Specificity will grow your business in the home industry. Having a signature service will grow your business. Niching down and scaling up will elevate your brand, resulting in more referrals, better marketing, and amazing collaborations. No one knows this better than today's guest, Salimah Mamdani of Fully Booked Designer. Whether you are new to the home industry or you've been running your business for a few years already and are tired of slow growth, you are going to learn so much from Salimah today.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing one such tool with you: Canva. Though a fun and lighthearted tool, it can do so much more than help you create your next social media post. Whether you have the free version of Canva or you've drunk the Kool-Aid of Canva Pro (I have! No regrets.), you are going to learn something new today about how Canva can serve you better.

Have you ever struggled with what to say on your website? Do you ever worry about your SEO? The majority of interior designers, stagers, organizers, and workroom owners I speak with would say yes to both. Copywriting can be difficult, especially when you are trying to write something about your own business, or worse, about yourself. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the copywriting prompts we use to create beautiful, SEO-sharpened, sales-driven websites for home pros. When we create custom websites, we handle all the SEO and copywriting. When someone purchases one of our website templates, they get access to these prompts in addition to their beautifully designed website template.

Whether you've just started your business, have recently moved to a new state, or are looking to break into a new market, getting your first few clients can feel like an insurmountable task. How do you find those new clients when no one knows your name yet? Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the strategic referral alliances you need to make and exactly how you can make them.

If you listened to my previous episode regarding how to turn your home industry knowledge into a paid membership, you won't want to miss this sequel. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the steps you'll need to take in order to effectively brand and market your membership. If you aren't sure whether you are well suited to launch a membership around your design, staging, or other home industry expertise, skip back to Episode 151 of this podcast first.

Since the launch of Vault, my peers in the industry have asked me about the technology and processes I use to make it all work. Today, I'm transposing that information into a plan that is specific to you, the home industry professional. If you are passionate about what you do and want to serve people at a higher level while using the one-to-many business model, this episode is for you. Whether you want to run a business-to-business membership like we do here at Socialite, or you prefer to run a business-to-consumer membership, the advice, tools, and strategies I'm sharing today will help you get started.

Do you ever feel like you have to use dozens of online tools and platforms just to keep your business organized? If you could bundle all your design business, team management, and project management tools into one tidy package, would you do it? I know I would! Today, I'm chatting with Timothy Murenzi of Indema about why his new platform is an industry-disrupter taking interior designers by storm. Don't miss this goodness!

"How can I get consistent, high-quality leads for my design firm?" This question popped up in my inbox recently. It's one I've been asked many times over the past few years, and it's one that every entrepreneur in the home industry should be asking. If you don't have an email list, but you know that you should be using email marketing to bolster your home industry business, you might feel defeated or stuck before you even begin. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the exact steps to take if you want to get your first handful of email subscribers, whether you've been in business for years or just launched.

As an interior designer or home stager, you might love the hands-on projects - the ones that put you in the same room with your amazing clients. Or maybe you're trying to scale up your design consultancy. Or maybe you have no idea where to put your efforts or what you'd really love to do yet. Before you become overwhelmed or feel like you need to let go of your traditional services, hear this: You can still offer the same services - or not - in conjunction with your Side Door revenue stream. Today, I'm sharing how you can use Side Door for your own financial gain.

As a self-employed interior designer, home stager, or organizer, who is funding your retirement? The short answer: You. But...are you actually? Whether retirement is decades away or just around the corner, you have the responsibility of funding it. Today on The Kate Show, I'm chatting with Tony Pochowski of Thrivent Financial. Tony is the fiduciary for mine and Matt's personal investments as well as our business investment accounts. Friends, this man knows the investment world like none other, and he is one of only three entities in my life who sees the inner financial workings of Socialite. In a sentence: I trust him and I recommend him to all my business friends.

If you are being told that affiliate marketing is passive (or have figured out that it isn't), this episode of The Kate Show is for you. Today I'm sharing what it takes to earn real income from affiliate sales, from the effort you need to put into the stats you need to hit. Because I believe in alternatives and solutions and real income strategies, I won't be leaving you on a depressing note. Maybe affiliate marketing is still going to call your name after you hear this episode, but if it isn't, I have a new suggestion - one that could transform your business with truly passive possibilities.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the four primary reasons why marketing your new business might feel absolutely terrifying and why your inner confidence might have suddenly taken a plunge. Spoiler alert: It's normal - but it doesn't mean you should stay in that place. After this episode, you'll walk away with just a little more courage, a lot of companionships, and an actionable, short to-do list to kickstart your confidence.

Not every home industry business owner will need the exact same first hire and not every entrepreneur will need or want to hire an employee when hiring a subcontractor is so much more freeing. I've hired and fired (ugh) over the past few years and each decision, each movement, made my business more profitable and lowered my stress in the long run. If you are experiencing the growing pains of needing to hire another person but not wanting to increase your overhead, this episode is for you.

"Working less and producing more is possible, even with a little one." In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing with you how I work as a mom and an entrepreneur. I'm giving you tips on how you can batch-work your business (my batch working process on a monthly schedule!), especially if you have little kiddos to help you get ahead of things and allows you to turn out better content as business owners.

If you are looking for inventive ways to serve your ideal client and set yourself up for a new year of pre-booked projects, you won't want to miss this episode of The Kate Show. I'm sharing actual holiday-themed service packages that you can sell on your website (or through My Doma, DesignFiles, etc). Plus, each package is easily adaptable to the post-holiday world with just a few wording changes.

Branding is more than a logo. I didn't understand this for the first few years in business. Now, I can call it what it is: Branding is the personality of your business. While I've since designed brands and helped name and launch businesses, branding is honestly not my scope of genius. Because this is such a huge topic, I've brought in Jill of Jula Paper to talk about all things branding. Don't miss this episode on all things branding for your interior design, home staging, professional organizing, or window treatment business.

We've been programmed to answer the question, "How are you doing? " with an instant, "I'm doing great. How are you?" It's time to stop lying to ourselves and others in the name of nicety. If you are a business owner and parent, you are likely more stressed out right now than ever before. I feel you, and I have some tips. From how to plan your week and balance parenthood to true self-care beyond those cliched massage appointments, I hope you'll get at least one takeaway from this episode that will make this week just a little more manageable for you.

Figuring out what to say in an email newsletter can leave many home industry business owners feeling bewildered. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing actual scripts taken from four of some of the most-loved email newsletter templates in Socialite Vault. If you want to see the design and layout of these scripts in a clean and crisp newsletter format, scroll down to watch the video tour.

As a professional organizer, you are eyeballs deep in all things systems as you develop ways to organize and sort your clients' spaces. But how are you organizing your business? Do you have processes in place that streamline your client process, create a great client experience, and enhance your professionalism? If you feel like your business needs a little help leveling up, you're going to love today's guest on The Kate Show.

In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing the first thing you should do to market your business, which is entirely dependent on your ideal client, and how that will impact the other pieces of your sales funnel. If you've ever felt overwhelmed and bewildered by marketing and growing your home industry business, this episode is for you.

Setting up more than one income stream is a great way to bolster your design, staging, workroom, or organizing business in new ways. Aside from offering virtual consultations, coaching and mentoring can be used as alternate income streams. If you've been asked more than a few times about your success in business, your processes and systems, or even the hands-on work that you do (from creating complicated window treatments to how you conduct your client discovery calls and consultations), you could easily package that information and sell it to your less-experienced peers. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm explaining the simple, efficient method you can follow to package and sell your experience and knowledge, thus creating a sustainable and truly passive income stream for your business.

You might think, "I'll just never retire." But you will. You'll retire from one career to something else. What will you do with the business you built? Will you try to sell it, only to realize you don't have any of the right systems or infrastructure in place to make it sellable? Will you let it fade into oblivion, as though it never existed in this world, sell off your equipment, shut down your office, and go on your way? Say it isn't so. If you want to sell your business eventually, you have to build it the right way...right now. This heavy topic isn't one that I can take on myself, and that's why I've brought on today's special guest.

This is one of those topics that I didn't want to talk about for a long time, but a desperate Google search of, "What to do when someone copies your business" yielded sparse results and made me realize that I needed to create this. If you are wondering, "Did someone copy Kate's business?" You'd be correct...about five times over. I hope this never happens to your business. I hope you never experience that queasy feeling that climbs higher and higher in your throat when you realize that someone actually attempted to use you as their entrepreneurial shortcut. However, if it does happen to you, I hope you'll find some camaraderie and comfort in what I'm sharing today.

After designing around a hundred websites for the home industry, my team and I know what a website needs in order to effectively sell your services and packages while creating a great and memorable brand experience. Because my website design team often has a waiting list that is months long, I knew there had to be a better way to serve more of you without decreasing the quality or effectiveness of our websites. Thanks to Squarespace, my dreams of delivering a grab-and-go website (designed by us and tailored to you) that is built for both SEO and sales have been realized. Wait, you were dreaming about this, too? Sweet. Catch the details on this episode of The Kate Show, including how it works, what is included, and whether it is a good option for your business.

A few years of marketing your business has likely taught you that certain marketing ideas just don't work for everyone. Plus, they can actually hurt your business and result in a huge waste of time or money. Today, I'm sharing 17 marketing myths that I've had to navigate as an entrepreneur in the home industry. If you find that you're using a few of these tactics, don't feel regretful. Find an alternative. I'll share more about that at the end.

Everyone and their cousin seem to have added virtual interior design services to their design businesses. Well, almost everyone. There are a few designers who've said, "I get why my colleagues are offering e-design, but it just isn't for me." If this describes you, you are going to love my conversation with today's guest. British business strategist, Maria Mustapha, is going to map out how interior designers can diversify their income without adding virtual interior design. I'm just as excited as you are to learn what Maria's going to share. I knew when I met her that she was going to be a breath of fresh air to both the podcast and this post-pandemic world we are just now starting to navigate in the home industry.

If you've never worked with a marketing agency, you might have a few qualms about just handing over your brand to an outside party (or maybe you can't do it fast enough?). If you've already worked with a marketing company and were less than satisfied with the results, you will have a whole other mindset, both of which I will address in this episode. And if you're curious about what it's like to work with Socialite, let's chat business, marketing, and how we can help.

As an interior designer or home stager, your website is both an online portfolio and a sales person who never sleeps - or at least- it should be. If you are looking for a new website and trying to sort through the dozens of website designers vying for your attention, you'd do well to narrow them down with a quick interview process. The process I'm sharing with you today includes 10 primary questions to ask; questions that will no doubt cause you to come up with more of your own. And if you're ready to get a new website or revamp your current site, this episode is for you.

If you've delayed taking photos of your interior design or soft furnishing projects, you'll be scrambling to contact a photographer after you hear this episode. From helping you earn a place in your favorite shelter magazine to truly becoming known for your beautiful design work in the home industry, having an experienced and professional interiors photographer on your team isn't just a game-changer. It can transform your business, make your marketing easier, and cultivate free publicity (and who doesn't love all those things?). Today on The Kate Show, I'm speaking with Emily Followill of Emily Followill Photography. She has a special place in her heart for young or new interior designers and approaches each photo shoot as its own editorial masterpiece. If you're looking for a proven way to reach high-end clientele, you won't want to miss Emily's helpful photography tips.

Do you want to reach more clients in the high-end, luxury demographic? The majority of design firms, staging companies, and custom workrooms that we serve here at Socialite would say, "Absolutely!" If this desire aligns with your business, too, you might be wondering how to find these high-end clients or, going a step further, how to delight them to the point of being referred to their friends and family. In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing 5 key steps you can take toward reaching more high-end clients. Each tip is easy to implement, whether you are a solopreneur or a team of 20.

Pinterest is a powerhouse for increasing website traffic - you know this. What you might not know is that Pinterest has made some updates to how it prioritizes content. This impacts how you use Pinterest to market your business. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing all the Pinterest updates, including why pinning your portfolio images and blog posts repeatedly - yet in different formats - is an important and easy way to use Pinterest correctly for maximum exposure, repins, and website traffic.

Branding is more than just a logo. For years, I really didn't understand this concept. What makes a "good" brand and how exactly does that impact your design, staging, or workroom business? Great question; there is no short answer. A brand is equivalent to a personality. Your personality is determined by how you carry yourself, how you dress, how you spend your time, how you interact with others. Your business has a personality too. Visually, this looks like a logo and a consistent use of the same font and color palette. Practically, this also includes what you offer, how you offer it, and to whom.

How do you create a second (or third or fourth) income stream as an interior designer? Until recently, the only answer to this question was, "Go set up affiliate links in your blog posts and hope you get enough website traffic to make it worthwhile." Ten months later, and your website traffic is nowhere near the necessary 100K views per month, and your affiliate links haven't made any money. Fast forward to the spring of 2020, interior designers now have another option: SideDoor is paving the way for trade-only brands and manufacturers to remain exclusive to practicing interior designers, preventing large corporations from selling direct-to-consumer.

The coronavirus was a great multitasker - did you know that? While it was running around scaring the pants off people (and apparently wrapping them in excess toilet paper), it was also doing a few other crazy things, specifically in the business world. I can guarantee that business owners, especially those of you in the home industry, are going to do certain things differently as we navigate this post-corona world. Yes, you know the economy shut down for what felt like an eternity. You might have had to lay people off that you hope to soon rehire. Some of you chose that time to retire because it was a simple sidestep that you'd already been considering. Whether your business has been pushed back to ground zero or held tight to its former position on the mountain during this time, you know that the new normal is looking very, very different. Let's dive into what happened and what to expect.

I can't tell you how many times someone in the home industry has told me, "I ran a Google ad and it didn't work." Sadly, I've seen people spend thousands of dollars on Adwords, only to receive zero customers. ZERO. If you're befuddled by Adwords, if you have no idea how to use Google Analytics to your business's benefit, and if you aren't sure why you need a Google business listing, you'll love this episode. Google has created a powerful suite of tools meant to help business owners have a more successful online presence. As with any real-life tools, however, you have to know what you're doing in order for any of it to actually work. If you're confused by these tools or if you know just enough to be dangerous, you're going to walk away from this episode armed and ready to bolster your business online.

If your website is just sitting there looking pretty but not sending you any new leads, you know you have a problem. You might have the best website design in the world, but no website in the "history of never" has automatically generated leads by itself. You actually still have to work for it. In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm breaking down the obscurity around lead magnets and explaining why getting your website to generate leads is pretty much impossible without one. Ready to fill your pipeline and turn your website into a powerhouse? Let's do it.

Like most of you, I'm emotionally and mentally exhausted from hearing, reading, seeing, and saying the words COVID-19, coronavirus, and pandemic. I have deep empathy for anyone affected - both personally and in business. Before I discuss how to move forward during and after "The Pause", I have to give a huge shout out to my followers and Vault members who have remained steady and committed to their businesses. This situation was alarming on many fronts and we are now beginning to pick up the pieces, restarting our economy here in the U.S., and moving forward. If you are living in a country that is still in the midst of the madness, take heart. There is an end to it. There is hope. God has not forgotten you. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I am sharing my best tips on how to regroup, regenerate, and how to make your business even more resilient in unexpected situations.

Running a business is the best, the worst, the most rewarding and the most dangerous (to your personal) health. Just ask John Dupra of Revel Woods. In today's episode, we're getting the scoop on John's work-induced hospital stay, the devastation and roller coaster ride that almost always accompanies entrepreneurship, and an honest look at the realities of running a business when outside forces are directly working against you.

"But is email marketing even relevant anymore?" "I don't want to send email newsletters because people already receive so many emails." Ever thought this before? I sure did! In fact, I believed these myths for several years, significantly slowing the growth of my business in its early phase. Now, I know better. Admittedly, I missed a lot of new business during that time. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the main, proven ways email marketing will grow your business long after the infatuation with social media has ended. This information is not based on my opinion - or anyone else's - but on actual, proven facts.

I've received many questions from my clients and members over the past several weeks regarding how they should handle the pandemic as it relates to their clients. While the questions have been varied, they all have one overarching theme. In today's unconventional episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing the best advice I have on navigating this issue in your business circles, from clients to colleagues and vendors. Bear with me. This topic isn't normal, and it isn't exactly comfortable, but that's how the world is right now. When I am repeatedly asked a question from my community, I do feel it is my duty to give an answer. Here it is.

Does your business feel like it has too many moving parts? If you have started outsourcing your marketing, rendering, bookkeeping, or other tasks and feel like it's all too much to manage - almost as much work as if you were still doing all the work yourself - you need to make a crucial new hire in your business. You need an online business manager (OBM). If this sounds like something you need in your business, stop floundering and start listening. Today on The Kate Show, I'm chatting with Stephanie Holmbeck, former interior designer turned business manager for design firms.

"How do I get more people into my furniture store?" "Can you help me increase foot traffic in my window treatment showroom?" In an age when you can order just about anything online, you might think your brick-and-mortar store has been given a death sentence. However, that actually isn't the case. The era of prolific online business simply means an offline business needs to have an online presence. Don't worry, I'll explain how it works in today's episode of The Kate Show, along with how to monetize your location in other ways and generate some basic PR.

Today is part 2 of How to Sell Online Design & Staging Packages. If you're a note-taker, please pull to the side of the road. I'm going to share so much information, so many resources, so many examples... If you've been thinking about selling your interior design or home staging packages on your website, you will have no excuse to put it off after you hear this episode.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing the main things you'll need to effectively sell online staging or design packages, from consults to designer-for-a-day to anything else you can put in a tidy, sell-able package. I'll start by covering the basics that you'll need, everything from the technology to the marketing strategy.

Today on The Kate Show, I'm chatting with Julia Bocchese. She is an SEO consultant for creative small businesses. Her goal is to make SEO approachable and easy to implement for all small businesses so they can reach their ideal clients organically. My conversation with Julia focuses heavily on actionable ways you can improve the SEO of your website and give Google the information it needs to send you the right leads. We also discuss how you can avoid being scammed by unethical SEO companies who take your money, promise you many leads, and never deliver. Julia gives you the tools necessary to be your own SEO advocate.

"You really need a CTA." What the heck is a CTA? CTA simply means, "call-to-action." That, my friend, is a technical way of saying, "dear potential client, here is the next step you need to take if you want to work with me." Today on The Kate Show, I'm simplifying the call-to-action overwhelm and giving you specific steps and scripts you can use to add the right CTA to your marketing efforts.

Back in episode 73 of this podcast, many of you heard me describe how I was preparing my business and my team for my new role as a mom. Now that my daughter Sadie is six months old, I'm reporting back with what worked, what didn't, and what I'm doing differently. Let's talk business and babies. P.S. Shout out to all the mompreneurs who have reached out to me since I made my motherhood journey public. The struggle is real. The joy is real. Thank you for letting our stories mingle.

On this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing the struggle and angst that I faced as a new business owner six years ago in hopes that it will encourage you to keep going, continue doing things that make you ridiculously uncomfortable - and know that the payout will be so much more than you ever imagined. The first two years in business are often the HARDEST you'll ever face; they can make you doubt everything about yourself. At the same time, they can also make you emerge stronger and more confident than you ever thought possible.

Today, I'm covering the other pages of your website: Your about, services, process, and contact pages, along with a few extras. If you're getting a new website or think you might need to at least update your verbiage, you're going to get way too much information from this episode.

"Words are hard." I read that sentiment on a social media post recently and couldn't help but laugh. It's true! Unfortunately, words are one of the most overlooked aspects in the home industry marketing. Using the right words can make the difference between landing a new client or losing a lead... Words matter. Today on The Kate Show, I'm sharing simple and easy tactics for adding the right words to your website. Since your website is the mothership of your brand and the most popular piece of your marketing - even to your local client base - making sure your website isn't deterring business should be a top priority.

I never thought I'd be here. To be honest, I started podcasting with zero expectations. One HUNDRED episodes later, I've learned a few things and even landed in the iTunes Top 200 Business Podcasts accidentally. If you're up for an honest little chat on the pros and cons of podcasting and the tremendous impact it can have on all things business and marketing, stick around.

If the new year has you ready to de-clutter your home, your office, and your brain, you've likely started to wonder if you can de-clutter your marketing, too. Short answer - absolutely. If you are ready to simplify your marketing and do only what brings you joy, you're going to love this episode.

Have you ever been presented with a sponsorship, advertising, or partnership opportunity and felt unsure how to navigate that decision? Ha, same here. At face value, sponsorship opportunities look amazing - as they should. The organization or company offering the sponsorship to you has the responsibility of "selling" that slot to you and will likely promise you all sorts of new clients if you just write them a check. ...but will the act of slapping your logo all over their event materials actually grow your business? That's the question I'm answering today on The Kate Show, along with how to make confident choices when it comes to approaching or accepting referral partners.

Do you want to become well-known as an interior designer, home stager, or custom workroom? Do you want to be memorable, personable, and magnetic to your target client? Do you want to inject your business with high octane, proven-to-work marketing? Yes? Me, too. What I'm about to share with you is oddly simple and, financially, so attainable. But don't let it fool you. It will do wonders for your marketing. That's right, I'm talking about photos of YOU, or more specifically, a lifestyle photo shoot.

If you are trying to reach high-end clients, increase your rates, or establish your credibility, you're going to love this episode. Today on The Kate Show, I'm chatting with Ashley Uhl. She specializes in helping interior designers create amazingly simple (and simply amazing) client experiences that will help you stay organized, look professional, set expectations, and provide your clients with a delightful experience.

Guys, I am seriously over-the-moon happy that Instagram is finally taking steps toward removing their most addictive and harmful feature. In today's episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing how this change will affect your business Instagram account and what you need to do to be ready when your likes disappear.

We try to help people, right? Sometimes it just doesn't work out, despite our best intentions. In this episode of The Kate Show, I'm sharing why you might be attracting bad clients unknowingly, the red flags you should watch for when entertaining a new prospect, and how to handle them when they slip into your schedule.