Design Plans in Action
Client's have an expectation these days thanks to mood board and design plan technology and that is they want to "see the plan before they commit". This makes perfect sense since it allows the designer to provide the vision, get feedback, set a correct expectation and package their expertise in a way that delivers a result with NO SURPRISES.
In this quick design plan how-to video, I show you how each design plan we create tells a story and is filled with a myriad of curated shopping sources. I also list some design plan hot tips below the video so enjoy...
The Design Plan Story Within Every Board
Design Plan Basics
There's something about the look of a design plan and mood board that completely captures people's attention. Here's some tips on creating your design plan:
1
Start with an Inspiration Room
Our 100+ design boards that come inside my students DesignFiles account when they sign up for my Expert E-Designer training all come with an inspiration room to provide a "starter vision" for the clients. I have students that simply remove that photo but I think it's a nice connector for all the pieces we want to put into the design plan...and client's love it.
2
Source Wide and Deep
My rule of thumb for all our 100+ boards is to have at least 15 different shopping sources for each one and include something totally unique and unheard of...in the video above, we sourced inexpensive prints from a unique source. While my boards don't include Etsy products (since they turn over rapidly), I do recommend you source hand made and custom items for your clients at Etsy as one of your many sources. If the client sees you only sourced from WayFair, then they would not feel like you tried very hard...
3
Source a Mix of Retail and Wholesale
If you're just selling the "design plan package" then your clients might not appreciate if all the products were items you also made money off of...in my training I have an easy pricing solution for this but it's a good idea to be true to your design vision and source a mix of retail items they can click and buy, as well as a few specialty trade items you've collected for them.
BTW, in my "How to Make Money Offering E-Design Packages to Clients" free video presentation, I show you how we made over $2500 on a single living room design plan while also giving the clients the best price available for those products online.
