Fascinating Conversations with 40+ Designers

By Gail Doby, ASID
CVO & Co-Founder, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting
Photo by Brittany Beach for Editor At Large

I sent an email (which ended up going to our entire list of thousands of designers) and received nearly 200 email responses and talked to over 40 people on Sunday – Tuesday and still have a few calls scheduled for today! Whew!

The first call on Monday was at 6 AM from Perth, Australia followed by a call from Hungary, Croatia, UK, France and many US designers. I literally could not handle all of the emails and calls, and if I missed you, I wish I could have fit in the time to chat with you. I have an option below that you may want to consider… no charge.

First, let me share a few insights from the calls:

1. Lack of confidence and fear. Many people I talked with were bringing in less than $100,000 of sales. Only a few had businesses that were generating   above $250,000. And, for the under $100K businesses, the common theme was a lack of confidence and fear about their ability to get business. Your   number one job is to sell. If you don’t feel comfortable selling yourself, then running a business may not be your best option. If you’re in a similar situation, and you’re really determined to build a business, I’d suggest getting some life coaching followed by a sales class. (Just have to be honest with you.)
2. Need more clients. If you are waiting for the phone to ring, I’d like to suggest that you put a 90-day plan together to work as many hours as you can each   day to meet people, reconnect with past clients and network. Read the book The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & John David Mann. Get outside of your comfort  zone and make at least 20 calls per week and/or have that many meetings until the business starts coming in. Once you get your sales up, maintain your   marketing efforts at least 10 hours per week. This is a numbers game. Your number one job is to sell yourself and your business. WHEN YOU ARE THE   BUSIEST, THAT IS WHEN YOU NEED TO MARKET THE MOST TO FILL THE FUTURE PIPELINE. Otherwise, you will have lots of peaks and valleys in    your business. 
3. If you are working without a plan for your business, then that’s why you’re likely to be getting poor results. Build a plan. We do have courses available to  you to help you. For businesses over $100,000,  Business Transformation will help you double your business… if you do the work. (Results guaranteed when following the course structure and participating in 12 month coaching.)
4. You are well-established, and want to earn more profit. If your business is over $1M in revenue, then a VIP Day might be a good fit for you. To find out if the VIP Experience is a fit, schedule a quick call with us.

Here’s what we will do for those of you that left messages or emailed me that I was unable to fit into this rare opening in my schedule due to my move being moved. I am unavailable for the next three weeks as my move process starts tomorrow followed by High Point Market and a trip to California for our Boardroom and Genius Exchange events.

If you’d like to speak with Yasmine, our Director of Communications, she would be happy to take your call in a brief Clarity Session in which she’ll help you do the following:

1. Identify your passion-driven goals..
2. Find out what’s in your way and provide advice to get past the roadblocks.
3. Help you achieve clarity about the best route to get there faster.

If your revenue (total design fees and product sales) is above $100,000, fill out the short form and Yasmine will be able to assist you with a complimentary Clarity Call.

Thank you for reaching out, and for those that I was able to talk with, I wish you great success. Keep me posted!

XOXO