IWCE09 Wednesday

Anticipation! The buzz started as we waited in line to register. It was great to meet up with acquaintances old and new then head for the kick-off session of the show!

The morning started off with a bang - Grace McNamara, the President and CEO of Window Fashions VISION MAGAZINE, hosting the hot topic for window covering professionals - how do you price, and make a profit? Do you set a gross margin? Do you charge for your design expertise or consultation? The panelists were knowledgeable and from a variety of niches in the industry - Jeanelle Dech, of Adaptive Textiles, Joan Willis of Patterns Plus & Robb & Stuckey, Donna Cash of Designs by Donna, and Melinda Peters Elliott of Fine Designs & Interiors. Because of the expertise they shared, we all walked away with a better understanding of how to fine-tune and analyze our pricing, and especially how important it is to make the service we provide invaluable.

And onward to the next seminar - Makeover Your Marketing by Mary Larsen. What a dynamo! The room filled as Mary shared strategies to learn the most effective marketing techniques. She helped us identify the gaps in our marketing plans and showed us how to create a plan to fill in those gaps. She shared so much valuable information - for more see her website at http://www.growyourdesignbiz.com/ . Mary suggested a one hour per week action plan to get us jumpstarted. A simple nugget she left us with: "Choose a set of simple, effect things to do, and do them consistently." Good advice - to be put into action when I get back to the office!

Beth Hodges presented a very helpful seminar on Communication: the Designer, Workroom and Installer. She showed us ways to improve communication between the three, stressing that they all need to work together as a team to provide the best possible experience for the client. Another good learning session for the mixed group of designers, installers and workrooms represented!