Interview with Kriste Michelini
Bay Area designer and design blogger Kriste Michelini worked in commercial real estate and the high-tech industry before turning her passion for interior design into a successful business. She finds that applying the lessons she learned working in other businesses helps her design practice thrive.
What skills did you pick up in other businesses that have helped turn your design practice into a successful venture?
The fundamentals of building client relationships, setting expectations and producing deliverables come into play in design just as much as in other businesses. It's important do build partnerships with your clients so you can understand what they want you to execute. Project management and paperwork are universal demands.
When it comes to expectations, you say it's best to talk about the budget early on. How do you make your clients feel comfortable talking about money?
I start with a questionnaire asking about their preferences and how they envision using their space. Then I tell them that I don’t want to put them on the spot, but there is something we should talk about—their budget. I let them know that we can find good options within any budget but we need to know our parameters before we begin. In fact, people find it refreshing and helpful to have this discussion up front.
You've created a popular blog that brings clients to your design business. What's worked for you on your blog?
When I started the blog my goal was to post something five times a week. Initially, that seemed overwhelming to me and I realized I needed some structure so I decided to have a theme for each day of the week. Monday I feature a product, Tuesday I talk about textiles, Wednesday I share an update on one of our projects or other design inspiration, Thursday I focus on green design and Friday I give ideas for entertaining.
Can you tell which theme draws the most viewers to the site?
People love the entertaining ideas—especially if I detail how to do a whole party by breaking it into bite-size pieces. They like to come away thinking, "Oh, I can do that!"
Does it take a lot of time to keep up with your blog?
The daily themes really help streamline the process. Also, I try to do it all ahead of time. It really doesn't take that long when you work on several posts at once. And since I know the themes, I can gather ideas as I go. If I had to think about what to feature one day at a time, I wouldn't have a blog.
How has blogging impacted your design business?
Again, you need to establish a good relationship with your clients in order to run a successful business. I find that through the blog—almost without really knowing it—I'm creating a relationship with potential clients. A new client will come to me and say that someone passed on a link to my blog and they've been reading it and liked what I was featuring and wondered if I could do some design work for them. Readers get comfortable with you through the blog and then feel good about contacting you to work with them.
For more information on Kriste Michelini, visit her website.
