You're the Expert, Let the World Know!

There is an enormous amount of talent in the interior design industry and everyone wants to know where we go, what we have to say, and what we do. People stop and listen when designers speak!

The Internet has made it so easy for us to share our knowledge with our local community, as well as the world. You can become an expert in no time! I highly recommend creating a blog as one of your "Top Ten Tasks for 2010!" Since interior design is all about creating a custom look and feel, blogging is a perfect (and free) solution for attracting and keeping new clients. While I still firmly believe that every business should have a website, a blog is a less formal way to communicate your thoughts and ideas to clients online. The content on a blog is dynamic and is always changing.

Blogging is fun and easy. At first it may seem like it's overwhelming, as you start thinking about what are you going to write about or how much content should you put into your blog. Once you begin to blog, you'll find there is an unlimited amount of topics you can blog about. Some of the blogs I write take only 20 minutes, like "Tis the Season!"


Click on the picture above to see my blog, "Making a difference in a community!" that I recently posted regarding our local Middle Tennessee WCAA Chapter involvement with Habit for Humanity. Everyone loves to hear how businesses give back to the community. At the same time, I also mentioned the non-profit WCAA organization, in which I am a member. Mentioning organizations that you are a member of will give your company another stamp of professionalism in a customer's eyes.


Above is another example of a blog, "Tis the Season," with decorating tips for the holidays and how Casey was inspired by the Anthropologie store.

Take time to skim over all the different topics I have posted for my own design business, Dandelion's Blog. You will see I blog about everything from technology to designs tips. I even posted a blog about adding beauty to your backyard with Yellow Finches! I use my iPhone and take shots of interesting things at conventions or seminars that I know will be of interest to my readers.

The most difficult part of blogging, by far, is getting started. Fortunately, Minutes Matter has made starting a blog super easy. We offer a ONE-TIME blog setup for only $327. We register and completely set your blog up and even add the first post! Be sure to read the entire list of features and benefits of setting up a blog through Minutes Matter. Once your blog is set up, all you need to do is add one interesting topic per week. How much easier could it be?!?

QuickBooks 2010 is now available

QuickBooks 2010 has been released! We will be sending an ezine out soon letting you know what features we think are new and cool. You can purchase QuickBooks using the links below to take advantage of special pricing, compliments of Minutes Matter.

To purchase QuickBooks 2010 Premier Edition, click HERE.

To purchase QuickBooks 2010 Pro Edition, click HERE.

The Whole Nine Yards

Roger Magalhaes has come a long way in only three years. He began Shades In Place in Hopkinton, MA, as an installation service for the big box stores. In response to repeat customers telling him they did not like shopping at stores where the sales staff knew nothing about window treatments, Roger expanded his services to include "Shop At Home" convenience and added the soft side to his hard lines. He tends to be more of a contemporary/modern than traditional guy and his typical client is between 35-45, upper middle class and loves electronics/technology. Roger caters to these clients with the latest in whole house motorization, window tinting, highly specialized installations, and of course, design software.

He tells a great story about the first time he used Studio for a client: " I was measuring a home down the road from her under construction house and she saw my truck. She stopped by and asked If I could give her a price for some shades for her new place. Back then, I just had Minutes Matter Studio for about a month and did not know how to use all features and resources, but I gave it a try. (Roger's very first rendering below) I offered her three options for fabrics so she could have a better idea of the final treatments. I guess she loved it, because I've done her entire home (22 windows) and her neighbor's home next door after she told her about my 'fantastic' software."Roger says he began using Studio in 2007 after trying another design software because his customers could not quite picture all the details he was describing for their windows. He feels that a rendering adds value to the final sale and clients are more confident because they can see how the finished installation will look.

His favorite project? I think we can all relate to this -- "It is my own home ... still going on. After each client's job, I come home and start thinking and rendering; will what I did for my client look nice in the room my wife and I are working on?"

Roger believes that "This industry is ALL about presentation and professionalism. If you present yourself well, you have 3/4 of the sale done." From the myriad services he provides his clients, to the attractive website he is updating, as well as the training he has undergone at the CHF Academy, Roger has succeeded in positioning himself as the consummate window treatment professional who offers the "whole nine yards," installed!

QuickBooks Favorite Features and Shortcuts

Hello everyone, it's me, Debbie Green with Minutes Matter. As you know CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers have spent numerous years in college to learn correct accounting procedures. We, at Minutes Matter, along with Intuit and their QuickBooks software, have dramatically reduced the learning curve for business owners. This week I wanted to share with you a feature in QuickBooks I find extremely helpful. The Open Window List is a vertical navigation bar inside of QuickBooks and is located on the left. This list allows you to toggle to multiple open windows quickly. Enabling this feature only takes a few minutes.

Here's how I use this feature. First, I enable the One Window View, click Edit > Preferences > Desktop View > One Window. I enable this view to maximize my viewing area on my monitor. Working on proposals or invoices is much easier when you can see most or all of the transaction.

What Do Millionaires Have in Common?

Hi, it's Debbie Green with Minutes Matter this week I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on a very important topic. I always take time to read organizational and time management books and articles. They all have one thing in common - written lists. Everyone recommends that you create a written daily list, a written master list, and written long term goals. Every millionaire is goal oriented; it has been proven that the most successful people take time to physically make lists. When you actually write down your tasks and goals you are 90% more apt to achieve them. So what am I saying? I am saying if you want to have less stress and get more done, start making lists.

Your daily list should have no more than ten tasks listed, including personal tasks. Your master list can have as many as 100 tasks. The master list includes tasks that need to be done next week, next month or sometime in the future. Written goals should include long term plans for your personal and business life. What does goal setting do for you - it gives you focus!

When you consistently rely on lists to govern your day, you can expect to get 25% more done in a day. When you don't have a list, little tasks slip through the cracks and then turn into tomorrow's crisis. For example, have you ever put off ordering trim or custom hardware because it was going to take too much time? Well, I did and one day I said "enough!" Now when a client signs the contract and gives me a deposit, I place orders with my vendors within three to four days. I go down the estimate line by line and create a purchase order for each item. It does not matter if you get your hardware list together today or one month from now it takes the same amount of time, the only difference in waiting is you may incur Second Day Air or Overnight charges as well as rush charges from the vendor.

Be sure to schedule quiet time on your daily list. Quiet time is the time when there are no interruptions and the phone is turned off or not ringing. This time should be scheduled during the time of day that you are most productive; my most productive time is the morning. Use this time to do planning for your business, create proposals, research fabrics, bookwork etc. Remember, planning prevents crisis. Use a calendar to schedule and plan personal, as well as, business tasks, activities, appointments and don't forget the quiet time. Don't over schedule - leave some extra time. Be sure to schedule your quiet time; if you don't, it will always be eaten up by someone or something. We all have the same amount of time; the only difference is what we do with it. The one thing you can control is your time; once we waste it - it's gone forever.

Here are a few tips on planning & making lists:

• Use only one calendar. (I recommend Microsoft Outlook & a PDA Phone and sync daily.)
• Group appointments with errands.
• Control the phone. (Turn off the phone during your quiet time; don't let curiosity get the best of you.)
• Handle a piece of paper once. (Act on it, file it, delegate it, toss it - those should be your only choices)
• Stay with a task until it is done. (Jumping back and forth to a task is a huge time waster.)
• Turn off email notification. (When you are working on a proposal and you hear that "You've got mail" or a ding, it is an instant distraction and it takes several minutes to refocus. I confess this is a weakness for me, but now I have my computer check messages hourly. This was a big step for me!)
• Do those unpleasant tasks first. (You will be encouraged to move to the next task.)
• Break large tasks into several small tasks. (A proposal for a whole house could be broken into several entries on your daily list. This helps those large proposals not seem so overwhelming.)
• Commit time every day to read - it's educational & relaxing. (Read trade magazines, newsletters, Minutes Matter Ezine of course, self-help books, etc.)
• Create your daily list during your quiet time. (If your quiet time is in the morning, create your daily list in the morning. If your quiet time is at the end of the day, create tomorrow's daily list at the end of each day.)
• Be flexible. (Some days just won't go as expected - tomorrow is always another day.)
• Remember bad things happen to good lists - just don't give up!

"He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign." ~Victor Hugo