Intro to Squarespace for Designers – Clone2

Intro to Squarespace for Designers

You may have heard that Squarespace is a great website platform for designers, however, you’re so busy and would ideally like to skip all the trial and error. In this webinar, Yian Quach, a website designer and copywriter, will show you how Squarespace works so you can try it yourself. In this webinar, you’ll learn:

- - How to create a website using Squarespace (a brief walkthrough)
  - Which Squarespace templates work best for designers
  - The #1 technique that will improve your Squarespace page layouts
  - Why Squarespace is becoming the go-to platform for designers

About Ivy

Ivy is the # 1 software and community for designers. Designers use Ivy to create proposals, generate tear sheets, invoice clients online, track & bill for hours, manage payment and furniture schedules, and more. To learn more about how Ivy can support your business needs as a designer, schedule a free demo here.

About Yian Quach

Yian Quach of House Digital Design is a website designer and copywriter who specializes in working with interior designers and other creative professionals. His approach is based on helping designers build trust with website visitors in order to turn interested eyeballs into interested phone calls. He has created websites for dozens of designers and has appeared on leading industry podcasts, including A Well Designed Business, Design & Style, Tastefully Inspired, Design Talk Live, and more.

EXPLORE OTHER IVY WEBINARS

Intro to Squarespace for Designers – Clone

Intro to Squarespace for Designers

- - How to create a website using Squarespace (a brief walkthrough)
  - Which Squarespace templates work best for designers
  - The #1 technique that will improve your Squarespace page layouts
  - Why Squarespace is becoming the go-to platform for designers

About Ivy

About Yian Quach

EXPLORE OTHER IVY WEBINARS

Intro to Squarespace for Designers – Clone

Intro to Squarespace for Designers

- - How to create a website using Squarespace (a brief walkthrough)
  - Which Squarespace templates work best for designers
  - The #1 technique that will improve your Squarespace page layouts
  - Why Squarespace is becoming the go-to platform for designers

About Ivy

About Yian Quach

EXPLORE OTHER IVY WEBINARS

How Designers Save Hours of Time Using These 5 Ivy Features

There is never enough time to get everything we want done. Why do you think Cher kept on wanting to turn back time? It wasn’t to take back some words that hurt someone, it was so she could have more time to manage her design business. Okay…maybe that wasn’t Cher but you get the point. Managing a business is often so time-consuming that you end up spending a lot of time on admin, and a lot less design time. Luckily, you don’t need to “turn back time” cause we’ve “found a way” (more like 5) to save it.

1. Fast Track Sourcing Products with the Ivy Clipper

Sourcing products is time consuming. You need to drive to the design center, take a picture of a fabric swatch on your phone, and then upload that picture to your computer so you can somehow add it to a proposal? Those hours wasted are over! The Ivy Product Clipper extension allows you to seamlessly clip products from your favorite websites in seconds, plus, create beautiful proposals that include picks your clients will love. WARNING! This is pure awesomeness.

Check this out.

Life before the Ivy Product Clipper = > Visit store > Take a picture of fabulous wallpaper > upload fabulous wallpaper picture to your computer and save it > add wallpaper to an email or send it to your client > waste a lot of time.

Life with the Ivy Product Clipper = > Visit the wallpaper vendor’s website and clip fabulous wallpaper in seconds > wallpaper added to your product library in Ivy > create a beautiful proposal> win over your client > BOOM >.

Save time by divorcing manual sourcing and fall in love with the Ivy Product Clipper.

Ivy Product Clipper

2. Buy More Time by Getting Paid Online

You know what takes up a lot of your time? Waiting for your money. Going to the bank. Depositing a check. You’re going to make a decision right now that’s going to CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Ready? Close your eyes….

Keep them closed….

A little more….

Okay, now open!

You’re going to start getting paid online through Ivy! No more checks, no more waiting. You’re going to start accepting payments through Ivy, and it’s going to take your business management and sanity to the next level.

Ivy makes it really easy for clients to pay you by credit card or ACH/bank transfer, and direct deposit makes it even easier for you to to receive that payment within 2-3 business days.

“I love how we can send proposals that have individual cut sheets and people can pay online. My clients appreciate that level of professionalism, our streamlined approach, and they like being able to pay with a credit card on their end.” – Ivy Designer Barbi Stalburg, Stalburg Design

The most important step you need to take to accept online payments is to set up your bank information directly in your Ivy account. Learn how to do that by watching the short video below!

3. Run Your Business like a Boss

One of the main frustrations that we repeatedly hear from designers is that administrative tasks take up 90% of their time, leaving only 10% for design. The Ivy Project Tracker is going to switch those stats around so that you can design 90% of the time and use the remaining 10% for that other stuff.

The Ivy Project Tracker is essentially your FF&E schedule, a smart spreadsheet that is automatically populated for you with all of the products and services that live within the project, giving you a birds eye view of everything going on within your project.

It breaks down any product/service within your project, no matter their stage and status, and shows you the detailed cost, shipping, and delivery information.

Basically, it makes it SUPER easy to manage all the moving parts of your project and business.

4. Say, “Bye,Bye” to Messy Word Documents

Messy word documents are so out of style. Ivy makes over your documents so that you can create beautiful, professional looking proposals, invoices, and purchase orders at a tap of a button. Dress your brand to impress and win over clients. You can add images and product details to your proposals instantly, (plus create tear sheets, invoices, and purchase orders in the click of a button) and your clients can choose which products and services to approve.

Ditch word documents, manual work, improve client communication, and look good while you do it.

5. Manage your Time and Tasks On-The-Go

Never leave home without the Ivy mobile app.You’ll be able to track every minute of your time so that not a single cent falls through the cracks. You can enter your time manually or track every second with the Stopwatch feature. You can also create and manage tasks and assign different to-do items to yourself and your team. Install the Ivy app on either iOS or Android now and stay on top of your time and your tasks wherever you are.

There is never going to be enough time in a day to get everything you want done but these 5 features are a step in the right direction. One little change at a time and you’ll never have to turn back time.

Ivy is the # 1 software for designers. To learn more about Ivy, schedule a demo with an Ivy Guru who can show you how designers use Ivy to streamline their workflow and make more time for what they love, design.

October 2018 Edition: Ivy Designer Palettes

This October, Ivy Designers installed show-stopping sinks in client powder rooms. Get inspired!

Ivy Design Firm Alison Giese Interiors

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpJ8L0jBox-/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Jenny Madden Design

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpHRxvjAb6e/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Mindy Laven Home

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo7KryKAy4B/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Flatiron 27 Interiors

https://www.instagram.com/p/BojhXb_FumL/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Black Lacquer Design

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2XCYYlf_t/?taken-by=blacklacquerdesign

Ivy Design Firm Allison Lind Interiors

https://www.instagram.com/p/BofuFG9gzdr/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Pure Salt Interiors

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo13IJThx3c/?taken-by=puresaltinteriors

Ivy Design Firm Lindye Galloway Interiors

https://www.instagram.com/p/Boh_z90l4Dd/?saved-by=theivy.co

Ivy Design Firm Saffron + Poe

https://www.instagram.com/p/BohcCCVBL-z/?taken-by=saffronandpoe

Ivy is the the # 1 software for designers. To learn more about Ivy, schedule a demo with an Ivy Guru who can show you how designers use Ivy to streamline their workflow and make more time for what they love, design.

Designers’ Year End Check List: What You Need to Submit to Accountants to Close 2018

Attention all designers! Want to know the secret to prepping for tax season? GET STARTED IN NOVEMBER! Kimberly Merlitti, owner of KMM Consulting, shares her end of year check list for designers, grounded in 20 years of experience working in accounting.

TO DO BY NOVEMBER 2018:

1. Look at your Profit & Loss report. Where do you stand? Do you have a larger than expected profit? Are there any major purchases you should make now that can be depreciated?

2. Ask your CPA or Tax accountant to review your statements. You want to know if you are on track for tax payments. Do you owe by April 15, 2019 for your taxes?

3. If on a cash basis and you receive a large deposit in the month of December, then you will have to pay tax on that amount. UNLESS you spend that money on vendor costs or overhead costs before January 1, 2019.

Make sure you have cash to pay your year-end payrolls and bonuses, sales tax, tax deposits or consultants.

4. Make sure you have W9s for all consultants that are NOT S corps. You will need this information entered into your software before January 1, 2019 to complete your 1099s.

1099s are due to all W9 consultants by January 31st, 2019.

5. W2s are due to your employees by January 31st, 2019. You should make sure you have the correct addresses and social security numbers for all employees.

If you are a design business that issues W-2s, benefits relate to the organization as a whole and can reflect things such as health and life insurance, transportation subsidies, educational reimbursement programs and more. Make sure if this applies to your firm these amounts are being reflected in the W2.

6. If you have inventory, this is the best time to do a count and update your balance sheet.

7. Create your 2019 budget. It is important to start working on this budget before January 1, 2019 if you need help entering it into your software system.

8. Verify loan accounts and clean them up if necessary.

AFTER JANUARY 1st, 2019:

1. Reconcile all accounts – bank and credit cards – in your accounting system. Make sure you are reconciling ALL savings, checking and credit card accounts.

2. Verify you’ve made all entries in Petty Cash.

3. Verify you’ve made all business expense entries into your software for items you’ve paid for with personal funds.

4. Once you have closed 2018, then, you will need Adjusting Journal Entries from your Tax accountant or CPA. If you need help entering, contact your CPA! Or, you can have your in house bookkeeper or accountant enter these. This will match your internal books with your Tax Return.

5. Make any adjusting entries for accruals of payroll tax liabilities or pre-paid expenses (get help from your accountant).

6. Print and mail payroll forms if you do it yourself (W-2, W-3, 940, 941).

7. Print and mail 1099’s to independent contractors (by January 31, 2019).

8. Print and mail 1096 to IRS (by February 28, 2019).

9. Corporate taxes are due by March 15, 2019 for tax year 2018. To allow your CPA/Tax accountant enough time to complete them, you will need to have all your documents to them a good 30 days before this deadline.

10. Individual taxes are due by April 15, 2019 for tax year 2018. To allow your CPA/Tax accountant enough time to complete them, you will need to have all your documents to them a good 30 days before this deadline.

–

Written by Kimberly Merlitti of KMM Consulting

Kimberly Merlitti owns KMM Consulting based out of San Francisco, CA. Kimberly has 20 years of experience working in accounting for companies such as Swinerton Builders, WRNS Studio and Martin Group. She has her Masters in Accounting from Golden Gate University located in San Francisco, CA. KMM Consulting’s clientele include a diverse group of service based companies, with a main focus on small interior design, construction and architectural firms. The goal of her firm is to make the businesses she works for as profitable as they can be by educating them on accounting, cash flow management, tax deductions, project reporting, and business management.

The Ivy Mobile App is a Game Changer for Designers

Ivy has launched its first-ever mobile app and it’s going to be a game changer for your design business.

Available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, the new app empowers designers to manage multiple projects in one place and on-the-go. Features include task management, real-time expense and time tracking, talk-to-text note taking and more. Using augmented reality (AR), the app also captures and stores, with its built-in room measurement tool, accurate project dimensions for designers to reference when selecting products for a room.

During client meetings, the app arms designers with up-to-date information on the status of all products selected – from proposal to payment to installation – and provides access to a complete product library from which they can view, add or assign new products to a project. Track current spend from the app, making meetings more productive and enabling decisions that stay within budget. Designers can also add products as they are sourcing in-person at showrooms, or at trade shows, by taking a photo and easily entering all the relevant product information right in the app.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about the Ivy mobile app.

What will designers be able to do on the app?

Get an overview of your projects
Access projects dashboards
Search for projects
Add products to your Ivy library on-the-go
See product statuses in a project and filter by them
See and add new items to your To Do list
Use the stopwatch to track your time
Log your time entries
Add attachments to your projects
View client information and call or email them directly from the app
Create room measurements with the built-in room measurement tool

Is the app free?

The app is free to use for Ivy customers. To learn more and join, visit Ivy.co.

How does the room measurement tool work?

The room measurement tool captures the floor of the room using augmented reality. The designer points their device to each corner of the room to capture the floor length.

Can designers access products from the app?

Yes, the app arms designers with up-to-date information on the status of all products — from proposal to payment to installation. The app also provides access to the designer’s complete product library from which they can view, add or assign new products to a project. Best of all, designers can add products as they are sourcing in-person at showrooms or trade shows – they can just snap a pic and easily enter all the relevant product information right in the app.

What platforms does the app work on?

The app is available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Can designers sign up for an Ivy account through the app?

Not at this time, but it’s easy to visit Ivy.co from a mobile device to learn more and sign up!

Are there features on the app that are not available on the web platform?

Yes, the mobile platform offers new features that are unique to a mobile experience. For example, the built-in room measurement tool incorporates augmented reality (AR) technology from Android’s ARCore and Apple’s ARKit, to sense the floor and provide accurate dimensions of a room.

Find the Ivy mobile app on the App Store for iPhone and iPad here and on Google Play for Android devices here.

The Best Website Templates for Designers

As a designer, your brand is built on visual identity. Your website is the foundation for marketing your business, as it acts as the anchor point for all your portfolio images. As photography from your portfolio of work is shared on social media channels like Pinterest and Instagram, having a well-built website will help to ensure those projects are credited back to you.

A well-designed, professional website is no longer a luxury, but a necessity in a competitive industry. While working with a web designer is ideal, it isn’t always in the budget for interior designers. New web platforms make it easy to create simple, beautiful and effective websites for interior designers without any coding experience. By selecting a strong website template, you can create a high-end website design in a few days.

After years of experience, over 100 websites launched, and dozens of branding projects in the interior design industry, we’ve curated a list of the best website templates for interior designers on our two favorite platforms.

Each template serves as a strong starting point to build a beautiful web design. Below, we’ve listed what we like about each template, as well as what to consider when selecting a web platform. Each template serves as a strong starting point to build a beautiful web design. Read on for the best website templates for interior designers and how to use them.

The Best Website Templates for Designers

Photo by Bree McCool Photography for Scout Modern

Wix

As a website platform, Wix is always our first choice to build on. Cost-efficiency, self-hosting, and 100% customization ability prove it to be trustworthy and limitless. What makes Wix entirely unique from a designer’s standpoint is also what makes Wix’s templates stand out from a user standpoint.

Graceful, modern animations take generic templates and make them feel entirely custom. There are no grids to follow, no complicated coding to limit you, and virtually zero design limitations. Anything is possible with Wix and that is imperative to a creative interior designer. You can read more about why we recommend Wix for all our clients here.

Remember that each of the templates below can easily add a blog and an e-commerce store.

Fresh + Modern – We love this website template for its clean lines and simple user interface. The left side menu bar is the especially trending right now in web design and showcases portfolio projects clearly. Additionally, the bio page is a modern take on a traditional “about” page. The editorial layout helps tell your full brand story, and adds content to help improve your SEO.

Simple + Crisp – This website template was built specifically for interior designers and features a single page scroll. This website format has become especially popular for designers as it showcases an assortment of images along with the content of the website. By keeping all your website content on a single page, you can increase the keyword count and can potentially improve SEO. This template also translates beautifully to mobile devices and looks super impressive from your phone.

Unexpected with an E-Commerce Store – Our absolute favorite Wix template, this e-commerce website template transitions to a beautiful portfolio site for interior designers. The e-commerce option is especially beneficial as more interior designers are opening their own home décor boutiques online. The animations are beautiful and craft such a unique experience for website visitors. There is a press page already built in which is a perfect place to showcase projects which have been published.

Photo by Lemontree Interiors

SQUARESPACE

Particularly popular with interior designers, Squarespace offers a great foundation for a simple, functional and beautiful website design. Because the platform works on a grid based system, any website built on Squarespace will always be symmetrical and minimally designed. Squarespace themes are far more limiting than Wix templates, which can be beneficial to those who DIY their websites.

Many of our interior design clients had originally created their websites on Squarespace, so when we worked together, we crafted new templates from scratch. Banner Day, Scout Modern and Decorotation, for example, were all built on Squarespace after a full brand design and custom website build. Below, are our three favorite Squarespace templates to work from.

Brine – This template works beautifully as an e-commerce shop, but also translates well to a portfolio site for interior designers. The parallax images and call to action buttons make for a custom feel and simple user interface.

Bedford – A beautiful, image focused website template, the home page slider gallery can truly highlight interior design projects wonderfully. The menu breakdown works well for interior designers with many portfolio projects, and the “Take Action” button is a great way to increase design inquiries. Bedford’s blog is beautifully laid out with most customization options than most Squarespace templates.

Native – One of Squarespace’s most simple themes, the Native template works well for new interior designers who may not have an extensive portfolio. By focusing on blog content while building a portfolio, your website can still look full and professional.

Photo by Banner Day Interiors

Both platforms offer beautiful website templates for interior designers using a little bit of creativity. Don’t focus on the type of business the template is catering to, focus on the look and feel of the template. Functionality is key, so begin with considering what pages are most appropriate for your business. While all of these options provide a great foundation, remember they are still a template, and accessible to everyone.

Templates are a fantastic starting point for a new interior design business. However, after two or three years in business, it may be time to differentiate your brand from the competition with a professionally designed, custom website. Additional benefits of working with a professional web designer include optimizing your portfolio and blog for Pinterest, developing a lead funnel and building in search engine optimization to help your website be discovered on Google.

Anastasia Casey of The Identité Collective. Photo by Madeline Harper Photography

If you begin with the best website templates for interior designers, but are feeling overwhelmed, we can help. When you are ready to hand over your website project, please reach out to us directly! For additional branding and web design tips, catch up on the blog here.

The Identité Collective is a full service creative studio for interior designers and boutique lifestyle brands. Offering bespoke branding, web design and Instagram management, we help brands built around beautiful living elevate their digital presence to represent the physical spaces they design. We’ve worked with designers like Lindsey Brooke Design, Scout Modern, Decorotation, Lexi Westergard, Ashley Montgomery and Banner Day. Want to work together? Shoot us an inquiry here.

Lead image courtesy of The Identité Collective

Written by Anastasia Casey

Founder, Creative Director

The Identité Collective

@theidentitecollective

Branding, Web Design for Interior Designers + Instagram Management for Lifestyle Brands

The Identité Collective on How Investing in Branding Leads to Quicker ROI for Designers

The Identité Collective is a full service creative studio for interior designers and boutique lifestyle brands. Offering bespoke branding, web design and social media content creation, The Identité Collective helps interior designers elevate their digital presence to represent the physical spaces they design. Anastasia Casey, Founder and Creative director of The Identité Collective, shares her recommendations for designers regarding content creation, social media prioritization, website builders, and more.

Anastasia will be hosting an Ivy Webinar on Wednesday, October 10th at 12:30 pm ET / 9:30 am PT about the ways you can monetize your portfolio using affiliate links. Register for the webinar here.

Anastasia, how did you get where you are today?

Anastasia Casey: I lived in eight different houses growing up, all of which my parents personally remodeled. Design has always been a way of life for me. I went to art school in San Francisco for advertising and graphic design. After graduating, I found my niche as the marketing director for a boutique luxury residential real estate firm in Austin.

The combination of my fine art background and corporate marketing experience lead me to combine the two and establish The Identité Collective. I was able to take the tools and strategies we used in a large company with huge budgets, and reconfigure them to work for small businesses. I’ve found my sweet spot and I can’t imagine doing anything else (aside for my secret dreams of being an interior designer).

Our team is spread out all over the country, with designers in Washington DC, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin. My husband and I have been living in Austin, Texas for over five years now and love it, but we spend three months a year working from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Photo by Madeline Harper Photography

What’s the Identité Collective all about in 140 characters or less?

AC: The Identité Collective designs brands built around beautiful living through branding, web design + Instagram management.

As a digital expert, how do you recommend designers keep up with the rapidly changing digital landscape when it comes to content creation and branding?

AC: Consistency and adaptability. Sharing quality content regularly is imperative to staying competitive in the industry. Because of how algorithms work on social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook, you are rewarded for posting daily.

Interior designers have an advantage in the digital industry – you are constantly producing quality content. Every client mood board, demo day, product list, and install is an opportunity to document and share content via Instagram Stories or professionally shot images.

Because there is an opportunity for so much content, delegating someone on your team to focus their energy on content creation is critical. Whether that’s an intern or a creative agency, digital content has replaced marketing budgets. The sooner you can plan to invest in content management, the more quickly you’ll see the return on your investment.

Based on your knowledge, why is it so important for designers to establish a strong brand tone of voice, look & feel, and consistent brand guidelines?

AC: While many designers craft a signature style in their interior designs over time, trends change and clients requests do as well. By having a strong, established and professionally crafted brand identity, you take control of the way your brand makes clients feel, even if not every portfolio piece is a perfect example of your style.

Branding and web design is particularly important to those designers 3-5 years into their business. By then, they have an established portfolio of work and have curated that signature style. Investing in branding that exemplifies that point of view is critical to continued growth and landing larger projects.

Branding and web designer for interior designers

Photo by Madeline Harper Photography

How should a designer work with their photographer to ensure their shots are social media ready?

AC: During any project photoshoot, we recommend all our clients request a 60/40 split. 60% of your images should be vertical, as they perform 3x as well as a horizontal image on both Instagram and Pinterest. Shoot in natural light only and make sure all overhead lights and lamps are off.

If you were to recommend designers ONE social media platform to prioritize, which platform would it be and why?

AC: We can’t deny the power of Instagram. The average user spends over an hour a day on it. Users in the interior design industry spend upwards of 2 hours scrolling. When I interviewed Shea McGee of Studio McGee, she credited her entire business’ growth to Instagram. We invest hundreds of hours a month in our client’s Instagram content and they’ve experienced immense growth because of it.

Designers usually share with us that they simply don’t have time for Instagram…what are some ways designers can make time for this type of marketing? Do you have any recommendations for prioritizing Instagram without it being such a time suck?

AC: Unfortunately, there isn’t a way around investing time in Instagram. It takes consistent energy to be successful. But for many designers, it’s the foundation of their business’ success. Aside from hiring an Instagram manager to curate, copy write, schedule and post your images for you, there are a few tricks to making the task less daunting.

A) Batch schedule: Spend one hour every two weeks scheduling content for the next 14 days. We use Planoly for all our clients and love the way we can lay out the posts visually for the month. You’ll get a push notification on your phone when it’s time to post, it copies over to Instagram and you’re done. Even on an install day, that is totally manageable.

B) Roll out your projects in waves: By releasing the images of a project in phases, you can rotate in new content to your feed for much longer. For example, Project A can be released in four parts.

Part I: Kitchen + Dining Room
Part II: Entryway + Living Room
Part III: Master Bedroom + Bath Part
IV: Kids Spaces

As you begin to share the new phase of images, they’ll intertwine with previously shared projects. This creates a naturally layered, entirely organic feeling Instagram feed while maintaining constantly new content.

Photo by Madeline Harper Photography

What are your thoughts on Instagram Stories?

AC: Instagram reports users are spending more time watching Instagram Stories than scrolling their feed now. It’s an unbelievably useful tool and imperative to staying in front of your followers. The beauty of Stories as a designer is, you can share so much behind-the-scenes without throwing your beautiful grid off. Images don’t need to be edited, professionally shot or perfectly styled. They add personality to your brand, which can be the differentiating factor when a client is selecting a designer.

For the designers who don’t have a blog…do you recommend it? How should a designer get started with a blog if they don’t have one?

AC: Not only does a blog help with an interior designer’s search engine optimization, or SEO, it also helps drive continual traffic to your website. This keeps your business top of mind to your audience and helps establish credibility.

The easiest way to get started with a blog as an interior designer, is to begin by publishing your portfolio work. Writing 600 words per portfolio project to describe the process of a project, explain what challenges there were, and provide links to product sources is a simple step that converts your audience from followers to potential clients.

Furthermore, having a blog that features your product images allows a safe place for your images to be linked back to. For instance, once you or your web designer has properly set up your blog with Rich Pins, all images that are Pinned from your blog will permanently be linked back to your website, giving you proper credit. We see many designers only using Instagram now, but that runs a big risk. You’ll never own that content and have no control over who obtains, alters, or uses that content. Keeping a presence on Instagram while maintaining a blog is a healthy strategy for continued growth and proper crediting of your work.

Can you share some creative and productive ways designers can make some passive income through their content efforts (plug Reward Style here)?

AC: We love working with our clients to create passive income through their existing portfolio of work using RewardStyle. Every project photo has an opportunity to earn a sales commission for the products sourced, at no additional cost to your audience. By using Ivy’s Product Clipper tool, you can easily save products sourced from projects and link them in RewardStyle when it’s time to share.

For Lindsey Brooke Design, one of our favorite clients, we craft project reveal posts on her blog weekly to help people “Get the Look”. Even if a product is no longer available, we can find something similar and link to it. Additionally, we share a product roundup in her stories after a reveal post, so followers can easily shop the links directly from her feed.

If you’re a new designer without professionally shot projects, you link similar items for your readers. For example, we curate a weekly list of “favorites” for some of our clients and share them in their Instagram stories.

What’s your favorite website template builder?

AC: We love Wix because it is as customizable as WordPress, but with the ease of Squarespace. It is truly the next phase for web design. We are able to create something entirely unique, interactive, sophisticated and sleek using Wix. Squarespace works great for a lot of designers, but it’s a cookie cutter website builder.

In your opinion, why is it important for a designer to use a business management software such as Ivy to manage their business needs?

AC: It’s the level of professionalism, quick turnaround and attention to detail that makes a designer stand out. In a highly saturated market – especially with platforms like Instagram and Pinterest – consistency is key. A business management software like Ivy is what will allow your business to create sustainable success.

What’s next for Identité?

The exciting part of owning a small business is that it is constantly evolving. As technologies change, our expertise has to as well. As we continue to focus our energy on providing branding and web design for interior designers, we’re working to expand our social media team to manage more Instagram accounts for clients as well.

I have a team of six incredible women working with me and I don’t imagine growing the studio much beyond that. As the creative director, I want to ensure my hands are always touching every project, so they can continue to be as organic, layered, and refined as the incredible spaces our clients design.