REACHING THE INTERIOR DESIGNERS WHO CAN BRING YOU BUSINESS-NOW!
At 8pm tonight, Thursday, Feb. 25th, interior designers from around the world will hold the first ever interior design “chat” with consumers from around the world-on Twitter.Every retailer, every manufacturer, every supplier, every home stager, every remodeler, everyone involved in any way with the home furnishings and related industries is welcome to attend.
What is the purpose?
Interior designers are undergoing a paradigm shift in their business models. They have decided to band together tonight on Twitter (where there are thousands of interior designers now) to help demystify the interior design process for any consumer on Twitter who has ever wanted to get a question answered about their home- but has not had the courage, time or money to do so. They are hoping to “demystify” the process of interior design for online consumers, thereby creating more demand for their services and thereby creating more demand for furniture and all other categories related to our industry.
Any consumer anywhere around the world who is on Twitter at 8pm ET tonight will be able to “tweet” their question using the hashtag #IDZinechat and any (or all) of the interior designers who see it are free to answer it.
This way, consumers get their questions answered from multiple interior designers with no obligations to any of them. Interior designers get to learn what is really on the minds of online consumers who may be interested in interior design services and you get to meet and listen to the interior designers on the leading edge of social media who are using Twitter to build their businesses…and maybe yours.
There is no money involved in this process in any way, shape or form.
I lit the torch of the idea in a conversation I had with NC based interior designer @WandaSHorton (whom I only know from Twitter and have never met in person!) and she has carried it across the Twittersphere where it has now been blogged about and talked about for weeks by interior designers and consumers from around the world (see the blog @tchochkes from Israeli blogger @shiraabel for an example of this).
How do you “attend”?
1. Sign up for a twitter username on http://twitter.com if you don’t already have one.
2. Sign in to twitter at 8 pm ET.
3. Follow the *hashtag* #IDZinechat.
What is a *hashtag*? It is the way you can find conversations taking place on Twitter around any particular subject. Simply use http:// search.twitter.com and enter #IDZinechat in the space you will see there for it. You will see all conversations then with the *hashtag* #IDZINEchat
If you are a retailer already active on Twitter like @RaymourFlanigan @nfmtweets @RCWilley @thecenturyhouse @LaDiff @CircleFurniture @GardnerWhite (client) @irwinfelddesign @JL_UrFrnitrLink @CrateMadisonAve @PotteryBarn @JeromesFurniture @ArtVanFurniture @thesilverbarn or a manufacturer like @Kathy Ireland @angelosurmelis @HardenFurniture @TLSbyDesign @snugfurniture @shineeveryday @NaturaWorld @SertaMattresses @CRLaine @Klaussner @whitewashco @JohnStrauss @adamkingstudio or a supplier like @BiOH4ALLjk (client) @LadyFabrics or an editor like @WesAtHome @JennyHeinzen @furnworldguy @rjallegrezza @FurnitureTrendZ @sheilalongomara @amykyle @arrenwilliams and want to listen or participate you are welcome!
This is a first of its kind event in the history of furniture and interior design and we hope that everyone interested in how social media is being used to connect consumers with the entire furniture supply chain will attend and/or pass this blog to people they know. And, if you write a blog and listen tonight, please consider blogging about your thoughts afterwards, too! That way, the buzz just keeps going and everyone in the furniture industry wins by retweeting all of the blog posts!
Think this is a CRAZY, irrelevant idea?
Consider these three points:
600 tweets are being sent now PER SECOND.
All tweets index in real time Google search results since twitter is micro-blogging-not instant messaging. The implications for your SEO are enormous-especially if you remember to use your keywords in your tweets.
Every tweet sent with the hashtag #IDZINEchat is being seen by millions of people around the world since Twitter is a *one to many* communications channel and not a one to one communications channel (even though it can feel that way.)
So, even ten questions about interior design on Twitter tonight from interested consumers paying attention to the conversation can create enormous “buzz” for our industry and..hopefully…enormous business will follow as consumers begin to understand the enormous emotional comfort and sense of safety security and beauty that comes from working with an interior designer to create a home designed soley around their deepest desires for sanctuary and peace of mind.
And, remember, it’s not me, it’s Wanda Horton, owner of http://interiorconceptsbywanda.com in North Carolina that has been the one to take this idea and spend enormous amounts of her free time to help ALL interior designers connect with it for the benefit of our entire industry!
Do I hear the word “gogiver?” Thank you, @WandaSHorton!
Interested commented:
Please update us with results of last nights success.
Wanda S Horton commented:
Leslie –
I just popped on for my Twitter lunchtime chat and read this article. To sum this up in a word - "Wow"! This has been an experience, of which I could never have imagined, (or participated in), had it not been for Twitter and the meaningful connections which I’ve made. You are so point-on; in regards to the ripple effect this has created for the interest in interior design, all of its elements, and the people who are connected by our tweets.
I am so humbled and amazed by the support and sharing, via the Twitter community. I encourage everyone who might be hesitant to jump online, to try it. I did, just last March, kind of like the Nike commercial – “Just do it”! You’ll find many helpful friends, who’ll guide you along the way.
This #IDzinechat may be, for consumers, a similar experience of finding themselves in uncharted territory. In Twitter, and other forms of social media, they can find a friendly community, where they can ask questions, without concern for seeming less than knowledgeable, and where they can seek expert advice without being “sold”. We, in the design industry, will be better prepared to address the consumers’ needs, by gaining an understanding of what they are thinking and questioning, in this historic shift, which affects not only the consumers’ individual economic status, but their decision-making and emotional status, as well.
I am very much honored you shared the concept with me to pass along to my peers and industry partners. I’m so honored and thrilled to have their enthusiasm and interest.
Many thanks, Leslie, for this wonderful article! @WandaSHorton
