Welcome to today's show! We are really happy to have a new designer, Colleen Primm, joining us today. Recently Colleen decided to start a client-facing Facebook group to share her expertise, to get her name out there, and also to get some clients into her pipeline. Although she only started the group at the beginning of June this year, she already has more than 640 members, almost all of whom are potential clients! On the show today she will be talking to us about her Facebook group and she will also explain exactly what she puts in there. Listen in to find out how Colleen has managed to attract so many potential clients to her group in such a short space of time.

Colleen, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration (management) from The University of Toledo, an M.B.A. from Averett University and has also attended Cuyahoga Community College for Interior Design, has taken a pretty unconventional path to interior design.  Before deciding to make the change, she worked in the banking industry for twelve years, where she first underwrote commercial loans, and then a little later, mortgage loans. After a few years, she became a trainer, teaching people how to write mortgage loans. While working on residential loans, Colleen got to see a lot of homes, because she was reviewing home appraisals. That's where her love of design, and wanting to help people achieve better-looking homes came from. She finally decided to turn her passion into reality and quit her banking job to go back to school for Interior Design. So Colleen is the rare interior designer who can not only decorate your home but also talk to you about your mortgage! Listen in to find out more!

Show highlights:

• Why Colleen chose this particular method to market her firm.
• What it will take for you to join Colleen's facebook group.
• Colleen wants to have only members who will bring value to the group.
• What inspired Colleen to start her Facebook group.
• The importance of getting constructive feedback.
• The precise message that Colleen sent out when she started her Facebook group.
• Getting lots of engagement with Facebook groups.
• Colleen's strategic way of attracting mainly local clients to her group.
• All about Colleen's Facebook contests.
• The number of paid consultations that Colleen has done as a result of the group.
• Colleen explains and clarifies the amounts she charges.
• The amount of preparation that Facebook Live requires.
• The kind of questions that Colleen deals with.
• The events that she's created as a result of her Facebook group.
• Making connections- and making money at the same time!
• The kind of preparation that Colleen does and how she manages her time.
• The importance of being really well organized.
• How to learn more about lenders and the programs that they have to assist designers.

Links:

Facebook: Colleen Primm

Instagram: Colleen Primm Design

Website: Colleen Primm Design

Private Facebook Group: Primm and Proper Design Talk with Colleen Primm