# 99 | Running an Efficient and Joyful Design Firm with Andi Morse
Welcome to the Designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald. If you're tired of one-size-fits-all all advice to running your interior design business, you're in the right place. Join me each week as we dive into topics to help you run a thriving interior design business. Without the hustle. We'll talk about the business of design, but also mindset and mental health because I know when you thrive, so will your life and business. It wasn't that long ago that I stepped away from my corporate interior design job to build my own design business so that I could realize my own creative dreams, have more time with the people I love, and serve my clients at the highest level, while making more money than I ever could have working for someone else. It wasn't always easy, and I made my share of mistakes along the way. Fast forward to today. And I've learned a thing or two. Since then I've built multiple six-figure interior design businesses on authentic word-of-mouth referrals with many repeat clients. And I want to share it all with you the ambitious, inspired, and I get it occasionally overwhelmed interior designer who shares this dream of transforming lives through the art of interior design, You can do this. Thank you for letting me spend part of this day with you. Let's get to it.
Kate Bendewald
My guest today is Andi Morse of Morse Design in Atlanta, Georgia today, Andi shares how she believes offering multiple services is the key to getting your foot, literally and figuratively in the door of prospective clients. We also talk about how good processes are so key to protecting your creative energy. And finally, we're going to talk about how hiring has enabled her to do more what she's able to do now that she wasn't able to do before you are going to love Andy's down to earth sensibility to help run an efficient and creative design firm. Please welcome Andy Morse to the show. Well, good afternoon, Andi. Welcome. How are you? Thanks for joining us today.
Andi Morse
I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. Oh,
Kate Bendewald
I am so looking forward to hearing more from you. I've been enjoying reading and learning a bit about you and your backstory. You're you're also a girl mom. I understand so we I am too. I'm looking forward to hearing a bit about that, but let I would love for us to start by sharing with our listeners a little bit of your backstory. So I You're based out of Atlanta, tell and I understand you were born and raised there, correct? I know you're back. Tell me a little bit about your back story and how you found yourself at the helm of this interior design firm, sure.
Andi Morse
Well, it's really it's interesting. This is kind of my second half of life that this all started like you said. I'm a girl mom. I was really just a stay at home. Mom, when my kids were young,
Kate Bendewald
hold on, I'm going to pause you right there. You can't say just a stay at home. Mom,
Andi Morse
this is correct. You're right. And it actually probably was the best training I could possibly have for doing I do now, yes, exactly of you know, helping me be organized, create processes, all of that, all of that came from just a carryover of my personal life, exactly. So my kids were, I have three girls. They're all out of the house now, but at the time that I came into this business, my I have two of my girls are twins. They're my youngest ones.
Kate Bendewald
Oh my gosh, I just interviewed someone with twin kiddos earlier this morning. That is a whole other ballgame. Raising twins. Go on,
Andi Morse
yes, but they were in college, and so I was kind of at loose ends a lot. And you know, I was doing a lot of going to lunch with friends, things like that. I was a little bored. I wasn't really willing to admit I was bored, and I had a friend who really just happened to like my taste, and so she was doing some stuff in her house, and she asked me to come over. We started talking, and she goes, You know, I'd really like to hire you. And I'm like, well, I'll help you, but I'm not gonna let you pay me. And she was really emphatic of saying to me, if you're going to do this, you have to charge me. So it kind of and I charge to, believe me, a minimal amount, but it was the point of charging and not doing it for free that really got me going. I think, had I done it for free, I don't know that I would have taken this seriously, but because she was paying me, I took it much more seriously, and it kind of just went from there. It became word of mouth, you know, another person hired me, you know, it was, I had hardly anything to begin with, and then it, just over the months and years, is just ballooned into something big, so, and it's really the second half of my life, which has been really great, just because I don't have things like my children that I had to occupy so much of my time anymore. So this has become my child,
Kate Bendewald
no doubt about it, I would imagine that it would sort of invigorate life a little bit as now that your kids are, you guys are in a new era of of your life. I have to admit, I so my kids, I'm a little bit behind you, a little bit in in terms of raising children. My kids are 11 and eight, and you know, when they were little, I felt, and I've worked the whole time that they've been, most of the time that they've been, you know, around and when they were young, I felt like I had an eternity with them, and just recently, especially with my little one, who is such a sweet little baby, even though she's eight, she's not a baby, But she's just my little snuggle bunny, but every day I can see her getting a little bit more mature, a little bit more insightful, a little bit more curious about the world, and like growing up so fast, and there's a part of me that is like, wants to just put work on pause and pause this time with them, because I'm going to be where you are before we know it, where they're all living their own lives and doing their own things, and it just feels like, oh my gosh, somebody stopped the clock. This is happening 100% Yeah, and I know that that quickly can be very exciting for for different reasons, but yeah, I I hear what you're saying. So here you are. You are with them now. They're they are off to college or doing whatever they're doing with life, and you have poured yourself in to this career. Tell me about your services and what you have decided, sorry, when was this? When did you sort of start this?
Andi Morse
This really started around 2015,
Kate Bendewald
okay, so it's been almost a decade now. You pretty incredible. So here you are. You've probably learned, well, not probably for sure, learned a ton over these years. So one of the things you have said is that you believe that creating more than one type of service is a great way to get your foot in the door, as well as having additional streams of income. So I want you to elaborate on this a little bit, on why you really feel like having a menu of services is a really important aspect of your business.
Andi Morse
Well, I think, first of all, you know, people are looking for all kinds of different help with their house. And, you know, not everyone can really afford a designer. Of course, you know, I think all designers want all full home jobs, you know, but sometimes you can't take a full home job because, you know, they don't want to hire you for the full house, not just because of money, because they kind of want to see what you can do. And so besides full service design, I offer what I call a, it's a, I call it like a two hour it's a two hour consult. And basically someone who wants designer help but doesn't want the commitment of designer can call me. I come in for two hours, I sit down, I bring my computer. We figure everything out. They come up with questions for two hours. It can be the layout of the room, sizing of furniture, sizing of rugs. It can be to the point of actual furniture pieces. And when I do it, I deal only retail, but I they leave with all these ideas, all these actual links, things they can purchase, so that they can kind of do it themselves. And what ends up happening, if that becomes six. Successful. A lot of times I get calls back because they want, they don't have the time anymore to do that, and they want somebody to come and do it all. And they've worked with me. They know me. They know how it's not hiring a stranger anymore, right? It's gotten my foot in the door. Sometimes people will do it, and at the end they're like, You know what? I don't want to deal with it. We just, you know, you know. And so it's been a really good benefit in terms of producing leads for me,
Kate Bendewald
right? So you can, you can essentially position your consultation as you know. Look, this can be a great jumping off point for us for a full service engagement or a longer term engagement, or it can be kind of a one and done thing. The choice is yours, but you're really sort of giving that ownership of how do we want to treat this back to your client. So question for you, when you go into a consultation, are you aware of their intentions, and would you treat the consultation any differently if you knew this was somebody who was wanting to potentially hire you for a bigger project, versus you're coming in and you kind of know this is going to or could be just like this one and done, sort of offering of help? Do you? Do you treat it the same way regardless? Or do you treat them a little bit differently, not them, the people that treat the time with them?
Andi Morse
Well, you know what? I tell you something, I I treat it the same in certain ways. Number one, I feel like every single person I come into encounter with, even if it's not a console, I'm talking my daily life. Everyone's a potential client. So I feel like I'm always trying to look my best, act my best, be my best all the time, because you never know how someone can think back to you and you want to be remembered. And that's what I try to do. Is everywhere I go. I want to be remembered. So when I go into a two hour consult, you know, one of the things I do let people know off immediately is that I only offer this once per client. So in other words, a client can't keep coming back to me for room for room for room, because I don't. I mean, I want to do these, but I don't want to do so many of them. I don't have time for full service, right? So that's another way of them trying me and realizing, well, you know what, I do want to use her for the rest of my house, but have to hire her full time. So that's one way also is, you know, I want to go in there. I want to do a great job, the same as I would in a full service it's just moving at a quicker pace, because I want people to come into their house and love it, and then her refer me to other people, whether it's another two hour consult or whether it's another full service job. So it's moving quicker and it's a much faster pace, and I sometimes have to kind of really push it along, because we will get sidetracked in conversations, otherwise we won't get it accomplished. And I'll just say, you know, we gotta move on so that can get everything you have on your list done. Got it? Yeah. So it's very intentional about that,
Kate Bendewald
yeah. So it's important that if you're doing this in this way that it's done with intention and and thought so that at the end of the time together, you can feel confident that you've come to do what you came to do, right, right? And it's smart too confident, exactly, and it's smart too that you understand that even if this particular person isn't a long term fit as a, as a, as a full service client, that you still treat it just as importantly, you nurture them just as much, knowing that they're going to go, hopefully share your name with their friends, and that that can lead to future work, which is really playing the long game. And I think that's wise. And one of the
Andi Morse
things I do do is, you know, when these two hour consults are over, I always follow up with an email. I tell them to send me pics as they get stuff. You know, sometimes I'll put on my story so it's like, I don't terminate the relationship, you know, at the end of it. I mean, I encourage them, you know, if you have a quick question, of course, I'm going to answer it, even though you didn't pay me. You know, I'm saying I'm not going to spend 1015 minutes, but I want to, you know, it can create great content for my social media. You know, there's all kinds of benefits, yeah? So it goes both ways. Help. Yeah,
Kate Bendewald
I love it. I love it so much. Yeah. And I think it's important that designers who are listening to this, who you know, May. Be or in their infancy of their business, recognize that you know, one of the things I talk about is there is no one size fits all approach to how you run your business, right? So what you have decided works really well for your business is choosing to offer this two hour consultation, even if it's not always going to be with these clients who could potentially, you know, be these bigger projects, which are always kind of fun to sink your teeth into, but you really look at it from a business development standpoint as well as probably a creative outlet, whereas another designer, I think listening to this, it's important to ask yourself and choose, like, would this be a something that would work well for me? And if not, that's okay too, right? Because it's not a model that's going to work for everybody. And and I think that we have to be mindful that, you know, that's okay too. One of the things that I offered for many years was designer for a day, which is a similar service, which, but it's a six hour service, and it was really helpful for a period of time. I I'm not offering them as much anymore, but it acted the same way we did, you know, poured ourself into the design, gave them results, and inevitably, I would get a call back to take the project on from there. And that was that was always fun, fun for me. So makes a lot of sense. Yeah, I want us to talk about creating processes, because you hinted to it a minute ago, and I understand that this is one of the things that has really helped you propel your business to sort of this new era. Obviously, you had a lot of practice raising three kiddos, and there's something to be said about that as well. So you you know, one of the things we talk about here a lot is protecting your creative energy. And you say that creating processes or allows you to be more creative. How so
Andi Morse
well? I think when you have processes in place, things run much smoother. You create less anxiety for yourself and for everyone around you, including clients. Therefore, you're not expanding the energy that you would if you were kind of working in chaos, or just kind of, you know, going and winging it, and it gives you the energy you need to actually be creative and create these incredible environments for your, you know, clients. One thing I noticed from being a mom is, you know, kids, everyone does better, especially children, but I think it extends to all of us as humans, when they feel safe and secure and they know expectation, and that's one thing I keep in mind with every client, making sure they know expectation from the minute they interact with me as a potential client to the end of the project. So helping them know what's happening, what's going to happen, how it's going to work, makes everything smoother. And I learned that with my kids, just like your children, okay, well, we're gonna park today, and then, you know, I'll give you a snack there, and we're gonna meet some friends, and the minute they don't know the plan, they fall apart. Same with the client, the minute they don't know the plan, they fall apart. Yeah? So part of that process is, is having emails in place, yeah? That are very kind of wrote that make it easy when I get the first point of contact I have, you know, when someone inquires, I will not even schedule a phone call till I've sent them like a whole brochure about myself, because it has pricing in there, which I don't put on my website. And you know, if the client It feels like I've priced them out, they may not even want a phone conversation. So it eliminates the hassle of the phone conversation if they're really not a quality candidate. Um, you know, I have things in place to me. Another thing about having processes is bringing people on whether you hire them to work in your office, or you're hiring them virtually or remotely, even like, for instance, an accountant, a bookkeeper, they cannot be in your life every day, but the amount of energy and time you save by having someone handle that part of the Business is huge if you don't fan things out, which is part of processes you don't have time to design. You're so busy managing everything and trying to do it, you can't do it. No one can do it all. Yeah, and
Kate Bendewald
you're you're using a different part of your brain when you're running the business than when you're designing. Creating. And, you know, I just finished an interview earlier where we were talking about this, and it's like, Yes, as a business owner, you need to understand all of these aspects, scheduling, specifying, ordering, design, scale, balance, symmetry, all that stuff, you don't have to be an expert at all of it. And you know, when you're small, you're going to have to wear a lot of hats. And as you grow, you can hire people to support you in your your your shortcomings, but especially when you're small and when you are trying to do it all there it is so important, I think, as you're you're we're discussing here to protect your creative energy and give yourself time and space to work on those certain aspects of your job that are required, like billing, if that's what you're doing, you know, the accounting, the ordering that sort of stuff, and then really protecting the time in your week to block off time for design, because bouncing back and forth is just working different parts of your brain and it, it's, it's very hard when we talk about context switching from, you know, in your brain, it's very hard To switch back and forth. And so having those creative or, excuse me, those processes in place are really important. I want to hear from you specifically, because I can already hear designers who are listening to this asking Kate, ask her this question. Can you get real specific with us? Tell us, how have you chosen to document your processes in your business. Do you have it through Google Docs? Do you use Asana? What are you using to keep yourself and your team organized
Andi Morse
well? For me, because I'm not the most computer literate, yeah, Google Docs seems to be, for me, the easiest, best way. It's easy for me to update it when I make changes, so I can go in and change the process or whatever sure, you know, I don't. I'm not. I'm great at keeping a list, you know, on paper, of all my to do's. I'm not great at having to input that into a computer and document like that. That's just not me. I'm not going to probably delegate in that way either. So the Google Docs for me has been the best. And you know, like you said earlier, you know, everyone's it may not fit the bill for everyone, but for me, it seems to be one of the best ways for me to do to operate my business, right.
Kate Bendewald
And that's actually why I asked, because I wanted to showcase to those listening that you've got to work with systems that work best for your brain and the way you think and the way you operate. And you know, I'll take my assistant, Megan, for example. She is a clickup expert and guru, and so we switched to clickup, and that's what we use internally now to stay organized. On the designers Oasis side, I still use Asana for the design business, but it the it confuses me. It's too complex. It's too God bless. I'm like you use it. I'm going to use my notes app over here to keep myself organized, because it's just not a program that you know works the way that my brain works. And so I think the point being is that document your processes in whatever way you're going to use it. You know, if, if using a big, fancy software is you're not going to use it, then there's no point in doing it. And so I think it's important that you recognize it can be as simple as a Google Doc. Hey there, designer. Have you checked out the designers Oasis shop lately? If not, you are really missing out. Not only did the shop get a glow up, making it super easy to find exactly what you're looking for. But we've also added some amazing new digital products with courses coming soon. Hold on to your hat, friend, you have to check out the brand spanking new project budget calculator with this tool, so much of the hard work is already done for you. All you have to do is plug in the project details and it will tally up the project budget for you. Go through the relevant categories such as furnishings, lighting, Kitchen and Bath. It even includes popular specialty designs, such as built ins, wallpaper, install and fireplace design. Pick which products you'll need and the quantity, and then choose the good better or best pricing options. The pricing is already there for you by default, but with one simple click, you can always adjust if necessary. It's flexible, it's fast, it's easy, and it is the last budget tool you'll ever use in your interior design business. Oh, what's that? Can you create different budgets for different rooms? Oh, heck, yeah, girl, I even designed. Minded to add it all up onto one master sheet so you can easily present that to your clients. If you'd like, head over to the shop to check out all our new products and get 10% off your first order when you use the code shop 10. Today. That's designers oasis.com, forward slash shop and use the code shop 10 for 10% off your first purchase.
Kate Bendewald
So it's I hear that you have hired your first well, actually, I don't know if this is your first, but you've hired a Chief Operating Officer, and you say my biggest regret was not hiring her sooner. Talk to me about hiring and what, what was the biggest thing that held you back before you hired her? Well,
Andi Morse
one of the things I've done in my business is, before I hired her, I kind of farmed out responsibilities to different consultants. For example, you know, I hired an accountant. I have a separate bookkeeper other than my accountant, you know, things like that. But no, I had no one in place to keep me organized on a daily basis, like within my office realm, it was more, you know, outside of that daily. And I'm organized, but I hired a girl who is even more organized, who is a stickler, which I need, you know, we came up with ways for me to, you know, you get orders. You've got to have ways of documenting and tracking all the orders, knowing when something here, when it's supposed to be, you know, she came up with a great system to help me. I was kind of doing it, not as well as I should, because I didn't have time to go back and keep documenting. And she, you know, is able to do that for me. Um, she also can pinch hit for me when I need, you know, to be at two clients at once, which, you know, she's willing to help me out with, um, you know, a lot of it for me, with her was scheduling and Keeping my life organized within the office, you know, figuring out about samples. I mean, it sounds, you know, I mean, she's probably doing a lot more than just a chief operating officer would do. But, you know, that's just part of a small business. You know, we all kind of do things when we need to. But she, really, she communicates a lot with the bookkeeper and the accountant. You know, she's understanding the money coming in, the money going out, all of that.
Kate Bendewald
I love that, and I have to say that that role, although it's carried different titles for me in my own business, has been, for me, the most beneficial, because I certainly can do those things. You know, you could do those things, but it frees you up to do the things that are in your zone of genius, when you can pass off some of those things and she can do it better, right? You can do it just because you can, doesn't mean you should do it. And so I think especially for creatives, and this was actually one of my first challenges in hiring. I know I got very lucky. My very first hire was one of the best people who I've, I've ever worked with, who could do design and stay super organized. But after that, you know, hiring someone to manage all of the procurement aspect and the scheduling alone. I mean, think about all of the meetings with contractors and with vendors and with clients, and that's the sort of thing that just drives me crazy, but it's one of the best assets to your business, because it allows you to move projects along faster as you can continue to work on the design. So I anytime somebody asks me, Okay, I think I'm ready to hire. Who should I hire? I always suggest hire somebody that can do the stuff that you don't want to do. And as creatives, it's typically that the sort of mundane, tedious task of procurement and that sort of thing. But I did struggle early on with hiring people who were just like me, and they wanted to be doing the creative work alongside me. And that was great, but what I really needed was somebody who had the the mind of like that, that was a designer. And so I, once I figured that out, I I did much better?
Andi Morse
No, I agree with you. You tend to also like hire people you get along with really well, and you have the same interest. And that's not necessarily the best. Yeah, when it's your business and you're trying to expand it, you need to get people that do things better, like you said, and that you don't really care to do all the time. Yes.
Kate Bendewald
Exactly, truth be told, you don't want me ordering your stuff, because it's just make sure somebody else does this, because it'll be better if if somebody does it. So I want to, I want to talk. I want to move the conversation a little bit to this idea of selling yourself, talking about your value when it comes to those early conversations with with clients. And I know that a lot of designers come into this business in Well, this was true for me. We don't have sales background. Some people do, right? And if you do, it's going to serve you really, well. I did not. I had a design background, and I knew design, but I didn't know anything about selling. My first coach was a sell was a sales coach, and really helped me uncover that aspect. So but it's really important, right? We have to be able to sell ourselves. We have to be able to clarify what it is we do, how we do it, why we do it, and we need to be able to articulate that clearly with clients. And I love what you say. You keep it real simple. You're like, be a problem solver, right? Presenting yourself as a problem solver can be a way that clients can overcome maybe some underlying hesitations to hiring a designer. So can you talk more to me about how we can position ourselves as problem solvers, especially in those early conversations with potential clients?
Andi Morse
Sure. So, like you said earlier, I really do consider every single thing I do a problem for a client, because whether it's, you know, they want you to come in and redo their whole room, the problem is, they're unhappy with a room. You're going to make it better. That's the problem. It's no different than your air conditioning breaking and someone has to come and fix it. You're fixing it for them. It doesn't matter how, you know, in the beginning, I would take on very small projects, you know, anything I could get my hands on, just so I could have something and, you know, so they might be little, teeny problems, but there's still problems. And I think that's something I don't necessarily use the word problem when I'm talking to clients, but I will say, you know, I understand you're unhappy with this or you want to brighten this space up, you're describing problems without saying it's a problem. And I think one of the things I do a lot is, when I'm meeting with clients, I repeat things they say back to them, you know, you know, they'll tell me, oh, you know, I don't like this rock. I want to redo this room. It's, you know, dark, and so I'll say, okay, you know, I understand, you know. And this could be on the phone, you know, you want to brighten up the space, or some pieces of furniture you're not happy with, you know, I can do all that for you. You know, this is something I do all the time for lots of people. You know, you're describing the problem, you know. You know, you can use the word problem, I just wouldn't use it a lot, just because problem can be associated in a negative capacity. One thing I really try to do with everything in my business is position, even in my daily contact with my accountant or my bookkeeper, I try to make sure everything I say is positive in a positive way. I try not to have like, well, we got a problem, you know, if I'm talking to a contractor, well, you know, I have a situation that I need some help. You know, people react so much better, yeah, when they know there's not doom and gloom and you don't sometimes realize how you get caught up in it. So, you know, that's another thing, you know, being very positive. When I'm talking to my clients about their issues or problems, and you end up selling it without even realizing you're selling it, just because you're, you know, I've had clients say, Well, what would you do? How would you saw, you know, how would you change this? And I said, Well, you know, one of the first things we would do is we come in and change your paint color, you know, I pick out a smaller coffee table for you, you know, I, you know, we correct these issues,
Unknown Speaker
right, right? Yeah. I
Andi Morse
think, you know, the way you phrase things, yeah, make or break it for you. Well, 100%
Kate Bendewald
you know, it's, it's all in how you, how you frame it. And I love that you keep things in a in a positive light. Because, you know, for so long there, there was this popular idea of selling to people based on pain point. Marketing, right? You market to people based on their pain points. And I really love that we're entering this new era of marketing which is really more based on the potential. Yeah, right. It's, it's looking at the outcome. It's looking it's future pacing. And for me, as someone who is in business for myself in multiple ways, that sits better with with my soul like that, I can do that feels a lot better, you know, and selling, there's this idea, no wonder people have an icky feeling about selling, right? Because for so long, we had this vision of, you know, what is? What am I trying to say? Used car salesman? Nothing against used car salesman, but, like, there's that persona, and that's what we think of as selling, and selling is really just helping, right? And so if you can free frame it that way, you're in, you're in, you're in a good spot.
Andi Morse
And the only other thing I want to add is that you know, one thing you should keep in mind, and I just think you know it it becomes more natural, is people hire you if they like you, and you know, you can have the best portfolio in the world and walk into a meeting, and if they don't like you, they may not be able to tell you why, but they want to hire you. Yeah, so creating a positive, you know, conversation and just conversation, you're 50% there, you know, yep. And people get so caught up in their portfolio and you know. And the bottom line is, you gotta be likable, so just make yourself likable. You know, that is a huge part of the business
Kate Bendewald
well, and I mean it, it almost sounds trite when you say it, but it's really not because it's I'm remembering a time when, in our first home, we were going to renovate our basement, and we had, I was interviewing a couple of contractors, and this one contract contractor came in, and it was like, Well, you can't do that because of X, Y and Z, and you can't do that because of this. And well, that's going to be a challenge, and, oh, and that's going to cost a lot of money. And the whole time he was just poking holes in what we were wanting to do. The next guy comes in, and he's like, yeah, we can do this. You know, I got quotes from both of them. You, I guarantee you the second guy's bid was not the cheapest, but that's who we went with, because I didn't want to work with the guy who was negative the whole time, right? So it's true. You know how you frame things is, is really, really important, and just being careful with your words, right? So we're talking about business development and selling and getting clients. I noticed on your website that you offer a monthly Design Magazine. You also have a blog where you share design inspiration behind the scenes on projects and more. How do you see those aspects of your business impacting business development. Is it worth the time to invest in those features?
Andi Morse
I 100% feel it's worth the time in both. Yeah, you know, for the newsletter, it's a way of capturing interest and reminding people every month that you're still there, yeah. And again, monthly reminder, you know, I have, I kind of cheat a little bit in the way that I use a service called the Social vault. Okay, okay, that you can sign up and you pay a fee, and there's all different things they offer. They offer, I mean, they'll, you know, newsletter formats that you can take and, you know, copy or, you know, have, they'll even send it out for you, blog posts where they don't write them for you. They even, they offer that service, but they'll give you the prompts to help you write the blogs. And it's one of the best investments I've made, because it makes doing those things, taking the time to come up with a monthly newsletter for me would be tedious, and I wouldn't have the time, the fact that I can go on the website, find something that's pertinent, they have tons of choices, download it and kind of customize it With my own pictures and, you know, the verbiage here and there was huge. I the same thing. And the thing about the blogs that I really like is it does help you with Google, you know, because the more you publish them, you know, it's funny, when I publish a bunch of blogs, all of a sudden I start getting inquiries from Google. If I go periods without it, it becomes quiet in that way. So you you see it. I mean, it takes some time to build it up, but if you keep at it, it's worth it. Yeah,
Kate Bendewald
and you could even batch that work too, so you're not having to do it every single month. You can sit. And write, you know, three at a time, and then you're just doing it once a quarter, right? And the the best part about it, what I love, what I'm looking at yours, is, you know, you're writing about things that you're already doing a lot of the time. So whether it's a project reveal, or it's, you know, how you solved a problem for a client, that's really smart, in my opinion, because you're doing a couple of things. Number one, you're showcasing to prospective clients your ability to solve problems and to get a get a project done. You're also staying top of mind because you're sending out that monthly newsletter, but you're also, you know, helping improve your your SEO. So it's, to me, a very smart investment, whether you're hiring someone to do it, whether you're using a hybrid cheat sheet model, like you are, which I think is great, or doing it fully from scratch, whatever your your path is, I think doing it is, is quite smart. Yes,
Andi Morse
it's huge. It's huge. And, you know, clients kind of, you know, people really invest time and looking in websites and doing all that, and it kind of lets them into a peak of who you are and your personality, especially when you start reading your blogs. So, you know, I've had clients call and refer to blogs, you know. Well, I want you know you said you did this in this project I saw on your blog. So, you know, it's worth it. Yeah,
Kate Bendewald
absolutely, absolutely. And, and I too, and I think too, you know, with the newsletter, right when you get them on your email list, and growing an email list. Yes, it's honestly something I never did as as a designer, I had I had a freebie, download, I had blogs, I had all that, but I never did the newsletter. And I assure you, should I choose to go back to Design full time, that will, for sure be one of the first things we do. But I think about the clients who start to research designers long before they're ready to reach out and engage right? That is a perfect way for somebody who maybe they're moving right, maybe they're moving to Atlanta, but they're not moving until the summer. They haven't even bought a house yet, and they're researching and they're going to come across your website. Compare you to designer B, right? Designer B doesn't have that, but you do, so she signs up for your newsletter, right? Fast forward, six months later, she can't even remember who the other designer was, because she doesn't have they weren't staying in touch. And here you are staying in touch once a month. And to me, the once a month thing feels so doable, right? Maybe a weekly blog is outside of your bandwidth. It would be for me, but monthly seems totally, totally doable.
Andi Morse
Yes for the newsletter, 100%
Kate Bendewald
yes, exactly is so well. Thank you for sharing that. I'd love to wrap up with this question, thinking about the future and what's ahead for you and your career. Is there something right now that feels really exciting for you that you're looking forward to in the year ahead, whether that's a project, whether that's something you're hoping to call in and back in into your career, what's what's getting you up in the morning these days. You
Andi Morse
know, I really love what I do. And what I look forward to the most is just more and more projects, you know. You know, you can always get bigger. You can always get better, you know, in terms of the projects, and that's one of the things I'm really looking forward to. Another thing I really look forward to is, you know, family is really important to me. And one of the things when I came up with a name for my firm, I, you know, it was Morse design. With my intention was really hopefully one day I would have one, if not all of my girls working with me. They're all super creative. They've all, you know, got, you know, they're all got different jobs now, but you know, I would love one day, and I look forward to that day when I could have one of them, if not all of them, really come and work in the business with me. I mean, it really motivates me to with that idea in mind that I would, you know, become have enough business that we could all really support ourselves and work together as a family. That would be just the best for me.
Kate Bendewald
Oh my gosh, as as a mother to that would delight me beyond measure. I actually just did a podcast recording with Gideon Mandelson, who has kids. My kids ages, and I asked him the same questions, like, because he his mother was a designer, and he sort of, you know, got his start working with her. And so there's that legacy aspect to it. And I. And I'm shameless about it. And like, I would be lying if I said I didn't, like, sneak in little design lessons here and there and point out, like, architectural features of buildings, and start to build their vocabulary, or ask their opinion. Like, what do you think about this? What would you do here? And like, let them come in the office and let them play with materials. So I have an agenda. It's, it's, I'm shameless about it. Ultimately, whatever they end up doing, I will support them fully no matter what it is, but I can, I can definitely see that he's let he's less so with his kids, you know, but it was, it's just to me, I think really fun to think about the idea of working with your kids and you know, giving something that you know you can pass on and can become a legacy. So,
Andi Morse
yes, wonderful. Oh, I
Kate Bendewald
love that. Would you mind sharing before we go? Where can people find you online?
Andi Morse
Yes, the name of my online website. It's Andy Morse design, and it's Morse M O, R, S, E, not Morris. And you go there, it has all the information. It has a contact form sheet, everything.
Kate Bendewald
Wonderful. And how about on Instagram?
Andi Morse
Are you there? Yes, my handle on Instagram is Morse design, and I love I have people contact me that way all the time. It's just through private messaging, which is great, cool,
Kate Bendewald
wonderful. Well, Andy, it has been a delight and a pleasure to spend this time with you. I thank you for your time and for your willingness to share your insights with our listeners. Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week,
Andi Morse
and thank you so much for having me. It was very fun. Bye, for now. Bye,
Kate Bendewald
hey friend. Thank you so much for letting me spend a part of this day with you. I'm so passionate about helping designers like you, and I believe in a rising tide that when one of us does well, we all do better. So if you share this attitude of abundance with me, I want you to do just one little thing. Please share this episode with someone using might love it. And if you're feeling extra generous today, go ahead and take just 30 seconds to open your podcast app and leave us a five star rating and review. It's free for you to do, and it helps me to be able to keep making more episodes and resources for you. However you choose to help, please know I appreciate you so very much. Thank you, my friend. Have a wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you soon.
