Get Ink DIY Blog

I've realized that one of the things designers are most interested in is to hear how their peers have managed to have media success and learn how it has impacted their interior design businesses. To paint that picture I decided to start a series of interviews with designers that have experience with PR and are open to share their successes, failures and lessons in using it. The goal is to provide inspiration, insights and learnings that can help you determine if and how PR may work for your business.

My first guest is  Pamela Durkin, ASID, LEED AP ID+C, from Pamela Durkin Designs. I recently had a chat with her on Instagram about the power of PR and let me tell you, she's a pro. (And she has the best glasses!)

Please tell me the 3 most important things about yourself and your business.

Pam: I’m a 30-year design veteran. My clients are high net worth individuals who move to Naples, FL to enjoy their 2nd, 3rd or 4th home.

I am...

Are you constantly thinking about what to post on Instagram and panic if you don’t feel like you have enough - good - content? I know this is the case for a lot of interior designers. On the weekly calls I have with the members of my Design PR Insider Membership, Instagram comes up almost every week in some shape or form. How often should I post? Do I need to do videos and reels? Why don’t I get more engagement? Does it make sense to hire someone to help with my Instagram? And so on.

It’s a real issue for many interior designers. And since I am always keen on providing solutions for my clients on anything that relates to their marketing and PR struggles, I love to learn from other experts in the industry. There is so much out there, and podcast have become one of the main ways that make it easy to get really good information from top authorities in any industry. (Now, if only the days had more hours so you could listen to them all, right?!)

I am here to provide a...

How important is PR in your marketing mix? I know this is a loaded question for many depending on which of these categories you fall under: 

1. You don’t think PR is helpful for your business.
2. You think getting press would be nice but you just can’t fit it in.
3. You dabble in PR but don’t have a consistent and long-term plan.
4. You prioritize PR, work it actively, and get regular media coverage.

If you are in category #1, you probably want to stop reading my posts.  It’s okay - I wish you good luck. Or better, keep reading and you may just change your mind!

If you fall under category #2,  I understand, but the good news is, it may not be as hard as you think. Most people start working with me during this “Novice” stage and move up quickly. Please read all the way to the end of this post.

For anyone in category #3, you are a “Doer” and oh-so-close to real media rock star success! You just need a little bit of...

It’s been pretty much one year since I started Get Ink DIY (say WHAT???) and one of my favorite things has been learning something new almost every day. I’ve learned things about running an online business, which was all new and exciting, but I’ve also had lots of eye-opening moments about the interior design profession and how designers run their businesses.

Since PR and marketing are functions that are intended to support your business goals, it is absolutely critical for me to have a good grasp of all aspects of the interior design business. Except I will leave the actual design work to you. (Believe me it's better that way! I just painted the entire interior of my house white, that should tell you enough, lol.)

Because I love to learn new things, I’ve found our weekly Designer Discussions on Clubhouse incredibly interesting. I’ve taken some great nuggets of hands-on tips and honest advice away from each topic and speaker.

This past Friday was no...

One of the questions I get most often from interior designers who are interested in getting press is: 

Where do I even start?

Let me take you back to the very basics because, as you may know, I believe that the magic bullet for smashing PR success is going back to fundamentals, doing them well, and doing them consistently. Here are the three areas you want to focus on and some practical tips to get started.

• Be ready.

• Have a website that reflects your brand and has all the info a journalist would need: Who you are, what you do, where you are, projects, press, contact.
• Have a social media presence that’s aligned with your website and brand. Be active, share about yourself & your work.

• Be proactive.

• Media coverage isn’t just going to happen. At least, it’s highly unlikely.
• Connect on social media
• Follow editors and freelancers on social, interact and engage with them. Respectfully!
• Generally, pitch your stories/projects to them via email. Only...

When interior designers think of getting press, it usually revolves around placing a project in a feature article in a design magazine. While that is a noble goal and absolutely doable, it’s a lengthy and involved process that can easily take close to a year, or even longer.

But, wait! There is an easier and more immediate way to get published.

Have you ever read a magazine or online article and wondered how the designers quoted in the article did it? There are a few ways it can happen but let me share the path of least resistance with you to get quoted as an expert by the media. If you take my advice and act on it, I will pretty much guarantee you that you will see your first expert mention in an article within the first month or two.  

And I am not just saying this without proof. I have seen it happen over and over again in my Design PR Insider Membership. My rockstar members have been featured in outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Apartment Therapy,...

On Friday the guest speaker on our weekly Designer Discussions on Clubhouse was Kyla Herbes, digital content creator and home decor blogger at the hugely popular House of Hipsters blog. She is also an incredibly savvy Pinterest expert with lots of insights from her time working at Pinterest (yes, she actually worked for them creating pins for brands) and her uber-successful blogging career.

Here is the gist of what she shared in the Clubhouse talk.

Pinterest is a visual search engine, not just a place where you pin your favorite things.   Remember that you are a brand, so you need to act like a brand and focus on pinning what your audience likes, not only what you like.

Here are some tips for when you get started:

• Create a business account, or change your personal into a business account.
• Claim your website and other linked accounts so they talk to each other.
• Have a properly named brand board and supporting boards.
• To boost SEO, add keywords to everything, especially tag...

It’s been one heck of a year. No doubt.

I am sure you have your own journal full of memories of this year - the good, the bad, and maybe, the ugly. It’s likely material for a best-selling novel with drama tucked in every corner of every page. I have mine too.

But as a realistic optimist, I like to focus on the positive things this year has brought me.

One of them is the fact that if it wasn’t for this year and the pandemic, I would not be writing this note to you.

When the pandemic kicked in at the beginning of this year, I quickly realized that as a self-employed PR consultant, my job security was more than shaky. Not that it is stellar in any corporate job these days. However, from my previous life in corporate, I vividly remember how the contractors were always the first ones to get cut if the numbers didn’t add up. It was definitely time to kick Plan B into gear.

As it happened, I’d been noodling a project for a good couple of years: Creating a...

The terms press kit or media kit float around often when the topic of PR comes up. You may wonder what exactly they are, and if you need one. Let’s dig into this a bit.

Many people use press kit and media kit interchangeably, but no matter what you call them, there a couple of fundamentally different kinds.

MEDIA KIT

A media kit is a packet of information that magazines and a lot of bigger blogs use to sell advertising and sponsorships. It usually includes information about their audience and reach, the types of ads and promotions they are offering, and pricing. Sometimes it includes an editorial calendar, which is the only connection with PR, otherwise it is a sale tool.

PRESS KIT

A press kit is also a packet of information, but it’s designed to provide background and content information to the media. Journalists use it when they are looking for content to write stories and articles. 

Brands and companies use press kits to release comprehensive bundles of...

As we are approaching the end of the year, I am sure you are starting to reflect back on this crazy challenging 2020. I don’t know about you but I am more than ready to move on to 2021!

I am a big fan of planning and goal setting - annually, monthly, weekly, even daily. In truth, I can go completely overboard with planning because the ideas keep coming, but I have to reign them in because it’s just me, myself and I running this show for now. And as Antoine de Saint-Exupery says:

A goal without a plan is just a wish. 

If you are anything like me, it helps to follow a system. It’s so tempting to just have dreams that live and flourish in your head, but since we are all running businesses, it’s imperative that we write down our plans and goals. It’s proven that just by doing so you increase your chances of actually following through. It’s something about the brain-to-hand connection that makes you more likely to stick to your commitment. But...