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✨ Get Your Story Straight.

Ordinary isn't profitable.


Hiya Reader.

I've just returned from a remarkable few weeks in le Haute Pointe (my fancy name for High Point), and I have to say it was one of the best spring market seasons ever.

Here's why:

If you've ever been the underdog trying to vie for the attention of well, all the eyeballs, then you'll understand this story.

Over the last two years, I've worked with a team of industry rockstars—most notably Jane Dagmi and Jessica Duce—to conceive, plan, organize, and execute the Vacation Rental Design Summit in the three days before High Point Market.

The funny thing is, we didn't know, or realize how much of an impact we were creating in those three short days.

We just knew it was important for designers and brands to get together in the perfect place to talk about how to uplevel everything about their business.

And after last year's Summit, I had so many thoughts about how the practice of interior design was evolving too, and what it meant for our industry.

How radically our lifestyles—how and where we can live and work now—has changed post-Covid, and what this means for investors, hosts, home furnishings manufacturers, and designers creating short term and vacation rental design properties.

How important it is now, more than ever, to really be extraordinary.

Especially when it comes to design.

Because, friends, Ordinary Isn't Profitable.

There's really no better way to say it.

This bold statement served not just as our mantra for this year’s Summit but as a call to action for our industry as a whole.

When our scrolls are overwhelmed with options, only the extraordinary truly resonate.

But we aren’t just talking about style, as you know.

Building a strong design business extends beyond just image—beyond the informative website, the visually arresting logo, the compellingly shot portfolio, the impeccable styling.

The truly extraordinary—be they spaces, places, events, or people—lean into their brand’s power.

They've crafted a narrative so original and a value proposition so clear that they naturally attract the perfect fit of guests, clients, attendees, or followers who see no viable alternative.

Through my journey working closely with visionaries in both design and hospitality, I've observed a pattern we all share in marketing our businesses: the struggle to break through the noise, to distinguish ourselves amidst the competition.

And therein lies the greatest potential for our work as designers—the ability to transform what is ordinary into the extraordinary.

So tell me, Reader.

Are you ordinary or are you profitable?

I can't wait to read your response! 😘💌✨

To your success,

Ericka

Ways to work together this fall:

💡 Are you a brand in need of marketing support with strategy or implementation? Explore all the ways we can work with you and your team. Book a time to chat >>

🚀 Are you a designer looking to grow your business or your career? Get the hands-on training you need to master marketing in Marketing School for Creatives. You'll have immediate access to a library of on-demand marketing courses, live workshops each month, and our annual live event each January. Enrollment is now open >>

📆 If you're a business owner overwhelmed with marketing and you don't know where to start, it's the last week to book a Marketing Planning Intensive at the fall rate. Get a 12-month content marketing plan created specifically for your business. Very limited spots, book now >>

✨ Get Your Story Straight.

Love a good story-driven newsletter? Me too! Join our community of over 6000+ home industry professionals learning how to tell better marketing stories so they get heard *and* hired 🎉. Get straight-talk advice, templates, workshops, and trainings developed specifically for interior designers, architects, and other creatives who love to level up their work in the home industry.

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