So you’re venturing into the exciting niche of wallcovering installation and need a quick guide for building your book of business. You’ve got the eye for design, an itch to work with your hands, and the Wallcovering Installers Association can help the marketing and business side of things fall into place.
We’re serving members all throughout their careers in wallcovering, but we’re focusing on those entering the trade in our Selling and Marketing Yourself 101 guide with what it takes to build your business online and in person.
Building Your Online Presence
Your online presence can be established on a shoestring budget with social profiles being completely free. To the wallcovering installer starting out, you’ll find that building a little branding into a few of the more visual social media applications will go a long way. In the guide we offer which channels we recommend for your portfolio of before and after project photographs, behind-the-scenes content suggestions, and ways to interact, engage, and grow referrals online.
You may already be juggling deciphering brands of paste, primer, and wallpaper, techniques for applying, removing, and edging; all while hustling to book your next job. So we go further into recommendations of time you should spend on online channels because your online portfolio is not a set it and forget it business strategy.
Networking: Going Old School
Venturing onto the Wallcovering Installers Association website means it’s a good chance you’re already on the hunt for ways to book more jobs. Beyond a digital footprint, you’ll want to establish yourself as open for business in the local and regional market. But how does one go about doing that? In our comprehensive guide, we share all the types of networking entities to connect with to launch your wallcovering career.
Your association is a great place to network with like-minded individuals, but have you noticed all the ways to network outside of your association too? Don’t miss opportunities to meet real estate professionals, interior design companies, and other small business professionals that can lead to your next job.
You booked a job. Now what?
In the guide we go on to elaborate on what it means to nurture referral business and building in a strategy for capturing content for social, testimonials for your website, and photographs for your portfolio book. It doesn’t end when the job is complete. Once you’ve completed the work, the time is right for nurturing your word of mouth marketing.
If you’re thinking a Google Plus review can go a long way - it can, but there are techniques for capturing this user generated content within your digital footprint and you’ll find more info in our guide.
Conclusion
The wallcovering trade is an exciting business to begin. We’re seeing wallcovering demand increase steadily over the next five years, all while seasoned professionals are exiting the trade; leaving ripe opportunity to carve out a career working for yourself - or with a larger interior design team!
Check out our Marketing Workbook for more information.