If I worked within the interior design industry (either as a designer, blogger, home stager or influencer) I would be putting more effort and focus into curating, marketing and selling furniture and home decor product collections than any other part of my business...

But that's just me. I like to scale things. I can't create more hours in the day, and as humans, we can only be so efficient. That's exactly why selling something beyond the parameters of your time is the best way to up-level a business. 

As an interior designer, blogger, home stager or influencer, you might love the hands-on projects; the ones that put you in the same room as your clients. Or maybe you're trying to scale your design consultancy. Perhaps you have no idea where to put your efforts or what you'd really love to do yet. But before you become overwhelmed with all the information that's out there, hear this: you can still offer your services, or not, in conjunction with a dropshipping revenue stream.

Just ask yourself...

• Wouldn't it be nice to work on just a few big projects per year rather than scrambling to find your next lead to keep the bills paid?
  
  
• Wouldn't it be nice to know you can be selective with the projects you do take on because you already have a passive revenue stream that supports your business beautifully?
  
  
• How much more would you enjoy what you do as an interior designer, blogger, home stager or influencer if your financial stress was lessened?

How To Easily Sell Furniture & Home Decor Products Online

You are reading this blog post because you would like to scale your interior design, blogging, home staging or influencing business and you've heard of the dropshipping model. As someone who used to trade my time for money as an interior designer, I built my own multiple 6-figure furniture and home decor dropshipping business myself from zero. I even dipped my toes in the influencing and blogging world... so I know where you are. 

Dropshipping is one of the few options for home pros who want to sell curated collections without the hassle of shipping, logistics, manufacturing etc. A collection contains home decor, furniture, textiles and art that you've curated (e.g. Mid-Century Lamps or Sustainable Coastal Home Decor). When it comes to selling furniture and home decor products online, here are my top tips and best practises:

1. IDENTIFY YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE

We all have our own innate style that’s expressed in our homes. Monetising your existing interior design business, blog and social media accounts is more authentic, organic and enjoyable when you can utilise your existing style. Whether you're a die hard Mid-Century Modern gal or prefer a more traditional aesthetic, you'll want to identify this clearly and then…

2. HONE YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE

This doesn’t mean you’re going to pigeonhole your customers into accepting your personal design taste, but it does mean you’re going to start curating products with a distinct personality.

Quick Tip! Don’t curate vanilla collections — they won’t sell! If your vibe is big on colour, create collections that reflect this aspect of your brand. Similarly, if you lean towards airy, neutral spaces (think Studio McGee), remain true to that aesthetic. Customers will be drawn to YOU so ensure your collections are an extension of that rather than a disconnect.

3. WEBSITE.

Design a stylish website on Shopify. If you want beginner-friendly softwares, swoon-worthy free templates and your life to be a lot easier, use Shopify. I have experience with numerous e-commerce platforms (Wordpress/WooCommerce, SquareSpace, Wix) -- trust me when I say that Shopify is the most cost effective, all-inclusive and seamless platform to use for e-commerce. You'll never need to hire a developer or pay for IT help, which can cost thousands of dollars (been there, done that!). It's extremely user-friendly and designed for total beginners, dropshipping and omnichannel marketing.

4. START CURATING YOUR COLLECTIONS

Now for the fun part! It's time to curate your collections. Source your products and remember to work with reputable suppliers that have a range of well-made products, offer and ooze good customer service. "But where do I find products from?". Everywhere!

If you're an interior designer or home stager, you'll likely already have trade accounts with various B2B suppliers and have an extensive database of brands, designers, artists and craftspeople you enjoy working with. That's a great place to start!

If you're a blogger or influencer, reaching out to the brands that you love, and are aligned with your style, is the best route to take in the first instance. When you join Design Dropship Academy, you gain access to my Little Black Book of suppliers, primarily based in the UK, Europe, Canada & USA. These are suppliers and brands that I've personally worked with, are familiar with dropshipping and deem reliable (the most critical factor!).

5. MARKET

The best part is going live and taking your interior design dropshipping store public. There are hundreds of ways to market your business for free, here are some of our favourite methods: 

• Lead Magnets:
  
  When a potential customer finds your website but isn't ready to purchase at that exact moment, which is +70% of the time, capture their information so that you can follow up with them and, hopefully, make a sale. Using a lead magnet is the best way to do this. Your lead magnet could be any or all of the following, as long as each person is required to give you an email address prior to accessing: 
  
  
  • "How To" cheat sheet or eBook that helps customers achieve a particular result within your niche (we have drag & drop templates in Design Dropship Academy for this).
     
  • PDF magazine that shows how to style one of your most-loved collections (once again, you'll receive magazine templates in Design Dropship Academy).
    
    
  • If you're an interior designer or home stager, 3-5 minute video of you giving a tour of one of the spaces you designed/staged, explaining your process and sharing the pieces you used from your collections
  • Online quiz that matches your customer with one of your collections. This works if you create multiple different collections for a specific room. For example, if your store focused around 'coastal interiors', your quiz options may be: Hamptons Living Room, Côte d'Azur Living Room, Key West Living Room etc. Each would offer a different aesthetic that's still within your niche of 'coastal interiors', and caters to their design preferences.Shopify have an incredible selection of free, user-friendly apps in their App Store that you simply install, plug-and-go! (We help you navigate essential free apps for your store within Design Dropship Academy)
    
    
• Email Marketing: 
  
  Staying in touch with your leads, current clients and past clients via email, without becoming annoying, is a fine art and a necessary one. Don't make the mistake of thinking your leads will follow you on social media and actually see your posts... Emails actually notify people and the click-through rate is highest with Email Marketing (and even higher with SMS Marketing). Send emails every 2-4 weeks with any offers, new arrivals and style guides.
  
  Quick Tip! Rather than focusing on individual products in your emails, focus on the larger picture or overall design concept to paint the picture for your clients. People's purchasing decisions are influenced by a multitude of factors, but largely by ease. If you give people too many options, they won't buy. Make it easy for them to see how pieces "work together".
  
  
• Affiliate Marketing: 
  
  In my opinion, Affiliate Marketing is a win-win. Shopify's Collabs app, which is again, FREE, allows you to connect with influencers in any given space, such as interior design & lifestyle. You're able to view their metrics, such as engagement levels, and reach out to them to invite them to join your Affiliate Program.
  
  If you're a blogger or influencer, you're probably familiar with Affiliate Marketing as you've used links and codes to market products from other brands you've worked with. Flip the coin on its head and start thinking about how you can use Affiliate Marketing to build your business. By offering someone a commission (usually 6% - 12%) in return for sharing your brand and products is an organic and authentic way to tap into their market and reach more of your ideal clients.
  
  
• Brand Collaborations: 
  
  We had a successful campaign where we offered a giveaway for Valentine's Day and partnered with an organic wine, wellness and chocolate brand. Giving away a free product to tap into other brand's audiences that would share a simliar ideal customer is a great place to start. It's fun too!
  
  Since you likely already have various digital assets, such as an Instagram/Pinterest/TikTok account, website or blog, email list etc, these are the best places to start. Simply share your new collections with your existing audience; tag your products in your photos, create moodboards with your products and allow your audience shop the look.

Those are just a few of the best ways you can organically promote and market your interior design dropshipping business for free. Running paid ads on Google (paid search) and Instagram/Facebook, Pinterest (paid social) are the most lucrative ways to get eyeballs on your website. Paid ads work. You just have to have the right strategy and budget to invest. However, you can generate strong results from paid ads with a budget as little as $10/day. 

Final Piece Of Advice

Be consistent. Consistency is where many people fall off the wagon when trying to sell furniture and home decor products. I know because I see it happen often. A designer, stager, blogger or influencer is excited about the new items they're selling, they make a few social media posts about it, send one email... and then they get distracted and nothing more comes of it. Don't let this be you.

If you want to make leveraged income, you need to be consistent and committed. Selling collections and products is both easy and still requires effort (yes, those two facts can coexist). It's easy in the sense that you'll get the hang of it and even come up with your own creative selling tactics. It requires effort in the sense that nothing truly profitable can be described as "set it and forget it". Forgotten things go nowhere, but you, my friend, are going places! 

Here's to your profitability and your next income stream selling furniture and home decor products online!