Interior Designer Resources Directory :: Interior Design Article

Your Electronic Office? And designerEsources

What do I mean by an electronic office? I mean taking advantage of all the electronic devices available to you now that can save you time and money to say nothing of making you look more professional.

How far have you come with modernizing your office? It is the beginning of 2006. Computers have been around now for a generation and the World Wide Web has been with us since 1993 ... that's 13 years. In addition, cell phones with cameras, digital cameras, scanners, printers, and electronic faxing are making it so easy to record, document and share information.

I remember that not too many years ago if I needed product or information not in my own extensive library (which required hundreds of expensive square feet and cost me an additional $20,000 a year for someone to keep updated), I made a trek to Atlanta to the showrooms at ADAC. That was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive one way. If I found something there for a client, it meant getting a tear sheet or taking a Polaroid (oh so modern) to bring back to my clients. This required making an appointment and taking the pictures to them. If I were able to take the item home to show to them and they did not like it, that required an additional trip back to Atlanta. Well, hey, that was just “doing business”.

It was very costly and time consuming business but there were few alternatives. Today, if I cannot find information or product in one of the extensive product databases on the Internet and I am forced to go looking for potential product, at least I can take a photo of it with my cell phone camera, e-mail it to the client while I am in Atlanta, call them and ask them if they like it well enough for me to bring it home or pursue pricing, etc. Now, that is much less costly and much more effective. And that is just one example of new technology and how much time and effort it can save you.

With a cell phone and laptop computer, you are virtually “in your office” no matter where you are. Wireless technology is becoming so prevalent today that you can sometimes just park your car in a wireless area, open your computer and check mail or look up addresses or any number of other things you may require to get your work done out of the office. Many design centers and most hotels and airports now offer wireless connection for your laptop either in your room, a business center or guest conference center. In Greenville, SC, where I live, we have wireless connection capability on Main Street. Many towns do have this in their business district. All libraries offer the service as well as many Internet cafes. So, at the very least you can check info and send it while you have lunch.

It is no wonder, then, that clients are refusing to pay for what they consider to be wasted time. How can we blame them, when they know about these resources and in many cases have the same resources? Doesn’t it make you feel just a little on the defensive when clients bring you a product they found on the Internet that you did not know existed or send you something before you find it? Today’s client is savvy, well informed and cost conscious. It takes really being on your toes to gain their respect and to stay ahead of them. They want your expertise in design, but they do not want you to take forever to put it together and charge them for your lack of technical know how.

If you have not embraced technology for your office yet, let me give you a little dollars and sense motivation. A print library, ie Catalogues and such which are out of date the day they are printed, also take up expensive square footage. If you pay $10 a square foot per year for office space and devote even just 200 square feet (a 10 by 20 room) to library space, it costs you $166 per month or $2000 a year. This does not take into account what you could do with that space such as put merchandise there to sell, hire another designer to increase revenue or just eliminate the cost entirely and pocket the $2000.

And, who keeps them up? If you spend 5 hours a month cleaning and updating your catalogs and samples and charge just $75 an hour for your time, it costs you $375 per month to keep updated, not including your downtime while doing it. Pay someone else to do it? Well, you know how much that costs and benefits, wow. So, you do not keep it up. How much time does it take you to redo something when you find it is discontinued and how much discontentment does your client now have? Using manufacturer websites and letting the manufacturers keep you updated via the Internet on everything that you can makes dollars and sense.

I could go on and on about the time saving and dollars saving aspects of using technology, but what I really want to tell you is how designerEsources can help you some with these issues.

The chief complaint I hear from people who do not use the Internet as their main library is that they do not have the time to invest in looking it all up. Nor, do they know where to start looking. We can help you there.

For just $25 per year, let us do the looking for you. We add 100s of websites per year to our library. Not only do we keep the links updated for you, we also tell you what the manufacturer has and link you directly to their site. Looking for a product you don’t know who manufactures? You can use our Search capabilities. Manufacturers in our library who make that product are displayed for you.

If you are not familiar with our library, sign up for a free 30 day trial and make our website your homepage. Then, when you sign on to the Internet our website will be displayed. (I will tell you how at the end of the article) Log into the Members Site and click on Library. We divide manufacturers into several categories. And, instead of merely listing them and making you guess what they actually have, we tell you. We know because we have spent time going over every site we list. We do not just rely on their marketing blurbs unless they are really on target and list their products. Many directories of information give you listings of manufacturers in categories the manufacturer chooses. To cover themselves, they often list themselves in every category. It is very frustrating to visit their products and not find what you thought you would. With our library, that rarely happens. We look at their site and give you specific information on the types of products they have. We tell you if you have to register to look at their catalog so you know before you go there. We also tell you if there is not much info there. If a manufacturer produces lighting and furniture, you will find them listed in both of those categories. We tell you if the products are contemporary or traditional, artistic or just plain funky. We have the large companies as well as small artistic ones and the library is growing. Monthly we get links sent to us by manufacturers and reps telling us of their products or from other designers who use the site telling us of favorite manufacturers. We search the web also for new products and companies. Isn’t this worth $25 a year to you?

Our “Search” capability helps you find specific product. When you do a search, for instance, for LED lighting, you will receive a number of companies who make this lighting as well as a suggestion to search “LED” and “lighting” separately. Clicking on “LED” will get you more sites. Naturally, clicking on “lighting” is too generic, as you would know. Try a search for “bar stool”, you get a few. You are also encouraged to look at “bar” or “stool”. Naturally, “bar” is not what you want but “stool” is, so look there as well.

If it is not there at all, either try the “Google” search which is a larger search of the entire web, or “Ask Joan”. I will be happy to look for the product for you and send you the links. We really appreciate your asking because it helps us to know what you are interested in.

Five or six years ago, developing an Electronic library would have been more difficult. However, today every major manufacturer and most small ones have an Internet presence. Even the fabric houses are beginning to get their act together.

Of course, here is the old rub. You will not sell a fabric from a picture of it on the Internet…. just as you probably would not have sold every piece of furniture from a picture in the catalog or off the Internet. But, oh, how it cuts the research time. And, most companies have a memo request right on line if you have an account with them, some even if you do not. Narrowing the field on products is a tremendous time saver as well. Then you can use the website to see where the product is shown, call to see if it is in stock, then take or send your client there.

Products made in the rest of the world are also available and the website will tell you where you can locate them in the US. Now, you begin to see why your clients are using the Net on a daily basis. They are not limited to what is in their backyard and you should not be either. No matter where you are, you can have access now to products you may never have had an opportunity to see. You can be just as creative as designers with larger resources in larger metropolitan areas.

Setting up an Electronic library is the first step in setting up an electronic office. We have begun the process for you. You can even develop your own library within our larger one.

When you find a company you use all the time, just click on “Add to My Library”. You can build a quick start to finding manufacturers here. Then, when you sign on, go directly to “My Library” in the listings on our toolbar.

You will notice here that you can also create presentation boards, purchase or sell items in our “Sales Items” area, store and transfer large documents through our File Storage area and even create your own “Web Page” for an upcharge. But, we will talk about these things in future newsletters.

For now, let’s get started on that electronic office. First, get our 30 day free trial to see first hand what we have just explained. For just $25 a year you can have access to this great library. Then, make designerEsources your home page by going to “Tools” on your Browser Tool Bar, then “Internet Options”. Key in our address In the address window.

Then, sign off the Internet. When you sign back on, our web page will be the first you see. At the very least, put us in your “Favorites”.

Congratulations, you have just made the first step in setting up your Electronic Office. Look for other tips during the year.

Also, watch for a new publication on the electronic office for interior designers from ASID, forthcoming in spring 2006.