What's your 'House Personality' type?

Which answer best describes you:

a) I don't think about how my home looks. It's just a place for me to live.

b) I consult with an interior designer every time I make a home-wares, furniture or redecorating decision.

c) I can envision my perfect, dream home, but the reality is a little different.

Most people are probably a c).

We lust after what we see in interior design magazines; we trawl Pinterest with a longing eye or keep "For My Dream Home" files of magazine tear-outs. Everything we'd love our perfect, future home to be.

But the reality is a little different. We work with what we've got and what we can afford. We do actually love our real homes; we create them to be comfortable, practical and hope they reflect an element of taste and style.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to be invited into many homes through my work as an artist and designer. From Geneva to Sydney and everywhere in between, the one thread which links all of my clients is their pride in the 'personal stuff'. How they helped design the master suit layout, or the story behind treasures collected on world trips, or how they met the artist behind their favourite painting, or what they created with their own hands.

And when people design their own chairs online with My Bespoke Chair, there is always a reason why. For the nursery, to celebrate a milestone birthday, a new home-office chair for a new business venture...

Everyone has a story to tell.

And stories are what give our homes personality. And personality is very important when making your house a home. Your home should tell the story of you.

So this year, I have declared 2014 The Year of You & Your Beautiful Home.

What does this mean in terms of my plans for marketing and growing My Bespoke Chair?

It means that every piece of content I create in 2014, from my newsletter to my social media, will have the underlying theme of helping people make their homes personal, creative and beautiful - whatever their individual perception of beautiful is.

And I am launching a new range of cushions, all made from the fabrics I designed for My Bespoke Chair and all made-to-order in Australia. A custom cushion at a high street price. The launch is also part of The Year of You & Your Beautiful Home theme - something special, hand-made and made-to-order but at a lower price point.

Whether redecorating, renovating, moving, starting a new phase in life or simply indulging, I want to show that creating a personal, interesting and beautiful home is perfectly possible. Hunting, collecting, fossiking, making, creating and co-designing are all great ways to add personality to your home.




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Business Books & Resources I Love

It's funny - I know many people think that running an online business is a simple affair. Create a product or service, design the site, get someone to do the techy stuff, plan a launch day and switch the site on. After the initial fanfare, watch the orders roll in, field endless media calls and try to keep everything up-to-date. Heck, and working from home....easy life!

Sit back and relax - it's an online business!

Umm...no.

The day you switch your site to "live" is the day your education begins. Here is a list of some things you will need to become an expert in:

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Website optimisation
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Content creation (written, graphic, audio and video)
• Analytics
• Sales funnels
• Selling
• Customer service
• Manufacturing/product or service creation
• Supply chains
• Market conditions
• PR
• Networking
• Time and stress management
• ......and the list goes on.

Recently I've been talking to other people about where they find their most useful information; books, webinar series, online resources etc.

So here's my personal Top Ten Business Books and Resources

1. The Purple Cow by Seth Godin - how to create a unique product or service
2. 22 Michaels - business blog of Michael Fox, co-founder of Shoes of Prey. Start in 2009 and work up. Fascinating.
3. Marie Forleo's free videos and B School - her kick ass online business course. 
4. Better, Stronger, Faster by Brad Rosser - Simple, actionable methods to launch, build and exit.
5. To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink - the art and science of selling, debunking a few myths!
6. Email Marketing Blueprint by Steve Scott - how to create email relationships than convert.
7. Derek Halpern's Social Triggers website, videos and emails - marketing guru (shouts alot!)
8. Australian Businesswomen's Network - excellent webinars and interviews. 
9. Quicksprout - Neil Patel's blog. From SEO, website optimisation, data analysis and beyond, he's succeeded. Great articles and How Tos.
10. The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris - slightly obvious choice but it holds some great ideas and gives you permission to be a bit nuts.

Naturally, this list could go on....I discover so many wonderful, inspiring and informative people , books and resources on a regular basis. But, whether you are currently in business or thinking about it, this Top Ten will set you up nicely. Make it happen!

If there is another book, blog or resource you think I'd love, or influenced you positively, tell me in the comments box below.

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Instant Love Instagram

Be still, my beating heart...

Last week I fell in love with Instagram. Finally.

Many people: "Emma, with your pretty chairs and everything, you really should be on Instagram."

Me: "But I don't have time. Besides, I'm loyal to Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter."

Many people: "Stop making excuses. It's a match made in heaven."

As with much of social media, when you're new to it, you wonder how on earth it works and how on earth is anyone going to find you, let alone follow you. And is it really worth it? But we all know that you just have to begin. Don't question why. Build it and they will come.

As an Instagram newbie, I thought I'd choose a gentle way to ease myself into the community; through a competition ran by Jen from Interiors Addict. 7 Vignettes is a photo-sharing competition with a different topic each day, for one week. You create an attractive still-life (vignette) that relates to the day's topic and post it on Instagram using #7vignettes. That way everyone can see what everyone is posting for the competition.

Simple. And in a space of a week, My Bespoke Chair gained 52 followers and over 314 likes. Plus I've 'met' many fellow Instagramers through the comments.

Here are my entries for 7 Vignettes:

Bedside

Elegant 

Emotional 

Handmade

Tea

Monochrome

Window

But..so what?  What are the benefits of being on Instagram for a business?

• Showcase your products, campaigns, services in a creative manner; we all like nice photos.
• Connect with customers and prospects directly. Everyone can comment and share.
• Share your company's latest updates.
• Offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes, off-topic glimpse of your company.
• Use the # to find a wide audience.
• Use the @ to directly contact specific people.
• Share your photos instantly on other social platforms. 
• It's the fun side of business!

I'm probably preaching to the choir in this blog post - but when you first fall in love, you just need to shout it from the roof tops!

Join me on Instagram - it's so much fun and we can hang out together through our photos!


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