When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going – to Atlanta!

Not surprisingly, given the state of the economy in general and the housing market in particular, both exhibitor and attendees numbers were down this year at the Vision 10: International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta.  Many vendors, designers, and workrooms decided they couldn’t justify the expense of participating.  If you were one of those who stayed away this year and you judged the event based on the photos your industry peers posted on Facebook pages, you know that those of us who traveled to Atlanta for the show had a blast.  You might even convince yourself that the week was all fun and games, and tell yourself that you did the right thing by passing up the luxury of a week of industry socializing in Atlanta this year. 
 
However, as much fun as it is to reunite with old and new friends and dish about the industry over dinner, the IWCE was anything but a frivolous expenditure.  Weeks have passed since I got back from Atlanta, and my business is already getting a great financial return on the time and money I invested in traveling to the show.
 
I have to admit, I headed to Atlanta in a serious negative funk.  I’ve been working such long hours over the past year or two that I was starting to burn out, and felt like I just couldn’t keep working like this anymore.  I’d never been to an IWCE event before, although I always read about them in Window Fashion Vision magazine, and I decided that I should go “at least once” and this was going to be the year.  I was shocked to discover that, if I had started attending this show the first year I was in business (when I thought I couldn’t afford to go) instead of waiting until the tenth year I was in business, I probably would have quadrupled my business in the second year and would be making at least twice as much money today.
 
Here are my top three money making takeaways from this year’s IWCE event that have gotten me excited about what I do all over again:
 
1. Mary Larsen’s seminar, “Money Changes (Everything!),” made me realize that I was feeling burned out and unappreciated because I had been giving away hundreds of hours of consulting time for free.  When I came to present a window treatment design that I was getting paid for, what should have been a 30-minute presentation would often drag out into a 3 ½ hour appointment because the client would say things like, “and what about the paint color?  While you’re here, could you take a look at this chair I saw in a catalog and tell me if you think it would look good in the guest room?  I bought some lamps but I still have the receipt; can you tell me which one you like best?”  I felt like, since I was making plenty of money on the window treatment, it was petty of me to hand her an hourly invoice on top of that just for asking my opinion, but all that time really adds up.  Affirmations like “Clients come easily, money comes easily, my clients are happy to pay me” felt silly to me at the beginning of Larsen’s seminar (I kept thinking of the Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley skits from SNL and wanted to add “…and doggonit, people like me!”). 
 
But by the end of her seminar, I realized that I had all kinds of psychological baggage that was holding me back and preventing me from implementing my own policies about charging for my design time.  Now that I’ve had a chance to put Larsen’s ideas into practice, though, it turns out that she was right – my current clientele has no problem paying me for consulting time as long as I tell them it’s billable up front when they start to digress from the current project.  One client last week even told me (as she was writing me a check for consulting time) that she’s not going to buy anything for her home anymore without running it by me first, because she’s made so many mistakes on her own but every time she follows my advice she “gets it right the first time.”  Can you believe it?  My clients really are happy to pay me for my time when I tell them matter-of-factly that “this is how I work.”   Charging for all of my consulting time is going to put thousands of dollars of additional income in my pocket this year, without doing any more work than I did last year, even if the economy stays as sluggish as it was last year.  Learn more about how Mary Larsen can help make your workroom or design business more profitable at http://www.growyourdesignbiz.com

 
2. I spent over an hour in the Minutes Matter booth, playing with Studio to get a feel for how it compared to my current design software, and I was really impressed.  With my current software, there just aren’t enough built in design options and I find myself spending hours and hours on every rendering because I have to create my own vector line drawings for many of the components I like to use in my designs.  With the addition of the Jackie Von Tobel modules for Studio, I realized that just about every design I have ever done or would ever want to do can be created using components of their built-in designs, which would save me hundreds of hours per year.  I prefer the fluid, sassy drawing style that Von Tobel has brought to Studio over the more rigid, technical look of my current software, and the folks at Minutes Matter will drastically discount their software to those of us who switch over and turn in our old software.  Since attending IWCE, I am much more aware that not only does time equal money, but my time is more valuable because it’s the only commodity I can never get more of.  Switching over to Studio is going to enable me to spend far less time working on each client’s design renderings, which will allow me to cut back on my hours without reducing my paycheck.  I’m not feeling so burned out anymore!  (By the way, my current software company was nowhere to be found at IWCE.  If they had a booth there, I would have stopped by and they would have at least had the opportunity to try to convince me to stick with their software and tell me why theirs is the better option for my business.  I wonder how many customers they lost by not exhibiting this year and letting Studio have the whole show to themselves?)  To learn more about Minutes Matter and Studio, visit http://www.minutesmatterstudio.com.  To see Jackie Von Tobel’s beautiful window and bedding designs, as well as her new fabric collection that debuted at IWCE this year, go to http://www.jackievontobel.com
 
 
3. I found some great new-to-me resources for affordable fabrics and trims at IWCE.  I have a weakness for Lee Jofa, Vervain, and Kravet Couture, but I’m finding that clients in this economy are more price-conscious than before and they are more willing to splurge in some areas when I can show them that I’m saving them money somewhere else.  I came home with some gorgeous but reasonably priced silks and crewel embroidered fabrics from Catania Silks (http://cataniasilk.com/) that rival high end showroom lines, and I’m already using one of their silks in a current client’s project.  I found some beautiful and unusual trims from D’Kei (http://www.dkei.net/) and Expo International (https://www.expointl.com/) that look way more expensive than they are. 
 La Finial, a brand-new miniature finial concept with truly custom finishes to match any fabric, debuted at this year’s show, and the L’Interior Le Nair booth reflected the creativity, originality, and Parisian flair of owner Tammi Le Nair. 
I was also able to see the beautiful new Evita swing arm hardware line from Helser Brothers in person for the first time.  Off the top of my head, I can think of three prior projects that I could have used the Evita line for.  This look is exactly what so many of my clients want for their homes.
 I know that these new resources are going to give me a competitive advantage in the months ahead. 
 
4. Okay, I know I said this was going to be a “top three,” but I lied.  Deb Barrett’s seminar, “Transforming Custom to Couture,” made me feel like Charlie Bucket the first time he set foot in the chocolate factory.  Did I die and go to drapery heaven?!  I thought I was doing high end drapery design before, but Deb’s samples and the techniques and resources that she shared are taking my work to a whole new level.  Having met Deb for the first time on our Paris trip in January (Merci mille fois, Jay and Mark!), this was my first time in one of her seminars and it was easy to see that her reputation in the industry is well-deserved.  The room was packed well before the seminar began, with everyone vying for the front row seats so they could get the best pictures of all of Deb’s goodies.  When she’d finished presenting, I had a cramp in my hand from an hour of furious note-taking and a camera full of photos to post on my business Facebook page.  What’s more, the day after I posted my photos, a former client who had moved away to the other side of the country several years ago contacted me because she fell in love with one of Deb’s gorgeous samples on my business Facebook page and she wondered if I could do something like that for her home in California.  Hmmm…  I think that can be arranged! 
 If you ever have the chance to see Deb in action, RUN to sign up for her class and camp out all night if you have to in order to get a good seat!  Find out more about what this industry maven is up to at http://www.debbarrett.com/
 
Are you getting the idea yet?  Times may be tough, and some businesses are going to weather this storm better than others.  Although there may be less business to be had today than in years past, the vendors who are still out there working the trade shows and the workrooms and designers who travel to the shows in search of new ideas and resources are going to get a bigger share of what business there is than those who stay home.  Skipping IWCE and other major industry events because the economy is down is like deciding that you can’t afford to advertise because you don’t have enough business – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom.
 
Next year, the IWCE show is headed to Tampa, and I’m planning to be there.  Let’s all meet up for cocktails!

*

Contributed by Rebecca Deming Rumpf of Custom Interiors By Rebecca.

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Posted in Events, Helser Field-Bloggers | 1 Comment



Lilly and Horatio from Melissa Hunter of MW Hunter Custom Interiors

Sincere thanks to Melissa Hunter of MW Hunter Custom Interiors in South Carolina for introducing us to your cute little dogs, Lilly is on the left and her husband, Horatio is on the right. The pretty girl holding them is Melissa’s daughter, Morgan.

We are real dog lovers here at HB. Send us a photo of yours, and you will receive one of our “I see drapery people” t-shirts!

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Posted in Just For Fun, The Hounds Of Helser | 3 Comments



Janet Suchons Outdoor Drapery

Outdoor-Valance-Janet-Sucho Outdoor Living is the hot topic this time of year. One of my favorite outdoor treatments has no discernable function but is absolutely gorgeous.   Helser Brothers client Janet Suchon manufactured and installed this asymmetrical tab top treatment to frame an arched window. I particularly like the sheer audacity of a purely decorative treatment mounted on the outside of the house. This picture makes me wonder what’s on the other side of the arch!

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Posted in Creative Custom Solutions | 1 Comment



Specialty Mailbox

Specialties-Mailbox Tom from Specialties by Joanne had accumulated some extra Helser Brothers drapery hardware, and is pretty proud of the mailbox that he created with it.  You should be Tom, it is a beauty!

Have you ever created anything from excess drapery hardware?

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Posted in Lost & Found | 3 Comments



Ralph Sees Drapery People

Ralph-sees-drapery-people Ralph Quinn,  best friend of Heather Quinn and one of the original “hounds of Helser” spent the day with us on Friday.  As you can see this big fella, at over 100 lb.,  needed an extra large “I see drapery people” t-shirt.  He was so much fun that we have decided to implement “Hounds of Helser Fridays.”  The Office staff will be taking turns bringing their pups to work for the day.

Please send a  photo and a few lines about your pup to hounds@helserbrothers.com!  He or she will be honored with a “Hounds of Helser” blog post, and you will receive one of our “I see drapery people”  t-shirts just for being a good sport.

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Posted in The Hounds Of Helser | 1 Comment



Contemporganic Finialzilla Finally Finds a Home!

Some of you more devoted whyhelians may remember a previous post in which we hand-forged a finial prototype that  turned out to be a bust.  Apparently the designers eyes were bigger than her clients stomach!  We didn’t want t0 just banish this poor guy to the island of misfit finials, so we asked for ideas to repurpose what became affectionately known around here as “Finialzilla.”

Super-client Sue Sifakis, aka Boston Sue,  won it handily with her “garden-hanging-planter-hook” idea thirteen  %$?! months ago and has finally gotten around to sending a photo, bless her lil’ heart ;-)  It sure is nice to see that this former misfit has finally found his calling as a happy supporter of beautiful foliage.  Thank you very much Sue, for playing along with us and being so wonderfully tease-resistant. You are a great sport!

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Posted in Just For Fun | 1 Comment



Don’t Take Our Word For It….

Diane-Watson---D&D-interior

Shared with permission from Diane Watson.  Thank you Diane!

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Posted in Feedback | Leave a comment



Segway Tour Winners

We are excited to announce the six winners of the Atlanta Segway tour drawing held just before noon today. 

Mark Schultz, CJ Hunt, Robin McCallister, Athena Hatch, Sue Sifakis, and Paul Van Noy will enjoy a 2 hour Segway tour of downtown Atlanta with Mark and I this Wednesday evening.  Congrats to you all, we are going to have a blast!

Also, sincere thanks to all who participated.  We will be sending a nice little token of our appreciation to you all (winners included).
Mark and Jay

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Posted in Events | 5 Comments



Automatic Drapery Hardware

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Posted in Lost & Found | 1 Comment



Segway Tour In Atlanta

  

You can stop squinting, you don't know these people.

We have booked a 2 hour Segway tour of downtown Atlanta and have room for six more friends!

As a fun way to encourage folks to sign up for our Facebook fan-page and subscribe to whyhelser, we are offering  two ways to enter.   

You will find a form here at whyhelser.com and another form on the Helser Brothers Facebook page. Each form submitted will serve as an entry and another name in the hat.  

We will be pulling six names from the hat on Friday May 7th and announcing the winners at both locations at 12 noon, Pacific time.  

Segway Tour Entry Form:
First Name *
Last Name *
Company *
Email *
Sorry, but we have to ask…:
spacer I am 100% available on May 12th from 6-8pm.
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Posted in Events | 2 Comments



Point 2 Point Field-Test Results

In an earlier post we offered a very cool contraption called a Point 2 Point Layout tool to any reader willing to test it in the drapery workroom and report back.  Annie Davis answered the call, and here is her report….

Point-to-Point-on-cornice I was so excited to get to use my Point to Point today!  I was making a cornice that needed nailheads across a banding on the bottom edge.  The designer had specified that she wanted the nailheads to be 2” apart, so I just set the Point-to-Point, found the center of the cornice, then pinned at every “point”.  It was the easiest nail head job I’ve ever done!  

Perfectly-spaced-nailheads The other nice thing – I actually have 4 cornices, all different sizes, to do (same design).  So I just left the Point to Point set at the right increments and the figuring is already done for the others!

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of this experiment!

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Posted in Helser Field-Tests | 3 Comments



Legal Dept. Party Poopers Nix Flying Hamster Promo

Mark fills a balloon (this one is only half full!)

Another brilliant promotional idea bites the dust!  We wanted to attach hamsters to our giant helium balloons and release them in the exhibit hall at the IWCE, but were unable to convince the legal department to sign off on it. Mark and I feel that the likelyhood of a hamster attack is minimal so we can’t really see why there is a problem…….;-)

Flying-Hamster

Just kidding….Feel free to drop by at the end of the show, though,  and grab a giant balloon for your kids or grandkids!

See you there, Mark and Jay

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Posted in Events | 3 Comments



“I’m With The Brothers” – Vision 2010 VIP Pass

If you were not planning to go to Atlanta because of the admission fee, you just ran out of excuses.  Fill out the form and we will send one of these beauties.  See you there! 

If you would kindly fill out this form it would be just super.
Company *
First Name *
Last Name *
Email *
Phone 1 *
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Top 10 Ways to Make a Lousy Window Template

Anyone who dresses windows for a living has to make templates of specialty shaped windows from time to time, whether it’s for custom arched drapery rods, specialty shaped blinds or shutters, arched top Roman shades, or Tableaux faux iron.  I was talking to Ruth over at Helser Brothers about this the other day, and got her to dish about some of the worst templates that designers and installers have sent in over the years.  I couldn’t resist sharing a few of them with you, Jay Leno-style, so here you go: 

The Top 10 Ways to Make a Lousy Window Template 

1. Use leftover scraps of gift wrap, or sheets of notebook paper that your kindergartener helped you glue together, for your template material.

2. If you forgot to bring template material with you to the appointment, just use toilet paper, tissue paper, or Kleenex – whatever you can find.

3. If the window is too large for just one piece of template material, stick two or more pieces together with temporary spray adhesive or low-tack painter’s tape.  Your fabricator can stick the pieces back together if they come apart during shipping.

4. Don’t bother making a template of the whole window – just tape skinny strips together to follow the shape of the curved or angled edge.

5. If you label your template, use an air-erasable fabric marker, crayon, invisible ink, or lemon juice.

6. Any markings, measurements or labels on your template should be as illegible as you can make them.  If necessary, write in runes, hieroglyphics, or Mandarin Chinese.

7. Cut your template shape out using children’s safety scissors or a dull steak knife.  Those jagged edges and irregularities on your template add lots of character.

8. You don’t need to bother making a pattern of the ACTUAL window – these specialty windows are all pretty standardized.  Just take a few measurements at key points and then draw your template later when you get back to your office.  If you have several specialty windows of the same size and shape, you can just make one template that will work for all of them.

9. Once your template is finished, fold it up as small as you can get it and cram it into one of those envelopes that florist cards come in.

10. Mail your template to your fabricator without a return address, sidemark, or copy of your order enclosed – your job is probably the only specialty shape they have this month. 

Lousy-Template    I know this sounds incredible, but with the exception of the lemon juice and the Mandarin Chinese, all of these template methods have been used by actual designers and installers to create disastrous templates for custom orders.  If you’re guilty of employing any of the template no-nos I’ve just described, it’s time for a refresher on how to create templates that will ensure success on installation day.  Actual template methods may vary depending on the particular product you’re ordering, your fabricator’s preferences, and the details of your planned installation, but here are a few tips to get you headed in the right direction. 

Right-Template-Materials For the best templates, you need to start with the right materials.  I like to use a sturdy, heavy paper for mine, either white butcher’s paper like this roll I purchased at Sam’s Club, or brown craft paper that you can find at packaging supply or hardware stores.  Get the widest roll you can find, because ideally you want one continuous piece of paper for your template.  If the window is too large and you must join multiple pieces, do this on a flat surface like the floor or a worktable to make sure you end up with a template that lays perfectly flat – don’t try to join multiple pieces together at the window.  Make sure whatever you use to join the template pieces together is not going to come apart during shipping or when the template is handled, either.  I like to use clear packing tape on both sides when I join template pieces together. 

Once you have taped together enough sheets of your template material to completely cover the shape you are trying to template, use masking tape or low-tack painter’s tape to temporarily adhere the paper to the window trim, the wall, or even to the glass, depending on where your treatment needs to install.  You definitely don’t want to use packing tape for this step, because it might rip off some of the wall or trim paint when you pull it off afterwards.  As far as drawing the actual window shape, you may need to experiment because different methods may work better in some situations than in others.  I like to use the flat side of a dark, peeled crayon to rub along the front edge of the window opening, but sometimes a pencil works better when you need to make a template at the back of the window casing, up against the glass.  When I’m satisfied that I’ve recorded the shape of the opening, I take down the template and draw over my crayon or pencil line with a thin black Sharpie marker, smoothing out any jagged edges and making as even a line as possible.  Next, I carefully cut out the template along the black line and – this is crucial – put my template back up to the window opening to make sure it’s an exact fit.  If it’s a tricky inside mount and I’m second-guessing myself at all, I’ll use my paper template as a pattern and cut the shape out of a rigid material like cardboard, tag board, or foam insulation board (they sell this at Home Depot) and then I test fit that into the window opening to make absolutely certain I like the fit.  Keep in mind that your fabricator will most likely make inside mount deductions.  Check with your fabricator if you’re not sure about their standard deductions, or if anything on the order form doesn’t make sense to you – remember, the only stupid questions are the ones you didn’t think to ask until after you received your custom made hardware and it didn’t fit the window!

Once you’re satisfied with your paper template, be sure to label it with the following information, again using the black Sharpie and legible printing:

  • FRONT
  • ↑ UP
  • DESIGNER
  • JOB SIDEMARK
  • ROOM
  • WINDOW # (if more than one window is involved)
  • KEY LENGTH & WIDTH MEASUREMENTS

 Good-Template Finally, roll your template into a mailing tube rather than folding it, and include a copy of your order and contact information.  There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?  The extra time it takes to obtain an accurate template of specialty windows will pay off on installation day when your design comes together beautifully and everything fits the way you envisioned.

  
 
 
Contributed by Rebecca Deming Rumpf of Custom Interiors By Rebecca.
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Posted in Helser Field-Bloggers, How To | Leave a comment



Mimzy From Elyse At AZ Custom Drapery Store And More

Elyse-and-Mimsy-black-and-w Fans of the movie “The Last Mimzy” will be glad to know that the title character has a namesake alive and well in Scottsdale, AZ.  Mimzy is a two year old Standard Poodle and the faithful sidekick of Elyse Risinger, owner of Arizona Custom Drapery Store & More. Elyse recently stopped by to pick up an order and graciously allowed us to snap some pix of Mimzy and his very favorite person.

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Posted in Just For Fun, The Hounds Of Helser | 1 Comment




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