I’ve missed a lot of podcasts in the last months, as I used to devour podcasts when driving and I’m not driving around that much this year!

However, I was able to catch up on my trip yesterday to Dallas from Houston to visit my mom in her memory care place (first time I’ve been able to get in there since Covid as they’ve had tight restrictions on visitation). It was about 4 hours up and 4 back in one day, but loved seeing her and spending my one hour allowed with my sweet mother. :-)

Anyway, on this trip, I listened to a bunch of podcasts and this one from Business of Home piqued my interest.

Business of Home - Interview with Jill Cohen

I’ve heard of Jill Cohen and have many of the books she has been involved with through the years. Even though I have no interest in publishing a design picture book (I did at one time, but lost interest after hearing the real truth about them a few years ago), I thought it would be an interesting interview.

She does go into these aspects about publishing a design book in the podcast.

You have to invest about 2 years of time into the book with creating the content for it, getting the photos of your work and the projects you want to share in it.
You need to have a point of view or something you are sharing that makes you different from everyone else. We’ve all heard that, right? You’ve got to stand out from the crowd.
You have to promote it yourself. No one is paying for your airfare and hotel to go and speak at all the design centers and markets across the country, that’s on you and what you can rustle up.
You have to spend heavily on super high quality photography and styling. She describes these shoots as really intensive. I don’t imagine there are any clients hanging out behind the photographer asking to see the photos with pets climbing up his or her leg while the shoot is going on. ;-) So, you can see that working on jobs where the clients won’t be interested in letting you photograph when you’re done would be a problem.
The money you receive from book sales is not the payment here. That really only goes into paying your expenses really. That money you receive is not going to make you rich.
The main reason you do a book is so you can get bigger and better projects. So be prepared to see a return on this big investment of time, energy and money in the years ahead, not immediately.

What I did find really interesting were the sort of rabbit holes they went down in the interview on some of these topics.

Using Instagram As A Branding Tool

For example, regarding a designer’s point of view or how to distinguish yourself from other designers, she talked about using Instagram.

We all tend to use it as a branding tool and share our work. However, we also muck it up sometimes with odd selfies and unrelated content that really shouldn’t be included. She gave some great examples of this. You’ll have to listen.

You must have a strong following on social channels

She also talked about how publishers are looking for designers who bring a large following with them.

Especially today, when there are no public gatherings and no speaking engagements happening, when markets and shows are very limited and places to promote a beautiful book or have a book signing are non-existent, publishers want designers to bring their own audience to buy. And they want that audience to be significant.

She talks about the Gianettis, Shea McGee, Mark Sikes, etc., who all have huge followings on Instagram and other channels and really deliver their audience to the publisher.

She mentioned this one thing that really stood out to me……for the publisher, they only make money on book sales. That’s why the sale of the book is most important for them and why they need to work with designers who will bring strong sales.

For the designer, they will get their money out of it on down the road in the form of bigger projects, but for the publisher it is only about book sales.

Distinguish Yourself From Other Designers

The other point she went into was how to distinguish yourself from other designers.

It’s not just about a look or style, it might be how you work or your process. She talked about how just about every designer she’s ever met with says the same thing and describes their process in the same way. (I guess everyone has been coached pretty well out there these days for talking to potential clients!)

She’s looking for what you do differently. She’s looking for the magic, the secret sauce that you bring to your projects that make your clients love you and want to work with you.

She gave an example of an architect and how he gave the same answers as everyone, until pushed by her about his initial meetings with potential clients. In those, he told about how, while the client is talking, describing their dream home, he is usually sketching. At the end of their conversation, he shares his sketch. That is the point where they see their dream realized and they are sold.

That process distinguished him from all the other architects trying to get book deals.

Fascinating stuff, right?

I thought you’d like it.

For me, it gave me some real clarity for the first time in a long time. I’m super excited to get more on my path in the coming year! I can really see my own future now.

Go ahead and have a listen. I hope it will help you find your future like it is helping to illuminate mine for me.

Business of Home - Jill Cohen made your favorite design book

I haven’t been posting here on this separate blog for Designers much, I’ve decided to just post here when I’m moved to share. I’m trying to focus on my consumer audience on my main blog these days. I’m not on a path to be a business consultant or anything like that, so I’m just sharing here what works for me.

Thanks for following along!