New Year > New Goals > New Expectations

First and foremost…Happy New Year! With a new year, we all hope to have some kind of change or improvement over the events taken place from the previous one. With that said, we had a fantastic end of 2013 at Frank Manipole and it is all because of our valued clients! In 2014 our goal is to strengthen the current relationships we have built over the past year, and embrace the new that we encounter. 

I'd like to start off this post by showing you our most recent advertising publication that we intend on providing all of our prospective clients this year. This is an informational piece that will give readers a better understanding of our business, and most importantly, how we can serve their needs.

We were recently approached by Charleston Home + Design magazine to be featured in their upcoming quarterly issue. This magazine has an immense reach and the publicity would be amazing. We are still working out the rate details, but hope to officially announce the finality of it all very very soon! (We'll keep you posted!)

At the start of this new year, we are utilizing several different forms of new technology and software that we hope will enhance our productivity and overall final product, in hopes of becoming the Lowcountry's go-to spot for anything renderings. We want to thank everyone for their continued support our journey and we hope you have a healthy and prosperous new year!

Another Houzz Client!

Dream Client With a Wish List

In one of my previous posts I explained how much of a business tool the website Houzz.com has been for me over the past 6 months. We make sure to regularly post in the discussion boards, not only to help promote the brand of 'Frank Manipole' but to assist homeowners in need. A little over a week ago, I came across a posting in the discussion forum from an individual in New Jersey looking for ideas to revamp the look of his home's exterior. I posted a brief opinion and explained how 3D CAD renderings may be of help to him to give him several views and options to choose from and allow him to modify as needed.

Two weeks later, we received an inquiry through my website FrankManipole.com and low and behold it was from the same individual who had posted the thread on Houzz. He was very interested in what I could do to assist him in his potential renovation project. We first started with drawings for the exterior, given him and his wife's recommendations and requests. From here, the project ended up being full-blown with renderings for the entire home (interior re-designs, skylights, floor plan reconfig, etc).

I must say to all of you, these homeowners have been a dream client for me as they are fantastic at communicating well and have lots of ideas. It was amazing to wake up at the start of each day to several emails from the homeowners with several attachments of photos of spaces they adored and wanted to be implemented in their new design. Their wish list was long, but I found it to be motivating in each task, to help them accomplish the design of their revamped home. One thing I also admired was the fact they insisted on my opinion in the design and were consistently asking how I would design certain aspects of the home. Normally, I am used to fulfilling each request for the client from A to Z, so this was a nice change for me to have a little say in the design.

As of today, this project is still ongoing, and I must say this has been probably one of my favorite projects to date. I look forward to seeing the 'after' photos once the homeowners complete this massive project. I send them my best of luck!

New Client: Gavigan Homes

Gavigan Homes - Beaufort, SC

My marketing manager, Drew, runs all of my business marketing entities from Facebook and Twitter, to managing and updating my business website, to online promotions and advertisements, to contacting potential clients and gaining me new client leads. While browsing online, he came across a relatively new website called Houzz.com which is a database for anyone in the home design business. Of course, he signed me up right away and created an account. When I say anyone in the business, I mean anyone and everyone; from engineers, interior designers, custom home builders, general contractors, CAD designers like myself, and so much more. This website has a lot of similar qualities to some of the popular social media platforms like Facebook & Twitter. It gives you the capability of posting images, posting comments, connecting with industry professionals by 'Following' just as on Twitter. It also has a great section of the website where any Joe Schmoe can sign-up and post in the discussion board area with any DIY questions they may have. This allows the professionals on the website to give their insight and recommendations, which I thought was pretty neat.

While compiling our database for prospective client leads, he decided to use Houzz as our main resource for contacting potential clients. This process, he has explained to me, is very time consuming trying to find the owner's contact info (instead of just a secretary who the e-mails route to), logging website info, address info, business profiling (whether it was a builder, a general contractor, a property management company and so on and so forth). After compiling a list of roughly 300 business professionals within 100 miles of Charleston, he created a business proposal letter to send out to these potentials. We slowly started to get inquiries back, which was very exciting--it soon became clear that all of his hard work was paying off.

One of the emails we received back was from Billy Gavigan, the president and CEO of Gavigan Homes located in Beaufort, South Carolina. Little did I know at this first initial interaction that I would soon be forming a rewarding relationship with a reputable client. Quoted from their website, "The Gavigan Brand continues to be renowned for quality custom homes at affordable prices. Gavigan Homes has been ranked in the top 10 for SC builders for the region two years in a row and continues to have great growth. The company has been featured in several national publications. Growth plans for the upcoming years include NC and coastal Florida." Since our initial conversation back in August, I have been working side-by-side with Billy to revamp his floor plans and renderings for many of his residential communities. I enjoy this client, as he has a great sense of humor and is confident in my skills and experience. 

Billy has since brought me a great referral, for which I designed a hotel in downtown Beaufort. The project was rewarding, with little modifications to my original design (this always makes a designer feel good about his/her work!). I look forward to my relationship with The Gavigan Group and the opportunities it will bring in the future.

The Decision.

The Decision: Starting My Own Business...and All the Fixin's

Having worked several jobs for engineering and civil firms all the way from Pittsburgh to Atlanta, I never minded working for corporate America. I liked the stability of the job and the experience of working in a design-based office environment. While working in Charlotte, NC I started doing renderings and other projects, on the side, for several years. When life brought me to Atlanta, GA I connected with a great business professional who kept me more than busy with projects for clients nationwide. I was content with my full-time job, but it didn't allow me to have the creative force I sought. I was more confined to one specific client-base (large hotels, cruise ships, conference centers, etc.). It was residential, custom-built design that I had the most passion for.

In October of 2012, I vacationed in Charleston, SC and knew from just a few short day stay that this was the place I would one day call home. In March of 2013, I made the leap and decided that along with my move, I would also start my own business. With this decision came a lot of questions, fear, but at the same time excitement and determination. I thrived off the idea I would be the sole person in charge of obtaining my client-base, keeping those relationships and constantly yearning for more and more (and more!).

The first few months were relatively slow, but it was a good amount of time for me to adjust to this new lifestyle of working for myself and from my home office (not to mention adjusting to living in a completely new city). Charleston's historic background and amazing architecture made me feel each and every day that the decision I made was nothing less than a perfect match. With the assistance of a good friend, I began launching my business and promoting it more publicly with the hopes of gaining a larger client-base. Through launching frankmanipole.com and social media marketing, my client-base was growing more and more. This fueled my fire and work started to get busier and busier.

In my upcoming blog posts I am going to share with you some of my favorite client experiences and give you a snapshot into some of these amazing relationships I was able to build simply by nurturing my drive for success and my passion for what I do.