According to several of the presenters at a 3 day marketing seminar for interior designers I attended a week or so ago (see http://www.interiordesignsummit.com/), getting personal is *the* key to marketing these days, at least online, which is in turn, *the* key to marketing and PR, period. People are so jaded from being bombarded by advertising of all sorts that they tune most of it out, and don’t trust most of it. They want to do business with people they identify with, not with companies that are pushing product – and it is precisely those more personal posts that help establish that rapport. Even with long-established clients, I think it helps personalize things, too. People are just looking for that common ground and personal touch.

Yes, it’s definitely a new – and very fun – world out there. I’m having a blast learning how to link up my various social networking sites to generate a following and business. It’s clearly the wave of the future.

Wendy Hoechstetter, Allied Member ASID
Hoechstetter Interiors
http://hoechstetterinteriors.wordpress.com