Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mirjam Lippuner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Mirjam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I had the original idea for my business shortly after I left my corporate PR position and started consulting with brands in the home and design space. I was talking to a friend of mine who is an interior designer, and she said to me: “Mirjam, there is a real need for affordable PR for designers. What can you do about that?” She really planted the seed that led to my DIY PR coaching platform. I played around with different packages to streamline my services but the pricetag was still relatively high for a small business owner. Most design businesses still wouldn’t be able to afford it. This all happened before pandemic, at some point I took a course that basically thought me how to turn my idea into a program by providing coaching instead of consulting, meaning I don’t actually do all the work, I simply teach designers how to do it. I knew it was a great approach for my particular niche.
It took me about a year to actually get my platform launched – Covid definitely gave me the extra boost to get it together because I wasn’t sure how my consulting would fare during the pandemic. It turned out to be just fine but it catapulted me into action. The biggest challenge was the backend, figuring out what software to use for my course and membership, building a website, and starting to build a list of contacts. I really had to create a brand and marketing from scratch. It was quite overwhelming, I have to admit, and I definitely had to fight back my perfectionist tendencies to get it done. I launched in May of 2020.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I grew up and went to school in Switzerland. I’ve always loved languages and initially trained to be a translator (my native language is German). I did that for a few years but I am also a people person and really wanted to do something where I had more interaction with people. Moving into public relations seemed like a logical step, and I still love the variety that the job offers. It’s never boring!
For almost 25 years I worked in PR for agencies or corporations. When I moved to the U.S. twenty years ago, I started working for Kohler and really develop an interest in the home and design field. I took that with me when I left five years ago to set up my own business. While I loved my time in corporate and am grateful for everything I’ve experienced and learned, I was ready to move on to a new phase.
However, I didn’t want to just set up another PR agency. In the years that I had spent in the PR industry, I had worked with – or for – all kinds of PR organizations: freelancers, boutique agencies and large agencies. You can say I knew all the tricks of the trade. Most importantly, I had learned that the simplest things get the best results. Doing the same basic things over and over again, and do them well, is the magic bullet in PR, and I have endless examples to prove it.
That’s the approach I take when I work with brands, and that’s also the approach I took when I create my DIY PR coaching platform, which is called Get Ink DIY. Basically, I teach the interior designers the skills and the knowledge they need to get published and build sustaining relationships with media that will pay dividends for as long as they run their business. In the interior design field, being published in the media is absolutely critical to be recognized and attract luxury clients and high-profile projects.
Instead of paying a PR firm or a publicist $5,000 per month, which is pretty standard in the industry, they can partner with me for a fraction of the cost while they invest in themselves and cultivate a skill set and mindset that will be invaluable for their business growth.
I have a passion for small businesses and my approach is based on serving, not selling. I am also happy to share all the things I have learned in my career, all the shortcuts and tricks. This is not necessarily the standard philosophy of most PR agencies, and most of them wouldn’t even work with the businesses that join my program. I like to say that I am the PR partner for the 99% of interior designers.
In the two years that I have been running my program, I’ve witnessed amazing transformations and results. I love seeing not just the media coverage, but the increase in confidence that comes with it when my clients have success. It almost doesn’t feel like work, I enjoy it so much! The one caveat is, a DIY program only works if you work it. You have to put in the time and effort it requires consistently, and for the people who do that, I can guarantee success.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the main challenges of starting your business after a long corporate career is to shift your mindset to being an entrepreneur. There are many facets to this but the most difficult one for me was (is!) to get over being a perfectionist. I came from a corporate culture where exceeding expectations was expected and anything less than perfect was a failure. When you run your own business, this can be paralyzing. Putting something out into the world that I think is not quite as perfect as I’d like it to be is still a big challenge for me. Intellectually, I know that done is better than perfect, and it’s better to move fast and iterate, but I think it will be a while before I can fully embrace it.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Having spent well over a decade working for one of the top brands in the design industry is a huge factor in why people trust me. This is honestly something I completely underestimated, which is ironic to say, considering I work in marketing and PR! Kohler is a very well-known and admired brand in the design world and part of that automatically rubs off on you in the eyes of most people. While I’ve worked with many other brands and businesses since then, but having a great company on your resume or client list definitely goes a long way in establishing your reputation. I’m also co-hosting a podcast called Designer Discussions. Providing valuable content to your audience is definitely a long-term strategy that does pay dividends in raising your profile and credibility.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.getinkdiy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getinkdiy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetInkDIY/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirjam-lippuner-872403a/