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hi, i'm ash!
Creator of the New Travel & Design Series, 'OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES.'
Travel writer & host, cultural explorer, and architecture & interiors freak.
Meet ash >
I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β
I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β
The Newsletter
Every week, we're exploring global culture through the lens of the home. From floorplans to fixtures, we examine how houses are built, designed, and decorated around the world (with a side of sass, of course!)
The Podcast
The only podcast where we pass on the pyramids and poke around in the plumbing. Iβm Ash, and I'm, exploring the strange, smart, and wonderful ways houses are built, designed, and decorated around the world.
The Books
A new series of OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES books designed to help you try on a new life in different places around the worldβby getting to "go behind closed doors" inside local homes to discover what it's really like to live there.
We do something similar to what you mention in #9 to get clients mentally prepared for a custom appointment. If they go in cold, they will not be able to make decisions on the fly about fabrics, cut, etc. We give them a little checklist to go through in advance.
I need to know what you do with mugs that have cheese in them? Throw them out? Pour more coffee into them?
Also, I wrote a funny obit for my father. So much better than a boring one!
Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Are you helping people START THEIR OWN LINE?! I need to know more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also, I eat so many things out of coffee mugs! LOL. I guess this is a weird fact about me that I need to advertise more (you know, to keep the proper people away). The #1 thing I eat out of a coffee mug is, hands down, ice cream – but also, I love eating chili this way! THAT is where the cheese comes in. π€£ #dyinglaughing
Well, Joe Pesci is my third cousin, so if a client gets out of line, I know some people. We’re talking about people who know the Pine Barrens of NJ like the back of their hands, know what I mean? π BING! BANG! BOOM! π #teehee
Okay but WAIT IS HE REALLY YOUR THIRD COUSIN?! Do not tease me like this, Lee!
Yes! My grandmother used to babysit little Joe when they all lived in Nutley, NJ. The sad thing is I never got to meet him, (boo) but my grandmother would always say he was a cousinβ¦so I finally confirmed it through his nephew and the family treeβ¦ So third cousin it is! π fuhgettaboutit
wait now I’m thinking you might have said this before, because I remember the family tree connection!
My Cousin Vinny will always be my favorite movie!!!!!!!!!!
You gotta love a Goodfella’s Pesci, right? π
p.s. I did write a story on MEDIUM about it! π
I plan to add a clause in my agreement called “Fickle Ass Weirdness” Hahahahahaha
But seriously…At the beginning of every project I start with a marketing strategy workbook that the client needs to complete so I can understand their business and marketing goals. It rarely gets done. First off, they usually don’t have a (real) marketing plan or if they do, it’s in a secret vault in their head.
Now in their defense it is 33 pages (WTF)!
So…OVERWHELM…I’m a genius.
I’ve tried to give them assignments. For example: only complete pages 1-10 by the end of the week.
Nope! Nadda!
Please share how you implement #9….pleeeeeaaaasssseee <3
Show up with a crowbar to their house!
I KID, I KID.
The real answer here: make them pay for it.
Make it a required prerequisite, sort of like college courses. And, it’s paid. And then you go over it all together on a scheduled date.
TRY IT AND LEMME KNOW!!!! (Though the 33 pages might be a big mental roadblock. Is any of it space to write? If so, delete and have them complete answers in separate Google Doc.)
We do the **unthinkable** in our brick and mortar bicycle business, and WE CHARGE UP FRONT for service. Interestingly, many people are happy to settle the bill right away so (1) they don’t have to think about it, and (2) they can send their teenager to pick up the finished repair. We’re still working on other boundaries, but this one thing has been a game changer.
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS METHOD. I really, truly am. When mentoring my high school friend, the stone mason, on his business, I encouraged him to do something as simple as charge 50% upfront (unheard of prior for him). He got the guts to start, and has been absolutely SHOCKED β delightfully so! β that people truly are happy to do so. Then, I encouraged him to offer a small 5% discount if they want to pay in full, up front, and he’s now I think paralyzed. He can’t believe it. But, what a difference it makes for your cash flow! (And your sanity.)
LOVE that you are applying to the bike shop! I would totally pay for that up front. (And great branding helps, too, as it’s a trust signal.)
I charge upfront for my photography/videography business. If a potential client fusses, I may then allow them to pay 50% upfront and the balance 50% on the day of the shoot (this almost never happens though).
Can I use your client agreement if Iβm in Australia?