We all know 2020 was a VERY TOUGH year for not only most of us, but for the world, at large. And I know that what YOU care about is how to get your business off to a prosperous start in 2021.

So, with that in mind, I wrote this post…. and included a few surprises to help you do just that.

First, I know that, for most of you, the readers of this post - whether you find this post through a Google search 5 years from now, through a Facebook Group, through Linked In or through another social media site, or through someone sharing it with you, that what you care about is not what I accomplished in 2020, but knowing what I know that might help YOU - and your business - make it through a tough moment/ a tough month/ or another tough year.

And yes, I know the above sentence is way too long. Generally, in a blog, shorter sentences will get you higher readability scores, which is important for SEO.

And I also know, right now, you’re asking yourselves, “Leslie, where’s the surprises?”

Stay with me.

What’s SEO? S.earch e.ngine o.ptimization. What does that mean?

It means that when someone types in a phrase to Google, like “best interior designer xyz city”, that your website and your blog contain that city and zip code information (and so do the back end descriptions on your images) so that your site becomes * a match* for that person searching for “best interior designer Houston, TX * or “interior designer 77573* ……and Google works its magic and returns your site or blog as the search result most aligned with what the searcher requested.

This is why it’s so important to have the cities AND ZIP CODES you serve on your website, even if you do e-design, too.

Now, how do you check readability scores? If you have a Wordpress site, you get the free YOAST plug in, which is the very best SEO plug in for doing your own SEO.

Are you already feeling overwhelmed with those 3 letters, SEO?

Watch all the free videos on YouTube showing you how to use the YOAST SEO plug in.

Now… if you know me… you know I can’t start anything (even sharing with you the surprise) without a little backstory.

So, here’s the backstory about this blog post:

Originally I was going to write this post as a Year In Review post, because I wanted to celebrate my achievements in this tough year. But then I saw where some of my friends didn’t like Year In Review posts.

And that got me to thinking.

Whenever you write a blog post, you have to think about your readers ( your audience ), both now…and the audience on Google that will find your posts years later - since blog posts -which are really just fresh pages of content on your website - are indexed on Google and live online forever.

Which is why blogging is still SO important…. as Instagram posts do not index on Google.

So, Year In Review posts can be a good thing for your business because random people searching Google for digital marketing strategist Houston TX or digital marketing agency Houston TX or best digital marketing agency for interior designers in 2021 or in 2027, like to do business with people who have been successful over a long number of years and who have credibility within the niche they serve, like the interior design industry or the furniture industry.

See what I mean?

And so, even though this post won’t talk about my Top 10 achievements in 2020 in depth or with images ( I will save that for a second post), I will mention them here, before the surprises, in case anyone happens to find this post when searching for best digital marketing strategist for interior designers or best digital marketing strategist for furniture brands.

[ NOTE: If you are a searcher who found this blog through a search like that, thank you. I would love to be of service to your business in 2021 and beyond. ]

My Top 10 Quick List Of Achievements in 2020

January 2020

Keynote speaker, Lightovation, Dallas Market Center.

February 2020

Speaker, National Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, Las Vegas.

March 2020

Speaker, Design Influencers Conference, San Francisco.

Feature article in the Houston Chronicle.

April 2020

SPRING issue of Seasonal Living Magazine goes live. I am the co-editor.

I officially become co-principal on a multi brand/ multi designer collaborative influencer marketing project, for client Seasonal Living: Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse.

Feature mention in Designer’s Today.

May 2020:

Featured Instructor, digital marketing, Business of Home’s LAUNCH series.

June 2020:

Featured Instructor, digital marketing, Las Vegas Market’s First Friday webinar series.

July, August, September, October, November

14-16 hours days working as co-principal on all facets of #SLDS21, the first luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse inhistory to be built entirely and only in the virtual world with augmented reality - a collaboration between 15 sponsoring brands and 11 interior designers.

I will elaborate more on this in another post.

December, 2020

The launch of the Special Edition of Seasonal Living Magazine.

The launch, on Dec. 3rd, 2020, of Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse.

Because the publicity for #SLDS21 was also my responsibility, seeing PR for my client in all the major furniture and interior design industry trades and in the consumer facing press, including articles in The Houston Chronicle, Forbes, Trendhunter, and the establishment of a formal media partnership with ISSUU, the world’s largest content marketing platform for digital magazines.

NOW…for the surprise! And, I know, it’s been a long slog to get here… but don’t stop reading…

What is the ONE THING that helped me get through 2020 - and that can help you, too, besides doing work you love, your faith, your family and friends?

Laughter! Good, deep belly shaking laughter is the one thing that helped me to get through 2020, with my sanity and mental health, intact, and I hope my sharing of the following memes and quotes will help you launch into 2021 with the same, if you didn’t get enough laughter in 2020.

And I want to take a special moment to thank Boston based interior designer, Janet Pendleton Lorusso, a member of my Design Wealth Facebook community for 3 years now, for being a key to giving me those laughs through her fabulously funny blog posts that she posted on my Saturday blog thread in my Group, every Saturday this year.

If you haven’t subscribed to Janet’s blog yet, here’s your chance to read her Year in [Rear] View post and subscribe:

https://www.jrlinteriors.com/blog/2020/12/29/the-year-in-review

Now, I’m going to share some of the memes I saw this year that brought a BIG smile to my face and, in some cases, the belly shaking laughter that I hope will set you on a positivity path, mentally, as you enter 2021.

And lastly, this one.

And now I end this post with my biggest learning of the year and one I wish for you to take to heart, too.

When you want to go fast, go alone, when you want to go far, go together.

I hope, as you start 2021, that you, too, know or have seen the value of a powerful community of people who have your back, who know how to make you laugh, who lift you up when you’re down and who genuinely celebrate your achievements with you.

Thank you, members of #DesignWealth: YOU are amazing. I appreciate each of you who might see or read this post.

You are the ones who will understand the following quote the best, and who have, despite all obstacles you have personally faced this year, created these daily joys for the families you serve:

If you are a homeowner seeing this post, at any time now or in the future, and you ever need a great interior designer to work with, please ask me for a referral by emailing me at leslie@savourpartnership.com.

I wish you every blessing for an extraordinary 2021, filled with the self care rituals, the laughter and the deepening of friendships, whether offline or online, that lead to being able to maintain and grow a positive mindset.

It is your positive mindset that makes possible your every exterior success.

It all starts there.

#designhappyliving
#savourpartnership

Leslie Carothers

Instagram | Twitter | Linked In

www.savourpartnership.com
leslie@savourpartnership.com

PS: Please watch for my new lifestyle blog, designhappyliving.com, to go live in 2021. With any luck, I will be participating in my first #OneRoomChallenge in 2021, for my own home.

Below is an image from my #DesignHappyLiving Instagram feed.

I invite you to follow instagram.com/designhappyliving.

Thank you!