Rachel Gill’s Spectacular Success with Client-Facing Facebook Groups - Episode 223

Rachel Gill has been in business for a little over a year. At the beginning of 2021, she decided to create a client-facing Facebook group for homeowners or renters to bring as a client outreach tactic. She went to a local Mom’s Facebook group and shared what she was thinking about doing and asked if anyone would be interested. She got a huge response. The group started at around 400 and is up to almost 700. How does sharing value in this group lead to new clients? Is she giving too much away? Listen to this episode of Wingnut Social to learn more! 

What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut Social

• [2:42] Mini News Sesh: Monetizing Instagram
• [6:10] Rachel’s expertise in Facebook groups
• [8:01] How a Facebook group serves clients
• [12:53] The types of clients Rachel gets
• [20:11] How other designers feel about Rachel’s tactics
• [23:30] What does Rachel do for a call to action?
• [25:38] Where do you get started?
• [30:00] The What up Wingnut round!
• [31:20] How to connect with Rachel Gill
• [34:31] Go check out Wingnut Premium!
• [35:58] Wingnut Social blooper reel!

Connect with Rachel Gill

• Facebook Group: Homeschool | Design + Renovation with Rachel Gill: https://www.facebook.com/groups/218450516351263/
• Follow Rachel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelgilldesign/
• Rachel’s Design Website: https://www.rachelgilldesign.co/

Resources & People Mentioned

• Use code “WINGNUT250” for a $250 discount at https://buildlane.com/!
• Wingnut Social episode #120 with Natasa Jones: https://wingnutsocial.com/podcast/facebook-community-groups-an-innovative-way-to-market-your-interior-design-business-with-natasa-jones-episode-120/
• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4
• Colleen Primm: https://www.colleenprimmdesign.com/
• Studio McGee: https://studio-mcgee.com/

How a Facebook group serves clients

Rachel emphasizes that the know, like, and trust factor is really important for your business and your brand. Rachel’s goal was to become an expert in her area for home design and renovation. So she geared her Facebook group toward answering questions, educating, and becoming that go-to expert. Sure, the majority of the people in her group are likely DIYers but a large handful has hired her for design projects. People will go to the person sharing free—valuable—advice. 

But what kind of clients can Rachel source from a Facebook group? She notes that she gets anything from a one-off consult to a full first-floor renovation—all from the group. People will see her on Facebook, like her style and posts, and reach out to have her come look at their projects. 

Rachel’s theory is that even if you “give away” pieces or colors from a room you’ve designed, people do not have the same creative mind as you. It will never turn out the same way as your final design. 

How to start your own client-facing Facebook group

Rachel 100% recommends that you engage in your local groups first. If you dive into a group where you’ve had no interaction and ask them to join another group, it won’t go well. But if you engage others and ask them to help you build something just for them—and they feel they’re helping direct the topics and getting questions answered—you'll have immediate buy-in. To do this, Rachel asked how members would like the information presented (blog post, photos, videos, etc.) and the majority wanted blog posts.

Rachel reached out to mom’s groups for the county she lives in, the neighboring county, and the largest town near her. Why mom groups? Because it’s where people go to get advice. They ask for contractor, painter, and home improvement recommendations all the time. She saw that people were asking and knew her Facebook group would appeal to them. But how does she get clients from a group? 

Rachel will randomly intersperse a design process type of post, share working through a project, etc. She’ll then add a call to action like “If you’d like to design the bathroom of your dreams, connect with me to set up a FREE discovery call.” She’ll often get a DM a day or two later. 85–90% of her clients have come from this group. 

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