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Newsletter
for the Interior Design industry. July
2004 – Volume 1.2
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Thoughts
from the Dream Team; and welcome to the second issue of the
“DreamDraper™
Newsletter for the Interior Design industry."
We
were overwhelmed by your response to our first newsletter.
I have loved talking to all of you and look forward to
seeing you at The Custom Home Furnishings Educational
Conference and Trade Show, from August 4-8th in
Greenville,
SC.
The
first seminar I will be doing is, “A New World of Design
Possibilities” on Friday, August 6th from 10:30 -
12:00. I will have
a scanner and digital camera to show you how to either scan in
a picture or work from a digital image.
Using PowerPoint and DreamDraper™, we will create
several ways to impress your clients.
I will also teach you how to save time, organize your
files, and market yourself using the state-of-the-art
DreamDraper™.
If
that time doesn’t work for you, I will be doing a mini
version of that seminar in the Vendor Demonstration area.
The times are: Friday, August 6th and
Saturday, August 7th from 2:00-2:50.
If none of these times work for you, come and see us at
booth # 908. We are
there for you! Margi
email:
askthedoctor@evanmarshdesigns.com |
Margi
Kyle
ASID,
IDS, WCAA, NSA
“THE
DESIGNING DOCTOR, LLC”
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Included
in this newsletter
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Clear
the Clutter!
I
have been preaching the use of company policies for years and the importance of
having them on your computer, ready to be emailed to your new clients.
The more forms you have on your computer and off your desk, the less
clutter you will have. I will share a bit of what I typically send to my clients
before I work with them. (See
the sample to the right.)
All
my company policies, proposals, initial consultation sheets, time sheets,
business forms, etc. can be purchased for $49.99.
You will receive a CD and all the forms printed.
Download them and start using them.
Email me to order or for more information.
Margi
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Company
Policies
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It
is agreed that a fee of $_____ an hour is to be paid to Company name, for decorating/design services, to include floor
plans, elevations and presentation boards.
The initial consultation and presentation.
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On
site supervision/consultations will be billed at $_____, an hour.
If unforeseen problems arise, such as changes with the floor
plan or style changes--
the job will be re-assessed at $____, per hour.
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Shopping
time will be billed at $______, per hour.
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A
deposit of 75% of the total of all purchases ordered by Company
Name is required before placing all orders, to include, materials
and or contractor’s services.
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You
will be billed the first of every month for time spent by Company
name, and payment is due within 10 days. Unless otherwise
agreed upon in writing, the outstanding balance on all merchandise
delivered, is payable in full upon delivery. Payment either by
Visa, MasterCard or a personal check made out to, Company
name.
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Confidentiality
clause: I respect
our professional working agreement and value the information you share
with, Company Name, therefore, personal information discussed will
not be shared with others.
DATE: ___________________________________________________
CLIENT
SIGNATURE: ______________________________________
Any problems that might arise that change
the company policies and contract, please call me and we will work it out.
DESIGNER’S SIGNATURE: _________________________________
**Once
the Company Policies are signed/accepted, the initial consultation
completed, an estimated quote will be drawn-up and the new contract will
give you a better idea of the cost of time, drawings, floor plans,
shopping, etc.
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Work
Smart
I
met with a new client last week. She
needed paint colors and window treatments. I
love DreamDraper™ and it was fun using it to create visuals for both my client
and workroom.
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Romancing
the Client
When
I arrived to my client’s home, with fabrics, paint
swatches and drawings, I just stood back and watched
her delight in my presentation.
She had window magazines, window books, and
sad drawings all over the dining room table.
I loved it. Having taken pictures of
her rooms in question, with her permission, I worked
on the digital image.
I printed it out and the rest is history.
The
more you use DreamDraper™, the more fun it gets.
So let’s see what I did in just a few
minutes! On the
right, I showed the client several different ideas,
and filled one of the treatments with a fabric
swatch. She loved it! |
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Create
the Work Order
I
quickly made just a few changes and turned the
presentation into a work order.
I am using a new workroom and wanted to
impress them. Impress
I did! She
wants all her designers to do the same.
We all need to be more professional and this
is doing it for me.
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Client
Quote
Our
clients have a lot of the tools I use and can draw
out floor plans, but they don’t have DreamDraper™.
Take your company a step above the crowd.
Be more professional than your competitors.
Remember, your competition may be your
client!
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Proposal
/ Work Order
Within
the same DreamDraper™ file that contains the
design, the Work Order, and the Client Quote, I
quickly created the Proposal / Work Order form,
ready for sign-off. Show me the money!
I
keep playing a few lessons on the PC Teacher™ to pick up
a new tip and put it to use.
The PC Teacher™ video tutorial for DreamDraper™ will teach you
PowerPoint without going to painful classes or reading a dummy
book. Evan Marsh
Designs has created a wonderful way of walking us through the
process that is easy. Are you sitting there with the
system and not using it to its fullest potential?
Plug in the PC Teacher™ and get going.
If you do not have it, order it, it's a great investment!
Margi
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How to
find the Perfect Workroom
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It
takes a lot of ingredients to cook up a wonderful interior design.
Five parts good design, one part each: carpentry, painters,
flooring experts, electricians, upholstery experts…topped off with
a dollop of window treatments furnished by an expert workroom and
installer. Just the
right mix can take years to perfect.
There are usually many professionals in most trades to choose
from; but how in the world can you find a good workroom without
risking the hundreds of dollars that could be lost if they don’t
do their job properly? This
is scary business, indeed.
The
first stop should be the Window Coverings Association of
America
web site: WCAA.org. There
you will find a list, by state, of workrooms.
You will know, just by the fact that they are members of
their professional organization that they are serious about their
business. Check out
their certifications. WCAA
offers two. The first is the Certified Window Coverings
Professional. This
certifies that this person has been educated in all areas of
knowledge of window treatments.
The second certification is Certified Workroom Professional.
This person has been educated and tested on actual
fabrication methods and business practices.
Second
stop: join and attend local design associations and ask other
members. WCAA, ASID and
IDA among others offer wonderful networking experiences for all
designers looking for subcontractors.
Once
you have a contact, you should set up an appointment and visit the
workroom personally. It
isn’t enough just to hear a voice on the telephone telling you
what they are capable of doing: you need to see for yourself.
Is it reasonably clean? Is
there smoking in the building? Are
there employees? Make a mental list of the things that you are
looking for in a workroom and see how this particular one measures
up. Do you LIKE the
person with whom you are dealing?
Is this a person with whom you can maintain a relationship?
Find
out the particulars: What is the turn around time? (A note here: if
you are looking for a workroom that does unusual, high end, quality
work, turn around times are longer.
A good quality workroom almost always has a lot of work!)
What type of work orders do they require? Do they require a
deposit? Do they accept drop shipments of fabrics?
Do they have special drop off and pick up hours?
Is there an in house installer?
Can they supply hardware? Can they supply you with
references? Most
importantly, can you see some of their work?
The relationship between designer and workroom can be one of the
most important in your business.
If you get good leads and follow up with the right questions,
you just may be in for a gourmet window treat!
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Beth
Hodges
Soft
Furnishings, Elberton, GA
President
of WCAA (Window Coverings Association of
America), Instructor at
the Custom Home Furnishings School
Make
sure to catch Beth's seminars at the Custom Home Furnishings
Industry Educational Conference and Trade Shows (AUG 4-8, 2004
in
Greenville, SC; and SEP 29-OCT 3, 2004 in Philadelphia, PA).
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Creating
Interior Environments
for Peak Productivity
Most
of us in the home fashions industry spend a lot of our
time creating and re-creating interiors in people’s
homes and business that make them feel refreshed and
empowered. It’s
what we do.
All
too often we forget to do the same for ourselves,
particularly in the workplace.
Work is demanding, and to do exceptional work, we
need to be motivated and productive, and periodically
invigorated and inspired.
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Why
not set up the workplace in such a way that all of the
important resources we need are at the touch of our
fingertips—the resources that stir us up intellectually,
inspire us creatively, relax us easily, and boost us
emotionally? We
can!
Creating
interior environments for peak productivity requires us to
look at three distinct areas, or mini environments.
Together, these three make up our interior work
environment. We
can set up each individual one so that we have a calm,
productive, inspiring space.
The three mini environments are:
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Physical
environment: This involves all of the tangibles in
your work place. The
physical components of a working environment can bring or
relive stress, and can hinder or encourage creativity as
well as good communication among people.
These elements include lighting, placement of
furnishings, interior colors, access to resources, noise
level, and comfort of individual workstations.
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Mental
environment: This aspect is not so tangible and has to do
with the stress level in the workplace.
It includes individual and organizational goals, the
expectations of people in the work place (whether spoken or
unspoken), the accessibility employees have to upper
management and the type of work and workloads people deal with
everyday.
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Emotional
environment: Again, this is not a tangible factor but it
is important. This includes communication among co-workers,
attitudes and how strongly they affect other people’s
productivity, patterns of behavior that can be personally
challenged for more effective communication, as well as the
general mood in the workplace
These
three make up the whole. Taken individually and built to be
the best mini environments that they can be, these three
aspects of a work environment can combine into a powerful
whole that promotes good relationships, inspired people,
creative thinking, and best of all, peak performance.
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Margarett
DeGange
Personal Development and Professional Skills
Consultant
Communicate 2 Connect
DeGangi, Inc.
WCAA
Board of Directors
www.communicate2connect.com
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Make
sure to catch Margarett's seminars:
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West
Coast Interiors Expo in Long Beach, CA, AUG 23, 2004
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Custom Home Furnishings
Industry Educational Conference and Trade Shows (AUG 4-8, 2004 in
Greenville, SC; and SEP 29-OCT 3, 2004 in Philadelphia,
PA)
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The
Birth of a New Client - Adding
Bundles to your Bottom Line Through the Baby
Bedding Niche
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Breaking
the Color Code: A look at the Psychological,
Emotional, and Physiological Impact of Color
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Whimsical
Window Treatments for Children's Rooms
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The Easy
to Create, Paint by Numbers Marketing Plan: Use it for
Increased Sales, Greater Business Focus, and Business
Empowerment
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Personalities
in Control: Tap into the Four Dimensions of
Personality and Behavior for Incredible Business and
Personal Success
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Size
to Scale with DreamDraper™
Question:
How do I size a treatment to scale if designing on a photo?
Answer:
Applying a DreamDraper™ design on top of a photo of the
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client's
room makes for an unbeatable presentation. But if you want to design to
scale, build your treatment on a grid first and get your
measurements. Then apply the finished design on top of the photo.
You may have to resize the treatment to fit the photo, but for a presentation,
the final scale of the photo doesn't matter as long as your treatment has been
resized in correct proportion. WOW your client and help them visualize the
finished treatment, and facilitate communication between the client, designer, workroom,
and installers.
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Design to
scale. Add text and measurements. Present the
design on a photo. Add color and apply your own fabric. |
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As
a finishing touch, modify the DreamDraper™ design elements
so that they appear to be behind furniture. Your clients
will be truly impressed.
DreamDraper™
revolutionized the industry when it was first introduced at the 2003
International Window Coverings Exposition in Baltimore, MD. It
was the first system of its kind -- the first to demonstrate
the capability of designing window treatments directly on top of a digital
photo; and the first system that allows you to apply your own
fabric to the designs; and turn any design into a translucent
colored sheer!
To
learn more about the DreamDraper™ system, click here
or call toll free at 1-866-56-DREAM. |
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DreamDraper™
Online Forum - Evan Marsh Designs hosts an
online forum for registered users of DreamDraper™ where you can get
support and share design tips. For information on
how to join the forum, click here.
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FREE
Exhibit Hall Vouchers - to the
West Coast INTERIORS EXPO, August 23-24,
2004.
You
are invited to be our guest at the West Coast INTERIORS
EXPO, where we will be exhibiting the DreamDraper™
system. The EXPO will be held at the Long Beach
Convention Center
in Long Beach, CA, and will feature all-new programs, speakers, and
seminars. On the show floor, please visit us in
booth #
218. You can find out more information and pre-register online (click here),
and gain access to
the Exhibit Hall absolutely free
($20 value).
We
look forward to seeing you!
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Seminar
Schedules - 2004
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Margi
Kyle, ASID,
IDS, WCAA, NSA. Click here
for Margi's bio. |
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Date
& Time |
Place |
Subject |
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Fri,
August 6, 2004
10:30
- 12:00 |
Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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DreamDraper
- A
New World
of Design Possibilities
Design
with ease using exquisitely detailed designs—and to scale;
application of colors and fabrics; and adding wall color and
effects. Learn how to design, save time, organize your files,
and market yourself using the state-of-the-art DreamDraper™
system. |
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Fri,
August 6, 2004
2:00
- 2:50 |
Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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DreamDraper
Demo |
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Sat,
August 7, 2004
10:30
- 12:00 |
Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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Where
Will You Be In 5 Years * |
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Sat,
August 7, 2004
2:00
- 2:50 |
Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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DreamDraper
Demo |
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Sat,
August 7, 2004
4:30
- 6:00 |
Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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Windows
of Opportunity * |
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Fri, September 10, 2004 |
Southbury,
CT
Decor
& You |
Windows
of Opportunity * |
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Fri,
October 1, 2004 |
Philadelphia,
PA - Fort
Washington
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational Conference & Trade
Show
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DreamDraper
- A
New World
of Design Possibilities
Design
with ease using exquisitely detailed designs—and to scale;
application of colors and fabrics; and adding wall color and
effects. Learn how to design, save time, organize your files,
and market yourself using the state-of-the-art DreamDraper™
system. |
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Sat,
October 2, 2004
10:30
- 12:00 |
Philadelphia,
PA - Fort
Washington
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational Conference & Trade
Show
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Where
Will You Be In 5 Years * |
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Sat,
October 2, 2004
4:30
- 6:00 |
Philadelphia,
PA - Fort
Washington
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational Conference & Trade
Show
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Windows
of Opportunity * |
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Sat,
October 16, 2004
10:00
- 11:30 |
High
Point, NC - Rooms A-C,
11th floor Club Level of IHFC |
Marketing
Tips to Dazzle Your Clients
Put
pizzazz in your presentations!
2004 Marketing Tips help close your sale with
innovative graphics, business forms and stunning
illustrations. Learn
the latest tools of the trade, including DreamDraper™. |
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Thu-Fri,
October 28-29, 2004
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Dallas,
TX - Decorative Center
Dallas, World Trade Center |
Marketing
Tips to Dazzle Your Clients
Put
pizzazz in your presentations!
2004 Marketing Tips help close your sale with
innovative graphics, business forms and stunning
illustrations. Learn
the latest tools of the trade, including DreamDraper™. |
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Fri,
November 5, 2004 |
Phoenix,
AZ |
IDS
Chapter all day meeting. * |
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*
The indicated seminars are not specific to DreamDraper™,
however Margi will be more than happy to address any questions
regarding the system. |
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Jamie
Gibbs, ASID,
IFDA. Click here
for Jamie's bio. |
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Date
& Time |
Place |
Subject |
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Mon,
August 23, 2004
1:30
- 2:00 |
Long Beach,
CA
West
Coast Interiors Expo
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Looking
Like a Genius with Difficult Window Solutions
Using
the newest version of DreamDraper™, Jamie Gibbs will walk
you through numerous difficult window situations and discuss
soft treatment design solutions that will WOW your clients. |
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Evan Marsh Designs, creator of DreamDraper™ |
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Date
& Time |
Place |
Subject |
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Fri-Sat,
August 6-7, 2004
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Greenville,
SC - Palmetto
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational
Conference & Trade Show
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DreamDraper™, booth # 908 |
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Mon-Tue, August 23-24, 2004
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Long Beach,
CA
West
Coast Interiors Expo
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DreamDraper™, booth # 218 |
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Mon, August 30, 2004
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Houston,
TX
Window Fashions Certification
Program 2004 Regional Tour |
DreamDraper™ |
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Mon, September 13, 2004 |
Providence,
RI
Window Fashions Certification
Program 2004 Regional Tour |
DreamDraper™ |
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Fri-Sat, September 17-18, 2004 |
Dallas, TX - Texas
Chapter ASID, World Trade
Center |
DreamDraper™ |
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Fri-Sat, October 1-2, 2004
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Philadelphia,
PA - Fort
Washington
Expo
Center
Custom
Home Furnishings Industry Educational Conference & Trade
Show
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DreamDraper™, booth # 601 |
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Mon, October 14, 2004 |
Cincinnati,
OH
Window Fashions Certification
Program 2004 Regional Tour |
DreamDraper™ |
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Sat, October 16, 2004 |
High Point,
NC
Market |
DreamDraper™ |
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Mon, October 25, 2004 |
Ft
Myers,
FL
Window Fashions Certification
Program 2004 Regional Tour |
DreamDraper™ |
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Want to learn more
about DreamDraper™?
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Have a question
for Margi?
Need some advice?
Have a tip to share?
Want to share your success story?
We
would love to hear from you!
email:
askthedoctor@evanmarshdesigns.com
The
Designing Doctor, LLC
P.O.
Box 2386
Cornelius,
NC 23086 |
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Don't
miss out on the Summer
Special - save $30.
For
a limited time only, Evan Marsh Designs is offering the
DreamDraper™ system at the specially discounted price of
$399, including the following:
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DreamDraper™ system CD
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Bonus - DreamDraper™ Portfolio book of designs in a
2" binder
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Bonus - PC Teacher™ - 3-CD video tutorial, 3 hours of instruction
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70+ page step-by-step Instruction Book on the CD
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Software license that allows installation on a desktop & laptop
computer
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Free email support
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Access to the DreamDraper™ online forum where you can get
support
and share design tips - exclusive to DreamDraper™ customers
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30-day money back guarantee!
Normal
retail price for the complete package is $429. The Summer
Special price was originally offered from July 1 through July 31,
2004, however due to the July newsletter being issued late in
the month, we are extending the Summer Special price for another
2 weeks, through August 15, 2004.
Contact
Evan
Marsh Designs for full details or call toll free at
1-866-56-DREAM.
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