19 - Organic Go-to-Market & Referral Growth Plan

Company: The Design Registry
Version: 2.0
Prepared: August 2026
Status: Marketing, growth and founder operating source of truth
Business model: Free Designer-first operating platform with downstream Provider network and marketplace economics
Primary channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, personal introductions and participant referrals
Budget posture: Near-zero paid acquisition until activation and retention are proven

1. Executive Summary

The Design Registry believes every professionally designed home deserves to be remembered.

1.1 About The Design Registry

Every professionally designed home deserves to be remembered.

The Design Registry connects the people and work behind an active Project, then preserves the approved story and specifications of the completed home. The complete manifesto lives in the Brand Guide. Marketing uses its central belief without reproducing the full text in every plan, page or campaign.

The first objective is not maximum signup volume. It is to help a small cohort of independent Designers run real Projects with less administrative friction. The Registry earns distribution when those Designers invite the Providers already participating in their Projects. Providers remain because their category-specific portal helps them quote, schedule, document work, invoice and communicate. Once both parties experience measurable value, the Registry asks for a relevant peer referral.

1.2 Go-to-market purpose

This playbook translates the Brand Guide and Business Plan 4.0 into an executable growth system. It governs how the company finds, speaks with, activates and learns from Designers; how active Projects introduce Providers; how Clients encounter the Registry; and when the company earns the right to request a referral.

The brand creates attention through a cultural truth: exceptional design work is too easily scattered and forgotten. The product converts that attention into practical relief: one live Project can become clearer without forcing the Designer to abandon their brand, relationships or existing business. The permanent Registry creates the lasting reward.

The growth sequence is therefore:

1. Meaning before mechanics: lead with why the work deserves to be remembered.
2. Recognition before outreach: demonstrate that the company understands the Designer's actual work and operating pressure.
3. One Project before platform adoption: organize a live Project rather than selling an empty account.
4. Value before invitation: ask the Designer to invite a Provider only when a real handoff is ready.
5. Proof before promotion: use observed outcomes and authorized stories, never invented claims.
6. Retention before paid acquisition: scale only after Designers and Providers return without persistent founder intervention.

Personalized Designer outreach
        ↓
Workflow conversation
        ↓
One live Project imported free
        ↓
Designer reaches a useful operating moment
        ↓
Designer invites an existing Provider
        ↓
Provider completes real work in the platform
        ↓
Both parties experience less duplicated administration
        ↓
Designer and Provider referrals
        ↺

This plan keeps cash marketing spend close to zero while the company proves its highest-risk assumptions:

1. Designers will trust the Registry with one active Project.
2. The integrated workflow saves enough time to become part of weekly operations.
3. Designers will invite Providers into the shared record.
4. Providers will participate when the portal makes their own work easier.
5. Activated participants will introduce relevant peers.

Paid media, sponsorships and broad awareness campaigns are explicitly deferred. They cannot compensate for weak activation and would hide whether the product creates genuine pull.

1.3 Brand psychology applied to growth

Every campaign and conversation should move through four emotional states:

Marketing should not jump directly from emotional belief to a long software tour. Each audience must see the next credible proof.

2. Strategic Decision

2.1 The growth model

The Registry uses a Designer-first, Project-led, Provider-propagated growth model.

• Designer-first: Designers are the primary initial customer and relationship owner.
• Project-led: The onboarding unit is one live Project, not an empty account.
• Provider-propagated: Each active Project naturally introduces the businesses required to deliver it.
• Referral-compounded: Referral requests happen after demonstrated value, not immediately after signup.
• Free at the core: Core software must remain genuinely useful without forcing a marketplace transaction.

2.2 What this plan rejects

The first stage does not rely on:

• paid Meta or LinkedIn campaigns;
• purchased lists or high-volume automated direct messages;
• generic “join our marketplace” Provider recruitment;
• large launch events;
• expensive content production;
• vanity signup, impression or follower goals;
• free access that becomes unusable unless the participant purchases services; or
• broad geographic expansion before local workflow density exists.

2.3 Why this approach fits the product

The product connects people who already work together. A Designer's Project contains natural invitations for Vendors, fabricators, contractors, photographers, measurement teams, warehouses, delivery teams and installers. The Registry does not need to manufacture every network edge through marketing. It must make the invitation useful, trustworthy and easy.

3. Positioning

3.1 Primary promise

Every professionally designed home deserves to be remembered.

3.2 Supporting promise

The Project ends. The Registry doesn't.

Audience-specific supporting lines:

• For Designers: Run the Project with less chasing. Preserve the work with the care it deserves.
• For Providers: Clearer work, better handoffs and one record that respects your contribution.
• For Clients: A beautifully coordinated Project and a permanent record of your home.
• For the network: One Project, the right people, a record that remains.

3.3 Proof points

• One Project record instead of scattered spreadsheets, email and messages.
• Items, budgets, Tasks, Calendar, approvals, Files and communications connected.
• Providers invited only when relevant and given useful category-specific tools.
• Client decisions and relevant progress presented clearly.
• One live Project migrated with hands-on support at no cost.

3.4 Messaging hierarchy

The first conversation should connect the belief to the Designer's life, not lead with software architecture.

1. Central belief: professionally designed homes and the work behind them deserve to be remembered.
2. Professional recognition: Designers coordinate far more than the finished photography reveals.
3. Immediate relief: one integrated process reduces spreadsheets, status chasing and disconnected decisions.
4. Activation offer: bring one live spreadsheet or Project and receive free setup help.
5. Network benefit: invite the Providers already working on the Project when a real handoff is ready.
6. Permanent value: the active Project grows into the Registry for the completed home.

Avoid opening with “CRM,” “marketplace,” “all-in-one SaaS,” “AI platform” or a long feature inventory. These can support the explanation after the Designer's operating problem is understood.

3.5 What The Design Registry is—and is not

It is:

• the permanent record of a professionally designed home;
• a Designer-first operating network during active work;
• a private, qualified network of specialized Providers;
• one Project record with appropriate views for each participant; and
• a system that respects authorship, professional relationships and durable evidence.

It is not:

• an open directory where placement can be purchased;
• a brokerage that owns every Designer relationship;
• a generic task manager with luxury styling;
• a social network built around exposure;
• an AI that replaces professional judgment; or
• a reason to obscure fees, conflicts or commercial interests.

3.6 The Registry Test for marketing

Before publishing or sending a message, ask:

1. Does it respect the intelligence and craft of the audience?
2. Does it make the permanent Registry idea clearer?
3. Does it connect belief to a credible product or service proof?
4. Is every claim true for the stated product maturity?
5. Does it preserve the Designer's authorship and brand?
6. Is the language calm, specific and free of software clichés?
7. Is there one appropriate next action?

If the answer to any of the first five questions is no, the message should not ship.

4. Ideal Founding Designer Profile

4.1 Primary segment

Independent residential interior Designers and small Designer Studios that:

• are early-stage through established mid-tier businesses;
• manage active Projects with several external participants;
• still rely heavily on spreadsheets, email, messaging and shared drives;
• have clear creative quality and professional intent;
• are open to improving operations without giving up their brand;
• work with at least one Provider Category relevant to the platform; and
• can identify one Project suitable for guided migration.

4.2 High-fit signals

• Public evidence of active residential Projects.
• A small team or solo Designer with increasing Project complexity.
• Posts or comments about sourcing, procurement, scheduling, delivery or business growth.
• Visible use of spreadsheets, Canva presentations or several disconnected tools.
• Frequent collaboration with Vendors, trades or logistics Providers.
• A studio identity the Designer cares about preserving.

4.3 Lower-priority signals

• No active Project to import.
• Primarily commercial work outside the initial product design.
• A large firm with deeply embedded enterprise systems.
• Interest limited to free lead generation.
• Expectation that the Registry becomes responsible for Project liability or day-to-day design management.

4.4 Founding Provider profile

Providers are recruited around active Project demand rather than to populate a directory. A strong founding Provider:

• performs residential work relevant to an active Designer Project;
• operates within the first market's service area;
• can respond within agreed service levels;
• values clearer scope, schedules, evidence, invoicing or payment visibility;
• is willing to complete a real workflow in the platform;
• meets category-specific quality, insurance, licensing and reference standards; and
• understands that the Provider portal should become useful for its own business, not only Registry referrals.

Priority categories follow real Project pressure. Early depth should concentrate on Vendors and Product Suppliers; Receiving, Warehouse & Storage; White-Glove Delivery; Installation Services; and one construction or fabrication category. Other categories enter when active Projects create sufficient demand.

4.5 Client profile and acquisition role

Clients are not the primary early software-acquisition audience. They enter through a Designer invitation, referral, website inquiry, studio location or future Registry-generated opportunity. Client-facing marketing should emphasize trust, professional coordination and the lasting record of the home—not operational software.

The initial Registry-generated lead segment remains an assumption to validate, with approximately $10,000–$80,000 Project budgets for decorating, furnishing and defined design scopes. The product can support larger Projects, but public lead-generation claims must follow proven Designer capacity and Client service quality.

4.6 Market focus

Ottawa is the first density market. The objective is not broad local awareness; it is a small network in which Designers and Providers can repeatedly complete work together. Toronto remains a replication market after Ottawa proves activation, retention, Provider participation, contribution margin and non-founder operating reliability.

5. Founding Cohort Offer

5.1 What Designers receive

• Free core Workspace access.
• Free setup and migration of one active Project.
• Spreadsheet or Google Sheets import assistance.
• Project template selection and normalization.
• Direct founder or product-team onboarding.
• Help inviting the first Provider.
• Priority support during the founding period.
• Influence over workflow and roadmap priorities.
• Preservation of the Designer's own branding and client relationship.

5.2 What the Registry requests

• One real Project suitable for onboarding.
• Honest workflow access and feedback.
• Participation in a short weekly feedback rhythm for the first eight weeks.
• Invitation of at least one existing Provider after the Project becomes useful.
• Permission to use anonymized operational learning.
• A referral only if and when the experience earns one.

5.3 Definition of activation

Account creation is not activation.

• Workspace activation: profile and operating preferences completed.
• Project activation: one real Project contains meaningful data and at least one recurring action.
• Network activation: a Provider is invited and completes a meaningful shared workflow.
• Referral activation: an activated participant makes a qualified introduction.

6. Organic Acquisition Channels

6.1 LinkedIn — primary professional channel

LinkedIn is used for precise discovery, research, warm context and respectful conversations.

Weekly activity:

• identify 20–30 high-fit Designers;
• research each Designer before contact;
• send 10–15 genuinely personalized connection messages;
• begin 5–10 workflow conversations;
• comment thoughtfully where the Registry has relevant experience;
• log every meaningful interaction in the internal Pipeline; and
• follow up with relevance rather than a fixed automated cadence.

The outreach account should be a credible founder or operating leader, not a faceless growth profile.

6.2 Instagram — relationship and proof channel

Instagram is used to understand the Designer's work, recognize genuine fit and build familiarity.

• Follow only relevant Designers and Studios.
• Engage thoughtfully with Project and process content.
• Use direct messages selectively and personally.
• Share calm operational education, Project workflow examples and founder observations.
• Avoid repetitive automated comments or high-volume direct messages.
• Move a substantive business conversation to email, LinkedIn or a call when appropriate.

6.3 Warm introductions

Founders, advisors, Designers, Providers and industry contacts should be given a simple introduction statement and a clear description of who is a good fit. The introduction request should be narrow enough that the referrer can protect their reputation.

6.4 Communities and schools

Participate in alumni, emerging Designer and professional communities through useful working sessions rather than sponsorship-first promotion. Good topics include Project spreadsheet cleanup, Provider handoffs, procurement status, client approvals and install-day readiness.

6.5 Operational content

Content is a by-product of solving real workflow problems.

Examples:

• how to prepare an Item list for receiving;
• what a clean Provider Work Package includes;
• a calm install-day status structure;
• how to move from spreadsheet budget to live Project budget;
• what Designers should preserve when AI extracts product data;
• a before-and-after Project workflow;
• anonymized lessons from founding cohort onboarding.

Each useful artifact should support direct outreach, onboarding and referral conversations. Content that does not help one of these jobs is lower priority.

7. Designer Outreach Playbook

7.1 Research checklist

Before contact, capture:

• Designer and Studio name;
• market and service area;
• visible Project type and style;
• business stage and team signals;
• likely workflow pressure;
• reason the Registry is relevant now;
• warm connection, Provider or community link; and
• one truthful personalization detail.

7.2 First message principles

The message must be short, specific and non-manipulative.

• Reference real work or context.
• State the Designer-first thesis plainly.
• Ask for a workflow conversation, not a generic demo.
• Do not overstate product completeness.
• Do not imply exclusivity, guaranteed leads or earned endorsement.

7.3 Example LinkedIn connection message

Hi [Name] — I came across [specific Project or Studio detail] and loved [truthful observation]. We believe professionally designed homes deserve a record as thoughtful as the work itself. We are building The Design Registry with independent Designers and I would value your perspective on what currently gets lost between the design, spreadsheets and Provider handoffs. Open to a short conversation?

7.4 Example follow-up

Thanks for connecting. During an active Project, the Registry brings the Items, budgets, decisions and Provider handoffs into one calm record. When the work is complete, that record remains with the story and specifications of the home. The Designer's brand, Clients and creative control stay at the centre. We are helping a small founding group organize one live Project at no cost. If useful, I would be happy to start with the spreadsheet or process you already use.

7.5 Example final follow-up

I know the timing may not be right, so I will close the loop here. If you ever want to preserve one Project more clearly—or simply reduce the coordination around it—I would be happy to help organize it with you. Either way, I appreciate the work your Studio is creating.

7.6 Conversation agenda

1. What Projects are active now?
2. Where does Project information currently live?
3. What does the Designer personally chase every week?
4. Which spreadsheet or communication thread is most fragile?
5. Which Provider handoff creates the most uncertainty?
6. What would make one Project feel meaningfully easier?
7. Is there a suitable Project to migrate together?

7.7 Conversation close

The correct next step depends on the conversation:

• Strong fit and active need: schedule one-Project import and request only the minimum source material.
• Strong fit but poor timing: agree on a specific follow-up connected to a Project milestone.
• Product learning only: thank the Designer, record the insight and do not force onboarding.
• Not a fit: close respectfully and preserve the relationship.

The founder should never convert professional admiration into artificial urgency. Exclusivity is demonstrated by selectivity and standards, not pressure tactics.

8. Product-Led Activation

8.1 One-Project onboarding

The onboarding journey should produce useful operating value within the first session:

1. Select one active Project.
2. Import the most valuable spreadsheet or Item list.
3. Confirm Project Phase, key dates, Spaces and budget categories.
4. Create the immediate Tasks and decisions.
5. Add the Client when appropriate.
6. Identify the Providers already involved.
7. Select one Provider workflow to complete next.
8. Schedule the follow-up that confirms continued use.

8.2 First-value moments

A value moment may be:

• a spreadsheet imported and normalized;
• a budget total updating automatically from Items;
• a Client approval recorded against the correct version;
• a Provider receiving a complete Work Package;
• a warehouse recording item condition once for all authorized parties;
• a delivery status appearing without the Designer chasing by phone; or
• a Project presentation generated from live Project data.

The first-value sequence should build toward the brand promise:

Import creates relief
→ structured work creates confidence
→ Provider participation proves the network
→ Client presentation creates pride
→ completion creates the permanent Registry

The first Registry preview can appear before completion. Showing the Designer how today's approved selections and records will become the final home Registry makes the long-term value tangible while active work is still underway.

8.3 Concierge work as research

Early free migration is not unbounded service. Every manual step must be classified as:

• a future product workflow;
• a reusable onboarding template;
• a one-time data cleanup;
• a participant education need; or
• work the Registry should not provide.

The purpose is to learn how to make future onboarding self-serve without sacrificing quality.

9. Designer-to-Provider Growth Loop

9.1 Invitation trigger

The platform asks the Designer to invite a Provider only when:

• the Project is active;
• the Provider has a real role or upcoming action;
• the authorized data package is ready;
• the invitation explains the immediate value; and
• the Designer controls the relationship and timing.

9.2 Invitation contexts

• Review an Offer or Work Package.
• Submit or revise a Proposal.
• Acknowledge a Purchase Order.
• Confirm product availability or expected ship date.
• Receive and inspect expected Items.
• Accept a delivery manifest and schedule.
• Upload drawings, measurements or deliverables.
• Complete a milestone and submit evidence.
• Issue an Invoice against accepted work.

9.3 Provider onboarding promise

This is not another marketplace profile to maintain. The Project information, scope and next action are already here. Complete the work once, keep the record current and use the same free tools for your own business.

9.4 Provider activation

A Provider is activated when it completes a real operating action—not when its application is approved. The primary target is the first accepted Work Order or completed Project workflow within 90 days.

9.5 Provider message by category

The common promise is adapted to the work each Provider performs:

9.6 Provider application and approval message

Provider recruitment must explain why an application exists. The Registry is a private professional network protecting Designers, Clients and other Providers from poor-fit participation. The application captures category-specific qualifications and matching information; approval is not purchased and does not guarantee work.

Pending Providers can understand application status and outstanding requirements. Approved Providers receive a tailored Workspace, profile and first-work checklist. Rejected or deferred applicants receive clear, respectful communication appropriate to the decision and legal constraints.

9.7 Provider retention

Retention is earned when the portal replaces duplicated work. The company should monitor:

• time from invitation to first useful action;
• percentage of updates completed without manual chasing;
• Proposal and Invoice cycle time;
• evidence completeness;
• teammate invitations;
• Provider-created leads or independent work records;
• return usage on a second Project; and
• payment visibility and reconciliation friction.

A Provider that receives opportunities but must still repeat every update by email has not received a complete product experience.

10. Referral System

10.1 Referral principles

• Ask after value, never before.
• Make the requested introduction specific.
• Preserve the referrer's reputation.
• Do not condition essential free access on referrals.
• Attribute the introduction and thank the referrer.
• Avoid cash incentives initially; prove intrinsic willingness first.

10.2 Designer referral moments

• First Project import completed.
• First Provider workflow removes visible coordination work.
• Four consecutive weeks of Project use.
• Successful Client approval or install milestone.
• Positive unsolicited feedback.

10.3 Provider referral moments

• First accepted Work Order.
• Faster quote or scheduling cycle.
• Successful receiving, delivery or deliverable workflow.
• Invoice issued cleanly from the Work Order.
• Provider voluntarily adds teammates or its own opportunity.

10.4 Referral asks

Designer ask:

You mentioned another Designer dealing with a similar [specific problem]. If you believe this would genuinely help them, would you be comfortable introducing us? I will keep the conversation low-pressure and offer the same one-Project setup support.

Provider ask:

This workflow is most useful when the right businesses stay connected around the Project. Is there one Designer or complementary Provider you trust who would benefit from a cleaner version of this process?

11. Funnel and Measurement

11.1 Funnel definitions

11.2 Initial learning thresholds

Threshold misses trigger diagnosis of targeting, message, onboarding, product value or timing. The default response is not more volume.

11.3 North-star growth measure

For this plan, the growth north star is Network-Activated Projects per month: Projects where a Designer and at least one external participant complete a meaningful workflow during the month.

Supporting measures:

• activated Designers by cohort;
• time to first Project;
• time to first Provider invitation;
• invited Providers per activated Project;
• Provider response and completion;
• weekly active Projects;
• qualified referrals per activated participant;
• four- and eight-week Project retention;
• founder hours per activation; and
• cash marketing spend per activated Project.

12. Weekly Operating Cadence

Monday — target and learn

• Review prior-week funnel and cohort activity.
• Select 20–30 high-fit Designers.
• Research and rank the first 10–15 contacts.
• Identify earned referral opportunities.
• Choose one message or onboarding experiment.

Tuesday and Wednesday — converse

• Send personalized LinkedIn outreach.
• Build familiarity through thoughtful Instagram engagement.
• Conduct workflow conversations.
• Log objections, language and operating problems.
• Schedule appropriate Project imports.

Thursday — activate

• Run Project import and setup sessions.
• Configure immediate Tasks and categories.
• Support the first Provider invitation.
• Observe where the product or onboarding breaks.

Friday — follow through

• Send relevant follow-ups.
• Review activation blockers and support load.
• Capture one reusable lesson or artifact.
• Ask for referrals only where value has been earned.
• Update the following week's target and message.

13. First 90 Days

Days 1–30 — prove conversations

Targets:

• 100 researched Designers;
• 40–60 personalized outreach attempts;
• 12–20 meaningful replies;
• 10 workflow conversations;
• 5 founding Designer commitments; and
• 3 live Project imports.

Deliverables:

• approved positioning and outreach language;
• target profile rubric;
• CRM Pipeline and source tracking;
• one-Project onboarding checklist;
• first import template; and
• weekly funnel review.

Days 31–60 — prove activation

Targets:

• 5 activated Designers;
• 5 active Projects;
• at least 3 Provider invitations;
• at least 2 meaningful external workflows; and
• four-week retention evidence.

Deliverables:

• activation dashboard;
• Provider invitation templates by category;
• documented first-value moments;
• onboarding friction register; and
• first anonymized operational case study.

Days 61–90 — prove propagation

Targets:

• 8–10 activated Designers;
• 8–12 active Projects;
• 8–12 invited Providers;
• 5 completed Provider workflows;
• 3 qualified Designer referrals; and
• 2 qualified Provider referrals.

Deliverables:

• referral prompt rules;
• organic cohort report;
• content library derived from solved problems;
• Provider density gaps by category; and
• decision on whether the organic loop is ready for a small paid test.

14. Content System

14.1 Content pillars

1. Designer operating relief: less chasing and administration.
2. Project clarity: one source of truth across Items, budgets, Tasks and decisions.
3. Provider coordination: complete handoffs and useful category workflows.
4. Calm Client experience: approvals and progress without operational noise.
5. Founder learning: honest observations from building with Designers.

14.2 Minimum viable publishing rhythm

• Two thoughtful LinkedIn posts per week.
• One Instagram carousel or visual workflow per week.
• Two or three short Instagram stories from current learning.
• One reusable operating template or case study per month.
• No channel is maintained solely to satisfy a posting calendar.

14.3 Evidence standard

Never invent usage, outcomes, endorsements or savings. Case studies distinguish prototype, pilot and live production evidence. Participant identity and Project information require permission.

14.4 Story architecture

Every substantial story should contain five parts:

1. The work: begin with the home, the Designer or a professional contribution.
2. The invisible complexity: reveal one decision, handoff or body of knowledge normally hidden from view.
3. The risk of disappearance: explain what becomes scattered, ambiguous or lost.
4. The Registry: show how the active record organizes the work and preserves the approved truth.
5. The invitation: offer one relevant action—read, reflect, start one Project, apply or request an introduction.

The work remains the protagonist. Product screens are evidence, not the entire story.

14.5 Editorial series

The initial content system should use repeatable series rather than disconnected posts:

• What the Registry remembers: one specification, drawing, warranty or decision and why it matters later.
• The invisible work: professional decisions and coordination behind an exceptional room or home.
• One Project, clearly organized: practical before-and-after operating examples.
• Provider handoffs: how complete information improves quoting, receiving, delivery or installation.
• Built with Designers: honest product learning from founding workflows.
• The completed Registry: curated, authorized stories showing how an active Project becomes a permanent record.

14.6 Platform-image use

Product imagery should demonstrate a single idea at a time. Screens are cropped around the relevant workflow, populated with realistic information and placed in generous space. Avoid device mockup clutter, walls of dashboard cards or unlabelled screens that require the viewer to interpret the product alone.

When a feature is planned or represented as a concept, the caption must say so. Private addresses, Client names, prices, messages and floor plans require explicit authorization or realistic synthetic replacement.

14.7 Founder voice

The founder voice should feel observant, thoughtful and close to the work. Appropriate language includes “we noticed,” “a Designer showed us,” “the current process requires,” “we are testing” and “here is what changed.” Avoid manufactured certainty, aggressive disruption language and claims that the company has solved behaviour it has not yet observed.

15. Website and Conversion System

15.1 Website job

The public website must create understanding before asking for signup. It should make three ideas clear:

1. A professionally designed home deserves a permanent Registry.
2. The Registry becomes useful while the Project is active.
3. Designers, Clients and Providers receive experiences appropriate to their role.

The website should feel like an editorial introduction to a new professional standard, not a dense software pricing page.

15.2 Primary journeys

Designer journey: belief → Designer value → active Project workflow → founding offer → signup/application.

Provider journey: belief → contribution to the Project story → category-specific operating value → standards → application.

Client journey: belief → confidence in a professionally coordinated home → Project and permanent Registry experience → inquiry or Designer relationship.

15.3 Conversion actions

Primary calls to action:

• Start your Registry for a qualifying Designer ready to organize one Project.
• Apply as a Provider for a professional business entering the qualified network.
• Explore the Registry for an audience still learning the category.
• Sign in for an existing participant.

The site should not show several equal calls to action in the same viewport. The page and audience context determine the single primary action.

15.4 Signup and application integration

Website submissions create or reconcile canonical Entities and Pipeline Records. Source, campaign, referral, market, audience, consent and form version persist through approval, Workspace provisioning and activation. Confirmation messages set accurate expectations and every notification is governed through the editable Notification Builder.

Google authentication must not be promoted as available until it works reliably in production. Email/password, password recovery, pending approval and invitation states must remain coherent.

15.5 Conversion quality

The website is measured by qualified conversations, completed applications, activated Projects and Provider workflows—not raw form submissions. Spam, duplicate and low-fit submissions are filtered without obscuring genuine access or creating discriminatory screening.

16. Campaign System

16.1 Launch narrative

The launch is not “new software for interior designers.” It introduces a belief and invites a small professional group to help establish the standard:

Years of design thinking should not disappear when the Project ends. The Design Registry gives that work a permanent place—and gives the people delivering it one clearer record while the Project is underway.

16.2 Founding Designer campaign

Audience: five to ten Ottawa-area independent Designers with live residential Projects and spreadsheet-heavy operations.

Offer: free core Workspace, hands-on organization of one active Project, first Provider invitation support and direct influence on the product.

Proof required: active Project, recurring weekly use and an external workflow—not a testimonial.

Creative system: one strong belief-led post, one operating example, one personal outreach message, one workflow conversation and one guided import.

16.3 Provider-by-Project campaign

This is triggered by active Project demand. The Designer invites an existing Provider to a specific action. The Registry explains the immediate workflow, professional standards and longer-term Workspace value. Broad Provider recruitment begins only where category coverage is genuinely required.

16.4 Referral campaign

Referrals are event-driven rather than calendar-driven. The message names the value event, requests one relevant introduction and protects the participant's reputation. Referral performance is measured by qualification and activation, not the number of names submitted.

16.5 Registry story campaign

Once authorized completed Projects exist, the company can publish editorial Registry stories. Each story credits the Designer and approved Providers, highlights the knowledge preserved and demonstrates the final record without exposing restricted residential information. These stories support reputation, organic discovery, Designer pride and Client understanding simultaneously.

17. Systems and Data

The Registry should run this plan in its own product wherever practical.

Required records:

• Designer acquisition Pipeline;
• outreach source and campaign;
• contact and Studio Entity;
• conversation and next Task;
• onboarding commitment;
• Project activation milestones;
• Provider invitation and attribution;
• referral relationship;
• experiment and message version; and
• cohort retention.

Website signup, LinkedIn, Instagram and manually sourced prospects must resolve to canonical Entities without duplicate records. Referral attribution follows the relationship into Workspace provisioning and the first Project.

18. Automation and AI

AI supports research and administration but must not create generic or deceptive outreach.

Appropriate uses:

• summarize public Studio context for human review;
• suggest a first-message draft grounded in verified details;
• classify conversation themes and objections;
• prepare call notes and next steps;
• identify stalled onboarding or activation;
• recommend the next relevant artifact;
• summarize cohort learning; and
• detect when a participant appears to have earned a referral ask.

Human requirements:

• verify every personalization claim;
• approve every first-contact message;
• prevent sensitive inference;
• respect channel terms and rate limits;
• stop outreach when requested; and
• never impersonate a personal relationship.

AI-generated marketing must follow the same editorial and evidence standards as human-authored work. It may not invent a Designer preference, describe a planned feature as released, imply a personal introduction that did not occur or publish Project information without authorization.

The useful AI loop is:

Verified public context + approved CRM history
→ draft or recommendation
→ human review and edit
→ channel delivery
→ response and activation outcome
→ governed learning

AI can help identify which operating problem appears most relevant to a Designer, but a human must confirm the inference before using it. It can recommend that a value event may justify a referral request, but the relationship owner decides whether the timing is appropriate.

Marketing AI is evaluated on factual accuracy, acceptance/edit rate, reply quality, negative feedback, activation contribution and privacy incidents—not the number of messages produced.

19. Budget and Spend Gates

19.1 Default budget

The initial cash budget is effectively zero beyond existing software, founder time and modest unavoidable meeting or production costs. High-touch migration is treated as product research and must be measured in hours.

19.2 Allowed early costs

• essential CRM or communication infrastructure already required by the product;
• low-cost scheduling or recording tools where needed;
• small working-session hospitality;
• basic design templates; and
• participant-approved case-study production when the proof is valuable.

19.3 Paid acquisition gate

A paid channel test requires:

1. two consecutive Designer cohorts meeting Project activation thresholds;
2. evidence of eight-week retention;
3. repeatable one-Project onboarding;
4. Provider invitations occurring without founder pressure;
5. clear source and activation attribution; and
6. a defined experiment with maximum spend, audience, message and stop rule.

Paid tests begin small and are judged on activated Projects—not leads or account creation.

20. Risks and Responses

21. Decision Rules

1. Choose activation quality over signup quantity.
2. Choose one live Project over a long feature demonstration.
3. Choose a real Provider invitation over a generic marketplace application.
4. Choose manual learning before automation.
5. Choose respectful specificity over outreach volume.
6. Choose participant value before referral requests.
7. Choose Project and cohort metrics over social metrics.
8. Choose retained usage before paid acquisition.
9. Choose local density before geographic breadth.
10. Choose transparent proof before polished claims.

22. Acceptance Criteria

This go-to-market system is operational when:

• [ ] The permanent-home promise leads public positioning and the Project-to-Registry explanation is consistent.
• [ ] Designer, Provider and Client journeys use the approved messaging hierarchy.
• [ ] The Designer target rubric is approved and used.
• [ ] LinkedIn and Instagram outreach is personalized and logged.
• [ ] Every prospect resolves to a canonical Studio or contact record.
• [ ] The one-Project founding offer is published and consistently explained.
• [ ] Onboarding produces a live Project, not an empty Workspace.
• [ ] Provider invitations originate from real Project context.
• [ ] Invitation attribution is preserved through Provider activation.
• [ ] Referral prompts occur only after configured value events.
• [ ] Weekly funnel and cohort reviews use the definitions in this plan.
• [ ] The Business Plan uses the same organic growth model and thresholds.
• [ ] Paid acquisition remains gated until activation and retention evidence exists.
• [ ] Marketing claims distinguish intended, pilot and proven product behaviour.
• [ ] Product images contain no unauthorized Client, Project or residential information.
• [ ] Website forms preserve source, referral, consent and application version through activation.
• [ ] Each Provider Category has an approved immediate-value message and first proof workflow.
• [ ] Every published case study credits authorized contributors and states the evidence level.

Appendix A — Weekly Scorecard

Appendix B — Campaign Naming

Use a simple attributable naming convention:

DR-[YEAR]-[CHANNEL]-[SEGMENT]-[MESSAGE]-[COHORT]

Example:

DR-2026-LI-EMERGING-STUDIO-ONE-PROJECT-C01

The campaign name follows the contact, conversation, onboarding, Project activation, Provider invitation and referral record.