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Help Everybody Everyday: New Approaches to Marketing for the A/E/C Industry
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Creating Content
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Written by Valerie Conyngham
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Let me guess, you work for an “award-winning interdisciplinary (or multidisciplinary) firm that partners with its clients to offer sustainable, leading edge designs which solve complex problems.” And you do this by offering “personal service using the collective wisdom of your collaborative staff in a team approach.”
It’s not that this description doesn’t sound great. The problem is it doesn’t mean anything. And if you argue that it does then I’ll counter with it doesn’t differentiate you from all the other firms that also think it means something.
Think back to when you took your first position in your first design firm (assuming you’re not a trained architect or other design professional that was already intimately familiar with the vernacular). Did you truly understand what your firm did and how it was different from all the other firms that surrounded it and claimed to be doing the same thing?
If you didn’t understand how your firm was different by reading the available materials (website, brochures, industry profiles, etc) than how are your prospective clients supposed to know what makes you different? An important reminder for us is that our prospective clients are not likely to be architects or know the language of architecture. They’re hiring us because they need our expertise.
Take a look at your marketing materials with fresh eyes and evaluate what the material is really trying to tell its audience. Do you use unique methods to provide innovative designs to your clients’ complex problems using a collaborative team approach or does your team of 3 designers spend a day on site with your clients before they begin designing a new space so that they can fully understand, and design a space that responds to, the clients’ challenges and goals? Which is clearer to you? Which do you think is clearest to your prospective clients?
There isn’t a secret formula for achieving clarity. All you need to do is write with your audience in mind and be transparent about your firm’s strengths. Don’t hide them in a sea of buzzword-laden text. Your prospective clients will thank you for your clarity by awarding you with their business. It sounds simple, but looking at the majority of design industry websites, instilling clarity through the written word remains a challenge.
Valerie Conyngham is the Marketing + Business Manager at The Cecil Group, an urban design and planning firm located in Boston, MA. She’s been helping companies develop and implement marketing strategies since 1997 and specializes in working with small businesses to help them develop marketing strategies that are sensitive to the budgetary and human capital constraints faced by many small firms.
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Management
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Written by U. N. Owen
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This post may seem a little off topic, but keep with me.
I've been driving now for 18 years. Not once have I been pulled over for speeding. Is that because I don't speed? No, I speed all the time. Is it because I'm lucky? Probably not. Do I simply outrun the fuzz in my Saturn? Heck no!
Then how have I eluded the police for so long? The answer relates not only to avoiding the cops, but also to marketing, business, and life. Here is the three step process that I used to solve this problem.
- Identify what the problem is
- Find a qualified individual who has solved this problem
- Do what they do
Sounds simple because it is. Back in high school I went up to and asked a local cop, "How do I avoid getting pulled over?"
He said, "It is simple, never be the fastest driver in sight."
So that's what I did for the last 17 years. I always drive slower than somebody I can see. Whether I'm driving 26, 58, or 72mph, there is always someone in my sights driving faster. Using this simple system, that problem has been solved, I don't have to worry or think about getting pulled over ever again.
Have a problem in marketing, business, or life? Guess what, somebody else has had this problem, solved it, and written the solution down. All you have to do is copy what they did. It is that simple.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This post was written by contributor U.N. Owen.
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Productivity
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Written by Matt Handal
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Problem: too many email accounts and too many email devices Solution:IMAP email Yes, the solution to too many email accounts is, ironically, setting up another email account. Typically, email accounts are POP accounts, which essentially means that email goes to a server and then you connect to it with your device and suck down the emails. The emails move from the server to your device. IMAP accounts work differently. Emails get sent to a server. When you connect your device, the IMAP account syncs your device with the server account. The emails stay on the server. So, when you delete an email on your phone it disappears from your desktop. Now every device shows the same emails. Popular imap accounts include MobileMe and Gmail. I forward all my emails to my MobileMe account and connect that account to my phone, desktops, and laptop. When I compose an email, I decide which account to send it from (home or work). This requires adding that account's SMTP settings to your email clients (Outlook, Mail.app, Thunderbird, etc.). Don't worry, it's not hard. Now you have all your email coming and going from one bucket. Thank you IMAP email.
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Career Development
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Written by Matt Handal
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I'm fascinated by the science of the mind. So when I saw this ten minute video about what motivates workers, I felt compelled to share it. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
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Marketing 101
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Written by Matt Handal
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As you may have read in my what you don't know about marketing piece, human behavior is somewhat predictable. Newspaper editors and advertisers have known this for years. That's why they often keep a list of headline formulas that they know will attract readers. In the business, this list is called a "swipe file." A swipe file is a marketing tool that I find quite valuable and you will too. These time-tested formulas have worked for decades and can be tailored to your specific business or message. Once you get familiar with these headline formulas, you'll start to notice they are used incessantly on sites like Digg.com where users rely heavily on headlines to attract visitors. You will also find them in just about every magazine you read. Let's look at one headline formula, from Copy Blogger and apply it to our industry. Now You Can Have [something desirable] [great circumstance] The is the classic “have your cake and eat it too” headline — and who doesn’t like that? Now how would an architect use this? Now You Can Have LEED Certification and Reduce Your Construction Budget How about a construction attorney (I know some of them read this site)? Now You Can Have an Air Tight Construction Contract and Avoid Disputes How about a specialty designer? Now You Can Have A Cost Conscious Lab Design and Attract the Best Researchers How about a marketing consultant? Now You Can Have Winning Proposals and Reduce Your Marketing Budget Do I need to go on? Now You Can Put Your Newborn to Bed and Get a Full Nights Sleep. Copy Blogger has a whole series of pieces on writing headlines that will attract readers. I suggest you check it out. What do you think of swipe files? Leave a comment and let us know
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Tim Klabunde
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cofebuz
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| Building Business though Networking: a New Way of Thinking about Relationships |
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