Remove Foot from Mouth
I wanted to share one of my wife's favorite stories about me from architecture school. It actually turned out to be one of my classmates' favorites as well - at my expense unfortunately.I was in Professional Practice, the class that was supposed to expose us to life...
The Taste Test for Your AEC Firm
I had another blog post in the works when a friend shared this great piece on their Facebook wall.The Essence of Pleasure by Jonah LehrerI couldn't help but scrap my other post (or at least put it on hold) to jump on this topic for a few moments. The Essence of...
Repositioning Your Firm – Without Changing A Thing
Tonight, as my family and I ate dinner on the deck, I noticed our bottle of OFF! on the table. Aside from the usual "special formula" and "family-safe" marketing copy, one thing that really stood out were the words "WEST NILE VIRUS" in all caps. We actually bought the...
Why Your Architecture Firm Shouldn’t Start A Blog
As I logged in tonight to work on a blog post, I took a quick peek at a few other blogs I follow, or at least read off and on. While looking at the dates of the last few blog posts, I realized most of them hadn't been updated in months.The discovery lead me to wonder...
Are We Diversifying or Just Chasing Everything?
I've never really been a huge fan of the word diversifying. As an in-house marketer, it meant something totally different than say...an investor.The concept behind diversifying is to prevent significant losses if one stream of income dries up. Who wouldn't like that?...
Everything I need to know about marketing, I learned from being a dad
While I do love working in the AEC industry, there isn't anything I love more than my family. I'm the father of two little ones, both under five years old, and they keep our house buzzing. My wife and I are constantly trying to figure out creative ways to get them to...
Social Media Lies: “Social Media Is Here To Stay”
A Guest Post By: Matt HandalOne of the lies you will hear about social media is "social media is here to stay." if you consider what people are actually talking about when they say "social media," (as explained in my Definition of Social Media post) the statement is...
Who cares about your website if you are just THAT good?
It's a fantastic time for John Hillman, the 2010 ENR Award of Excellence winner. His patented Hybrid Composite Beam finally hit a big wave of industry coverage and attention - earned media - which is beyond comparison with regards to gaining credibility from potential...
Does Your Website Have A “Select Clients” List?
The "Select Clients" list is a pretty common phenomenon when it comes to AEC firm websites. The conversation internally usually revolves around a few key points:1. We want to include all of our big clients on our site...2. But wait, we don't want to include ALL of our...
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know Mr. Marketing Guy
If you ask the average AEC firm partner, they'll say they know their audience. They'll also say they know their capabilities, they know the contacts, they know the market, etc. These are very true statements for the most part.Well, why then, do people hire marketing...
Three Types of Internal Marketing Your Firm Should Be Doing
There are plenty of articles and webinars on how to make your entire firm into sales people. The thought behind many of these courses is that the more people that are selling on behalf of the firm, or at least reaching out, the more new projects your AEC firm will...
But I’m Just A Part of the Choir
I really enjoy receiving my issue of SMPS' Marketer in the mail. I read it more regularly than most publications I receive, to be quite honest. In each issue, there is usually at least one article that excites me or makes me feel like blogging. This time was no...