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BuildingNUT
Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 6
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 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:33 am Post subject: |
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Almost forgot....
While networking... don't just talk about architecture! I never even bring it up... I may say my profession during converstaion, but I leave it at that.
Make real conversation... get to know them, and learn their business!
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www.buildingNUT.com |
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RSCarcht
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Posts: 114
Location: USA: RI, CT, NY, MA, FL
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| Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:30 am Post subject: New Firm Marketing |
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In general I think it it is a huge mistake to start a firm before you have clients asking you to break out on your own. "Word of mouth" and "completed project" marketing both depand a good deal of pre-existing experience and a body of work. Don't jump ship until you see the island you are going to swim to.
Checkpoint43 seems to be flogging his service for which I am sure he will seek a fee. This may work for his business model but probably not for yours. Anyone who puts up a house (the most important investment they ever make) from a store-bought plan is destined for problems. It is like investing based on astrological readings found in the back of a magazine! But if you want to take advice from someone who has a "Southpark" figure as an avatar, then best of luck! This is a forum for the exchange of ideas not a pin-up board to sell service for free.
Design should be tailored to the site, orientation to the sun, the local climate and the neighborhood. This is what makes a house attractive (and therefore valuable) and energy efficient (and therefore economic to own). Buying a plan off the shelf will save the owner $10,000 in the beginning but will cost them $100,000 in the long term. That is my idea of a poor investment!
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Ross Sinclair Cann, AIA APA
http://www.a4arch.com |
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Checkpoint43
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
Location: Lexington, VA
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| Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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It's always a good idea to display your work.
RSCarcht has some beautiful homes on his web site.
I don't understand the resistance then.
You pay GoDaddy to host you, and their avatar is a cartoon head with orange hair and green glasses.
But to put down your excellent work, based on what your host uses as a logo is outrageous.
The point I've tried to make is simply that you have a better chance for people - potential customers - to see what you have to offer, when you aren't hidden away from them on some GoDaddy web page.
You have a much better presence by showing off your work where your customers are.
If you were a candy bar maker, I would tell you to put your products in supermarket aisles, down low where kids would see and want them.
Why believe so strongly that www.yummycandybars.com would bring you business?
That would be a poor investment. |
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trilitica
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 122
Location: Bucharest, Romania
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:33 am Post subject: I was in the same situation |
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When I've started my own firm I did:
1. An website focused on house-design (It was a niche on that time in my country)
2. I've quickly completed my Portfolio starting designing a series of type-design houses: series of small houses best suited for small plots of land. They were 9 projects wich are still for sale
3. I've started to write articles, but not for architects, but for people that would like to build their own house. The best ever article that I wrote was "The secret to build a cheap house". This article just sold me real good. The secrets were not to use cheap materials, but to realistic evaluate your needs and most important of all, to get a good design for the house, to control the costs.
4. I've participated to a related Trade Fair - a Real Estate Fair, presenting my type projects.
After that, I was slowlly growing all of those years.
_________________
Octavian Ungureanu,
architect
TRILITICA FRAME
Architecture & Engineering
Bucharest, Romania
www.trilitica.ro - in Romanian
www.building-design.ro - in English |
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Checkpoint43
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
Location: Lexington, VA
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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trilitica has the right idea.
There is nothing wrong with showing off your work.
By showing several examples in a portfolio, you give your customer an idea of your level of skill and talent, without talking him to death.
Constantly saying "I'm the best" without offering proof would make anyone suspicious of your business.
That only works for politicians.
I believe that a web site is a good tool. You can use it to show your past projects, current work, or even speculative homes.
But have you also noticed how you needed some outside means to draw people to your web site? Just as trilitica has done?
Maybe your web address is on your business card you hand out when you knock on doors and meet people face to face?
Maybe you included it in the articles you wrote and submitted to (I'm guessing) the local paper or a trade magazine?
Maybe you noted it in the fliers you passed out during a trade show?
But remember, just the act of putting together a web site will not automatically bring you business.
Suddenly, you need to advertise your web site as well as your business.
Why?
Because a web site doesn't go out and get customers for you.
A web site can be compared to a single book in an enormous library.
There it sits on the shelf, collecting dust. Nobody reads it when they don't know it's there.
No one sees the colorful illustrations or fancy font.
No one gets to experience the wonderful story hidden within its pages.
No one can see what a good author you are.
Unless you somehow find a way to market the book or yourself.
Make yourself known. Promote your book with a public appearance. Have a meet and greet. Do a book signing.
Walk up and down the street sandwiched between 2 cardboard signs that say "I wrote a book, and it's in the library right now!"
Don't forget to ring a bell. "Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Read-ith my book!"
Kind of silly, isn't it?
But once you let people know you're there, then word of mouth keeps the ball rolling and spreads the message that you started.
Most new authors would put their work on display...in front of people who like to read books...
Hmmm...
This kind of sounds like what I've been saying about promoting your architectural business.
Good luck!
Checkpoint43 |
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trilitica
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 122
Location: Bucharest, Romania
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:45 am Post subject: |
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Oh yeah!
people doesn't look for architects online, but to informations about how they should solve their problem. In our case, it is how or what to do to make a house.
Actually the articles where free for republish no matter if online or on printed media, our single demand was to be mentioned the our website. So when you will google my name, tens, maybe hundreds of websites mentioned it.
If they find very usefull informations about their problems, they will call you. When we are going to be as celebs as Kool Remhaas is, we wouldn't need such kind of promotions, the results will talk for us, but till them...
Anyway, using the marketing tools that I've told you, we managed to develop enough to be one of the most important architectural studios in our country. We've allready finnished our first large and complex project, consolidated a design team of both architects and engineers and have valuable experience.
_________________
Octavian Ungureanu,
architect
TRILITICA FRAME
Architecture & Engineering
Bucharest, Romania
www.trilitica.ro - in Romanian
www.building-design.ro - in English |
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jwverde
Joined: 19 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:42 am Post subject: |
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The best resource for advertising I've found is word of mouth. Clients will come to you because they have heard about your product & want a similar design. This takes time of course to build up your references.
Hitting the streets & marketing yourself in the different trades is essential. When I first started practicing, I would find several leads through my builder friends & associates in the construction industry. These were often small jobs. However, one house I designed ended up bringing in several new leads. The fee was fairly small, but this was not a problem in the overall scope of things. Sacrifices must be considered.
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Joel Westervelt AIA
www.joelwesterveltarchitect.com |
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trilitica
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 122
Location: Bucharest, Romania
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| Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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jwverde is right.
Anyway, the Internet is a huge opportunity and shouldn't be missed for any reason.
Most important is that people usually doesn't know what we are doing as architects. Actually, as I used to read many of the topics of this forum, we don't know exactly what services we provide.
But we provide valuable services mostly unknown even to our prospective clients. That's why people is searching for constructors, for building materials, or for real estate and very rarely for architects. but most of the time their need isn't exactly for constructors or building materials, but for architects.
As long as our services' value isn't well known for the great public and networking is a beg for projects to constructors or other professionals, we really have to promote the value of our services. Well, the Internet is the most proper place in the world for this.
Architects can give maybe the best advices for everyone who wants to build, but rarely the architects are demanded for advices. When people understand this value and the level of expertise of architects, they are just changeing their minds and start going for an architect who will finally leads them to a constructor.
_________________
Octavian Ungureanu,
architect
TRILITICA FRAME
Architecture & Engineering
Bucharest, Romania
www.trilitica.ro - in Romanian
www.building-design.ro - in English |
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Checkpoint43
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
Location: Lexington, VA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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Good point, trilitica.
The general public relies on building contractors for advice.
That's why architects have to promote their services to building contractors.
And where can you find building contractors?
Usually you can find them purchasing building materials in building supply stores.
I'm advising you, as architects, to advertise your business in building supply stores.
Get the attention of building contractors. Make a connection with them.
They will carry your name forward from that starting point.
They can offer word of mouth, but you have to get their attention first.
Checkpoint43
www.checkpointplans.com |
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mr_minimal
Joined: 26 Oct 2008
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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"Ask yourselves if this is just a big advertisement in itself for selling plans on consignment. My projects (currently 5 just under my direct supervision) are no smaller than $1.5 million dollar construction budgets. I've been doing this for over 12 years. No Architect sells plans in a Home Depot/Lowes/BillyBobs Hardware Store...sorry. At least not the serious ones. If you want to be pidgeonholed working on small nickel and dime projects,...then www.checkpoint.com will be glad to stick your predrawn, prefab, dime-a-dozen floor plan "blueprints" in between the other 300 floor plans of badly layed out residential designs. Caveat Emptor.... "
Stop sugar coating it. Tell us what you really think. lol
mr_minimal |
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Checkpoint43
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
Location: Lexington, VA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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lol mr_minimal,
When mx2 voiced his skepticism on Sep 3rd, he forgot the sugar coating.
Since then, I've attracted another architect, and I'm advertising samples of his work in my display.
www.larryshomedesigns does some beautiful log cabin design. Builders in the area were anticipating his arrival, thanks to my introduction.
I can do the same for architects across the US. I have advertising space available.
Visit my web site for information.
www.checkpointplans.com |
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mr_minimal
Joined: 26 Oct 2008
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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I think what he's suggesting is that your confusing architecture with
mere construction. Standard home plans that are mass produced
are generally well...... standard.....average.......middle of road
This is not to say that real architecture...artful, even poetic construction
cant be prefabricated. It can ..and has been, its just not the stuff on your site...If you do have architects signed up thats great... I'm sure youll do well as the main stream has limited taste...taste being defined as the
assimilation of education and experience. broadly speaking the main stream doesnt really give a damn....they are to involved in American Idol to think about such things as their living environment.
This is not meant to be rude, but I think sometimes the truth hurts...or would you rather I say...wow ....really cool designs. |
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Checkpoint43
Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
Location: Lexington, VA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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All I'm saying is that the general public has been convinced that buying stock plans is the way to go, because it has been made so convenient for them.
To try and change their mind is nearly impossible. They like that convenience, leaving real architects out in the cold.
My solution is to make it even MORE convenient, by putting the work of local architects at their fingertips.
This introduces the customer with the architect, and puts the home plan business back into the hands of architects.
I'm actually rowing WITH the current instead of AGAINST it. Then carefully steering them into a true architect-customer relationship.
We don't sell plans. We sell Architects.
hmmm. Maybe I should make that my catch phrase. What do you think?
Checkpoint43 |
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mr_minimal
Joined: 26 Oct 2008
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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I like it.
Its a fascinating subject. You really get what you pay for. An architect designed home is one of a kind-completely suited to the users needs-usually beautifully sited-with a sublime palette of materials..if done by a real pro..It can even be poetic.
It can cost less as well......the general public impression is that it will cost more but a custom solution can do more with less space...which is where the saving is.
So I get what your doing..and I applaud it. Its just that the bar needs to be raised.
Your saying the general public doesnt want that...and i respectfully almost disagree....modernism is in...even in republican Iowa.
Theres a new generation,they cant afford a mcmansion and they dont want grandpas house. You need a cooler line of homes with cooler packaging. |
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