EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects

EntreArchitect provides information and resources for the business of architecture and inspires your success as a small firm entrepreneur architect.

EntreArchitect Blog Update & Call for Contributions

Having been an active member of the EntreArchitect community for the past 8-10 years or so, I am honored to take a larger role in the community, helping Mark manage the EntreArchitect blog. I’ll be taking over the weekly management of this space, soliciting content, acting as editor, and occasionally writing posts as well. Trained […]

Three Steps for Marketing Your Architecture Firm

At Archmark Architect Branding & Marketing, we’ve seen architecture firms struggle to implement effective marketing strategies that help them get in front of better prospects so they can win better projects. Historically, architecture firm marketing has relied heavily on word-of-mouth referrals. This passive approach is what we call “Hope Marketing.” Essentially, you’re not marketing at […]

Architects’ Claim to Storyteller Status

In the first article of this series, Architects as Storytellers we looked at the possible historical and etymological origins for why we call the levels of a building “stories.” The main idea is that the frieze of an ancient Greek temple often featured sculpted scenes honoring a god or goddess. The frieze was a narrative […]

Alexa In Architecture

Alexa is the way we will deal with our lives. Amazon is replacing much of our decisions with answers – with Alexa. Either architects are present in the mix of cultural awareness, or Alexa, who is the child of unavoidable Artificial Intelligence, will replace architects for all but those seeking the artisanal in architecture. This […]

Why Your Architecture Practice Website Matters
Now—More Than Ever

Last year I studied 163 architecture websites (crazy, I know!). I studied them because I was tired of hearing architects say: “My website doesn’t matter… I get all my projects from referrals or word-of-mouth”. But in today’s Google-driven, economic-uncertain, pandemic-plagued world, nothing could be further from the truth. Architecture practice websites do matter. Your practice […]

Architects as Storytellers

My fellow architects, you may not know it, but you have a rightful claim to the status of storyteller. Your professional roots of designing and constructing buildings are deeply connected to language, communication, and to storytelling in profound ways. Let me ask you a question: The last building project you completed – how many floors […]

Contract Documents
for Small Firm Architects

You may have built your brand, perfected your marketing, developed a strong reputation, executed a flawless sales process, and have received your prospective client’s eager authorization to proceed with a new project. You’ve done everything right up to this point, but to make this new relationship official, you need to complete one final important step. […]

The Problem with ‘Hope Marketing’ and What to Do Instead

Working with many architecture firms over the past several years our agency, Archmark Architect Branding & Marketing, has been approached by many architects who have struggled to establish a consistent, repeatable, and reliable process to attract new clients and projects. The challenge for many firm owners is that they rely too heavily on passive new […]

The Gift of Crisis

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought me back to the last time I experienced something seismic like this: the 2008 financial crisis. It was frightening, it tested me, and ultimately it made me and my work better. Fear, uncertainty, and a kind of creative energy all seem to go together in times like […]

Advantages of Remote Hiring and Onboarding for Architects

Our first experience with remote hiring was March 18, 2020 – the first day the firm started working from home. CO Architects is fortunate that our workload increased throughout 2020, so we had to adapt quickly to recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and integrating new staff virtually. We’ve hired and onboarded 25 new employees since March 2020, […]

A Case for the Sole Practitioner Architect Business Model

There has never been a better time for architects to practice independently.  Computers, the Internet, and cell phones all foster an easier way of practicing remotely.  Yet to many architects, the thought of working alone, doing most (if not all) of the tasks on a project seems daunting, unprofitable, menial. However, the Sole Practice business […]