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 device to proclaim the honoree’s story. The ancient Master Builder – the architektōn – made the story a prominent design feature of the temple to be admired by the masses, … [Read more...]
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 did it have? Or asked another way, how many stories did it have? We deal in stories all the time; we design multi-story buildings or single-story homes. This … [Read more...]
Is your architecture website hurting your firm?
Imagine you'll get hungry tomorrow while you're out and you decide to pick up some quick lunch. What would happen as you drove down the road if you didn’t see signs for McDonald’s or Chipotle—but instead only “Fast Food” or “Eat My Lunch?” Or let’s say you needed a new pair of shoes. What would you do if every shop in the mall had blacked-out windows, doors that opened backward, and a banner out front that read “Guess What’s Inside?” If businesses worked that way, we’d have a hard … [Read more...]
10 Rules for Building a Powerful Brand in Architecture
When Annmarie and I launched our architecture studio in 1999, we knew that we wanted to give our firm a unique identity. Every other firm in the region was named for their founders. Another “Smith and Smith Architects” was not what we wanted to be. (No offense to any Smith and Smiths out there.) Our plans were to create a firm unlike anyone else and we needed a name to separate us from the pack. After a few days of considering alternatives, the name Fivecat Studio consistently rose to the … [Read more...]
Architects Are All The Same
Clients see us as all the same. One architect is just like another. We are all expected to be wonderfully talented designers. We are expected to know the codes and technical details required to construct safe and healthy buildings. In the eyes of our clients, we are all the same… unless we do something to stand out from the crowd. My firm does it differently than the rest. One example is our pre-design process. Before we design, before we sketch our first line, we perform a process of … [Read more...]
How To Build a Powerful Brand in Architecture
When Annmarie and I launched Fivecat Studio in 1999, we knew that we wanted to give our firm a unique identity. Every other firm in the region was named for their founders. Another “Smith and Smith Architects” was not what we wanted to be. (No offense to any Smith and Smiths out there.) Our plans were to create a firm unlike anyone else and we needed a name to separate us from the pack. After a few days of considering alternatives, the name Fivecat Studio consistently rose to the top. Clearly … [Read more...]
Match Your Market To Communicate the Value of an Architect
How To Communicate the Value of an Architect I speak with or communicate online with small firm architects almost every day. I want to know with what members of our small firm community are struggling, so that we at EntreArchitect might develop resources to help you build a better business. I send an email to every new subscriber at our free weekly newsletter, EntreArchitect Report and ask the question, “With what do you struggle the most?” One of the most popular responses to my inquiry … [Read more...]
Emotional Marketing for Architects: House or Home?
This post is my contribution to an international blog series called #ArchiTalks. Each month, dozens of architect bloggers from around the world publish a post on a specific topic simultaneously on the same date. Scroll to the bottom for links to posts written by all of my #ArchiTalks friends. Emotional Marketing for Architects Our prospective clients learn with their heads, but decide with their hearts. After years of research and gathering information, often when a client chooses to … [Read more...]
How To Become Known as an Architect
It is an often repeated rule that people buy from those whom they “know, like and trust”. That phrase is easy to remember and sounds great as a tweet, but what does that really mean? How do we do that? How might we connect with more people and become better known? How is it possible to be more “likeable”? How do we build real trust with those whom we seek to serve? How To Become Known as an Architect In order to know more people and to have more people know us, we need to … [Read more...]
6 Critical Lessons From My First 24 Months in Business
This week, I am sharing a guest post by my friend Eric Reinholdt. Last fall Eric shared his thoughts on how architects should best be using Houzz. Today, in honor of his 2 year anniversary in business at 30X40, he shares 6 important lessons he's learned along the way. Eric has authored several books on architecture, his most recent is entitled, Architect and Entrepreneur: A Field Guide to Building, Branding, and Marketing Your Startup Design Business, which expands on his thoughts below and … [Read more...]
How To Turn Prospects into Projects
I just returned from a quick three-day trip to San Francisco, California. I was invited by architect Rosa Sheng, the co-chair of the Missing 32% Committee at AIASF, to present as a member of a panel discussing entrepreneurism in architecture at the Equity by Design Symposium. The symposium was a fantastic event. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to visit their website and follow them on Twitter. My partners on the panel were Maia Small and Frank Pitts. It was a very interesting … [Read more...]
Walking in the Shoes of Others
It is very important to put ourselves "in the shoes" of the people we serve. We all work to empathize with our clients. As architects, we try to reduce the overwhelm and stress that our clients experience during a construction project. Very often, it’s the first time they have experienced such an encompassing commitment. They are spending amounts of money saved throughout years and have expectations learned from often unrealistic sources. It is our job to bring it all together in a successful … [Read more...]