As Built

So you've decided to expand your geographical territories? It's a great opportunity for new business, but there's a lot more that goes into it than posting an announcement to your website. With businesses who already have the community's trust, and different cultures to think about, new regions aren't going to welcome your business with open arms. But with some work, and commitment an unexplored r...

There are a lot of options to chose from when it comes to publishing platforms for your firms project. In this episode hosts Patience and Brian Jones explain the pros and cons of print vs. digital publishing, and why reevaluating strategies is crucial to effectively showcase your firm's work. Highlights: Case study: Client project embargoed from publication. Importance of re-evaluating publishing...

Deceptive practices in architecture like greenwashing or care-washing where firms say one thing but do another can cause problems for a firms growth. Hosts Patience and Brian Jones explore its impact on growth, employee trust, and client relationships. In this episode, we discuss how to stay authentic and back up your statements with real actions. Plus, we explore how you can create genuine market...

Malcolm Reading, RIBA, Chairman of Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), talks with Brian Jones about architectural competitions. Based in London, MRC runs both open and invited international design competitions. The firm has worked with clients across the globe, including the V&A, Gallaudet University, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Houston Endowment, and the Royal Opera House. Malcolm shares...

In the latest installment of our Tech Stack series, we break down the latest LinkedIn updates and how they affect your post visuals. Learn practical workarounds to maintain impactful posts despite LinkedIn's shift in prioritizing internal content. Whether you're an avid LinkedIn user or just starting on the platform, this episode is packed with tips to keep your content engaging and effective.  Hi...

If you're thinking about attending or exhibiting a trade show, this is the episode for you. Inspired by Patience's recent visit to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, we build on what we've experienced - and done- at trade shows over the past decade. We discuss ways to ensure your firm stands out (in a good way) and makes meaningful connections. Highlights: Thinking about trade shows as...

You know that scene in almost every movie set in a creative firm, where someone just realized something is due and everyone runs around in a state of total panic while frenetic background music plays? That shouldn't be how your marketing works. We've been duped into believing that doing things frantically at the last minute is somehow a sign of success. It isn't. It's a symptom of a problem, and l...

One of the most important things your firm can be is discoverable: by prospects, employee candidates, search engines, and now, AI. With recent updates from Google, Apple, and others in the digital space, how artificial intelligence sees and understands who you are and what you do is becoming increasingly more important. In this episode, we discuss what the new "fourth audience" of AI means for how...

When you look around your social media feeds, do you see a lot of the same thing? How does this happen, why is it unhelpful for your firm, and how can you break out of the "also" rut? In this episode, we talk about social sameness: the phenomenon that results in one or two social personas being adopted as the way everyone shows up. While being the same as everyone else on social media can feel lik...

Your firm has an asset that's often overlooked: its intellectual property. Broadly, this means the things you know individually and collectively as a firm. This knowledge can be used to differentiate your firm from competitors, earn client trust, and even create new service lines. In this episode, we explain how to identify your firm's IP and put it to use. Highlights How to identify your firm's I...

Diane Hoskins, FAIA, NCARB is Global Co-Chair of Gensler, the largest architecture firm in the world by both revenue and number of architects. She also serves as the Global Chair of the Board of Directors for the Urban Land Institute and as Trustee for The MIT Corporation. Most recently, she co-authored the book Design for a Radically Changing World, which explores the role that design in shaping...

Reporting: You know you're supposed to do it, but you're not sure why or what to do with what you collect. As your firm grows, it will become more important for you to understand what marketing metrics you're measuring and how to make use of that data. In this episode of our Growth Challenges series, we explore setting up reporting that actually matters. Highlights Why reporting on everything is a...

Are you doing something that is preventing you from achieving the thing you say you want? If so, you're getting in your own way. In this episode, we explore the ways firm leaders can hinder progress toward goals, whether that's simply not taking action or actively creating obstacles. We talk about the roles that cognitive rigidity and anxiety play in getting in the way, and how to overcome or at l...

No, not the fatigue that comes with working on a seemingly unending project. In this episode, we're talking about the fatigue that your audiences feel when your firm talks about the same one or two projects to the exclusion of others. This can happen because a project has won awards, received press, or is a personal favorite. When a few projects consistently carry all of the marketing weight for t...

The word "consistency" can bring to mind drudgery and the removal of any creativity. This thinking, however, will limit your business growth. In this episode we explore why consistency in external communications is so important and what to do when being consistent seems impossible. We also refute the idea that consistency has to mean doing the same exact thing all the time – or more often than you...

Building your business is easier if you also build your personal network. Whether you're just starting out in your career or leading a firm, it's vital to make connections with new people. People in your network may end up being a source of new business, but the focus shouldn't be on selling - it should be on meeting people whose work you admire, who you find interesting, or with whom you share in...

In the latest edition of our "Tech Stack" series, we cover the technical aspects of image assets. Photos and video are arguably the most important assets your firm can have. What needs to be considered to make sure you end up with results that are usable for what you're trying to accomplish? Do you have what you need to effectively communicate about your project?   Highlights:   Composition isn't...

Fogarty Finger Co-Founding Principal Chris Fogarty, AIA, RIBA, talks with host Patience Jones about starting his own firm as he looks forward to celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Chris and Patience discuss his career beginnings at SOM, the experience of growing Fogarty Finger by almost double the headcount, and the firm's new project The Eliza, an innovative mixed-use development that co...

At some point, your business will reach a point where you can't figure out what to do by yourself. This could be the first day you open, at the one-year mark, or twenty years on. No matter when the realization hits you, the answer is to bring on advisors who can help you think through – and make better decisions about – various issues facing your firm. In this episode, we discuss what it takes to...

Brian and Patience discuss how architectural firms can venture into new sectors, geographies, or fields of operation where they lack experience but see business opportunities. They propose three ways to ensure successful expansion: Scale, Opportunity, and Relationships.  'Scale' involves starting with smaller scale projects, showing expertise in problem-solving, and then leveraging this to secure...

HOK Co-CEO and Design Principal Eli Hoisington, AIA, LEED AP, talks with host Brian Jones about his journey to co-CEO of a global architecture firm and how that impacted his view of leadership. Eli speaks generously and candidly about the challenges of balancing leadership and design and what an "interdisciplinary approach" really means to the firm. He also discusses how the firm embraced a global...

Internal communications channels have changed substantially over the past 20 years. We've gone from phone calls and intra-office memos to emails, texts, group messaging like Slack, internal e-newsletters, and video conferencing – not to mention tools like Google Docs and Workfront with ancillary messaging capabilities. Without guidance from firm leadership on which channel should be used for what,...

In this very dramatically named episode, we examine the lie we all want to believe: that marketing is something that you can set and then forget about if you can just find the right tools/agency/message. We look back at how we came to be sold this lie and how it's altered our views of what we have to do to have successful marketing. Most importantly, we identify the ways to get away from this dang...

Patience and Brian Jones discuss the issue of "too many meetings" in a firm or workplace setting. They emphasize the need to establish a balance in creating meetings that do not overburden the schedule or diminish work morale. They point out that excessive meetings can lead to a culture that inadvertently necessitates meetings for every scenario, including follow-up meetings and recapping meetings...

With apologies to Tina Turner and Schitt's Creek , in this episode we talk about the importance of focusing on what you do (simply the) best. This isn't about indulging yourself or finding your bliss; it's about identifying the thing that you could do in your sleep, the thing that causes people to search you out, and the thing that keeps them coming back. Once you've identified This Thing, marketi...