As Built

Patience and Brian Jones delve into the topic of website hosting, discussing its importance, features, and how it often gets overlooked due to its technical nature. They stress the vital role of a website as the first point of contact people have with a firm, and the importance of reliable web hosting in ensuring continued accessibility. They also advise listeners to analyze the backup process off...

In the latest installment of our checkup series, we cover what marketing and promotion items you need to collect at the time a project closes out. Yes, you can always collect them later, but you risk information not being able to be found or the people who worked on the project have forgotten or moved on. The assets you need are vital for your website, social media, and future RFPs. We walk throug...

"Thank God for me." - Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle Do you frequently feel like you're the only one who can do [fill in the blank]? Do you worry about what would happen if you weren't available? Do you loathe working in groups and suspect that no matter what people promise, they won't deliver? Congratulations! You probably have Lone Wolf Syndrome. In this episode, we di...

You've got so many great things to say about your firm - but are you saying them in a way that any of your prospects are listening or care? It's easy to slip into the mode of talking to the same small group of people without even realizing it. What we talk about and the way we say it has a direct effect on who - and how - people hear the message. Over time, you can inadvertently end up living in a...

The New Year can be a time of renewal, clean slates, and motivation. Frequently, though, it can also be a time of pressure to DO MORE! BE MORE! BE BETTER! It's hard to feel like you're doing enough when it seems like everyone around you has miraculously improved tenfold overnight. And for those who do set and achieve lofty goals, the pressure to sustain them for another 11.5 months can be overwhel...

In this episode, we're getting into the holiday season by thinking about that selfish green character who shall not be named lest we infringe on someone else's trademark. Is your marketing also selfish? Do you talk only about yourself and how accomplished you are? Is everything on your terms? Whether it ended up this way because you were short on time or didn't realize how the marketing was coming...

This isn't the episode about "leading a balanced life" (whatever that means to you). Instead, we're talking about whether your practice itself is balanced - what that means, how to assess your practice, and what to do if it's not in balance. We dive into the three aspects of a balanced practice: The Work, Marketing and Sales, and Firm Culture. When each one is taking up the time and effort it shou...

If you've ever lain awake at night worrying about your daily website traffic, this episode is for you. With so much data readily available, it's easy to become consumed with constant check-ins and worries about hourly shifts in performance. For B2B businesses with longer sales cycles, though, this can lead to bad business decisions made on faulty assumptions about future performance. There's a tim...

This episode kicks off the new "Checkup" series, where we discuss things that need, well, a checkup. Hosts Patience Jones and Brian Jones discuss how to maintain your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. While it would be nice if a CRM never had to be maintained and ran on autopilot, that is not (yet) the way things work. We discuss what needs to be checked on and how often, and how to k...

Brent Buck, Principal of Brent Buck Architects, talks with host Brian Jones about the evolution of his career from Project Architect at Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to founding his own firm and pushing the boundaries of architecture through design and material choices. He explains how the firm's work is driven by a desire to take on new problems that haven't been solved, and how this led t...

Most likely, everyone in your firm has opinions about marketing. These can range from "here are the 12 things I want the firm to do" to "everything you're doing is wrong." In this episode, we offer some tips on how to receive all of the input from … well, everyone about your firm's marketing - and how to respond to it in a way that is both compassionate and efficient. Highlights: "Everyone's a mar...

The term "marketing strategy" often gets a bad rap. Over the years, it's become dangerously synonymous with "busy work" or "pointless thing we don't want to do." In this episode, we discuss why firms need marketing strategies - and a straightforward way to create a marketing strategy that helps your firm reach its goals.  Highlights: Why trying to boil the ocean won't get you much What a marketing...

Patience Jones interviews Jonathan Marvel, FAIA, ASLA Affiliate, ANFA, the Founding Principal of Marvel Designs . As the firm celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and the recent opening of its new office in Barcelona, Jonathan shares his professional journey and the growth of the firm over years and continents. He stresses the importance of collaboration, both internally and with external pro...

Built into every marketing effort, it seems, is an inherent bias toward talking about yourself and your firm from your perspective: the challenges that you faced, the way that you overcame them, what you've achieved. This is natural - but there's a better approach that's rooted in talking about all of the same information from your client's perspective. In this episode we explore the marketing app...

In the life of any firm, there may come a time when one or more leaders decide to exit the firm for non-retirement reasons. They may give you a heads up, or they may announce one day that this is their last day at the firm. While it won't feel like it right then, this is a survivable event. Here's how to navigate your way through. Highlights: Friendly exits vs adversarial ones How to push through...

Just like your website or social media channels, video calls are another opportunity to strengthen your firm's brand. When multiple employees are on a call, does it feel like they all work for the same company, or is it every person for themselves? In this Tech Stack episode, we offer some tips to ensure your company's video calls reflect your brand - without thwarting individuality. Highlights: W...

In this episode, host Brian Jones talks with Paul Clayton, architect and principal at the Austin and San Antonio-based architecture firm Clayton Korte. Paul discusses the evolution of his career, including the decision he made to purchase the firm formerly known as Emily Little Architect and its evolution into Clayton Korte. He also shares what he's learned about mentoring and guiding employees in...

Adding a new partner to your architecture firm can be a great experience for internal staff and external partners and clients. Whether it's out of excitement or a rush to just have it done, though, there are opportunities for this milestone to go sideways. In this episode, we discuss what to keep in mind as you promote people from within the firm or bring in partners from outside.    Highlights: H...

Are e-newsletters a good use of your architecture or building firm resources? It seems like everyone's doing them, but is that enough of a reason to create them and push them out into the world? In this episode, we unpack the rationale behind e-newsletters and the ways to make them more engaging and more useful.  Highlights: Common types of e-newsletters within firms Is your e-newsletter just a di...

Congratulations! You've either acquired a firm, merged, or been acquired. What happens next? In this episode, Patience Jones and Brian Jones discuss the complexities of combining two different architecture firms. They highlight the challenges that come with the integration process, such as defining who is in charge, determining which projects to undertake, and deciding when to hire new people. The...

It's not even Halloween yet, and it's time again for holiday prep season. So, you don't end up with that "it's December 10 and we don't know what we're doing" feeling, we've got timelines and tips so you can delegate the holiday work.   Highlights: Why you shouldn't do something just because someone else is How to decide what holiday activities are right for your firm and budget What to do now so...

Almost every firm has at least one competitor - this is a normal part of business. Whether - and how - you consider that competitor when making business decisions can run the gamut from "I don't even know who my competitors are" to checking up on them every day. We're taught that we should keep an eye on the competition, but when does that cross over into something that isn't helpful? Is obsession...

Architect Carolyn Kiernat, AIA is a Principal of architecture, design, planning, and preservation firm Page & Turnbull. In her work, Carolyn strives to balance innovative new design with complex regulatory requirements for historic buildings. She has been both prime architect and preservation consultant on major adaptive reuse projects, and has been involved in such projects as the Walt Disney Fam...

Retirement, while not a significant issue for the person leaving, can present challenges for those remaining in the firm as it necessitates adjustments and changes. Brian and Patience delve into the different dimensions of managing retirements, from the financial to the administrative, and more significantly, the opportunities that such transitions bring, such as redefining the firm's direction or...

People make decisions by making comparisons. If you don't tell them how you want to be compared, they'll default to the one thing that they can easily understand: Price. Once your architecture firm is competing solely on price, it's a race to the bottom. As soon as someone else offers a lower price, you're stuck having to take even less to keep getting work. No one wins. The better course is to id...