Marketing and publicity 2.0 for architects: getting started

7/31/2019 Marketing and publicity 2.0 for architects: getting started

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STORYWISESTRATEGY & COMMUNICATIONS 2.0

RETHINK & REBUILD IN LIGHT OF THE SOCIAL WEB

PUBLICITY FOR ARCHITECTSGETTING STARTED: 2.0 STYLE

This is the presentation from my guest lecture at the Willem deKooning Academy of Art & Design, Rotterdam - with notes addedfrom the questions and comments.

Thank you to Marta Gonzlez Antn, Master Interior Architecture& Retail Design Professional Practice course leader 2012-2013,and all the participants. It was a genuine pleasure! Good luck.


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About

8th October 2012 | Willem de KooningAcademy Rotterdam for Advanced Art &

Design, Rotterdam

Professional Practice Guest Lecture MasterInterior Architecture & Retail Design: PublicityCourse

Steve Seager, Managing partner, strategy &communications 2.0 at Storywise.biz

Steve is a strategic

communications, marketing &PR 2.0 professional and owner

of Storywise.biz in Amsterdam.

Over the past 20 years Steve

has worked across industries,

Europe and the Middle East ina variety of strategic and

operational strategiccommunication roles.

Storywise advises companies

and organisations on strategyand communications for the

social web.

Marketing & publicity 2.0

style should start simple.

Content is the currency of thesocial web. Publishing content,

promoting it & connectingthrough it is the key.

Focus on the core content youalready have. Create a blog.

Publish. Share with yournetwork from there. Add a

little promotion for biggerprojects or exhibitions.

Scale out over time: you arewhat you publish!


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Archined In the past you could find 100 live jobs. Job postings today

down to 10-12. Sign o the times, Im afraid. So who does the hiring?

Business managers (or HR) are looking for clean, well

presented, intelligent solutions (ideally: from problem to added

value)

Lead architects looking mainly at quality of your solutionsBoth looking for fit with organisation first & foremost: Learn/

work opportunity? Take it!

Employers start their hunt from the inside-out These people look first within their networks. Your end goal

should be to join your network to theirs - and get your CV/

portfolio on their desk.

Got friends & colleagues?

Start with your own network. Do it now! Connect where/how you

can, get references. Build out from there.

Plus, attend the lectures that Architects & practices attend.

Remember: one smart question will get you noticed!

Introduction

Times are tough for all Architects.Where should you start? I started by

speaking with business managers,freelance architects & practiceswithin my own network. Herestheir take ...


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1. To position yourself

Let people know who you are - your particular

skills and expertise. Carve your niche.

2. Communicate your

value ...

... to the hirers practice or project: show how

you work. Show them the value you can bringto the team.

And eventually ... find the right employer.

Why publicity?

Keep it simple, sweet & to the point. These people

are looking flexible, responsive team members. Theyhave a lot of CVs and portfolios to go through. And

they have to make their decisions quickly.


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Marketing yourself can seem complicated today

So many channels, so manytools & buzzwords.

Gulp!

So where should you start?


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1. INFRASTRUCTUREStarting from your blog, add core

channels one by one

5. CONTENTPublish valuable content that

architects find valuable, share &

talk about

4. MONITORING &

MEASURINGTrack the results. Its reassuring

to see progress over time. Keeps

you sane.

2. SEARCH ENGINEOPTIMISATION

Optimise for the keywords (yourname + interior architect) that

will get you found

3. WEB 2.0 TOOLSMake it easy for people to share

your content. Like you and

follow you.

But theres only 5 building blocks


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1. Infrastructure:what channels do you need?

Keep it simple

Forget a big website. Start with a blog.Wordpress + a bit of design is

the easiest way to get started. Wordpress means you can design it yourself.

(Lots of free themes to work from - search for wordpress themes) Adding a

page = simple.

Its easy to use. After initial setup no ongoing costs. No IT support needed.

(Thats why its so much easier than a website!) Easy to post. Easy to

optimise (hence, no Flash! Use a JQuery slider/ HTML5) Easy to update.

Lots of widgets available for free.

Then add accounts - one by one, as you have time

Add a Scribd account (Scribd is to pdfs what Youtube is to Video). Convert

your ppts to pdfs. Add them there.

Create a Facebook page (You know Facebook already!) Share your stuff there.

Got video? Create a vimeo channel (much more creative/hip than Youtube)

Lots of photos? Add Flickr. Curate and share images on Pinterest!

Add a slideshare account (Slideshare is to powerpoints what Youtube is tovideo) - so add your ppts there.

Create an Architizer profile! And of course, a LinkedIn profile!

Twitter? Lots of work, little results unless youre setting up your own practice.

Think of your blog as your contenthub. Its your home - and the

central place from which to publishand publicise. Make sure you use theterm Interior Architect in all your

channel profiles


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2. Search engine optimisation (SEO)

Do two things!

I did a search for interior architect on Google.nl . This is the

results over on the right. Shanaz Razik is on the first page.

Smart. Why? Hardly anyone else has optimised!

What to do:

Add a Title Tag to your blog. Thats a bit of text that

you can write = Your name + Interior architect retail

If you do that, andpublish content regularly on your blog , youhave a good chance of getting high up too. Certainly, when

anyoone searched for your name, all your channels we just

mentioned will show.

Add a Meta description. Thats the text underneath tha

appears in Google search results. It says what you do and

persuades people to click!

All you have to do is write both of then = half hour? And givethem to your web person.


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3. 2.0 share tools: add digg digg to your blog

Its simple. Takes two minutes. Itlooks like that over on the right. It

sits under every blog post.

Dont know how? Ask a geek who does. Its a plugin and

takes about 10 minutes.

Now, when people look at your pic of your project / concept

and say: Ooh! Thats nice ... They can share it with their

networks!


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4. Get gmail. Install analytics

Again. its simple. It looks like thatover on the right.

Dont know how? Again, ask a geek who does. Its a plugin

and takes about 10 minutes. Plus it keeps you sane when you

are wondering if anyone is checking out your stuff.

Dont bother about the full analytics just focus on visits and

time on site. That way you can track progress.

Focu

sthe

re!The

more

visit

s,the

bette

r.The

more

timeon

site,t

hebette

r.


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Promote it! Build your

network.

Once you have written you blog post, you should get busy promoting it! Its

always good to start with your existing network.

Linkedin: Update your status with a link to your post. Add a snappy

description to make them click! Add a personal comment. Post your article in

a relevant Linkedin Group as a discussion. Make your headline a question.

Ask for a reaction.

Facebook: If youve created a facebook page, then also add a link to your

post there. Maybe your article is special enough to share with your friends

too?

Email: Drop your network a personal email to let them know you have

published. Dont forget to add your blog URL to your email signature!

Related blog post for more informationhttp://www.michielgaasterland.com/blogging/shameless-blog-promotion-ritual/

Publicity: Every time you publish a post ...


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... the first results they see

will be the profiles of allyour channels and the

content that you have

posted.

By following these steps you will

increase your visibility, and firmlyposition yourself as not only an

Interior Architect, but also one who

knows the importance of marketing

& publicity. Thats a great start.

Excluding the design of your blog,

you can expect to take around 40

hours to set things up. Each post you

post will take around 1 hour.

Promoting each post takes around 1hour. One post a week is a great

place to start until you get into the

swing.

Done all that? Now, when someone Googles you ...

Short of content one week? Grab an image you like -dont like. Critique it! Explain why. Now share it inyour network.


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PUBLISHMOREOFWHA

TWORKS!

3. SHARE/SYNDICATEIN YOUR SOCIAL

CHANNELS

4. BIG PROJECT?OR EXHIBITION?

PUBLICISE WITH AFREE PRESS RELEASEWHE N APPROPRIATE

6. MONITORPROGRESS INANALY TICS

1. PUBLISHOPTIMISED CONTENT

IN YOUR BLOG

2. REPURPOSE/REPUBLISH WHEN

APPROPRIA TE

5. ENGAGE VISITORSIN CONVERSATIONBACK IN THE BLOG

How it all fits together ...

YOUR

BLOG

YOUR

BLOG


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http://www.fase13.nl/

http://www.landscapeisleading.com

http://www.groupalive.com/

Examples of clean, simple, effective blogs


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THANKYOU!Go Create, Publish, Promote & Connect!

Documents

Marketing and publicity 2.0 for architects: getting started