Marketing calendar tools: not super exciting, but super necessary. In the newest Tech Stack episode, we explain how these tools work, why you need them, and how to choose the best one for your firm.

Highlights:

• What marketing calendar tools do
• Why your firm needs one
• How to identify your firm’s calendaring needs
• How to choose the best marketing calendar tool for your firm

Episode Resources:
Marketing calendar resources
(These are not endorsements, just a few options to kick-start your research and evaluation process)

• Free templates from SmartSheet
• Free templates from HubSpot
• DivvyHQ
• Trello
• CoSchedule
• Planable
• Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones
• https://graphicmachine.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Are all of your marketing efforts stuck in an eternal feedback loop? If you’re constantly revising based on new opinions and can’t get anything out the door, the answer is, “Yes.” Iterative processes have their place, but there comes a time when your marketing can’t do anything for you because nothing can get final approval. When your marketing flow starts to look like an M.C. Escher drawing, it’s time to break out of the eternal feedback loop.

Highlights:

• Why the pursuit of elusive perfection is your enemy
• How knowing something can be changed can keep it from being finalized
• The downside of creativity: nothing is ever “done”
• How to get out of the feedback loop and marketing efforts reflect priorities
• Remembering your marketing output is not your legacy

Episode Resources:

• Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones
• https://graphicmachine.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Preparing RFP responses can feel like all you're doing is working off of someone else's checklist. In truth, RFP responses can be great opportunities for educating prospective clients about your firm's strengths. The key is to use details in every response to focus the readers on what's important. This turns RFPs into a marketing tool for the immediate project - as well as future projects from the same clients. Opportunities are in the details, and details create opportunities.

Highlights:

• The importance of closing the loop for RFP reviewers
• Focusing on what makes your firm uniquely qualified to do the project
• How architecture firms are like Moleskine notebooks
• Why you can't rely on people looking at your website
• Making the RFP a self-contained document
• How to ensure your RFP response is effective no matter the prescribed format

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://graphicmachine.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Does your firm have that One Great Image that gets used everywhere? In this episode, we unpack the limitations of relying solely on static images in architectural marketing. Learn why embracing video, diverse visuals, and storytelling can set your firm apart.

Highlights:

• How the way people consume information has changed
• The struggle for differentiation
• Why "perfection" is truly your enemy
• Where single images fall down
• The importance of telling the whole project story
• The need to prioritize image creation and collection

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

All of the marketing skills in the world won’t matter much if you don’t have the most important ingredient: curiosity. Being interested in how people think, behave, and make decisions is what helps you identify how, when, and where you need to present information. In this episode, we discuss what it looks like to be curious in your marketing and how to cultivate curiosity.

Highlights:

• What curiosity does for your marketing
• How to channel the curiosity already present in design work into marketing
• Cultivating curiosity as a firm differentiator
• How to go from not-at-all-curious to at least somewhat curious

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Do you find yourself discounting ideas or data because you don't believe something works, it's not how you use the internet, or you've just never "liked" a particular thing? This is how bias works, and it can harm your marketing and your firm growth. In this episode, we discuss how to be aware of these biases and make more informed decisions.

Highlights:

• Biases in data interpretation
• Clarifying the value of data points
• The importance of asking "so what"?
• Why it's important to identify goals before you identify tools

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Don Semple, AIA, Partner at Chicago-based architecture firm Krueck Sexton Partners, talks with Brian Jones about the role of technology in design and in the architecture profession. Don also discusses the evolution of his career and the approach Krueck Sexton Partners takes to discovering a project’s hidden potential. With a project portfolio that includes the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning & Leadership, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, and the Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building, Don shares his design inspirations and the educational experiences that have shaped his career to date.

Highlights:

• What it’s really like to make the transition from architect to partner
• Technology’s role in evolving building and drawing methods
• Mentorship and fostering growth in multi-generational firms
• Design’s role in climate change mitigation
• The future promise of AI in architecture

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/

Connect with Don Semple, AIA

• https://ks.partners/people/don-semple/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-semple-aia-5596429/

Images showcase the amazing work your firm does, but using the wrong format or size can cause issues for your website – and the people visiting it. So how do you fix that? In this episode, we talk tips on balancing aesthetics and practicality to make your firm’s projects stand out.

Highlights:

• Oversized project images on architecture firm websites.
• User frustration with giant images.
• The need for dynamic imagery, including video.
• Importance of optimized image sizes for load time.
• Challenging the default “above the fold” design strategy.

Episode Resources:

Connect with Brian Jones and Patience Jones

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-jones-graphicmachine/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/patiencejones/