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Actionable growth hacks to help architects improve their sales, marketing, and social media skills.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:00:00]:
It's like now it's gone from being an architect to being a salesperson.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:03]:
That is Alexander Buckridge, an architect based in NYC that is in the process of starting his own architecture firm. And if you've ever wondered how to create a brand identity and design a website for a new architecture firm, then.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:15]:
You don't want to miss this.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:17]:
You'll hear the thought process behind Alexander's beautiful new brand.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:00:21]:
Actually, a lot of it was ultimately influenced by growing up in Ireland.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:25]:
Then we go deep into a review and critique of his work in progress website.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:00:30]:
Yeah, I'd love to get your thoughts on what way to lay this out. What hits home? What's the best for a client in.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:38]:
Terms of and we dive into exactly how to craft compelling copy as a.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:42]:
Small new firm and reframe it to.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:00:45]:
More about what the client is experiencing.
Tyler Suomala [00:00:47]:
Working with us hey, I'm Tyler Sumela, founder of Growthitect. After nearly a decade in architecture, I shifted my focus to helping architects grow their business. Since then, I've spent the last few years helping architects just like you, improve their sales, marketing and business development through my free newsletter read by thousands of architects each week. But I wanted to take it a step further. That's why I started this podcast. It's not your typical interview series, actually. For the whole first season of the Growth Attack podcast, all ten episodes, I'm sharing exclusive recordings of my consultations with Alexander Buckridge as he embarks on the journey of launching his own firm and landing his first clients. So tune in to learn exactly how to tackle the real challenges that every architect faces when starting out.
Tyler Suomala [00:01:34]:
And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss anything. But before we begin, a huge thanks to our sponsor, Gelt. Discover how Gelt can help to manage and optimize taxes for you, your firm, and your partners. Visit joinggelt.com growthdetect to learn more. And now here's the show.
Tyler Suomala [00:01:54]:
You told me that you've been working on your website. Where are you at with that?
Alexander Buckeridge [00:01:57]:
I've been working on this with my partner and so she's been wrapping up the branding and the word mark, the logo, and then the different colors and tones and stuff like that. Where we're at now is starting to map that out on actually a website. So firstly, just drafting it on sketch and figma. So going over like how that would flow and making kind of decisions. So one is like, I kind of want to hone in and we'll chat about this, about having just one page that you land on it's just the one thing. There's no going into this. And the other, obviously, starting out, I have. Your projects are underway or starting, so there's not as much to point to.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:02:37]:
Yes, you can point to previous work, but you can do it in a respectful way, of course. But at the same time, I'm also finding myself wanting to make it clean. It's my identity now, and not drag too much of that stuff with me and try and sell on that front. I have the layout on a very principled level. And then one of Martha's friends is a copywriter, and so I've sent her over a word document with about three pages of a manifesto, mission, vision, stuff that gives you a very clear idea of what this brand slash business is about, just in terms of where it's going. I want to launch July 1. Launch is all polished in, it's out there. Bring it out on socials, share that with my networks.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:03:18]:
So that then gives me a kind of a, hey, this is where we stand right now. I have had to make some sacrifices. I can't get everything done as I'd like. So I'd love to get a bit more media content done. I'd love to get a bit more developed on certain projects that I could get further perfect renderings out. But anyway, just that's where I'm at. And of course, I would love to hear your thoughts on the approach as I work towards July 1. And what are the main goals of the website? To communicate to clients and not architects is what we've all the latest stuff that we've all been doing for years, right?
Tyler Suomala [00:03:53]:
Yeah, yeah. Cool. So that's really exciting. So just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, you are planning to launch a website on July 1, and this website will just be one page, is that correct?
Alexander Buckeridge [00:04:03]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:04:04]:
Okay, cool. And so we call that just a landing page, which is great. I think we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, right. But I was like, if I were you, I would just do a single page. No need to overcomplicate it. Right. Now, when we're getting started, are you open to pulling up the website? Yeah, check it out.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:04:18]:
I mean, what I'll be pulling up is the Figma board, which is laid out as you can imagine. Right. So we can just look at that. All right, so we're in here.
Tyler Suomala [00:04:25]:
Yeah.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:04:25]:
Martha's working there as we speak on it, which is great to see.
Tyler Suomala [00:04:29]:
It's really nice to have a partner that also does design, but in a different way. I'm sure.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:04:32]:
Yeah, exactly. So anyway, look, this went through a massive iterative process, I will just say. And we had a lot of options. We narrowed down to the logo itself, which has got, like this kind of more monumental kind of organic seal. These are like two rocks stacked on top of each other.
Tyler Suomala [00:04:46]:
And so you're calling this. The name of your firm is going to be studio Bucky?
Alexander Buckeridge [00:04:50]:
That's right. Obviously, my second name is Buckridge, and that's. And my whole name is very long. And I've had a big back and forth about this where I didn't want it to be about me and it. And I went through different explorations and then I just finally landed on a little bit more simpler approach, taking my name, mine, shortening my name to what my kind of nickname is and what my friends and family call me. So it's a little bit more of a broken down wall. It's a bit more friendly, it's a bit more playful. A lot of it was ultimately influenced by growing up in Ireland, the nature, ancient structures.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:05:21]:
And then originally what got me interested in architecture. And so I gave that brief to Martha. Load of reference images she ran with. It came with different options, and I landed on something that felt like more to what I was speaking to. So you can see with the bee, you could look at it and plan, you could see this is things stacked in elevation. And it has been hint to this organic nature that I feel is a bit more important. That comes into spaces. There's a bit more curves, there's a bit more softness, there's a bit more.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:05:46]:
We're in alignment with nature, ultimately. So that's where I landed with this. She did a great job and I love the little details because she did a little like the dot on the.
Tyler Suomala [00:05:54]:
Eye in the period at the end. Yeah, yeah.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:05:56]:
It's so key, you know, it's like they're actually coming from the inside of these two. The voids are the negatives of that. You know, it can be used in different ways. So it can be used as that, it can be used as complete negative and it can be used as the two in the middle. And I can see that being interesting in presentations and decks as I move forward and how to see a window into the brand and stuff like that.
Tyler Suomala [00:06:16]:
I think that's nice. That's great to have those different options. I think that's fun there. It's fun. It's fun and playful. And if that's the vibe that you're going for, I think that's what happened. Yes, that's great. I think it looks good.
Tyler Suomala [00:06:29]:
I have no control from the design standpoint. Obviously, it looks amazing. So that's really exciting. And then I think usually if I'm meeting with someone that's about to start their firm, I would say, hey, be really clear, be upfront. This is something that I actually learned in grad school from my professional practice professor, I remember, who had started a firm from nothing and then grew to the largest firm in North America before he sold it. But he's saying be upfront and clear in the title about what it is that you do. So, for example, it would be like Buckridge Architecture or something like that. Yeah, but I think this is different because of even our previous conversations.
Tyler Suomala [00:07:02]:
Right. You're not necessarily limited to architecture. Architecture is one thing that you do, but this is more of a design studio. And I think from that sense, like this makes sense.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:07:11]:
Yeah. And that's right. It was. I didn't want to put myself in one position and say, hey, it'll be just solely architecture solely, and interior design solely furniture. So the fact that it's crossing each one of them, it creates a bigger, broader kind of scope for the practice.
Tyler Suomala [00:07:26]:
Cool. So let's talk about the website then.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:07:28]:
All right. So again, we're literally in the process. So you can see the mouse running around, which is funny. Okay. So it'll be one page and right now there'll be an image. This image will change and it'll be like zooms of project, kind of giving you a hint of kind of the work that I do and have done or will be doing. True images, let's say that are, let's say, moving, what are. It's a gif, whether it's a garousel.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:07:54]:
And then this was. This kind of void stays in the middle. So it gets, again, it's the brand itself. This is moving in the background. I'll give you the overview and then we can go through what you think. There's these buttons here, which would lead you down here, but ultimately.
Tyler Suomala [00:08:07]:
And those buttons just to be. So you're talking about the navigation and can you just say what they are just in case, like half people are going to be watching us, listening.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:08:15]:
When you land on this page. Yeah. This large image brand logo in the center, there's a play on that. There's a negative versus positive. Then on the top tabs you have mission services and about. So it's explaining what one. And a contact, of course, to where you want to get to. So as I scroll down underneath the image, there is the kind of like ten word or tagline of what we're about and what the practice and the studio is about just boil down in its simplicity and then followed by what we do.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:08:44]:
So like a clear description which is being edited at the moment. And then I'm thinking here, some kind of image of materials or something a bit more like tangible in a studio space, then services. So just speaking to a little bit more about whether it's the interior design, architecture, but this is something I'd like to discuss with you around what there makes sense and what is more pointed versus maybe a bit too much. But speaking about maybe consulting opportunities that we offer, et cetera, et cetera, or I offer ultimately right now, a bit about myself, just about. Because obviously I'm heading up this and I want people to the ultimately understanding of who I am and they're building that relationship with me. Kind of where I want to get to is obviously get on a call with someone ultimately. So that's at the bottom. And so it's light.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:09:31]:
I wanted to keep it pretty light at the moment and to the point almost, and want it to be coherent across everything. And, yeah, I'd love to get your thoughts on what way to lay this out. What hits home, what's the best for a client in terms of wanting to make that appointment? Because that's what we all want in the end, is we want to have a discussion with someone to explain further what we're doing and stuff. And on a 30 minutes, 45 minutes call maybe 50.
Tyler Suomala [00:09:57]:
1530. 45. I'll take it. Yeah. Okay, cool one. It looks great. You can see the style of the brand and color of the brand. And you get a feel.
Tyler Suomala [00:10:07]:
You get a sense there's emotions that come through just from looking at the design. And I think that's really great because obviously that's what you're going for. I can tell that's really important to you. And so that's coming through. So that's really nice. It feels very natural, it feels very comforting, feels kind of fun, and it feels like it feels premium. Right? So that's good. I think that's what you're going for.
Tyler Suomala [00:10:25]:
And I do think your clients tend to be like they're a little bit more high ticket. They're a little bit more like you've worked with large brands, you work with kind of companies that care about these elements. And so I think that all makes sense. Let's talk about your goal, right, is to get people to book an appointment, is what you put it down at. The bottom. Now if you're imagining yourself as a visitor landing on this page, do you think that you would be led to.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:10:48]:
Book an appointment from just hitting the screen right now? Yeah, I think you'd need more context.
Tyler Suomala [00:10:55]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's really important, it's called the above the fold section. Are you familiar with that term?
Alexander Buckeridge [00:11:01]:
No, no, no.
Tyler Suomala [00:11:02]:
Okay, so above the fold is exactly what you see when you land on a website without scrolling. It's literally like they called the fold everything that's below that when you have to start scrolling to see it. The fold is everything that you see immediately when you land on the page. And it's the most important part of a website because in that 2 seconds that someone lands on the website, they're deciding whether or not they're in the right place and the context is correct. And so I think one thing that I would consider doing for you is moving, is either putting that headline that you have that's below that, that into the fold in some way. And so you have two options to do that. One, you can just put it on top of that image, which I'm not sure is something that you want to do based on the way that you were describing it. Another thing that you can do is put it above the image and then the image comes actually below that.
Tyler Suomala [00:11:50]:
I think it's something to play with because you put the header up top and you're very descriptive in this header. This is the transformation that people have when they work with me. It's your transformation statement. I helped x do y with or without z very clear in that description. And then you can have the images that are helping to set the tone below that. You could also do a split above the fold where like the left side is the header and then the right side is maybe that image that's in and out. So they're both above the fold.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:12:15]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:12:15]:
And then this is a very common mistake, I think, that I see across architecture websites is you're actually not asking a visitor enough, you're not making it clear enough what the goal of this website is. So right now you only have two buttons on this homepage. One is the contact button in the top right, which isn't like drawing me to it. No. And then at the very bottom of the page is when you ask for an appointment. Right now. Yeah. And I know this just from working with a lot of websites and having the data to back it up, but like the majority of people are not going to scroll all the way through this website.
Tyler Suomala [00:12:50]:
They're going to make their decision right up top, above the fold, I would actually bring another button up to the top, another call to action right below the header. No matter, like somewhere up here. Well, yeah, like you have your header and it says, you know, I have x, do y with or without Z. And then right below that you could literally have. It can be a soft CTA. You should consider what you want that to be, because I think that's another thing that you want to be consistent on the site right now you have a contact button and then you also have a book, an appointment button, more submit button. I think the text that's actually used on both of those, you want that to be consistent and you want it to be the same throughout the rest of the site, especially since it's one page. So whether it's meet with me, whether it's discuss your project, whether it's start your project, whether it's talk to Alex, chat with Alex, whatever that is.
Tyler Suomala [00:13:38]:
And that's something to a b test when you launch it. But like find one that you feel comfortable with for now. And that's literally the same, that is going to be the same text that you use on all of the buttons. So instead of contact, it would say talk to Alex. Instead of submit, it would say talk to Alex. And same thing above the fold you have that header, and then right below that you can say talk to Alex or start your project with another button. So then above the fold, you're immediately introduced. You say that, I know now maybe the majority of people won't click that immediately when they land on, and that's okay.
Tyler Suomala [00:14:10]:
They at least know where to find it. They land. And they're aware that this is the goal of the website. Yeah, they're meant to evaluate whether or not they should click that button.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:14:18]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:14:18]:
Does that make sense?
Alexander Buckeridge [00:14:19]:
No, it does, it does. I'm sketching it out here as we speak.
Tyler Suomala [00:14:22]:
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Tyler Suomala [00:15:16]:
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Tyler Suomala [00:15:42]:
Cool. So that's above the fold, which is great. And then as you're scrolling down, you have this, you have what we do, which I think is fine. It's a little bit more explanation on what's happening and then scroll and then services and then scroll and then about you. So I think another thing to think about is that a really common thing that happens is when you're starting to make these websites, you start thinking about, okay, how do I pitch myself, how do I tell them about myself and my studio and what I want to do when in reality people are actually landing on this website to understand if you are the right fit for them.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:16:18]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:16:19]:
So they're looking for a little bit of context on what it is that you do, but they're actually looking to see more language about themselves. Right. They almost want to see their situation mirrored on your site. So, for example, almost, instead of the what we do, that could be a who you are section or who we work with, the situation that you're in, especially if you have a copywriter, which is amazing. This is exactly what copywriters are for. Right. It's who we work with. And the copywriter is going to do an amazing job of saying, this is the situation that you're in right now.
Tyler Suomala [00:16:54]:
You're struggling. You don't feel like your space reflects your brand, it reflects your identity. And we help to shape that and we work with you to make these processes come true. And we've been doing this for over a decade now. It's things like that that really start pulling on the situation that the majority of your clients are in. The website becomes client centric instead of studio. Bucky centric speaks directly to them in their situation.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:17:19]:
Yeah. So for the, let's say instead of what we do and more like who we work with, could you give a few more examples of how to speak to them a bit more? I guess you say you collaborate or you work with brands, you shape their kind of spatial or experience you speak to. Let's say for couples or this really where it becomes important to define your client avatar, basically. Right.
Tyler Suomala [00:17:42]:
I would say for the launch of this website, you don't want to try to be everything to everyone.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:17:46]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:17:47]:
Right. So I think it is important to describe the way that I always recommend it is you take what your ideal client is. So for example, maybe it's families or something like that for you. I don't think it is, but maybe it's families. And then you add an adjective before. So it'd be like growing families. Right. Because growing families are going to generally need to larger space that they're going to be moving into something.
Tyler Suomala [00:18:06]:
And so for you, I'm not sure it's. Maybe it's brands and it's growing brands, it's ambitious brands, it's modern brands, it could be anything like that. You take them from a place where they don't feel as though their environment reflects their brand to one where it does and one where people walk in and immediately know and understand the value that they provide to as a brand.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:18:28]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:18:29]:
And it's an all encompassing kind of human experience, right down from the materials.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:18:33]:
That are used to the layout and.
Tyler Suomala [00:18:37]:
How you move to the tactile experience.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:18:40]:
So therefore. Yeah, exactly. You're speaking to what they can uncover going on that journey, essentially with you in a very short kind of like explanation. Slash.
Tyler Suomala [00:18:51]:
Yeah.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:18:52]:
Provoking.
Tyler Suomala [00:18:53]:
And the copywriter knows this, I'm sure, but there's different copywriting flows, formats that people use. So there's a I D a, which is attention, interest, desire and action. Yeah, it literally moves in that one. So the attention is going to be that transformation up top. The interest is going to be diving into their current situation. Right. In the what we do. The desire is going to be where you're talking through the outcomes that people get.
Tyler Suomala [00:19:21]:
And then the action, for example, is going to be that. It's the action that you want them to take. You want them to book a meeting with you.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:19:28]:
Yeah. That's cool. It's interesting psychological kind of stuff.
Tyler Suomala [00:19:33]:
Yeah, it's like the flow of the. I think behavioral psychology is like one of my favorite things. And it's so important when you're talking about building a website or copywriting or getting people's attention, but they really do go through a journey. And so I think considering this to be not so much because I can see that you were piecing this together as a story about you and a story about studio Bucky, but instead it's almost like you want it to be a story about them. You want it to be their exact story. And they are almost envisioning themselves having their ideal outcome. As they move through this page. It can still be short as it is right now, which I think is good.
Tyler Suomala [00:20:08]:
I know the next section is services. Ironically, I just wrote about this. There's an effect called the framing effect. And a really good analogy to this is that you might go to a computer store to buy a laptop. You're looking for the right laptop for you, but you're not sure exactly what you need. And on all of the cards, whenever you see the laptop, what's it list? It lists all of features. And it's whatever. It's a 64GB RAM and Navita graphics I seven processor.
Tyler Suomala [00:20:39]:
Nvidia graphics card. And you're like, I don't. Architects might know this. But let's say. Let's pretend you're not an architect. And the normal person is going to be like, I don't know what that means. And then you have someone from the store that comes over to you and says, listen, with this, you're going to be able to play all of the games that you want. Store all of your videos and pictures.
Tyler Suomala [00:20:56]:
And see everything really clearly in this large screen. And then you know exactly what it is that you're like. You know that this is the right laptop for you, right? So in a sense, like it's a reframe. You're framing the impact that someone has from using this, rather than framing the features. And so generally, this is considered by. You're talking about the benefits instead of the features. Because benefits speak directly to outcomes and impact. And features are much more general and actually much more like kind of you.
Tyler Suomala [00:21:25]:
Centric, in a way.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:21:26]:
Yeah.
Tyler Suomala [00:21:26]:
So it's not that you can't say what the service is. So maybe the service is interior design, right? If you want to do that. But you should include that benefit statement along with it, right? Design. So that you can do this. Or taking you from x to y. It's just short little statements that are talking to it. And you can actually think about this. Different ways to frame these benefits is through thinking about, for example, the objections that you might generally hear, right? So if you list out those, maybe it's like your three to five common objections that you will generally face when you're working with a client.
Tyler Suomala [00:22:02]:
So maybe there's one, it's about budget. Maybe there's one that's about timeline. Maybe there's one about the size. You're being too small or something like that. And you can almost use your explanation of these services to address those objections upfront, knowing that when someone's landing on your page, they're going to have them. So you could say something. If it is interior design, then it's helping you get the space that you need in less than six weeks, or designing a space for you in less than six weeks so that it can be built in less than six months or something like that. And then if there's a concern about your size.
Tyler Suomala [00:22:33]:
We work with brands that are more interested in intimate relationships and want to be guided through and be a participant in the process because that's a benefit to working with a smaller team. You're going to be much more guided, it's going to be a much more intimate experience. You're going to get your handheld through the process. You're going to get to participate a lot more than if you go and work with a larger company or a larger brand.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:22:55]:
Did you see that as under the heading of services, or did you see that as a quote or as benefits, literally, of working with us? You spell it out and just be like, I know there's probably a few ways to do that, but what would you feel is a tasteful way of integrating it into the landing page?
Tyler Suomala [00:23:11]:
I think you can frame it as services if you want, because that is a familiar term. So the heading of it could be services or the heading of it could be benefits or how we're different, what we do. It could be what we do, actually different things like that. Now, I would be really careful about using things like the carousels or the. Yeah, using things like carousels or the animation where things are moving across the page. Because even though they look cool on the site, they're generally just more difficult from a UI standpoint to engage with. Yeah. So keep it simple.
Tyler Suomala [00:23:45]:
Yeah, they're usually less clear. So maybe instead of it being that carousel, maybe it's drop down menus that people can pop into where it does say what we do. And it's like interior design might be the heading and then if people knock it down, then they get that benefit statement and there's also an image attached to it, for example. And so it doesn't have to be super long, it could be longer if you wanted it to be. But I'm just assuming that you want to still keep the page kind of tight. Could be another format that you could consider with that.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:24:11]:
I think keeping it, I like the way of just reframing it a little bit about maybe more. So instead of here we're talking. We were saying what we do. But I think we said that would be more who we work with and then more like what we do maybe is more the services benefit. It's tough to play around with, as you said, and figure out. Yeah, but it's really helpful because it helps me reframe trying to explain where we're headed and more about the studio, but. And reframe it to more about what the client is experiencing working with us and what the client. Putting them at the forefront.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:24:42]:
Right. Like putting them.
Tyler Suomala [00:24:43]:
Exactly. Put everything through their perspective. What are they going to think when they land on this page? I think the about thing is great. Like you should absolutely have that. That should be included.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:24:50]:
Do you feel where it is now? Is that okay before you take it to the end and. Yeah. Cause this is very sparky.
Tyler Suomala [00:24:56]:
I think actually, usually moving that up a little bit higher is better because generally when people get to that, like if they see that near the bottom, it's almost like you're bringing their energy down a little bit.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:25:07]:
Right.
Tyler Suomala [00:25:07]:
So below that you're asking for their action. And so it could be something that it's more upfront information that you do. Bring it up to the top. And if you do that, I would consider maybe making it a little bit more like you were saying, it's like fun and friendly. So instead of it saying about at the top, maybe it was say, hey, I'm Alexander. And then it would give an explanation of who you are. So you could consider that. And then what's really important we've talked about.
Tyler Suomala [00:25:29]:
I think there's like, there's three, three or four sections on this landing page, which I think is totally fine. It's perfect. It's small. It's going to give you, it's going to give people enough of the information that they need to make a decision on whether or not they want to book a meeting with you right now. And you'll continue to add some more information to it. Yeah, but you want to add, I would add that CTA below every section maybe except below your about section because it might not make sense to do.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:25:55]:
It right then like say what we do. And then in here somewhere again that.
Tyler Suomala [00:25:59]:
Says, let's chat with, chat with Alex. You want to give them multiple opportunities to do that and make it clear there's only one option they have when they land on this page. They can either, or there's two options. They can leave the page or they can book a meeting with you. And that's the value of a landing page. They're making a decision whether or not they want to meet with you.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:26:20]:
And another thing, in terms of just how that operates, then I was thinking of just using the Google appointments calendar where they can just go in and pick a slot. Right. It would directly take you to that for the studio, whatever you call it. The scheduling calendar.
Tyler Suomala [00:26:36]:
Yes. Highly recommend this. I hate contact forms. From a standpoint, they're just terrible because people don't know what happens when they land on it. They don't know that. So if you're going to do that, I'd say I'm 1000% for it. But that's why I think the text on that button should be really clear. It's chat with its chat with Alexander.
Tyler Suomala [00:26:55]:
It's meet with us. It's discuss your project. So that when they click that button and whether it comes up as a modal or it takes them to another page, also on that page, it's clear they're going to be presented with appointments. And then usually on that, you can have a little text. So you could say something like, looking forward to learning more about you and discussing your vision for the project. Something like that. Just so that it's super clear exactly what the outcome and goal of that conversation is.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:27:22]:
Yeah, that. That's cool. Yeah, I like that. And that all should come together.
Tyler Suomala [00:27:28]:
That'll come together. And I think that's gonna look. That's gonna be great.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:27:30]:
Yeah. So what I'll do is took a nice, nice few pages of notes there, and I'll usher them to the kitchen for changes.
Tyler Suomala [00:27:37]:
You have a really efficient studio structure.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:27:39]:
Yeah, I do. It's abrupt. It's abrupt. Van Townhouse studio, quite literally. There's a lot there to pick up. And I think that, you know, next week, that's the plan, to, like, go over everything, pick it up. More feedback is always great. More eyes, you know, to kind of like, as all of us, you can get very caught up in.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:27:55]:
In how it all feels, looks, the emotion you're trying to convey. You're trying to do a lot. We all know that you're trying to. It's like anything, even if you're doing a design of any.
Tyler Suomala [00:28:03]:
Yeah. To your point, I think this is what everyone gets caught up in. Like, you can show it to a bunch of other designers, and I am like, I would consider myself to be a designer as well as trained as one. But, yeah, now that I look through things with a sales and marketing lens, I look at it completely differently than I would have when I was building my own website and doing my own studios as well. It was just like, that's the stuff.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:28:22]:
I'm attuning myself to now and more is, yeah. Having now stepped out, become the owner of the business is like, as we said before, it's like now it's gone from being an architect to being a salesperson and making that transition. That's a mental change that you have to make, that it's. You're now out on the market looking for work, looking to build relationships with people, with brands that. Yeah. That you can grow the business with.
Tyler Suomala [00:28:47]:
That's right. Yeah. Architecture is sales, whether people want to accept that or not. Right. It's good to have that, but it's not. That's not a bad thing. Right. You have architecture without selling your services, without selling yourself and the value that you provide.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:28:58]:
I mean, in fact, about being back in university where we were just like, standing up and we were selling our projects, we pin it up on the wall. You stand there, it is sales.
Tyler Suomala [00:29:07]:
That's exactly what it is. And it's really funny that more people don't make that connection. I think that a lot of architects feel like their education falls short of the realities of practice in doing those things. But I think that's one of the most clear and beneficial parts of your architecture education, is that you are endlessly trying to justify your decisions. You're endlessly trying to sell the jury, the jurors, on the decisions that you've made, which is exactly. It's exactly what you have to do.
Alexander Buckeridge [00:29:35]:
In the real world instead of the jury. You've got potential clients standing in front of you, and you're making out in a studio setting. You may be in a lobby of a restaurant or a bar or, that's right, a gallery, and you're just reframing everything to be like, okay, but it's something that takes a lot of refinement, I would say, because I've gone to a few events, just more, most recently and stuff like that. And you're trying to find that balance of not being too forward. You're trying to, but also being, like, engaging and putting your best book forward. So, yeah, it's a learning curve.
Tyler Suomala [00:30:09]:
It's a learning curve, but it's a great skill to have, and it takes, it does take some time. So it's important to be, I think, patient with yourself in that, because you're just, you're going to learn the things that work well and don't work well, but it's a compounding. It's a compounding interest. Right. So, like, you'll just continue to get better at it. And it almost it moves, it improves exponentially, and it has that same exponential impact on your business ventures as well.
Tyler Suomala [00:30:36]:
All right, thanks for being a growth detect and listening in on this consultation with Alexander Buckridge. Be sure to subscribe so you can continue to learn exactly how to overcome the challenges that every architect faces when starting a firm.
Tyler Suomala [00:30:48]:
Check out the show notes for links.
Tyler Suomala [00:30:50]:
To everything that was mentioned. Lastly, make sure you go to growthtack.com join to join more than 5000 architects getting one quick and simple business growth hack in their inbox every Sunday morning. From me.
Tyler Suomala [00:31:02]:
I'll see you in the next episode.