Marketing Is More Than a Four-Letter Word
I’d like to thank Thomas F. of Portland for the blog suggestion, Marketing. We all agree that typically word-of-mouth marketing is the best, as it leads clients to us who are already very interested in the services we have to offer. However, when work slows down like it has of late, what else can be done? With the upcoming stimulus money making its way through the pipes, I have noticed a substantial increase in public RFP solicitations.
Thomas has a relatively “new” firm and may not have the necessary horsepower to go toe to toe with some of the older, larger, and “more established” firms. I have an established firm with an established following, yet we still feel intimidated responding to some of the RFPs I know we’re well suited to handle. Yet, the “older, larger and more established” firms now seem to be catfishing (that is, reaching for everything, just to stay).
For my firm, I have reaffirmed alliances with 3 other firms and we’re collectively going after some of those RFPs. For Thomas’s firm, he’s wondering what advice anyone can offer for the “how to” of marketing in the new hope-and-change environment. My first suggestions to him have been a) define your ideal client and your ideal project, b) be honest about the skills you have which are head and shoulders above others, c) find people/resources or firms/friends that you can align with where together you’re an awesome team, d) leave all egos at the door e) get busy!
—Lisa Stacholy, AIA