AEC Marketing Strategies by Marketers Take Flight: Recent Episodes
Lindsay Diven
This show delivers marketing tips designed and adapted specifically to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. If you are looking for marketing strategy tips from an AEC marketing veteran, Lindsay Diven, CPSM, then you are in the right place. This show will provide answers to questions like:
*What is AEC marketing?
*How do I write an AEC marketing plan?
*How do I market my AEC firm using online and digital strategies?
*What are the latest AEC marketing trends?
*What are the AEC marketing best practices?
*How can AEC firms use content marketing?
*How can AEC firms be visible online and attract new leads?
*How do AEC thought leaders become more visible online?
*How do I measure the results of my AEC marketing?
*Where do I find AEC marketing jobs?
*How do I train new AEC marketing coordinators and managers?
AEC Marketing Maverick, Michelle Hubbard, CPSM, shares her bold career decision, including how she knew it was time to leave her firm after 12 years. She opens up about her journey rising through the ranks and making that leap to a new firm.
Some key highlights from the episode are:
- Recognizing the right moment for a career shift
- The power of networking and mentorship in climbing the corporate ladder
- Balancing high stakes roles with a fulfilling personal life
- Key strategies for navigating new leadership landscapes
If you’re plotting your next big move or just need a push to shake things up, this is your must-listen. Tune in, get inspired, and start crafting your own success story—Michelle style.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
As the end of the year approaches, the holiday season 🎃🦃🎄🎆 can quickly turn into a whirlwind of deadlines, events, and stress. But you don’t have to let the chaos take over! In this episode, host Lindsay Diven shares five actionable steps to help you take control of your time, avoid burnout, and make the most of the final quarter of 2024.
From carving out time for reflection to setting clear priorities, this episode will guide you through the Full Focus Quarterly Preview Exercise to ensure you finish the year strong—both personally and professionally. Whether you’re an AEC marketing professional juggling proposals or simply trying to navigate the holiday season, this episode is packed with tips to help you thrive in Q4.
🎧 Tune in to learn:
- How to create time and space for reflection and planning
- The power of celebrating your wins (and how to find them!)
- Setting 2-3 key priorities to stay on track
- Planning for both work and relaxation to maintain balance
Don’t let holiday madness derail your goals—get ahead with this quarter’s plan!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
Hear from my first AEC Marketing Maverick, Cathy Huthison, CPSM, the Associate VP and Director of Digital Marketing at Salas O’Brien. From early career lessons to mastering digital marketing amid her firm's acquisition, Cathy's insights are packed with actionable advice for marketers at any stage of their career.
Key Takeaways:
- Cathy’s evolution from startup to a leadership role at a major firm 🚀
- Adapting marketing strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic 📈
- Navigating the challenges of a firm acquisition and role transitions 🔁
- Practical tips for marketers on leveraging strengths and building internal relationships 🤝
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
I’m letting you in on a little secret: you have the power to design the life you want. Yes, even with all the deadlines, obligations, and responsibilities. 🙌
I’m sharing the Full Focus Double Win Formula that transformed how I approach my goals and life.
✨ What You’ll Learn:
- How to create a 10-Year Life Plan that guides your future.
- Setting Annual SMARTER Goals that excite and challenge you.
- Using daily planning to stay on track toward your big dreams.
Ready to stop drifting and start designing the life you truly want? Let’s do this! 💪
Resources Mentioned:
- Episode 49 - My System for Getting It All Done
- Episode 50 – SMARTER Goals
- Full Focus Planner
If you loved this episode, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a thing! And if you’re feeling generous, I’d love it if you could leave a review—your feedback means the world to me! 🌟
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
Welcome to Season 4 of Marketers Take Flight, where I shift my focus to you—the marketing professional. This season is dedicated to your personal development, growth, and achieving the double win: excelling in your career while thriving in your personal life.
Hosted by me, Lindsay Diven, CPSM, a Full Focus Certified Pro, this season I will share topics that empower you to become the best version of yourself, both professionally and personally.
We'll explore:
- Productivity Mastery: Techniques to enhance your efficiency and make the most of your time.
- Mindset and Motivation: Cultivating a growth mindset to overcome challenges and stay motivated.
- Personal Development: Crafting and following a personal development plan tailored to your unique goals.
- Work-Life Balance: Strategies to achieve harmony between your professional responsibilities and personal well-being.
- Leadership Skills: Building confidence and skills to lead and inspire your team effectively.
- Goal Setting: Applying proven goal-setting methods to achieve meaningful milestones in your life and career.
- Self-Care and Wellness: Incorporating self-care routines to maintain your mental and physical health.
- Career Advancement: Navigating career transitions and opportunities for growth within the AEC industry.
Join me as we embark on this journey to enhance not just your marketing skills, but your overall quality of life. Together, we’ll explore actionable strategies and insights that will help you achieve success and fulfillment in every aspect of your life.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
In this special episode of AEC Marketing Strategies, I share an important and heartfelt announcement with you.
After an incredible journey of three years and over 150 episodes delving into the AEC marketing world, I’m taking a brief pause from releasing new episodes. This isn’t a goodbye but the start of an exciting chapter, as I shift my focus to new projects planned for 2024. These initiatives are all about bringing more innovation and deeper insights to you, my valued listeners. While I can't share all the details just yet, I promise that what's coming is designed with you in mind.
I want to express my immense gratitude for your constant support and engagement, which has been the lifeblood of this podcast.
Connect with me on LinkedIn to get updates. And, feel free to say “hi” when you see me at industry events.
Here’s to new beginnings and continued growth in our AEC marketing endeavors. Until next time, keep making your mark in the AEC world. I’m signing off, but this is not a goodbye.
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Get ready to dive back into the most buzzworthy episode of the year! As we wrap up a fantastic 2023, I’m bringing back the show that set your marketing minds ablaze – our deep dive into ChatGPT’s transformative impact on content creation for AEC marketers.
Inside this episode, you’ll discover:
- Why ChatGPT has become an indispensable asset in your marketing toolkit.
- My hands-on experiences and 10 actionable ways to integrate AI into your marketing, from boosting social media presence to crafting winning proposals.
- The little tweaks that make AI tools work for your unique brand voice.
Special Note:I’m pressing pause to spend some precious holiday moments with my family, so I’m taking a short two-week break. Let this episode be your holiday marketing muse, and when I come back, I’ll be hitting the ground running with fresh, actionable content to kickstart your new year.
Your Takeaway Treasure:Swing by marketerstakeflight.com/149 to snag your free guide packed with the strategies and tips from this episode – it's like a little holiday gift from me to you!
What’s Next:
I’ll be back soon with brand-new episodes that delve into the essential tech tools for every marketing department. Happy holidays, and see you in a few weeks!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Do you remember the first time someone took you under their wing in the AEC world? Or maybe you're dreaming of being that guiding light for someone else? Well, you're in for a treat! Today, we're diving deep into the heart of mentorship in the AEC industry with the fabulous GinaRenee Autrey. She’s joining us again to spill the tea on all things mentorship – the ups, the downs, and everything in between.
In this episode, GinaRenee opens up about the incredible power of mentorship. We chat about how creating a safe and supportive space can transform the dynamics of a team, fostering trust and unity like never before. And let me tell you, the stories she shares about the impact on her team will totally inspire you!
But that's not all – we also get into why lifting each other up isn’t just good for us individually, but it’s essential for our industry's success. Plus, we tackle the big questions around formal mentoring programs and the unique twists that come with mentoring in our niche field. Whether you’ve been mentored, are a mentor, or are considering stepping into this rewarding role, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss. So, are you ready to explore the transformative world of mentorship in AEC? Let’s get started!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Ever been curious about the magic that marketing can bring to an AEC firm? Well, you're in for a treat. Today, we're diving into an incredible story with BJ Kraemer, the go-getter President and CEO of MCFA. BJ's not your everyday leader; his transition from military life to running a standout AEC firm is nothing short of inspiring. And guess what? He's here to spill the beans on why marketing is so darn important in business planning.
In our chat, BJ brings to light the undeniable power of human connections in branding. Plus, he gives us the lowdown on how digital transformation is shaking things up in marketing and the AEC industry. It's all about people, and BJ gets it!
Now, here's where it gets really interesting. BJ breaks down how a CEO and marketing can join forces to create something extraordinary. We're talking visionary yet totally doable marketing strategies. But wait, it's not all about the money. Nope, we're focusing on the real impact of these strategies - the kind that makes you go 'Wow!'.
Hold on, because BJ's got more wisdom to share. We're delving into the tricky but crucial task of aligning marketing with sales goals. And get this – it's not just about short-term wins; we're playing the long game too.
As we peek into the future of AEC marketing in our ever-changing world, BJ reveals his unique approach to keeping his team and clients engaged – think internal emails with a twist. We're lighting up the path of AEC marketing, unpacking the importance of really getting your clients and the power of top-notch leadership.
And because BJ is all about giving back, he shares his passion for his non-profit work. Trust me, you'll leave this conversation not just thinking differently about AEC marketing and leadership, but feeling inspired to make your own mark.
So, let's dive in and turn your AEC marketing strategies upside down – in the best way possible. Ready? Click that play button to get started!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
🎯 Setting SMART performance goals in AEC marketing? Dive into this episode where I unpack the art of creating Measurable Performance Goals. 📈
Discover why hit rates & proposals don't always reflect true success and explore alternative metrics that can. 💡 From organizing information to tracking website traffic, get ready for actionable examples of goals related to pursuits, marketing communication, graphic design, and more. 🖌️
Tune in for some bonus SMART goal examples to elevate your team's performance and prepare for a career boost with our upcoming episode on salary negotiation tips. 💼
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Hey there, my friend! This week, I’m switching things up a bit. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, there's no new episode. Instead, I've recorded a heartfelt thank you to all of you who make this podcast what it is. Your support means the world to me, and I couldn't let this holiday pass without expressing my gratitude. So, let's take a breather, enjoy our Thanksgiving treats, and remember what this season is all about—gratitude and togetherness. Can't wait to connect with you again next week for more marketing magic. Until then, have a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Hey there, savvy marketers! It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get real about marketing budgets in the AEC industry. In this latest episode of "AEC Marketing Strategies," I’m taking you through a deep dive into crafting a business development and marketing plan that’s not just a document, but a dynamic tool for your firm’s success in 2024.
This episode is a gem from our AEC Annual Planning Empowerment series, where I peel back the curtain on how to tailor a marketing budget that actually makes sense for your firm. Forget the one-size-fits-all approach; I’m here to guide you through the maze of budgeting with methods that include everything from revenue percentages to competitive analysis.
I’ll walk you through key questions that will shape your understanding of your firm’s financials and set the stage for a budget that aligns with your strategic vision. To sweeten the deal, I’ve got a downloadable Marketing Budget template ready for you to make your own—just head on over to marketerstakeflight.com/145.
We’re not just talking theory here; we’re about actionable insights. From defining the mix of marketing and business development expenses to tracking and adjusting your spending for the best ROI, I’ve got you covered. It’s all about empowering you to lead your firm’s marketing charge with confidence and clarity.
So, are you ready to dive in and start building a budget that serves your firm’s growth? Tune in now and don’t forget to hit subscribe—you won’t want to miss out on the wealth of knowledge coming your way in this series.
I can’t wait to see you in the comments section at marketerstakeflight.com/145, where you can share your budgeting triumphs and challenges. Together, let’s make 2024 a standout year for your firm’s marketing success. Catch you in the next episode—until then, keep making your marketing meaningful!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
It's episode 144, and we're diving into the heart of our "AEC Annual Planning Empowerment" series with a focus on creating an impactful marketing plan for your AEC firm. 🏗️📈
In this episode, I unpack the essentials of a marketing plan, linking it with your BD (Business Development) strategy to fuel revenue growth. Remember, a marketing plan isn't just a set of tactics; it's your roadmap to market dominance. 🗺️🚀
🔍 We'll explore:
- The definition and purpose of a marketing plan.
- Aligning marketing with BD strategies for a laser-focused approach. 🎯
- Key elements of an effective marketing plan, from SWOT analysis to actionable goals. 📊
Plus, I'll share an example of how to tailor your strategy for specific markets, like targeting higher ed clients in Florida.
Want a hands-on guide to craft your BD plan? Check out the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop at marketerstakeflight.com/BDPlan. 🏢
📈 And don't miss out on our freebie - a comprehensive Marketing Plan Outline! Grab yours at marketerstakeflight.com/144. 🎁
🔔 Subscribe for more insightful episodes on sales goals, marketing strategies, and personal performance tips.
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
🌟 Ready to dive deep into the world of AEC Business Development (BD) planning? In this episode of "AEC Marketing Strategies", we unravel the layers of BD Planning for the architecture/engineering/construction industry.
✨ What you'll discover:
- Why generic BD templates don’t always cut it for AEC.
- The link between Strategic Plans, BD Plans, and Marketing Plans.
- Essential elements every rock-solid BD Plan must have (from SWOT Analysis to Sales Projections).
💡 Golden Nugget: A strategic plan is your 3-5 year vision (hello, Google Maps destination!). Your BD Plan? It's the turn-by-turn directions to get there. 🛣️
🎁 Freebie Alert: Get a handy BD Plan outline. Find it in the show notes at marketerstakeflight.com/143. And if you're all in, dive deeper with the BD Planning Mini-Workshop at marketerstakeflight.com/BDPlan.
🔔 Don't miss out! Subscribe for more empowerment-packed episodes tailored for AEC marketing pros. Catch ya next week! ✌️
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
In this episode, we're diving deep into the world of AEC Marketing Plans. Ever wondered how the best in the AEC biz align their content marketing with their big-picture growth goals? Or maybe you've been tempted by the latest marketing fad and need a little guidance to stay on track? I've got you covered!
Join me as I unpack the secrets to creating a marketing plan that truly resonates with your AEC firm's vision. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just getting your feet wet, this episode is packed with actionable steps to elevate your marketing game. So grab your notebook, and let's get started!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with the brilliant Leslie Blaize about the transformative power of case studies, especially for our AEC pals. Leslie dropped some serious wisdom: while many AEC firms are pros at highlighting their technical know-how, they often overlook the heartfelt stories of their clients.
Together, we unpacked the art and science of creating case studies that resonate on a deeper level than your typical testimonial. And here's a fun twist: we also dove into the world of AI tools, like ChatGPT, and their role in content creation. But the real magic? It's all about blending cutting-edge tech with that authentic human touch.
If you're eager to elevate your storytelling game and stand out in an AI-driven landscape, you won't want to miss this. Dive in with me!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Do you often find yourself scrambling to find engaging content for your social media platforms? Are you tired of the constant stress and headaches it brings? Don't worry, I've got you covered. In this episode, I'll be sharing my foolproof method of planning a three-month content calendar in just a few hours.
What's more? You'll also have access to my personal quarterly content calendar that I use for my companies to get you started on your planning journey. This strategy has been my secret weapon in staying ahead of the curve and ensuring the content is always relevant and engaging for our audience.
But that's not all! I also want to help you diversify your content. So, I'll be guiding you on how to create a variety of content that keeps your audience engaged. I'll be sharing the content pillars we use to keep our posts diverse and captivating. Plus, I'll give you a sneak peek into how I use my podcast topics to inspire my social media content.
This episode is going to revolutionize how you plan your content. So grab your favorite drink, find a cozy spot, and get ready for an enlightening journey into content planning.
Don't forget to grab your free quarterly content calendar to use while you listen to the episode. Just plug in the dates and content to get your firm’s online marketing engine started!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Ever dreamt of seeing your marketing content featured in a top-tier magazine? Well, today's your lucky day. I’ve got Amanda Murphy with us, who's turned that dream into reality.
Taking marketing content from your desk to the national spotlight? Yep, it’s possible! 🌟 Amanda will break down the essentials: from crafting that standout pitch to navigating the publishing maze. She’s got the insights and the steps, trust me.
What’s more? It's not just the how-to; it's the why and the wow of the journey. Amanda’s story is all about perseverance, savvy strategy, and making the big moves. She shows us how marketing content cannot just stay in its corner but truly steal the limelight. 📖✨
Ready to amplify your message and make a mark? 🚀 Tune in, and let’s dive into this epic marriage of marketing and publishing!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
If you've ever felt lost in numbers or struggled to showcase the value of your marketing strategies, this episode is your lifeline.
Inside this episode, you'll discover:
- The Visual Power of Data: Join the top 25% of marketers who can confidently say they measure their impact. I'll show you how to harness the magic of clear, compelling data visualization.
- Metrics That Matter: Diving deep into the AEC-specific metrics that should be on your radar. From brand awareness signals to content resonance indicators, let's get laser-focused.
- Unlocking the Campaign Attribution Model: Unravel the mystery of which touchpoints deserve your attention (and credit) in your client's journey.
- Setting the Stage with Benchmarks & Targets: I'll walk you through setting your unique benchmarks and crafting actionable targets that move the needle.
- Tools of the Trade: From trusty Excel to specialized software, let's get clear on the best tools to visualize and amplify your AEC marketing metrics.
Plus, if you're anything like me and love a hands-on, actionable challenge, I've got one waiting for you that promises to bring clarity to your marketing strategy!
Ready to dive in? Tune in now and let's elevate your AEC marketing game!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
Are you juggling the demands of AEC marketing and feeling overwhelmed with content creation? If your answer is a resounding "yes," then today’s episode is tailor-made for you. I'm absolutely thrilled to bring you a conversation that’s chock-full of actionable insights, straight from a Content Marketing Clarity Course alum, Christyn Binder.
Christyn serves as the Content Manager at Aurora Engineers, and let me tell you, her transformation story is nothing short of inspiring. Imagine this: producing over 30 pieces of original content in under a year, getting a well-deserved promotion, and falling back in love with marketing all over again. Sounds dreamy, doesn't it? Well, it’s possible, and Christyn is living proof.
In this episode, we dig deep into how Christyn revolutionized her content creation approach. She lets us in on her secret sauce for brainstorming topics with her technical staff and brilliantly repurposing content.
And that's not all. Christyn pulls back the curtain on her content strategy, revealing how she crafted three high-impact campaigns that became game-changers for her firm, as well as her own career trajectory.
But hold your horses! The cherry on top is that I give you a sneak peek of the opening of registration for the next cohort of the Content Marketing Clarity Course on September 26. So if you're on the hunt for an opportunity to level up your AEC marketing skills or scouting for that next big career leap, you won't want to miss this episode.
Tune in and get ready to unlock the content marketing strategies that could very well be the catalyst for your next big win. Just like Christyn, you too can redefine what success looks like in the AEC industry. Trust me, you don't want to miss this!
✨Instantly Know Your Social Media Impact with my Social Media Growth Scorecard!✨A simple tool to accurately monitor and boost your social media growth, created for AEC professionals who want to amplify their online presence.
Download your FREE scorecard here: www.marketerstakeflight.com/scorecard
In this latest episode of 'AEC Marketing Strategies,' 🎙️ I'm unpacking five 🖐️ game-changing tips you won't want to miss if you're serious about content marketing in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. 🏗️
Whether you're a seasoned pro 👷♂️ or just getting started 🌱, I'll walk you through the keys 🗝️ to success. I'll share why patience 🕰️ is more than a virtue—it's a necessity for building a devoted audience. ❤️ You'll also hear why consistency 🔄 isn't just a buzzword but an SEO 📈 and trust-building powerhouse. 🔒
But I don't stop there; I go in-depth on how to craft content 📝 that not only catches attention 👀 but holds it. Plus, I give you the inside scoop 🍦 on why less can often be more ➖ when it comes to your marketing channels 📺 and personas. 🎭 And let's not forget about the often overlooked but critical part of the content puzzle—promotion. 📣
Hit play ▶️ now and set your content marketing strategy on the path to success! 🛣️🏆
Do You Want 3 Effective Strategies to Boost 🚀 Your AEC Firm's Online Presence?
🤩 I'LL SHOW YA in my newest live training.
I’ll share my proven principles to clarify, simplify, and amplify your content marketing to cut through the online noise and attract the RIGHT audience.
Grab Your Free Seat Here >> marketerstakeflight.com/boost
Here's the deal: I know you're a marketing rockstar, but diving into content marketing without a game plan can lead to what I fondly call 'random acts of marketing.' Yikes, right? Don't worry, because I’ve got your back. In this episode, I’ll give you a set of checkpoints that will help you figure out if your AEC firm is really ready to begin a content marketing campaign.
We kick things off with a chat about what content marketing is and why it's basically a magic wand for AEC firms to establish thought leadership and build solid client relationships. Then, we get to the good stuff. I'm giving you 5 juicy questions to ask yourself that'll help you gauge your firm's readiness for content marketing. Trust me, these are questions that could even double up as killer interview questions for your next job hunt.
And because I love to spoil you with actionable goodies, hang on till the end. I've got a special gift for you that'll literally walk you through this entire process. We're talking about a step-by-step evaluation guide, people!
If you're ready to steer your AEC firm's content marketing in the right direction, or you’re looking to guide your firm’s leaders toward embracing modern marketing strategies, then you definitely don't want to miss this episode. Grab your favorite beverage, put those AirPods in, and let's dive in.
In this episode, I unravel the nuances between promotional content and value-added content. While both have their merits, finding the right balance can transform the way you engage with your audience.
If you've ever wondered how to strike the perfect chord with your content or are seeking to refine your approach, this episode offers invaluable insights. Plus, I've got a special resource to supercharge your AEC content strategy. Dive in with me and discover the power of truly resonant content.
🚀 Time to Take Action: Download Your Content Marketing Starter Kit! 💼
Unlock the secrets to content marketing success with this FREE Starter Kit! Gain clarity on your growth goals, identify your ideal audience, and create captivating content that attracts dream clients.
Download it now and get started TODAY >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/starterkit
Ever feel like you're lost in a sea of marketing jargon? LinkedIn here, SEO there, content marketing...everywhere? Let’s demystify this, together.
Quick Celebratory Moment 🎉
Thanks to YOU, this podcast just hit the 50,000 downloads mark! Your unwavering support fuels this passion project week after week. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
First, why bother with a marketing strategy? Think of it without a blueprint...risky, right? Even if business is booming, there’s a strategy secret that can skyrocket your success.
In this episode, I break down the differences between common marketing strategies including branding, expert positioning, thought leadership and lead generation.
Then I share my controversial opinion of social media marketing and it fits within your marketing plan.
Lastly, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t fret. I break down the first steps to get started into bite-sized chunks so you can take action today.
🚀 Time to Take Action: Download Your Content Marketing Starter Kit! 💼
Unlock the secrets to content marketing success with this FREE Starter Kit! Gain clarity on your growth goals, identify your ideal audience, and create captivating content that attracts dream clients.
Download it now and get started TODAY >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/starterkit
In this episode, I'm thrilled to bring you a 3x guest—none other than the Adobe guru herself, Julie Shaffer, FSMPS, CPSM! 🌟 If you haven't caught her previous appearances on episodes 12 and 27, you're in for an absolute treat. 🎙️ Julie's Adobe expertise is beyond compare, and she’s here to unveil a handful of exciting new Adobe AI advancements unveiled so far in 2023.
She peels back the curtain on Adobe’s latest additions, including Adobe Firefly and Photoshop’s generative fill feature – it’s like an image-extending tool on a caffeine overdose. ☕️ Trust me, this will be a game-changer for every AEC marketer!
And, we can’t forget about Adobe InDesign! Julie tells us all about the AI-powered StylePacks. Talk about a time saver when it comes to your typography hierarchy and restyling long-form documents (yes, proposals) using AI!
So, my friends, it's time to grab your notepad and pen, because this episode is knowledge packed. 📝✨ Get ready to be captivated, inspired, and equipped for the future as we embark on a journey into the heart of innovation.
Learn more about Julie and her previous episodes here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/132
🚀 Time to Take Action: Download Your Content Marketing Starter Kit! 💼
Unlock the secrets to content marketing success with this FREE Starter Kit! Gain clarity on your growth goals, identify your ideal audience, and create captivating content that attracts dream clients.
Download it now and get started TODAY >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/starterkit
🖊️ Streamline Your Proposal Process with Lean Principles! 🏆
Join us as we dive into the world of efficient proposal management with the incredible Kathryn Bennett, Director of RFP Excellence. 🎙️ Learn how Lean Principles can revolutionize your workflow and eliminate unnecessary clutter, helping you win more deals. 💪✍️
Discover actionable insights to fine-tune your proposal process, provide accurate information to subject matter experts, and overcome review challenges. 🚀 Let Kathryn's expertise guide you to a sleek and efficient proposal strategy. Don't miss this opportunity to boost your success! 🌟
Tune in now and level up your proposal game! 🎧
Then turn your insight into action by telling us what area of your proposal process you’re going to work on next. Leave us a comment over on the show notes page: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/131
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Have you been drowning in digital assets and always looking for a file at the last minute for a proposal? Well, today I'm super excited to have CJ Teeter from OpenAsset join me. We are diving into the world of digital asset management (DAM) for AEC marketing firms. CJ shares some ideas and insights on tackling challenges and streamlining workflows with your digital assets.
If you are finding yourself wondering if you are using the correct image or the most current photo, CJ has a few tips on that as well. We talk about tags, templates and ultimately making it easier and faster to get to those assets when you need and want them. So, buckle up and take flight as we unlock the secrets to efficient AEC marketing and proposal strategies.
To learn more about CJ visit the show notes page here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/130
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
What if you could master your marketing content management? Throughout this [Branded] mini-series, I have had the pleasure of guiding you through creating selective online marketing collateral and maintaining a consistent brand experience. Now, we plunge into the core of this episode: how to manage your marketing content seamlessly.
The episode is packed with insights about the benefits of content lifecycle management and its potential to save you time, money, and stress. You'll get to explore the traditional content lifecycle stages and understand the pitfalls of poor content. Toward the end, I'll walk you through the eight steps to a successful content lifecycle management process. If you're ready to turn your marketing department into a well-oiled machine, this episode is for you!
🎉 This series is made possible by OpenAsset, the top-notch digital asset management solution for AEC firms. Visit marketerstakeflight.com/openasset to learn how OpenAsset can transform your brand management game. 🙌
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
If you're in the AEC industry, you know how overwhelming annual business planning can be, right? I've got Sarah Kinnard, the fabulous head of Flamingo at the Flamingo Project, here to demystify the entire process just for you. Sarah is about to take us on a journey through different types of plans, from strategic to marketing, and she's breaking it all down so you can navigate your way to success with confidence. 💼🗺️
But wait, there's more! We're diving deep, my friend. Deep into the art of streamlining business planning specifically for AEC firms. Sarah and I are getting real and candid about the common hurdles regional directors face when launching new market sectors. 🚀🎯 And let me tell you, having a solid, long-term strategic plan can be a total game-changer. Sarah shares some golden nuggets of wisdom from our conversation, including her simple yet incredibly effective approach to making business planning crystal clear for clients. 💎🔮
We wrap the episode with a discussion on the importance of goal setting and the pure magic of celebrating those small wins along the way. 🎉✨ Sarah shares a captivating success story about an AEC firm that used goal setting to scale its operations. Plus, we'll be talking about effective communication during the planning phase, because let's face it, everyone needs to be on the same page about those company objectives.
If you're ready to take your AEC business planning game to a whole new level, this episode is an absolute gold mine of practical advice and strategies that will light your path to success.
Oh, and don't forget to check out episode 16, where Sarah and I cover the topic of conducting market research. 🔎 It's the perfect supplement episode to supercharge your planning process.
To learn more about Sarah and how she can transform your firm's annual business planning, head over to the show notes page. Click here ➡️ https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/128
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Ever wondered how brand consistency can shape your firm’s perception? Buckle up as I, Lindsay Divan, take you through a roller coaster ride of marketing nuances in the AEC industry. This episode is all about establishing a strong, recognizable brand and ensuring its uniformity across all platforms. From developing brand guidelines to creating evergreen content, I’ve got you covered with five actionable steps to ensure your brand shines bright and consistent.
The journey to brand consistency is a thrilling one, and with my 17 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, I promise to guide you through it seamlessly. We’ll dig deep into the importance of a marketing calendar and how it can save you from last-minute hassles. And guess what? We’ll also challenge the blue-obsession in the AEC industry and explore how you can make your brand pop with a unique color palette. So, are you ready to unlock the marketing secrets tailored specifically for the AEC industry? Let's get your brand consistency game on!
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Are you ready to skyrocket your AEC firm's social media following and attract potential clients on LinkedIn and Instagram? 🚀 Then you don't want to miss this episode! Tune in ASAP for a captivating conversation with the incredible Katie Meehan, who substantially grew her firm’s social media presence in a very short time. 😍📈
Katie's strategic approach led to a mind-blowing 71% growth in LinkedIn followers and an amazing tenfold increase in Instagram followers. 🎉 We dive deep into Katie's journey, exploring the exact steps she took to achieve such phenomenal growth.
During her time at her previous construction company, Katie leveraged multiple social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and even experimented with TikTok! 📱🎥 It's crucial to explore various channels that will help your firm shine and connect with your prospective clients. 🤝
Tune in and soak up Katie's invaluable advice on how to stay on top of your social media game and create a winning strategy tailored to your firm's needs. 💼💡
Want to learn more about Katie? Check out her website here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/126🌐
And after listening to the episode, join me and Katie Beyond the Podcast, where she will be answering all your burning questions about social media strategy! Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to learn directly from a social media guru. RSVP here: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7086435168911040513/about/🎙️💬
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
This is the second episode of my newest series: "Branded: How to Build & Manage Your AEC Firm’s Online Brand", presented by OpenAsset.
In today's show, we're diving deep into the world of marketing collateral for AEC firms. Get ready to discover the power of eBooks, blog posts, pillar pages, and more to establish your authority and boost your online brand presence.
I walk you through seven actionable steps to create effective marketing collateral that resonates with your audience. From asking the right questions to defining your mission statement and evaluating your target audience, you'll gain valuable insights on creating content that captivates and converts.
But that's not all! I share my advice on maintaining brand consistency, crafting clear calls to action, and utilizing the right tools to enhance your marketing efforts. You won't want to miss these valuable tips and strategies!
So, if you're ready to take your AEC firm's online brand to the next level, join me on this exciting episode of AEC Marketing Strategies. Let's dive in and create marketing collateral that truly makes an impact!
This series is made possible by OpenAsset, the leading digital asset management solution for AEC firms. Visit marketerstakeflight.com/openasset to learn more.
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
🚀 Dominate search rankings and attract dream clients in the AEC industry! 💼💥
🎙️ I welcome Amy Hollon, the SEO wizard behind Pixels and Ink Studio, for a game-changing discussion on harnessing the power of search engine optimization (SEO) for your AEC firm's success. 🎉
💡 Learn the essentials of SEO and why it's crucial for AEC firms to optimize their websites and content for search engines. Amy shares her expertise on regionally-focused SEO efforts and targeting niche services while highlighting the advantages of SEO over email marketing or social media. 📈🔍
🔑 Discover valuable insights on keyword research tools and tips, refining SEO for better search results, and optimizing visual assets for higher search rankings. 📊💎
💪 This episode is a goldmine of actionable advice and tips for AEC marketing pros and industry newbies alike. Level up your marketing game with the SEO secrets you never learned in college, tailored specifically to the AEC industry. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from Amy Hollon and drive traffic to your business, attracting your ideal clients with SEO mastery. 🎯💼🔥
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Introducing my new podcast series: [Branded] How to Build & Manage Your AEC Firm’s Online Brand. This is the first of four episodes that walk you through the steps to create and manage online marketing assets to contain a consistent brand experience online. This series is presented by OpenAsset.
[Branded] Episode 1 - What is an Online Brand and Why Does it Matter for AEC Firms?
Ever wonder what sets your AEC firm apart in the crowded digital space? Struggle to articulate your unique brand value to potential clients and employees? It's time to understand the power of online branding! This episode illuminates the significance of a robust online brand that encompasses your website, social media handles, and online content. You'll learn the art of presenting your firm's unique expertise and stand out from your competitors.
This [Branded] Series is made possible by OpenAsset, the industry-leading digital asset management solution for AEC firms. To learn more about OpenAsset, visit marketerstakeflight.com/openasset.
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
In this 🔥 special replay episode of Surge Forward Podcast with Elisha Miller, I reveal game-changing tips to streamline your proposal process and leverage the power of AI. Learn how to work smarter, not harder, by creating templates and using automation to update your content. We also discuss the value of marketing careers in the AEC industry and how automation can enhance work quality. Tune in now and surge ahead! 🎙️💡🚀
Join me and Elisha as we dive into the fascinating world of AI, exploring how it can refresh your content and extract key points for cover letters and executive summaries. Discover insider tips to save time and focus on the creative aspects of your proposals. Plus, find out why finding a firm that values marketing is crucial in the AEC industry. Don't miss out on this enlightening episode! 🤖💼📈
Get all of the resources I mention in the episode here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/122
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Looking for an advantage in your next proposal effort? Have you thought of accessibility in your documents? It could just be the tipping point with your next win. This important step is often overlooked and is becoming increasingly important in today’s world. It’s not something to ignore.
Today on the show, I’m talking to Dax Castro, a partner at Chax Training & Consulting and we are unraveling accessibility. If you aren’t sure about the hierarchy in headings or alt text on your photos, you’ll want to tune in to hear how to make your proposal more user-friendly. Listen in and learn how you can save yourself time by starting this process now.
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Is your AEC firm dipping its toes into the cutting edge of AI? Maybe there has been some push back or maybe they are firmly grasping it and trying to find the best way to use it.
Well, in this episode, I have Kristin Kautz, CPSM from JAM Idea Agency and she’s going to tell us a little more about this powerful emerging trend. This isn’t just affecting the AEC industry; this is going to affect everything in the very near future. So, what should we know about it?
Kristin’s passion for technology and AI shines as she talks to us about how using these new technologies and innovations can help marketers strategize and transform the AEC industry. From simple proposal searches to removal of a cone from an image, AI is here to stay and it’s time we embrace it and stay competitive in the marketplace.
Learn more about Kristin and get the links to the tools she mentions on the show notes page here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/120
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Can you believe we're already halfway through the year? It's time to reassess your performance goals and ensure you're on the right track! Join me in this bonus episode replay as I walk you through four simple steps that will help you achieve your goals in the remaining months of the year. By the end of our time together, you'll have a renewed sense of motivation and a clear roadmap to make the rest of this year a success.
Access the show notes page here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/9
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
📸🎥 Join me as I chat with Ely Hemness from the Unfound Door Creative Agency about the 🔥 powerful role visual storytelling can play in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry! Together, we'll explore how captivating photography and videography can elevate your firm's brand and attract your dream clients. ✨💼
Imagine capturing the essence of your projects and conveying the emotions, collaboration, and technical aspects through stunning visuals. Ely and I discuss how to align your images with your messages, create authentic content, and even leverage your team's talents and smartphone capabilities. Plus, we share cost-effective strategies to integrate visual storytelling into your marketing efforts. 💡💪💰
Don't miss this episode packed with valuable tips and strategies to take your AEC marketing to new heights. Learn how to harness the power of visual storytelling to evoke emotions, showcase your work, and make a lasting impact on your audience. 🚀🎯 Join Ely and me on this journey to unlocking the potential of visual content and watch your firm attract the clients you've always dreamed of! 💼💫🎉
🥳️ Pod Pals Zoom Parties! 🥳️
If you listen to my pod, you're invited! 🌟 Each month, we'll discuss new marketing strategies, share tips, and network with AEC marketers. No cost to join and no sales pitches! 🎉
😍 Limited space available.
Join here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/podpals
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Explore the latest updates and features of LinkedIn Company Pages that can benefit AEC firms. Learn the importance of LinkedIn as a business networking platform and the compelling reasons to invest time in optimizing your company page.
I highlight seven key updates for LinkedIn Company Pages in 2023 and provide practical insights on how to leverage these features effectively. From scheduled posts and page notifications to clickable links and showcase pages, I share actionable strategies to enhance audience engagement and expand your brand's reach on LinkedIn. The episode concludes with a reminder to adapt, innovate, and connect with your target audience using LinkedIn's powerful tools and features.
Once you listen, share your favorite new feature on the show notes: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/118
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Welcome back for part 2 as we chat again about how to structure your AEC marketing department with Anna Skeete, Russ Sanford, and Kinnari Desai. They bring their unique experiences and perspectives within the AEC marketing department structure and organization. Today, we are focusing on their firm’s growth and employee development.
In the previous episode, we talked about why and how they structured their marketing departments. However, in this episode, we are diving into their departments' inner workings and how they are perceived by their coworkers, teaming partners, and clients. We chat about the efficient use of time, effective communication, and streamlined workflows to get the job done effectively and efficiently. Listen in to hear the different perspectives on how different-sized firms create effective marketing departments.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
As we all know, AEC marketing departments are under pressure to do more with less. Budgets are tight, resources are limited, and yet, the expectations remain high. So, how can you maximize your marketing department resources and achieve more with less?
In this episode, I'll be sharing with you the three key areas to focus on purpose, people, and process. By focusing on these three areas, you can ensure that your marketing department is more productive, less stressed, and able to scale faster.
I’ll dive into each of these areas and provide actionable tips and strategies to help you implement these systems in your own marketing department. I’ll cover everything from developing a growth plan to defining roles and responsibilities, clarifying decision-making authority, managing workloads, and using analytics to track workload and results.
By the end of this episode, you'll have a clear understanding of how to maximize your marketing department resources and achieve more with less. So, if you're an in-house marketer at an AEC firm, or you're just interested in improving your marketing department's productivity, this episode is for you!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
🎙️ In this bonus episode, I challenge you to gain clarity and build confidence by taking action for that next initiative or project you're working on. Get ready to:
🔹 Stop overthinking and start doing
🔹 Understand that research and planning alone won't provide the insight you need
🔹 Learn from my personal experience in real estate investing
🔹 Discover the power of taking that first active step
🔹 Embrace the discomfort and gain valuable insights and feedback
🔹 Hear how my husband and I found success by taking action
🔹 Realize the importance of being in the game to reap the rewards
🔹 Get excited for more bite-sized mindset episodes throughout the summer
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
In this episode, I’m joined by three marketing leaders from different AEC firms who share their experiences and expertise on how to structure your AEC marketing department for success.
Anna Skeete, Marketing Director at Protean Design Group, Russ Sanford, FSMPS, CPSM Chief Growth Officer at Kleinschmidt, and Kinnari Desai, Marketing Manager at Geosyntec Consultants, discuss their unique department structures and the benefits they've realized from them. They also share how understanding the purpose of marketing can change the mindset from just doing social media or proposals to being an integral part of the firm's success.
If you're looking to improve your or your team’s leadership skills, then tune in to this episode and discover how to set up your marketing department for maximum benefit.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
🎙️ Are you ready to turn your website visitors into contacts and eventually clients? It's time to talk about calls-to-action (CTAs) in AEC marketing! In this episode, I’m dishing out all the tips and tricks on creating effective CTAs that drive conversions 🤑.
👉 I’ll start with the basics: what are CTAs and why do they matter for AEC marketing? Then, I’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of creating CTAs that are as attention-grabbing as a disco ball 🕺. I'll cover everything from design to copy and even sprinkle in some examples from AEC companies who are crushing it with their CTAs.
👀 But where should you put your CTAs for maximum impact? I’ve got you covered with tips on where to place CTAs on your website like a game of musical chairs 🎶.
📈 And of course, we can't forget about testing and measuring! I’ll show you how to track your metrics and improve your marketing strategy like a science experiment 🔬.
💥 So, what are you waiting for? Get ready to create CTAs that are as irresistible as warm cookies fresh out of the oven 🍪. Tune in now and start turning those clicks into conversions!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
In this episode, I dive into how AEC firms can optimize their online marketing efforts. I cover key areas such as website optimization, conversion optimization, content promotion, and email marketing. With tips and tricks to increase your online performance, I help you stay ahead of the competition and reach your target audience effectively. So, if you're an in-house marketing professional at an architecture, engineering, or construction firm, tune in to learn how you can optimize your online marketing program for better results.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
In this special Spring-Cleaning episode, I share 7 tips to maintain clean marketing contacts. Having a clean marketing contact list is essential for effective marketing campaigns throughout the year, not just during the holiday season.
Here are some highlights from the episode:
- The five pieces of contact information you should track for each contact, and which additional pieces of information are "nice to have"
- How to standardize data entry and ensure that everyone who enters contact information follows these guidelines
- How to monitor new contact creation with scheduled reports, and use CRM workflows to automate contact quality control
- Why sending more marketing emails can actually help keep your contacts up-to-date, and how to remove inactive contacts from your email marketing lists
- The importance of keeping track of opt-outs and how to effectively do so
So grab a cup of coffee, pen, and paper, and get ready to take some notes to clean up your marketing contacts!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
How do you organize your marketing files so you can find the information you need quickly? Well, in this special Spring-Cleaning episode, Lindsay Diven, CPSM shares 5 tips for cleaning up and organizing your marketing directory, including your folders and files.
Lindsay shares her personal experience of inheriting a disordered marketing drive and how she implemented a logical, organized marketing directory that made it easy for team members to access marketing collateral, resumes, etc.
She also offers best practices for each tip and encourages listeners to check out her self-starter kit, "End Your File Frustration Forever," for additional help. Tune in to learn how to keep your marketing drive organized and efficient.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
As an AEC marketing professional, have you ever submitted a proposal and immediately moved on to the next deadline without looking back? In this episode, host, Lindsay Diven, shares a game-changing proposal close-out process that can make your next proposal a bit easier and smoother.
By implementing this process, you can organize all your final documents in one place, capture new information, and provide pursuit updates to your internal team and subconsultant team members. This not only positions you as a leader for the effort but also sets you up for future success and establishes your personal brand.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why continuous improvement of your proposal management process is crucial
- The two steps involved in the proposal close-out process
- Strategies for organizing your proposal files and capturing new information
- How to use a Proposal Close-Out Checklist to help you stay on track
- Plus, you'll get a fun and quirky take on how to approach spring cleaning in your proposal management process.
If you're an AEC marketing professional looking to improve your proposal management process, this episode is a must-listen. Don't forget to grab your Proposal Close-Out Checklist on the show notes page at https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/110.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
🌟✨ Set Up Your AEC Project Description System - Episode Highlights ✨🌟
Welcome to my Spring Cleaning special, where I discuss the ins and outs of maintaining and updating project information in the AEC industry! 🏗️📊🌷
🕒 Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:15 - Project Update Methods 📝
07:50 - Start with the End in Mind 🎯
10:35 - Case Study: Construction Firm in Florida 🏢🌴
17:05 - Automating Your Project Update Process 🤖
20:30 - Using a CRM System 💻
24:20 - Without a CRM System 📚
27:55 - Your Turn! Share Your Best Practices 📣
🚀 Episode Highlights:
- Dive into different project updates methods like annual updates, project milestones, pursuit-driven updates, award submittals, and initiative-driven updates 📈
- Learn the importance of starting with the end in mind to ensure you collect the right information at the right time 🎯
- Explore a case study of a Florida-based construction firm successfully managing their project updates through site visits and a well-structured process 🌴🛠️
- Discover ideas to automate the project update process to save time and effort 🤖💡
- Learn how to use CRM systems or alternative strategies if you don't have one 💻📚
Don't forget to check out the three-part blog series on writing compelling project descriptions at marketerstakeflight.com/109📝🔍
🌟Let's get our A/E/C firms' project experience up-to-date and organized! 💼
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
This is the second episode of the Spring Cleaning Series and I’m sharing some juicy tips on resume management! 📝💼
I will walk you through how to set up a system for keeping resumes updated. From determining the frequency of updates to deciding whose resumes to update, physically handing out current resumes, giving a deadline, and updating the master file. 📅📊
But wait, there's more! I also share some super cool strategies for automating the resume update process. 🤖 Using a consistent naming convention and a CRM system to set up workflows can save you so much time and hassle. 🙌
And, I'm giving you a FREE resume update memo and worksheet that you can customize for your own firm. Grab it here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/108
So, grab your headphones and tune in to this episode of the Marketers Take Flight podcast! 🎙️ You won't want to miss it!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
I don't know about you but my car has been covered in yellow pollen. My back deck is covered in pollen. That can only mean one thing - it's time for a little spring cleaning!
Just like our cars or our back decks, we also needed to take this time to clean our processes and our information within our AEC marketing departments. This episode kicks off a brand new Spring Cleaning Podcast Series where I'm going to walk you through some different areas to "clean up" your marketing department.
This episode begins with cleaning up your approach to collecting employee information, particularly new employee information. Specifically, how to collect that information and use the processes you already have set up to collect that information.
And, grab my FREE new hire tools including a welcome letter and experience checklist that you can customize for your own firm. Get them here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/107
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Holly Bolton, owner of 3chord Marketing and the current SMPS Society President for the 2022-2023 year is joining me on the podcast today. During her interview, she discussed "connecting your plot points," or being mindful and intentional in recognizing intersections between different aspects of our lives. This exercise can help us appreciate how different areas of our lives impact not just our current situations, but also our future goals and growth. This concept will also be the basis of Holly's keynote address at the upcoming SMPS Southeastern Regional Conference.
In an exercise conducted with the SMPS Central Florida chapter, Holly helped members appreciate and be aware of these intersections, inspiring them to be more intentional in their personal and professional choices. Her keynote promises to be a valuable resource for attendees seeking to develop a more holistic approach to their lives and careers.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Raising a 13-year-old daughter can teach you a lot about influence and leadership. On this episode of the Marketer's Take Flight podcast, I have on guest, Skot Waldron. He’s an internal communication strategist with GiANT. We are discussing the concept of personal brand, and reputation, and how to interact and communicate internally at home and within firms.
Skot emphasizes the importance of being intentional in our communication and interactions with internal and external clients and our families and friends. Tune in to learn more about your personal brand and how it can help build your influence!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
We all know that many of today’s marketers are overworked and just don’t have time for additional writing projects. If you are finding your firm overtaxed in this department, it might be time to look into hiring a freelance writer.
Today, I have on guest Ashley Cisneros Mejia, the founder of Talk Freelance to Me, and she explains the various ways to find suitable freelance writers, such as through referrals, industry associations, LinkedIn, Facebook groups, and Twitter. She also elaborates on how freelance writers can provide a variety of services such as email drip campaigns, proposals, social media campaigns, ghostwriting, market research, competitor analysis, and more. This episode is the perfect resource for AEC marketers looking to outsource tasks and projects during their busy seasons.
Here are some highlights:
- What do freelance writers do? 5:47
- Finding, hiring, and working with a freelance writer: 7:06
- What to expect when hiring a freelance writer: 11:44
- Evaluate freelancer for a good fit: 19:26
- More about Talk Freelance to Me: 23:37
Get more information here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/104
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed with your marketing efforts? Look no further! In this episode, I’ve got you covered with the essential marketing tech stack elements for your AEC marketing department.
From a customer relationship management (CRM) system to a content management system, I explore the must-have tools that can help you personalize your communication with clients and optimize your campaigns for better results. I also dive into how marketing automation and email marketing can save you time and resources while providing personalized communication to your contacts.
But that's not all! I discuss the importance of social media management, analytics tools, and SEO tools as well as three bonus tools to take your marketing and content creation efforts to the next level. And of course, I provide expert insights and tips on choosing the right tech stack for your department and how to overcome potential challenges.
And, if you want to get all of these in one place with links to each recommendation, download my free Marketer’s Tool Kit. You can get that over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/103.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
In this episode of the Marketers Take Flight podcast, I explore the use of ChatGPT, a cutting-edge language model that can help AEC marketers speed up their content creation efforts. I discuss 10 different ways to use ChatGPT to help with content creation, including generating thought leadership content, writing social media posts and captions, developing content for landing pages and website pages, and creating personalized email messages. Additionally, I share five ways to use ChatGPT for proposals, such as generating bio summaries and writing technical descriptions.
Listeners can download a free guide that includes the 10 different ways to use ChatGPT by visiting marketerstakeflight.com/102.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
Many AEC marketers are also responsible for some or most of the firms’ proposals AND for producing great marketing content. The biggest struggle I hear from marketers is that they don’t have enough time and don’t have enough content from their subject matter experts.
Well, my friend, in this week’s podcast I am going to give you a way to solve both of these problems. And, that’s with Proposal Content Repurposing! In fact, I am going to walk you through three different ways you can turn proposal content into marketing content!
By utilizing your technical expertise, project team, and organization structure, ideas from the RFP can be used to create infographics, flowcharts, animations, and other multimedia content. All of these strategies can help you to create inspiring, interesting, and educational content that is sure to capture the attention of your targeted audience.
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Get 100s of AEC-specific social media content ideas for FREE!
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Sign up for the Proposal Pro and Content Marketing Clarity Online Courses Waitlists.
I’m celebrating 100 episodes on my podcast! 🥳️
And to mark this milestone, I’ve invited my listeners to share some of their favorite episodes with me.
This show is my love letter to you, and I’m so grateful for your thoughts, your support, and your insight on the episodes that made the biggest difference in your work and career.
Thank you for being part of my world and allowing me to be part of yours.
Cheers to the next 100! 🥂
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
If you’re subscribed to the Marketers Take Flight podcast show, then you know I’ve been talking about content marketing a lot lately. That’s because I believe content marketing is the best way for AEC firms to showcase their expertise, differentiate their firm from competitors, and compete directly with larger firms.
And, a big component of content marketing is, well, content! You need to create content that attracts your ideal client. We talked all about your ideal client in last week’s episode. So, at this point, you know who you are creating content for but you may be wondering what type of content, specifically digital or online content, will work best.
That’s exactly what I am going to cover in this episode. I am going to walk you through different content types along with the pros and cons for each. My hope is that this will give you some direction on what your content strategy will be based your ideal client’s preferences, your resources, your expertise, and frankly, what you like to produce.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
In today's noisy marketplace, it is more important than ever to stand out from the competition. How can one stand out in a highly competitive, constantly changing market? Many AEC firms have clients made up of multiple decision-makers, but by focusing on one ideal client, you can create more targeted and effective content marketing strategies.
I’m sharing with you the power of clarity today. By narrowing your focus, you can better understand your client and create content that addresses their specific needs. These fundamental strategies are some that I’ve adapted over the years in marketing to help create laser-focused content marketing campaigns anytime. Listen in and download the worksheet to help you define your ideal client and start creating your next marketing strategy.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
New marketing trends may be fun and exciting, but do they align with your firm’s growth goals? Is there a way to avoid the "shiny-object syndrome" when it comes to your marketing? Well, friend, there is. By utilizing your firm's own documentation and leaders, you can create a successful content marketing plan.
Today, I'm offering tips on how to find and refine your marketing efforts within your firm's own growth plan. By understanding where your firm's goals are, you'll be a whiz at putting together the content you need to grow. But what if they don’t have a plan? I have a solution for that as well. Listen in as we align your marketing with your firm's goals.
Here are some highlights:
- Identifying your firm’s strategic growth goals: 2:46
- Where can you find these goals: 4:49
- What if your firm has no strategic growth goals: 6:53
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Have you ever considered paid ads to amplify or accelerate your content marketing? Today, I have on Lindsay Young, Chief Difference Maker at nu Marketing and we are talking about LinkedIn ads as well as the strategies around using LinkedIn for your personal and firm brands.
Lindsay discusses some of the benefits of LinkedIn advertising, particularly over some of the other social media platforms. She walks us though a few examples of how she’s built some LinkedIn campaigns for her own clients and some steps to help you get started. We discuss sponsored posts, how best to test those as well as creating general brand awareness through specifically targeting a specific audience, a specific area, and more.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
It’s the end of another year, and you know what that means! It’s time to reveal the most popular podcast episode of 2022. 🎉
The most popular episode was not a surprise to me. With many conversations around finding and retaining great talent, this episode unveils some of the reasons why it’s so hard to find and keep marketing coordinators.
The most popular podcast episode of 2022 is…….
…Have we mislabeled the AEC Marketing Coordinator role?In this episode, Tim Asimos and I had some controversial conversations about the differences between marketing and sales and where a marketing coordinator falls. We also talk about how AEC firms use the marketing coordinator job title for a catch-all from everything from marketing to proposals. And, by doing this, it’s hurting their firm’s ability to find the right person for what they really need help with.
We discuss the differences between the titles and where they should be. He also explains why a mislabeled marketing coordinator title could be affecting the recruitment and retention of ideal candidates. Tim will tell us who has a handle on these roles and how firms can realign to attract the best marketing professionals.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Raise your hand if you have a job opening right now that's either in your marketing department, your business development department, or sales related. Many AEC firms are in need of new hires but are they too general with their job description? It may be time to rethink how you’re approaching filling those positions.
My guest today, Jen Newman is the Founding Principal of Elevate Marketing Advisors. She’s here to talk about the challenges we see today when it comes to hiring and retaining marketing and business development talent. She’s even got a few new approaches you can implement to find that talent as well.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Today we are talking about something we don’t talk about enough - your path to Principal. Only a small handful of marketing and business development professionals hold positions as principal and owners of AEC firms. Many of us have the qualifications and aspirations to achieve that goal… but perhaps not the path of how to get there.
I have two guests today, Adam Kilbourne, FSMPS, CPSM and Leah Boltz, have spent time interviewing a dozen principals around the country to help clear the path for those that are looking to pursue this career goal. They hope these interviews will encourage other non-technical professionals and AEC marketers to their career goal of Principal.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
If the results from your marketing campaign efforts are not tracked, how will you know if it’s working or not? It seems simplistic when I say this out loud, but for many AEC firms, collecting and analyzing the results of online or content marketing efforts is often the hardest part. And, because you are not collecting, analyzing, or presenting the campaign results to your firm leaders, it’s difficult for you to get buy-in for additional marketing resources.
So, how do you collect and analyze the marketing campaign results?
In this episode, I am going to share the steps to begin collecting the results of your marketing campaign and analyzing those results.
If you’ve been following along with the ModMarketing podcast series, you’ve learned how to create the campaign and promote it. So now it’s time to analyze the results and compare them against your marketing goals to determine the performance of the campaign.
Struggling with what to post on social media?
Create engaging social media content using my #Hashtag Holidays guide. This guide gives you a year's worth of AEC-specific holidays, awareness weeks, and more!
Grab your FREE copy here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/holidays
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
It's not uncommon for marketers to be asked to complete impossible projects on even more impossible deadlines. There isn't much an AEC marketer can't do, but there is one word that marketers can't say, "no". Today, I am joined by Jen McGovern, the senior regional marketing manager for VHB.
Jen is here to discuss the impact negativity can have on your career growth. A big
part of building a successful career is being able to motivate people to take
action and achieve goals. Helping people understand why 'no' may be the answer
can go a long way to making everyone feel included. Keeping a healthy work-life
balance depends on setting personal boundaries and enforcing those boundaries
with your manager - this is more crucial than you think. Listen in as Jen explains.
Here are some highlights:
- Jen’s career path: 2:13
- Negativity impacts career growth: 4:45
- How to say “no” without saying “no”: 10:23
- Educate people: 13:25
- Enforcing personal boundaries: 19:09
- Balancing workloads & assignments: 26:40
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
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Use promo code FLIGHT from Dec 1-23 to take 10% off your order!
Order yours today at: www.rfpqueen.ca
It’s Thanksgiving week in the US which makes many of us think about what we are thankful for. And, often that includes our jobs – even after very tiring and stressful weeks.
You may have heard that if you are outwardly grateful—meaning saying or writing the items you are grateful for—your mood and mindset will change to be more positive. I thought this was a little too “kumbaya” for me. However, I just realized this for myself. I plan to be more outwardly grateful for other parts of my life as well—family, home, friends, and myself.
And that starts with this episode.
Even with all the stress, deadlines, and sometimes lack of respect we are given, this is often a thankless job. What can I possibly be thankful for as a marketing professional working in the AEC industry?
That’s why I stopped to think about some reasons why and recorded them for this episode. And when I took a few moments to do this, it just started pouring out of me.
I hope some of my reasons resonate with you or make you stop and think about just what our industry provides us. It isn’t always rainbows and kittens, but it is amazing with the right perspective.
And, THANK YOU for listening and supporting me with this podcast. The ratings, reviews, and emails I get fuel me to keep going.
I started Marketers Take Flight to support AEC marketers and I’m so grateful that 10 years later, I am still able to do that. And that’s because of you.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving and thank you for listening.
In the last episode, episode 88, I shared what SEO was, how it works, and some ways you can optimize your own web pages for better SEO.
In this episode, I share what domain or website credibility is, why it’s important for SEO, and some ways to increase the authority of your website. And, I end this episode with a 3-step plan so you can get started improving your SEO today.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Throughout the ModMarketing podcast series, I’ve covered how to set online marketing goals, identify personas, outlining content and promotion strategies. In each of these previous episodes, I’ve touched a little bit on search engine optimization (SEO) but haven’t really done a deep dive.
It’s true that there is so much to SEO. So much, in fact, I could do an entire series or online course dedicated to just that topic. But for now, I’ve split this topic into two episodes to get you started.
In this first episode, I will define what SEO is and how it works. Then I’m going to walk through how you can optimize your own web pages for better SEO. Then the next episode, I’m going to share some other ways that you can increase the authority of your website and why that matters as well as give you a three-step plan to get started improving your SEO.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
When was the last time a lead popped into your inbox and you picked up the phone to call them? This is just one way to start creating that nurturing sequence for prospects, clients, and even potential employees. While these have typically been tasks of a business developer or project manager, today we’ll talk about how marketers can support these efforts to make your firm stand out.
Cate Phillips is the Relationship Manager at Full Sail Partners and she’s here to share with us her unique hands-on approach to lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead follow-up. We’ll cover not just website leads but also pre and post-conference and event leads as well. How can you make the best ROI on your experience at these shows and sign those clients? Cate has a few tricks you’ll want to take notes on.
Here are some highlights:
- Cate’s career path: 3:09
- Lead gen strategies: 5:56
- Leverage professional services: 11:22
- Importance of follow-up & responsiveness: 12:40
- Favorite lead gen for AEC industry: 19:37
- Best practices for post-event follow-up: 22:55
- Cate’s #1 piece of advice for new marketers: 32:44
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
This week’s episode covers one of the most cited struggles I hear when it comes to your content marketing – finding new content ideas and getting the technical content from your subject matter experts.
Is this a struggle for you?
You and I both know that publishing consistent content that appeals to your targeted ideal client is a cornerstone for a successful content marketing program.
But getting this new content on a regular basis is another story! You’re busy with proposals and other marketing activities. Your subject matter experts are busy serving clients and delivering projects. Content marketing often gets pushed to the back seat.
Well, friend, in you’re in for a real treat on this special ModMarketing episode. I’m going to cover one of my very favorite topics – and that’s content repurposing.
I love figuring out how to extend or re-use the life of an existing topic or piece of content. Maybe it’s the competitive nature in me that sees this as a challenge. Each time I do this exercise, I challenge myself to figure out how many ways I can use the same content piece. And, I hope after today’s episode, you’ll be just as excited as I am to challenge yourself to repurpose your existing content!
Here are a few highlights from the episode:
- What is content repurposing?
- How to select the content to repurpose
- A content repurposing case study
- 13 different ways to repurpose one piece of content
- Content repurpose challenge
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Do you ever feel like you're doing everything right when it comes to marketing, but you're just not getting the respect or credit you deserve from the C-suite? If you're nodding your head in frustration, this episode is for you. You'll learn 3 tips as to why are CEOs unhappy with their marketing teams' performance, and what can be done to bridge the gap.
Stacey Danheiser is the founder of Shake Marketing Group, a B2B marketing consultancy. She is an expert in marketing strategy and execution and helps her clients build alignment with their sales teams, craft customer-focused value propositions, and set up their marketing teams for success.
As a marketer, it can be difficult to gain credibility and respect from the C-suite. One way to overcome this is to understand the business and what the C-suite cares about. This can be done by speaking with someone in the finance team and asking about the important metrics that the C suite uses to measure success.
Here are some highlights:
- What do CEOs expect from their marketing team: 5:11
- Marketers number one job: 7:44
- How can marketers earn more influence and credibility with the C-Suite: 18:56
- Get to know your clients: 25:07
- Why marketers are skipping steps: 27:25
- Confident Marketer’s Playbook: 28:28
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Your AEC firm can have the greatest piece of content in the world but it doesn’t matter if your ideal client doesn’t see it. It’s not enough to just hit that publish button on the blog post or YouTube video if you’re not promoting it. In this episode, I share some common and not-so-common promotional tactics.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
One of the most frequent challenges I hear from Proposal Pros is that their proposal management plans and proposal production schedules are often ignored by their internal teams. This week’s episode addresses how to reshape your thinking and approach to help you get the buy-in you need for your proposals.
This audio comes from a part of a lesson inside the Proposal Pro Course. Originally recorded in 2019, I’m in the process of revamping, and re-recording the entire course including many of these mindset lessons. However, because there are some good nuggets that can help you today, I didn’t want them to just stay hidden on my server somewhere. And, this lesson is especially good because you can start applying it today, right after you listen to the episode.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Can you really create a 3-month content calendar in just a few hours? I say yes, it can be done. I know because I do this for not one but two different companies.
And, in this special ModMarketing episode I’m going to show the steps to create your own quarterly content calendar.
Yep! An entire three months worth of your online marketing content – from your firm’s weekly core content to social media posts to holidays and promotional pieces – strategically laid out, and ready to schedule in a handful of hours.
In this episode, I’ll be walking you step-by-step into the content calendar creation including:
- How to use your content ideas and keyword research to identify the topics to populate your calendar
- How big marketing campaigns, special events or conferences should factor into your content plans
- How to leverage holidays and weekly themes to engage your ideal audience
- How to incorporate a weekly cadence into your content creation routine
- And so much more!
Block off a few hours and get ready to master your marketing content calendar! It can really be done in that little time.
You’ll walk away with an entire quarter’s worth of content.
Plus, I’ve put together a free quarterly content calendar to use while you listen to the episode. Just plug in the dates and content to get your firm’s online marketing engine started!
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Tasked with creating new roles for her organization, Nicole Robinson shifted from being an individual contributor in her firm to a people manager. Is it an easy transition? Today we are talking about making that transition. Nicole gives us tips on creating the role, looking at the details, and measuring the team's metrics.
Listen in as I talk to Nicole about what you need to consider before hiring a team if you have never hired a team before. In addition to forming a new team, training, organizing, and building relationships are also part of this process. However, before all of that, you need to determine exactly what role this individual will play within the company. Nicole offers advice on how she handled the transition from individual contributor to people manager.
Here are some highlights:
- Nicole’s career path: 3:27
- Nicole’s experiences: 8:43
- Duplicate yourself: 10:27
- What to think about when creating a role: 12:40
- 3 things to create a team: 15:02
- Team benchmarks: 16:38
- Writing To Win language: 19:09
- Look at the details: 21:39
- Metrics for your team: 23:57
- Nicole’s #1 piece of advice for new marketers: 31:09
Resources & Links:
Nicole Robinson, Podcast Co-Host of “The No Really Everything’s Fine!”
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-a-robinson-6223b35a/
Proposal Manager Planner – email: PMPlanner@RFPQueen.Ca
The No Really Everything’s Fine Podcast: https://pod.link/1620171601
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
In the last series episode, I talked about different content types that can fuel your [ModMarketing] program. Content is a crucial piece of attracting new potential clients to your firm as well as continuing to nurture and educate existing clients.
But, how do you know what to write about? And, how do you know that your targeted audience, aka, your ideal clients, even cares about your content?
You see, while I 100% agree you need to be producing content on a consistent basis. I don’t believe you should just be creating content to have something to publish. That’s just a waste of your time and your efforts. I want your work to be effective.
So, just how do you know what type or topics to write about for your marketing content? Well, that’s where keyword research comes in. In this episode, I am going to walk you through some old-school and new-school keyword research techniques to help you start brainstorming topic ideas for your content calendar.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Why are some decisions so hard to make at our AEC firms? And why is it so hard to keep people accountable for making and keeping those decisions? Can the use of metrics or different analytics drive accountability? Kathy Nanowski, CPSM is the vice president and director of marketing and business development at Fuss & O'Neill, she is here to share with us the metrics she uses for reporting on capture plans and how you can get started at your firm as well.
As we are entering the season where we start our business development planning and our marketing planning for next year, having some metrics to review and look at could help with the future plans of your firm. Listen in as Kathy gives you some reasons to prioritize these metrics and drive more accountability at your firm.
Here are some highlights:
- Why are some decisions so hard for firms to make?: 6:05
- What are some metrics your firm could use?: 8:51
- Drive accountability to your firm: 17:18
- Does everything have a capture plan: 19:15
- Most successful capture plans: 22:05
- What is the goal for the information: 24:34
- Getting started with metrics: 26:49
- How long should you give it: 28:19
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Stories and Strategies for Public Relations
Communication is in every facet of our daily business.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
This episode is all about content creation – the fuel that ignites your online marketing efforts. Content is a crucial piece to attracting new potential clients to your firm as well as continuing to nurture and educate existing clients.
I walk you through different content types, how to determine which content type works for each stage of the decision-making funnel, and some ideas to make your content stand out. And, stay until the end to hear about an award-winning and sales-generating marketing campaign from an engineering firm!
This is just one of the episodes in my ModMarketing podcast series. In this series, I’ll walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive growth at your firm.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Stories and Strategies for Public Relations
Communication is in every facet of our daily business.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Are you taking advantage of your local SEO? This relatively low-cost but high-impact digital marketing strategy should be on your list. Making sure you have a few key areas ready could make an impact on who in your neighborhood is finding you. Today, I have Amanda and Amy from Pixels + Ink Studio and they are here to tell you how to tweak a few details on your website design, how important local SEO, a Google Biz Page, Google Reviews, and domain authority is to find local clients. Local SEO could be a great way to generate leads in your own backyard.
Most of us head to Google to find a refrigerator repairman or a new car but is your firm using that same strategy so local clients can find you? Whether you have satellite offices or you are located in one area, making sure your local SEO is on point for the area you are in could bring a plethora of different opportunities to your firm. Listen in as we find out a few of Amanda and Amy’s secrets to being found locally.
Here are some highlights:
- Local SEO, what is it?: 6:27
- Selling your team on local SEO: 10:53
- What are you missing by not using local SEO?: 10:59
- Niche down for maximum results: 12:30
- Generate leads: 17:19
- Get started in local SEO: 19:39
- Your office specialties?: 23:22
- Using schema: 24:00
- Domain authority: 25:23
- Put a plan together: 27:44
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Initial steps in creating a ModMarketing program include defining personas and setting goals. Once those are set, it’s time to begin creating content. But what types of content need to be created? How does an A/E/C firm develop content ideas that attract potential clients?
In this episode, I’ll walk you through the answers to these questions to show the steps to create a content strategy. And it’s the next step in modernizing your marketing.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Do you have a go-to person in your firm when you need to find an old picture? Maybe there's that drive with all the images labeled IMG? Organizing your digital clutter might be the next step for your firm. My guest today is George Bains, VP of Customer Success at OpenAsset. You can benefit from this conversation about what a DAM is, how to organize it, and even what to organize even if you do not have OpenAsset in your firm.
George and I discuss how the right DAM system can help create proposals more efficiently and easily. Our discussion will include integrations, storage options, and how a DAM can complement your current tech stack. Any type of digital proposal management system will speed up the proposal process for your firm.
Here are some highlights:
- George’s career path: 2:46
- What is a Digital Management System: 5:26
- How can a DAM help your marketing department: 6:29
- Ways to organize your data: 9:28
- Integrations: 12:14
- What content can be stored: 14:26
- How does a DAM fit in our tech stack: 20:07
-
1 Piece of Advice for new marketers: 22:14
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Professional services firms don’t just make a product that one consumer is going to purchase. The services that our firms sell are complex and involve different decision makers who have different needs and goals. Successful firms don’t just know who those decision makers are, but rather, develop personas that guide their marketing strategies.
This is the third episode in the special ModMarketing podcast series. This series will walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive the growth at your firm.
And in this episode, I’ll dive deeper into what personas are, how to develop personas, and how they are used to help create your digital marketing strategies.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
In this episode, I have Melinda Colón. She is the CEO, strategic marketer, and mentor of FortisOBM. She is a problem solver and connector who helps firms in the AEC industry grow their businesses. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a $550 billion investment across five years that include roads, bridges, major projects, passenger and great trains, general safety, safe street programs, pedestrian safety programs, buses, rail cars, and stations, broadband expansions, ports and waterways, airport runways, the gates, the taxiways, water and infrastructure, power and grid systems, and cybersecurity.
The Bill is going to touch nearly every AEC firm because it spans all market sectors. And it will also bring more work, which means more proposals! And, who could use another proposal (or two)?!?!
Knowing that these proposals are coming, what work can your business development and proposal teams start doing now to prepare? Melinda shares some actions your teams can do today to start preparing.
Here are some highlights:
- Overview of Infrastructure Bill: 4:49
- Example of how the Bill works: 7:24
- Is this similar to the last big bill?: 11:16
- What is the timing for some of these projects?: 14:03
- Where is the money flowing to?: 15:25
- Look locally: 16:44
- Tips for what marketers can do to prepare: 21:15
- Recap of Tips: 30:31
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Without marketing goals, it’s nearly impossible to develop a marketing plan let alone know if the marketing effort is working. Without clear, actionable, and achievable metrics, how does your marketing team know what you’re working towards? Setting goals for digital marketing programs should always be the priority.
This is the second episode in the special [ModMarketing] podcast series. This series will walk you through how to modernize your marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive your firm's growth.
And in this episode, I am sharing how to set your digital marketing goals.
I’ll explain how to begin goal setting, what SMART goals are, goal examples, and best practices.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Using digital ads, LinkedIn ads, and email campaigns, how can you reach the influencers and decision-makers before the RFP is out? Getting in front of your clients before the proposal is even written isn't as hard as you might think.
This week I'm joined by Katie Cash and Jeni Dzenis of Smartegies. The conversation is about different types of marketing data, marketing campaigns, and how data is used by marketing or business development to assist sales. In addition, they provide examples of how these strategies or tactics can be used during the prepositioning and capture planning process.
Here are some highlights:
- Marketing strategies advantage during pursuit: 10:57
- Tactics for reaching warm leads: 16:25
- Each strategy has a purpose: 20:21
- How Jeni utilizes the crazy ideas in the proposal process: 28:01
- A few ideas for pre-positioning: 31:46
- Tips to get started with these marketing techniques: 34:49
Resources & Links:
AEC Marketing for Principals Podcast – https://smartegies.com/podcast/.
Smartegies - https://smartegies.com/
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
She Leads Now: A Podcast For Women Leaders
Advance your organization’s mission and help others reach their highest potential!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
FedBiz'5 is Your Definitive Resource to Accelerating Government Sales
Series of 5-minute podcasts designed to help federal contractors find and win business
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
This month is very special to me. Can you take a guess why? You might already know. This month, July 2022, marks 10 years of Marketers Take Flight!
That’s 10 years, a decade since I started my little blog in 2012 that has since grown to online courses, training resources, a Facebook community, and this podcast! Plus a few little presentations and webinars sprinkled in. And I will tell you, all the content, training, and presentations have been with my blood, sweat, and tears.
And, today's episode is about celebration. I share why I created Marketers Take Flight, how it originated, and some highs and lows along the way. Then I give you a sneak peek into what the future holds for Marketers Take Flight.
MARKET-ers’ Place
The PLACE to get training, tools, and resources specific to AEC marketing. Get answers and tools for a specific problem you’re trying to solve or a process you want to improve instantly. Visit MARKET-ers’ Place here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place
Would you like to know how your firm stacks up against other firms in terms of pipeline forecasts, win rates, and proposal volume? Deltek has created an industry study that breaks down all the information for you. In this episode, I talk with Megan Miller, CPSM about some of the amazing trends she's seeing in this year's business development report.
Megan explains what the report is, how it's created, and how metrics are reported. This study is a valuable piece of research for any firm. Deltek’s latest report is aimed at anyone that does business in the A&E industry, not just Deltek customers. Be sure to listen in and then check the links for an opportunity to go even deeper into the report.
Here are some highlights:
- Megan’s career path: 2:11
- Overview of Deltek Clarity Study: 5:27
- Key trends in Business Development: 7:53
- Big growth ahead? 9:34
- Industry averages broken down: 12:20
- How are the metrics reported; 15:10
- Understanding your “Why” and how to change: 16:02
- Win rate change: 17:30
- Surprise findings for this year's study: 20:15
- Third of firms not using a CRM??! 24:05
- Top business development challenges: 26:42
-
1 piece of advice for a new AEC marketer: 31:15
Resources & Links:
- Deltek Coffee & Clarity Series: https://bit.ly/43rdClaritySeries
- 43rd Deltek Clarity Study: https://info.deltek.com/Clarity-AE
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
FedBiz'5 is Your Definitive Resource to Accelerating Government Sales
Series of 5-minute podcasts designed to help federal contractors find and win business
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
The Successful Strategist
C-suite or front-line, understand strategy through these practical, five-minute episodes.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
MARKET-ers’ Place
The PLACE to get training, tools, and resources specific to AEC marketing. Get answers and tools for a specific problem you’re trying to solve or a process you want to improve instantly. Visit MARKET-ers’ Place here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place
I am so excited to bring you this brand-new ModMarketing Series! This series will walk AEC marketers through how to modernize their marketing techniques using digital, online, thought leadership, and content marketing strategies. These strategies will help raise your firm’s brand awareness, capture new leads, and eventually drive the growth at your firm.
ModMarketing is going to cover the nuts and bolts of how to do this. In this series, you will learn how to develop a ModMarketing program that is right for your firm. Some topics I plan to cover include:
- How to define your personas
- Setting ModMarketing goals
- Outlining a content strategy
- Different content strategies and examples
- Repurposing content into multiple formats
- Search engine optimization
- Promoting content
- Optimizing marketing performance
- Analyzing marketing results
Make sure you are subscribed to the Marketers Take Flight podcast, so you don’t miss any episode in this series!
And in this first episode, I am going to go into a little more in detail about what the heck I mean by ModMarketing.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
MARKET-ers’ Place
The PLACE to get training, tools, and resources specific to AEC marketing. Get answers and tools for a specific problem you’re trying to solve or a process you want to improve instantly. Visit MARKET-ers’ Place here >> https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place
Has your firm created a marketing handbook that you can easily access and has all the information you need? This would save you a lot of time when you need it most. When you're pressed for time and need to post to social media or finish a proposal, your company needs a marketing handbook containing simple information such as phone numbers and addresses, as well as less-known information like brand colors and logos. The resource can be accessed by anyone and contains everything needed.
In today's episode, we talk to Perryn Olson from REX.one. He has been creating a marketing handbook for his company, and he is here to discuss how to make this a standard practice in your firm. From conception to sharing and keeping it updated, a marketing handbook could be what your firm needs to stay on track and be more efficient and effective.
Here are some highlights:
- Perryn’s career path: 2:39
- Why create a marketing handbook: 8:05
- What is in a marketing handbook: 11:32
- How to create and update: 16:44
- InDesign book basics: 19:08
- Sharing the book: 21:35
- Benefits of using a marketing handbook: 27:04
- What should you focus on first: 30:55
Resource:
End Your File Frustration Starter Pack: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/product/end-file-frustration/
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Is your next career move up? Will it still involve proposals? What if you want to take a break or lean out of your career? What options do you have then?
This episode is the second part of the career paths of marketers. I am going to answer these questions and more from career path stories of marketers like you, and from a very special guest. I share the career path stories of five different marketing, communications, and business development professionals.
There's also a special guest who started as a marketing coordinator, fell in love with helping her community, and pivoted her career to lead referendum campaigns for her firm.
This is a fun and inspiring episode, so grab a coffee or put on those earbuds and sneakers and listen up.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Is there a career path in A/E/C marketing beyond the marketing coordinator role?
If you have been in your role as a marketing coordinator for any length of time, usually around the 2-3 year mark, you begin to wonder what role is next. You can become a Senior Marketing Coordinator and then eventually a Proposal or Marketing Manager. Eventually, you may be managing other staff, larger pursuits, and/or multiple pursuits.
Can you ever get beyond the proposals? Do you want to? What other career paths are there for A/E/C marketers?
I asked my community of marketing professionals this exact question, and they didn't disappoint. In part 1 of this series, I share the career path stories of seven different marketing, communications, and business development professionals.
There's also a special guest who started as a marketing coordinator, turned to business development, and now is providing project management assistance on the very design-build projects she helped to win.
This is a fun and inspiring episode, so grab a coffee or put on those earbuds and sneakers and listen up.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Imagine how it would feel when you are able to manage a proposal process from start to finish that is planned, organized, and follows a predictable schedule.
You not only know the steps involved in any proposal response situation but take charge of the entire process and delegate with authority and confidence.
You are confident your proposal is compliant, customized, and showcases your firm as the best.
After you hit that submit button, you feel like a success. It makes your entire marketing department (which might only be you) proud. Firm leaders take notice of how smooth the proposal process was.
Can you even imagine that? Now that’s #marketingboss
After managing proposals for 17+ years in the architecture/engineering industry, I have compiled a list of the activities involved in proposal management from the moment that RFP hits your desk to its timestamped by the client.
I’ve boiled all of it down to three phases—Coordinating, Content Development, and Review, Finalization, and Delivery (RFD).
And in today’s episode, I am going to narrow on one of those phases – the Content Development phase. And more specifically some best practices on how to approach the order in which you develop your proposal content.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
If you have ever opened a trade magazine, you might have thought, 'I can do that.' But you aren't sure where to start. And that's exactly what we're going to discuss today. Reputation Ink's Michelle Calcote King is here and we're talking about the content sweet spot, knowledge extraction, and editorial calendars.
Consider taking notes on how to work through those steps if you have been thinking about getting published either for your own brand or for your firm. We have never discussed this topic before, so let's begin.
Here are some highlights:
- Michelle’s career path: 1:57
- What is media relations: 3:58
- What should you do to get into publications: 7:30
- Pitching to the Media: 11:39
- What works for trade publications: 12:34
- Getting consistent results: 13:03
- Steps before writing: 13:44
- Formulate your media plan: 15:21
- In-house journalism: 20:02
- Modern marketing: 22:58
-
1 piece of advice for a new AEC marketer: 24:50
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Capture Planning is an essential element in winning pursuits. It is a methodical process of understanding the client and decision-makers, the potential project, and the competitive landscape; and then turning that into a winning proposal. It often requires a full team of business development, marketing, and technical professionals.
The goal is to have the right information to create compelling and compliant submissions that win! As you can imagine, much of the Capture Planning effort happens before the RFP is released. This important process assesses opportunities, and positions firms accordingly.
And, part of the Capture Planning involves meeting with clients, stakeholders, and other decision-makers to gain intelligence about the project and its goals. To help you uncover the best information, you need to know what questions to ask and how to ask them.
In this episode, I share a lesson from my Proposal Pro Course - Gap Finding. In this lesson, I explain what a gap is and why it's critical to help differentiate your firm. And then how to find gaps for your pursuits. (Hint: it involves asking great questions!)
To help you get started, download my handout that includes dozens of gap-finding questions. Use this list to help prepare your business development and technical staff before they meet with clients. You can download this free pdf on the show notes page.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
You most likely have a LinkedIn page for your firm. And, you're most likely posting employee get-togethers and industry events you're attending. Am I right?
But are you really maximizing LinkedIn to showcase your subject matter expertise and position your firm as the industry leader?
What if there were some other features of LinkedIn that you could add to your marketing strategy that actually attracts your ideal clients and prospects? And, by adding those wouldn't take too much time, effort, or resources? Would you be interested in learning about those?
That's what this week's Marketers Take Flight podcast episode is all about - introducing you to a few new LinkedIn features and why AEC firms should add those to their marketing strategies.
I've got a special guest, Mindi Rosser, who specializes in helping B2B firms build the personal brands of their SMEs as well as company brands, specifically on LinkedIn. She brings a broader perspective of how other B2B companies are leveraging LinkedIn to start meaningful conversations to fill their pipelines of potential new work.
Additionally, Mindi discusses our profile, the importance of an up-to-date profile picture, and what a good headline should include. We discuss how our firms can help us with that headline and how it can be used to acquire new prospects or clients. This episode is packed with actionable strategies.
Here are some highlights:
- New features on LinkedIn: 6:02
- LinkedIn newsletters: 7:16
- LinkedIn live: 9:45
- What happens on LinkedIn lives: 15:37
- Personal vs. Firm Brand: 17:37
- How to attract the right people on LinkedIn: 21:34
- Headlines: 23:59
- How can your firm help with headlines: 27:52
- Recap: Your LinkedIn strategy and approach: 31:36
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We all know how difficult it’s been to find and hire experienced marketing coordinators for our AEC firms.
We are all usually underwater with deadlines and need help. Once we get that approval to hire, we need to not only find someone quickly but get that person up to speed and fully functionally ASAP. If you are one of the lucky ones to find this AEC marketing coordinator unicorn, you will want to make sure you set a great first impression, so he/she stays with your company for a long time.
This is where a great onboarding experience can come into play. And that’s what today’s episode is about. I’m going to break down the different phases of onboarding and give you some ideas to make this experience better for the new hire and you so everyone feels good about the decision and even better, the new hire can feel like they are making meaningful contributions right away.
Here are some episode highlights:
- Defining what onboarding is and isn’t
- How you can start to make a great first impression before the new hire’s first day
- Two tools you can prepare to help the new marketing coordinator be productive faster
- Setting the right first impression on the first day
- Best practices to make the first 90 days productive and rewarding
- Examples of how to make the first year successful – for both you and the new hire
- How you can shape the new hire onboarding experience, even if HR already has their own
I provide you with two download freebies to help you start enhancing your marketing onboarding experience – the Resource Guidebook and Help Source Card questionnaires. You can download those for free over on the show notes page – marketerstakeflight.com/60.
I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope this gives you some ideas to enhance your new hire onboarding experience for your marketing department. I know we have a lot of creative people in the audience. So tell us, friends, what are some creative ways or experiences you provide to your new marketers? Share them with us in the comments on the show notes page.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
It’s all in the data. Data is being used more than ever before. It's being used to make decisions, create products and services, to find solutions to problems; it's not just about managing the data, it's about using the data for something. Are you using that data to its fullest potential?
Stacey Ho, CPSM loves all things data. She's here on the show today to talk to us about the four pillars of data collection and auditing: training, collection, auditing, and reporting. She’ll share with us examples of this data being used effectively to make intelligent decisions and prepare effective proposals.
Here are some highlights:
- Best practices for data collection and data auditing: 4:14
- How can firms automate data collecting and auditing: 11:53
- Dashboards make it easier: 14:33
- Visualizing the data: 16:14
- What else can the data tell you: 16:47
- Get the whole data story: 19:36
- Using data for decisions and proposals: 23:17
- Next-level marketing is the future: 27:55
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Today we are talking about three ways you can start preparing for an unexpected RFP. Because let’s be honest, even though we want to have months and months to do our capture planning and prepositioning, a lot of times, a project manager or principal brings you an RFP that wasn’t on your radar.
So, what do you do when you hear about an RFP that is going to be advertised next week? What can you start doing now to make the proposal production go smooth and still put out a customized, persuasive proposal to give your firm the best shot at winning? Especially, since you’re already working on 2 or 3 other pursuits at the same time.
Well, I’ve been there my friends. A project that we were either tracking or a client we have been meeting with, lets us know that RFP is coming out next week or in a few weeks. We are way behind on the capture planning efforts and have a few other must-win proposal deadlines already on our calendar.
But, we know we have to submit this RFP coming out next week. So, we must start preparing, even if we can’t go through the full capture planning process. Having been through this many times in my past, I have found that there are three items or pieces of information you, as the proposal manager, can start working on the moment you hear about that RFP. And, in this episode, I am going to share those items with you.
Here are some episode highlights:
- Why do we get unexpected RFPs and why do we need to still submit
- Where to look for the proposal outline
- How to identify your internal and external team
- How to use the project scope to build out the experience section
If you loved any of these or have any of your own items you start working on the moment you hear that RFP is coming out that you want to share with me, jump on Instagram, send me a DM, or post about it. Tag me. I’d love to know some of the proposals tasks you start working on the moment you hear that an unexpected RFP is coming. I genuinely would love to hear from you. And also, if you know someone who would enjoy this podcast episode, please grab the link and share it with them. I’d be so grateful.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
The most important part of your proposal is your cover letter. This first impression could grab the attention of your reader and set the stage for your proposal to be shortlisted. If you start your cover letter with “We are excited to submit?” then you are going to want to stop and listen to this episode.
Peter Kienle is here to offer advice on what you should and should not include in your cover letter. If you find yourself seeing some similarities, we have some support for you as well. A few ideas on what you should be including the length of the cover letter, how to summarize it, and even who should be signing. Stop creating your cover letter all wrong and start getting those proposals read and shortlisted.
Here are some highlights:
- Peter’s career path. 1:49
- Why are cover letters so important for AEC proposals? 4:33
- What entices them to read the entire proposal? 8:36
- How to focus a cover letter 10:04
- Magic of 3’s 10:43
- Is your cover letter telling & not selling? 12:41
- Sample Cover Letter 13:54
- Stand out at the end of your cover letter 19:02
- Who should sign the cover letter 21:04
-
1 piece of advice for marketers new to the AEC industry? 25:01
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
If you’re listening to this podcast, chances are you’re either in marketing or business development for an AEC firm. And, as such, most of your work revolves around proposals. You are most likely coordinating multiple proposals any given week. I know this because I was you. Since 2005 when I began as a marketing coordinator at an engineering firm – learning how to coordinate a proposal submission was task #1 of my onboarding.
Since then, I have trained dozens of AEC marketing coordinators at three different firms, specifically on how to produce winning proposals. And through this experience, I have realized that there are a few key areas to really master to grow your career in the marketing or pursuit management departments at AEC firms. Those topics or areas of mastery include:
- Understanding how to put together a win strategy,
- Developing a proposal management plan,
- Scheduling the proposal production with all its moving parts and contributors,
- Producing succinct, graphically appealing, and persuasive proposal content, and
- Getting information from technical Staff.
In this episode, I give you a brief overview of each. Then I share how you can get to mastery level for each topic that will give you more career options—even if you don’t want to stay with proposals.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Today we may have something controversial to discuss. What is the difference between business development, sales, and marketing? Are you one of the many people in your firm that has marketing in your title but perhaps the bulk of your daily tasks isn’t actually marketing? Tim Asimos is here to discuss with me the evolution of the AEC industry and the sales and marketing titles, job descriptions, and workloads. And perhaps the industry is getting it wrong.
We discuss the differences between the titles and where they should be. He also explains why a mislabeled marketing coordinator title could be affecting the recruitment and retention of ideal candidates. Tim will tell us who has a handle on these roles and how firms can realign to attract the best marketing professional.
Here are some highlights:
- Where does the AEC industry get it wrong between business development and marketing? 7:27
- What’s the difference between business development/sales and marketing? 10:00
- Where do shortlist presentations, capture planning, and proposals fall within business development and marketing? 13:21
- Generic marketing roles – How do they affect recruitment? 17:14
- Who does marketing better? 22:37
- How has the industry changed in the last 2 years? 24:14
- What should we call the AEC marketing coordinator? 27:05
Learn more about Tim Asimos and how he works with AEC firms over on the show notes page - https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/55.
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
“I love Lindsay and Marketers Take Flight.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — fly through the proposal turbulence and have their careers take off. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I add secret bonus episodes to the feed often, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Deciding whether an AEC firm should pursue a project or not, can turn into heated debates and result in hurt feelings. Some AEC firms have a pretty stringent go/no go process, that quite frankly can be manipulated. Other firms have some sort of evaluation. Many don’t have any go/no go consideration at all. They just go after all RFPs.
That’s probably why you want to listen to this episode. Maybe your firm doesn’t have a go/no-go decision-making process but wants to start one. OR you do have one, sort of, but everyone just ignores it. Either way, you want to help your firm make better decisions when it comes to what projects to pursue so you will have time to properly position, time to create beautiful and compelling proposals, and frankly, just have a life outside of work.
Even if you’re not the person making the ultimate decision, I want you to know that you can lead and facilitate this go/no go decision-making process for your firm.
In this episode, I share why I think it’s so hard for AEC Firms to make these decisions or stick to a process, what the REAL purpose of a go/no go decision should be, and walk you through an example of go/no go evaluation process you can implement at your firm. Stay to the end to learn how to get example go/no go evaluation questions.
Here are a few episode highlights:
- Why it’s so hard to make timely go/no go decisions
- Purpose of a meaningful go/no go decision
- Reasons to do evaluate every project to pursue
- Best practices for a go/no go evaluation process
- Coming to a consensus that minimizes frustration and hurt feelings
- Decision-making criteria
- Sample go/no-go decision-making questions
And if you need even more inspiration to help you develop your go/no go decision-making, I have put together a list of 32 questions. I have personally used most of these in the past. Others I have gathered through research and collected from other marketers. Get your copy over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/54. Feel free to use and adapt for your firm as needed.
In the end, I think everyone wants what is best for the firm and its success. Making better go/no go decisions, especially those that are a result of a consensus, allows you and your firm more time to focus on proposals that have the greatest chance of winning and more time to produce higher quality proposals.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you thought about creating your own personal brand? How about creating your own elevator pitch to help open the conversation? We have all been on those Zoom calls, waiting for the meeting to get started and making small talk. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself and make an impression. In today’s episode, I’m talking to Maisha Hagan who gives us a few pointers about turning that small talk into a little question with a big answer.
You may feel uncomfortable talking about yourself at meetings, conferences, or on Zoom calls but there is no better person to advocate for you and your skills. Maisha has some tips on how to achieve that self-advocacy whether you are an introvert or extrovert. You may want to listen in before you step on that plane for the next conference.
Here are some highlights:
- Maisha’s career path. 1:34
- Why are we so afraid to advocate and promote for ourselves? 3:44
- Advocating for ourselves as women. 6:31
- Create your personal elevator pitch. 8:07
- How can we use the leadership skills we developed at our firms, to help our own personal careers? 11:14
- What are some methods of self-promotion we can begin using today that help us reach our next career goal? 19:45
-
1 piece of advice for marketers new to the industry. 24:12
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Read more about Maisha on the show notes page - https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/53
- Purchase your Pocket Coach - https://www.bosslady.coach/store/p8/Pocket-coach-card-deck.html
- Connect on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maishahagan/
- Schedule a Discovery Call - https://www.bosslady.coach/
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
One of the common questions I get from AEC marketing professionals is how to find RFPs (or potential projects) before the RFP is advertised. We hear repeatedly that we must do our capture planning and firm positioning before the project is advertised. What is not discussed enough is how to find out about the projects before they get advertised.
And, since I have recently presented on this topic twice to different organizations, I thought it would resonate with you, my podcast listeners.
So, in this podcast episode, I share a high-level introduction to market research for AEC firms. I cover how to develop a market research strategy, what type of intelligence to gather when conducting your research, who to talk to, what to ask, and places to look for project information. I share my follow-the-money (and demand) strategy, along with a real-life example from my previous firm. And, stay with me until the end of the episode to get a research template freebie.
Here are some episode highlights:
- How to develop your strategy including your markets and clients
- What is intelligence gathering
- Who to gather intelligence from
- How to use RFP subscription services like IMS or Onvia as part of your market research
- How to follow the money (and demand)
- Market research tools
- Intelligence gathering freebie
Don’t forget to turn that insight into action. Comment over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/52 if you found out about a project other than one of the ways I listed above. I would love to hear other ideas. And you would be helping others by sharing your knowledge.
Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss the next episode. And, if you liked what you heard today, please share it with your marketing friends. I am a firm believer that as our individual skills improve, the entire AEC industry grows.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you been working harder, or pusher harder to achieve your goals? And is that taking a toll on your energy, relationships, and maybe even your health?
Do you think that the only way to get it all done is to put in more hours, or work after the kids go to bed? Or, if only that project manager would meet his proposal deadlines, your work would be better?
I talk to marketers nearly every day and what I hear is that their biggest struggles are too many proposal deadlines, not enough resources, and the technical staff being too busy to get their proposal materials to them.
And, while these things are actually happening, the way you process and talk to yourself about these things are really poisoning your productivity. Dear, I say they are excuses? And, they are the same excuses I have been hearing for 15+ years, even before COVID. And they are based on five areas or five basic excuses. Learn what these five lies are in this episode.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Did you know that a quarter of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions after just one week? And after one month it increases again to 36%. So, by the time you are listening to this podcast over 1/3 of us have already abandoned our new year’s resolutions.
So why do we keep setting New Year’s Resolutions? And, what can we do instead?
In this episode, I share another system to achieve your goals – the SMARTER goal framework.
The SMARTER goal framework is built on a simple premise: how goals are written matters. To be most effective, every goal must meet seven criteria.
The SMART framework originally developed by GE in the 1980s has been transformed into the SMARTER system by Michael Hyatt. I’ll walk you through this framework, share examples, and provide you with a template to get started.
If you’re creating new goals or already have some in mind – using the SMARTER system to write them down is the first step to achieving them! I am cheering for you to achieve your goals and I know that writing them down using the SMARTER system will give you a great head start.
For more information about the SMARTER system and SMARTER System Goal Template head over to the show notes page – marketerstakeflight.com/50.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Are you working harder than ever before, but feel like you’re not making progress?
Do you start each day stressed and end the day stressed and exhausted?
Worried about forgetting about an assignment or dropping a task?
As marketing professionals, and many of us as working moms, we have a lot on our minds all the time. And, these past two years haven’t helped anyone relieve this burden, in fact, it’s made it the worst any of us has experienced.
What if there was a way, a system per se, that provides one central tracking location for everything – work projects to personal events. A way to make measurable progress toward the goals that matter to you, instead of what’s put on your desk? If you could shift from trying to get everything done to get the right things done?
That’s impossible, right?
Wrong. It’s not impossible. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. I know because I have been using a system like this for years.
Listen to this episode to learn about my struggles before I found the Full Focus System and how it's helped me since.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
- Full Focus Planner
- Marketers Take Flight Facebook Group
- The Proposal Pro Course
- Organize Each Day to be Home by 5 pm and Still Meet Your Deadlines
- 5-Day Productivity Challenge
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Are you feeling 22? (Signing in my best Taylor Swift voice).
If not, maybe you haven’t officially said goodbye to 2021. Or maybe haven’t come out yet of the holiday busyness or jumped right into work deadlines. Wouldn’t you like to clear your head? Allow yourself to begin the new year with a fresh slate? Do you want to set yourself up for a powerful, productive, and “ready to tackle anything that 2022 can throw at you” mindset?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then this is the episode for you. I’ve got a quick exercise that you can do by yourself. What I am talking about is just three simple questions to review what you did or accomplished, take note of what you learned, and let go of all the crap that is holding you back.
So, grab a piece of paper, and let’s go!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
I wanted to pop in with this bonus episode to formally say goodbye and good riddance to 2021. Part of this is to look back on one of the most challenging years of my life to reflect. And to tell you how that year has shaped me and this podcast moving into 2022. And I’m not claiming 2022 as “my year” or the year to be all years, I am just hoping it isn’t the emotional rollercoaster 2021 was.
I also know I am not alone when I say that last year was a mess. We all have challenges, struggles, good times, and bad times. I hope that by sharing some of my life events and experiences with you, you’ll realize you’re not alone. I’m not alone. And even though we aren’t going through the exact same experiences at the same time, we can find comfort in knowing others have their own crap going on.
Let’s start with summarizing my 2021 in one phrase: Emotional Roller Coaster.
When I decided to create this episode, I started thinking about everything that I’ve been through in 2021. It wasn’t all bad. In fact, there were some really great things that happened. What kept popping in my head as I was reflected, was a roller coaster – with its slow-building hills, and fast drops and twists and turns. That image or feeling of being on a roller coaster is the perfect way for me to describe my life last year.
Can you relate?
I’ll give a quick recap of these highs and lows not to bore you with my personal life, but so you can understand some of the changes I’m making with my company Marketers Take Flight, and this podcast.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Well, 2021 is nearly over (or might even be over by the time you listen to this episode). I don’t know about you, but for me I am really looking forward to saying goodbye to 2021. For me personally, it was a very hard year. I’ll go into more detail of those events and stories in a future episode as they are going to shape the future of this podcast. I am very excited about that!
Now, I wouldn’t be a good podcast host if I didn’t end the year with a “Best of” or a “Most popular episode” replay! So here it goes. The most popular podcast episode of 2021 was…….
…Client Research: Proposal Pet Peeves and Common Winning Elements.
In this episode, I talk with Sreoshy Banerjea about her research. Her research looks at what the client is looking for within your firm, your proposals, and more. From the basic factors like spelling errors to more sophisticated considerations such as diversity in age. We will discuss the biggest pet peeve of the client, as well as what makes a winning proposal.
So, this isn’t a surprise that this was the most listened to episode of 2021! It’s not just about proposals, but what our clients think of our proposals.
I also want to let you know that I’ll be taking a little bit of a break from the podcast. I find that when I take a few months off, that gives me time talk with listeners like you about what’s challenging you, meet interesting guests, and outline/plan the next season.
Over the next few episodes, I will be releasing replays of some of the other most popular episodes. I know some of you have just discovered this podcast so it will help get you caught up. For those that have been here for a while, just think of the replay episodes as a refresh. And I think we can all use a refresh to start a new year.
I want to thank all of you for allowing me to be part of your day and for supporting me! I want to wish all of you, your family, your friends, and your colleagues a safe and happy New Year!
Visit the show notes webpage to learn more about Sreoshy and get the links to the resources mentioned in the show.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Are you feeling like you are ready for the next step in your marketing career? Or maybe you are ready to shift and take on a different role but you just aren’t sure how to do that. You see others have made these shifts and you want to work with them, figure out how they did it. Maybe it’s time you needed a champion on your side.
In this episode, I am interviewing Erika Booker who talks about how to identify what you want, find a champion and make the mentor/mentee relationship work for both of you. It’s not just about the next steps in your career but about the inner discovery of yourself. Taking care of yourself means you have the time and energy to put the best creativity into your work. There are lots of great tips here on how to achieve your next personal and professional goals.
Here are a few highlights:
- How do you figure out what it is you want? 5:31
- Gathering Your Discovery: 6:42
- Eating the Frog: 11:40
- Networking – Flex that muscle: 11:49
- Keep your creativity level up: 14:09
- How do you discover what is important to your firm and leadership:15:24
- Your leaders aren’t all alike: 19:40
- Make your own path: 21:25
- Identify your firms’ champions: 24:30
- What’s a Mentor: 24:21
- What’s an advocate: 24:49
- Is your champion at your firm? 28:18
- How to find a mentor working at a small firm: 29:42
- How do you make the “ask” (from a prospective mentor): 31:46
- Set your expectations as a mentee: 35:19
Learn more about Erika and get all the links mentioned over on the show notes page.
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We are back for the second episode with Bryon McCartney. If you remember from Episode 44, Bryon dove deep into your website SEO best practices. In this episode, we continue our conversation about websites and how to create content for them to make the biggest impact on your future clients.
While ‘news’ and updates are good for your website, Bryon talks about the importance of creating content that will draw your next client in. Think about your ideal client and write your content to them. Consistency is key and we discuss a few strategic ways even small firms can reach their audiences with high-quality content. Don’t forget to harvest that content and repurpose it. Today’s episode will explain all this and more.
Here are a few highlights:
- 3 key content categories that work: 5:58
- Postmortem meetings: 10:01
- Content ideas: 12:23
- Dedicated content creation: 13:35
- How small firms create consistently high-quality content: 16:14
- Systematic, measurable, and repeatable content creation: 19:01
- How to measure the success of this effort: 22:27
- What are you excited about? – Don’t miss this one: 32:07
Visit the show notes webpage to learn more about Bryon and get the links to the resources mentioned in the show.
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Can A/E/C firms really expect to get leads based on their website?
In today’s episode, I’m talking to Bryon McCartney who answers this question and many others about our websites and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Bryon knows that a bad website is going to equal lost opportunities. He walks us through what every website needs to have.
Did you know that 84% of A/E/C buyers visit a firm's website during the buying process? And that getting online leads is cheaper and less time-consuming than other methods. Bryon even has a story for us on one client who received a lead via their website and then booked it – no proposal process needed!
This interview was so informational, we have split it in two. In this one, we talk about four key best practices for every website, the three critical questions people want to know when they visit your website, and why you should have different paths for different types of visitors on your website.
Here are a few highlights:
- After evaluating 550 websites, what are the key takeaways? 8:53
- What is Archi Babble? 16:28
- Ideas to think about when creating your site: 18:48
- 3 critical questions people want to know when they come to your site: 20:49
- Behind the scenes foundational SEO: 21:51
- On-Page Content – What? Why? How? 26:26
- Off-Page Content – What? Why? How? 27:52
- Different Visitor Paths: 33:55
- Attract your Ideal Client: 35:34
Visit the show notes webpage to learn more about Bryon and get the links to the resources mentioned in the show.
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
In this episode, we are talking about how to recruit, grow and manage your remote team. I'm talking with Kari Nemiro, who manages a 20-person team with members across the US. She has cultivated a remote marketing team that supports a larger organization.
Even if you have a one- or two-person remote team, managing a team on its own is difficult but then managing a team that isn’t in the same office as you have its own unique challenges. Kari’s approach believes in a solid foundation of trust, honest communication, and respect. She’s got some great tips to keep you and your team on track.
Here are a few highlights:
- What are the qualities to look for when recruiting for a remote team? 7:31
- What other industries do you recruit from that may have similar skillsets? 11:50
- How do you collaborate when your team is spread out? 14:00
- How do you hold your team accountable? 19:30
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Kari Nemiro LinkedIn
- Tetra Tech
- 4 Types of AEC Marketing Departments
- Marketers Take Flight YouTube Channel
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Is your firm thinking about a new CRM system? Does your firm even need a CRM system? In this episode, I’m back interviewing Jan Flesher and Courtney Kearney on where firms go wrong when selecting a new CRM system. From deciding if your firm even needs one to streamline those people involved in the selection process, today’s episode covers all the important aspects of CRMs.
We talk about what you’ll need to gather first to analyze what type of CRM system you need. What is its purpose? Who will use it? What data will you collect? What data needs to be collected. We answer these and lots more in this episode, “Selecting the best AEC CRM.”
- Where do firms go wrong when selecting a CRM system? 4:15
- You need a clear definition – CRM is a journey: 6:03
- Project Phases and Milestones to keep track of: 6:26
- Is Principal Involvement Necessary? 7:48
- What really IS a CRM? 8:43
- Beware of the Squirrel Mentality: 10:42
- Don’t forget your Mobile Apps: 12:01
- Why is proper education on using the CRM necessary? 13:01
- Who should be involved when selecting a CRM system? 17:39
- Don’t forget about the Finance department: 23:36
- How can Courtney’s firm help you? 28:03
- How can Jan’s firm help you? 30:10
- How can Lindsay’s firm help you? 35:16
- Courtneys #1 piece of advice for those new to AEC industry: 36:46
- Jan’s #1 piece of advice for those new to the AEC industry: 37:11
Learn more about Jan and Courtney and get the resources mentioned in the episode here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/42
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
How do you know if you need a CRM for your architecture, engineering, or construction (A/E/C) firm? How do you select the right CRM for your firm? How can you make sure you are getting the most out of your CRM?
In the first part of this two-part series, I ask Jan Flesher, PMP and Courtney Kearney, CPSM these questions. And, you may be surprised to hear that not every firm needs a CRM!
We also discuss the tipping point of when a firm should think about getting a CRM. Jan and Courtney have some great advice on what firms should think about when researching CRMs, what is the number one thing your firm should consider before bringing on a CRM.
This interview continues into the next episode but you don’t want to miss this one. Jan and Courtney have great advice and loads of knowledge to share.
- Jan Flesher’s Introduction - 1:59
- Courtney Kearney’s Introduction - 8:51
- Jan’s thoughts on when a firm should think about a CRM - 16:16
- Courtney’s thoughts on when a firm should think about a CRM - 18:39
- Courtney’s first piece of advice for a firm when considering a CRM - 24:00
- Jan’s first piece of advice for a firm when considering a CRM - 26:40
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you ever felt like your internal proposal process was taking too long? Your team is spread out, working from home or maybe they just aren’t meeting deadlines. Well, marketers, today’s episode will bring you some insight on how to better prepare and execute your next proposal process. Our guest, Kate Robinette, CPSM will give you some steps to help your team juggle multiple proposals, stay on task with proposals and maybe even help you streamline your process.
Kate dives into how she’s been able to handle her team’s proposal process. She shepherds them to the finish line by keeping them on task. We talk about her 'No Meeting, Meetings' as well as her proposal outline and how she helps new members integrate into the team. You don’t want to miss this episode, lots of great advice in here. Here are some highlights:
- How to kick off the proposal process with a team: 5:30
- Kate’s “No Meeting, Meeting” Reminders: 9:15
- How to keep that proposal process moving along: 10:08
- Review weekly calendar tasks: 13:41
- Kate’s advice on how to write better proposals (hint: edit and read): 18:07
- What to do after the initial meeting: 20:15
- Work on multiple proposal processes at once: 23:26
- Kate’s proposal outline: 26:44
About Our Guest
Kate Robinette, CPSM
Partner, Go! Strategies, LLC
Kate is a theater nerd who learned about AEC marketing when a board member of the arts council where she worked suggested she talk to his marketing director. She quickly realized her linear thinking, strategic analysis, writing, and logistics management were a killer combination for helping to win work. She spent 20 years honing her craft. Now she helps companies strengthen their marketing and BD teams, culture, and employee engagement with the same combination of talents and a (slightly less) deadline-driven rigor.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
➢ Kate Robinette LinkedIn
➢ Go! Strategies, LLC
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
In this episode, I continue our professional skills-building conversation with Keelin and Matt. If you are a newbie to marketing and the proposal process, you do not want to miss this. We are answering questions that you may be afraid to ask, or maybe you just don’t know where to go and get these answers.
If you missed episode 38, we started our conversation on identifying roadblocks, follow-up, and knowing when you are speaking up too little or too much. This week, we’ll dive into what task you should be working on and what you need to complete that action. We’ll also talk about making mistakes. Everyone makes them, even us. Lastly, Matt and Keelin both answer their rapid file questions. You don’t want to miss their answers to the #1 piece of advice for new AEC Marketers. They both offer valuable insight.
- Identifying what project or task you should be working on and what action to take to complete the assignment: 2:51
- What happens when you make a mistake? 8:22
- Matt’s #1 piece of advice for Marketers new to the AEC Industry: 14:58
- Keelin’s #1 piece of advice for Marketers new to the AEC Industry: 15:38
About Our Guests
Keelin Cox, CPSM, ENV SP
Senior Marketing Specialist
Stantec
Keelin Cox, CPSM, ENV SP is a creative thinker and problem solver with a focus on thoughtful interactions throughout the AEC industry. As a senior marketing specialist at Stantec, she is invested in supporting the water sector to build winning proposals, create smart strategies, and help her teams serve their communities. Keelin is the host of the AEC Marketeer podcast that explores AEC marketing and beyond.
Matt Handal
An out of the box thinker, Matt's passion is doing what others assume can't be done. He is an aggressive marketer who has helped construction, engineering, architectural, and real estate consulting firms realize tens of millions in fees from projects ranging from $500K to $2B.
He has a healthy disrespect for the status quo and loves to challenge conventional wisdom.
Matt is a co-author of the Marketing Handbook for the Design & Construction Professional and author of the Society for Marketing Professional Services' research whitepaper on "Marketing and the Mind."
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Marketers Take Flight YouTube Channel
- AEC Marketeer Podcast
- Help Everybody Everyday Blog
- Proposal Development Secrets Book
Rate, Review and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to tra
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Are you new to the industry or maybe recently graduated college new to the professional world?
Or have you been around for a few years, but not sure how or who to approach with some of your questions?
Maybe you have questions about communication, conflict, or basic professionalism?
Well, in this episode, I’m bringing in two guests to answer the questions you were too afraid to ask. Matt Handal, author of the Proposal Development Secrets Book, and Keelin Cox, host of the AEC Marketeer Podcast bring insight to questions around communication, conflict, and different workplace situations.
There’s so much information to unpack in this episode, we’ll release part two next time. But I’d love to know your thoughts on this format. It’s a new format for us and allows me to bring you different ideas, information, and guests. Let me know what you think.
- Introducing Matt Handal: 2:38
- Introducing Keelin Cox: 3:49
- Identifying Roadblocks and Finding Work Arounds: 5:28
- Why is follow up important?: 13:01
- How do you know if you are speaking up too much (or too little): 20:35
About Our Guests
Keelin Cox, CPSM, ENV SP
Senior Marketing Specialist
Stantec
Keelin Cox, CPSM, ENV SP is a creative thinker and problem solver with a focus on thoughtful interactions throughout the AEC industry. As a senior marketing specialist at Stantec, she is invested in supporting the water sector to build winning proposals, create smart strategies, and help her teams serve their communities. Keelin is the host of the AEC Marketeer podcast that explores AEC marketing and beyond.
Matt Handal
An out of the box thinker, Matt's passion is doing what others assume can't be done. He is an aggressive marketer who has helped construction, engineering, architectural, and real estate consulting firms realize tens of millions in fees from projects ranging from $500K to $2B.
He has a healthy disrespect for the status quo and loves to challenge conventional wisdom.
Matt is a co-author of the Marketing Handbook for the Design & Construction Professional and author of the Society for Marketing Professional Services' research whitepaper on "Marketing and the Mind."
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Marketers Take Flight YouTube Channel
- AEC Marketeer Podcast
- Help Everybody Everyday Blog
- Proposal Development Secrets Book
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you ever wanted to refine your proposal process? How do you ruthlessly eliminate waste from your proposals? In today’s episode, we are talking to Kathryn Bennett, CPSM about lean principles.
We’ll be helping you reduce your non-value added activities in your proposals and help you measure your process effectively. You’ll understand how to ask “WHY” problems are occurring and start working on how you can fix them.
A few highlights you may want to review:
- Kathryn's experience: 1:40
- What are the lean principles? 3:39
- Where do you see inefficiencies in your proposal management today? 5:11
- Waste - Information for experts: 5:44
- Waste - Review Purgatory: 6:00
- Waste - Put your hands on the right content: 6:20
- Lean process improvement: 8:47
- Late edits: 10:59
- Root cause analysis - ASK WHY 5X’s: 11:23
- What should or proposal department measure? 12:47
- Trends for inefficiencies: 13:58
- Some metrics to think about: 15:20
- Go with your gut to make the change: 16:34
- What one thing can you do to be more efficient? 18:03
About our Guests:
Kathryn Bennett, CPSM
Director of RFP Excellence, Loopio
Kathryn Bennett, CPSM is the Director of RFP Excellence at Loopio. She has more than a dozen years of proposal management and technical communications experience. Kathryn believes that every proposal manager should be able to go home at the end of a 40-hour workweek, and she's made it her personal mandate to support better processes so proposal managers don't suffer from burnout.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Loopio
- Loopicon 2021Loopicon registration information: Sept. 28-29
- American Society for Quality
- End Your File Frustration Forever!
- Loopio 2021 benchmark report
- Kathryn's LinkedIn Page
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.co
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Most of us have been to an in-person conference or event before. During the last year that has changed. Today on the show, I’m talking to two organizers who took on the task of creating an in-person event for this year’s SMPS SERC.
While there are always challenges to events, this year brought new challenges and new feedback which could change the way events are held in the future. Join us today to talk about organizing and attending an in-person conference or event.
A few highlights you may want to review:
- Emily and Rachael tell us how they got involved in creating events: 1:57
- SMPS SERC event format: 4:06
- Virtual vs. In-person conference: 4:57
- How long does it take to organize?: 6:02
- Health or safety precautions to consider: 9:19
- Details that look different now: 11:08
- Was a better experience created: 12:31
- Feedback from members: 13:32
- How to connect with virtual attendees: 14:50
- Instructions and how-tos make a better event: 16:31
- Advice for others planning events: 17:16
- More information on SERC 2022: 18:46
About our Guests:
Emily Hawarah, Marketing Coordinator, KCI Technologies
Emily started her career in AEC marketing in 2013 and attended her first SMPS Southeastern Regional Conference in Raleigh in 2014. The year and a half she spent as a conference co-chair (that just so happened to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic) was life-changing and eye-opening!
Rachael Frohardt, Marketing Manager, PCL Construction
Rachael Frohardt is the Marketing Manager for the Southeast Buildings division of PCL Construction, the nation’s 9th largest general contractor. Rachael leads a team of talented marketing, communications and creative professionals focused on achieving PCL’s strategic vision. Her passion, intellect, and industry experience allow her to challenge the status quo while catapulting the development of innovative marketing and communications strategies. Rachael is a past president for the SMPS Central Florida chapter and Chapter President of the Year winner. She is the mother of two young children who inspire her every day to work hard, dream big and make chicken nuggets.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- 2022 SMPS Southeastern Regional Conference
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Welcome back, Marketers! We are back and kicking off season 2 with a new episode. Have you ever wondered why a client may choose another firm over yours? Interested in making the client’s experience a better one? Today, I’m interviewing Sreoshy Banerjea, an urban designer and architect who has taken her knowledge and dug deep to find out what our clients want in a proposal.
Sreoshy’s research looks at what the client is looking for within your firm, your proposals, and more. From the basic factors like spelling errors to more sophisticated considerations such as diversity in age. We will discuss the biggest pet peeve of the client, as well as what makes a winning proposal.
Sreoshy has created a course on writing a better proposal and winning that client each time. Her course, ATLAS Framework, is available here: https://atlas.newzenler.com/f/atlasroadmap
What to review the highlights of today’s episode?
- Sreoshy’s career path: 2:04
- Sreoshy tells us about the recent client research she’s conducted: 4:42
- What do you look for when hiring and selecting consultants? 4:57
- Common factors from the client’s side that made them want to eliminate proposals?: 7:32
- Basic Factors: 7:57
- Sophisticated Factors: 8:11
- Diversity in Age?: 11:06
- Client looking for the day-to-day lead to present AND lead the meeting: 12:45
- Technical details/Project Delivery aspect: 14:59
- Quality Control, do you have a system in place? 16:22
- Common winning elements for proposals: 17:05
- What’s the biggest factor? 17:44
- Other winning elements? 18:17
- Which proposals have the more winning patterns? 20:15
- Clients biggest pet peeves reviewing proposals? 21:55
- ATLAS Framework – how can it help firms create better proposals? 26:44
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Get Yourself a Mentor
Are you looking for a mentor? Someone to go alongside you AND who gets what it’s like to be an AEC marketing professional? For as little as $5/month you’ll get bonus podcast content, early and discounted access to training, and individualized support from me. Go to marketerstakeflight.com/mentor to learn more and join today.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
This podcast is for marketing and business development professionals who work in the architecture, engineering, construction industry.
And, I’m officially kicking off season 2. In the first season, we dug deep into proposal management, writing, and communications. This season I am mixing it up.
This season’s topics include:
- Clients’ proposal pet peeves
- Organizing in-person events
- Managing remote marketing departments
- Selecting the right CRM for your firm
- Lean approaches to proposal management
- Communicating to get what you want
- Running better BD meetings
- And lots more.
If you are responsible for marketing and/or proposal management and work at architecture, engineering, construction, or related firm, this is the podcast for you. Regardless of your level, you will walk away with actionable tips and feeling inspired.
Also, feel free to visit my website MarketersTakeFlight.com. This is where you will be able to find show notes, additional training, and other great resources. You can also reach out to me there to request a future topic for the show.
So, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on season 2.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
This is a special bonus episode of the Marketers Take Flight podcast.
While I am in-between seasons of my podcast, I have been a guest on a few other industry podcasts. One of those is the AEC Marketeer hosted by Keelin Cox. She was not only gracious enough to have me on her show, but she also provided me with a copy to share with you!
In this episode, we talk about how to evaluate your business processes. I talk about the differences between different processes I see working with AEC firms across the country - small, mid, and large firms.
Make sure that you check out Keelin's podcast, AEC Marketeer, wherever you listen to your podcasts. Her mission is very similar to mine - help, support, and inspire as many AEC marketers as possible!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
How are you? How did you make it out of 2020?
If you are like so many of us, we still feel drained and unrested, unfocused, and just need a break. Today, I’d like to talk to you about giving yourself permission to do less.
2020 was a tough year and we each wore so many more hats than ever before. After some reflection, I’ve decided to do less. It’s time to set up automation, delegate, and give myself time to recharge. I’m going to take Marie Kondo’s advice and choose those things that bring me joy. And I invite YOU to do the same.
This final episode of season one talks about making time to prioritize yourself and your time. It’s time to reflect on your goals and maybe even change them to be less than what you originally had wanted. While I’m going to sign off for the next few months, I’m inviting you to join my Monthly Resource Round-up newsletter. The first newsletter comes out on February 1st. Join online at https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/resource/
Want to see a breakdown of what I talked about?
- Let’s acknowledge just how many hats we are wearing - 1:07
- Taking the road of going less - 2:16
- Support A/E/C marketers throughout 2020 - 3:07
- Review your precious time - 3:52
- Automations and delegations - 4:50
- Marie Kondo it - 5:43
- Personal goals - 6:28
- The podcast goals I met in 2020 - 7:19
- Give yourself a break - 8:51
- Monthly Resource Round-up support - 9:41
About Lindsay Diven, CPSM and Host of Marketers Take Flight Podcast.
My goal is to help you to acclimate quickly to the marketing environment at your engineering, architecture, or construction (A/E/C) firm. This way you can fully utilize your skills and talents.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Lindsay’s Bio -https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/about/
- Resource Roundup Newsletter - https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/resource
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We are back with part two of my interview with Rana Blair. Rana has some great advice about how to act and help make changes in your AEC firm. In today’s episode, we talk about how change needs to come from within and be supported by management.
As you work through your change, be sure to keep in communication. Communication is vital to prevent any unrealistic expectations and keeps your team both moving forward and in the same direction. Rana’s ideas on thinking about your change and making sure you know why you are making the change are wonderful advice for any firm or in your daily life.
And I love how she ends today’s episode, “Don’t be afraid of change. Be afraid of staying where you are.”
Here are a few key points you may want to review:
- Rana’s thoughts on “buy-in” and Dr. William Bridges thought on management - 2:32
- Senior Management needs to participate in change - 3:46
- Clear and concise communication is key - 4:48
- The ‘What’s in it for me” principle - 7:29
- Quick ways to induce a change in your firm - 10:52
- Spend time thinking about why you want to change - 12:16
- Help people understand the journey - 13:54
- Who is the architect of change? - 17:27
-
1 piece of advice for new AEC marketer? - 18:13
- What’s your favorite win - 18:30
- What are you excited about? - 19:31
Don’t miss part one of my interview with Rana at www.marketerstakeflight.com/29
About Rana Blair, Senior Consultant at Full Sail Partners.
With more than 20 years of experience working with finance, operations, human resources, and administrative teams. As an accounting professional with broad operational experience, Rana’s background provides her a unique ability to provide project-based professional services firm guidance on how to best streamline and improve operations. Rana provides consulting services on the Deltek Vision finance and project management applications.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
➢ Rana Blair's Bio -https://www.fullsailpartners.com/staff/rana-blair
➢ Dr. William Bridges Transition Management -https://wmbridges.com/
➢ Change Management Curve -https://frontlinemanagementexperts.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/bridges-model-situational-leadership-gary-tremolada.png
➢ Episode 29 - Part 1 How to Lead Change at your AEC firm
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
In today's episode, we are talking to GinaRenee Autrey. She is the Marketing and Communications leader for Kleinschmidt Associates.
GinaRenee joins me to talk about using leadership campaigns and thought leadership to bring revenue to your firm, even through the COVID pandemic. Using new ways to bring marketing to the AEC industry, marketers can really shine by helping shift the business learning and leadership models.
GinaRenee explains how by bringing more content online, their firm not only kept people engaged by learning but also brought more business into their firm. How did they do it? Check out some of the key points from this podcast.
- How to shift business development during COVID: 4:01
- Chris Goodell, our Thought Leader: 5:24
- The value of marketing on Linkedin: 7:31
- Other marketing ideas: 8:16
- What’s a Knowledge Hub (and how do you create one): 9:47
- How to get White Papers created quickly: 13:14
- Have you thought about adding Webinars?: 14:14
- Use your industry association: 18:01
- What stats should you track and monitor?:21:32
-
1 piece of advice for new AEC Marketer: 28:29
- Favorite or Most Memorable Win: 29:14
- What are you most excited about?: 30:25
About GinaRenee Autrey
GinaRenee is a marketing professional with 20+ years of experience and a proven record of accomplishment in planning and leading comprehensive marketing strategies in support of business goals and objectives.
She is responsible for leading all marketing and communication activities including but not limited to: strategic planning, development, and implementation of marketing campaigns for foundational clients and top pursuits, content marketing, collateral materials, lead generation, market research, event planning and participation, marketing communications including press releases, media relations, web content, social media, and internal communications.
GinaRenee is an active member of SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) and NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). She has also served on committees for numerous charitable organizations including the Communications Chair on the Board of Directors for ACE Mentor Houston 2016-2018.
Resources Mentioned in this Show:
GinaRenee Autrey - Marketing and Communications Leader, Kleinschmidt Associates
Kleinschmidt Associates
Full Momentum Vodcast
Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
If you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes
that you’ll only know about if you subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe now!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Let’s kick off 2021 on the right foot. This week, I’m interviewing Hilary Pritchett, owner and creator of Nine Little Boxes and Go Get Coaching and Consultants. Nine LIttle Boxes is a Workplace Wellness activity box. Each set of 54 cards describes activities designed to encourage healthy ways of taking breaks and connecting with your colleagues.
Be sure to check out this episode, there’s a contest! Find out more about this contest below.
A few highlights of my conversation with Hilary can be found here:
- Why don't you tell our listeners who you are a little bit about your career path and what you do today for our firms? 5:32
- The want for work/life balance helped her start her own business: 7:38
- What does it mean when you say Workplace Wellness and why is this so important now? 8:50
- How do you build that culture into a distributed workforce and make that distributed workforce feel like a family?11:05
- What are some of the things that they can do maybe even with just within their teams or within their departments to help with some of this that maybe are some of those low-cost items? 14:50
- Subscribe to her newsletter and get some suggestions to keep your team going: 17:04
- How often do you think, or at what frequency do you think that that manager should be doing stuff like this?17:53
- Is there anything specific that managers can do for their teams to feel more of a community? 21:08
- More information about Nine Little Boxes: 23:50
- How can you learn more about Nine Little Boxes? 32:14
- A quick exercise for you. 34:20 Don’t forget to leave your celebration in the comments!
- What is your #1 piece of advice for marketers new to the A/E/C industry?35:38
- What has been your favorite or most memorable win? 36:30
- What are you excited about? This can be something you’re working on or going on in your personal life. 37:46
Resources Mentioned in this Show:
- Nine Little Boxes - www.ninelittleboxes.com
- Go Get Coaching and Consulting - www.gogetconsultant.com
- Hilary Pritchett on Linkedin - Hilary Pritchett
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
In this episode, we replay the best episode of 2020. The most downloaded and listened to episode follows the stories of 7 people in the AEC field and how they go the positions they are in now.
If you’ve been in your role as a marketing coordinator for about 2-3 years, you may be wondering what’s next. Let’s dive into the stories of these executives who have made different career paths to get to where they are now and learn what other career paths there are for A/E/C Marketers.
- Find out why your career doesn’t always take a career path at 6:02
- Learn about Michael Knowles unique description of his career at 7:32
- Emily (Crews) Hubbard's career has a storied path. Learn about that at 8:22
- Adam Kilbourne, the President of Tech Inc. Engineering and Design started at a financial research firm and is now president. Follow his story at 10:28
- Rebecca Starer manages all the MARCOM activities for the mid-Atlantic region. Find out how she got there. 12:52
- From Marketing Assistant to Marketing Coordinator to Marketing Manager and Marketing Director, Jennifer Barker’s story starts at 14:26
- Janki DePalma’s story is scattered. Find out how she made her way to a Business Development position starting at 16:08.
- Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Stacy Robben admits to being a “thrill to the chase” type of person in her story starting at 17:35
Finally, we interview Katie Brancheau, Design-Build Business Development Manager for DRPM. Her interview starts at 20:54.
- Learn how Katie transitioned from Marketing Coordinator: 26:00
- How much of her time is split selling versus managing: 28:50
- What skills she’s gained as a marketing coordinator: 33:00
-
1 piece of advice for someone new to the A/E/C industry: 35:04
- Her most memorable win: 35:37
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
➢ Lean In by Cheryl Sandberg
➢ Michael Knowles, regional business development director at McKim & Creed
➢ Emily (Crews) Hubbard, Principal
➢ Adam Kilbourne, President of Tech, Inc. Engineering and Design
➢ Rebecca Starer, Marketing Services Manager for Gilbane Building Company
➢ Jennifer Barker, Marketing Specialist
➢ Janki DePalma, Business Development
➢ Stacy Robben, Executive Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer
➢ Katie Brancheau, Design-Build Business Development Manager
➢ Lindsay Diven, I invite you to re-listen to episode 1 to hear my story.
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Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you been trying to make some system changes in your A/E/C firm and getting some push back from your employees? Or perhaps your firm has already started some changes and you are holding back from implementing them. Rana Blair is on the podcast today and talks to me about what changes need to be made and how to implement them.
Rana has a natural talent for helping others with their changes. She understands that change can be hard and also has a firm grasp on the human mind and how one thinks about change. Using this knowledge, she implements the change curve; walking us through the changes that many employees make. From denial through acceptance, she likens these changes to the 7 stages for grief.
This is part one of my interview with Rana. Part two will air in 2021.
If you want to know more about what Rana and I discuss, here are a few highlights:
- Why is changing processes and systems at A/E/C firms so hard? 5:20
- What is your philosophy or approach when working with a new firm knowing you have to change their entire process? 9:38
- Stages of the Change Curve 11:02
- Overcoming creative opposition 17:11
- Accepting the small ‘wins’ of change: 19:28
- Upside of the management curve: 22:34
About Rana Blair, Senior Consultant at Full Sail Partners.
Rana Blair is a Senior Consultant at Full Sail Partners with more than 20 years of experience working with finance, operations, human resources, and administrative teams. As an accounting professional with broad operational experience, Rana’s background provides her a unique ability to provide project-based professional services firm guidance on how to best streamline and improve operations. Rana provides consulting services on the Deltek Vision and Vantagepoint finance and project management applications. She is also an evangelist for the power of collaboration using Deltek Collaboration.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
➢ Rana Blair's Bio -https://www.fullsailpartners.com/staff/rana-blair
➢ Dr. William Bridges Transition Management -https://wmbridges.com/
➢ Change Management Curve -https://frontlinemanagementexperts.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/bridges-model-situational-leadership-gary-tremolada.png
Rate, Review, and Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Struggling with your salary negotiations? Want to ask for more but just not sure how? In this episode of Marketers Take Flight, I’m talking to Jason Ybarra about all things salary. Negotiations, promotions, and increasing your salary. Both with a new opportunity or within the company you are already in. Jason shares with us some tips for negotiating during interviews, reviews, and when it’s time to request more.
Jason has some great insight as to why it’s so difficult for us to ask for money. He talks about the taboo we have around it and why we feel it may be easier to find a new job rather than have the tough conversation with our employer about increasing our salary. He also explains why that may not always be the best decision. I even find out when the best time is to ask for that raise.
Jason explains to us that we shouldn’t be preparing a resume to find a new job but to better our current situation. We dive into how keeping your resume current can actually help with negotiations for that raise you’ve been looking for. Keeping track of your accomplishments is important for all involved.
I hope, after you’ve listened to this week’s episode, you are finding yourself running to something and not away from it. Here are a few highlights and where to find them:
- Listen to how Jason found his gateway into his career path: 1:56
- Why is it so hard for employees or potential new hires to ask for more salary? 3:30
- When is a good time to ask for a raise or promotion? 6:10
- If there's an opportunity that's on your career path why is it open? 6:47
- Considering a new company? What questions should you be asking? 7:57
- When you talk about progression within a company, what does that mean for the company? 8:48
- What makes people want to stay at your firm? 10:48
- What makes you excited about coming to work every day? 11:28
- Do you want to ask for a raise or a promotion or you're negotiating a new salary. How would you go about preparing for and conducting that type of conversation? 15:24
- Preparing your resume for your current situation. 16:00
- Training your boss to have the salary conversation 23:04
- How is the approach of negotiating a little bit different than asking for a raise? 24:23
- Is it okay to negotiate when, you're moving into a new opportunity, especially if your salary isn’t where it needs to be 25:51
- Should you inflate your price? 26:53
- Evaluate where you are in your career: 31:48
- Number one piece of advice for marketers who are new to the AEC industry? 33:08
Jason has tons of fabulous advice for all of us in this episode. If you want to know more about Jason, you can find him on LinkedIn here: Jason Ybarra, Account Executive at Mackenzie Ryan.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Support the show (https://pod.fan/marketerstakeflightpodcast)
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Have you downloaded the new 2021 release of InDesign? Julie Shaffer, CPSM is here with us again to discuss more features of InDesign as well as Scripts, Extensions, and Plugins. Let us help you work more efficiently and make your proposal production easier and faster. Julie attended the virtual Adobe MAX Conference and she’s here to share with us some great InDesign updates that came out in October of 2020.
The Adobe MAX Conference sessions are available until October 2021. You can still attend some of our favorite sessions. As expected, Julie’s favorite sessions dive deep into InDesign. Here are a few of her favorites: InDesign Automation and Introduction to Scripts by Dave Clayton, a session on typography with Nigel French as well as one session about marrying Photoshop, illustrator, and InDesign by Art Vanderwiel.
Want to know some of Julie’s favorite Scripts, Extensions, and Plugins? Here’s a list of her favorites and where to hear more:
- Julie’s favorite script, Place Multi-Page PDF (6:08)
- Julie’s favorite extension, NounProject (7:16)
- Julie’s favorite Plugin, in5 (9:26)
A few other favorites you may want to learn about:
- WordsFlow (9:41)
- DocsFlow (10:31)
- Add Points (11:36)
- Sort Paragraphs (11:51)
- Break Frame (12:34
- Break Text Thread (12:40)
- Text Frame Gridify (13:07)
- TitleCase (13:35)
- Show Based On (13:55)
- Style List of Styles: (14:27)
- AddPoints: (16:35)
- Like Finds Like (17:15)
- FindColor (17:54)
- Share For Review (19:45)
Don’t forget to check out Julie’s 30-second overview of Share for Review at 20:39. Or check out episode 12 for a deep dive into how it’s a game-changer for your proposal reviews. The new 2021 InDesign is a new install. Julie offers some tips to make your install easier (19:16). She also gives us a peek into what she thinks the #1 skill every marketer should learn and master (25:10).
Want to know what my favorite InDesign feature is? Learn how I use Nested Styles (27:49).
Julie offers InDesign training and has put together a list of all her favorite InDesign Scripts, Plugins, and Extensions. Find out by signing up for her newsletter at https://www.shaffercreative.com/.
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Shaffer Creative
- Julie's Previous Episode #12: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/12
- Get Julie's Favorite InDesign Scripts & Plug-ins when you sign up for her newsletter: https://www.shaffercreative.com/
- Adobe Max 2020 Conference: https://www.adobe.com/max.html
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
It’s that time of year again – Performance Review time! And this time affects everyone- from the marketing manager’s who have to measure the performance of their teams to individuals that to do self-evaluations and attend performance review meetings.
Part of this process includes reviewing your goals and accomplishments for the current year, but also includes goal setting for the next year. This may include identifying performance goals for yourself or your employees. We all know that our goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timebound. However, crafting SMART performance goals for A/E/C marketers isn’t always easy.
Performance goals should push the individual’s professional development as well as align with the goals of the firm. This is why it can be difficult to write those goals for ourselves and our employees. Over the years, I have asked many marketing managers and researched other industries to try to craft measurable goals for my team while meeting the strategic goals for my firm.
So, in this episode, I want to help make this process easier for you or your manager. It’s loaded with information about the different ways you can quantify your marketing activities and success. And, I give you exact examples of SMART performance goals that are pursuit related, marketing and communications related, and graphic design related.
You’ll want to make sure you listen to the end to get those examples you can use for your own performance goals.
Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
- The Nuts & Bolts of Win Rates
- The Marketer’s Recruiting Starter Kit – Includes 30+ performance goal examples for all roles and levels in a typical A/E/C marketing department.
- Become a Show Supporter
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Writing blog posts is just not enough. Every firm has a blog. You write a blog article every month, or maybe every week, but no one is reading it. There is just so much content out there, how do you know if your clients are even finding it, let alone reading it.
And, then there is the struggle to find topics and get the information from your technical staff.
This combination makes your job as an A/E/C marketer very difficult to attract your ideal clients and position your firm as an expert in your markets.
That’s why I brought on a former journalist as a guest onto the show. Carl Friesen, MBA, a former reporter, has helped hundreds of business professionals publish their ideas in national and international niche media. In this episode, he shares:
- 5 content strategies and how to apply them to your firm
- How most A/E firms get content development wrong
- What you should focus on when creating content that you want to get noticed
This episode is part of my 2021 Planning Series, that walks you through how to set up your business development and marketing plans. This series includes podcast episodes, freebies, and mini-workshops to help you prepare for 2021. This series kicked off back in episode #20 – the elements of a great Business Development Plan. You can find the entire 2021 Planning Series here.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- 2021 Planning Series
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop. In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value in listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
In this episode, I walk you through how to build a marketing budget for your A/E/C firm.
Budgeting, specifically how much to allocate for marketing, is a common question. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. So, in today’s episode, I am going to attempt to provide you with a framework that you can apply to your firm as you put together your marketing plans for next year.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- 8 questions to help you determine what time and expenses go into your marketing budget
- 6 different approaches to building your marketing budget
- The marketing and business development components that can use to build your budget
After you listen, start building your marketing budget with this free marketing budget template.
This episode is part of my 2021 Planning Series, that walks you through how to set up your business development and marketing plans. This series includes podcast episodes, freebies, and mini-workshops to help you prepare for 2021. This series kicked off back in episode #20 – the elements of a great Business Development Plan. You can find the entire 2021 Planning Series here.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- 2021 Planning Series
- Grab your FREE Marketing Budget Template.
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop. In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Wouldn’t it be cool if marketing could help generate revenue for your A/E/C firm? What if you could generate new client or project leads that you could pass to your business development teams? You would probably want to know what marketing strategies would give you those results.
That’s exactly what today’s episode is about. I talk with Julie Huval, Head of Marketing for Beck Technology, about the marketing strategies her team deploys to generate demand and get incoming leads.
You’ll want to make sure you have a piece of paper and a few pens to take notes for this episode because Julie dives deep and shares a lot of ideas for your marketing plan. Specifically, we talk about:
- The difference between demand generation and lead generation
- Demand generation examples you can implement at your A/E/C firm
- How your marketing department can pass qualified leads to your business developers
- How marketing’s performance is measured and how that shapes her marketing strategies
- How to get started with your demand generation strategies
- How to tell if your marketing is working
- How other folks in your firm can get involved in marketing when they are not in a position to directly create content
- How to generate leads when your clients are in the private sector
- How to generate leads when you are a subconsultant firm
This episode is rich with educational, inspirational, and idea-generating content. You’ll want to save it and listen to it again and again. You’ll probably also want to share it with your marketing and business development teams.
This episode is a part of my 2021 Planning series. The 2021 Planning series includes podcast episodes, freebies, and mini-workshops to help you prepare your BD and marketing plans for 2021. You can find the entire 2021 Planning series here.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Website Analytics Article by Julie Huval, CPSM
- Podcast consultant, Kasey Jones
- 2021 Planning Series
- Grab your FREE Marketing Plan outline.
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop. In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We are continuing our 2021 Planning series by talking about marketing plans, specifically the elements that make up a great marketing plan for your A/E/C firm.
As a reminder, the 2021 Planning series includes podcast episodes, freebies, and mini-workshops to help you prepare your BD and marketing plans for 2021. This series kicked off back in episode #20 – the elements of a great Business Development Plan.
You can find links to all of the series episodes and today’s freebie – a Marketing Plan Outline over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/22.
And, if you’re REALLY ready to dive deep into business development planning and facilitate this process at your firm, you can sign up for my Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop. In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm. Best of all, it’s all on-demand, so you can access it at the right time for you. Learn more and register at www.marketerstakeflight.com/BDPlan
Today’s episode covers:
- What a marketing plan is
- How to use your BD strategy to develop your marketing strategies to drive revenue growth
- The elements that make a great marketing plan
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The first episode of the Planning Series: Episode #20 - The Elements of a Great Business Development Plan
- Grab your FREE Marketing Plan outline.
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop.In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We are almost six months into our “new normal” of working in a mostly still virtual world. Business developers in the A/E/C industry have really had to pivot and adapt to a virtual meeting world. There has been no in-person meetings, conferences, or events.
So, where are we at now? How are business developers keeping client relationships strong and building new relationships?
I turned to a BD Pro, Andrea Pender, to ask what the “state of BD” is now, some of the lessons she has learned over these past months, and pushed her for a prediction of what next year might look like for business development professionals.
Again, this is the second episode of many that will be focused on planning for 2021. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast, so you don’t miss any great episodes from me or the great business developers and marketers I have scheduled.
In this week’s episode Andrea and I talk about:
- Lessons she has learned from the past few months of business development during the quarantine
- What her business development efforts look like now
- Resources she has developed for her engineers
- How she has been able to get meetings with who were often thought of as previously “untouchable”
- Her tool to make it easier to get meetings scheduled
- Her predictions for the future of business development in the A/E/C industry
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The first episode of the Planning Series: Episode #20 - The Elements of a Great Business Development Plan
- Grab your FREE Business Development Plan outline.
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop.In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
You have been asked to develop a business development or marketing plan. The first place you go is to Google. You download several templates, but when you start reading them you realize that they are for B2C or product-based businesses.
I struggled with the same thing a few years back when trying to create one for my firm. The architecture/engineering/construction industry is different. We market our firms differently and we do business development slightly differently than most B2B companies. For that reason, I decided to put together a few resources for you to get started with your BD planning.
First is a series of podcast episodes, beginning with today. These episodes are going to be a mix of solo shows where I introduce both BD and Marketing Planning concepts and elements as well as bring on guests to share best practices and share ideas for your plans.
Today’s episode covers:
- How annual business development plans fit within strategic planning
- The differences between strategic plans, business development plans, and marketing plans
- Why you should develop your business development plan BEFORE your marketing plan
- The elements of a business development plan
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Grab your FREE Business Development Plan outline.
- Take your learning further in the Business Development Planning Mini-Workshop.In this mini-workshop, I teach you my proven approach to writing a business development plan, including how to develop the right mix of strategy meetings and research. Then I walk you through how to execute the plan, so it doesn’t just get written and sit on the shelf. You’ll walk away with the knowledge and tools to lead the business development planning for your firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Rebranding any firm is a big undertaking. It is especially true for A/E/C firms when many of the decisions are made by committee, some of the decision-makers might not fully understand branding, and you are often managing the rebranding project out on top of all of your other duties.
Furthermore, many of us have never managed a rebranding effort until we are assigned our first one.
Having managed a rebrand at a former firm, I know exactly what an undertaking this initiative is. Earlier this year, I was catching up with my friend, Justine D’Andrea, CPSM, and she had just launched her firm's new brand a few weeks earlier. We swapped war stories about the process and knew what she had experienced would be valuable to you as well.
So, in this episode, Justine shares the story of her firm’s rebrand process. Specifically, she shares with us:
- How her firm decided it was time for a firm rebrand.
- The reason she selected an outside firm to help with the process. And, the skills and criteria she used to select the firm.
- Why her firm broke the process into two phases and ended up selected a different firm for phase two.
- The overall timeframe for the entire rebranding effort and how this compared to their original timeframe goal.
- How she engaged and included members of her firm, from the CEO and COO to the employees.
- Her lessons learned and best practices that other marketers should consider if they are thinking about a rebranding effort.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- The Marketer’s Tool Kit provides a list of software tools to save time, automate your marketing processes, and reduce your stress and frustration. I compiled this list after using dozens of software products and talking to hundreds of marketers across the country. Grab your copy here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/themarketerstoolkit/
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Who isn’t extra stressed out today? Between our work, trying to homeschool or kids, the upcoming election, and trying to stay healthy we have a lot on our backs. Most of us are on edge nearly all of the time.
What if there was a way to relieve some of that stress. To let go. To let go of the frustrations that aren’t bringing you joy. To let go of feeling like everyone is trying to make your life more difficult.
Your project manager is purposely not getting you the information you need for your proposal.
Your child’s teacher is purposely giving an extra weekend project on top of their already heavy school workload.
I think we could all use a little bit of help in this area, including me. That’s why I reached out to my friend, Danielle Gray, MBA, to tell us why are feeling this way and some ways to break this thought process.
Many of you may know Danielle as the “Content Whisperer” from her many workshops and presentations across the country. Some of you may not know that she has been on a personal journey to work on herself. I was able to witness this first-hand at her very personal and moving keynote address at the SMPS Southeastern Regional Conference a few years back. Since then, she is living, as she puts it, “her best self,” has found joy, and wants to help others reclaim their joy.
Her personal mission is to “remind you what it feels like to be human.”
I find this especially important now because the line between work and home life have blurred. Because of this, we need to focus on our mental health and wellbeing. It’s just as important as any proposal or presentation you are working on right now.
And, Danielle gives us some great advice to get started. We talk about:
- What victim mentality is and how it shows up in our industry
- Why it’s so important to talk about these topics today
- A few ways we can start to let go and shift our thinking to start bringing joy back to our lives
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- The Marketer’s Tool Kit provides a list of software tools to save time, automate your marketing processes, and reduce your stress and frustration. I compiled this list after using dozens of software products and talking to hundreds of marketers across the country. Grab your copy here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/themarketerstoolkit/
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
How can marketing not only support sales but help sales generate new leads? This may seem like an easier task in more other industries like software or B2C companies, but is this possible in the A/E/C industry?
Can a marketing department at an A/E/C firm develop and execute a marketing campaign that results in new sales leads for the firm? Our marketing departments are really good at increasing brand awareness and some of us are getting better at increasing engagement with our content, social media, etc. But how many of us are putting together campaigns that we can directly attribute new sales to?
There aren’t many case studies about marketing campaigns generating new sales for A/E/C firms. And, that’s why when I met Itza Acosta in my marketing cohort and she shared a story of one of their webinars, I knew I had to get her on the podcast.
Itza is the Marketing Lead for Golder in North America. In one of our first cohort calls near the beginning of the COVID quarantine, we were sharing our stories of what we are doing now, how our firms have pivoted, and what’s working for our marketing and business development efforts. Itza mentioned a webinar that her team produced rather quickly that resulted in several new clients and projects for her firm.
That’s when I knew I had to get her on the show so we could dig in further. So we could learn how her marketing campaign plan development helps bring in new sales leads. And, I was so happy when she agreed and how open she was with the knowledge she shares on the episode.
In this episode, Itza’s talks about:
- Her role at Golder and how it’s different than other A/E/C marketers
- How her team determines when they need a specific and robust marketing campaign vs. traditional marketing communications
- How do you determine when you need a specific marketing campaign? Tell us about that process.
- The details of a specific marketing campaign her team developed quickly as a response to COVID-19 including the planning, execution, and follow-up stages.
- Some of the ways she measures the success of her marketing campaigns.
- A few best practices when working to get information from her technical staff, specifically when it comes to content for her marketing campaigns.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- The Marketer’s Tool Kit provides a list of software tools to save time, automate your marketing processes, and reduce your stress and frustration. I compiled this list after using dozens of software products and talking to hundreds of marketers across the country. Grab your copy here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/themarketerstoolkit/
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Planning for our firm’s futures starts by understanding our clients and seeing trends that correlate across markets and services. Our A/E/C firms can respond with new services or reimagine how we deliver our services to meet those clients’ needs.
We can accomplish this by conducting market research. And, it doesn’t have to be a difficult, time-consuming, or a monumental effort. You don’t have to be intimidated about undertaking market research for your firm.
In fact, performing primary research at your firm is a great way for marketing and business development leaders to position their firms for the future.
And, primary research is especially important now that our A/E/C firms cannot rely on traditional CIPs, budgets, and industry association data that was produced a year ago. Because of this, I turned to an expert when it comes to market research for our industry, Sarah Kinard. She is the founder of The Flamingo Project, a consultancy dedicated to grow existing service firms and launch new businesses.
You’ll learn:
- Traditional market research approaches prior to COVID and why they are not so reliable now
- Philosophy when it comes to “following the money” approach to market research
- What market research strategies are working in today’s marketplace
- The four-questions you need to ask any client in your market research
- Steps to organize and conduct primary research for your firm
- How to use the information you collect in your research efforts
- Stories from two A/E firms who applied research to create new work for their firms
Ready to begin your market research to help grow your firm? Hit that play button.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- The Marketer’s Tool Kit provides a list of software tools to save time, automate your marketing processes, and reduce your stress and frustration. I compiled this list after using dozens of software products and talking to hundreds of marketers across the country. Grab your copy here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/themarketerstoolkit/
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
What an incredible experience these past few weeks have been!
I just finished delivering my 3 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Proposal Pros Master Class series and closed registration for the 2020 class of The Proposal Pro Course.
And, I’ve done trainings before including in-person and online, but I have to tell you…this was by far the BEST group of engaged participants I’ve ever had.
Your energy was amazing, and it made ME want to show up even more for you all.
Maybe that’s why I ended up adding another lesson (Your Career Progression Path) and doing an additional 4 hours of live Q&A!
I’m so grateful for each and every one of you who showed up, watched the lessons, asked questions, and put those lessons into action. Some of you wrote back to let me know you are already improved your proposal cover letters and presentations!
I wanted to give you another chance to check out my unadvertised surprise bonus lesson in the master class series. This lesson is all about your career progression path.
So in today’s bonus podcast episode, I am sharing the audio from that lesson. And, I am providing the slides you can download. Just head over to the episode show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/careerpath to find it.
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Is your next career move up? Will it still involve proposals? What if you want to take a break or lean out of your career? What options do you have then?
Today’s episode is the second part of the career paths of marketers. I am going to answer these questions and more from career path stories of marketers like you, and from a very special guest.
If you remember from episode 11, I mixed up the podcast format a bit. And, I got a great response. I had more stories to tell from marketers like you. So, because this is my podcast show and control the schedule, I thought why not continue this conversation and continue sharing your stories. So, that’s exactly what I am going to din this episode.
In the second part of this series, I share the career path stories of five different marketing, communications, and business development professionals.
There's also a special guest who started as a marketing coordinator, fell in love with helping her community, and pivoted her career to lead referendum campaigns for her firm.
This is a fun and inspiring episode, so grab a coffee or put on those earbuds and sneakers and listen up.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- The Proposal Pro Course - Rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals. The Proposal Pro Course is the only proposal management training that shows you not only how to manage and create winning proposals like a pro--but how to gain more confidence and authority to take your career to that next level. And, registration only opens once per year. Learn more here: https://www.theproposalprocourse.com/nowopen2020
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
I’m so excited to share this student success story with you today.
Corey Lynch, marketing manager for PhiloWilke Partnership, not only learned proposal management concepts inside The Proposal Pro Course but put them into action. And, she got amazing results!
It sounds so simple when I put it like that.
But, here’s the reason I’m sharing her story with you today and why I have invited her on the show to talk about her wild success. We can all learn the foundational principles of proposal management. Many of us may already know what we should or need to be doing.
However, it’s putting it into action part where many of us get stuck.
Sometimes, we don’t know what to do to take what we learn and put it into action. Sometimes, we are scared to take that next step. Sometimes, we just need to be inspired, to be motivated to “just do it.”
And, that my friend, is why I have asked Corey to share her story with you.
If you don’t come away feeling inspired, then I don’t know what else will inspire you. I had goosebumps during our conversation and got them again when I was editing the episode. So, I don’t think that will be a problem.
Conversation Highlights:
- Why she originally joined The Proposal Pro Course even as an experienced marketer.
- How she uses some of the lessons learned, like the Proposal Kick-off Meeting, to come to each proposal effort in a more professional manner.
- Using the Differentiation Framework elements like features vs. benefits to make data gathering more exciting.
- She tells us about a story about how, during a shortlist interview preparation effort, she was able to get a compelling story from her technical team. A story that probably won them that project.
- How that process, left a lasting effect on the client, her efforts for future proposals, and the medical planner herself.
- This process taught her team that’s the type of information they need to make their proposals and presentations more compelling and memorable.
- And, through this process, she realizes that she must help her technical professionals get beyond feeling that what they do day-in and day-out is important and amazing. And, that she and her marketing team is there to tell that story.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Let’s be honest, you gain more confidence as you gain more experience. And, if we’re being really honest, you might believe that you need years of experience to get there. To be that go-to proposal manager or leader in your firm.
Well, I am excited to share a story of an A/E/C marketer who really gained her confidence and really stepped into her feelings of being a proposal expert in only ONE YEAR. Really less than a year.
Yes, it took hard work, some learning, and having the courage to implement the lessons she learned, but she is there. Now, she is teaching some of the lessons she learned in the Proposal Pro Course to other firm leaders who are new marketing. Talk about the student becoming the teacher!
And, she also lets it slip in that her firm’s win rate increased during this time too. So not only has she grown personally since going through the course, her firm is benefitting too. She is proving that investing yourself, benefits not only you personally but for your firm too.
Maybe you have been in the industry for a few years, or already feel pretty confident in your proposal abilities. You think you know the basic proposal management principles and most of the tasks you should be doing.
But maybe you have some doubts at times because the proposal process just doesn’t go as planned. Or, maybe you should have spoken up on that call or injected your idea for that proposal cover letter but didn’t.
What stopped you? What held you back? Chances are you don’t even know why you said or didn’t say something that would have really improved your proposal.
If you’re ready to change that. If you’re ready to have the self-confidence and courage to step into that leadership role, to manage your proposals with authority, and feel like, “yeah, I’ve got this, no problem,” then I can’t wait for you to listen to today’s episode.
I am excited to talk with one of my Proposal Pro Students, Lindsey Robertson, APR, Marketing & Communications Manager for Foresight Construction Group. Not only do we share the same name, but she also lives in Gainesville, FL like I do!
Now, Lindsey is still very new to the A/E/C industry. Her previous experience is in marketing and communications in the medical device and healthcare industry. She joined Foresight two years ago and went through the Proposal Pro Course last year so she was truly new to our industry.
In our conversation, she shares more about her background including what her experience was prior to taking the Proposal Pro Course, what her specific proposal challenges were at this time last year that she was looking to improve, and what she learned and continues to learn to help grow herself, advance her career, while contributing to the growth and success of her firm.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
If you don’t know Julie Shaffer, CPSM, that ends today. She is THE guru when it comes to all things InDesign and using it to speed up your proposal production process. She absolutely brings it in this episode. Make sure you have pen and paper ready to take notes.
She tells us about two tools to use to end the laborious cycle of the proposal drafts back and forth. Instead of sending out a proposal draft, getting different sets of comments, and collating those comments, and then incorporating them into an updated draft, she tells us how to streamline and speed up this process. Julie shows us how to use two tools you most likely already have today that will save you dozens of hours and unnecessary frustration on your next proposal.
Here’s the knowledge she drops on us:
- We review the typical proposal review cycle and how inefficient it is.
- How COVID and working in different places are making the traditional proposal review process even harder.
- Julie introduces two different methods to conduct virtual proposal reviews. These include Adobe’s Share for Review and Acrobat features.
- She shows us how to get all of the comments back into InDesign
- Julie provides a teaser into her upcoming InDesign training course
About Julie Shaffer, CPSM, Owner of Shaffer Creative
As an award-winning designer and respected leader of creative teams and marketing departments, Julie exhibits the perfect mix of tact, tenacity, and industry knowledge to design and orchestrate creative marketing solutions for each client. She is an Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign CC and is known for developing extensive style formatting for project efficiency and completion. Julie loves to share her knowledge through workshop-style trainings for clients and professional organizations across the US.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Is there a career path in A/E/C marketing beyond the marketing coordinator role?
If you have been in your role as a marketing coordinator for any length of time, usually around the 2-3 year mark, you begin to wonder what role is next. You can become a Senior Marketing Coordinator and then eventually a Proposal or Marketing Manager. Eventually, you may be managing other staff, larger pursuits, and/or multiple pursuits.
Can you ever get beyond the proposals? Do you want to? What other career paths are there for A/E/C marketers?
I asked my community of marketing professionals this exact question, and they didn't disappoint. In part 1 of this series, I share the career path stories of seven different marketing, communications, and business development professionals.
There's also a special guest who started as a marketing coordinator, turned to business development, and now is providing project management assistance on the very design-build projects she helped to win.
This is a fun and inspiring episode, so grab a coffee or put on those earbuds and sneakers and listen up.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
We know that proposal quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) is essential to producing the best proposals possible and give our teams the best chance to win. However, QA/QC is too often sacrificed to the lack of time and pressing deadlines. This is a constant struggle we face with every proposal.
That’s why when I wanted to cover the topic of proposal QA/QC, there was only one person that came to my mind. And, that person is Julie Trowbridge from Jacobs. I met Julie over a decade ago when we both worked at a firm called Carter & Burgess, which later was acquired by Jacobs. She moved to Atlanta and we had a chance to work together in the Southeastern marketing team.
Having a career of nearly 30 years in the industry producing proposals, she brought with her a reputation of producing high profile aviation proposals and a keen eye for detail and processes. Today she manages still manages proposals for Jacobs. Through this, she not only is managing her own proposals, but helps with ensuring the proposal process is followed, including QA/QC, for the Atlanta office.
Because of this experience and what she does on a daily basis, I knew she was the perfect person to bring on the show to talk about QA/QC, specifically as it relates to proposals. And, even though she works for a mega engineering firm with well-established processes for sales and proposals, the best practices we talk about can apply to small and mid-sized firms with marketing departments of one. I would say this is a must-listen for anyone responsible for producing proposals for their firms.
The proposal quality best practices we talked about include:
- Why your proposal quality is too important to ignore
- Proposal QA/QC plan components
- How to fit the QA/QC process into the overall proposal production timeframe
- Strategies to incorporate quality review throughout the entire process
- Coaching your proposal reviewers to provide you with the best feedback to improve the proposal content
- Best practices around version control of proposal documents
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
2020 is already halfway done. We are well into the second half of 2020. It’s crazy right?!? But what a perfect time to do a mid-year check-in on your goals.
In this episode, I am talking about your personal performance goals. Remember, those goals you probably set with your supervisor last fall, which probably feels like years ago now!
These goals you set late last year or the beginning of 2020, can’t be ignored. They may have been small goals or really big stretch goals to get you to another place in your career. Either way now is precisely the right time to review where you are with your goals to make sure you’re on track, make sure they’re realistic but still exciting and challenging, and then make any of the necessary adjustments to that specific goal.
So, in today’s episode, I have four steps to help you reach your goals in the final months of 2020. When I say it like that – again, doesn’t it sound crazy? – the final six months of 2020!
Here’s what this process looks like:
- Identify your goals. Get super clear on what they are and refresh your memory.
- Examine where you are at with each goal. List out the actions you have taken to make progress.
- Pinpoint what’s working and what’s not working. Identify mini-milestones to help get you to the end goal.
- Create a plan to move you forward and knock your goals out of the ballpark.
I want you to walk away from this episode with a renewed sense of motivation and a step-by-step process to help ensure that you achieve those goals.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
This is the second half of my conversation with Frank Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM of GO Strategies. In this part, we talk about turning around your go/no go form and use it to guide your repositioning and capture planning.
More specifically we talk about:
- How do to determine what your preproposal activities should be to increase your chances of winning
- What exactly to do to position your firm to win
- How to coach technical staff to make meaningful connections with clients
- How to find the best information about the project you are pursuing
Frank was also gracious enough to provide us with the go/no go sample templates as well as his famous coffee mug with the key five go/no go questions. Both can be found on the GO Strategies website.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
- About Frank Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM and GO Strategies
- Go/No Go Form Templates
- GO Strategies Coffee Mug
- Develop a Go/No Go Process Self-Starter Kit
- How to Develop a Go/No Go Evaluation Process
- How a No-Go Decision Can Actually Increase Your Sales
- A Hidden Cost of Low Hit Rates
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
Making the right decision about what projects to pursue and when to walk away are difficult for even the most experienced A/E/C firms. Because of this, I looked for an expert when it comes to making go/no decisions. I sat down with Frank Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM of GO Strategies to talk about all things go/no go decisions. In fact, our conversation was so packed with great information, I split it into two episodes.
In this first part of our conversation, we go through the go/no go decision-making process including:
- The different times in the pursuit lifecycle when you would or could make a go/no go decision.
- Considerations for proposal costs and the reasons for tracking the costs to pursue and win new work for your firm
- Different types of go/no go decisions
- The importance of understanding the client’s perspective and how to use that to make better go/no go decisions
- And, finally, the five questions to ask your team to make better go/no go decisions
Frank was also gracious enough to provide us with the go/no go sample templates as well as his famous coffee mug with the key five go/no go questions. Both can be found on the GO Strategies website.
Stay tuned for the second part of our conversation. In the next episode, we will be talking about how to transform your go/no go form into a hidden pursuit plan. And, how to use your hidden pursuit plan to position your firm to win.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- MARKET-er's Place - Marketers Place is THE Place to get bite-sized training, templates, and resources specific to A/E/C firms. Find it here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
- About Frank Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM and GO Strategies
- Go/No Go Form Templates
- GO Strategies Coffee Mug
- Develop a Go/No Go Process Self-Starter Kit
- How to Develop a Go/No Go Evaluation Process
- How a No-Go Decision Can Actually Increase Your Sales
- A Hidden Cost of Low Hit Rates
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
I am taking this week off from the Marketers Take Flight Podcast to celebrate Independence Day with my family.
A new episode will be available on July 8th to talk about go/no go strategies with Frank Lippert, FSMPS, SMPS.
I hope you enjoy a safe, healthy, and happy 4th of July!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
006 - What do you with your marketing materials when a key employee leaves your firm? Should you take them off your website, remove their blog posts, or take them out of a proposal you’re already working on?
What do you now do with those materials? Should you take them down or leave them up?
In this episode, I am going to share some experiences and give my opinion on how to handle these situations.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- MARKET-er's Place - Marketers Place is THE Place to get bite-sized training, templates, and resources specific to A/E/C firms. Find it here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place.
Episode summary:
- Two stories from when a key employee left mid marketing campaign and after a website redesign.
- Considerations of what to do with your marketing materials when a key employee leaves your firm.
- My stance on if that person who is leaving should be listed in the proposal.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my opinions on how to handle marketing materials and proposals when a key employee leaves your firm? Leave your comments over on the show notes page at marketerstakeflight.com/6.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
005 - I had the chance to meet with Dena to answer questions about what to expect as clients move to virtual formats for shortlist presentations, how marketers can prepare their presentation teams, and some advice to minimize technical mishaps.
The conversation took place during one of the first weeks of quarantine and she was on the front lines helping firms prepare for the transition from in-person to virtual presentations and interviews.
I reached out to Dena because when it comes to firms winning more work from the shortlist presentation. She literally wrote the book on it (BE...The Winning Presentation, find it here).
She was supposed to be traveling to London on vacation but instead has been on the front lines working with firms to prepare and rehearse for virtual presentations this past few weeks.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- MARKET-er's Place - Marketers Place is THE Place to get bite-sized training, templates, and resources specific to A/E/C firms. Find it here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place.
Conversation Highlights:
- The formats and technology that clients are using as they transition to virtual presentations and interviews.
- Dena’s key advice for marketers to help prepare their technical teams to present virtually. Especially, since many of us cannot meet in a conference room at the office to prepare.
- The differences in preparing for a presentation vs. preparing for an interview.
- The ways that she is seeing to keep the presentation interactive and keep the client engaged throughout the presentation.
- We also covered how to prepare and test the technology including Wi-Fi, different meeting platforms, and how to prepare for the worst-case scenarios.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
004 - Today I am going to be talking about a subject that I believe doesn’t get mentioned enough in our industry. I am also going to get vulnerable with you a bit. I am going to open up and share some of the feelings I’ve had in the past and sometimes still have that I haven’t really shared before. And, definitely haven’t shared on a national stage or in public like on a podcast.
I am going to talk about imposter syndrome. I am going to share the textbook definition, then share what I really think it is, why some of us feel it and some of us don’t. Then I am going to talk about my personal struggles and the times when I felt like an imposter.
Of course, I won’t leave you hanging. I will give you some strategies to use when you are struggling with this idea of imposter syndrome.
Today's episode is sponsored by:
- MARKET-er's Place - Marketers Place is THE Place to get bite-sized training, templates, and resources specific to A/E/C firms. Find it here: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/place.
Four things you'll learn in this episode:1. The WHY I felt compelled to talk about this subject in the first place. 2. The "textbook" definition of imposter syndrome - I share the definition according to Wikipedia for imposter syndrome. And, then share what I think that means for A/E/C marketers. 3. A few stories of when I felt like an imposter. 4. Strategies to overcome imposter syndrome thoughts.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
003 - In this episode, we are talking about cutting the fat out of our proposals so they can fit within our page limits.
How many times has a project manager given you a draft that is 10 pages long, but you only have a page limit of 5 pages? I know that’s happened to me on many occasions. They know it’s a page limit of only 5 pages but they just CAN’T cut anything else out. It’s all “critical” to their approach.
If you have been faced with this, you might not even know where to start. Or, you might not feel comfortable cutting text from the technical professionals. You don’t want to remove a sentence that’s important to the technical approach or could put your firm at risk.
So, where do you start? How do you cut the proposal fat, but not the meat?
That’s exactly what we are going to talk about today. I am going to give you some ideas to edit the writing and some layout tips and tricks to help you reduce the original draft content to at least get it somewhat closer to your page limits. Maybe, even fit within those page limits.
Three things you'll learn in this episode:1. Editing and grammar tricks - The most effective way to fit your content into strict page limits, is to edit the text. Actually cut text out. However, you can’t just start cutting without being scared of losing valuable content. But, yes you can! That’s what I call cutting the fat. These are the extra words, phrases, and repetitive information that shows up in almost every proposal draft. I share some tips to help you cut the fat when you edit your proposals. 2. Layout and typography tricks - There are several layout and typography tricks you can do as well. The obvious ones are reducing the font, margin, or header and footer sizes. Again, these may be dictated by the RFP. So, I am going to share some of the other tricks I have used in the past to fit into my page limits. 3. Cut the Fat, Not the Meat Checklist - I have put together a free checklist that summarizes all of the tricks and advice I cover in today's show. You can get your copy by heading over to marketerstakeflight.com/3.
Resources and Links Mentions in the Episode:* Cut the Fat, Not the Meat Checklist
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
002 - In this episode, I cover proposal content, specifically how to take your proposal content from boring to compelling. I share techniques around persuasion, writing, and how to infuse creativity into your proposals.
Five things you'll learn in this episode:1. Persuasive Proposals - Proposal content should position your firm to win – It’s a sales document. It needs to persuade the reader that your firm is the best firm for the project. The reasons to select your firm should be crystal clear and obvious to the reader with enough information to allow the decision-makers to back up their decision. 2. Ways to Differentiate Your Firm - There are different ways you can differentiate your firm. Those include what you offer, how you design, create or deliver it, what you offer that better aligns with your client's goals, and what the client will get that they don't get from your competitors. 3. Proposal Audience - Before you start writing a proposal, it's important to understand some key things about your audience. I break those key things down in the episode. 4. Compelling Writing - Now that you know the proposal is a sales document and needs to be persuasive, let's dive into the specifics of how to develop your content, specifically your writing. We discuss how to use features and benefits to make your proposal writing more persuasive and client-centric. 5. Infusing Creativity - As proposal managers, we sometimes get stuck when it comes to infusing creativity into proposals. Often, we are limited by our own firm brand guidelines and the client’s requirements. We can get into a creative rut, especially when we are constantly working under tight deadlines and often working on multiple proposals at once. I share five ways to infuse creativity into your proposals to make them more compelling.
Visit the show notes page for more details:https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/2
Resources and Links Mentions in the Episode:* Kick Your Creative Mind Block * HubSpot Article - 9 VR Marketing Examples That You'll Want to Steal for 2020 * Envato Elements (Graphic Design Templates)
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
001 - The wait is finally over! I am pumped up to introduce the first episode of the Marketers Take Flight podcast.
This show is for any marketing, communications, or business development professional working at an A/E/C firm. While the majority of the content will be geared to those folks either early in their career or new to the A/E/C industry, there will be a variety of content that’s valuable to both rookie and veteran professionals.
Now today’s episode is going to be a bit different than the norm. I’m going to be going over a quick introduction of who I am and introduce the Marketers Take Flight show, what it means to me, and how I hope it helps you. And also some of the formalities of the show.
I am also going to share one simple tactic you can do TODAY to move closer to achieving your goals.
If you would like to get the links and show notes for this episode, head to:
https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/1
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro
This is a brand new podcast so I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about all about, who it's intended for, a little bit about my background, and most importantly, the WHY. Why you should carve out a little of your time to listen to this podcast.
Over the past 15 years, I have forged relationships with marketers across the country at all levels from marketing coordinator to CMO and firm president. I want to use these relationships to provide you with inspiring insight at every level of your career. I want you to learn from people who were just where you are right now and where you want to go next. My goal is to provide a wide variety of roles and perspectives of facets of marketing at A/E/C firms. This includes marketers from small firms and a department of one, to mid and large firms. As well as marketing managers just promoted to seasoned professionals in the c-suite.
There will be a heavy emphasis on proposals, yes because that is the majority of the work of a marketer at an A/E/C firm but we will explore other situations and challenges. These include topics like making better go/no go decisions, pursuit strategies, truly differentiating your firm in proposals, preparing for shortlist interviews for starters.
I will be sharing real-world, practical solutions related to the complexity of marketing A/E/C firms, including proposals.
If you're responsible for marketing and proposal management at an architecture, engineering, and construction firm, this podcast is for you.
Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And, don't forget to download the app on iTunes or the Podcast app. Leave a review if you found value listening to this show. Your review will help our show grow and help us connect with more amazing marketers like you. Thank you for being awesome!
Registration for the 2022 Proposal Pro Course is Now Open!
The doors to The Proposal Pro Course are OPEN!! 🎉 🎊🎆 The Proposal Pro Course is everything I’ve learned about managing winning proposals over the last 17 years. It’s a proven step-by-step process that I am SO honored to share with you. Learn how you can rapidly learn how to manage winning proposals: https://www.marketerstakeflight.com/proposalpro