by Ray Brown & Bec Kempster

KPIs for Architectural firms: What metrics should you track in order to control your design business?

A Key Performance Indicator, or KPI, is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively your design firm is achieving key business objectives. The key driver for utilising KPI reporting is to extract meaningful, relevant, timely and actionable insights that can be used to operate and improve your practice. KPIs provide trend information that is often absent from other forms of reporting.

Think of them as the numbers you’d like to know each week, or each month if you were basking in the sun on a remote, tropical island while your practice was being managed by others. The metrics that, even if you’re at arm’s length from the business, would provide you with reassurance that the business was in good heart.

There are two types of KPIs. The first is a lead indicator, which predicts what may happen in the future. For example, work secured in the month (but which may be delivered over two years), or the number of enquiries in a month which will be a barometer of future work.

A lag indicator points to what has happened in the past, such as revenue or profit in a month. It provides an indication of what happened after the event. Look to include a mix of both lag and lead indicators in your reporting.

When setting up your KPI report, we recommend you include data from the previous twelve months as this will immediately allow you to chart whether your practice performance is improving, or is poorer than the previous period.

Whilst KPIs can vary for different practices, there will be six to eight numbers that will give you a good indication of the health of your business.

Financial Metrics

Revenue is the first and probably the most obvious number your practice should be tracking. For most architectural practices, this will be the value you bill each month.

The second number is the margin in the business. Revenue less directly associated costs (such as staff salaries, printing fees and other project related expenses) will give you the margin. It can be a number, but is most often stated as a percentage of revenue.

The third financial metric you should be tracking in your firm is the level of expenses each month, stated as a number. Some owners may also like to pull out salaries as an additional metric, as for many practices this will be the largest monthly expense.

The next obvious metric is profit. Whilst you could turn to the Profit and Loss Statement for these figures, it won’t provide you with an indication of the how this number varies over time.

Most practice owners will be aware of their cash in the bank at the end of the month, however if you were asked what the cash in the bank was three or six months ago, there is far less likelihood of recalling this. Tracking this number in a KPI report can reveal seasonal trends, such as the months each quarter when tax payments might be made. This will allow you to forward plan to accommodate for these events.

Debtors and creditors are the final two numbers to add to your financial metrics. By deducting creditors from your debtors and adding the cash at the bank, you’ll have a balance sheet snapshot of the short-term liquidity of the business. That is, what you’d be left with (or possibly owe!) if you shut up shop today.

These KPIs begin to tell the real story when tracked together in one simple report or spreadsheet, over time. By marking any losses or negative numbers in red, you’ll easily be able to identify any downturns when reading across the report.

Sales & Marketing Metrics

In our experience, we find the pain point verbalised by most architects is a projection of when the work will ‘dry up’. For example, that there’s only enough work to the end of June. Having this information and forward commitment from clients is empowering. Put yourself in the position of a retailer. They don’t know who’s going to come into their store tomorrow, let alone next month. Knowing the workload of the coming months allows you to manage the pipeline of new business so that you’re hitting your financial KPIs and importantly, managing allocation of your team and resources.

To assist you in managing your pipeline of new business, we recommend the first metric you track is the number of enquiries received in the month. Because architects typically get so few new enquiries as opposed to other industries like law firms or advertising agencies, this is a reliable lead indicator of future work. You will quickly be able to determine an average number of enquiries per month and take action should the number drop below this average in any particular period. This metric is the best indicator of the success of your marketing activity, referrals and general awareness of your practice out in the market.

The next metrics will allow you to assess how effective your client engagement process is in converting enquiries or ‘leads’, to prospects. These are, the total value of proposals submitted in the month and the number of proposals. By tracking both these, over time you will be able to measure your average proposal value (total value of proposals divided by number of proposals) and track whether this is rising or falling.

You should also be tracking total value of live proposals as part of your suite of sales KPIs. That is, total proposals issued up until the date of reporting that are awaiting a response from the potential client. You should include two numbers here; both the number of proposals issued and the value of those proposals issued in the month. This metric is a good motivator for following up with potential clients to establish whether they are going to proceed with the project.

These numbers will allow you to assess the spread of future potential work. You don’t want to find your firm in a position where you’re reliant on only one or two overly big proposals.
The best lead indicator for design firms is work secured in a month. Work typically takes most firms eighteen months to two years to deliver, so if your practice is consistently winning a satisfactory level of work each month, you will be close to guaranteeing that you’ll still have a profitable practice operating in two years’ time. Not many other industries have this level of security in their business.

The final metric we suggest you track in relation to sales is the total value of unbilled work in progress. For this KPI, take all the work that you have on your books in the month and calculate the portion of the total project value that’s left to be billed. At Archibiz, we refer to this as a ‘sleep at night number’ as it can help alleviate any uneasiness about the work ‘drying up’.

This is a fear we regularly hear about from architects. Being in business is not just about delivering the work, it’s about bringing the work in. Investing focus, time and process into building a robust sales pipeline in your firm, will help shift your mindset from a place of unfounded fear to confidence and comfort.

That robust pipeline will result from implementing a basic marketing strategy that is executed consistently. This marketing strategy should include a content rich website that is updated regularly and social media activity. For those design firms that have this in place, you should be reporting on at least the following marketing metrics:

1. Unique visits to your website
2. Social media interactions such as comments, likes and shares
3. Number of marketing activities occurring on other people’s channels, such as articles, blog or social media posts

Frequency for tracking KPIs

We recommend tracking these KPIs on a monthly basis, as a rule of thumb, as quarterly won’t forewarn you in adequate time to act on a negative trend. On the other hand, you may find yourself bogged down in the numbers if you try to track them on a weekly basis. That being said, cash flow is a metric that is worth reviewing on a weekly basis.

Cash in the bank at the end of the month can hide liquidity concerns taking place within the month. Take the example of the practice that pays wages on the first of the month, or even the 15th, but doesn’t receive payment on invoices until the end of the month. We recommend reviewing particular KPIs, such as cash flow, in line with the operating processes unique to your firm.

Even if you don’t utilise the KPI at this point in time, by keeping this list of metrics in your KPI report, you will be able to perform analysis on these at any point in the future with ease as you’ll have a historic record of the data.

Reporting on these KPIs presupposes that you have good bookkeeping processes and financial management in place in your design firm. It assumes that you have established systems and processes in place for delivering the product. Ask yourself, are you putting work out efficiently? Do you know when projects are running over budget? Have you got a six month plan in place for delivering the work that matches the right resource with the appropriate jobs?

Avoid surprises

The risk of not regularly reviewing a set of KPIs in your design firm is surprises. Being ‘busy’ isn’t a reliable indicator of long term sustainability, particularly if your operating processes aren’t optimal.

It is much more difficult to respond late in the piece to a negative trend that was established over a period of time. The earlier you receive a warning signal and can act, the easier it will be to take action to revert the situation.

Likewise, KPIs give you a reason to celebrate the good times, something we tend to forget. There’s more to celebrate than just landing a big win. For example, we used to be here and now we’re somewhere better. Or our average monthly work secured is now 20% better than in the previous year.

Above all, KPIs are about providing you with peace of mind. To understand that your practice is going in the right direction rather than relying on a gut feeling or worse still, putting your head in the sand and praying for the best.

Achieving control in your design firm

Though our lives are renowned for unpredictability, we as individuals crave a sense of control. The reality is that we don’t always have total control, particularly over external factors such as market forces or over other people, such as whether an employee chooses to remain working in our business.

Achieving true control is an unrealistic mindset that will only serve to keep us in a place of fear. A more realistic goal to strive for in your role as ‘Director’ or ‘Owner’ of a design firm (as opposed to your role as ‘the architect’), is awareness.

Being aware of trends through a set of KPIs will allow you to shine a light on the world of greyness you find yourself operating in as Director or Owner. It’s important to focus on understanding the levers in your business as opposed to achieving a feeling of control. —

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Architects in general have a tendency to underestimate the importance of marketing in creating and running a successful business. Even those who claim to understand the role of marketing in acquiring clients and building relationships, they often fail to fully utilize its potentials. Principals of small architecture firms often get caught up in trying to keep their practices afloat and end up treating marketing as a luxury that they will be able to afford once they achieve stability, thus missing the true role of marketing as being a catalyst for growth. Architects need to apply marketing to their practices from the onset and treat it with the same amount of dedication as they do with their floor plans, sections and 3D models of their building designs.

Marketing is a complex discipline, but its fundamentals can be broken down to a few simple concepts. As long as you keep these in mind at all times, your marketing efforts will be more successful, and easy to analyze and adjust. You need to be able to answer these three relatively easy questions and communicate them effectively to your audience:

Who are You?

In order to define your place in the industry and your target demographic, you need to determine who you are and what you do. Vague phrases about quality services, multidisciplinarity and “cutting-edge design” on your About Us page will not provide any useful information on what your company actually does. What do you stand for? How is this vision reflected in your office culture, design, and the type of projects you take on?

What Need Do You Fulfill?

Answering this requires you to formulate a value proposition. A value proposition explains how your service or product can help to solve your client’s problem and must be formulated in a concise and clear way, showing concrete results where possible. Even if you offer great value, if you fail to communicate it, your business will not attract new clients.

How are You Different?

Being able to differentiate yourself from your competition is a huge advantage. This is not easy, but your efforts have to go beyond mere sound bites. It can be achieved either by simply offering services in a more organized, client-oriented and reliable way, or by creating a unique, game-changing product or service.

Once you can answer these three questions, your marketing efforts basically filter into four-step process:

1. Attracting potential clients
2. Converting visitors to leads
3. Closing the deal
4. Cultivating relationships

These steps may seem straightforward, but there are several schools of thought on how to apply them. With the recent widespread adoption of social media and online tools, marketing has expanded to exciting new ways that architects can engage with and build an audience, and then successfully convert them to leads.

Today’s users have much more control of their media, and this has leveled the “marketing playfield” by offering businesses the opportunity to organically reach audiences by using relatively affordable channels and winning them over with engaging content. This phenomenon has introduced the concept of  “inbound marketing,” which contrasts with the traditional “outbound marketing” in almost every significant way.

Before coming to a verdict as to which is better, let’s see what each entails:

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing includes traditional advertising practices, cold calling, email and newsletter blasts, sponsorship, and word-of-mouth referrals, to name a few. It is generally known as an interruptive marketing practice that has become less effective in the last few decades. Spam protection tools and blocking techniques, along with the development of new communication trends through social media, have empowered users and limited many of the elements of outbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing embraces new media tools, and promotes creating and sharing content that appeals to specific demographics. Publishing the right content at the right moment is at the core of inbound marketing. It focuses on building communities and relies on organic search traffic. It uses blogs, social media, calls-to-action and landing pages to convert visitors to leads.

Data is also an important element of inbound marketing as it uses surveys and social monitoring to find out where your target audiences are and what they want.

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Most architecture firms will not have to choose between inbound and outbound marketing. Despite hyperbole from proponents of both concepts, they actually work best in combination. You will probably need to keep sending out newsletters and press releases, publishing in magazines, and attending seminars and conferences. However, inbound marketing will allow you to track your return on investment (ROI) more easily, and thus build your reputation. Just remember, there is no single marketing solution that works for everyone.

To learn more about how some of the leading architecture firms use social media, networking, blogging and other marketing tools, check out Archipreneur’s book on new business models for architects, “The Archipreneur Concept”.

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This week’s interview is with Philipp Eckhoff and Gonzalo Portabella, founders of berlin-based visualization start-up, morean. These guys are targeting the business of architecture by providing sleek and sophisticated animations for architectural presentations, real estate marketing and product presentations.

morean have been working with high-end clients like Zaha Hadid, Snohetta, UN Studio and Sauerbruch Hutton to translate their architectural designs into superb 3D films. Their services also include visualizing work for developers and creating product presentations for companies like Zumtobel.

Many people say that virtual reality is the future for creatively envisioning architecture and real estate developments. I’m definitely with them. But what is especially unique about morean’s approach is the emotional driving force behind each project.

Their films are not just simulated flights through 3D models. Each of their animations tells a moving story that has stemmed from a carefully thought-out plot. This is how their animations touch the people watching them – there are times when you’ll feel a shiver of excitement down your spine … And this appeal to emotion is exactly how you win over clients.

But don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself by watching the films below.

Let’s hear how Philipp and Gonzalo started their venture and hear their thoughts on finding clients, presenting virtual spaces and architectural entrepreneurship.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

What made you decide to start morean? Was there a particular moment that sealed the decision for you?

Gonzalo: We met as colleagues while working for Sauerbruch Hutton Architects in Berlin, Philipp as industrial designer, me as an architect. While researching and designing a new store concept for the fashion brand Prada, we had to deal with the question of how to tell a powerful visual story to illustrate our plans.

Philipp: We discovered creating high-class animations of trend-setting architecture and product design is an artistic endeavor that not many people are really good at. Apparently there was a market niche.

Gonzalo: So we started talking about the idea to launch our own company, focusing on 3D films. We felt pretty confident that our respective experiences and skills would be a perfect match to make this venture succeed. One day after visiting a great concert together I was like, “Come on, let’s do it. Let’s become founders.” So we did and started our business in early 2014.

You are creating digital films and virtual reality worlds for your clients. What is your approach and what do you do differently to other animation companies?

Philipp: Regardless of whether it’s an internationally renowned architect, a global enterprise or an exciting start-up with a great product idea, our clients expect a dialogue on an equal footing. As designers and architects, we speak their language.

We have designed houses, furnishing and lighting ourselves. We put a lot of effort into research and exchange with the client to craft the concept and storyboard. For every [one] of our films we devise a script, develop a mood board and come up with ideas on how to uniquely convey the designer’s approach and vision.

In this regard we see ourselves as consultants. Not until we – and, of course, our clients – are satisfied with this tailor-made composition do we start thinking about the technical realization and finally produce the film.

Gonzalo: Our clients are proud of their designs and products, and the amount of work and great ideas they contain – and rightly so. It’s precisely this expertise and quality, which our films seek to portray – with emotion and with a story told in impressive images.

In watching our films, our clients’ clients should gain a deeper understanding of what they have commissioned or what they are about to buy. In other words: they should fall in love with it.

What kind of clients do you usually work for?

Philipp: First of all, our clients entrust their most important asset to us: their vision of the future. We translate it into moving pictures, intangible products and highly individualized services that require a lot of confidence. We are proud to have found clients who place this trust in us. The intensive customer care is our recipe for success.

Gonzalo: We work for international architectural firms like Snøhetta, Zaha Hadid, UN Studio and for engineering companies and developers like Leonhardt, Andrä & Partner, Idom, or One Works. Another important area is interior design and lighting.

The lighting manufacturer Zumbtobel, for example, commissioned a series of animations that present the impressive features of a sophisticated new LED office luminaire. We also support start-ups by visualizing their prototypes and new designs. What all our clients have in common is the innovative and ambitious nature of their projects.

What do you find the most fulfilling about your current jobs as entrepreneurs creating virtual realities within the architectural community?

Philipp: It is always inspiring to work with the best people in their field: our clients. We love to immerse ourselves into their designs and ideas, co-creating their vision.

Also fulfilling is our aspiration to get better with every new project. We love to learn. Thus we spend a lot of time with our team to figure out new ways to capture the exceptional qualities of a design, using new techniques and technologies to improve our work and create value.

Gonzalo: One example: currently, everyone’s talking about virtual reality as the next big thing in visualization. As a matter of fact, we are all experimenting and business models are still evolving. There are no standards yet. At the same time, we are really exited about the possibilities of total immersion.

One of our team members, Matthew McGinity, has been working in immersive media for the last 20 years and is currently developing solutions that will transform our clients’ vision into virtual reality environments. To be part of this movement is pretty inspiring.

Do you have any advice for “Archipreneurs” who are interested in starting their own business? How did you start?

Gonzalo: First of all: just do it. And be prepared to give 100 percent and more. Of course passion and endurance alone will not suffice. From the very beginning we could rely on the complementary personal talents and qualities in our founding team. Apart from the specialist know-how, you need business skills. You have to do the math. So we carefully planned every step of our venture.

A business plan is something you put in your drawer as soon as it’s written. But to write it is a great and important exercise in strategic thinking. This thinking process may never stop. Hopefully one day we will read the business plan again and feel proud to realize how much we advanced in our way of thinking and creating visions.

Philipp: Another thing we learned in the first year: how important it is to say no. It’s so easy to waste time, energy and money on projects that will neither bring fun nor fortune. But once you are confident about what you really want to do, you can reject projects that would knock you off your chosen path.

Even if it means that you have to be patient and sometimes stubborn. You will finally find the clients you can serve best and the projects that suit you.

How do you see the future of architecture? In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major opportunities for up and coming architects?

Gonzalo: Wow, big question! From our perspective, continuous communication between an architect, his client and other stakeholders involved is becoming more and more crucial. That’s where we think new opportunities lie: to help deliver the designer’s message.

Since every one of us, both in private and professional contexts, deal with architecture every single day, we all feel like natural experts. This notion is flawed. Spatial design is getting more and more complex, [more] technology-driven.

To convey the idea and the benefits for investors, future inhabitants and commercial users, we have to anticipate and reduce complexity to dismiss distraction from unimportant aspects and focus on the most important facets.

Philipp: We are convinced that in the near future the process of designing and building will even be more fragmented. One big challenge will be to optimize the interfaces within this value chain and to translate [the interfaces] from one stage to the next. This is what we do with our films.

So, there will surely be many new opportunities for the next generation of architects and designers to help bridging the gaps from one part of the process to the following. The need for communication, also in terms of visualization or technology-based tools, will definitely open up a whole new terrain for budding founders.

 About Philipp & Gonzalo

With more than 10 years of experience in design, architecture and project management, Philipp is responsible for concept, storytelling and business management. He started his career as a designer at Alfredo Haeberli. Subsequently he led teams at Sauerbruch Hutton Architects and Selux AG.

Gonzalo is an architect and 3D artist. Together with his team he leads the creative development and oversees the entire production process of the films. Gonzalo studied architecture in Barcelona and worked for various architecture firms, such as pich-aguilera and Sauerbruch Hutton Architects.

The post How One Animation Company Visualizes Architectural Projects through Emotional Storytelling appeared first on Archipreneur.

Fortunately, it’s not the only path to attracting new projects. In fact, the most effective business development strategies for architects involve more time spent on proactive relationship-building (before the project is made public), and less time on responding to RFPs and RFQs, which are available to anyone.

Below are 9 strategies that can help you define a good business development approach to get you ahead of the competition and win more clients and projects:

#1 – Identify the ideal project, and then work backwards

What are the ideal projects for your firm? Who are the people who can lead you to them? Do some research into their social environments and find ways to meet them there. The best projects or partnerships occur through direct commissions via a personal contact. Make the personal connection by networking in the same places that your ideal client spends time in. If you haven’t already, start thinking of everyone in your rolodex as a potential client, collaborator, or lead to new information; it may just be that the person who may lead you to the next job is someone you already know.

#2 – Export your design as portable, and shareable objects

Several companies design books that showcase their projects. Rather than make the book simply a portfolio, make the book a design object itself. Your design philosophy should be manifested in any tangible object (books, business cards, etc) your company produces, so that whenever you meet a potential client, you can offer them a small sample of what makes your firm so great. Follow up with well-designed emails, and be sure that your website is clear and easy to understand. The worst is for a client to be turned off by a slow or complicated website.

#3 – Follow up

Always make sure to have business cards on hand. And after you receive a handful of business cards at networking events, be sure to enter them into your email list. Additionally, stay in contact through periodic, personal emails. If you want to send out occasional updates with a mass mailing service, be sure to ask if they’d like to be included in the mailing list.

#4 – Turn your firm into a brand

Become an expert in a specific area of design. Determine the expertise available in the office, and the kind of projects your firm would like to be known for. Perhaps it’s environmental (like SITE and HOK) or urban design (Gehl Studio), master plans, residential, cultural, or civic. There needs to be something that potential clients can associate with your firm’s name. If you want to be more of a generalist, then make “process” and “philosophy” your brand (like Grimshaw). This way you will be known for creative solutions and high quality design. What can you provide that’s unique to only your firm? Figure that out and use to brand yourself. Then you will successfully promote and market your firm.

#5 – Create brand ambassadors at your company

Create a company culture that reflects your firm as approachable and fun to work with. Make sure there is fluid communication within the office so that when architects are traveling, they are comfortable discussing information about the firm , spreading the company’s vision, and creating new business contacts.

#6 – Organize an open lecture series at your firm

Organize an open lecture series at your firm where you can invite anyone to your office and provide an opportunity to introduce your firm to a new audience. Better yet, make the lectures have nothing to do with architecture, but about something your firm believes in. This will make your firm more approachable and will also show a different facet to the practice.

#7 – Book as many speaking opportunities as possible

You never know who is in the audience. It’s a great way of reaching multitudes of people at the same time. At a school, you may find that you’ve attracted more students who want to work for you, but you may also catch the attention of a developer who is teaching a class at that school who may want to speak with you about a potential opportunity.

#8 – Grow your online presence

More so than booking lectures, it’s one of the best ways to reach large audiences and catch the attention of many potential clients around the world at the same time. Think about maintaining a blog on your website to publish frequent updates and also use Instagram and Twitter to boost your online presence. Instagram especially is quick and visual, so architects can “seduce” clients with beautiful images. Especially when that relates to their design aesthetic without having to spend so much time. The ROI (Return on Investment) on that is better than on any other platform. Because it reaches so many people without much effort. With Twitter, you can retweet articles about your firm, drive people to your blog, or post updates and images as well.

#9 – Network with colleagues

Other firms and industry professionals are great resources for staying on top of trends and new developments. Rather than considering other firms as competition, consider them as potential partners on future projects; the combined, complementary expertise from each firm can only help to strengthen a business proposal. Additionally, keeping good relations with other firms may also lead to information. For example, about new projects that you might not have known about before.

Generating new business opportunities involves both marketing and communications, but most of all it involves nurturing relationships. As long as you can continue networking effectively and keep your contacts talking about you, then your firm will most likely pop up during conversations about new projects. And as long as your name continues to pop up, and you proactively pursue new information, the more likely it is that you will be included in shortlists and be receiving direct commissions.

What other effective business development strategies for architects would you recommend?

The post 9 Creative Business Development Strategies for Architects and Designers appeared first on Archipreneur.

Writing about architecture and writing about architectural theory are different animals. While architectural theory may appeal to a niche audience of academics and writers, the key to having a great blog that boasts your business is addressing issues to which people can relate. Blogging as an architect has little to do with your writing ability, although a certain level of literacy and coherence is expected.

Instead, it can provide a great space for showing your sketches, latest projects, announce office events and new developments in the firm. Those intimidated by words can make it easier for themselves to get into blogging by treating writing as talking-it is all about communicating ideas that will help grow your business and market your brand.

The benefits of having a blog are multifold, but these can be condensed into a few major points which will help future architecture bloggers understand the purpose of their literary efforts:

#1 – Become an Authority

The first rule of blogging is to find your niche. In the majority of cases, trying to become a sort of jack-of-all-trades results in incoherence and rambling that makes it tough for people to follow on a regular basis. Providing content with relative thematic consistency will create a body of work that is recognizable and specific. In the case of architecture, you can utilize blogging as a way of underlining your specialties such as residential architecture, commercial buildings, renovations, interior design, etc. This will instill trust among readers and help you to share your knowledge and teach your audience. The amount of research you put into your blog posts, coupled with a genuine interest and practical experience will convey a great image and make you recognizable as an expert.

#2 – Build an Audience

Blogging has become a great tool for entrepreneurs, as it helps build reputation and expands your reach. A blog is a great place where you can improve your brand, engage with future clients and, if you develop a smart content strategy, it can help you grow a following even if you don’t have a completed product to offer. Once you acquire a decent number of followers, you can test out new ideas and offer services and products that make the cut.

#3 – Grow Your Network

Blogging can lead to different networking opportunities that will get you out of your chair and interacting with people face to face. You can invite colleagues and friends to become guest bloggers or become one yourself, interview experts and be interviewed, get yourself invited to speak at events, and attract potential employees. Blogging doesn’t just build online relationships, but allows you to mingle with people in person and meet like-minded professionals. In turn, these personal contacts will bring more exposure and relevancy to your blog and design practice.

#4 – Tell Your Story

It is common knowledge that people relate better to stories than conventional presentation of design work. Having a blog can bring a new, unmediated experience to your audience and bring them closer to the way you work. It can be a great archival tool that allows you to store and document your thoughts and project development practices by presenting them through storytelling.

#5 – Obtain Feedback

Sharing your blog posts with a selected group of friends and trusted colleagues can provide excellent feedback on your work and will help you see things from a different perspective. Once you’ve expanded your reach and gained regular readers, the feedback you get from a large number of people can help examine all the facets of an idea, build a more analytical approach to understanding past projects and prepare for future ones. You become more approachable and easier to reach, be it through the comment section or via email.

#6 – Inspire Others

Loving what you do and managing to produce interesting work is bound to shine through your blogging. There is little else than can inspire people more than dedication, love for a certain discipline and the readiness to engage in dialogue. Done right, building a collection of architecture you like and design that inspires you, providing observations on popular issues and conveying practical experiences will help inspire others, teach them to implement your ideas and creative strategies in their own work.

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Blogging content that matters, together with having a well designed website, can become a powerful tool for building your online presence, and these are easy to create thanks to various web hosting services, like Bluehost for example.

In order to disseminate your work and blog content, it is important to engage some of the most popular social media and online platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. Making these practices an integral part of your daily life and treating writing as an extension of your architectural work can be a recipe for success.

If you’re not sure how to get started, check out our step-by-step guide on how to create your own blog in minutes.

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