Marketers Take Flight

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

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.

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

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Check out this episode on our

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 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

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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

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.

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

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 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

➢   

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.

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 mo

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.

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.

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.

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

Chec

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.

This is a special, limited-time bonus episode of the Marketers Take Flight Podcast. And, it’s just a sample of the type of bonus content you can get by becoming a show supporter. For as little as $5/month you can get member-only podcast content, discounts on training, and more access to me. Plus, you’ll feel good knowing that you are supporting a show that brings you so much value, all for less than a cup of coffee. 

This bonus episode will only be available until Nov. 30, 2021. Then, poof, it's gone! (Unless you become a podcast supporter.) 

If you’re interested in becoming a supporter, head over to marketerstakeflight.com/support to learn more and sign up. 

Now, to today’s topic – 5 Ways to Add Value to Your Firm Besides Proposals

Often A/E/C marketers spend most of their time coordinating and producing proposals. This is a very important part of your job as a marketer. Yes, you may be involved in strategy development or other pre-proposal activities. However, we can all agree that the proposal is the highest priority. 

What about other ways a marketer can add value to your firm? Is there anything beyond the proposal effort? As a manager, can you provide other initiatives to combat proposal burnout? If so, what are those?

In this limited-time bonus episode, I will share 5 different initiatives where you can add value to your firm beyond proposals. 

Some you may already be a part of and others you may have not have thought of. As either a marketing team member or manager of marketers, think about adding one or two of these initiatives to your next performance goal-setting exercise. 

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!

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.