Marketers Take Flight

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 – Establishing your Marketing Metrics

You may be at the beginning or in the middle of developing your plans for the next year. You might also be having discussions about sales and performance goals for your firm and staff. But, before you can start your goal setting, you should have a good understanding of where you are at today. You can do this by having a good set of baseline metrics for both marketing and business development. 

Once you have your baseline metrics recorded, then your firm can work on the growth for the next year and begin to set goals. 

In this short bonus episode, I am going to review some examples of marketing baseline metrics to get you started. 

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!

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, 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!

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.

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 an

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 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!

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 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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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,

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.