William Smart is the founder and creative director of Smart Design Studio, a 40-person practice based in Sydney.

In this episode, we discussed:

• The challenges that William and the team faced as the practice grew, and why William found hiring a skilled general manager early in the journey was key to their success.
• How William was able to win his first multi-residential projects, and William shared his tips for getting your foot in the door in this highly competitive space.
• Why it’s important to build a profile in the industry with a broad marketing strategy, and not just focus on reaching the next client.
• How William thinks about the studio’s unique selling points, and why it can be a good thing for an architect to have a signature approach that ties their projects together.
• Why it’s important for architects to spend time educating their clients about design, and how we, as a profession, can better engage with the public and promote the value of what architects do.

If you’d like to learn more about William and the studio, you can visit smartdesignstudio.com, follow the studio on Instagram at @smart.design.studio or follow William at @williamsmart.

If you’d like to learn more about me, Dave Sharp, you can visit vanityprojects.com to check out my blog, join over 5000 other architects on my email list, or learn more about my marketing coaching services for architects.