What’s happening at SLD HQ? (It’s not always smooth sailing!)
I thought I’d give you a little insight into some of my recent marketing and e-commerce challenges in today’s blog, as a way of showing that even people who do this stuff for a living can struggle with making it all happen while trying to make it appear effortless!
Getting the building blocks of online marketing and e-commerce in place is not always plain sailing!
When Zoom runs amok…
A few weeks ago I gave my CPD workshop on Awards, and I opted to deliver that training on Zoom this year. Last year I delivered it in a private Facebook group using a paid streaming add-on called BeLive, but that was before the pandemic hit and and we all got very adept at using Zoom, so this year I decided to try and keep it simple.
On the morning of, I tried to banish my nerves and get everything nicely cued up – a shared screen for my slide presentation, a waiting room with eager students ready to learn, and my husband and kids banished outside (we’d gone into a snap lockdown the week before, which was a slight spanner in the works! When I set the workshop date, I thought the kids would have returned to school and I’d have the house to myself).
So, at 10am Perth time I was ready to admit everyone into the live online workshop, only to discover my mouse had chosen that moment to go haywire. I’d never had this problem before, and it hasn’t happened since.
I could see the moving on my screen, but the buttons wouldn’t click, so I couldn’t admit the attendees and start the training. Instead, I had to use keyboard shortcuts to shut the Zoom window – worried that my students would think I was cancelling the training without warning – and then re-start it with the now-functioning mouse.
My heart was racing; I was three minutes late getting underway; but I think I managed to recover pretty well and deliver a worthwhile session. But what a rush at the start!
The joy of setting up new platforms
I’m currently setting up a new online portal to collate all of my resources – free downloads, paid courses and workshops and recordings – in one place. This will make it easier for you to find useful materials that I’ve created, and it will help me by bringing all of my online content into one location (I currently have lead magnets on MailerLite and on my own website; I’ve delivered courses on Zoom and via email and YouTube; and I use two email platforms for weekly updates – Mailchimp for Architects Connect on Wednesdays, and GetRevue for The Drill). That’s a lot of unnecessary admin that I’d like to streamline.
This type of piecemeal approach is pretty common though, when you start building something from scratch, and you’re not quite sure what you functionality you want or need at the outset, and you’re bootstrapping because you’re not sure if or when the revenue will start to flow. It’s a common story for many online entrepreneurs.
As this octopus has grown more tentacles, it’s become really messy and inefficient, so lately I’ve been researching online Learning Management Systems so I can aggregate everything in one place. That’s a huge research undertaking that I won’t bore you with, because it’s unlikely to be in your future, but you should be thinking about lead magnets and subscribers and emails if you’re not already.
The biggest problem with identifying a new platform is that you don’t really know what they can do until you start to test-drive them, and pay for them; but you want to make the right choice because the process of setting them up and upgrading is time consuming and can be expensive.
Learning this stuff makes my head hurt (luckily Dr David Eagleman says it’s good for your brain to be constantly learning new things, especially as you age!)
Yesterday at lunchtime I was in the weeds, fearful I would never work out an issue I was having with auto invoices and GST and that maybe my head would explode!
At times like that, I usually find it helpful to find people who have travelled the path before me, and follow their recommendations, and ask questions (there are no stupid questions in online marketing!) and to seek expert advice wherever I can. I’m a member of a few different platform-based Facebook Groups of systems I’ve been considering, and it’s very helpful to ask questions and see what other users are struggling with, when you’re considering a major investment of time and money.
I’m planning to launch the new online portal around the time of the CPD session I’m delivering for the Institute or soon after (that’s next Weds 24 Feb and you can book via this link) and so it’s skate’s on to get all the pieces of the jigsaw in place.
Watch this space!
Keeping track of future clients
This year I’ve also been trying to do a better job of my own customer relationship management (CRM), because I have several sources of leads, and like my resources for architects, they are scattered across a few locations.
I have my Quiz on involve.me, my comms consulting Review + Reset packages on my website with an automated email responder at MailerLite, the free resources I mentioned earlier on my website and MailerLite, and new subscribers can sign up at the sub-domain I set up for The Drill last year.
Again, this is an area of my business that could do with some spring cleaning!
Which makes me wonder:
How are you generating new leads for your practice?
What platforms are you using to get future clients to start a conversation with you?
Do you have a strong Call to Action on your website?
Do you have prepared marketing materials that you can send your prospects, to help you both work out if you are a good fit and on the same page?
This is one of the key areas I help my comms consulting clients with – it’s called Customer Journey Mapping – and we work out where they have gaps in their collateral and then create new materials to plug those holes. Like everything related to marketing, it takes time to set the strategy and then put the right pieces in place, and it usually has to be fitted in around fee-paying client work.
If you’re keen to find out more about modern marketing as it relates to architects and architecture, you might like to attend the CPD session that the Institute is hosting next week (you can book your place here).
And, beyond that, if you’re keen to learn more – and start implementing my six-channel system in your own practice – please register your interest for my next course: Architecture Marketing 360 here (if you register your interest now, you’ll get a discount coupon to use when enrolments open later this month).
And if you have any questions about how all of this might help you connect and engage with your future clients – and build a pipeline of architecture projects you love working on – feel free to email me at hello@soundslikedesign.com.au.