A Note From Bill: The View from New Zealand

This edition of A Note from Bill is quite special, at least from my point of view. I am writing this article from an extraordinary place. If you remember my “year in review” article from last issue, you may be able to guess where I’ve been these past few weeks...Queenstown, New Zealand!

I took the fifteen-hour flight from O’Hare to come here for the Mastermind Summit held by the Architect’s Marketing Institute, which is where a group of architects from around the world come?together to collaborate and learn about marketing—marketing for architects, specifically. Many of us, myself included, can easily look at marketing in a not-so-great light; an industry convincing people to spend money on things they don’t necessarily need. But now, I look at marketing with much more nuance, because there is nothing wrong with reaching outwards to help?new clients find us more easily. As architects, we would never be?able to sell a home design project to someone who didn’t want or need it; people only seek us out when they are ready to embark on a design journey. It would truly be a tragedy if those people couldn’t find us!

Until just a few years ago, our firm passively waited for projects to be referred to us, as we had always done, and it was upon understanding the importance of marketing that we began to adopt a more?proactive approach. Let me be clear, however, that referrals will always be a central part of our firm—and all architecture firms—because there is a high level of trust that needs to be given from client to architect.

As I write this in my hotel room with a stunning view of Lake Wakatipu in?Queenstown, I think about how far we’ve come as a firm, and how so much of that came from a network of clients who trust us. Being more easily found is one step of the process, and as important as that may be, I could not be more thankful to all of you who have brought us on to make your dream homes a reality.

Until Next Time...

Bill Styczynski

President, studio21architects