Melissa Lind, Creative Director of Dwelling Creative, hosts a workshop for the Boston Society of Architects talking about how to educate and inspire their ideal clients using blogging, social media, and turning their websites into their universities.

Having practiced landscape architecture for a decade, Melissa understands the cycles of a design/build business. Her background led her to study marketing and then dive full in as she created a system that focuses on attracting the right clients.

A. The “why” of starting a business

1. Higher Quality Clients

2. More Freedom

3. More Profit

a. Masterplan the business

b. Personal Values must match with Business Value

c. Making an avatar for the Ideal Clients

i. Avatar for the Park City Builder

ii. Avatar for Manhattan Beach

d. Ideal Projects

4. What a Niche is (Talent + market)

5. Current Market

a. Grade your clients from A-F

b. What do they have in common

c. What do they struggle with the use of an app (trends.google.com)

B. Marketing is connecting

1. Connecting

a. Custom Home Journey: How your ideal clients find you.

2. Content

a. Inbound Content Marketing

b. Content Marketing

i. How to Blog

ii. Educate your market

iii. Blogging + Newsletter

c. Vs. Interruptive Marketing

3. Automation

a. Google likes E.A.T (Expert, Authority, Trust)

b. Creating and Finding Lead magnets, and creating a checklist

c. Website: hero image, tagline, and lead magnet

d. Contact: Have them ask a questions

e. Portfolio

f. Portfolio Management

g. Photography

h. Social Media

i. Networking: Select brand ambassadors

C. Accountability

1. Homework: Read the book Vivid Vission & master your Business

a. Find a partner

b. Schedule the time for the tasks

c. Resources

D. Q & A

1. Where should somebody start organizing a blog?

2. How unique do you have to be to get an audience?

3. Is there any benefit in publishing blog posts on an established platform or is it better on your own company website?

4. How would you adapt the process that you shared for a firm that primarily works with businesses or commercial work? Which should we focus on?

5. How can we craft a niche that isn’t typology base?

6. What is the most effective website platform that Melissa works with?

7. Is Squarespace/WordPress something that one can do by themselves or is it better left to the professionals?

8. What was the most helpful for everyone about the presentation?

9. What do you have to say to someone who wants to do social media, but wants to be discreet?