Jon Clayton:
00:00:00What unique strategies can help you turn your architectural
Jon Clayton:
00:00:05firm into a creative powerhouse with a long line of happy clients.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:10I'm joined by Brian McCartney who shares what he's learned from founding
Jon Clayton:
00:00:14five successful creative firms.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:17In this episode of architecture business club, the weekly podcast for solo
Jon Clayton:
00:00:21and small firm architecture practice owners, just like you who want to build
Jon Clayton:
00:00:25a profitable future proof architecture business that fits around their life.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:29I'm the host, John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:31And if you want a business in architecture that gives you more freedom,
Jon Clayton:
00:00:34flexibility, and fulfillment, and go to architecture, business club.com
Jon Clayton:
00:00:39forward slash blueprint and download the architecture business blueprint.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:43It's the step-by-step formula to freedom for architects, architectural
Jon Clayton:
00:00:47technologists and architecture designers.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:49And it's absolutely free as a gift from me.
Jon Clayton:
00:00:52Now let's dig into Brian's story.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:00Brian McCartney is CEO at ArcMark Branding and Marketing for Architects
Jon Clayton:
00:01:06and a certified coach through Donald Miller's Business Made Simple program.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:11Brian has helped over 3, 000 architects increase their firm's visibility and
Jon Clayton:
00:01:15influence so they can win better projects.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:18Brian has traveled around the world and calls himself an ArciGeek.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:23He has been featured in ArcDaily, ARCIbiz, Business of Architecture, Entree
Jon Clayton:
00:01:28Architects, Svibe Group, and many others.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:32You can speak to Brian directly by booking a free clarity call at arcmark.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:37co and I will drop a link in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:40Brian, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Bryon McCartney:
00:01:43John, it's great
Bryon McCartney:
00:01:44to
Bryon McCartney:
00:01:44be here.
Bryon McCartney:
00:01:44Thanks for inviting me.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:46Oh, you're very welcome.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:47It's a pleasure to have you here on the show.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:50Brian, I know that you're, uh, aside from everything you do in the world
Jon Clayton:
00:01:53of architecture and marketing, you're also a very passionate photographer.
Jon Clayton:
00:01:57Could you tell me a little bit about that pastime?
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:00Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:01In 2000, uh, had the opportunity to move to Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:05My wife
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:06and I moved to Switzerland and around about that time
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:10I had bought a digital camera.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:13It was my first digital camera.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:15And so I started taking a lot
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:18photography, a lot of photographs as we were traveling around Europe, around
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:22Switzerland, getting, getting to see the, you know, all the different countries.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:26And then all the Alps and all the, all the countryside in
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:29Switzerland taking tons of photos.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:31And I actually started a small website around that time just
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:36to share photos with family and
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:38friends.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:39And I think it was about a year into it or so one of my wife's, uh, former work
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:45colleagues, it was like, wow, Brian's taking great photos.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:48Has he ever thought about doing
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:50that professionally?
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:51And I.
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:52And it's funny because when I worked in Chicago, um, early in
Bryon McCartney:
00:02:56my career, I was kind of known as the compositing guy.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:00I had started working in, in Photoshop very early on.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:03And so knew a lot about how to work with digital images.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:08And
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:08so kind of use that information and knowledge.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:12And then having worked with a lot of,
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:14A lot of photographers on set, I learned about lighting as well.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:19I ended up going professional with photography for quite some time.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:22One of the agencies that my wife and I founded was based around
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:26storytelling, uh, visual storytelling.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:29And so photography and video played big role in that.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:32And, uh, I also won a lot of awards and yeah, it was,
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:36it was, it was a lot of fun.
Bryon McCartney:
00:03:37I really enjoyed taking, taking images, creating images.
Jon Clayton:
00:03:41Oh, that's amazing.
Jon Clayton:
00:03:42I, I really do appreciate a good photo.
Jon Clayton:
00:03:45I was, uh, a little bit of an amateur photographer a few years ago of my
Jon Clayton:
00:03:49with my DSLR camera, and I, enjoy
Jon Clayton:
00:03:53going and looking at a few photography exhibitions if I'm in like
Jon Clayton:
00:03:56London or somewhere.
Jon Clayton:
00:03:57But that's about as far as it extends for me at the moment.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:01My photography seems to be mainly on my smartphone.
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:03Yeah, that's, to be honest, that's my number
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:06one camera these days I always
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:08just say the best cameras, the one you have with you and the one that you use all
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:11the time.
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:12I ended up taking a lot more photos these days with my care, my, my,
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:16my phone and my actual cameras.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:19absolutely.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:20Yeah, that's it.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:20If you've got your, the decent phone camera, most of them are pretty
Jon Clayton:
00:04:23decent and you've got it with you.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:24It's.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:25To be doing photography and using that rather than having something sat in
Jon Clayton:
00:04:29the cupboard that's gathering dust.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:31We're not going to talk about photography though for the whole episode as much as
Jon Clayton:
00:04:34we probably, we probably could.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:35We are going to talk about some of the key things that you have learned
Jon Clayton:
00:04:39over the years from founding and managing five successful creative
Jon Clayton:
00:04:44service firms so that architects can learn from what you've already
Jon Clayton:
00:04:49figured out through those experiences.
Jon Clayton:
00:04:51To begin with, could you just give me a brief introduction to those five firms?
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:57Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:57Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
00:04:58So I, I started my entrepreneurial, uh, career.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:01I think it it was in my late twenties or so, probably about 28 or so.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:05When I first started, uh, basically freelancing, I
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:09started out as a freelancer.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:11I was in Chicago.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:13It was the late nineties.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:15Websites were just starting to, you know, take off.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:19I was still doing a lot of print work at that time, but
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:21I was also doing digital work.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:24And so i, uh, ended up becoming a full time, pretty much full time.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:30We, we called it permalance back then, right?
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:33It was like, I was a freelancer.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:35I didn't
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:35get the benefits, but I had the, the, had the capability
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:39to kind of call off whenever
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:40I wanted.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:41And, uh, I got paid better than most of the salary employees
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:45because I didn't have the benefits.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:47but, um, I worked at Unilever.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:50That was, that was my
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:51main client.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:52I also worked for Leo Burnett advertising on, uh, campaigns for United.
Bryon McCartney:
00:05:58I also had direct clients like the university of Illinois at
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:00Chicago, both their business school and their medical schools.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:03I did a lot of publication work for them.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:06With Unilever, that's where I really got my start in.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:09Web, design and online branding.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:12It was working with brands like, uh, Calvin Klein, Lipton
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:15foods, swab, personal care.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:17If you're familiar with the Unilever, you know, that's, it's the house of brands.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:20There's tons of different products and,
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:23and and brands within that.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:25So we, our team at unilever, I was the creative director
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:30for, uh, we set the initial strategies for a lot of these brands online.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:36So we did the initial testing.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:39And then if, you know, if things were successful, it would go online.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:42Obviously get funded and go to a, you know, go to DDB Needham or J.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:46Walter Thompson or somebody like that.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:48But it was a lot of fun.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:49We got to do a lot of experimentation from
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:52there.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:52I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:54As I mentioned, um, my wife through her, her.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:57Company.
Bryon McCartney:
00:06:58They wanted to start a headquarters in Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:01We weren't married at the time, so I had to go find my own job.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:04I ended up becoming the CEO and creative director for, uh,
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:09For weird VRTs interactive.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:11So vR to interactive
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:12was based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:14They were a large uh, advertising group
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:18And I, I worked with them.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:20Uh, you I was an employee there, uh,
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:23for a few years, and then we, um, we decided to merge with another firm.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:28And so we created, we founded and created this new entity called Asai.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:33And,
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:34uh, at the time, I believe we were the largest digital
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:37marketing firm in switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:38We worked with General Motors, uh, Clarient, Roche, Nestle,
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:42Knorr, uh, many others.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:45So then in 2006 I'd left I'd left a side.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:51I, uh, was starting to work on my own again.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:54I started a little freelance studio,
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:57uh, in, in Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
00:07:59And then in 2006, I got really busy.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:01I
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:02landed a huge client and my wife who had been working with her for 19 years,
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:08she said to me, you know, I said, I said, Hey, I need to hire somebody.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:12I need an assistant or somebody to help me, you know, do invoicing and all this.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:16My wife said to me, well, what would this person do?
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:19How
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:19much would they get paid?
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:20You know?
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:21Well, we ended up founding our first agency together and that
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:24was called image engineers.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:26That was in 2006 and we worked with, uh, a lot of global manufacturing companies like
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:32Alstom and, um, uh, Sultzer, Zolke, uh, many others.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:38After we moved back to the U
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:40S in 2012, we founded, uh, be brilliant.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:44That was a marketing agency in
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:45Fort myers, florida, that was really built around the needs
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:48of small businesses, small local
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:51businesses.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:51Then we started ArcMark.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:52That was 2016.
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:54We had worked with a business coach and he had said to us, you know, Hey, you
Bryon McCartney:
00:08:59need to, uh, you need to focus on a niche.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:03And we had recently worked with an architect and
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:05we really liked the experience of working with that architect.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:09So we decided to, uh, go
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:11all in.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:12We joined a local AIA, uh, chapter, started, uh, networking with them.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:17Architects and kind of the rest is history from that.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:20So that's, that's the five
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:22that, uh, know, when our pre interview, I was, I was trying to think about
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:26it and I actually, there was actually two other companies that we founded.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:30So there was a viewfinder center, which is a digital kind and education,
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:35kind of like an education excursion.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:38Company, uh, that we sold off in 2012.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:41And then, uh, currently, I'm in the process of launching
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:45a new coaching business.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:47So since I became a donald Miller certified, uh, business coach with
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:51the business made simple program, I'm launching a new program to capitalize
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:55on that.
Bryon McCartney:
00:09:56So, yeah, I've a few arms in the fire over the years.
Bryon McCartney:
00:10:00so busy boy here.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:03So Brian, can you tell me.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:05How do you approach taking action on new ideas or opportunities?
Jon Clayton:
00:10:11Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:11I
Jon Clayton:
00:10:11mean
Jon Clayton:
00:10:12I'll be honest
Jon Clayton:
00:10:13with you
Jon Clayton:
00:10:13John,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:13you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:13like 10 years ago,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:15um,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:16I
Jon Clayton:
00:10:17had a completely
Jon Clayton:
00:10:18different thought process
Jon Clayton:
00:10:20or approach
Jon Clayton:
00:10:20to things.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:21I
Jon Clayton:
00:10:21was,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:22to
Jon Clayton:
00:10:22be honest, I was very reactive.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:24Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:25And.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:26I
Jon Clayton:
00:10:26think at
Jon Clayton:
00:10:26that time probably frustrated
Jon Clayton:
00:10:28my team
Jon Clayton:
00:10:29immensely.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:30I was
Jon Clayton:
00:10:30constantly
Jon Clayton:
00:10:31changing course, constantly
Jon Clayton:
00:10:32reacting to ideas or,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:35uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:36you
Jon Clayton:
00:10:36know, things
Jon Clayton:
00:10:37that I maybe saw in
Jon Clayton:
00:10:38the
Jon Clayton:
00:10:38news
Jon Clayton:
00:10:39or, uh, things happening inside,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:41outside of my business.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:43You
Jon Clayton:
00:10:43know, a new
Jon Clayton:
00:10:43trend
Jon Clayton:
00:10:44would come
Jon Clayton:
00:10:44along and I'd be like,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:45Oh, you know, something
Jon Clayton:
00:10:47new
Jon Clayton:
00:10:47and shiny.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:48We got to, we got
Jon Clayton:
00:10:49to stop and we got
Jon Clayton:
00:10:50to change
Jon Clayton:
00:10:50course.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:51Like
Jon Clayton:
00:10:51there's a
Jon Clayton:
00:10:51new thing we got
Jon Clayton:
00:10:52to
Jon Clayton:
00:10:52take advantage of.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:54Shiny object syndrome,
Jon Clayton:
00:10:55Oh Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:56Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:10:56I
Jon Clayton:
00:10:57was, and I, I still
Jon Clayton:
00:10:58suffer from
Jon Clayton:
00:10:58that a
Jon Clayton:
00:10:59bit, but,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:00it
Jon Clayton:
00:11:00would, it would happen over
Jon Clayton:
00:11:01and over again, you
Jon Clayton:
00:11:02know, and
Jon Clayton:
00:11:02to be honest, I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:03look back on
Jon Clayton:
00:11:03that and
Jon Clayton:
00:11:03I realized I was
Jon Clayton:
00:11:04just
Jon Clayton:
00:11:05probably
Jon Clayton:
00:11:05immature.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:06I was probably insecure.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:07you know?
Jon Clayton:
00:11:08Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:08as
Jon Clayton:
00:11:08well,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:09it
Jon Clayton:
00:11:09was just grabbing
Jon Clayton:
00:11:10at
Jon Clayton:
00:11:10anything
Jon Clayton:
00:11:11I could to
Jon Clayton:
00:11:12be kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:11:12competitive.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:13Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:14You know, and I, I think, I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:16think
Jon Clayton:
00:11:16I've grown a
Jon Clayton:
00:11:16lot
Jon Clayton:
00:11:17since
Jon Clayton:
00:11:17then.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:17I, I,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:18I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:18I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:19I now
Jon Clayton:
00:11:19take A much more
Jon Clayton:
00:11:21measured
Jon Clayton:
00:11:21and I would say
Jon Clayton:
00:11:22probably
Jon Clayton:
00:11:23mature
Jon Clayton:
00:11:23approach to new ideas
Jon Clayton:
00:11:25and
Jon Clayton:
00:11:25opportunities.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:26I think,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:27yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:27I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:28think,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:28it's really
Jon Clayton:
00:11:28important.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:28anyone,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:29anybody
Jon Clayton:
00:11:30running
Jon Clayton:
00:11:30a business,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:31I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:31have
Jon Clayton:
00:11:32learned
Jon Clayton:
00:11:32that being reactive to
Jon Clayton:
00:11:34things,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:34uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:35you know, chasing
Jon Clayton:
00:11:36trends, technology
Jon Clayton:
00:11:37tools,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:38and I hope it transformed
Jon Clayton:
00:11:39my
Jon Clayton:
00:11:40business.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:40And so I
Jon Clayton:
00:11:41think
Jon Clayton:
00:11:41that's a clear
Jon Clayton:
00:11:41sign that you don't have a plan.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:44You're just kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:11:45winging it.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:46And so when it comes to new ideas, I've adopted a simple approach
Jon Clayton:
00:11:49and
Jon Clayton:
00:11:50you know, this was shared to
Jon Clayton:
00:11:51be me by
Jon Clayton:
00:11:52one of
Jon Clayton:
00:11:52my coaches,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:53Brad
Jon Clayton:
00:11:53Martineau.
Jon Clayton:
00:11:54He's with six division,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:56a
Jon Clayton:
00:11:56great guy,
Jon Clayton:
00:11:57super
Jon Clayton:
00:11:58super
Jon Clayton:
00:11:59smart.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:00And he, he actually, he sells these hats.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:03This
Jon Clayton:
00:12:03is D
Jon Clayton:
00:12:04A
Jon Clayton:
00:12:04L R decide, act, learn, repeat.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:06And so what that means
Jon Clayton:
00:12:07is.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:08You know, first you have to
Jon Clayton:
00:12:09be decisive.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:10You
Jon Clayton:
00:12:10have to make
Jon Clayton:
00:12:11a decision.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:12Is this worth
Jon Clayton:
00:12:12my time?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:13More
Jon Clayton:
00:12:13importantly, is it
Jon Clayton:
00:12:14worth
Jon Clayton:
00:12:15me getting distracted from my
Jon Clayton:
00:12:18priorities?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:19Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:19What's
Jon Clayton:
00:12:19really important
Jon Clayton:
00:12:20in my business?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:21You know,
Jon Clayton:
00:12:22is this
Jon Clayton:
00:12:22something that's going
Jon Clayton:
00:12:23to take
Jon Clayton:
00:12:23me off track?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:24Is it going to
Jon Clayton:
00:12:24be disruptive to
Jon Clayton:
00:12:25me,
Jon Clayton:
00:12:25my
Jon Clayton:
00:12:26team?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:27You know, I
Jon Clayton:
00:12:27want
Jon Clayton:
00:12:27as few
Jon Clayton:
00:12:28disruptions as
Jon Clayton:
00:12:29possible
Jon Clayton:
00:12:30these days,
Jon Clayton:
00:12:30right?
Jon Clayton:
00:12:31I'm not getting
Jon Clayton:
00:12:31younger.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:32I'm not
Jon Clayton:
00:12:33this.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:34You know, super multi tasker that I
Jon Clayton:
00:12:35used to
Jon Clayton:
00:12:36think I was
Jon Clayton:
00:12:37uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:12:37even though I was
Jon Clayton:
00:12:38probably running around
Jon Clayton:
00:12:38with my
Jon Clayton:
00:12:38head
Jon Clayton:
00:12:39cut off.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:40I want
Jon Clayton:
00:12:41things
Jon Clayton:
00:12:41to be structured.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:42I want
Jon Clayton:
00:12:42things,
Jon Clayton:
00:12:43I want to be
Jon Clayton:
00:12:43predictable in my
Jon Clayton:
00:12:44business.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:46and so
Jon Clayton:
00:12:46so let's say we do find
Jon Clayton:
00:12:48something like, I don't
Jon Clayton:
00:12:49know, a
Jon Clayton:
00:12:50new tool, new
Jon Clayton:
00:12:50technology.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:51Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:52Let's say it passes that first test
Jon Clayton:
00:12:54like that.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:55That first hurdle.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:56Yes, we've made a
Jon Clayton:
00:12:57decision.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:57We're
Jon Clayton:
00:12:57going to go
Jon Clayton:
00:12:58forward.
Jon Clayton:
00:12:58So the next thing you do
Jon Clayton:
00:13:00is you need
Jon Clayton:
00:13:00to take
Jon Clayton:
00:13:01action.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:01You need to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:01act.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:03You
Jon Clayton:
00:13:03need
Jon Clayton:
00:13:04to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:04figure out.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:05Okay, well, how
Jon Clayton:
00:13:06am
Jon Clayton:
00:13:06I making time for this
Jon Clayton:
00:13:07thing?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:08or
Jon Clayton:
00:13:08Or, how am I
Jon Clayton:
00:13:09giving
Jon Clayton:
00:13:10my
Jon Clayton:
00:13:10team time for this
Jon Clayton:
00:13:11thing?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:12How am I, what
Jon Clayton:
00:13:13energy and effort
Jon Clayton:
00:13:14am I
Jon Clayton:
00:13:14going to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:14use to focus on
Jon Clayton:
00:13:15this
Jon Clayton:
00:13:16so
Jon Clayton:
00:13:17that we can create some implementation
Jon Clayton:
00:13:19around
Jon Clayton:
00:13:19it?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:19So
Jon Clayton:
00:13:19it's not just a thing that
Jon Clayton:
00:13:21distracted us
Jon Clayton:
00:13:21and then
Jon Clayton:
00:13:22we
Jon Clayton:
00:13:22kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:13:23put it on a shelf.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:25How
Jon Clayton:
00:13:25are
Jon Clayton:
00:13:25we actually
Jon Clayton:
00:13:25going to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:26take
Jon Clayton:
00:13:26action?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:27And
Jon Clayton:
00:13:27that may
Jon Clayton:
00:13:28mean dedicating resources, going through training.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:31We don't
Jon Clayton:
00:13:32want
Jon Clayton:
00:13:32this to just be
Jon Clayton:
00:13:33an endless
Jon Clayton:
00:13:33thing.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:34We want to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:34put some parameters
Jon Clayton:
00:13:35around
Jon Clayton:
00:13:36it.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:36Like,
Jon Clayton:
00:13:36Hey, we're
Jon Clayton:
00:13:37going to spend two
Jon Clayton:
00:13:38weeks.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:38We're
Jon Clayton:
00:13:38going to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:38spend a month.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:39We're going to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:39spend six months, whatever that timeframe is.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:43We need to decide.
Jon Clayton:
00:13:45Once
Jon Clayton:
00:13:45we've
Jon Clayton:
00:13:45decided that
Jon Clayton:
00:13:46we're
Jon Clayton:
00:13:46going
Jon Clayton:
00:13:46to take action,
Jon Clayton:
00:13:47we need to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:47put some
Jon Clayton:
00:13:47parameters around the
Jon Clayton:
00:13:49action and we
Jon Clayton:
00:13:50need to be able to figure
Jon Clayton:
00:13:52out within
Jon Clayton:
00:13:52a
Jon Clayton:
00:13:52certain amount of
Jon Clayton:
00:13:53time
Jon Clayton:
00:13:53is,
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54are
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54we
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54going to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54be
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54able
Jon Clayton:
00:13:54to
Jon Clayton:
00:13:55implement this
Jon Clayton:
00:13:56successfully?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:57Right?
Jon Clayton:
00:13:58The next thing you got
Jon Clayton:
00:13:59to do
Jon Clayton:
00:13:59is
Jon Clayton:
00:13:59you have
Jon Clayton:
00:14:00to learn.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:01So let's say we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:02did implement that.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:03Let's say
Jon Clayton:
00:14:03it
Jon Clayton:
00:14:03was,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:04it failed
Jon Clayton:
00:14:05or
Jon Clayton:
00:14:05it was a
Jon Clayton:
00:14:05success.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:06Now
Jon Clayton:
00:14:07we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:07got to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:07take some
Jon Clayton:
00:14:07time
Jon Clayton:
00:14:08and,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:09and.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:09and,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:10this
Jon Clayton:
00:14:10isn't just
Jon Clayton:
00:14:11a fleeting thing.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:11Like we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:12actually have to analyze,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:13like, what did we do?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:14What worked?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:14What
Jon Clayton:
00:14:14didn't
Jon Clayton:
00:14:15work?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:15We
Jon Clayton:
00:14:15got to break
Jon Clayton:
00:14:16that down.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:16We have to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:17learn from what we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:18did.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:19Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:20if
Jon Clayton:
00:14:20we failed, why did
Jon Clayton:
00:14:21we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:21fail?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:22was there something,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:23some small
Jon Clayton:
00:14:24change,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:24some,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:25something
Jon Clayton:
00:14:26that
Jon Clayton:
00:14:26we could
Jon Clayton:
00:14:26have
Jon Clayton:
00:14:26tweaked to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:27make it
Jon Clayton:
00:14:28a success?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:28If it was successful,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:30Okay.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:30What can we do to make it more
Jon Clayton:
00:14:32successful?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:33We did one
Jon Clayton:
00:14:34round
Jon Clayton:
00:14:34of
Jon Clayton:
00:14:34implementation.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:35What are we doing the
Jon Clayton:
00:14:36second time
Jon Clayton:
00:14:37around?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:38And
Jon Clayton:
00:14:38that's
Jon Clayton:
00:14:38where we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:39get to the R
Jon Clayton:
00:14:40repeat,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:41right?
Jon Clayton:
00:14:41We have to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:42repeat, but
Jon Clayton:
00:14:42we don't,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:43we're not
Jon Clayton:
00:14:43just going
Jon Clayton:
00:14:43to blindly
Jon Clayton:
00:14:44repeat
Jon Clayton:
00:14:44and do
Jon Clayton:
00:14:45the same thing.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:45we did
Jon Clayton:
00:14:46before.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:47We want to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:47improve
Jon Clayton:
00:14:48the
Jon Clayton:
00:14:48process.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:48Now
Jon Clayton:
00:14:48we want
Jon Clayton:
00:14:49to
Jon Clayton:
00:14:49improve what we
Jon Clayton:
00:14:50did.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:51So,
Jon Clayton:
00:14:52That structure I think is really helpful
Jon Clayton:
00:14:55in just
Jon Clayton:
00:14:56getting more value out of these distractions.
Jon Clayton:
00:14:59You know we all
Jon Clayton:
00:15:00have them.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:01They're all
Jon Clayton:
00:15:01there.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:03For architects, it
Jon Clayton:
00:15:04might be like,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:04Oh, Hey, we're a
Jon Clayton:
00:15:05residential company,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:07you
Jon Clayton:
00:15:07know,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:08and, and we
Jon Clayton:
00:15:09focus on
Jon Clayton:
00:15:09this, but then,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:10Oh,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:10one of
Jon Clayton:
00:15:10our clients
Jon Clayton:
00:15:11works at Microsoft and now they
Jon Clayton:
00:15:13want
Jon Clayton:
00:15:13to
Jon Clayton:
00:15:13help.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:13Have
Jon Clayton:
00:15:14us do
Jon Clayton:
00:15:14a, you know, a
Jon Clayton:
00:15:15retreat
Jon Clayton:
00:15:16center
Jon Clayton:
00:15:16for their
Jon Clayton:
00:15:17executives.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:18Okay,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:18well, we've never done a
Jon Clayton:
00:15:19retreat.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:20So,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:20you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:21that's a
Jon Clayton:
00:15:21distraction.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:22How are
Jon Clayton:
00:15:22we evaluating
Jon Clayton:
00:15:23that?
Jon Clayton:
00:15:24What are we
Jon Clayton:
00:15:24going to
Jon Clayton:
00:15:24learn
Jon Clayton:
00:15:25from it?
Jon Clayton:
00:15:25Are we going to
Jon Clayton:
00:15:26repeat it?
Jon Clayton:
00:15:27Those are all important things that we have
Jon Clayton:
00:15:28to consider
Jon Clayton:
00:15:29in that
Jon Clayton:
00:15:29process.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:30So
Jon Clayton:
00:15:30that's yeah, that's where I'm at these days.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:33I love that you've, you've found a very methodical approach to this because
Jon Clayton:
00:15:38I think particularly, Um, people that are architects and firm owners, people
Jon Clayton:
00:15:43that work in creative industries often have an abundance of ideas and
Jon Clayton:
00:15:47we just don't have the, you know, we have a finite amount of resources.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:53To follow up these ideas.
Jon Clayton:
00:15:54So having something like what you've described where it's a bit more strategic,
Jon Clayton:
00:15:59there's a system, there's alignment with the overall goals and objectives
Jon Clayton:
00:16:03of the business before we just go and pursue the next shiny new thing.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:08I can definitely relate to that because.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:10I know myself that in the past, I've been so distracted by ideas and new things.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:16And, um, so it's a
Jon Clayton:
00:16:17really helpful structure that you've shared.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:19a photographer,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:20it
Jon Clayton:
00:16:20was horrible,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:21right?
Jon Clayton:
00:16:21Because,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:22you
Jon Clayton:
00:16:22know, every year
Jon Clayton:
00:16:23and a
Jon Clayton:
00:16:23half
Jon Clayton:
00:16:24they come
Jon Clayton:
00:16:24out
Jon Clayton:
00:16:24with a
Jon Clayton:
00:16:24new
Jon Clayton:
00:16:25camera and, you
Jon Clayton:
00:16:25know, it's
Jon Clayton:
00:16:26got all these new features and you're, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:29it's,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:29it's a,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:30you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:30it can be
Jon Clayton:
00:16:31a,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:31you know, month
Jon Clayton:
00:16:33to,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:34you
Jon Clayton:
00:16:34know, three months to six
Jon Clayton:
00:16:35month process, Just learning how to use a new camera
Jon Clayton:
00:16:38and
Jon Clayton:
00:16:38integrating
Jon Clayton:
00:16:39it
Jon Clayton:
00:16:39into a workflow
Jon Clayton:
00:16:41as a,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:41as a
Jon Clayton:
00:16:42professional, at least, you
Jon Clayton:
00:16:43know, um, Deciding
Jon Clayton:
00:16:45what you're
Jon Clayton:
00:16:45going
Jon Clayton:
00:16:45to use
Jon Clayton:
00:16:46from that,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:46you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:47what new features are
Jon Clayton:
00:16:48important to you.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:48What, what, What, how is this
Jon Clayton:
00:16:50going
Jon Clayton:
00:16:50to
Jon Clayton:
00:16:50help you do your job
Jon Clayton:
00:16:51better?
Jon Clayton:
00:16:52Uh, those
Jon Clayton:
00:16:53are important
Jon Clayton:
00:16:53considerations.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:54It's not
Jon Clayton:
00:16:54just a toy.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:56It's
Jon Clayton:
00:16:56like,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:56it's like,
Jon Clayton:
00:16:57it's a tool
Jon Clayton:
00:16:57that you
Jon Clayton:
00:16:58have
Jon Clayton:
00:16:58to
Jon Clayton:
00:16:58use.
Jon Clayton:
00:16:58And
Jon Clayton:
00:16:58yet, you know, the more you can.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:00master that tool, the better you
Jon Clayton:
00:17:01are as a photographer.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:02And, and
Jon Clayton:
00:17:04I
Jon Clayton:
00:17:04think a lot of people
Jon Clayton:
00:17:05approach
Jon Clayton:
00:17:05things,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:06a
Jon Clayton:
00:17:07lot of creative
Jon Clayton:
00:17:07people
Jon Clayton:
00:17:08we
Jon Clayton:
00:17:08have all these
Jon Clayton:
00:17:09ideas.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:10We have all
Jon Clayton:
00:17:10these things that we want to
Jon Clayton:
00:17:12do,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:12but
Jon Clayton:
00:17:12we
Jon Clayton:
00:17:13can't
Jon Clayton:
00:17:13do them
Jon Clayton:
00:17:13all.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:14We have to make decisions.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:15We have to act on
Jon Clayton:
00:17:16those
Jon Clayton:
00:17:17decisions.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:17We have
Jon Clayton:
00:17:17to learn from
Jon Clayton:
00:17:18them.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:18And then
Jon Clayton:
00:17:19we have to figure out if we're going to
Jon Clayton:
00:17:20repeat them.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:21And that's,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:21that's,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:22that's
Jon Clayton:
00:17:22a great way to kind of think of
Jon Clayton:
00:17:23it.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:25Let's, let's have a little talk about sales.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:27I'd love to know what your thoughts are on what
Jon Clayton:
00:17:30architects get right and what they
Jon Clayton:
00:17:32get wrong when it.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:33comes to sales.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:35you
Jon Clayton:
00:17:35know, sales
Jon Clayton:
00:17:36is a really funny word.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:38in the world
Jon Clayton:
00:17:38of
Jon Clayton:
00:17:38architecture.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:39I
Jon Clayton:
00:17:39think,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:40I think
Jon Clayton:
00:17:41architects
Jon Clayton:
00:17:41have gone
Jon Clayton:
00:17:42out
Jon Clayton:
00:17:42of their
Jon Clayton:
00:17:42way
Jon Clayton:
00:17:42to kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:17:43remove
Jon Clayton:
00:17:43it from
Jon Clayton:
00:17:43their vocabulary.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:45You don't hear
Jon Clayton:
00:17:46a lot about
Jon Clayton:
00:17:47sales
Jon Clayton:
00:17:47in the profession.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:49I think they
Jon Clayton:
00:17:50they, even.
Jon Clayton:
00:17:51You know,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:51they've
Jon Clayton:
00:17:51come up
Jon Clayton:
00:17:52with some other
Jon Clayton:
00:17:52words
Jon Clayton:
00:17:53like qualification
Jon Clayton:
00:17:54or,
Jon Clayton:
00:17:55you know, business
Jon Clayton:
00:17:55development, uh, one of My
Jon Clayton:
00:17:57favorites, it's
Jon Clayton:
00:17:58like, okay, nobody really can explain that
Jon Clayton:
00:18:01to me.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:01You got
Jon Clayton:
00:18:02contract
Jon Clayton:
00:18:02negotiation,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:03uh, customer
Jon Clayton:
00:18:04success processes, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:06shortlisting,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:07you got
Jon Clayton:
00:18:07seller
Jon Clayton:
00:18:08doers, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:18:09You know, you got all these
Jon Clayton:
00:18:10different
Jon Clayton:
00:18:11Terms
Jon Clayton:
00:18:11that,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:11you know, Try
Jon Clayton:
00:18:12to soften the
Jon Clayton:
00:18:13idea
Jon Clayton:
00:18:14that we're
Jon Clayton:
00:18:14actually
Jon Clayton:
00:18:15selling.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:15But at
Jon Clayton:
00:18:15the
Jon Clayton:
00:18:15end of the day,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:16that's
Jon Clayton:
00:18:16exactly
Jon Clayton:
00:18:17what you're
Jon Clayton:
00:18:17doing.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:17You're selling
Jon Clayton:
00:18:18your services in
Jon Clayton:
00:18:20exchange for,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:22and
Jon Clayton:
00:18:22that's, you know, it is
Jon Clayton:
00:18:23a
Jon Clayton:
00:18:23sales
Jon Clayton:
00:18:24process
Jon Clayton:
00:18:24and
Jon Clayton:
00:18:25it's
Jon Clayton:
00:18:25some power,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:25you know, at some
Jon Clayton:
00:18:26point, I guess the profession
Jon Clayton:
00:18:28decided that, you know, sales is smarmy, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:30it's
Jon Clayton:
00:18:31like, you
Jon Clayton:
00:18:31know,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:31they're thinking that you use car guys And
Jon Clayton:
00:18:34whatever.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:34I think you know a lot
Jon Clayton:
00:18:36of professionals kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:18:37share
Jon Clayton:
00:18:37this opinion
Jon Clayton:
00:18:38that this idea of
Jon Clayton:
00:18:39sales is kind of icky,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:41Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:42And, you know, when
Jon Clayton:
00:18:43they
Jon Clayton:
00:18:43think of sales, they think of somebody, you
Jon Clayton:
00:18:45know,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:45like that use car salesman, So they're performing wallet surgery, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:18:49They're trying
Jon Clayton:
00:18:49to
Jon Clayton:
00:18:49get the most
Jon Clayton:
00:18:50out of,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:51out of the
Jon Clayton:
00:18:52customer as they
Jon Clayton:
00:18:53can,
Jon Clayton:
00:18:53And that's.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:53This
Jon Clayton:
00:18:54is where I think our our, our views on
Jon Clayton:
00:18:57sales have to change.
Jon Clayton:
00:18:59Sales
Jon Clayton:
00:19:00is not about extracting the most money
Jon Clayton:
00:19:02out
Jon Clayton:
00:19:03of the client.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:03It's
Jon Clayton:
00:19:04about
Jon Clayton:
00:19:05creating
Jon Clayton:
00:19:06solutions for
Jon Clayton:
00:19:07them, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:19:08You are
Jon Clayton:
00:19:09not, you're not selling a
Jon Clayton:
00:19:11product as
Jon Clayton:
00:19:11an
Jon Clayton:
00:19:12architect.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:12You're
Jon Clayton:
00:19:12selling
Jon Clayton:
00:19:13a solution.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:14You're selling,
Jon Clayton:
00:19:15um, a new, a
Jon Clayton:
00:19:17new
Jon Clayton:
00:19:17workspace
Jon Clayton:
00:19:18That's
Jon Clayton:
00:19:18going to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:18energize your
Jon Clayton:
00:19:19employees
Jon Clayton:
00:19:20is
Jon Clayton:
00:19:20going to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:21make them
Jon Clayton:
00:19:21proud,
Jon Clayton:
00:19:21going to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:22make them
Jon Clayton:
00:19:23more
Jon Clayton:
00:19:23productive.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:24It's about
Jon Clayton:
00:19:24providing value for
Jon Clayton:
00:19:25your clients.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:26That's what sales is.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:28What's that problem that
Jon Clayton:
00:19:29you're going to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:30solve
Jon Clayton:
00:19:31for them?
Jon Clayton:
00:19:31That's what you're
Jon Clayton:
00:19:32selling.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:33I think a lot of
Jon Clayton:
00:19:34architects
Jon Clayton:
00:19:34struggle with
Jon Clayton:
00:19:34sales because they
Jon Clayton:
00:19:36are convinced that clients
Jon Clayton:
00:19:37are coming
Jon Clayton:
00:19:37to them
Jon Clayton:
00:19:38for design.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:40They
Jon Clayton:
00:19:40don't, that's not what they're
Jon Clayton:
00:19:42coming
Jon Clayton:
00:19:42to for.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:42Mr.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:43And Mrs.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:43Jones
Jon Clayton:
00:19:44do
Jon Clayton:
00:19:44not wake
Jon Clayton:
00:19:45up
Jon Clayton:
00:19:45one
Jon Clayton:
00:19:45day and look at
Jon Clayton:
00:19:46each other
Jon Clayton:
00:19:47and
Jon Clayton:
00:19:47say, honey.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:48We need to hire an
Jon Clayton:
00:19:49architect
Jon Clayton:
00:19:49to redesign
Jon Clayton:
00:19:50our
Jon Clayton:
00:19:50house to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:51make it the
Jon Clayton:
00:19:51most
Jon Clayton:
00:19:52spectacular home in the
Jon Clayton:
00:19:53neighborhood.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:54That's not what they're, that's not what, like,
Jon Clayton:
00:19:56design is not the first thing that
Jon Clayton:
00:19:58comes to
Jon Clayton:
00:19:58their
Jon Clayton:
00:19:58mind.
Jon Clayton:
00:19:59I mean, there may be some people
Jon Clayton:
00:20:00that do,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:01but that's
Jon Clayton:
00:20:02going to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:02be the
Jon Clayton:
00:20:02oddball.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:03You
Jon Clayton:
00:20:03know, 90
Jon Clayton:
00:20:04percent of
Jon Clayton:
00:20:04your clients,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:05they
Jon Clayton:
00:20:05are much more focused
Jon Clayton:
00:20:07on You know, how, how do we need
Jon Clayton:
00:20:10to change
Jon Clayton:
00:20:11this home to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:12fit our
Jon Clayton:
00:20:12lifestyle?
Jon Clayton:
00:20:13The,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:13our lifestyles
Jon Clayton:
00:20:14changed.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:15We're doing
Jon Clayton:
00:20:15different things.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:16We're doing more entertaining.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:17We want our grandkids to come
Jon Clayton:
00:20:19visit.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:19We need to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:20redesign
Jon Clayton:
00:20:21our home to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:21fit
Jon Clayton:
00:20:22our needs.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:23It's
Jon Clayton:
00:20:23about
Jon Clayton:
00:20:24solutions.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:25And if you can't,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:26if
Jon Clayton:
00:20:27you can't,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:27connect your
Jon Clayton:
00:20:28sales
Jon Clayton:
00:20:28process to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:29solutions,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:31then all you're competing
Jon Clayton:
00:20:32on is price.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:33And that's where you don't
Jon Clayton:
00:20:34want to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:34be as
Jon Clayton:
00:20:35an
Jon Clayton:
00:20:35architect.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:36You
Jon Clayton:
00:20:36don't want to be a
Jon Clayton:
00:20:36commodity.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:37You want to be a problem
Jon Clayton:
00:20:38solver.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:40That's
Jon Clayton:
00:20:40what you were trained
Jon Clayton:
00:20:40to do.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:41That's what
Jon Clayton:
00:20:41you need
Jon Clayton:
00:20:42to
Jon Clayton:
00:20:42sell.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:43So yeah, that's
Jon Clayton:
00:20:44that's my
Jon Clayton:
00:20:45view on
Jon Clayton:
00:20:45that.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:45But
Jon Clayton:
00:20:46I, mean,
Jon Clayton:
00:20:47I couldn't agree more.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:48I think if we can Encourage people to move away from this idea
Jon Clayton:
00:20:53that sales is something really sleazy and it's a dirty word.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:56It isn't.
Jon Clayton:
00:20:56It's like if
Jon Clayton:
00:20:57you don't
Jon Clayton:
00:20:57get sales like you don't
Jon Clayton:
00:20:59have a business and actually like rewiring your brain, you mentioned there about it's
Jon Clayton:
00:21:04about solutions.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:05And I think that if we can think of it that we are, you're
Jon Clayton:
00:21:09helping them, you're helping them solve a problem in their lives.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:12If we think about it that way and okay, some money changes
Jon Clayton:
00:21:15hands and there's or, or.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:18Yeah, we're in
Jon Clayton:
00:21:19their
Jon Clayton:
00:21:19business, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:21:20Like I have
Jon Clayton:
00:21:20a, I have
Jon Clayton:
00:21:21a client
Jon Clayton:
00:21:21in
Jon Clayton:
00:21:21Sarasota,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:23uh, here in Florida
Jon Clayton:
00:21:24And,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:25uh, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:27he
Jon Clayton:
00:21:27helped his
Jon Clayton:
00:21:27client redesign this restaurant.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:30It's an outdoor restaurant.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:31You
Jon Clayton:
00:21:32know,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:32it's on the coast in Florida.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:34They were able to triple their liquor
Jon Clayton:
00:21:36sales
Jon Clayton:
00:21:36because
Jon Clayton:
00:21:37they could seat
Jon Clayton:
00:21:37more people
Jon Clayton:
00:21:38in
Jon Clayton:
00:21:38the
Jon Clayton:
00:21:38bar
Jon Clayton:
00:21:39because they
Jon Clayton:
00:21:39had indoor
Jon Clayton:
00:21:40outdoor
Jon Clayton:
00:21:40seating.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:41They
Jon Clayton:
00:21:42increased the capacity of
Jon Clayton:
00:21:43their kitchens
Jon Clayton:
00:21:44so they
Jon Clayton:
00:21:45could serve
Jon Clayton:
00:21:45more
Jon Clayton:
00:21:46tables
Jon Clayton:
00:21:46at
Jon Clayton:
00:21:47a
Jon Clayton:
00:21:47time and completely, uh, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:50their business.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:51I think, I dunno, I know, the liquor sales
Jon Clayton:
00:21:54tripled.
Jon Clayton:
00:21:55I think the overall revenue more than
Jon Clayton:
00:21:56doubled, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:21:58just because
Jon Clayton:
00:21:59of
Jon Clayton:
00:21:59that, just
Jon Clayton:
00:22:00because of this architect thinking
Jon Clayton:
00:22:01about
Jon Clayton:
00:22:01like, okay,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:02how do we
Jon Clayton:
00:22:02solve
Jon Clayton:
00:22:03these problems?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:04How do we get more people?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:05How do we get more
Jon Clayton:
00:22:05butts in seat?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:06How do we get more
Jon Clayton:
00:22:07people ordering
Jon Clayton:
00:22:08drinks?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:08Right?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:09And
Jon Clayton:
00:22:10that
Jon Clayton:
00:22:11type
Jon Clayton:
00:22:11of thinking,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:12I mean,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:12I think
Jon Clayton:
00:22:12clients really
Jon Clayton:
00:22:13appreciate that.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:14that's
Jon Clayton:
00:22:15that's where you're
Jon Clayton:
00:22:15you're looking beyond
Jon Clayton:
00:22:16like, okay,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:18yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:18we're
Jon Clayton:
00:22:18going
Jon Clayton:
00:22:18to
Jon Clayton:
00:22:18redesign
Jon Clayton:
00:22:19this.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:20But the design
Jon Clayton:
00:22:21has
Jon Clayton:
00:22:21to be
Jon Clayton:
00:22:22the solution.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:22You
Jon Clayton:
00:22:22know, it's,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:23it's the
Jon Clayton:
00:22:23solution
Jon Clayton:
00:22:24to that
Jon Clayton:
00:22:24client's
Jon Clayton:
00:22:24problem.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:25that's, what
Jon Clayton:
00:22:26we need to focus on.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:28If you,
Jon Clayton:
00:22:28you won't have a problem selling that.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:30I think if they can if architects can communicate that value, if they've got
Jon Clayton:
00:22:37projects that they've done, like you've described to be able to communicate
Jon Clayton:
00:22:41that and quantify that as part of that sales process, it's going to be so much
Jon Clayton:
00:22:45easier to get sales and to be able to charge more for the services that you.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:49offer.
Jon Clayton:
00:22:50can we talk a little bit about strategic planning?
Jon Clayton:
00:22:53You know, what role has strategic planning played in the growth
Jon Clayton:
00:22:58of your creative service firms?
Jon Clayton:
00:23:01Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:01You know, I
Jon Clayton:
00:23:01was talking earlier about being
Jon Clayton:
00:23:03reactive and strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
00:23:05is really,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:07since we've
Jon Clayton:
00:23:08started
Jon Clayton:
00:23:08doing
Jon Clayton:
00:23:09strategic planning,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:10I
Jon Clayton:
00:23:10think we
Jon Clayton:
00:23:10started
Jon Clayton:
00:23:10doing strategic planning about eight years ago.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:13Even though I've been
Jon Clayton:
00:23:14running
Jon Clayton:
00:23:15businesses for a long
Jon Clayton:
00:23:16time
Jon Clayton:
00:23:17since, you know, like 1998,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:20I
Jon Clayton:
00:23:20only
Jon Clayton:
00:23:20discovered
Jon Clayton:
00:23:22strategic
Jon Clayton:
00:23:22planning in the context of how
Jon Clayton:
00:23:24it can
Jon Clayton:
00:23:25help my business
Jon Clayton:
00:23:26about,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:27um, About eight
Jon Clayton:
00:23:28years
Jon Clayton:
00:23:28ago, you know, before that,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:29I,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:30you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:30we had done
Jon Clayton:
00:23:30business plans
Jon Clayton:
00:23:31and
Jon Clayton:
00:23:31things like
Jon Clayton:
00:23:32that.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:32you
Jon Clayton:
00:23:32You do
Jon Clayton:
00:23:33it, you
Jon Clayton:
00:23:33put it on
Jon Clayton:
00:23:33a shelf
Jon Clayton:
00:23:34and then
Jon Clayton:
00:23:34it's
Jon Clayton:
00:23:34like
Jon Clayton:
00:23:35it sits
Jon Clayton:
00:23:35there and
Jon Clayton:
00:23:36stares at
Jon Clayton:
00:23:36you
Jon Clayton:
00:23:37and
Jon Clayton:
00:23:37you're, you know, you know, you
Jon Clayton:
00:23:38need to look at
Jon Clayton:
00:23:39it
Jon Clayton:
00:23:39every
Jon Clayton:
00:23:39now
Jon Clayton:
00:23:39and
Jon Clayton:
00:23:39then, but it's not
Jon Clayton:
00:23:40something that's
Jon Clayton:
00:23:41in your face.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:42But,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:43I started working
Jon Clayton:
00:23:44with
Jon Clayton:
00:23:45this coach.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:45his
Jon Clayton:
00:23:46name's Brent
Jon Clayton:
00:23:46Weaver.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:47He's with
Jon Clayton:
00:23:47a
Jon Clayton:
00:23:48company
Jon Clayton:
00:23:48called you gurus.
Jon Clayton:
00:23:50and,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:50um,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:51he
Jon Clayton:
00:23:52introduced
Jon Clayton:
00:23:52us to strategic
Jon Clayton:
00:23:54planning, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:55and,
Jon Clayton:
00:23:56you know, in the
Jon Clayton:
00:23:57process, I think what happened is we went from
Jon Clayton:
00:24:00being
Jon Clayton:
00:24:01this
Jon Clayton:
00:24:01reactionary kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:24:02business to being
Jon Clayton:
00:24:03this
Jon Clayton:
00:24:04business
Jon Clayton:
00:24:05with
Jon Clayton:
00:24:05purpose and determination.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:08Remember.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:09Don't forget to download the architecture business, blueprint the
Jon Clayton:
00:24:12step by step formula to freedom for architects, architecture, technologists,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:16and architecture designers.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:18You can grab the blueprint without any charge@architecturebusinessclub.com
Jon Clayton:
00:24:23forward slash blueprint.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:25And if you enjoy this episode, then please leave a five star review or
Jon Clayton:
00:24:29rating wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:32Now, back to the show.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:35You
Jon Clayton:
00:24:35know, by, by clarifying
Jon Clayton:
00:24:36our goals, by
Jon Clayton:
00:24:37setting,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:38you know, benchmarks for where we
Jon Clayton:
00:24:40wanted
Jon Clayton:
00:24:40to be
Jon Clayton:
00:24:41in 90
Jon Clayton:
00:24:41days, in a year,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:42in three years, in 10
Jon Clayton:
00:24:44years,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:45uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:45it gave us
Jon Clayton:
00:24:46a sense of
Jon Clayton:
00:24:47purpose and identity
Jon Clayton:
00:24:48as well.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:49Like we,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:49we
Jon Clayton:
00:24:49now
Jon Clayton:
00:24:50feel it
Jon Clayton:
00:24:50felt
Jon Clayton:
00:24:50like, Oh, wait a minute.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:51Hey,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:52you
Jon Clayton:
00:24:52know,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:53if we're
Jon Clayton:
00:24:53going to,
Jon Clayton:
00:24:53if we're going to accomplish
Jon Clayton:
00:24:54these goals, what does that say about
Jon Clayton:
00:24:56us as a business?
Jon Clayton:
00:24:58Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:24:58And, and,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:00and, and, and,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:01and
Jon Clayton:
00:25:01as
Jon Clayton:
00:25:02a result
Jon Clayton:
00:25:02over the
Jon Clayton:
00:25:03last
Jon Clayton:
00:25:03eight years,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:03we've been way more
Jon Clayton:
00:25:04successful too,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:05way more
Jon Clayton:
00:25:06consistent,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:07I
Jon Clayton:
00:25:07think that,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:09You know, I think a lot of
Jon Clayton:
00:25:10people struggle
Jon Clayton:
00:25:11with
Jon Clayton:
00:25:12strategic planning because they see it as
Jon Clayton:
00:25:14this like
Jon Clayton:
00:25:15complex,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:16boring
Jon Clayton:
00:25:17process.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:18you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:18we
Jon Clayton:
00:25:18got to
Jon Clayton:
00:25:18get
Jon Clayton:
00:25:18every,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:19all the, everybody together.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:21We
Jon Clayton:
00:25:21gotta, you
Jon Clayton:
00:25:21know,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:22hash out all
Jon Clayton:
00:25:23our ideas.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:24and.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:24You
Jon Clayton:
00:25:25know,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:25my wife
Jon Clayton:
00:25:26and I, we do our
Jon Clayton:
00:25:26strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
00:25:27every 90 days.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:29It
Jon Clayton:
00:25:29takes us
Jon Clayton:
00:25:301 to 2 hours
Jon Clayton:
00:25:31max.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:32We, We, we, we, follow a
Jon Clayton:
00:25:34system.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:34It's
Jon Clayton:
00:25:35anybody
Jon Clayton:
00:25:36can look
Jon Clayton:
00:25:36this up.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:36It's based on
Jon Clayton:
00:25:37the entrepreneur.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:39entrepreneur operating
Jon Clayton:
00:25:40system.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:41There's a
Jon Clayton:
00:25:41book out there
Jon Clayton:
00:25:42called traction by Gino
Jon Clayton:
00:25:43Wichman.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:45If you go to their website,
Jon Clayton:
00:25:46you'll
Jon Clayton:
00:25:46find
Jon Clayton:
00:25:47it's called the vision traction
Jon Clayton:
00:25:48organizer.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:49It's a It's
Jon Clayton:
00:25:50a framework for doing
Jon Clayton:
00:25:51your strategic
Jon Clayton:
00:25:52planning.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:52It's fantastic.
Jon Clayton:
00:25:54And
Jon Clayton:
00:25:55instead of
Jon Clayton:
00:25:56like taking in all these considerations, what it allows
Jon Clayton:
00:26:00you to do
Jon Clayton:
00:26:00is focus
Jon Clayton:
00:26:01on
Jon Clayton:
00:26:01the
Jon Clayton:
00:26:01drivers
Jon Clayton:
00:26:02of
Jon Clayton:
00:26:02your
Jon Clayton:
00:26:02business.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:04Now we've identified for architects,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:05there's.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:06Basically five
Jon Clayton:
00:26:07key
Jon Clayton:
00:26:07drivers.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:07There's
Jon Clayton:
00:26:08there's
Jon Clayton:
00:26:08project inquiries,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:10there's nurturing prospects, there's,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:13uh, there's the
Jon Clayton:
00:26:14contract
Jon Clayton:
00:26:14and and, and proposal stage.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:16uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:16You
Jon Clayton:
00:26:17know, how do we
Jon Clayton:
00:26:17sell, how do,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:18how are
Jon Clayton:
00:26:18we
Jon Clayton:
00:26:19converting them
Jon Clayton:
00:26:20into a
Jon Clayton:
00:26:20client?
Jon Clayton:
00:26:21Then there's the
Jon Clayton:
00:26:22delivery
Jon Clayton:
00:26:22of
Jon Clayton:
00:26:22the project.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:23And finally,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:23there's the
Jon Clayton:
00:26:24retention, the, the,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:25you know, are we getting
Jon Clayton:
00:26:26them
Jon Clayton:
00:26:27to
Jon Clayton:
00:26:27give us
Jon Clayton:
00:26:27a referral?
Jon Clayton:
00:26:28Are they coming back for another,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:30uh, project?
Jon Clayton:
00:26:32I
Jon Clayton:
00:26:32have
Jon Clayton:
00:26:32done this
Jon Clayton:
00:26:33planning.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:34I, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:35I,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:35I think, you know, that I'm,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:36I'm,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:37I'm kind of embedded in the entre
Jon Clayton:
00:26:39architect
Jon Clayton:
00:26:39tech community with
Jon Clayton:
00:26:40Mark LePage and his community.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:42I'm
Jon Clayton:
00:26:42a I'm a coach within
Jon Clayton:
00:26:43that, uh, within that,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:45community.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:46And
Jon Clayton:
00:26:46we've
Jon Clayton:
00:26:46done this planning, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:48session with that community.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:50And, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:51we've had, I've
Jon Clayton:
00:26:52had people come to me later
Jon Clayton:
00:26:53and say,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:54Oh my
Jon Clayton:
00:26:54God, this
Jon Clayton:
00:26:55is
Jon Clayton:
00:26:55amazing.
Jon Clayton:
00:26:55I,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:56I,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:56you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:26:56uh, one of
Jon Clayton:
00:26:58them
Jon Clayton:
00:26:58was a client of
Jon Clayton:
00:26:59ours.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:00He, so,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:01so
Jon Clayton:
00:27:01just
Jon Clayton:
00:27:02to give you an example,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:03he,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:04ever since he
Jon Clayton:
00:27:05started
Jon Clayton:
00:27:05implementing this, he has
Jon Clayton:
00:27:06hit
Jon Clayton:
00:27:07his resume revenue goals
Jon Clayton:
00:27:08every
Jon Clayton:
00:27:08quarter.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:10Uh, he lost 60
Jon Clayton:
00:27:11pounds because he applied
Jon Clayton:
00:27:13it to
Jon Clayton:
00:27:13his personal life.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:15How great is that?
Jon Clayton:
00:27:16Right?
Jon Clayton:
00:27:16Like he, he
Jon Clayton:
00:27:17said, you
Jon Clayton:
00:27:17know, I
Jon Clayton:
00:27:17need to
Jon Clayton:
00:27:17be
Jon Clayton:
00:27:18healthier.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:18I'm going to create
Jon Clayton:
00:27:19a
Jon Clayton:
00:27:20strategic plan
Jon Clayton:
00:27:21for my
Jon Clayton:
00:27:21health.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:22And he's seen a
Jon Clayton:
00:27:23lot
Jon Clayton:
00:27:23of success.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:24So, you know, I
Jon Clayton:
00:27:25think I think we
Jon Clayton:
00:27:26have to
Jon Clayton:
00:27:27remove this idea
Jon Clayton:
00:27:28that strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
00:27:29is
Jon Clayton:
00:27:29this like cumbersome, uh, You know.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:32Complicated process and look at it as something
Jon Clayton:
00:27:36that we
Jon Clayton:
00:27:36have to
Jon Clayton:
00:27:37do as a routine,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:38as
Jon Clayton:
00:27:38a.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:39It's just something
Jon Clayton:
00:27:40that's
Jon Clayton:
00:27:40a responsible
Jon Clayton:
00:27:42part of
Jon Clayton:
00:27:43running a business.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:44Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:45And,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:45and doing That in a systematic way
Jon Clayton:
00:27:47So that
Jon Clayton:
00:27:48we,
Jon Clayton:
00:27:49we can find, we
Jon Clayton:
00:27:50can gradually
Jon Clayton:
00:27:51tune
Jon Clayton:
00:27:51our business over time for
Jon Clayton:
00:27:53the
Jon Clayton:
00:27:54success that
Jon Clayton:
00:27:54we
Jon Clayton:
00:27:54want And have that purpose and determination in the process.
Jon Clayton:
00:27:59Yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:00agree more.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:01I did a podcast episode recently about writing business plans.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:06And, um, one of the takeaways from that was that, um, the first time I wrote
Jon Clayton:
00:28:11a business plan, it was this really long, lengthy document that sat in a
Jon Clayton:
00:28:14drawer and gathered dust for many years.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:17And, upon reflection, it was, you know, not the best way to go about
Jon Clayton:
00:28:20business, whereas really, you know, that, that's Document, whatever you
Jon Clayton:
00:28:24want to call it where you set out those, um, your vision and your mission and
Jon Clayton:
00:28:29your objectives, that, that should be something that's actively reviewed
Jon Clayton:
00:28:33throughout the course of your business.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:34That
Jon Clayton:
00:28:34you're, you're actually, you know, monitoring your, your, success,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:37working towards those goals.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:39So yeah, very,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:40very important.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:42Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:28:42I think, I think the more clarity
Jon Clayton:
00:28:44you can
Jon Clayton:
00:28:44have
Jon Clayton:
00:28:44around what's important, what the
Jon Clayton:
00:28:46priorities
Jon Clayton:
00:28:47are for your
Jon Clayton:
00:28:48business around your, you
Jon Clayton:
00:28:50know, around your purpose, your plan,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:52you know, I think, you know, the more
Jon Clayton:
00:28:54success you're
Jon Clayton:
00:28:55going to be able
Jon Clayton:
00:28:55to create,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:56you know, it's like, like I
Jon Clayton:
00:28:57said before,
Jon Clayton:
00:28:58instead of
Jon Clayton:
00:28:58being
Jon Clayton:
00:28:59reactive, instead of
Jon Clayton:
00:29:00dealing
Jon Clayton:
00:29:00with all these
Jon Clayton:
00:29:00distractions,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:02what, what are you able
Jon Clayton:
00:29:03to focus on?
Jon Clayton:
00:29:04What
Jon Clayton:
00:29:04is the one thing
Jon Clayton:
00:29:05that
Jon Clayton:
00:29:05you're going
Jon Clayton:
00:29:05to
Jon Clayton:
00:29:05move, do to
Jon Clayton:
00:29:06move your business forward
Jon Clayton:
00:29:08over the
Jon Clayton:
00:29:08next
Jon Clayton:
00:29:0990 days, a year, whatever, whatever
Jon Clayton:
00:29:11timeframe,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:12uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:12you decide,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:13uh, how, how are
Jon Clayton:
00:29:15you
Jon Clayton:
00:29:15know, creating a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:16plan for that is really important in business if you want to succeed.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:21How do you build trust with clients?
Jon Clayton:
00:29:24this.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:24is a great
Jon Clayton:
00:29:24question.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:25And
Jon Clayton:
00:29:26it relates to
Jon Clayton:
00:29:27what I, what I,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:29what is a bit of a soap box issue for
Jon Clayton:
00:29:31me.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:32I have, a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:32big
Jon Clayton:
00:29:33pet
Jon Clayton:
00:29:33peeve.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:34Uh, so a lot
Jon Clayton:
00:29:35of
Jon Clayton:
00:29:35architects will
Jon Clayton:
00:29:36complain.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:37I see
Jon Clayton:
00:29:37it online
Jon Clayton:
00:29:38in
Jon Clayton:
00:29:38forums.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:39I see it,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:40you
Jon Clayton:
00:29:40know, they, they tell me this when we
Jon Clayton:
00:29:42talk.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:42They
Jon Clayton:
00:29:42complain that they,
Jon Clayton:
00:29:44they
Jon Clayton:
00:29:44sent a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:45proposal
Jon Clayton:
00:29:47and never heard back from the
Jon Clayton:
00:29:48prospect.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:50And this is a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:51pet peeve because
Jon Clayton:
00:29:53sending a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:53proposal and
Jon Clayton:
00:29:54waiting for a
Jon Clayton:
00:29:54response is probably one of
Jon Clayton:
00:29:56the
Jon Clayton:
00:29:56biggest
Jon Clayton:
00:29:56mistakes
Jon Clayton:
00:29:57you can
Jon Clayton:
00:29:57make.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:58And everybody
Jon Clayton:
00:29:58does it.
Jon Clayton:
00:29:59Everybody.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:00You're just setting your process up for failure
Jon Clayton:
00:30:03in
Jon Clayton:
00:30:04sales.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:04Uh, trust
Jon Clayton:
00:30:05is the
Jon Clayton:
00:30:05most important
Jon Clayton:
00:30:06currency you
Jon Clayton:
00:30:07have, and
Jon Clayton:
00:30:09you have
Jon Clayton:
00:30:09to build
Jon Clayton:
00:30:10that
Jon Clayton:
00:30:10trust.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:11It's not something
Jon Clayton:
00:30:12that comes
Jon Clayton:
00:30:13because somebody visited
Jon Clayton:
00:30:14your website or somebody
Jon Clayton:
00:30:15got a referral
Jon Clayton:
00:30:16from
Jon Clayton:
00:30:16you.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:17You have to build that
Jon Clayton:
00:30:18trust.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:19So when you
Jon Clayton:
00:30:19send
Jon Clayton:
00:30:20them a
Jon Clayton:
00:30:20proposal
Jon Clayton:
00:30:21and give them
Jon Clayton:
00:30:22time,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:23You
Jon Clayton:
00:30:23know, you're,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:24you're telling yourself, well, I'm just
Jon Clayton:
00:30:25being
Jon Clayton:
00:30:26polite and I'm
Jon Clayton:
00:30:26not,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:26I'm taking
Jon Clayton:
00:30:27the pressure off
Jon Clayton:
00:30:28and whatever.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:28However, that
Jon Clayton:
00:30:29client
Jon Clayton:
00:30:29still
Jon Clayton:
00:30:30has questions.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:30They still
Jon Clayton:
00:30:31have concerns and
Jon Clayton:
00:30:32now
Jon Clayton:
00:30:32you
Jon Clayton:
00:30:32left
Jon Clayton:
00:30:32them on their
Jon Clayton:
00:30:33own
Jon Clayton:
00:30:34to
Jon Clayton:
00:30:34kind
Jon Clayton:
00:30:34of figure it out
Jon Clayton:
00:30:35on
Jon Clayton:
00:30:35their, uh, by themselves.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:37So
Jon Clayton:
00:30:38years
Jon Clayton:
00:30:39ago,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:39Kelly and I,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:40we had the same
Jon Clayton:
00:30:41problem.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:41My wife, Kelly and I, we
Jon Clayton:
00:30:42had the
Jon Clayton:
00:30:42same problem in
Jon Clayton:
00:30:43our business.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:44We were sending proposals
Jon Clayton:
00:30:46and people were ghosting
Jon Clayton:
00:30:47us
Jon Clayton:
00:30:48crickets,
Jon Clayton:
00:30:49no
Jon Clayton:
00:30:49response.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:50Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:50It was
Jon Clayton:
00:30:50like, Oh, let's just send another
Jon Clayton:
00:30:52proposal
Jon Clayton:
00:30:53into the
Jon Clayton:
00:30:54black
Jon Clayton:
00:30:54hole of, you know, of nothingness.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:56Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:58And.
Jon Clayton:
00:30:58We
Jon Clayton:
00:31:00went
Jon Clayton:
00:31:00through a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:01similar process.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:02You know,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:02they,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:02they,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:03would contact us, say, Hey,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:04we're
Jon Clayton:
00:31:04interested
Jon Clayton:
00:31:05in doing a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:05project,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:06a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:06website, a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:07logo,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:07whatever,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:08you
Jon Clayton:
00:31:08know,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:08they
Jon Clayton:
00:31:09would come into our office or we would go
Jon Clayton:
00:31:11to them,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:11we'd
Jon Clayton:
00:31:11have a nice long meeting,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:13maybe
Jon Clayton:
00:31:14maybe
Jon Clayton:
00:31:14an hour,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:15maybe
Jon Clayton:
00:31:15two hours, we collect all this information
Jon Clayton:
00:31:19and then.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:20the
Jon Clayton:
00:31:20expectation
Jon Clayton:
00:31:21was that we
Jon Clayton:
00:31:21were
Jon Clayton:
00:31:21going to go
Jon Clayton:
00:31:22away.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:22We were going
Jon Clayton:
00:31:23to create a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:23proposal
Jon Clayton:
00:31:24and then we were going to send
Jon Clayton:
00:31:25it to them.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:26Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:27And
Jon Clayton:
00:31:27we did this
Jon Clayton:
00:31:28over and over
Jon Clayton:
00:31:28and
Jon Clayton:
00:31:29nine times out
Jon Clayton:
00:31:29of
Jon Clayton:
00:31:2910,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:31nothing, nothing, zero zip
Jon Clayton:
00:31:33zilch crickets, no response.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:35Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:37And we knew
Jon Clayton:
00:31:38that, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:40here's the problem.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:41All they knew about
Jon Clayton:
00:31:42us.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:43We
Jon Clayton:
00:31:43had
Jon Clayton:
00:31:44met met together
Jon Clayton:
00:31:45for, we had a
Jon Clayton:
00:31:46meeting,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:47uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:47we
Jon Clayton:
00:31:48inundated
Jon Clayton:
00:31:48with
Jon Clayton:
00:31:49questions.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:49Maybe there
Jon Clayton:
00:31:50were a few
Jon Clayton:
00:31:50calls or emails
Jon Clayton:
00:31:51afterwards, but they didn't know
Jon Clayton:
00:31:53us.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:54we were,
Jon Clayton:
00:31:55and
Jon Clayton:
00:31:55as a result, we ended up
Jon Clayton:
00:31:56starting to ride this cashflow
Jon Clayton:
00:31:58roller
Jon Clayton:
00:31:58coaster, Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:31:59It
Jon Clayton:
00:31:59was like,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:00Getting us, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:01like
Jon Clayton:
00:32:02doing, trying to, trying to,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:04get
Jon Clayton:
00:32:04to more
Jon Clayton:
00:32:04people to get more opportunities to send them proposals that we weren't
Jon Clayton:
00:32:08going to
Jon Clayton:
00:32:08hear
Jon Clayton:
00:32:08back
Jon Clayton:
00:32:09on.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:09right.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:10And
Jon Clayton:
00:32:10hoping
Jon Clayton:
00:32:10that
Jon Clayton:
00:32:10one out of
Jon Clayton:
00:32:1110 of those
Jon Clayton:
00:32:11was
Jon Clayton:
00:32:11going to
Jon Clayton:
00:32:12land
Jon Clayton:
00:32:12and we were going to get a
Jon Clayton:
00:32:13job.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:14And so we had to change things.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:15We ended
Jon Clayton:
00:32:15up, um,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:16this business
Jon Clayton:
00:32:17coach that I
Jon Clayton:
00:32:17mentioned,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:18Brent
Jon Clayton:
00:32:18Weaver.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:19Uh, had a
Jon Clayton:
00:32:20bootcamp on how to revise
Jon Clayton:
00:32:22your sales process, and
Jon Clayton:
00:32:24I
Jon Clayton:
00:32:24loved
Jon Clayton:
00:32:25it.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:25It was,
Jon Clayton:
00:32:25it was amazing.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:27It completely transformed how we
Jon Clayton:
00:32:28approach prospecting
Jon Clayton:
00:32:30sales
Jon Clayton:
00:32:31and onboarding.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:32And
Jon Clayton:
00:32:32since then we've developed a much more, a
Jon Clayton:
00:32:35much
Jon Clayton:
00:32:35improved process where we
Jon Clayton:
00:32:37take people through
Jon Clayton:
00:32:39clear
Jon Clayton:
00:32:39steps.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:40In our process, like
Jon Clayton:
00:32:42if you
Jon Clayton:
00:32:42want
Jon Clayton:
00:32:42to be a
Jon Clayton:
00:32:42client
Jon Clayton:
00:32:42with ours, there's
Jon Clayton:
00:32:43there's
Jon Clayton:
00:32:44actually three
Jon Clayton:
00:32:45or four steps.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:45You
Jon Clayton:
00:32:45got to go through
Jon Clayton:
00:32:47just
Jon Clayton:
00:32:47so that we can get to the
Jon Clayton:
00:32:48point
Jon Clayton:
00:32:49of, hey, let's
Jon Clayton:
00:32:50have a
Jon Clayton:
00:32:50discussion about
Jon Clayton:
00:32:51actually
Jon Clayton:
00:32:51working together because we
Jon Clayton:
00:32:53want
Jon Clayton:
00:32:53to
Jon Clayton:
00:32:53educate you.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:54We want
Jon Clayton:
00:32:54it.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:54We want you to
Jon Clayton:
00:32:55know how we're
Jon Clayton:
00:32:56going to
Jon Clayton:
00:32:56work.
Jon Clayton:
00:32:57And
Jon Clayton:
00:32:57at the
Jon Clayton:
00:32:57same
Jon Clayton:
00:32:57time, we're
Jon Clayton:
00:32:58using those
Jon Clayton:
00:32:58opportunities.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:00to collect more information, to give them more
Jon Clayton:
00:33:02opportunity to ask
Jon Clayton:
00:33:03questions
Jon Clayton:
00:33:04and
Jon Clayton:
00:33:04also to build that trust.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:07What what Brent
Jon Clayton:
00:33:08taught
Jon Clayton:
00:33:08us
Jon Clayton:
00:33:09in that,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:10uh, bootcamp was that trust equals interactions over
Jon Clayton:
00:33:14time.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:15And so what
Jon Clayton:
00:33:16that What that means is that in
Jon Clayton:
00:33:18our process,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:19we have,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:21we have more
Jon Clayton:
00:33:21steps.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:23They're
Jon Clayton:
00:33:23typically shorter
Jon Clayton:
00:33:24steps.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:25They're, They're
Jon Clayton:
00:33:25they're
Jon Clayton:
00:33:26compartmentalized.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:27They're designed,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:28each
Jon Clayton:
00:33:28step
Jon Clayton:
00:33:28is designed
Jon Clayton:
00:33:30to
Jon Clayton:
00:33:30produce
Jon Clayton:
00:33:31a
Jon Clayton:
00:33:31certain result or,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:32uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:33give
Jon Clayton:
00:33:34us certain information.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:36And the way we
Jon Clayton:
00:33:37position that
Jon Clayton:
00:33:37to
Jon Clayton:
00:33:37clients is
Jon Clayton:
00:33:38like,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:39you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:33:40Hey, we have a
Jon Clayton:
00:33:40process for how we work.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:43Clients love that.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:44Oh, you
Jon Clayton:
00:33:44have a
Jon Clayton:
00:33:44process, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:33:46Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:47If they
Jon Clayton:
00:33:47ask us for a
Jon Clayton:
00:33:48proposal, we say, no, we don't do
Jon Clayton:
00:33:49that.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:50That's, that's not how we work.
Jon Clayton:
00:33:51We're
Jon Clayton:
00:33:52going to
Jon Clayton:
00:33:52go
Jon Clayton:
00:33:52through
Jon Clayton:
00:33:52our process
Jon Clayton:
00:33:54And
Jon Clayton:
00:33:54the value for them is
Jon Clayton:
00:33:55that they're going
Jon Clayton:
00:33:56to get a much
Jon Clayton:
00:33:57more
Jon Clayton:
00:33:57complete, much
Jon Clayton:
00:33:58more valuable.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:00Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:00outcome from us.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:03and so at the end of the
Jon Clayton:
00:34:04day, we're, we're taking them through this process.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:08Giving them the opportunity to
Jon Clayton:
00:34:10ask
Jon Clayton:
00:34:10those
Jon Clayton:
00:34:11questions, to address their
Jon Clayton:
00:34:12concerns
Jon Clayton:
00:34:14and
Jon Clayton:
00:34:14for
Jon Clayton:
00:34:14them
Jon Clayton:
00:34:15to get
Jon Clayton:
00:34:15to know us
Jon Clayton:
00:34:16better.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:16Each
Jon Clayton:
00:34:17of those
Jon Clayton:
00:34:17interactions, we have, we have a
Jon Clayton:
00:34:19little bit of report building.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:20We have a little
Jon Clayton:
00:34:21bit, you know, tell
Jon Clayton:
00:34:22us a
Jon Clayton:
00:34:22little
Jon Clayton:
00:34:22bit more about
Jon Clayton:
00:34:23how
Jon Clayton:
00:34:23you got started
Jon Clayton:
00:34:24and so
Jon Clayton:
00:34:25forth.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:26We're
Jon Clayton:
00:34:26getting
Jon Clayton:
00:34:27to know
Jon Clayton:
00:34:27each other and that is
Jon Clayton:
00:34:28getting them to
Jon Clayton:
00:34:29be more comfortable.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:31It's
Jon Clayton:
00:34:31getting
Jon Clayton:
00:34:31them
Jon Clayton:
00:34:31to understand who we are
Jon Clayton:
00:34:33and how we
Jon Clayton:
00:34:34work and our
Jon Clayton:
00:34:35approach to things.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:36And So, yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:37that's how we
Jon Clayton:
00:34:38approach
Jon Clayton:
00:34:38building trust.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:39And,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:40A
Jon Clayton:
00:34:40lot
Jon Clayton:
00:34:40of people,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:41when they
Jon Clayton:
00:34:41hear this, they go,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:42well, God, that sounds
Jon Clayton:
00:34:43like a lot more
Jon Clayton:
00:34:44time than just sending a proposal.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:46And yes, it,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:48there is a
Jon Clayton:
00:34:48bit of
Jon Clayton:
00:34:49a
Jon Clayton:
00:34:49time
Jon Clayton:
00:34:50add
Jon Clayton:
00:34:50to
Jon Clayton:
00:34:50that,
Jon Clayton:
00:34:52but nine
Jon Clayton:
00:34:53times out
Jon Clayton:
00:34:53of
Jon Clayton:
00:34:5310, those clients, those
Jon Clayton:
00:34:55those
Jon Clayton:
00:34:55people are
Jon Clayton:
00:34:56becoming
Jon Clayton:
00:34:56clients.
Jon Clayton:
00:34:58So that
Jon Clayton:
00:34:58extra work
Jon Clayton:
00:35:00gets extra volume and
Jon Clayton:
00:35:02extra money
Jon Clayton:
00:35:02in
Jon Clayton:
00:35:03our
Jon Clayton:
00:35:03pockets.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:03And that's,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:04that's,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:05that's,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:06that's
Jon Clayton:
00:35:06time.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:06Well, we're well, we're spending in my opinion,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:10Yeah, It's much better to have less inquiries and
Jon Clayton:
00:35:13a higher
Jon Clayton:
00:35:14conversion rate than just like sending out loads of proposals and it's
Jon Clayton:
00:35:18crickets.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:18So, I,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:20I think
Jon Clayton:
00:35:20about,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:21you know, I had a
Jon Clayton:
00:35:22client,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:23uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:23that
Jon Clayton:
00:35:24we worked with from
Jon Clayton:
00:35:24South
Jon Clayton:
00:35:25Africa and he
Jon Clayton:
00:35:27was
Jon Clayton:
00:35:27very concerned about Instagram When we
Jon Clayton:
00:35:30first
Jon Clayton:
00:35:31met
Jon Clayton:
00:35:31him,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:32you know, we
Jon Clayton:
00:35:32want to
Jon Clayton:
00:35:33be
Jon Clayton:
00:35:33on
Jon Clayton:
00:35:33Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:34and
Jon Clayton:
00:35:35I said,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:35well, tell
Jon Clayton:
00:35:35me why
Jon Clayton:
00:35:36you
Jon Clayton:
00:35:36want to
Jon Clayton:
00:35:36be on Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:37and
Jon Clayton:
00:35:37he
Jon Clayton:
00:35:38said,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:38well, one
Jon Clayton:
00:35:38of our competitors, they have
Jon Clayton:
00:35:39like 200,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:40000
Jon Clayton:
00:35:40followers
Jon Clayton:
00:35:41on
Jon Clayton:
00:35:41Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:42And I was like, wow,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:43that's impressive.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:45And
Jon Clayton:
00:35:45I said,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:45um,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:46I said, how
Jon Clayton:
00:35:47many do you
Jon Clayton:
00:35:47have?
Jon Clayton:
00:35:48And they said, well, we have
Jon Clayton:
00:35:49a hundred.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:50And I
Jon Clayton:
00:35:50said, I'll,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:51I'll tell you right now.
Jon Clayton:
00:35:52I said, I would rather
Jon Clayton:
00:35:53have a hundred,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:55uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:35:56raving
Jon Clayton:
00:35:56fans on Instagram
Jon Clayton:
00:35:59than
Jon Clayton:
00:35:59200, 000 followers.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:01Because
Jon Clayton:
00:36:02you're most
Jon Clayton:
00:36:03more likely
Jon Clayton:
00:36:05to get
Jon Clayton:
00:36:06clients out of
Jon Clayton:
00:36:07a group
Jon Clayton:
00:36:08of people
Jon Clayton:
00:36:09who are
Jon Clayton:
00:36:09really invested and really
Jon Clayton:
00:36:11really
Jon Clayton:
00:36:12interested in what
Jon Clayton:
00:36:13you're
Jon Clayton:
00:36:13doing.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:14Then you
Jon Clayton:
00:36:14are 200,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:16000 people
Jon Clayton:
00:36:16that are following you
Jon Clayton:
00:36:17because they're, you know, uh, their aunts,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:20uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:21uh, best
Jon Clayton:
00:36:22friends, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:23you know, niece
Jon Clayton:
00:36:24is
Jon Clayton:
00:36:24following them.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:25Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:25You
Jon Clayton:
00:36:26know, it's
Jon Clayton:
00:36:26like 200,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:27000
Jon Clayton:
00:36:28people is
Jon Clayton:
00:36:29great,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:30but you have
Jon Clayton:
00:36:31to find
Jon Clayton:
00:36:31the people
Jon Clayton:
00:36:32who are
Jon Clayton:
00:36:32really.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:33Going to
Jon Clayton:
00:36:33engage
Jon Clayton:
00:36:34with you.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:34That's always
Jon Clayton:
00:36:35going to be
Jon Clayton:
00:36:36that's that's going to
Jon Clayton:
00:36:37trump
Jon Clayton:
00:36:37anything you can do
Jon Clayton:
00:36:39You
Jon Clayton:
00:36:39know with a mass following
Jon Clayton:
00:36:42right?
Jon Clayton:
00:36:43So
Jon Clayton:
00:36:44that's that's the way I
Jon Clayton:
00:36:45look
Jon Clayton:
00:36:46at
Jon Clayton:
00:36:46it.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:46while we're on the subject of people, um, I mean, Being a solo architect or,
Jon Clayton:
00:36:52or, particularly if you work at home, it
Jon Clayton:
00:36:54can be lonely.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:55It can be lonely going and running a business.
Jon Clayton:
00:36:57So, I mean, what are the benefits we can gain from, Joining a community
Jon Clayton:
00:37:02of like minded professionals.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:05You
Jon Clayton:
00:37:05know
Jon Clayton:
00:37:06Here's the one thing I would say
Jon Clayton:
00:37:07for any Solo architects out there
Jon Clayton:
00:37:10or anybody
Jon Clayton:
00:37:11running or
Jon Clayton:
00:37:12your
Jon Clayton:
00:37:12partner maybe
Jon Clayton:
00:37:13of a
Jon Clayton:
00:37:14small firm
Jon Clayton:
00:37:15Here's a simple
Jon Clayton:
00:37:16fact.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:17We live in a
Jon Clayton:
00:37:17complicated
Jon Clayton:
00:37:18world.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:19We live
Jon Clayton:
00:37:19in a busy, noisy world, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:37:22the the, the
Jon Clayton:
00:37:25unfortunate
Jon Clayton:
00:37:26thing
Jon Clayton:
00:37:27is that
Jon Clayton:
00:37:27most architects have
Jon Clayton:
00:37:28not
Jon Clayton:
00:37:29been given the skills
Jon Clayton:
00:37:31And education
Jon Clayton:
00:37:32they
Jon Clayton:
00:37:32need.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:33To know
Jon Clayton:
00:37:34how
Jon Clayton:
00:37:34to run a business effectively.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:37So what I'm going to say, and this might, this might,
Jon Clayton:
00:37:39offend some architects out there
Jon Clayton:
00:37:41who
Jon Clayton:
00:37:41think
Jon Clayton:
00:37:42they can do it all on
Jon Clayton:
00:37:42their
Jon Clayton:
00:37:43own,
Jon Clayton:
00:37:43but you can't, you
Jon Clayton:
00:37:44can't do
Jon Clayton:
00:37:45everything on your own.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:46You cannot
Jon Clayton:
00:37:46solve
Jon Clayton:
00:37:47every
Jon Clayton:
00:37:48problem
Jon Clayton:
00:37:48on your own.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:49I know you've all been trained
Jon Clayton:
00:37:50as
Jon Clayton:
00:37:50problem solvers
Jon Clayton:
00:37:51and that's what you do.
Jon Clayton:
00:37:54You know,
Jon Clayton:
00:37:54unless you've been to business
Jon Clayton:
00:37:55school, unless you have a lot
Jon Clayton:
00:37:57of experience running a
Jon Clayton:
00:37:58firm,
Jon Clayton:
00:37:59you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:00there
Jon Clayton:
00:38:00are going to be problems
Jon Clayton:
00:38:01that you're going to need help with.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:04And
Jon Clayton:
00:38:04joining a
Jon Clayton:
00:38:05community,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:06uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:07I'm a big
Jon Clayton:
00:38:07fan of Entra
Jon Clayton:
00:38:08Architect.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:09I'm a member of
Jon Clayton:
00:38:10that community.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:11I'm one of the only non
Jon Clayton:
00:38:12architect,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:13uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:13I'm one
Jon Clayton:
00:38:14of the
Jon Clayton:
00:38:14few
Jon Clayton:
00:38:14non architect members of
Jon Clayton:
00:38:16that community.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:16My wife
Jon Clayton:
00:38:17is
Jon Clayton:
00:38:17another one
Jon Clayton:
00:38:18and there's a few other, uh, there's
Jon Clayton:
00:38:20maybe
Jon Clayton:
00:38:21three or four
Jon Clayton:
00:38:21others.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:22As a non
Jon Clayton:
00:38:23architect, I
Jon Clayton:
00:38:24look in
Jon Clayton:
00:38:24that community
Jon Clayton:
00:38:25a lot.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:25I
Jon Clayton:
00:38:26see the discussions that are
Jon Clayton:
00:38:27happening.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:28And what I
Jon Clayton:
00:38:28see is I see a lot
Jon Clayton:
00:38:30of people
Jon Clayton:
00:38:30sharing information.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:32If you're an
Jon Clayton:
00:38:32architect and you feel lonely,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:35um, it's on
Jon Clayton:
00:38:37you because there
Jon Clayton:
00:38:38are tons of
Jon Clayton:
00:38:38architects out
Jon Clayton:
00:38:39there who are willing
Jon Clayton:
00:38:40to
Jon Clayton:
00:38:40share.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:41What,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:41they,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:41what has
Jon Clayton:
00:38:42worked
Jon Clayton:
00:38:42for
Jon Clayton:
00:38:42them,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:43uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:44and, and contribute to
Jon Clayton:
00:38:46a community.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:46And so I, I, implore
Jon Clayton:
00:38:48you
Jon Clayton:
00:38:49to find a community like that.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:50Join a
Jon Clayton:
00:38:51mastermind
Jon Clayton:
00:38:51group,
Jon Clayton:
00:38:52uh, get
Jon Clayton:
00:38:53involved
Jon Clayton:
00:38:54in, you know, there's
Jon Clayton:
00:38:55Facebook
Jon Clayton:
00:38:55groups out there.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:56Not all of
Jon Clayton:
00:38:56them are great, but
Jon Clayton:
00:38:57some
Jon Clayton:
00:38:57of them
Jon Clayton:
00:38:58are really good.
Jon Clayton:
00:38:59Like entre architect's Facebook group is excellent.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:02They have great discussions.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:04Uh, people
Jon Clayton:
00:39:05helping each
Jon Clayton:
00:39:05other solve problems,
Jon Clayton:
00:39:07even
Jon Clayton:
00:39:07like down to
Jon Clayton:
00:39:08the level of
Jon Clayton:
00:39:08like,
Jon Clayton:
00:39:09you know, what do
Jon Clayton:
00:39:10I
Jon Clayton:
00:39:10need to
Jon Clayton:
00:39:10know about code
Jon Clayton:
00:39:11and, you know,
Jon Clayton:
00:39:12things
Jon Clayton:
00:39:13like that.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:13But
Jon Clayton:
00:39:14also
Jon Clayton:
00:39:14questions about business and how do I, how do
Jon Clayton:
00:39:17I do things more,
Jon Clayton:
00:39:17effectively?
Jon Clayton:
00:39:18So be willing to expand
Jon Clayton:
00:39:20your knowledge, be willing
Jon Clayton:
00:39:22to learn
Jon Clayton:
00:39:22from others.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:23And I think
Jon Clayton:
00:39:24joining a community
Jon Clayton:
00:39:25is, is, an excellent
Jon Clayton:
00:39:27way
Jon Clayton:
00:39:27to do that.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:28I love, I love being part of communities.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:30I'm, um, I'm a part of a number of different groups, you know, online
Jon Clayton:
00:39:35And sort of in person elements as
Jon Clayton:
00:39:36well.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:37And it's so valuable for sharing ideas.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:39Watch this space for the architecture business club community coming soon.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:44There you go.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:44Nice plug.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:45Get a little plug.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:46in that, um, this has been so valuable, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:49I'm so glad that you, um, found some time in your calendar to come and share
Jon Clayton:
00:39:53some of your expertise on the show.
Jon Clayton:
00:39:55What's the main thing that you would like people to take
Jon Clayton:
00:39:58away from this conversation?
Jon Clayton:
00:40:00I think it's
Jon Clayton:
00:40:01just,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:01you
Jon Clayton:
00:40:02know,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:02we talked about being part of a community, but I
Jon Clayton:
00:40:04think
Jon Clayton:
00:40:05be
Jon Clayton:
00:40:05willing
Jon Clayton:
00:40:06to look outside your profession for answers and inspiration.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:10I'm not an architect, but I do have a design education.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:13I
Jon Clayton:
00:40:13went to school for graphic design and.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:16What I have learned over the years
Jon Clayton:
00:40:17is that, you know, being a good
Jon Clayton:
00:40:19designer isn't solely about
Jon Clayton:
00:40:21sitting in
Jon Clayton:
00:40:21front of your desk, doing design iterations
Jon Clayton:
00:40:23all day,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:24that
Jon Clayton:
00:40:24does
Jon Clayton:
00:40:24not
Jon Clayton:
00:40:25make you
Jon Clayton:
00:40:25a good designer
Jon Clayton:
00:40:26design
Jon Clayton:
00:40:27is about psychology.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:28It's about
Jon Clayton:
00:40:28sociology.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:29It's about understanding nature
Jon Clayton:
00:40:31and mechanics.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:31It's about
Jon Clayton:
00:40:32art
Jon Clayton:
00:40:32and science,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:34and
Jon Clayton:
00:40:35you can't get
Jon Clayton:
00:40:36seduced
Jon Clayton:
00:40:37by, especially if you're an owner,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:40don't
Jon Clayton:
00:40:40get
Jon Clayton:
00:40:41seduced by the
Jon Clayton:
00:40:42activity
Jon Clayton:
00:40:42of
Jon Clayton:
00:40:43design
Jon Clayton:
00:40:44design is a thought process.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:47What
Jon Clayton:
00:40:47you do
Jon Clayton:
00:40:47with
Jon Clayton:
00:40:48your hand is part of it,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:49but
Jon Clayton:
00:40:49it's the bigger stuff happens
Jon Clayton:
00:40:51here,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:52uh, in the, in your head.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:55You
Jon Clayton:
00:40:55know, it's a thought
Jon Clayton:
00:40:56process.
Jon Clayton:
00:40:56Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:40:57and at
Jon Clayton:
00:40:58its core,
Bryon McCartney:
00:40:59it
Jon Clayton:
00:41:00has to be
Jon Clayton:
00:41:01about
Jon Clayton:
00:41:02the needs
Jon Clayton:
00:41:03of
Jon Clayton:
00:41:03humanity
Jon Clayton:
00:41:04and
Jon Clayton:
00:41:04nature,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:05right?
Jon Clayton:
00:41:05that
Jon Clayton:
00:41:05that
Jon Clayton:
00:41:06is what
Jon Clayton:
00:41:06we
Jon Clayton:
00:41:06have to
Jon Clayton:
00:41:07be
Jon Clayton:
00:41:07about.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:08So
Jon Clayton:
00:41:08you can't just sit here
Jon Clayton:
00:41:09and think, like, hey, oh,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:11I
Jon Clayton:
00:41:11can
Jon Clayton:
00:41:11do
Jon Clayton:
00:41:11another, you
Jon Clayton:
00:41:12know,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:12Uh, study.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:13I can do another
Jon Clayton:
00:41:14master plan, right?
Jon Clayton:
00:41:15It's not, you have to interact
Jon Clayton:
00:41:17with people.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:18You have to talk
Jon Clayton:
00:41:18to people.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:19What are their
Jon Clayton:
00:41:19needs?
Jon Clayton:
00:41:20What What, do they
Jon Clayton:
00:41:20want?
Jon Clayton:
00:41:22That's
Jon Clayton:
00:41:22the
Jon Clayton:
00:41:22most
Jon Clayton:
00:41:22important thing you
Jon Clayton:
00:41:23should remember as a firm
Jon Clayton:
00:41:25owner is that
Jon Clayton:
00:41:25at the
Jon Clayton:
00:41:26end
Jon Clayton:
00:41:26of the day, your
Jon Clayton:
00:41:27success the
Jon Clayton:
00:41:27success of
Jon Clayton:
00:41:28your firm,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:29it relies on people,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:31uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:31whether that's
Jon Clayton:
00:41:32employees, whether
Jon Clayton:
00:41:33whether it's
Jon Clayton:
00:41:33clients, whether
Jon Clayton:
00:41:34it's
Jon Clayton:
00:41:34colleagues,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:35whether it's
Jon Clayton:
00:41:35the
Jon Clayton:
00:41:35building
Jon Clayton:
00:41:36department, you
Jon Clayton:
00:41:37have to
Jon Clayton:
00:41:37Relies
Jon Clayton:
00:41:38on
Jon Clayton:
00:41:38people.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:38You have to
Jon Clayton:
00:41:39be successful
Jon Clayton:
00:41:40in
Jon Clayton:
00:41:40working with people and building
Jon Clayton:
00:41:42relationships.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:44and you have to make it clear how
Jon Clayton:
00:41:46you're helping
Jon Clayton:
00:41:46and
Jon Clayton:
00:41:46serving people.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:48If
Jon Clayton:
00:41:48that
Jon Clayton:
00:41:49doesn't
Jon Clayton:
00:41:49come through in your website, your
Jon Clayton:
00:41:51proposals, your presentations,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:53uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:41:54you
Jon Clayton:
00:41:54know, you know, are
Jon Clayton:
00:41:56you.
Jon Clayton:
00:41:57are
Jon Clayton:
00:41:57you putting design first?
Jon Clayton:
00:41:58Are you
Jon Clayton:
00:41:59putting your
Jon Clayton:
00:41:59clients
Jon Clayton:
00:42:00first?
Jon Clayton:
00:42:00Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:01And if you don't
Jon Clayton:
00:42:02know, if
Jon Clayton:
00:42:02you don't
Jon Clayton:
00:42:03know,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:03like if
Jon Clayton:
00:42:03you're looking at your website and
Jon Clayton:
00:42:04you're
Jon Clayton:
00:42:04going, well, yeah, I don't know.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:06I
Jon Clayton:
00:42:06don't know
Jon Clayton:
00:42:06what
Jon Clayton:
00:42:06to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:06do with
Jon Clayton:
00:42:07it.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:07That's, that's when you need
Jon Clayton:
00:42:08to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:08talk
Jon Clayton:
00:42:09to somebody
Jon Clayton:
00:42:09like me,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:10or,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:10you know, I
Jon Clayton:
00:42:11think you've had
Jon Clayton:
00:42:11Nikita on your program.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:13She's also great.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:14there's there's some of us out here that really understand
Jon Clayton:
00:42:17architects
Jon Clayton:
00:42:18and
Jon Clayton:
00:42:19we're here to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:19help
Jon Clayton:
00:42:20you
Jon Clayton:
00:42:20think through
Jon Clayton:
00:42:21these
Jon Clayton:
00:42:21things and help you relate what you
Jon Clayton:
00:42:23do.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:24too.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:24The value of
Jon Clayton:
00:42:24what
Jon Clayton:
00:42:25you do to the
Jon Clayton:
00:42:26problems
Jon Clayton:
00:42:26of the
Jon Clayton:
00:42:26people that you're trying to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:27help.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:28And
Jon Clayton:
00:42:29yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:29that's
Jon Clayton:
00:42:30that's my kind
Jon Clayton:
00:42:31of
Jon Clayton:
00:42:32parting
Jon Clayton:
00:42:32shot.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:34This has been awesome, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:35Thanks so much.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:36Was there anything else you wanted to say that we haven't covered?
Jon Clayton:
00:42:40No,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:41I would just remind people, like we said
Jon Clayton:
00:42:43at the,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:43I think
Jon Clayton:
00:42:43you said in the beginning,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:45like, if you want
Jon Clayton:
00:42:45to, you
Jon Clayton:
00:42:46know, if
Jon Clayton:
00:42:46you
Jon Clayton:
00:42:46want to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:46talk, if you want to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:47have a
Jon Clayton:
00:42:48conversation with me, I invite you
Jon Clayton:
00:42:49to
Jon Clayton:
00:42:49do so just go to our website,
Jon Clayton:
00:42:51arcmark.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:51co not.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:53com.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:54co A R
Jon Clayton:
00:42:54C
Jon Clayton:
00:42:55H.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:55mar.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:56co.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:57We
Jon Clayton:
00:42:57have a button
Jon Clayton:
00:42:58at
Jon Clayton:
00:42:58the top.
Jon Clayton:
00:42:59It says start here.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:00You
Jon Clayton:
00:43:00can schedule a clarity call with
Jon Clayton:
00:43:01me and we can talk about some of these things
Jon Clayton:
00:43:05and see how we can
Jon Clayton:
00:43:06help you.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:07That's awesome.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:08There's one last thing I wanted to ask you and it's nothing about the topic
Jon Clayton:
00:43:12But I love to travel and discover new places I was just wondering if you could
Jon Clayton:
00:43:17just tell me about one of your favorite places and what you love about it
Jon Clayton:
00:43:21Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:22I
Jon Clayton:
00:43:22would
Jon Clayton:
00:43:22say
Jon Clayton:
00:43:22if you
Jon Clayton:
00:43:23ever get the chance, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:24visit,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:25uh, visit the Val d'Orcia.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:28In southern Tuscany,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:30I've done several,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:31uh, photography workshops in that region.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:34It's a
Jon Clayton:
00:43:35fantastic region.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:36There's a village
Jon Clayton:
00:43:36called San Quirico Dorcha.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:39It's in
Jon Clayton:
00:43:40the, It's it's along the highway
Jon Clayton:
00:43:42that leads to
Jon Clayton:
00:43:43Siena and ultimately down
Jon Clayton:
00:43:45to, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:46uh, Chiveta, Chivita, uh, and then to
Jon Clayton:
00:43:49Rome,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:50uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:51uh, beautiful countryside, rolling
Jon Clayton:
00:43:53hills.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:54There's a little village,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:57uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:43:57just south
Jon Clayton:
00:43:58of, uh, San
Jon Clayton:
00:43:58Quirco.
Jon Clayton:
00:43:59And, uh, there's a wonderful
Jon Clayton:
00:44:01winemaker there
Jon Clayton:
00:44:02Uh, it's called Sante Marie, uh, his name's Franco.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:05Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:06I, he can't speak a
Jon Clayton:
00:44:07word
Jon Clayton:
00:44:08of
Jon Clayton:
00:44:08English, but
Jon Clayton:
00:44:08I
Jon Clayton:
00:44:09could sit there and listen to him all day.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:10He just
Jon Clayton:
00:44:11talks about
Jon Clayton:
00:44:11wine
Jon Clayton:
00:44:11and nature and everything.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:13and
Jon Clayton:
00:44:13it's
Jon Clayton:
00:44:14just a wonderful
Jon Clayton:
00:44:14experience.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:15Um,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:16wonderful
Jon Clayton:
00:44:16cheese
Jon Clayton:
00:44:17makers around that region.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:18Uh, wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:20If you
Jon Clayton:
00:44:20like, if you like, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:22Keanu
Jon Clayton:
00:44:22beef,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:23uh, which I do, uh, it's the
Jon Clayton:
00:44:25only red meat
Jon Clayton:
00:44:26that I really
Jon Clayton:
00:44:27like
Jon Clayton:
00:44:27anymore.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:28Uh, it's wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:30Uh, yeah, it's just a great,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:32great
Jon Clayton:
00:44:32place
Jon Clayton:
00:44:33to go and
Jon Clayton:
00:44:33relax
Jon Clayton:
00:44:34and get get in touch
Jon Clayton:
00:44:35with,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:36I think, uh, you know, kind of
Jon Clayton:
00:44:38like
Jon Clayton:
00:44:38a
Jon Clayton:
00:44:38more basic
Jon Clayton:
00:44:39way
Jon Clayton:
00:44:39of
Jon Clayton:
00:44:39life.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:40And, uh, yeah, I love
Jon Clayton:
00:44:41it there.
Bryon McCartney:
00:44:42love
Bryon McCartney:
00:44:42it there.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:43Sounds wonderful, and I'm matching a little bit of a health
Jon Clayton:
00:44:46kick this week But now I'm just
Jon Clayton:
00:44:48dreaming of like cheese and wine Now You've mentioned it.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:51So
Jon Clayton:
00:44:51Well,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:51the lovely
Jon Clayton:
00:44:52thing about
Jon Clayton:
00:44:53going to
Jon Clayton:
00:44:54some place
Jon Clayton:
00:44:54like Southern Tuscany
Jon Clayton:
00:44:55is that
Jon Clayton:
00:44:56you
Jon Clayton:
00:44:56tend
Jon Clayton:
00:44:56to do
Jon Clayton:
00:44:57a
Jon Clayton:
00:44:57lot of
Jon Clayton:
00:44:57walking.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:58Uh, there's a
Jon Clayton:
00:44:58lot of hills.
Jon Clayton:
00:44:59Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:44:59you go to multiple Chiano
Jon Clayton:
00:45:01or, um,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:02um, um, Montalcino, but they're Hilltown.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:05So you
Jon Clayton:
00:45:06got to
Jon Clayton:
00:45:06walk
Jon Clayton:
00:45:06up and
Jon Clayton:
00:45:07down.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:07If
Jon Clayton:
00:45:07you want
Jon Clayton:
00:45:07to.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:08Get places.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:09So you
Jon Clayton:
00:45:09get a
Jon Clayton:
00:45:09little exercise
Jon Clayton:
00:45:10in, then you
Jon Clayton:
00:45:11stop off
Jon Clayton:
00:45:11for some homemade positive, you know, known as homemade pasta.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:15And, uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:16uh, yeah,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:17it's
Jon Clayton:
00:45:17wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:18I
Jon Clayton:
00:45:18love it
Jon Clayton:
00:45:18there.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:19Uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:19the summertime is a great place.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:21Great time to be there.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:22Right.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:22Like right,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:23right
Jon Clayton:
00:45:23around now
Jon Clayton:
00:45:24is
Jon Clayton:
00:45:24the ideal
Jon Clayton:
00:45:25time to be
Jon Clayton:
00:45:25there.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:26It's
Jon Clayton:
00:45:26wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:26Sounds amazing.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:27Brian, where's the, the best place online?
Jon Clayton:
00:45:30Like, is there a particular social media platform that you hang out on most?
Jon Clayton:
00:45:35Yeah, please.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:36Um, Hey,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:37if you're
Jon Clayton:
00:45:37listening
Jon Clayton:
00:45:38to
Jon Clayton:
00:45:38this still,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:38if you're,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:39if you've
Jon Clayton:
00:45:39made it
Jon Clayton:
00:45:39this
Jon Clayton:
00:45:40far,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:41uh, connect with
Jon Clayton:
00:45:42me on
Jon Clayton:
00:45:43LinkedIn, don't just
Jon Clayton:
00:45:44send me a
Jon Clayton:
00:45:44friend, friend,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:45requests.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:45Those
Jon Clayton:
00:45:46just
Jon Clayton:
00:45:46say, send me a
Jon Clayton:
00:45:47note
Jon Clayton:
00:45:47with
Jon Clayton:
00:45:48your, your connection.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:49Say, Hey, I heard you
Jon Clayton:
00:45:50on John's
Jon Clayton:
00:45:50podcast.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:52Um,
Jon Clayton:
00:45:52just yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:53Connect
Jon Clayton:
00:45:54with me
Jon Clayton:
00:45:54there.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:54I love
Jon Clayton:
00:45:55connecting with people on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
00:45:57I
Jon Clayton:
00:45:57think of all the
Jon Clayton:
00:45:58social media
Jon Clayton:
00:45:59platforms,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:00Uh, LinkedIn
Jon Clayton:
00:46:01is
Jon Clayton:
00:46:01the one that
Jon Clayton:
00:46:01where
Jon Clayton:
00:46:02most
Jon Clayton:
00:46:02architects
Jon Clayton:
00:46:03should
Jon Clayton:
00:46:03be.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:04Uh, I
Jon Clayton:
00:46:04know a
Jon Clayton:
00:46:04lot of
Jon Clayton:
00:46:04people think,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:05you
Jon Clayton:
00:46:05know, Instagram's great.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:07It's great if you want to
Jon Clayton:
00:46:07show off your portfolio, but if you
Jon Clayton:
00:46:09want to, if you want
Jon Clayton:
00:46:10to see some
Jon Clayton:
00:46:11great discussions
Jon Clayton:
00:46:12about,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:13uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:13architecture,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:14about running
Jon Clayton:
00:46:15a
Jon Clayton:
00:46:15business, uh, as an architect,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:18uh,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:18LinkedIn, there's some great
Jon Clayton:
00:46:20great
Jon Clayton:
00:46:21influencers
Jon Clayton:
00:46:21on
Jon Clayton:
00:46:21that, on
Jon Clayton:
00:46:22that platform.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:23And,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:23uh, I won't call myself one of 'em, I
Jon Clayton:
00:46:26don't post often enough, but I do
Jon Clayton:
00:46:28like
Jon Clayton:
00:46:28to
Jon Clayton:
00:46:28comment
Jon Clayton:
00:46:28on other people's
Jon Clayton:
00:46:29content.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:30So,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:32um, people like
Jon Clayton:
00:46:33Nikita,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:34uh, Ty, Tyler, Simla,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:36Um, uh, uh, Jake Rudin from out of
Jon Clayton:
00:46:39architecture.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:40Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:40There's some wonderful
Jon Clayton:
00:46:41people on there
Jon Clayton:
00:46:42and
Jon Clayton:
00:46:42they're,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:42they're creating
Jon Clayton:
00:46:43great
Jon Clayton:
00:46:43content
Jon Clayton:
00:46:44and, uh, I appreciate all of them.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:46There's a great
Jon Clayton:
00:46:46community on there for architects for sure.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:49I love LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:49It's my favorite platform too.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:51So, um, yeah, this has been awesome.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:53So thanks again, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:54We'll catch up soon.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:56Awesome.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:56Thanks,
Jon Clayton:
00:46:57John.
Jon Clayton:
00:46:59Next time I'll be talking about in-person events and networking.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:04Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:09If you liked this episode, think other people might enjoy it.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:13Or just want to show your support for the show.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:15Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen
Jon Clayton:
00:47:20to podcasts, it would mean so much to me and makes it easier for new
Jon Clayton:
00:47:24listeners to discover the show.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:25And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:29So you never miss another episode.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:32If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media
Jon Clayton:
00:47:34platforms, just search for at Mr.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:37John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:38The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:41You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:44Remember.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:45Running your architecture business.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:46Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:
00:47:49This is architecture business club.
