“Certainly the greatest benefit is that our proposals, portfolios, and presentations are both eye-catching and easy to modify. The look can evolve, and stay current. The content can be customized to specific audiences. And the whole show can always reflect our personalities and the value that we bring — exactly who we are as architects and businesspeople. Because that’s what we’re really selling — a personal relationship with us and our firm.”
Marketing Across Media
Once any document or presentation is tuned for its audience, Rojo easily takes advantage of every conceivable means of distribution. “There’s such a nice seamless integration across all Apple software,” says Glisson. “that we rarely have to repeat work to deliver things in different media.” With a click, Pages publications are saved as PDFs for emailing, web posting, or printing. Animated Keynote presentations are exported to QuickTime video and shared as self-running demos.
The same visual assets are easily integrated into Apple’s iLife applications. Portfolios are often printed as beautifully bound iPhoto books, and used as leave-behinds after meetings with prospective clients.
“Leaving a nicely-designed 40-page photo book on someone’s table is a tangible, ongoing reminder of who we are and what we do. And,” he smiles, “going back to pick it up gives us another chance to get in front of them and continue the conversation.”
Recently, Rojo also took command of their web presence with iWeb. “Our first site was built four years ago by a vendor, but it was always a hassle to modify the content. With iWeb, my partner and I built a new prototype in just a weekend. It’s just so much easier to maintain the look and the content if we keep it up and running ourselves.” For projects in progress, Rojo uses iWeb to create secure web pages where they share their most recent architectural plans and revisions with engineering consultants, contractors, and clients — without the hassle of mailing hard copies.
Right Place, Right Time, Right Tools
Concludes Glisson, “We recently had to move offices, because we outgrew our old space before the lease was up. We thought at best we’d be a firm of a dozen people. Now we have 27, with room to expand to 40. Much of that has to do with Florida’s economic boom. But a lot of credit has to go to using the Mac and software like iWork. With ease and style, these tools empower us to project a unique, professional image that ultimately benefits our bottom line.”
Pitch High, Pitch Low
Sure, iWork publications and presentations are slick. But how does that slickness play to a diverse client base — some more budget-conscious, some more status-conscious? “Interestingly,” says Rob Glisson, “it helps us appeal to both sides of the equation.
“Medical offices, churches, independent business owners, are much more attuned to the bottom line — they want to know that we can be efficient and effective. So we emphasize that our presentation materials were made very quickly and affordably. And of course we want to provide them those same benefits.
“When we start to approach bigger corporate clients, we can still make the same presentations and raise eyebrows with their elegance and professionalism. We just don’t need to point out that the expensive-looking photo book took just a few hours to produce and cost 30 dollars.”
