What's the first step you should take to make your
Jon Clayton:portfolio more discoverable online?
Jon Clayton:And how can you build your visibility online without the burnout?
Jon Clayton:I'm joined by Heidi Suter to help you with exactly that in this episode
Jon Clayton:of Architecture Business Club.
Jon Clayton:The weekly podcast for small firm founders who want to build their
Jon Clayton:dream business in architecture and enjoy more freedom, flexibility,
Jon Clayton:and fulfillment in what they do.
Jon Clayton:I'm John Clayton, your host.
Jon Clayton:Having spent over 20 years working in architecture, I know how hard it can
Jon Clayton:be to explain your services so people truly understand and value what you do.
Jon Clayton:Many firms struggle with this, but by sharing your stories on podcasts,
Jon Clayton:you can become the trusted voice in your market, grow your brand,
Jon Clayton:and attract much better clients.
Jon Clayton:We can help you with everything from podcast strategy and launch
Jon Clayton:production and management, podcast hosting and guesting through to
Jon Clayton:promoting and growing your show.
Jon Clayton:If you'd like to discover how podcasting could benefit your business, click the
Jon Clayton:link in the show notes to book a noob obligation chat about working with me.
Jon Clayton:Or if you're interested in being a guest on this show, email, John.
Jon Clayton:That's JO n@architecturebusinessclub.com.
Jon Clayton:Now let's meet Heidi.
Jon Clayton:Heidi Suta is the co-founder and CEO of Astate, a digital playground made just
Jon Clayton:for design professionals where architects and designers can show off their best
Jon Clayton:work and get found by dream clients.
Jon Clayton:Based in Helsinki, but running an international crew.
Jon Clayton:She's a tech and marketing pro who's obsessed with helping
Jon Clayton:creative people win online.
Jon Clayton:Heidi once got rejected from architecture school, but now she's building Archis Day.
Jon Clayton:So what goes around comes around, right?
Jon Clayton:Always learning and passionate about helping others to succeed.
Jon Clayton:Heidi's here to make sure your work gets noticed online.
Jon Clayton:And if you'd like to start showcasing your work online, head to archis
Jon Clayton:day.com and sign up, or just click the link in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:Heidi, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Heidi Suutari:Thank you.
Heidi Suutari:I, it's, I'm happy to be here and it's good to.
Heidi Suutari:chat with you.
Jon Clayton:Oh, it's great to have you here.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, really happy to be having a conversation with you today, Heidi.
Jon Clayton:Before we, we dig into the topic that we're gonna talk about I'd
Jon Clayton:like to know a little bit about you outside of the work that you do.
Jon Clayton:Can you tell me a little bit about what you enjoy doing outside of work?
Heidi Suutari:Well, outside of work, I, I love gardening.
Heidi Suutari:So that, that is what I do, at least in the summertime over here.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, I actually have a, like little lot of land just outside the
Heidi Suutari:city of Helsinki where I crow my.
Heidi Suutari:Tomatoes and squashes and uh, whatever, uh, plants and, uh, veggies.
Heidi Suutari:So that, that is actually one thing I enjoy quite a lot.
Heidi Suutari:So actually I'm planning to go there, go there to some, what are the
Heidi Suutari:tomatoes after this podcast as well?
Heidi Suutari:So.
Jon Clayton:So I, um, I, I will say this now, I, I'm not green fingered at all.
Jon Clayton:Like my wife, she's the one that enjoys the gardening.
Jon Clayton:I love sit.
Jon Clayton:It's sitting in the garden and walking amongst.
Jon Clayton:The nature and gardens, but I'm, I'm terrible when it comes
Jon Clayton:to anything gardening related.
Jon Clayton:Having said that, many, many years ago when I was a teenager, I, I did
Jon Clayton:some summer work on a tomato farm.
Jon Clayton:So that was my kind of like farm, um, agricultural experience.
Jon Clayton:So yeah, and it used to take ages once I got back home, like
Jon Clayton:cleaning the green off my hands.
Jon Clayton:But I've never, I've never gone back to it since.
Jon Clayton:So that was quite a long time ago when I did
Jon Clayton:that.
Heidi Suutari:well, I, I can tell you that my, my plant or plant plantation
Heidi Suutari:is way more smaller, smaller scale.
Heidi Suutari:So, uh, there's only like three tomato plants over there, so,
Jon Clayton:Yeah,
Jon Clayton:yeah, we were dealing with, uh, with hundreds, so yeah, probably
Jon Clayton:slightly different scale, but yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Great to be doing something like that though.
Jon Clayton:So Heidi, we are gonna talk about long-term online strategies so that.
Jon Clayton:You can build visibility online without the burnout.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, I think it's gonna be a great topic to talk about, are really useful
Jon Clayton:for everybody 'cause um, it is really easy to get overwhelmed with all the
Jon Clayton:different options we have online.
Jon Clayton:So having some long-term strategies we can use, that's
Jon Clayton:gonna be for great for everyone.
Jon Clayton:So just before we dig into that, could you tell me a little bit about how you ended
Jon Clayton:up here in this world of, of architecture?
Jon Clayton:How did that happen?
Heidi Suutari:Well, as you said in the intro, I, I did apply to
Heidi Suutari:architecture school in like 20 years ago.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, didn't get in, but yeah, I started doing other things, but design
Heidi Suutari:has been like always like very, I. Core and close, close thing to me.
Heidi Suutari:So I have studied, um, graphic design for example, but then I have
Heidi Suutari:graduated or started to do, uh, digital marketing and working with technology
Heidi Suutari:and, uh, things online basically.
Heidi Suutari:But I started like while ago thinking like, I want to do something else,
Heidi Suutari:something else that it's like more.
Heidi Suutari:More interesting that than just, uh, helping B2B companies,
Heidi Suutari:uh, tech companies and create something on our own, on my own.
Heidi Suutari:And, uh, I met my co-founder who is actually, he has a
Heidi Suutari:background in architecture.
Heidi Suutari:I. But he is currently, uh, working as that US designer.
Heidi Suutari:And we came up, came together and we were starting to brainstorm different
Heidi Suutari:ideas like what we should do and what's kind of things are exciting us.
Heidi Suutari:That's basically how architect came through or came about.
Heidi Suutari:We started to think like, okay, is there are like platforms for those
Heidi Suutari:people who create, uh, digital.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, stuff, digital pixels, uh, graphic designers and so on, on the internet.
Heidi Suutari:There are platforms, but that for them, but they are not platforms for people
Heidi Suutari:who create actual physical places.
Heidi Suutari:I mean, of course there's like, arc dailies and such, uh, places,
Heidi Suutari:but they are more curated ones.
Heidi Suutari:And of course, they're Instagram or.
Heidi Suutari:Um, bee hands, but they are not like, specifically made for
Heidi Suutari:this industry or this field.
Heidi Suutari:So what we were deciding that, yeah, let's, let's do a place where people
Heidi Suutari:who design places, architects, interior designers, they can share their work.
Heidi Suutari:They, it can be professional.
Heidi Suutari:Community, so to speak.
Heidi Suutari:So where you can connect with your colleagues and, um, potential employers
Heidi Suutari:and also a place where potential clients can find, can find you.
Heidi Suutari:So that's basically like a short background, how artists that came about.
Jon Clayton:Cool.
Jon Clayton:Well, we'll, we'll touch upon that again before we, before we wrap things up.
Jon Clayton:So.
Jon Clayton:It's interesting.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Both you and your co-founder, there was that interest still or background
Jon Clayton:in architecture that's kind of led you to, to where you are now.
Jon Clayton:Let's dig into then some of the strategies then these long term
Jon Clayton:online strategies that we, we can use to build our, our visibility.
Jon Clayton:Could we start with SEO how do people.
Jon Clayton:Actually search for architects online when they're looking for a practice
Jon Clayton:to work with.
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, I think that it can actually start way before
Heidi Suutari:they are ready to actually buy.
Heidi Suutari:So people can dream or think about their like dream houses or dream
Heidi Suutari:things and save your work to their own inspiration boards or wherever.
Heidi Suutari:So I think that is a very good reason to.
Heidi Suutari:Put your work out there to these platforms before your potential client even knows
Heidi Suutari:that they are looking for your services.
Heidi Suutari:So, uh, expose people beforehand.
Heidi Suutari:But also, uh, I think like when they are starting to get ready
Heidi Suutari:to buy and ready to look for.
Heidi Suutari:Look for the professionals they're looking for.
Heidi Suutari:They are using, uh, probably like, architects in your city or interior
Heidi Suutari:architect, or interior designer in your city, or there are looking for certain
Heidi Suutari:styles or certain types of designs.
Heidi Suutari:So I think it's like super.
Heidi Suutari:Important that your website's language or the language that you're speaking with
Heidi Suutari:is actually matching these keywords that they are showing up in Google search.
Heidi Suutari:And I think like in the future, maybe even Chachi P Search.
Heidi Suutari:So it's like the similar thing actually to optimize your, uh, websites.
Heidi Suutari:To those, uh, both search places basically.
Heidi Suutari:So you need to talk about what you do and be very clear what
Heidi Suutari:kind of, uh, services you provide.
Heidi Suutari:And try to think a bit like a client that is looking for the
Heidi Suutari:type of services that you provide.
Heidi Suutari:And try to think like what kind of keywords I should put my website.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:So, one of the things there that I'm picking up on is that, that people
Jon Clayton:could be thinking about a project way before they're ready to hire.
Jon Clayton:I.
Heidi Suutari:Yes,
Jon Clayton:They could be exploring and, and looking for ideas online
Jon Clayton:and, and sort of doing that sort of research to kind of get ideas
Jon Clayton:and learn about what they could do.
Jon Clayton:So there's an opportunity for us to be found far earlier.
Jon Clayton:I. In that journey from them having that initial idea to them actually
Jon Clayton:getting to the point which could be way down the line when they're actually
Jon Clayton:ready to invest in working with an architect or a design professional.
Jon Clayton:So what you're saying is that if we, if we put content out there online and we
Jon Clayton:consider the types of words, the types of language that our prospective customers.
Jon Clayton:We'll be searching for when we are putting our portfolio out there or, or talking
Jon Clayton:about what we do, that then we can capture people, we can, they can be looking for
Jon Clayton:our portfolio or they could be reading our articles way before in advance.
Jon Clayton:And then when it gets to the point when they are ready to buy, we are
Jon Clayton:more likely to be front of mind when they are ready to work with us.
Jon Clayton:Does that kind of sum up what you, you're thinking?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah.
Heidi Suutari:So yeah, definitely people are, I think, like when I think myself, I like, I
Heidi Suutari:like to do my research before and I like to dream and I like to plan things
Heidi Suutari:and I do have my Pinterest boards about things I would love to have in my future
Heidi Suutari:house or, or things I, things I love.
Heidi Suutari:So I, I can use those, I mean.
Heidi Suutari:Those are the things that if you as a designer, you put your work out there,
Heidi Suutari:you might end up in the mood boards of the clients and maybe the potential
Heidi Suutari:clients are loving you enough so that they are actually reaching out to you
Heidi Suutari:when they, when it actually, it's, it is time to make, uh, these decisions,
Heidi Suutari:uh, when they are ready to buy.
Jon Clayton:Okay,
Jon Clayton:so if we're gonna put out our work and we're gonna share our portfolio how can we
Jon Clayton:make our portfolios easier to find online?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, I think like you, well you have to put
Heidi Suutari:your, uh, first thing first.
Heidi Suutari:You have to put your portfolio online so that it's not buried in, in your computer.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, I think like, for, well, I think like the audience for this
Heidi Suutari:are more, more entrepreneurs, but if you are just or just um, or an
Heidi Suutari:architect working for a company, I.
Heidi Suutari:You should still work.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, still put your work out, uh, out there and not just bur bury
Heidi Suutari:it into, into the PDFs on your, on your computer, uh, because nobody,
Heidi Suutari:it, it is not gonna find it.
Heidi Suutari:So it's like if, I think it's important to use the different platforms,
Heidi Suutari:different platforms, uh, whenever you are creating a new project.
Heidi Suutari:So just update, uh, update those at the same time.
Heidi Suutari:Same time you're updating your portfolio that lives on your computer or whenever
Heidi Suutari:you have like a new, new project.
Heidi Suutari:So you should have that there.
Heidi Suutari:But I think like, uh, what you should definitely include, include
Heidi Suutari:uh, to every case you have is the location, uh, the styles.
Heidi Suutari:Challenges that you had or had with that project in that, uh, description.
Heidi Suutari:So Google and all these other, uh, search engines are.
Heidi Suutari:able to find those those projects.
Heidi Suutari:Projects because it's, um, well Google it is still just a machine.
Heidi Suutari:It is not it is not very much else than just the machine.
Heidi Suutari:So, and the machine understands language, uh, written language especially.
Heidi Suutari:So, um, Google is able to crawl those websites and find.
Heidi Suutari:Find the information on those websites.
Heidi Suutari:So the better descriptions and the, the more you tell about, uh, your
Heidi Suutari:projects, it's easier to those machines.
Heidi Suutari:Search engine engines to find, find you and, uh, push you out to the right
Heidi Suutari:people when, uh, they're searching.
Heidi Suutari:Searching for those, um, results.
Heidi Suutari:So yeah, that is at least one thing.
Heidi Suutari:And uh, for the website it's.
Heidi Suutari:It's smart to create a dedicated page for each project that you
Heidi Suutari:worked with so that you have like good images and good descriptions.
Heidi Suutari:And for the websites, it's also very important that you link.
Heidi Suutari:To one page to another.
Heidi Suutari:And, uh, you also get links from other pages to your project.
Heidi Suutari:So for example, you create like a Pinterest pin and then, uh, off,
Heidi Suutari:off your project and then uh, link back to your, back to your
Heidi Suutari:website or back to your portfolio.
Heidi Suutari:So that's.
Heidi Suutari:Makes also, uh, Google easier to navigate online to find your project.
Jon Clayton:Okay, so the first step is to not leave our portfolio of work.
Jon Clayton:Just sat on a hard drive to actually take the step to.
Jon Clayton:Take that work and publish it online.
Jon Clayton:So that's the first thing.
Jon Clayton:Then in doing that, you mentioned that it was really important to have, uh,
Jon Clayton:a good description with those images.
Jon Clayton:So rather than just that portfolio, just being some glossy photos
Jon Clayton:that's great, but like even better to make it more discoverable.
Jon Clayton:We have a, a detailed description about the project and you mentioned
Jon Clayton:there about talking about.
Jon Clayton:Some of the challenges that maybe were faced during the, the process
Jon Clayton:of bringing that project to life.
Jon Clayton:So it's, the more information we can put in there then the more words we've,
Jon Clayton:you know, Google's got to be able to find, and particularly if we're using
Jon Clayton:amongst that copy key words and phrases that our ideal customers could be
Jon Clayton:using, that then there's an opportunity for us to, to put those in that.
Jon Clayton:Description within the portfolio, which is gonna make it easier to find.
Jon Clayton:And the last thing you mentioned was about, um, the importance of the link.
Jon Clayton:So like we, we've got an opportunity to then link, um, to take that page that
Jon Clayton:we have for that project, to link it to other places and to also have links
Jon Clayton:from other platforms like Pinterest, for example, that if the images get shared
Jon Clayton:there, we can then back link it back to our, our portfolio on our website.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Heidi Suutari:And that is actually one super important thing that a lot of
Heidi Suutari:people don't even know about that much.
Heidi Suutari:So it's like.
Heidi Suutari:Super important to get those links, uh, links to your site.
Heidi Suutari:So, so your link, uh, so your site is getting like this authority and it
Heidi Suutari:shows up higher on, on Google as well.
Jon Clayton:Hmm.
Jon Clayton:So let's, let's talk a little bit about.
Jon Clayton:Pinterest about how we could use Pinterest.
Jon Clayton:Could you share your thoughts on that?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, I think like it's a brilliant tool for people
Heidi Suutari:who design different spaces.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, it's like one of the biggest actually, uh, search engines.
Heidi Suutari:So it's not just a place to put your beautiful pictures, but it is, it
Heidi Suutari:works as a, like a search engine.
Heidi Suutari:So you have, you can put your pictures there.
Heidi Suutari:And then you have to put your descriptions descriptions of those
Heidi Suutari:pictures, pictures over there as well.
Heidi Suutari:So I think it's like smart to tell about the project or tell about
Heidi Suutari:that picture that you have there.
Heidi Suutari:And it's ever cream.
Heidi Suutari:So it is not something.
Heidi Suutari:Like, for example, if you post your pictures on Instagram, it's
Heidi Suutari:Instagram is a bit different.
Heidi Suutari:So it, it is not people go there more to just look, look other
Heidi Suutari:people or uh, look just stu stuff.
Heidi Suutari:And it's like, it's not a place where you can actually link to your
Heidi Suutari:website, but in Pinterest you can actually link to your website and.
Heidi Suutari:Usually Pinterest is a place where people are going to find this, like inspiration
Heidi Suutari:and, uh, looking for different ideas.
Heidi Suutari:Ideas.
Heidi Suutari:So Pinterest, I think it's, it's like super great.
Heidi Suutari:Tool for architects and interior designers, and I
Heidi Suutari:think it's like a bit, mm,
Heidi Suutari:mm,
Heidi Suutari:not like underused, but, uh, going a bit like under, under their radar.
Heidi Suutari:But basically, uh, what you should do do there is post the images from
Heidi Suutari:from your site or from your project.
Heidi Suutari:To drive actually traffic back to your port portfolio.
Heidi Suutari:So you get those backlinks, back links, uh, from Pinterest and then
Heidi Suutari:also create boards of your specialties.
Heidi Suutari:So for example, create a, if you are.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, let's say you, you design office spaces, so you can create a different
Heidi Suutari:boards about like modern office spaces for, or London office spaces.
Heidi Suutari:So you should create those boards so it's, they are showing up, uh, when the people
Heidi Suutari:are actually actually looking for those.
Heidi Suutari:Um, ideas, uh, to pin on, uh, on Pinterest.
Heidi Suutari:And when you have your Pinterest, uh, LA active, or when you have your, uh, photos
Heidi Suutari:on Pinterest, actually those Pinterest posts can send traffic for years.
Heidi Suutari:Unlike Instagram, Instagram or well LinkedIn, it doesn't really support.
Heidi Suutari:Support, uh, visuality that well.
Heidi Suutari:But well, when people, because Pinterest is a search eng engine
Heidi Suutari:it can really drive traffic.
Heidi Suutari:Way, way longer than Instagram because Instagram is more
Heidi Suutari:like, uh, living in the moment.
Heidi Suutari:Of course, you can put these hashtags and uh, whatnot, but if you, if you have, for
Heidi Suutari:example, posted your work to Instagram like five years ago or, well, even a
Heidi Suutari:year ago, it really doesn't come up.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, come up, um, that easily because it, it is an old post, uh, but in a
Heidi Suutari:Pinterest, it actually can surface when you, if, if you have, uh, created
Heidi Suutari:right kind of create, if you have added right kind of key keywords.
Heidi Suutari:Keywords to there, there.
Heidi Suutari:So
Heidi Suutari:So
Heidi Suutari:I think.
Heidi Suutari:It's gonna help you like long-term, with a long-term visibility, quite a lot.
Heidi Suutari:Comparing to other social media channels that are, I think, a bit more fast paced.
Heidi Suutari:So you need to really update it like all the time.
Heidi Suutari:time
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Jon Clayton:Now, back to the show.
Jon Clayton:Pinterest.
Jon Clayton:I, I completely agree.
Jon Clayton:It's, um, it's a really underrated tool.
Jon Clayton:I think you're right.
Jon Clayton:It does go under the radar.
Jon Clayton:If you're listening to this and you'd like to learn more about Pinterest, we
Jon Clayton:did an episode specifically on Pinterest.
Jon Clayton:It's probably, I can't remember the episode number, but it was with, um, a
Jon Clayton:Pinterest specialist called Faye Strange.
Jon Clayton:And it was about this time last year, so you're probably
Jon Clayton:gonna need to go back maybe.
Jon Clayton:50 episodes.
Jon Clayton:But yeah, we did a whole episode on Pinterest, so please, if you'd like to
Jon Clayton:learn more about that specifically, go and check that okay, Heidi, so Pinterest's
Jon Clayton:great and it's important, but there are other things that are important as well
Jon Clayton:when it comes to long term, uh, strategies to build your visibility online.
Jon Clayton:How about our websites?
Jon Clayton:I mean, how, how important is our own website when it comes
Jon Clayton:to building our visibility
Jon Clayton:online?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, I think it's like your digital HQ or, or your first
Heidi Suutari:impression to your potential clients,
Heidi Suutari:so
Heidi Suutari:so it should be, Easy enough to navigate and e the p your potential
Heidi Suutari:clients should find easy enough your projects and what you can offer to them.
Heidi Suutari:I know that a lot of, I have, going through like a lot of
Heidi Suutari:different, uh, website that are more, uh, more creative style.
Heidi Suutari:Sometimes they work, but sometimes they are like super, super confusing and not
Heidi Suutari:that easy to grasp as a potential client.
Heidi Suutari:So there should be like some elements that are.
Heidi Suutari:Or in the, like, right places, uh, to the potential clients and easy to navigate.
Heidi Suutari:So they shouldn't be like, too confusing.
Heidi Suutari:Too confusing.
Heidi Suutari:But of course, like you should definitely show your, your style how
Heidi Suutari:you work and why the, your potential clients should work with you.
Heidi Suutari:So that, that, that is like super important information.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, what there should be, uh, what.
Heidi Suutari:You should have there.
Heidi Suutari:And, uh, I think like if the, well, if the website is slow or, or confusing
Heidi Suutari:so it can really, people get frustrated really fast, uh, really fast these days.
Heidi Suutari:So people can just go away and click off, click out of, of your website.
Heidi Suutari:If it, if it's like not working or there are not, the pictures are not
Heidi Suutari:loading or it is a bit confusing.
Heidi Suutari:So you should have have the website that is like easy, easy to use and it's fast.
Heidi Suutari:And if you have a CEO friend sites, it's, it's, I think like it's key to
Heidi Suutari:convert those people who are interested about you into potential leads.
Heidi Suutari:So you should have some sort of a easy way for people to conduct.
Heidi Suutari:Contact you.
Heidi Suutari:So, have your information there and have, have a little box of like,
Heidi Suutari:uh, how, how people can reach you.
Heidi Suutari:So tho those things are, I think I. Important stuff that you should have at
Heidi Suutari:least nailed, nailed on your website and, uh, yeah, to have the SEO, uh, on place.
Heidi Suutari:So if you are working, let's say Manchester, so uh, you should have.
Heidi Suutari:That on your website and you should have at least one dedicated place.
Heidi Suutari:If you are, for example, interior architect in Manchester, you should
Heidi Suutari:have a A page that you tell that you are interior architect working, working
Heidi Suutari:from Manchester, and what kind of projects you actually do and tell them,
Heidi Suutari:like tell there is like you cannot have or you cannot tell, like too much
Heidi Suutari:information I think on your website just.
Heidi Suutari:Make it like a different pages if there is like lots, lots to tell.
Heidi Suutari:So put out like more pages.
Heidi Suutari:Pages over there as well.
Jon Clayton:Okay, so have a site that is fast loading.
Jon Clayton:It's clear, uh, it's, it's easy to navigate and.
Jon Clayton:We put plenty of information on there, but we can break it down into a different
Jon Clayton:number of pages to make that information more easily digestible, and that once
Jon Clayton:we're clear on what type of projects and what locations we're working in,
Jon Clayton:all those sorts of things, we can start to create pages on a website that are.
Jon Clayton:Keyword optimized for you.
Jon Clayton:You said the example there, if you're like a, an interior designer or
Jon Clayton:architect in Manchester that, you know, it'd be pretty darn good to have that
Jon Clayton:written on the website, you know, um, to, to help people to, to find you.
Jon Clayton:So yeah,
Jon Clayton:absolutely.
Heidi Suutari:Indeed.
Heidi Suutari:And, uh, for, and if you specialize on something, if you specialize, for
Heidi Suutari:example, sustainable design or you work with sustainable materials, tell that
Heidi Suutari:also because I think like nowadays, people are really, uh, looking for
Heidi Suutari:options that are working, for example, with sustain, uh, sustainability or,
Heidi Suutari:or something, something like that.
Heidi Suutari:In mind.
Heidi Suutari:So tell them, tell people, and tell the Google that also, that
Heidi Suutari:it's, it's able to find you.
Jon Clayton:absolutely.
Jon Clayton:So, Heidi, what about social media?
Jon Clayton:Because social media, it, it can be exhausting for some people.
Jon Clayton:They're, they're trying to like post every day or several
Jon Clayton:times a day on some platforms.
Jon Clayton:I mean, what's, what's the alternative to that approach?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, I think like, well for example in Instagram, I
Heidi Suutari:think like you have to post quite often there so that your page or
Heidi Suutari:your work is actually shown and seen.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, but I think like people should focus on quality or quantity.
Heidi Suutari:So I think like, not posting, posting daily, uh, for me, I think like.
Heidi Suutari:Designers, they have like a lot of, lot of going on in their daily, daily work.
Heidi Suutari:And if you are working as a entrepreneur that you have a
Heidi Suutari:lot of things on your table.
Heidi Suutari:So I think like you have to find the ways that you don't have to obsess
Heidi Suutari:every single day, uh, to posting.
Heidi Suutari:To post in a different social media, uh, channels.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, one thing is like you can schedule stuff.
Heidi Suutari:So there are, there are tools if you, if you want to spend like one day up.
Heidi Suutari:A month to check schedule different social medias.
Heidi Suutari:That is, I think that is very viable.
Heidi Suutari:But I think like you should also repurpose, uh, your content as well.
Heidi Suutari:So if you have a project update, so you can create like a multiple different
Heidi Suutari:post about this and then you can repurpose that, that same, those same
Heidi Suutari:posts like let's say hot six months later or a year later, so you don't
Heidi Suutari:have to reinvent the wheel all the time.
Heidi Suutari:I see it.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, I see a lot of people who are posting on Instagram or posting on LinkedIn that
Heidi Suutari:they are, they're actually, uh, they don't have that much of a content, but they
Heidi Suutari:are actually reposting their, like old content, which is like people have short.
Heidi Suutari:Attention spans so nobody's going to remember that.
Heidi Suutari:Yeah.
Heidi Suutari:She posted that like three months ago.
Heidi Suutari:Three months ago, and now, now it's again like why is she doing that?
Heidi Suutari:No.
Jon Clayton:so true.
Jon Clayton:It's, um, not only did people have short attention spans, but I
Jon Clayton:mean, statistically on most of the platforms, only a a fraction of your
Jon Clayton:audience actually will see that post.
Jon Clayton:So if you're putting something out and like.
Jon Clayton:Only 5% of your followers see it, then it makes sense that, well, surely I
Jon Clayton:should post this again so that some of the other 95% that didn't see it
Jon Clayton:actually get the opportunity to see it.
Jon Clayton:And as you say that you could have a, a selection of posts that you could.
Jon Clayton:Just do a little bit of variation maybe with the, the wording
Jon Clayton:or maybe swap out the image.
Jon Clayton:It could be directing them to the same project, case study, and you could have
Jon Clayton:that going out on, on a cycle, just recycling the same content each month.
Jon Clayton:Why not, you know?
Heidi Suutari:Yes, it's more work smarter, not harder.
Jon Clayton:Uh, yeah, that's it.
Jon Clayton:Work smarter, not harder.
Jon Clayton:That kind of sums it up well, um, Heidi, could you just tell
Jon Clayton:us a little bit more about Aday?
Jon Clayton:Just, you told us a little bit about how it came about in the introduction, but
Jon Clayton:tell us a little bit more about who it's for and how we can use the platform.
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, well, uh, it is for people who work in the different fields of
Heidi Suutari:architecture and in their interior design.
Heidi Suutari:So architects, uh, landscape architects, interior architects, interior designers.
Heidi Suutari:So it is a built to solve the pro problem that, um, well, you don't have your.
Heidi Suutari:Outdated, uh, outdated static portfolios sitting on your, on your hard drive
Heidi Suutari:or you don't just post your, to your Instagram or keep it there.
Heidi Suutari:So, and it is, well, of course you can have like, for example, your
Heidi Suutari:LinkedIn, but LinkedIn doesn't really support this like, visual aspect
Heidi Suutari:aspect of the show in your work.
Heidi Suutari:And then they are like the hands or, or triple, but they are, they are for
Heidi Suutari:most, mostly of those people who are, who are designing pixels, not spaces
Heidi Suutari:for people who are designing different physical spaces, uh, to show their work.
Heidi Suutari:Keep your portfolio up to date.
Heidi Suutari:So it's like super easy to share your, share your, uh, profile to potential
Heidi Suutari:clients or potential employers or people, colleagues or whatever.
Heidi Suutari:So it's like easy.
Heidi Suutari:Easy to show and show your work, share your work, and update your
Heidi Suutari:work because well, when we were doing the first interviews, we.
Heidi Suutari:we.
Heidi Suutari:We realized, or we understood that there was already a problem, that sometimes
Heidi Suutari:the, in your hot, hot drive, there is a, there is a file or folder when the, the,
Heidi Suutari:uh, PDFs are named, like latest, latest, latest portfolio, 2005, 2000 something.
Heidi Suutari:And it's like easy way to keep your work, uh, updated and strong.
Heidi Suutari:Show to the right people.
Heidi Suutari:And idea is that it's also help, helps to get you discovered by the right clients.
Heidi Suutari:So people can come to ARG site and they can look for different kind of projects.
Heidi Suutari:Projects and the clients, potential clients can actually
Heidi Suutari:reach out to you directly.
Heidi Suutari:So it is a place where your work is not buried into a ton of irrelevant content
Heidi Suutari:or, or a ton of under, behind like a lot of different types of content.
Heidi Suutari:So it is a place where.
Heidi Suutari:When people have a need to find somebody to look, to look for architects
Heidi Suutari:or look for a designer, they can come over there and search, search
Heidi Suutari:and, uh, first find an inspiration.
Heidi Suutari:So that's why it is important that you, that you have your work.
Heidi Suutari:Shown there.
Heidi Suutari:And it's also important that you, uh, have your project descriptions there so
Heidi Suutari:people can actually find them, find them.
Heidi Suutari:And it's also, well it's also a good place gain your gain back links to your website.
Heidi Suutari:When I, when I was mentioning that, that uh, you should get that back links
Heidi Suutari:to your website from other places.
Heidi Suutari:So it is a great place to get tho those.
Heidi Suutari:Those as well.
Heidi Suutari:And I think it's like idea both for emerging professionals
Heidi Suutari:and established firms.
Heidi Suutari:So we are supporting, currently you can create your own personal, uh,
Heidi Suutari:profile on architect, but then also you can create your company profile.
Heidi Suutari:A and I, I know that there are a lot of cases where there has been
Heidi Suutari:one project, but there has been a lot of people who have collaborated
Heidi Suutari:on that project and sometimes people are a bit afraid to share.
Heidi Suutari:Share those, um, projects if they are not like, really if it's
Heidi Suutari:owned by a company, for example.
Heidi Suutari:But we have tackled that so that, for example, when a company creates
Heidi Suutari:a projects project on the site, they can hack, uh, those people
Heidi Suutari:who have worked in that project.
Heidi Suutari:So you get that credit as well.
Heidi Suutari:So, uh, it'll show on your profile as a collaborational, uh, project.
Heidi Suutari:So when you are looking for.
Heidi Suutari:Well, if you are a person who is looking for a job, so you actually
Heidi Suutari:get the credit of those projects that you have been working, uh, before.
Jon Clayton:Ah, sounds really cool.
Jon Clayton:Thanks for, for sharing Heidi, what, what's the main thing that you'd
Jon Clayton:like everyone to take away from our conversation today about the, the topic
Jon Clayton:we've been talking
Heidi Suutari:I think like, um, people should treat their online presence a
Heidi Suutari:bit like an ecosystem, so to speak.
Heidi Suutari:So you should have your.
Heidi Suutari:your.
Heidi Suutari:Websites, you should have your socials, uh, you should have your, uh, portfolio.
Heidi Suutari:So you should have those all.
Heidi Suutari:But, uh, you should have like, um, a good and keep those updated.
Heidi Suutari:All, all, all of those places and remember to update, update all those.
Heidi Suutari:And I think like, uh, if you put.
Heidi Suutari:I mean, you don't have to, well, you don't have to reinvent the wheel all
Heidi Suutari:the time, so repurpose your content or do the small tweaks so it can
Heidi Suutari:really boost your visibility and, uh, bring the right kind of clients.
Heidi Suutari:And I think also descriptions and the authentic storytelling is super important.
Heidi Suutari:And you should, think a bit like your client or, uh, try to think like what
Heidi Suutari:your client would want to hear about these projects that you have made before.
Heidi Suutari:Because it, uh, builds
Heidi Suutari:trust
Heidi Suutari:really fast and the more clear the descriptions are, it is.
Heidi Suutari:Easier for the potential clients or potential employers, uh, to
Heidi Suutari:contact you and work with you?
Jon Clayton:Got it.
Jon Clayton:That makes sense.
Jon Clayton:Was there anything else you wanted to add about the topic
Jon Clayton:that we haven't already covered?
Heidi Suutari:Hmm, well, I think like people should show their
Heidi Suutari:personality and passion, passion, uh, to come through because of course.
Heidi Suutari:Clients love seeing that.
Heidi Suutari:And,
Heidi Suutari:and
Heidi Suutari:sometimes I think like as an architect, you might be like too
Heidi Suutari:deep into what you're doing, uh, and you're seeing it a bit too close.
Heidi Suutari:Uh, so I suggest that you don't get stuck on these like technical
Heidi Suutari:details or technical jargon and try to think like, the message.
Heidi Suutari:That you're sending to the clients.
Heidi Suutari:So clients wants clear, clear messaging and clear clear descriptions,
Heidi Suutari:and the clients want to know that why you're different and why they
Heidi Suutari:should work basically with you.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:So show a bit more personality
Heidi Suutari:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:and and um, yeah, be really clear how you describe things.
Jon Clayton:So it's easy for.
Jon Clayton:You're the right clients to understand what you do.
Jon Clayton:So Heidi, I've got one more question I wanted to ask.
Jon Clayton:I love to travel and to discover new places.
Jon Clayton:I was just wondering if you could tell me about one of your
Jon Clayton:favorite you love about it.
Heidi Suutari:Oh, well, um, well I have been, uh, traveling in Finland, uh,
Heidi Suutari:into, to Lapland, but I usually don't go there in the winter time because it's.
Heidi Suutari:it's.
Heidi Suutari:Well, it's quite dark over there and quite cold, but I love going
Heidi Suutari:there in the summertime when the sun doesn't sit down and it is super
Heidi Suutari:nice and it's super beautiful and sometimes it's like super hot as well.
Heidi Suutari:So, um, maybe I object to finish.
Heidi Suutari:Lapland would be nice and then you can go to have a sauna over
Heidi Suutari:there and hiking and all that
Heidi Suutari:stuff.
Jon Clayton:Oh, that sounds fantastic.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, that's, that sounds very well worth a visit.
Jon Clayton:I shall add it to the, the growing bucket list of places to visit.
Jon Clayton:So, Heidi, thanks again for joining us today, uh, for coming
Jon Clayton:along, sharing your expertise.
Jon Clayton:Um, do you wanna just remind everybody about the, the website where the
Jon Clayton:domain, where they can find it?
Heidi Suutari:Yeah, it's.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:And that is, uh, I'll spell that out actually, just so there's no confusion.
Jon Clayton:That's A-R-K-I-S-T e.com.
Jon Clayton:And I'll put a link in the show notes as well, so it's easy for
Jon Clayton:people to, to find the site.
Jon Clayton:Perfect.
Jon Clayton:Well, thanks again, Heidi.
Heidi Suutari:Thank you very much.
Heidi Suutari:It was a very pleasant to talk with you, John.
Jon Clayton:Thanks so much for listening to this episode
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