Jon Clayton:

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

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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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

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Running your architecture business.

Jon Clayton:

Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

This is architecture business club.