Jon Clayton:

Unless you run a large architecture practice, the

Jon Clayton:

chances are that you don't have your own marketing department.

Jon Clayton:

But you do still need to market yourself if you want to keep securing new clients.

Jon Clayton:

So how can you effectively market your business with limited time and resources?

Jon Clayton:

That's exactly what I uncover with Sarah Noelle Block 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:

I know that building an architecture business can feel hard, especially

Jon Clayton:

if you're a sole practitioner.

Jon Clayton:

The good news is that you don't have to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

Last year, we launched our membership community to a small

Jon Clayton:

group of founding members, including architects, architectural

Jon Clayton:

technologists and interior designers.

Jon Clayton:

We meet online each week and occasionally in person to support

Jon Clayton:

each other in building our businesses and to have some fun along the way.

Jon Clayton:

On the 1st of March 2025 we are opening the doors to a

Jon Clayton:

limited number of new members.

Jon Clayton:

If you'd like to join this supportive group of like minded

Jon Clayton:

professionals now's your chance.

Jon Clayton:

Just go to architecturebusinessclub.

Jon Clayton:

com forward slash waitlist or click the link in the show notes and enter

Jon Clayton:

your details so we can let you know.

Jon Clayton:

When and how you can join this incredible group and if you have

Jon Clayton:

any questions, just email John.

Jon Clayton:

That's J O N at Architecturebusinessclub.

Jon Clayton:

com.

Jon Clayton:

Now, let's learn how you can build a lean marketing engine for your business.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block is the founder of Tiny Marketing and creator

Jon Clayton:

of the Lean Marketing Engine.

Jon Clayton:

She's passionate about revolutionizing marketing for founder led

Jon Clayton:

business service companies.

Jon Clayton:

With over a decade of experience, Sarah has mastered the art of efficient,

Jon Clayton:

high impact marketing that drives growth without draining resources.

Jon Clayton:

Her approach leverages lean principles to create scalable marketing

Jon Clayton:

strategies, ensuring every dollar spent translates into measurable results.

Jon Clayton:

Her mission is to empower businesses to build a pipeline of ready to buy

Jon Clayton:

prospects using smart streamlined tactics to achieve their goals.

Jon Clayton:

And you can hear more from Sarah over on the tiny marketing show, which you can

Jon Clayton:

find on your favorite podcast player.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, welcome to architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Thank you for having me.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, you're very welcome.

Jon Clayton:

It's a pleasure to have you here, especially as a fellow music fan.

Jon Clayton:

We were just having a chat about your playlists.

Jon Clayton:

Could you tell me about those?

Jon Clayton:

You're really into music, aren't you?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: I

Jon Clayton:

am

Jon Clayton:

into music.

Jon Clayton:

We, um, in January, we already planned a full year of concerts and road

Jon Clayton:

trips dedicated to music festivals.

Jon Clayton:

So yeah, Spotify is like.

Jon Clayton:

My life.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, that sounds awesome.

Jon Clayton:

Is there any artists in particular that's getting hammered on

Jon Clayton:

your Spotify at the moment?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, of course.

Jon Clayton:

They always go through those fixations.

Jon Clayton:

Hozier, Noah Kahn, Rainbow Kitten Surprise.

Jon Clayton:

They're all on repeat right now.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, and Rage Against the Machine cause you know, Trump.

Jon Clayton:

we share a love of Rage Against the Machine.

Jon Clayton:

I absolutely love them.

Jon Clayton:

And I've, frustratingly never had the chance to see them live.

Jon Clayton:

I'm kind of living hope that they might just reform and do like a few dates in

Jon Clayton:

the UK at some point in my lifetime.

Jon Clayton:

So,

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: That would be cool.

Jon Clayton:

it would be cool.

Jon Clayton:

Absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

But in the meantime, I have to settle for just listening to them

Jon Clayton:

on Spotify, but, uh, nevermind.

Jon Clayton:

Hey, it's all good.

Jon Clayton:

we're not here to chat just about music.

Jon Clayton:

Although I probably could talk about music for quite a few hours.

Jon Clayton:

We are going to talk about building a lean marketing engine so the

Jon Clayton:

architecture practices with tiny or non existent marketing

Jon Clayton:

departments can still effectively and efficiently grow their business.

Jon Clayton:

I guess the best place to start with this would be What do you mean when

Jon Clayton:

you talk about a lean marketing engine?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yes.

Jon Clayton:

So I don't think we talked about this before, but I came up in the AEC world.

Jon Clayton:

So I am very familiar with like the architecture, engineering, construction

Jon Clayton:

world, and when I talk about lean marketing engines, it's finding the most

Jon Clayton:

streamlined way to get in front of that dream client and making sure that they

Jon Clayton:

are aware that they are your dream client and that you can solve their problems.

Jon Clayton:

So it's really about identifying those traits and triggers

Jon Clayton:

that they have in needing you.

Jon Clayton:

And making sure that your messaging and your content align,

Jon Clayton:

so they're like, Hey, that's me.

Jon Clayton:

They're raising their own hands.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

Particularly important for those businesses that don't have the

Jon Clayton:

benefit of having a big marketing department or somebody dedicated to

Jon Clayton:

help them, that we do need to find ways to do this very efficiently.

Jon Clayton:

And this is where this really comes in.

Jon Clayton:

So this marketing engine is made up of six parts.

Jon Clayton:

So could you walk me through that?

Jon Clayton:

Could you tell me about the first part of the marketing engine?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yes.

Jon Clayton:

So, the first part is all about identifying that dream client.

Jon Clayton:

And, when I say that, so many people think, Oh, you want me to niche down?

Jon Clayton:

I hate that idea.

Jon Clayton:

And, I do too.

Jon Clayton:

You don't have to niche down to this like specific industry or whatever building

Jon Clayton:

you need to identify the traits that your favorite clients have had and the triggers

Jon Clayton:

that made them need you in the first place and that becomes your dream client.

Jon Clayton:

Just take a few minutes.

Jon Clayton:

to sit down and write down what it is that your favorite clients had.

Jon Clayton:

Like

Jon Clayton:

Maybe they all were in the hospital space.

Jon Clayton:

Maybe they all worked with certain clientele.

Jon Clayton:

I don't know.

Jon Clayton:

You start writing it down, and you're going to start seeing that the traits

Jon Clayton:

that they have and the triggers that caused them to reach out to you in the

Jon Clayton:

first place, that there's similarities.

Jon Clayton:

Start circling those similarities that you're finding as you're

Jon Clayton:

writing down this list.

Jon Clayton:

And you've got your dream client outlined.

Jon Clayton:

And that is what you want to plug into your messaging.

Jon Clayton:

So everything that you talk about is speaking directly to them.

Jon Clayton:

It basically allows you to clone your favorite clients.

Jon Clayton:

OK, so so this isn't necessarily just thinking

Jon Clayton:

about, oh, well, they're like.

Jon Clayton:

30 to 50 years old, and it's typically females or anything like that.

Jon Clayton:

This is a different way to look at this.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: No, I don't care about any of those things, really.

Jon Clayton:

What I care about is, what was it about my offer, what I do, that

Jon Clayton:

made you need me specifically?

Jon Clayton:

Because there's a reason that they chose you to do that job, and other

Jon Clayton:

people going through what they're going through are going to need you, too.

Jon Clayton:

Who cares if they're 50?

Jon Clayton:

I don't

Jon Clayton:

I don't.

Jon Clayton:

care I don't

Jon Clayton:

care

Jon Clayton:

Uh, no.

Jon Clayton:

I mean, if, if we're offering a service that solves, uh, their problem and

Jon Clayton:

we're best placed to help them to do that and they've, we're a good client

Jon Clayton:

and we enjoyed working with them, then.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, who cares?

Jon Clayton:

Like, who cares what age they are, whatever.

Jon Clayton:

It's something like that's probably not really that relevant.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, I can see it in the consumer space, maybe, that

Jon Clayton:

you've, maybe you've written down those traits that your favorite clients

Jon Clayton:

have, and they have been in a certain age range, and that would make sense

Jon Clayton:

based off of that consumer space that you're in, but 90 percent of the time.

Jon Clayton:

Those little demographics like they're likely a dog owner and this is their

Jon Clayton:

age range This is where they live most of the time in like the b2b space.

Jon Clayton:

That doesn't matter.

Jon Clayton:

yeah, I think people will typically refer to like, identifying

Jon Clayton:

a client avatar and there's these very specific metrics that they'll look at,

Jon Clayton:

as you say, and Yeah, at the end of the day, like, we can actually talk to

Jon Clayton:

our clients that we've worked with and we can ask them about this, can't we?

Jon Clayton:

Those clients that we've already had, those really great clients that we've

Jon Clayton:

worked with already, we can just actually ask them about what it was

Jon Clayton:

that drew them to us and what it was that they got out of working with us.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Absolutely, and I didn't go one step further.

Jon Clayton:

I record every single Call I have with my clients, every single one.

Jon Clayton:

So from the sales call to our,

Jon Clayton:

like

Jon Clayton:

our monthly meetings, whatever we're doing, I'll download those

Jon Clayton:

transcripts, put it into chat, GBT and ask, what are the things that

Jon Clayton:

they like about working with me?

Jon Clayton:

What is it that triggered them to work with me in the first place?

Jon Clayton:

What traits did they talk about?

Jon Clayton:

What were happening when they reached out to me and you can quickly identify.

Jon Clayton:

Some of these things that would make it easier for you to find

Jon Clayton:

people that just like them.

Jon Clayton:

That is such a fantastic tip for everybody there that if you

Jon Clayton:

are not already recording those Zoom calls or Teams meetings and then

Jon Clayton:

using those transcripts, uh, like there's so much you can pull out of

Jon Clayton:

those to help you to connect with more people like, like the clients that

Jon Clayton:

you're already enjoying working with.

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

So the second part of the framework.

Jon Clayton:

So once we're clear on who our ideal clients are, what is it

Jon Clayton:

that comes next in the framework?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, the next thing is your signature offer So what is it

Jon Clayton:

that you are providing for them and more importantly, how do you provide it?

Jon Clayton:

So what's the framework or the journey that you're pulling your

Jon Clayton:

clients through from beginning to end?

Jon Clayton:

You need to identify That transformational arc that they're going through so you

Jon Clayton:

know how to explain it to people if you get on a sales call with someone

Jon Clayton:

and you're vaguely describing the outcomes are going to get, they might

Jon Clayton:

bite, but they're a lot more likely to bite if they can understand.

Jon Clayton:

What the next step is and the step after that and how they're getting

Jon Clayton:

to the outcome because it feels too fluffy when you're just saying this

Jon Clayton:

is what you're going to get without providing this framework and this

Jon Clayton:

is how we're getting you there.

Jon Clayton:

So signature offers next and making sure your positioning is just right.

Jon Clayton:

So you're tying those traits and triggers back to the offer.

Jon Clayton:

And this is why we're doing the offer.

Jon Clayton:

uh

Jon Clayton:

That's interesting because that's, it's a different approach to how many

Jon Clayton:

architects and architecture practice might approach things because they might

Jon Clayton:

not necessarily have a signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

They might not think about what they, the services they provide in that way.

Jon Clayton:

That it might be like, well, we do a bit of everything.

Jon Clayton:

Like we, we design spaces and buildings and we help people to,

Jon Clayton:

uh, in the UK, we, it would be.

Jon Clayton:

planning permission to see this, uh, something similar like planning laws and,

Jon Clayton:

um, legislations in the U S as well for our friends in the U S. But they might not

Jon Clayton:

necessarily have it all neatly packaged up into something like a, a signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: I bet if they thought about it, there are things that people

Jon Clayton:

are coming to them specifically for.

Jon Clayton:

There are things that they're better at doing than other

Jon Clayton:

architecture firms are doing.

Jon Clayton:

Like maybe your thing is tenant development and you

Jon Clayton:

never really thought about it.

Jon Clayton:

Cause it's just like, I did it for this company and then they told me, and then

Jon Clayton:

they talked about me to another company.

Jon Clayton:

So I did it again.

Jon Clayton:

And now you're really damn good at tenant development.

Jon Clayton:

And you never really thought about it before.

Jon Clayton:

You're like, I'm just getting a lot of this work right now.

Jon Clayton:

So if we have something that we offer, like the

Jon Clayton:

signature offer that's aligned with.

Jon Clayton:

What I dream clients are looking for.

Jon Clayton:

And it's something that we're good at delivering.

Jon Clayton:

We enjoy delivering it as well.

Jon Clayton:

This is going to make this easier to sell, isn't it?

Jon Clayton:

Like if we've got that alignment.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: easier.

Jon Clayton:

Everything is easier.

Jon Clayton:

Yes.

Jon Clayton:

Selling becomes what people are selling themselves at this point, because

Jon Clayton:

you're tying your offer, their needs into your messaging and your content.

Jon Clayton:

So people are pre selling themselves in that way.

Jon Clayton:

And then when they come to you and they're actually doing that sales

Jon Clayton:

call, it's more about logistics.

Jon Clayton:

Like, when can we start?

Jon Clayton:

What's it going to cost?

Jon Clayton:

That kind of thing, rather than YU.

Jon Clayton:

They've already been sold on YU, if you do it right.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, a question that some of the listeners might have in

Jon Clayton:

their minds now, they might be feeling, some of them might be feeling a little

Jon Clayton:

bit uncomfortable about just having one offer, like a signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

Can they still sell other things, like other services, or,

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah!

Jon Clayton:

Yes.

Jon Clayton:

And this is like, literally in my master class.

Jon Clayton:

Like, okay, you have your signature offer, and that's what you're known for.

Jon Clayton:

And that's why it's so easy to sell it, because you're known for it.

Jon Clayton:

But you can still have Upsells, downsells, back end offers, and a bunch of different

Jon Clayton:

other things that you're actually selling, but by focusing your messaging on that

Jon Clayton:

thing you're best known for, it's a lot easier, but you can still do other things.

Jon Clayton:

You're not tied to it.

Jon Clayton:

Mm

Jon Clayton:

Oh, well that's a huge relief for everybody.

Jon Clayton:

And I think as well that just makes so much more sense because like then you

Jon Clayton:

are talking about and promoting this one, you're putting your energy into

Jon Clayton:

promoting this signature offer, which is the one that you're, you're best at

Jon Clayton:

delivering, it's your area of expertise, it's the work that you really enjoy,

Jon Clayton:

those ideal clients that you really want to work with and you want more of, rather

Jon Clayton:

than spreading yourself really thinly and having a dozen different brands.

Jon Clayton:

Products and services that you're then trying to market and sell and, not

Jon Clayton:

necessarily getting much traction with it because you're trying to do too

Jon Clayton:

many different things at the same time.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: yeah, and I dare the people listening to this right now

Jon Clayton:

to think about the contractors that they hire you going to hire someone

Jon Clayton:

who's more of a generalist or are you seeking out people who solve the exact?

Jon Clayton:

Problem that you need for me I can only speak for myself for me if I

Jon Clayton:

can find someone who's an expert on that thing I'm gonna hire them Every

Jon Clayton:

time over someone who's a generalist.

Jon Clayton:

Absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

I mentioned before we hit record, we have a problem with our

Jon Clayton:

heating at home at the moment.

Jon Clayton:

So.

Jon Clayton:

Uh, like if I want to get that fixed, which I sure do, I want

Jon Clayton:

to get it fixed really quickly.

Jon Clayton:

So I've been looking for, heating engineers, like people that

Jon Clayton:

specifically do that thing.

Jon Clayton:

I don't kind of look online and go, well, I'll just find some general.

Jon Clayton:

Building maintenance person that does a little bit of

Jon Clayton:

this and a little bit of that.

Jon Clayton:

Like I want somebody that can specifically come and fix this model of boiler.

Jon Clayton:

And that's what I'm looking for.

Jon Clayton:

And it's the same with any other service or product that we buy.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: exactly.

Jon Clayton:

I don't call my handyman when my dishwasher breaks down.

Jon Clayton:

I call G G E and I said, get over here.

Jon Clayton:

Absolutely.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

Okay.

Jon Clayton:

That makes so much more sense now.

Jon Clayton:

So yeah, we know who our dream client is.

Jon Clayton:

We've crafted our signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

You will talk about then choosing one main.

Jon Clayton:

channel

Jon Clayton:

Why just one?

Jon Clayton:

And what are we talking about when we talk about a channel?

Jon Clayton:

Is that social media channel?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Think like a watering hole where your ideal

Jon Clayton:

clients are spending time.

Jon Clayton:

So it could be social media.

Jon Clayton:

It could be a niche community, like a slack group or a circle

Jon Clayton:

group, anywhere where your ideal customers are spending time.

Jon Clayton:

The more niche, the easier it gets because you become a big fish in that tiny pond.

Jon Clayton:

Um, so I say one because I'm talking to tiny marketing departments or a

Jon Clayton:

zero person marketing departments, you don't have channel managers to build.

Jon Clayton:

These many communities around your brand on all of your channels.

Jon Clayton:

So you're going to be spread so thin, your message is going to get lost,

Jon Clayton:

and you're probably going to get into that mode of ghosting after you post.

Jon Clayton:

We all do when we stretch ourselves too thin, we're like, all right,

Jon Clayton:

I did the thing, but you have to build a community around your brand.

Jon Clayton:

And that's why I say focus on one channel because you realistically

Jon Clayton:

can't do that when you are on.

Jon Clayton:

X, Facebook, Instagram, everywhere.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

And that's interesting.

Jon Clayton:

One of the first things that you said there was about the channel where your

Jon Clayton:

idea customers are hanging out, like where they are, like if there's no point

Jon Clayton:

if you want him to get some inquiries and get some sales, then just because

Jon Clayton:

you enjoy Instagram, like that doesn't mean that's the right place to be.

Jon Clayton:

if your clients.

Jon Clayton:

If that's not where they're most active.

Jon Clayton:

So, um, yeah, that is something worth kind of recognizing, isn't it?

Jon Clayton:

Thinking, what is the platform where I can be where those ideal customers

Jon Clayton:

are, I can connect with them.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

You're not going to convert them to whatever channel you happen to enjoy.

Jon Clayton:

You have to go where they already are.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, that's that's going to be upsetting for some people.

Jon Clayton:

They might be hoping they can just go on, uh, go on Tik Tok and just like, you know,

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: I mean, I like

Jon Clayton:

cat videos

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: my business isn't there.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah

Jon Clayton:

Okay.

Jon Clayton:

The next thing we talk about is core content.

Jon Clayton:

You recommend creating some kind of core content.

Jon Clayton:

What, what do you mean when you talk about core content?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yes.

Jon Clayton:

So, Let's say during your dream client phase, you develop a three

Jon Clayton:

pillar messaging system, easy, and it identifies, you know, what you

Jon Clayton:

do and the big highlight of the outcomes that you have, then your

Jon Clayton:

core content is the anchor for that.

Jon Clayton:

This is where you're creating little teaching moments and building

Jon Clayton:

community and it feeds everything else.

Jon Clayton:

So when I say core content, I mean one thing that you're willing

Jon Clayton:

to commit on a regular basis.

Jon Clayton:

And then you can use it as the anchor for everything else.

Jon Clayton:

So for myself, it's my podcast.

Jon Clayton:

Tiny marketing is my core content.

Jon Clayton:

I committed to doing it weekly.

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

Now I take the transcripts from that podcast and I break it up

Jon Clayton:

into little teaching moments and that becomes my email.

Jon Clayton:

That becomes my social media posts that.

Jon Clayton:

Leads into the lead generator that I am doing that month.

Jon Clayton:

something that you mentioned there is about content repurposing,

Jon Clayton:

how you've chosen one main Type of core content, which is your podcast, but

Jon Clayton:

then you're taking the text transcripts from that and then you're finding a

Jon Clayton:

variety of different ways to be able to repurpose that then you then you've got

Jon Clayton:

content to use on your social social media channels too, which is really cool.

Jon Clayton:

Could you.

Jon Clayton:

Give some other examples of perhaps some other types of core

Jon Clayton:

content that people could do.

Jon Clayton:

So we've, we've talked about podcasting.

Jon Clayton:

Is there anything else that people could do for their core content

Jon Clayton:

if podcasting wasn't for them?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, and podcast is not gonna be for everybody Not everyone

Jon Clayton:

wants that the thing that I direct my clients to first is a hybrid core

Jon Clayton:

content lead generator so their core content is going to be something that

Jon Clayton:

actively brings in leads while also being that Anchor that you can distribute

Jon Clayton:

as different pieces of microcontent.

Jon Clayton:

So that might look like a monthly masterclass.

Jon Clayton:

It might even be as far and in between as an annual summit where they bring

Jon Clayton:

in speakers and they get little mini masterclasses and they have it all in one

Jon Clayton:

thing, but then every single one of those little mini masterclasses in that summit

Jon Clayton:

can become content and teaching moments.

Jon Clayton:

For social and email throughout that year because it's so robust that it

Jon Clayton:

can feed your content for a year and you can drive it all back to that

Jon Clayton:

on demand summit after the fact.

Jon Clayton:

So you're, it's creating an ecosystem.

Jon Clayton:

Those tiny teaching moments in your micro content lead back to the big

Jon Clayton:

content and that big content leads to your active lead generators So it's

Jon Clayton:

all playing together really nicely

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

It's just.

Jon Clayton:

Everything working together so that you've got this core content, uh, as

Jon Clayton:

you say could be the podcast I guess it could be perhaps, uh, youtube

Jon Clayton:

could be a video video channel

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, it could be a youtube show.

Jon Clayton:

It could be research reports that are quarterly.

Jon Clayton:

It could be a networking event Um, I actually have a hundred different

Jon Clayton:

variations of what your core content can be within my tiny marketing club

Jon Clayton:

um, there are Whatever your magic is, what you're good at, there's a

Jon Clayton:

way to turn that into core content.

Jon Clayton:

There's a variation.

Jon Clayton:

I guess that would be the the sweet spot if you can find a a type of

Jon Clayton:

content that I don't want to necessarily say that entirely feels comfortable

Jon Clayton:

because there is an argument to say that actually, you know, growth happens when

Jon Clayton:

you move a bit out of your comfort zone, but actually, I think, particularly if

Jon Clayton:

you're getting started, if it's something that feels so uncomfortable to do,

Jon Clayton:

you're not going to get consistent enough with it for it to be able to become a

Jon Clayton:

habit, particularly if it's something that you're looking to do regular.

Jon Clayton:

For me, Uh, I mean, I love, love podcasting, podcasting is something that

Jon Clayton:

I'm, uh, become very passionate about.

Jon Clayton:

So, so that would be the thing for me, but for others, as you say, it

Jon Clayton:

could be that it's, um, an annual summit that gets promoted throughout

Jon Clayton:

the year and then gets repurposed.

Jon Clayton:

It could be regular events.

Jon Clayton:

It could be something that you're running, maybe a monthly masterclass.

Jon Clayton:

There's so many different options there

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: hmm.

Jon Clayton:

them.

Jon Clayton:

So that's really good to know that there are those options there for

Jon Clayton:

everybody that they can choose something and test it and trial it out.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, you, you suggest having a couple of things to generate leads.

Jon Clayton:

you did also mention there that this can also tie in to your core

Jon Clayton:

content as well, but you mentioned having two things to generate leads.

Jon Clayton:

Could you talk me through those and why they matter?

Jon Clayton:

matter

Jon Clayton:

Remember, don't forget to join the wait list for our membership community,

Jon Clayton:

where you can meet other business owners who want the same thing as you.

Jon Clayton:

If a thriving business that gives you more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.

Jon Clayton:

just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist, or

Jon Clayton:

click the link in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

And enter your details.

Jon Clayton:

So you don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to improve

Jon Clayton:

your business and your life.

Jon Clayton:

And if you're enjoying the show, then please leave a five-star review or

Jon Clayton:

rating wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jon Clayton:

Now, back to the show.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, so I recommend a passive lead magnet

Jon Clayton:

and an active lead generator.

Jon Clayton:

The passive lead magnet is on demand, it's always available, always on.

Jon Clayton:

So it's just, it's dripping new leads in all the time.

Jon Clayton:

And that could be as simple as your newsletter sign up.

Jon Clayton:

Or it could be a downloadable guide or an ebook, something like that,

Jon Clayton:

or even like a past masterclass that's available on demand.

Jon Clayton:

Now, I am always like repurpose if it already exists, use that.

Jon Clayton:

Um, and then, so what you can expect is that slowly people just like

Jon Clayton:

drip into your funnel with that.

Jon Clayton:

And then the active lead generator, it is time sensitive.

Jon Clayton:

So it requires people to sign up.

Jon Clayton:

During a certain period and they have to consume it during that period

Jon Clayton:

or it disappears So that brings in a flood of new leads at one time.

Jon Clayton:

That's why it's an active lead generator.

Jon Clayton:

It's usually live or time limited so it's only available for a few days and

Jon Clayton:

Then you can expect a flood of leads at one time and you can pull them all all

Jon Clayton:

through that funnel Simultaneously, so you can organize it a bit more where

Jon Clayton:

those passive ones, you have to be a little on your toes and ready for them.

Jon Clayton:

Okay, so the two quite different things there, so the passive

Jon Clayton:

ones you said that it could be something like signing up for a newsletter, it

Jon Clayton:

could be a downloadable, maybe we have, you mentioned about repurposing, so

Jon Clayton:

maybe we've got something that maybe we delivered live or pre recorded video that

Jon Clayton:

we're then repurposing into something that people can access and just at any

Jon Clayton:

point that they could sign up for this and consume that piece of content and

Jon Clayton:

get, get them onto your email list.

Jon Clayton:

But the other thing the active lead generator, so that's going to be more

Jon Clayton:

things like I guess that could be like a, an event, like, um, a webinar

Jon Clayton:

or an in person event possibly.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

I, so I switch mine back and forth every other month.

Jon Clayton:

I have a masterclass, which is like quick and dirty 30 minutes.

Jon Clayton:

I have one tomorrow.

Jon Clayton:

And the other one that I do on the alternating month is a paid workshop.

Jon Clayton:

So, depending on the type of lead generator you're doing,

Jon Clayton:

you're going to get different levels of warmth in your leads.

Jon Clayton:

So passive lead magnets will bring in cold leads because they don't

Jon Clayton:

have to consume it right away.

Jon Clayton:

It might sit in their inbox forever.

Jon Clayton:

So they're leads, but they're pretty cold.

Jon Clayton:

And then we have active lead generators, which bring in warmer leads because If

Jon Clayton:

they want to consume it, they have to do it during that certain period of time.

Jon Clayton:

So I like those.

Jon Clayton:

But micro content or micro offers like a paid workshop, something between the

Jon Clayton:

like 27 and 97 range, bring in hot leads.

Jon Clayton:

Because as soon as people apply monetary value to the thing that they're getting,

Jon Clayton:

they are a lot more likely to consume it.

Jon Clayton:

They're like, well, I paid for it.

Jon Clayton:

I am going to access that.

Jon Clayton:

I'm going to get that.

Jon Clayton:

And then we have our fire leads, which are people that are coming

Jon Clayton:

into our gateway offers, which is the next piece of this six part engine.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

That's really interesting.

Jon Clayton:

That you talk through the difference between the.

Jon Clayton:

The hotness, the temperature of those leads that you're bringing in that if

Jon Clayton:

it's something that people are getting for free, they're likely to be a colder

Jon Clayton:

lead, which is going to take longer to convert them into a customer like

Jon Clayton:

they're not as warmed up, they're not as ready, they're not as ready, ripe

Jon Clayton:

and ready to buy, whereas if it's somebody that's got some skin in the

Jon Clayton:

game, they've invested some money to attend a paid event or a masterclass

Jon Clayton:

that

Jon Clayton:

They're going to be more ready for the next thing that's coming.

Jon Clayton:

They're going to be more likely to, well, they're going to be more likely

Jon Clayton:

to actually do the work and consume the content at your, your paid event or your

Jon Clayton:

workshop, the more likely to attend it in the first place, having paid for it.

Jon Clayton:

Um, but then they're going to be more ready.

Jon Clayton:

To buy the offer that's coming next, which neatly segues us into the

Jon Clayton:

final part of the lean marketing engine, which is a gateway offer.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: the

Jon Clayton:

is a gateway offer?

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, the gateway

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: is an entry point offer for new clients to come in.

Jon Clayton:

So this is designed very strategically to pull people from that lead generator

Jon Clayton:

all the way to your signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

So how it works is it is a standalone offer and it costs between 10 to

Jon Clayton:

25 percent of your signature offer.

Jon Clayton:

And the intention behind it is to get all stakeholders invested in the

Jon Clayton:

strategy you're creating to get them from point A, the pain, to point

Jon Clayton:

B, woohoo, I'm on the other side of that pain, the transformation.

Jon Clayton:

So, it works in three steps.

Jon Clayton:

The first step is an interview, so you interview all of the stakeholders

Jon Clayton:

or decision makers at the same time to gather all of the information that

Jon Clayton:

you would need in order to create the best path forward for them.

Jon Clayton:

So what would that journey look like specifically for them?

Jon Clayton:

The second part is the documentation, so you need to create some sort of blueprint

Jon Clayton:

or strategy or audit or report or brief on what that transformation would look like,

Jon Clayton:

and in that documentation, you need to tell them what it would look like to move

Jon Clayton:

forward, so they have the option to take that strategy, do it themselves, Or, take

Jon Clayton:

that strategy and you will do it for them.

Jon Clayton:

So they need to have that point where they, you are connecting the pain, their

Jon Clayton:

goals, to the offer every step of the way in that moving forward section.

Jon Clayton:

And then part three is the live review.

Jon Clayton:

So during the live review, that's when the selling happens.

Jon Clayton:

You give it to them ahead of time so they have time to figure out

Jon Clayton:

what questions they have, talk about what they would want to revise.

Jon Clayton:

The live session, you do that.

Jon Clayton:

You had that conversation and at the end, that's when you're going to move them.

Jon Clayton:

Like, Hey, you can do this on your own or you can have me do it.

Jon Clayton:

And this is what it would look like and connect those dots.

Jon Clayton:

So you're connecting what you learned from that interview to the

Jon Clayton:

reason why you're choosing this path forward with them in your offer.

Jon Clayton:

So I have a question.

Jon Clayton:

The

Jon Clayton:

The first part of that, that first step, so the interview part where you're asking

Jon Clayton:

those questions and you're learning about the transformation that they're

Jon Clayton:

essentially looking for, would you, would that normally be part of that

Jon Clayton:

paid gateway offer or is that like, a lead in like a sort of, sometimes

Jon Clayton:

people will have like a discovery call that something as a free journey?

Jon Clayton:

Unpaid thing before they then begin delivering a paid service, but

Jon Clayton:

you'd see that We're getting paid.

Jon Clayton:

We're getting paid.

Jon Clayton:

I like the sound of it

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yeah, yeah, no, we're getting paid for that.

Jon Clayton:

That's hard work.

Jon Clayton:

Um, so how I do it is I'll have like a 15 to 20 minute conversation with

Jon Clayton:

someone that's more of a Fit check, like.

Jon Clayton:

Do we vibe and is this someone I can help and if this is someone I can help then

Jon Clayton:

I'll say okay the next steps are to book your, you know, insert entry offer here.

Jon Clayton:

Mm

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: And during that time that's when we're going to do this

Jon Clayton:

interview, build out your strategy and figure out your path to getting to this

Jon Clayton:

goal, whatever their goal might be.

Jon Clayton:

But your entry offer is going to take over, it's going to replace the discovery.

Jon Clayton:

The proposal and the onboarding that you would typically have, that's

Jon Clayton:

usually unpaid or not adequately assessed when you're deciding

Jon Clayton:

on your signature offer pricing.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, I, I love, I love the idea.

Jon Clayton:

So essentially there's certain elements that normally the normal way

Jon Clayton:

of things that we, it might be non billable hours that these companies

Jon Clayton:

are writing off and saying, well, you know, we have to spend so many

Jon Clayton:

hours having these conversations and.

Jon Clayton:

Meetings with prospective clients and then doing this initial audit or analysis of

Jon Clayton:

their needs and then putting it together into some kind of proposal and, and

Jon Clayton:

all of that can take a lot of time and they are often not getting paid for it.

Jon Clayton:

Whereas this way of working, having that packaged as a

Jon Clayton:

gateway offer that has some very.

Jon Clayton:

Clear deliverables that they get and framing it and pitching it in such

Jon Clayton:

a way means that we can do all of that stuff and get paid for doing it.

Jon Clayton:

And I guess it serves as a, a taster of actually, actually experiencing what

Jon Clayton:

it's like to work with that client.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah,

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: of you the opportunity to say, hmm, we vibed or we didn't.

Jon Clayton:

I would want to work with them or I wouldn't.

Jon Clayton:

It also pretty much guarantees that the signature offer that you do is going to

Jon Clayton:

go off without a hitch because you've pre built the strategy that you're taking them

Jon Clayton:

through and you have had them sign off.

Jon Clayton:

Yes, I love this before the project begins.

Jon Clayton:

So you have this roadmap that you can always go back to.

Jon Clayton:

Like if they're pushing back, they're like, why are we doing this?

Jon Clayton:

Look

Jon Clayton:

This is why it's, it was in the strategy that you signed off on.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, do you have any thoughts on, um, an example of a gateway offer for, for

Jon Clayton:

an architect or architecture practice owner that might be listening in?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Let's see.

Jon Clayton:

Putting you on the spot

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: You are.

Jon Clayton:

I didn't think about this ahead of time.

Jon Clayton:

Um, let's go with the tenant development.

Jon Clayton:

Um, chitty chat that I was using example I was using earlier.

Jon Clayton:

So let's say a client comes to you in their business and they're

Jon Clayton:

like, we're looking at this space.

Jon Clayton:

Um, it doesn't fit at all.

Jon Clayton:

It used to be a restaurant and we're going to be a barbershop.

Jon Clayton:

Um, What do you think we should do?

Jon Clayton:

What, how do you visualize this project going and what's the timeline

Jon Clayton:

would look like and all of that.

Jon Clayton:

So if they're coming to you with something like that, then your

Jon Clayton:

gateway offer could be sitting down, having a conversation with everybody

Jon Clayton:

who's involved in that project.

Jon Clayton:

So you're getting.

Jon Clayton:

All of their insights, putting down, uh, writing a report on,

Jon Clayton:

okay, this is what you guys wanted.

Jon Clayton:

This is what I see would be the best path moving forward.

Jon Clayton:

And probably I would have some sort of list.

Jon Clayton:

Like this is the, these are the line items that we would need to go through to

Jon Clayton:

turn this restaurant into a barber shop.

Jon Clayton:

I think it's the perfect location.

Jon Clayton:

Here are the stats on why it's a good location for a barbershop.

Jon Clayton:

This is what it would look like moving forward.

Jon Clayton:

So, I think that would probably be a good way to bring people in,

Jon Clayton:

build them a solid strategy that is valuable without even having to move

Jon Clayton:

forward with you if they chose not to.

Jon Clayton:

So, it's a good stand alone offer, but it also is a great

Jon Clayton:

lead in to hiring you for it.

Jon Clayton:

Because once you do that, they're like, you came up with a strategy,

Jon Clayton:

why would I go with anyone else?

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, that makes so much sense to me.

Jon Clayton:

It's like you mentioned there that this is something that has

Jon Clayton:

got standalone value on its own.

Jon Clayton:

So even if they decide, like in the case of an architect, like it could be that,

Jon Clayton:

as you say, they're doing some discovery, they've got that initial meeting, they're

Jon Clayton:

finding out everything about the aims for the project, and you're putting

Jon Clayton:

together a report that's making some.

Jon Clayton:

recommendations, it's outlining perhaps what the next steps are, who else might

Jon Clayton:

need to be involved, what might need to happen, what the timescales might

Jon Clayton:

look like, and that is something that whether or not they decide to work with

Jon Clayton:

you or whether they decide to proceed straight away or not They've got something

Jon Clayton:

that's really, really valuable that they could, if they wanted, they could

Jon Clayton:

go and take that document and they could go and get quotes from some of

Jon Clayton:

the practices, but you're going to be in the driving seat, like they're going

Jon Clayton:

to be, you're going to be their first choice, I mean, assuming that It's all

Jon Clayton:

gone well and you, you know, you didn't kind of like, I don't know, clash or

Jon Clayton:

something, you know, but assuming that it's all gone well, that you're really

Jon Clayton:

good fit for each other, then why would they not be wanting to work with you?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Exactly, and think about it, every single person, if they

Jon Clayton:

chose to go that route and shop it around, every single person is being

Jon Clayton:

compared to you, not someone else.

Jon Clayton:

You are the person that they're, or the business that they're comparing it to.

Jon Clayton:

And that puts you in a much better position than everyone else because

Jon Clayton:

they have to compare to you.

Jon Clayton:

And the other thing is when you're working with businesses, the hardest

Jon Clayton:

thing is dealing with all of the different decision makers and them not agreeing,

Jon Clayton:

but you're getting that agreement ahead of time during that entry offer.

Jon Clayton:

So you've got everyone on board and that makes selling to a

Jon Clayton:

committee of buyers a lot easier.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, so many benefits.

Jon Clayton:

I think, or something that I should just mention, if the listeners are wanting

Jon Clayton:

to learn a little bit more about entry offers, we have a podcast episode that

Jon Clayton:

was recorded a little while ago with Laura Robinson, uh, about first date offers.

Jon Clayton:

And there's some similarities between that and what we've been talking about

Jon Clayton:

here today regarding gateway offers.

Jon Clayton:

So if you want to kind of learn a little bit more about that concept, then go and

Jon Clayton:

check out that podcast episode as well.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, this has been absolutely amazing.

Jon Clayton:

So useful for everybody.

Jon Clayton:

What would be the main thing that you'd like everybody to take

Jon Clayton:

away from the conversation today?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: I would say when you're listening to this, start

Jon Clayton:

thinking about what a potential gateway offer could be for you.

Jon Clayton:

That's a great place to start when you're building your engine because

Jon Clayton:

you're having so many interviews.

Jon Clayton:

During that gateway offer process at first, you're going to sell a lot

Jon Clayton:

of them because you need to get the reps in to get really good at it.

Jon Clayton:

You are going to have so many insights from your dream clients that you can

Jon Clayton:

use to feed all of the rest of this.

Jon Clayton:

You're going to better understand who your dream client is.

Jon Clayton:

You might be interviewing people and you're like, they actually suck.

Jon Clayton:

I don't want to work with more people like that.

Jon Clayton:

And they're eliminated from your dream client profile.

Jon Clayton:

You'll understand what aspects of your offer people actually care

Jon Clayton:

about and what you could maybe toss aside that don't matter.

Jon Clayton:

You'll learn what channels they spend time on.

Jon Clayton:

Cause you can ask during that, during that time and what kind of questions come up.

Jon Clayton:

can feed your content, what you'd actually create content around.

Jon Clayton:

So everything else becomes easier.

Jon Clayton:

Start there.

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, was there anything else that you wanted to add about the topic

Jon Clayton:

that we haven't already covered today?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: I think we are good.

Jon Clayton:

Awesome.

Jon Clayton:

Awesome.

Jon Clayton:

Well, that just leaves me to ask my question that I like to ask

Jon Clayton:

the guests that come on the show.

Jon Clayton:

It's nothing to do with the topic we've been talking about.

Jon Clayton:

I just love to travel and to discover new places.

Jon Clayton:

And I was just wondering if you could tell me about one of your favourite

Jon Clayton:

places and what you love about it.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Well, one of my favorite places is Colorado because it is

Jon Clayton:

everywhere you look, it's like a painting.

Jon Clayton:

It's the most beautiful state I've ever seen.

Jon Clayton:

But when you told me that you were going to ask that question at the beginning of

Jon Clayton:

this, the first thing that popped into my head is, My car is my favorite place

Jon Clayton:

because I love road trips and I can go Anywhere and the possibilities are endless

Jon Clayton:

and I could just turn right instead of turning left and see something new

Jon Clayton:

I love that.

Jon Clayton:

That's, uh, that's so original as well, Sarah, because nobody on the show so

Jon Clayton:

far has said that their car is their favorite place, but that makes so much

Jon Clayton:

sense now that you've mentioned it.

Jon Clayton:

That's awesome.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah, thank you so much for being a guest on the show and for sharing

Jon Clayton:

your expertise with everybody.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Thanks for having me.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, you're very welcome.

Jon Clayton:

If people would like to learn more about you and connect with

Jon Clayton:

you online, where would be the best place for them to do that?

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Yes So my website is my name sarahnoelblock.

Jon Clayton:

com And I spend most of my time on linkedin.

Jon Clayton:

You can find me there And it's just slash sarahnoelblock.

Jon Clayton:

Perfect.

Jon Clayton:

I'll make sure that we also include a link to your website and your LinkedIn profile.

Jon Clayton:

We'll put those in the show notes as well, so you can just click the links in there

Jon Clayton:

and you can connect with Sarah there.

Jon Clayton:

Perfect.

Jon Clayton:

Okay.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks again, Sarah.

Jon Clayton:

Sarah Noel Block: Thank you

Jon Clayton:

Next time, I share all the details about our membership community.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

Jon Clayton:

So you never miss another episode.

Jon Clayton:

If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media platforms,

Jon Clayton:

just search for at Mr. John Clayton.

Jon Clayton:

The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.

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.