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Seller-Doer Tools: Content Marketing

 

Content Marketing

by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

In a prior post, we looked at the value of social media and social selling as a business development tool for seller-doers. In this post we’re going to review a related, but totally different approach: content marketing.

Sometimes referred to as education-based marketing, inbound marketing, or thought leadership marketing, the idea behind content marketing is to provide interesting, useful information – aka, “content” – to your target audience. This is often accomplished via blogs, but can really be online or offline, and include:

  • Online
    o Blogs
    o Ebooks
    o Whitepapers
    o Video
    o Infographics
    o Social Media Posts & Comments
  • Offline
    o Articles
    o Books
    o Presentations
    o Panel Discussions

This is not an all-inclusive list, but does cover the primary content approaches. You have knowledge, and the process of sharing that knowledge with your target audience can open new doors and even generate leads and new business. That’s the essence of this seller-doer tool: “Build it and they will come.” (Of course, it’s not quite that easy!)

Before the era of blogs and social media, I was a big fan of content marketing, although I never called it that. Writing articles for business journals, trade publications, society journals, and company newsletters were a way to provide value and demonstrate thought leadership. Likewise, giving presentations to professional and client organizations or participating in panel discussions were effective approaches to building credibility and gaining a new audience.

These approaches still work, and should be a critical component of any content marketing campaign. Furthermore, the online content approaches of today often lead to opportunities for offline content sharing. For example, you write a blog and one of your readers invites you to speak to their organization or requests that you submit to speak at a forthcoming conference.

JT 26 wk Preemie

I was blogging before I really knew I was blogging. In 2007, my son was born severely premature (14 weeks early, 19.2 ounces). He would go on to spend 124 days in the NICU, and I needed a way to communicate with family and friends. Our third day in the NICU, one of the nurses told me about Caring Bridge, and how I could provide information on that website and share the URL with people, thus updating everyone at once. I thought it was brilliant, and soon began making regular updates. Too regular, in fact. If I would miss posting one day, the next day I would be flooded with calls and emails asking if something was wrong. People became so used to watching for updates: they were subscribing to receive them via email, and sharing the URL with friends. Soon our guest book was filled with well-wishes from people we had never met. Our little blog – written in my son’s voice – was going viral!

A few months after my son “graduated” from the NICU, I was talking with the editor of our local newspaper, and he asked if I had ever blogged. I said no, but then told him about my Caring Bridge experience. He responded, “Scott, you’re already a blogger!” And soon I was blogging about historic architecture for the newspaper website. That was in 2007, and few of us were on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter yet.

Today, there are many more online tools at our disposal! Today, I can write a blog for the company website, then promote it via my social media feeds. My connections might like or share my social media comment, or post a direct link to my blog, thus exposing it to their network – and many people that I don’t know.

Social sharing is an excellent way to expand your network and gain new connections; however, the foundation for social sharing is quality content. I’ve been the sales and marketing blogger for Engineering News-Record since 2014. A recent post about business development trends led to 25 new A/E/C connections on LinkedIn. I’m an “open networker” for A/E/C – the people I connect with virtually might have a need for JDB Engineering’s services, or might invite me to speak at a conference, or might want jdbIQity to help with marketing consulting or training. In other words, it is important for me to continually expand my network – online and off. (And with networking, sharing is a two-way street, but we’ll save that for a future post!)

At JDB Engineering, we had been dabbling with a blog for several years. We had a handful of staff members that would get excited about blogging, write a few, and then be finished with it. However, when we refreshed our brand in 2016, we knew that we needed to elevate our marketing game. JDB Engineering’s slogan of “Engineering with Creativity, Leadership by Design” essentially evolved to become our mission. But it needed proof. In 2017, we concluded that a content marketing campaign was exactly what was required to promote our brand and expand our network. So we launched a campaign in November, with a goal to produce regular, informative content (3-4 posts per month).

Six months in, we’ve seen our website traffic more than triple. We’ve generated a few leads. We’ve gained first page listings on Google for several keywords. But content marketing is a marathon, and for us it has just begun.

When I talk to industry professionals about the seller-doer model, and how content can be a useful tool, I’m often met with skepticism. “That will never work,” they say.

They’re wrong. It will and does work; however, consistency is key. One blog or article a year is simply not enough. Nor is an occasional presentation. In the advertising world, they used to talk about the “Rule of 7”; that is, someone must hear a marketer’s message at least seven times before they remember it. That “rule” apparently dates from the 1930s, when there were a lot fewer marketing messages competing for our attention. The Rule of 7 has been adopted for other functions, too, like it takes seven attempts for a seller to contact a prospect before they get through, or a seller must speak with seven prospects to get a meeting with one. Or, insert the version you’ve heard here.

Sometimes the Rule of 7 is the Rule of 10 or even 12.

What really matters is the “spirit” of the rule: you need regular messaging to gain attention. In the context of content marketing, it means that you need regular blogs, or social media posts, or presentations, to generate name recognition and create demand.

Before choosing to move forward with a content marketing program, there are several basic questions you must first address:

  • What is the Purpose? Why are you doing this? What is the endgame?
  • Who is your Audience? Is there a certain industry or position that you are targeting?
  • What is the Stage of the Buying Process? A lot of content falls under the awareness stage – it helps to generate awareness. But in B2B marketing, there’s apparently a lack of consideration stage content; that is, thought leadership that can help inform a decision on whether to move forward with your firm or not.

Perhaps the most-cited reason for the ineffectiveness of the seller-doer model is the lack of time. Seller-doers spend all their time doing, so they are too busy to sell. This negatively impacts all the tools – account mining, networking, social selling, and more. This is why content marketing can be so valuable – if you choose to blog, you can do it anytime, 24/7.

One of the keys to JDB Engineering’s success to date – and we’re still early in the process – has been a focus on making content marketing cultural. We are now an AIA CES provider, and have more than 20 one-hour programs for which we can award Learning Units. So we can give lunch-and-learn programs at architect or contractor offices, and attendees gain a CEU for their license or certification renewal. We can also present our content at industry events and conferences, and it helps that we have CEUs already approved.

We’ve also repurposed some of this presentation content and taken it directly to owners, who often have staff in need of continuing education units – and everyone is in need of continuing education, regardless of whether or not they have education requirements for license or certification renewal.

The turn toward a blogging culture is driven from the top of our organization. When we sit in meetings and share stories, you’ll here employees say, “That would make a great blog.” For instance, we have a lighting design group, JDB Illumination, and they’ve written a series about lighting temperature and illuminance, and how it impacts facilities and occupants. Just look at their recent posts:

Furthermore, these blogs incorporate content from our educational presentations, which include:

We maintain an editorial calendar, but it is dynamic. Sometimes we don’t meet our deadlines. Other times we see a lot of content generated at once. Our subjects change regularly, so we keep a master list to ensure we don’t let some topics fall through the cracks. We’ve asked experienced staff members to write blogs – and young ones as well. This is part of the process of making it cultural. In fact, in our Monday morning staff meetings (held by most A/E/C firms to review workload for the week), we now have a time category for content production.

Everyone in your firm can and should contribute to business development. Some professionals are very comfortable on the “front lines,” attending meetings, trade shows, and networking events. Others are uncomfortable with those tools, so something lower impact – like writing blogs – still allows them to contribute.

For me, one of the most valuable uses of content is not the “direct” lead (when a reader of a blog or article, for instance, is so impressed that he or she calls you about a project – this can and does happen, but not all the time!), but rather the indirect uses. In an earlier post in this series of seller-doer tools, I reviewed account management. Within the A/E/C industry, we rarely contact our clients and past clients enough, so meaningful content provides us with a great excuse to contact someone:

“Hey Susan, it’s been too long since we last spoke! I hope life is treating you well! One of my colleagues just pulled together a really interesting blog about the color temperature of light in a building, and I thought you would be interested in reading it. Check it out when you have a chance: https://jdbengineering.com/ideal-color-temperature-lighting/. And then check your calendar to see if you if you have a few dates when we could get together for lunch. I’d love to catch up and learn what’s new with you.”

The real purpose of this email is to set up an in-person visit with a former client. But having the blog made for a great excuse to reach out and contact a former client! Plus, I now have a conversation starter when I make a follow-on call.

Here’s another example: One of our staff members was meeting with a prospect, who asked about our ArcFlash consulting experience. A few clients were mentioned, and after the meeting, the staff member followed up with a short email, directing the prospect to a blog we had published on the topic. That blog post alone demonstrated our credibility and understanding better than a list of projects could. Clients are smart – they understand that just because your firm has a list of relevant projects, it may very well be that the staff members who worked on the project aren’t even with your firm anymore! As a client once told researchers from the Society for Marketing Professional Services Foundation, “Firms have pictures. People have experience.” Content marketing is a way to showcase that knowledge!

One final benefit of content marketing: personal branding. If you share your knowledge via blogs, articles, presentations, videos, and more, you will become recognized as a subject matter expert. Your personal brand will grow and new opportunities will appear: project opportunities, public speaking opportunities, writing/blogging opportunities, and even professional association opportunities – like joining a board of directors. Content marketing allows you to elevate your company while building your personal reputation, a win-win for everyone!

Connect with Scott

Questions about content marketing? Reach out to me at 717.434.1543 or sbutcher@jdbe.com. Or connect with me and let’s continue the conversation online:

New Content Marketing Training Program

jdbIQity has launched a new half-day Content Marketing Training Program, covering types of content marketing, storytelling, audience, online vs. offline, how to find ideas, repurposing, promoting, and more. If your company is looking to move forward with a content marketing program, learn more here, then contact me!

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Stop, Don’t Post that Photo: Understanding Copyrights & Usage

Ravenal Bridge, Charleston © Scott Butcher

By Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

Wouldn’t it be great if you needed a photograph for your website, blog, social media post, proposal, or presentation, and you could just hop online and find the exact image you wanted? Perhaps you could go to Google Images and do a quick search for the type of photograph you were looking for. Dozens – perhaps hundreds – of options would pop up, and you could take your pick of the cream of the crop.

Does this sound too good to be true? That you could simply search for a type of photograph online, and then download and use the photo for your or your company’s purposes? Or does that sound like your everyday workflow?

Guess what: it is too good to be true. You simply cannot legally do it!

And yet the misunderstanding of basic copyright law seems to be extremely prevalent. In just the past few weeks I’ve had to “educate” a number of industry colleagues about the law!

Copyright law can be confusing, and there are layers of complexity, but here’s the most simple rule to consider:

If you didn’t take the photo, you can’t use it.

Of course, there are exceptions: perhaps a coworker took the photo. Or you hired a professional photographer to take the photo (and you have the proper usage rights – more on that in a bit).

Yet something like three zillion users of the Internet feel that it is okay to use any photo they find online. (I may be rounding up.)

Most people understand that if an artist works hard to create a watercolor or oil painting, and posts a photo or scan of it online, it cannot be reused without the artist’s permission. And the majority of people also understand that they can’t surf to a website, copy the text, and paste it into their own website. These are both blatant violations of copyright law.

Likewise, if an architectural firm uploads a rendering of a building they are designing, people seem to understand that they can’t use that rendering on their own website. (The architectural works themselves also enjoy copyright protection, but let’s save that for another post!)

However, the exact same thing applies to photography – which is no different than other types of artistic expression.

The person (or people) who create the “art” – referred to as the author – owns the copyright to it from the moment it is created. According to the US Copyright Office, the following works are protected:

  • Literary works
  • Musical works, including any accompanying words
  • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
  • Pantomimes and choreographic works
  • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • Sound recordings, which are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds
  • Architectural works

No copyright symbol is required! So no “©”, “(c)”, or word “copyright” is necessary. It is implied. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that just because there is no copyright symbol that the image is free for you to use. Use of a copyright notice ceased being necessary in 1989.

Furthermore, only the legal holder of the copyright can decide whether or not a work (in this case, a photo) can be reproduced. So if you are at an art show and purchase a print (stand-alone, matted, framed, on a notecard, etc.) and scan it or photocopy it, you have violated copyright law. If you upload your scan to LinkedIn or Facebook or a website, you have violated copyright. If you pull out your smartphone and take a photo of it, you have violated copyright – in fact, a picture of you holding the work is a copyright violation because it is still a reproduction.

Of course, there are exceptions. One such exception is known as “work for hire.” If an employee is working on a project, and they visit a project site and take photos, the copyright for those photographs may belong to their employer. (This is where the layers of complexity come in – was the photo taken on “company time” using “company equipment”? Or was the employee using personal equipment? Was the purpose of the visit specifically related to the project, or was the employee driving by on a Saturday afternoon and hopped out of their car to take a photo?)

If you hire a professional (or amateur!) photographer to photograph a project, you very well may not own the copyrights. If you have an agreement signed by both parties stating that the photography is being performed as “work for hire,” then you are able to clearly establish who owns the copyright. Likewise, after photographs are taken, the photographer and another party (like your company) can agree, once again in writing and signed by both parties, to transfer the copyright.

But unless these steps occur, the photographer owns the exclusive copyright to the images. At that point, usage rights are typically granted. The photographer may grant unlimited rights, meaning that you can reproduce, in print or digitally, the images as you see fit. Other times limited usage rights are granted. For instance, you can use the photos in brochures, but not online. Or in brochures and online, but not in magazines. Or in magazines with regional circulation, but not national circulation.

So even though you hired a professional photographer to take photographs of your firm’s project, you may not be allowed to actually use the images for everything you think you can. Always defer to your contract! The lack of clarity here limits what you can do. Unless your rights are spelled out, assume that you don’t have usage rights.

If the photographer grants you rights to use the photos in a variety of print and digital applications, you still have no rights whatsoever to allow others to use those photos. Only the copyright holder can do that. So if you are with an architectural firm, and you give photos to the engineers who worked on a project – or even your client – remember that only you have been authorized to use the images. The engineers and client need to negotiate directly with the professional photographer – the copyright holder – to obtain usage rights. And there’s typically a cost associated with it. (Which is only fair to the photographer / copyright holder.)

How many photos are on your mobile phone? If you are like most people, there are thousands of them just sitting on your camera roll. Guess what? You own the copyright to every one of those images! (Assuming you were the “author” – or photographer – of all the images.) You get to decide who can use them and how they are used: that is a right granted to you as copyright holder!

Although copyright law affords many legal protections to photographers, proving violation of copyright can be a difficult task. It helps to register your copyrights with the US Copyright Office. Most often, photographers whose copyright has been violated simply ask the offenders to remove or stop using the photos in question. (This is typically done via a cease and desist letter.)

Finding Images to Use Legally

So what are you to do?

First, use photos that you – or your firm – has taken. You own the copyright to those, so no worries! Likewise, use photos for which your firm has been granted usage rights. These will be the ones that you commissioned a photographer to take; just be sure that you have usage rights for the intended purpose.

Second, use a stock photo gallery like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, iStockphoto, Getty Images, or another. There are actually a number of free stock photo galleries online, although their selection is somewhat limited.

Third, look for Creative Commons-licensed photos. Surf to Creative Commons, where you can search image databases from Google Images, Flickr, and more. Alternatively, you can surf to Google Images, and select “Tools” from the menu. Next, select “Usage Rights.” Look for ones labeled for reuse or reuse with modification. The noncommercial reuse option will not apply if you are looking to use the images for your company (that’s a commercial use).

Another great source of Creative Commons-licensed images is Wikimedia Commons. Some photographs and graphics can be used without attribution, but others require some sort of acknowledgement to the copyright holder.

But Wait … There’s More

I’ve spoken with many A/E/C marketers about photos they use on their firm’s website and/or in social media. Sometimes I ask if they have permission from their clients to use the photos – or even use the clients’ names on their websites. Often I’m told, “Oh no – our philosophy is to ask for forgiveness if the client sees them and doesn’t approve.” (I’ve heard this many times.)

Is it worth the risk of potentially damaging – or destroying – a relationship here? Perhaps you work for governmental agencies, or defense contractors, or manufacturers, or technology companies. Clients often require that your firm sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), and posting photos would be a clear violation of the agreement. There are legal ramifications here, not just the potential loss of a client.

Just because your client allowed you to photograph their project doesn’t mean that you have permission to post the photos on your website – or use them in your brochures. Always get client permission in writing. I’ve got a ton of great project photos that I’ve taken over the years that the clients have specifically instructed my firm not to use in marketing materials.

There’s a running joke around our office about how it’s easier to get the Federal government to allow us to use photos of their facilities than it is to get chocolate processors to allow us to share images taken inside their plants! In fairness, the chocolate processors (and manufacturers in general) believe that their processes provide a competitive advantage, so they don’t want to give their competitors a peek into their operation!).

Copyright Violations Here, There, and Everywhere!

As a photographer, I’ve had my copyrights violated countless times. Sometimes I’ll surf to a website only to be shocked to find my photos staring back at me. It really doesn’t matter if you credit me or not – if you don’t have my permission, you can’t use my photos!

There have been times that I’ve granted usage rights for images for a specific purpose, only to find the photos being used for other purposes. A lot of times this happens when someone obtains my digital images, stores them on their local server without any notes, and someone else comes in and just starts using them – a common side-effect of staff turnover.

Once I was driving down the road and stopped at a stoplight. Imagine my surprise when I looked out my driver-side window and saw a sign with eight of my photos on it! I had never even spoken with the sign company, and they had managed to steal eight of my images off the Internet to use for their own purposes! When I contacted them, they explained that they truly thought anything on the Internet was free. I told them they had to take down the sign or compensate me. They wanted to do neither, so we negotiated that they would add my name and website to the sign. For the next few years I had so many people tell me they saw my name and photos on the sign, because it was located at a prominent intersection. (And then a drunk driver plowed through the sign, and that was the end of it!)

So here’s a good rule: Maintain an image database with very specific information about usage rights – as well as client permissions. If a client allows you to use a photo on your website or in your collateral, get it in writing. It could be a letter or an email, but make sure you save it. Oftentimes there’s staff turnover, and you can suddenly find yourself in hot water with a client because a predecessor granted permission that their successor didn’t’ think should have been given! At least you can cover your butt! Also note which image copyrights are outright owned by your company, because they were taken by staff.

You Can’t Take that Picture! Or Can You?

If it is not obvious by now, project photography is like an onion, with many layers to be peeled. Beyond the copyrights and usage rights, there are also personal and property rights.

If you or your photographer is standing in a public space, feel free to shoot away. There can be no expectation of privacy. If you are on a public sidewalk, roadway, park, etc., you’re free to take and publish photos. Thus, if your client says that you can’t take photos of their project, but you can stand on a public sidewalk and take a photo, you are legally allowed to do so. (Just remember not to piss off your client in the process – taking the photo and using the photo in marketing are two very different things!)

I’ve written and photographed a number of architectural-related books. Sometimes when I’ve been photographing a building from a street or a sidewalk, an irate building owner or homeowner has approached me to ask what I was doing. I actually experienced the whole “good cop – bad cop” scenario from two security officers at a Federal courthouse once! They threatened to take my camera or SD card, and I explained to them what I was doing and politely shared my opinion (a fact proven by courts, but I didn’t’ want to be argumentative) that it was perfectly legal to take photos of buildings, including Federal buildings, from public spaces. They let me go.

Google Street View takes maximum advantage of this. Their cars drive up and down public streets taking images of everything. And then they publish the photos online. Look up your address in Google Maps and pull up street view. Heck, pull up your home address on a real estate website and an image of your house will probably pop up! Drones and satellite imagery have taken things to a whole new level, because now you can peer into backyards and courtyards – places that may not normally be visible from a public space.

However, with interior spaces, there is an expectation of privacy. You need permission to take the photos, and permission to use the photos. These permissions usually come in the form of a property release. There are forms you can download, but a simple email will suffice as well. When your client gives you approval to use a photo of their lobby on your website or in your marketing collateral, they are informally giving you a property release.

Just don’t include people. I realize that there is a trend in project photography to include people, and I’ve actually received RFPs specifically stating that people using the depicted space must be included. However, you cannot do this without obtaining a signed model release from each and every person who is clearly recognizable. It’s common to do this in schools. School districts and colleges like to see students interacting with spaces. But if any student is recognizable, you cannot use the photo without having a signed release – and in the case of minors, the release needs to be signed by a parent or legal guardian. The school cannot give permission. Thus, if you set up a camera in a cafeteria and students are eating, you cannot use the photo without a bunch of signed releases! If twenty students are recognizable and you obtain nineteen signed model releases from parents, you still cannot use the photo. (You can, however, blur a face to make it unrecognizable, or download a photo from a stock gallery and swap heads.)

I’ve seen this play out in manufacturing facilities and offices as well. I avoid including people, or try to press the shutter when they are not recognizable – perhaps their back is to me, or they are in motion and their face will be blurred. I’ve had companies specifically state that photographing union employees would violate their agreements.

Professional photographers understand this. They may even have models who work with them – for a nominal fee, they will come and occupy a space, then sign a model release. But if you’re taking the company camera or pulling out your cell phone to get the picture, you probably aren’t aware that you need a model release! Professional photographers also carry model and property release forms with them everywhere they go.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. If you are photographing a building exterior and people are walking by, you don’t typically need a model release – so long as the photo is of the building and the people are incidental. If you take a close-up photo of a person with the building in the background, get a model release. Once again, if you are in a public space – a sidewalk, a street, a public park, you can have no expectation of privacy, so photographers can shoot away.

Stop! Don’t use that Photo!

Circling back to where we started. Do not use that photo in your brochure, on your blog, in your presentation, or in a social media post unless you are sure you have the rights to use the photo! And permission from your client!

Worst-case scenario, you could be fired and sued. Most likely, it won’t come to that, but you could still have some “‘splaining to do, Lucy” with the copyright holder and/or client. If you are an A/E firm, you’re probably pretty protective of your drawings and renderings. You don’t want your copyrights to be violated. So don’t turn around and violate others’ copyrights!

The Outlier: Fair Use

Having stated all that, there’s something known as Fair Use, which allows you to use copyrighted photos without permission, under certain circumstances: criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. (But not marketing!) So if you are meeting with a client and you want to talk about façade options, you can pull images from manufactures’ websites to use, because it is research. In fact, you could probably, legally, include photographs you find in Google Images that demonstrate your point or provide knowledge or research for your clients. And I’m personally of the belief that manufacturers would like you to include their images in presentations because they want you to spec their products!

Educational presentations offer a unique challenge, and I’ve actually struggled to find clarity here. If I am giving a presentation that is not to advance my company, nor am I being paid to give, would using others’ images be considered fair use? I’m essentially being a teacher. Unfortunately, most of the research I’ve done leads me to conclude that this context could still be viewed in a commercial use, so I use my personal photos, company photos, stock photos, or Creative Commons-licensed photos to make sure I’m staying on the right side of copyright laws!

And finally, my CYA statement: I am not an attorney! These recommendations are based upon research and personal experience – not just related to my firm, but also for commissioned photography work that I’ve performed as well as working with several publishers and providing photographs for books.

For More Information

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The Most Dangerous Words in Business

Most Dangerous Words in Business

by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

I’ve heard it said that “We’ve always done it that way” is among the most dangerous phrases in business. I can’t say I disagree. Those six words effectively destroy innovation and keep companies from growing and evolving. And in the A/E/C industry, we hear those words a lot. In fact, we’re notorious for it: construction productivity is essentially unchanged since the 1960s. During the same period, manufacturing productivity went through the roof. Only now are terms like “Lean Construction” entering our lexicon. This “We’ve always done it that way” mentality, in a world of rapid change, is now the kiss of death for a business.

However, there’s another phrase stated all too often in the A/E/C industry, and I think this one needs elevated to the pantheon of creativity-sucking-backward-thinking-phrases-to-avoid. If you are an A/E/C marketer, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard these dangerous words – most likely very recently.

“That won’t work in our industry.” (Or it’s equally-ugly sibling, “That won’t work in our firm.”)

Sound familiar? Wow, it’s not just that these words are dangerous, it’s that this line of thinking can destroy companies.

The phrase is very much the bane of an A/E/C marketer’s existence.

I still come across some professional marketers who lament that they are not allowed to use social media at their company. Never mind that the most popular platforms are more than a decade old, and almost everyone has been influenced to make a buying decision by something they saw on social media!

Here’s a personal favorite for backward management thinking: a marketer told me that her company will permit her to use social media to promote the firm – so long as she does it on personal time.

I can’t imagine a marketing program that doesn’t involve social media. The people who don’t think it will work in the A/E/C industry actually have very little understanding of what it is – other than their perception of sharing dinner photos on Facebook. And the role of social media in driving traffic to your website and Search Engine Optimization is beyond their comprehension.

I recently had a spirited conversation with a salesperson who didn’t see any value in content marketing. He’s had a successful career in sales, but still believes in the traditional interruption selling approaches, like cold calling and stopping in at a company unannounced. He’s a big fan of trade shows. Although I would never stop in at a company for an unannounced sales call, which I find to be very disrespectful, I certainly understand that there are times when you need to make a cold call (although it is best avoided, if possible). And there’s no doubt that trade shows still have a place in the marketing mix.

But to disregard something as broad and proven as content marketing because you don’t really understand it makes no sense. My counter argument to the traditional salesperson was that I’ve heard him say in the past that he hates when he’s talking with someone and they’ve never heard of his company – content marketing is the perfect way to counter that. Plus, as a salesperson, shouldn’t he want loads of content at his fingertips to curate and determine which pieces could aid his prospects in their buying journey?

But no, “That won’t work in our industry. We’re B2B. We’re professional services.”

It’s the same argument professional A/E/C business developers have heard about social selling. Like a salesperson that doesn’t use LinkedIn (yes, there are still some!). It’s such an amazing tool for learning about your clients and prospects, much less connecting with them in a non-threatening way. Social selling should be a key tool within a seller’s toolbox. It is not “the” answer; however, it is an important tool.

But apparently “social selling won’t work in our industry.” Why? Because “Our clients and prospects don’t use social media.”

Still sounding familiar?

A/E/C firms need to be nimble and highly flexible. That requires change. That requires an open mind – from every employee, at every level of your organization.

We’re entering a new world of advanced automation and artificial intelligence. There will soon be “push button design” for some of the more prescriptive aspects of architecture and engineering. But there are naysayers who don’t believe that this technology will ever work in our industry. (Google “generative design” and see how it is already being employed.) Sure, I understand that it can be threatening.

There’s a statistic out there from McKinsey that roughly 45% of what you currently do in your job – 45% of what all of us currently do in our jobs – can be automated with technology available right now. Many see this as a threat. I see it as a wonderful opportunity. I certainly don’t have enough hours in a day or in a week to accomplish what I really want to do. If I can free up 45% of my workweek, there’s so many more, higher value things I can be doing.

(But that will never work in our industry, right?)

We hear a lot of talk about setting priorities. Do you focus on the important, or the urgent? Do you spend your time doing something that has a good value to your firm – or the highest value?
What if you could shed many of your less important, but necessary, tasks to focus on those that have the highest value?

Instead of saying, “That won’t work in our industry,” say “How can we get this to work in our industry?”

All it requires is a change in mindset.

Autonomous vehicles are something else that will never work in our industry, either – right? And yet, there are autonomous bulldozers and construction trucks available for sale right now! Some are appearing on jobsites as you read this.

The phrase “But that will never work in our industry” is going to be incorrect the vast majority of the time. All it takes is some innovation and creative thinking, and ideas from other industries can be easily applied to our own.

So yes, social media plays an absolutely critical role in marketing today.

And yes, A/E/C firms not incorporating content marketing into their strategy are falling behind the competition.

Yup, social selling is a necessary component of an effective sales strategy.

And beyond a doubt, automation and artificial intelligence will change the way we do business in the future – it already is changing things right now.

Firms with a “We’ve always done it that way” attitude are holding a nail to their coffin. Firms that compound that with “But that won’t work in our industry” thinking are hammering the nail and sealing their fate.

When your marketer says, “This is going to revolutionize our industry,” believe them. Embrace them. Follow their lead.

When your technology strategist says, “This is going to change our business and make us more productive and profitable,” ask where to sign up.

Everyone in your firm is a Subject Matter Expert, and they each have their specialized areas of expertise. Trust them. Follow their lead. Sure, conduct the appropriate due diligence – don’t follow blindly. But you hired these professionals for a reason, so listen to them, support them, and then get the hell out of their way.

And don’t ever say, “But that won’t work in our industry,” lest you unwittingly preside over the demise of your company and chase highly talented people – who could take your firm to the next level – into the outstretched arms of your competitors!

Or have you always done it that way?

Is your firm having trouble embracing current marketing thinking, technology, and strategy? Need to talk through an idea or train your staff? Reach out to Scott Butcher at 717.434.1543 or email him.

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Use the “Three R’s” to Simplify – and Strengthen – Your Blogs

Three R's of Blogging

by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

I’ve been beyond excited to see a number of my co-workers step up and become bloggers for www.jdbengineeirng.com. There’s a vastly inaccurate perception among far too many technical professionals that they don’t have anything important to say (write). The reality is that they are oozing with knowledge, and things that they don’t deem important, much less consider thought leadership, may be exactly what their clients and prospects are looking for. Technical professionals in the A/E/C industry are Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), but it can sometimes be difficult for them to understand that most people don’t know what they know! Our clients and prospects may be SMEs in their own right – but typically at other subjects or in other industries. Otherwise, why would they need to hire us?

For some people, writing comes easy. But for far more people – particularly those in highly technical occupations, like within the A/E/C industry – writing a blog or an article can be an intimidating pursuit. Authoring a study or crafting specifications is one thing, but providing insight to the masses is another!

I recently shared the “Three Rs” with my colleagues. No, this is not a groundbreaking scientific formula, but rather three simple things that a beginning blogger (or accomplished blogger, for that matter), can do to easily develop meaningful content.

They are:

  • Research
  • Report
  • Repurpose

Content can come from myriad places, but for those struggling to come up with an idea to write about – or actually generate content around that idea – these R’s are a good place to start!

Research – There’s an unlimited world of content out there. All it takes a bit of research! In fact, I rely heavily on research when it comes to blogging and developing presentations. Research can make a Subject Matter Amateur look like a Subject Matter Expert.

For example, earlier this year I was invited by a friend to present about workforce trends. She’s an HR professional. I’m a marketing and BD guy. What could I possibly have to offer? Well, I love researching trends – our industry and beyond – and it is one of my favorite topics to present about. I had touched on a number of critical workforce trends over the years, and after I agreed to co-present, I dug deeper. I visited human resources websites and read workforce publications. I came up with a ton of trends, and after another meeting with my friend, had a whole bunch more! This research – which was undertaken for a specific presentation opportunity – became the basis for a series of blog posts for Engineering News-Record.

Think of all the things that you’ve researched recently. New products. Alternative delivery approaches. Trends. Industry-specific best practices. The latest code revisions. All of these make perfect content for blogs.

Report – Think like a reporter. Understand that there’s a lot of extremely intelligent SMEs out there, and use them to help develop content for your blog! Interview them – gain their insight, quote them in your blog, and everyone wins. Your interview subject gets to be viewed as the “outside expert” (or “inside expert,” if you are quoting a co-worker!). Your blog content will be elevated. And your readers will gain a greater understanding of the topic you are blogging about.

Using the example of the workforce presentation, when it came to writing my ENR blog, I felt it important to interview my friend and co-presenter. On one hand, she really is the Subject Matter Expert on workforce – she’s a successful workforce advisor for a living. On the other hand, we collaborated to develop and give the presentation, and she is a part owner of the content we generated. It was only fair to make sure she was an important part of the blog! So I quoted her liberally throughout the series of posts. She added great insight and helped to interpret the trends that I addressed.

Who do you know that you could interview? Co-workers? Vendors? Clients? Friends? Colleagues at professional societies? Community leaders? Social media connections? When you think about it, the list is endless. As an added benefit, when you quote someone in your blog, you earn goodwill, strengthen a relationship, and have someone else sharing your content. Be sure to include their picture, a link to their company or institution website, and a link to their LinkedIn profile or online bio – with their permission, of course!

Repurpose – This one is as simple as it sounds. Look around you – you are constantly generating content, whether you know it or not. Much of your job involves content creation – often for clients. In the example of the workforce blog, the research was originally conducted for a presentation for which I was co-presenter. I was subsequently invited to give a presentation with similar content – but needed to greatly expand it and present as a solo act.

When I create a PowerPoint presentation, I tend to be fairly liberal with the Notes section so that if I give the presentation again in the future, I’ll know what I was thinking when I originally created the slide deck. (I often use a large image with a few words on a slide, so it is important to populate the Notes to understand the content intent.) Such was the case with this second workforce presentation. A few weeks after delivering it, I was on a train and found myself with a lot of time at my disposal. So I pulled up the PowerPoint, copied the Notes content into a Word file, and began using that information to write a new blog post. In the process, I realized that I had far more content than was needed for a single blog, so I broke it into a series of posts – combining my repurposed content with quotes from my friend.

But repurposing doesn’t stop there. The content of the blog post you are currently reading actually came from an email I sent to several co-workers about, you guessed it, the Three R’s of blogging. I shared the same insight and anecdotes, and joked at the end that I was going to turn the email into a blog post! A few minutes after I sent that email, a coworker responded that he had just submitted a report to a client, and there were four or five paragraphs within the report that were education-focused – information that would make perfect content for a blog post!

Yes, this blog post is essentially a repurposed email. Consider everything you’ve researched and written over the past few years – what could be repurposed? Obviously, you cannot share proprietary information or violate Non-Disclosure Agreements, but there’s a lot of information that can be shared generically. Think about studies you’ve written. Presentations you’ve given – even within your own department or for a company lunch-and-learn. Content that you’ve shared with clients along the way – even as simple as the pros and cons of a certain type of system, delivery approach, or product/material. Or maybe, if you’re lucky, you have an email or two that could be used. You’ve already generated the content, now repurpose it for a blog post or two!

Information is all around us, and everyone has value to offer. However, it can be difficult to translate that value from the brain to the computer. Using the Three R’s formula – Research, Report, Repurpose – you can enhance your content, simplify the process, and provide more value for your readers.

You’ve reached the end of this post – more than 1250 words created by repurposing an email sent to a handful of people!

Need help with your content strategy or training for your staff? Check out jdbIQity’s services, or contact Scott Butcher.

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Those that Lead, Speak. And Write.

by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

Leadership via Speaking & Writing

For the past several years, “content marketing” has been the buzzword in the business world. We’ve all been told about the importance of blogs, ebooks, white papers, vlogs (video blogs), and more.  And we’ve seen how some of the leading firms in our industry – of all sizes, by the way – have embraced digital technologies and utilized content as an effective marketing strategy. At the same time, we’ve seen firms that have struggled to create a useful website or any meaningful presence on social media.

I’m a huge fan of content marketing.  But too many people have a narrow definition of “content.” To me, the industry thought leaders have been using content all along, well before the advent of the World Wide Web and Internet of Things (IoT)!

Public speaking was probably the original form of content marketing. Someone had an idea, and they stood in front of a group of people and shared their idea, hoping for buy-in.  Somewhere along the way, a particularly innovative Neanderthal probably stood in front of a group of family members and suggested that the wooly mammoth would taste much better if they cooked it over a fire instead of eating it raw.  That was content marketing!  He had an idea (the concept of using fire to cook meat) and he shared his knowledge, hoping to persuade an audience. And imagine the demand that was created when other families learned about it and came knocking on his cave, asking for his expertise and offering to pay him in berries or pelts! Sounds  suspiciously like content marketing to me!

Public speaking may have evolved since that time, but it is still an excellent way to share knowledge, build name recognition, and create demand.  Client organizations, professional societies, service clubs, conferences, and trade shows are all looking for subject matter experts to share knowledge.  This is as true today as it was before computers, smart phones, blogs, and social media!

Likewise, writing has always been a form of content marketing. Just ask Thomas Jefferson. A little-known piece he wrote entitled The Declaration of Independence is a masterpiece of content marketing, and was used throughout the thirteen original colonies – which were suddenly states of a new nation – as a call to arms to fight for independence. You might say that it went viral. Of course, those pesky editors are ever-present, as was the case here. But when your editors are John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! (And everyone needs an editor!)

Content marketing is not new.  We just have a lot more channels at our disposal.

Why is this important? It seems to me that many A/E/C firms are resistant to content marketing. They think it is a waste of time. They think that no one wants to hear what they have to say, much less read what they have to write.  So they avoid new marketing technologies, or even criticize their marketing professionals who want to help move their firms into the twenty-first century!

I recently had a conversation with a technical professional, who had a negative view of blogs. During the conversation, I shared an example of how a single blog on our website had outdrawn our home page over the past year! His response was that people who were finding us via that blog were not people we wanted, and that if he was researching the topic, he wouldn’t go to an engineering firm’s website. When I queried about the facts he used to arrive at this opinion, he had none.

And therein lies much of the problem with resistance to content marketing. Technical professionals in leadership positions too often fail to understand the audience for content, much less the value of meaningful, regularly updated information on your website.  With this specific individual, I offered that because the blog was a home run, our firm was being looked at as a thought leader on the topic.  And furthermore, that the traffic it was generating was exposing new, potential clients – or referrers – to our company.  And finally, that the content was meant for consumption by clients and prospects looking to learn, not technical professionals that already have a far more advanced knowledge of the topic!

Firms need to reframe “content marketing.”  It is not just a blog or a video.  It is a presentation to a client organization.  Or an article in a magazine or newsletter.  And often, the idea that begins with a blog or survey or social media post leads to opportunities to write articles and speak at organizations and conferences!

Clients want to work with thought leaders.  They want to work with design and construction professionals that they perceive to be a “cut above” the commoditized masses they see when they look at us.  Thought leadership via content marketing is an excellent way to do this.  It allows small firms to look like big firms.  It allows you to create a competitive edge in the marketplace, and establish yourself or your co-workers as leaders in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry.

You don’t have to be the Neanderthal who invented grilling, nor the author of a document that created a new nation.  Write or speak about what you know.  Figure out how this information could be of value to a client or prospective client.  And then look at the myriad content marketing channels available to you, online or offline, and focus on one or two.  Your firm and your career will thank you!

Wondering how thought leadership can enhance your brand – company or personal? Check out jdbIQity’s offerings, or contact Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM.

A version of this article originally appeared in Professional Services Management Journal, July 2016.

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