How do you promote yourselves?

[augustobohm]

Hello!

 

I'm about to start my own arch-viz atudio, i already have everyting set on paper, minimal income/year, brand, facebook page, website and portfolio (not a big one but it is good enough for the start).

But the thing is i don't know how can i promote my work and be seen.

 

So i'm asking you guys, what was your experience on promoting your brand?

 

Thank you!

[TomasEsperanza]

It's sounds like we're in a similar predicament. I'm not looking for clients until the new year, but have an idea about what I'll be doing to drum up some business.

 

I am thinking of simply contacting potential clients directly:

 

- I shall candidly explain what I want, and what I can offer them.

- I shall phone local architectural practices and ask if I can pop into the office for a chat.

- If I get the go ahead, I will follow the call up with a confirmation email, saying that I look forward to meeting them, and providing some links to portfolio, etc.

 

Until I have more finished professional work, my website alone may not stand up to the competition online, but I do believe people still value meeting you, and talking in person, and this is an opportunity for you to express a wish to establish an ongoing reciprocal business relationship emphasising the auspicious nature of your close proximity.

 

The brand itself is a hollow promise without the experience and images to back it up, thus I believe smart clients will read between the lines, when comparing services online. Growing the brand can happen more pro-actively when one has a service to shout about, so it's a bit "chicken and egg".

 

Of course many will espouse that location is no longer relevant, but my experience so far tell me otherwise.

 

If my approach doesn't yield results then I shall soon know and revise.

 

Of course all the usual social network devices should be used well, but I can't see them helping if our service isn't superior to the plethora of others, who on average seem to be very good. A genuinely useful point of difference would be most desirable, along with a strong rapport with your client.

 

Being a freelancer I see I am an underdog in a way (while London is only 45mins away and full of amazing established viz companies) so I will look to work with small but ambitious practices who can facilitate a mutual development.

[Arnold Sher]

Hi Augusto,

 

I have started my own company in 2002 so i am probably in a good position to share of what has worked for us. I guess i am old school in a sense that i believe in human interaction and therefore the very first thing i did was to contact everyone that i knew in the field. I made a list of all the people that i knew in architecture, interior design and building industries and just started calling them. It was really easy as most of them were my friends or acquaintances and i did not have to do the dreaded "cold calling". That in turn led to recommendations to their friends and acquaintances and so the ball started to roll. In fact, that was how we set up our business. We only worked with people that we knew or with people that were recommended by someone we knew. We tried e-mailing various companies that we have never worked with and the response was dismal. We also setup all the the usual things i.e. website, Facebook, behance , twitter and linkedin. All these things are really useful once the prospective client wants to check you out but i think in all the years that we have been doing this i can count it on my one hand the amount times that we have picked up work purely from some one googling for 3d architectural renderings. I also think that because we specialise in high profile projects i.e..hotels, casino and mixed use developments our client do not usually randomly pick guys of the internet so by the time they drop us a phone call they know exactly what we do and how we do it. My best advise would be is to start with people around you and build it from there. You will be surprised by the power of "by word of mouth". I hope this helps and please let us know how it goes for you. All the best!!!

[michaelgolden]

just want to quickly second arnold's comments. all of my work basically comes from referrals. either old clients coming back for more, past clients passing my name around, or friends / referrals of friends from inside the industry. i get a lot of requests through my website and social media, but the backbone of my work never comes from there.

[philippelamoureux]

I'm in the same situation as Augusto!

 

 

My Partner and I are going to have a ''marketing'' meeting soon about how we try approach clients and what we can do to differenciate ourselves.

 

 

Social medias : we don't think we'll have a Facebook/twitter. Only a Vimeo and behance to showcase our arch-viz films/renders. We've realised that a lot of studios in our town use Facebook but they don't keep it up-to-date. I'd prefer to have no Facebook than a ''dead'' one.

 

 

Cold calls : I think this method is dated and an annoyance for the company you try to make contact with.

 

 

-I was thinking about sending small flyers with maybe some prints of our best renders to a selection of the best local architecture/design studios. Just to catch their attention. Maybe receiving printed images will be more interesting than receiving a url linking to our website. We are based in a town full of design studios of all kind so I guess that helps!

 

 

-In my city there are a couple of annual design shows/exhibitions so eventually we could try to have a little booth at one of those!!! We are focusing on real-time arch-viz. A small booth with an interesting live/vr demo scene could be very cool!

 

 

-I've heard about a cool idea. Let's say you can make 360 pano renders. You could send a couple of Google cardboard branded with your company's logo (it's possible to buy big bundles online) to a few studios and give them a link to go experience one of your scene in VR (or just pano). It's just a little goodie but I'm sure people would love it! Worst case they get a free Google cardboard, what could go wrong hehe!

 

 

-My studio partner is going to buy a house soon from a prefab house builder. They offer a lot of customisation for their houses and my partner is even modifiying the main plans. We are doing a real-time viz of it for our portfolio but it will also serve to show the house with the modifications to them. Hopefully they'll like it and maybe we could get a contract to make viz/configurator of all their houses. It's just a opportunity to take, who knows!

Edited March 24, 2016 by philippelamoureux

[philippelamoureux]

It's sounds like we're in a similar predicament. I'm not looking for clients until the new year, but have an idea about what I'll be doing to drum up some business.

 

I am thinking of simply contacting potential clients directly:

 

- I shall candidly explain what I want, and what I can offer them.

- I shall phone local architectural practices and ask if I can pop into the office for a chat.

- If I get the go ahead, I will follow the call up with a confirmation email, saying that I look forward to meeting them, and providing some links to portfolio, etc.

 

Until I have more finished professional work, my website alone may not stand up to the competition online, but I do believe people still value meeting you, and talking in person, and this is an opportunity for you to express a wish to establish an ongoing reciprocal business relationship emphasising the auspicious nature of your close proximity.

 

The brand itself is a hollow promise without the experience and images to back it up, thus I believe smart clients will read between the lines, when comparing services online. Growing the brand can happen more pro-actively when one has a service to shout about, so it's a bit "chicken and egg".

 

Of course many will espouse that location is no longer relevant, but my experience so far tell me otherwise.

 

If my approach doesn't yield results then I shall soon know and revise.

 

Of course all the usual social network devices should be used well, but I can't see them helping if our service isn't superior to the plethora of others, who on average seem to be very good. A genuinely useful point of difference would be most desirable, along with a strong rapport with your client.

 

Being a freelancer I see I am an underdog in a way (while London is only 45mins away and full of amazing established viz companies) so I will look to work with small but ambitious practices who can facilitate a mutual development.

 

 

Thomas, do you have a real website? If no I strongly suggest you make one. I think it's important to make yourself look pro. I'm gonna quote Corey Beaulieu form another thread :

 

 

''First, Freelance is a stupid word. you are a company. Make it so in whatever country you live in. File a license and no one will ever need to know how many people you have working for you.''

 

 

Imo the freelancer word always sound ''cheap'' and not synonym of the best quality (even tho we all know it's not true) compared to having a studio or a company. Freelancer usually mean your client is sending a job to 1 guy... is it reliable? Debatable. Sending your job to a company sounds way more reliable to me.

 

 

Good luck man!

[Nic H]

promote yourself with good work

[TomasEsperanza]

Thomas, do you have a real website? If no I strongly suggest you make one. I think it's important to make yourself look pro. I'm gonna quote Corey Beaulieu form another thread :

 

 

''First, Freelance is a stupid word. you are a company. Make it so in whatever country you live in. File a license and no one will ever need to know how many people you have working for you.''

 

 

Imo the freelancer word always sound ''cheap'' and not synonym of the best quality (even tho we all know it's not true) compared to having a studio or a company. Freelancer usually mean your client is sending a job to 1 guy... is it reliable? Debatable. Sending your job to a company sounds way more reliable to me.

 

 

Good luck man!

 

Here's a link to my website. It's a WIP, and so I'm not promoting it until I'm satisfied with it. It is "live", but hidden from Google search.

 

http://www.th-visuals.com/

 

Constructive feedback most welcome.

 

I've never viewed the "Freelancer" label as having negative connotations, but if many others do, then clearly it's worth redressing. Interesting.

[heni30]

Hi Thomas. It looks good.

 

A couple of things. That black header with the curved ends is distracting. The strong contrast it creates against the light background is overpowering the images.

 

The white text categories are getting lost against the light background.

 

The single house with the brown roof is kind of stark - looks unfinished. An ordinary image can break the flow of more sophisticated images.

 

Your name has a clip-artish feel to it. I think a more minimal non-script text would create a better impression. Also the blue on blue might not be the best color combo.

[TomasEsperanza]

Hi Thomas. It looks good.

 

A couple of things. That black header with the curved ends is distracting. The strong contrast it creates against the light background is overpowering the images.

 

The white text categories are getting lost against the light background.

 

The single house with the brown roof is kind of stark - looks unfinished. An ordinary image can break the flow of more sophisticated images.

 

Your name has a clip-artish feel to it. I think a more minimal non-script text would create a better impression. Also the blue on blue might not be the best color combo.

 

Much appreciated George, I'll implement those changes. Thanks for taking the time.

[philippelamoureux]

Hey Thomas! There are a few things I would change on your site. Take it with a grain of salt tho I'm no expert!

 

 

The price and about pages are not helping you I think. It's pretty clear that you are a one man studio and telling future clients right off the bat that you are charging sub-standard fees to start out won't make you look like a pro. It could be hard to raise your price after that for returning clients. Instead of saying that you only take 1 project at a time (because you are alone), just say nothing. But when you'll get 2-3 job offers at the same time, tell them your studio is very busy and you cannot take more jobs for a couple weeks. You're going to appear as a very busy and succesful business!

 

 

Now for your renderings. I think you have nice stuff and I know it takes sooooooooo much time to build a portfolio (doing one myself). Why don't you make more shots of your scenes instead of only showing only 1 render of each scene? Looks like a huge waste of time to build complete scenes just to show 1 view! And when you show 4-5 views with clever composition you can tell a story and make the whole pack more interesting. On my website, we only show 6-7 projects but each projects have 5 to 10 renderings. That way I can show a project in it's entirety. I sometimes show the same scene under different lighting conditions (day, night, evening). The product visualisations page is a bit boring compared to your interior/exterior pages...especially the curtain renderings. Maybe it's not necessary to show that... if you can model a good exterior viz I'm pretty sure your clients will figure out you can do close up shots of individual objects. Or I'd redo these renderings with a perfect studio lighting so the whole gallery look more homogeneous. Afaik, products looks good because of lighting and presentation. The most boring objects can look stunning when the presentation is top notch.

 

 

Good luck man!

[TomasEsperanza]

Hey Thomas! There are a few things I would change on your site. Take it with a grain of salt tho I'm no expert!

 

 

The price and about pages are not helping you I think. It's pretty clear that you are a one man studio and telling future clients right off the bat that you are charging sub-standard fees to start out won't make you look like a pro. It could be hard to raise your price after that for returning clients. Instead of saying that you only take 1 project at a time (because you are alone), just say nothing. But when you'll get 2-3 job offers at the same time, tell them your studio is very busy and you cannot take more jobs for a couple weeks. You're going to appear as a very busy and succesful business!

 

 

Now for your renderings. I think you have nice stuff and I know it takes sooooooooo much time to build a portfolio (doing one myself). Why don't you make more shots of your scenes instead of only showing only 1 render of each scene? Looks like a huge waste of time to build complete scenes just to show 1 view! And when you show 4-5 views with clever composition you can tell a story and make the whole pack more interesting. On my website, we only show 6-7 projects but each projects have 5 to 10 renderings. That way I can show a project in it's entirety. I sometimes show the same scene under different lighting conditions (day, night, evening). The product visualisations page is a bit boring compared to your interior/exterior pages...especially the curtain renderings. Maybe it's not necessary to show that... if you can model a good exterior viz I'm pretty sure your clients will figure out you can do close up shots of individual objects. Or I'd redo these renderings with a perfect studio lighting so the whole gallery look more homogeneous. Afaik, products looks good because of lighting and presentation. The most boring objects can look stunning when the presentation is top notch.

 

 

Good luck man!

 

I absolutely agree with everything you said, Philippe! Thank you so much for taking the time to give your perspective; that's very helpful indeed.

 

It's funny, once people point stuff out, it can seem so obvious, but we just can see the wood for the trees sometimes!

Edited March 25, 2016 by TomasEsperanza

[heni30]

One more thing -

 

I think personally think a portfolio website should be as neutral and minimal as possible. It's basically a backdrop to showcase your work. Museums display work on white walls; Behance portfolios are neutrally presented very effectively.

 

I haven't had a need for one but I think I would have navigation line on top, a column of work categories on the left and rest being a large display space. All info would be elegantly stated with a thin minimalist font. Zero color but stylish grays are allowed.

[TomasEsperanza]

One more thing -

 

I think personally think a portfolio website should be as neutral and minimal as possible. It's basically a backdrop to showcase your work. Museums display work on white walls; Behance portfolios are neutrally presented very effectively.

 

I haven't had a need for one but I think I would have navigation line on top, a column of work categories on the left and rest being a large display space. All info would be elegantly stated with a thin minimalist font. Zero color but stylish grays are allowed.

 

Yes, the white background is so popular for a reason, that's for sure. (Incidentally, a fave of mine is Richard Meier). The temptation when doing a website, is to look for areas to project your personality, and use all options as a point of difference. But of course, really, the work should do the talking, not the font, background and animated swipes.

 

Less is More, I guess!

[ryannelson]

promote yourself with good work

 

This is the right answer. Most of my inquiries come through instagram.

[Lupaz]

the work should do the talking, not the font, background and animated swipes.

 

This is like an architect saying "the quality of the rendering doesn't matter. It's the design that does the talking". And then they go and show the client crappy renderings.

It may work for some, but...

[TomasEsperanza]

This is like an architect saying "the quality of the rendering doesn't matter. It's the design that does the talking". And then they go and show the client crappy renderings.

It may work for some, but...

 

Err... noooo. It's not like that, at all.

 

(So are you trying to be insulting or does it just come naturally?)

[augustobohm]

Alright alright guys, tale it easy... I think what Thomas ment to say is that architects and our clientes care more about the design of the object or building, than the details... I think if is a project to develop for some public, you definetly should care lots about details, but if is just to show a cliente about the concept of a room, which will only be shown for a single client and will not care about this you should not take that time. I think is more about care for details Thais will matter in your scene. I saw once an study which projected the eue contact of architects and people from the Field, compared to the common public into a 3d scene with a good post production. Architects focused on the design of the building, and the public hadca spread eye contact in the whole scene and their components from the post production. So, i think is about knowing from who you will develop than chosing a good render or a good design. Just to everybody know, i'm creating a flythrough of a house in unreal engine for architects in my city to show for the clients a 3D perspective with the option to chance the materiais in real time, i expect to sell this ideia and help them to finish Jobs more quickly with not só many meetings and material changes on the process.

[TomasEsperanza]

Alright alright guys, tale it easy... I think what Thomas ment to say is that architects and our clientes care more about the design of the object or building, than the details.

 

No, I was concurring with George about web-page design, and how the popular minimal approach makes sense. Essentially, the white background is like that of an art gallery; it is there to showcase the work, as opposed to cluttering the page with "bells and whistles".

 

(But that was three weeks ago when I was getting feedback on my new website from some of the helpful guys on here. Why someone would want to come along and make a polemical statement at this point, can only be explained by the proposition that they simply don't understand and are somewhat pugnacious in disposition.)

[augustobohm]

Most by Internet and Social Networks. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, your own site. For a little time, many people will see it.

 

Thank you John, i have never tried linkedin, isn't just useful for promote your CV?

[roseangel]

If you want to be successful, it is essential to understand how to effectively and accurately promote yourself

 

Gorilla Online Marketing

Edited April 29, 2016 by roseangel

[Adam Kruvand]

You build a solid online portfolio and promote it. Like this: Studio2a 3d portfolio

 

But seriously, I think being on a portfolio network set like Behance, is even more important than having your own website nowadays. This is where people are browsing and making connections. I'm just old school with my website.

[augustobohm]

You build a solid online portfolio and promote it. Like this: Studio2a 3d portfolio

 

But seriously, I think being on a portfolio network set like Behance, is even more important than having your own website nowadays. This is where people are browsing and making connections. I'm just old school with my website.

 

humm... do you use Behance Adam? Just want to know because i created an account once, but i've never gave attention to it... it is just for posting your work like a portfolio or is used more for social?

[Nic H]

behance is budget though

its got a nasty amateur feel and isnt really for professionals

[augustobohm]

behance is budget though

its got a nasty amateur feel and isnt really for professionals

 

Humm... have any new advice? I have improved my renders a lot, and it actually helped a lot, cuz' i can now bid more for a project that anybody do nearby.