3 Lenses of an Architects’ Personal Brand
When it comes to personal branding, most business coaches out there would tell you that you have 1 niche, 1 offer, and 1 target audience.
I used to think this way, but after working with dozens of architects on their personal brands…
I realized that it doesn’t actually work for architects.
In fact, as an architect, you want to look at your personal brand through 3 lenses — each of which serves a different purpose and audience.
Here’s the breakdown of each and how you can implement it in your brand.
Lens #1 - Your Architect Role
Goal: Get clients or dream job
Audience: Potential clients or employers
What do you want to be known for as an architect?
It can be a type of project like affordable housing, hospitality, or office buildings.
Or a hard skill that you’re good at and you enjoy doing such as renderings, detailing, or code analysis.
Or a soft skill that you’ve learned in your career like people management, emotional intelligence, or client relationship.
Each of us has our own unique skills. Start talking about what you do in your day-to-day job.
Share what you learned.
This will help set the tone for what you do as an architect and attract potential clients or employers for new opportunities.
Lens #2 - Industry Leader
Goal: Position yourself as an expert in the field. Make connections within the industry.
Audience: Other architects/Peers
Most business coaches don’t get this because they’re building an audience of business owners who are their peers and clients at the same time.
But as architects, our peers are usually not our clients, yet peer-to-peer connections are highly valuable in architecture.
This is why we have organizations like AIA, CSI, NOMA…
Not to mention the number of referrals you can get from fellow architects, consultants, and contractors.
In fact, most architects get their first clients from referrals from fellow architects who are too busy to take on more clients.
Think about what you can highlight as a leader in the industry:
Are you active in an AIA chapter? Do you mentor young designers at work? Are you volunteering for ACE?
Are you an expert in BIM? Can you teach other architects how to lay out the best restaurant plan?
Showcase what you’re doing to better the industry. AND share your knowledge with your peers.
The more you put back into the industry, the more you’ll get out of it.
Lens #3 - A Human Being
Goal: Add that human element to your brand. Attract an audience that aligns with your personality.
Audience: People who are similar to you
Every personal brand needs a human element. For architects, it’s no different.
Outside of work, what are you? A mom, a daughter? An introvert? Or are you an animal lover?
For example: a big part of my brand (and my identity in life) is that I’m an introvert.
Most clients that come to me are architects who are introverts but want to stand out and make an impact.
This is not to say that if your human lens is about being a mom in architecture, you’ll only get clients that are mothers.
This simply helps you become more relatable, and attract an audience that loves you for who you are.
Combining all 3 Lenses
Every architect needs a combination of each lens to have a powerful personal brand.
Once you have identified these 3 lenses, now you can create content pillars around each of them to start creating content online.
If you want to work on your personal brand before the end of this year, I’d like to invite you into my 1 on 1 coaching program.
Reply back if you want to jump on a quick 30-minute call to see if we’d be a good fit to work together on your personal brand.
Always cheering you on,
Joann
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