generating leads for architecture firm

Part of my undergrad studies have been towards a minor in architecture. Having said that, I worked with a number of small architecture firms in the past.

For starters, it helps to know what the firm you're working with specializing in. For example, do they handle residential architecture or commercial? A good comparison here is say you were an affiliate for a product on how to play soccer well. That's simply one niche. Consider the firms speciality, there niche.

From there you can really get a grasp of what types of leads you should be chasing after. I think your best bet would be residential clients. However, the paradigm of how architecture has been marketed has really shifted in the last 20 years. I'll talk about residential architecture here... It used to be that when you wanted a new house, you consulted a contractor, who then brought the architect on board, who designed a new home for you from scratch. Nowadays, you typically approach an architect first.

At the end of the day, I am struggling to see how this connects to internet marketing whatsoever. In my eyes, you're basically a glorified salesmen, and when it comes to the personal aspect of home design, I'd probably (as a consumer) rather prefer to reach out to the architect myself, rather than be approached by an individual who will basically "sell me" to an architect.

This isn't to say it can't be done. Hell, it's probably done all the time. I just think the only way this pertains to the internet is having an awesome web presence.

Cheers.

Thank you Itwasluck, yes this firm does both residential and commercial. I know he just paid $5000 for an ad in LA even though we live in Indiana. He is trying to expand his reach across the country and globally.

I thought maybe since he is paying that much that for sure he could spend that money more creatively in other ways.

He has a lot of ambitious goals to grow quick but his firm is small and only 4 years old. I just kind of figured that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to help him in any way possible... be it marketing online or sales (cold calling). He doesn't have a sales and or marketing person/staff and seems like he needs a lot of help and man power to help spread his work.

The work that he and his team has done this far has been top notch and has completed some pretty impressive projects...hes just looking to grow.

Not sure the best way to approach it since I know nothing about architecture and construction...although i could study the industry and his business and maybe look for some unique selling points. Seems to me he just needs some more man-power to help spread the word.

What do you think about a fanpage and using facebook ppc? He has a fanpage but it only has around 100 fans on it. I'm not sure who to target in the ppc ads. I certainly know how to build a fanpage rather quickly using ppc but never attempted it in this industry. This would be a challenge but I like challenges.

Thanks for your input.