Digital media magic

Today, Design and Construction Network members will learn that the fall issue of the Design and Construction Report has been published. However, if you received my own newsletter, you would have learned about the publication on Friday.

Over the weekend, we made some improvements. One feature had a new story included, and I built in hyperlinks for several images to make it easier to navigate and use the publication. The work took about an hour to complete. As things progress, we can update and maintain the publication indefinitely.

This advantage also applies for the initial issue of the Design and Construction Report, which you can find by going to the small "archive" button on the bottom of the home page.

If you are an advertiser in the first issue, and your phone number changes, we can update your ad and put it online quickly. The online magazine format combines the readability and ease of use of conventional print media (you can easily print out copies on your office printer), with the flexibility and ease of change only possible in the online world.

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Design and Construction Report (Fall, 2009) -- Sneak Preview

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Online networks: Can growth and community co-exist?

Here is video of a Design and Construction Network "Happy Hour" I took in Washington, DC earlier this summer for the Design and Construction Report online magazine. Online resources support and enhance -- but do not replace -- conventional networking practices.

Late last week, Lloyd A. Ntuk, PE, LEED AP, Principal at LAND | Engineering, plc, sent this provocative email to me and Tim Klabunde, founder of the Design and Construction Network.

I'm a subscriber to both your blogs, and had an interesting thought regarding the size of our online communities.

I've been a member of the DCN and was struck by a recent comment by Mark (August 4 Construction Marketing Ideas blog post) on the potential future growth of the various groups. In particular was the thought of which group will eventually achieve national prominence and leadership. That thought, along with the continued expansion of the group members, made me think, "Do I want the group to continue growing and gaining national prominence?"

On the one hand, more participants means more diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives - a definite plus. But it also may mean less sense of community, and possibly less participation from members of the community (the intimidation factor of "speaking" in front of an audience, albeit virtual). As with individuals the quality of relationships is key rather than the number of connections, does this have any correlation to groups as well? I know that subgroups help to a degree, and that being in a metro-area means it will inherently be a large community, but I wanted to get your thoughts on how you see things moving forward into the future.

I answered first:

Lloyd

You ask a good question.

The best answer I can give is "I don't know" but recall a conversation with rainmaking guru Ford Harding about 18 months ago shortly after I started blogging, as I prepared my first submission to the SMPS Marketer on online social networking and leads resources. Ford then thought these resources would be ineffective for marketing; he has since changed his mind and now believes they are important - but you have to work at them. He also reminded me of the power curve, in which much success/energy and leadership is concentrated in the hands of the few.

I sense the social network resources developing now will also define within this power curve. A few "at the top" will receive (and frankly give) an inordinate amount of value from the process; for the others (the great majority) the stuff will be somewhat peripheral and more like a support tool (probably necessary!) than a core leadership thing.

As an example of the dynamics here, when I started blogging, I searched in near-vain for any other blogs relating to the topic; my goal was to offer free hyperlinks without worrying about reciprocation. In the last two weeks, I've become aware of at least five blogs "on topic" but haven't had the time or frankly the strong inclination to research them and pull them forward with references and hyperlinks.

The interesting thing is that it seems that I and Tim are now "old timers" at this stuff -- even though Tim started the linkedin. group less than a year ago, and my blog goes back just a couple of years.

There are still really strong leadership opportunities within local/regional and specialized niche markets, however.

Yesterday afternoon, Tim responded as well. (I received permission from both Tim and Lloyd to report on this email exchange before publishing it here.)

Good morning! You bring up a great point . . .

As you know the DCN was founded originally only in Washington DC with the single goal of bridging the gap between online networking and real relationship development. We have worked to achieve this by building opportunities for people to meet face to face and/or have a conversation in addition to the online discussions. I agree with you that sub-groups are part of the answer as we have expanded across the US, but more importantly I believe that local events will truly achieve the ultimate goal of the DCN. Mark Buckshon in Canada, Matt Handal in Philadelphia, Brice Johnson in Chicago, Ed Colon in Hartford, and Mike Colonnello in Baltimore are the real people turning the DCN into a national and international organization.

Now to get to my thoughts on your question: I was wrong when I originally thought that the online community would be the driver of DCN. As it turns out we get most of our "spammers" from online. Instead it is the local people that are growing the network and creating the real relationships! We agree that growth of DCN has lessened the participation of the community on the main LinkedIn discussion page (at least the % of active participants), but it has also strengthened the real relationships growing in local regions and on other locations on the web (Twitter, blogs, and subgroups for example). So the growth has created opportunity for quality relationships, while also expanding the quantity of relationships available.

Lloyd and Tim's points are worth exploring in greater depth. Online communities, social networking sites, blogs and the like are new phenomena; early adaptors started using these media just a couple of years ago, and they have become mainstream only within the past few months.

(Notably, one of our young, former employees, perhaps one of the first hires anywhere through the Linkedin.com job board system, made me aware of the social networking phenomena less than two years ago. He also introduced me to Twitter. I thought Twitter to be a nutty waste of time, but decided to continue blogging. For some reason he and his peers "gave up" on Twitter and blogging about a year ago, though he continues to be active on Facebook. Does that tell us something of the future? I think I should have coffee with him to find out what he is "into" now.)

In Ottawa, I'm still exploring how the the linkedin.com Design and Construction Network subgroup will interface within our community. Membership is growing but interaction online hasn't started to be a significant force, but my experiment of linking the group to engagement with the local Construction Specifications Canada chapter is still very much in the early stages. I sense that the online communities will enhance and encourage conventional networking relationships and business development, and open new doors to interdisciplinary relationships within the community. Of course, that is why the CSC (Canadian equivalent of Construction Specifications Institute) chapter association with the online processes is valid, and it is rational for me as a community construction news publisher to explore these ideas, as well.

Online resources, I think, will neither substitute nor replace conventional communities and friendships and this is why, as Tim reports, the general Design and Construction Network group is now largely becoming a secondary resource to local communities. They are not the best place to "spam" or try to market wholesale without building true relationships. But they can enhance, encourage, and grow your conventional network and community involvement. If you are not involved in the process, you will lose the powerful opportunities these groups provide.

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Local AEC Network (Design & Construction Professionals)

Yesterday, I reported on the apparent almost simultaneous development of the Design and Construction Network (roots in Washington DC area), and Konstructr.com (whose founder is in the Seattle, Washington, region.) That posting resulted in a comment from Curtis Lewis, based in Orlando, Florida, to tell me about the Local AEC Network (Design and Construction Professionals) and its related blog, sustainablecoin.com.

Like the Design and Construction Network (which has set up sub-groups in Philadelphia and New York), Curtis's group is seeking to reach beyond Florida. Curtis also appears to be creating the community events similar to the Design and Construction Network Happy Hours.

I'll set a permalink to this group and include the sustainablecoin.com blog within the blogroll.

Obviously, the space is new here and the sprouting of regional groups will continue as clearly we are into a new era of social networking within the architectural, engineering and construction community.

Which, if any, of the groups I know about will achieve national prominence and leadership going forward?

The jury is still out on that question, much as things were in (market leadership) flux in the very early years of the automotive industry, or more recently, in the space of Internet search engines and social networking sites.

My own biases creep into the assessment here. I tend to think the Design and Construction Network has the best chance of maintaining leadership because, while there are strong and competent personalities behind the scene at mydcn.com, the focus is on longer range relationships rather than short-term "hits", the leadership is humble and recognizes the members, not the "owners' determine its course, and at least in chronology of the start-up, it was first, or at least tied for first. (First to market is important in virtually any marketing initiative).

Of course, these biases are shaped by perspectives that go beyond the social networking space. I will keep an open mind. To explain, I know that canvassing in the residential contracting space can be effective in some situations, but prefer inbound marketing and intensive service and respect approaches (the origin of this blog two years ago!). And I respect that while "ambulance chasing" may describe a successful approach to finding new business, I would much prefer to develop relationships based on generosity and long-term mutual respect. (But I respect professional canvassers and ambulance chasers enough to know there is a place in the marketing spectrum for their approaches.)

It is quite possible the various groups will meld into a form of a super-network in time and of course other groups and initiatives are still outside of radar range here.

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Testing your ideas

Yesterday morning, I floated a trial balloon on this blog, suggesting that the Design and Construction Report could be an effective opportunity to associate your interests (as Construction Marketing Ideas blog readers) with our own marketing strategies.

I then presented the idea to our weekly general meeting, and received what amounted to a collective "sigh" from my company's sales team. They effectively told me, "no, this won't work."

Glub. "Brilliant ideas" go nowhere without execution. So, the question is, am I wrong to assume there is a valid marketing correlation between responses and connections from this blog and the marketing of publicity-focused services, or should I push forward and (even more dramatically) invest time, resources, and money in making it happen?

Most of the time, these sorts of questions are aired and responded quietly within our own businesses.

But this blog's foundation is its openness and experimentation -- you can see ideas maturing, tested, and sometimes failing, right in front of your eyes. The result hopefully show you what can work for your own business, and which ideas should be dropped like lead balloons. (That's the second balloon analogy in this posting.)

In practice, most successful business people process dozens, even hundreds, of ideas a year. These arrive through their own experiences, insight flashes, employees, external media publicity and conferences, and sometimes, the initiative of outside sales representatives.

We need to process the ideas quickly and sort them into ones worthy of further experimentation and implementation. Most ideas rightfully end up right in the trash can, but unfortunately, I'm sure, many worthy innovations are not introduced because of inertia, fear, laziness, or simply lack of knowledge.

The question is, how can you sift the ideas effectively and quickly and focus your energies where they will be most useful? I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest these tests are worthy of consideration.

Is the idea you are testing low risk, easy to implement, and not likely to cause too much disruption in existing operations?
This is an "easy to say yes" idea -- but one which probably won't have that much impact long-term.

If you are asking someone else to do something, would you do it yourself? If not, why not?
My sales representatives said "no" to the idea of marketing leads generated by this blog for the Design and Construction Report. I suppose I could force them to do some work here -- but if I'm not ready to do it myself, why should I ignore their resistance?

Can you find quick tests that will validate your assumptions, without burning bridges or draining resources?
A few years ago, a well-placed person proposed a business idea that seemed relevant and valid, but would have required commitments of resources and effort beyond normal levels. We spent months setting up the concept, even developing prototypes. But I hesitated and decided I needed to see how the market would respond. I contracted with a reliable but non-employee representative to work with me for three days to see whether he could sell the idea. It failed, miserably. Maybe the idea should have received a 'second chance' but I realized that we were entering the space of diminishing returns. I dropped it.

Will the idea produce immediate revenue or reduce costs right away, or is it an "investment for the future"?
The former two variables are easy to say "yes" and move forward, the latter requires a much higher commitment threshold (and the risk increases with the investment size).

Can you find a test that will quickly provide you with insights and results at minimum cost and effort?
The three day test described above for an idea we had worked on for months made sense (and the investment in a few days pay for one person proved to be worth every cent), but do you want to spend that much time and effort validating other ideas, at the earlier stages of their development. You need some quick tests and measuring tools to tell you whether to take things further, or drop the idea.

For the idea I posted yesterday, the negative feedback from my staff is a major warning to go slow, if at all.

I can now take things in two directions: Pick up the phone or send some emails to a sampling of potential clients to see their interest (that is, do the work myself, with sampling, one by one), or survey the readers with a quick online poll.

I decided on the latter -- it is fast, easy, and if it works, will provide immediate and actionable leads. And if it doesn't work, I'll know equally quickly, and we can move on to other ideas.

If you haven't already received the survey invitation email from me, you can see it here -- and once you complete the survey, you will also see the results!

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What we do (and why this is helpful for you)

This article about Herring & Trowbridge Architects in Northern Virginia is an example of the feature which we can produce for your business or practice -- often at no direct cost to you.

Some of your best marketing is indirect. But sometimes you lose nothing by being straightforward. Over the weekend, I realized this blog is perhaps a classic example of indirect marketing -- readers here may need to look hard and long to figure out exactly what we "sell".

In part, this dichotomy has a rational history. Until recently, the blog, which I started about two and a half years ago as a client service initiative, connected thousands of readers around the world with a business which served distinctively local markets. If you were based in Ontario or North Carolina, we could provide a useful service for you; elsewhere, frankly, we had nothing practical to offer.

Things have changed with the launch of the online Design and Construction Report. Now the core service we provide in local markets is available anywhere in the world, but retains relevance to your business even if you only serve a highly local community.

The reason is that you can take advantage of our feature writing and publicity service no matter where you are. And the resulting editorial content including (if you wish) live video and hyperlinks in the electronic edition is a powerful and useful resource for your own website, search engine optimization, and local marketing (while giving you a point of contact for people who may be exploring your market, but who aren't in your community yet.)

How does it work?

You can elect two options for publicity within the Design and Construction Report. The first is to become a Design and Construction Network Sponsor. This is an ideal opportunity for you to connect with the Network, especially if you are in the greater Washington D.C. area or would like to develop a chapter/community group in your own community.

The second option, which may be of greater appeal if your market is less within the design and construction community than with the "outside market" in your area, is for us to publish a feature profile of your business or practice in an upcoming issue. And you can do this in either of two ways.

In the first, you simply contract with us for a base fee of $1,500, and we'll write and produce a three page feature with images and text, and then provide you with the PDF file and electronic version for your own use. (If you wish an in-person rather than phone interview, or require us to take photos for the story, there will be some additional costs, which we will discuss with you before incurring the expenses.)

In the second option, if you permit us to communicate with your suppliers and invite them to purchase supporting advertisements, your feature can be without charge. (We'll of course treat your suppliers fairly; the Construction Marketing Ideas blog originated as a service to our advertisers, and they can receive extensive free marketing consulting services, which will far exceed their advertising investment.)

You can use the feature articles to:

• Improve your search engine rankings
• Create a positive brand awareness within your market;
• Set the tone and encourage other (free) local media publicity (we'll show you how);
• Recognize key clients and suppliers;
• Provide something tactile and useful both in your presentation materials and for your client service packages.

If you would like more information, please feel free to email me at buckshon@cnrgp.com. Chase at chase@cnrgp.com, Leslie Greenwood at lgreenwood@cnrgp.com, Bob Kruhm at rkruhm@cnrgp.com or phone 888-432-3555 ext 224.

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Networking and measuring

Here's some video from the Design and Construction Network Happy Hour in Arlington, Virginia (Washington D.C. area). Last night, I "replated" the page in the Design and Construction Network Report announcing this event with this video image.

I've previously indicated that effective networking may be difficult to measure. The reason is that if you are successful in networking, you often achieve the highest results indirectly, through sharing, generosity, and relationship-building, and sometimes the results from your efforts can take months, if not years, to mature into meaningful business.

However, following the Design and Construction Network Happy Hour in Washington on Tuesday, I'm able to set up a simple measurement grid, and will (without obviously disclosing individual results without permission) will track the results on this blog, monthly.

First measure: Today or tomorrow at latest: Count business cards collected and initial communications initiated. My camera provided the perfect resource to capture as many cards as possible in a short time period -- after all, I'm the semi-official journalist for the group, and so took many pictures, gathering business cards to organize and sort the captions. I also have something to share right away, their images.

I'll also calculate the costs for the trip: Travel, hotel, and other expenses. These go into my expense report, anyways.

Second measure(s) include responses to initial communication and any favors or things I can do to help people right away. I had a few specific requests from current and previous clients, and will work on these right away.

Next, I will track the evolution of the leads into referrals or business, and once the business is achieved, measure the revenue achieved over time.

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In Washington . . and Ottawa

I'm in Washington D.C. now (Actually Alexandria, Virginia) for tonight's Design and Construction Network Happy Hour. These in-person events connect the dots between online "social networking" and real, human interactions.

It's worthwhile for me to buy a plane ticket, pay a night's hotel bill, and come to Washington for a two hour event because here we can put faces to names, make connections and share insights.

The new social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter are not a replacement for the more traditional forms of networking. They simply accelerate and facilitate the process. As always, if you think of networking events as hard rock selling opportunities, you are likely to be disappointed. If you think of them as opportunities to meet, share and give your best support and assistance to the people around you, you will succeed.

The Design and Construction Report, our first online publication, results from this process.

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Launch day

As I write this posting, our offshore service is rushing to meet an 8 a.m. deadline to set up the Design and Construction Report website at http://www.dcnreport.com. We've done some late edits on the actual publication, with the help of some volunteer proof readers.

This is our first primarily on-line publication. (You will be able to request printed copies for a fee, or you can download the pdf files which will be available at the website to a colour printer if you wish.) It is also our first application of video technologies, and the first time we have published on a national (or for that matter, international) level.

You can view the publication here.

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Design and Construction Report published (Beta version)

The first issue of the online Design and Construction Report magazine.

Here's a sneak preview of the Design and Construction Report, published in conjunction with the Design and Construction Network.

It is our first online publication, arising from a group that is less than a year old, and formed through a linkedin.com community that sprouted from Washington, D.C. roots but is achieving international traction.

The magazine, while "published", is still a work in progress. I had hoped for more video images and components to create a multi-media publication, but we didn't have all the set-up materials as the launch deadline approached.

This of course isn't really a big problem in the online space. When we have the materials, we'll simply modify the magazine and reset some of the pages.

The magazine is designed to be read using either page turning software or can be read and downloaded for printing through conventional PDF files. We'll be able to print copies for people who wish a hard-copy version (though obviously the hyperlinks won't work from the printed version.)

Within a few days, the new Design and Construction Report website will be activated, in time for the group's next Washington, D.C. Happy Hour on June 30. I'll be there.

Update: 25 June -- Beta2 is online with first video embed and other improvements. The publication is taking shape!

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