My old firm did an amazing card every year: a religious structure or iconic structure, usually, made into a paper-cutout that had to be assembled. Custom printed and die cut every year. Much-sought-after, even clamored for, by clients and friends.
But, umm...we started working on it in September. You're probably better off going with a stock item this year!
I'm going for a select group of clientele this year to receive high-quality chocolates. The problem? Packaging. Finding beautiful minimal packaging in the Midwest is proving quite the challenge!
bryan, the single biggest time of the year for us to get new phone calls for new projects - especially residential projects and other projects for private clients - is the first half of January. These types of projects often start as New Years resolutions (the doctors who decide to finally re-do their office, the couples who decide to finally put on that addition before the kids grow up and move away, the people who finally decide to do that summer house or ski cabin they've always planned for.)
So, we do the cards because it gets our name back on people's minds, and our contact information at their fingertips. Most of the cards of course go to current and former clients, to contractors and consultants. But those are where most referrals come from. And of course we also do them just to say thanks and happy holidays and happy new year to everyone we've worked with all year.
We don't do gifts, because we don't have the budget for gifts for everyone on the mailing list, and any tiered system of who gets a gift and how lavish a gift would just result in inevitable hurt feelings somewhere (it's a small world.)
Just sent ours out, pretty much out of tradition. Over the years the list changes a bit but typically we will send out to all current clients, consultants and even to prospective clients where we might not have done anywork with but who we are courting for future work. I find that to be the real inportant part from a business perspective, its tends to be a non aggresssive aproach that you can follow up with perhpas a more formal request to do work for them. the cost to do the cards and time to send them out is minimal compared to the possiblity of bringing in even a small project.
everytime i start fantasizing about how much i'd like to start my own firm little things like this pop up to make me realize i'm probably not cut out for it.
Old Fogey, I remember your coffee cups from an earlier thread and think that's an excellent idea.
My partner and I just decided this morning to send a very nice box of locally-made, hand-made, nicely boxed chocolates to our previous/current/a few potential clients. I'll be gathering addresses and dealing with getting them sent, plus our list is short enough (2 dozen) that we can include a brief handwritten note with each. Also two contractors who have brought us design jobs are getting the gift as well.
As others have said, it is both a thank-you and a reminder to people that we exist - and as people are gearing up for holiday parties, we hope our names will be in their minds as they socialize. Word of mouth is thus far our ONLY means of marketing! But bryan, my partner has been in business 10 years and this is the first year he's doing it. Brilliant marketing may help your business, but the most important part of doing your own work is doing it well - happy clients make for more work.
I worked in a firm where the general list...was the Moma Calander, and the plush list was a bottle of their favorite booze, and the plush plush a case of the same.....I remember taking a cab clear across town just to deliver a case to a Washington DC Politico....
We celebrate it silently, people get enough crap in their mail box, cause I consider is low cost Marketing and I will not do it. We do send cards to family and friends, so I'm not totally against it. If you want to impress your clients have a Pig Roast!
Ofiice Christmas Cards
It's probably time to start thinking about the annual office token christmas card.
Last year we picked a charity card [a drawing of a house by child - you know the deal].
Anybody got a better idea or an awesomely awesome custom card ?
Or even better has anyone been the recipient of a card from a starchitects office ?
Check out this.
www.thingfarm.com
custom wood veneer holiday cards. bulk orders encouraged.
goto the bottom and i think you'll find what you need...
My old firm did an amazing card every year: a religious structure or iconic structure, usually, made into a paper-cutout that had to be assembled. Custom printed and die cut every year. Much-sought-after, even clamored for, by clients and friends.
But, umm...we started working on it in September. You're probably better off going with a stock item this year!
I'm going for a select group of clientele this year to receive high-quality chocolates. The problem? Packaging. Finding beautiful minimal packaging in the Midwest is proving quite the challenge!
Can someone please explain to me why architecture firms send out cards and/or gifts at all?
they get sent out as a thank you for working so hard for us all year (to consultants) and thanks for giving us your money, and work (to the clients).
one of our partners does a watercolor of a winter scene of a selected building for our cards. and we usually send out a gift basket.
bryan, the single biggest time of the year for us to get new phone calls for new projects - especially residential projects and other projects for private clients - is the first half of January. These types of projects often start as New Years resolutions (the doctors who decide to finally re-do their office, the couples who decide to finally put on that addition before the kids grow up and move away, the people who finally decide to do that summer house or ski cabin they've always planned for.)
So, we do the cards because it gets our name back on people's minds, and our contact information at their fingertips. Most of the cards of course go to current and former clients, to contractors and consultants. But those are where most referrals come from. And of course we also do them just to say thanks and happy holidays and happy new year to everyone we've worked with all year.
We don't do gifts, because we don't have the budget for gifts for everyone on the mailing list, and any tiered system of who gets a gift and how lavish a gift would just result in inevitable hurt feelings somewhere (it's a small world.)
Just sent ours out, pretty much out of tradition. Over the years the list changes a bit but typically we will send out to all current clients, consultants and even to prospective clients where we might not have done anywork with but who we are courting for future work. I find that to be the real inportant part from a business perspective, its tends to be a non aggresssive aproach that you can follow up with perhpas a more formal request to do work for them. the cost to do the cards and time to send them out is minimal compared to the possiblity of bringing in even a small project.
sigh...
everytime i start fantasizing about how much i'd like to start my own firm little things like this pop up to make me realize i'm probably not cut out for it.
it's just marketing.
and probably one of the more fun forms of it at that.
you can hire sombody to do it for you if you start your own firm.
Old Fogey, I remember your coffee cups from an earlier thread and think that's an excellent idea.
My partner and I just decided this morning to send a very nice box of locally-made, hand-made, nicely boxed chocolates to our previous/current/a few potential clients. I'll be gathering addresses and dealing with getting them sent, plus our list is short enough (2 dozen) that we can include a brief handwritten note with each. Also two contractors who have brought us design jobs are getting the gift as well.
As others have said, it is both a thank-you and a reminder to people that we exist - and as people are gearing up for holiday parties, we hope our names will be in their minds as they socialize. Word of mouth is thus far our ONLY means of marketing! But bryan, my partner has been in business 10 years and this is the first year he's doing it. Brilliant marketing may help your business, but the most important part of doing your own work is doing it well - happy clients make for more work.
Wow ! There is some serious effort being made here - I think I'll start working on a cutout paper model for 2008 now ...
I worked in a firm where the general list...was the Moma Calander, and the plush list was a bottle of their favorite booze, and the plush plush a case of the same.....I remember taking a cab clear across town just to deliver a case to a Washington DC Politico....
We celebrate it silently, people get enough crap in their mail box, cause I consider is low cost Marketing and I will not do it. We do send cards to family and friends, so I'm not totally against it. If you want to impress your clients have a Pig Roast!
check out this pop-up christmas card that norman foster sent out a few years ago:
http://members.shaw.ca/woa/modreichstag.htm
i just made a christmas tree out of pictures of our firms work. my boss loved it. it took about 5 min. hahaha
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