What Do You Want More Of?

“More leads” sounds like a pretty good goal.

Until you start looking at the leads.

More inquiries for jobs you’re trying to move away from? More calls for a service that’s no longer a priority? More prospects who aren’t a fit in the first place? Suddenly, more doesn’t sound quite as exciting.

Before putting more time or money into getting your company in front of people, it’s worth getting specific about who you want to reach and what you want them to hire you for.

Because your business probably isn’t standing still. Maybe you’re pursuing larger projects, growing a particular service, entering a new market, or simply getting clearer about the kind of client that fits your team best. Your marketing should be able to move with those priorities.

So when the goal is “more leads,” our first question is:

More of what?

See What Your Audience Sees

Here’s where knowing your own company too well can actually work against you.

You know about the bigger projects your team recently completed. You know a certain service has grown considerably. You know you’re taking on different work than you were three years ago.

A prospective client knows none of that unless you show them.

Say a contractor is ready to pursue larger custom homes, but smaller remodels still dominate the portfolio. There’s a disconnect. The issue isn’t whether the team can handle the larger job. It’s whether someone encountering the company for the first time would believe they’re the right team for it.

Try looking at your company without the context you bring to it every day:

• What would you assume the specialty is?

• Which type of project appears to be the priority?

• What kind of client seems to be getting most of the attention?

• Does the caliber of the photography match the caliber of work you’re pursuing?

• What would you never know about the company from looking at its current presence?

If you had to think about that last one, we’d start there.

Your Favorite Project Might Not Be Your Best Sales Tool

There are projects teams love to talk about. Maybe it required some serious problem-solving. Maybe the craftsmanship was exceptional. Maybe everyone is just really proud of how it turned out.

Great. Keep talking about it.

Just don’t confuse “we loved this one” with “this is what should lead our portfolio.”

If that job represents a market you’ve left, a smaller scope you’ve outgrown, or an offering that’s no longer a focus, giving it prime real estate can send the wrong invitation.

Your portfolio has two jobs: show what you’ve done and help position you for what comes next.

Those two things don’t always require the same projects.

Plans Change. That’s the Point.

We love a plan.

We just don’t think it should become untouchable the second it’s approved.

A lot can happen over the course of a year. A service takes off faster than expected. The team lands a project that opens the door to a new market. Fresh photography comes in and changes what you have available to promote. An award deadline pops up. Sales conversations start revealing an opportunity you weren’t thinking about six months ago.

When something becomes more important, something else may need to move down the list.

That could look like pausing a planned campaign to build out a stronger case study. It might mean putting website updates ahead of another month of routine social content. Or maybe PR suddenly deserves attention because you have a story worth pitching right now, not six months from now.

Changing the plan isn’t a failure to follow it.

Sometimes it means you’re paying attention.

A Quick Reality Check on “More Leads”

Let’s say two companies each receive 20 inquiries.

Company A:
15 are too small, outside the service area, or looking for something the company doesn’t provide.

Company B:
8 are a strong match for the type of projects the team is actively pursuing.

Which one would you rather have?

We’ll take Company B.

Lead count is easy to put on a report. Fit takes a little more thought.

Are the right people finding you? Are they asking about the services you’re trying to grow? Do they understand the level of project your team takes on before they reach out?

If not, increasing traffic may just give your team more of the wrong conversations to sort through. A quieter inbox can be doing a better job.

Before You Add Something Else...

Website. Social. Email. Advertising. Photography. PR. Awards. Blogs. Print. Events.

There is always another thing you could be doing.

We’re more interested in figuring out which one deserves your attention.

Maybe you have a newly photographed project. Instead of treating it as three Instagram posts and calling it a day, that same material could strengthen the portfolio, become a case study, lead an email, support an award submission, and show up in future proposals.

Or maybe you want to grow a particular service and the instinct is to start advertising it. Great. But what happens when someone clicks? If the webpage barely explains the offering and the best examples are buried somewhere else on the site, the ad isn’t the first problem to solve.

Sometimes the smartest marketing move is not adding another tactic.

It’s making better use of what you already have.

Where Do We Come In?

We look at the full picture, decide where our time can make the biggest difference, and adjust as your business changes. Sometimes that means leaning into an opportunity. Other times, it means recognizing that something on the list can wait.

No marketing checklist for the sake of having a checklist.

Just the right work at the right time.

If what you’re attracting isn’t lining up with where your company is headed, let’s talk. We’ll help you figure out what deserves attention next.