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Find all the templates and guides for your marketing, business development, and communications needs.
Resources + Guides
Download our presentation from AIA 25 for free with email opt-in!
This session provides access and equity, leveling the playing field with tools and tactics small firms can utilize to better define their competitive advantage, tell their story with more confidence, and claim their stake in hyper-competitive markets.
Whether you’re new to marketing and business development, need some inspiration, or you’re a principal who also moonlights as the CMO, this session will remove the mystery and needless complexity of how to set and obtain your firm's goals – from optimizing what’s working well and adjusting your trajectory, to proving your firm’s value and enhancing your reputation to win the work you want.
You need this if:
You’re looking for a crash course in business development.
You want all the basic tools in one place.
You need resources to help you reach out to potential clients with confidence.
What’s included:
Get a Meeting Guide
If you don't ask, you don't get. This detailed guide gets you started on how to effectively ask for a meeting and get it scheduled.
BizDev Tracker
Not quite ready for a full-fledged Contact Management System (CMS), but know you need to keep track of your outreach and pursuits? Enter the BD Tracker. Built in Google Sheets, this easy-to-use tool will keep you organized and keep your eye on the prize — converting leads to clients.
Pursuit Go/No Go Checklist
Not every opportunity that comes your way is right for you. And taking on work that's not a fit ends up being a barrier to getting the work you actually want. This Go/No Go Checklist is a great gut check to make sure the opportunity really does check all the boxes.
Debrief Questions
You can't win them all. But it's always a good idea to find out why you lost. These debrief questions will help guide the conversation on where you fell short, and help you set yourself up for success next time.
You need this if:
Your brand could use a refresh, but you’re not sure where to start.
Your firm needs to differentiate to stand out from competitors.
You’re looking for a resource that will help you pinpoint your brand identity.
What you can expect:
This downloadable guide explains the details of brand identity and strategy, and how you can use both to help your firm stand out from the competition.
The attached toolkit will walk you through a variety of audits to define your brand identity, size up your competition, and learn how to make your firm shine.
You need this if:
You’re getting asked the same questions over and over again in every RFQ/P.
Writing proposals from scratch feels daunting.
Your process would be streamlined by having baseline, customizable text on hand.
What you can expect:
You’ll receive a bundle of polished, professional text, ready for personalization and tweaks to make it your own.
The bundle includes baseline text for the following:
Design + Management Approach
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Workload/Availability
Budget + Schedule Control
We’ll also include our Style + Grammar Guide to ensure you and your team are writing from the same playbook.
You need this if:
You want guidelines that will help you track, pursue, and win the work you want to design.
You’re looking for an easy, all-in-one package that will help you effectively manage your marketing pursuits and your team.
What’s included:
Pursuit Go/No Go Checklist
Not every opportunity that comes your way is right for you. And taking on work that's not a fit ends up being a barrier to getting the work you actually want. This Go/No Go Checklist is a great gut check to make sure the opportunity really does check all the boxes.
Plan to Win
Preparing for a complex pursuit or a must-win opportunity? Use this PTW to get your whole team on the same page re: the client's goals, your team roles and responsibilities, and your key differentiators that need to come through front and center.
How to Hire Key AEC Marketing Roles with Job Descriptions
We know finding the right talent for your team can be daunting. Take some of the guess work out by using this how-to guide with job descriptions ready to post.
Budget Template (Google sheets)
Setting up (and sticking to) a marketing budget is critically important, especially as you embark on expanding your firm's marketing efforts. This easy-to-use template will help you set up and track your marketing spend.
Debrief Questions
You can't win them all. But it's always a good idea to find out why you lost. These debrief questions will help guide the conversation on where you fell short, and help you set yourself up for success next time.
Photoshoot Checklist
Capturing your recently completed projects is a critical step in winning your next commission. This helpful checklist ensures you get all the views you'll need for a myriad of marketing uses — from awards to your website, social, and beyond. It also includes a guide on how to pick the right photographer, share expenses with your consultant team, and more.
You need this if:
You’ve been tasked with handling your firm’s social presence.
You need a crash course (or a refresher) on the basics of creating engaging and impactful content on LinkedIn and Instagram.
You want to use social media strategically to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
What you can expect:
A comprehensive guide for making the most of social media — including current recommendations for optimizing the algorithm.
Examples of effective social media content and a link to ready-to-use templates on Canva.
You need this if:
You’re ready to submit your project for awards, but aren’t sure which are the right fit.
You need help crafting the most compelling story for the awards jury.
You want to see all the year’s awards in one easy-to-read place.
What you can expect:
You’ll receive a calendar template displaying all major industry awards.
This fully-updated resource will guide you with our Awards Strategy as you choose which awards are right for your projects.
A Guide to PR for Architects & Designers
Ready to get your work in front of the right people?
This comprehensive starter guide is perfect for design firms beginning their media journey. It will help your firm assess its PR readiness, define your story, and avoid common pitfalls before engaging with press to ensure your work is seen in its best light.
What’s included:
2025-2026 Editorial Calendar for major architectural and design press outlets (featuring pitch themes + key deadlines)
Top 10 Interview Questions + How to Answer
Press Release Template
Content +Templates
You need this if:
Your narrative is feeling stale and your profile needs a refresh.
You’re having trouble articulating your firm’s story, goals, and talents.
What you can expect:
Send in your current firm profile for our design writers to review.
We’ll schedule a 30 minute call to discuss your firm’s key messaging, differentiators, and overall personality.
One of our design writers will craft an updated narrative for you to review.
You’ll walk away with a fresh profile that captures the essence of your firm and better positions you to win clients and achieve your goals.
You need this if:
You’re ready to submit your projects for awards, but need help getting words on the page.
You want your projects presented in their best light, with eloquence and professionalism.
You need help crafting the most compelling story for the awards jury.
What you can expect:
We’ll schedule a 30 minute call to talk about your project and the award submission requirements.
One of our writers will deliver a draft of the award submission text for you to review.
You’ll walk away with a polished project narrative worthy of a winning submission.
You need this if:
Your firm needs a refresh on its marketing, targets, and overall goals.
You’re looking for guidance on how to create a healthy and sustainable pipeline of work.
You want to learn the best strategies for winning the work you want and helping your firm fulfill its full potential.
What to expect:
Our comprehensive downloadable template and guide will walk you through every step of regrouping your team, setting intentional targets, and winning the work you want.
Not ready to go it alone? Check out the Marketing Plan Audit and Quarterly Checkins add-on to get extra guidance, feedback and accountability to make sure your plan is actionable and on target for your goals.
You need this if:
You need to make an impressive presentation to win new work, but just keep finding yourself staring at a blank slide.
You’re looking to build a clear and compelling presentation to let your work shine.
What you can expect:
The Bold + Modern theme uses large, bold copy along with black and white base slides and bold pops of color.
Template includes:
Cover
Table of Contents
Dividers
Multiple text and image layouts
Schedule
Infographics
You need this if:
Your proposals are feeling a little dusty and dated
You want a ready-to-use template that already has all the pieces built out.
What you can expect:
Our template uses bold font, black and white base pages, and pops of bright color.
Currently available in Google Docs, check back soon for more template options and INDD formats.
This template file includes:
Cover
Table of Contents
Dividers
Text Pages
Image + Text Pages
Resumes
Project Pages
Schedule + Fee Templates
Org Chart (3 options)
Consulting
You need this if:
Your firm is getting lost in the noise and you need to differentiate.
Your competitors – no matter the size of your firm – have gotten very good at communications and you need to get on equal ground.
It feels like you’re trying to reinvent the wheel and are spending an inverse proportion of time on strategy vs. production.
You feel your proposals, portfolios, and presentations are not an optimal reflection of who you are.
Potential clients are not picking up what you’re putting down. You’re getting feedback that you aren’t scoring well on submissions or interviews and your messaging is not being absorbed.
What you can expect:
We’ll perform an analysis of your main competitors and summarize key findings: How they talk about themselves, present their work, achieve outside recognition, etc.
We’ll ask to review a few examples of what you consider your best RFP responses and pitches. We understand each pursuit carries its own complicated history and variables, but we’ll be looking for key messages, hierarchy, and what the storytelling is actually relaying to your reader.
We’ll ask you about your due diligence related to each potential client: What did you learn about them in advance? How well do you know them? How well do they know you? Or was this a cold procurement, sent with the hopes of sparking interest? (It happens). This will help us advise on how you can structure future pitches.
We will make recommendations for adjustments going forward, so that your work and your approach to client service are the takeaways. We may have suggestions for graphics to make your content easier to absorb, or copy edits to help refine your ideas to their essence.
You need this if:
You need a refresher on best practices for business development.
You’re having challenges growing your network and filling your pipeline.
Your leadership team and staff need to be trained so they can start developing business for your practice.
What you can expect:
This two-hour workshop will set everyone off on the right foot.
We’ll give practical and actionable advice on how to expand your network, reach your target clients, and close the deal.
You need this if:
You’re not ready to go it alone creating your marketing plan and keeping your team accountable.
You need a marketing “personal trainer” so you can get on the right track and stay there.
What you can expect:
To get started, download and fill out our Marketing Plan template.
We’ll meet with you to review your plan and offer helpful feedback to finalize it so you can start making measurable progress right away.
After this, we’ll have quarterly meetings where we answer your questions, review your progress, and advise on strategic initiatives to ensure your plan is executed and your goals are achieved.
You need this if:
You’re not meeting goals or expectations for yourself or your firm in terms of bringing in new business and enhancing your reputation.
You’re in start-up mode and you don’t want to waste time and money. Instead, let’s get your firm on the best possible path from the start.
What you can expect:
We’ll meet with you in person and run a two-hour workshop to uncover your business aspirations, differentiators, and the realities of your competition. Then we’ll start to define a roadmap to achieve your goals.
We’ll ask you detailed questions and we’ll listen carefully to your answers.
Then, we’ll document the workshop and provide a Framework Plan that reveals what you said, what we heard, and our recommendations to achieve your goals for new business development, marketing, and communications.
From there, we’ll identify the right level of engagement needed to help you achieve your plan. This could range from weekly check-ins to quarterly review sessions — it all depends on your needs.