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By Mark Zweig | AEC firms that want better marketing need to sound more human, move faster, and stop hiding behind safe, forgettable messaging.

By Mark Zweig | Show everyone it’s not business as usual and your firm is in a new era – you may find it a helpful tool to reinforce your change program.

By Mark Zweig | You will be less stressed and might find your business more successful if you can shed some baggage.

By Mark Zweig | There are things you can do to stay positive and prevent pessimism from ruining your ability to lead.

By Mark Zweig | Sparkplugs are the people in your business who make things happen – and they are essential if you want to grow beyond what you alone can ignite.

By Mark Zweig | Firm leaders have to stay optimistic, or their ability to fully function and meet their responsibilities will be compromised.

By Mark Zweig | You can learn something from every new experience, so don’t lose the sense of curiosity and wonder you had as a kid.

By Mark Zweig | Give yourself a chance to get a lot done and you may be surprised at your ability to keep all those plates spinning.

By Mark Zweig | This is the time of year many of us, and many of our clients, will take a family vacation, so do what you can to step away and enjoy it.

By Mark Zweig | This isn’t easy, but it will ultimately make you more successful – not just as a business leader, but in life itself!

By Chad Clinehens | With both a virtual and an in-person conference this year, ElevateAEC has something for everyone.

By Mark Zweig | Ed Friedrichs, former president and CEO of Gensler, truly understood strategy and how all the pieces of a business fit together into a cohesive whole.

By Mark Zweig | A lack of speed is a big problem for too many A/E firms. You all really need to pick up the pace!

By Mark Zweig | Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are still doing what you want to do every day. Maybe now is the time to get really serious about your transition.

By Mark Zweig | “Sometimes I think it is good to reflect back on all the lessons I have learned over the years. Here are a few that stand out to me.”

By Mark Zweig | “My good friend of more than 25 years, Jack Portman passed away suddenly on the morning of August 28.”

By Mark Zweig | Now is a good time to take stock of the many positive aspects of our industry to help keep yourself and your employees motivated and directed in the midst of uncertainty.

“I used to be addicted to social media … So I stopped. Today, I still use social media, though only for business purposes.”

Once you get to be 60, your perspective changes. If you look ahead, you know that you have, on average, another 12 years left to live (longer if you are a woman). And that’s an...

With the environment we are living in – crazy political stuff – potential nuclear war – mass shootings by maniacs – it would be easy to let it all get to you. But you can’t....

Working with millennials was a hot topic at the recent Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference. Most researchers define the millennial generation as those born anywhere between 1982 and 2004 (although some sources end...

Many of us – as responsible spouses, parents, and business owners – always do what we think we are supposed to. Our whole lives are based on serving and taking care of other people. Unfortunately,...

Sure – it’s hard to hire good people. There are lots of reasons for it. One of them is that we aren’t keying into the talent pool all around us. People in our network. People...

My name is Mark. I am an addict. A phone addict. But before you sign me up for a 12-step program, I have some good reasons for my addiction. I have two businesses. Four children....

Anyone who knows me can tell you I’m about as “New Age” as the 1930 Model A Ford sitting in my garage awaiting its flathead V-8 transplant. That said, there really is something to the...

Lonnie Laffen, CEO of JLG Architects, is a Bison who likes burgers and fries, a big motor bike, but not politics. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Twenty-seven years ago, Lonnie Laffen, president and CEO of JLG...

As good as business is in the AEC world – and believe me, it’s really good for most everyone right now – we are seeing a lot of companies developing profitability problems. It’s pretty simple:...

While success and security are good things, they can also zap your energy, so find something new. Chances are, if you’re reading this, things have gone pretty well for you. The company is doing well...

Five things that differentiate entrepreneurs from the rest of the people in the world. I was watching a show on Netflix the other night with my eight-year-old daughter. It was all about humans with superhuman...

Mark Zweig tackles the misconceptions with four examples. I started out in business at a young age, buying and selling bicycles, then motorcycles and then cars, on my Mom and Dad’s street corner. Then I...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1001 Originally published 4/1/2013 The long love affair between design firm leaders and cars continues, Mark Zweig writes. We were doing an in-house...

I have often felt that architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental firms pay lip service to the notion that they should keep their best clients happy— and KEEP their best clients clients. It always seems like...

Everyone who starts a company or ends up as its leader eventually starts thinking about how to get out. You may have the greatest job in the world, but life is short and most of...

I just got back from ZweigWhite’s 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our biggest and best-attended marketing conference ever! My task was to open the show with a short talk...

We can all take a lesson from my old buddy Bert Johnson (not his real name). He is a classic case of the entrepreneur who lost interest in his business, but figured out how to...

After seeing their black and white VW New Beetles running around town all of the time, I just saw an ad the other night on TV for The Geek Squad (Richfield, MN). If you don’t...

I got a call from a friend and old client of mine recently. He’s down right now— and has been for months. His small design firm just isn’t doing very well, at least not compared...

When you are young, you do things just because you want to. “Fun” is an important part of your life. Too many people forget that when they get older, however. The responsibilities grow and grow,...

Here I am...on a plane...once again. I’ve already read the Inc. Magazine I found in the magazine rack near the bathroom, the New England Motorcyclist’s Post that came in yesterday’s mail, and have started in...

Right now may be the best time ever to go out and buy another firm. People are depressed, their sense of optimism is considerably dimmer, and many A/E/P and environmental firms are performing accordingly. That...

It is a sad day as I write this. I am at Boston’s Logan International Airport waiting for a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth so I can attend the funeral of my long-time friend and mentor,...

Last week I was on the phone ordering a part for an old British motorcycle. It vibrates so much that every time I ride it something either breaks off or falls off. In any event,...

In tough times like those we are in right now (and they could get a lot worse), it’s easy for people to lose perspective. Little problems get blown up beyond their importance. Fear takes over....

I just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

The idea came to me at 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2000. It was a balmy afternoon here in the Boston area— temperatures in the 60s, sunny and bright. I took out my wife’s...

“Process marketing” is a term you’ll see a lot of in The Zweig Letter. Heck, we even have a supplemental, stand-alone Process Marketing Advisor devoted entirely to the subject! The reason is that process marketing...