We Got Fired. Then We Got Focused.
For thirty years, no client had ever fired us. Not once. That changed at the end of 2025, and honestly? It was the best thing that could have happened.
How We Got Here
2025 started strong and full of promise. But by summer, Trump’s tariff threats, DOGE layoffs (many of my neighbors and colleagues in Arlington, VA, were directly affected), and worries about rapidly advancing AI created a perfect storm. Proposals stalled, and by fall, our best year was grinding to a halt.
Another web designer referred a client to us in the professional services sector. We knew a bit about their overall business, but it wasn’t our specialty. The client had red flags…mentioning that two previous designers had quit on them. After talking openly, I prognosticated their main issues were too much unfocused content and an unclear service structure. They also wanted to merge two websites into one, with succinct offerings and were considering changing their business name to cover both service types.
One of my favorite quotes is "You can't read the label from inside the bottle." This means you can’t see your own situation clearly when you’re too close to it. I thought that if the client worked with an experienced content writer who understood their industry, we could solve the content challenges that had stymied the previous designers.
After all, brand messaging and content are at the heart of every business website, which is why it’s a key part of our services and why we don’t ask clients to write their own copy. And fortunately, I knew a writer who had spent ten years in the client’s industry. I agreed to take the job only if the client worked with our content writer. We needed the work, we were excited for the challenge, and so was our writer.
About six weeks in, the project started to unravel. The client kept changing their mind and rewriting content we had already agreed on, going well beyond normal feedback rounds. By the time we reached the design phase, almost three months in, we decided to be sticklers to our contract, overcommunicate for each interaction and leave nothing to chance. The client perceived this as rigidity and took offense. Internally, we discussed ending the project, but thankfully, the client beat us to it.
We felt relieved. More importantly, the experience made it clear that we needed to make a change…something we had sensed for a while.
“You can’t read the label from inside the bottle”
The Pattern We'd Been Ignoring
Looking back, we acknowledged we were stuck in a cycle: taking on referrals that weren’t a good fit just because we needed the work, and working on projects that meant learning new industries from scratch.
Even though we have a solid, repeatable process for web design, our focus on 'professional services.' was too broad. Getting fired was the push we needed. It made us stop, think, and finally do what we’d talked about for a long time: pick a niche and focus our expertise.
The Research We Did Before Committing
We’d been thinking about focusing only on AEC, architecture, engineering, and construction, for over a year. But before making it official, I wanted to be sure. So, during the fall, I spoke with an architect, several engineers, a marketing lead at a construction company, and a real estate developer. I wanted to find out what was really happening in the industry, where firms felt underserved, and if Design Powers could truly help.
Some of my takeaways: One engineer reported that the biggest challenge was finding qualified employees due to a major labor shortage. Several of the smaller firms I talked with don’t have a CRM. They have a database, but it’s mostly just job and vendor records. They aren’t doing inbound marketing—no quality content to attract people, build trust, or nurture client relationships.
The marketing executive I spoke with steered me toward the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), a group focused on marketing and business development in the AEC industry. I dug into their research, and the more I studied the industry, the more certain I became that this was the right path for us.
Finally, I thought about the clients we've enjoyed working with in this industry over the years. One of the things we truly appreciate is the steady need for graphic design. While we love creating websites, and it’s our bread and butter, there’s something special about design you can hold in your hands—tangible pieces that exist in the real world.
AEC firms often need exhibits, presentations, print collateral, and marketing assets. We also get to design logos for safety vests, hard hats, and construction equipment. These are all things we excel at and genuinely enjoy bringing to life for our clients.
In short, this wasn’t a rushed change. It was a careful decision, based on a year of research, some successful client projects, and over 30 years of hearing my spouse talk about industry pain points. This career civil engineer has worked in the road, aviation, and mass transit sectors.
Why AEC, and Why Now
AEC firms face ongoing marketing challenges: long sales cycles that rely on reputation and referrals, buyers who are highly technical, and a strong dislike for anything that feels performative or overly technical. We’ve worked with these firms before and noticed that web design is facing similar trends.
There’s a shift from generic messaging to clear, proven value. Websites need to go beyond simple portfolios and include 'proof pages' with case studies that show real problem-solving and results. There’s also a growing need for strong visual content—like 3D walkthroughs, drone photos, and time-lapse videos—to tell project stories, not just display finished work. Building trust is key, so team pages, testimonials, and awards should be front and center.
As we gain more experience and focus our marketing on AEC, we can join the right conversations in industry forums, association publications, and events where AEC firms look for partners. This makes us easier to find, easier to recommend, and more valuable to the firms we want to work with.
“Expertise is recognized, not advertised. You need your potential clients to bestow it upon you, and then they will reach out, having already decided they want to work with you before they speak with you.”
Niching Is Necessary. But It's No Longer Enough.
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “You get riches in the niches,” but it took us a while to really feel experienced enough to embrace it. A recent podcast changed how I think about what niching actually means.
On the Rev Thinking podcast, marketing strategist Alex James made a strong point: niching down used to be a big deal, but now it’s standard. Agencies in the US and Canada have grown by 53% in the last five years, and 90% have narrowed their focus. Just specializing isn’t enough anymore; saying “we do X for Y” doesn’t set you apart.
But what’s needed now is perspective: think about who you serve, why change is needed, and what you believe is a better way forward.
He explains it as moving from “we do X for Y” to “we do X for Y because Z.” That Z is your perspective—it’s not just a tagline, but a belief that shapes every business decision, from client talks to project scope, and even the work you turn down.
That idea helped us put words to something we’d felt for a while: AEC firms aren’t just underserved because there aren’t enough specialists. Most vendors treat AEC like any other market, using generic messaging, scattered portfolios, and failing to understand how relationship-driven and technical AEC business development really is. We think that’s a problem, and we’re ready to address it.
The Business Case for Specialization
But there’s also a practical side that goes beyond just how we position ourselves.
The way firms research and choose vendors is changing quickly. AI systems now shape first impressions, pulling information from many third-party sources like media, bios, review sites, and industry publications—most of which weren’t meant for AI to analyze. A generalist with a scattered online presence is hard for AI to describe well. A specialist who is clearly active in one sector is easier for AI to find and recommend.
Here’s a simple test: ask an AI a question your website should answer. If it can’t give a clear response, your content isn’t just missing the mark for people—it’s also failing in the research process that happens before most outreach.
The SMPS Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Trends in A/E/C Marketing and Business Development report supports this: procurement teams are using AI tools for scoring, proposal analysis, and vendor management, and automation is now standard in the early filtering stage. For vendors like us, having a clear, consistent story in the right places isn’t just smart marketing; it’s a must to stay competitive.
“People are not auditing AI as software. They are auditioning it as a life-organisation layer. They want it to handle the cognitive overhead that modernity has deposited on every individual who lacks the wealth to outsource it to other humans.”
AI Is a Tool. It Is Not a Partner.
This difference matters and shapes everything we do. We want to be clear about this, because it guides all our work. This year, writer and strategist Carlo Iacono discussed Anthropic’s study of 81,000 AI users across 159 countries. These users didn’t just want smarter software; they wanted their lives back: more time, focus, and energy for what they do best. As Iacono said, people are "not auditing AI as software. They are auditioning it as a life-organisation layer."
That idea rings true for us. We use AI to research, draft, and solve problems faster. But AI can’t replace the judgment that comes from really knowing a client’s business and goals. It also can’t replace accountability, nuance and hand-holding.
So much of what we do isn’t even design-related. We give our clients the confidence to make the next right move, and we back it up with expertise and the tech stack to execute it. And if there are any gaps in that execution, we are here to fill them or fix them. AI can’t do any of that on a human level.
This brings us back to the lesson we learned from that key client experience.
About That Client
At the heart of it, the problem was trust. The client didn’t trust our content writer or us. They couldn’t let us, the experts, do our job. I saw it as a content issue, but it was way more than that, and couldn’t be fixed.
But that experience revealed something bigger: trust and accountability matter, and it’s getting harder to find. One real concern about AI is this: if it creates something wrong and someone acts on it, who is responsible? The answer isn’t clear, and that uncertainty makes people uneasy.
We’re not unclear. When we take on a project, we’re responsible for the quality of the work, the process, and the results. As a small team, you always know who you’re working with. It makes us a great fit for smaller AEC firms that want a partner who feels like part of their own in-house team.
The main lesson is this: we value working with clients who trust our expertise and process, knowing we take full responsibility and fix problems when they arise.
“Clients are no longer sourcing technical services. They are selecting strategic partners who can mitigate risk, contribute foresight, and navigate complexity alongside them.”
Why Niching Isn't Limiting. It's the Future.
Design Powers has been in business since 1996. We began as a graphic design firm and later transitioned into web design and branding. It took years to determine the best platforms, the right clients, and the work that suited us most. For the back story, you can find it here.
Now, we’re refining again, approaching this new chapter with genuine interest and excitement. We recognize there is a lot to learn, and that’s perfectly fine. What we do know is substantial, and we are committed to staying honest and working hard to find the best solutions for our clients…on this, you can trust.
If you're an AEC firm that's ready for an online transformation, let's talk.
Sources: Alex James, Rev Thinking Podcast, hosted by Tim Thompson. Carlo Iacono, "What Do You Want From AI?", Substack, 2025. SMPS Foundation and FMI Consulting, "Emerging Trends in A/E/C Marketing and Business Development," 2026.
