Meghna Krishna Bondili 🦋

Always be honest. I don't know if full transparency is always needed - often in development some things are in flux as you go for reasons out of your control, so giving an fully transparent detailed answer and then having to go back on it can work against everyone. Instead, I think its better to be honest always, and measured - it's easy to be additive, but very hard to edit something that's gone out there. Mean what you say, and when you say it be as transparent as you can be - and if, you have to backtrack - be honest about that too. Trust is not given, it's earned and built over experiences.

Meet them where they are at. Sounds simple but it's far from. How old are they, where do they live, are they tech-savvy, are they super tech-savvy? Do you need to send mailed updates? THEN, ask yourself who is missing and go back to the drawing board on that piece.

Most importantly - listen to your audience. Truly listen, don't multitask and just show up. Introduce yourself, be open to questions, follow up when needed. Show that you genuinely care about improving their lives, returns, places, etc. Then, craft your communication and when sharing it, highlight how the listening to them is addressed - allow themselves to see themselves as an integral part of what you are building, not an accessory to it.

This is a big one. Stay curious. Keep reading, searching for topics that are valuable to you, and to your clients. i do marketing yes, but my clients also know that in general I love certain topics in development - building housing/updating zoning, women in the industry, sustainability and new materials. So, I become not just their "marketing lead" but a resource when we want to do things a little differently and put our heads together to think of how.

I'm going to be contrarian here and say that the word "networking" makes me cringe. It makes me feel like I need to put on a show, or be some overly extroverted version of myself who's success can be measured in how many business cards I give out or collect. I think it my be helpful to think about this as finding your people, and having a genuine interaction like you would at a friend's cocktail party - no agenda, just getting to know each other as fellow humans and maybe discovering shared commonalities or even complementary skillsets - some of the coolest people I know in the industry don't do anything close to what I do. Or, just reach out to someone on LinkedIn and say "hey, I think what you're doing is super cool."

Make your brand unique to who you are, and your values, or things you want to foster. When I named my company Butterfly Voyage, I knew that I was going into real estate development with an unusual name - one might argue, a whimsical one (I heard that feedback). Although I respected those opinions, I also was very sure of why I picked that name - butterflies are pollinators, and real estate development is very much a voyage or journey. It also resonated with who I was as a founder - I worked my way up, didn't come from a "traditional" background, and starting my own consulting firm at that point in my career, very much felt like embarking on the journey that I knew my future clients would be taking on.