Imagine an organization with a name recognized in every country in the world, whose every move was watched by hundreds of millions of people, and whose successes fulfilled the dreams of a nation and inspired awe and admiration around the world. This was NASA in the 1960s. I was five years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land on the Moon during the flight of Apollo 11. Like many people, I watched the event on a black and white television, and then went outside to look up at the Moon, knowing people were there. For the millions of children across the globe who were inspired by that occurrence, this was a defining brand moment for NASA. The Apollo program set a new and dramatic benchmark for our abilities as a nation. If we can go to the Moon, then what other feats long considered impossible could we accomplish? While President Kennedy’s 1961 announcement to send humans to the Moon was primarily political, it became a driver for imagination, scientific discovery, and engineering. The research and development underpinning the Apollo program presented many challenges that called for new solutions. These solutions influenced the growth of high-technology industries and ultimately thousands of products were spun-off into new commercial markets, such as semiconductors and computers, microwave ovens, batteries, cordless power tools, kidney dialysis machines, MRI and CAT scans used in healthcare, solar panels, fire-retardant fabrics, polarized sunglasses, water purification, advances in food preservation, improved satellites, and more. Studies indicate a societal return on investment as high as 14 dollars for every dollar spent, causing the returns on most other forms of investment to pale in comparison. Despite Gallup’s research showing that over [...]

Although essential — and an asset to your agency — meetings can be a drag. Most attendees think they’re a boring and unproductive waste of time. Some, rather than focus on the content of the meeting itself, make to-do lists of all the things they could be doing instead. That makes meetings not just a waste of that person’s time, but everyone else’s as well. However, this tendency toward boredom can be easily corrected by identifying and resolving a few common meeting mistakes. Meetings seem straightforward: Meet with clients or team members, make decisions, tackle your after-meeting tasks. But that’s rarely how agency meetings work. Here are eight ways your team may be making meetings more difficult: Meetings are lacking a purpose or agenda. What’s the point of the meeting? If you can’t answer that, attendees are going to perceive it as unnecessary. When that happens, you’ll face a frustrated and tuned-out audience. To ensure your meeting is effective and efficient, you first need to determine its purpose. Create a detailed agenda that gives the meeting structure. At a minimum, the agenda should cover the topics that will be discussed and for how long. This lets everyone know what to expect and how to prepare, and it keeps the meeting within the allotted time frame. The meeting is too bloated. When you schedule a meeting, don’t invite everyone within your agency. That doesn’t mean people should be left out in the cold. But too many cooks in the kitchen can cause confusion, and it’s wasting people’s time if they’re not true stakeholders. Only invite key decision makers. You can let everyone else know what was accomplished in a follow-up email. This way, you aren’t pulling [...]

Right now, many agencies struggle with the same serious problem. This issue can drag down profitability, lower employee engagement and harm the reputation of the offending company, and in almost every case, the owner of the agency is the biggest offender. Unfortunately for clients and teams, some agency owners struggle to keep their promises. Does this sound like a problem your agency is experiencing? Don’t worry. Many agencies (and agency owners) deal with this issue at some point. I know I have — as have other owners I’ve worked with in the past few decades. In this article I wrote for Forbes.com, I discuss  how to rectify this foundational mistake that you, as an agency owner, may be making. I elaborate on the importance of not making promises you can’t keep and most importantly how you can hold yourself and your team accountable.

How many times, as an agency owner, have you been advised to stay out of the day-to-day of client work? Probably more than once. Scaling an agency requires owners to hire the right people, provide appropriate levels of leadership and then get out of the way to allow their team to do what they were hired to do – manage and grow client relationships. But that doesn’t mean you should be some mysterious figure to your clients; never to be seen or heard from again after you win the business.  It’s surprising how often that happens – not necessarily by design, but suddenly you may realize you can’t remember the last time you had any contact with your clients. I get it, you’re busy running the shop, chasing down new opportunities, handling a myriad of things that seem to take up more time than they should. It’s easy to lose visibility with those who signed on to have your agency help them meet their marketing challenges. Hopefully, you have rockstar account managers who are delighting clients and working with the rest of the team to deliver results that matter. And while that’s fantastic, always remember it’s your agency that’s delivering - you’ve set forth a clear vision and built an enterprise that’s sought after because of that vision. And that’s why you need to show your face occasionally to those who have placed their trust in the agency. They need to realize the agency is more than just that rockstar account manager … it’s an entire team of smart, marketing specialists creating results. And you need to make sure they know you care and appreciate the opportunity they’ve given the agency. I know, you’re wondering [...]

Within the last five years, an agency’s traffic manager has become the new production manager—building timetables for projects, tracking every single deliverable, and mapping out the company’s work. But the role isn’t valued as much as it should be. It’s frequently needed to be asked: ‘what does a traffic manager do?’ In this article, which was originally a contribution I made to Marketo.com, I discuss the intrinsic value of a Traffic Manager and why your agency may need one if you don’t already have one. I’d love to hear from you concerning your stance on the importance of maintaining a Traffic Manager. How has it benefited you? Has your agency suffered without one? Learn More About Getting it Done If you’re looking to answer more questions like ‘what does a traffic manager do?’ sign up to become an AMI member today!

No matter how effective your current sales strategy might be, you won’t survive the next few years if you don’t add video to the mix. What’s changed to make video so important? Smartphone usage and internet speeds are driving video content consumption to unprecedented levels. Fortunately, those same technologies make it easier than ever for businesses to join the fun. Sales-centric video content makes the customer journey feel more personal while saving time for the salespeople. Instead of writing a 15-minute email, reps can spend two minutes on a short reply and include a video link that answers a prospect’s questions. In this article I contributed to Entrepreneur.com, I outline five steps to make video work for your sales strategy. Has your agency engaged the use of video marketing? I’d love to hear your feedback on what is holding you back, or the results you achieved from its use.