As an agency owner of 20+ years – and someone who guides small- to mid-sized agencies in my role at Agency Management Institute every year – I spend time with hundreds of owners and their employees I get the worries and the risks that come with owning your own agency. I’m a firm believer in [...]
An ad agency creative brief is one way to get your creatives to stay on target when they may be struggling. In today's digital, data driven agency environment -- many agencies struggle to keep their creatives on target. We're evolving from the Mad Men era where creative was king to a time when results, ROI and [...]
Agency owners are really good at a lot of things. Unfortunately, mentoring employees for growth is often not one of them. I get it -- you want self starters. You don't have time to micromanage people. You want someone who can think/behave like an owner. You know how you get employees like that? You create them. [...]
Business trends including changes in salaries and benefits can make or break an agency’s profitability from one year to the next. That’s why we conduct a comprehensive annual salary and benefits survey and we’ve just wrapped up our 2015 edition (you can buy the 40-page final report here). The results are quite insightful. First [...]
One of the first lessons that I learned as a Dad is that while my words mattered, my actions trumped those words every time. My daughter watched every choice, every action and inaction, every moment – and whether I liked it or not, mimicked me. The realization that I was a constant learning lab actually [...]
Here’s the ad agency structure kernel of truth you’ve been denying for too long. You can’t own/run a successful, scaleable agency and still be in the weeds of client work. You just can’t do it. I work with 200+ agencies a year and whether they’re small (1-15 people) or large independently owned agencies (100+ people) [...]
Drew’s Note: I’m pleased to bring you this guest post. Meet another thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. So without further ado…Chris Wilson. Enjoy! Implementing the proper business growth strategies is tough when you are spending a large portion of your time still working in the day-to-day operations of your agency. If you [...]
One of the most common struggles I hear from agency owners is that they're struggling with managing their millennial employees. For a bit of levity, I often share this video.[youtube]https://youtu.be/Sz0o9clVQu8And in case you're a millennial reading this -- here's the response about working with "older" employers.[youtube]https://youtu.be/C1a6M3dBNwc
Building client relationships is vital to the success of any agency -- but -- this doesn’t necessarily mean agencies always treat their clients in such a way that the agency is regarded as a partner in the client’s business. I hang out with agency owners all the time and over and over I hear them [...]
I read. A lot. I'm convinced it is one of the reasons I'd had the good fortune to be successful, find and keep awesome clients and stay on track. Books teach, inspire, kick us in the rear and keep us relevant. So here's my message for today: read these books.Many people ask me for book [...]
