1. I don’t hire artists and poets. I hire Designers and Copywriters.
If you want to do art and poetry, do it in the privacy of your own home. In fact, don’t even get into our business if you want to be an artist or poet. Because here, you get paid for your design and writing. That means your “expression” is not always going to be favored by the client. You will have to revise it. Again and again. And just when you think it’s approved, you’ll revise it a few more times. Believe it or not, this will make you a better designer and writer because you will be continuously challenged to work within tight parameters and find ways to be nimble while you strive to deliver a product that is every bit as good — and hopefully better — than your original concept.

2. Get anything that doesn’t resemble an ad out of your portfolio. Now.
Wow, what an interesting illustration of the lead singer of Metallica. When do you plan on presenting a concept like that to one of our clients? Oh, I know — you just wanted to show me you can illustrate. Seriously, it’s cool that you have that versatility. But I’ve got a better idea: List that skill on your resume. Then, if I ask about your illustration, you can show me examples of that skill kept separately from the rest of your work, prefacing it by saying, “I realize that this concept isn’t an ad obviously, but if you want to see my illustrative skill, I have some examples here I can show you.”

3. You will not always work on what you want to.
I have worked on insurance, mortgages and semiconductors. You can make anything fun and creative if you push yourself hard enough. For me, the satisfaction in doing what I do comes from completely absorbing myself in the client’s business so I can understand their challenges and then produce a creative product that addresses that challenge. Look, many accounts are not “sexy.” Yet many writers and designers want to work on the “sexy” accounts. Now imagine how much more you’ll stand out by being the writer or designer who wants to work on anything at any given time — with a smile on your face while doing it. Stay hungry and stay humble.

4. Where you worked before doesn’t mean as much to me as you think.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m impressed that you worked here or there. Because that place you worked was probably a hard place to get hired. But I’m much more interested in the ideas in your portfolio. I’m also incredibly interested in the course of our conversation that you aren’t an arrogant prima donna that won’t get along with my team or a person who turns his/her nose up at an assignment.

5. Get to know my agency before you write or call me.
I know all the tricks. You think that you can get a little more of my attention by sending me a form letter that says “I respect the methodology of (AGENCY NAME HERE) and I’d like to work with you because you do work on (ACCOUNT NAME HERE).” Nice try. But I can tell that you’re trying to send out as many emails and letters as possible in hopes of something that hits. After all, all you need is one, right? Wrong. That’s a lousy way to look for a job and any agency worth a dime is going to sniff out the fact that you didn’t do your homework on them. So spend some time getting to know our company. Go to our website. Read our philosophy and get a feel for what makes us tick. Send me a letter that convinces me there’s no way in the world you would know the things about us that you do unless you really absorbed what WE are about. Yes, it’s more time-consuming to do this. I’m sorry, am I putting you out to spend 15-30 minutes studying me but you want 15-30 minutes of my precious time? It works both ways. Prove to me you give a damn.

6. Don’t make the kind of mistakes you would’ve been caught for in elementary school.
Spelling errors on your resume? Are you kidding me? That does a lot for my confidence. Thanks for the red flag that says you don’t pay attention to the details on important jobs. Next candidate, please.

7. Talk strategy with creativity.
There are many, many, many creative people out there. But let’s get one thing straight. You are not here to do cool ads. You are here to supply business solutions in a way that is strategically and creatively incredible. Creativity without strategy is a pretty picture and flowery words. It will impress me more if you go beyond saying, “I did this because it’s cool” and instead say something along the lines of “The target audience being a group of people in the southwestern United States between 25-35, it was clear that this group uses and responds to media in a way that’s different than their older counterparts. With this in mind, I built a campaign driven by their behavior that includes….” Remember, creativity is not solely about the content, but also in the way you are creative in the use of media in relation to the target audience. That shows me a strategic thinker who also happens to write/design.

8. Respect my time and rules for interviewing.
“Can’t I just come in and show you my portfolio?” Sure, total stranger. Let me move everything on my plate to accommodate you. Or maybe you can send me a resume and PDF samples of your work along with the aforementioned letter that shows me you would like to get to know my agency. Once I receive that, we can potentially move on to the next step. It’s a relationship we’re potentially having here and I’d like to make the right choice by taking my time. I know you need a job now, now, now, but I want to make sure I have the right people on the bus if I have an opening. Chemistry accounts for a whole lot in these parts.

9. Don’t be a pest.
Call and email me every day and you will not get hired. Persistence does not get you the job. It gets you a Restraining Order. You can check in from time to time to see where I’m at in my decision making process, but just be reasonable at the same time.

10. Never, ever turn down an informational interview.
I’m not hiring right now? So what? Next week can change. The big man upstairs can smile upon me and rain 5 large accounts on my doorstep next week (I can dream). Which means if you’ve left a good impression with me, I’ll remember you and you’ll have been in the right place at the right time. Or perhaps I might know of someone in town who could use your services if I can’t. Again, show that you have an interest in my agency, not just a job.

I hope these words from the other side of the desk give you inspiration and encouragement on how to tailor your approach toward the agencies and other types of businesses you might be interested in. Granted, some of these words are blunt but remember they’re for your own good. If I don’t tell you this stuff, you might get eliminated from the process for the simplest of reasons. Here’s to you standing out from the rest and making the finish line at a place that you absolutely love working.

When our company started a few years ago, we took the tour of a big printer’s facilities. The President was there, but it was clear that he didn’t have much to want to do with us other than shake our hands and be on his way as he passed off the tour responsibilities to an associate. It was a good way to make a small firm like ours feel even smaller. Sort of felt like Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” before she met Richard Gere. You give me that attitude? Big mistake. BIG mistake.

But then we came across another printer. He too had great printing facilities. But he brought something else to the table that other people wouldn’t. He believed in our company. He got to know us, our talents, our mission and our goals. He didn’t just say “we have this and that piece of equipment.” He said, “What do you guys want in a print partner?” and “Here’s how I can make your jobs easier.” He even believed in us to the point of where he stuck his neck out for us on numerous occasions in the early years of our agency when perhaps he didn’t have to. If I have a complex project that can’t be explained over the phone, I can have him in my office the next day.

I’ve been working with this particular printer ever since.

Unlike that very first tour I took of another printing company, I can get the President of the printer we work with on the phone immediately and we can talk about a project. I get a quote from him within 48 hours. His company understands that his accounting department has to match up with my client’s accounting department.

Some printers may or may not say this relationship is unusual for their business. But then, these are the same people who come up to me at the end of the year and say, “Hey, why haven’t we done anything with you lately?”

Well, here’s why:

Because you weren’t willing to offer creative solutions to my client’s budget challenges.

Because you didn’t consistently educate me on new technologies and formats related to printing that I could incorporate into solutions for my clients.

Oh, there’s nothing wrong with you as a vendor. You do your job just fine. The print quality is great. But as a partner? Not quite there yet.

Because the hard truth many don’t want to face is that machines are a commodity and people are not. While I expect the highest quality product each and every time, I come back due to the highest quality service.

Of course, I also understand that it’s inevitable that things happen. Machines break down. Edges get cut poorly. Inks aren’t quite at the level they should be on a recent run. It’s not a perfect business in printing and often the mishaps are corrected. But here again, the difference of vendor and partner appear. A vendor says, “This happened. We’re trying to fix it. I’ll keep you posted.” A partner says, “This happened. But if we don’t get it corrected shortly, here’s what we’re going to do to make sure we make our client’s deadline.” The key word being OUR. The print partner takes ownership and sees my client very much as their own client too. Which they really are.

More than one printer can occupy the role of partner. It’s just that I’ve found from my experience that there are many good potential print vendors and only a very, very, very select group of print partners. However, if you can land on the side of partner, be consultative and gain an understanding for what my client wants to achieve rather than just asking me what the specs of a given piece are, we can do a lot of business together.

We could probably guess that Facebook Fans spend more money on brands they are fans of, more likely to continue use of a brand and more likely to recommend that brand to others. And while the figure may or may not apply that well to your particular situation (your average Fan may spend even more on your product or service, not lower), the point is that there is often some spending power that is very real behind people who express their love for you, and it’s not confined to merely a “Like” button.

It becomes important to note this when we’re still hearing people question the value of social media — “Yeah, OK. So they’re a Fan. But what does that really mean?” It means that the power of Word-of-Mouth doesn’t merely come from the traditional places it used to and hopefully more studies and surveys such as the one just completed can continue to show that social media is here to stay as a very real initiative. Because if the value truly is anywhere near the ballpark of $136 per Fan, the value of a company engaging in social media and building a presence in places they never had before becomes that much more of an intelligent marketing decision.

You have to be realistic about the situation at hand. You can’t hide the fact that gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf or that flight after flight is cancelled, inconveniencing customers at the airport. The goal isn’t to put lipstick on a pig of a situation. People are too smart for that and you’ll draw the ire of customers and prospects alike.

Instead, I find the organizations that 1) Make their leaders regularly accessible and visible to the press and public, 2) Communicate next steps with their audience consistently and 3) Don’t pretend they know all the answers and 4) Provide multiple avenues for feedback are companies that tend to minimize the fallout as much as possible. In BP’s case, it’s not like a new logo or new name is going to hide the fact that their product is ruining an ecosystem. The focus has to be on taking complete responsibility (which they didn’t at first) and how they’re going to be helping the environment — from wildlife to economic — as a result of their ongoing efforts. Again, this is where social media can shine a light on that story. People aren’t going to fall in love with them, obviously, but ignoring the affected isn’t an option either. In such scenarios, 2-way communication via social media becomes more important than ever.

CEOs can either choose to engage or have the story written by people who will fill in the blanks with commentary against the company.

You may not understand why people would want to advertise where they are to others. Doesn’t matter. What you need to know is that the concept of sharing isn’t going away. It’s being done and done consistently.

So when a GPS locator tool like Foursquare or Gowalla comes along that allows people to “check-in” at the location they’re in and communicate that to the social media universe, you can see there’s a precedent for those tools to grow in popularity. Yesterday, I checked in at 5 Guys Burgers in Boca Raton and communicated it to others on Twitter and the other devices I have linked to Twitter (I’m liking Gowalla just a bit more than Foursquare right now, but they’re basically two sides of the same coin). Like some Facebook games, you can get little virtual trinkets and badges for checking in on Foursquare and Gowalla.

That was fun. Now it’s time to get real.

What’s in for me to continue doing this? Ah. That’s the challenge that Foursquare and Gowalla must solve. Getting people on board is less of a problem than giving them the incentive and reward to continue the behavior before something else comes along in the social media universe that’s more interesting to do.

I don’t know if they’ll figure out how to do that from their end, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t harness the potential of either tool as a restaurant or bar owner anyway. Here’s how:

When somebody checks in, your restaurant or bar appears automatically via GPS and can be quickly added through you or a customer as an option on the map. You can see if the person is someone who has checked in the most or how many times that person has visited. You can see if it’s their first time.

Different types of visitors can be rewarded in different ways. The point is that they need to be rewarded, period.

Their first time visiting? They get a two-for-one drink special. Their 5th time? A free appetizer. They’re the one who visited the most this month? One of the meals at their table is free. You can customize the offer to your needs.

I’ve heard some criticism that with Foursquare, you can check in without being at the location and cheat the system (I haven’t been able to do this with Gowalla). However, I’m not convinced of the level that this “check-in fraud” is being done and to play Devil’s Advocate…so what if they did cheat the system and say they ate and drank in your place when they didn’t? They’re still promoting your place of business to others in their social network. Sure, you’d love them to have actually been there, but if a good word spreads regardless, I see giving them a coupon as returning the favor. I just don’t think this is as much of a potential problem as some make it out to be.

By the way, Facebook is entering into such location-based services, which is something to keep a close eye on as well. I sure wouldn’t bet against them. This has to be of concern to Foursquare and Gowalla, but I still wouldn’t make it a huge concern of yours. Why? Because when people are checking in, thereby communicating to all their friends that they’re eating and drinking at your establishment, you’ve just received a nice dose of credible word-of-mouth in your favor. While you don’t have to honor every smartphone app that utilizes check-in if you don’t want to, there is great upside of immediately rewarding those who share their connection to your business with many others.

Additionally, the more people you bring in who utilize these tools – and I’m assuming your service is strong enough to encourage return visits – the more likely you’ll encourage chatter from them in each tool’s “Tips” section where people can say what they liked best about the food, atmosphere, etc. Here again, you could reward the best review if you like.

What I see here is the potential for word-of-mouth and loyalty on steroids. It’s going to have to come from the restaurant and bar owner’s end to fulfill that potential and complete the circle with suitable rewards.

So it’s your choice. But rather than be skeptical of what’s new or point out any flaws from a technical aspect, I believe it’s time you show your customers how to use these GPS locator tools to their advantage and yours. Along the way, you’ll get a nice sense of who your best customers are and even be able to shape behaviors among smartphone carriers. And you and I both know those things aren’t going away anytime soon.

Questions? You know where to find me.

Agency people like to imagine a perfect scenario like so:

Agency creates product. Client approves product. Product goes out into the world. Everything is on time. On to the next project.

Gosh, that was a fun daydream. Now let’s see what happens in the real world.

Rounds and rounds and rounds of tweeking and honing the creative product in the eyes of the Creative Directors, Account Executives, Executive Creative Director, Head Account person, etc.

The creative product gets beaten up more than Rocky Balboa before it even goes out the door.

Then it goes to the client. Client has to take it to their boss. Product sits on boss’ desk for a while. It’s a priority, but there are even bigger priorities to attend to. Agency waits and gets antsy – “Why haven’t we heard from them?”

Hours pass. Days pass. Then…BOOM! Client gets feedback back from their boss and tells agency to change A, B and C before the end of the day.

It’s here that the measure of a creative person is taken. They’ll complain right off the bat with a “What? Now? Before what time? You’ve got to be #$@*ing kidding me with this.”

But then, they’ll settle down, realize that the impossible is actually possible, come together and come back with, lo and behold, a better product than last time.

I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again. It does no good to complain about the pattern or try to wish for a more efficient production path. Instead, we have to embrace the beast, not fight it. And realize that yes, things don’t hit our desks exactly when we’d like them to, but it also gives us an opportunity to shine in the eyes of our client once more. Many of them do realize that the time they have to give us what’s required can be somewhere between tight and insane. They’re not clueless. But they’re also looking for partners who can make them look good in the eyes of their bosses, their peers, their board. The last thing they need is a group of whiners who lecture them by saying, “We could that better if only we had more time.”

We all wish we had more time in business and in life to do the things we want to do on our terms. But the funny thing is, when we are given more boundaries, we find ways to excel within those boundaries.

I truly empathize with any creative person who has to be suddenly brilliant on the spot. It’s not ideal and there’s a great deal of pressure involved with that. I suppose that’s why I’ve always favored teams brainstorming concepts rather than forcing one person or one partnership into their corners and telling them to bring me their deliverables like I’m the king of the throne. When we can be fighting the clock together instead of individuals, we can beat the clock, create a smart solution and go with the flow as our clients need us to be.

There will never be enough time. But we have to accept that fact and consequently set the table for an environment where one writer or one designer can have the reinforcements they need to take on Father Time. This kind of efficiency is good for the individual, it’s good for the agency from a business perspective (hello, we do have to bill sometime!) and it’s good for the client.

When it comes to prioritizing what to do, my friend and colleague Rob Jager from Hedgehog Consulting looks at it this way – “There are 6 things that can be done in a day. List them out in advance and put the least important thing 6th. That way, you don’t feel so bad if you have to kick it to the next day, but make that thing #1 the following day.”

Time’s up. Gotta run.

It sounds crazy. Because it is.

I’m not saying you need to hire that expert. It’s your money, of course, and it’s your right to do what you want with it. Nor am I saying you need to agree with that expert. They’re coming into your world for the first time and could possibly be off on a few things.

But you do have to listen to them. If you can’t honestly listen, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

When you bring in an outside consultant, open yourself up to the possibilities that that firm may bring a perspective you had never otherwise considered. If they’re off, correct them, but remember that other points may have great merit.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know everything. But I do know a whole heck of a lot about branding and strategic planning. I’ve been doing it a good long while and I believe I’m excellent at it. Yet I also take great pleasure in learning new trends that shape how we communicate. It’s because I have that passion for listening to findings and voices other than my own that I learn and make other people’s brands better than they are today.

In other words, if I didn’t listen to others, I wouldn’t benefit myself.

I bring this up because research is a fundamental part of what we do. It drives much of our choices and it can uncover amazing insights. The information can come from countless places, whether one-on-one conversations or tons of online data. Without it, we’re just throwing words and pictures up against a wall without much rhyme or reason or, what most people call a strategy. So it’s pretty darn important.

Once in a blue moon, I’m struck by someone who doesn’t believe the research and chooses to only believe their own unscientific opinion. True, not all research is perfect. Perhaps some samplings aren’t just right or too much weight is given to this or that answer.

But when it’s a perspective that might take your brand to a new direction, which can definitely happen based on what research tells us, you owe it to yourself to at least consider the value of that research. Maybe some people do believe it and don’t want to believe they could’ve been going down a better path all this time. Maybe some are just that arrogant.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve received good business from Audience A so I don’t know why you’d suggest Audience B.”

First of all, if your brand was hitting it out of the park, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So clearly, you’re not connecting that brilliantly with that audience or you wouldn’t need my help or the help of someone like me. Face up to that.

Secondly, the audience you think is your primary audience may actually be your secondary crowd all along. You can have more than one group your brand can resonate with.

Thirdly, economies shift, people get older, tastes change and priorities alter. If you’ve been doing the same thing toward the same group of people for a very long time, chances are good that you haven’t adapted while your competition has.

With that in mind, all I ask of you is this: Come to the table willing to say openly that your brand needs help. Be able to admit that. Let the expert in to share your issues and challenges. The more you can let those walls come down to show that consultant where your faults are, the better off you’ll hopefully be in terms of a solution that’s more customized to your needs.

And on the day that that consultant comes back through your door with a customized solution, listen to them. If an objection starts to build in your mind, just wait. Listen. Because if they’re speaking to the perceptions of the people who can help shape your brand – your audience – I know you won’t dismiss those perceptions blindly and quickly.

When disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was reaching the height of his scandal, his top notch defense lawyer resigned in frustration, saying, “My clients don’t have to agree with me, but they do have to listen.”

Of course, I’m sure you’re a profoundly more respectable person than Rod, but you can see sometimes that being in the company of non-listeners is not good company to be in. You don’t have to agree with people like me. But if you’re going to work with people like me, you do have to listen.

I fell into that challenge recently and with a lot of client work, I’m not complaining. But I should have posted much more often than I have in the last couple months, which I’ll try to remedy going forward with much more frequency. Blogging isn’t just an outlet for me but it’s hopefully a good way to help people out with thoughts on brand strategy. It’s who I am. I’m an admitted brand geek. And I need to be talking about it a lot more with the world. So thanks for bearing with me during my short time away and I’ll try to never be that long between posts again. Looking forward to conversations on how you’re positioning your brand for the economic recovery — hey, did I just stumble into my next post? Looks like I’m getting my momentum back.

Dan

Wow. That is different. I’ve never heard that before from anyone.

I just came across one of these “About Us” sections that could literally be any company in the world. But what makes this particularly strange is that this company actually did have some very good things to tout. They were named to two different magazines for the quality of their workplace environment…and yet, this valuable piece of info was buried many paragraphs down where it could be potentially missed.

Sometimes I think companies are reluctant to talk about their culture before they talk about their services because they think the potential client doesn’t care. Not necessarily. If I know your amazingly collaborative culture correlates to greater teamwork and focus that ultimately benefits your clients in the form of, say, greater customer service (and you can provide specific examples of this), there’s a benefit to that client.

Of course, in this particular instance, the “About Us” was front-loaded with blanding instead of branding. Every company has a point of difference. And you sure don’t want to leave the credibility behind that point of difference until paragraph 8 of your “About Us” section.

Ah, internal miscommunication. I don’t know if anything can hold a company back more than that. It’s mind-numbingly frustrating when you don’t have all the necessary parties working in unison within your four walls. And e-mail doesn’t solve the problem like some would think it does because there’s always someone who missed this or that e-mail. Well, I’m proud to say I’ve found something better that, while it may not remedy such a problem, will definitely help matters.

Recently, we bought a tool for our agency that provides tremendous value to our clients as well as our own internal communication called Basecamp. If you don’t know what Basecamp is, you should go to 37signals.com and check it out. Basically, it is a communications tool that helps everyone within the company and clients get on the same page in regard to messages, documents, video and more. From an internal standpoint, sometimes Intranets are intended to perform this way, but they just don’t work out quite as well.

WIthout sounding like a spokesperson for 37 Signals and their product, let me just say that Basecamp is very simple to set up, you can set the number of projects you have in the system or have unlimited projects (we do). Plus, it goes a long way toward collaboration because the people involved on the project can make their own comments on the file in question. There’s no more “I didn’t see it” in regard to the file because once you log in with your own username and password…you see the latest version.

I can’t forgo e-mail because, well, that isn’t practical for the rest of the world that uses it. But if the world all at once decided to communicate via Basecamp and social media tools like Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook, I could definitely make that work.

Check out Basecamp at 37signals.com and let me know what you think.