Archives for June 2011

How did YOU get into ad agency business development?

Ad agency new business hunters are a unique group who share some common traits even though their personal stories of how they got into this business are usually very different.

John Sharpe a partner and the Chief Marketing Office for the BOHAN advertising agency, Nashville, TN. He heads up the marketing and PR efforts for the agency itself.

John is a long tenured new business executive with a sampling of wins such as Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, the Grand Ole Opry, the Peabody Hotel Group, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Brunswick Outdoor Products, Red Lobster, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, The Greenbrier, Citicorp Diners Club, Clarks of England and Shoney’s just to name a few.

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Filed Under: Agency Leadership, New Business Trends Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

3 Quick Tips for Developing a Consistent Program for Ad Agency New Business

The key for consistently generating new business opportunities is to develop a new business program that your agency can consistently execute and sustain. 

As you create a new business program for your agency you should think in terms of “what is sustainable when our agency is at its busiest”.

Here are 3 things your program must have to be consistent: 

1. Be realistically achievable within the culture and resources of the agency

Set realistic goals. There are a lot of agencies, when asked what are their new business goals will say, ”we want to double in size” or ”we want to take our agency to the next level”. … Continue reading

Filed Under: Best Practices, New Business Tips Tagged With: , ,

The 10-20-30 Rules for Keynote Presentations for Ad Agency New Business

ad agency presentations

Clarity, brevity and connectivity are key for winning presentations.

During my advertising career I’ve been part of and a witness to hundreds of agency presentations using PowerPoint or Keynote. I’ve seen many new business opportunities wasted because agencies couldn’t get their point across, tried to include too much within their allotted time or had absolutely no chemistry with their audience.

Guy Kawasaki, well-known blogger, author, managing director of a venture capital firm and an Apple Fellow, promotes a technique  that can help small to midsize agencies with their Keynote presentations, the 10-20-30 Rule:

  • No more than 10 slides
  • No more than 20 minutes
  • No font smaller than 30 points

10 Slides

Guy’s premise, “a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting … If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t have a business.”… Continue reading

Filed Under: Agency Pitches, Agency Presentations Tagged With: , , ,

Ad Agency New Business: Tips for Eliminating the Tire-Kickers

How not to waste time with unqualified prospects.

It isn’t difficult to secure meetings with prospective clients of small to midsize ad agencies. What is key is to get appointments with qualified prospects that have the proper budget and a readiness to spend money for an agency’s services.

There are a lot of prospects out there are always glad to meet to glean whatever they can from your agency for free. These are the “tire-kickers”, prospects who eat up lots of your precious time and from the get-go never intend to work with you.… Continue reading

Filed Under: New Business Tactics, New Business Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Cause Branding: It is Now B-2-WE for Ad Agency New Business

WE -habilitating Capitalism – How valuable your agency will Be to ME no longer depends on b2c or b2b but on b2we

Simon Mainwaring is founder of We First, a social branding consulting firm that helps companies use social media to build communities, profits and positive social impact. A highly recognized creative director, he has worked at many of the world’s top creative advertising agencies in Asia, Europe and the U.S. including Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, on Nike and as Worldwide Creative Director for Motorola at Ogilvy, Los Angeles.… Continue reading

Filed Under: Agency Branding, Agency Leadership, Agency Positioning, Fuel for Thought, New Business Trends, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

All you need to know about Apple’s 2011 new product intros

Tools that will make your online personal networking for agency new business even easier.

All of the major highlights regarding Apple’s new product introductions at its 2011 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) can be found in the just released 6 minute promotional video.

Scott Forstall, senior VP of iOS software and Greg Joswiak, Apple’s VP of iPod, iPhone and iOS product marketing explain the powerful functionality of iOS 5 introducing some of the 200 new features such as the Notification’s Center,  plus new additions to Newsstand, Reminders, iMessage, Photo, Mail, a split keyboard and even the integration of Twitter.… Continue reading

Filed Under: New Business Trends Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

12 Tips for Building a Rewards Program for Ad Agency New Business

12 tips for ad agency new business

Everyone in the agency should contribute to new business and one of the best ways to encourage lead generation is through a referral program.

A referral program is one of the most cost-effective and efficient methods for generating new business for small-to-midsize ad agencies. Here are my 12 tips on how to create or enhance your agency’s new business referral program:

  1. Identify the kinds of clients you are looking for and set parameters for qualifying leads (size, niche or category, etc.)
… Continue reading
Filed Under: New Business Tactics, New Business Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Skype Infographic: From seed to future piece of the Microsoft empire

skype for ad agency new business

I often use Skype as a way to stay connected for new business, at home and while traveling for video conference calls.

How important is Skype? Bill Gates personally pushed for the Skype deal, the biggest purchase in Microsoft’s history. It seems to have a very bright future and should remain on your list of tools to watch and warrant your participation.

“The idea of video conferencing is going to get so much better than it is today.

… Continue reading
Filed Under: New Business Tools, New Business Trends Tagged With: , , , ,