Fueling Ad Agency New Business
Creating and maintaining agency new business is often harder than it should be because one key ingredient is often lacking. Positioning is the foundation of any agency’s new business program. It is also the area that many agencies have not addressed because of either procrastination or, more likely, their unwillingness to make the difficult business decisions. […]
Agencies fail to realize the importance prospects place on having a knowledge of their industry and a positioning of expertise. Small to midsize agencies continue to promote themselves as full service, even though it’s rare for an agency to have a full service client. They use “full service” to broaden their appeal to most prospects. […]
Why is content such a valuable strategy to help ad agencies drum up new business? I thought I would share a recent interview conducted by content marketer, Andy Baldacci. Andy hosts Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast where he helps agency owners grow their business. If you’re skeptical of the value of content marketing for your agency […]
Take a look at the most popular articles of the year. Every year we provide a list of articles receiving the most page views of the year that were published on Fuel Lines. Which topics were the most popular with our readers in 2016? Here’s the “Top Ten” list of the most-read articles. Some of them were written this past […]
Only 26% of agency new business directors are viewed as successful. According to the same agency-marketer report, the tenure of a new business director is 2 years or less To help better understand why agency new business executives are struggling and what they can do about it, I wanted to share a recent Webinar,“Selling Less to Win More […]
Building an engaged online community should NOW be a core responsibility of business development. The battle for new business has moved online which makes community development indispensable in marketing your agency online. Knowing how to build an online community has become an important skill-set for those charged with agency new business. Community development comes before business development. How to Build an Online […]
Leverage SEO and expert positioning! Based on Google patents and documents, which explicitly state that Google prefers experts and authorities. John McDougall, the author of Web Marketing On All Cylinders and The Big Dog Authority Marketing Checklist, will show you how positioning your agency and team members as thought leaders is critical to digital marketing success. One of the […]
A call to action is an important element for generating inbound leads. Inbound marketing earns the attention of prospects and makes your agency easy to be found primarily through content. By creating interesting and helpful content, written for a specific audience, you help draw prospects to your site. Website traffic is very important. It’s the initial step, but you […]
The Art of Telling Your Agency Story for New Business Don Beehler is a public relations/communications consultant to advertising agencies throughout the nation. His career includes agency, corporate communications and journalism experience, and he has worked with news media from local to international levels. Don has also co-authored or ghost written three books for clients. The idea for […]
“We need to stop SELLING and start TELLING.” Your agency is probably already pretty good at storytelling. But how about story-teaching? Park Howell founded Park&Co, an award-winning brand and creative consultancy, in 1995 in Phoenix, Az. The agency ignites the growth of purpose-driven people, products, companies and causes through the power of storytelling. Park was […]
From my experience, most agencies finally got on board with social media in 2010. They created their agency’s blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram accounts and jumped in.
70% of marketers report that social media marketing delivers poor or average return on investment.
Many agencies thought that by merely having a social media presence, it would give them social media credibility.… Continue reading
Agency life is chaotic. Too much to do; to little time. The answer to this problem is to work smarter not harder by creating SYSTEMS for new business.
A system is a set of detailed methods, procedures and routines created to carry out a specific activity, perform a duty, or solve a repeated business issue.
Business development doesn’t have to be so difficult.… Continue reading
When you have the right positioning it’s like fishing for a specific fish with a particular bait. You know where the fish are, what bait is appealing to them, the right equipment to use and you have developed the expertise to catch the real trophies.
… Continue reading“By appealing to everyone, brands end up appealing to no one. Standing for everything is the same as standing for nothing.”
My advertising career had been spent working in only two markets, outside of Birmingham, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee, I had zero awareness. Little did I know that I was about to start my new business at the beginning of one of the longest economic downturns since the Great Depression.… Continue reading
If timing is everything, then Ideasicleˣ is the poster child. Just when the world closes down due to Covid-19, a platform arrives that helps accelerate creativity through remote work. I was intrigued enough with the concept, particularly as a new business idea machine, to reach out to its founder, Will Burns, to learn more about it.
… Continue reading“What the world needs now are ideas. Lots and lots of ideas.”
No one opens an advertising agency because they have a passion for sales. That’s why many agencies only have one dedicated new business specialist or include it in the laundry list of owner responsibilities. By not prioritizing additional revenue opportunities, it only gets done when work is slow or the worst happens.
Maybe your biggest client leaves and now a significant chunk of your annual revenue is gone.… Continue reading
I’ve been working from home for almost thirteen years, but many of you are working from home for the first time. You’re having to adjust to a new work environment that includes kids, spouses, and pets. You’re probably having to develop new skills to successfully work remotely. The last thing you’re probably thinking about is new business.
But just because your environment has changed, doesn’t mean your commitment to growing your agency should change.… Continue reading
This is a guest article written by John Paul Strong, the owner of the Birmingham-based advertising agency, Strong Automotive Merchandising. John Paul has developed a very robust onboarding process that I wanted him to share with you.
Their original roster of 10 employees and eight clients has exploded today, growing to more than 115 full-time employees and 250 automotive dealers. And it hasn’t gone without notice. Strong Automotive Merchandising has been recognized as a perennial winner in Birmingham’s Best Places to Work contest and as a Top 20 Agency among Google’s National Ad Partners.… Continue reading
I read an insightful article on why the focus of a company’s (agency’s) business strategy should not be upon its competitors. The article was written by Gabor George Burt, internationally recognized expert on innovation, creativity and strategy development, and the author of the book, Slingshot.
Burt states,
… Continue reading“In today’s marketplace, I would argue that doing something unprecedented is not just adventurous but imperative … eliminating competition by trying to beat it is dangerously shortsighted.
Many small to midsize agencies have not addressed positioning because of either procrastination or, more likely, their unwillingness to make the difficult business decisions.
… Continue reading“Contrary to common belief, all agencies have pretty much the same basic capabilities, and processes. They all claim to have proprietary tools, and they may have different labels for what they do, but the approach is essentially the same at big or small agencies.”
Michael Gass, Business Development Consultant | Speaker | Author of Fuel Lines
Fuel Lines provides new business resources for Advertising, Digital, Media and PR Agencies.
It has been rated among the top 100 marketing blogs in the world, according to Ad Age’s Power 150.
Since 2007, Michael has helped pioneer the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.
Read more about Michael
An essential component to your agency's new business program is a prospective client data base.
In my opinion one of the most accurate online database of marketing and advertising decision makers is Winmo. I highly recommend them.
I'm Michael Gass, I'm an author, speaker and a new business consultant to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.
Since 2007, I have helped pioneer the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.
Fuel Lines is my social media 'home-base. It has been ranked among the top 100 marketing blogs in the world, according to Advertising Age’s, The Power 150.
Learn more about me