You Can’t Grow Your Ad Agency Quicker Alone

Being an agency owner can be lonely.  It’s natural. We’re at the top and insulated. Our world consists of our employees, clients, vendors and the small, finite amount of time we get to spend with our friends and families. Sure, it can be fun, exciting and rewarding. Hell, we wouldn’t do it otherwise. These are […]

Content Marketing World for Ad Agency New Business

Ad Agency New Business Conference

Content Marketing World conference and expo will be filled with sessions and information that specifically address key topics that agencies should know more about.  Even though this conference is huge, there are definitely a number of sessions that are specific to agencies to help them understand the content marketing for their own new business plus […]

Hosting Events is Good for Ad Agency New Business

events for ad agency new business

Hosting your own events gives you control over the attendees, the agenda and the outcome. Networking and trade show events for new business is often a total waste of time. Attendees are focused on their own personal agendas. A more efficient and effective way to spend your time is to host your own events. Hosting events can benefit […]

What Is Your Lead Generation Process for Ad Agency New Business?

ad agency new business pipeline

Believe it or not, most small to midsize agencies have no consistent process for generating online leads.  Business development doesn’t have to be so difficult. With a little forethought and the creation of simple steps and processes, you can create a system that will make it much easier to kick-start your online leads. Here are […]

3 Things Ad Agencies Need for New Business

positioning for ad agencies for new business

A “Brand” New Day for Agencies It’s a new day for agencies and for clients.  Agencies have been notorious for not creating their own articulated brand, but today we all need a differentiated brand just like our clients. You can “do” a lot of things, but you can only be “famous” for one thing. Agencies […]

Drive Ad Agency New Business With A PR Plan

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 […]

Persuasive Writing for Ad Agency New Business

Too often good agencies succumb to bad writing. When it’s in high-stakes documents like proposals and client briefs, you put revenue at risk. Emails, proposals, website copy, case studies – they’re all responsible for making a crucial first impression. Yet too easily agencies fall back on jargon, generalizations and wordiness when trying to get their […]

Ad Agencies: How to Seduce Prospects Without Giving Your Work Away for Free

Jami Oetting ad agency new business

How to create a predictable pipeline of leads through inbound marketing. You want to attract new clients from outside of your current sphere of influence, spend less time on unqualified prospects, avoid client reviews, and build a predictable pipeline of targeted accounts. And you can accomplish everything on this wish list with blogging. But there’s one problem: […]

Ad Agencies: How to Stop Chasing New Business

The Barkley agency has created a number of thought leadership platforms that drive new business. In this session of the Fuel Lines New Business Conference, Jeff Fromm, Executive VP at Barkley, shares how his agency has created a number of thought leadership platforms that drive  new business. One of the most successful has been built around Millennial […]

Inbound Marketing For Ad Agency New Business

Michael and Terri Gass

In recent studies, agencies have expressed that new business is more difficult than ever before, but it doesn’t have to be.  Don’t get me wrong, new business has historically been a problem for agencies. Most small to midsize agencies have no positioning and no point of differentiation. They look and sound the same. They are […]

Seven Cons About the New Social Media Platform Threads

It is necessary to understand the potential downside and limitations using Threads for new business. 

I recently wrote an article about the powerful benefits of Threads, taunted as the next-generation social media platform. While Threads brings a host of benefits to the table, it’s important to consider some potential drawbacks or challenges associated with the platform:

  1. Limited Reach and Exposure: As Threads focuses on specific topics and communities, it may limit the reach and exposure of users’ content.
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Threads: Unveiling the Powerful Benefits of the Next-Generation Social Media Platform

Exploring the myriad advantages of Threads, highlighting how it is reshaping the landscape of social media.

In an era where social media has become an integral part of our lives, new platforms are continually emerging, aiming to revolutionize the way we connect and communicate. Among these innovative platforms, Threads is rapidly emerging as a frontrunner, offering a unique and enriching experience for users.

Streamlined and Focused Communication:

Threads sets itself apart from traditional social media platforms by focusing on streamlined and efficient communication.… Continue reading

Ways That Artificial Intelligence Will Impact Ad Agency New Business

artificial intelligence for ad agency new business

Artificial intelligence can make business development easier and efficient.

AI offers a wide range of benefits across a variety of industries and applications. It has the potential to transform the way that businesses, leading to increased efficiency, accuracy, personalization, and innovation.

AI, is still a relatively new technology but it’s time that ad agencies carefully evaluate its potential benefits and drawbacks from a new business perspective.

Here are a few examples of the practical ways AI will enhance your agency’s business development:

  • Improved Lead generation: AI can analyze large amounts of data to identify potential new business leads more efficiently than traditional methods.
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Community Development Comes Before Business Development

Community Development Comes Before Business Development

 

Building an engaged online community should NOW be a core responsibility for business development.

The battle for new business is online which makes community development indispensable for marketing your agency. Knowing how to build an online community has become an important skill-set.

How to Build an Online Community of Prospects

1. Create a Niche

Since I started my consultancy in 2007, I’ve advocated creating a niche blog for agency new business. I’ve helped launch over 450 personal blogs for agency principals.… Continue reading

Most Ad Agencies Have No Plan for New Business

The Cobbler's Children for Ad Agency New Business

Having a written marketing plan makes new business easier and much more consistent.

I wanted to share, from my personal experience, one of the typical challenges of small to midsize advertising, digital, media and PR agencies. They are often described as the cobbler’s children who have no shoes.

The most common positive trait among these agencies is that they know how to take care of their clients. But what is their most common negative trait?

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The 8 Word Mission Statement for Ad Agency New Business

ad agency mission statement

Your agency’s mission statement can have new business value and measurable results.

A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company, organization or person, its reason for existing. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making. Wikipedia

The mission statement captures the heart of an organization, what it stands for and why it exists.

Here are some examples of the mission statements of popular digital businesses: 

  • Google.
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To be an effective writer, spend more time planning and less time writing

content marketing for ad agency new business

Successful writers spend 75% of their time in the preparation and editing process and only 25% of their time writing the content.

There are big rewards from content marketing, but it’s also a big challenge. Writing is a process that takes time and effort. Even the best writers have difficulty putting their ideas into words.

Most of us aren’t born with the gift for writing. We have to work at it. 

According to a study conducted by McLuhan and Davies, a Toronto based consulting firm specializing in communications training, effective writers spend:
  • 40% of their time planning
  • 25% of their time writing
  • 35% of their time revising

Less effective writers usually spend:

  • 20% planning
  • 60% writing
  • 20% revising

Here is an easy to follow formula that will help fuel your writing:

1.

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Blair Enns: 12 Revolutionary Proclamations for Ad Agency New Business

blair enns win without pitching ad agency new business

How to win new business without pitching, reclaim control of client engagements and stop giving away your thinking for free. 

My friend, John Sharpe,  has spent nearly forty years in the ad agency business and the last twenty in business development exclusively. He is a personal friend and mentor with an impressive resume. So when John tells me that he has just read one of the most influential business development books in his lifetime, he had my attention.… Continue reading

3 Things An Ad Agency New Business Director Needs for Success

ad agency new business training

How ad agencies acquire new business has changed dramatically and that effects the knowledge and skills new business directors need to make it happen.

People who have done this job in the past are struggling. The tenure of a new business director is now two years or less. In a recent survey conducted by RSW/US, only 26% of new business directors were considered successful.

A 4A’s report sited that 90% of agency staff say they have to figure things out on their own due to the lack of training.… Continue reading

Ad Agency New Business 101: Conduct a SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis for Ad agency New Business

A SWOT analysis is a good starting point for someone who is charged with creating new business opportunities for a small to midsize advertising agency, PR firm or digital shop.  

Part of Steve Jobs’ 12 Rules of Success: Perform SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper.

This strategic planning method, when used properly, can be  a valuable tool for making decisions, setting strategy, and evaluating courses of action.… Continue reading