When I was getting started with my own business I maxim that I heard often was, “Hire slow, fire fast.” At first I heard it as, “Be slow to add costs to your business, but if things turn south, be quick to cut costs.” But as I’ve spent more time hiring and leading teams I’ve…
Once your priorities are clear, getting your calendar to align with those priorities is the next step to getting your work done. One way to start reshaping your calendar is to wipe the slate clean and create a template for an ideal week. By starting with a blank slate, you can schedule your most important…
Things with this new client have been going along great. You had an excellent strategy session and laid out a whole marketing plan for them. They were bought in – now you are into implementation. The work you’re doing for them looks terrific, right on track. Then the phone rings. The client wants to go…
Either because the client wasn’t clear, or your team didn’t perform, you end up behind the eight-ball looking to rescue a project that’s already behind budget with a possibility of a disappointed client. You might feel like you need to put in some extra time or get the team to work extra hard on something…
My father had what many would say was a very successful career. He graduated from college with an Industrial Engineering degree and went to work in a management role in a factory. But he wanted more from life than that, so he entered a part-time MBA program that led to a job with (what was…
10 Steps to Hiring Your Ideal Employee You own a creative agency with a small staff. You’ve got an open position. While it remains open, it means more work for you and less time to manage your agency. Perhaps, your business is larger. That open position is going to negatively impact your productivity. That’s going…
I got on the phone with a client this week; this is what I heard… “We’re busier than we’ve ever been, we’re booking more projects, bigger projects, and more of them with our ideal clients, that’s the good news!” “The bad news is all that new business has really impacted our culture! We’ve canceled most…
And How to Respond to a Declined Job Offer As a creative agency owner, you will know how difficult it is to recruit the right people. And it’s getting tougher. We’re currently in the toughest hiring market in living memory. Sure, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the beginning of October 2021, there…
Your Foolproof Checklist for Hiring Employees To grow your creative agency, you will have to hire people. There’s only so much you or your existing team can do. The problem is that you find hiring procedures for creative agencies more than a little challenging. If the hiring process leaves you frustrated and fearful that your…
7 Simple Strategies to Motivate Exceptional Feedback Getting feedback from customers is arguably one of the most important aspects of being an owner of a creative agency. Feedback from clients can help you to understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s the best way to know what your clients prefer and dislike about a service…