During the last slowdown in 2009 - 2010, I had one client who had a unique response to the economy. She is a very focused and driven leader who doesn’t accept excuses and knows the power she has to create the reality around her. So, when the economy started to slow and other leaders became cautious and fearful, she told me, “I choose not to participate in the recession!” She was always careful about her spending, so she didn’t have to go through her budget, slashing expenses. Instead, she focused on her business development. What did she do? She got even more explicit about the kinds of clients she served and the problems she could solve for them.She focused on outreach. … [Read more...]
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What’s all this I hear about the economy?
If you’ve been listening to the news the last few weeks, you’ve likely heard about inflation and the fears that it will cause a recession in the US economy. What does that mean for how you should be managing and leading your agency? First, what is a recession? A recession occurs when economic growth slows down. We’ve had 9 - 10 years of solid growth (with a brief hiccup in the spring of 2020) and that’s got to come down to earth at some point. When economic growth is strong, and the economy is creating jobs, the rising demand makes it possible for companies to raise prices. It can also create more demand for jobs than there are people to fill them, which creates the kind of wage … [Read more...]
Thinks happen — keep going.
“Don’t get too high with your highs, don’t get too low in your lows.” I have heard my clients, agency founders, describe leading their firm like they are riding a rollercoaster. One minute they were on cloud 9, they closed a big deal or had a client presentation dripping with insights, and their clients clearly valued their perspective. The next minute their best performer turns in her resignation, and your AM drops a report on your desk showing how over budget you are on that project that never ends. One minute you are a hero, the next, you are in despair. And you’re coming back tomorrow to do it all over again 🤣 You don’t have to ride. Remember: you are the same … [Read more...]
Is opportunity scarce or plentiful?
For a minute, let’s imagine that there are two parallel worlds. In one world, we’ll call it the rosy world; opportunity is plentiful. When you need new business, you can find it. Not just any client, but good profitable clients who value you at your best. When I meet clients living in the rosy world, they price aggressively and are conscientious about throwing bad prospects out before they become clients. They have well-defined ideal clients and understand clearly the work those clients want to buy. They stick to their knitting, only taking deals that “fit.” In the other world, we’ll call it the thorny world; opportunity is scarce. We have to hunt to find leads, and when we … [Read more...]
This is your calendar on drugs…
Whenever I see someone’s calendar and it looks like a failing game of Tetris, it reminds me of that Anti-drug PSA from the ’80s. Because if I tried to manage that many meetings, changing topics and keeping track of everything, my brain would fry. One of the first assignments I work on with clients is helping them build an ideal week. A weekly schedule that minimizes context switching provides time for follow-up, strategic thinking, and getting your work done. Instead of trying to fit every request for your time into the next available spot, you take control of your calendar and decide ahead of time what you want to spend your time on. Then assign requests into the appropriate slots … [Read more...]
Why do you do it?
You work hard, harder than you did when you worked for someone else. You are forced to learn about things, like employment law, or payroll taxes, that you don’t care to learn about. Over and over again you find yourself on the edge, a place where you learn a ton, and that also keeps you up at night. You carry a weight that only someone who leads a firm like yours can understand. Why? I don’t think it’s about the money – there are easier ways for you to earn money. If it’s about freedom, well, I think there are choices you could make that would give you more freedom. Is it about prestige, about what other people think of you? I doubt it. What is it? Hit reply; I’d … [Read more...]
The Stump in the Swamp
When I worked as a consultant, I frequently found myself having conversations with team members who reported to the agency founder that would go something like this: Team Member: If my boss would only do these three things differently, what a difference it would make… [Then I’d listen to a long explanation about ways the founder was getting in the way of the agency’s growth]Me: Let’s pretend for a minute that he’s not going to change… Because that was the reality, the founder was the boss, and they made the rules. For the team to say, “You need to be different,” was like pushing a rope; it wouldn’t happen! Instead, I would talk to the team members about how they could respond … [Read more...]
The Problem is Me — Continued!
When last I wrote we talked about the fact that if you wanted to see change, in your business or your life, you needed to change. (Then Memorial Day weekend happened and I missed a whole week of emailing!) I got quite a response to that email! Some thought it was a little harsh, some felt like I was blaming them, and others were energized by the message. So I guess it deserves a little follow-up. There’s no one to blame When I said, “The problem is me” that doesn’t mean that I (or you) are to blame, or that I (or you) are the only source of the problem. It’s quite possible that there was no other way to get to where you are than by going through what you have gone through. In … [Read more...]
The problem is me
I spent over 15 years as a consultant. During that time clients would hire me to fix a “problem” that they had in their business. Their new business system was broken, their margins were terrible, they had too much turnover, etc. They had a problem, my job is to fix it. Most of the agency founders I met with would define the “problem” in terms of “them”. The account team can’t sell.The creatives are going over budget.Our PM’s can’t seem to manage projects effectively. And when I accepted those assignments I knew, 100% of the time, that “the team” wasn’t the problem, the founder was the problem. The account team can’t sell because the founder isn’t willing to be disciplined … [Read more...]
What do you want?
There's no right way to run your business. No one can tell you that you have the wrong goals. Do you want to be famous? Do you want to be influential? Do you want to have a huge audience? Do you want to maximize your financial rewards? You can do that. Do you want the freedom to live anywhere? Do you want to work less? Do you want to have less stress? You can set up your business to make that happen. That's for you to decide. There's just one hitch. You have to decide. (Oh, and you can't have it all.) Why are you doing this? Running an agency isn't for the faint of heart. It's not something that you do on a whim. You need to know why you're doing this thing. What's the thing … [Read more...]
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