business development « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

Ad Agencies Need More Content for New Business

February 7, 2012

All ad agencies need more content as part of their promotional strategy to create and keep a relevant and positive engagement with their best prospects 24/7.

Coca Cola has always been at the forefront of innovation. The company recently announced they were committing to a different marketing strategy that no longer relied on traditional advertising to build their business. Coke will be the first major brand to place a major emphasis on content marketing.

In the videos below, Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice-President, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at The Coca-Cola Company is the person leading the global strategy for the Company’s portfolio of global brands. In these two videos called Content 2020, he explains Coke’s new content marketing strategy.

I would urge you to take the time to not only watch these two videos but digest them. Many advertising agencies and companies have yet realized the power of content marketing for their own business. I hope these videos will help give you a better understanding of the importance and potential to drive new business opportunities for ad agencies, PR firms and digital shops.

Chapter 7 describes Coca-Cola’s 70/20/10 plan for content distribution and creation which I think you will find helpful:

70% of content – low risk “bread & butter” content . 50% of time investment. Low risk content will require less time resources to create.
20% of content – innovate off what works to a more specific audience.
10% of content – high risk content, brand new ideas

Here’s the outline for Coca Cola Content 2020:

Chapter 1: How does content excellence approach “liquid and linked content development”?

Chapter 2: The Case for Change – On demand culture

Chapter 3: The Evolution of Storytelling

Chapter 4: Baking Live Positively Into Our Storytelling Plans – a huge creative opportunity

Chapter 5: From Insights To Provocations, The Big Fat Fertile Creative Brief

Chapter 6: Developing Liquid Content – the creation of stories that are expressed through every possible connection. Different processes but the same principles

Chapter 7: Applying the 70/20/10 Investment Principles for Liquid Content

My Story

Since 2007, my new business consultancy for small to midsize ad agencies was built through content marketing

I worked in new business development almost my entire advertising career, but only at agencies in either Birmingham, Alabama or Nashville, Tennessee. There were very few agencies outside of these two states that even knew who I was. But through creating helpful content for my blog, Fuel Lines, I was able to quickly build awareness for my services from my home base in Alabaster, Alabama. One of my first agency clients was 2,058 miles away on the West Coast, in Costa Mesa, CA.

I’ve now worked with over 100 agencies in almost all 50 states, as well as agencies in Canada and the UK. Plus I’ve been able to do generate these new business opportunities without having to rely on distributive outbound marketing tactics such as direct mail and cold calling.

What has worked for me will also work for your agency’s new business.

Additional Content Marketing Resources:

1 Comment | Content Marketing | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, content marketing, inbound marketing, Jonathan Mildenhall, Michael Gass, outbound marketing, The Coca Cola Company | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

How to Qualify Leads for Ad Agency New Business

January 11, 2012

To begin a successful agency new business program one of the first steps is to identify and qualify your best prospects.

A business development person without leads is like a fish out of water. Neither can survive very long. Yet …

Only 30% of B2B marketers know the names of decision makers in the companies they are targeting. The RAIN Group

It is imperative that you know who your prospects are or you are wasting time, energy and valuable agency resources. Here are a few things you should know:

Your agency’s best target market (industry, geography, size, etc.).
Specific names of companies that are the best targets for your agency.
Titles of decision makers in your target industries.
The names of specific decision makers among your target companies along with their basic contact information and any social media accounts they use.

To be successful in new business development you must first name your prospects. Then its important to qualify them. Unqualified prospective client meetings are as bad as no meetings at all. It is a waste of agency time and resources.

There are 3 steps in qualifying a lead or prospect:

Find the companies that need your agency’s service.
Establishing that the prospect has a large enough budget to pay for your agency’s services.
Make sure that the company contact person has the authority to select an agency partner.

It also isn’t a bad idea to check out a prospective client’s credit rating and overall reputation.

An important lesson that I’ve learned in qualifying prospects is that people will tell you anything you want to know. Most people love to talk about their company and are willing to share information about their current situation, their challenges or problems. They just need prompting by being asked the right questions.

Ad agency new business directors spend lots of time locating and pre-qualify prospective clients for their agency. There are a lot of companies available to help with the qualifying data and contact information. Here’s a list of some of the most popular:

Access Confidential: Putting Science Behind The Art Of New Business.
Hoovers: Hoover’s provides the comprehensive information and powerful tools you need to gain new customers and penetrate new markets-directly from your workflow.
Redbooks (LexisNexis): Advertising Redbooks.com delivers the quality and depth of information necessary for in-depth research on agencies and advertisers worldwide.
The List: My personal recommendation, The List Online, the largest relational database of marketing and advertising decision makers in North America.

From most of these services you will find useful detail information such as direct dial numbers, email addresses, titles, personal notes, company news, company financial information, etc.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

Photo Credit: ktgeek

Leave a Comment » | New Business Tips | Tagged: Access Confidential, business development, Hoovers, Michael Gass, new business directors, qualifying prospects, Redbooks LexisNexis, The List Inc | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

19 Tips for Building an SEO Strategy for Ad Agency New Business

January 4, 2012

SEO, ad agency blogs, agency new business

Photo credit: marciookabe

Having a search engine optimization strategy, or SEO, is important to support lead generation for ad agency new business.

Most agency business development directors have a marketing strategy and are becoming competent with an inbound lead generation strategy that has as its centerpiece – content marketing. Understanding search engines is an important part to content marketing and blogging. Therefore, it is important for business development directors to become familiar with how search engines work and keep up with what is going on.

Recent changes to Google’s search engine ranking algorithms are already having an impact. Google’s own site, www.blogger.com, has seen a 20% drop in search traffic.

How do you become more knowledgeable, reduce the impact of these inevitable changes and create an SEO strategy for new business?

1. By understanding Google’s bottom line. It is important that you be natural and authentic so you will be less likely affected by Google’s ongoing improvements to its algorithms.

Over 90 % of all Internet users are using search engines and they are the main sources of online traffic. The primary search engine is Google. Google’s goal is, they want their users to find specifically what they are looking for because if they don’t, they will be looking for alternatives.

“The perfect search engine would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want,” Google’s cofounder and CEO, Larry Page

2. You can also decrease the impact of these inevitable changes, as Google strives to get better, by focusing your content marketing efforts on the basic elements of SEO. These are the key elements of SEO that also will be less likely affected by Google’s changes.

Here are some basic blog SEO tips to help get you started:

Start with a benchmark. Know what your current page rank is and continue to monitor it with tools like Alexa and the Google toolbar.
Your blog’s theme/template can help or hurt your SEO, so review and choose carefully. Most designers are more concerned with good design and less concerned about SEO. The navigation structure of your blog’s template plays a critical role in how it is indexed and crawled by the search engines. Use a navigation structure that enables every page reached within three clicks.
Check your blog’s referer log regularly to track where your visitors are coming from and the search terms they are using to find your site.
Find your ‘niche’ key words. Choosing the most popular search terms will make it nearly impossible to get to the top spot in search. Instead use niche key words that are relevant to your target audience. Place these keywords throughout your blog site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names. Note: the title tag and page header are the two most important spots to put keywords. You can use Google keyword tool to find keywords relevant to your blog. Just be sure not to overdo by stuffing key words, a Black Hat SEO technique that search engines do not approve and will get your site penalized.
You should make it standard to build internal links back to your archives when creating new content. I invite readers to check other articles that might be of interest, at the bottom of almost every post article that I write. Also remember to always link back to sources cited in your post articles as it is bad etiquette not to do so. You will build quality ‘back-links’ by creating link-worthy content.
Choose a meaningful title and add a descriptor statement that is included in the metadata and under the description title. Mine is “Fueling ad agency new business through social media.”
Pick the right domain name. Try to pick a domain name that says something about your blog site’s content.
The single most important thing you can do is to consistently provide high-quality content on your blog. Google has become good at weeding out poor quality web pages.
Add URL to Google. Improve your site’s visibility in Google search results. It’s free. To get started, simply add and verify your site and you’ll start to see information right away.
Be sure and send a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools. A site map is a page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site and makes it easier for spiders to search your site.
Make your URLs more search-engine friendly by naming them with clear keywords.
Be sure to include the alternative text descriptions for all photos, images and videos. Spiders can only search text, not text in your images. Start with your image names: adding an “ALT” tag allows you to include a keyword-rich description for every image on your site.
Take the time to include blog post tags. Tags are one or two words that briefly describe what your article is all about. I also include any person, entity or publication mentioned in a post. Search engines use tags to index and find your posts faster.
SEO and social media marketing have become intrinsically intertwined so be sure you are utilizing social media. You should grow your social media community and using social media platforms and tools to ‘push-out’ new content and pull-in website traffic.
Your content should be fresh. Updating your content regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic. The more recent Google update, dubbed the “Freshness” update, designed to rank newer content higher in search results.
Google has started adding Google+ brand pages in search results and some predict that Google will make it harder to do SEO without Google + . I would recommend that you get started by setting up your Google + account and take part.

It would be helpful for you to know how Google finds web pages matching a search query and determines the order of the results.

How does Google find web pages matching your query, and decides the order of search results? Check out this helpful summary of Google Basics. Another helpful resource is Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to help Google find, index, and rank your site. Here’s also a handy, downloadable Search Engine Optimization Startet Guide. Look up unfamiliar SEO terms using the Search Engine Marketing Glossary

This is an excellent guide for WordPress bloggers: Must See SEO Guide for All WordPress Bloggers

Additional articles that might be of interest:

Photo credit: marclookabe

6 Comments | Content Marketing, New Business Tips, SEO, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, business development, CEO Larry Page, content marketing, Google, Michael Gass, new business, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, SEO Strategy | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The Top 10 Articles of 2011 for Ad Agency New Business

December 29, 2011

www.funphotobox.com

How new business is being acquired for ad agencies is currently undergoing a paradigm shift; instead of pursuing clients, it’s now more important for your prospective clients to find your agency.

I’m sure that you are well aware of the changing marketing landscape and the need to make fundamental changes to the traditional methods for business development.

Data Explosion - 90% of the world’s data was created in just the past two years. Content marketing has become a key element in building awareness for agencies.
Social Media Eruption - social media is now mainstream and is as a key engagement channel for prospects.
Channel and Device Boom - The growing number of new marketing channels and devices, such as smart phones and tablets, are quickly becoming a priority for reaching prospective clients.
Expanding Markets - Small to midsize agencies have a new window of opportunity to reach a larger market than ever before through new media. There are even international opportunities for agencies.
New business Professionals Struggle - Those who were once good at acquiring new business are finding it to be more complex and changing rapidly. Many are struggling. The interruption type tactics, which were successful in the past, are becoming less and less effective.

Unconventional times call for unconventional methods for ad agency new business.

For those charged with developing a new business program for a small to midsize ad agency, PR firm or digital shop, the following resources are for you. I’ve pulled together a list of the “best of” FUEL LINES agency new business articles based upon analytics of site visitors and their comments. These articles include some of the latest trends, tactics and tips for business development as well as articles that hopefully will give you inspiration.

The Top 10 New Business Articles of 2011:

#1 Steve Jobs: 10 Presentation Tactics for Ad Agency New Business

#2 Steve Jobs’s 10 Best Quotes for Advertising Agencies

#3 Forbes: 20 Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns

#4 Top 10 Benefits of Social Media for Ad Agency New Business

#5 The Top 14 List of Advertising Agency Networks for New Business

#6 New Roper Study: 9 in 10 CMOs See Value in Content Marketing

#7 2011 Forecast: 100 Global Trends That Will Drive Consumer Behavior

#8 28 Stimulating Digital and Social Media Marketing Quotes

#9 16 of the Top Quotes from Fast Company’s The Future of Advertising

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

Here are some additional new business resources by category:

Leave a Comment » | Best Practices, Compensation, New Business Tactics, New Business Talents, New Business Tips, New Business Tools, New Business Trends | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, business development, content marketing, Digital Agencies, Michael Gass, pr firms, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Content Marketing is Hard Work: 4 Tips to Make it Easier

December 15, 2011

Content marketing is the wave of the future for ad agency new business, but to have success you will need to make advance preparations to consistently deliver quality content.

I’ve recently written my 650th blog post article. I have a sense of jubilation mainly because I had been battling one of the most serious bouts of “writers block” since starting my blog. I had dealt with this dreaded writers malady in the past but I have never had this much trouble overcoming it.

Writer’s block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some “blocked” writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers. Wikepedia

If you are discovering just how difficult it is to write and create quality content, you aren’t alone. Here’s a collection of notable quotes on the challenges of writing:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Red Smith
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” Steven Wright
“Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Gene Fowler
“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” James Michener
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” Joseph Heller
“When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.” Enrique Jardiel Poncela
“I do not like to write – I like to have written.” Gloria Steinem
“Writing is the flip side of sex – it’s good only when it’s over.” Hunter S. Thompson
“Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet.” Anonymous
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

There is nothing mystical about writing, it is simply hard work. It begins with deciding on the purpose of your writing and who you are writing for. What is the benefit to your readers? What is the benefit to you? It’s also about making a serious time commitment and then grunting the work out until you get it done.

Here are some tips that I would suggest to make content creation easier:

Know your audience: One of the first things you MUST do is to identify who your audience is. Then you must focus your content toward their marketing challenges and needs. Use your analytics for instant feed back to know what content is appealing and what isn’t. Your audience will become the guide for your writing.
Keep your objective top-of-mind: You are writing with a purpose. Use content marketing to generate new business opportunities for the agency by building awareness, lead generation, referrals and positioning as a thought leader. If you don’t have a clear objective you will be wasting your time.
Commit to create original content: Many agencies are trying to take the easy way out by only curating the content of others. There is a place for curating content, but note that original content is in great demand. You will get the best return of your time investment if you are the one that is creating the content that others are curating. That’s where the gold is.
Develop a process for delivering content consistently: Small to midsize agencies should develop a content marketing team, but be sure to name the team leader. If everyone is responsible then no one is. A designated person should be responsible for setting up and managing the editorial calendar and edits as well as managing the content delivery process. I’m hearing from many agencies that have recently created a position of Content Director who oversees the creation of content on behalf of the agency as well as agency clients. I think this is a smart move. Agencies can also hire a freelancer to oversee and manage the process remotely.

Here are some additional articles to help with your agency’s content creation:

7 Comments | Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Trends | Tagged: Ad Agencies, business development, content curation, content marketing, Gloria Steinem, Michael Gass, new business, Red Smith | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Think Multiscreen for Ad Agency New Business

November 11, 2011

Photo Credit: mbiebusch

Keeping up with mobile technology and how it impacts consumer behavior is important because it inevitably effects how ad agencies will be reaching prospects in the near future.

“Most marketers are still struggling to figure out how to truly capitalize on the opportunities represented by long-form video and — more recently — social content. Now, a new imperative is clear, especially for those spending heavily on TV. Content and experiences that move seamlessly from one screen to another are an absolute must.” Jeremy Lockhorn, VP Emerging Media, Razorfish

Consumers’ use of emerging media driven by new technologies is moving at such a lightning pace that it’s difficult for agencies and the brands they represent to keep up. There is also the tendency for marketers to “over-focus” on things like television, mobile and social media as stand alone mediums rather than fully comprehending consumer behavior and creating a multiscreen strategy.

Emerging media and new technology also impacts business development for ad agencies. There is a need to understand how prospects are using new technology such as mobile and web-enabled devices. Plus there is a paradigm shift in business development for agencies from outbound new business tactics to inbound marketing. Agencies will need to be able to effectively reach prospective clients through a multiscreen new business strategy.

To better understand the impact of new technology and its rapidly evolving use of consumers here in the U.S., digital agency giant, Razorfish, partnered with Yahoo Mobile to conduct a study of mobile habits.

Here are some of the highlights from this study:

80% of respondents are mobile multitasking while watching TV.
70% of respondents who multitask do so at least once a week, with nearly half (49%) reporting everyday multitasking.
60% check their phones at least “once or twice” during the course of a TV show, and 15% stay on the mobile Web for the full duration of the show.
The top 5 categories for multitasking: 1. Reality 2. News 3. Comedy 4. Sports 5. Food
94% of multitaskers engage in some kind of mobile communication. In order — They are text, talking, email, social networking and IM.
60% of multitaskers are accessing additional content of some type.
44% is unrelated to what’s on TV versus only 38% related to TV.
Survey respondents were more likely to state that they frequently engaged in multitasking during TV ad breaks.
36% of multitaskers use their connected devices for looking up information on a commercial they just saw.

Click on the following link to read Jeremy’s article and additional information regarding the Razorfish and Yahoo Mobile Study: ”Forget Mobile – Think Multiscreen”

Additional articles that may be of interest:

Photo Credit: mbiebusch

3 Comments | Digital, New Business Trends | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, business development, emerging media, Jeremy Lockhorn, Michael Gass, mobile, Razorfish, Social Media, Yahoo Mobile | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

20 Top Inbound Marketing Resources for the Paradigm Shift in Ad Agency New Business

November 9, 2011

Intersection Consulting

Advertising agencies, PR firms and digital shops should reverse their new business efforts from “Outbound Marketing” techniques to “Inbound Marketing.”

There is a dramatic paradigm shift for acquiring new business opportunities for advertising agencies, digital shops and PR firms. Agencies need to rethink their approach to new business and intensify their focus on inbound tactics, such as creating magnetic content that will attract prospective clients, rather than relying on the traditional interruption model which consumers are responding to less and less.

MarketingSherpa reported in a CMO Study, 80 percent of decision makers said they FOUND their vendors (not the other way around). Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.

Most agencies are spending the majority of their new business efforts on “Outbound Marketing” tactics such as direct mail, cold calling, email blasts and other efforts that push their message out to a wide, diverse prospective client audience. Their prospects are already inundated with over 2000 interruptions per day. They are becoming experts at blocking out those unsolicited outbound tactics.

It is much more effective and efficient to follow the paradigm shift to “Inbound Marketing” techniques where 100% of your potential clients will begin an agency search by using Google. The internet, coupled with social media marketing and inbound marketing techniques, takes the ability to network and gain referral business to a whole new level. It allows agencies to maintain a top of mind awareness without using interruption tactics and helps to build relationships quickly.

If an agency has been 90% focused on outbound marketing tactics and only 10% on inbound marketing, I recommend that they do just the opposite.

To make this shift effective, the most successful Inbound Marketing programs will have three key parts:

Content – Content is the fuel for this new business engine. It is what attracts potential clients to your site.
Search Engine Optimization – 90% of new business begins with online search.
Social Media – This will amplify the impact of your content.

Those agencies that adapt to this new business paradigm shift from “outbound marketing” methods to “inbound marketing” will have a distinct advantage over their competition. Some are already seeing results.

In a recent 2011 HubSpot ROI Study, 69% of businesses surveyed said that inbound marketing attributed to their lead generation success.

With help from American Business Media and the Business Marketing Association, Junta42 and MarketingProfs surveyed over 1,100 North American B2B marketers from diverse industries and a wide range of company sizes. The survey revealed that inbound marketing was a key lead generation source for 63% of the respondents:

Brand Awareness – 78%
Customer Attention/Loyalty – 69%
Lead Generation – 63%
Website Traffic – 55%
Thought Leadership – 52%
Sales – 51%
Lead Nurturing – 37%

The internet and the rise of social media has changed the nature of ad agency new business and subsequently changed the shape of the sales funnel. That initial client conversation today is much different from the one a decade ago because the prospect often knows as much about your agency as the new business director does and the prospect is already much more “qualified.”

Here are 20 of Fuel Lines’s most popular resources for helping agencies make the shift from outbound marketing to inbound marketing for new business:

Image Credit: Intersection Consulting

3 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Tactics, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, digital shops, inbound marketing, lead generation, Michael Gass, Public Relations, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

12 Initial Steps for Ad Agency New Business Directors

November 3, 2011

Photo Credit dennis.vetu

If you are charged with developing a new business program for a small to midsize ad agency, PR firm or digital shop, then this article is for you.

I’ve often found that new business development people often lack experience. They also usually have responsibilities other than new business development.

If this is your situation, I’ve pulled together a list of brief steps to help you to get a jump-start for your new position.

1. Develop a SWOT analysis and conduct staff interviews.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

I recently wrote an article about creating a SWOT analysis that you may want to review as a resource to help you get started. A SWOT analysis was also a part of Steve Jobs’ 12 Rules of Success.

Conducting a SWOT analysis is a very straightforward, non-complicated process for gathering agency information quickly around 4 key categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

A SWOT analysis also provides you with a focus for conducting internal staff interviews which will give you some helpful insights into your agency.

2. Review creative and case studies.

Most of the agencies that I work for have a samples room. We always make sure there were samples of creative work to share with prospective clients. If your agency has such a resource, spend time reviewing each piece of creative and creative campaigns.

I would suggest reviewing all of the current creative campaigns. Spend some time with the creative staff and ask them to take you through the process of how each of the campaigns were developed and the results.

Most agencies will have case studies written that you can review. If your agency lacks the case studies, now would be a good time to get these done. This would be helpful to have, even if you have to be the one who gathers the information and writes the studies.

3. Review past RFPs.

This is another way to utilize the information that has been developed for various RFPs and will help you to get up to speed about your agency quickly. From billings, agency experience, past and current clients along with staff profiles. These responses are filled with rich information and will highlight agency experience across a variety of industries and disciplines.

4. Identify and profile your agency’s top 5 competitors.

This information will come together in the development of your SWOT analysis. I would suggest learning as much as you can about your agency’s top competitors.

What accounts were lost to your agency’s competition and why?
How does the competition compare with your agency? Look at staff size, billings, client roster, category experience, location, agency networks, awards, etc.
What are your competitor’s weaknesses?

5. Identify and profile your agency’s best target audience.

Your target audience will become clearer as you progress through these steps. This is a vital step for new business success. Most small to midsize agencies refuse to identify who their target is because of the fear of missing a new business opportunity that won’t be reflective of your target audience. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

No agency can be everything to everybody. If you try to appeal to everyone your agency won’t appeal to anyone.

Agencies may have spent lots of money for someone to tell them who their target is but they lack the will power to publicly state it.

For your purpose as the new business director, you need to know who the target is. I wouldn’t waste time trying to build internal consensus – just go through the process and do it on your own. If you don’t, you won’t be able to successfully go beyond this step to create a new business program that has focus.

6. Identify the best positioning for your agency and create a strong point of differentiation.

Again, you don’t have to have buy-in internally for this to work. You should be able to easily create a positioning and point of differentiation having completed the earlier steps. You will waste a lot of time if you try to reach this decision collectively.

It’s important for you to conduct this step expeditiously to be able to move on to creating a new business plan. Most agencies get stuck in a rut at this step. That’s why they are in a perpetual state branding their agency and can never quite get there. But it’s new business development purgatory so just do it!

7. Create the parameters for qualifying agency prospects.

You can burn up a lot of your energy, along with the energy, good will, creative and financial resources if you aren’t focused on the right prospective clients. You are not charged with mere new business activities, but on the activities that will generate the best return on investment to get your agency the “at-bats” with qualified prospects.

There are a number of tools to assist you in evaluating potential clients and creating a set of parameters for prospects. The List, Hoovers Online and Redbooks to name a few. You can develop parameters by marketing budget, company size, location, etc.

The establishment of parameters for prospective clients will also help with new business focus and eliminate chasing after and wasting resources on the wrong prospects.

8. Set REALISTIC goals and objectives.

There’s a tendency with a lot of agencies to set unrealistic goals when they want to reach the elusive “next level.” You’ll need to be able to accurately describe what the next level looks like and create a realistic, measurable plan on how to get there. Unrealistic goals and objectives will turn into meaningless activities that carry no weight.

9. Create a simple New Business plan built around your agency’s culture and resources.

The plan doesn’t need to be beyond 2 to 3 pages. It should be a realistic plan that takes into consideration the current agency culture and resources available to implement the plan.

I would suggest creating a budget for new business. Taking into consideration both the finances and time investment that it will take to consistently implement.

10. Implement the plan.

Remember, a plan is just a plan until it is implemented. Plan your work and work your plan. This step is that simple.

Remember that consistency is a key component to success. Without consistency the plan is doomed for mediocre success or complete failure. This is also a time for evaluation and adjustments.

11. Evaluate your program monthly and create 1 page report of the measurable results.

I am against a lot of reporting on new business activities. It will bleed valuable time and energy from implementing your new business plan. Bottom line, in the end, you are going to be judged on the qualified “at-bats” you generate rather on the amount of new business activities. You can showcase lots of activities, but if those don’t turn into new business opportunities, your position will be in jeopardy.

That isn’t to say there shouldn’t be any reports on what you’re doing. I would suggest limiting the reporting to a 1 page monthly update that includes measurements against your agency’s new business goals and objectives.

12. Be prepared to make adjustments

Following the monthly evaluation of your program, you should be ready to make any necessary adjustments to your plan. Adjustments are always necessary and an important part of the process.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

1 Comment | Agency Leadership, New Business Plans, New Business Talents, New Business Tips | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, digital shops, Michael Gass, pr firms, small ad agencies, Steve Jobs, strategic planning, SWOT Analysis | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ad Agency New Business 101: Conduct a SWOT Analysis

October 20, 2011

Photo Credit Pshegubj

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. You should use it as an initial step for defining your agency’s new business objectives. It is a helpful tool for reviewing your agency’s current focus and positioning.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. Internal factors are ones that you have control over. External factors are ones you don’t have much control over.

Strengths: internal characteristics of the agency that gives it an advantage over the competition. What does your agency do well? What resources are available? List your agency’s attributes: people, expertise, credentials, etc.
Weaknesses: internal limitations that are a liability and create a disadvantage relative to the competitor. They are things that detract an agency from its ability to obtain new business. It could be a lack of expertise or resources, location, positioning, training, etc.
Opportunities: the external competitive advantages that are helpful to you achieving your new business objectives.
Threats: external factors that are potential threats to your agency’s new business. These are challenges that are created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits. Proactively plan for and respond to them.

Ask yourself the following questions from a new business perspective:

How can we leverage our strengths?
How can we improve upon our weaknesses?
How we can capitalize on our opportunities?
How can we minimize our threats?

The true value of the SWOT analysis is in bringing this information together, to assess the most promising opportunities, and the most crucial issues.

Before you begin, review the following 3 steps and keep them in mind to avoid the danger of it becoming a meaningless exercise.

Step 1 – Collect the Information

Conducting a SWOT exercise for your agency is a straight forward exercise. Begin the SWOT analysis by conducting an inventory of internal strengths and weaknesses within your agency. This shouldn’t be only one person’s perspective. You will need to include others in this process. Plan to interview your agency’s key executives and possibly your entire staff. Use open-ended questions built around these four areas. Keep your SWOT short and simple with a bullet point list. The analysis should become an executive summary.

Step 2 – Prepare a Plan of Action

Unbelievably, 62% of agencies don’t have a planned new business effort.

You should review your SWOT summary with a view of creating a plan that addresses each of the four areas. It serves as a basis for the development of a new business plan that will be your guide for implementing a successful new business program.

The SWOT analysis will act as a filter for lots of information and will allow you to better interpret and identify the primary keys for your new business plan.

Follow the KISS (keep-it-simple-stupid) method. Keep everything as simple as possible including the plan. A one page plan will easily suffice.

Step 3 – Benchmarks for Measurement

Set goals that are realistically achievable within the culture and resources of the agency.

There is a lot of truth to the old cliché, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Conducting a SWOT analysis will allow you to know what agency data needs to be collected to use as a benchmark for key objectives for the future.

The SWOT exercise will provide a clearer direction for new business and will allow you to easily set new business goals that stretch your agency while being realistically attainable.

For instance, a lot of agencies will say, “we want to double the size of our agency over the next year.” Your SWOT analysis provides the kind of information that helps determine if that goal is attainable. It may be more realistic to state the objective as: “We want to increase the agency’s new business by 25% over the next three years.”

You want to set goals that are realistic given the agency’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

6 Comments | Best Practices, New Business Plans, New Business Tactics, New Business Tips | Tagged: ad agency, business development, Michael Gass, new business, SWOT Analysis | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The All Business “No Bull Crap” Guide to Social Media Marketing

October 11, 2011

Turning social media into social media marketing for ad agency new business.

No Bullshit Social Media is a new book that I highly recommend for ad agencies. It is hype-free advice on how to use social media marketing for business and contains a wealth of statistics, illustrations and case studies. The books insights will be of practical help to your agency and clients.

The reason your agency needs social media is that it can drive real new business opportunities and will provide a serious step up on your competitors.

The book is co-written by Jason Falls and Erik Deckers.

I’ve known Jason since starting my own consultancy back in 2007. He understands ad agencies having previously worked for Doe Anderson, a regional agency in Louisville, KY. Jason has built a successful and highly regarded digital and social media consulting service, the Social Media Explorer. He also authors one of the most widely read and well-respected blogs in the industry where he shares his insight at ExploringSocialMedia.com.

Erik was an early adopter of social media and has been blogging since 1997. He is the co-owner and VP of Creative Services for Professional Blog Service in Indianapolis. He has been a newspaper humor columnist for 17 years, and is published in 10 newspapers around Indiana. Erik co-authored Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (Pearson, 2010). He also helped write Twitter Marketing For Dummies.

I love the following quote taken from the first chapter of the book. It sets the tone for the practical no-nonsense advice you are going to find in this book.

“Social Media Is for Hippies. Social Media Marketing Is for Business.”

That is exactly the mindset needed if you are going to generate new business through the use of social media. Jason and Erik, unapologetically, break from the way early adopters of social were using it. Their philosophy is more pragmatic by taking social media from the playground to the office suite to market your business.

“… the social media marketing world now knows that companies need business outcomes from their social media efforts, namely increased sales, profits, and market share.

A lot of preparation went into writing this book. Erik shared with me that he and Jason spent over 5 months on just the research for the statistics and illustrations on how businesses are finding success with social media marketing. These case studies makes a persuasive argument for social media’s potential as it continues to evolve and mature.

“If social media can help overthrow a government, what will it do for your company.”

Most agencies are accustomed to gaining new business through networks and referrals. Social media has the potential to take your personal networks to a whole new level. Jason and Erik provide you with rich insights on why and how you should do it.

The book addresses 7 major benefits social media marketing has for businesses and agencies.

Social media marketing can:

Aid in branding and awareness
Protect your reputation
Extend public relations
Build community
Drive customer service
Funnel research and development
Drive sales and leads

A reminder that you can’t measure your progress until you first define success. This book gives you a strategic blueprint to get your agency focused for new business success with social media marketing and some great ideas to help your agency become more of a social business.

PEOPLE want to work with other PEOPLE that they KNOW, TRUST and LIKE.

Order the book now at NoBullshitSocialMedia.com. I purchased the Kindle version from Amazon but you can also order it from B&N, Borders, Books-A-Million and Que.

2 Comments | New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, Business, business development, Erick Deckers, Jason Falls, Michael Gass, social media marketing | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

A 70 Point Checklist for Jump-Starting or Tuning-Up Your Blog for New Business

September 29, 2011

You should evaluate your agency’s blog to optimize its potential as a tool for lead generation, referrals and networking.

There is a dramatic paradigm shift for acquiring new business opportunities for small to midsize ad agencies. Agencies need to rethink their approach to new business and intensify their focus for creating magnetic content that will attract prospective clients, rather than relying primarily on the interruption model of cold calls and unsolicited direct mail, which consumers are responding to less and less.

Creating new business opportunities through social media is growing. In a recent Ad Agency New Business Survey that I conducted, 64% of the 430 responding ad agencies said they now have a blog. Unfortunately, a number of these blogs are not optimized for new business.

I’ve compiled the following 70 point check-list to help “jump-start” or “tune-up”agency blogs for new business:

Identify your audience. This will help to make your writing easier and more focused.
State the purpose of your blog. Create a descriptor statement in the blog’s Header. A one sentence summation of the purpose for your blog. Expand upon the descriptor statement in a “Welcome” section in your blog’s sidebar.
Make sure that your blog’s benefit to your visitors is crystal clear.
Reading fuels your writing. You need a good strategic reading program with a clear focus that is centered upon your audience’s interest and needs.
Have calls-to-action that are clear. What do you want your audience to do? They can subscribe to your newsletter, inquire about your services, download a white-paper or eBook, email you their questions, etc.
Create each post title with the keywords you want to dominate through search (i.e. “ad agency new business”). It is also helpful to flag a targeted audience through Twitter and let them know the content is specific to their needs.
The first sentence of your post should be the “takeaway or benefit statement”. Just simply answer the question, what will be my takeaway or benefit if I commit to read this post? Lead with the conclusion.
Have a distinct point-of-differentiation.
Remember that online readers prefer writing that is concise, easy to scan, and objective (rather than promotional) in style.
Focus on providing quality information over the quantity of posts being generated.
Build relationships with your readers by integrating your blog with Facebook, Google +, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Your blog should become a repository of valued information for your audience. This means that it’s not all original content. I recommend writing 1 original post for every 4 or 5 resource posts.
Use bulleted or numbered lists often. Readers love them.
Highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others).
Publish on a regular schedule. Be consistent in delivering at least 3 to 5 posts per week. This will keep your readers coming back for more. Also, frequently updated content makes search engines happy.
Build credibility and authority for your niche.
Highlight your successes through a featured page such as Press, Awards or your Profile page.
Write headlines that are benefit driven.
Evaluate and improve your writing so that it stands out among the crowd.
Make your posts easy to find and your blog simple to navigate.
Highlight popular posts.
Provide links to additional resources. I almost always provide “Additional articles that may be of interest” at the end of most of my post, linking to similar content from my blog and other sources. It also will keep your visitors on your site longer and improve their experience.
Half the word count (or less) than conventional writing. Usually 350 to 450 words.
Demonstrate how you stand out in your niche. Provide testimonials, comments, featured articles, endorsements, and statistics—in text, audio, and video format through additional linked blog pages or specialty pages.
Provide one call-to-action with clear instructions above the fold.
Avoid jargon and agency speak.
Provide headlines and sub headlines that make it easy for readers to skim your piece before reading the entire article.
Don’t use white writing on black or colored background that makes it hard for people to read.
Create or choose a blog layout that isn’t cluttered or confusing.
Provide captions (where appropriate) on photos that are keyword rich and benefit-driven.
Don’t use too many fonts, colors, and sizes.
Check to see that your blog is quick to load.
Have a clean, simple, banner at the top of your blog that creates the right feeling on your site. A personal rather than corporate feel.
Break-up long text with sub-headings, bullet points, italics, indention, photos and graphics.
Your opt-in should be above the fold.
Provide an incentive for visitors to give you their name and email.
Only ask for opt-in information that you intend to utilize.
Don’t adhere to the belief that if you “build it and they will come”.
Test, monitor and fine tune your blog regularly.
Use offline-to-online marketing to further promote your blog.
Collect blog stats on results weekly, or per campaign.
In the early phase of promoting your blog, consider paid traffic, Facebook PPC and banner ads.
Build or buy email lists as you build your opt-in list for your niche. A good resource would be The List out of Atlanta, GA.
Write guest articles for other blogs in your niche and even other niches.
Submit your blog post to online directories.
Facilitate referral opportunities through your blog.
Interact regularly through social media—Facebook, Google +, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Run competitions. I’ve generated a lot of traffic to my blog through an “Agency Blog of the Month” contest that culminated into an “Agency Blog of the Year”.
Conduct online surveys and polls through your blog at least quarterly and share results in a post article, PRWeb or PR Newswire.
Create partnering and promotional opportunities with online thought leaders in your niche.
Find ways, through your blog, to help your readers engage with one another.
Write with an “evergreen” style that allows your blog posts to have a long shelf-life and provide a greater return on your time investment.
Write for fast comprehension.
Be sure to include a photo or graphic for each post to add some additional flavor. Use only images that you have rights to or Creative Commons-licensed content that you can find through photo sharing service such as Flicker.com.
Repurpose content. Someone that finds one of your blog post through search might click-through to another post because you have repurposed it through an email newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google +.
Carefully think through your blog’s heading. A “heading” is a stand-alone phrase that describes your blogs content that appear below it. I usually advise clients to create a blog descriptor statement for the header that lets a reader and search engines know the purpose and intent of the content such as “Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media.”
Write consistently: This is important to creating regular readership. Write at least 3 to 5 posts per week.
Make sure that your blog’s content stays focused and relevant to your target audience. Especially when developing curated content. Curation is essentially the organizing and sharing (some might even say “repackaging”) of content in ways that are meaningful to a specific target audience. There is a lot of great information you can glean from online that is not related to your readership, but you can easily make them relevant.
Be sure you own your domain name. A person that still has “wordpress or blogspot” in their domain won’t be able to change blogging platforms without losing traffic. This is a huge mistake.
Be sure your site is indexed with Google. If your pages are not indexed, then Google is not crawling them.
Build quality inbound links.There are many online business directories where you can just submit your URL, agency’s name and a description of your services.
Make sure your content can be easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Linked, as well as social bookmarking sites such as Digg, dell.icio.us and StumbleUpon with Share buttons.
Jump-start traffic by repurposing your blog’s content through an email newsletter that is sent every-other-week. Don’t assume that because you’ve written a post, everyone has read it. You should always assume just the opposite.
Build a sizable Twitter following that is targeted using TweetAdder and repurpose your blog content to your Twitter account using a program such as Social Oomph. Twitter can become your blog’s number one tool for generating targeted traffic.
Invite others to guest post for your blog but be selective.
Be proactive in facilitating speaking opportunities by creating a “Speakers Page” for your blog, list the topics and titles that you can speak to.
Place your RSS Subscription Feed button above the fold, near the top of you blog’s homepage.
Also place a subscription for your email newsletter within your blog’s sidebar to create Opt-Ins from site visitors.
Review your blog site’s analytics daily to see what posts are generating the most traffic, what search terms are being used, where traffic is coming from, who is linking to you, links readers clicked on, page views, etc.
Create a first-step call-to-action for your readers to know how to initially engage with your services. This could be a market or brand audit, or a workshop. Whatever it is, make it something simple and of good value . Price it low so that it doesn’t require a lot of time to consider. It will at least pay for your time in front of a prospect and lead to more new business opportunities. A call-to-action will also help separate your qualified prospects from those that just want to pick your brain for free.

Some additional agency blogging resources:

7 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: advertising agencies, blogs, business development, content curation, content marketing, lead generation, Michael Gass, networking, referrals, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

10 Prime Time Benefits of Blogging for New Business

September 22, 2011

Photo Credit zoutedrop

The majority of ad agencies have yet to comprehend what huge benefits a blog can make and why it deserves to be “prime time” for new business.

With help from American Business Media and the Business Marketing Association, Junta42 and MarketingProfs surveyed over 1,100 North American B2B marketers from diverse industries and a wide range of company sizes. The survey revealed that content marketing, including blogs, is a key lead generation source for 63% of the respondents.

Brand Awareness – 78%
Customer Attention/Loyalty – 69%
Lead Generation – 63%
Website Traffic – 55%
Though Leadership – 52%
Sales – 51%
Lead Nurturing – 37%

Here’s the story of how my blog helped launch my business

I started my consulting business just prior to The Great Recession. We had three kids in college at the time. I didn’t have a lot of funds to promote my services nor the time to play around with social media. But, I sensed the potential of social media for building awareness quickly and creating new business opportunities. So I jumped in, immersing myself in it as if I were back in grad school. From early mornings until late at night and even weekends, I spent time trying to get my head around this new communication channel but always from a new business perspective.

From the start I was compelled to monetize social media, forced to press the envelope beyond the way the early adopters of social media had intended for it to be used. Within a short three months I was already securing new clients as well as an income that matched my previous salary.

From the beginning, the centerpiece of my social media strategy was my blog

My blog, Fuel Lines, literally launched my consultancy. If I had promoted my business using traditional methods, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have spent a substantial amount of money and it would have taken much longer for my consultancy business to be where it is today.

Once I created my blog it became a never-ending cycle of content development and learning curves based on the fast progression of social media. It has been a process of “learn as you go”. I came upon an old adage in the early days of my writing, “you don’t know what you know until you write it down”. This is so true. My blog has served as a key tool for my personal continuing education program. It brought focus to my reading and writing along with the discovery enriching online resources that fuel both content created from other sources and original content.

Content marketing, through my blog, quickly became one of my most effective marketing tools. Instead of the typical “once and done” traffic of a website, my blog has provided a much better platform for repeat traffic and search visibility.

Here are the benefits that I hope will give you reason to devote Prime Time to your agency’s blog:

1. Generate more online traffic

“Businesses (agencies) that blog, get 55% more website traffic than those that don’t,” According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42

Your blog has the potential to create more web traffic than your agency’s website ever could. Your blog can attract a high volume of quality traffic from the pool of prospective clients you are trying to reach.

Blogs develop more visitors by:

Search visibility – blogs are organized to be search engine friendly. Plus the more content you have (well-linked), the more chances there are of attracting search traffic.
Click-through traffic - by posting interesting articles, a blog gives a reason for other people to link to you.
Repeat traffic – regularly updated content and comments bring visitors back … and back … and back. Most agency websites are not conducive to repeat traffic, particularly if your website hasn’t been updated in 5 years.
Personality - Put a face with your agency. Create a blog around a person(s) and let your personality shine through. People will be attracted to you. People like to associate and work with people they know, trust and like. It’s hard to make friends with a business, but easy to warm to an individual with a welcoming personality.
Viral effects – you create something cool and visitors share it with their friends, who share with their friends … and so on.

2. A blog is a great place for your best prospects to easily find you

MarketingSherpa reported that a CMO Study, 80 percent of decision makers said they FOUND their vendors (not the other way around).

New business for ad agencies has been going through a paradigm shift; instead of chasing after prospective clients, it’s now more important for your prospective clients to find you. Blogs allows you to take full advantage of this paradigm shift for new business, shifting a good portion of your time and energy from outbound lead generation to implementing an inbound lead generation strategy.

A content marketing strategy is a major feature for inbound lead generation and a blog is a central component.

3. A positioning tool

Most ad agencies struggle with narrowing their target audience and thus have great difficulty in positioning and differentiating themselves. A blog is a tool that allows agencies to more easily define and adopt a differentiating new business strategy. Agencies are more comfortable with a narrower niche through a blog than they ever would be with their website.

Here are some examples of agency blogs with a strong target focus and differentiated positioning:

momentum: Moms rule the social web. Does your brand have momentum? - Big Fuel, Manhattan, NY
Off The Shelf: Helping private label food brands take advantage of all the opportunities the market offers – Barkley, Kansas City, MO
Park Howell: Sustainable Storyteller. How sustainable are you and your green marketing - Park & Company, Phoenix, AZ
Roxanne Joffe: Helping women to start, run and grow their business - Cap Brand Marketing, Sarasota, FL
Tradesmen Insights: Marketing to the professional tradesman in the Construction, Industrial and MRO markets - SONNHALTER, Berea, OH
Creative Triage: Market your community hospital efficiently – ABZ Design Group, Charlotte, NC
The Matte Pad: Marketing Know-How for the legal profession – MAX Advertising, Atlanta, GA
Turn Up Your Volume: Strategists and marketers that are looking for ways to drive high-contribution patient volume – The Heavyweights, Indianapolis, IN
Healthy Conversations: Inspiration, Insights & Ideas for Creating New Value – Trajectory, Morristown, NJ
MARKETINGHOMEPRODUCTS: Marketing strategies and communication tactics related to the home and building channel – Kleber & Associates, Atlanta, GA
The One Thing Blog: The casino marketers guide to understanding gamers - Littlefield, Tulsa, OK
Fifth Gear Analytics: Accerlarting sales through analytical insights – SIGMA Marketing Group, Rochester, NY
Ask Smarter Questions: Data drive marketing & business intelligence – Levelwing, Charleston, SC

4. Your own focus group for new business

I have been enriched by having this online, ongoing, personal “focus group” that has provided real-time feedback and insights. My blog readers provide me with an ongoing education. They help me to help them. They let me know whether or not I’m clearly communicating with them. They help me to take my experience and expertise with agency new business and social media and become better at meeting their specific needs.

5. The recycling of older content for a greater ROI

You will continue to generate a great return on your time investment, writing for your agency’s blog, by recycling older content. As you write your posts, learn to write “ever-green” to give the content a long shelf life.

Here are some ways to repurpose your blog content:

Twitter: This isn’t like your email inbox. People are on and off Twitter rather quickly. Often they are scanning for helpful resources to their advertising/marketing challenges. The odds that the majority of your followers would see a post that you published at 11 am on a Thursday is remote. It’s about reach and frequency. SocialOomph is a great program to assist with repurposing content through your Twitter account and allows you to control your publishing schedule knowing what post is being published when.
Email Newsletters: Posts from your archive will find new life by way of your newsletter. You can group older posts around a particular category or theme. Highlight the “best of” your online content. Here are a couple of examples: Fuel Lines, Convince and Convert’s Vault
Facebook and LinkedIn: Another way to repurpose content is through other social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These are not with the same frequency of posting as you would with Twitter.

6. A pipeline for consistent lead generation

You can keep your prospective pipeline full even when your agency is busy with client work or you are away.

At the beginning of the summer, while my wife and I were vacationing in Key West, I wrote a post and published it along with a photo while on the beach. I wrote,“Vacationing with Social Media and Still Generating Ad Agency New Business,” to illustrate how content marketing through a blog can keep your new business pipeline full even when you are away.

7. Leading with client benefits instead of agency capabilities

Blogging keeps your agency focused on what is important to your prospective clients. It’s not about YOU it’s all about THEM. It forces you speak to their benefit instead of talking about your agency.

If you don’t have a passion to help your audience succeed, you wont success with blogging. As soon as you start to “sell” your agency or brag about your credentials and awards, you will lose your credibility along with your audience. Instead, provide content that helps your prospects with their marketing challenges and build trust. Then new business will come.

8. A professional enrichment tool

Blogging will enrich your professional life, keep you up to date with the freshest thinking and help you to be acquainted with the newest and best trends. Writing to a specific audience to help them with their needs will focus your reading and your writing. You have direction to begin each day and that makes blogging easier.

9. Enhances Network and Referrals

A survey of advertising agencies conducted by Fuel Lines, reveals that 50% of the 430 responding agencies generated new business from two primary sources last year: referrals and networking.

Agencies have long understood the importance of individual connections to generate new business. It has always been the lifeblood of small to midsize agencies. Thankfully, albeit slowly, agencies are starting to understand the potential of social media to enhance networks and referral opportunities.

A blog, as the centerpiece of your social media strategy, will greatly enhance your capabilities of networking within your local market plus far beyond it.

Over the summer, I wrote a post from my hotel room in London, England. I was reflecting on how far I’ve come since I created my blog. I have worked with new clients all across the United States from Costa Mesa, CA to Port Clyde, Maine and this year had my first overseas client in the UK. I’ve recently been invited to speak to agencies across South Africa in the cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

I’ve generated these personal networks and referrals by blogging from my home office which is located above my garage in Alabaster, Alabama. It’s absolutely amazing.

10. A Call-to-Action converting blog visitors into new business opportunities

A strong call to action is a clear, simple and compelling offer that persuades your readers to take the action you want. Just having a “Contact Us” form on your blog site is not very appealing to your blog’s visitors. It doesn’t count as your call to action.

I would suggest creating an offer for a particular service, usually a first-step that you normally conduct with every new client, like a brand or marketing audit. Price it in lower than normal, a clear value to the prospect. This will do 3 things:

Render a quicker decision from your prospects. They are not having to make a major financial commitment at this point. They’re just committing to take a small initial step.
Identify the true prospect from those that just want to pick your brain for free and will never pay for your services.
Pay you, at least for a portion of your time, for important face time with your prospective clients.

3 Comments | Agency Blogs, Fuel for Thought, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency, advertising agencies, blogs, business development, content marketing, Michael Gass, networks, new business, referrals, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Steve Jobs’s 10 Best Quotes for Advertising Agencies

August 27, 2011

Photo Credit Annie Bannanie 06

Steve Job’s serves as an example of doing agency new business the right way.

Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple. When it comes to presenting and salesmanship, there’s no one better.

His tenure as CEO should serve as inspiration for advertising agencies that seem to still be in a state of flux in this technology driven communication’s revolution.

Below are some of the best Steve Jobs’s quotes to inspire us to think differently and up our game through innovation, collaboration:

“The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer
“For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Bloomberg Businessweek
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Wired
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” BusinessWeek
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” CNNMoney
“When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions.” Newsweek
“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” Fortune
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” Wall Street Journal
“You’re missing it. This is not a one-man show. What’s reinvigorating this company is two things: One, there’s a lot of really talented people in this company who listened to the world tell them they were losers for a couple of years, and some of them were on the verge of starting to believe it themselves. But they’re not losers. What they didn’t have was a good set of coaches, a good plan. A good senior management team. But they have that now.” Businessweek
The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient … But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.” Businessweek

Additional Steve Job articles that may be of interest:

23 Comments | Agency Leadership, Fuel for Thought | Tagged: ad agency, advertising agencies, business development, collaboration, innovation, Michael Gass, Steve Jobs | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The Challenges of Jumping from a Creative Shop to a Digital One

August 16, 2011

What are you doing to prepare your agency for the digital revolution?

Digital training is critical for the traditional small-to midsize advertising agencies. The strategic partnerships with digital shops have all gone by the wayside, mainly because digital agencies don’t need them any longer.

To quote Aaron Reitkopf, North American CEO of digital agency Profero, “There’s never been a better time to be in advertising, and there’s never been a worse time.”

Advertising agencies aren’t changing of their own accord, they are being changed. Rising to meet the escalating demands for digital, a lot of agencies are now requiring that almost all of their employees develop digital skills.

Kristina Slade, made the radical decision to leave her job as associate creative director at Omnicom Group’s TBWA \/Chiat\/Day, Los Angeles, to become creative director at San Francisco-based digital agency AKQA. In a recent Ad Age interview, Slade shared her challenges. Here are some of the highlights and challenges she expressed in that interview:

“… there are better [online] opportunities for brands and consumers.”
“Jumping in and absorbing all that tech info was the first hurdle.”
“Digital is a self-curated experience, so if someone didn’t engage with you, it just didn’t happen. It’s about what can a brand give someone.”
“It was just getting behind the scenes of technology so we could make smarter choices and creative work that was better by leveraging all the potential of different platforms.”
“… we actually have metrics and can prove what we can get for every dollar spent in digital.”
“The traditional shop is getting smaller. It’ll look like a hybrid shop.”a

Click on the following link to read Alexandra Bruell’s article, “Creatives out of Their Comfort Zone: Kristina Slade”

Additional articles that may be of interest:

For daily industry news check out Gass Online.

Leave a Comment » | Agency Leadership, Best Practices, Digital | Tagged: Aaron Reitkopf, AdAge, advertising agencies, AKQA, Alexandra Bruell, business development, Digital Agencies, Kristina Slade, Michael Gass, Omnicom Group's TBWA \/Chiat\/Day | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

When it comes to new business Ad Agencies are ADHD

August 2, 2011

Photo Credit ADHD CENTER

ADHD is a problem with inattentiveness, over-activity, impulsivity, or a combination – It also is descriptive of most advertising agencies, especially when it comes to new business.

For a large number of ad agencies, the atmosphere is chaotic. It is an environment that is in a perpetual state of distraction. Working in this kind of climate is stressful. You’re constantly shifting from one task to the next. There are numerous interruptions and urgent requests throughout each day.

The digital revolution has created additional challenges – how do we stay focused and productive with so many intriguing distractions only a click away. That’s exacerbated with laptops, smartphones, tablets and the popularity of social media.

New business directors must continually refocus their attention, creating fatigue and decreased productivity. That’s bad for agency new business.

Office and internet distractions lessen productivity:

Every time we become distracted, it takes an average of 15 minutes to regain complete focus.
Gloria Mark, a UC-Irvine professor has found that the average employee switches tasks every three minutes, is interrupted every two minutes and has a maximum focus stretch of 12 minutes.
A study showed that people distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQs, the equivalent of losing a nights sleep.
An American study reported in the Journal Of Experimental Psychology found our productivity goes down by as much as 40% when we attempt to do several things at once.
Studies by Gloria Mark, an ‘interruption scientist’ at the University of California, show that when people are frequently diverted from one task to another, they work faster, produce less, report significantly higher stress levels, frustration, workload, effort and pressure.

I have been working in ad agency new business almost my entire advertising career and have completed two post-graduate degrees. I’m organized and focused but far from perfect. I’m constantly learning new techniques that lessen distraction and increase my productivity.

One solution that has been the most helpful for me is to dedicate blocks of time to similar tasks. The result – it increases your productivity, creativity, and mental sharpness, while decreasing fatigue, procrastination, and stress. You simply group similar tasks that require similar resources in order to streamline their completion.

Set aside a specific amount of time for specific tasks and make a specific effort to not allow the distractions or disruptions of others break your focus. After that block of time is up, take a brief break, then begin to focus on the next block of time.

Here are some tips to help get you started:

Write it down. Write down 4 to 5 of the most important tasks that need to be accomplished as you begin your day.
Keep time. Use a wristwatch, timer, alarm, PDA or computer—anything that keeps accurate time and is within your sight at all times. When you start a task, say the time out loud or write it down. Allot yourself limited amounts of time for each task.
Check off. After completing a task, manually mark it off your list.
Take a break. A 5 minute break after the completion of each task.
Begin again. Refocus, reset the timer and begin working on the next task.
Take an extended break. After completing your top 4 to 5 task for the day, take a 20 minute break.

I’m a fan of a technique invented in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo, a professional in the fields of productivity and process improvement, called The Pomodoro Technique. This easy to use, simple system, used by professional teams and individuals in a range of fields has become a popular tool. It is easy to use and, most of all, it works.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that can help prioritize and accomplish important agency new business tasks.

Here are some Pomodoro resources to help get you started:

Download the Pomodoro Technique® book for free or order it on the Internet or from your bookshop.
Cheat Sheet. Download a one-page overview of the Pomodoro Technique® .
The Pomodoro Technique To-Do Checklist
The Pomodoro Pro app is a timer tailored for people using the Pomodoro Technique and designed specifically for the iPhone or iPad.

Whatever plan you use, be committed to improve your focus and time management. Practice makes perfect.

12 Comments | Agency Leadership, Best Practices, New Business Tips, Time Management | Tagged: ad agency new business, ADHD, advertising agencies, business development, Michael Gass, multitasking | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Zig Ziglar and Ad Agency New Business Directors

August 1, 2011

Agency new business directors have one of the most important, as well as toughest, jobs in advertising – selling the agency.

Why is agency new business so tough? Primarily because agencies are notorious for their inability to sell themselves. Agencies desperately need an expert/specialist in the mechanics of new client acquisition, someone who has the sole focus and capabilities to bring“life-giving” new business to the agency.

“It’s just such a hard position to fill,” said Michael Zuna, New York managing director at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, “The Mad Men-rainmaker days — that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s a tough job.”

In my time in the trenches as a new business director for a number of agencies, I was often inspired by the writings, tapes, videos and presentations of Zig Ziglar, a fellow Alabamian. He is one of the most famous motivational speakers and authors in the world. He is also one of the nicest persons you’d ever want to meet.

Ziglar comes from a successful sales background and has a first hand understanding about the daily grind of being in sales and the need for motivation.

He once said,

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily!”

To help feed your daily motivational needs, here’s my list of Zig Ziglar’s most notable motivational quotes (I’ve paraphrased a few of these to make them a bit more specific to our industry). Hopefully they will provide you with a spark of motivation as you attend to one of the most important jobs of your agency – business development:

Motivating gets you going and habit gets you there . Make motivating a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.
Stop selling and start helping.
Your agency’s most valuable asset is its reputation.
Prospects are perishable – handle with care.
Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals.
If you’re sincere, praise is effective. If you’re insincere, it’s manipulative.
The primary reason prospects will choose not do choose your agency is lack of trust.
New business is more than a profession, it is a way of life.
If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.
When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.
A goal properly set is halfway reached.
Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.
If there were no problems, most of us would be unemployed.
Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.

Click here to heck out the official Zig Ziglar website for additional new business resources.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

Photo credit Matt Wright

2 Comments | Agency Blogs, Facebook, New Business Tips | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, business development, Michael Gass, motivation, new business director, sales, Zig Ziglar | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

7 Tips for Emailing Busy Prospects for Ad Agency New Business

July 28, 2011

E-mail is still relevant as a tool for ad agency new business but use it wisely because prospects are extremely busy just like you.

With the popularity of my blog, I receive a large number of emails daily. I’ve learned to better filter all of the invitations to review, speak, advise and consult as well as the emails that pitch products, services and other opportunities. It isn’t unusual to receive well over a hundred of these type of emails daily.

What I’ve learned from my own experience, the type of email pitches that enlist my response, have helped me to be more effective in using emails for ad agency new business.

Below is an example of a great emailed invitation/pitch. One of the few that I personally responded to almost immediately.

Dear Michael

I run a small events company in Johannesburg South Africa and we have had it on our radar to run an Advertising Innovation Day for some time, we have had good success with events dealing with Social Media and we have had surprisingly a number of delegates from advertising agencies attend a few of them. Please see our website www.classicevents.co.za to give you an idea of what we have run before, please excuse our site – it is due for an upgrade which I am busy attending to now.

I believe there would be a market for talks in Johannesburg and Cape Town and possibly Durban as well, these are the tree main centres where there are a number of agencies, the bulk of the agencies are Johannesburg and Cape Town based but Durban does have some smaller agencies and offices of the larger agencies. I could do some research for you and share lists of agencies here and possibly conduct a test to see if agencies are keen to attend.

Do you have standard speaker fees or would you entertain a profit share or delegate rate share. Please could you also give me an idea of when you could come across for a week or so, I’m guessing you’d surely want a couple of days to relax and see some of the country whilst here.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards

NIGEL BROWN

Here are the reasons why this is such a good email that hopefully will provide some helpful tips as you reach out to your prospective clients using email.

Use a person’s first name. Personal is always better than formal when you are reaching out through email. Formal seems cold and indifferent, often appears spammy. Nigel starts off his email pitch to me simply with “Dear Michael.”
Create a pitch letter that is concise and brief. My heart always sinks we I get a long email from someone. Even though it is much easier to bang out a lengthy email but it is also discourteous. Being short and concise take effort on the part of the sender but it is always appreciated and leaves a positive impression upon the person you are trying to reach out to. Nigel condensed his email down to 3 short paragraphs – perfect!
The request is very clear as well as the invitation on how he would like me to respond.
I can’t tell you the number of times that I receive requests like this and have to search for the contact info info. That is discourteous and leaves a negative impression. But it occurs more often than not. Nigel made it easy for me to follow-up by including all of the various channels that I can make contact with him. Though I didn’t list them here for obvious reasons, Nigel provided me with his email address, cell phone and direct dial office numbers, fax and Skype numbers and an active link to his company’s website.
Don’t over pitch in the subject line. Nigel’s subject line was very effective in getting my attention: Query to explore you coming to South Africa for a series of talks. Who wouldn’t want an opportunity to visit South Africa. But also, Nigel’s invitation wasn’t salesy. It was a simple invitation to explore the possibility, a gauge of my interest. He left the response totally in my court. He didn’t use it as a precursor for a “warm call” that he would initiate.
Nigel was proactive in providing information about his company. In the email he provided me with a hyper link to his company’s website knowing that I would want to investigate credentials.
Don’t overuse flattery. The owner of the first ad agency that I ever worked for, used a lot of flattery in conversation’s with prospects. It always came off as insincere, almost sleazy. Most of the time flattery can be implied without even stating anything and is more effectual.

Photo credit: Frank Gruber

2 Comments | Digital, Fuel for Thought, New Business Tips | Tagged: ad agency, advertising agencies, business development, email marketing, Michael Gass, new business | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Multitasking Kills Productivity and That’s Bad for New Business

July 22, 2011

Photo Credit Daquella Manera

Research shows that the more you multitask, the worse you are at it and that can be bad for ad agency new business.

In some situations multitasking is deadly. I recently read of a well-known plastic surgeon who was killed when he accidentally drove his car over a cliff while sending a Twitter message about his dog. Most of us understand the dangers of multitasking while driving but many don’t realize that multitasking can be killing productivity.

The term “multitasking originated in the computer engineering industry, referring to the ability of a microprocessor to process several task at the simultaneously. Our ability to multitask is not as efficient as we might think.

On the surface multitasking sounds like it would boost productivity but studies show just the opposite happens:

Professor Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a leader in multi-tasking research, says, ‘People can’t do it very well, and when they say they can, they’re deluding themselves,’ he says. ‘The brain is very good at deluding itself.’

Psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell has gone so far as to describe multitasking as a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously as effectively as one.”

A study at the University of California found that multitasking impedes the brain’s ability to absorb information

Author of the book Distraction, Damon Young, says, “When we move from our job to an e-mail, it takes about a minute to recover our train of thought and then we get another e-mail, or an SMS, so our concentration is fractured. The result? We’re not really multi-tasking. We’re switching between tasks in an unfocused or clumsy way.”

Studies here in the US have shown that students who do homework while watching television get consistently lower grades.

“There is a cost to the way that our society is changing. Humans are not built to work this way, we’re really built to focus.” Russell Poldrack,UCLA psychology professor

Persons charged with business development for most small to mid-size ad agencies often wear multiple hats. That increases the likelihood that they do a lot of multi-tasking and are less efficient than they could be.

We are not made for multitasking and it actually hinders our productivity:

The time it takes to complete jobs increases significantly. People actually lose time rather than gain it. The brain has to restart and refocus. Switching attention is from one task to another, work may be faster but studies show that productivity is less.
Multi-taskers are prone to errors.
Multi-taskers are more easily distracted. The more they multitask the worse they are at it and the less they can focus on one thing.
Multitasking hurts relationships. Even though it isn’t intended, it makes clients, coworkers, friends and most importantly family feel unimportant.
Multitasking comes at a high price. It greatly increases stress, even rage in adults and learning problems for children. You need to ask yourself, ‘is this the way I want to feel? Is this the way I really want to live my life?”

If you want to be productive it’s best not to multi-task at all. There is no downside to it. Here are 10 tips to overcoming multitasking:

Embrace single tasking. Acknowledge the problem, “Hi, my name is Michael and I’m a multi-tasker.”
Manage your time better, do one thing at a time if at all possible.Schedule time to switch your attention from one task to another.
Look for ways to create silence. I turn off any distractions and even use a set of noise canceling headphones to help me get into a focused state of mind.
Turn off the cell phone and disable email alerts. Have set time to check voice mail and your inbox.
Distractions on the internet are abundant. To bring strategy and focus to your online reading, use an RSS Reader such as Google Reader.
Force yourself to disconnect. Take a break from social media and the internet.
Create a To Do List for the day. Plan your day in blocks. Set just a few primary objectives that you want to complete by end of day.
Begin at in the mornings to complete your most important tasks.
Amazing at how deadlines can keep things moving. Give yourself less time helps hyper-focus your attention on the project at thand.
Schedule in some periodic breaks during the day, such as going for a brief walk.

10 Comments | Agency Leadership, Best Practices, Fuel for Thought, New Business Tips, Time Management | Tagged: Ad Agencies, business development, Damon Young, Edward M. Hallowell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michael Gass, multitasking, productivity, Professor Earl Miller, University of California | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The number one reason ad agencies new business plans fail

July 20, 2011

Photo Credit DigitalNative

Why new business plans tend to fail and what you can do about it.

For ad agencies that have a new business plan, the majority fall short in its implementation. The reason? According to a poll conducted by Mirren Business Development , when asked “What is the primary reason new business plans fail?”, 57% responded that it was a lack of discipline/accountability followed a lack of team commitment – 21%.

Here are 20 tips to overcome the lack of discipline/accountability and team commitment assuring success implementing a new business plan for your agency:

Set goals that are realistically achievable within the culture and resources of the agency.
You’ll need to convert your strategic plan into a game plan that includes Milestone Dates, To Do List, Resources, Assignments, etc.
One person who is responsible. Have a new business director/manager who is held accountable for its execution. If “everyone” is responsible for your agency’s new business, in actuality no one is. But that doesn’t mean that others, particularly agency principals aren’t involved in the process.
Top management must be intimately involved in the process. No one in the agency feels the pressure to succeed more than the agency principals. Like it or not, they are the face of the agency. Their involvement is important for new business and they shouldn’t shy away from this responsibility.
Determine what is needed to achieve your priorities: People, funding, equipment, space, training/development, etc.
Get organized: Use a program such as Basecamp, an excellent, inexpensive online project management tool to help in the implementation process.
Make assignments: clear communications with those who must help with implementation of the various projects is a must. Who is doing what and when. Make sure they know their assignment, due dates and be prepared to prod, poke and push for completion
Look for ways to simplify your internal processes. From RFP responses, to new business reporting … always invoke the K.I.S.S. principle.
It may also be wise to outsource some services when possible. For some agencies outsourcing certain aspects of their new business program to services such as Catapult New Business orRSW is the best option. I know of a large full service agency,with their own PR department, that chooses to outsource PR for the agency to keep it consistent.
I say it often, you can’t improve it if you can’t measure it. Be sure to have measurements in place, but again, keep them simple.
I would suggest developing a 1 page monthly new business report on activities and results.
Be prepared to make changes. This is not an exercise in perfection – Plans give you a road map to our goals, but you have to be ready to make adjustments, based on your experience in execution. Every plan will have obstacles. Don’t abandon your strategy at the first obstacle, create “work-arounds”, solutions, even temporary ones that will allow you to keep the process moving. Don’t let anything stop implementation.
Create rituals for new business. If you are responsible for new business, you know how easy it is to get side-tracked within the agency environment. I would encourage you to simply set up a routine in the morning that you do as soon as you wake up. This works so well because what you do early in the day often sets the context for your day. A bad start usually leads to a bad day.
Consistency is a key component to ad agency new business. Remember that consistency is more important than perfection.
Do the things that you dislike the most first and get them out-of-the-way. It provides me with an incentive to get to the tasks that I enjoy the most.
Stay focused on the process. I’ve learned to maintain a consistency through the ups and downs by paying attention to the processes that I’ve created for new business. This makes me less prone to distractions and knee-jerk reactions. I know that if I consistently work the new business program that I have in place the results will come.
Use simple reminders. I use reminders, either on a sticky-note, my computer DeskTop, pop-up alerts, to keep me on course throughout the day. I know what I want to achieve by the end of the day and I use a variety of tools to help keep me keep me on track.
Celebrate successes. New business is tough. Especially in this economy. Life in the trenches for new business is nonstop hard work and often goes unnoticed. For the well-being of your new business team, it is important to stop, take the time to celebrate each new business victory.
Resolve to stay the course. New business efforts are highly relational and take time to come to fruition.
Incorporate “lessons learned” from accessing your accomplishments into the next year plan.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

5 Comments | New Business Plans, New Business Tips, Time Management | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, Michael Gass, Mirren Business Development, new business director, plan | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Vacationing for Ad Agency New Business

July 18, 2011

Hopefully my personal experience can provide you with some ideas for you can keep your social media | new business program churning even while on vacation.

As I was preparing to write this post, I noticed that Edward Boches, Mullen’s Chief Creative Office, had disconnected for a short period from his social media activity and described his experience in this blog article, “Random Thoughts from a Summer Vacation.”

Edward writes, “Ironically while social media connects us to strangers it isolates us from the people we’re closest to. I got a taste of my own medicine last week as I watched my daughter disappear into her Facebook and YouTube communities, half unaware of my presence. Now I know what my family feels like when I’m saying “uh huh,” but staring at one of my screens.”

New business is tough, especially in this economy plus the acceleration of communication’s technology, just keeping up can be exhausting. Life in the trenches for your agency’s new business is nonstop, hard work. For your family and your personal well-being, it is important to take some personal time off from the rigors of new business as well as a refreshing break from social media.

Recharging your batteries with personal time away is always good and often needed to avoid burn-out. But just because you are taking some much needed time off doesn’t mean your agency’s new business has to suffer. Utilizing social media, with a few select tools and tactics can keep your new business pipeline full even when you are away.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve cut back on my social media engagement, unplugged myself for a period to reflect, rewind and redirect my energies. I’ve spent less time online over the past couple of weeks than anytime over the past 4 years. But, even while I’m off unwinding and off the grid my social media program continues to churn out new business opportunities.

Here’s are a few tactics that I employ to keep my social media | new business program working for me while I’m away:

My blog continues to generate traffic throughout my off period because it is highly optimized for search. I was also able to repurpose my blog’s content through multiple tools through other social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.
Schedule Guest Post for content creation for your blog while you are away. John Sharpe, CMO of the BOHAN agency, created this post that was used for FUEL LINES while I was on sabbatical: How did YOU get into ad agency business development?
I created my email newsletter in advance and preset it to publish during my break time.
I use a variety of social media apps to add some personal touches to my social media stream using my iPhone and iPad. It only a few minutes of my time per day while vacationing. Most of my followers wouldn’t even know that I’m mostly off the grid during this time.

Additional articles that may be of interest: