Panic. For ad agency owners, panic comes with the territory. Whether you’re worried about meeting payroll or losing your biggest client, you face substantial challenges every day. What are your biggest headaches? If you’re like most small agency owners, you’re familiar with these five stressors: 1.     Cash Flow 2.     Meeting Payroll 3.     Gorilla Clients 4.     Billable Hours 5.     Working in the Business. Not on the Business. There is good news. First, you’re not alone. Second, while many f ..read more

Several years ago, an old high school friend sent a message to me on Facebook. We haven’t seen each other in decades and rarely interact online, so I was surprised that he reached out. We both grew up in Southern California and, apparently, I introduced him to surfing. I say “apparently” because I have zero recollection of this event. But he remembers it vividly. In his message he told me that surfing had changed his life and he wanted to thank me for introducing him to it. I was stunned by his comments and tried to recall surfing with him even once. I couldn’t. Still, I was happy to have imp ..read more

The answer seems simple. You can read it on our home page: White label copywriting for ad agencies. End of blog. But, wait a sec. Is copywriting our actual business? Sure, we provide copywriting. But that’s our product. Our business? Our business is something else. Our business is simplicity. Look at Nike. It sells shoes. But its mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. (*If you have a body, you are an athlete.) Disney. It makes movies. Delights with its theme parks. Sells merchandise. But its business is happiness. The happiest place on earth. Closer to ..read more

Typos. Grammatical errors. Incorrect words. Small mistakes can find their way into the best copywriting – especially at the rate agencies produce content for their clients these days. Back in August of 2019, we published the post 10 Everyday Mistakes Copywriters Make Every Day. We’re revisiting this topic today because of its importance. While these mistakes don’t equal a global-warming-level crisis, they can still make your agency look bad – especially in the eyes of potential clients. After all, small mistakes show a lack of attention to detail. A prospect might very well think, “If this a ..read more

Actually, hiring freelance copywriters near you is not a terrible idea … if. If you have exceptional freelance copywriters near you. If you have freelance copywriters near you who understand your clients’ industries. If you have freelance copywriters near you who understand the media they need to be writing for. A local freelance copywriter can have plenty of benefits: Attending briefings in person. Concepting with your art directors. Presenting to clients if needed. When you have a dependable freelance copy writer in your city, you get the best of both worlds: all the benefits of having a ful ..read more

Ad agency owners always have full plates. On any given day you’re finding new business, building relationships with current clients and managing day-to-day operations. With so much responsibility, you need a team you can depend on to support your efforts. Finding the right talent, therefore, becomes an essential part of agency success. How to Hire the Best Copywriters Like all hires, you’ll want your copywriters to have a great attitude, to be friendly and demonstrate a strong work ethic. You’ll, of course, also want your copywriters to have exceptional portfolios. However, these attributes ar ..read more

As an ad agency owner, you’ve most likely read libraries of leadership guides, books on art direction and copywriting and all of the industry classics, including: Bill Bernbach's Book: A History of Advertising That Changed the History of Advertising; Ogilvy on Advertising; And Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan. Among these classics lie hidden gems that can transform your leadership abilities and your ad agency. Here are five that can start making a difference today. Creative Mischief by Dave Trott Dave Trott is a legendary adman whose agency, GGT, was voted Agency of The Year by Ca ..read more

The ad business is game. And, like all games, it has winners and losers. How can you set up your agency for success? First, remember that your business – no matter how much blood, sweat and tears you put into it – is a game. (See 12 below for what really matters). Then, follow these tips from Survivor. Since 2000, Survivor has been a staple on CBS. Whether you’re a fan or not, you can extrapolate the strategies from the show and be the winner in the agency game you’re playing. 1. Form Alliances The idea of forming alliances on Survivor started in the first season when Richard Hatch realized ..read more

Getting fired by a client hurts.  It hurts your cash flow. It hurts your reputation. It hurts your pride. For ad agency owners, what can be worse than getting fired by a client? Working with the wrong client. Working with Wrong Client Hurts Your Ad Agency At my former agency, a client fired us. We knew it was coming. After the client hired a new marketing director, her first step forward was to “take a step back.” Then she wanted to take one piece of business in a “different direction.” A couple of months later, she wanted to take the rest of the business in this new direction (a direction, b ..read more

We presented three concepts to the client for a new branding campaign. All three concepts communicated the mandatory messages. But somewhere along the path of making sure the creative was “correct,” we forgot to make it interesting. Or exciting. Or entertaining. And that oversight cost us dearly. Is Your Creative Work Serviceable or Exceptional? As the creative director, I had the responsibility to deliver exceptional work. I knew our work wasn’t exceptional. It was serviceable. It checked all of the boxes. My mind justified the work. But my heart knew better. I ignored the truth, and we prese ..read more