Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

Insights

Vietnam War Photography Series

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Working On My New Vietnam War Photography Series.

Um, The Vietnamese Call It The American War.

This podcast is generated by Google’s NotebookLM.

“The Mistake” is a new photography series that will be shot in Vietnam in 2025. The series aims to capture the untold stories of the last remaining soldiers from the American / Vietnam War – primarily those who fought for the National Liberation Front, the NLF.

Through intimate portraits and personal interviews, this project will illuminate the long-lasting impact of one of the 20th century’s most controversial conflicts.

A (major) critical mistake of the war was that the Americans thought that they were fighting a war against the advance of Communism (then known as the Domino Theory). While the North Vietnamese, the National Liberation Front, and the Viet Cong thought that they were fighting a civil war with South Vietnam – supported by Western imperialists.

FYI: April 30, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the war’s end.

That’s it. More to come as I get past pre-pro and onto the actual Vietnam War photography.

Oh, have you visited my photography website?

Your Personal Brand and Advertising Agency Sales

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You Should Be a Major Asset of Your Advertising Agency Sales Program.

advertising agency salesCheck out the podcast below.

Today, our personal brand is out there for all to see. We are on LinkedIn, on our website’s About page, in cute Instagram posts, in our new books, and interviewed on industry podcasts.

Whether an agency leader wants to become as famous as David Droga or Gary V or not, they most often have no choice. The market might just brand them whether they like it or not. The key is to control it.

Start with your objective. Since selling my ad agency Citrus, my clear objective has been to be perceived as a leader in advertising agency consultation—primary in the area of business development. I mean sales.

To get there, I’ve written two advertising agency management books, over 850 insight-oriented blog posts, and been on over 75 podcasts—all to help guide your advertising agency sales. As in grow – faster.

Thanks to Google NotebookLM for this podcast.

Oh. My brand… Aqui.

The Advertising Agency Client. How Do They Find You?

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What Type of Advertising Agency Client Do You Want?

Advertising Agency ClientYour next advertising agency client probably has multiple needs, even if they think all they need is an Instagram influencer program or seriously good video storytelling.

Yes – It’s often difficult for a client to clearly state their needs / business objectives.

Objectives range from increasing sales and revenues, growing brand awareness, building loyalty, new product development, geo expansion to more Xandr please. Just to name a few. I’ve seen an inability to express clear objectives across client seniority. I once had a senior Nike client who didn’t have clearly stated sales goals. I know, kinda crazy. Instead of asking for those metrics, I asked my client how she made her bonus. There were interesting revelations in that discussion, including finding out where the agency could act to help make her a Nike star.

Let’s look at industry research on advertising agency client selection criteria.

The UK firm SCOPEN interviewed 81 senior marketing professionals, 57 chief marketing officers, and 56 agency professionals.

The overwhelming majority of respondents (72.8%) were the ultimate spending decision-makers. The research showed that creativity is the number one criterion used in agency selection.

However, SCOPEN also reported,

It’s interesting to see how (clients) are talking more about innovation related with business transformation and digital transformation, which is a different territory from creativity,

I’ll parse this out. Here is SCOPEN’s list of large client needs.

1. Creativity

2. Innovative ideas (how W+K got that first piece of Ford)

3. Digital capabilities

4. Strategic planning

5. Marketplace insights

6. Competitor insights

7. Brand knowledge

8. Trend awareness and predictions

9. Media planning

10. Social media prowess

11. Integrated services

12. Good value

That’s a long list. Not all clients need all of that. To simplify, I believe that most clients are looking for advertising experts. Be the expert who delivers smart, efficient programs plus measurable results. High ROI results.

OK. A podcast about client selection.

Thank You, Google’s NotebookLM, For This Episode.

Some insights from my book, “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency,” on how to position, describe, and sell your advertising agency services.

That’s the story. Go forth and position your advertising agency for success.

How To Build An Active Website Contact Page

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How Powerful Is Your Website’s Contact Page?

advertising agency contactI’m updating a 2023 blog post about the good, bad and ugly of advertising agency Contact pages. I’m into this today because I am helping a California agency build a kick-ass (action-oriented) website that sells.

In my journey, I came across the contact page for the “cool” agency Animal. YIKES! They have a contact page without any way to make a fast contact. WHA! Take a look. Their Contact page is the same as their home page sans any contact method other than giving you links to their social media. Two steps are one too many.

OK, To You

You’ve built your advertising or marketing or digital agency. You work on your client’s business. You want more clients. You have a website you hope your lead generation programs drive people to.

Then people go to the website and you hope they get so interested (and in some cases excited) that they go to your contact page and… you sound so lame and passive. Like you say virtually nothing that would make them really want to make contact. Harsh? Yup. True for the majority of advertising / digital agency websites (and, hey, the marketing world in general).

Here are some examples of what NYC and Cleveland agencies say on their Contact page. Would these “words” make you want to make contact?

  • To send our team a message, please use the form below.
  • Contact us using the form below and one of our team members will reach out as soon as possible.
  • Get in touch.
  • We’d love to hear from you and show you more of our work!
  • Just fill out the form and one of us will get back to you as soon as possible.
  • If you want to reach out to us, feel free to do so by email:

    These Contact Page “Words” Are So Freakin Passive… Being Passive Sucks

    Driving contact from the website visitor is where the rubber meets the road – isn’t this the reason y’all have a website?

    My tour of agency websites shows a wide range of contact pages. Most are too weak. Some (most) just provide an email contact. Some contact pages go for it by providing reasons to make contact. These contact pages are much more assertive than just having a passive contact email form.

    I am a strong believer that the contact section should be warm and welcoming. Businesslike but friendly. Contact should be an invitation and a metaphorical fist bump.

    Bland does not work for me. I need some online hospitality. This is a place to show some personality. Even humor. Even empathy. Try to get past the passive voice. Ask for the order. Gently. Not too Glengarry Glenn Ross.

    A quick idea (if you don’t want to read more)… Instead of bland text, why not deliver a 20-second video on why the visitor should talk with you?

    An Active Contact Page Drives Action

    Given people’s general inertia, go ahead and tell the visitor to make contact. Consider how to give them a good reason to act. Maybe make an offer to capture attention and a reaction. This isn’t a brand-new idea—SaaS companies do this all the time because it works.

    Here is what I say on my Contact page:

    Three reasons to contact me. I deliver the most creative approach to an advertising agency’s positioning and lead generation.I am the most experienced agency business development coach. Read the “My Story” page. I stole the idea from Austin Kleon. My goal is to make your advertising agency unignorable. Unignorable drives awareness and action. Think of the alternative.

    ++ I deliver an offer…

    Take me up on my free Corleone Godfather offer. This is an offer you can’t—or rather, shouldn’t—refuse. Let’s talk for thirty minutes—just 0.50 on the timesheet—to discuss your agency’s issues and opportunities and how I will help you build a more powerful advertising agency business development plan.

    Does my Godfather offer work? Yes.

    Does my Gandhi testimonial video at the bottom of the contact page help? Yup, I got Gandhi to give me that fist bump.

    Chicago’s Orbit Media website development firm goes a bit further than most agencies. They address the fact that the client might not be immediately ready for them. They have this interactive dialogue-building offer on the Contact page – it keeps the “conversation” going:

    Work with Orbit Ready to start a project? Fill out the form and Chris or Stephanie, our Web Strategists, will be in touch with you as soon as possible.Have a project but not quite ready to contact us? See if Orbit is a fit for you.

    Last BIG Point.

    Do not ask for too much personal information. You do not need the prospect’s date of birth.

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