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The Video: How To Write An Advertising Agency Book

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book for pop upMy HubSpot Inbound Conference Video: “The Advertising Agency Book – From Idea To Publication in 6 Months”

Here is a video of the talk I gave at HubSpot’s Inbound 2014 conference. Watch my presentation to find out how to write an advertising agency book by mid 2015. Yes, you can do it.

The video will show you how to get a good head start on adding this special arrow to your new business quiver. I discuss the multiple benefits of writing a book; that it can be done relatively quickly (I wrote my 65,000 word The Levitan Pitch, Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. in less than 6 months); how the book will drive your thought-leadership program and how your agency is particularly well set up and well endowed to get a great business-building book out the door.

Writing is a good thing

As I’ve written before: I got the speaking gig at Inbound 2014 because I write for HubSpot’s Agency Post. Using thought leadership to gain broad awareness of your agency is, well, its a very good thing. Here’s my earlier post on the value of guest posting: “Why I Guest post On Agency Post.”

Here is my dedicated post on writing an advertising agency book and how it can be used for new business outreach. The post includes the PowerPoint presentation I used in the following video.

To help you find the gems in the 30 minute talk, I’ve put some highlights below.

Video Timelines

This are approximate…

  • Intro: :00 to 1:30
  • 6 Months, Really?: 1:30 to 3:00
  • The how to: 3:00 to 7:00
  • Mistakes:  7:00 to 10:50
  • Objectives and Strategies: 10:50 to 25:00
  • Recap: 25:00 to 30:00

OK, Buy The Book – I wrote my book for you. I want you to win more pitches.

If you read the book you will  pitch better than your competition.

Here’s more:

  • You will mange your agency’s pitch process much better.
  • You won’t burn out your employees.
  • You will plan better.
  • You will reduce your pitch budget.
  • You will strategize better.
  • You will arrive better prepared.
  • You will present better.
  • You will win more pitches.
  • You will retire earlier.

Buy multiple copies of the book as Christmas / Hanukah gifts right here: Amazon

Buy the “How Not To Win A Pitch” poster here: Society6

 

Why Clients Fire Advertising Agencies

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Why Do Clients Fire Advertising Agencies?

firedTake a read of the SoDA Report below which includes an expert opinion on the subject of why clients fire their agencies and other subjects that will help you keep your clients happy and make you smarter than the agency next door.

Oh, why do advertising and digital agencies get hired and fired? A key reason for getting fired (other than the new Marketing Director’s need to look active; and an agency’s failure to keep up with the rapid pace of change) is very often the very same reason clients hire agencies in the first place…

It has a lot to do with interpersonal chemistry according to Darren Woolley of Australia’s TrinityP3, a leading global advertising agency search consultant and client advisor. I love this point: “It’s all about the relationship.”

Darren is also one of the most valuable contributors to my book on pitching… You can read one of my two interviews with him on the client mind-set and how to win more pitches in an earlier post right here. [Read more…] about Why Clients Fire Advertising Agencies

Another Photo Side Of Vietnam: Apocalypse Now

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Saigon’s Apocalypse Now

My first couple of photos were tame. Kids having fun.

American buddies told me that I had to check out two clubs while in Saigon. One was Tuesday ‘ladies’ night at Lush (turn your sound on). My take… I could have been everyone’s dad, the sound was deafening (and I am not kidding), conversation was out of the question, strobes provided the only light, the Vietnamese and western women and men were all hot… you get the idea.

The other was Apocalypse Now. From Lonely Planet:

Others have come and gone, but ‘Apo’ has been around since the early days and remains one of the must-visit clubs. A sprawling place with a big dance floor and an outdoor courtyard for cooling off, it’s quite a circus, with a cast comprising travelers, expats, Vietnamese movers and shakers, plus the odd hooker (some odder than others). The music is thumping and it’s apocalyptically rowdy.

I went early hoping to snag some discrete photos. I made friends with a couple of the waiters, one dug my Fuji X100S (a great camera), that I was shooting in B&W and told me that I could bypass the no-photo rule for five minutes. Here are a couple of shots. Not yet processed but I’ll put them up now cause I am killing some time before heading back to Hanoi. By the way, I have been all over SE Asia and I highly recommend a trip to Vietnam. The people are wonderful.

The photo on the bottom is more like real life here than the club scene.

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pool 2 copy

 

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The Vietnamese Advertising Scene

Oh, yeah, this is a blog about advertising.

I visited a couple of advertising / social agencies in Saigon. Vietnam is a major growth market. I’ll be writing about my impressions soon.

 

Are You More About ‘Likes’ than Being ‘Liked’? PR Master Peter Shankman Lays It Out.

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Some Thoughts On Social Media and Real Life ‘Liked’ Vs. ‘Likes’ From PR Master Peter Shankman

images hubspotI spoke at HubSpot’s enormous Inbound 2014 conference in September. This was without question the largest advertising conference I’ve attended. It consumed the entire Boston convention center. I was told that there were around 7,000 people attending. The draw was Hubspot’s leadership in inbound marketing and a fantastic list of speakers.

I had two favorite moments. One was a ‘comedy central’ (and insightful) monologue and the other was, yes, about me and how I wrote my new book from idea to published in just 6 months.

1 – An Interview With Peter Shankman – The Funniest Man In Marketing

download shankmanPR master Peter Shankman was one of the most insightful speakers at Inbound 2014. Peter drove a large audience of marketers and advertising agency types into fits of hysteria during his 45-minute talk about being a smart (and nice) marketer. His staccato monologue was all stand-up and included only one slide. It was a rare PowerPoint-free and very funny experience. I hope that HubSpot puts the talk up on its website soon.

Peter discussed the marketing power of good customer service and how he built the online PR tool HARO and sold it 3 years after launch. Most businesses and, in the case of the marketing-oriented Inbound audience, advertising agencies dream of creating a service or product that can be sold. He did it.

Peter’s latest book, “Zombie Loyalists”, will be out in January. In the meantime, visit the book’s website.

Peter, tell me a bit about your Inbound talk.

It was a lot of fun. A smart marketing audience like that hears a lot of about social and metrics, scale and analytics, but to be able to talk to them a little bit about the basics of customer service and being nicer to your audience and how that actually generates more revenue than almost everything else combined is a lot of fun. I love being able to share that insight.

You’re saying that just being nice is a forgotten marketing tool?

[Read more…] about Are You More About ‘Likes’ than Being ‘Liked’? PR Master Peter Shankman Lays It Out.