baby boomers; retirement

Write Your Advertising Agency Book

Peter · May 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

My Books Make Me Happy

This post was generated by my smiling at Powell’s Books. See why below.

I’ve written two books. Both are self-published on Amazon as a book-book and eBook. The first, Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide was my training-wheels book. It is about using suicide as a financial planning tool (OK, and a deep discussion of suicide itself).

The Levitan Pitch. Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. (yes you can learn more about it and then buy it at the top of this page) is a best seller in the narrow category of advertising agency business development books. It has worked hard as a business development tool for me and because it has sold well, it generates some cash, too.

That’s two books. I am already thinking trough book #3. Yes, folks, you can publish books too and should think hard about the value of taking the time to write a book as an agency marketing tool. It isn’t as difficult as you think and an agency is perfectly positioned to get that book out the door..

Here are links to a couple of “how-to’s”….

How to Write An Advertising Agency Book. This post includes a video of my HubSopt book writing presentation.

Yes, You Can Write And Publish A business Book In 6 Months. Yes, you can!

Happy At Powell’s Books

So I am cruising through Portland’s Powell’s City Of Books (it’s the largest used and new bookstore in the world, occupies an entire city block and sells over 1 million books.) As a lark, I typed my name into their database and… yup, my book The Levitan Pitch. was listed. This was a surprise because the book is only distributed on Amazon and must have made it to Powell’s as a used book sale. That means that someone in Portland bought the book and then sold it to Powell’s. Cool. Everyone wins.

Here’s what I saw on the screen…

How To Make Big Money After Advertising

Peter · June 25, 2015 · Leave a Comment

The Truth About ‘After Advertising’

There are actually people making a very good living after leaving advertising. Yes, I know this is hard to imagine. LOL.

Want more? Many are doing this while sitting under a palapa drinking margaritas as the money hits their bank accounts. These folks are smart enough to know how to use their MacBook Pro to leverage the power of online business to grow their very own cool lifestyle. They are not working for the man (and I mean guys like Sir Martin Sorell.)

I realize that this can sound like a pipe dream. One of those ‘I wish’ kinda thinking. But, I know from personal experience that it can happen.

Friday Is Coming / Time For A Food Truck?

So, this Friday when you are sitting at your desk wondering if there is a better way than writing dog biscotti ads, I want you to visit Smart Passive Income and hear how Pat Flynn does exactly what I’m talking about. Ok, Pat isn’t doing all of this from under a palapa. But, he will tell you how you can. The link goes directly to Pat’s income reports. He is 100% transparent about his business — another thing to like him for. Read Pat’s blog and you will see why I mention food trucks.

“How Pat Flynn Made His First $3 Million In Passive Income”

If you need a head start, read Pat’s sweet story in this Forbes interview.

Ad Agency People: Get The Hell Out Of Town

Peter · May 17, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Can Ad Agency People Get The Hell Out Of Town?

I’ve been thinking about living and working in a foreign country. I am not alone. It might be a life stage for me (I sold my ad agency a couple of years ago and do not have to live in any specific locale — although I do live in Portland, America’s coolest city.) I also run a ‘nomad’ consulting business and was able to base my work out of three continents in the past couple of years.

Sell Your Ad Agency & Get Out

A few times a year I talk with ad agency owners that want to get the hell out. They want to do this for various reasons: They’ve had enough; they are 61; they want to try something else; their agency is not performing well; agency margins suck; there are too many competitors; they don’t like dealing with HR issues and paying for everyone’s medical insurance. And, on and on.

Move To Mexico Or Chaing Mai

My wife and I started to scout out Mexico last year. We spent some time in Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende and Ajijic. San Miguel was the winner… Here is Huffington Post’s take on San Miguel: “10 Reasons Why People Fall in Love With San Miguel de Allende.” We’ll do more scouting this winter when we vacation in Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta. We’ve selected Mexico for a bunch of reasons. It is Mexico and if you dig Mexico like we do then it is a no-brainer. Mexico is also: close to friends and family via many non-stops; has a sweet cost of living; is in our time zones (which works for my American agency clients); has a very rich and diverse culture; has mountains and beaches and big cosmopolitan cities; has great food; has warmth (on many levels); has a rich art scene and is community oriented. However, it has spotty Internet service which I realized when I was working out of an AirBNB rental in San Miguel de Allende. I got over this issue quickly via evening shots of tequila and mezcal. Two other big reasons to dig Mexico.

Nomad List

I was surfing the Internet this morning in my never ending quest to learn about places where I can live and work and came across Nomad List. Nomad List is an information website and community for nomads. Nomads like 30, 40, 50 and 60-year-olds that might not want to work anymore on Madison Avenue or in SOMA or Austin.

The site lets you put in your criteria as in COL, weather, air quality, activities and Internet speeds. Check it out and realize that you can actually work from anywhere in the world. Nomad List also points you to co-working spaces. Most ad people have portable skills…. why not move them overseas.

Need a start? I punched in some personal criteria and Chaing Mai, Thailand came out on top. It has been on my move-to list for years. Play with Nomad and find out why.

So, get out.

Need more push? Check out this article… “Succeeding from Anywhere: 5 Trailblazing Communities for Digital Nomads”

Boomercide aka Suicide

Peter · August 19, 2014 · 1 Comment

Boomercide The Book And Robin Williams

Within hours of Robin William’s suicide, I had some incoming email from marketing friends that suggested that I should use the press attention to promote my 2012 book Boomercide: From Woodstock To Suicide. While this idea might have made sense from the very pure marketing perspective of leveraging the news, I chose not to synergize my book marketing with Robin’s death for the obvious reason that it would be rather crass. Even ugly. I couldn’t see going through a keyword analysis related to his suicide to increase page views.

Now that some time has passed (how quickly the press moves on) I think that I can discuss my book . And, in case you think I am still being crass, crass in today’s world means that I would be promoting my book on Twitter using a Robin-related hash tag. I’m not. [Read more…] about Boomercide aka Suicide

Where Am I?

Peter · April 23, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Look, if you have your act together, you will eventually sell your advertising or design agency and get to work from San Miguel de Allende (I just had drinks from this bar.) Dig?

This is not an impossible dream, it just takes some planning. Don’t be a me-too agency. Me-too has no value. Zip. So, you 50+ agency owners, give me a shout.