Dave's Marketwise

MarketWise - March 2008 - Suggestions on How to Protect Your Ideas When Pitching

 It is really disheartening when we think a prospect we has used the ideas we discussed during the presentation... 

MarketWise - February 2008 - Some Thoughts on a Recession and the Effects on Your Business

Are we in a recession? You bet we are, and we've been there for several months. The danger signals started ... 

MarketWise - January 2008 - Lifestyle Trend Predictions by Faith Popcorn

Every year we are hit with a plethora of prognosticators that try to predict what is going to happen. I think this is particularly important to all of us in the marketing communication business. What think tanks like Faith Popcorn’s Brain Reserve have to say influences all of us.

Specialize Your Business

Specializing solves a host of business problems from ineffective marketing to employee turnover. If you're a generalizer, use what you already know about your business to discover your niche

Where is Value Pricing in Today's Mix?

Value pricing -- the practice of setting the price based on the value of the service to the client -- appears to be on the increase. In personal interviews with small marketing communication firms, I am told that approximately one-quarter of small and sole practitioner firms have implemented value pricing.

Maybe He Is Right?

A perennial question that agencies ask us is, "How do you keep the client out of the creative?" Our first response is, "Do you really want to keep the client out of the creative?" Or do you want to keep her/him from butchering good ideas? "Is it possible that his presumed interference in work he is paying for, and certainly should contribute to, is only the perception of the creative staff�s del

Noah Was an Adman

Millions of people around the world use the Bible as a blueprint for living. But, whoever thought it could also contain the original blueprint for successful marketing campaigns and client/agency relationships? Consider the story of Noah- you know, the guy who built the ark. He may

Help Wanted: The IRS Wants You and Your Freelancers

That�s right. The IRS is continuing to scrutinize advertising agencies, graphic design and public relation firms and their relationship to their freelance or contract help. Using freelancers is becoming a way of life in agencies because of our fluctuating workloads and occasional need for specialized talents. The strategy is a common practice in holding payroll costs down.

A Dozen Strategic Prospect Screening Questions

Once we get the opportunity to get in front of a prospect it's important to make the most of the meeting time and ask the questions that will prove critical to getting off on the right foot. Asking the right questions can save a lot of time and energy when putting together the right presentation, or deciding to pass on making a presentation at all.

Ten Ways to Motivate Employees

It�s all too easy to complain about an employee�s perceived lack of performance on the job. Sometimes, performance can be dramatically improved just by paying a little attention to all your employees. Too often we end up taking good performers and the ones we �like� for granted and grumble about the ones that need to improve. Actually, you need to pay attention to everyone. It�s part of �working O

An Idea How to Estimate Website Costs and Cut Your Losses

It seems that everyone is having trouble using the old pricing formulas when estimating the cost of developing a website for a client. When I worked with my developer I got the client's view of the project.

Wanna Be a Tiger?

In Chicago, at the Synergy Agency Network meeting last fall, we were fortunate to have Dan O'Brien, Global Director of Advertising for Accenture, as our speaker. He spoke to us about "What clients love and hate about their agencies" and he gave us an overview of Accenture's "Be a Tiger" campaign with Tiger Woods.

Problems in Time Management? They Start With The Account Management Staff.

When your account management personnel attend the AE BootCamp, they answer a simple questionnaire intended to get them thinking about their jobs, who they report to, and what they need to learn.