As promised last week, MadisonAveNew.com is now a subscription-based publication. As of right now we have received 62 of our targeted subscription members and if we are fully subscribed by next week we will be available to subscribers only. If you wish to subscribe, click here. Until that subscription benchmark is reached we will continue to make our content public. The big difference in the first 200 editions of MadisonAveNew.com and the next 200 is that from here on out we will endeavor to provide direct answers to subscriber questions so as to maximize their ROSI (Return On Subscription Investment) and get around to providing everybody something worthwhile as opposed to ranting on whatever strikes my fancy for the week. This Weeks Question: If you were starting out in advertising today, what would your career plan be? Good one. First of all let me assure all of you out there that if I were starting out on a new career tomorrow morning, advertising would certainly still be among my top five choices as far as potential fields of endeavor go. The other four, in no particular order of preference would be education, entertainment, technology and finance. Why these five? Easy. If you look closely, each of these fields shares something in common with the other. That means that if I was planning a career in advertising and that didn't work out, a great deal of what I had learned in advertising could be readily applied to education, entertainment, technology or finance. Which brings us squarely to Step One of what would be my eight step Career Plan if I were just getting started in Advertising tomorrow morning. For the new Lean Advertising Network White Paper |
|---|
STEP ONE: MAKE SURE THAT ADVERTISING IS SOMETHING YOU CAN LOVE. There is nothing in life that can be worse than going into an office day in and day out to do something you hate to do. Absolutely nothing in life. Obviously the first thing I would have to figure out about advertising before deciding whether I loved it or hated it would be determining what part of Advertising I would be best suited for. Creative, administrative or media. The big dif between advertising disciplines now and back then is that today's ad world demands that we tear down the silos. This means that some aspect of my choice to follow a creative career path would almost demand that I pursue a working knowledge of both media and admin as well. STEP TWO: IDENTIFY THE LEADERS IN THE INDUSTRY. The truth still holds true today as it did yesterday. You are judged by the company you keep. if you settle for working with second rate companies, you will be considered second rate. So what if you live in Bumchuck, Idaho? Then do everything in your power to work for the best agency in Bumchuck. The responsibility is yours to do your homework and find out who that is. It is also your responsibility to move out of Bumchuck if there is no "best" company to work for. Which leads us to the next step. STEP THREE: MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH GODS TO SERVE. Advertising is a cruel and demanding task master. If you love Bumchuck more than you love advertising, then forget about advertising. Advertising makes people leave homes, friends, family, security, and everything else but advertising behind. That is the choice you have to be committed to make. That and the decision to do whatever it takes to be great at it. The first step towards achieving any goal is to determine whether that goal is worth achieving. The second step is to determine whether you have what it takes to do what it takes to achieve it. If you can not make an unqualified "Yes" to those two questions then that particular goal is not likely to be achieved. STEP FOUR: FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU STAND FOR. One of the toughest hurdles in business is coming to grips with the questions of ethics, values and standards. It took me years to reach that conclusion. But it was the one thing that I held on to from the very beginning. You have to know right from wrong on the most basic level. If you cheated on your High School and College exams, chances are you will fudge on your expense report, or accept lavish gifts from demanding vendors, or use company property as if it were your own. If you didn't, you probably won't. By the same token, if it was important for you to make it to football practice on time, show up to school every day and take the time to do your homework, you will probably understand the importance of doing more than just enough to get by on the job. For me it was simple. I wanted to do great work. That's what I stood for. If I couldn't do my best work at a company, no amount of money was (is) able to compel me to stay there. Unless you know what you stand for, you will never stand for anything. STEP FIVE: UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE TWO JOBS; THE ONE YOU HAVE NOW AND THE ONE YOU'LL GET NEXT. It sounds confusing but it is absolutely essential for success. Your performance on the job you have will determine your ability to improve on the next job you get. This holds true of staff positions, freelance gigs or just your performance as an intern. Referrals are everything in advertising. if your work and your work ethic are great people will take notice. When it's time to move on the one thing your prospective employer will want to know is who can they call about you. This will never change through your entire career. Word of mouth will be your most valuable career asset. If you lie, you die. STEP SIX: PROTECT YOUR ALLIES, NUTRALIZE YOUR ENEMIES. Politics in business is a forgone conclusion. The minute you sit down at your desk you become a target of somebody's grand scheme for world domination. The big problem with most newbies is that they have no idea that this is the case. That's why I call them "Happy Wanderers." Corporate life is made up of circles and networks. The circles are usually social in nature. The networks are generally strategic. If you look at the desktop of a successful player in this business you are bound to see several IM windows with messages flashing back and forth as to what is going on or will be going on that the network should be aware of. Within seconds of a firing everybody knows. Within minutes of you settling in to your cubical, you can bank on the fact that somebody is asking, "does anybody out there know ( Your Name Goes Here). Circles and networks feed on information. If you were an intern across town and fucked up, now that you have a real job that fuckup has followed you. And the person with that information has begun to figure out how to use it to her best advantage. The best you can do is to be aware these powerful undercurrents exist. And watch your back. Then look for a way to get plugged in. STEP SEVEN: BE YOUR OWN BRAND. The most powerful piece of advice anybody ever gave me, I now share with you. No matter who you work for you are always self employed. Your company is your customer. Your boss is your client. Your paycheck is your revenue. Your skills are your products. Your perspective in these matters will have a direct bearing on your road to success. Your employer is the most demanding customer you can ever imagine. As long as you meet and exceed their expectations your star will rise. The minute you fail to deliver on your promise they are going to be looking for another brand to buy. All this means is that it will always be up to you to provide value to your customer. For that and that alone will they pay you. STEP EIGHT: NEVER STOP LEARNING. NEVER STOP BURNING. Trump said it best. "Without passion you have no energy. Without energy you have nothing at all." The only constant in advertising (or in life) is change. To maintain success, you have to keep up. And keeping up is not easy. I try to learn something new every day. I know that to do so is essential for my ability to survive, let alone succeed. Information has never been more accessible then it is today. So to be ill-informed has no logical excuse, save being lazy. There you have it. The sum knowledge of what I have learned about being a success in Advertising. I hope it works for you. It certainly worked for me. Stay strong.
|
|---|
WEDNESDAY ABOUT ME MOST READ MAD009 MAD023 MAD025 MAD072 MAD006 MAD059 MAD060 MAD066 MAD095 MAD015 MAD026 MAD030 MAD021 MAD071 MAD092 MAD100 LINKS WE LIKE POWER BLOGS RECENT MAD 186 MAD 178 MAD 177 MAD 176 MAD 171 MAD 167 MAD 160 MAD 159 MAD 158 MAD 156 MAD 155 MAD153 MAD150 MAD149 MAD148 MAD147 MAD146 MAD145 MAD144 MAD143 MAD142 MAD141 MAD140 MAD139 MAD138
|
|---|
 |
|
|---|---|
|
|
|---|