Fresh

I was chatting with a designer friend of mine recently who was telling me that he isn’t allowed to listen to music at work – not even headphones on. Apparently this office policy was created because employees need to be able to answer the phone by the second ring, and headphones would distract from that.

Okay, maybe I’m overreacting, but the first words out of my mouth were “you need to quit that job asap.” And maybe I’m just a snobby agency person, but I totally meant that. How is it possible to get through 8 -10 hours of working 5 days a week without music? As a designer? I don’t get it.

Now I work in account management, which traditionally isn’t a job that most would see as one that needs “creative inspiration” to do well, but on the contrary, I believe music is incredibly important to being successful at what we do. For me, music is the primary provider of motivation and inspiration. Now that’s not to say that other things don’t inspire me. Great creative work inspires me. New, exciting projects inspire me. Seeing a project through completion inspires me. But you must remember, most of an AE day is writing emails, managing schedules, writing proposals, putting out fires. That’s when I need that little extra boost of motivation. And for me, that motivation is something only music can provide.

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You’ve written the copy for your site (or you’re about to), but will it get the results you need? Put your copy to work and get everything out of your site that you possibly can by following these 6 strategic tips.

But first, let’s just get this out of the way: dumping your copy into your site and calling it good will lose business for you. Period. Think about it. When you create an email or landing page, you likely pour over precise pixel placement, copy and button placement. Why wouldn’t you do the same for your website, particularly now that your home page isn’t the guaranteed entry to your website. (Check your analytics, you’ll likely see that your home page isn’t necessarily your front door any more.)

Search continues to change the game so you should make sure every page is playing its part in giving the right impression and achieving your objectives.  You have a narrow window to grab a user’s attention and get them where you want them to go.

Now let’s get to the tips! We’ve split this up into two areas of focus: the first is the “30,000 Foot View” (the big picture) and the second is the “100 Foot View” (digging into the details). (more…)

In our line of work, it’s pretty common to have some angst between the Sales and Accounts teams.

Last week I went to lunch with a client who is an Account Manager at her company. We discussed her company’s recent merger and the marketing repercussions, and then moved on to the company’s financial health. She shared with me that during times like these, where budgets are tight and clients’ wallets are even tighter, the tension between her and her Sales team goes through the roof. Instead of striking out and trying to solicit new business (which is the role of this company’s Sales team), her Sales team colleagues are focusing instead on eliciting new business from current clients (which is part of her role in the company). This internal tug-of-war does not bode well for anyone involved.

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“I think that we’re in this world to connect. Because that’s what you’re left with. You’re not left with your houses or awards or money, you’re left with the people that you built relationships with.” – Nicole Kidman

In our line of work, where everyone is connected through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook (except for me — I’m holding out on that one), you’d think that it’d be pretty easy to forge a strong connection amongst our contacts and friends.

When I say strong connection, I’m thinking of the movie Avatar and how deeply the tribe connects with each other (think “I see you“). Imagine how the quality of our relationships and connections could be improved with that greater sense of compassion and understanding.

It can be pretty easy to overlook something as simple as making a personal connection with your clients for those of us who work in Accounts. Deadlines, budgets, timesheets, and other time-sensitive issues seem to take priority, and other fluffier tasks, like client development and connection, tend to take a backseat. I have found that the most satisfying client relationships are those where my clients and I connect on a deeper, more personal, human level. Being able to connect about life outside the office makes it easier to connect about what happening at the office.

People in general, whether they’re clients or not, simply want to feel appreciated, respected, and heard. These three things are achieved differently depending on the person, so there’s not a universal formula for how to make these things happen. It would be nice if A plus B always equaled C, but that’s simply not how it works. For some of my clients, connecting with them over the phone instead of via email makes a world of difference in terms of them feeling valued and important. For other clients, making the time to talk over coffee or cocktails is more significant and impactful than a phone call. I enjoy the face-to-face experiences over any other kind, and find these a refreshing change of pace from the day-to-day work that’s done on my laptop.

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