Ran the latest breakfast briefings this week and its amazing how far they/we/industry has come in last 2 years since we started these. As ever - i stated the fact that we love job boards - great ROI - good execution will get excellent results but the reality is there is very little interesting to present on the topic at moment (so covered it in 30 seconds). I maybe also try and keep it fresh for myself too and dont like presenting the same old stuff. Its more of a compliment i think to the sector - everyone gets it now.
I also retired a slide that i originally ripped off tim and alastair ex of Enhance which maps IAB/PwC market value of digital vs national press/trade press/business pres. The West has been won - digital is dominant - its now about how best to exploit a complex ever changing sector.
Feedback and dialogue were at a really high level during and partic after event - and it was a pleasure to run.
Tenuous link to last night leaders'debate - but we try not to patronise and talk to audience like a 10 year old as the politicians are advised. I am not going to get involved in political views (did have a bit of a twitter exchange last night though) but the biggest thing it reconfirmed to me is that there is no absolute truth - just individual perspective. I watched it and was fairly convinced by who came out well and who did really badly. I find the opposite reported on TV and newspapers. Are they right or me? did i just convince myself as i wanted a certain output that this view was the most compelling argument.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
April 2010 - Nobody has a clue
Met with two ex colleagues this week and both have started (or about to start) new ventures -
Ex boss 1 - was in a corporate "trad" publisher charged with maintaining some print revenues and cutting costs and turning round some distressed web sites.
Ex employee 2 - is in a 2nd year start up which had such a complex (game changing) offering that i still don't really get it after it being explained to me twice.
Now normally i would form a very quick view on the prospects of these ventures but i had the humbling realisation that we are again at such a massive turning (tipping!!) point in our industry, economy, society that i have no idea which of these or both or neither has greater chance of success.
Think i should keep my eyes on the OME shop - and let others fight their own battles
Ex boss 1 - was in a corporate "trad" publisher charged with maintaining some print revenues and cutting costs and turning round some distressed web sites.
Ex employee 2 - is in a 2nd year start up which had such a complex (game changing) offering that i still don't really get it after it being explained to me twice.
Now normally i would form a very quick view on the prospects of these ventures but i had the humbling realisation that we are again at such a massive turning (tipping!!) point in our industry, economy, society that i have no idea which of these or both or neither has greater chance of success.
Think i should keep my eyes on the OME shop - and let others fight their own battles
Monday, 15 March 2010
Running a Rec Ad Biz - Part 2
I wrote the last post when buzzing one morning - this one is at 5pm on a slowish Monday - i wonder if this will affect my tone
Its my attempt to summarise how we do it here at OME (as we near 4th anniversary) and is as near a personal statement (can't bear to insert the word mission in here) as i am ever likely to come up with
- pay your bills - i once worked for a company who paid everyone late or not at all if they could help it. It was horrible when you make a creative wait 90 days for his money or having to persuade media to take your booking as you promised "cheque was in post" etc. We wanted to have a good rep and good media and supplier relationships from Day 1 - i think we achieved that
- if someone seems like a bullshit artist - they absolutely are going to be a bullshit artist. This applies to suppliers (and clients!) but most particularly any staff or business development outsourcing you want to do. You and your senior team are the best people to sell and market your business
- If you can avoid it - don't do tenders (this is may not be good advice). They may be written by people who don't understand the questions they are asking - who if they are looking at costs and commission - are asking completely the wrong questions in a digital recruitment world. So why put yourself through it. Having said that - i just did a well written tender last week that we were invited on (small shortlist etc) and managed not to win that either - so it may just be us!
- Be good to people and stay in touch if they are out of work etc. Two reasons - 1. they will appreciate what you have done and may help you in future and 2. BECAUSE ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
- and finally - keep your confidence up - many people will question your business model, you as individuals, your name/logo/offices etc. People are bitchy - its just life. Don't second guess yourself - and if your confidence is down - just fake it - it will be OK
Its my attempt to summarise how we do it here at OME (as we near 4th anniversary) and is as near a personal statement (can't bear to insert the word mission in here) as i am ever likely to come up with
- pay your bills - i once worked for a company who paid everyone late or not at all if they could help it. It was horrible when you make a creative wait 90 days for his money or having to persuade media to take your booking as you promised "cheque was in post" etc. We wanted to have a good rep and good media and supplier relationships from Day 1 - i think we achieved that
- if someone seems like a bullshit artist - they absolutely are going to be a bullshit artist. This applies to suppliers (and clients!) but most particularly any staff or business development outsourcing you want to do. You and your senior team are the best people to sell and market your business
- If you can avoid it - don't do tenders (this is may not be good advice). They may be written by people who don't understand the questions they are asking - who if they are looking at costs and commission - are asking completely the wrong questions in a digital recruitment world. So why put yourself through it. Having said that - i just did a well written tender last week that we were invited on (small shortlist etc) and managed not to win that either - so it may just be us!
- Be good to people and stay in touch if they are out of work etc. Two reasons - 1. they will appreciate what you have done and may help you in future and 2. BECAUSE ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
- and finally - keep your confidence up - many people will question your business model, you as individuals, your name/logo/offices etc. People are bitchy - its just life. Don't second guess yourself - and if your confidence is down - just fake it - it will be OK
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Launching and Running an Ad Business - Part 1
As we steam towards OME's 4th anniversary (May 2010) i thought i would jot down my thoughts on the lessons i have learned along the way.
NB this mail is written in warm glow of a good first quarter and a certainty that we have survived the recession and are in a position to flourish so more positive than i sometimes feel. But we have made and continue to make plenty of mistakes - so this is not - "how clever am I" - its more "have a look at some of the pitfalls and also things that went well"
1. Pick your Partner/key personnel carefully
Most people go into business with a partner for lots of different reason but primarily as it can be pretty lonely, scary and occasionally miserable when you start out. I admire those who go completely alone - but know that i could not possibly have done it. It is a form of marriage and the same fault lines will appear as in any close personal relationship. The same things you initially liked about them - may well be the things that make you want to smash their face in after a few years (its an analogy - not a real example...i think). I should take this opportunity to thank my business partner Mr Sean Paterson - who is better than me at most things but quieter about it. We have sort of complimentary skills which is cool but essentially i trust him completely which is good as he looks after the money (that decision took about 5 seconds)
2. Get your idea and execute it violently
Inspiration probably won't come - you won't come up with such an amazing idea that will have people flocking to your door.(if you do come up with something new - it will be copied by 5 people very very quickly). So just work out what your product/service is - check that some people may want to buy it - and then just do it. talk any one and everyone through what you do - once you have done that - find more people or same people again and repeat the sales pitch. Try to never stop doing this.
3. Be brilliant at what you do (or at least try very hard to be)
Your best source of business will be recommendation - so don't be a bullshit artist who does all the above in point 2 and then fails to deliver. It will kill you stone dead. People bought into us in first 2 years as they believed as a small business we would work hard for them and they believed in us as individuals that we knew our stuff and would apply our expertise to help them. I believe we repaid that in spades.
4. Core Business or Diversification
I fundamentally believe that you need to be focused on your core business - but my advice is to be flexible about the definition of that core business. I would say in Years 1 and 2 - we were digital media agency and now we are a digital recruitment business. Not a quantum leap - merely a natural evolution.
5. Focus on stuff that clients will actually pay for
this is very much linked to digital recruitment media world - there have always been fascinating developments in the last 4 years and it has always been possible to have 2.5 hour conversations with clients and suppliers about them but ultimately most of the proposals which resulted were never and would never get signed off. Social engagement stuff in 2008 did not get signed off, Myspace + Secondlife proposals never got off the flip chart.
If your business model depends on the cutting edge make sure your pricing model reflects the time put in. Or concentrate your efforts on things that can and will deliver quantifiable results/business.
6. Take time off - don't work too many weekends - be nice to your family
Launching and running a biz is incredibly important but its also not as important as life. You probably went alone to free yourself from being in the grip of the corporate world - shite bosses etc - and hopefully earning better ££. Don't just recreate that corp world in your own business and if the work is taking all your free time too - you are either doing it wrong or pricing it wrong. Go and do something else.
Anyway - Part 2 to follow soon - would love to have any comments on any of this
NB this mail is written in warm glow of a good first quarter and a certainty that we have survived the recession and are in a position to flourish so more positive than i sometimes feel. But we have made and continue to make plenty of mistakes - so this is not - "how clever am I" - its more "have a look at some of the pitfalls and also things that went well"
1. Pick your Partner/key personnel carefully
Most people go into business with a partner for lots of different reason but primarily as it can be pretty lonely, scary and occasionally miserable when you start out. I admire those who go completely alone - but know that i could not possibly have done it. It is a form of marriage and the same fault lines will appear as in any close personal relationship. The same things you initially liked about them - may well be the things that make you want to smash their face in after a few years (its an analogy - not a real example...i think). I should take this opportunity to thank my business partner Mr Sean Paterson - who is better than me at most things but quieter about it. We have sort of complimentary skills which is cool but essentially i trust him completely which is good as he looks after the money (that decision took about 5 seconds)
2. Get your idea and execute it violently
Inspiration probably won't come - you won't come up with such an amazing idea that will have people flocking to your door.(if you do come up with something new - it will be copied by 5 people very very quickly). So just work out what your product/service is - check that some people may want to buy it - and then just do it. talk any one and everyone through what you do - once you have done that - find more people or same people again and repeat the sales pitch. Try to never stop doing this.
3. Be brilliant at what you do (or at least try very hard to be)
Your best source of business will be recommendation - so don't be a bullshit artist who does all the above in point 2 and then fails to deliver. It will kill you stone dead. People bought into us in first 2 years as they believed as a small business we would work hard for them and they believed in us as individuals that we knew our stuff and would apply our expertise to help them. I believe we repaid that in spades.
4. Core Business or Diversification
I fundamentally believe that you need to be focused on your core business - but my advice is to be flexible about the definition of that core business. I would say in Years 1 and 2 - we were digital media agency and now we are a digital recruitment business. Not a quantum leap - merely a natural evolution.
5. Focus on stuff that clients will actually pay for
this is very much linked to digital recruitment media world - there have always been fascinating developments in the last 4 years and it has always been possible to have 2.5 hour conversations with clients and suppliers about them but ultimately most of the proposals which resulted were never and would never get signed off. Social engagement stuff in 2008 did not get signed off, Myspace + Secondlife proposals never got off the flip chart.
If your business model depends on the cutting edge make sure your pricing model reflects the time put in. Or concentrate your efforts on things that can and will deliver quantifiable results/business.
6. Take time off - don't work too many weekends - be nice to your family
Launching and running a biz is incredibly important but its also not as important as life. You probably went alone to free yourself from being in the grip of the corporate world - shite bosses etc - and hopefully earning better ££. Don't just recreate that corp world in your own business and if the work is taking all your free time too - you are either doing it wrong or pricing it wrong. Go and do something else.
Anyway - Part 2 to follow soon - would love to have any comments on any of this
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Events/TRU/Seminars
Sadly i am not going to make it to theRecruitment Unconference this week which will heavily focus on social media and recruitment and latest trends and predictions for what is happening in digital recruitment world. I am sure it will be a great event (many of the top people in our industry are contributing) and i wish them best of luck. I have a very good excuse in that i am getting married on Friday but it has got me thinking about events and what i bust a gut to attend as opposed to attend if i can.
My "rules" are as follows
1. "Its about clients, stupid" - our business is funded by clients - i attend events where i can meet new and old ones and hopefully make some connections that can turn into future business. Many events are supplier led where i am the client - which though nice to be popular - don't offer me valuable new contacts as our supplier relationships are generally very strong already.
2. "preaching to the choir" - connected to above. I am part of the vanguard of the recruitment digital community and it is populated by charming funny interesting people however though i find it enjoyable mapping the future of our industry at a seminar or over a beer - it does not necessarily pay the bills. and i find myself disappearing up my own backside as i extol my latest thoughts on any and everything.
3. I love OME events. Funnily enough as we organise our own breakfast seminars (2010 programme coming soon - new media partner recruited) - i occasionally have an insanely petty jealousy about other people's events and quality of info provided. I am aware this says certain things about me - most of which are not positive. It has a parallel to my eldest daughter wanting her birthday party to be best - only she (at 8) is a little more mature than me in her attitude.
4. "What about now" - some of these events (by their nature) get too caught up in the future and therefore little practical application now - or next 2 years. In digital - "the next 2 years" is an awfully long time. Our success as a business has been based around PRACTICAL application of digital techniques - combining innovation with effectiveness and probably erring on latter. Most senior HR people want to be at forefront of the latest effective techniques - virtually all don't want to be the first to do it though.
Anyway - this is not a negative slant on attending events (i think) - whenever i do attend - i meet great people and always pick up a few morsels of food for thought. It just explains why i have attended a lot less in the last year.
PS can someone send me the notes from the sessions?
My "rules" are as follows
1. "Its about clients, stupid" - our business is funded by clients - i attend events where i can meet new and old ones and hopefully make some connections that can turn into future business. Many events are supplier led where i am the client - which though nice to be popular - don't offer me valuable new contacts as our supplier relationships are generally very strong already.
2. "preaching to the choir" - connected to above. I am part of the vanguard of the recruitment digital community and it is populated by charming funny interesting people however though i find it enjoyable mapping the future of our industry at a seminar or over a beer - it does not necessarily pay the bills. and i find myself disappearing up my own backside as i extol my latest thoughts on any and everything.
3. I love OME events. Funnily enough as we organise our own breakfast seminars (2010 programme coming soon - new media partner recruited) - i occasionally have an insanely petty jealousy about other people's events and quality of info provided. I am aware this says certain things about me - most of which are not positive. It has a parallel to my eldest daughter wanting her birthday party to be best - only she (at 8) is a little more mature than me in her attitude.
4. "What about now" - some of these events (by their nature) get too caught up in the future and therefore little practical application now - or next 2 years. In digital - "the next 2 years" is an awfully long time. Our success as a business has been based around PRACTICAL application of digital techniques - combining innovation with effectiveness and probably erring on latter. Most senior HR people want to be at forefront of the latest effective techniques - virtually all don't want to be the first to do it though.
Anyway - this is not a negative slant on attending events (i think) - whenever i do attend - i meet great people and always pick up a few morsels of food for thought. It just explains why i have attended a lot less in the last year.
PS can someone send me the notes from the sessions?
Friday, 5 February 2010
Jan 2010 - an OME picture
OK - some messages from the frontline - lets turn this around by starting with the
Lowlights
Lowlights
- We lost a client through a procurement process (pettiness prevents me from naming them). I can bitch that the competitors offered free artwork and design, that i suspect it was a bit of a stitch up based on previous relationship etc but it still stings. And i think they will soon realise what they are missing or in other words... we will never hear from them ever again.
- OME website still not done (all our fault) i could claim business with client accounts but still not good enough
- I seem to have a had more petty spats with media suppliers than is desirable - i feel this sort of conflict could be easily avoided if suppliers just simply agreed to what i want them to do immediately without comment. I did actually apologise twice in January which is twice more than i can remember in 2009.
- Phenomenal month for revenue - 100%+ year on year.
- This was based on the beautiful combo of more from existing clients and new clients kicking in (welcome Cote Restaurants, PGC, Decision Resources and a major new retailer - Sean always wants to keep things secret!)
- Bethan Tresize our new account manager (started October) is brilliant - she is organised and intelligent and has got into the OME ways remarkably quickly
- Working on new products/projects - making some small revenue from Twitter, some great, cool careers site work, and bizarrely a burgeoning print media business
- The whole busy vibe of the office, our clients and media - meant that i have not enjoyed my work as much in ages (point 1 may have influenced my happiness levels)
so on basis of 5 highs versus 3 lows - high points win easily
Monday, 25 January 2010
In and Out of Love with Twitter
2009 saw me as an absolute Twitter evangelist - really enjoying the interaction, connectivity and wealth of useful and useless but interesting info that was out there. The last few months have seen a change in my professional and personal views (i don't pretend here to be giving an industry view - its just my personal feelings and how i use it.)
Professional - why i love it
1. I have a network of people who are not friends(a few are) but people i know and the info we share can be really useful and impossible to get without scouring sites and conducting arduous email conversations.
2. I think its going to be the big thing in recruitment communications - i just know it will (is) work really well - and create a genuine conversation between employer/recruiter without the pitfalls of a site like Facebook
3. We are seeing really nice experimentation - trial and error - low cost pilots. That shows nobody has got it 100% right yet but there will be a good set of data to make some improvements next quarter
4. It really does cost almost nothing - but does require application and thought - the best sort of combination. These digital new things that cost a lot and deliver little are very passe in 2010.
Personal - why i don't love it
1. The chatter has become rather tiresome - the "journey into work" problems interest very few
2. Clearly everyone i follow has a more interesting life than me - their saturday night consists of theatre/abseiling/art galleries/truffle hunting - mine consists of being too tired to switch over from All Star Mr and Mrs
3. Their relationships are great too and their children perfect....(just like mine, he says quickly)
In summary - the personal stuff is all a little self publicist oriented (and yes i know this as i am self publicist extraordinaire)
But the professional side is going to be fascinating and brilliant
Anyway - have to go as need to book my table at The Ivy on saturday night with Brangelina, Michael Jackson and Elvis.
Professional - why i love it
1. I have a network of people who are not friends(a few are) but people i know and the info we share can be really useful and impossible to get without scouring sites and conducting arduous email conversations.
2. I think its going to be the big thing in recruitment communications - i just know it will (is) work really well - and create a genuine conversation between employer/recruiter without the pitfalls of a site like Facebook
3. We are seeing really nice experimentation - trial and error - low cost pilots. That shows nobody has got it 100% right yet but there will be a good set of data to make some improvements next quarter
4. It really does cost almost nothing - but does require application and thought - the best sort of combination. These digital new things that cost a lot and deliver little are very passe in 2010.
Personal - why i don't love it
1. The chatter has become rather tiresome - the "journey into work" problems interest very few
2. Clearly everyone i follow has a more interesting life than me - their saturday night consists of theatre/abseiling/art galleries/truffle hunting - mine consists of being too tired to switch over from All Star Mr and Mrs
3. Their relationships are great too and their children perfect....(just like mine, he says quickly)
In summary - the personal stuff is all a little self publicist oriented (and yes i know this as i am self publicist extraordinaire)
But the professional side is going to be fascinating and brilliant
Anyway - have to go as need to book my table at The Ivy on saturday night with Brangelina, Michael Jackson and Elvis.
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