Dave's Marketwise

Tax Liabilities: Emlpoyee or Contractor?

For most companies, it is easier and cheaper to hire an independent contractor (IC), especially when the work may be temporary. You don’t have to provide benefits for ICs and you don’t have to collect and pay taxes or contribute company taxes. Problem is, most of the time, these workers are misclassified and should actually be treated as employees. This misclassification is serious and can result in huge penalties and interest on taxes that should have been paid.

Account Management has Changed

No longer a “relationship” manager, your AEs must be able to recognize and solve client business problems.
For some time now, the position of account executive or manage has been caught in a state of flux. As the market has changed, so have the requirements for top level account executives. We call these people Strategic Account Executives.
Over the last ten or so years we have stressed that client-facing staff be good relationship managers. We want them to get along with the client and be good at managing processes to get the work done on time and within budget.
We wanted our people to get the work from the client and handle it properly for both the client and the agency. We did not ask our account executives

MarketWise - March 2010

-- Building Your Agency’s Competitive Foundation
 

MarketWise - February 2010

Competing Effectively as a Small to Medium-Size Firm - I've spent a number of years in this business, and I've seen a lot of agencies fail because they don’t understand how to compete effectively and win. Winning an account isn't just the result of agency size

MarketWise - January 2010

Managing Your Agency in a Renewing Market .... Don't get carried away with your enthusiasm about the increase in business activity. We are recovering from the Great Recession. You've survived and probably prospered at others' expense. 
 

Recession 101

In a climate of anxiety and trepidation about the economy, an anonymous donor decided to do something to help Americans collectively “take a deep breath.” The donor approached Charlie Robb of Charchin Creative (creator of 1999’s “God Speaks” campaign) to create a campaign designed to remind Americans of those things which make this country great, and have helped it to survive many difficult economic and political situations of the last 233 years. Recession 101 on numerous outdoor advertising formats including billboards, street furniture, transit and other locations.

MarketWise - December 2009

This was a “stinko” year.
Just awful, but filled with opportunity.
There’s no question about it that Q3 and Q4 of 2008, plus all of 2009 have tested the mettle of agency owners and put all of us in a precarious position. As we finish 2009/Q4 we can look back ...

MarketWise July 2009

Current Tax Law Changes & Planning for the Future: The presentation on the current tax law changes and the number of tax initiatives that are scheduled to expire brought home to me the need to be working with your tax advisor now ....

Return on Investment and Other Thoughts

This is a handout I used at a recent AAF/Tucson luncheon meeting.

Join the New Dynamic Agency Network

We are starting a new network of 10-12 agencies in October. The group will be comprised of small firms (3 to 10 employees) that want to grow to the next level. The first meeting will be a full Management Roundtable meeting where you will learn the formulas for operating a very profitable company. Join us. Cost is so minimal it is almost embarrassing. A great value. Learn why AMR Network members have been in their networks for ten years and more!

A Well-Deserved Tip of the Hat

This has been a very busy consulting year, not only with network agencies, but some who I had never worked with before. With client budgets being reduced we find ourselves back in the same situation we experienced in the last recession. Agency owners seem to have learned from the last economic downturn in 2001-2003 and are handling it better.

10 Questions About Social Media

By Barbara Weaver-Smith, The Whale Hunters
We’ve been doing a sort of crash course in social media, testing how we can extend more whale hunting services to more customers by increasing the variety of delivery methods. We’ve increased the number of ways we offer information for free—a Twitter account and a more active blog as well as this Whale Hunters Wisdom newsletter.

MarketWise - April 2009

Employee or Independent Contractor?
With the shakeup in staffing around the country, agencies are trying to convert their fixed expenses to variable expenses, and the biggest of these is payroll. Are you working with more independent contractors, and if so, are you complying with IRS rules?

MarketWise - March 2009

Last month at one of the network meetings we were discussing some new online business building strategies for clients.

MarketWise - February 2009

I want to challenge you to read this material from eMarketer and then spend about five minutes with each prediction and write down how each point will have or already has affected your business.

MarketWise - January 2009

Here we are in the last month of a memorable year. We’ve finally been told that we are in an official recession, but we all know it has been here for some time.

MarketWise - December 2008

Survival Marketing - At the first signs of a weakening economy, many business managers panic and make a fatal mistake --

Marketwise - November - 2008 - How to Make Your Sales Go Up When the Economy Goes Down

Here is a letter to your clients that states the case for staying the course and not pulling back.

Marketwise - October 2008 - How to Survive and Thrive Through Any Business Setback

Turning a setback into a comeback. Has your business ever had a setback? Of course it has.

Marketwise - September 2008 - Identify Winning Qualities in Your Employees

Top employees are like athletes - motivated, well trained people who are willing to make personal sacrifices for the team.

MarketWise - July 2008 - When Sales Help is Affordable, and Isn’t

One of the questions agency owners frequently ask AMR is sales help.
 

MarketWise - June 2008 - Reduce the Danger of Fraud in Your Business

Most times you don't know until it is too late. What can you do?

MarketWise - May 2008 - Strategic Planning Sets the Stage for Implementing a Lean Environment

One of my best friends was fired once, many years ago, for supporting an "open door" policy. Why? Because she kept her door open by using the company's beautifully leather-bound strategic plan.

Marketing and Creative Briefs

I have always approached my work with clients from a business perspective.....

Marketing Brief - April 2008

MarketWise - April 2008 (Supplement) - The Importance of Liquidity in Todays Economy

In business, cash is king, particularly during tough economic times or when the markets are turbulent...

MarketWise - April 2008 - Don’t Make A Satisfied Customer Your Primary Goal.

In the most industries, marketers frequently put the majority of their efforts and their budget behind strategies ...

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

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.

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.