Did you know you wanted to go into advertising when you began your career?

I had no idea.  I knew I liked communications but I had never been to an ad agency before grad school and knew very little about the industry.  After graduating and looking for jobs I got an interview at an agency and thought I would give it a shot.  I got the job, it was as a copywriter, and I learned a lot but I also learned that being a copywriter wouldn’t be the best use of my skill set and then I got into account management.

What has been one of the biggest challenges running the company?

A big challenge is never take anything for granted.  Never assume anything is going to happen.  Never assume anything about your clients.  You have to work just as hard in your fifth year as you do on day one.

When you first joined the agency did you have any pre-conceived notions that proved wrong immediately?

I wasn’t a student of advertising.   People today are much more serious about advertising and study it much more than I did when I started.  One of the things I did learn early on, and its still true today, is pay attention to what is going on in the world.  What are the current trends and what isn’t a trend anymore?  Being aware of the world and culture.  Something that was confirmed to me early on and it is still true today.  There are so many changes in social marketing and sometimes the changes are overnight.  So I didn’t have a lot of pre-conceived notions but something I came to like right away about advertising was that you could get things done fairly quickly, it made you think, you had the opportunity to work with smart people who confront problems in different ways.  For example the way a media person looks at a problem is very different from where a planner or a pr person looks at it.  There are many different perspectives and they are all smart ideas and you have to be brought together to make a great idea out of something.  You’re never in a room with people that think exactly the same way and that, for me, is very stimulating.  You never get into a habit of thinking a certain way.  Most problems typically are different and you have to approach it differently.  That also means not working with the same people on every project and you are exposed to many different perspectives that all help you get better solutions.

You mentioned not being a student of advertising.  In today’s world many people believe you need a specific degree for a specific job.  Looking at advertising today, how important do you think it is for someone to have a specific degree in advertising?

There are certainly benefits to having an advertising degree but having a psychology degree where you look at how the mind works and how people make decisions, those types of disciplines aren’t always emphasized in an advertising curriculum but are very important.  Having an advertising degree is certainly important and has contributed to a lot of people’s success but I also think that the broader your education, oftentimes, the better off you are.

So having a degree of some kind is important?

I agree.  I think you need to go through the formal education process.  There is some maturation that occurs during the process and there are things you learn about people and the world and I think more times than not, nearly all times, there is value in the degree.  That doesn’t mean it has to be in a very specific discipline but something that helps sharpen your critical thinking and forces you to learn.  Learning is so important.  In this business, you should be learning something everyday.  Maybe it’s about a new product or something about a new clients business but you need to be learning everyday.  When you start to do things because that’s how you did it in the past or because you have done it that way before then you become stagnant and you’ve lost your passion for the business and your passion for the business and soon you won’t have a job in the business.

What do you do to relive stress?  How do you balance your work/life balance?

I find exercise is helpful on a nearly daily basis.  It works for me physically and emotionally.  There is a purging process that occurs so I think it is very important.  Also, spending some time with people who are not in the business, maybe on the weekends, because it helps you get away from it sometimes.  Otherwise it is very easy to spend all your time in the business.  In my case, work/life balance is very important because my children are grown up so I no longer have the structure of raising children so it is easier to focus on business all the time.   I also enjoy golf in the summer because it gets me outside and it can also be used as a business tool.

As the agency grows and you add more people, have you found it difficult to manage the culture?  How do you make sure you preserve it?

It hasn’t been difficult because our people are the culture and we haven’t grown to the level where we have more new people than experienced people.  Our culture is the product of everybody who is here.  They like the culture and want to sustain it so I think as the more experienced people teach the newer ones we aren’t losing anything because the people who are here don’t want to lose it so they make sure to preserve it and help build it.

Do you have a vision of how you would like to see the agency a year from now?  What about five or ten years from now?

Three to five years ago I would have said yes and here it is.  That isn’t the case today.  We are focused on growth still but agencies are evolving so fast with social and digital marketing.  All I can say with certainty is it will be a much different agency in five years than it is today.  We will be much more digitally and socially driven.   Exactly how or where, I don’t know because that world keeps redefining itself.  Will we have an emphasis in it and will it be our primary way of communicating our client’s messages?  Yes it will.  So to do that it means we are hiring people that are digitally savvy but still strategic.  The thing that isn’t changing, the core of our business, is ideas.  That continues to be what we do.  How we express them is changing really fast.  We will focus on iconic ideas but we will express them differently than we have in the past and we will grow our digital competencies to ensure that we are on the forefront of how best to do that.

Will there always be a place for traditional media?  Will Billboards and TV commercials disappear?

No.  People watch more TV now than they ever have.  But if you listen to people in certain circles TV is dead.  People will continue to listen to the radio in their cars.

Facebook and Twitter aren’t going to replace TV and become the end all be all?

No.  They traditional methods aren’t going to go away, they might become more splintered, but they will be enhanced by other mediums.

Why do clients choose Kelly Preston?

They don’t believe their brand has any distinction in the marketplace.  There is nothing that stands out with consumers.  They know they need that to be successful, they’re frustrated with not having it in the past, and most likely, their business is changing and one thing they need to do is have an identity and they will say I need to have an iconic idea.  An iconic idea creates a brand, which is a business tool, which is hard to compete without it in most markets.

So something needs to be done to make a distinction between all the similar products in the market place.   I think about cereal or soap and they are all basically the same.   Why do you think most companies struggle with brand identity?

I think in many instances, the product comes before the need is defined.   Products are often brought to the market based on manufacturing capabilities versus market demand.   I’m generalizing here, but large companies will rigorously research market demand before they launch a new product, but it is very difficult without being innovative, without having iconic ideas it’s really hard to distinguish a brand from all the advertising you are exposed to everyday.  What makes you really listen to the message?  It has to be interesting.  It has to be told in an interesting way.  However oftentimes, to make something interesting, people don’t have the patience or don’t want to risk really innovating.

I think about a company like Apple, which is really good at marketing its products because it takes risks quite a bit with bold leaps and creates new markets it can dominate or redefines existing markets.  Speaking of risk, so many companies seek to reduce risk as much as possible.  How do you approach risk taking?

We understand that there is some risk we take with some of our ideas we bring to our clients but we don’t ever think risk is something that will bankrupt the brand or the business.  It is the type of risk where the downside is maintaining the status quo and the upside is huge potential for market dominance.   Some ideas are too risky for some clients so you always want to have another option that is a bit safer.  It is still a good idea but it might not have the potential to really elevate the brand to the top of the market.   Providing multiple options, the client will have greater confidence that we have thought it through, given alternatives, but they see, with their own eyes, here is one that has potential and here is one that has even greater potential.  A client has to see more than one idea, typically, to have confidence in that idea.

Is selling an idea to your clients a big part of your job?  Some of your clients are large, traditional companies not known for pushing the envelope with their advertising.  Is it difficult to persuade them the see the vision you have for their brand?

Clients change quickly.  The chief marketing officers change quickly.  There is a saying that says you don’t sell advertising, it is bought.  The high turnover rate shows what little regard there is for marketing from the perspective of the board and CEO.

What do you look for in potential employees?  Are there any similar characteristics that stick out?

People that we want to work with are curious, intelligent, not satisfied where they are, they want to learn, collaborators, believe in iconic ideas, and they are also the kind of people you would have a beer with.  They’re driven, but not consumed so there is balance in their lives.  We also look at their breadth and passion for conveying an idea in many different ways.   We want people who can convey information in many different ways.

If you won the lottery how would you do with your time?  Would you still work?

Money is a small thing in certain ways because if you’ve had a life where you’ve been engaged and thinking, you’ve been around stimulating people, to think that money will replace some of the most valuable things in your life, the exchange when interacting with smart people, it would have to be used in a way to improve the world we live in.  To do that would involve collaborating with a lot of people.  Giving back in someway to benefit people.  To go live on a yacht and check your portfolio everyday seems like a dull existence.   There is something that keeps me in this environment as long as it has.   In this business you live by your wits.  There isn’t a lot of technology that you can use as a crutch.  Its hard to leave that because its part of your life.

As a business owner, what advice would you give to someone starting a company?

You must have a lot of stamina.  You can have a solid business plan, very clear strategy and have everything in place but the intangible is the stamina and the commitment for making it happen.  The will to succeed is the most important thing and the only important thing to move a business forward and without that will and without that drive, all the plans and capital isn’t going to be utilized without the will.

What do you do when you can’t act?  How do you motivate yourself even when it feels like nothing has gone right?

The belief in the organization is huge for me.  Having a good partner is really important to bounce ideas off and think things through with and challenge one another but also be there for each other for support.

How important has it been that you and your partner have matching attributes?

You need to think about other perspectives so having other people who challenge you is really important.  But those people also have to have similar values.  That way you can have healthy debate where you get a better outcome.

What skill would you like to improve upon right now?

Networking.  It’s critically important in this business but it’s something I could always be better at.

Thank you very much.

My pleasure.

For more information about Preston Kelly check out their website here: http://www.prestonkelly.com/

Wasn’t that a great way to start this article? The Secret by Rhonda Byrne was number 2 on USA Today’s bestseller list, 2007.

Wasn’t that a fabulous title for a book? It made her millions. Did it make you millions? Thousands? Pennies?

I haven’t read the book, but many did.

I researched the book and learned the secret: the law of attraction. This ancient secret reminded me of Dan Brown’s new book–another book I haven’t read.

So I researched again. And there, at oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com, is the same connection.

To quote her page that quotes the book: Langdon realizes as he listens to Katherine: “Human thought can literally transform the world.”

What does this mean? I think they made a movie out of this, The Men Who Stare at Goats.

I’m thinking about a better job and after a hundred applications, I’m still thinking obsessively about being a millionaire. I’ve started to spend fifty dollars at the vending machines a week, on a low hourly income. I know I’m a millionaire. I play monopoly imperiously with children at work, and at the same time, I’m judicious enough to let the little ones win sometimes.

I’m positive,

I’m skinny,

I’m smart,

I have a secret.

I’m the poorest millionaire.

Chess is a game that gives you a rating. 1200 is considered beginner and peaks at the world’s best of 2800 roughly. In between the two numbers people are climbing the ladder to find themselves progessing and succeeding. To stay a 1200 player year after year says that ladder is laying on the ground, and many people may be happy or simply content walking one rung at a time towards death.

Rather, I see my life as a good book with it’s peaks and valleys of climaxes, hopefully moving higher and stronger towards the end.

This article is putting me in a bad mood…or is it the phone at work, blaring in my left ear: “Jimmie, come back to reality, a patron needs your wonderful customer service!”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!!!! I’m still a 1200 player.

Even if you don’t read it, the article speaks of precocity versus late bloomers, and mixes it with the success story of Ben as an author. You can replace writer with any job, and the article reads the same: breaking free from the routine paths of the middle class (lawyer, doctor, teacher, consultant) and starting something unique, such as writing or starting a company.

One of my questions is if we bloom late, how do we ever know if we’re going to bloom? How many people have succeeded after death? There is Vincent Van Gogh, to name a small example.

This seems like a miserable path to suffer through a life that should be full of happiness. What brings people to persist and continue in the search of a goal if the evanescent nature gives winning the lottery a hopeful ring to it?

Ben, the man of the article, on the contrary, probably enjoyed his life while he pursued a literary career. The process, which took him eighteen years before his big break, had to have been enjoyable enough for him to continue writing each and every day. How else could he have done it? I’ve heard of delayed gratification, but this is some serious patience.

With most people, and if that is to broad, at least I know waiting for a burger gets to be too long. However, to play devil’s advocate, if I look at it from a different angle, say Ben’s, he could ask me how I patiently waited out eighteen years at an adminstrative job. Ah…that hurts Ben.

Eighteen years. What is the bottom line if we’ll never know. Do something that we love? Does it fritter away to the basic concept of Republicans and 1950 cliche father’s? I don’t want to say it, but it’s said to be hard work. Pull your self up by the boot straps. Have some intestinal fortitute. Tough it out. Have some balls. Be a man. Grow some thick skin. Early bird gets the worm.

There are a million phrases in every language for hardwork.

How do you know if you’re a late bloomer? I don’t know, but I’ll leave you with my father’s advice: do what you enjoy, and you’ll hardly work a day in your life.

from

http://everythingfiction.blogspot.com/

How did you get into this?

After I graduated college I got a government job.  It was decent pay, low maintenance and I had a little more freedom than a typical 9-5.

But I didn’t like the work and saved money for 3 years.  After I quit, I traveled.

After I returned to the U.S. I was an assistant teacher for a year while taking classes to become a teacher but I decided it wasn’t for me.

On starting his own website:

It takes a lot of work.  You need the idea and the execution.

It’s not about creating a completely new idea, its taking an existing idea and making it better.

My first website helped organizations customize their own pages where they could engage consumers in e-commerce.  I didn’t like marketing and pushing products on others though so I tossed a lot of ideas around just trying to figure out what I could do.

I enjoy travel and thought about how I could improve on existing travel sites so in April of 2007 I started iguide.

When I started, I just put up as much content as possible.  Then I started filtering to increase the quality and make sure the image and brand were strong as opposed to simply putting anything and everything on the site and then choosing the best stuff later.  It’s way more efficient to cull the best stuff from the beginning.  Quality always trumps quantity.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

The first year was fun because I was creating and doing something new.  The second and third years were hard because I was constantly working.  My life was jogging, sleeping and working.  I’d wake up and be thinking about the site immediately.

I made no money at first.  Then after the first year I made maybe $2K.  By the third year it was $30K and after that it was $100K.

In the beginning I was solely focused on making money but now I’m more interested in doing something good.

I still have to update the site, cash checks, and send invoices but for the most part it runs itself now.   The biggest thing is cashing checks.

I wake up naturally and I start working.  It actually isn’t that fun.  Most of my time is spent on web development.  It sucks when I try to force something to happen.  It’s like working for someone else at that point.

If I let the innovations drive it everyday then I can make if fun again.  If it’s a project with a challenge it’s much more fun and the quality of the work is much better.  I just can’t force it.  It’s more important to be learning than just working.

There was a point when I was in doubt and I thought I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was going to do.  It was October ‘08 and the financial crisis really set in and I was losing revenue and people weren’t visiting the site.

I naturally experimented a lot and I guess it just panned out.  I never planning on make a lot of money.

I mostly work at home.  I did the whole coffee shop thing for a while but it’s just easier to do my work at home.  It does get lonely.  I don’t get to go to an office and have friends there and get the social aspect of working.  That is something most people don’t think about.

I constantly wonder if I’m using the right advertisers.  Is the information still valuable to people?  Once people started emailing complaints about the site it was great because it meant people cared enough to comment and wanted it to improve.

You seem a bit hostile towards corporations.

The structure of work in the U.S. is more about jumping through hoops and navigating the politics of the organization.  I almost went to grad school and naively thought it would be great but as I applied and went though the interview process I realized it was no different and didn’t even want to bother starting the program.

I was a marketing major in undergrad.  I learned in school that it was up to the consumer to decide what they want to purchase but that isn’t true.  Businesses push their products on consumers even if they are unnecessary.  You wouldn’t believe some of the tactics they use to make money.

We need fewer products in the world, not more.    Advertisers use ecology, psychology and marketing magic to trick consumers.   For instance, why are we talking about getting cars with 60 miles a gallon?  We can’t keep building roads and constantly expanding cities.  If we have learned anything in the last two years it is that constant growth isn’t feasible.  We should be asking what comes after the car.

What is your current focus for the site?

I’m trying to grow the site and do it responsibly and add multiple languages.

I try to pull in the top quality content.  I check everything for bugs and make sure the articles and pictures are the highest quality.

I sometimes wonder if I should add employees?  Probably, within a year, but I want to make sure I’m ready.  I’m a visionary.  I have good ideas.  I’m not a leader and I’m not a perfect programmer.

I ask myself all the time how should I spend my time because its getting to the point where I might be able to spend more of it doing something else.  Maybe spend half the year working and the other half traveling.

I’d like to spend my time working on a greater world problem.  Maybe in a few years do something positive to make a difference in people’s lives.

Thank you for sharing some of your story with us.  Stay tuned for Part II coming soon!

This is the most extensive map of the planet Mars created to date.  For the non-scientist it might not be that interesting after looking at a few different screen shots but it’s pretty amazing that we are able to map out another planet.  NASA wants as many people contributing to continuously update the maps and also improve them.  More information can be learned here:

http://asunews.asu.edu/20100723_marsmap

And now life: what is the most important aspect of life. At one point I had asked my girlfriend what the most important quality a person can have to suceed in corporate, and she answered in one word–likeable. This corresponds to what to the chair of a college department once responded when I asked what the most important quality is when hiring–people have to like you. Reflecting on such answers, this seems true.

For one, there will be plenty of people with the skills to fill the role, and in fact, if there is a more qualified person, the more likeable person may get the job. Though, this isn’t always the case, since there are examples of a-holes getting the job or girl or education or favor when it doesn’t seem that person is likeable. How does that happen?

I’ve also heard a bit of wisdom that not everyone will like you. So that person who we thought didn’t deserve that something will have his or her critics, but at the same time he or she will also have his or her fans. For everyone who hates Broc Lesnar, there is always Dana and his investors who like Broc each and everytime he draws fifty or sixty out of your pocket because you need to see a freak of nature surprise you with his agile hulkiness.

What if we asked the bible about importance. When Jesus was asked to sum up his profession (I call it profession, but interpret it as you like), he responded with Mathew 10:10, to love your God with everything you got, and others as you love yourself. In a way, I interpret this as we need to be loving, otherwise people won’t like you, and if people don’t like you, you won’t have people who will like you enough to give you what you want or need.

If each and every day you are problem solving to get the resources you need, then the most important thing in this life is to get people to like you. The real truth I’m getting at is if chess is all about tactics, and chess is essential to life, then we must be tactful with people.

Reputation

It is so important to deliver when you say you will. You just never know where your next opportunity will come from and you’d be surprised how often people meet again a year or five years later.
A lot of people deliver on the work they promise but what separates the great consultants from the pack is the little things. Always act professionally, respond promptly to phone calls and emails, and never lie about a situation to make yourself look better or cover up anything. Those little things add up to make the entire package look even better than one that was handled appropriately but in a sloppy way.

Network

Aggressively network at all times. Not just when you want something from someone. It’s actually better to approach people when you don’t need anything because it will lower their defenses and you will get the best information. Then later, when they can help you, they will know you already and be more willing to assist however they can.

Continuous Learning

Keep taking classes in your field and fields that interest you so that you continue learning and so you’ll meet other people with similar interests who might become valuable contacts in your network.

Specialize

Never project yourself as a generalist because people will question what value you provide. Usually you will be hired because your expertise is required in a situation not your general idea or suggestion. Maintaining a niche will also make you more marketable because there are fewer people within a specialized segment as opposed to generalists.

“New coffee?” I half ironically/truthfully said. I had to probe the matter with humor, but at the same time with honesty to learn if a secret brew was being made.

“I can’t drink the other stuff,” she said.

First, I was incredulous: was I suppose to tolerate this behavior that she wasn’t going to tell anyone; and here she was exerting her power to suckle milk and honey, while the peons drink coffee made from toxic corporate water and the left over grounds of a board meeting. (Okay it isn’t that bad, but the coffee isn’t that great either).

“When are we getting the new stuff?” I asked to keep the coversation neutral but still informative.

She opens the cupboard and my loins shrivel.

“Looks like we have a few more boxes left,” I observe, dejected, depressed.

“We’re still trying to cut expenses elsewhere, spoons, napkins…to justify new coffee,” she said.

“Why don’t we bring our own utinsels?” I said. I smiled immediately afterwards to show my playful attitude, but I really wanted to know the answer. I was ready to sacrfice a few seconds of my break with her, because God knows we have made sacrifices for knowledge in the past.

She smiled coyly, and I suddenly saw new undertones. Immediately I decide THAT would need road blocks, asap. A forty year old who reads erotic novels shouldn’t action her fantasy. (Also, who shares that they read erotic novels at work to a person 20 years their junior. And she had made it as a passing comment as if it didn’t mean much. O la de da, I maturbate with a cucumber. Somethings are left unsaid at work.)

“No we won’t get it, too soon, at least until this junk is gone,” she said and kicked a purple logo. “But I’m going to put a label on this batch that says ‘yum’.” Her eyes flared up and she leaned towards me. She was excited, obviously.

The conversation lulled, as I heated up my pizza and she sat down for the secret coffee to finish. But she wasn’t done with me yet.

“We’re getting power saving microwaves.”

“What does that mean,” I quickly said, to show I was listening.

“To save electricity.”

Uh, was my question that dumb. But I noticed the two women sitting at the table had stopped talking. They looked at each other as if they shared a secret–they were eaves dropping. Not only that, but mocking the conversation we were having. Why else would they take such an interest in a dull conversation other than to make fun of it. First they don’t know me that well, so it had to do with females super senses. They were seeing undertones, understones I wanted to prevent. Dammit. I needed to leave asap.

“What do others think of the new coffee,” I asked kind of glancing at my amorous coffee lover and the six new ears.”

The coffee lover went straight to their table and engaged them.

That was my cue. I beelined to my cubicle, happy and energetic to see the four dingy walls, more so than I was at eight o’clock this morning.