CONTENTS:

1.  Agency Business Development During Wartime
2. Who’s Paying Attention to Advertising at a Time Like This?
3. Going Out For Business! Could be the Last Notice
4. Working CMO’s – Even in Todays’ Turbulent Times …
5. New Business When People are Paying Attention
6. A Prayer for Volodymyr Zelensky
7. What Can We Do For You?

AGENCY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DURING WARTIME

(Written “pre-invasion”)

Dear Chuck,
I’m a new biz guy with a medium-sized agency in the Midwest. If it hasn’t been bad enough for the last two years, now I (and we) have to look for and capture new clients during the course of a “world war!” And talk about “teasers” – the administration should be congratulated for hanging us all out there, wondering when Russia will invade Ukraine. With today’s marvelous International news reporting, there’s no way to isolate us (me and my prospects) from what’s happening and when our economy will take the hit. And should we think clients aren’t meant to moderate their marketing and advertising accordingly? Silly not to. So how can I push when they are wanting to pull?

Dear Pusher,
I too am wondering where our fickle economy will head next. Although many may choose to bury their heads in the sand, there will always be the forward thinkers who will push on. Now’s the time to practice what “selective prospecting” is all about. You probably already have a list of potential candidates (if not, now’s the time) but now classify them according to: . ; . ; . ; . ! In other words, pursue those that will be critical, then Essential during war time. Companies with frivolous products and services are less likely to survive themselves. Don’t let those mess up your agency’s and your future. !

WHO’S PAYING ATTENTION TO ADVERTISING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?

Many folks were “chatty chatty” during COVID days, ignoring pandemic’s grip on the country along with that on advertising and merchandising. Without pausing, Linked posts advertised “How to Get That Prospect to Return Your Call,” or “Is it Impolite to Telephone Right After Your Introductory Email?” No bother – people couldn’t go to work, they were losing jobs, clients were at home and more precisely, people were dying. In spite of all that, there was no shortage of LinkedIn Lead Program posts – bless their little hearts!

But something changed, and in a big way! With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, LinkedIn now is heavily populated with tributes to the fearless Ukrainians, to the leader in President Zelensky, to mothers, wives and children hunkered down in subways or building basements. I celebrate the humanity and I’m OK that many are turning their attention, their hearts and their prayers – to the people of Ukraine and, to the people of Russia as well!

GOING OUT FOR BUSINESS! COULD BE THE LAST NOTICE

That’s right, for as long as our energies last, we’re offering agency search services to advertisers at absolutely no cost, as in “free.”

For advertisers, if you’re looking to add to your existing customer base… use our tools and agency search service to explore the world of agencies. Stateside and worldwide and as you need them.

For agencies,  if you’re looking to add and serve new clients in your roster… enroll now and build a magnetic profile. More than 500 data fields at your command. Select from three affordable plans! (if already enrolled, be sure to finish your profile)

WORKING CMO’S – EVEN IN TODAYS’ TURBULENT TIMES … WE CAN ACCOMMODATE YOUR AGEANCY SEARCH

Ironically, our earliest marketing proposed “ , ” Your safest bet at the moment may well be from home. Our complimentary on-line and consultant-assisted process can be managed from wherever you are. (this is how a client finds your agency)

1. 1. On-line you select from thousands of domestic and International agencies. Invite your favorites to engage for a due-diligence phone interview.
   2. Then for those that come forward, your offered details give them what they need to furnish you with relevant samples, case histories and evidence of suitability.
   3. Next, if circumstances allow, visit (actually or virtually) those that made your next cut. Call for a mandatory agency tour. Meet the team, see their facilities. Identify your finalists.
   4. Finally, call them to your HQ, in-fact or virtually. It’s your process, so you identify finalist assignments. And all this can be done in 30-60 days. Let us prove it!

 NEW BUSINESS WHEN PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION

As long as Putin doesn’t commit any unpardonable sins, we will return to some semblance of normal (he says with crossed fingers). At that time, if you and your agency have room for a new client or two, be polite – let them find you; let them seek you out. That’s what AgencyFinder had always been about. And from us, no big puffed up pursuit or pitch, just the suggestion you find a plan you like and buy it! Plans & Prices Call or write with questions.

 A PRAYER FOR VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY

History has found the Ukrainian president, and his courage is remarkable to witness.

Credit Franklin Foer, The Atlantic

Before he became the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky played the part on television. He created and starred in a comedy series, Servant of the People. His character, a high-school history teacher, is surreptitiously recorded by one of his students as he passionately rants against the tyranny of corruption in his nation. Without his knowledge, the video goes viral. Without campaigning or even wanting the job, the teacher is improbably elected president of Ukraine. The humble everyman, out of his depths in nearly every respect, goes on to become a heroic leader of his country.

Entertainers who enter politics are rightly treated with suspicion, because they are experts at the most dangerous part of the job, the manipulation of mass emotion. And in Ukraine, any outsider who rises to power engenders even greater suspicion because the assumption is that they must be doing the bidding of some shadowy force or other. As Zelensky has stumbled through his actual career in politics, those doubts have dogged him. It sometimes seemed as if he governed as an amateur doing his middling best, someone simply playing the part.

But in life, as in the fictional version he created, Zelensky, slightly diminutive and gravelly-voiced, has been subjected to the most intense stress test of character. In the course of the past terrible week, he revealed himself.

Yesterday, Zelensky told a videoconference of European leaders that they would likely not ever see him again. The whole world can see that his execution is very likely imminent. What reason does he have to doubt that Vladimir Putin will order his murder, as the Russian leader has done with so many of his bravest critics and enemies? Zelensky’s fate is so clear that Washington offered to extricate him from Kyiv, so that he could form a government in exile. But Zelensky swatted away the promise of safety. He reportedly preferred that Washington deliver him more arms for his resistance: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.” Full article w/subscription

WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?

Every year, save the past few, there has been a new crop, a new batch of enthusiastic agency new business folks. Some come to that table with previous experience; others are brand-spanking new. So – regardless of your status, if staying or moving, if there’s something you need with regard to agency business development and you don’t find it here, let me know.

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Thanks for taking time to look this over; as we have since 1997, we look forward to getting you face- to-face with a great prospect. Then & Now – We built it for you!