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Getting ‘Great’ From Your Agency

Are there any business relationships as rewarding, or potentially rocky, as the client/agency one? Marriages are often used as analogies because they share many similarities along the journey: i.e., compatibility, communication, and forgiveness. Some client/agent relationships even end badly. But here are a few tips to have the very best marriage with your agency after the “I dos.” 

 

Trust & Share 

The more you can think of your agency as a long-term partner, the more you’ll feel comfortable sharing confidential plans and numbers. Provide them access to executive level meetings and 

reports, and invite their participation with donors or customers. Show them the warts and all. 

 

Allow Failure 

Have you thought of excellence and failure as two sides of the same coin? You’ll get innovation and creativity quickly and more often if an occasional stumble isn’t punished. Think of it like dog training: Does Fido come back wagging his tail when he sees a rolled up magazine in your hand? 

 

Reserve Judgment 

After you get to know your agency – and vice versa – they will have an idea of your level of risk-tolerance. I hope they bring you ideas or execution that you consider “risky.” Resist the temptation to reject it quickly. Give it time to sink in. Even if you don’t eventually accept it, your agency will appreciate the measured consideration. 

 

Be Clear 

Even the largest agency in the world swings and misses. (I know. I was an executive at one for a decade.) Knowing why you believe what you do and being able to articulate it promotes better understanding and long-term appreciation. 

 

Encourage 

Most agency folks respond better to the carrot than the stick. Tell them when you like their work, celebrate the successes, and thank them for the time and effort they put in. Yes, you pay them for the work, but a pat on the back might mean they’ll work even harder next time! 

 

The work agencies perform—creating fresh ideas and messages to move an increasingly fragmented and cynical marketplace—gets more challenging daily. They will love you AND the process with these ‘great’ tips. 

By Blake Conover 10 May, 2024
Small businesses want to enhance their marketing efforts and attract more customers without requiring a substantial financial investment. It can be done! Here are ten topics about advertising, marketing, and acquiring more customers without breaking the bank. We’ll discuss each of them in greater detail in the coming weeks one at a time. Maintain Visual Brand Consistency: Resources and tools for creating professional-looking graphics, logos, and visual content to maintain a dependable brand image across various marketing channels. Leverage Outreach Efforts: Local targeting and customer outreach are vital for businesses looking to attract customers within their geographic area. Many low-cost, high-reward options are available. Optimize Your Website: Ensuring excellent user experience (UX) on a website is crucial for businesses, especially in this age where consumers expect seamless, responsive, and intuitive online interactions. Develop Excellent Marketing Material: Strategies to build an email list, craft compelling newsletters, and update your sales literature and processes to nurture leads and convert them into customers. Execute Social Media Marketing Strategies: Guidance on leveraging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., effectively to reach a wider audience and engage potential customers. Implement Content Marketing on a Budget: Tips on creating valuable and engaging content such as blogs, videos, or podcasts that resonate with the target audience without requiring a huge investment. Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Techniques to improve website visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) organically, driving more traffic without spending on ads. Employ SEM: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a crucial aspect of digital marketing for businesses, particularly for increasing online visibility, driving website traffic, and generating leads or sales. Engage the Targeted Community: Ideas for promoting the business within the local community through events, sponsorships, collaborations, and grassroots or ‘influencer’ marketing efforts. Track Analytics and Performance: Use free or affordable analytics tools for your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to monitor marketing efforts, measure ROI, and optimize strategies for better results over time.
By Blake Conover 14 Mar, 2024
No, they didn’t win the lottery! No, they weren’t the beneficiaries of a donor’s large estate. No, they weren’t a college or university – they seem to be the only organizations to net those big numbers these days. It was a library located in a town of about 10,000 people. Who was it? The Waverly Public Library, Waverly Iowa. You could say they were fortunate, or lucky, or blessed. They would agree with you, but, as the fundraising consultant chosen to help them, 1Vision Communications would add a few more “secrets” to their success. They were… Prepared At least two years prior, they had conducted a user and community study. They knew what the “hot” (fundable, in our language) areas of their expansion would be. Their Foundation led the way by getting all other volunteers, staff, and leadership involved. Organized This group understood the need for an oversight committee and then let us help them structure the remaining committees to accomplish the work. The top leaders were excellent at gathering volunteers to step into roles, both larger and smaller. Humble They listened. It’s an often-overlooked attribute, but they knew they needed counsel, they sought it out, and they followed advice. While these people were seasoned professionals in their own categories, they hired a us to supplement – knowing any consultant fee would be made up quickly in more and larger grants and donations. Hard-working Maybe this could be said of all Midwesterners, but the WPL team was exceptional at being persistent, committed, industrious, and creative – especially as it had to do with major donor calls, grant-writing, and communications . These are things that could describe your nonprofit, too, as it considers a capital or endowment campaign. Let us help you succeed. 
By Dani Gordon 08 Nov, 2023
Some variation of the first phrase can be attributed to Henry Ford, Alcoholics Anonymous, or Tony Robbins. However, we often forget or ignore the second important part. I wish every nonprofit executive director would memorize that saying and apply it to their organization. It could be the single greatest piece of counsel around. If nonprofits could all break the shackles of tradition and habit, they might just experience a breakthrough. ‘If we drop that golf outing, could our time be spent more profitably somewhere else? What might happen if we asked our donors why they don’t give more? Maybe it would be helpful if we had a plan in place this year.’ The second component to this maxim is as important as the first. Common sense tells us outcome erosion occurs whenever we do the same thing over and over again. Repeated or continuous actions often result in generating decreasing returns; estimated here at a 15% year-over-year loss. Unless new twists can be added, it is reasonable to expect less, not more. Has your experience confirmed or exploded this “rule”? We’d love to hear your answers.
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