I wish.

As this blog has been a priority of mine for some years now, this summer marked a shift.

First, I accepted a position as Lead Blogger at Talent Zoo’s Beyond Madison Avenue, a blog that talks about marketing and advertising, and the world between. I write once a day there, so the time usually dedicated to this blog has been consumed by my researching and writing for them. It’s also a paid position.

Paid to write? Yep, I’ll take it.

Then, we’ve been quite busy on our accounts, which is a very good thing. Ignite Charlotte and Live Out Loud! are just wrapping up, and we’re currently compiling research for our AV/IT client while stirring the pot for some new business.

Things are looking up.

“Looking” is the key word. Though we have things going on, there is still much work to be done for The Charlotte Agency to prosper. We’re still hunting for that “big deal”. We’re now open to contacting freelancers and expanding our creative capacity.

Are you a design or creative freelancer? Contact us.

We are still centered on working with and succeeding with small businesses in Charlotte. Watch the Charlotte Viewpoint panel I was on where we talked about idea incubators.

Anywho..I hope to get better in balancing all the stuff I’m working on and keeping this updated regularly again. Sorry to the ten people who check this frequently.

Cheers,

DW

Once you get over that, then you can start building your organization.

We’re in our third year. It’s been a wild ride, with that as many successes as setbacks. The economy and Charlotte small business environment will have that effect.

Since I run The Charlotte Agency‘s daily operations, as well as principal, I wanted to show you a snapshot of my typical day.

7:45am- 8:40am – Reading latest ad/world news and updates

8:45am- 10:00am- Writing for Beyond Madison Avenue (Lead Blogger)

10:00am-11:00am-Reading and responding to important email

11:00am-2pm- Working on accounts

2pm-2:15pm- Break, throw some darts to relax the mind, maybe watch something funny, or read something smart

2:15-3pm- Prospect

3pm-4pm- Work on accounts/JDW housekeeping (project management, updates, etc.)

4pm-5pm- Wrapping up/Email/Meeting or call/proofing creative

5pm on- Networking/ volunteer meeting/ part-time gig/ nap/news

There you have it. A jam-packed day, but its enjoyable.

I must say, you are an interesting breed. Anonymous comments on Charlotte Observer? Wow. If you’re going to say something stupid, at least identify yourself so the public is aware of exactly who the idiot is among us.

What am I talking about, you ask? Today, it was announced that Hendricks Automotive Group (along with an unidentified gifter) will be sponsoring the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District‘s middle school sports program for 2011-2012. With this gift, CMS can provide 13 sports programs for its school.

That. Is. Awesome.

But you know what bothered me? The comments. The unintelligent, “holier-than-thou” comments.

Let me explain.

The U.S. school system is broken. You and I both know this. People complain about how the federal government should get out of state affairs, or how state BOD’s are completely inept, or how the education system should be given to the hands of free enterprise. These are not new conversations. Private schools are close examples to that.

But then, when actual businesses come into the classroom or the athletic field to fulfill necessary functions (like healthy vending machines or sports), people get up in arms because its ‘commercial’?

People realize that free enterprise breeds commercialism, right?

Quick sidenote:  People may argue that athletics are not necessary in schools. These people either don’t have kids, have kids that get picked on, or was picked on when little. Sports are needed, crybabies are not. Please hush.

I applaud what the Hendricks Automotive Group is doing for CMS. Middle school athletics give children a chance to be on teams, and experiment with different kinds of sports they may want to invest in when they graduate onto high school.

And who cares if it’s “Myers Park Middle School Football, brought to you by Hendricks Automotive Group.” I’m glad these kids get to be out there and not in the street, people are coaching or officiating instead of having nothing to do, and the world continues to turn.

Related articles

• Sponsorship agreement saves CMS middle school sports (charlotte.news14.com)

I was a company advisor at Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week or PFEW, last week and during a break I received that advice from a fellow company advisor and entrepreneur. He is more seasoned than I am, in his second business and has been a business owner for 20+ years.

We had a chance to talk about the ups and downs of being a business owner, and I got a chance to vent my frustrations in business development, being a young black business owner in a very white-dominated industry, and all the fun stuff I try to not bother me.

He said that I’m one step away from having that big break, and that I shouldn’t quit before that happens. Because, cue his quote, it’s easy to quit.

Why are all the simple pieces of advice so freakin’ profound?

It is easy to quit. I could just stop trying to help small and medium sized businesses. In these past few years, they certainly haven’t made it easy for me.

But from reading about great leaders, and taking advice from other business leaders, I’ve learned that the great ones have been just too stubborn to stop.

Theodore Roosevelt couldn’t get the nomination from the Republican Party. What did he do? He formed the Bull Moose Party and was one of the only presidents in history to win as a 3rd party.

To stay in the family, FDR had a ton of, at that time, radical ideas to get the nation on the right track. He faced obstacle after obstacle in the forms of political opposition, spousal opposition, the Supreme court and even family. But he stayed his course, and left a legacy that is regarded as one of the greatest of our time.

The owner of FedEx gave up most of his equity in his business to survive. He believed so much in his idea he was willing to basically sell it to others. I guess he did okay.

Stubbornness, with a good idea, is a good quality to have.

Now, my idea of supporting the small business community in order for them to succeed and reinvest in the community, does not match up to the New Deal, obviously.

But it can make Charlotte a better place to do business. It will make young, bright people want to stay and start something. It will help people in Charlotte want to be a part of something.

This is a pep talk. Entrepreneurs, if you wholeheartedly believe that you are good at what you’re doing, and have an idea that will improve an industry or community, don’t quit.

More people are going to say no than yes, accept it.

More people will doubt you than support you, deal with it.

More people will ignore you than listen to you, preach it.

People are afraid of change, of something new. Entrepreneurs represent exactly what the public fears, yet are the ones society needs most.

Thanks for listening.

DW

Image via Wikipedia

How about those Pittsburgh Pirates?

As many read my open letter to the Buccos, it seems that the organization is actually trying to do something it hasn’t accomplished since I was 6 years old.

Have a winning season.

I mean, just a few games ago, the Bucs beat the Nationals 10-2. Ten runs. Since when did the Bucs have that kind of fire power?

And the team is actually pulling out wins late in games. Crazy, right?

Now, I know. It’s only mid-way, and there is unfortunately plenty of baseball left. But the Pirates are playing decent ball, and to think, a Pirates PITCHER has been selected to go to the All-Star game.

Yes, a pitcher. Please, hold the laughter and have some respect.

As of right now (July 5th), the Bucs are 44-41. With all of this going for the team, I predict that the team could go 11-10 and finish July with a 55-51 record.

Which for Pirates fans, would be fan-freakin-tastic.

August gets a little murky, with the Giants, Brewers, and Cardinals all in a row, plus a non-waiver deadline on July 31.

That’s really all I have to say. I’m pretty excited that my team is actually doing well. I’ve been following my blog stats and my letter bashing the front office has been quite popular so I wanted to follow up on a more positive note.

Clint Hurdle, whatever you’re doing, don’t stop.

Keep this fan (and thousands of others) happy.

Go Bucs!

DW

Image via Wikipedia

“Do not take the entire world on your shoulders. Do a certain amount of skylarking, as befits people your age. ‘Skylarking,’ incidentally, used to be a minor offense under Naval Regulations. What a charming crime. It means intolerable lack of seriousness.”

-Kurt Vonnegut, 1970

As products of the U.S. college and university system, once we graduate, we march on with instructions. Be a global citizen. Be a positive contribution to society.

Change the world. One person at a time.

Taking a step back and looking at the charge we were given, I believe that those are amazingly daunting tasks.

But we pressed on.

I left Elon University to join an ad agency. After the shop went through some tough times I found myself joining up with a friend to start our own marketing shop.

Yes. We’re changing the world. One city at a time.

More often than not, the older ones in charge do not take ‘us’ (meaning my biz partner and I, and young professionals in general) seriously. How interesting. As young professionals we are immediately hit with a delightful contradiction.

How are we supposed to make serious change in the world when the older ones don’t take us serious?

Of course, there are the usual answers (mentorship, ‘learning the ropes,’ asking questions, etc.) but then what? The cycle starts all over again. Nothing new really comes to fruition.

Nothing really changes.

Or maybe it does. Perhaps this is just a blabbering post of my frustration with the industry I reside. If that is the case, I see why we young pros aren’t taken so seriously. Perhaps it is because we are in such a rush to change the world- to make a difference- we’re looked at as crazy, and with that foolish.

But let’s press on.

The reason I started this post with that Vonnegut quote is because I want to tell other young professionals (and in reality, myself) that it is okay to not be serious sometimes. We’re still youthful. Let’s keep that creative, curious, child-like flame internally smoldering. We will lose our youth and be taken seriously eventually. But why throw away our skylark ways in exchange? Is it worth it?

With all the professionals I have read about, and the advice thrown at me, I don’t believe it is.

As young professionals, we have the best of both worlds- we are allowed to have fun and be serious. Let’s not trade that for world problems and issues. We can have curiosity and leadership. We can have friends, as well as followers.

The point: as young professionals, we want to be taken seriously. And we will be. But let’s have some fun while we’re at it.

Or, as Vonnegut would say, “but skylark, too.”

Image via Wikipedia

Surely, that’s a stupid question.

In the rise of social media, in the information age, there is nothing that consumers do not know, nor could find out.

Of course we know what we want. The information is out there. The power- therefore the influence- is in our hands. The power of Choice has finally shifted, at last, to the consumer.

Right.

Perhaps it is the academia speaking, but I find it quite hard to believe that people truly understand what they want. From the conscious and unconscious forces that act on us every day, I cannot agree with the notion that today’s consumer knows exactly what they want, and why they want it. Or perhaps, they know what they want, but the reason they put forth doesn’t match the action(s).

If I’m wrong, then buyer’s remorse is pretty much extinct. Cognitive dissonance is a dream and halo effects and other survey error elements can be erased from a marketer’s toolbox.

In a section of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, there is a discussion about the Pepsi Challenge, and about how people choose products based on package, and not necessarily the actual attributes of the product.

But of course, if it is mentioned in today’s environment that us humans aren’t actually in total control of our conscious, and that our explanations of our actions may be faulty, one shouldn’t expect that opinion to be welcomed with open arms and ears.

After reading this far, I’m sure you already know my stance on the title question.

What say you?

C-. Not so hot at all.

The researchers compiled information from 500 small businesses, and compared the change of the small business environment since 2009 to now using an index they created that is meant to measure small business success.

As one goes through the report, the findings are not very surprising. Disheartening? Sure, but it is no shock that small businesses are still struggling.

Quick Tidbits:
- According to the index, 53% of all small businesses are either Marginally Failing or Failing.
-Businesses noted that they are having a tougher time competing with the big companies than ever before
-But the future is bright. Small businesses are continuing to embrace social media, mobile marketing, and are planning to hire in order to compete

So it is not a totally bleak picture.

The report notes what key factors are most important when it comes to success as a small business. They placed the areas on four quadrants, the graph is below:

As you can see, Capital Access (cash-on-hand, investment, operations) is the most important factor. But what is the second?

You guessed it- marketing and innovation.

Small businesses are having trouble:

-Coming up with advertising and marketing activities to show their competencies
-Translating their marketing and advertising dollars into sales
-Finding platforms where new audiences are going to be

If you are a small business owner, you are not alone. According to this report, many small business- more than you think- are going through the same struggles.

This is why JDW: The Charlotte Agency started. Our goal is to help small business eradicate these issues.

We want to help small businesses survive, and grow. But we can’t do it unless you are willing to focus on your business, and let us worry about reaching your customers.

Help us make the next State of Small Business Report conclude with a happier ending.

Cover via Amazon

As part of an incentive to sign up early for this year’s Pivot Conference, the organizers offered a chance for pre-registrants to ask a question for Brian Solis, the author of “Engage!” to answer.

Naturally, because I love hearing from smart people, I pre-registered and asked a question.

So why am I writing a blog about this?

Because it was a really good answer.

As many of you know, I am quite critical when it comes to the “thought leaders” that be in our society.

They say the same crap. In the same venue. To the same crowd.

It’s insulting, and boring.

So instead of whining about the same-old answers I hear, I really want to highlight the great answers. Below is the question I asked him (in bold), followed by his answer in italics.

Q:
With ‘Choice’, comes large amounts of pressure for brands to form a connection with its customers, in order to “rise above the clutter.” When forming the relationship, what is one key element the brand should remember?

A:
Not to sound overly complicated, but because social media is inherently social, people are in control of their own online experiences. Thus, everything must be reverse engineered starting with two things: the people you are trying to reach, and what it is they value. Choice is the key word as you said, you have it, I have it, and in many ways, we are the people we are trying to reach. I recommend ‘a less is more’ approach rooted in user-defined intelligence before engagement. What people want and how you connect the gap between that want and our value proposition is yours to define.

Now you may ask me why I thought that was a really good answer. Let’s pick it apart.

First, he didn’t try to throw in a bunch of jargon, faux-scientific words or made up phrases.

Second, he mentioned the act of ‘reverse engineering’, meaning that you are starting with the end in mind. Targeting what people value means that you are focusing on incentive. As a communicator in the social realm, you have to figure out why these consumer should connect with you rather than someone else, or not connect at all.

He did mention ‘less is more approach’, which is a little played out, but I’ll let it slide. Every marketing guy throws at least one out-played phrase.

Third, he said the phrase “user-defined intelligence before engagement“. That phrase, Brian, won me over. What does that phrase mean?

Research, research, research…strategy, then implementation (engagement).

All we hear these days is “it’s all about engagement”, or “joining the conversation“, and “being relevant”.

But all of that doesn’t mean crap if you don’t know your audience or the conversations already being had.

Thank you Brian, for re-newing my faith in marketing “stars”.

Brian will be at the Pivot Conference, October 17-18, in NYC. If you got a few hundred dollars laying around, I’d suggest you go.

Americans love watching the Super Bowl for the commercials. People who don’t even watch football watch the game so they don’t miss the ads.

Magazines and trade publications have seen a rise in advertising, and there seems to be no real complaint.

Yet, when you talk with people- especially in a large setting- there seems to be a negative light shone on advertising. Why?

I believe that there are several reasons why people may say they don’t like advertising, but aren’t sure why.

-Misleading ads
-Advertising done poorly or done by non-advertisers
-The lack of advertising/marketing advocates in the foreground
-The abundance of popular advertising “haters”
-The popular Adpeople that make everyone look bad

I am not alone in saying that there are a few professionals in advertising that aren’t exactly ethical. But I would also say that the ethical professionals in advertising and communications far outnumber the bad ones.

But unfortunately, society only hears about the bad ones.

Oh, irony.

The media and government love to run with the news when the FCC cracks down on a misleading advertising campaign. On one occasion, I could have swore I saw Al Franken frothing at the mouth during one such instance.

A story of how an AdPerson kept to their ethics, and pioneered truth in advertising would never hit the headlines.

A story about the Ad Council, and how many of those campaigns are given thousands of dollars from advertising agencies, would never be highlighted during a congressional campaign. Why?

The Ad World knows why. It’s not a sexy story.

Someone told the truth? Who cares.

But then the US gets all up in arms when brands have to correct themselves.

But that isn’t the part that bothers me. What bothers me are people like Frank Luntz. Or maybe his visibility.  He is the marketing researcher who helped coined the phrases ‘death tax’ (versus ‘estate tax’) and ‘War on Terror’ (instead of ‘US Global Man Hunt’, I guess).

Genius? Sure, he has the amazing talent to use words and phrases that resonate.

Ethical? Now that is an interesting question. Perhaps it is my political bias that I simply cannot stand the man and every time he opens his mouth I get angry.

Or perhaps he is his own worst enemy. People categorize what he does for the GoP with what advertising and communications people do for brands- create words, images and phrases that force them to act the way they want.

Are people in the wrong for thinking so? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

Perhaps it’s his method; using fear and scary words to manipulate the populace. (I’m trying to figure out my displeasure of them, so please bear with me).

Fear is an emotion that is extremely powerful. Fear is our anxiety for what we don’t know. Uncertainty. Tying policies to “death” and “terror” then, would (and did) prove to be extremely impacting. Dare I say, Luntz was impressive.

So communicators have Luntz, the media, and the government against them. That’s fine. But I also see professionals against the profession.

For example, making up words that are against the industry (see ‘unmarketing’, and ‘change agents’). And I find it funny because those words get so popular because those professionals are really really good at marketing.

So what is the point of this post?

1. People like good advertising and communications.
2. Media and government like to point out the bad in advertising to make themselves look like they’re doing something important.
3. Advertising professionals must do a better job highlighting the good folks. Not separate themselves from the industry altogether.
4. Luntz, and people like him, are jerks.

Let’s get our act together, Ad-Brethren. The US is a consumption-based society, so as long as that’s the case, we’ll be around. I don’t care if we’re not liked, but some appreciation couldn’t hurt.