Do you know the territory, or are you just a tourist? As artist Julian Schnabel wrote, tourists many have significant technical skills, but they don’t really know the territory. They know how to get some things done, but they don’t have deep expertise in a particular area …

Advertising agency income “per unit of work” has fallen 40% during a steady 20-year decline. So reports agency consultant and advisor Michael Farmer, whose research demonstrates that agency staffs are being squeezed to deliver increasing workloads at a time when fees are declining faster than costs.

It’s no coincidence that the 50 fastest growing brands in America have one important thing in common: they have committed themselves to an ideal that transcends making money.

What is the primary reason agencies don’t deliver more innovative solutions for their clients? Lack of talent? Lack of time? In my experience, the latter is much more of a factor than the former. Most successful agencies have some pretty smart people.

One view of the future of our business is that increasingly agencies will make the majority of their revenues from the intellectual property they create instead of the hours they work. The “work for hire” model that has persisted for the last half-century is becoming a less and less profitable way to make a living.

You would like your employees – or team members – to work harder. To care more about the agency and its clients. To put in more time, show more effort, or do a better job. Agency managers reason that what’s needed is to motivate employees with the promise of more money – a chance to earn more if they’ll work more.

When it comes to your agency’s business strategy (positioning), the best place to start is to make sure you’ve struck the right balance between authenticity and aspiration.

In groups of agency professionals around the world I have often asked the question, “What do clients really buy from your agency?” Their answers usually include things like “Solutions to marketing problems,” “Insights and innovation,” “Expertise,” and “Successful marketplace outcomes.”

When you shop for a car, you’re looking for an “outcome”, not a set of components that comprise an automobile. Imagine visiting your dream car’s website and finding in place of a compelling description of the car and its main benefits, an exhaustive list of features.

Is an agency that is twice the expense of an in-house unit (even when accounting for internal overhead) worth the price? Actually, yes. The right kind of agency is actually worth 11 times the price.

“What is it they do again?” That’s the reaction of many prospective clients looking at the list of diverse services listed on most agency websites.

I’ve always believed that the greatest benefit of getting paid based on value instead of time isn’t that the agency has the potential to earn more money (although most do).

Because most agencies run their businesses based on hours and time, they have come to believe that what they’re selling – and what clients are buying – is efficiency. That’s nonsense. When you take your car to the shop, are you buying fast work or good work?

Eavesdrop on management meetings of firms around the world and you’re likely to hear a discussion about how to cut costs in order to increase profits.

As a agency brand, would you rather be moderately appealing to a large group of prospects, or intensely appealing to a select group of prospects? Most agency professionals would say the latter.

Some agency executives bristle at the idea that their work is becoming “commoditized” by clients. Admittedly, “commoditized” is a strong word. So “devalued” if you prefer. The simple truth is that clients won’t pay much for what they consider to be widely-available services, and its killing agency profit margins.

It’s a popular belief among agency executives that the best opportunity for new business is among current clients. Sometimes that can take the form of new projects and assignments, but sometimes it can just mean doing a better job of capturing the income opportunities you already have …

Two advertising professionals, Ken Starling and Julie Brighton, both worked 2,000 hours last year. Of those 2,000 hours, Ken billed 1,765 to client project work. Julie’s billable hours were 1,326. Which of these two executives was most productive?

Based on recent studies, the professional service firm spends over 10% of its time and energy recording, tracking, capturing, estimating, billing, and adjusting it’s time. In other words, feeding the “time machine” …

Companies of all stripes make the mistake of assuming that narrow is the same thing as small; that if you’re focused in one area, you somehow limit your growth potential. While seemingly logical, this is simply not true. Of the top 25 advertising agencies in America, more than half are specialist firms, not “full-service” agencies …