I became a solo act after a 30-year agency career. The move was in equal parts exciting and terrifying. As a creative guy, I worried about managing a business. As a corporate guy, I worried about my sales abilities. And as an old guy, I worried about my stamina.
On the first anniversary of the founding of POSTMKTG, I submit 5 lessons learned.
The natural workday starts at sunup. Probably no surprise here, but when freed from a punch clock, people get to work earlier and work a bit longer. It’s not 9:00 to 5:00. One independent tells me he reports for work at 3:00 in the morning! Many claim to start by 5:00. For me it’s more like 6:00 to 4:00. 10 hours. But the afternoon includes a relaxed lunch, exercise and catch-up email. The day’s long tail can stretch into the night. But there’s almost always tea in the afternoon. Literally. Quite civilized.
The gestation period for a new agency is 9 months. New businesses take time to develop – 2 to 3 years I’m told. In the case of POSTMKTG, that period was an ironic 9 months. Only 9 months. Though I had something like morning sickness almost every day during that period – serious nausea induced by a corkscrew spiral of a learning curve. Pushing this thing out (a metaphor too far?) was hard work. But once born, my baby’s been a blast.
Beware caffeinated yapping. With free Internet access, Starbuck’s has become our new national conference room. I schedule the vast majority of my new business meetings there or someplace just like it, usually around 9:00 in the morning. But while a large latte feels like the minimum rental, that extra jolt, coming as it does after 3 hours of dosing, often sends me spilling. The best salespeople shut up and listen. Machine-gunning prospects with spittle and words rarely leads to new client relationships. Stick to the decaf.
Ad-hoc works. So far I’ve been able to grow as an agency of one. But I’m only one on paper. In the real world, I’m almost always working as part of an ad-hoc team. I lead some projects. Work as a vended creative on others. And often partner with in-house resources – strategy, production, web, social management and sales. Working this way is a bit more chaotic. And a lot more creative.
Age has its advantages. Not many. But they’re significant. “Dye your hair” was the advice I got from an old friend in the business when I first went out. I resisted. I don’t have that much hair to dye. Still, there’s no question that much of marketing is a young person’s game. And grey has few advantages. I had to take myself back to school. Literally. I started teaching college (and cribbing notes from the textbook for my business proposals). But there’s a calmness that comes from having traveled around this track a few thousand times. And among my many hard-earned competencies, calmness is my most valuable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ronald Ladouceur is Principal and Founder at POSTMKTG.
