Work Hard, Have Fun, Retire Early!Stuff I wish someone had told me.

What you’ve been told… It’s political. You work hard. The hardest worker wins. The smartest people get ahead. You get paid a lot of money!

So, what did I learn in 25 years in advertising?

What I learned1) He who works hardest, simply works

hardest… nothing more.

What I learned2) Advertising is political, but you don’t have to

be.

What I learned3) No one will know how

smart you are unless you show them.

What I learned4) Some people in

your company will

get paid a lot

of money; You might as

well be one

of them

What I learned5) In an interview for a

new job, your last job was the best job in the world no matter how much you

thought it sucked.

What I learned6) Find a place and a

boss where you can be yourself.

you’ll do better, have more fun run circles around

everyone else.

What I learned

7) Get a mentor or three Get advice from people who have done what you

want to do, you’ll get ahead MUCH faster.

What I learned

8) Advertising is a team sport. No sucking up and pissing down! People work harder for people they like.

What I learned9) No one actually cares about your career except you.

They care that holes on an organizational chart are filled… nothing more.

9A) You will always be paid the least amount they can pay you. How to get more.

Know what you are worth, tell your boss what you want +$5,000.

$5,000 is nothing to you… or them. $9.04 per day after taxes.

9B) Be joyous whenever someone at your level gets paid more or promoted faster.

a new precedent has been set!

What I learned10) Figure out how to be indispensable and make

sure everyone knows you are. To your boss To the Agency/Company To your client To your team

11) NEVER promote yourself ahead of the agency.

What I learned12) Manage your career like you manage a

brand.

What is it you want to accomplish? How will you do that? What is a reasonable time period?

Shoot for your top position by 37, then give it until 42 to happen.

Have a plan “B” in mind by the time you are 30.

What I learned13) Patience is a virtue TO A POINT!

It’s in the agency’s self interest to move you along slowly and pay you little.

14) 3-4 agencies max. 1-3 companies. You can get a reputation for too many moves

14A) Once you decide to leave, know that you will be talked into staying and probably end up leaving anyway.

What I learned15) You will likely be smarter than your

boss… and boss’s boss.

Now what?

16) Your boss probably can’t promote you or give you a raise, but you won’t be promoted or given a raise

without their support.

What I learned17) Get “famous” for something the agency wants (as early as

possible), then be very humble about that.

“Oh, that’s the “Got Milk” guy!” She won more awards than all the other teams combined. Her business has had the best profit margin every year. His client evaluations are the highest in the agency.

18) Learn from your mistakes, and do not dwell on them. “Don’t lose that restless feeling that nothing’s ever quite good enough

around here.” Leo

Use that subway ride to and from work for this.

What I learned19) Know your weaknesses and make up for them in those you work with and

those who work for you.

20) Don’t ignore the career basics

Get to work before your boss and leave after (after that, there is no difference between 3 minutes and 3 hours)

Dress like your boss’s boss.

Get to know the CEO.

Get your name known to everyone on the top management team

Volunteer to help on new business in your first year. Contribute ideas in meetings.

Set acceptable expectations and beat them every time.

Treat your expense account the way you want your bank to treat you.

If I had it to do all over again21) Aim very high.

How did they do that?

22) If you don’t like your boss (or that person isn’t helpful to you), move on. You are just wasting time.

If I had it to do all over again23) Some clients are simply a PITA;

you aren’t going to change them so you might as well avoid them.

If I had it to do all over again24) Don’t be afraid to fail.

Admit your mistakes. Get known for honesty early and you will be trusted.

25) Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser Karl Marx

26) Get good at the basics or it will come back to bite you.

If I had it to do all over again27) Have at least one “best friend” in each

department. Don’t forget finance, traffic, etc. They all talk!

28) Don’t worry when you get laid-off and don’t get cocky when you become a Vice President. You’ll do both.28A) Advertising is a job of bouncing back and moving

forward; do them both very quickly.

Have fun! It’s only Advertising, no one ever died from it!

Answers to questions I get asked

every semester

Issues: Going InternationalNot easy, but can be done

They only send you where they really need you Shortage of trained people: China, India, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,

Kenya(?) Need Americans to work on American businesses (where cultural differences are big):

Latin America, Japan, China, India.

You can go other places, but more difficult When you have a unique expertise When you are going to run a region for a global advertiser How to do this:

You just go and make it work. Your fiancé

No one wants to train you only to have you go back home.

Important Advertising Markets: New York, London, Frankfurt/Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Mexico City

Should you ask to go abroad or make it evident you want to?

NO, NO, NO Get yourself in a position to do so and then ask

the right person. Not necessarily great for your career.

Issues: Where is the business going? Prof Russell’s prediction:

Growing areas: Media, Creative Stable: Planners Stable to Shrinking: Account Management Agencies:

Growth medium sized creative agencies (e.g. CP+B, Weiden, Fallon) and large “creative” agencies BBDO, TBWA/Chiat Day, DDB, Deutsch.

Stagnant or Shrinking: JWT, Saatchi, Y&R, O&M, Grey Lots of new creative agencies Lots of specialty companies

In 10 years a new round of buy-outs Get “respected” training and get to creative agency Media: get training and then specialize

Issues: How do I make millions?

1. Get in a position to get bought out.

2. Own it.

3. Build a unique specialty.

4. Creative: Gold Lion and excellent leadership qualities

Issue: What do I actually do in these jobs? Assistant Account Executive Assistant Media Planner Assistant Media Buyer Research Assistant Jr. Copywriter Jr. Art Director Production Assistant Traffic Assistant Project Manager Assistant Brand Manager

Issue: Why does everyone tell me how difficult it is to get a job?

Best jobs fill first.

Not all jobs created equal.

We want you to succeed and the first step is to get going.

Issue: How to start my own agency.1. Get the smallest possible team capable of doing the work.

2. Get a client.

3. Be very conservative financially until you are rolling naked in cash.

4. Diversify your client list so that if any one or two walks out the door, you are OK.

5. Always be looking for your next new client.1. At least 60% of MD’s hours

ISSUE: Why people in advertising get paid so little?

The fat cats save it for themselves.

Don’t go into advertising for only 3 years!

Issue: How much will I make?Account Mgt.

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Issue: Wish I better understood the Finance and Budgeting stuff. The history of Russia begins with that of the East Slavs, the ethnic group that eventually split into the Russians, Ukrainians, and

Belarusians. The first East Slavic state, Kievan Rus', adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next seven centuries. Kievan Rus' ultimately disintegrated as a state, leaving a number of states competing for claims to be the heirs to its civilization and dominant position. After the 13th century, Muscovy gradually came to dominate the former cultural center. In the 18th century, the principality of Muscovy had become the huge Russian Empire, stretching from Poland eastward to the Pacific Ocean. Expansion in the western direction sharpened Russia's awareness of its backwardness and shattered the isolation in which the initial stages of expansion had occurred. Successive regimes of the 19th century responded to such pressures with a combination of halfhearted reform and repression. Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between the abolition of serfdom and beginning of World War I in 1914, the Stolypin reforms, the constitution of 1906 and State Duma introduced notable changes in economy and politics of Russia, but the tsars were still not willing to cede autocratic rule.

Military defeat and food shortages triggered the Russian Revolution in 1917, bringing the Communist Bolsheviks to power. Between 1922 and 1991, the history of Russia is essentially the history of the Soviet Union, effectively an ideologically based empire which was roughly coterminous with the Russian Empire, whose last monarch, Tsar Nicholas II, ruled until 1917. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the communists, as the Bolsheviks called themselves beginning in March 1918. However, by the late 1980s, with the weaknesses of its economic and political structures becoming acute, significant changes in the economy and the party leaderships spelled the end of the Soviet Union.

The history of the Russian Federation is brief, dating back only to the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991. But Russia has existed as a state for over a thousand years, and during most of the 20th century Russia was the core of the Soviet Union. Since gaining its independence, Russia claimed to be the legal successor to Soviet Union on the international stage. However, Russia lost its superpower status as it faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a new post-Soviet political and economic system. Scrapping the socialist central planning and state ownership of property of the Soviet era, Russia attempted to build an economy with elements of market capitalism, with often painful results. Russia today shares many continuities of political culture and social structure with its tsarist and Soviet past.

Issue: Career in Interactive Go get a job with interactive company. Quit in 1 year. Start

own website. Sell website to Google. Retire at 28! Buy island.

Issue: What am I going to do with my life? Only 3 Possibilities

Option 1 Get good job, meet nice person, marry, have kids, become your parents.

Option 2 Go save the world; never look back.

Option 3 Marry rich, never look back.

Issue: How do I get a job in creative? Show your book to as many people as possible.

Have a plan B.

Decide a point at which you will go to plan B.

Be willing to start in an internship.

Issue: What to do first 6 months to make a good impression. Ask for more work.

Be very careful with (agency resources) money; many eyes are watching.

Be fun to work with.

Get involved in new business pitch.

Meet the CEO, somehow.

Decide what job you really want Start aiming at it.