Real careers, real stories, never dull.

Choosing Between Personal Happiness and Success Justin Celko 08/28/10 In the past several months, I have interviewed with digital, PR, and advertising agencies that run the gamut of size and recognition.

Gamble on Your Customers: A New Sales Strategy Jared Kohn 08/21/10 Recognition of this change is critical in achieving one’s marketing goals, especially if you can recognize these pending changes before your competition does.

Last week: Creative Professionals Put to the Test. This week: Agencies Put to the Test. Mike Ogden 08/14/10 Whenever you interview with an agency or company, these are the questions that employers need to answer.

Creative Professionals Put to the Test. Literally. Mike Ogden 08/07/10 The kind of testing I’m referring to is company and agency tests that creative professionals must take in order to be hired. I think we’re witnessing an upswing in these tests. Why?

Why Nerds Are the Hottest Demographic in Marketing Justin Celko 07/31/10 Blind passion is reason why a Storm Trooper will never show up at a Trekkie convention, and it is why we are likely the most brand-loyal consumers who exist.

How to Be in the Right Place at the Right Time Stefanie Flaxman 07/17/10 If you genuinely care about the job that you do, you naturally will stand out as an asset in that field -- opening yourself up to future opportunities.

Consumer Adaptation in an Age of Innovation Jared Kohn 07/10/10 Although the desire for discounts or free merchandise likely will never disappear, the glory days of coupon marketing will fade like a beautiful memory of marketing efficiency.

How BP Failed Social Media 101 Justin Celko 07/03/10 Social Media is not a soapbox for corporations to stand upon to trumpet quarterly reports, new branch openings, or generalities that fall under the “Look how great we are” category.

Paging J.J. Abrams! We're Stuck Between Parallel Ad Universes Mike Ogden 06/26/10 Can’t we unite our parallel ad universes into one universe? Marketing to one is the future, and the future is now. Make the ad about one thing -- results.

The Secret to Executing Your Writing Goals Stefanie Flaxman 06/19/10 I won’t leave you hanging. The secret to creating the best possible piece of writing is the ability to believe in yourself.

Marketing Tricks in the DVR Age Jared Kohn 06/05/10 Technology is meant to be our friend, yet in some cases, it seems adamant on working against us.

Is Crowdsourcing Good for the Ad Business? Mike Ogden 05/29/10 With crowdsourcing for creative ideas, mass collaboration is missing. It’s a contest to produce the best idea or the cheapest labor.

Facebook's New Privacy Policy: Good or Evil? Justin Celko 05/22/10 My mind, it seems, has split into two distinct personalities: the marketer and the consumer.

What Laundry Can Teach You About Persuasive Writing Stefanie Flaxman 05/15/10 Persuasive writing should be approached in the same finite number of steps, where a tight, cohesive product emerges from your focused effort.

How Marketers and Consumers Benefit From a Lack of Anonymity Jared Kohn 05/08/10 Has social media simply eliminated our discretions, or is there a shift in a social dynamic about which marketers must become more cognizant?

Three Ways to Perfect Your Résumé Stefanie Flaxman 05/01/10 Writing your résumé is scary. You have to contemplate your best qualities and express them in a clear and engaging way. One page must contain information that makes a potential employer want to interview you.

New Marketing Trends Connect Directly With Consumers Justin Celko 04/24/10 Consumer empowerment was not the product of any effort on our part but rather the opposite. The Web opened up the floodgates of information, and social media connected consumers in an unprecedented manner, the cumulative result being an ever-increasingly savvy consumer. In today's marketplace, our old smoke-and-mirrors magic has been rendered impotent.

Using Social Media to Get to First Base Mike Ogden 04/17/10 Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks excel at connecting or what I call first base.The trouble is, it’s hard to score customers when you’re hitting singles and hanging out at first base. You have to push beyond connection to engagement or what I call second base. If the prospective customer becomes emotionally attached to the brand, you’re standing on third base and 90 feet from converting prospect into customer and kissing home plate.My point? Social media is great for connecting, not so great for conversion.

Why Digital Agencies Have It All Wrong John Heenan 04/10/10 Can advertising agencies improve? Absolutely. Many have lagged behind the development of new technologies and techniques. Some cling to the past for fear of what the future has in store. In this post-recession era, a new generation of agency straddles the digital divide and brings best practices of the past together with the most promising of today's techniques.

How to Use Twitter as the Ultimate Writing Exercise Stefanie Flaxman 03/27/10 Although 140-character tweets may not be for everyone, condensing your thoughts into 140 characters can be a helpful writing exercise. While maintaining proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, your ideas should be universally understood and autonomous. Make each blurb detailed and clear. Here are three ways that you can benefit from the “philosophy of a tweet” without actually posting anything on your Twitter page.

Using Downtime as a Competitive Advantage Rena Prizant 03/20/10 Whether you’re unemployed and struggling or have taken a position to pass the time -- you’re waiting. This is the time to create freely. There's no budget limit, no client judgment, and no executive decline. The world offers many outlets to build and expand a portfolio without an agency position, so consider this the insider info on adding to your portfolio. The opportunities are plenty -- if you’re willing to dig a little and be a bit creative.

Who Should Handle My Company's Social Media Initiative? Justin Celko 03/13/10 John Q. Public doesn’t use Twitter and Facebook to be inundated with “buy this” messaging. J. Q. uses these networks to maintain relationships, and this is what we as communications professionals need to understand about the nature of the beast. True social media campaigns are about creating and fostering a relationship between the consumer and the brand, a goal that is achieved with the right messaging.

Welcome to the New Normal Mike Ogden 03/06/10 To embrace the future, or what I’m calling the New Normal, you have to let go of the past. That’s true if you’ve been tossed out like expired milk or you’re pining for the ad glory days like Napoleon Dynamite’s Uncle Rico.

Proofreading Pointers: Three Ways to Polish Conversational Writing Stefanie Flaxman 02/27/10 When proofreading a document, you want to ensure your message is clear. You have an idea in your mind, you transform it into words, and you hope the person reading it understands.

The Art of Believing Jonathon Haigler 02/20/10 My story begins at the end of college. I entered a summer internship program and put my heart and soul into everything I did, as I was determined to finally get my foot into the real world.

Dreamer, Please Return Barry Comer 02/13/10 Being laid off has become the new insiders' club, with its unique moments of relationship opportunities and project building. There are no random acts of stress, cubicle dialogs, or team goals.

Blame It On Equipment Malfunction Steve James 02/06/10 Four things are imperative when you start a business. A snappy business name, a good accountant, a trustworthy lawyer and especially a great tavern within two blocks of your office. Three out of four wasn’t too bad in the mid-eighties.

Beyond Proofreading and Writing Help: Life Edits for 2010 Stefanie Flaxman 01/30/10 It may seem like I’m obsessed with proofreading, but I see opportunities to edit everywhere. Any choice that you make can potentially edit a bad habit—revising and improving it.

The Family Room 2.0 Justin Celko 01/23/10 Picture any, generic family room. What is the centerpiece of it? Unless you are Amish, it’s the TV. Soon families will be surfing the World Wide Web via the same platform that used to bring them Hee Haw.

Enjoying a ‘Rich Life’ Through Mentoring Carol Gee 01/09/10 Being a mentor does not require anything fancy. And you don’t have to dress a certain way. While mentoring can be formal or informal, my relationships with my mentees is pretty informal, which suits all concerned.

7 Ways to Increase Your Online Visibility Ken Herron 12/30/09 Job seekers still need to actively seek out in-person networking meetings and events to increase the size of their networks, it is now equally important for job seekers to increase their visibility and accessibility on online social networks.

Sometimes, You Need to Say No Ari B. Adler 12/29/09 Public relations professionals often are looked at as guides to the media. Clients want to know how they can get news coverage. Do you ever use the opportunity to tell them they won’t?

She Went Out For Coffee Alicia Diaz-Verson 12/28/09 Agencies, as we know, have notoriously high turnover rates. Even before the economic downturn, employees dropped like flies – voluntarily or involuntarily. The speed of the revolving door is enough to make your head spin!

Question From a Proofreader: Boxers or Briefs? Stefanie Flaxman 12/19/09 Effective writing, regardless of the length, utilizes the concept of brevity. A well-written 300-page novel may actually be brief. The author just needs 300 pages to tell the story accurately. The excessive version might have been 500 pages.

Advertising’s West Side Story (Sans The Bernstein Score) Justin Celko 12/12/09 I’ve come across numerous articles and blogs in which pundits are heralding “The death of the traditional agency.” Conversely, I’ve read rebuttals, both direct and indirect, from industry experts proclaiming that the “digital” agency has hit its apex and will soon fall prey to the pitfalls that all agencies face. As if something out of West Side Story...

Lost at Sea? You Can Still Land The Interview. Natalie Czajkowski 12/05/09 I'm finding that job seekers copy and pasting cover letters, not researching the companies they are truly interested in and, thus, not putting their best foot forward. Why? If this is you, let me share the wealth: Here are two main things I've found have really been working to score an interview.

A Proper Goodbye: Maxine Daley—A Woman with All the Right Words Rena Prizant 11/27/09 In a time when brand advertising was at its peak, when ad agencies thrived on stealing their competitors creatives, and men ruled the ad space; one woman stood tall. Not a receptionist, as most were, but as a creative lead—Maxine Daley.

Grammar and Proofreading Challenge Stefanie Flaxman 11/21/09 Have you ever received a text message with a sentence that reads something like, “I cant wait to here youre great news!” and suddenly your good news isn’t so exciting any more? You’d rather focus your attention on the multiple punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes in your friend’s text. They’re so annoying!

We’re All Peons and Gunslingers Mike Ogden 11/14/09 It bothers me that the ad agency world has turned us into this. If you’re in your 20s and making peanuts and working ungodly hours, guess what? You’re a peon. If you’re 40 or over and all you’re getting is freelance gigs, guess what? You’re a gunslinger. In your 30s? Enjoy your third decade, my friend.

Welcome to Omnicom, May I Take Your Order? Justin Celko 11/07/09 When I had just graduated from college, jobs in the Detroit communications industry were few and far between. Faced with a seemingly endless stack of bills from my college years and needing an immediate source of income...

Finding My Quarter Life Crisis Natalie Czajkowski 10/31/09 I easily, about 100 times a day during the work week, think, “I seriously need to stop frequenting my social networking sites and do the job I'm being paid to do.” Back to the regular routine: GMail, Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Google Reader, GMail, Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Google Reader. Rinse and repeat.

Do You Make These Word Choice Mistakes? Part Too Stefanie Flaxman 10/24/09 Do you feel that spark? When you noticed the error in the headline of this article, your brain had a “wait a minute, that’s not correct” moment. It’s easier to spot errors when they are not your errors.

Forrester Research—An Advocate for Change Rena Prizant 10/17/09 With a rapidly changing marketplace, companies need to move much faster than before. There needs to be a step away from maintaining long-term relationships and partnerships with agencies.

Work For The Man? Or Be The Man? Mike Ogden 10/10/09 Sooner or later, your ad career comes to this. Work for the man and collect regular paychecks. Or, be the man and make your own living.

Another Round, Please The Editor 10/03/09 Avast, in reading the words of various “experts” wringing their dainty little hands over the future of our admittedly ill-conceived industry, it appears we are once again in the throes of a self-induced pity fest. Well, woe is us. The end is near. Wah wah wah.

Do You Make These Word Choice Mistakes? Stefanie Flaxman 09/26/09 In the current economic climate, you can’t afford to make mistakes. You need a quick fix. There, I said it. Simple, to the point, non-bullshit grammar lessons that you’ll actually remember the next time that you are choosing between Word Choice A and Word Choice B.

The Naked Interview Paula Anderson 09/19/09 In my past experiences, being naked has never brought me luck necessarily. However, I feel like this instance may have been different.

The Year of Living Anxiously Justin Celko 09/12/09 Last year, when the economy officially began its downward spiral, it may have seemed to many that the sky was falling. Not me, I took it in stride. I’m from Detroit. I’m indigenous to poor economic climates.

Labor Day Everyday Mike Ogden 09/05/09 If you’re working, Monday is a day off. But for many of us, Monday is just another reminder we’re not working and we wonder if this uncertain time will ever end.

Free at Last Ramona Collins 08/29/09 Seven is the magic number. Seven years of gainful employment. Seven years of give and take. And, it came to a screeching halt with seven simple words: "We're going to have to let you go.”

The Secret to Perfect Grammar: Learning vs. Memorizing Stefanie Flaxman 08/22/09 Grammar is awful. It’s boring. It’s technical. It’s confusing. Learning proper grammar and memorizing proper grammar are different activities. The goal for each task, however, is the same: remember how to use language appropriately.

Madison Avenue, We Have a Problem Mike Ogden 08/08/09 I never thought I’d live to see it---a deer photocopying its butt. What happened next was what every account executive, media buyer and creative wishes for. I hit “Reverse” and watched the spot again.

Twitter for Job Searching: So June 2009 Jaimy Szymanski 08/01/09 Beyond the likes of Twitter and LinkedIn, there are a few online tools – many not widely known – that current job seekers may benefit from looking into and creating a presence on

How to Immediately Improve Your Writing Skills: Two Simple Steps Stefanie Flaxman 07/25/09 Writing may occupy the majority of your workday, even if you don’t have the word “writer” in your professional title. From co-worker and client correspondence over email to company presentations, creating text to express oneself is inherent in any type of media job.

Patient Flees Jack Steinmann 07/18/09 I've given a lot of thought to the health care “debate” lately. Mostly with alarm and resignation. Unlike in every other wealthy industrialized country in the world, health care here in the U.S. is a privilege, not a right. There's only one reason for that: money.

Fight or Flight Adam Pierno 07/11/09 Especially now, but not exclusively in down times, we (not just marketers or small business owners) need to get out there with our message. Promote what makes us special.

What Agencies Need. Respect. Mike Ogden 07/04/09 Too many clients don’t respect their agency’s thinking, expertise, creativity, or even the golden rule. How else to explain clients who discount strategic thinking and chew up and spit out agency ideas like chewing gum?

Everywhere There’s Something Steven Tornello 06/27/09 There’s always a lesson to be learned from the world around you. All you need are a pair of eyes, two ears that work and an open mind.

What Luke Sullivan, Ron Huey and Lynryd Skynyrd Taught Me About Advertising Dave Smith 12/13/05 After 15 years of writing ads, I am amazed at how much the business has changed since I first sat down in front of a computer to write at the in-house ad agency for a company that makes camshafts in Memphis. It was the kind of place where the receptionist's entire wardrobe was bought with Marlboro Miles.

The Copywriting Evolution Rena Prizant 12/31/69 We are a world of real time. We want to know everything and want it five minutes ago. Where does a brand live in this world? Can it? I believe it can, it just takes more than the average Copywriter to maintain brand survival.