For many agency employees, timesheets are the bane of existence. "We are talented, well-educated professionals, not hourly workers punching a clock. Why should we have to post time?" they grouse ...

It's true. Clients really have changed the way they compensate their agencies. Following are some guidelines you should review during your next compensation negotiation. Many clients are not comfortable ...

Every agency knows the importance of a sustained new business effort. Most agencies assign that responsibility to a handful of people and leave everyone else out of the equation. That ...

You had better be billable. Commissions and markups have largely disappeared from the agency revenue mix. That leaves fees, billable hours, and increasingly, value-based and flat-fee arrangements as the primary ...

"Harry, I need a brochure done quickly. How much do you think it will cost? Just give me a ballpark figure."

Those words have cost agencies a lot of money ...

Not only are agencies being pressured by some unreasonable clients to cut markups, or ditch them altogether, but now agencies also bill too much time.

Some members have reported client ...

Wise old business sages often advise, “Look for how the money moves in a deal. If you can follow it, you will be able to truly understand what is happening ...

Professional Liability Insurance, (commonly called Errors and Omissions [E&O] coverage in the agency business) is designed for people who represent themselves to the public as possessing special skills in ...

Want to hear a horror story? One of our members was “cash poor” for several years. Neither the owner nor his accountant could understand why the agency was so busy ...

I work constantly with agencies that are smack in the middle of pricing issues. It seems that no matter what price they assign to a project, it is never low ...

Now and then, I see an agency question on the Second Wind Forums that gives me pause. For instance, one agency asked for help assembling “average creative prices” for her ...

The invoice is overdue from the client. The agency needs the money, the vendors need the money, the bank needs the money, the principal's kids need the money and ...

Recently, we worked with an agency president on his retirement. He had several really good employees who expressed an interest in keeping the agency going after the owner retired. The ...