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Leveraging Earn-Outs as a Succession Strategy for Smaller Advertising Agency Owners

Laurie Mikes
3/8/2024


Succession planning is a crucial aspect of managing a business, and for smaller advertising agency owners, the challenge is often compounded by the unique dynamics of the industry. One increasingly ...

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Mary Wells Lawrence, Legend and Inspiration

Second Wind
3/7/2024


In celebration of Women's History Month let's take a look at The “first lady” of Madison Ave., Mary Wells Lawrence. If you are a woman of a certain ...

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It's An Easy Business

Second Wind
3/6/2024

Agency principals ask us all the time how to measure the financial success of their agencies. When we respond, many seem disappointed. "That's it?" they ask. "Those are all ...

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“Total Immersion” New Business

Second Wind
3/5/2024


The word “holistic” gets tossed around a lot these days. It is one of those jargon words that marketing people throw into a new business pitch or presentation in an ...

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Delivering “Wow” as an Account Service Strategy

Second Wind
3/4/2024


The traditional notion of an account executive was that of someone ordered around by the client and disdained by the agency creative. Or, they were the ones living large on ...

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Revenue Recognition

Vince Dong
2/8/2024


What’s all this fuss about revenue recognition with agencies?  Isn’t revenue recognized when we just bill the client???

What do accountants know about financial reporting for advertising and ...

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Navigating Price Increases: Advice for Smaller Agencies

Laurie Mikes
2/8/2024


In the dynamic world of advertising, change is constant. As a small advertising agency, evolving with the times is essential to staying competitive and delivering competitive services. One aspect that ...

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Growing an Agency All Comes Down to This…

Second Wind
11/22/2023

A number of years ago, AdAge ran a great article on the occasion of agency Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos turning thirty. Hill Holliday, as it is known today, is a ...

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Effective Small Agency New Business Is All About Scale

Deborah Budd
11/15/2023

If all agencies had to do every day was run their new business programs, a steady flow of new business would be coming through the pipeline.

Sadly, agencies DO have ...

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The Perfect Client

Second Wind
11/9/2023

It has always been true that for an agency to do good work and make a fair profit at doing it, the client has to be a “good” client. The ...

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Seven Steps for a Final Quarter New Business Push

Seven Steps for a Final Quarter New Business Push

Second Wind
10/23/2023

With the third quarter already a month gone, we hope we’re in time to share a few reminders about closing out your year with a strong new business push ...

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Six Things All AEs Should Know

Second Wind
10/20/2023

There are some important issues that good account executives consider when doing their daily jobs. Following are some thoughts from a very savvy Second Wind member who teaches his AEs ...

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Four Essentials for Better Agency Management

Beth James
10/18/2023

We’ve written a lot about finding the right people to fuel creativity in your agency, and working with those people to ensure they have all of the skills, tools ...

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Scope Creep

Scope Creep: Setting Parameters Protects Agency Profits

Deborah Budd
8/25/2023

Smaller agencies often have a learning curve with regard to “corporate-speak,” particularly with regard to the lingo of procurement departments. A very important term to understand is “project scope.”

According ...

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Involve Your Clients in the Planning Process

Second Wind
8/18/2023

As you work with your clients to set up annual advertising and marketing planning, there’s one thought that should remain lodged in your frontal cortex: “It’s not my ...

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Testing Copywriters Before You Hire

Second Wind
8/11/2023

An important step in the hiring process is testing. This is especially true for design and copywriting positions. Many a creative has been hired by on the basis of a ...

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Account Execs Can Help Improve the Creative Process

Account Execs Can Help Improve the Creative Process

Second Wind
7/18/2023

A survey by Hightail, a creative collaboration company, asked creative professionals about the effectiveness of the creative process. Just 23 percent said the process was effective. Twenty-eight percent called it ...

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How to Bill More AE Time

Second Wind
7/10/2023

A Stake Is at the Heart of It

Second Wind
6/5/2023

One of the best things we’ve seen at smaller agencies in recent years is the advent of stakeholder programs. These programs engage key agency employees who are not currently ...

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How Do You Know Which Clients Are Profitable?

Second Wind
5/17/2023

Sometimes, agency owners or managers feel like the proverbial dog chasing its own tail. You keep going in circles and never seem to get ahead. Considering that problem from the ...

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