For any agency folks who have been in the business longer than ten years, sequential sign-off is a familiar concept. It refers to everyone involved in a project or campaign taking responsibility for their portion of the job, and affixing their signatures to their work, approving it as “done” before handing it on to the next person.

The role of the Account Managers is largely responsible for the profitability of an account at your advertising agency or design firm. They are responsible for being the first point of contact with potential and future clients, and make the initial first impression of your firm on the client – an impression that can be permanent. They concentrate on all information regarding sales, costs and expenses and also can capture information between lines (e.g. interpreting the client’s goals, needs and concerns). It is through service that new business is created because they are the door to all projects and represent the whole agency to the client. 

By the time I walked into fp. for my first day of work two weeks ago, I was pretty sure fp. would be a dynamic place to work. Not only was I prepared for a closely knit cast of characters, I was prepared for it to take a while for me to insert my particular brand of odd diet and strange humor into the mix, not to mention my furry canine daughter “River”. 

Does a cluttered desk indicate a cluttered mind? Is a cluttered mind even a bad thing in creative agencies? Having a workspace that you're comfortable with is really important in both the quality of your work and how much joy you get out of it. Here's a few tips on getting the most out of your space.

How many times have you been in a sales presentation where the presenter had a very limited knowledge (or none at all) about your company's core business and needs? After repeatedly seeing this situation occur when selecting a new service provider such as ad agencies and interactive design firms, I decided to write a blog how to prepare for an important visit with a potential prospect.

We all know that unless you are lucky enough to only rely on inbound leads, acquiring new ones is usually quite costly.  In the creative industry most of us tend to be friendly social people, so why not use some of these skills to boost the sales prospecting efforts with minimal effort.

Being in the creative industry, it is quite common for an agency creative to disagree with their clients’ creative direction on a project or job. Design and the criteria of what constitutes good aesthetics can be subjective and not everyone will see eye-to-eye with you on the angle you may be taking – and that’s fine. How many times have you worked on a client’s Creative Brief, or submitted an Estimate or Proposal, only to have your client go against your direction or advice? If this has occurred at least once, then read on.

Every once in a while it's important to take a step back and look at things from a broad perspective, and that's as true for project management itself as it is for any project you work on. Whether you're an ad agency or a software developer, the creative industries are very different from the industrial ones, and they demand different management techniques. Let's take a look at some of the key insights. I hope this is just as helpful a refresher for veterans as it is an intro for newcomers.

Within the Function Point productivity management software system, a ‘Project’ acts as an umbrella for a group of Jobs, and their associated documents (creative brief, estimate etc.). Several of our clients will often refer to the work within this module as a Campaign.

There are many solutions out there for us to choose from when picking a workflow management software solution for our creative business. Most often, people Google “creative agency management software” or something similar, get a whole bunch of results and proceed to visit each website and see which one stands out.