Seth’s Blog: The right size. This article has some good thoughts from Seth Godin about optimum size for businesses and agencies. He starts with a simple but powerful statement that seems to be supported by the economic hardships some companies are encountering. Seth says: “Many businesses that are in trouble are in trouble for a simple reason: they’re the wrong size.” Mediamacros can help your agency expand your interactive offerings without having to increase your size.

Business For Ad Agencies

Advertising Agencies: Don’t Wait on Government Handouts - Small Agency Diary - Advertising Age. Five good, common sense tips for agencies in today’s economic conditions. Shameless plug: Tip #2 is “Upgrade your team” May we suggest, you can upgrade your interactive offerings without even adding staff by bringing us in to help with the interactive portion of your projects.

Business For Ad Agencies

Sometimes little changes just won’t do it. We need to adapt quickly and decisively. The companies that see the problems in the market and are willing to take the risk to make a change are the ones that stand to reap the big reward. Yes, its scary, but these days mediocre will only guarantee that you will be out of business along with the other hum-drum competitors. Look at your market and see where your big game changer ideas fit.

Read the full article here.

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Everyone is scrambling, rethinking, and looking for new ideas. This is a great article from Idea Driven Marketing really distills down some very fundamental strategies to surviving (and hopefully thriving) in these touch economic times.

Check it out here.

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Is an inventor or entrepreneur an innovator by default? This excellent article from Innovate on Purpose has some very good explanations of innovation in companies and why innovation seems to take hold better for entrepreneurs. Here is an excerpt…

“Entrepreneurs are innovators, usually identifying an opportunity and developing a new product or service to bring to market to fill a gap they’ve identified or to meet an unrecognized need. The difference between entrepreneurs and innovators in larger organizations is that entrepreneurs have one big idea, and they put their entire investment behind that one idea. There are no other options, and failure means shutting down the business.”

Check out the article here.

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With a tough economy we all see pressure to do things cheaper, but that does not have to mean slashing prices and giving away your work. This article from Ad Age points out that focus, efficiency, and clarity may well be positive outcomes from a down economy. Sure there is less free-flowing money, but when money is tight, a focus on what is really important is much easier to find. We are strong believers in this philosophy. Efficiency is ideal for controlling cost, and budget limitations not only bring clarity, but help focus a project on to primary goals. Its worked great with our clients and most of what you “loose” turns out to not be that important once it is viewed through the clarity of a limited budget.

Read more here.

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Innovation! The sound of the word can make some giddy. The problem is, how do we do this and more importantly, how do we inspire and teach others to do this? Jeffrey Phillips has a very insightful commentary on the subject. Check it out here.

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Looking for more resources for marketing? Ad Age has a great list of their picks for the top 10 of all time. Check it out here.

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How do we survive in these tough economic times? For many agencies this may be the first, or surely the biggest, economic down they have seen in their careers. So how do you get through, keep the troops morale up, and survive and thrive? This article doesn’t have all the answers but it offers some good practical advice to keep everyone plugged in while you push through the slimmer times to better opportunities ahead.

Check it out here.

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Some great pointers to must haves for agencies or freelancers to set up a fully usable portfolio site. Not all may apply to you, but it’s a good check list to make sure you are not leaving any holes in your approach to attracting the right clients. Read more on Smashing Magazine.

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