Almost any surface physical and digital can be used to advertise to customers.
The show "Mad Men" made advertising sexy and exciting again. In the real world, advertising is still exciting and sexy, but it does come with a lot of stress. Companies are counting on you to make their products fly off the shelves. If you are great with analyzing data, being creative and predicting trends, launching your own advertising agency might be right up your alley.
Instructions
Start & Run Your Own Advertising Agency
1. Build up a team of freelancers and contractors. Use freelancers to help with graphic design, copy writing and other production. This will save you time, allow you to take on more clients and reduce overhead. Start networking with freelancers before you seek clients or write your business plan to know exactly what you're working with and what kinds of services you can bundle for your clients.
2. Create your own killer marketing plan and business plan. Clearly define what advertising services you will offer your clients. The proof is in the pudding. Use your own marketing efforts on yourself to show future prospects what they can expect once they hire you.
3. Lease office space. Advertising guru David Baldwin says, "For one thing, you can't invite a client over to your house for a meeting and you can only meet at a Starbucks so many times. A space says you're real from day one." Negotiate lease terms with landlords. Don't accept the first offer.
4. Build your contact list. Collect media kits, rate cards and advertising specs so that you have an idea of standard industry ad rates. Collect info from mastheads of consumer and trade publications. Make note of important contacts from television affiliates. Send an introductory email to these professionals. Keep in contact with publications, television ad sales executives and other media contacts so that it's easier to negotiate ad rates for your future clients.
5. Offer your first advertising project for free as an example for future business. Use this and any other samples you collect to build a powerful portfolio to use as your own marketing tool. It's important to prospects that they see what you've done.
6. Build locally and then branch out. Have a presence at every business-to-business networking event within driving distance. Pass out your business cards and ad brochures to every business in the city that could benefit from your business. Mail out packages to businesses in the state who have used advertising and marketing services before.
7. Stay ahead of the advertising trends, which change with the wind, especially with the way technology has changed the industry. Subscribe to trade publications such as "Ad Age" to make sure your advertising business stays ahead of the curve. Predicting trends is a huge part of being a marketing specialist.
