{"id":4205,"date":"2013-01-21T11:59:43","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/responsiblemarketing.com\/blog\/?p=4205"},"modified":"2023-10-04T10:36:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T17:36:47","slug":"15-things-we-learned-in-15-years-the-hard-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outsourcemarketing.com\/blog\/15-things-we-learned-in-15-years-the-hard-way\/","title":{"rendered":"15 things we learned in 15 years – the hard way"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]To commemorate Outsource Marketing\u2019s 15th<\/sup> Anniversary, last fall we decided it might be fun\u2014and a little cathartic\u2014to think about the things we\u2019ve learned since 1997.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve learned a lot, but narrowed it to the following list, in no particular order:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “Safe” is dangerous.<\/strong> Safe is invisible amid infoglut. Safe fails. Creative must be bold and brave, and make everyone just a little uncomfortable to break through.<\/li>\n
  2. Fuzzy math is better.<\/strong> Ninja spreadsheetin\u2019 skills are great, but when it comes to creative, less is more. With talent, if they aren\u2019t adding, they\u2019re subtracting. And when it comes to budget, it\u2019s seldom enough.<\/li>\n
  3. Nobody follows small ideas.<\/strong> What pumps you up? \u201cHey, we want fancy new tri-fold brochures!\u201d or \u201cWe want to reinvent the way widgets are sold worldwide!\u201d \u2018Nuff said.<\/li>\n
  4. You can’t polish a turd.<\/strong> If the brand sucks, fix it first. No matter how good the creative is\u2014it will be compromised. And it will still be a turd.<\/li>\n
  5. Say you want a revolution? Be careful what you wish for.<\/strong> Marketing changed little since the turn of the century. Until the Internets. Inbound marketing. Social media. Mobile. Keeping up is now a full-time job.<\/li>\n
  6. Your gut is smarter than your brain<\/strong>. Yes, always do your due diligence. But you know that crazy little feeling in your gut called intuition? It knows something your brain hasn\u2019t figured out yet. Listen to it.<\/li>\n
  7. Sometimes you have to do what the client wants, so you can eventually do what they need.<\/strong> Be like a Trojan horse \u2013 just sneak in awesomeness instead of wrath.<\/li>\n
  8. Stock up on the midnight oil.<\/strong> Plans change, the creative process can\u2019t be forced, and excuses are like armpits: everyone has \u2018em and they all stink.<\/li>\n
  9. Know when to step away from the canvas.<\/strong> You can always make it better. Always. The trick is to know when it\u2019s good enough, and then move on.<\/li>\n
  10. Hire slow and fire fast.<\/strong> You can bust your arse to try to make hastily hired talent work, but the wrong person can be a cancer that simply has to be removed. It happens to the best of us. Don\u2019t let it happen to you.<\/li>\n
  11. Marketing planning is better than a marketing plan.<\/strong> Plans that end up on a shelf aren\u2019t worth the paper they\u2019re printed upon. Your plan should be alive, not a document you review once a year.<\/li>\n
  12. Usability is more important than features.<\/strong> Online project management tools? We\u2019ve tried \u2018em all. The expensive, full-featured products were never fully adopted. Adoption of the simpler, easy-to-use software? 100 percent.<\/li>\n
  13. Beware of bright shiny boxes.<\/strong> I love social media. You probably know me from Twitter<\/a>. For most organizations it should be a side dish, not the meat and potatoes of marketing. Do it well, but don\u2019t let it become a distraction.<\/li>\n
  14. Engagement matters.<\/strong> Our model has made it possible to develop and deploy best-fit client teams since the beginning. But having specialists is just table stakes. Having experienced, engaged talent all pulling the oars together is pure magic.<\/li>\n
  15. You need to love your clients more than they love you.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t love \u2019em, they won\u2019t get your best work. It\u2019s human nature. Your focus will always be elsewhere, and they won\u2019t get all the great ideas that happen off-the-clock. Those ideas are reserved for the clients you love. Clients should feel loved, and agencies should only work with clients they can fall head over heels for.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Alfred Sheinwold<\/a> said \u201cLearn all you can from the mistakes of others.\u00a0 You won’t have time to make them all yourself.\u201d We\u2019ve been paying our dues and trying to learn from our mistakes for over 15 years now. If you can learn from them too, it\u2019s definitely been worth it.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/i>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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