The Writer’s Coin

It is my pleasure to present this guest post from Toad over at The Toad Stool, a great advertising site. He has been kind enough in the past to give me some feedback on some of my ads on Ad Friday(s). He’s been kind enough (again) to share his expertise with those of us trying to get our careers started in the advertising world.

Thanks Toad!

TOP TEN TIPS FOR ASPIRING CREATIVES

1. YOUR BOOK NEEDS TO BE REVOLUTIONARY, NOT EVOLUTIONARY. I can find plenty of people who can write a clever FedEx spot or extend the Burger King campaign in a new and clever way. What’s in short supply, however, are people who can make me think of a product in a way I’ve never thought of before. I don’t care if the client would never buy it. It shows me you can think conceptually and that you’re not going to bring me the same old/same old every time.
2. WORK AT THE BEST SHOP YOU CAN. This is key. Places like Crispin and Goodby are like going to Harvard or Stanford. Yeah, they may not pay as much as some places. But have 2 years of CPB on your resume and doors are going to fly open. Even 15 years later, you’ll still be “the guy who worked at Crispin when Bogusky was still there.”
3. BE A BOTHER. It works with me, anyway. I’m always super busy during the day and rushing to get home to the family at night. So it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, it’s just that I forget. But if you call enough times, I’ll actually remember and call you back. Or at least email. What’s more, I’ll remember that you are tenacious and that you don’t take “no” for an answer. (I regard those as positive qualities.)
4. YOU MUST KNOW DIGITAL. First off, you’re one of those newfangled “Millenials.” You’re supposed to breathe this stuff. Second off, no one is hiring you if you don’t. Art directors help their cause greatly if they can lay out actual websites, not just banners.
5. DON’T GET OVERLY CLEVER WITH YOUR WEBSITE. Few things are as irksome as trying to figure out which of your clever icons is the “contact me” one and which is the “print.” I mean if I don’t get it right after two tries, I usually just give up. Ditto on websites that have long flash animations between sections. I have no time to look at books. Help me out and make yours easy to navigate.
6. BE POSITIVE IN PERSON. It’s Interview 101, but so many people mess up on this one. Do not tell me how much your current boss sucks or how much you hate the agency and what hacks they are. Even if it’s true. Because you know what? I don’t care. All I care about is that if I hire you, you’re going to start off with a good attitude, work hard and believe that things are possible. And that when I ask you to stay late because we have a pitch the next day, you’re not going to roll your eyes at me as if I’d just asked you to cut off your pinkie to demonstrate your loyalty.
7. KNOW ABOUT THE BUSINESS. You don’t need to be an award show junkie. But you should keep up with what’s going on throughout the industry. Read the trades and the blogs and award show books. Just not obsessively. (Okay, read The Toad Stool obsessively.) Regard all your reading as a learning experience, a way to see how others solved tough problems and to also learn what possibilities are out there.
8. INSPIRATION COMES FROM ODD PLACES. Limit yourself to mainstream pop culture and you limit the possibilities that you’re willing to explore. Don’t be afraid to check out an obscure foreign film. An out-of-the-way ethnic restaurant. A website with underground animation. Anything that’s different or new or unusual.
9. ALWAYS WORK ON YOUR BOOK. You’ll want to take breaks now and then, but your book is never really done. Old ads can always be made better. New ones can be added. It’s a lifelong process of cutting and refining. Just make sure you follow rule #10:
10. ALWAYS TAKE VACATION. Once you start working, you’ll realize there’s never a good time to take vacation. But never let that stop you. It’s far better that you take time away from work and recharge, rather than being there to see the final tweaks to your flash animation. Someone you trust can do that for you. This rule applies to weekends too. Sometimes you need to stop thinking about work and attend to the rest of your life. Or you’ll wind up a lonely old ad guy. There are too many of them as it is.

Awesome! Especially 8 and 10, since I’m currently on vacation and I just wrote about how vacations can boggle your brain (it’s a good thing). And in terms of 8, I totally agree. It’s the whole reason I have tried to devote Saturday posts to a section I call “Out of the Box.” It’s the same concept as boggling your brain and it’s the same idea of taking a break when you are banging your head against the wall. Watch the fantastic movie π (”Take a bath Max!”).

Thanks again Toad!

Tags: Advertising, creatives, Tips