I received an email from a friend and candidate yesterday. He's an online marketing Creative Director, who has significant additional skills as a Producer and Developer. He's a very nice guy and with his skill set under "normal" circumstances, should be having no trouble whatsoever finding a superb employment opportunity. Unfortunately, as we all know, things just aren't "normal" out there . . .
He was curious about how to find that "Rockstar Sales Person", when he has a very, very limited budget. I'm posting his questions and my response, because I think it has value for others that I know who are contemplating the same thing.
He wrote:
Since I have not been finding exactly what I want in a "job/career" I am thinking of creating it. I also have a large pool of friends/talent in the same boat (nation wide) that would be interested in playing along.
The two things that I am missing to make this happen are: 1) a kick ass, take no prisoners Sales Person that understands multi-media and how to sell it, 2) the cash to pay this sales person out of the gate.
Doing the work is the easy part, especially with my pool of rockstars.
So my question is this; how do I find that Rockstar Sales Person that will take the gamble to help create a "new media" agency?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!
My Response:
Thanks for the note . . . Here's my top of mind thoughts/reaction.
You're right that you need that person. There are lots of boutique (small), virtual agencies that have formed in the last year as a result of all the marketing and advertising related layoffs on both the client and agency side. There are scads of very qualified, premier performers who are not having any luck finding that next killer opportunity, because they don't exist . . . yet. Most of these "virtual" agencies have very qualified creatives available for work, depending on client need. The issues with these firms, is that there are rarely any clients.
Sure, there are occasional jobs. Most creatives with some years of experience have established a trusting relationship with some of their clients. As a result, those clients are willing to continue using that person on a freelance basis. Moving the virtual firm from sporadic assignments to work reaching a critical mass large enough to actually provide steady income, is a whole different thing.
I think it's a difficult position to fill at all, even with plenty of money. There aren't an excess of kickass new biz folks out there. The ones who are successful are making good money, and happy where they are, or they could find a new job somewhere else quickly. The Sr. Acct person who could do the new biz development at the level you want, would have credibility and a powerful list of contacts because of the amount of time they've been in the business.
The fact that they have been in the business for awhile means that they probably have families, and fiscal responsibilities that prohibit their ability to forgo steady income, even for as little as 90 days. As you know, the sales cycle for projects of any significant size is six to nine months. You can probably pick up some interim work, but it would be difficult to pick up enough to have "real" income as a result.
Further, (I'm afraid it gets a bit more difficult still) you're in the multi-media, online world. That's the one segment of marketing that is showing ongoing stability, with a little bit of growth on top. While that's good for your business plan, it makes finding that new biz person even more difficult. Everyone is looking for that person. I haven't done a new business developer, or account side search in the last year, where online (and multi-media) experience was not an essential component of the functional experience required. That means that with no money, you're trying to compete with everyone else, who's willing to pay handsomely for the same person you're looking for.
Let's not forget that we've just gone through the worst recession in decades, and have only recently started to see any sort of stability, or a hit of growth.
I'm not suggesting that it can't be done. I was told many years ago not to get into photography . . . because "there aren't any jobs for photographers", or "you can't make any money as a photographer". Even though I understood how difficult it would be, I just out worked everyone else, more consistently. You and your colleagues can do the same thing. You can find a non-traditional way to develop new business. You might get extremely lucky and find a younger person with the drive, and fiscal freedom to bet on your virtual firm.
I'm just suggesting that it's a difficult task. It's going to take a thoughtful approach that will be supported by the participants working harder than they ever have before.
Go get 'em!
