Anonymous Confessions (Agency Edition)

• Facebook will be gone in the next 10 years. It has lost its way to an extent and the people that grew up using it are now moving on to different platforms.

‍

• Most market research is unnecessary and fluffy. People aren't rational beings when it comes to consumer decisions — no true innovation come from focus groups.

‍

• The client is always right but not everyone is your client.

‍

• Increased use of AI is only force feeding people with things they already know or are aware of. It's not helpful for having an informed population with awareness of valuable diverse points of view.

‍

• I sued TikTok and won - but that's because it was the right thing to do from a business standpoint. They were not my client.

‍

• It's too damn easy to hang out a shingle and be a PR firm. I am shocked every day by the shoddy work I see from too many practitioners -- and their clients just don't know they're basically getting ripped off!

‍

• Many agencies "blackbox" their paid media and paid search services, preferring to run them in their own agency accounts with little to no transparency vs. letting clients maintain ownership and visibility over their paid media budgets. It's an out of touch practice left over from the Madison Avenue Ad Agency world where agencies routinely charged fat commissions, encouraged their clients to spend more, with no real connection to results; the more their clients spent, the more the agency earned. If your agency insists on running your paid media from within their own accounts, they're likely hiding a fat commission on all media spent. Make sure they disclose to you exactly what that fee is.

‍

• Fiverr is a scam and it hurts every industry. Mark Zuckerberg puts every Metaverse Company in bad position. People need to fucking learn that creating 3D stuff is not easy job.

‍

• I do not believe in Crypto and I do not stand with it. In my opinion, it is very easy to use Crypto in unethical ways.

‍

• A company that offers "quick" results is a scam. Building a website, mobile app, or software isn't possible in a jiffy. Proper testing takes time. Spend 8 weeks on MVP development rather than spending 8 years being stuck with a website that is like a bone in your neck.

‍

• Older creatives still have great ideas. They have trouble, however, relating them to consumers in ways that are meaningful, or on the platforms people use today.

‍

• Our revenues fall far short of estimates I have seen of our earnings on some sources.

‍

• I think design is for everyone and can be done by anyone. On more than one occasion I was scoffed at because of the second portion of that statement. People think design should be done 'only' by the experts. I think the design execution should be done by the experts, but the thinking portion of the design could be done by anyone. No one 'owns' that.

‍

• Building a successful business is tough. Building successful businesses repeatedly for other people while keeping your own business healthy is a whole different game. The agency world is not for everyone. It's fast paced, extremely demanding, and rewarding as hell when you get it right.

‍

• There's a lot of shitty content out there.

‍

• Don't worry about who gets the credit. Pay attention to the reputation, revenue, and profits that will accrue with success.

‍

• The rise of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain helps companies to work more efficiently. Even though cryptocurrency is often believed to be fake money, I believe that in several years the price will go up again as the US election comes to place, and there are a lot of organizations that would like to move funds undetected. Cryptocurrency also allowed us to benefit from tax returns.

‍

• That Google and Facebook are too centralized and societies around the world need decentralized platforms for information exchange.

‍

• A lot of agencies are either inexperienced or too rigid. It's truly hard to find a solid agency, especially one that's best suited for a specific organization's need. Rely on credible reviews and references that can vouch for the agency.

‍

• You have to use new technologies by trend and learn how to adjust once there is something new coming on the way so you don't get out of business.

‍

• Wordpress and similar services are good to launch a landing page, but not building solid websites on it.

‍

• Consulting is the next tech bubble.

‍

• Chik-Fil-A is highly overrated. So is In-N-Out and Krispy Kreme. Give me a donut from a local bakery any day over a Krispy Kreme.
  Also, I love a great butter dish design.