When it comes to contract work, it’s essential that you keep on driving the ball well through the end zone.
Never allow yourself to get lazy because there’s a lot of good work to do all the way to the end.
Even more, wrapped in a ham-fisted fine-dining analogy, you’re responsible for the taste you leave in the mouth of your outgoing client.
No matter how glorious and delectable each of the ten of your Michelin Star dinner courses have been, serving a tepid demitasse of weak espresso with zero crema can ruin the entire dining experience.
Mark my words.
This seams obvious, I know, but it’s not always so simple. When you know your campaign isn’t being renewed, it’s virtually impossible to keep running at full-steam.
This is most essential when you’ve cashed the last check and you’re scouring the horizon for the next gig.
While most agencies’ account managers juggle a number of clients and campaigns at the same time, even these well-oiled machines begin shifting their attention, energy, hours, and resources towards the most recently-closed gigs and the next payday.
I live and work in DC and will soon be evolving from mid-forties to pushing-fifty and life and business is long — and so are memories and reputations. You’ll always have an opportunity to work with the same people in the future as long as they remember you well. Don’t blow it!
Case-in-point: back in 2009 I did an influencer marketing campaign for an international purveyor of medical devices on behalf of preventing HAIs — Healthcare-Associated Infections — as well as feeding tubes and guess what?
Guess what?!
A lucky seven years later one of their top-bananas remembered me and my agency’s amazing blogger outreach and influencer marketing skills and got back in touch.
Why am I bringing up such a banal topic on this day? Well, I am going through this right now (who am I kidding, I go through it every time!) and since I fancy myself completely and utterly relatable, I assume you’ll need this reminder as well.
Starting next Tuesday I’ll stop scolding you, calling it in, and handing you best-of-blog lists and we’ll get back to tools, processes, and all the secrets of the trade that have turned all-y’all into the fiercest of competitors to Gerris Corp and me!
