Tips advertising executive can’t live without 1-30

Alright “can’t live without” was just my sales attempt. Still these are no BS tips right from the front of the battlefields of advertising career in Toronto. This post is a work in progress my plan is to gather 100 tips. If you have a tip please leave in a comment.

1. Impression is the reality - is doesn’t matter what you do or know, what matters is what managers and peers think you do. All the tips that follow are just to help you to manage the perception and sell yourself.
2. Being nice pays off – being nice to everybody around you creates a positive aura around you. You stop having problems with accounting and production departments.
3. People talk – rumors in the office are spread faster than you can press “publish” on your twitter account. Think 3 times before you say a word.
4. Drinking Advantage – going out with your co-workers for drinks can help your career if done in a right way. Never get drunk or say anything bad about the company though. It is scientific you will earn more money.
5. Don’t take sides – there are always bunch of wars happening in the office. Never take a side. I know it is hard, but if you are serious about progressing in your career don’t take sides.
6. Looks matter- while the decisions on your promotion should be based on your performance it is rarely the case. Get inside the head of your bosses, their employees represent the company. The feel great when you look great. It doesn’t mean you have to buy super expensive cloths, but being always neat counts
7. Face time – nobody will give you extra pay if you come early and leave late. However, your bosses lilke to see it. You will become a clock watcher and not a motivated employee in their minds if you work 9-5. It doesn’t matter if your sales are great, they still like to see the hours.
8. Make it look hard – if you are a talented person and your sales are rolling in easily please, don’t publicize it. Your bosses want you to work hard, if they think your job is too easy they will make it more challenging.
9. Don’t complaint -you can’t afford to be perceived as a negative person. Never complain, find a way how to get what you want without complaining.
10. Political Savvy – do you shoot from the hip? Say what is on your mind without a regards of consequences? Not going to work in a corporate world, you will be labeled rude. Find a positive way to express whatever you need.
11. Bad projects happen – at some point you will be given a total deadend project. Try your best to put it on someone’s else shoulders. Trust me it doesn’t pay off to challenge the impossible.
12. Is it not the size of the account base – if you just started and received 20 pages of accounts, be carefull. What matters is how much account spent and if they are active. Try to avoid adding dead weight accounts to your base.
13. Document – document everything positive you do. The best way is by email or account updates. Your documentation needs to support your positive image in the company
14. Don’t kiss bottoms – if you do eventually you will realize that you been kissing the wrong one and you will have no respect from your peers. Be nice to your management, but not in a kissing way.
15. Mind the competition-it is ok to make friends in the office however remember that when money comes into the question your “friends” might not be so friendly. Since, I was a sales rep working on a commission – this was a case bunch of times. Always remember that they might be your competition.
16. Never give away sale -never give away what is rightly your sales. Example: a new sales rep came in and by mistake sold your account. Don’t be nice – take it back. If you will be clear about it, nobody will try to mess with your accounts or prospects.
17. Know cofee tastes – caffeine drives corporation. People love people who bring them a cofee. Don’t do it all the time or you will be a bottom kisser. Do know every manager’s way to drink cofee and bring cofee to them on a rotation scheduale each Friday. Small investment – goes a very long way
18. Compliments – make at least couple of compliments per day. This will strengthen your nice image. The best compliment is when your colegue gets a new article of clothing  and you comment how nice they look in it. Be careful with compliments to the opposite sex and keep them sex free.
19. Mind the Jokes – know a great joke? Think twice before telling it in the office. Bunch of people got dinged for telling an “offensive joke.” The rule is to only tell a joke a 5 year old kid would understand.
20. Computer Use – never ever write anything personal on you work computer. Everything you do is completely monitored. Keeping computer work related will help your image in manager’s eyes of being an honest worker.
21. Love the company – you don’t have to actually love the company, but managers need to think that you are passionate from head to toes about the product you are sellig and the company your work for.
22. Find a roof - a roof is what protects you from heat, rain and cold. Find a higher level person in the company who will protect in these times. Choose the person wisely and let the person think that your achievements are due to  his or her contributions. Make sure that the person is following the rules about positive image as well. It will not help your career to be associated with a rebel.
23. Diverisify experience – being the best sales rep in the company will not get you promoted. Get involved with competition comitees or other comitees. Demand to work on variety of projects. That way nobody will through in your face later: you didn’t get position X, because you don’t have X experience
24. Take your boss to apointments - only good ones. Make sure that the customer you are taking your boss to absolutely loves you. Your boss will tell other management that you are being well liked by the clients.
25. Walk Fast – it seems like a minor tip, but if you consistently walk fast it will look like you are always busy and working for the company. You will look way better compared to a guy or a girl who walks really slow.
26. Public Goals - let everyone know that one day you want to become a manager or top sales rep, or whatever your goal is. Let managers know that you have these goals and you are working hard to achieve them.
27. Send Holiday Cards - send or give as many personal postcards as you can on as many occasions that you can. They key to do it consistenly with everyone: peers, management, clients. This will turn people towards you and if by any chance they don’t get postcard from you on Christmas they will wonder what happened to you and will write to you.
28. Don’t rely on email -email is great especially for advertising executive it allows you to pitch hundreds of people at once. However, make a point of physically seing as many people as you can. Needless to say that it is especially true with your top 20%. Seeing them regularly even if it is just to bring cup of cofee and dicuss recent game is imperative to your success. It will be way harder to say “no” to a person that know, than just to write an email message.
29. Be Consistent – whatever efforts you put into creating the image of next coming you have to do it consistently. You have to be know for these things and just as in advertising the key is repetition, repetition, repetition. It is way better to grow your sales by 10% every month, than to have one month at 30% growth and another at 0%.
30. Don’t ask for favours - as thr situation permits try not to owe anything to anyone. Don’t ask for favours, do favours for people and let them feel that they owe you one. You will ask for it when the time comes. Sounds harsh? I am just trying to be real here.

Tags: features, life, Marketing