Ben Guttmann

Give people more days off

Years ago, when we hired our first employees at my old agency, we had to draft up an official holiday calendar for the company. It’s one thing when it’s just a couple of owners plugging away whenever we could, but we had to get our act together when it came time for running payroll.

October 14, 2024

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A strategy is a theory, not a plan

I often meet people with a new business, and as we talk, I eventually ask them what their strategy is. And nearly every time, I get back a plan. A plan is a list of things you’re going to do, with some details about how you’ll go about doing them. A strategy is a theory as to why you’ll be successful.

June 24, 2024

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What makes an award matter?

This month, lots of marketing types are descending upon Cannes – and hopefully returning with some shiny new hardware for their office shelves. We all know the Oscars and the Grammys, but industry awards are just as much a tradition in many parts of the economy. There are trophies for everything. But do they mean anything? It depends.

June 15, 2024

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Five little tips on giving a better presentation

There’s no shortage of excellent guides on how to be a more confident, engaging, and compelling speaker. Entire shelves of books have been written about the big ideas: know your stuff, bring lots of energy and passion, tell stories, don’t put giant paragraphs on your slides, yada, yada. Instead, this is about the small stuff.

May 13, 2024

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What size client do you want to be?

Not too much, not too little. There’s a Goldilocks zone for how hot or cold porridge should be, and if you find yourself hiring a team to help you do stuff, there’s a Goldilocks zone for how big they should be.I used to run a marketing agency, so I’ll talk about this through the lens, but the same rules apply to nearly every client/provider relationship.

January 29, 2024

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