What To Do With Account Service Downtime – By Josh Copeland
Note from Erik: The following is the first in series of articles written by Josh Copeland for people with careers in account service. This feature will appear every Thursday.
Some view our job as sales. A few consider us consultants. Others say we’re micromanaging pencil-pushing yes-men. Ultimately, I believe that my role as an account service person is to be part chameleon, part sherpa, part listening booth. The skills we gain over the course of our early careers drive our ability to know clients’ business better than the clients themselves.
But if your agency eliminates your position, what do you do in the meantime? As an account person with some extra downtime lately, I might have done one or two of the following things recently:
- Served dinner for friends, arranging every detail down to seat assignment and conversation topics
- Followed up with a dinner “report” to those who attended, outlining key next steps for future gatherings and opportunities for improvement on menu items
- Created elaborate excel docs comparing and contrasting the various criteria for a friend’s new HDTV
- Provided critiques of street art on the finer nuances of primary messaging, calls-to-action, etc
- Oversaw (project managed) reorganization of closet, junk drawer, attic, and garage with timelines detailing key milestones & stakeholders using MS Project
All kidding aside, when an account service person is suddenly thrust into the world of the funemployed, there are even better uses for free time while considering the next job option. I’ve run across a few worth sharing:
Pro bono
The Taproot Foundation enables people with the drive & desire to help others connect with non-profit organizations that need assistance with medium-to-large scale projects. Account service professionals will likely gravitate to volunteer roles like Account Director, Marketing Manager and Brand Strategist. The projects occur across the US and provide an opportunity for continued growth & development. Not to mention, volunteer work feels good.
Freelance
elance, odesk and guru are three well-known freelancing job websites that connect a variety of businesses with professionals who have the skills to complete projects online with relative speed & ease. Account professionals (digital & traditional) should look at the “Marketing & Communications” and “Business Consulting” sections of the site for opportunities closest to their skill set. But I’d caution against relying too much on these sites as much of the work appears to be extremely limited. Still, worth a look.
In addition, you can reach out to companies like Creative Circle that have standing relationships with agencies to fill temporary positions. And before you make the mistake (I did) of pricing your hourly rate ludicrously high or low, here are some suggestions from About.com.
Free-to-be-paid
agencynil is quickly becoming well-known for breaking the traditional agency model by charging clients only what they believe the work is worth. They’re already busy with project work and they’re seeking extraordinary candidates for freelance assignments. The revenue stream may not be steady but the work will likely be very interesting. No harm in trying.
Networking
Get out of the house. Bypass the coffee shop once in a while. We adfolk are a socializing bunch. Ad leagues and interactive marketing associations may be expensive, and most “networking” recommendations don’t provide much detail. I suggest getting to know at least a few of the 2.2 million people on Twitter that have registered at WeFollow.com as a good start. Then, consider attending a Tweetup. They happen regularly across the country and don’t have an $80 cover charge.
AgencyScoop is another social net for ad professionals. There’s a forum that doesn’t seem to have a thread dedicated to account service, so there’s ripe opportunity to start one.
And finally, check out Meetup to find a local advertising or online marketing group in your region. Meetups also happen regularly (monthly in many cases) and enable true connections with other account guys & gals. And if you don’t see one you like, start one. It’s the single best way to establish yourself as an authority.
Criticize (constructively)
Think critically about brands and share your point of view with them. Look on the bright side- it’s not like anyone can fire you for having an opinion now. Enjoy it.
With all these opportunities, you’ll either retain your passion for this business or quickly find you’re ready for a change. And the enormous upside to all this downtime is that it’s completely up to you.
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Josh Copeland is a 10-year digital account service veteran with experience managing Whirlpool Corporation, ExxonMobil, Frito-Lay and the Clorox Company. Josh has worked for Tribal DDB, Arc Worldwide and Elevate Studios, and his campaigns have been featured in AdAge, Adweek, OMMA, ad:tech and Creativity Magazine.
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Today we feature the first in a series of guest posts about account service careers by @JBCopeland: http://bit.ly/9nSUp #pfta
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What account service people do when they are “funemployed” http://bit.ly/a2rXj
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What account service people do when they are “funemployed” – I also wonder what they do when they are employed. http://bit.ly/a2rXj
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for the concrete and useful tips. I am a recent “downsizee” from an agency account services position that I loved, and prior to that my marketing experience had been more of the in-house/marketing manager variety with smaller businesses. I love agency work and want to stick with it, but have found it hard to navigate the freelance/contractor world in the meantime. It seems so many of these resources are geared towards creatives, and few people outside our world understand what our job entails and why we’re good at and love what we do. Until now, the advice I’ve been getting has been mostly generic (as in “you should do some freelance work”) and the available positions I am finding are almost all for sales jobs disguised as marketing jobs. So again, thank you for advice that is both relevant and helpful and finally gives me a clear plan of action.
Glad to hear you got something out of it Casey. I agree with you that most search advice is pretty generic. Most of what I’ve learned has been through trial & error.
If anything, really consider taking risks. It’s scary but also empowering to know that the worst may be behind you and there’s real truth to “the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.”
Just ask Erik. I figure he feels it on a daily basis.
Please Feed The Animals: Account People! http://bit.ly/43B9O
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what laid off account people do: http://bit.ly/43B9O
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[...] to interview for that go away. In my latest post, I talk about what account service peeps can do with their downtime. If you’ve got extra time on your hands, how are you spending it? I really want to [...]
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