One of the biggest headaches of being an Independent Consultant (IC) is collecting fees. If you are consulting to large companies, the person who processes the payment is probably not your client. You could be doing your consulting in Boston but accounts payable is located in Dallas and the approval process may go through as many as four or five people. With smaller companies it can be equally as difficult to get the CFO to sign-off on invoices. So here are a few things to do to help you get you cash in a reasonable amount of time.... Continue reading Consultants - Tips for Collecting Fees

Marketers and publishers have made strides in shifting away from traditional static text ads towards rich media ads that are highly customized and interactive. Now that we are accepting the power and potential of mobile, it is time to wrap our heads around the fact that rich mobile adverting is arguably THE BEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE way to connect with consumers. That's right, the BEST. How so?...... Continue reading Rich Mobile Advertising

The clients, and potential clients, that we have spoken to about working with consultants this way have loved the idea,... Continue reading Do you need a consultant?

There seems to be a new trend emerging; over the past few months, I've noticed an increasing amount of consultants becoming entrepreneurs - design and launch a web site, reposition a personal brand into a company brand and boom, a company is born. Or is it?... Continue reading Consultant vs. Entrepreneur

Or should I say who is a CMTO? Exactly who you expect- a blend of a Chief Marketing Officer and a Chief Technology Officer. I know it sounds crazy, but I think we may start seeing more and more CMTOs (or some other similar term)  as software continues to take over the world. Hear me out… ... Continue reading What is a CMTO?

Think about the last advertisement you remember (most likely it was today within the last couple of hours). Okay, where was it? Online? Billboard? TV Spot? More importantly- was it something you saw, something you clicked on, OR was it something you heard? I asked myself this question about 5 minutes ago. The last advertisement I remember was an Audio Ad for Mitt Romney's campaign. I heard it between Taylor Swift songs on Pandora while jogging this morning. I have absolutely no political commentary about that ad message itself-- my thoughts are about vehicle in which the advertisement was delivered—Online Audio Advertising.... Continue reading Is Online Audio the sweet spot of Online Advertising?

Do companies think that “consultant” is code for unemployed?

What’s my title?

How do I represent Consultant on my resume?

Here are my suggestions on how to overcome these challenges.

... Continue reading The Resume of a Consultant

It takes an incredible amount of time, effort and energy to attract the right talent. Throughout the process, you have undoubtedly reviewed a mountain of resumes and carved out mornings, lunches and evenings to interview candidates. But you've done your due diligence and have hired great, new talent ready to contribute to the success of your company and take things to the next level. Don't, however, make the mistake of thinking your job is over. It isn't.... Continue reading Employee Satisfaction and Retention

 

I’ve consulted with a number of CMOs over the past couple of quarters on how to get the most out of their precious few hires. The conversation usually starts out with the CMO trying to figure out how to get all the skills and capabilities from three hires that are approved when she really needs seven people to get everything done. For example, they may have a position approved with a list of requirements that looks like this:

... Continue reading The Unicorn Theory

Here at MICA we like to keep our finger on the pulse of the Mobile Marketing & Advertising Community. Here are five relatively new facts about Mobile Advertising.

 

1.       According to Forrester Research Mobile Commerce Forecast, mobile commerce is growing fast. Revenue was $3 billion in 2010, $6 billion in 2011, $10 billion in 2012 and expected to be $14 billion in 2013 and $19 billion by 2014. That’s a climb!

2.       Nielsen Mobile Insights said in Feb 2012 that most mobile phones in America will be smartphones by the end of 2012. To be honest, I am shocked this isn’t the case already.

3.       Smartphone adoption is booming in China. Business Insider said yesterday that the Chinese smartphone market has grown by 164% in the last year. I smell a surge of mobile advertising coming on!

4.       Last week, Twitter said that its mobile ads have finally begun to generate more revenue than the microblogging site’s desktop ads- close to 60 percent of the platform’s 140 million monthly users access the service via mobile device.

5.       8 percent of all digital traffic now comes from smartphones and tablets. And we don’t even have the iPad Mini to play with yet…

... Continue reading 5 Facts On Mobile Advertising

Clients just want to see the candidate’s websites, when looking for designers. For developers it is a site and/or code they have done and for writers it is their on-line work including their blog, twitter handle and any other work that is on the web.... Continue reading Recruitment Methods

Companies strive to recruit the best talent, that's no secret, but the 'best' isn't always just a reflection on skillsets and work experience. Now more than ever, it's also about being visible and strategic.

... Continue reading Recruiting the Best

So you want to be a consultant. More companies are deciding to bring on consultants rather than full-time hires. The list of reasons varies but includes:

- Budget constraints, contractor or consultant dollars can be allocated differently from staff budgets on a P&L

- There are no benefit costs like healthcare and vacation

- The project has a definitive start and end date

Regardless of the reasons the contractor/consultant role is on the rise. So how do you negotiate your first deal?

... Continue reading Negotiating a Consulting Contract

Each person you interview with has a different WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). As you prepare, take into consideration the role of the person interviewing you and what the impact of the role is to them. That perspective is critical to understand.... Continue reading What's In It For Me?

A recent government study of car accidents put cameras in cars to see what happens right before an accident. They found that in 80% of crashes the driver was distracted during the three seconds preceding the incident. In other words, the driver lost focus — maybe they wrote a text, glanced at a tweet, changed the radio station, liked a facebook update, snacked on cereal, or fiddled with their Bluetooth.  Regardless of which trivial task the driver was distracted by, they ultimately lost focus and crashed.   

... Continue reading Distract Yourself