The BD100

🚀 I promised to hit October like a rocket. I ended it meeting an astronaut. 👨🚀 Everyone who knows me knows that new biz bliss is a month packed with networking events at which I can listen, learn, mix and mingle on behalf of my brilliant lineup of agencies, studios and consultants. 😍 October was quite exceptional so here's how it went from START to FINISH with a handful of the MANY 👋 👋 👋 delivered throughout the month and some tips / thoughts... Oct 1-2; #CampaignLive by Campaign Naomi Walkland Victoria Hoyle Alice Tendler Daniel Hulme Genevieve Tompkins Ana Balarin Kate Wall 👋 Superb x2 day conference if you wanna be at the intersection of brand and agency leaders (like me) 😎 Oct 8-9; #FOML Future of Media London by Adwanted Events Peter Rowe Jane Holding Adam Smith Lesley Myers-Lamptey Susan Kingston-Brown Alex Green Sacha Cunningham 👋 First time for me...LOVED it. Great atmosphere, venue, content and delegates. Will be back Sam Tidmarsh 👏👏 Oct 10; #NewAdventure England Netball Netball Super League Claire Nelson Chelsea Pitman 👋 SUPERB insight into the opportunities on offer for brands partnering with netball, its audience and the NSL.👏👏 Oct 15-17; Leaders in Sport Courtney Whiteside Celine Del Genes Richard Denton Shaunagh B. Rory Sutherland Sally Moore 👋 Thanks again Laura McQueen for a superb event at which I'm a regular...nothing quite like #LeadersWeek to celebrate, learn and network inside the world of sport. 😍 Oct 17; #Pipeline by Agency Hackers Anne Harlow Steve Fair Laura Hanlon 🙋♀️ 👋 Safe to say that Agency Hackers events are BACK on my agenda. The calendar of events hits the sweetspot for me with agency leaders laying out their pain points and triumphs against themes such as new biz, client happiness and growth. 👊 Oct 23; Thanks Digitas UK Jennifer Berry Sarah Hackett for having me along to such a brilliant UK Client Summit. Jessica Priest Deborah B. Williams Gayle Thompson-Igwebike 👋 EVERYONE check out The Women's Association and Next Tech Girls 👊 and next time you think your calendar is tricky...imagine having a dedicated slot for SPACE WALKING 👨🚀 🌏 November...let's go! #BusinessDevelopment #Networking #AgencyLife

Just over one month till Podge Events Podge rEvolution at Hilton London Bankside celebrates 21 years of Digital Podge with the unification of all things design, digital and creative and if my table ends up anything like my web page guests...it's gonna be a corker! 👋 Hello Ben Dalzell Lorraine Jeckells, MA Becky Willis Nicolas Roope Mark Sainthill Kelly Molson Aimeé Howells 👋 ✨ 💫 Looking fwd to hanging out again with more legendary humans than you can shake an augmented-transistorised-stick at Mary Keane-Dawson Sam Smith Sally Henderson, High-Stakes Leadership Mentor Jody Osman Peter Thomas Tobi Crosbie Dominic Grounsell Ali Wallace Geoff Nicol Emma Hillary Ryan Hall Katie Street Trevor Chambers Anne Harlow Mo Basma Chris Kemp Emma Harris Julie Doleman Nicky Bullard Dara Lynch Ingrid Olmesdahl Nishma Patel Robb 🪩⚡️Laura Jordan Bambach James Greenfield Julie Oxberry Linn Frost Gemma Greaves Craig Hepburn Emma Sexton Jason Foo Paul H. Slee 💫 ✨ #digital #creative #design #agencylife

My first ever #Pipeline event with Agency Hackers last week - what a success! Here's why... The mix of workshops, break-out groups, panel sessions, and talks provided actionable insights tailored for everyone in the room. It was a great opportunity to take a step back from daily tasks and look at your business as a whole – encouraging big picture thinking! Here are some of my key takeaways: - Treat your own business like a client - dedicate time to tasks you need to prioritise - Deliver content in an a way your prospects can enjoy - Highlight the cost of inaction - Don't pretend your prospects don't have a choice with your competitors, instead showcase your differences rather than claiming to be "bigger and better" Even the most valuable content can be overlooked because of the way it’s presented, BUT Agency Hackers and the wonderful speakers really hit the nail on the head. There were regular opportunities for audience engagement – whether it’s a simple as Q+A, hands up, or throwing bits of paper onto the stage to ask a panel questions! Our General Manager Amanda Rosevear at ALF Insight led one of the first talks of the day which was really well received and great to see the audience scribbling away notes! It's clear that the brands we shared were useful opportunities for the delegates! This is just a small part of what ALF offers - get in touch to take a proper look at the platform... 👀 Networking can be tough sometimes, and not everybody is super confident enough to walk up to strangers and introduce themselves, like Des Wilkinson! The event included interactive workshops and facilitated networking groups to help those that needed it! I met some great people from leading agencies including Jess Berry Mark Haller Matthew Williams Steven Miller Gabe Whitehead Dan Stocker-Williams Sarah Jackson and Marta Zemljic. It was great to see some familiar faces and ALF advocate Richard McHardy! Plus it was great to connect face to face with more of the Agency Hackers team - Sophie Cunningham and Abi Donoghue! We're proud to be a Recommended Partner of Agency Hackers and loved being sponsors of this memorable event! Can't wait for the next one! #agencyhackers #agencynewbusiness #b2bsales #b2bmarketingtools #salesleads #leadgenerationtool #alfinsight

✨️😎✨️😎 Yesterday's Day 1#FOML was excellent with tremendous insights gathered, chats had and connections made Avinash Kaushik Ross Sergeant Simon Carr Lisa Walker Danielle Ruggles Sarah Prentice Rachel Coffey Peter Rowe Brandon Lutz Steph Ferreira G D. Adam Smith Branwell Johnson Sacha Cunningham Pete Drewett Croud Alex Green Born Social Ali Wallace DNA Recruit MAD//FEST Michael Durey Day 2 continues in a similar fashion albeit with a balcony seat for Omar Oakes and Susan Kingston-Brown which is no less brilliant for the overhead view 😎✨️😎✨️ #Media #agencylife #businessdevelopment

Some creative agencies are struggling. Struggling to get their new biz pipelines flowing, struggling to get budget commitment and client sign-off, struggling to see wood from trees! Is it a UK thing? Is it a sector thing? Is it a momentary thing? I'd love to know what people think. After some hardcore reflection over the past week, I've reached Sunday confident this is another period of uncertainty. It'll pass and tbh, given global horrors, you have to catch yourself and say: "It could be worse. Infinitely worse." But then again it is hard because we're dealing with livelihoods here. So here's what I did last week. I hope it helps. 1. I recalled my Virgil and rammed "audentes Fortuna iuvat" back into my head. Fortune favours the BOLD! 😤 2. I met, messaged, connected, talked and listened to people in my network. People I regard as friendly trusted experts. People like Emma Hillary Nick Claridge Jack Horner Gilbert Archer-Cox Amanda Jennings (AJ) Ben Hack Diane Young Dean Rowland Rebecca Nunneley Andy Bargery Peter Cowie Jody Osman Mark Probert Mike Lander Chris Evans Sally Henderson, High-Stakes Leadership Mentor Charlie Pitt Dom Robertson Oliver Gaydon Emma Thwaite Jeff Melnyk Wayne Edwards Mark Clark Ali Wallace Holly Evans because these people are in the know and I class many of them as key members of my Personal Boardroom. From them I got a barometer reading on the industry, got an international perspective, got a sector perspective, got an 'indie versus network' agency perspective, got a client perspective, got valuable time booked in their busy diaries. GOT A PLAN! 👊 3. I gave value across my own agency client base. Every single day. 4. I booked a place on the Agency Hackers Pipeline Conference for agency leaders and BD experts with Anne Harlow because if there's a fight ahead, I'm tooling up! See below for more info and maybe see you there. 5. I modified my Higgle: The B2B Sales Club Podcast thoughts for Mike Lander of Piscari to give max value to his podcast listeners when we hit RECORD in October. 🎙 6. I started working on my MAD//UpNorth content because if I'm hitting that MAD//FEST stage again next February, I wanna give maximum value for Dan Brain Ian Houghton Bindi Houghton Harry Clark and the gathered northern masses in Manchester. 😎 7. I talked to my wife. I don't like to bring work home but when there's stuff to get off my chest, she's the most patient listener. ❤️ 8. I put time aside to coach someone in her #NewBiz role. 🏋♀️ 9. I doubled down on networking events because it's hustle time. 🕺 10. I walked from Waterloo to Shoreditch and back to clear my head. I met people and called people along the way. 🏃♂️ So go to your own network of trusted experts Speak to your clients Speak to your loved ones Speak to me if you want my views or help Help people around you Seek blue sky thinking even if the skies aren't blue! Look after yourselves #AgencyLife #BusinessDevelopment Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash