All of my friends are making dates to come visit me.
I’ve been lying low while I get the new business going and now I’m starting to get back together with friends.
They imagine me sitting at the breakfast table in my bath robe, a cigarette dangling from my lips and the Daily Race Form in my hand.
Believe it or not, I’m so busy; I have to keep a daily “things to do” list. I have my spiral binder and every morning I carry over all the things I didn’t get to and add all of the new things I have to do. The list is long.
I’m giving the keynote address at the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA) Direct Marketer of the Year dinner on May 12th. I think this is my fourth visit to NEDMA over the years. They’re a great organization, a real talent incubator.
Being awarded the Direct Marketer of the Year award is a great honor. It means that you have gone above and beyond what’s required. It’s an acknowledgement by your peers that you have made a difference. And that makes me think of a good story.
In 1994 The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) held their Direct Marketer of the Year event as a luncheon. The luncheon was fast approaching and I got a call from one of my clients, Tami.
Tami said, “Jon, I want to go to the PDMA luncheon that’s coming up.” Now Tami was a good client, but I didn't want to go to the PDMA luncheon. “Tami,” I said, “Pick any restaurant you want and we’ll have lunch there. We'll never be able to talk business at the PDMA Direct Marketer of the Year Luncheon.” “No,” she replied, “I want to go to the luncheon and see who gets the Direct Marketer of the Year.”
“If that’s what you want to do, that’s fine with me” I said. “But all we are going to see is one idiot hand the award over to another idiot.”
So there I was, sitting at the table with Tami and friends at the PDMA Direct Marketer of the Year Lunch and to my total, utter, ignorant shock, I’m the other idiot.
The agency had a field day with it. It seems that after Tami got off the phone with me, she called my agency staff and told them what I said. When I got back to the agency that afternoon, there was a giant banner across the front of the building that said;
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE OTHER IDIOT
It really is a great honor and to whoever receives the Direct Marketer of the Year award in Boston on May 12, my sincere congratulations!
Jon Roska
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
What would we build in its place?
Now that I’ve jumped from the direct advertising agency side of the business to the eCommerce side of the business I can say without any hesitation that the word “direct marketer” as a noun is dead.
Two years ago I was attending a national DMA function. I was standing next to a gentleman who is considered a pillar in the direct field. He turned to me and said, ‘Jon, I don’t know anybody in this room.”
I nodded in agreement and replied, “That’s because you and I are direct marketers, and most of these people aren’t. They’re “marketers” who are here to learn how to use direct marketing as part of their total marketing mix.
Direct mail is dying. It’s slow, cumbersome, expensive and not “green”. I believe that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has some smart cookies working there and that they are very aware that they are in deep shit.
I’m sure that they are asking themselves,
“If there was no Post Office, what would we build in its place?”
Would we build anything in its place? Would we even miss it?
(I just thought about my NetFlix account and realized that even NetFlix is starting to stream movies to me.)
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has the same problem and they’re looking for a new president. I’m sure that they’re talking to all of the right people (they did not call me). Whoever takes the job has to ask the same question.
If there was no DMA, what would we build in its place?
If the DMA disappeared tomorrow, would we miss it?
I hope the next President of the DMA is a visionary who is given the freedom to do
what has to be done.
Jon
Two years ago I was attending a national DMA function. I was standing next to a gentleman who is considered a pillar in the direct field. He turned to me and said, ‘Jon, I don’t know anybody in this room.”
I nodded in agreement and replied, “That’s because you and I are direct marketers, and most of these people aren’t. They’re “marketers” who are here to learn how to use direct marketing as part of their total marketing mix.
Direct mail is dying. It’s slow, cumbersome, expensive and not “green”. I believe that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has some smart cookies working there and that they are very aware that they are in deep shit.
I’m sure that they are asking themselves,
“If there was no Post Office, what would we build in its place?”
Would we build anything in its place? Would we even miss it?
(I just thought about my NetFlix account and realized that even NetFlix is starting to stream movies to me.)
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has the same problem and they’re looking for a new president. I’m sure that they’re talking to all of the right people (they did not call me). Whoever takes the job has to ask the same question.
If there was no DMA, what would we build in its place?
If the DMA disappeared tomorrow, would we miss it?
I hope the next President of the DMA is a visionary who is given the freedom to do
what has to be done.
Jon
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Moving On With A Vision
I have sold the Roska Advertising and Marketing Agencies (Roska Direct, Roska Healthcare and Roska Digital) to a partner of many years.
I leave behind a staff of some of the best advertising and marketing experts in the business and I have no doubt that the team will continue to grow the organization’s reputation for excellence.
I have always been a firm believer in hiring people that are better than me at what they do (many of my friends would say that has never been difficult for me). I then made sure to hang onto a majority control of the company so those brilliant hires could not throw me out on the sidewalk. I was successful, so successful in fact that I put myself out of a job and now it’s time to move on.
I’m starting a new company called “Roska Ideas”. Its focus will be eCommerce, with a centralized platform and multiple retail websites. I'm in the process of locating new offices and doing all the many things setting up a new business requires.
I'm looking forward to sharing the next adventure with you.
I leave behind a staff of some of the best advertising and marketing experts in the business and I have no doubt that the team will continue to grow the organization’s reputation for excellence.
I have always been a firm believer in hiring people that are better than me at what they do (many of my friends would say that has never been difficult for me). I then made sure to hang onto a majority control of the company so those brilliant hires could not throw me out on the sidewalk. I was successful, so successful in fact that I put myself out of a job and now it’s time to move on.
I’m starting a new company called “Roska Ideas”. Its focus will be eCommerce, with a centralized platform and multiple retail websites. I'm in the process of locating new offices and doing all the many things setting up a new business requires.
I'm looking forward to sharing the next adventure with you.
It's amazing what can happen in your life if you have a vision and stay focused. When things get tough, some people will cut and run. Others realize that it's the time to refocus on their vision, make the necessary adjustments and move forward. One thing I can promise you is that tough times will eventually turn into good times and vice versa. It's your vision that will get you through the bad and into the good.
Here's an interesting story on how to hang in there.
When I was 18 I loaded everything I owned into a beat-up old car and drove to the turnpike entrance in Scranton, PA. I had $35 in my pocket. I got out of the car in front of the turnpike booth and flipped a quarter; heads New York, tails Philadelphia. I had never been to either city and did not know anybody in either one.
Tails it was.
I drove into Philly and not knowing any better, parked my car in an underground parking lot and got a tiny room with a cot at the YMCA. After 3 days I ran out of money and talked the parking lot owner into letting me sleep in my car.
A couple of more days went by looking for work and not eating. On Sunday I found a newspaper in the trash and there was a help wanted ad for a company looking for door to door salesmen. What caught my eye in the ad was “Interviews Monday morning, coffee and doughnuts.”
COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS!!
The next morning I was sitting on the front step of the company when the manager arrived. He had two boxes of doughnuts under his arm. He unlocked the door and I followed him into the reception area where he set the doughnuts down and said, “Make yourself comfortable, I’m going to go make some coffee and then I’ll be right back.”
When he returned, one of the boxes of doughnuts was empty.
I got the job.
Jon
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A Teaching Advertising Agency
I have been asked on several occasions what I consider to be my greatest achievement. You can read my Bio which is connected to this blog and see a long list of awards and honors. But you will not find my greatest achievement there.
My greatest achievement is the college graduates that I hired and trained over the years.
If there is a single statement that defines our agency, I hope it would be that Roska is a Teaching Advertising Agency. An agency that provides marketing and advertising education and training to future leaders in our field.
It all started many years ago when I realized that whenever one of my managers needed to hire somebody, they would say to me, "I need somebody with experience." So we would search for somebody with experience and usually find out that experience does not always equate to excellence. We would end up having to train the individual anyway and the first part of the training was to correct all of the bad training they had from their previous experiences.
In the past when we hired young, recent graduates, we did what most agencies do; we threw them into the water and if they could swim, they made it. Like most advertising agencies, we wrecked a lot of good young people like that. The young hires were overwhelmed and judged harshly, many burned out early and left for other careers.
College makes the cup, life fills it.
The aha! moment came when I realized that hiring a college grad with a degree in marketing/advertising, a 4.0 GPA, captain of the cheerleaders and student body president didn't mean squat if we did not have a proper training program in place.
I'm not talking about a training program to learn how to do marketing and advertising. They learn that just from working with the experts on the agency staff. I'm talking about a training program that teaches the lessons they will need to know for the rest of their life.
How to manage their time
How to multi-task
How to delegate
How to dress
How to resolve disputes
How to present
How to lead
How to follow
How to teach others
These are life lessons that when learned properly lead to excellence. And every trainee receives intensive training in these points during their first year at Roska.
If you have been reading previous posts, you have seen seveal references and stories about some of my training experiences. I'll leave you with this one.
One of the things that must be dealt with early when we hire a new graduate, is how to dress. Young people right out of college dress well for their interview, but usually lapse back into college attire within their first 30 days. I remember a young lady, very smart, very attractive who wore very short skirts. I took her aside and pointed out that I wanted our clients to admire her for her intelligence and great marketing; not for her great ass.
She replied, with a look of total innocence, "This skirt passed the 'hands over the head' test."
Jon
My greatest achievement is the college graduates that I hired and trained over the years.
If there is a single statement that defines our agency, I hope it would be that Roska is a Teaching Advertising Agency. An agency that provides marketing and advertising education and training to future leaders in our field.
It all started many years ago when I realized that whenever one of my managers needed to hire somebody, they would say to me, "I need somebody with experience." So we would search for somebody with experience and usually find out that experience does not always equate to excellence. We would end up having to train the individual anyway and the first part of the training was to correct all of the bad training they had from their previous experiences.
In the past when we hired young, recent graduates, we did what most agencies do; we threw them into the water and if they could swim, they made it. Like most advertising agencies, we wrecked a lot of good young people like that. The young hires were overwhelmed and judged harshly, many burned out early and left for other careers.
College makes the cup, life fills it.
The aha! moment came when I realized that hiring a college grad with a degree in marketing/advertising, a 4.0 GPA, captain of the cheerleaders and student body president didn't mean squat if we did not have a proper training program in place.
I'm not talking about a training program to learn how to do marketing and advertising. They learn that just from working with the experts on the agency staff. I'm talking about a training program that teaches the lessons they will need to know for the rest of their life.
How to manage their time
How to multi-task
How to delegate
How to dress
How to resolve disputes
How to present
How to lead
How to follow
How to teach others
These are life lessons that when learned properly lead to excellence. And every trainee receives intensive training in these points during their first year at Roska.
If you have been reading previous posts, you have seen seveal references and stories about some of my training experiences. I'll leave you with this one.
One of the things that must be dealt with early when we hire a new graduate, is how to dress. Young people right out of college dress well for their interview, but usually lapse back into college attire within their first 30 days. I remember a young lady, very smart, very attractive who wore very short skirts. I took her aside and pointed out that I wanted our clients to admire her for her intelligence and great marketing; not for her great ass.
She replied, with a look of total innocence, "This skirt passed the 'hands over the head' test."
Jon
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Knot Between Every Word
I received a phone call tonight that Steve Barcus has passed on.
Steve was a creative director at Roska for many years. Those of you who knew him will never forget him. For those of you who did not know him, I’ll share a small bit of who Steve Barcus was.
A creative genius, a husband and father, a true friend to many.
Steve loved nature and he loved to fish. I have stood with him on a Nantucket beach casting all night into the surf to catch a big Striper. And during that night I heard great fishing stories of when he and his friend stacked the Stripers like cordwood, 20, 30 40 pounders. Based on those stories, I now understand how the Stripers were put on the endangered species list for many years. It was because Steve was personally responsible for almost wiping them out.
I have fished for Bone Fish in the Bahamas with Steve and for giant Bass in the mountains of Mexico. And every time he caught a fish, I remember the excitement and joy he exuded, like a 12 year old who has caught his first fish. He loved the sun. He was bald and would rub his head with Wesson oil and fish all day in the sun. “Steve”, I would plead, “put your hat on.” He would put his hat on and when I turned around, he would take it off again. “Steve, put your hat on.” I would say again. “I swear to God that your head is starting to smoke, it smells like bacon frying.” “Yeah”, he would say, “isn’t it wonderful!”
Steve was one of the most creative people I have ever met. He could craft the written word to touch the very core of your emotions. Words that made you laugh or cry or want to buy whatever he was writing about. Steve was the master of creating the special moment.
Steve was the kind of writer that you had to rip the copy from his hands before he would stop writing. He was never satisfied. When we were telling him it was the best copy we had ever read, he would change a word and make it better.
Steve once told me that great copy was like a string of expensive pearls. When a jeweler makes an expensive pearl necklace, he puts a knot between every pearl. “That”, he said, “is how copy must be written; with a knot between every word.”
Steve, you were a special person, you lived your life to the full, and put a knot between every moment.
Jon
Steve was a creative director at Roska for many years. Those of you who knew him will never forget him. For those of you who did not know him, I’ll share a small bit of who Steve Barcus was.
A creative genius, a husband and father, a true friend to many.
Steve loved nature and he loved to fish. I have stood with him on a Nantucket beach casting all night into the surf to catch a big Striper. And during that night I heard great fishing stories of when he and his friend stacked the Stripers like cordwood, 20, 30 40 pounders. Based on those stories, I now understand how the Stripers were put on the endangered species list for many years. It was because Steve was personally responsible for almost wiping them out.
I have fished for Bone Fish in the Bahamas with Steve and for giant Bass in the mountains of Mexico. And every time he caught a fish, I remember the excitement and joy he exuded, like a 12 year old who has caught his first fish. He loved the sun. He was bald and would rub his head with Wesson oil and fish all day in the sun. “Steve”, I would plead, “put your hat on.” He would put his hat on and when I turned around, he would take it off again. “Steve, put your hat on.” I would say again. “I swear to God that your head is starting to smoke, it smells like bacon frying.” “Yeah”, he would say, “isn’t it wonderful!”
Steve was one of the most creative people I have ever met. He could craft the written word to touch the very core of your emotions. Words that made you laugh or cry or want to buy whatever he was writing about. Steve was the master of creating the special moment.
Steve was the kind of writer that you had to rip the copy from his hands before he would stop writing. He was never satisfied. When we were telling him it was the best copy we had ever read, he would change a word and make it better.
Steve once told me that great copy was like a string of expensive pearls. When a jeweler makes an expensive pearl necklace, he puts a knot between every pearl. “That”, he said, “is how copy must be written; with a knot between every word.”
Steve, you were a special person, you lived your life to the full, and put a knot between every moment.
Jon
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The DMA Meeting Love Fest
The DMA business meeting was held on Sunday in San Diego.
They moved the meeting to a much larger room because everybody wanted to attend to see what a proxy vote shoot-out between Gerry Pike and the Board looks like.
I don't know how many proxy votes Gerry picked up with his campaign, but it must have been a lot. When I got there the word was that Gerry and the board had gone late into the night to come to a settlement.
By the time we showed up, it was a love fest. With the board announcing that Gerry had been reinstated for a second term and Gerry telling us what a great bunch of people were on the board. In addition to Gerry being back on the board, he gets to nominate three more board members.
I'll add to the love fest by saying that there are a lot of smart cookies on the DMA board and I hope they figure it out. If not, I think a lot of members will vote with their feet in 2010.
I went to the Electronic Retail Association (ERA) party Monday night and had a good time. It reminded me of the dot.com explosion back in the late 90's. Lots of good contacts, lots of booze. Lots of people wearing all black. Back in those days you could walk into a party and by the time you got to the bar, you had been offered at least $20 million by three different venture capital groups.
No matter how dumb your idea was.
Jon
They moved the meeting to a much larger room because everybody wanted to attend to see what a proxy vote shoot-out between Gerry Pike and the Board looks like.
I don't know how many proxy votes Gerry picked up with his campaign, but it must have been a lot. When I got there the word was that Gerry and the board had gone late into the night to come to a settlement.
By the time we showed up, it was a love fest. With the board announcing that Gerry had been reinstated for a second term and Gerry telling us what a great bunch of people were on the board. In addition to Gerry being back on the board, he gets to nominate three more board members.
I'll add to the love fest by saying that there are a lot of smart cookies on the DMA board and I hope they figure it out. If not, I think a lot of members will vote with their feet in 2010.
I went to the Electronic Retail Association (ERA) party Monday night and had a good time. It reminded me of the dot.com explosion back in the late 90's. Lots of good contacts, lots of booze. Lots of people wearing all black. Back in those days you could walk into a party and by the time you got to the bar, you had been offered at least $20 million by three different venture capital groups.
No matter how dumb your idea was.
Jon
Sunday, October 18, 2009
DMA Conference-DMEF Awards Dinner
Direct is alive and kicking!
I attended the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) Awards Dinner last night. Close to 300 marketers from all over the country gathered to honor Beth Smith, http://sbdirect.net/ with the Edward Mayer Award. Beth is a super lady who over her career has taught so many people direct advertising that she probably has had a direct affect on the country's GNP.
For the past three years the DMEF has asked me to do the auction part of the evening. That's because I'm a shameless ham who has absolutely no problem asking people for money in public. Some day, I will probably have a very successful career as a homeless person.
I must admit that with the economy the way it is, I did not have great expectations to raise a lot of money, in fact, I had decided to go easy on the crowd and not shake them down for their last penny like I usually do.
Well let me tell you something, when it comes to a good cause like the DMEF, direct marketers step up, no matter how bad the economy is!
In about 30 minutes, I think we raised over $150,000.00, I haven't heard the official count yet, it might be more.
I must admit that putting me on "before" dinner was served was a brilliant strategy and I apologize to everyone for threatening to not feed anybody until they gave me all their money.
Hey, it was for a very good cause.
Today is the DMA board meeting and they have moved it to a much larger room so that we can all come to see what a proxy fight is all about! (see my previous post). Everybody is talking about it and excited about the changes that could take place.
I'll fill you in on what happens.
Jon
I attended the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) Awards Dinner last night. Close to 300 marketers from all over the country gathered to honor Beth Smith, http://sbdirect.net/ with the Edward Mayer Award. Beth is a super lady who over her career has taught so many people direct advertising that she probably has had a direct affect on the country's GNP.
For the past three years the DMEF has asked me to do the auction part of the evening. That's because I'm a shameless ham who has absolutely no problem asking people for money in public. Some day, I will probably have a very successful career as a homeless person.
I must admit that with the economy the way it is, I did not have great expectations to raise a lot of money, in fact, I had decided to go easy on the crowd and not shake them down for their last penny like I usually do.
Well let me tell you something, when it comes to a good cause like the DMEF, direct marketers step up, no matter how bad the economy is!
In about 30 minutes, I think we raised over $150,000.00, I haven't heard the official count yet, it might be more.
I must admit that putting me on "before" dinner was served was a brilliant strategy and I apologize to everyone for threatening to not feed anybody until they gave me all their money.
Hey, it was for a very good cause.
Today is the DMA board meeting and they have moved it to a much larger room so that we can all come to see what a proxy fight is all about! (see my previous post). Everybody is talking about it and excited about the changes that could take place.
I'll fill you in on what happens.
Jon
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