The Perfect Pitch Starts With Going First.

Despite the title, I'm going to spare you of baseball metaphors. Today is my first day of mourning the end of football season anyway (congrats Saints!).

If you're lucky (and at the right agency), after months of grunt work, interns and junior creatives are sometimes rewarded with a shot at the big time — an opportunity to pitch for a TV spot or some other high-profile project. It's a looong shot that your work will survive the first round. If you want to better your chances, I always give the same advice: go first. If your work shows a glimmer of promise, this may help you survive.

If you have several creative teams pitching concepts , there's a very good chance some of you are going to have similar ideas. My experiences have shown that by pitching the idea first, you own the idea by default. Unless the other creative teams come up with a much better twist, chances are you may be asked to help develop the spot under more senior supervision. And if no one has a similar idea, a senior team will still be assigned to help you with your concept — or take it over completely. (Sorry. It happens. You're just an intern.)

Whenever a team starts their pitch with "we had an idea similar to (NAME)," your idea further sets the bar others will be compared to.

Now there have been times when going first hasn't worked in my favor. I've had moments where my ideas stunk up the room so badly, I made everyone else look like creative geniuses. But failure has never stopped me from volunteering to present first. And if you are afraid to fail, maybe this isn't the right career for you. As creatives, we are always in the forefront. Agencies build their reputations on your ideas. So get ready to be highly scrutinized for your entire advertising career.

Sometimes interns take my advice. The ones that do are more often given more opportunities to pitch other projects. And those that keep showing initiative are the first to be offered permanent positions over applicants trying to break in the old fashion way.

If you're lucky, you may also have the start of an actual reel at the end of this project, which puts you miles ahead of the competition.

Teaching Your Parents The Facts Of Life.

There comes a time in everyone's life where you're going to have to sit your parents down and tell them about the facts of life — your life.

Did you ever have this conversation with your folks?

"Mom, Dad, I've given this a lot of thought... I - I want to work in advertising."

Did they give you that "crazy stare" that made you run to your bedroom? Or, did they go completely off? How long did it take until you regained consciousness?

I tried to spare some kids from the pain when I spoke at a high school career fair. Surprisingly, there were a lot more parents in attendance than usual. Normally, I just try to connect with the kids, but the adult presence made me switch gears a little bit.

I asked the students, "How many of you like to draw?" A few hands shot up.

"How many like to write? Stories? Poetry?" I continued and I got a few more responses.

"Parents, your kids can make a living doing this," I said. "I'm proof of that."

Have your parents tried to talk you out of pursuing a more artistic job for something more "sensible," like law or medicine? I know people who were "talked" out of advertising careers and other jobs with creative outlets. I think part of the reason may be that parents don't understand the work we do. I know members of my family don't fully understand my work. According to my grandmother, I'm responsible for every Chevy ad created in the last ten years. (And I would never deny her top bragging rights among her friends.) Fortunately, I have parents who fully supported their son's desire to pursue a career in this business. Not everyone is that fortunate. So I figured I could better help these kids by educating their parents.

After showing them some work samples, we talked about  portfolio schools and universities. Then I immediately addressed that all-important question: How much money can you make?

We pulled up some stats on salary.com. I didn't win any fans with starting salaries, but the earning potential made sure I didn't lose anyone either. The kids were a bit disappointed to find out you don't earn TV star salaries, even if your work is on the air. Still, I connected with several parents that night, understanding that their kids could make a livable wage drawing pictures and writing stories.

"Breaking into this business is not going to be easy," I concluded. "But it won't be as hard if they have your support."

So I told the students don't let anyone talk you out of the life you want for yourself. And if they ever needed help talking to their parents about pursuing advertising and other jobs that let them express themselves artistically, I'd provide information to help their parents understand.

That offer always stands.



 

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