A Good Read

My bookshelf is full of ad books, favorite magazines, and Michael Phelps' book (inscribed with a note from my mom saying she bought it before she knew he was a pot head). And if you ever looked for ad books- they are mostly about copywriting. Now, I consider myself an account person and you can't fully teach yourself about account through books. You have to learn it and have the natural instincts. Therefore, my ad books are mostly creative based except one. The Art of Client Service by Robert Solomon.

My copy of the book is full of tiny little corner folds with stuff I found particularly profound. It is a pretty short book with 58 little chapters with titles like, "Know When to Look it Up; Know When to Make it Up", "Respect What it Takes to Do Great Creative", "Be Prepared to Throw Away the Script", "Judgment Overrides Any Rule", and "Remember to Say 'Thank You'". Full of his own experiences. It is very simple stuff, information you should already know, and may not realize you know it. Solomon makes it easy for you, writes it down and bound it into a book. So you don't forget. If you didn't know it already- now you do.

One of my favorite chapter is Chapter 13, "Don't Fall in Love with Good Work". It starts off with Solomon trying to convince an idea is best for the client, however his boss, the head of the company didn't like it. This is how Solomon responded: "'It is risky,' I conceded, 'but not because it's wrong, or because it's off strategy. It's risky because the client has never seen anything like this from us before, and its not what she's expecting. We'd be crazy to kill it without at least showing it to her. It's just too good.'" And the dialogue continues a bit more. But, what I like about is the message. Being able to do something because it is RIGHT not because it is what the client wants to see. Something I truly stand for. (If you want to know who won.. you are going to have to read the book, OR ask me...)

I strongly recommend this book. Amazon.com has it for pretty cheap, go to your favorite bookstore, or look at his website that I linked earlier. I bet you'd learn something.