Book Review: Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy- My highlights, lessons, and disagreements
David Ogilvy was a door to door salesman of kitchen stove in England in 1948, he started OGILVY & MATHER the biggest advertising company in the world, with over $5 Billion in revenue in the USA.
He was born in 1911 and died in 1999. In 1962 he wrote a book ‘Confessions of an advertising man” As at my writing the book has sold over one million copies and i like what he did he willed the copyright of the book to his son on his twenty-first birthday.
That is a powerful display of wisdom, the royalties from that book alone that’s like $20,000 a year alone. I never new knew that just as parents will properties to children you can will the royalties of your book to you seed
There are so many lessons from this book but i’ll share a few
#1. The Power Of Written Goals: In 1948 when he open his doors for business he did something biblical and spiritual, hear it from his lips “ I made a list of the five clients i wanted most: General foods, Bristol-Myers, Campbell Soup Company, Lever Brothers, and Shell” Such demonstration of faith! He got all five of them as clients. To help you understand the audacity of his faith, he just relocated to USA from England at the time with no connection, network and he was a novice in the advertising business. The Bible said ‘Write the vision down and make it plain” This is why i write down my goals daily, including this morning over a cup of coffee.
#2. The Power Of Purpose: “ Why did i write it? first, to attract new clients to my agency. Second to condition the market for a public offering of our shares. Third, to make myself better known in the business world. It achieved all three of these purposes” This book was written in 1962, but if you look at the purpose correctly you’re seeing content marketing. His book was his ‘foot in the door’ strategy because a CEO who reads the book will most likely want to have a meeting.
#3. On Getting Clients: His client attraction strategies are still relevant today, here are a few: “ I followed Edward Bernays ( He is the father of propaganda) advice to make no more than two speeches a year” He used public speaking to get clients, my only disagreement here will be instead to just two speeches a year make it twenty! As an entrepreneur you should embrace every opportunity to speak to people virtually or physically: webinars, instagram live, or physical seminars. The truth is you never know who is listening or who is listening knows. Notice he read books by Edward Bernays this is because successful entrepreneurs study the greats that have existed before them
#4. Still On Getting Clients: “I wrote and sent frequent progress to 600 people in every walk of life. This barrage of direct mail was read by the most august advertisers. For example, when i solicited part of the Seagram account, Sam Bronfman played back to me the last two paragraphs of a sixteen-page speech i had sent him shortly before; and he hired me” Hahaha i love this guy!!!! This the power of content marketing. You will sell more to clients that you educate, than to clients that you don’t. Notice the medicine man in the bus, who teaches you about blood pressure before he sells it to passengers in the bus.
#5. On SHAME: “Gentle reader, if you are shocked by these confessions of self-advertisement, i can only plead that if i had behaved in a more professional way, it would have taken me twenty years to arrive. I had neither time nor money to wait. I was poor, unknown, and in a hurry.” Hahahaha What a man! This resonates with a lot. This is why i am never ashamed to sell.
HALF YEAR PRAYER MEETING, LAUGHTER, AND LESSONS
On the 30th of every month i teach members of my whatsapp group or i bring in an expert to teach. Last month i brought in Dr. Chika to teach on dental health and Pastor Martins to pray for us as we enter a new month. See the video below as we danced, laughed and prayed. One more thing, before you watch the video join my whatsapp group N5,000/monthly Join SALES FACTORY WHATSAPP GROUP