Tired of working for clients who inevitably muck up your elegantly crafted solutions to their marketing problems?
In this video (courtesy Chicago’s Creative Mornings series), Jim Coudal of the Coudal Partners talks about moving his ad agency to a client-free model; they started manufacturing and selling their own goodies, and never went back.
2011/06 CreativeMornings with Jim Coudal from CreativeMornings Chicago on Vimeo.
Coudal founded and sells the hugely popular Field Notes line of notebooks (an Underground fave, and yes, you may consider that a blatant commercial plug).
Twice in my life I had a realistic shot at selling my own products, and to this day I can’t tell you if I made the right decisions by passing. Both occurred during high-tech boom periods, and I was making very good money doing something I already knew how to do.
I think (or cling to) the idea that passing was smart, though I still idly wonder if I could be living on 3000 acres instead of the three I currently own.
Someone who said “yes” is copywriting blogger Matthew Stibbe (a software developer in a prior life). He built a web-based HR service and is now busy becoming rich beyond his wildest dreams.
Or not. You’ll have to ask him.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
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