In January, Mihael Ećimović joined the Client Outreach department. Collectively, the team added 335 companies and 1,157 people to our database, updated 1,788 companies and 2,244 people, and sent out over 486 custom emails to producers, creative directors, marketing managers, and photo editors around the world.
In January, I began working on our Oldest Promoted outreach process. We want to make sure all of our Member Photographers are promoted to prospective clients at least once per month. I worked through our list of members and find agencies, brands, and publications that match up well with their photographic specialties to promote them to. When I updated that client person’s information and emailed them, I included a promotion and link to the Member Photographer’s website. Additionally, last month I made photographer recommendations to Weber Shandwick for a beverage product shoot, to IPG / FCB Health for a healthcare shoot in Chicago, and to Northwestern Magazine for a portraiture project in India.
My focus in January was on People (Agencies). My job is the same as it was last month, when I was updating People (Publications). The most interesting thing in People (Agencies) was updating international people — some from Asia, some Europe. Also, I ended up adding a few new companies as well, after coming across people who were no longer working for the company to which we had them linked. Now my job was to link them to an already existing company in our database or, if their new company is worthwhile, to add it to our database and website. As always, the important thing is to find a photographer that best fits with the company we are updating. I received several responses, and our team connected with them right away.
My Client Outreach role this month was working on Brand People, focusing on those marked with the “Star” keyword, meaning those with marketing job titles, Producers, and/or those in production positions.
Some notable January client projects included a capabilities call with the Art Buyer of Pacific Communications. Additionally, WMer Nicole Poulin and I had a capabilities call with the CCO of Shiny, a full-service advertising agency in Wilmington, Delaware.
We kicked off the new year with a lot of excellent connections. In January, we had a lengthy capabilities call with Shell, and followed up with sample proposals for shoots to help our onboarding process to become a vendor with them. We connected with VML to discuss and bid on a project for UGG. Nicole and I also went to NYC for the day to meet with Weber Shandwick as well as Real Chemistry. Subsequently, Weber Shandwick asked us to bid on a project for a major beverage company.
I worked on Industries for the first half of the month, taking care of the most important Brands and the biggest companies in each LinkedIn Industry.
Then I got transferred to the Client Outreach Librarian role and got onboarded by Julie. This is my first time being a Librarian and learning about its responsibilities such as: meeting with the Client Outreach team to shed light on internal documentation as well as address questions and edge cases; working on keeping our internal documentation updated and understood by staff members; reconciling the client and company data records marked with the Delete keyword.
I joined the Client Outreach department this month. My first task was to update the oldest profiles on our WordPress site and make sure nothing fell between the cracks. At first, it was a bit confusing to navigate through the vast array of new keywords and client types, but with time and some effort, I eventually became accustomed to these nuances. After a week or two, I switched to the Publications (Companies) role, where I focused primarily on updating information specifically related to newspapers, magazines, etc.
In January, my primary responsibility was to find valuable contacts for the companies we keep track of in different vertical markets. To achieve this, I searched for contacts with creative job titles such as Art Directors and Creative Directors or Marketing Specialists. However, in some vertical markets, it was challenging to identify a relevant contact, especially when their field was not directly related to commercial or photo-related work, but finding solutions to challenges is a very important aspect of our work at Wonderful Machine.
In the middle of the month, I started a new role as an Industries updater. This is a complex role that involves going through all the industries we keep track of on LinkedIn to check for new valuable prospects. While doing that, I evaluate our target number of companies that we want to keep track of for each industry. I also assess the smallest of those companies to decide if they are worth it for our photographers. It is also crucial to keep track of any obsolete industry from the 240 industries we have recorded.
At the beginning of every year, I think it is always important to get organized, which sets the tone for productivity and success ahead. In January, I wanted to ensure that our vertical markets had clear definitions and examples so that our Client Outreach team felt confident in indicating these niche markets during their research. I updated our internal documentation with over 60 definitions that help reflect the types of companies our photographers are interested in. Then I proceeded to continue vertical research, focusing on companies that we label as “Pet Product Brands.” I added 23 new companies to our database in this market, and while all these companies center around the care of pets, their industries range from retail, home furnishings, and manufacturing, to even veterinary services.
We also created a new vertical, “Beverages: Non-Alcoholic,” which encompasses coffee drinks, sports drinks, and soft drinks alike. After adding these new companies, I looked for a contact at each company that represents their creative needs.
In January, I spent my time contacting People who work for Client Companies in our internal database, updating their information, and making recommendations on behalf of our Member Photographers. This vital role is the culmination of over a dozen staff members’ daily efforts; it combines our outreach work with our database upkeep and our membership services.
I began last month by updating companies in our database, but halfway through, I transitioned to updating individuals who work for publication companies. This process involves updating both the people in our database and the companies they’re associated with, ensuring accuracy on our website. Following this, we send outreach emails to inform clients about our website and showcase one of our Member Photographers in each email. Additionally, I focused on reaching out to clients we haven’t contacted in the longest time, aiming to reestablish connections and engagement.
I had two roles this January. First, I continued working on Client Companies (Publications) from December. Later, I started working on Client Companies (Agencies). It was interesting to see what Agencies from around the world were doing. I made sure that each profile was kept up to date and that the information was as accurate and concise as possible.
This month my primary focus was working and updating client profiles. Clients are the people and companies who hire (or influence the hiring of) commercial or editorial photographers or hire our producers. We want to include all the most important clients in the world in our database. In this case, I updated the profiles of Agencies and Brands. I updated the information in our database, and then I evaluated the quality of each company. I had to be discerning about which ones to pay attention to, examining every detail, and carefully assessing the individuals we were targeting.
In the latter part of the month, I moved into the Client Outreach department, where my main focus has been updating and maintaining our Client profiles. I identified the oldest Client profiles on our website and made any updates necessary on both our website and internal database. I’ve been updating and improving Client profiles to make sure our information is up-to-date.
At the beginning of the month, I was still deeply engaged in the merger process between Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, which morphed into the powerhouse called VML. This merger brought a lot of responsibilities, including updating our records to reflect the latest and most relevant information.
After that, I transitioned into managing Out of Office (OOO) replies. My job was to sort through emails, especially the automated ones from Clients or Photographers who were out of town or switched roles. Starting from the oldest emails, I double-checked things like email addresses, phone numbers, names, websites, addresses, and job titles. If there was any mention of a colleague filling in for them, I would search for their information and decide if the person was important for us. Once I had all the relevant information, I made sure to update everything in Daylite.
My focus in January was mostly on two things. My first role was promoting our Member Photographers to suitable Clients in the hopes of making a collaboration possible between the two. After that, my role was changed to Parent Companies, which is mainly focused on big companies that own other brands which are also usually important for us at Wonderful Machine. I would update all relevant information when working on these Parent Companies, after which I would make sure we have all the child companies that are worth having in our database. Likewise, it was important to make sure we have enough People linked to these companies as they are generally huge in size and have many employees.
Have questions about how we promote our photographers? Check out our Membership page. Want to know how you can get the most out of your Wonderful Machine membership? Check out our Jumpstart page or just reach out!