Top 10 reasons I like my job

In looking back at this blog, I realize that it might appear that I don't much care for my job or this business. Well it's time to set the record straight and provide some necessary balance (before I re-embark on my mean-spirited tear, after all it is much easier and more interesting to poke at the sores).

While it might not have been my childhood dream, I've enjoyed my career in advertising sales and still do. Yes it's getting tougher and less personal. But it sure beats being a doctor or lawyer (ever seen a happy doctor or lawyer?). So without further ado, I present the top 10 reasons why I like my job:

1. No punch clock. We have a job to do and the hours can be long but we have more freedom to come and go than almost any other occupation.
2. It's nice to have a job where you talk to people for a living. I enjoy one-on-one meetings as well as formal presentations before a group where all eyes are on me (and preferably those eyes are open!).
3. The money. It can be pretty good. Of course it helps to sell a lot of ads.
4. The expense account. Lunches, spas, golf – these are the perks of the trade. Good idea to bring a client.
5. Magazines are interesting. And the product changes with every issue. It's not only readers that look forward to the next one and greet it like a new present has arrived.
6. Lots of free magazines to read. And reading makes you smarter!
7. Creative people. It's a privilege to work alongside the creative people that write, edit and art direct magazines. Sure I feel a bit guilty that I earn more and have not one iota of their talent but all the same, I enjoy observing the creative process.
8. You might find this hard to believe, but I really like agency people. So much so that I call them all the time and will meet them at the drop of a hat. But seriously, they are mostly young, fun, friendly, and smart (they must be reading lots of magazines too). I've almost never left a meeting with a planner and not felt like I made a new best friend.
9. The money can be pretty good (did I already say that?).
10. Making a sale. Does anything feel better? Okay maybe a few things do provide more of a rush. But you gotta admit it, this is near the top of the list.

Now somebody send me an insertion order. C'mon, you can do it.

Will the real Pinocchio please stand up!

We are reps (except for a couple of editors and a few media buyers that stumbled into my terrarium). That inherently makes us untrustworthy. Not that we lie or even embellish, but we are unlikely to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth". Some would argue that that is the job of the competition's reps. Others say "buyer beware". I say: tell the most positive version of the truth you can. And I do. And I like to think the media planners I meet believe me. Of course negotiations require some degree of poker-face but that's true for players on both sides of the table.

But what about those people sitting across the pot of money. Are they to be trusted? Not always apparently. For instance, why is it that some media planners tell you something that is simply untrue as if you will never find out? How many times have I heard that there will be no magazines on the plan only to see ads in print a few months later?! Or that we are only using magazines belonging to one publishing company because they fought for and won 100% share only to see ads elsewhere a few months later?! Or that they are planning a campaign and need some really creative ideas only to learn that they were really pitching an account and naturally they did not win it. Or even worse, they did win it but the print campaign will be quite different than initially conceived. Like it won't have my magazine there after all. Well all of these have happened to me this spring. Have they happened to you too? And if these obvious fabrications are popping up, can you imagine how many other loads of bullsh_t are shipped our way? How often do they cast blame on to their mythical "client" when it's just not true?

Hey, I can live with the feeling of being an unworthy, obsequious reptile but please don't lie to me. I'm not a baby. I won't come crying because my magazine is not on the plan. Just tell me and provide a brief explanation that I can share with my boss. An honest one. One that won't reveal itself as pure fiction in the very near future.

Now that I got that bit of ugliness off my chest, back in my cage.

Thanks for the feedback

Well that kinda worked.

Seems that there are indeed a few people checking out the terrarium that is Rep Life. More than ever now thanks to uberblogger D.B. Scott who posts an average of 263 blogs daily and has quite the following over at Canadian Magazines. His plug sent over a busload of tourists and set a one-day traffic record for this site. Y'all come back now.

In typically polite Canadian fashion, the comments I received were all pats on the back rather than kicks to the head. One of you is obsessed with my true identity (yet you yourself posted anonymously) and I respond thusly:

I prefer hiding behind the scaly veneer of Reptile - (Wo)Man of Mystery. And isn't it more fun speculating? The truth is almost always a letdown. So once outed, I'd probably quit.

Besides, have you considered the possibility that Rep Life is the work of more than one person?

Those of you that did drop a line would like me to blog more often. What a culture we live in - never satisfied. Must be the cumulative effect of all the advertising we've been exposed to. But I subscribe to the wisdom of those who believe that "less is more", whatever the heck that means. So if you are tired of tuning in to see nothing new, might I suggest a modern way to keep track of new postings - subscribe to my feed (and others you follow). This is one of those free subscriptions (or as our industry sometimes calls it -- "by request"). You can start by visiting www.bloglines.com. It's free too. Once you set up your subscriptions, you need only check one site to get all your favourite blogs. Mine is at http://feeds.feedburner.com/RepLife. Or, if you have a supported feed reader, click on the orange XML button on my blog and take it from there. If I figured it out, so can you!

Dear reader:

I've been blogging for six months now. Yes, the entries have been coming less frequently and I'm sure I lost most of the small following created after that plug by Bill "Knievel" Shields over at Masthead (are you nuts Bill - motorcycle racing!). Still, I'll probably keep at it because it's more fun to be a writer than a reptile and fun is at a premium in this mad world.

Frankly it's a bit lonely being an anonymous blogger and I could really use a pat on the back or a kick in the head or something resembling feedback. We reps feed off of feedback. How do those writers do it? Toiling away for a buck-a-word and the faint hope of a National Magazine Award. How do they know if anybody read their piece or what they thought of it. That must kill them. At least we make sales and get commissions - that's feedback.

So since you are still there, it would be great if you would take a moment and pat me on the back or kick me in the head by sending along a comment. It's easy. All you have to do is click below where it says "0 comments" or maybe "1 comment" or if this works really well "21,234 comments", and then type in a few words (let me know if you don't want your message published) and the word verification and click publish. You can call me a fool, an illiterate, a nasty bitch or a witty observer of this tiny corner of the world we inhabit. Just so long as you call me.

Your friend and mine,

Reptile