One is not always the loneliest number for agents
Christine Hall
Houston Business Journal

The instability of the Houston job market in the advertising and marketing industry over the past few years has led many professionals to change agencies or even start their own firms.

Some feel there is no place like their agency home. However, others are finding it just as rewarding to be a solo act, thanks in part to advancements in technology which make it easier to work from home. For many, a major attraction of the field is the fact that it allows the choice.

On my own
The lack of stability in the industry prompted Sylvester Garza, owner of Sylvester Garza Photography, to go out on his own. " It's an advantage to work for myself because there is no stability right now. As an entrepreneur, I am able to deal with that," he says. "I also like being in a different situation every day and dealing with different people, which is unlike a large company situation."

Garza, who has been a commercial photographer for 16 years, received a degree in journalism, and specializes in business-to-business photography and product illustration for advertising and marketing purposes. He has worked with companies as large as ChevronTexaco Corp. to small business such as jewelry stores. Taking college courses in commercial photography was not enough to feed Garza's hunger for creativity, so he found a photographer that he could assist, and spent over a year learning the business before looking for his own clients. " Working on my own has fulfilled a need for me in the creative process," he says.

Tracy Torma agrees. Twenty-one years ago, she formed Torma Communications, a writing and editing company, after a career in newspaper journalism and doing public affairs for Houston Lighting & Power Co.
After having children, she found there weren't enough hours in a day to both care for them and put in the time she was spending at work, so in 1983, in the midst of Houston's energy bust, she went out on her own.
Torma worked six years at home, then realized that she needed help, so she hired seven people and expanded into an office for a couple of years.

At one point, she decided to work at home again. Torma reduced her staff to two other writers, and all three now work from their homes. She also established a virtual work environment so the three could stay connected.

" It is so different now -- the Internet makes it possible to be anywhere," Torma says. "I feel liberated now, much more so than when I had a two-hour-a-day commute."

One big happy family
No matter what size an agency is, the workplace should be a creative environment where everyone generates ideas for clients and has the right kind of culture to help clients reach their marketing goals, says Judi Martin, senior partner and managing director for Brouillard Communications Inc. Brouillard's parent company is headquartered in New York City but is also part of London-based WPP.

Martin says having that kind of network is an advantage. " We can offer vast resources to clients," she says. "We also share resources among the Brouillard offices -- I work with the Dallas office and the New York office regularly."

Dave Hoyt, senior art director for Rives Carlberg, agrees that working independently separates the individual from the agency world and the people involved in it. " The stimulating creative atmospheres you'll find at most agencies are definitely missed," he says. "The fun, the camaraderie, the relationships -- most of these are what draw you back to the agency life." In addition, Hoyt says agencies allow the opportunity to work on a mix of accounts, many that are multimillion-dollar accounts by clients who are willing to spend the money to create multimedia campaigns. " It's these cohesive campaigns that we get to contribute to and work on as a team that ultimately makes a difference in the client's and the agency's success," he adds.

Money is one of the biggest differences between agencies and entrepreneurs. Torma says the freelance world is all about "feast or famine," with schedules being frantic one week and slow the next. The independent agent can't count on receiving a paycheck every two weeks.

Also, at agencies people are hired to handle administrative tasks, freeing up others to be the creative ones, Hoyt notes.

" If, as a freelancer, you don't have the discipline to keep up with all your new administrative duties, invoices don't go out, which means you don't get paid," he says. "Let alone the fact that clients can take anywhere from 60 to 120 days to actually cut a check. Your payment schedule ends up feeling like a roller coaster. Some days you're living large and some days you're checking the mailbox every other hour."
Both agencies and freelancers suffer when they lose an account, Martin notes, but the blow can hit a freelancer harder, while a large agency with a greater number of accounts may have an easier time absorbing the loss.

Wading through the differences
Despite many of the differences, several professionals say they are happy where they are. Torma says the greatest advantage of having her own agency is the freedom to control her own schedule. " I'm not just doing one job for one client, and I am able to do what I love to do, which is write and edit publications," she says.

Garza also enjoys making his own schedule, but he says he has had to learn to organize his time so that he can devote his efforts to the creative side of his work. " I had a person come in and set up systems to help me be organized," he says. "That way, I can make changes depending on what the priorities for that day are."

Some freelancers may qualify for minority-owned or woman-owned business certification that might not be available to them if they worked for larger agencies. Instead, Garza says he has resources similar to those who have large agency networks by belonging to entrepreneurial organizations such as the International Association of Business Communicators.

Says Garza, "In organizations like IABC, you get the chance to meet other people in the same situation who provide a lot of support."

From the May 28, 2004 print edition of the Houston Business Journal