Denise Shrivell on Working the Frantic World of Advertising – from Home

Denise Shrivell has made a success of working in the advertising industry and working from home over the last 10 years.

What is your elevator pitch?

MediaScope is a unique new resource connecting advertising buyers and sellers with a focus beyond mainstream to off & online niche, below the line, emerging and independent media. We offer a core service which addresses an increasing disconnect between advertising buyers and sellers in line with the fragmenting media market – and an effective platform for businesses which generates revenue through advertising.

We have a last minute ad alert service for advertising buyers – and an ad sales jobs page. I also practice one-on-one consulting helping businesses develop their advertising sales strategy.

What were the early days like trying to break into the industry?

I have been in the industry since I was 19 – I applied to a job ad in the Sydney Morning Herald as a Media Assistant in a small advertising agency in Milsons Point.  My career really just grew from there as the advertising bug caught me.

What is your background/experience?

I have worked for small and large advertising agencies in media planning and buying roles – and also major and independent publishers in advertising sales roles.  Some publishers include Fairfax Media, BRW and News Ltd.  In 2000 I started working for a website named Essential Baby which was sold to Fairfax Digital in 2007.  For the past 2 years I have been training sales people (specialising in digital sales) and consulting businesses in the development of their advertising sales strategies.  About 12 months ago the seed of an idea was planted in my mind – and MediaScope grew from there.

What ‘normal’ jobs have you done?

Believe it or not the only ‘normal’ jobs I have had – other than advertising (if you can call that normal) is working at Club Med in Malaysia as a GO, and English equivalent – Mark Warner – in the French Alps and Corsica.  It was a great time – enough said!

Were you ever tempted to get a ‘real job’?

Going back into the corporate world is tempting now and then – I miss the brains trust, social contact and particularly IT support! However, I now feel fortunate to be able to create and build a useful resource for an industry I have loved being a part of, and use my intellectual property and experience for my own benefit.  Plus, of course, the flexibility having my own business offers with my kids and family.

Do you see your life as a balance between ‘life’ and ‘work’, or are they well blended?

MediaScope is in start up mode so the balance is a little tipped right now.  However, I am finding it increasingly important to try to find that balance – to achieve the goals I have with MediaScope I need to look after myself both physically and mentally.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in growing your business?

So far the major challenge has been in the development of the MediaScope site. I have realised how incredibly important it is to surround yourself by suppliers you can trust, work and have some fun with. Aside from asking suppliers key questions about their service (research may be required to find these questions) my advice is to reference check, reference check and then reference check again.  Even after all this it is still a leap of faith in some ways.

I like working on my own and being able to make flexible and nimble decisions – but interestingly find it difficult when things are either going really well (no-one to celebrate with) and also when things are not going well (no-one to boost you up and brainstorm solutions with).

Also, consulting to myself has been difficult – I can see solutions for my clients very clearly, but have found it difficult to consult myself. Since talking to other business owners they have said similar things.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing MediaScope?

I would be a journalist or work client side. They have never known what it is like not to get a question answered, phone call returned or email responded to – I think I would like that for a while!

What qualities do you respect and value in people you work with? Why are these qualities important to you?

Integrity, honesty, respect and a high work ethic are qualities which are incredibly important to me.  I try to look for the win-win in every deal or arrangement I put forward when working with other businesses.  I expect the same in return – and sometimes get let down.

What do you do in your spare time?

Hang out with my family – though there is not much spare time at the moment.  I do like to read, of all things – royal biographies and autobiographies (did you know there is only one royal auto-biography?). Politics, government, religion, and invention (all history) surrounds kings, plus there is a good dose of gossip, scandal, fashion and jewels.

I’d like to take up golf again (my husband and I played all the time before kids came along). We plan to start travelling and going skiing more often from this season now the kids are at a better age.  Last year we went to Beijing – fascinating and highly recommend.  We also like camping – the only time we can truly turn off and escape all the technology surrounding us.

Who or what other businesses or business people inspire you?

I greatly admire any independent publisher – large or small and whatever medium.

Name your three favorite websites – the ones you visit regularly?

Google, Mumbrella, Digital Ministry, Talking Digital, Crikey – and MediaScope of coarse!

Do you Twitter? Do you Blog?

Yes – both.

I have two twitter accounts – one for MediaScope and the other for me.

http://www.twitter.com/mediascope - where I have developed comprehensive twitter lists of advertising buyers, sellers, products & services and ad industry associations, groups and clubs.

http://www.twitter.com/deniseshrivell - more personal tweets and communication with my industry contacts.

I have also just started a blog – http://www.mediascopedirectory.wordpress.com – where I plan to offer opinion, latest news and guidance to publishers in advertising revenue development.

I am also very active on LinkedIn.

If you were able to invite any three people to dinner, who would they be and why?

I am a quite partial to Daniel Johns from SilverChair – I find him complex, thoughtful, innovative and very intriguing – and I like his music – Straight Lines, The Greatest View and Young Man/Old Man are among my favourite songs. I would ask Seven-of-Nine (from Star Trek-Voyager) for my husband – and then whatever client I was chasing at the time.  What a party!

Do you have a favorite saying?  If so, what is it?

Yes –‘It is amazing how lucky I get, the harder I work’. I very much relate to this.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

There should be a super hero named – ‘The Multi-Tasker’ – I would supercharge my ability to juggle the many balls I have in the air.

What is the biggest challenge to young people today?

I see how much advertising & marketing is pushed at my kids in everything they do. Marketing, business and political agenda is now disguised as news and current affairs. I try to teach my kids to be aware of advertising and discerning in the information they are exposed to.

Do you remember the exact moment you decided to work from home?

I have worked from home for nearly 10 years now – it was more a decision which came about with the birth of my first child.  I was on maternity leave from Fairfax/BRW and met the girls involved with then start-up site, Essential Baby. I had a very settled baby and was looking for something to do during her nap and quiet times. Seven years later I was back at Fairfax after the sale of Essential Baby.

If you ruled the world, what would be the first law you put into place?

Right now – I would stop this stupid whaling thing, give a fairer go to refugees and make adoption from other countries easier and more accessible.

Overall I think the world to reassess its priorities – we spend so much on things like sport when there are people who do not have access to basic rights of life like clean water, education and medicine. The divide between the ‘have-far-too-much’ and the ‘have-nothings’ is too wide.  I wonder if this is what future generations will judge us for?

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Get away from that very good looking boy – he will break your heart.

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Leah Gibbs is the Founder and Business Manager of Lifestyle Careers. Lifestyle Careers is an online recruitment job board. Our niche and specific focus is the advertising of flexible employment and work at home positions. It is designed for professionals wanting to balance their work and personal life.

Tagged as: advertising, denise shrivell, entrepreneur, mediascope, work life