Having spent the best part of the last 10 years ‘doing digital’ from the client-side, I’ve been thinking good and hard about moving (digital) agency-side. Most of the people I’ve spoken to have been encouraging in principle.

But then I’ve spent the last 4 years working within the non-profit sector, and I’m aware that an end product that results in ‘good’ is pretty important to me. So I’ve been in a bit of a quandary.

I recently went to talk to an up-and-coming, exciting design and branding agency with a great roster of clients. They didn’t ‘do digital’ but wanted to. The interview had gone quite well, I thought. At the end, when it came to the inevitable ‘do you have any questions?’ bit, I asked: ‘Why do you exist?‘.

The ECD (and co-founder) didn’t really have an answer. I ended up feeling embarrassed for having asked. It wasn’t a premeditated question – I just thought of it there and then – and it wasn’t as accusatory as it might come across written down here. But at least it’s given me a marker for the sort of organisation I want to work for.

It’s quite an important thing, isn’t it? Existing for a good reason. I’d like to think that most organisations do, though maybe that isn’t the case.  And, no, maximising financial profit alone doesn’t count as a good reason. That might be for another blog post.

So what, or who, am I looking for?

You can obviously be a non-profit or charity.  Working to inspire political and social change is brilliant.

You can be a business. I’d love to work for a full-throttle commercial company that’s making or doing exciting things (in as sustainable a manner as possible). ‘New’ is fantastic, as long as it’s ‘new’ and ‘better’ at the same time.

You can be an agency. As Oliver Payne says: “The ‘problem’ with advertising is that it creates desire where there is none. But it’s the ability to create desire where there is none that could be our saving grace when it comes to persuading people to use less water to wash, or to walk instead of driving.” There’s definitely scope for agencies to do good. At least in part, most do. I’d love to help people do wonderful things by letting other people know about them. I haven’t worked agency-side before, but I think my skills would sit pretty comfortably within an agency framework.

I can do digital. I can do ideas, strategy and I can do a bit of creative. I can do getting things done. I’d like to think I ‘add value’. I’ll sit wherever you like.

Here I am on LinkedIn, for a full profile.

Anyway, if any of the above sounds like you or your organisation, and I sound like someone who could help you do what you do better, I’d love to talk.

You can email me at Steve at this domain name. Or DM meltingman on twitter. And please feel free to RT or in other way forward this to anyone else who might be interested.