A CPA firm spends $11,200 on a Web site that attracts only a handful of visitors. An insurance agency invests $80,000 in an advertising campaign and no one sees the ads. An alternative health clinic sends out 8,000 direct mail fliers and gets 26 responses. A manufacturer spends $28,000 on an attractive brochure that no one uses.

f you were managing a start-up band, would you depend solely on Lady Luck? Would you rely on Fortune dumping a great songwriter/arranger in your lap, great musicians who can actually get along, and a strong, powerful record company backing you? Would you just wait without searching for talent, obtaining signed contracts, securing studio time, or acquiring any backing? Of course not. Chris Burand wonders why so many agency principals take this approach to getting good producers.