Are You a Visionary or Volunteer at Your Agency? Becoming a True CEO with Casey Benedict | Ep# 715

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Are you making a mark in your specific niche? Have you taken the necessary steps to elevate your brand and attract your ideal customers? Our guest today, a seasoned agency owner with fourteen years of experience working with influencers believes these are areas where agencies could learn from influencers, who by heavily focusing on developing their brands can grow to compete with big brands that have historically overshadowed smaller competitors. Tune in to learn more about her agency’s approach to influencer marketing and why you should stop being a volunteer at your own agency.

Casey Benedict is the CEO and founder of Maverick Mindshare, an influencer marketing agency with over 14 years of experience in the industry. Casey shares insights on working with influencers, emphasizing the importance of expertise, processes, safeguards, and quality assurance; she also talks about learning to delegate and the importance of finding your zone of genius and staying in that lane as a way for owners to always stay in touch with the parts of the business they most enjoy.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Using influencer collaborations to grow your agency.

• What agencies can learn from influencers.

• Changing your mindset from volunteer to visionary.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

Being the Bridge for Brands and Influencer Marketing

Casey's journey into the world of influencer marketing began with her own experience as a home baker and blogger. She was inspired by the community of food bloggers and the potential for brands to leverage their influence. This experience led her to a blogger retreat, where she observed the challenges faced by bloggers and PR agents in collaborating effectively. It also sparked the idea of becoming the bridge between bloggers and brands — and her agency was born.

Through her agency, Casey has successfully facilitated mutually beneficial connections between influencers and brands, prioritizing the quality and authenticity of influencer campaigns.

In today's landscape, numerous influencers are rivaling major brands, such as Mr. Beast's Feastables competing with Hershey’s and Logan Paul's immensely popular energy drink. This presents a compelling opportunity for agency owners to tap into, enabling them to compete with the largest global agencies by elevating their brand.

Combining Agency Processes with the Human Elements of Influencer Marketing

Casey's agency has been working with influencers for over 14 years and she disagrees with the common perception that influencers can be difficult to work with. Although she acknowledges this is likely due to her agency’s expertise and attention to processes.

She attributes this perception to the fact that influencers are human beings, with their unique personalities and perspectives. In traditional marketing, the focus is often on digital media buys or static content, whereas influencer marketing involves collaborating with real people who have the power to engage audiences authentically. This human element introduces a level of unpredictability and risk, but Casey believes that with the right processes and safeguards in place, these challenges can be mitigated.

How Clarity Plays a Role in Marketing Your Agency

Over the past fifteen years, influencers have shown us that by being authentic and true to themselves, they can compete against major corporations and make a significant impact in the industry. Likewise, it is crucial for agencies to elevate their brand and stand out boldly to compete against the biggest companies in the world.

Understanding your brand thoroughly can be a time-consuming process, but by defining core values and target audience, you can establish a strong foundation and set a clear direction for you and your team. This clarity not only guides your decision-making process but also helps you connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Agency owners often dedicate most of their time to helping their clients and overlook the need to focus on their own business. Casey has also faced this challenge, but she recognizes the importance of building a brand that resonates with people.

Imposter syndrome, self-doubt, or fear of judgment are just some of the reasons holding agency owners back when it comes to sharing their thoughts and ideas with the world. Despite the plethora of opinions on social media about how to build a brand, putting yourself out there requires courage, vulnerability, and a willingness to take risks.

Overcoming these barriers demands starting small, embracing unique strengths, and gradually expanding their presence, enabling agency owners to overcome their fears and establish themselves as confident thought leaders in their industry.

Changing Your Mindset from Volunteer to Visionary

At one point in her agency’s growth, Casey had to ask herself if she wanted to be a non-profit or a CEO, based on the tasks she was taking on. Her day-to-day was filled with things she should’ve been delegating and it felt like she was doing volunteer work for her agency, rather than stepping into the role of a CEO.

It is crucial to prioritize tasks that hold greater value and impact for your agency, rather than becoming entangled in smaller, less significant tasks that could be assigned to others. If you find yourself falling into this pattern, categorize tasks as $10, $100, or $1000 tasks to swiftly identify and prioritize those that will significantly impact your agency's growth and success. By delegating, you can entrust tasks to someone who will approach them with a level of enthusiasm that you may not possess, yielding superior results.

Doing $10 tasks may create a sense of productivity, but once you really look into it, you can pay someone to take care of that giving yourself time to tackle the bigger tasks. It’s about building your agency around your life, your values, and the things you want to do. This way, you build a stronger organization and attract more of the right people.

Likewise, agency owners may feel unprepared to invest in growth, but according to Casey, it is essential to adopt the mindset that your agency is equipped to handle expanded business and growth. Taking the necessary steps to support this growth, whether by hiring additional team members, investing in marketing, or expanding services, is crucial for sustained success.

What Do You Do Best? Staying True to Your Strengths

Part of getting to a point where you’re effectively delegating tasks across your team is embracing diversity in team dynamics. As an agency owner, it's important to recognize that not everyone will approach tasks the same way you do, and that's perfectly fine. Embracing a team with diverse skills, personalities, and working styles is essential for the success of any organization. This diversity can lead to increased efficiency, creativity, and overall success.

Realizing this took the animus out of team differences for Casey, as she was able to embrace diversity in team dynamics and understand each team member's strengths and weaknesses. By recognizing what each individual excels at and what they may struggle with, agency owners can delegate tasks more effectively.

Casey encourages agency owners to find what they do best and let that guide them. There’ll be many voices wanting to tell you what’s best, which KPIs to follow, and what to focus on so make sure you touch base with that zone of genius as much as you can.

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