Small But Mighty Agency: Win clients and build better networks for marketing and consulting agencies

If you can set yourself up to avoid the Self Employment Trap of owning an agency in the first few years of business, the result is a business that sets you up for more time freedom. What’s the Self Employment Trap? It’s when you the business owner become the chief of everything by day juggling all the responsibilities and firefighter by night fixing all the problems, and feeling like you don’t have a team that you can trust. Meet Shannon, she is a consultant turned agency-owner. We explore why she started an agency, the things she would do differently if she were to start again, and what she is doing to pave her way forward to building a bigger team to get out of day to day operations Shannon DeSouza’s boutique digital marketing agency is based in Vancouver, where she leads all initiatives on web design, social media coaching and launch campaigns. Her professional experience comes from the software industry, where she spent 10 years working alongside CEO’s. For the last 5 years, her digital marketing agency has helped clients become more profitable by gaining more visibility, driving traffic, and increasing their sales online.On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency: 4:10 Why positioning herself as a consultant first was the right first step8:20: Who she doesn’t want to be in her business and what was holding her back9:32: What is the first system and process she invested in for her business 10:31: What she would do differently in her first year of business12:43: Insights about her clients behavior before they buy and how that has changed her service offerings15:22: What she is doing in her own social media to warm up cold audiences24:03 The exact mindset block on money that she had to overcome to get to the next level 36:20: Why men and women are different when it comes to the selling Show LinksMarketing 4 Moms WebsiteMarketing 4 Moms on LinkedInMarketing 4 Moms on InstagramThis episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereThanks for listening to the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast, if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review on iTunes or send a screenshot on Instagram while tagging me  @audreyjoykwan

Making a pivot in business can be extreme or it can be very natural. Hear how Christine pivoted her mom blog to provide services that her advertisers didn’t know they needed until she naturally connected them to her digital marketing service-offerings.And then faced with an opportunity to change a competitive environment. Christine shares why  she evolved her service offerings again to offer CMO for hire services. PLUS  if you’ve ever thought about bringing your significant other into your team, Christine and I have a conversation about her decision to  bring her husband into the business, what happened and why it ultimately didn’t work.  Christine Pilkington has been consulting in digital marketing and product development for so long she can remember a world before content marketing, social media and mobileHer client roster includes some of the world’s biggest brands like AOL, BMW, MINI, Chevrolet, RadioShack, and Canada’s top media brands like Maclean’s, CityTV and Today’s Parent.On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency: 3:20: From corporate job to moving across country and starting a mom blog8:47: The anatomy of profitable service offerings for a mom blog12:30: Adding new services to the agency and the value of the “learn it” approach15:23: Having her husband join the business, what she learned and why it ultimately didn’t work out19:04: How do CMO for hire services work?21:03: Why Christine doesn’t see her company as an agency23:03: How the definition of agency is evolving Show LinksVancouvermom.ca Crisp MediaThis episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereThanks for listening to the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast, if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review on iTunes or send a screenshot on Instagram while tagging me  @audreyjoykwan

How do service based business owners miss opportunities for bigger plays in sales calls? You’ve been there and I’ve been there. It happens when the stakes are high and your nerves get the best of you. That’s why we’re talking about sales calls today and how to spot opportunities to close bigger deals with two ways of thinking. Hint: my favorite is: “peeling an onion”. Allison Davis is a sales trainer and coach. With nearly 20 years of sales experience, Allison's contributions have elevated the revenue of companies like National Geographic, Time Out North America and Gabrielle Bernstein, Inc. Allison now focuses on sharing her empathic and human approach to selling with business owners who desire a fresh, modern sales process that feels organic and aligned — not stale and prescribed.On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency: 5:41: Two common mistakes people make on sales calls8:33: what happens when we approach sales conversations with a script9:17: How to hit “beats” in a sales call using the ALIGN framework10:54: Using the concept of “peeling an onion” in a sales call to get to the bigger pain points and therefore the bigger sale15:35: Tap into the power of drilling down and sticking to one big pain point in a sales call16:05: The difference between being good and being great in a sales call19:14: Storytelling as a superpower and how to marry storytelling and presentation decks in sales Show LinksALIGN Download: https://allison-davis.com/align/Follow Allison on LinkedInFollow Allison on InstagramClubhouse: @allison-davisThis episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereNow it’s time to build your Small But Mighty AgencyThanks for listening to the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast, if you enjoyed this episode please leave a review on iTunes or send a screenshot on Instagram while tagging me  @audreyjoykwanListen on AppleListen on Spotify

Discover why identifying the missing processes for other businesses is an opportunity that service-based business owners can miss and how Joel invested his time to build a delivery process that set him and his team up as the go to experts in an uncontended niche. Joel Klettke is the Founder of Case Study Buddy a specialized team who help B2B brands capture, share and cash in on customer success stories. He is  also a sought after conversion copywriter for SaaS and B2B, having served clients like Hubspot, WP Engine and Scott’s Cheap Flights. On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency: 10:08: What is the the value of being in a deep niche and why it’s the opposite of limiting14:46: Using one simple marketing strategy to grow both his businesses 16:44: The power of defining and articulating his process to exponential growth19:53: Why he thinks of his company as a powerful process masquerading as a company 20:43: How he went through “the muck” to figure out what works30:13: The catastrophic failure of hiring 10 people into his business and why it failed32:10: Why people who are good at their craft have a difficult time stepping into the manager role and building a team for their business 34:57: How he decided on the right partner for his business and perspectives on partnerships Show Links:Case Study Buddy WebsiteLinkedIn: Joel KlettkeTwitter: Joel KlettkeThis episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereNow it’s time to build your Small But Mighty AgencyThanks for tuning into the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, head over to Apple Podcast to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn or visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media.Listen on AppleListen on Spotify

 If you have a sales ceiling that you keep bumping up against and can’t seem to bust through? Or maybe you’re navigating the complexities of an efficient small team? Listen in on this candid conversation about mindset blocks and team wins and struggles with Lindsay O’Donnell. Lindsay O'Donnell is the founder and owner of Piquant Marketing, a Vancouver-based digital marketing agency that specializes in health food. After years of being an activist and bouncing around different industries, she found her calling working with small food businesses wanting to change the world.On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency: 5:05  – Why the thinking behind “when I have extra money then I will hire” is flawed7:43  – Learning to delegate and the mindset shift that needs to take place to go from doing to delegating13:34  – The different stages of hiring and how Lindsay is managing her team of 12 contractors20:56  –  The relationship between hitting sales goals and building a team 26:18  – Why team members might not own the work like you the business owner wants them too34:08  – The additional activities that Lindsay says contributed to the best sales month everShow LinksPiquant MarketingPiquant Marketing on Instagram  This episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereNow it’s time to build your Small But Mighty AgencyThanks for tuning into the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, head over to Apple Podcast to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn or visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media. Listen on AppleListen on Spotify

Get an inside peek into how this Award-Winning Strategy Agency of The Year is doing things differently. With 37 people (and growing), his agency has no departments and instead uses a concept called casting, to bring the right people into the right creative projects.  Hear how Scot and his team reduce the fear of failure and perfectionism paralysis by actively showing clients the quantity of ideas that failed to get to the quality ones. Scot Keith is the co-founder and CEO of 123w an idea and design agency that launched in 2013 with humble beginnings in a small garage in Vancouver. Scot has a long-standing success record in creative agencies, before co-founding 123w,  he worked at Palmer Jervis DDB, Lowe Roche, and helped to start-up Zulu Alpha Kilo and his first company Kommunity. On this episode of Small But Mighty Agency:  3:44  – How the greatest weakness in his business became the greatest opportunity for his brand positioning.4:28  – Why are 45% of his team members creative directors?8:32  – Why say no to having departments and how he uses the concept of casting9:33  – The core principles of casting and going against the casting stereotypes for the most creative campaigns12:21  – Why creativity doesn’t come out of thin air and his methodical approach to creativity14:02 – How to consistently arrive at great work14:33 – Why showing clients where you failed is an ingredient for success18:33 – The value of being relentless and the impact on his business19:55 – Why having an award winning agency parallels a winning sports team21:56 – The most important lesson you can learn as a leader Show Links123w Website Scot Keith Linkedin Simon Sinek  Malcolm Gladwell Book "Outliers" (10,000 hours) This episode is brought to you by the FREE Strategic Connections RoundtableJoin the free Strategic Connections Roundtable where creatives, consultants and service-based business owners can meet new business connections without the awkwardness of traditional networking. It's a curated experience where the group fit is curated so that connections and conversations thrive.That means that every month, a strategic connections roundtable will bring together a group of service based business owners in similar stages of business who can benefit from knowing each other SO that you canMake connections easierShare what your business offersDiscover new resourcesAnd have an opportunity to mastermind a challengeSave your free seat right hereThanks for tuning into the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, head over to Apple Podcast to subscribe, rate, and leave your honest review. Connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn or visit my website for even more detailed strategies, and be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media. Click here to listen on Apple Click here to listen on Spotify 

If you’re a creative, consultant, or agency owner who wants to know what the rollercoaster ride really looks like to grow your business from one to many — — you’re in the right place. My guests and I pull back the curtains on the realities of growing and running agencies of different sizes and what it takes to build a team.And if you’re anything like me, you want more than the highlight reel, you want to learn from the mistakes of others so that you can stop short of the same mistakes.I'm your host, Audrey Joy Kwan I spend my days as a coach and consultant to multiple 6 and 7 figure agency owners. For the last 7 years, I’ve been behind the scenes helping people grow, lead and operate small but mighty agencies.Here at the Small But Mighty Agency Podcast, we'll uncover what works —and equally as important— what didn't work to get these business owners to where they are today.Ready? Set. Let's go.