Hear Thom Vest of Studio Seven Consulting share his ideas on a number of topics including:-how his company uses experiences to mobilize influencers for brands-why deciding on a golden purpose at the beginning of a project is critical-who makes up a dream team at Studio Seven Consulting-the role of analytics in building a successful campaign-why he still stays hands on with each client his company serves

Agency Labs is like a swiss army knife for agencies, providing just the right tool at the right time. By finding a major pain point in the design and agency world (and solving it), they found that they can serve agencies of any size with their technology and development needs, helping them to get off the production roller coaster.In this episode, hear Jonathan Soares describe why they don't do remote work, why they work with agency partners only, and how avoiding emotional decisions and remaining analytical helps build trust. We also discuss topics like business development, hiring, and how processes drive quality in the Agency Labs business model.

Raven and Finch helps companies build brands with music and sound, sometimes working directly with clients and sometimes consulting with other branding agencies.Some of the topics discussed in this episode:-Profile and profit projects-The role of digital and technology in musical composition-Helping companies clarify what they hope to achieve with music-Understanding the importance of a competitor’s musical brand-Sound logos-Hearing as an untapped sense in branding-What we can learn about musical branding from the James Bond franchise-The role of first, second, and third screens and how sound can direct a customer from one to another-The importance of knowing your customers’ musical tastes

Rob and Gavin share their journey as leaders individually and as CEOs of Artifact Group. Having recently celebrated thriller company’s tenth anniversary, we discuss how growing to a 60 team member company has required adjustments to their strategies.We also discuss:-What kind of work is so important that even clients can’t interrupt it-How they have transitioned from doing design work (client work) to leading a team-How developing a product for agencies affected them internally and why it became a spin off company (10000ft.com)-The constant adaptations required as they look at emerging technologies-Which kinds of companies need to devote resources to R&D-The new skills needed by leadership as companies reach various stages of growth-What it means to create an organization that will live on after you

Coming from the digital web side of an agency, Luke Summerfield learned that there are a lot of problems in how agencies deliver web deliverables to their clients. After some extensive research, Luke discovered that delivering websites is often unprofitable for an agency. He began to explore how this service could be delivered more profitably, and successfully, and came up with the minimum viable website (a name that did not resonate well with clients!).This idea morphed into experiments within Hubspot's Partner Program that eventually came to be known as Growth-Driven Design. They've now launched a certification in Growth Driven Design in June 2016 to high acclaim.In this episode, we talk to Luke about agency growth, the problems that all agencies face, and how an agency can begin moving toward selling web services to clients in profitable, and more sustainable ways.

We glean huge amounts of information from Mlicki's 15 years of experience in his agency (that has been around for 44 years!). We dive into how Rattleback made decisions around their positioning, and how trying to nail your positioning is always a moving target. We discuss why he chose to focus on a professional services niche, which led to many other questions:- what services are you providing to a narrow niche and is it perceived as more valuable just because you are niched?- does your agency experience increase when you narrow your focus?- does your value and price also go up as your experience goes up?- are tools/philosophies (like Hubspot) required for agencies practicing an inbound marketing strategy?- how can you 'deconstruct' thought leadership content into a digestible website?- how can you get your clients to read long-form content?- how could an agency remain a generalist in this day and age?- how does a focus change your revenue model (from project to recurring revenue)?

We asked Maria Rapetskaya some great questions about serving narrowly:- why would you narrowly define your services?- is their fear in saying no to a broader range of services?- does narrowly defined services mean you are paid like an expert?- how did you start out working with such large clients?Maria was also brave enough to share her history of building companies, her failures, and the solid lessons she learned that makes her successful now. And she shares a beautiful balance between doing your great art, and running a business wisely. Maria also believes strongly in giving back by mentoring younger designers, and doing specific Pro bono work when possible. See her mentoring site in the show notes, defineyourpath.co.

We discuss 2 key problems a lot of agency owners face: (1.) they don't understand their financial metrics ('Agency Math'), and (2.) the agency owner is too entrenched in the day to day operations of the agency. AMI helps agencies solve these problems.Here are some key ways to build a better agency:- agency owners must move into their client's sales funnel, and begin helping their clients not only with websites and branding, but sales creation and documentation.- after assisting with the sales funnel, the agency can go deeper into the sales funnel to: (1.) retain and delight the customer, (2.) obtain customer feedback, and (3.) upsell and add more value to the customer. - though many agencies feel overwhelmed and want more team members, most agencies are actually overstaffed. Solving the problem involves creating better processes, not necessarily hiring more people.- agency owners are too slow to make decisions to remove legacy clients or legacy team members that are no longer moving the agency forward.

In this episode, we discuss Kevin Hoffman's view on the Freelancer vs. the Agency. Which one should you be? Both? Neither? The Experienced Freelancer (aka independent design consultants) can do what agencies do because their network is so deep, and their overhead is so low. Those working in a design business on their own can build amazing teams, and still work with Fortune 100 clients. Maybe you can too.Other topics discussed:- freelancers as mercenaries,- freelancers may take orders, but independent design consultants ask the client "how do you even know you have a problem?"- pricing clients up front as a consultant,- how he does project management,- taking risks by saying 'No' to certain work and services,- and much more!

In this episode, we discuss: - whether you should specialize in target markets, or strategic services - what integrated marketing actually is - creating services by trial and error - delivering a full brand experience for a client - how to chose what services you offer, and what to say no to - performing up front persona discovery to develop a brand - discussions on project vs. recurring revenue