The Digital Agency Growth Podcast

Even if selling your agency is not first on your priority list, you should plan for it long before ever setting the wheels in motion. Karl Sakas is here today to share critical advice for agency owners considering an exit. From planning your post-deal activities to differentiating your agency in a crowded market, Karl provides a roadmap for maximizing the value of your business and ensuring a smooth transition. He also covers the three A's framework for managing your team, the power of vertical specialization, and the existential questions you must address before handing over the reins. This week, episode 240 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about navigating agency growth and exits and calming the chaos.Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Karl Sakas shares the importance of planning for an exit well before initiating it and actionable steps you can take right now to communicate and problem-solve with your employees effectively. Karl Sakas helps digital agency owners ‘Work Less’ and ‘Earn More’... while rewarding their best employees. Drawing on his background in agency operations, Karl has personally advised hundreds of agencies on every inhabited continent. An international speaker, he is the author of three books—including "Work Less, Earn More"—and more than 450 articles on agency management. When he’s not helping clients, Karl volunteers as a bartender on an antique train. In this episode, Dan and Karl discuss the following:Current trends in the agency business, including slower growth.Emphasizing the marketing efforts you can sustain rather than trying to do everything.Planning for an exit early to avoid difficulties down the road.The three A’s framework for navigating team communication.Don’t forget to sign up to follow the release of Karl’s new book, Calm The Chaos!  Also, head to Karl’s website to access his Control (And Maximize) Your Agency Exit training, and use the code SALESSCHEMA for a discount.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH KARL SAKAS:LinkedInWebsiteInstagramX (formerly Twitter)CONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

In this engaging talk, Max Traylor, an ex-agency owner and author of the Agency Survival Guide book series, dives into the shifting terrain of the agency world. He stresses the importance of hiring skilled individuals for strategic conversations to foster trust-based client relationships. Max shares valuable lessons from his competitive paintball experience, discussing the need for mentorship and innovative growth strategies. He also highlights the impact of AI on agency services and emphasizes transforming client relationships from tactical to strategic partnerships.

Are you struggling to cut through the noise and connect with your ideal clients? You’re not the only one. In the ever-changing world of outbound sales, it can be difficult to know the best ways to niche down and connect with your ideal clients. Adam Robinson is here this week to share his unique perspective on the changing landscape of sales and marketing, emphasizing the power of organic social media content and the importance of building trust with prospects. From his unconventional branding approach to his transparent, storytelling-driven content strategy, Adam offers a refreshing take on how agencies and B2B service providers can adapt to the evolving demands of today's buyers. This week, episode 238 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about navigating the evolving landscape of outbound sales! Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Adam Robinson shares the importance of building trust and personalized outreach and actionable steps you can take right now to stand out in your market. Adam Robinson is the Founder/CEO of Retention.com and RB2B. Adam bootstrapped Retention.com to $22m ARR in 4 years by helping ecommerce stores identify their anonymous website visitors and send them triggered emails. He launched RB2B in March of 2024 to help SaaS companies identify anonymous website visitors and see their LinkedIn profiles in Slack for free! Adam lives in Austin, TX with his wife Helen and daughter Emma.In this episode, Dan and Adam discuss the following:The benefits of identifying anonymous site visitors and sending LinkedIn profiles to Slack.The concept of humanizing data and the impact of seeing a face on a site visit.The decline of cold outreach and the increasing importance of inbound and organic social media content.Adam’s perspective on LinkedIn evolving into an edutainment platform and its impact on content creation.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH ADAM ROBINSON:LinkedInRetention.comRB2BCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

As an agency owner, you know the challenges of standing out in a crowded market and driving consistent growth. From navigating changing client demands to optimizing your operations, the path to success can feel elusive. Nick Petroski, founder of Promethean Research, shares the data-driven insights that are helping leading agencies overcome these obstacles and achieve remarkable growth. This week, episode 237 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about building resilient agencies in a rapidly changing market! Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Nick Petroski shares the foundational elements agencies should have, strategies that generate revenue for their clients and the operational shifts that fuel an agency’s success.Nicholas Petroski is the founder of Promethean Research. Since 2015, he has helped over 100 digital agency owners better understand their industry and chart more effective paths to success. Before co-founding Promethean, Nick worked as an equity analyst at a Wall Street firm covering the enterprise software and semiconductor industries. In this episode, Dan and Nick Petroski discuss the following:How the level of sophistication in the agency industry has evolved over the past decade.Characteristics of successful "boutique" agencies today.The benefits of specialization and deep industry expertise.The shift towards a consultative, relationship-based approach to revenue generation.The value of using data and research to inform strategic decision-making.Whether you're looking to specialize your offerings, improve your sales process, or build a more efficient delivery model, this conversation is packed with actionable advice to take your agency to the next level.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH NICK PETROSKI:LinkedInPromethean ResearchCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

One of the biggest challenges agency owners and their teams face when it comes to business development is how to open doors efficiently, build meaningful relationships, and fill your sales pipeline without getting bogged down by a slow, one-by-one approach. Dan recently had the opportunity to guest on the Sell with Authority podcast hosted by Stephen Woessner to talk about Sales Schema’s strategies to find commonalities between you and your potential clients, our approach to effective testing with smaller B2B sample sizes, and more. We’re happy to present that episode for you today. This week, episode 236 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about how to balance personalization and scale.Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Dan Englander and Stephen Woessner share the importance of building trust with potential clients through relationship-building and actionable steps you can take right now to identify commonalities you share with your potential clients. Stephen Woessner is the CEO and President of Predictive ROI, a company that offers community, coaching, and turnkey services to help you lead and grow your business strategically. Stephen is also the co-author of Sell With Authority: Own and Monetize Your Agency's Authority Position. For over 25 years, Stephen has been in the trenches of agency new business strategy working alongside agencies and consultants — teaching them how to build their authority within the markets they serve, grow their audience, and fill their sales pipeline with a steady stream of right-fit clients so they can win new business. In this episode, Dan and Stephen discuss the following:How outbound marketing can fine-tune your overall marketing efforts.Why agency owners should offload tasks to build an effective outreach system.The ideal team setup for outbound marketing.The role of testing in outbound marketing and the importance of running campaigns over a period of time.Don’t forget to get your hand on a copy of Stephen’s book, Sell With Authority: Own and Monetize Your Agency's Authority Position today!Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH STEPHEN WOESSNER:LinkedInFacebookPredictive ROISell with Authority podcastCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

Hourly billing is incredibly common throughout the agency space. We’ve all seen it, paid for it, and probably have priced our work that way at one point as well. But hourly billing is not great for anyone involved in the transaction: those providing the service find themselves hitting a ceiling and unable to scale, while clients worry about how many hours a project will take and whether or not the quoted price is actually what they’ll pay. Jonathan Stark is here today to present the full case against hourly billing and guide us in what our pricing models should be instead. This week, episode 235 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about ditching hourly billing and embracing value-based pricing! Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Jonathan Stark shares the importance of understanding the value clients get from your contributions and how to package that value for sale. and actionable steps you can take right now to start targeting specific industries to get more leads. Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals.In this episode, Dan and Jonathan discuss the following: How hourly pricing can lead to a ceiling on income and limits the ability to scale.The benefits of specialization and how it can lead to more productization.The importance of positioning yourself as the one and only expert in your niche.Ways to start shifting to project or performance-based pricing.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH JONATHAN STARK:Value Pricing BootcampCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

Struggling to get your outreach noticed? Explore strategies to effectively connect with ideal clients. Discover the power of personalization and commonalities to build trust. Learn how to demonstrate expertise through compelling copy that engages decision-makers. Find out techniques for standing out in crowded inboxes while reducing perceived risks. Get insights on casual outreach that eases communication barriers and fosters long-term client relationships.

Building a strong client base is a significant goal for any agency to continue to scale. However, acquiring new business is not a one-size-fits-all situation in the agency space. Business development comes in many shapes and sizes, and what works for a ten-person team likely won’t be as effective for a 100-person company. A friend of the show, Jody Sutter, is here this week to talk about her experiences in business development, the four business personalities, overcoming the fear of sales, and more! This week, episode 233 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about unlocking the secrets to building a thriving new business culture for your agency.Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Jody Sutter shares the importance of efining the agency's new business ecosystem, including its promise to clients and actionable steps you can take right now to break down the  hesitancy in embracing sales, particularly the fear of rejection. Jody Sutter is the owner of The Sutter Company, a business development coaching and advisory firm, and the inventor of the BUILD WIN SCALE™ system, a step-by-step process designed to help leaders of small marketing agencies identify and activate their natural talents for sales and marketing, leading to a sustainable approach to winning new business. She started The Sutter Company after more than two decades of running business development teams for agencies, large and small and spanning a diverse list of disciplines. They’ve included R/GA, OMD, Havas Media and The VIA Agency. Equal parts storyteller and problem-solver, she knows how to prescribe the tools and techniques that are right for your agency to get your prospects to say “yes”.In this episode, Dan and Jody discuss the following:The importance of taking consistent action and being willing to try different approaches.Jody’s four business personality roles and how they approach business development.Moving past rejection and onto the next business opportunity without deterring the agency.Building systems for long-term sales success.Don’t forget to check out Jody’s book, A Small Agency’s Guide to Winning New Business: 8 Steps to Winning More of the Right Kinds of Clients on Amazon.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digital Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH JODY SUTTER:LinkedInX (formerly Twitter)The Sutter CompanyCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

With a current economic downturn affecting agencies with slowed growth and uncertainty, many owners likely feel less than stellar about their businesses. But rather than get discouraged, now is the time to focus on strategic positioning, client retention, and, most importantly, your self-esteem and confidence in yourself and your agency. Steve Guberman is with us today, using his over 25 years in the creative, marketing, advertising, and PR industry, including a decade spent running and eventually selling his successful agency, to share insights into avoiding low self-esteem, avoiding burnout, defining your agency’s unique goals, and more. This week, episode 232 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about overcoming burnout and building successful agencies!Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Steve Guberman shares the importance of setting boundaries and honoring personal values to avoid burnout and actionable steps you can take right now to document your sales process to get the agency owner out of the sales seat. With over 25 years in the creative, marketing, advertising, and public relations industry, including a decade spent running and eventually selling his own successful agency, Steve Guberman now channels his expertise into coaching agency owners. As the founder of Agency Outsight, Steve helps owners unearth their challenges, define their goals, and conquer them all, enabling them to build and run the agency of their dreams.In this episode, Dan and Steve discuss the following:Recognizing past successes to combat low self-esteem and imposter syndrome as an agency owner.Focusing on showing more value and relevance to clients in a mature market.Time blocking and documenting sales processes as essential tools for managing workload and reducing stress.The importance of systematizing sales processes to free up the owner's time and grow the agency.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH STEVE GUBERMAN:LinkedInOutsightYouTubeAgency Bytes podcastCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema

It’s common for merging and acquisition to be on an agency owner’s mind from the very beginning, even if it is not part of their original goals. Even if you find yourself still wanting to scale your business before selling, it’s never too early to start taking steps that will make the M&A process easier down the road. Jonathan Baker is here today to share how the M&A landscape looks right now, what factors into valuation decisions, the importance of patience in the process, and more. This week, episode 231 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about preparing your agency for a successful acquisition!Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Jonathan Baker shares the importance of patience in the M&A process and actionable steps you can take right now to start preparing your agency for acquisition, well before valuation. Jonathan Baker is the Practice Lead of the M&A practice at Punctuation, a small consultancy focused exclusively on servicing creative, digital, and marketing services firms. After starting his carrer in marketing strategy and positioning, Jonathan left in 2011 to pursue his own business, Monday Night Brewing. Along with two business partners,he has grown the craft brewery to five locations and nto one of the largest craft breweries in the nation by volume. My focus has been on marketing, sales, and taprooms. Jonathan recently stepped out of the day-to-day at Monday Night to work with his father David to grow Punctuation.In this episode, Dan and Jonathan discuss the following:COVID’s impact on agency goals due to vulnerability.Focusing on a few key lead generation activities instead of spreading yourself thin.The importance of patience in the M&A process.Challenges that can ruin a deal last minute.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!Learn more about The Digitial Agency Growth Podcast at https://www.salesschema.com/podcast/ and our Video training at http://salesschema.com/takecharge CONNECT WITH JONATHAN BAKER:LinkedInPunctuationMonday Night BrewingCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema