Funnel Vision - For Performance-Driven Agencies & Marketers

Brian Ahmadi (CEO of Maximum Profits Agency) started his agency journey after many years in the US Navy. He helped his first batch of clients - bars -  manage their social media accounts for $500/month and free drinks for his crew. They quickly spread through word of mouth and started getting clients left and right. Deployments halted their progress for a year, but once they resumed, they got a house together and success followed.At Maximum Profits Agency, every team member is cross-functional. Brian believes in a structure where every employee is equipped with the skillset to fill any role. He also advises employees to choose their own preferred field and become masters at that individual craft while asking other team members for support in case they have specific skill gaps.Tune into the episode to learn how US Navy Veterans run their agency!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:04 From US Navy to running an agency6:03 The value of in-person sales9:04 Turning employees into founders11:21 Focusing on everyone's strengths 16:22 Find people that you can trust20:01 Just get to work!Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Brian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-a-6a6393b7/

Jonathan Cogan (Founder of Sephrina Strategy) is an agency leader, marketing strategist, brand consultant, coach, teacher and facilitator with a 20-year track record helping to launch and grow businesses, brands and campaigns in Canada, the U.S. and globally. Jon is a big proponent of effectiveness leading to efficiency. Big networks and corporations love to make efficiency their North Star, but in doing so they strip their people of the ability to do truly exceptional work - the type that doesn’t fit into a fully pre-planned, timegated schedule. And the best part is, the work that gets done when you prioritize effectiveness ends up being more efficient, as it doesn’t require as many re-do’s and revisions.The Effective Agency Playbook starts with understanding exactly what you’re trying to achieve and for who. Then you need to find your focus on how you’re going to execute. The way to make it work is by honing in on every single step in the process and having clear definitions and outlines. And it should not feel overly complex or confusing. Tune into the episode to learn how to build a more effective agency!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:12 Your agency needs to be special6:06 Effectiveness leads to efficiency 8:51 Effectiveness is all about the people10:53 The fundamentals never change12:36 The value of outside perspectives14:04 Everyone is in strategy 15:44 The Effective Agency PlaybookConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Jonathan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-e-cogan/

Marcel Petitpas (Co-Founder and CEO of Parakeeto), has helped 100+ agencies measure & improve their profitability through consulting and technology. Some of their clients have been able to decrease their overtime AND grow 90%+ YOY. He also hosts The Agency Profit Podcast - the only podcast that tackles the topic of agency profitability.Agencies often have a hard time managing their cash. Between ever-decreasing margins due to oversaturation, clients expecting additional free deliverables and employee productivity not always matching the job description, owners struggle when trying to figure out a way to exit survival mode. Marcel points to clean, comprehensive data being step 1 of figuring out your true financial situation. Over the years he’s seen a lot of agencies fail even though they’ve really tried to improve their current state - and the number 1 issue has always been bad data.Parakeeto built two different products that failed before adding a professional services wing and really exploding. A lot of what makes great SaaS tools - proper implementation, continuous feedback-driven roadmaps and a true focus on outcomes - is easier to build through a service.Tune into the full episode to learn how to increase your agency's profit!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:11 Marcel’s entrepreneurial journey5:21 What does Parakeeto do?7:15 Building a product for yourself 9:12 2 Failed SaaS products and the problem with data13:41 Embrace professional services to grow your SaaS17:40 How to 5x your agencies profitability22:32 Grow your business by borrowing an audience Access the Agency Profitability Toolkit here: https://parakeeto.com/toolkit/?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=GuestAppearance&utm_campaign=Mikael+DiaAccess the Parakeeto Foundations Course here:  https://parakeeto.lpages.co/the-foundations-course/?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=GuestAppearance&utm_campaign=Mikael+DiaConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Marcel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelpetitpas/

Rob Da Costa (Business Owner, Agency Coach & Mentor), helps agency owners grow their agencies in a sustainable and profitable way. Having started, grew and sold his own agency, he has an in-depth understanding of the challenges agency owners face. Back in 1992, Rob was a marketer for early tech companies. They kept trying to hire agencies but always ran into issues finding ones that could really move the needle. At the age of 24, Rob quit his job and started his first agency - CIT PR - which he grew to 25 staff members with revenues of £1.5m. That led him to a successful exit in 2003, after which he leveraged his experience to start a coaching business in 2007.Most small agency owners get stuck being the delivery person instead of actually leading and growing the agency. To realistically start growing, agency owners need to change their focus towards structure, delegation and productization. After the 10+ employee mark, a leadership team also becomes a necessity to sustainably expand, as otherwise you’re split between internal and client strategy which causes one or the other to be neglected.Tune into the full episode to learn how to turn your agency into a self-sufficient, profitable and sustainable business!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:47 How Rob sold his agency and became a coach6:17 Why people choose to hire Rob10:45 How to build a self-sufficient agency 14:21 You need a leadership team16:12 What if you can’t afford to hire?19:51 Rob's best growth hackConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Rob - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robdacosta/

David Meerman Scott (Entrepreneur, Advisor, Keynote Speaker and WSJ Best-selling Author) began his entrepreneurial journey in 2002 - at the cusp of the internet revolution. Now he’s written 12 books that have sold millions of copies, done marketing and business presentations on all 7 continents, advised countless clients and been on HubSpot’s advisory board since 2007.The tipping point that caused David to move into advising happened back when he was the VP of marketing at Newsedge - a small information company. They went on to be acquired by Thomson Reuters who weren’t too keen on David’s perspective that online marketing was the future, so they let him go. Within a few months he was making more money than ever before - which ultimately solidified David’s decision as the right one for him.David saw a huge opportunity when Google went real time. Nobody was talking about it, and he leveraged it to again gain an unfair advantage. Now that AI is starting to take a significant chunk of the search platform marketshare, David recommends that you familiarize yourself with Perplexity.ai as it very well could be the future.Tune into the full episode to learn real insights from a marketing expert with 30+ years of experience!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:29 David’s career journey7:01 Pioneering the digital marketing movement8:26 Getting fired and becoming an advisor12:01 When Google went real time15:43 The real value of AI in marketing19:53 You need to tie back your content to your product Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with David - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeermanscott/

Ken Fitzpatrick led the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) - the largest global digital marketing training and certification body with 75k+ certifications and 330k+ members - for over 11 years until he moved on to a new role at BPP 2 months ago. He’s also led companies to 3 successful exits.The focus of DMI was always  to create a standard that raises the bar for digital marketing skills - and over the years they achieved that goal. The business was initially hard to scale as an in-person model, but once they transitioned to a fully online service they finally unlocked scale. After that they hired established executives who helped move them even further until they hit their biggest growth spurt by partnering with the American Marketing Association.AI is really causing shockwaves throughout the education industry. Ken isn’t quite ready to take a stance on its potential impact, but for now he sees it as a positive that can reduce a lot of the gruntwork that goes into a marketer's daily workflow. Marketers should embrace AI as a tool, not as a single source of truth for all of their insights and knowledge.Tune into the full episode to hear Ken’s journey running DMI!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:15 Why people turn to DMI3:51 Ken’s journey with the DMI6:01 11 Years of challenges9:24 The role of AI in marketing education14:41 Universities vs Certificates 16:27 Ken’s CEO PlaybookConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Ken - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenfitzpatrickdmi/

Full Episode Here - https://youtu.be/eOZ9DQhM7LE

Christian Banach (Principal and Chief Growth Officer at Christian Banach) helps agencies, B2B companies, small to large, across marketing disciplines, land 6- and 7-figure opportunities predictably through consulting, training, and outsourced lead generation services.More than 20 years ago, Christian started his career by throwing small social events that grew into parties featuring superstars like Lady Gaga, T-Pain and Pitbull. As those grew, he started working with brands that were looking to sponsor events as part of their overall marketing strategy. During the pandemic Christian started his current venture. He saw a lot of agencies struggling to keep the lights on, so starting his own consulting firm was the next logical move. Now they help over a dozen clients break into enterprise accounts and close 6-7 figure contracts.What makes breaking into enterprise accounts so incredibly difficult is that everyone is trying to get their attention through the same means. Christian recommends that you really do some original research about their audience and book that first meeting by showing that you already know what improvements would drive real outcomes for their business.Tune into the full episode to learn how to close enterprise contracts!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro0:53 Generating millions for clients2:06 How Christian grew his first business5:04 Original research matters!9:35 The Christian Banach Playbook14:25 Embrace Warm Outbound SalesConnect with Christian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianbanach/Connect with Mikael - www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Check out Christian’s Newsletter - https://christianbanach.com/

Jeff Meade (President of MEADE) is an expert in agency positioning. He managed to grow his agency beyond $20 million in revenue prior to moving into agency coaching. An agency wasn’t the initial vision. At first, Jeff and his co-founders were trying to operate as a consultancy. They quickly learned that a team of 20-somethings simply don’t have the domain expertise to sell consulting services to a Gen Y audience, so they pivoted to an agency model instead. After growing their agency to 8 figures, they wanted to go international. While they had good conversations with potential partners, they fumbled the offers due to inexperience. They took it as a learning experience and Jeff moved on to coach agencies on how to nail their positioning.The real battle when trying to settle on your position in the market is really understanding who are the folks you can help and why should they believe in your ability to perform. When people come to Jeff, typically they have a loose position and aren’t at a stage where going all-in on lead generation makes sense. To identify your focus point, you need to stop looking at your previous clients as your north star and really figure out the right profile outside of your existing rolodex.Tune into the full episode to learn how to differentiate your agency!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:58 Getting to $20+ Million7:31 The impact of packaging the right offer 10:47 How Jeff moved into coaching13:03 How to think about positioning21:24 Grow via thought leadership Connect with Jeff - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffmeade/ Connect with Mikael - www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/

Andy Crestodina (Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media) is an expert at SEO, Analytics, AI, Content Strategy and Website Optimization. He’s gathered a huge following consisting of 100k+ LinkedIn followers and newsletter subscribers. He’s been publishing since 2007, and nowadays speaks on 100+ stages per year. These efforts have enabled his team to generate $8 Million in yearly revenue with no outbound motion and 0 ad spend.To say that content marketing has evolved over the last 20 years would be an understatement. One tactic that has always worked and still works today is to publish on other, established platforms when you’re new and need to generate initial traction.Video is all the rage right now, but unless you’re selling something super transactional with widespread appeal, you need a solid strategy to make it into a real revenue generator. As an agency, you should utilize the tactic of BOFU content to help build trust with those who have been burned by other service providers.Tune into the full episode to learn more insights from a true content marketing master!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:02 The evolution of content marketing7:03 Is video worth the investment?10:10 Invest in owned media 13:15 AI for content - hype or the real deal?20:07 How good can AI really get?22:44 Grow through variated content Connect with Andy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andycrestodina/Connect with Mikael - www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/