Funnel Vision - For Performance-Driven Agencies & Marketers

Karl Sakas (Agency Consultant & Executive Coach at Sakas & Company) helps agency owners work less and earn more, while rewarding their best team members. So far he’s worked with over 600 agencies across the globe.It’s safe to say that working less and earning more is a very common goal. Karl adapted this messaging and even wrote a book - Work Less, Earn More - on this particular subject, as it has universal appeal beyond the agency space.Not every agency owner wants an exit. Often we see agency owners wanting to scale to a place where the agency does its own work, instead of them working for the agency all the time. Karl believes that agency owners aren’t necessarily either building a lifestyle agency or an equity agency, and instead have shifting priorities that steer them towards one or the other. Both need help to work less and earn more, as an agency that’s fully dependent on the owner is a tough sell, and an agency that requires constant input doesn’t exactly warrant a great lifestyle.Tune into the full episode to learn how to work less AND earn more!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro 2:48 Ex boss becomes first client5:17 Work Less, Earn More7:07 Lifestyle agency or equity agency?10:55 Make yourself optional16:08 Proactive prep for an exit 18:46 Clarity is key 21:42 Split the 2 brandsConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Karl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsakas/

Full Episode Here - https://youtu.be/85hOIwCkTN4

Jordan Daniel Bell (Founder/CEO of Agency Bell) has managed $100+ Million in ad spend and currently helps companies get more customers with AI-powered advertising. Jordan has been running agencies for 10+ years. During this time he came to the conclusion that the ads space desperately needs to make better targeting decisions and a way to gather and dissect that data. They found that the data sets were very scattered and it was truly difficult to make the right data-driven decisions. They started focusing on attribution data, which led them to build their own automations.His favorite piece of tech was always Zapier, and he dedicated a significant amount of time  mastering the platform and all the benefits it brings. The biggest value add from the get go was seamlessly getting information into CRM. This proved to be no easy task, as the statuses can vary heavily and CRM hygiene is difficult to maintain. Tune into the full episode to learn how to automate your advertising flow!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:20 Make better targeting decisions8:21 The right ad tech stack12:29 Data-driven ad campaigns21:35 Spend more time talking to customers Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Jordan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanbell/

Robin Waite (Founder of CourseApp and Fearless Business) helps agency owners stop leaving money on the table, fix their pricing and start growing their businesses to it’s true potential.When Robin was running his web design agency he noticed that there was a ton of friction in their overall process, with deals taking up to 3 months to finalize and ultimately closing without profit. Frustrated with the status quo, he came up with a 1 day branding workshop flow that quickly became a huge success. This made him realize that speed of delivery was the ultimate profit hack and got him 40 new, profitable clients.The answer to your agency's profit problems is almost always productization. Productizing your service isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that many agencies struggle to implement. Robin has identified that the main issue is that agency owners often base their rates according to their own internal value system, which typically isn’t a reflection of your clients value system. When implementing productization, you absolutely need to have a clear understanding of the timeline in which you can deliver - and that number should be as low as possible. Tune into the full episode to learn how to stop leaving money on the table!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:09 Speed of delivery matters 9:25 12x deal size opportunity 16:17 The key to pricing right19:32 “it depends” does it really?23:31 Grow through partnerships Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Robin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinmwaite/

Tune into the full episode here - https://youtu.be/DQfOaRXV0rw

Marquis Murray (Founder & CEO of Cirface) specializes in elevating the operational efficiency of Marketing & eCommerce teams by streamlining their processes and maximizing technology utilization. He’s also an Asana partner and helps clients get the most out of their platform.With his background in corporate operations, Marquis quickly realized that marketing agencies aren’t typically super efficient when it comes to systems. One of his freelance clients brought him in-house, where he learned that he can fully deliver for their clients. Naturally this led to Marquis starting his own agency. He knew that scrupulous documentation was his best chance at gaining a competitive advantage, so he started getting serious about organization and delegation.When Marquis starts working with a new client, he uses a specific playbook to turn teams from silos into true operators. He calls it the 4 D Framework - Discovery, Design, Deployment and Documentation. This requires a lot of communication, experimentation and teamwork to figure out what makes sense and what needs to stop. Once the workflows look good and everybody agrees, then they document everything and provide ongoing support to make sure things are working.Tune into the full episode to learn how to improve your agency's operations!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:55 From freelancer to agency owner8:41 Eliminate burnout = eliminate friction11:53 the 4 D Framework15:49 Deployment is key 20:39 Start a YouTube channelConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Marquis - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marquisamurray/

Check out the full conversation here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbRQg0wjlS8

Paul Boag (Founding Partner of Boagworks) is a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) expert whose goal is to help companies better understand the new generation of connected consumers. Over the last 30 years he’s worked with hundreds of clients, including huge names such as Puma and Shell.Many of today's marketers had a social media account by the time they were in middle school. Paul started working in marketing back when the internet was a completely new concept. During those super early days he got obsessed with user experience and the concept of optimizing the way we serve our potential buyers. What really attracted Paul to UX was the opportunity to decrease friction for users and ultimately lead to more sales. While the rest of the market was trying to be deceptive and entice FOMO, Paul was always focused on serving the user - which is a great way to stand out.CRO and UX are essentially the same thing. Paul likes to challenge the traditional thinking of prioritizing the businesses goals over the users experience, as a great user experience will ultimately drive outcomes either way - and with a smiling buyer on the other end of the transaction.Tune into the full episode to learn how to master UX & CRO!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:53 Marketing before the internet5:03 The beginnings of UX7:55 Truly serving the user11:01 CRO vs UX20:29 Decrease their cognitive load Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Paul - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulboag/

Shaun Clark (Co-Founder of HighLevel [GoHighLevel]) has helped countless agencies grow their revenue through white-label software and service solutions.Agencies can get hesitant when thinking of implementing new technology for their clients, as with the software evolving they can take over the clients needs fully and make the agency redundant. Shaun heard the market when they encountered this issue, which is why he became heavily invested in white-labeling. The platform that Shaun and his team built really took off as more agencies saw the value behind a mediator between them and software platforms. Their go-to-market motion was kind of an afterthought at first, as they realized that hiring the level of creativity it takes to stand out through an internal marketing effort would be extremely difficult. Word-of-mouth and affiliates have ultimately carried their marketing effort to this day.Tune into the full episode to learn the journey of GoHighLevel!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:23 SaaS stealing agency clients? 6:30 How HighLevel took off9:00 Word-of-mouth and affiliate mastery 11:16 The new CRM world14:39 GoHighLevel exits17:10 Grow through one-to-manyConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Shaun - https://www.gohighlevel.com/main-page

Melanie Chandruang (Founder of WeConsult) is a financial nerd, an operations whiz, and an expert integrator all rolled into one charming, no-nonsense package. She makes agencies more profitable, sellable, and run like well oiled machines by optimizing their operations.For the last 6 years, Melanie has been serving agencies with operations consulting or fractional ops work, helping them scale all the way to exits. Agency owners typically come to Melanie with very specific needs, revolving around their inability to consistently service clients due to the fact that the owner is too involved in the day to day delivery. Melanie’s agency journey started when she founded a devshop, which is where she discovered that her true passion lies in operations. Soon enough she learned that her role was very complimentary to the creative work that was being done by her team members. It took a few years for her to fully understand exactly how valuable her skills are in the agency world, and after seeing multiple managers fail to truly advocate for their teams and add real value she created her own unique approach that really bridged the gaps she experienced first hand.Tune into the full episode to learn more on how to handle operational problems!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro1:07 Scale operations to exit4:47 The real problem with agency operations6:57 How Melanie found operations 9:57 Owners struggle most12:02 What type of agencies Melanie works with14:05 The Million Dollar Problem17:57 Look beyond the numbers Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Melanie - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniechandruang/