Funnel Vision - For Performance-Driven Agencies & Marketers

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/

Troy Dean (Founder of Agency Mavericks) helps agency owners expand, get more time, and sometimes even leave their businesses successfully. The work they do generates between $50 - $100 Million per year for their clients. He’s also one of the founding members of Funnelytics.Agency owners are often the most busy and stressed out entrepreneurs you’ll find, although it doesn’t have to be that way. Troy has identified that a lack of structure, processes and confidence is what leads to agency owners feeling stuck and unhappy, and all of that can be built out to help owners reclaim their time and energy.Troy realized that agencies have a huge structural problem back when he was growing his own. When he started delegating work to his VA, he noticed that without proper documentation it was almost impossible to have them work autonomously. He started by creating videos, which would then be turned into workflow documents - and it worked great. Troy then started sharing these workflows with the Wordpress community, which is how he started gaining traction with his next ideal client profile. Tune into the full episode to learn more on how to master documentation and reclaim your time!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:35 $50 - $100 Million/Year5:00 How Agency Mavericks began 7:22 Scale with confidence  10:44 The real reason most agencies fail14:08 Preventing distractions is key16:42 You don’t need more leads20:28 The paid discovery method24:27 How much should you charge?Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Troy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troydean/

Anthony Gindin (Founder & CEO of Agency Different™) helps agency principals with strategic planning, business model design, brand positioning, service productization, client acquisition, and enhancing profitability through growth.Anthony started his first agency at the age of 17 and sold it within 5 years. Then at 24, he sold his second agency that had scaled up to 45+ employees. In total, he’s founded 6 companies, sold 4 and taken 2 public on the Canadian Stock Exchange.The key to success for an agency lies in differentiation. Every agency is unique, but they often look the same from outside  because they follow the market instead of focusing on building a unique brand with a high perceived value. Anthony suggests you improve your perceived value through market specificity, a deep understanding of the results you bring and unique methods for delivering those results.Tune into the full episode to learn more on how to increase your agency's win rate!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro0:53 Founding 6 companies3:35 The Agency Secret5:56 Differentiation is key7:55 Increasing your perceived value10:41 The move to client side 14:27 The move back to agency lifeConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Anthony - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonygindin/

This is a snippet from the last episode of the Funnel Vision Show with Kara Redman (Founder and CEO of Backroom), who has helped founders launch startups, build brands and secure venture capital for the last 10 years.For the full episode check out the previous episode!

Kara Redman (Founder and CEO of Backroom) has helped founders launch startups, build brands and secure venture capital for the last 10 years. From finding their first investors to making global expansions, Kara has helped startups reach their dreams - without ever niching down.Kara’s journey is one that very many agency owners can relate to. She didn’t go the academic route or inherit a company. Instead, she took on the entrepreneurial path as a young, single mother. She worked at an agency prior to starting her own, which is where she realized that marketing was an avenue she seriously wanted to pursue.Backroom has always been about positive change. Kara didn’t abide by the standards of old, stuffy, controlling and toxic corporate culture. Instead, she built out a successful business that puts their people first, which wasn’t nearly as trendy back in 2014. Her people-first approach isn’t a gated secret - part of her business now is to help others achieve the same organizational structure while remaining operationally excellent.Founder-led growth is a concept that Kara truly embraced last year. She started out with around 3000 followers, never really looking at herself as a social media content creator. Once she began posting though, the feedback was overwhelming. Over the last year and a half, she’s grown to over 50,000 followers and has gone viral multiple times while generating revenue along the way.Tune into the full episode to learn more of Kara Redman’s journey leading Backroom!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:20 Going against the grain4:14 The vision for Backroom7:03 Becoming people-first9:14 Building the right culture10:51 3k -> 50k LinkedIn Followers in 1.5 years15:21 Incremental growth is painful 17:58 Founder-led is a growth hackConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Kara - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kararedman/

This is a snippet from our podcast episode with Jhana Li. For the full conversation, tune in to the last episode of Funnel Vision!

Jhana Li (Founder of Spyglass Ops) is a wizard of operations who helps scale businesses through efficient and autonomous processes, enabling founders to take a step back from being involved in every single part of the day-to-day..Jhana got into operations while doing vanlife through North & South America. Her boyfriend at the time was running a digital marketing agency, and during that time she got a good glimpse of how archaic and disorganized agencies can be. A bit later on a team member left the agency and Jhana took over operations as they searched for a replacement. In the end no replacement was needed as Jhana ended up their next COO.Many parts of the business succeed because they are built through a founder's lens. Operations are NOT included in that list. Following the pattern for success requires a visionary who drives the business forward through growth stages and someone who can steer the day-to-day, fix leaky buckets and make sure things get done in time.Spyglass Ops wasn’t a planned decision. Jhana was between roles when she took on her first consulting client. This scaled pretty quick, with her ending up in a position where she could no longer take on more clients as a solopreneur. Tune into the full episode to learn more on how operations can change your business!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:43 How Jhana got into operations5:17 Why most founders struggle with operations9:01 From COO to Entrepreneur11:10 How to improve your operations15:45 The real value of operations20:06 Traits of a great operator23:13 The ultimate growth hackConnect with Jhana - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhana-li/Connect with Mikael - www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/

This is a snippet from our podcast episode with Tim Kilroy. For the full conversation, tune into the last episode of The Funnel Vision Show!