The Innovative Agency

Are you tracking and analyzing key metrics to streamline your agency’s operations? We recognize that tracking metrics often proves difficult for agencies, but today’s guest Jody Grunden explains which metrics are easiest to start with. Having helped countless agencies identify weak points in their operations during his decades-long accounting career, Jody is well-positioned to help you start tracking the metrics you need to keep an eye on.  What you will learn in this episode:  Which key metrics are most important to track? How tracking metrics can improve forecasting for agencies. The importance of engaging with accounts receivable to ensure that income is flowing in at the expected rate.  How to sure up your pipeline to improve the accuracy of your forecasts.   The benefits of finding a partner who understands how to provide accurate information about the current state of your firm.  What it takes to transition away from operating a cash-starved agency to having cash savings on hand. Bio Jody Grunden is an accounting visionary with over 20 years of experience. He has helped pioneer innovative changes within the industry, including the introduction of the first subscription-based billing method employed by an accounting firm. He is the author of two books, Digital Dollars and Cents and Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud. Together with his partner Adam Hale, Jody co-founded Summit CPA Group (Summit) in 2002, which merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors (Anders) in 2022.  Summit, now a division of Anders, was the first fully distributed firm and the leading provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America. With this merger, Summit brings to Anders a number of benefits which will help continue Jody’s vision of changing the way people think about accounting, including strengthening the now “hybrid” work environment, building out the advisory side of Anders with a Virtual CFO service model, and implementing weekly subscription billing rather than hourly billing. His specialties include Virtual CFO Services, Creative Agencies, and Remote Team Management.   Resources: Website: https://www.summitcpa.net/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodygrunden/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anders-cpas-advisors/ Jody's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Dollars-Cents-Companies-Financial/dp/1973267373    

Intro Regardless of the size or complexity of your agency, you must embrace your role as a leader to encourage optimal performance from your team. In this episode, Peter Levitan shares his perspective on critical areas where many agency leaders are lacking. Then, he discusses several strategies that leaders can implement to enhance business development and overall profitability.      What you will learn in this episode:    The impact company culture has on attracting and retaining employees.  The value of engaging directly with team members as a mentor. Why the quality of meetings is far more important than the total number of meetings.  How to routinely gain new business from existing clients. How to translate thought leadership and authority into authentic connections with clients.  The benefits of productizing your services and IP to produce revenue streams.  Why agency leaders should prioritize business development.    Bio During 16 years at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, Peter Levitan ran business development across Europe and the USA, was EVP Management Director in London and New York and was GM of the Minneapolis office.    From 2002 to 2012, Peter owned Citrus Advertising in Portland and Bend Oregon. Clients included Nike and the U.N.   He was CEO and a founder of two major Internet startups during the dotcom boom. Advance Publication’s New Jersey Online was an early leader in online news, and the intelligent bot company ActiveBuddy was sold to Microsoft in 2006.   Resources: Website: https://peterlevitan.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterlevitan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeterLevitan

Intro   A crisis scenario can detrimentally affect your bottom line, as well as that of your clients. Many agency owners understand that how you respond to crises is essential, but often less attention is paid to handling the stages leading up to crises. To provide a greater perspective on crisis management, Jon Goldberg, the founder and chief reputation architect of Reputation Architects Inc., offers his distinct insights into how agencies should preemptively prepare their clients for potential moments of crisis.   What you will learn in this episode: Why crises happen to agencies and their clients. The role agencies play in keeping their clients out of a crisis. The value of putting all work recommendations through a risk review process. The importance of developing a preemptive crisis avoidance strategy. What makes a crisis a legal threat. Bio   Jon Goldberg is the founder and chief reputation architect of Reputation Architects Inc., a strategic communications and reputation risk management advisory firm dedicated to building, protecting, and restoring reputations in a world of evaporated trust and unprecedented stakeholder engagement.   Resources:   Website:https://www.reputationarchitects.com/ LinkedIn Personal:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonwgoldberg/ LinkedIn Personal:https://www.linkedin.com/company/reputation-architects/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/reputationarchitects

Summary Laurie Mikes, chief operating officer of Second Wind, an advocacy and resource organization for small- and mid-sized agencies, joins the discussion on attracting, retaining and developing talent post-pandemic. Set your agency up for success by honing in on your greatest asset — your people. Intro As an agency owner, your people are your greatest asset. But challenges around staffing are keeping many leaders up at night. For this episode of the Innovative Agency, we’re diving into what you can do to attract, retain and develop talent in order to put your business on the right path. What You Will Learn in This Episode The silver lining of lean agency teams How to find balance in salary disparity between new hires and legacy employees How to structure job growth and advancement Why transparency is key for agency owners How to think about remote working options to retain employees Where agencies are having success finding candidates Bio Laurie Mikes has been with Second Wind since 1996 and currently acts as Chief Operating Officer. She oversees the daily operations of the business while keeping one finger on the pulse of the industry. Laurie is deeply involved with member agencies, emailing and speaking with them on a regular basis. Whether it's providing guidance about financial matters, agency growth or operations, her years of experience bring valuable insight and perspective to agencies looking to build a successful sustainable business. When not at work, Laurie can be found enjoying outdoor activities with her two sons, volunteering her time at school and renovating old properties around town with her husband. Resources Website: https://www.secondwindonline.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-mikes-9366111/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-wind/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/secondwindonline

Summary Manish Dudharejia, founder and CEO of E2M Solutions, joins the discussion to lay the groundwork on what a successful white label partnership looks like, including the importance ethics plays in client relationships. Set yourself up for success in 2023 business-wise and with a white label partner. Intro We’ve been focusing a lot on collaboration lately, and in this episode of the Innovative Agency, we’re discussing how to have a successful white label partnership. As we look ahead to 2023, investing in this type of relationship can make all the difference in setting yourself up for success in the New Year and beyond. What You Will Learn in This Episode What ethics mean in the marketing world and why it matters Why focusing on niching can leave room for more lucrative opportunities Quick tips for agency leaders who want more successful white label partnerships Why the No. 1 challenge agencies have is a margin problem What agency owners can do to set themselves up for success in 2023 Bio Manish Dudharejia is wizard of E2M. He has over 15 years of experience in digital agency space, working closely with lots of different people associated with technology, entrepreneurship, and digital marketing. E2M helps digital agencies solve bandwidth problems with their strategic white label services. They have a team of over 150+ vetted experts in WordPress, Shopify, BigCommerce, SEO, copywriting and more. E2M is currently helping over 150 agencies across the US and other parts of the world grow and scale their agency businesses with piece of mind. Manish is responsible for their overall company operations, sustainable strategic growth, team mentoring and retention, and so much more. Resources Website: https://www.e2msolutions.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/e2m-solutions/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishdudharejia/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/E2MSolutions Twitter: https://twitter.com/e2msolutions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e2msolutions/

Summary Ryan Watson, a partner at Upsourced Accounting, joins the discussion to highlight how financial forecasting before a crisis can actually help you avoid one. Understanding which metrics are important – and which ones are distracting – can help agency owners avoid the overwhelm and achieve forward momentum and progress. Intro In this episode of the Innovative Agency, we are looking ahead to 2023. If you’re like most agency owners, you have probably been planning for the new year and thinking a lot about metrics, numbers, money, and how to improve your profitability. As talks about a possible recession heat up, many have been wondering how they can prepare for tomorrow, today. What You Will Learn in This Episode How forecasting, strategic planning, and KPI reviews can help you plan for the next 1, 3, or 5 years Why being financially responsible every day will set you up for success regardless of the economy The challenges many agency owners face when getting their finances in order What the “Million-Dollar Moment” is, and how that shifts an agency’s mindset around finances The “Hierarchy of Needs,” and the questions you should be asking to assess the financial health of your agency How to overcome overwhelm by focusing on the metrics that are relevant and deciding which ones are distracting Bio Ryan Watson is an experienced operations and finance leader for creative agencies and venture-funded startups. By day, he is a partner at Upsourced. Ryan helps scaling creative agencies see the future and drive profits. By night, he runs a tech startup and helps other startup founders avoid some of the mistakes he made in his career. Previously, Ryan served as COO and CFO of Ahalogy, a venture funded influencer marketing agency, which exited to Quotient Technology, Inc (NYSE: QUOT) in June 2018. Prior to Ahalogy, he cut his teeth at Sqrl - a SaaS product incubated out of Upsourced that automated document collection for service firms. Sqrl received an Entrepreneur of the Year EDGE Award from Ernst & Young and 'Outstanding Emerging Innovation’ honors from the Cincinnati Business Courier. Resources Websites: https://ryankwatson.com/ https://upsourcedaccounting.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryankeithwatson/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/upsourced-accounting/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upsourcedaccounting/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Upsourced?s=20&t=x1hKhOkI_oA2Z3Lhsyc_Bg Recession diagnostic:https://upsourced.typeform.com/to/DhjP6oh8 Recession Guide: https://hubs.ly/Q01rFvjq0

Summary Logan Lyles joins us to discuss marketing agency profitability — how it is achieved and how it is best maintained and nurtured. His insights will help you ensure that your team isn’t over or underutilized, which will allow you to maximize profit without resulting in churn. Intro Agency owners and their employees are notorious for working hard. But, how many are paying close attention to where their working hours are being spent and how those efforts affect overall profitability? Today’s guest, Logan Lyles, provides insight into the methods agencies can use to implement time-tracking strategies that illuminate vulnerabilities and new profit opportunities. What You Will Learn in This Episode How to implement a time-tracking strategy that your team doesn’t hate. The value of viewing your billable hours as “shelf inventory.” The importance of recognizing how you are billing and what can be done better. How to eliminate scope creep using time tracking. How to prepare clients for pricing changes by setting up trigger points in their contracts. Bio Logan Lyles is the Head of Partnerships at Teamwork, a project management platform built for scaling client work. Logan previously served in several leadership roles at Sweet Fish, a B2B podcast agency serving mid-market SaaS companies. Taking over sales from the agency founder in 2018, Logan helped triple the business in his first 6 months. He also played a key role in landing the agency on the Inc 5,000 List (twice), while helping the company both 10x headcount & increase ARR by 1,283%. Logan works from his home office (that’s slowly becoming a mini video studio) alongside his labradoodle, Mack, in Castle Rock, CO. Resources LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganlyles https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamwork-com Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TeamworkHQ Twitter:https://twitter.com/teamwork

Intro The most valuable thing you have within your agency’s inventory is the intellectual property you create. With the right strategy — your team could turn your IP into a standalone revenue stream(s). Agencies are creators — and because of that — agencies are IP generators every single day. In my opinion, agencies often overlook this because their business model tends to focus on monetizing the production — doing the stuff. But — I believe agencies can flip that script because the ideas and the way they get expressed in the strategies you develop for clients, the brands and campaigns you build — or whatever it might be — that’s where the real money could be for the agency. If you’re looking for new ways to think about profitable revenue streams for your agency in 2023 and beyond — then this is the episode you don’t want to miss. I break down what I call the “IP Triangle” so you can take and apply all the steps to make going from IP to Income in 2023 possible. What you will learn in this episode: Why more than 50 percent of all agencies overlook the value and potential revenue streams their IP could represent How to use the “IP Triangle” to inventory the intellectual property that you most likely already have inside your agency How to harness all of the “gold dust” that’s being scattered around every day within the walls of your agency and turn it into a highly profitable revenue stream How to protect your portfolio of trademarks, taglines, product and system names, etc How the value of your IP directly impacts the valuation of your agency Bio Sharon Toerek is Principal of Toerek Law, where she focuses her law practice on helping professionals in the advertising, marketing, and creative industries monetize their intellectual capital and manage the legal risks of their work. Sharon provides proactive, strategic counsel to marketing agencies on legal issues they continually face in their work, including agency-brand contracts, social media, content marketing legal compliance, and trademark and copyright protection. Sharon also created the Legal + Creative Agency Protection System, a subscription-based legal toolkit for marketing agencies. In 2018, Sharon launched The Innovative Agency, a podcast on innovation for marketing agency leaders. Resources: Website:https://www.legalandcreative.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/SharonToerek 

Intro This episode covers a few ways an agency can branch out, capitalizing on techniques they’ve perfected through conducting business, after the point at which they achieve self-sufficiency. David Riggs joins us to discuss how he led a web development and SEO agency to success and wrote his company’s playbooks. He also speaks about how he now monetizes those core concepts to help other agencies reach the point of self-sufficiency, all while growing his own agency. What you will learn in this episode: How to document your agency’s processes and operations. How to invest in newer companies and teach them how to succeed – and how to pick the right ones. The concept of trading playbooks – not money – for minority shares in a company. The 80/20 rule: finding the 20% that gets things moving for a new company; the other 80% will come with time. How problem-solving skills can be valuable for someone trying to break into this business model. Bio David Riggs, founder of Pneuma, a full-service web and SEO company, has been running businesses since he was seven years old. Where most kids dip their toes in lemonade sales, David did things a bit differently. He caught the “leadership bug” early on and never quit. He structured his first “venture debt deal” when he asked his grandmother to loan him ten dollars for ten percent of his earnings. A few years later, while living next to a golf course, David gathered all of the errant balls that landed in his backyard and sold them at a yard sale. He then started flipping sneakers (think Jordans and other in-demand brands) for profit. David graduated at the height of the pandemic in May 2020 and took a remote job that allowed him to continue working on Pneuma. David says, “I hired a co-founder to help run things while I closed deals on lunch breaks.” Many mornings, he would appear on podcasts before starting his day job. He spent a lot of his time “focusing on how to get the momentum rolling.” Eventually, he switched to Pneuma full-time and was joined by a CMO and CTO Resources: Website: https://www.pneumallc.co/ pneumallc.co/get-a-free-assessment LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwilliamriggs/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/pneumamedia/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwilliamriggs

Bio Simon Severino helps business owners in SaaS and Services run their company more effectively which results in sales that soar. Trusted by Google, Roche, Consilience Ventures, Amgen, and AbbVie, he created the Strategy Sprints™ Method that doubles revenue in 90 days by getting owners out of the weeds. Simon is a TEDx speaker, Contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, and member of the SVBS Silicon Valley Blockchain Society. Intro This episode explores why agencies get stuck and what they can do to breathe new life into their operations. Our guest, Simon Severino, offers a unique solution that hinges on paring service offerings down to the bare minimum. His consulting business has proven that once you’ve got your offering down to one service, it will be much easier to scale efficiently and effectively. What you will learn in this episode: The benefits of limiting your scope to a single service offering. How to standardize core processes. The value of showing clients that your offering actually works. How to avoid scope creep leaving your team unsatisfied with their work. A method to find out what the margin is on your current offering. Resources: Website:https://www.strategysprints.com/ LinkedIn: Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonseverino/ Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategysprints/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/strategysprints/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/strategysprints Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnSFgJd0CrsEdQdO21txR2A Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strategy-sprints/id1299008831 Book:https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Sprints-Accelerate-Growth-Business/dp/139860349X