The Innovative Agency

You want to get into podcast guesting, but you have no idea how. (Frankly, you don’t even have a message yet, much less a brand strategy.)   You just know podcast guesting is going to be big for you. And you’re right.   In this episode, I interview Kelly Glover, Podcast Guest Booker at the Talent Squad, about the art and science of how to podcast successfully as a guest.   What we talked about:   - Your most important relationship is with the host, not the audience   - What to do before & after you guest   - How to package yourself   - Why winging it just doesn’t cut it in podcast guesting   To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Advertising work doesn’t have to be sexy, shrouded in technical lingo, or confined to just one package. Actually, it’s mostly just words and pictures.   I recently interviewed Richard Kaiser, CEO and Founder of Wilderness Agency, which is based in my home state of Ohio in Dayton, about why he is proudest of his “ugly baby” clients.   What we talked about:   - He got his start working in manufacturing… at age 8   - Advertising consists almost exclusively of words and pictures   - Flexibility is a key principle behind the success of Wilderness Agency   - Talent poaching is a problem in advertising as well as manufacturing   - Richard’s ugly baby clients are his faves   Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:   - Richard’s life changed when a professor handed him Ogilvy on Advertising To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

“Values-based” is a great SEO keyword, isn’t it? It can be so much more than that, though.   If values drive your agency to the point of shaping your entire business model, you might be ready for B Corp certification.   In this episode, I interview Ben Herman, President and Co-Founder at Mad Fish Digital, about values-based businesses.    What we talked about:   - Becoming a B Corporation   - The certification process & whether it affects your profits   - How to keep a focus on culture   - Where to start on promoting employee engagement and agency culture   Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:   - The B Corp certification website   - Scaling Up by Verne Harnish   - Officevibe To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

As a marketing agency, your client’s customers are like tourists standing in Times Square, bombarded with billboards and bright lights on all sides…..    And without any idea where to look.   That’s a metaphor for brands today -- so how do you cut through the clutter?   On this episode, I interview Ron Tite, author, speaker, and founder at Church+State, about brand development.   We talked about how nurturing relationships is crucial to founding an agency, how to develop your brand with 3 actions, and agency challenges & why to fire a client.   Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:   Think. Do. Say. -- This is Ron’s book about brand.   To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

With 100 million Prime members in the U.S. alone, Amazon is the place to sell products online. Marketing agencies focused on Amazon can help a lot of clients. To do that, however, those agencies must understand how to operate a proper Amazon business.   Dan Brownsher, President, CEO, and Co-Founder at Channel Key LLC, an agency focused on selling, marketing, and building brands on Amazon, joined our podcast to talk about how agencies can help clients change that.   Dan began his career sourcing products and selling them on eBay. That project morphed into a company that now holds a place in the top 200 sellers on Amazon. Dan then leveraged what he'd learned to help brands drive high-volume sales on the platform.    Building a successful Amazon-based company means more than amazing product photography, the best titles, and top-of-the-line advertising campaigns. It also means keeping inventory in stock, maintaining service levels, and much more.    Dan gives us his insights into how to help clients build Amazon-based retailers right here on The Innovative Agency Podcast.

What happens when you can no longer scale up? Or your core business just got commoditized and now everybody thinks they can DIY it on the cheap?   Keith Scandone, creator of 03 World, a digital product agency, found his company in just that place about eight years ago.    After building websites for traditional marketing agencies and their clients, 03 World suddenly faced unexpected competition from Wordpress. Who needed an agency to build a website anymore?   Keith knew he'd have to innovate if 03 World was to stay open. But while everyone likes to talk about innovation, who knows what it means? Or how to do it?     Keith tells us all about how to innovate in the face of technological change right here on The Innovative Agency Podcast.

The design of a content marketing program seems simple - most agencies do it every day. But it creates challenging questions for agencies and clients: What metrics of success should be used? How are we going to collaborate? How does each piece of content fit into a client’s broader marketing strategy? These are questions every agency has faced, and Xenia Muntean knew these issues far too well at her digital marketing agency. So, she founded Planable  — a tech company designed to help approve and create content.   On this episode, Xenia gives agencies 4 ways they can ensure a smooth content creation process with their clients.   Xenia is the CEO & Co-Founder of Planable and a Forbes 30 Under 30.   We talked about 4 pillars of content marketing for agencies: (1) Set KPIs/metrics with each client, (2) Map out the strategy at the beginning, (3) Determine how you are going to communicate, (4) Get feedback early.   To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The marketplace has shifted. Retainers/AORs are becoming less common, and brands are moving toward project-based client/agency relationships. But that shouldn’t worry agency owners, because there’s plenty of opportunity within that trend. Just ask Rudy Fernandez.   Rudy founded his entire agency, Creative Outhouse, on the idea of project-based work in October 2001. He’s managed to successfully grow his agency without  a single AOR contract in almost 2 decades.   He came on The Innovative Agency podcast to highlight 7 ways agency owners can leverage the trend towards transactional-based client relationships.   What we talked about: (1) Monetize the idea rather than the production (2) Find pockets of money (even at larger brands) (3) Leverage the shorter lifespan of CMOs (4) Collab with larger agencies by leveraging your niche  (5) Have some ‘Street Fighter’ (6) Maintain robust freelancer relationships (7) Recognize referrals as the main business driver Bonus friendly reminder: leave your creatives alone To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Agency owners constantly worry about the threat of in-house agencies.   David Freedman has a few tips on what agencies can do to compete, and the good news is, none of them are based on price.    David is the co-founder of Freestar, a company that helps publishing websites with monetization.    What we talked about: Programmatic, Ad spend, Digital ad spend, Finding a niche To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

“If I had time to take photographs, I wouldn't have hired a PR agency.” — Every non-agency business owner, ever. Business owners don’t care how the social media sausage is made. They just want it done, they want it posted, and they want results. On this episode, we invited Lauralie Levy, CEO of Crowd Siren, to share her social media expertise. What we talked about: Social media platforms Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp How business owners don’t have time, they just want it done Why you’ll almost always be collaborating with other agencies Short-form videos aren’t going anywhere To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.