The Innovative Agency

Jacob Beckley, EVP of Technology, Product, and Innovation at Fusion 92, discusses the importance of cultivating a culture of innovation in agencies. Topics include thinking broadly about innovation, the value of diverse thinking, scaling team participation, taking calculated risks, and monetizing innovation practices.

David DeMuth, CEO of Doner Partners Network, discusses how agencies can remain relevant in today's landscape. Topics include expressing expertise for smaller agencies, collaboration within agency networks, evaluating opportunities, and navigating smooth collaborations. Also, they explore areas of focus for the upcoming year: investing in AI and data analytics, building production capability, and nurturing client relationships.

Intro   Today we’re speaking with Darian Kovacs, the Founder of Jelly Marketing, a certified Vancouver based SEO company. We discuss the importance of leveraging your agency's knowledge to create new revenue streams. Darian shares his experience of starting Jelly Academy, a platform that offers courses and training based on their expertise. Tune in to learn how to turn what you know into a profitable opportunity for your agency.   What you will learn in this episode:    How to shift toward an abundance mindset in your agency operations.  Some of the best ways to monetize training solutions. Why it is important to collaborate with educational institutions. How to properly teach agency skills to talent.  How to leverage in-house marketers to optimize success.  The value of engaging in community impact programs.    Bio   Darian Kovacs is the Indigenous Founder of B-Corp certified Vancouver based SEO company Jelly Digital Marketing & PR & digital marketing course Jelly Academy. He brings 15 years of marketing experience and a passion for education, and creativity. He is the host of the podcast Marketing News Canada. Darian specializes in mixing PR with digital marketing and has worked with numerous internationally renowned brands on developing and executing their digital marketing and PR strategies. Darian lives in Fort Langley, BC with his wife and four children and likes to mountain bike, watercolor and read in his free time.   Resources:   Website: https://jellymarketing.ca/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariankovacs/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jelly-marketing/  

Intro   We’re joined by Jason Zotara from Ten26 Media to discuss the impact of agency work through the lens of social impact and sustainability. We explore the creative ideas that agencies bring to their clients and how it goes beyond just metrics, changing the economic picture and culture. This conversation highlights the importance of focusing on work that has a positive ripple effect in the world.   What you will learn in this episode:   The value of working with purpose-driven organizations. How to screen potential clients to understand their impact.  The importance of purpose-driven, sustainable businesses.  How to leverage cause-based marketing.  How to shift your mindset when running your business.    Bio   Jason Zotara is the Founder of Ten26 Media and has over 20 years of experience in the marketing industry. Jason is changing the way businesses connect with their target audiences and achieve unprecedented growth through Ten26 Media’s trademarked catchphrase, “Advertise with Purpose”. Through collaborating with and elevating brands and companies that share a similar affinity for creating positive effects in the world, Jason and his team have been able to exponentially increase advertising success for their clients, enabling long-term relationships that result in meaningful change. Resources:   Website: https://www.ten26media.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonjzotara/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ten26media/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ten26media Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ten26Media Get in Touch: https://www.ten26media.com/contact/

Intro Today we’re talking with Juliana Marulanda, founder of ScaleTime, about the challenges and strategies for scaling marketing agencies. She discusses the importance of avoiding burnout and finding a balance between growth and scaling. Juliana also shares her expertise in helping agencies navigate the journey of scaling and offers insights from her experience working with various agencies.    What you will learn in this episode:    Impacting a community through scaling. Common pitfalls to avoid when scaling an agency.  The downsides of failing to create process documentation when scaling.  How to effectively delegate tasks when scaling your agency.  How to manage resources and capacity while scaling.  The best ways to maximize client retention after onboarding.   Bio   With over 20 years of experience across Wall Street, the nonprofit sector, technology startups, and family-owned businesses, Juliana Marulanda, founder at ScaleTime, has served over 500 digital agencies. Featured by Forbes and Entrepreneur, Juliana helps uplevel businesses into lean, mean, profitable machines.    On average, she and her team create ways to free up at least 30 hours per week for her clients so they can have successful agencies that run without them. Founders can find themselves saying “I do what I want, how I want, whenever I want” - Now that is freedom.   Juliana is passionate about providing audiences with invaluable tools that they can use instantly to start improving their business. Her wealth of agency growth secrets and expertise in growth management will put agency owners and marketers on the path to scaling a business. Resources:   Website: www.scaletime.co LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianamarulanda/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scaletime/ Facebook: https://facebook.com/scaletime/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianamarula Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scaletime  

Intro In this episode of The Innovative Agency, Mike Maynard of Napier discusses the challenges and opportunities of working with enterprise-sized clients. The discussion is about the unique concerns that arise when dealing with these clients and the time-consuming nature of negotiating contracts with them. Tune in to gain ideas for operating and growing your agency in the enterprise market.   What you will learn in this episode:    How to work with enterprise-sized agency clients. How to develop a larger portfolio of enterprise clients.  The best way to develop new business through current clientele. How to deal with exclusivity requests.  How to negotiate contracts with larger companies. The unique challenges that come with serving enterprise clients.    Bio   Mike Maynard is the Managing Director/CEO of the Napier Group, a $7M PR and marketing agency for B2B technology companies. He is a self-confessed geek who loves talking about technology. He believes that combining the measurement, accountability, and innovation that he learned as an engineer with a passion for communicating internationally means Napier can help clients achieve their marketing goals sooner.   Resources:   Website: https://www.napierb2b.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemaynard/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/napier-partnership-limited/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mike_Maynard Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NapierPR Marketing B2B Technology Podcast: https://marketingb2btech.napierb2b.com/

Intro In this episode of The Innovative Agency, Shaun Clark, co-founder and CEO of High Level, explores why his company decided to focus on building a community for their customers and the benefits it brings. Tune in to learn more about the power of community in the agency industry.   What you will learn in this episode:    The value of growing your community.  How to plan for the future strategically.  How to leverage your community’s expertise to improve your agency. How to provide software solutions as an agency leader.  The best ways to leverage tools to increase revenue in your business.    Bio   Shaun Clark is a co-founder and the CEO of HighLevel, the #1 white-label marketing platform for agencies. Prior to HighLevel, Shaun founded, operated, and sold InvoiceSherpa, a SaaS company that continues to help thousands of businesses around the world get paid faster.   Resources:   Website: https://www.gohighlevel.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaunclarkhighlevel/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/highlevel/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gohighlevel/ October Summit: https://levelup.gohighlevel.com/  

Intro In this episode of The Innovative Agency, we welcome Garrett Garcia, President of PPK, to discuss the challenges and strategies of attracting and retaining talent in the agency world. He explores the importance of having a team-focused philosophy and how it can drive success.   What you will learn in this episode:    How revolving doors in agencies affect talent retention and acquisition. The expectations for maintaining adequate work-life balance for employees. How to correct performance in real-time without being overbearing.  The importance of offering continuing education opportunities to employees. How to scale your talent acquisition process to attract high-level talent.    Bio Garrett Garcia was PPK’s second employee to join the original founding members in 2005 as an Account Executive. Since then, the agency has grown tenfold and Garrett holds the role of President, leading agency operations and business strategy.    His strategic guidance has helped lead PPK to some major wins in the Southeast, including the Florida Lottery, the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball and Pinch A Penny Pools. After almost 22 years in the creative and advertising industry, Garrett has borrowed from his larger agency experience to help shape the trajectory of PPK's steady growth. Garrett lives in Tampa, Florida and spends most of his free time outdoors when he's not chasing his two young kids and their 80-pound pitbull, Hercules.   Resources:   Website: https://www.uniteppk.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-garcia-ba867b4/ Linkedin Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uniteppk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnitePPK/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/uniteppk  

Intro In this episode of The Innovative Agency, Karl Sakas describes how business can impact the personal lives and visions of agency owners while delving into topics such as maximizing agency success and work-life balance. Karl also shares his insights on internal and external issues agencies face, offering practical advice for agency leaders.  What you will learn in this episode:    The value of sharpening your mindset as an agency owner.  How to work less and earn more through your agency.  The purpose of developing a thought leadership team.  How to delegate roles within your agency.  The best ways to measure agency growth.  How to monitor your bandwidth and redeploy it as necessary.    Bio   Growth is good… unless it gets out of control. Karl Sakas can help you manage your agency’s growing pains, with advice developed from experience guiding hundreds of agencies on every inhabited continent.   As a management consultant and executive coach, Karl has personally advised hundreds of agency owners worldwide. His clients often call him their “agency therapist.”   Through Sakas & Company, he offers custom consulting, executive coaching, and training programs and products to help agency owners “up-level” at their agency. These include his “Agency PM 101” on-demand course—for the reluctant project manager—and his “Work Less, Earn More” agency growth bootcamp—designed to help agency owners achieve their ideal work life.   Karl is a fourth-generation business owner with over 20 years of consulting experience. He’s worked as the #2 person at two digital marketing agencies and written extensively on how to run a better agency. Resources:   Website: https://sakasandcompany.com/  LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsakas/  LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sakas-&-company/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SakasAndCompany/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/karlsakas  Work Less, Earn More  

Intro   In this episode of The Innovative Agency, we explore the often-overlooked topic of profitability in marketing agencies. Our guest is Ilia Markov, marketing director of Toggle. He discusses ways to uncover blind spots and maximize profitability in agency operations. Tune in to learn how to squeeze more juice from your agency's performance and increase your bottom line.   What you will learn in this episode:    How to use time tracking as a tool to boost productivity and profitability. The importance of contextualizing data in your efforts to increase profits.  How to identify new opportunities for profit increases.  The difference between open book agencies and more cautious agencies. The benefits of having a high level of openness regarding profitability in your agency.    Bio   Ilia Markov has diverse work experience in digital marketing and content strategy. Ilia's journey in tech marketing started in 2013 after he graduated with an MBA from the University of Michigan. Since then, he has had the chance to work with some of the most exciting brands in SaaS. Today he leads the marketing team at Toggl to help individuals and organizations of all sizes to be more productive, profitable, and happier.   Resources:   Website: https://www.markovunchained.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iliamarkov/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toggl/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nochainmarkov Receive 20% Off Any Annual Plan For New Clients With Code INNOVATE: https://toggl.com/plan/