Build a Better Agency Podcast

With a heavy heart, I'm recording this week's solocast to commemorate the life of a cherished and respected team member of AMI, Craig Barnes. I have known Craig for 25 years, and we became great friends and colleagues over our time together as fellow agency owners. I want to use this solocast as an opportunity to honor the legacy Craig left behind and share with you all some of the core values he taught me over our long time working together, the most important one being to lead with love. Whether you were part of his family, community, colleague, or client, Craig always made sure that people knew he loved them. He was never afraid to shower others with love and celebrate their wins in life, no matter how big or small. He did everything in a big way, whether that was making a huge business decision or taking up a new hobby — and he wasn't afraid to go after it with genuine, whole-hearted passion. I'm heartbroken to be recording this episode. Still, I hope this allows everyone the chance to reflect on his incredible life and legacy and encapsulate everything that Craig taught us in the AMI community. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. In This Episode: How Craig Barnes became a part of my life and the AMI community What we can learn from Craig's life and professional life Keep evolving If you're going to do it, do it big Strategy is critical There is no substitute for integrity The more you teach, the more you learn Lead with love

As agency owners, we're always looking for ways to get great customers that increase our profitability while decreasing the length of the typical sales cycle. That's the dream, right? This week, I have Tom Schwab on to talk about one of the best ways to make that dream a reality — being a great guest on other people's podcasts. As a great guest himself, Tom has a gold mine of valuable information to share with us about getting featured as a guest on podcasts, the ROI that it brings to your agency, and how to track the results you're getting from being a podcast guest. Great conversations lead to great customers, and Tom will teach us exactly how to turn all that talking into gold. Don't miss out on this information-packed episode so you can start your year right by setting the stage for increased profitability in 2023. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why you don't need to host your own podcast to get your name out there How to use podcast guesting as a way to achieve your goals Why podfade is such a common occurrence How to identify which podcasts need your voice as a guest Leveraging a podcast to attract great clients, not more leads in the sales funnel How to be a great podcast guest and get the host to sell you to the audience Pre- and post-interview podcast guest best practices The importance of having a tracking mechanism for performance and conversion rates

As agency owners, we're always looking for ways to get great customers that increase our profitability while decreasing the length of the typical sales cycle. That's the dream, right? This week, I have Tom Schwab on to talk about one of the best ways to make that dream a reality — being a great guest on other people's podcasts. As a great guest himself, Tom has a gold mine of valuable information to share with us about getting featured as a guest on podcasts, the ROI that it brings to your agency, and how to track the results you're getting from being a podcast guest. Great conversations lead to great customers, and Tom will teach us exactly how to turn all that talking into gold. Don't miss out on this information-packed episode so you can start your year right by setting the stage for increased profitability in 2023. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why you don't need to host your own podcast to get your name out there How to use podcast guesting as a way to achieve your goals Why podfade is such a common occurrence How to identify which podcasts need your voice as a guest Leveraging a podcast to attract great clients, not more leads in the sales funnel How to be a great podcast guest and get the host to sell you to the audience Pre- and post-interview podcast guest best practices The importance of having a tracking mechanism for performance and conversion rates

Diversity in the workplace is the cornerstone of running a modern and successful agency. Without it, you're not only selling your agency short, but you're also passing up on an immense pool of talent and ideas that you won't find by staying in a comfort zone. This week, we have Dr. Ella Washington, a professor, organizational psychologist, and DEI expert, on the podcast to share the purpose, pitfalls, and progress behind effective and measurable DEI work. Whether your agency has fallen behind the times or you just need a fresh perspective, we all have work to do in this area. So, take this episode with an open mind, actively listen to it, and use it as a guide for refocusing your DEI efforts in 2023. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The metrics for tracking DEI work progress The three P's of starting DEI work How hybrid work environments promote diversity in the workplace Inviting more diversity into your organization Why diverse backgrounds of all kinds matter at work Inclusive leadership Acknowledging and addressing microaggressions How to create a safe space as a leader and invite conversations about DEI

With agency ownership comes big ideas, a lot of creative energy, and infinite passion for your work. Chances are you have a million ideas floating around your head with nowhere to put them. Why not compile them into a book? We've talked about why creative thought leadership matters for finding right-fit clients and aids in biz dev for your agency. This week, I'm bringing back Henry DeVries to discuss finally putting all those ideas into action and writing your book. We have a fun episode planned today with tons of advice for creating the blueprint for your book, how to finally get started with writing (and get help doing it), and some of the common roadblocks we create for ourselves when it's time to finally go to the printer. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Building the blueprint of your book 7 questions to answer when creating the book outline Why writing is a team sport How to solo write a book in a way that's manageable (if you choose to go it alone) The best approach to co-authoring a book Discovering your hidden assets and turning them into content The roadblocks we create for ourselves in the final stages of publishing

Peter Levitan, business development expert, shares tips on getting creative in agency marketing. Topics include standing out from the crowd, direct marketing, thought leadership, and the future of agencies in 2023.

Time tracking is one of the most overlooked resources in an agency's day-to-day operations. Without it, you're missing out on valuable data about where you need more training, more staff, or even if you're charging enough for your services. That's why I'm talking today about incentivizing daily time tracking with your employees. The first thing a lot of your team will say is, "I don't have time to do this every day." But, with a little incentive and some tenacity, you can reach 95% to 98% compliance on daily time tracking in no time at all. Tune in to learn my step-by-step plan for starting the conversation, implementing it, and keeping the momentum once you get your team on board. For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops and more. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The reason why timesheets matter for more than just hours worked Why timesheets should be done every single day How to start talking to your team about daily time tracking Incentivizing the team to track time consistently Holding the team — and yourself — accountable The psychology behind my time-tracking accountability method How to use the data that daily time tracking gives you

Weary is a great word to describe a lot of agency leaders right now. It comes up again and again that we're just tired, overworked, and running on fumes. It's not our fault, but there are things we can do to get back to feeling a little more balanced and less like we're about to snap. I brought Jeff Salzenstein on this week to teach us some good habits that we can work on little by little to improve our personal lives and help us be better agency leaders. As a former tennis pro, he knows what it's like to be under pressure and have people counting on you to perform at your peak at all times. We'll talk about how he made the difficult decision to move from playing tennis to doing leadership coaching. He'll cover everything he knows about getting your mental, emotional, and physical health to its optimal level so that you can show up as your best self for the people counting on you the most. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How to stay strong and committed in the face of challenges Navigating the weariness that comes with agency leadership Shifting a negative mindset into a positive one Focused breathing as an effective technique to recenter yourself The importance of good sleep for good leadership How incremental changes create significant shifts in our lives The importance of having well-rounded emotional health

Manish Dudharejia, expert in white-label outsourcing and agency workflow optimization, discusses the value of white-label agencies, finding the right mix of experience and trainability in new hires, project management, niching, and the importance of finding free time as an agency owner. They also explore the challenges of access to too much information in social media and provide tips for optimizing agency workflow and taking action for business growth.

Marketing agency culture is constantly changing, but adapting the best we can is important. And one of the most important ways we need to be adaptable is by identifying where we can bring more diversity and new perspectives into our company culture. Sometimes when you're sitting in the boss's chair, there can be a disconnect between knowing what your people want and need and seeing who might be missing from the room altogether. This is where this week's guest, Farzana Nayani, comes in to save the day. She has over 20 years of DEI work experience and knows how to get straight to the core of what employees want from their employers. In this episode, we'll talk about how to create safe environments for everyone, communicate that you're open to having tough conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion, quiet quitting and labor hoarding, and how to set boundaries around polarizing topics in the workplace. A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How employee resource groups are beneficial to employees How DEI work has changed since Farzana began this work What can we do as business owners to create a safe environment? How to communicate that you're open to difficult conversations around differences How to learn more about our employees without creating more discomfort How to invite more diversity into your agency culture The rise of quiet quitting and labor hoarding How to avoid polarization around politics in the workplace