Build a Better Agency Podcast

Odds are you cannot remember a more tumultuous time in your agency. You probably endured through 9/11 but we understood what happened and why. You probably survived the 07-08 recession but we saw it coming and had time to plan and adjust. Covid-19 brings a rare and overwhelming combination of a health scare, human isolation, and an economic shutdown all in one fell swoop. No wonder you’re feeling a bit frantic. That’s why I’m worried about you. If you can’t stand strong through this, your agency is in trouble. The way we lead our agency through this is by acknowledging how hard it is and taking care of ourselves. We have to recognize that we’re grieving right now and because of that, we’re experiencing a wide range of emotions from terror to anger to a need to just keep moving. All of that is natural and to be expected. But it’s not helpful. In this episode we’re going to talk about grieving, about accepting the loss and deciding what path makes the most sense for your shop. Beyond that – we’re going to talk about how YOU survive this and lead your team to the better days that we know are waiting for us around the corner. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in This Episode: How agency owners can overcome the mental hurdles of being the ship’s captain in time of crisis What we’re going through as agency leaders and what we can do to survive the storm How to overcome the sense of loss and grief the pandemic has brought upon us Tools and resources agency owners can use to navigate new challenges brought by the COVID-crisis Why agency owners need to take care of themselves before they can take care of anyone else How you can use this period of change to rethink the way you do business AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for agency owners and their leadership teams Offering AE Bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with over 250+ agencies every year, Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.” Subscribe to Build A Better Agency!   Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/   Tools & Resources (if needed): COVID Resource Page Brief video explaining the 55-25-20 ratio Blog post: Cover your agency in case your client pulls the plug Blog post: What to do when your client is stalled Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast 

US and European based agency owners are fightly vigilantly as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds in their region of the world. It’s affecting agencies and their clients in significant ways. I’ve been talking to agency owners non-stop for the last two weeks and one thing is for sure – one agency’s experience is not like another’s. For some, business and AGI has never been better. In others, 50% of their AGI has walked out in less than ten days. I wanted to connect with an agency owner who had already experienced everything we are going through today and could tell us what’s coming next. Kiri Sinclair owns the 50-person PR shop aptly named Sinclair. They’re based in Hong Kong with hubs in several cities in China and they are about three months ahead of us in dealing with the coronavirus. Needless to say, there are some good lessons for us to learn from her experience. Hong Kong and mainland China reacted differently to the initial outbreak than European countries and the US have reacted so our experience may not be perfectly parallel. However, the timeline still provides us with some idea of what to expect moving forward. The good news is – there’s good news. Two and a half months in, client business in Hong Kong has picked up and things are moving back to normal. Every country and every agency is different, but Kiri’s story serves as a beacon of hope and helps us anticipate what is coming next. 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 agency owners across the globe are responding to the COVID-crisis The experience of Hong Kong-based agency owner Kiri Sinclair since the outbreak first occurred there over two months ago How clients responded to the global pandemic in Asia How to be proactive in protecting client relationships and the team amidst the crisis How to consider handling internal changes such as pay and lay-offs Mistakes our guest made and what she would have done differently if she knew then what she knows now The Golden Nuggets: “Agencies in the U.S. and Europe are very lucky to have an additional two months of knowledge to make difficult decisions.” @SinclairTalkCLICK TO TWEET“Get your contingency plans in order. Then, communicate what those contingency plans are, how your business is operating at this moment in time, and how you are supporting the community to contain this outbreak.” @SinclairTalkCLICK TO TWEET Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Ways to contact Kiri Sinclair: Website:  https://www.sinclaircomms.com/  https://www.sinclairarts.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sinclaircomms/ LinkedIn:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirisinclair/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/sinclaircomms/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SinclairComms Twitter: @KiriSinclair @SinclairTalk Tools & Resources: Recovery plan for agencies and brands that Sinclair authored AMI’s covid-19 survival resources page Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter New Book: Sell With Authority

Today’s episode is a twofer – and both topics are going to benefit your shop. The first is the idea of collaborating with your prospects to create content that is valuable for both of you. From there you can leverage that shared experience to create new opportunities for your agency. The second is how you can write that book you’ve been thinking about, despite how overloaded your calendar and life can be. My guest is James Carbary, the owner of Sweet Fish Media, a podcast-first media company. James was with us once before back in Episode #156 where we talked about James’ approach to networking. And in the latest episode of Build a Better Agency, we dive even further into his creative collaboration methodology as we discuss the writing process and major talking points of his new book, Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know. James asserts that when you partner with your prospects to produce content that will serve their organization’s business goals, you can connect and create the foundation of a relationship. That relationship will serve your agency in a variety of ways, ranging from referrals to a new client. On top of that, the content is also useful to your audience, so it’s establishing your position of authority, as Stephen Woessner and I detail in our new book Sell With Authority. As if that wasn’t already a value-packed episode, I also asked James how he, as a busy agency owner, found the time to write the book. He reveals all of his shortcuts and secrets and you’re going to want to hear them all! 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: If you decide to go with a different keyword, make sure to have the keyword listed in at least one bullet point The concept of James’ new book, Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know How content collaboration serves your agency’s biz dev efforts James’ framework for content-based networking and how to apply it How to write and publish your own book How to use your book as a biz dev too Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Ways to contact James Carbary: New Book: Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know Website: www.sweetfishmedia.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescarbary/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetfishmedia?fref=nf Twitter: @jamescarbary Tools & Resources: BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/ Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter New Book: Sell With Authority

There’s not a small business owner on the planet who isn’t concerned about how the coronavirus is going to impact their business, employees, clients, and family. Those worries are complicated by the fact that this is also a health risk to those you love. I can’t help with the health risk part – but I can help ease your fears about your business. We’re going to survive this together and in this episode, I am going to give you some tips and tactics to get you and your agency through this storm and back to calm waters. If you’ve owned your agency for a while, you’ve already survived a similar season. We weathered 9/11 and in the U.S the ’07 to ’08 recession. It wasn’t pleasant or pretty — but you got your agency through it and I want you to recognize that you can and will do it again. I’m going to walk you through steps to protect yourself and your agency in these areas: Your team Money Clients Biz dev It’s going to require strong leadership and a kind, compassionate heart — and following the metrics to get your agency through the next few months. But you’ve got all of that in spades — so let’s get through this together! 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in This Episode: How this economic slowdown is not the first we’ve seen What to keep in mind if you shift to a remote work situation The place where you’re at the most danger of putting your agency at risk The financial metrics you cannot afford to ignore How to take a long-range view of the virus situation and find opportunities in the chaos The unlikely upsides of this season AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for agency owners and their leadership teams Offering AE Bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with over 250+ agencies every year, Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.” Subscribe to Build A Better Agency!   Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/   Tools & Resources (if needed): Brief video explaining the 55-25-20 ratio Blog post: Cover your agency in case your client pulls the plug Blog post: What to do when your client is stalled Sell with Authority Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast

The more you know about a person, the easier it is to connect with them. One of the challenges when it comes to biz dev is that we really don’t know too much about the prospect we’re trying to build a relationship with, especially in the early stages of the sales pitch. But what if there was a way for you to gain those insights even if you’ve never met them in person? Charlie Poulson’s first job out of college was building PPT decks for one of the country’s largest agencies. That experience gave him insights on the technical side of sales. A recent discovery of a tool that adds in some psychological insights has allowed him to build a business helping others succeed at sales. In the latest episode of Build a Better Agency, Charlie explains how agency owners can structure proposals and presentations in a way that resonates with their audience, because they know who that person is and how they tick, thanks to Crystal, a Chrome plugin that provides DISC assessment information based on their LinkedIn profile and other social channels. Take a listen and then connect with your prospects at a whole different level. 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: If you decide to go with a different keyword, make sure to have the keyword listed in at least one bullet point. The psychology behind agency sales communication How agency owners can communicate more effectively with prospects The art of presentation design for agencies How Charlie creates presentations and proposals that resonate with decision-makers How Charlie is using AI (Crystal the Chrome plugin) to gather data and insights about agency prospects How to create different pitch decks for a variety of personality types Ways to Contact Charlie Poulson: Buy The Psychic Proposal: http://bit.ly/PsychicProposal Work with Charlie: https://calendly.com/hang-with-charlie/exploration Crystal: https://crys.io/s/gHYTrl Email: charlie@americano.design LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliepoulson/ Twitter: @CharlesPoulson Website: https://www.americano.design/ Tools & Resources: BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/ Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter New Book: Sell With Authority FacebookTwitter

Many agency owners are familiar with the book Traction by Gino Wickman and his Entrepreneurial Operating System. It’s a fantastic methodology for improving your agency’s ability to scale effectively, growing a leadership team and building a more sustainable, profitable agency. If you implement Traction properly. Otherwise, it can be a huge waste of time and money. Traction” is not just a book — it is a new way of running your business so that you can delight your clients but also make your own agency a priority. No more “cobbler’s children have no shoes” excuses about why your website is never updated, your internal priorities are ignored or your agency is stuck in terms of growth and profitability. I have served many agencies as their Traction implementer and through that experience have figured out some of the biggest pitfalls, mistakes and challenges that agencies run into when they launch Traction inside their shop. In this solocast, I will walk you through the benefits of Traction and how to get the most from the effort. 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 agency owners can benefit from Traction and EOS How to build your agency’s traction team How to implement Traction in your agency What decisions/practices impact the effectiveness of Traction in our agencies How to navigate the challenging segments of the Traction process AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for agency owners and their leadership teams Offering AE Bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with over 250+ agencies every year, Drew has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) and been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.” Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/ Tools & Resources: BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/ Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter Sell With Authority Traction Rocket Fuel

I have long preached the concept of being a specialist versus a generalist to my audience, so it should come as no surprise to you that along with my co-author Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI, I have just written a book on the subject. Sell With Authority is a playbook for agency new business efforts that will allow you to shorten your sales cycle, increase your pricing and profitability and actually attract your ideal customers to knock on YOUR door, rather than the other way around. In this week’s episode, Stephen and I talk about some of the core principles of the book and why we’re both so passionate about the approach. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in this Episode: The inspiration and core concepts behind our new book, Sell With Authority How to be seen as an authority in your industry The biz dev decisions that will help you achieve rapid growth Why you should narrow your agency’s focus How to differentiate your agency by having a unique point of view How to use cornerstone content to build authority across multiple channels Ways to Contact Stephen Woessner: Website: https://predictiveroi.com/ Books: Stephen’s Author Page and Drew’s Author Page Sell With Authority Podcast: Onward Nation Twitter: @stephenwoessner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a global marketing agency that specializes in partner or affiliate marketing. Initially, I planned on spending our time debunking the myths around affiliate marketing space (which we still covered), but our conversation took an interesting turn and instead we focused on Acceleration Partners’ growth journey. Robert described the transformation of his agency from five employees to several hundred in multiple countries – all in less than a decade. As you might imagine, it was not without some difficult crossroads. Robert is the author of the new Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, Elevate on how to build capacity while setting and achieving agency goals while helping the individual team members do the same. On top of sharing an agency leader’s perspective of the story behind Acceleration Partners’ growth, Robert discusses the inspiration behind his written content and what it means to him. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in this Episode: Robert’s role as the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners Robert’s view of affiliate marketing in the agency world How Robert took his agency of five FTEs and grew it multifold How agency culture played a role in the immense growth of Acceleration Partners How Robert holds his team accountable for maintaining Acceleration Partners’ culture

We get hired because our clients want to surround themselves with expertise and a depth of knowledge that they don’t have in-house. They know we have to stay current on the trends shaping our business and theirs if we want to remain relevant. But in a rapidly evolving marketplace, it’s challenging to stay ahead of the curve. Rohit Bhargava and his Non-obvious book series has been a go-to resource ever since the first book appears in 2013. Back in Episode #33, Rohit walked us through his process of curating and tracking trends as a part of his Non-Obvious book series. In this week’s episode, he comes back on the show to tell us which trends from his new book, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future, of particular importance to agencies and their clients. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in this Episode: The biggest trends agency owners and leaders face in 2020 Rohit’s journey through the agency realm What makes Rohit’s new book, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future a little different from the rest Critical trends agency owners and leaders should be paying attention to in 2020 Ways to Contact Rohit Bhargava: Website: https://www.rohitbhargava.com/ Books: https://www.rohitbhargava.com/books-publications Twitter: @rohitbhargava YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVogCMB50uIYYdbwv7_w-tQ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitbhargava/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohitmarketingauthor

Most of us didn’t major in math or accounting. In fact, many of us were drawn to our industry because it wasn’t math centric! Unfortunately, agency leaders are not math exempt. Without proper financial data, it’s impossible to successfully run a profitable agency. This means your accounting partner, in-house or not, should be your constant companion. Many agencies are exploring an outsourced accounting solution, just like most of us outsource our tax prep. But there is more to accounting than what meets the eye. Chris Hervochon is the founder of Better Way CPA that was built to serve agencies. Chris and his team approach accounting as a vital source of data that can help us make better decisions in real-time. Chris joined us to discuss the metrics and best practices we can use to run our agencies better. We also talk about how to automate some of your accounting to really take full advantage of the information you have. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to maximize the value of an outsourced CFO Chris’ view on the purpose of accounting Common mistakes that agency owners make with their books The automation of accounting and the value it can bring to your agency How accounting has changed and what it is able to do for us as agencies owners Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Ways to Contact Chris Hervochon: Website: https://www.betterwaycpa.com/about/ Twitter: @ChrisHervochon Instagram: @BetterWayCPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishervochon/ Wayfinder Service: betterwaycpa.com/wayfinder eBook: From Agency to Freelancer YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV47G1cxtV_ElKokUt2ChXw Strategy Session: Click Here to Sign Up Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterWayCPA/