Build a Better Agency Podcast

It doesn’t matter if you are a small shop, a specialized shop, in a major market, or based in rural areas – odds are, your biggest struggle right now is attracting and retaining talent. Many agency owners are losing sleep over staffing up or even worse, losing one of their key players. Interestingly, how you’re hiring may be one of the reasons your tenured employees are giving notice. Right now, employees and prospective employees hold all the cards. They are being recruited by organizations that can pay better than any agency and offer what appears to be a more stable, slower-paced work environment. What is an agency owner to do? I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you should make people work harder for the privilege of working for you. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, we’ll walk through how playing a little hard to get will earn you better prospects and future employees and keep your current employees satisfied. 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 there is such a high turnover rate in agencies across the country What you can do to attract and retain top talent Why you should play hard to get, despite the challenges of hiring How to strengthen your interview process to make better hires What to look for in potential candidates for your team AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for 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 those 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 two books 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: Agency Owner Life Plan: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ami-OwnerLifePlan.pdf Agency One Page Business Plan: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ami-businessplan.pdf Adam Carroll’s Podcast: https://masteryofmoney.lpages.co/babl-blueprint/

Culture matters. As agency owners and leaders, we get that. And we love creating a “great culture.” But, developing a great culture is about more than beer o’clock and having a ping pong table. Yes, fun is important. But if you want to attract and retain the top talent in your industry, that alone is not going to cut it. John Waid of Corporate Culture Consulting joins us on this episode of Build A Better Agency to teach us a fresh approach to developing agency culture. He explains how to identify and define your organization’s culture, so you can align it with your strategic goals. By focusing on organizational culture instead of a more superficial definition culture, we create an environment where the best employees want to stay and thrive. It enables us to map out our core values so we can weave them into the DNA of the agency and establish clear rules of engagement for clients, peers, and leadership alike. John has a very unique perspective on how culture comes to life and how you can foster a culture that is outcome-focused. This conversation will reshape your perspective even if you think you have this one nailed. 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: Superficial culture vs. organizational culture The factors that contribute to a great agency culture How your culture plays a major role in talent acquisition and retention How to set behavioral expectations that bring your agency’s core values to life Why a great culture has the potential to course-correct a poor work ethic How to introduce new values to your agency and maintain them for years to come Ways to Contact John Waid: Website: c3culture.com Email: jwaid@corporatecultureconsulting.com Phone: (404) 915-3051 Twitter: @C3PeopleSkills LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwaid/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/c3culture/

Biz dev, mentorship, and relationship management are critical responsibilities of every agency owner. But the hours in a workday are limited, and if we fail to delegate with confidence, the work that is uniquely ours will not get done. It’s just too easy to get sucked into client work or internal issues that we shouldn’t be focused on. Every agency owner needs a #1 who walks, talks, and leads like an owner because they enable us to actually do our job. In this episode, AMI’s own Craig Barnes chats with Drew about his observations as to what it takes to recognize, find and keep a great lieutenant from his lens as the facilitator of AMI’s Key Executive networks. Craig also walks us through how to groom an existing employee who you believe has the potential to fill that role. Throughout his experience running his own agency for 25+ years and his role at AMI, Craig has gleaned some invaluable insights about leadership team level team members in the agency world. If you are interested in learning how to identify that critical player for your team and prepare them for success, this episode is for you. 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 common traits of agency key executives All of the different functions that key executives can serve How to identify key executives on your team and groom them for success How you can grow as an agency owner so that your key executive can flourish Why this is the ideal time to find and nurture a new leader Ways to Contact Craig Barnes: Website: http://marketgrowthaccelerators.com/ Twitter: @CraigSBarnes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigaga/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/market-growth-accelerators/about/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Market-Growth-Accelerators-221876281273730/

One of the challenges of agency life is that typically everything we sell is a custom job. It’s tough to build in efficiencies or systemize our production when we never make the same deliverable twice. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Back in Episode 100, we discussed the idea of structuring your agency as a wonder bread factory vs. an artisanal bakery and there are different pros and cons for each. Website By Tonight’s Jared Gold successfully transformed his agency from an artisanal bakery into a wonder bread factory for web development. And in this episode of Build A Better Agency, Jared joins us to share the lessons he learned throughout the process so you can apply them in your own agency. 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: Jared’s journey from artisanal bakery to wonder bread factory with Website By Tonight The benefits and drawbacks of productizing your agency’s service line The lessons and insights Jared learned while switching from custom to standardized deliverables How to determine what parts of your agency can actually be productized Creating firm boundaries around your productized offerings so that you can always meet expectations How Jared’s target audience changed when he introduced the productized service line with Website By Tonight Ways to Contact Jared Gold: Website: https://websitebytonight.com/ Free Productized Agencies Directory: turnkeyagencies.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredgold1/ Additional Resources: Agency Planning Tools: agencymanagementinstitute.com/herecomes2020 Access Jared’s agency-to-agency project/partner referral Slack group: https://websitebytonight.com/partner Jared’s agency partner program: https://websitebytonight.com/faq-partners

Most agency owners hope to sell their agency someday down the road. If that’s you, understanding how agencies are valuated today will help you maximize that opportunity whenever it comes. Even if you aren’t interested in selling, you can and should still be beefing up your agency’s value. Gina Cocking joins us for this episode to provide an investment banker’s perspective on the valuation and sales process. She’ll walk us through the key items investment firms look for in your agency’s valuation and explain the technical numbers-side. She’ll also help us identify ways you can add value in advance. Gina is managing director and partner at Colonnade Advisors, a boutique investment banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the business services industry. Colonnade has helped many agencies buy and sell, so Gina understands what it takes to help agency owners get the most out of their purchase deals. 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: A glimpse inside the process of selling your agency How Colonnade Advisors represents business owners selling their companies The importance of enterprise value, recurring revenue, and client relationships when you sell your agency How your key employees factor into a purchase deal The various elements that increase or diminish an agency’s value in the marketplace How to approach the numbers-side of selling your agency Ways to Contact Gina Cocking: Website: www.coladv.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginacocking/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/colonnade-advisors-llc_2/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colonnade-Advisors-LLC/308550405834700

Maybe it’s my age, but there’s a lot more talk about the importance of strengthening my core, to improve balance and stability. The same is true for our agencies. Our reality is always a bit unstable and we often expend a lot of energy anticipating the next storm. But if your agency’s core is strong, you can rest a little easier, knowing you can weather whatever comes. Just like you have for years. We forget how much we’ve already accomplished and survived when we’re heads down all of the time. Recently, there has been a bit of an undercurrent of worry and tension in some of my conversations with agency owners, so I want to tackle that. In ep. 210 we talked about how even on our worst days, life as an agency owner is pretty darn good. In ep. 215, I gave you some action steps to take to recession-proof your agency. And in this episode, I walk you through some ways to strengthen your agency’s core so you can approach 2020 with confidence and courage. You and your agency are survivors. Let’s set you up to take full advantage of whatever rocks the boat – good news or bad. Because if there’s one given in agency life it’s that there will be a bit of both! 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 deal with your worries so you can approach 2020 with confidence and courage How to strengthen your agency’s core How to take full advantage of the gratitude you have for being an agency owner The importance of mentorship and one-on-one time with your employees How to love your clients in bigger, bolder ways Why your agency should serve your life, not the other way around AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for 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 those 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 two books 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.”

There was a time when you spent most of your time learning your craft. Whether it was account service or art direction or biz dev – you had to develop the skills to do your job well. There’s no doubt that our world demands on-going education so we can continue to serve our clients. But at this point in your career, you have the luxury of focusing on something a bit deeper — developing yourself as a leader, professional, and human being. That’s why I love John Jantsch’s new book The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur so much. It invites us to do just that. John has always been about teaching small businesses how to do marketing. His previous five books were all how to guides for everything from selling, using referrals to grow your business, and SEO. But this latest book offers no step by step instructions. In fact, it’s sort of the opposite. It’s a book about you discovering answers to bigger questions that can’t come with an instruction manual. Each of the 366 chapters is comprised of a quote from a literary great, a reflection by John on the day’s topic (anything from limited beliefs to seizing risk) and then a thought-provoking question. You can consume the book in one big gulp or you can sip it throughout the year. In this episode of Build A Better Agency, John and I chat about why he made the dramatic shift in writing purpose and style, how he got the book done and how he recommends readers squeeze the full value from the book. 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: About John’s new book and why he chose to write a “why to” rather than another how to How to invest in yourself and how that growth can serve your agency The book writing process for “The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur” How to use John’s book to become a stronger, more centered agency leader Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Book: https://www.amazon.com/Self-Reliant-Entrepreneur-John-Jantsch/dp/1119579775 Website: www.ducttapemarketing.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ducttapemarketing LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ducttapemarketing/ Twitter: @ducttape  

Have you ever wished that you had a team member dedicated to helping manage your day, your email, your commitments, and your goals? When we have someone in the office, they often get usurped by other teams or the crisis of the day. That’s one of the many advantages of working with a virtual assistant. Many agency owners are enjoying added productivity and peace of mind that comes with someone always having their back thanks to their VA! My guest Jess Tyson takes a people-first approach to virtual assistant matchmaking. She facilitates the connection and establishes a professional relationship so you can start delegating and focusing on your highest priorities.. Jess is also the author of Panic Proof: How the Right Virtual Assistant Can Save Your Sanity and Grow Your Business, a speaker, and the Director of Calm at Don’t Panic Management. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, we talk about how virtual assistants can help you get your calm on. VAs are a flexible commitment that ebbs and flows with your agency. Most agency owners I know use VAs to increase their efficiency and effectiveness, and VAs can become trusted members of your team if you approach the relationship the right way. It’s an option worth considering and my goal with this episode is to broaden your sense of what’s possible with a VA by your figurative side! 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 Jess’s new operations audit can help people figure out where to best spend their time and relegate, automate, or delegate the rest How VAs work and how the relationships are structured What Jess looks for as she searches for a client’s VA The advantages of hiring a virtual assistant over a traditional admin Why agency owners need to delegate How a VA can manage your biggest time-suck; emails Ways to Contact Jess Tyson: Website: https://www.dontpanicmgmt.com/ Twitter: @jessostroff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/don’t-panic-management-llc/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dontpanicmgmt

Like every other consumer, your prospects go on a wild and winding journey as they consider whether or not they want to hire an agency and then go about finding that perfect partner. It’s amazing to me that many agencies teach their clients about buying journeys and yet don’t really understand what their prospects go through as they go to market. Robin and Steve Boehler are the principals at Mercer Island Group and every day, they help brands find that perfect agency partner. They have a unique lens into the emotional roller coaster that prospects ride on their way to hiring an agency. They’ve spent the last few years documenting this journey and now they’re ready to share it with all of us so we can win at each of those milestones. That’s why I’ve asked Robin back to the podcast, as my first three-peat guest! The Boehlers are just that smart! Take a listen and get a taste of what Robin and Steve have learned through their work with many clients, all on unique but similar journeys that will give us clues on how to win our next sweet spot prospect. 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 importance of understanding and anticipating your prospects’ buying journeys The emotional elements in the prospect’s buying journey How to help a prospect mitigate the risk they face when switching to a new agency How to get visibility with your prospects before they’re ready for a change How to make a lasting impression that helps your agency stand out Ways to Contact Robin Boehler: Website: Website: www.migroup.com Phone: 206.236.0447 Twitter: @mig_robin

There are very few agencies today who aren’t trying to solve the content challenge. The content creation process is complicated and it’s often difficult to demonstrate the ROI to clients so they will pay you what it takes to actually create something worthwhile. Clients want high performing content but aren’t excited about paying for it. And it can be tough for us to document and demonstrate what’s working and what isn’t. At this summer’s MAICON (Marketing AI conference) conference, I met Jeff Coyle, the co-Founder and Chief Product Officer for MarketMuse. Jeff and his team are doing incredible work with AI to help agencies and brands better understand how content is performing, what content is missing and how to fill those gaps in a way that is SEO and visitor friendly. Technology and traditional content production methods are merging, and that’s creating a whole new level of measurability, predictability and performance metrics that can justify the spend. What would take us hours to number crunch and calculate can take tools like MarketMuse mere seconds. Join me as I explore the possibilities with subject matter expert Jeff Coyle. 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 evolution of content marketing How Jeff Coyle is bringing AI and traditional content production methods together New tools and insights that agency owners can leverage to create more impactful content Creating content that has direct conversions Why you should be updating your content Ways to Contact Jeff Coyle: Website: https://www.marketmuse.com/ Twitter: @jeffrey_coyle