Build a Better Agency Podcast

As agency owners, we all want to hire the mystical, magical salesperson that will allow us to hand that task to someone other than us. Can it be done? Yes, but probably not the way you think or wish it would happen. Sales is a challenging activity no matter what you’re selling. Selling for agencies, even more so. In this solocast, I will walk you through the make-up of that unicorn of a salesperson so you can spot one out in the wild. I’ll help you identify some prime places to search what traits are non-negotiable, and how to build a compensation package, if you happen to find one. Even if you find this unicorn of a salesperson, you won’t be able to walk away completely. I’ll also discuss the agency owner’s role in the biz dev process. With the right people, the right assets, and the right communication, you’ll be well on your way to a successful sales operation for your 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. What You Will Learn in this Episode: What makes agency owners uniquely qualified to be the best agency salespeople What an outside salesperson has to understand about your niche to sell for your agency The traits of a good salesperson The different kinds of agencies and how that impacts salespeople’s success rates A compensation model for outside salespeople and how long it will take them to start making sales What assets salespeople need to set them up for success Why salespeople need access to the agency owner Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. 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.” Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/ Tools & Resources: Get 10 hours for FREE for a Project with More than 50 Hours with White Label Here.

Lawyers, financial planners and insurance salespeople. You joke about avoiding them at cocktail parties, but they are definitely not who you should avoid as agency owners. Many owners think of attorneys as an expense. I can tell you – the preventative investment you make with a lawyer to get a good contract and other tools is a pittance compared to what I have seen agencies lose when they don’t have those good tools. If you are a high-risk gambler – grab a contract off the internet and use that. That’s why I invited Jamie Lieberman, founder of Hashtag Legal LLC, to be my guest on this episode of Build a Better Agency. She has over 15 years of legal experience and specializes in helping agency owners protect themselves before they get into hot water. Jamie brings extensive experience in contract creation and negotiation IP issues agencies face, web and mobile app terms and conditions, and influencer marketing legalities. Settle in – she’s ready to give you a free hour of legal counsel! What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why you need to find the right attorney for your agency The absolute necessity of drawing up the right contracts for your agency and some characteristics of the ideal contract How agencies can (and should) protect themselves from potentially hazardous legal situations caused by clients The ins and outs of independent contractors and how to avoid legal headaches and fines Navigating non-compete and non-solicitation agreements for employees and contractors The importance of confidentiality agreements and defining what constitutes confidential information Claiming domain names while avoiding copyright or trademark infringement Why agencies owners should stay abreast of popular trends in the industry, especially in areas such as influencer marketing Ways to Contact Jamie Lieberman: Jamie’s Email: jamie@hashtag-legal.com Jamie’s Website: https://www.hashtag-legal.com/ Course: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ Get 10 hours for FREE for a Project with More than 50 Hours with White Label Here.

One of the most expensive mistakes many agency owners make is leaving too much money in the business. It’s too easy to forget that the retained earnings in the agency’s checking account is actually your money. You’ve earned it. You’ve paid taxes on it. It should be in YOUR bank account. But, when you leave it inside the agency you often spent it on bad financial decisions, like staying overstaffed rather than making the tough call to downsize if business shifts. You need to build your wealth outside of your agency. I dove into that topic in detail in episode 115 if you want to go back and review it. For many agency owners – when they think about building that wealth outside their agency, they think about real estate I’m a big fan of this strategy and it’s been my go-to for years. But it’s easy to make big mistakes if you aren’t well educated (I wasn’t) or don’t have a good advisor. In the early days, I made some costly mistakes that I’d like to help you avoid. That’s why I wanted to talk with a true expert in real estate investing so we could all learn from one of the masters. My guest, Chris Prefontaine, has been creating wealth through real estate and teaching others how to do the same for years. This conversation is going way beyond flipping houses. There are so many ways to make a profit in real estate, and the barriers of entry are much lower than you might think. Chris has always been a big advocate of constant education which is why he’s written Real Estate on Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash or Credit. He’s also the founder of SmartRealEstateCoach.com and the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast. He’s been in real estate for over 25 years. His experience includes the construction of over 100 single-family and duplex homes (mostly 1990’s and selectively to date) as well as ownership of a Realty Executives franchise (Massachusetts 1994-2000) as a broker, where he maintained high per-agent standards and eventually sold to Coldwell Banker in 2000. Chris runs his own buying and selling businesses with his family team, which buys 2-5 properties monthly, so they’re in the trenches every single week. They’ve done over $80 million in real estate transactions and help clients do the same thing around the country. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why you need to start building wealth outside your agency today How real estate can become a source of income beyond your agency How to use tax liens as an instrument to earn income via real estate The wide variety of ways you can earn through real estate Why you don’t need a massive cash reserve to get started in real estate How to minimize the outlay and risk in real estate When to consider remote real estate transactions, and when to work on transactions closer to home How to ride out market fluctuations to make the most of your real estate investments Ways to Contact Chris Prefontaine: Website: https://www.smartrealestatecoach.com/ Free hard copy (including shipping) of New Rules of Real Estate Investing: http://newrulesforfree.com (this link mentioned in the show seems glitchy. The hyperlinked title should get people right to the site.)

You’ve seen all the stats and you’ve personally experienced the explosive growth of video in the last 5+ years. It is not a channel we can or should ignore for ourselves or for our clients. But unless you or your client have a skateboarding cat – producing a compelling video that will attract and connect with viewers is no small task. (If you do have a skateboarding cat – can I borrow him?) In this episode, we’re going to deconstruct what it takes to create a compelling, engaging video that connects you with your ideal audience. My guest is an expert who has spent over a decade exploring and perfecting the art of the marketing video. Beyond learning how to best our own hang-ups about being on camera, there are even broader questions. What are some best practices? What elements need to be in place to have an effective video? What does effective video even mean these days? My guest Gideon Shalwick is a serial entrepreneur who has been creating businesses in the online video space since 2006. He’s been experimenting, studying trends and making plenty of money off video for over a decade. Today, his focus is on his business Splasheo which is a video captioning service where humans manually transcribe your videos and then burn those captions right into your videos using a variety of engaging layouts. They’re perfect for social and if we’re connected on LinkedIn, you’ve seen my weekly video’s new look, thanks to Splasheo! Gideon also occasionally offers private coaching and training to help people grow their businesses using video marketing. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why video content is not primarily about transferring knowledge How to connect with your video audience so they want to engage with you How to structure your video content for maximum engagement Tips on how to look natural on camera Why audio is just as important as imagery in creating a video How to use social proofs both as a novice and after you gain traction in video Creating video out of your audio content Why captions make such a big difference in video engagement How to slice and dice your existing content into valuable video nuggets

Millennials (people born from 1981-1996) comprise the largest and most diverse generation in American history. Most agency owners are either older millennials or Gen X or Boomers. When it comes to leading the team — sometimes those two worlds collide. They’re coming at the world with completely different expectations, wants, needs and goals. Whenever I talk with agency owners, they almost always talk about the frustrations that come from that disparity. Who are these people and how do we manage and motivate them? In this episode, I ask these questions of agency owner and millennial whisperer Chris Tuff. After living it, researching it, and then literally writing the go-to book on the subject, Chris has some wisdom to share. The perception is that millennials don’t have the same work ethic that we had at their age. However, the reality is we aren’t from different planets, despite the fact that the world and the work environment today is vastly different from what many of us experienced when we were breaking into the business. Chris and I dig into perceptions and misperceptions of hiring and leading millennials with the goal of understanding what motivates them, the role of culture, and the fact that we are all people in different stages of life. Hopefully, this will give you some tangible takeaways to help you engage with, inspire, get inspired by, and work with millennials – to everyone’s benefit. Chris Tuff is a partner at the advertising agency 22squared in Atlanta, GA, where he successfully attracts, motivates, and whispers to Millennials every day. When Chris isn’t working, he kiteboards, mountain bikes, runs and spends quality time with his wife and two daughters. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why managing Millennials doesn’t have to be so challenging for older agency owners Why transparency is so important for Millennial employees The kinds of leadership that Millennials are seeking How to make promoting culture and company goals the job of everyone in the agency What to look for in Millennial candidates How to make a contract-to-hire “test drive” worth the risk for both the candidate and you The benefits that Millennials are seeking What the Millennial-owned company of the (very near) future will look like Why diversity and inclusion are not optional with Millennials Ways to Contact Chris Tuff: Website: http://www.22squared.com/ Millennial Leadership Assessment tool: https://www.theMillennialwhisperer.com/Millennial-leadership-assessment/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophertuff/

During the spring gatherings of AGI owner peer network members, I walk them through a presentation on trends that I’m seeing in the industry. Then I devote two solocast episodes to these findings later in the summer. In episode 195, I covered what’s happening with agency money and finance, along with some trends in ownership, decision-making, and how you and your peers are managing the pace of change in this industry. In this episode, I talk about employees, clients, and some tactics with which agencies are having great success in terms of winning clients and serving them well. If the topic of employees gives you a queasy feeling, you are not alone. It’s a big source of concern for many agency owners. I discuss trends I’m seeing in why retention is such a challenge and what you can do to make your agency the best option for employees you don’t want to lose. What’s happening on the client-side? There are some really interesting findings. I discuss creative ways in which agencies are gaining more clients and more billables from existing clients. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why freelance work is becoming more common and more of a draw to your current employees How to increase diversity in your agency What employees are looking for in agency culture How to set up an attractive incentive program What agencies are doing to counteract clients doing more work in-house The most in-demand work with which agencies are engaging clients and for which they are being well-compensated The four traits that will get you on a client’s radar How agencies can help clients take a stand on the issues that are important to them and their customers Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. 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.” Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Agency Edge 2018: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/agency-tools/agency-edge-research-series/research-2018/ Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

Influencer marketing isn’t new. Remember Joe Namath in pantyhose? (If you don’t Google it) But what is new is that anyone can harness the power of the internet and attract and monetize an audience. The value to our clients in that new twist is that there is an influencer for any subject, budget, or audience. This is an area where many agencies are crushing their financial goals. But if done wrong – you can lose your shirt. That’s why I knew we needed to talk to Shane Barker. Getting to the tactical heart of effective and profitable influencer marketing is what episode #199 is all about. My guest is Shane Barker, who has been doing influencer marketing since before the term was even coined. We talk about finding the right person, the proverbial needle in the influencer haystack, and how to determine the real reach of that individual who calls him/herself an influencer. Maybe you or your clients are still questioning the ROI of influencer marketing. Shane and I discuss how to do it right from start to finish, so you and your clients get the most bang for your influencer buck. From working with agencies and brands on influencer strategy and with celebrities on digital reputation management, to obtaining a #1 national ranking with PROskore as a social media consultant, Shane has built an impressive list of accomplishments. As a regular contributor to publications like Salesforce, Yahoo Small Business, Marketing Profs and others, he continues to grow and share his knowledge. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to vet influencers so you and clients get what you pay for Why you should interview influencers to find the right fit beyond the metrics How to A/B test in influencer marketing What goes into developing a solid influencer marketing strategy How to be the best choice for the influencers you want to work with Developing Scope of Work terms with an influencer The best tools to use to start your influencer search How to fine-tune your influencer search with the “eyeball test” Ways to Contact Shane Barker: Website: https://shanebarker.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebarker/

In all the years that I’ve been an agency owner (almost 25) and worked alongside agency owners (15+) there is a common pain point — biz dev. We love getting to the table and talking with a potential client about how we can help them. However, getting to the table feels like a slog. That’s why, if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t invest as much time and attention as we should to prospecting. The situation becomes a real Catch-22. Sooner or later, that bites every agency owner in the caboose and the bank account. In episode #198, I talk with Dan Englander, who was on the show a while back (episode #76) and what I appreciate about Dan is that he’s been a student of this challenge. Not only has he analyzed the reasons why we avoid going after new business, but he has developed a process with tangible steps you can take to break the pattern. He’s the proverbial “man with a plan.” We dig into what makes a good sales team, the right roles for the right people, and how to get and stay on the right biz dev tasks as owners and principals. Dan founded Sales Schema in 2014 to help marketing service companies reach new heights by aggressively focusing on new business. Previously, he was the first employee business development lead at IdeaRocket. Before that, he was Account Coordinator at DXagency. He’s the author of Mastering Account Management and The B2B Sales Blueprint. In his spare time, Dan enjoys developing new and exciting aches and pains via Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to set up a biz dev team for success How to create a 3-person sales pod The role of a B2B biz dev strategist in your shop Specific tasks that owners and sales leaders should be completing How to create a transparent process that leads good-fit clients to a buying decision How to find enough confidence in your pipeline to be choosy about clients Ways to back up an abundance mindset with solid strategies and tactics How to build momentum through your biz dev efforts How to avoid perfection paralysis in biz dev Ways to Contact Dan Englander: Website: https://www.salesschema.com/ Book The B2B Sales Blueprint: https://amzn.to/2Y2oOtS Checklist: https://www.salesschema.com/drew

The customer journey, UX, customer experience: buzzwords or actually points of value we can offer clients? I think in the hands of the under-informed and without good data, a process for gathering that data, and a genuine understanding of what the customer journey can tell us, it becomes a matter of hearsay and guesswork. That isn’t good enough for this week’s guest, so we’re taking the guesswork out of it. I talk with Heidi Trost, owner and CEO of Voice + Code, about how to gather the right data and what to do with it to make that crucial connection between the goals of the customer and the goals of the company. Heidi Trost has built an agency around those kinds of fixes. Heidi started Voice+Code in 2010 after working at other agencies and being an adjunct professor. She has a passion for helping clients build technology that actually serves their customers and delivers on the experience the customer is seeking. We’re going to dig into all of those topics. Heidi’s obsession with usability and the user experience began with her award-winning graduate research at Rochester Institute of Technology. Today, her passion is to help businesses measure and optimize the user experience while making the digital realm safe, usable, and accessible. As a user experience researcher and designer, speaker, and usability expert, Heidi has helped startups and Fortune 500 companies develop digital product strategies that align customer needs with business goals. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The data and metrics to use in understanding the customer journey The best methodologies for getting input from your clients How to test your assumptions about a customer persona How to set up usability studies How to map out the customer journey Getting realistic about the customer journey What prevents a product or service from achieving a great user experience How to convince clients to invest in research Ways to Contact Heidi Trost: Website: https://www.voiceandcode.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-trost-65325433/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voiceandcode/

I know a lot of agency owners think about selling their shop. But do they think about it strategically? Or soon enough? Do they execute on a plan that will set them up for success 5-10 years before they’re ready to sell? Usually, the answer to those questions is no. And on the flip side, how many agency owners think about growth through acquisition? Selling is a big part of the conversation but buying should be on the table as well. In episode #196, I talk with Terry Lammers, who has been buying and selling businesses since he sold his family fuel company. We talk about the monetary and non-monetary aspects of getting the most from your agency or being a smart buyer if you’re on that end of the transaction. Most importantly, we dig into how, why, and when to start planning your exit strategy as an agency owner. Terry Lammers grew up in a little town of 600 people. His family owned a wholesale fuels and lubricants company and when Terry took over as president of the company, he had some big ideas for growth. Out of that experience developed a fascination with the process of buying and selling businesses. Since then, Terry has formed a business brokerage that helps people who want to buy and sell businesses. He also has his designation as a certified valuation analyst, accreditation through the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He is the author of You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: Everything You Need to Know to Buy and Sell a Business. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why it’s never too early to plan your exit strategy How to value a business (like an agency) with little regular recurring revenue Who to have around the table to plan your exit strategy Nonfinancial elements of your agency that add or subtract the value Why culture is so important and why blending two company cultures is so difficult How agency owners can start thinking about the acquisition as a growth strategy