Build a Better Agency Podcast

How’s your year going so far? I might have a pretty good idea already. We work with and see how 250+ small to mid-sized agencies are doing every year and there are always patterns that emerge. Every spring, I give a trends presentation to all of the agency owners in AMI peer groups. Together we explore how those trends are showing up in our world and how they’re impacting the industry. Then, in the summer – I share those same rends with my podcast audience. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know this is an annual feature of the show. In this episode, I share the financial picture that is emerging from the data. How are clients spending their marketing dollars? Is this a good time to be an agency owner? I’ll share what the numbers are saying. We’ll also talk about the mood among agency owners and whether or not they’re bullish on 2019 and 2020. There are too many trends to cover in one episode, so this is part one. Check it out so you’re ready for part two next month. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Top agency trends in 2019 Understanding the rise of project work How to manage after a gorilla client suddenly breaks up with you Why transparency in markups and commissions is so important Why agencies are earning more dollars, but those dollars are harder to acquire How to regain that spark when agency work makes you weary New trends in agency succession planning 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 Health Assessment: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/assessment/ Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

My entreé into agency life was as a copywriter. I loved digging around and finding the story underneath the story. That love was the foundation for my belief in the power of a strong and smart brand. For decades my agency has helped clients define, develop, and deploy their brand both internally and externally. It’s still some of my favorite work to do. Understanding your unique story is a powerful competitive advantage for our clients and our own agencies. Without understanding what makes us unique – we have to swim in the sea of sameness and that’s definitely swimming upstream! In this episode, we’re digging into storytelling by understanding it at the root level. There is an architecture to stories and I have gone to the expert to learn more about that structure and how, as agencies, we can better use it to build our clients’ brands – and our own as well. My guest is Park Howell. For 25 years, Park ran an agency in Arizona called Park & Co. At a certain point in his career, he pivoted his agency to become a storytelling consultant, helping clients learn how to tell their own story. Park founded his consultancy, The Business of Story, on January 1, 2016, so he could partner with leaders of purpose-driven organizations and help them clarify their stories, amplify their impact, and simplify their lives. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How the hero’s journey has been with us since the beginning of storytelling Why story is one of the most powerful tools in your brand building arsenal How to help clients live into their most powerful stories Who should be the hero of the story (the answer might surprise you) Why it is so hard for agencies to discover and tell their own stories How storytelling connects with something so primal in all of us How to use storytelling to help customers fulfill what they wish, will, and want Ways to Contact Park Howell: Website: https://businessofstory.com/ What’s Your Story worksheet: https://businessofstory.com/storytelling-tools/# Storytelling Workbook: https://businessofstory.com/brand-storytelling-workbook/

The challenge with digital trends is that they are moving so swiftly, it’s hard to keep up. There are so many shiny objects flying around our heads, it’s dizzying. How do you know which ones are worth tracking and learning? That’s where this week’s guest comes in. Tom Webster is the senior vice president at Edison Research. Edison is probably best known outside our world for being the sole provider of exit poll data during United States elections. But from our agency vantage point, most of us know Edison for their annual study, the Infinite Dial. The Infinite Dial remains the longest-running study of consumer behaviors around media and technology in America, and serves as the digital media trends bible for many since its inception in 1998. The work that Tom and his team at Edison, along with partner Triton Research, have done for decades is highly anticipated every year and provides mission-critical information to agencies throughout the world. We’re going to dig into the data and find some surprises for you. Tom Webster has nearly 20 years of experience researching consumer usage of technology, new media, and social networking. In addition to The Infinite Dial, he is the principal author of a number of widely-cited studies, including The Social Habit and Twitter Users in America. He is also the co-author of The Mobile Commerce Revolution, and a popular keynote speaker on data and consumer insights. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How the social media landscape is shifting Why podcasting is becoming more popular What works – and what doesn’t – in podcast advertising The ins and outs of brand lift Why being a ‘capital S’ show is important in terms of podcast popularity A deep dive into the data from The Infinite Dial 2019 Why starting with the audience is critical for all good content The work ahead of us in entering the voice assistant space

Speaking engagements can be a great way for agency owners to connect with their sweet spot prospects and be immediately perceived as a subject matter expert. Wanting to book speaking gigs and being successful at making that happen are two very different things. Even if you have some speaking engagements under your belt, getting chosen by a conference planner is another challenge to navigate. Even seasoned pros must keep their eyes on the prize. I have always used speaking as one of my primary biz dev strategies (for both my agency and AMI) but I learned early on that it’s easy to get discouraged, distracted, or dismissed if you don’t have a smart strategy in place. How do you build a speaking strategy that serves your agency business development objectives? In episode #192, I talk with Steve Markman, who offers some hard-earned, straightforward advice on preparing a speaker proposal and getting it noticed by decision-makers. We also talk about how to determine whether a particular speaking opportunity is the right strategic move. We even tackle the age-old question of “should I speak for free?” We’ll dig into all the nitty-gritty details of how to take full advantage of the right speaking platforms and when to stay home. Steve Markman started Markman Speaker Management, LLC in 1994. It’s a speaker’s bureau with access to an international network of speakers in all fields and industries. He also coaches business owners and professionals on how to best speak for the right reasons to the right audiences. Steve has over 30 years of experience in the conference, event, and speaker business, working with groups like the Conference Board and Society of Professional Consultants. Having been a conference producer working with some of the world’s largest events, Steve understands the importance of quality speaking engagements from both the speaker and conference planner perspectives. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The key components of a speaker proposal How to respond to a call for speakers How to ensure the audience is your target market How to establish a connection with the conference organizer The difference between formal and informal speaker submissions Best practices for organizing your conference presentation How to measure the value of presenting, even if need to pay your own expenses How many speaking engagements is too many Ways to Contact Steve Markman: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevemarkman/ Email: smarkman@markmanspeaker.com Get More Speaking Engagements: https://www.markmanspeaker.com/staff-training.html Website: https://www.markmanspeaker.com/

Whether we articulate them or not – we all have dreams. One of mine for me (and for all of you!) is to visit every Disney theme park in the world. Not that I want to mandate your dreams but who doesn’t love Disney? The truth is, a serious business case can be made for agency owners to help their team members achieve their dreams. I know this from first-hand experience. More than a decade ago, I read the book Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly and began to implement it in my own agency. I believe it’s one of the reasons I have the employee tenure (17+ years on average) that I do. So when I met Dan Ralphs and learned about his company/mission, I knew I had to get him on the podcast. Dan is the founder of Dream Leadership Consulting and is one of the world’s foremost experts in unlocking the power of dreaming inside a workplace. We often think that someone’s personal goals and dreams should be separate from their work life but that’s so short-sighted when you think about it. Your goal is to create an environment where your rock stars can flourish, be happy, and stick around for a long time. Why not help them achieve their dreams? Before founding Dream Coach, Dan was the facilitator of the Dreaming Program at Infusionsoft, where he helped its employees identify, articulate, and accomplish their dreams – all based on the work by Matthew Kelly’s book. Dan has the amazing ability to help people discover their dreams and learn how to go after them. His realistic approach toward dreaming recognizes that dreaming is not a ‘magic pill’ but, rather, a new way of thinking about our ability to create. He is also the creator of the Dream Leader Certification course, through which he has helped more than 100 leaders from across the world become Dream Leaders to those whom they lead. Together, they have helped their people accomplish dreams like buying a first home, riding elephants in Thailand, and starting a foundation to help mothers facing infant loss. Due to the efforts of Dan and the Dream Leaders he has certified, thousands have been awakened to their dreams and their ability to achieve them. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The power of helping employees achieve their dreams Why investing in employees leads them to invest in the agency How to advocate for people’s dreams without simply writing a check Why helping employees achieve dreams must be more than a means to an agency end How to establish systems around dream fulfillment How to help people understand the price tag attached to their dreams Why agency owners experience greater fulfillment in their work when they encourage others to fulfill their dreams Ways to Contact Dan Ralphs: Website: https://www.dreamleadershipconsulting.com/ Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/766881.The_Dream_Manager

Figuring out which prospects align with your sweet spot and then doing the work necessary to earn their business are the difficult tasks of agency ownership. It starts with understanding what your sweet spot is. Who do you serve best? Where do you have a specialized knowledge that gives you a competitive edge? As you have heard me say time and time again, for most agencies, being a general practitioner is neither desirable nor practical. It’s tough to compete on anything but the price when you look, sound and act the same as all of the other agencies out there. The brain surgeon is always more sought after and gets paid more than a general practitioner does. That’s why I talk so often about positioning your agency. It’s how you find the right clients and focus on the right activities to attract and best serve those clients. In this solocast, I spell out some of the options you could consider as you think about how to niche your agency. I walk you through the steps to take and areas on which to focus so that you can position your agency as a standout leader in whatever niches you are best suited to serve. How do you discover your sweet spot clients? How do you hone in on your point of view? How do you demonstrate subject matter expertise that will win the business? In this episode, you’ll get some answers and perhaps come away with a few questions to ask yourself and your team as you move towards that goal. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The importance of defining who you serve and whom you don’t serve The 4 ways to think about niches Ways to narrow your niches How to position your agency by solving a particular problem Why POV is so important in positioning your agency How POV helps you stand out and focus on activities with the highest payoff Why you must not only claim but also demonstrate subject matter expertise Why walking away from a big bag of money is sometimes the right call 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: Sweet Spot Client Filter: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter-var1/ Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

Artificial intelligence generates lots of interest and more than a little bit of fear among agency owners. How will machine learning, AI, and all that super-technical stuff change agency life? Will it make agency work irrelevant? Not according to my guest, Paul Roetzer from PR 2020 and The Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. In this episode, Paul shared how his agency is leaning into AI because of the power and possibilities he sees in terms of agency efficiency and profitability. He makes a strong case that AI has the potential to make agency work more intelligent and even more human. AI is one more way agencies can leverage new technology and new tools to serve our clients better, to help them grow their businesses, and to more profitably, efficiently, and effectively grow our own agencies. I’m sure that some of you find this a little scary to even contemplate. But just like we’ve embraced all of the technologies before AI (the internet, mobile, programmatic media buying, etc.) we’re going to have to wrap our heads around this one too. One of the best aspects of owning an agency is that we constantly get to evolve and re-invent ourselves to better serve our clients. AI gives us all the opportunity to scale and grow in ways we couldn’t imagine. AI isn’t about robots stealing jobs. It’s about the potential to eliminate the boring, repetitive tasks so we can spend more time thinking creatively. Paul always sets his eyes toward the horizon. He’s continually wondering what will happen next in our industry and how he and his agency can be at the forefront of that. So, I wasn’t at all surprised when Paul and I were talking a few years ago and AI started to creep into the conversation. In the last year or so, Paul has doubled down on that, not only in terms of what he’s doing with his own agency but also through his new organization, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. Later this summer, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute is presenting MAICON, an AI convention for marketing leaders (use discount code McLellan19 to save $100 off the registration fee). Its mission is to make AI approachable and actionable for modern marketers so they can use this technology to build a powerful competitive advantage. Paul has also written two books that I highly recommend: The Marketing Agency Blueprint and The Marketing Performance Blueprint. What You Will Learn in this Episode:   How intelligent automation will continue to make repetitive agency work easier Why AI isn’t after your agency job How machine learning can help you share data with clients in a cost-effective way How agencies can understand AI and be a learning resource for clients How to develop use cases for testing AI in your agency Why small and mid-sized agencies are well-positioned to pivot into AI Ways to Contact Paul Roetzer: MAICON: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/events/marketing-artificial-intelligence-conference-2019 discount code: MCLELLAN19 Website: https://www.pr2020.com/ Website: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/ Resources Page: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/resources New Intelligent Automation Solutions Post How Do We Prepare College Students for the Age of AI? Post Book: AI for Marketers: An Introduction and Primer: Second Edition

For 95% of all agencies, referrals and word of mouth are the #1 method of gaining new clients. On the one hand, that’s great. It means your clients, friends, and peers love and trust you enough to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. From staffing challenges to constant client demands, agency life can be bumpy. Our industry is in a state of constant change and that’s not going to let up anytime soon. For some owners, that’s exhilarating and challenging. For others, it just makes them bone tired. Right now, most agencies are enjoying healthy profits, lots of new business opportunities, and a very difficult hiring season. Our employee base is changing and many owners struggle to find and retain talent that will help them grow and strengthen the agency. Clients are demanding more on tighter timelines and budgets. How do we thrive in this ever-shifting environment? In this episode, I talk with someone who has seen it all – Nancy Hill. She is a veteran of big box agencies, former president and CEO of the 4As, and, more recently, has started her own consultancy, Media Sherpas. This broad range of experiences has given her important insights into the current climate – the challenges and opportunities we face every day, especially when it comes to staffing and client relationships. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to think differently about your agency’s staffing challenges How to get more creative with your benefits package so that you retain younger employees How to establish mutually beneficial expectations with agency employees Negotiating with clients about scope instead of lowering prices Managing just-in-time staffing Why independently owned agencies need to be nimble in their decision-making How to boost your agency’s ability to say no How to thrive in an environment of constant change Ways to Contact Nancy Hill: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-hill-advertising/

This has happened at my agency and I’m sure it’s happened at yours. You start a huge client project and are excited to keep things rolling – both to protect your agency’s production schedule and to exceed the client’s expectations in terms of delivering on time and on budget. But then, you hit the roadblock. The cold silence you hear when you ask your client for the assets you need. Whether it’s images, video, or copy points – you’re stalled until they cough it up. So much for on time or on a budget! On this episode, I talk with James Rose about how to streamline the content collection process. Back when he was running a web dev shop, this was a major frustration for him and his team. So much so that his company developed what is now its core business: a content collection platform called Content Snare. As content increasingly becomes central to much of agency work, solving the content collection conundrum is often the difference between profitability and charity work. Take a listen as James offers many no tech, low tech, and SaaS solutions to help us stay in the black. James and his business partner, Mark Beljaars, started a single-product SEO software company in 2010. As they networked with other business owners, they heard countless stories about website projects that have gone wrong. They thought maybe they could help things go right. With a passion rooted in software, they identified a few bottlenecks in the web design process. The worst one, which resonated most with other designers, was chasing down clients for their web content. That’s when Content Snare was born. Clients don’t think about projects the same way we do – they don’t mean to be a bottleneck, even though they often are just that. Finding ways to keep content flowing ultimately helps us deliver an end result worthy of our efforts and our fee. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why gathering content from clients is such a universal pain point for agencies How agencies can set content expectations as a part of the terms and conditions in a service contract How to give clients a firm content deadline and make the stakes very clear Why content collection is more than just setting up reminders How to stop wasting time chasing after clients How agency owners can help clients avoid overwhelming deadlines Why you must manage agency expectations about how much data to expect from clients at one time

Every agency has a culture. The question is – is it intentional? And when I say culture, I’m not talking the beer thirty or holiday party aspects of culture. I’m really focusing in on the shared beliefs and agreed upon “rules” of engagement in terms of how we work together, deliver for the client and push towards our goals. In too many agencies, this is not as intentional as it needs to be. The agency’s vision, mission, and values may exist somewhere, in a file folder, or at best in an employee manual, and then agency owners check off the box, hoping that their team picks up on it. It’s culture by default, not by design. I’ve become increasingly convinced that culture isn’t just a nice idea. It’s not simply a day out serving the community or a potluck lunch held the first Tuesday of every month. Those things can be good and a part of the culture but the concept goes much deeper than that and it has implications for the bottom line. In this episode, I talk with Tristan White, who early on in his business realized that intention and methodology were necessary to build a strong and healthy work culture. He soon realized that culture isn’t a distraction. It isn’t peripheral to business. Culture is everything. Tristan White is the CEO of a company called The Physio Co. in Australia. Its core purpose is to increase the physical wellness and activity levels of seniors to keep them healthier, happier, and more mobile. In the process of building The Physio Co., Tristan did a lot of learning and a lot of experimenting with respect to culture and its influence on company performance. He ended up writing a book called Culture is Everything. Inside that book, Tristan lays out a system for building a foundational culture inside your organization. We explore that system and dig into why culture is so critical to running a long-term successful business. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why it’s never too late to grow and foster a healthy work culture How to live the corporate values you espouse A methodology by which to operate from your core values Why culture can equal cash How to design a culture that withstands challenging times How to develop a culture of substance Why a healthy work culture must go beyond a day of service and Taco Tuesdays How to bake things like empathetic connection into your culture How to interview for alignment with your culture Where to start in shaping or reshaping your agency’s vision and values Ways to Contact Tristan White: Content for Listeners of the Podcast: https://www.tristanwhite.com.au/bba Culture is Everything Book: https://www.tristanwhite.com.au/product/culture-is-everything-book/