Build a Better Agency Podcast

Agency owners Drew and Danyel McLellan discuss key trends for 2024, including COO roles, agency valuations, employee fatigue, and in-office collaboration. Insights on making strategic decisions, adapting to hybrid work models, and prioritizing staff development and AI integration for agency growth.

Research expert Susan Baier from Audience Audit dives into the 2024 Agency Edge Research study, highlighting the key finding of improving client-agency trust. The discussion covers three client segments and their attitudes towards agencies, the importance of trust in client relationships, and trends in in-house marketing teams. A webinar review provides insights on enhancing business development for agencies.

The FTC has recently passed regulations against non-compete clauses on a federal level in all work contracts. Starting in the fall of 2024, agencies will have new rules to comply with regarding their employees and independent contractors. This will be a big shake-up for many agency owners, but luckily, Sharon Toerek is always by our side to walk us through any new legal requirements that hit us unexpectedly. In this episode, she covers a lot of ground on how agency owners can comply with the new FTC non-compete rules for both employees and independent contractors. We cover the difference between non-competes and non-solicitation agreements, how agency owners can prepare to announce these changes to their workers, and how we can still legally protect our IP and client relationships. Sharon stresses that the quicker we start working on compliance, the better prepared we’ll be for when this goes into effect in a few months. So don’t delay — tune in to learn how this affects your agency and how to get ahead on compliance over the summer. 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 covenants are still legal under the FTC non-compete ruling? What agency owners need to do to be compliant How these changes will affect your freelancers and independent contractors How to protect yourself if you’re selling your business Non-solicitation agreements vs. non-compete clauses Is the US ahead of or behind the times on this? How soon agency owners need to prepare new contracts or to announce the changes to employees Making sure your independent contractors are actually independent contractors The consequences of misclassifying employees as independent contractors

Agency owners who want to scale their business often run into a chicken-and-egg situation. To scale and grow sustainably, you need to hire more people. But to be able to hire more people, you need to scale and grow to have the money to do so. This is where hiring international employees can help solve your problems. This week, we’re diving into the growing trend of hiring full-time international employees with Kim Walker. Kim and her husband Brian initially had reservations about hiring international workers for their agency but quickly realized the immense benefits to them and the people they were hiring. Kim details her thorough hiring process, how she overcame cultural barriers, the amazing talent and value international hires bring, and the life-changing impact it has had on their agency. We also touch on common concerns like pay rates, taxes, benefits, and time zones. Whether you’re struggling to find affordable talent locally or just want to build a dynamic, multinational team, this episode is a mini crash course in finding incredible international employees to help supplement your U.S. team. 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 Kim and her husband got the idea to hire international employees How they started the process of finding international talent The worries they encountered when making their first international hire Average pay for international employees in the Philippines What they learned about hiring foreign workers How the hiring process differs from stateside interviews The secret lies in strong core values Weaving different cultures into the agency’s culture Taxes and benefits for foreign workers The mistakes they made and what they learned from them

Guest John Jantsch discusses the rise of fractional CMOs post-pandemic, emphasizing strategy over execution. Tips on building trust, positioning as a trusted thought leader, and the importance of deep industry knowledge for agencies

In 2023, about 45% of agencies took an AGI hit — the biggest number we’ve seen for as long as we’ve been tracking agency trends. Last year was tough, but agencies are finally starting to bounce back from growing their AGI. With some of our profitability struggles finally behind us, many of you are wondering how to get ahead of the curve once again. This week, we’re taking a deeper dive into some of the biggest influencers of agency AGI during this time and what agency owners can learn from the trends. We have a ton of data on agency biz dev trends, specialization and niching, client ghosting, and much more. So join us to dive into the data and learn what your agency can be looking out for to help prevent a big AGI hit in the future. A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The work that has been super profitable for agencies in the past year or two The biggest hits to agency AGI Proving ROI to clients is more important than ever Why you need to raise your hourly rate if you haven’t already Finding ways to get more work out of your existing clients Overservicing clients is costing you money Why it might be time to cut some of your staff Clients want more from their agencies, and they’re not afraid to ghost Investing in first-party data and data analysts

Burnout can sneak up on us; before we know it, we’re ready to sell the agency. But before we get to this critical point, there are usually signs and symptoms of burnout, but it’s not always easy to differentiate them from regular day-to-day stress. In this week’s episode, I’m talking to Eric Recker about those crucial signs that you might be burning the candle at both ends a little too often and how to turn it around for the better. If we can get ahead of our burnout by identifying that we’re heading in that direction early, there’s so much we can do to help turn it around before we start making rash decisions. If your world is starting to feel a little gray, monotonous, or like you’re in the trenches a little too often for your liking, those might be your signs to start going into recovery mode. So join us to learn how agency owners can start recognizing burnout signs and symptoms and how to recover from them. 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: Is it burnout or business as usual? The importance of having people around you to check in with How to de-crisis yourself if you feel you’re at risk of burnout Turning off the false sense of urgency in your mind Commit to 30 minutes of unstructured quiet Filling yourself back up after being chronically empty for a long time Disrupting your routine to scale burnout recovery A recipe for sustainable recovery that’s realistic and achievable Setting boundaries between work mode and relax mode Bringing burnout recovery tactics to our employees

Tyler Samani-Sprunk from Simple Strat shares their agency's journey from generalist to specialist by defining their niche in content marketing for HubSpot. They discuss the importance of specializing, creating cornerstone content, and evolving their YouTube channel to attract the right-fit clients. The podcast emphasizes the benefits of niche specialization and provides practical tips for agencies looking to define their niche.

AI expert Jonathon Reilly discusses how AI tools can revolutionize proving ROI to clients for agencies. AI can crunch data faster, show impact clearly, and make agencies more efficient. It's about using AI as an assistant to enhance agency value and client relationships.

As agency owners, we all want to be different. We don’t want to be the boss who is a stickler for punctuality or to feel like we’re micromanaging our employees. But HR issues will inevitably arise, and that’s when the reality check sets in. HR issues aren’t always as intense as the term may imply. They could be as small as someone being late to a couple of meetings or an employee missing a deadline one too many times. They’re often small things that build up over time and can balloon into bigger issues — like souring client-agency relationships or diluting the agency’s core values. In this week’s episode, Allyns Melendez shares lots of great tips and tricks to help prevent minor HR issues from getting out of control. From leading by example to being a chameleon leader who can shift based on who you’re talking to and what tone is needed, she knows exactly how to help agency owners and leaders resolve nearly any conflict an agency might face. Tune in to learn tons of valuable tactics that will make you feel like no employee problem is too big for you to handle. 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 HR has stayed surprisingly the same over 100 years How to show up as an agency leader to everybody vs. with individual employees Handling first-time HR issues with an employee What happens when we don’t address bad habits immediately Preparing for difficult one-on-one conversations with agency employees Conflict resolution with agency employees and how to follow up with your plan Why chameleon leadership will help you communicate better Get to know your communication style and how you show up in a room How to ask for candid feedback and make your employees feel safe to do so