Build a Better Agency Podcast

EP 445: Why agency owners should start online communities with Drew McLellan

Online communities are quickly becoming one of the most powerful biz dev tools out there, but there’s etiquette to starting and maintaining one. It’s not for everyone, but for those who are ready, an online community could be your ticket to selling without ever having to actually sell. This week, we’re continuing the conversation about online communities vs. online audiences, and the vast benefits they can offer to agency owners. Now that we’ve established the differences between an audienc...

EP 444: What behavioral economics tells us about how people connect with brands with Kristian Alomá, PhD

Everybody has a story they’re trying to tell, and brands play a massive role in people’s stories, whether they realize it or not. Most of the time, the stories consumers associate with a brand aren’t what we think they are. This is where behavioral economics becomes vital to creating an effective marketing strategy.   Behavioral economics is a study that attempts to make sense of people’s behavior around spending. We don’t always make spending decisions in our best interest and often base...

EP 443: The do’s and don’ts of networking at trade shows, workshops, and conferences with Dave Delaney

In-person networking is still a big deal. After a brief Covid hiatus, trade shows, conferences, and workshops are back and bigger than ever. So, if you or your team plan on attending any of these events soon, it’s important to get up to date on the do’s and don’ts of networking at these events. Instead of being stuck with a stack of business cards and struggling to recall conversations with specific individuals from an event, seasoned keynote speaker Dave Delaney shares how to manage and nu...

EP 442: Lead gen and lead magnets are your ticket to consistent sales with Jay Feldman

After a tough sales year in 2023, many of you have been looking for the next thing to consistently fill your sales pipeline with new prospects. With sales cycles taking longer than before, it’s essential always to have warm prospects teed up and ready to go. But how?   The answer is in thought leadership combined with lead gen and lead magnets. Positioning yourself and your agency as an authority in your niche (and giving some of it away for free) generates trust in your agency’s expertis...

EP 441: Finding the right project management software for your team with Alane Boyd

We’ve all been here before — your agency grows, and your day-to-day is getting a little too chaotic for comfort. Each team member has their own way of doing things, and no one is on the same page about the best approach to doing recurring tasks. As the agency owner, you’re getting pulled into things that you shouldn’t, becoming the organization’s bottleneck.   If that’s you, it’s time to break that cycle with some project management software. With a million choices and a few that have b...

EP 440: The who, what, where, and why of creating online communities with Drew McLellan

Humans are hardwired to belong, and the desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves is in our blood. Whether we connect over shared values, a favorite sports team, a hobby, or even just from living near one another, we can find community and belonging all around us. These days, many of us are finding community online through social media and spreading our social nets wider than ever. This leaves a huge opportunity for agency leaders to build their own online communities to help o...

EP 439: Standing out against the noise with personalized client outreach with Dan Englander

Sales cycles are elongated, but that doesn’t mean agencies can’t still win new clients. If we change how we think about and approach prospecting, we can up our client outreach game to really hone in on our right-fit clients without being too sales-y about it.   In this episode, I talk with Dan Englander about how to stand out against the competition in our prospecting and outreach efforts. He shares how personalized client outreach can cut through the noise and win us new business more of...

EP 438: How HR helps you build and grow your agency dream team with Barbara Mason

In a sharp contrast to the earlier pandemic years, many agency owners said that in 2023, they have the best teams they’ve ever had and want to find ways to keep them around. This is great news, and we want to help keep your agency dream team alive and thriving.   To help in that journey, HR expert Barbara Mason joins me to share what agency owners and leaders can do to help make their employees feel like valued team members while staying true to the agency’s mission and values. She is a...

EP 437: The #1 business development tool of 2024 with Violet Rainwater

Video budgets are up in 2024, which means the demand for video content from clients will be high this year. For agencies, it also indicates that we must start utilizing this incredible business development tool for ourselves to know what’s up when our clients ask about it. Not only that, but video content creation is an incredible medium for agencies in prospecting, connecting with current clients, and gaining valuable data and metrics on what content is engaging to your audience. Are pro...

EP 436: Getting insightful about agency insights for better brainstorming with Chris Kocek

What exactly makes an insight versus just an observation? What are the different types out there? How the heck do we uncover them? This week, we’re getting insightful about insights and laying out the key characteristics of strong agency insights — like inspiring action and reframing problems.   Chris Kocek will share his favorite techniques for generating insights during brainstorming sessions, like continually asking “why” like a toddler until you reach some real gold. With agencies fee...

EP 435: Why daily timesheets are an agency’s best friend with Drew McLellan

If there’s one word that will send any agency owner or employee running for the hills, it’s timesheets. Although one of the most universally disliked words in the agency world, timesheets are still the number one way to detect and diagnose problems within the agency before they become catastrophes. Essentially, they’re your best friend whether you like it or not. Timesheets, especially when completed daily by all agency employees (including the agency owner), will give you invaluable data...

EP 434: Getting in touch with your natural intelligence for leadership with Rosie Tomkins

You’ve probably heard of IQ, EQ, or even SQ (spiritual intelligence), but have you heard of NQ? For those new to the term, it’s natural intelligence, or our ability to tap into our inner wisdom to guide us in our decision-making in the most high-stakes situations.   In life and leadership alike, we tend to let our ego get in the way of our decision-making. It’s normal, but it’s not often helpful for reaching our goals or leading our teams effectively. Instead, we should be listening to ou...

EP 433: An HR expert’s perspective on hiring and managing talent with Vicky Brown

It’s clear we can’t keep hiring and managing talent as we used to. Back in the days of the pandemic, and then The Great Resignation right after that, we were afraid to set boundaries and ask for what we needed out of fear of losing great team members.   The way we work isn’t the same, either. Many of us are now remote or hybrid, and a fully in-office team isn’t as common as it used to be. So, we have to adapt and change how we hire, train, and problem-solve with our teams scattered all ov...

EP 432:Helping agencies become AI consulting powerhouses with Casey Meehan

This year, agencies are in for many industry changes — and fast. We’ve been scratching the surface a little with AI ever since ChatGPT first dropped, but even since then, everything has changed drastically. To start the year, we’re shifting our focus to learning how agencies can use AI tools to become AI consulting powerhouses.   Many agency owners and employees have been learning how to integrate AI tools into their day-to-day over the past year or so, from writing, planning, research, a...

EP 431: Your new content marketing strategy roadmap for 2024 with Robert Rose

EP 430: What agency employees said will make them stick around longer with Drew McLellan

There’s no other way to spin it — agency owners had it rough in 2023. And while we spent all year going over the struggles of agency ownership, one universal positive kept coming up with everyone. Your teams are better than ever, and you want to learn how to keep your agency employees happy, so they stick around. So this week, we’re turning to some of our Agency Edge research to dive into what agency employees said are the key factors that keep them happy and willing to stick around for t...

EP 429:Core principles to help agency owners own their day with intentionality with Doug Fleener

It’s easy to get caught up in the chaos of day-to-day agency life. We all have a million things on our to-do lists, and they just keep growing. But part of being a successful agency owner is being present and open to what’s right in front of you.   Doug Fleener knows all about what it means to run a business intentionally. With history as a business owner and a rock bottom moment that led him into recovery, he’s had to learn some truths about life the hard way. But from that, he has devel...

EP 428: How to create a productive hybrid work environment with Felice Ekelman and Julie Kantor

Remote and hybrid work environments are here to stay. While some agencies have successfully returned to the office full-time, and some may have never even left, many agencies are still struggling to crack the code on hybrid work without upsetting their employees.   It’s a difficult balance, but it has become ever-important as these demands begin cementing into our work culture. And if you’re working with creatives, the conversation around a hybrid workplace has probably been even louder. ...

EP 427: Building an innovation strategy to co-create ideas with your clients with Atif Rafiq

Agencies are under more pressure than ever to be innovative. While it used to be easier to solve your clients’ problems and wow them with a great solution, these days, it’s much harder to do that with the bar constantly moving. This is why it’s essential to develop an innovation strategy.   Wouldn’t it be nice to bring a lofty, innovative idea to a client and have them be over the moon and excited to be a part of the process? With the right innovation strategy, that dream can be a reality...

EP 426: Dialing in your biz dev strategy for 2024 with Lee McKnight Jr.

It’s no secret that 2023 has been a rough year for most agency owners. Between the elongated sales cycles, shrinking prospect budgets, and the need to re-evaluate some of our own expenses that have been piling up, many of you are feeling burnt out.   But it’s not all bad news. There’s still time to take a fresh look at how you want to run your agency in 2024 and pull yourself out of the trenches if 2023 has gotten the better of you. This episode will focus on what we can be doing differen...

EP 425: The agency owner’s game plan for 2024 with Drew McLellan

2023 is quickly coming to a close, so it’s time for agency owners to start thinking about the year ahead to come up with their 2024 game plan. With holiday hibernation quickly approaching for most agency owners, this is the perfect time to reflect on 2023 and start thinking about what we want to improve for 2024. Many of us are coming out of a less-than-ideal year that threw us a lot of curveballs. So, if this year wasn’t your year, what game plan can you develop to make 2024 even better? ...

EP 424:The key to winning over right-fit clients in any economy with Jason Swenk

Finding right-fit clients, especially in a slow economy, is always a frustrating task. For the past year or so, agency owners have been expressing more and more frustrations over finding and keeping good clients at the right price point.   In this episode, Jason Swenk shares some tips and tricks about what he sees agencies doing right when it comes to client acquisition that keeps them profitable even in the toughest economies. He shares the 3 main channels where agencies can find right-f...

EP 423: How to ask like an auctioneer when making negotiations with Dia Bondi

We’ve all lowballed ourselves when going into negotiations. Whether it was for a raise, a proposal to a new client, a request to be a keynote speaker or a promotion, we’ve probably left opportunity on the table without even realizing it. The good news is that it’s extremely common, so you’re not alone. But the bad news is that you could probably be getting so much more than you realize, but you’re not asking in the right way.   This week, Dia Bondi teaches us how to ask like an auctio...

EP 422: Optimizing agency operations with 90-minute business ‘sabbaticals’ with Alyson Caffrey

Usually, a sabbatical is for people who need time to rest and recharge. But did you know that sabbaticals are important for your agency operations, too?   This week, we’re taking a different approach to the ongoing conversation we’ve been having about systems and processes, agency operations, and ways to optimize your business growth. From Alyson Caffrey’s perspective, it’s not just employees and agency owners who need time to rest and recharge — your business does, too. Blocking out ti...

EP 421: Improving systems and processes to complete projects in 2 weeks with Michelle LaBrosse

Productivity means profitability. One of the key ways to boost your productivity is to hone in on your systems and processes to get things done faster and more efficiently without bottlenecking your creative process. This week, we’re chatting with Michelle LaBrosse, a systems and processes expert, about how agency owners, teams, and even clients can work together to be faster and get projects done in as little as two weeks.   Sound too good to be true? It won’t after the hour is up. ...

EP 420: Setting realistic budget and growth goals for 2024 with Drew McLellan

Many agency owners want to see 20% growth (or more) year over year while staying profitable. This goal isn’t entirely unrealistic, but the bigger you get, the harder it is to maintain such impressive numbers if you’re not investing resources in the right things to support that growth. For this week’s solocast, I have some homework for you to do to help you see if you’re prepared to meet your growth goals in 2024. Don’t worry; we will do it together while I walk you through how to crunch the...

EP 419: Decoupling from the day-to-day grind as an agency owner with Lien De Pau

One of the most common questions we still receive is about how to decouple yourself from the day-to-day grind of agency life and finally get to focus on being an agency owner. Many of us became accidental entrepreneurs and owners, and now that we have teams to lead, it can be hard to stop doing the old work that got us started on this journey.   This week, Lien De Pau is giving us a roadmap for successfully decoupling ourselves from the daily grind so we can start focusing on biz dev, sal...

EP 418: Redesigning agency culture in a new remote and hybrid world with Gustavo Razzetti

Shifting agency culture has been a huge point of contention for many agency owners since the beginning of the pandemic. For some, it’s brought a lot of challenges in understanding how we can work as a team while being scattered around, while others have embraced the changes and have tried to adapt the best they can. However, it can still be challenging to fully adapt to how quickly agency life has changed in just a few years. Our guest today, Gustavo Razzetti, has one simple message for u...

EP 417: The art of perfecting presentations for agency employees with Michael Weiss

No matter how experienced you are, everyone gets nervous before getting up in front of a room full of people to speak. The adrenaline starts pumping, and you start doubting yourself and your ideas a little bit. It’s a universal experience we’ve all felt at least once in our lives. Michael Weiss is here to teach us that giving presentations doesn’t have to be the stressful, nerve-wracking experience we often make it out to be. When you boil it down, it’s just an exchange of ideas you’re gi...

EP 416: Teaching AEs how to grow your existing client base with Mark Riggs

With new client acquisition at an all-time low, it’s more important than ever to focus on growing your existing client base. In fact, 60 to 70 percent of your net new revenue should now come from existing clients to continue being profitable. This means it’s time to teach your AE’s how crucial it is to know how to navigate agency math, foster agency growth, and sell new, innovative ideas to your existing clients. Many AEs don’t realize it’s their job to do these tasks, which means there’s r...

EP 415: Getting the most out of an M&A as a buyer or seller with Drew and Danyel McLellan

There’s more M&A activity amongst agencies than ever before. As agency owners get older and running the business becomes more stressful, many owners are running out of gas and looking for a reset. This means there has never been a more perfect time if you’re looking to buy an agency. And if you’re looking to sell, it might go faster than you anticipate. We know that M&As are stressful on both sides of the deal, no matter how much you plan ahead. So this week, we’re taking a deep dive into t...

EP 414: 9 traits that will make your agency known for its best-of-class service with Susan Quinn

Does your agency have what it takes to provide best-in-class service to your clients? According to Susan Quinn’s research, there are 9 traits that an agency should have in order to get there.   It’s not always about being the fastest or having the best prices. In fact, it’s almost never about price when you’re providing top-notch service. What it ultimately comes down to is living by your agency’s core values, innovation, and an intense focus on quality. Susan Quinn and her team have be...

EP 413: The “why” mindset strategy for better agency communication with Linda Perry

Do you know the “why” behind the work you do? If not, it might be time to find out. Understanding the motivation behind why we show up and feel connected to our work is key to personal happiness and effective interpersonal communication.   As it turns out, there are nine “whys” that we could categorize ourselves into that affect agency communication and connectivity. Knowing where we fall on that spectrum, especially as agency owners, can remove blocks and help your agency reach its goals...

EP 412: Speed is the fast pass to client happiness with Jay Baer

When you think about how you do business, do you find that you’re purposefully taking longer to respond to inquiries because you don’t want a client to believe you’re not busy enough? Or do you hesitate to answer right away because you don’t want that to be their new expectation of your agency?   Unfortunately, this is where many agencies get it backward. Clients already expect quick responses, regardless of how fast or slow you were the first time. In fact, speed is one of the most impor...

EP 411: Knowing when it’s time to bring a COO onto the leadership team with Carolyn Lodge

As your agency grows, your leadership team must grow alongside it. You’ll notice as your team gets bigger, the day-to-day operations become more complicated, and you might want to start taking a step back from certain tasks altogether.   That’s where a COO comes in to save the day. A successful, growing agency must have someone to handle day-to-day operations and implement systems and processes properly. And if you have the right person to take some tasks off your plate, that opens you up...

EP 409: The how-to guide for getting started in thought leadership and public speaking with Katy Boos

One of the most powerful new business tools to establish credibility as an agency is right at our fingertips. Finding speaking opportunities at conferences, trade shows, and even as a podcast guest is a great first step to entering the world of thought leadership. While it may seem daunting initially, especially if you’re new to this, thought leadership is about as easy as simple networking. Your network can get you into spaces you’ve never dreamed of if you have the right tools to navigate...

EP 410: Tracking metrics to boost biz dev and client satisfaction with Drew McLellan

Lately, agency owners and leaders have been hitting their heads against a biz dev brick wall. With increased sales cycles, difficulty getting clients to start projects, tightened budgets, and more, it seems like we’re in a cycle of never-ending struggle. Even if the future looks bleak, there are always more things that can be done and new strategies to try to help push through a difficult time. That’s why now more than ever, it’s critical for agency owners and leaders to track certain metri...

EP 408: The power of in-person networking and client-agency relationships with Hank Blank

In-person networking and relationship building are not dead. For agencies, it remains one of the most important methods of building your client base. And unfortunately, odds are you’re not doing it enough.   Showing up is a huge part of the biz dev battle that a Zoom call or Slack channel just can’t fix. And in a time when many of us have to rely on current clients to keep ourselves afloat, cutting corners on new business opportunities won’t get us very far. For Hank Blank, some of the ...

EP 407: Facilitating change and navigating change fatigue with agency employees with Jenny Magic

The workforce has changed forever, which has brought change fatigue along with it. This means how we navigate problem-solving and facilitate change amongst our teams has to change, too. This week, I’m chatting with Jenny Magic, an expert in all things change and team morale. For almost 20 years, she’s been working with agency leaders and their teams to help implement strategies. She noticed that there were often major disconnects between agency leaders and their team’s opinions on new str...

EP 406: The peaks and pitfalls of AI innovation with Paul Roetzer

AI has been at the top of everyone’s minds this year, particularly with the birth of ChatGPT in November 2022. We’re currently in a renaissance where AI innovation and creativity are fusing to push the limits of what we ever thought was previously possible. With these new AI tools comes a lot to look forward to, but also a lot of fear and uncertainty. Many of you are worried about job security, work expectations, and getting left behind in favor of faster, newer technology. In this episode...

EP 405: The four pillars of healthy agency culture with Drew McLellan

The idea of agency culture has been on my mind a lot lately, especially now that we’re all settling into new post-covid workplace structures. Without as much face time in an office, many of you are starting to wonder how to continue cultivating a healthy workplace environment for your employees over video calls and Slack channels. For this week’s solocast, I’m sharing what research shows are the four core pillars of a healthy agency culture that will ensure your employees feel seen, heard, ...

EP 404: Weaving values, missions, and goals into agency culture with Chad Kearns

Agency culture has encountered a massive shift post-pandemic. With hybrid and remote work more common than ever, weaving our missions, goals, values, and purpose into our teams requires a different approach than before. This week, we’re talking to Chad Kearns, an agency culture expert, to discuss how agency leaders are at the forefront of agency culture and should run their agency according to their core values. If you don’t align yourself with your own mission and values, your team won’t ...

EP 403: Calculating lifetime customer value using data-driven metrics with Valentin Radu

With the elongated sales cycles we have all seen throughout 2023, knowing your lifetime customer value is more important than ever. It’s essential not only for you as an agency but also to calculate that data for your clients. Clients are looking for the most value for their money, and everyone is tightening their belts. Gone are the days of patient clients willing to wait around for results. Now, it’s all about data-driven, proven results that your agency can provide ASAP. If you can’t pr...

EP 402: The ROI of making your existing clients happier with Susan Baier

It’s that time of year again — we’re evaluating the 2023 Agency Edge Research study, where we polled people who hire agencies about what they expect from agencies and what gets them to open their wallets for us. Despite a challenging year of having to find creative ways to get existing clients to spend more money with us, a lot of good news came out of this study. Overall, existing clients with larger budgets are much more willing to stick with an agency and spend more money if we present t...

EP 401: Weaving creative innovation into agency best practices with Carla Johnson

Part of being an agency means that you solve problems for a living. Clients come to you with a problem, and it’s up to you and your team to figure out the solution and present it to them in a neat package. Simply put, creative innovation is woven into the DNA of an agency. Under pressure and deadlines, creative innovation can quickly be squashed, rushed, or underprioritized. But Carla Johnson, an ideation and innovation expert, has studied and produced an effective formula for how agencies ...

EP 400: The top agency trends to be aware of for 2023 with Drew and Danyel McLellan

It’s that time of year again — we’re going over the top agency trends we’re noticing so far in 2023 and going into 2024. A lot has changed since the last time we went over the data, which means we have a ton of information that you’ll hopefully find valuable and can use as a compass for where to lead your agency through the rest of the year heading into 2024. As we exit the pandemic era and move into the AI era, there’s a lot to consider in how agencies function regarding what our clients w...

EP 399: Reducing liability for agency owners, one data protection policy at a time with Hans Skillrud

Keeping up with data protection and privacy laws is exhausting. Nearly every month, new legislation is being introduced state by state to help keep users’ data protected online. And while this is overall a good thing, it can get really messy if agency owners aren’t educated and informing their clients about what this means when they build out their websites. Luckily, our guest today, Hans Skillrud, has collaborated with his wife to create an easy, self-updating tool that agency owners can...

EP 398: The ins and outs of data analytics for agency leaders with Jim Sterne

Marketing today is not absolute. It’s experimental, iterative, and ever-changing. And with that comes many challenges that we have to overcome and adapt to as agency leaders. One of those challenges is offering data analytics services to our clients. Many of us got into the industry, hoping to avoid doing math. And yet, here we are again, going over another way tech and mathematics are imperative in our industry. While it might be exhausting or frustrating, a subject matter expert is join...

EP 397: The legal impact of AI-generated content on your agency with Sharon Toerek

AI-generated content is rapidly finding its way into professional spaces and changing the way we work forever. This fact is especially important for creative agencies that are quickly realizing there could be legal implications for using AI to create work proposals, creative IPs, legal documents, and more. And like most legal questions, the answer to “Can I use AI to generate work for clients?” is, “It depends.” We’re in such a gray area with AI right now that the legal system hasn’t had ...

EP 396: Ending the cycle of fear-based pricing with Casey Brown

We all want to get paid what we’re worth. But it’s more than likely that we’re downplaying our agency’s value because we’re too worried about pricing ourselves out or overcharging. This week, our guest, Casey Brown, will explain why that’s wrong and how to get out of a fear-based pricing mindset for good. Casey has been serving small to mid-sized agencies for the past 15 years to bring her corporate pricing expertise to private companies. She’ll teach us why it’s probable that we’re talki...