The Agency Growth Podcast

Mordy Oberstein from Unify Brand Marketing joins us on the podcast this episode to talk about how most companies fail at marketing their brand and defining their brand identity.Mordy has been a recognizable face in the SEO industry for nearly a decade as the CMO of Rank Ranger, Head of Communications at SEMrush, and finally the Head of SEO Brand at Wix before starting his own branding agency, Unify.We ask Mordy to walk us through his history in SEO and why the seemingly sudden pivot to obsessive brand marketing.Given this unique perspective, we also ask Mordy what small and established agencies can do to find their identity and speak to their target audience while also tracking brand performance metrics.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

We open this special, yearly episode with the announcement of Jake and the Agency Growth Podcast's acquisition of the r/agency subreddit. Head over to r/agency and start engaging with the agency community!This year we spend some time recapping our 2024 year with our agency. We talk about what our goals were and where we actually ended up. Jake also took some time and calculated month-over-month and year-over-year churn and growth rates uncovering some surprising details about when and how our agency grows extremely predictably.Previous Financial Recap episodes (#34 and #88)----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Jake is an idiot)****Skip the Cold Open at 10:07**Our clients have told us that when agencies say they can help them scale their business to (insert number), that is somewhat of a red flag. It tells the business owner that the agency doesn't really know a lot about business operations and that leads and marketing are only a small portion of being able to grow a business.Business owners deal with other things that stifle their ability to grow such as operational issues, processes and procedures, hiring and labor restrictions, and a plethora of other things that agencies are not responsible for.When clients do ask us how much we can help them grow, we have to level their expectations with what a marketing agency is and what a full-on consultant firm is.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

Anik Singal was sued by the FTC for $15m all because of four simple words in his call script. We brought Anik on the podcast to talk about compliant marketing and how marketers, agencies, and coaches all over the world are violating FTC rules and are in danger of being sued.In preparation for this interview, Jake read Anik's book that he co-authored with his partner and compliance lawyer, Greg Christiansen, "Don't Say That!". Jake references parts in the book that blew his mind and has Anik elaborate on them extending those examples to the agency and coaching spaces.Some of the crazy things we learned:You can't use results-based testimonials in marketing without substantiating them.Videos with fancy cars and money guns create negative net impressions and can be violating FTC rules.If you say something is of a certain value, you have to prove it... with past sales.We learned a ton more and now are taking a hard second look at our marketing.----------------------------------Anik Singal is the founder of Lurn, an online education platform. Following the lawsuit and FTC investigation covered in the podcast, he co-created Complily, an AI-powered compliance tool that helps marketers ensure their materials meet FTC standards.Anik also co-authored the book "Don't Say That!", which serves as a guide for marketers to keep them out of trouble with the FTC regarding rules they probably didn't know existed! His experiences have made him a vocal advocate for compliant marketing practices.Check out Anik's AI-powered marketing compliance software, Complily:complily.comAlso, take a look at the resources and book on Anik and Greg's site dontsaythat.com----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

We don't use sketchy SEO or cheap lead gen tactics at our agency. Our competitors and peers do these things. However, sooner or later, those tactics are going to stop working, and when they don't, will you be prepared?Maybe they will end up working forever, but we've been able to communicate our clean SEO and marketing approach to our clients and it turns out, that clients prefer to stay with us even if the results don't come as fast.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Episode Start at 19:04****Cold Open (How Was Christmas? / Weird SEO Agency Guy)****Headlines without Context: 14:23**----------------------------------Be careful about which clients you choose to take on. Some clients are simply distractions from what you set out to build for your own agency. For us, it was an agency in the landscaping and lawn care niche. Any client that doesn't fit that description is a distraction and ultimately pulls us further away from successful scalability.One client might make you $1,000/mo but may cost you thousands in lost opportunity each month simply by having to continually deviate from your processes that produce results for your other niche clients.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

As data-oriented digital marketers, we often have little to say about brand strategy and graphic design agencies.That's where Lucy and Imogen from Lumo Design Studio jump in to tell us their story about how they went from freelance graphic designers to a full brand strategy agency busy enough to turn down work.Lucy and Imogen walk through what it was like when they first started trying to sell postcards and brochures to providing comprehensive branding solutions for large companies.Neither of them had formal education in the subject and they battled imposter syndrome as they built their, now-successful, branding agency in Australia.Tune in to this episode to see how they got started and got their first clients, how they became experts in branding with no specialized education in it, how they pivoted to get recurring work from clients, and how they never thought web design and development was going to be a staple to their agency.----------------------------------LUMO is a brand strategy and design agency started by Lucy and Imogen in Brisbane, Australia. You can connect with Lucy and Imogen via their website or on LinkedIn:www.lumodesignstudio.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-borrill-a5b21935/https://www.linkedin.com/in/imogen-borrill/----------------------------------Sponsors:Wix Studio is a sponsor of this episode and introduced Lumo Design Studio to the Agency Growth Podcast.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Travelling light as a business owner)****Skip the Cold Open at 9:04)**We answer the difficult question of "how many accounts can one person at your agency actually handle?" Answers are all over the place on the internet. Some people saying as little as 10 while other saying as many as 50 or even 100.Well, it depends on what that person's role is and how much time they dedicate on that account. Additionally, the time spent on the account isn't an indicator of the quality of work or results -- that's often a factor of the business model.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

Ever since we started our agency, we've been focused on generating leads for our clients because, ultimately, that's what they care about.We've preached this on this podcast as well over and over again.Today, Jeff Greenfield with Provalytics joins us to tell us that if we want to provide more leads, we should be focusing on mediums that can deliver high numbers of impressions vs clicks.That's a hot take.So we dive in to see where Jeff is coming from.----------------------------------Jeff is an entrepreneur, advisor, and disrupter with three decades of strategy, growth and marketing leadership. Jeff is currently building the next generation of AI-Driven Attribution as the co-founder and CEO of Provalytics which is a 'cookie-less' attribution & measurement solution which enables marketers to prove the impact from upper funnel channels like CTV and grow their budgets.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

Explore the significance of a defined tech stack for agencies and its effects on scalability and profitability. Discover humorous anecdotes on the challenges of online research and the role of technology in shopping. Delve into seed funding dynamics and the importance of client relationships. Reflect on aligning personal goals with business growth, and gain insights into managing diverse tech systems. Finally, learn how successful people optimize their routines for enhanced productivity.