The Innovative Agency

It might sound absolutely basic, but successful agencies — the ones with 2020 as their best year ever — have a business plan & manage cash flow. In this episode, I interview The Innovative Agency's first CPA guest, Chris Hervochon, Owner and Virtual CFO at Better Way CPA, about, well, money. What we talked about: - It's not enough just to have a business plan, but you also have to revisit it - Cash flow also means having substantial cash reserves - Things to do right now if you need to measure your revenue health To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

You want to be an ally to the Black community, but you have no idea how to get started. The first and most important step is willingness to change. In this episode, I interview Dr. Rachel Talton, CEO at Synergy, about actions that agency owners can take to support the Black community. What we talked about: - How to LEAP into 2021 better than we were - What it means to take a realistic look at your agency's diversity & inclusion - 4 actions agency owners can take today to support the Black community Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi - The Flourish Conference for Women in Leadership To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The age-old dilemma: how to build an agency that makes sense for you plus makes you attractive to your clients. Arguably the best form of marketing is to pay for your marketing after you get your customer. Also known as performance-based marketing. In this episode of the #BestofTIA series, we revisit my conversation with Robert Glazer, Founder and CEO at Acceleration Partners, about how to implement performance-based marketing in the agency world. What we talked about: - Robert's litmus test for whether a firm is best-in-class - What it takes to do affiliate program management - The differences between newer agencies and traditional digital agencies - Challenges to rapid growth for performance-based marketing Check out these resources we mentioned: - Robert wrote Performance Partnerships about affiliate marketing - The Friday Forward podcast To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Longtime listeners of my podcast know how much I believe agencies need to develop multiple revenue streams. Just in case I couldn't persuade you, today's guest can. In this episode, I interview Matthew Scott, Principal at FEED, about thriving during change with multiple revenue streams: What we talked about: - Starting with what has not changed - Being easy to do business with - Pivoting to sell a process, not a product - How to develop multiple revenue streams To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Ignore SEO at your own risk. Today's guest has focused so well on SEO that he's scaling from 230+ to 500 content writers by 2021. In this episode, I interview Vincent D'Eletto, Owner at WordAgents.com, about the importance of SEO for marketers. What we talked about: - Where to find writing talent & how to keep it - Why he always seeks generalist writers - SEO tips & strategies - How agencies can leverage data to reach prospects To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The conversation I'm featuring on today's episode of #BestofTIA is with Grayson Lafrenz, Founder and CEO at Power Digital Marketing, about agency growth and what prevents it. We talked about: The 5 pitfalls that hinder your growth… And 5 ways to grow your business How much of your time should be spent on RGAs How fast star talent will pay for themselves The 4 pillars of diversifying deal flow To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

It's easier than you think to provide opportunities for your agency team members to display thought leadership. They already do every day in your agency. You just have to hit the "record" button. In this episode, I interview Robin Emiliani, Founder at Catalyst, about the inspiration behind Marketing Rants. What we talked about: - Positioning your team members as thought leaders - Social responsibility starts internally with employees - Tips for video, including to chuck out the script Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - Several Marketing Rants are about social responsibility - Check out Robin's agency blog To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

If you polled your clients, how would they answer these 2 questions? - Do we speak the language of your company? - Are we relevant to your revenue? Recently on The Innovative Agency, I spoke with Chris Schermer, President at SCHERMER, about what he did when the 2 answers were "No." What we talked about: - Focusing on your clients' customers is the best path for a B2B marketing agency - The 3 pillars of "relevance to revenue" - More profit, fewer employees: How to chase profit as an agency Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast: - SCHERMER's News + Views blog To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

During this episode of the #BestofTIA series, we're revisiting my chat with Patricia Beitler, President at Velocitas, and Abigail Sierra, Director of Content Strategy at Velocitas, to talk about trends in marketing that are actually working for agencies. What we talked about: - 3 strategies that the average B2B company should just toss - 3 classic strategies that will endure beyond 2020 - Video gives potential customers a way to meet you before they meet you - Video and email campaigns are meant for each other To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, check out the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

His background is cosmetology, not marketing. He owned a salon, not an agency. That is, until he recognized that Black salon owners are powerful influencers. Recently on The Innovative Agency Podcast, I interviewed Wil Shelton, CEO of Wil Power Integrated Marketing, about his agency's origin story. What we talked about: - How Wil broke into marketing without any connections - Niche marketing is a winning strategy - Timely advice to brands about diversity & inclusion To hear more from Innovative Agency owners, listen to The Innovative Agency podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.