Build a Better Agency Podcast

As I thought about this solocast and what I wanted to say to you, I came up with a big list. Year-end planning, appreciate your clients, get your biz dev kicked off for 2021. And then I realized you, like me, are on stress overload already and the last thing I needed to do was to add to your To Do list. Instead, the most helpful thing I can do in this episode is to acknowledge what's going on, how you're feeling and offer some support. So that's what we're going to do together. You've been going full steam ahead at a breakneck speed for almost nine months. You've scrambled to replace lost business, get government assistance, shift to working from home and taking care of your team. You've had to make some tough choices, have difficult conversations and yet you've rallied each and every time. But no one can sustain the pace and stress you've been keeping forever. It's not humanly possible, even for you. Most of your agencies have fared well through the pandemic and financially, you're in good shape. But that doesn't mean you don't need to focus on giving yourself some respite. And that's what this episode is all about! 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 overarching sentiment of agency owners in 2020 What agency owners can do to move past the exhaustion and heavy emotions of 2020 Why it is important to step back and reflect on the hardships and victories of the last year How agency owners are dealing with stress overload in this fast-paced environment Why agency owners are particularly affected by being "stuck" in the pandemic Why agency owners need to put on their own oxygen masks now so they can help their families, employees, and clients down the road "Whether you have been breaking all records or struggling to keep your head above water, none of this has been easy for anyone." @DrewMcLellanCLICK TO TWEET"I think it is really hard for us to admit that we cannot possibly keep up the pace and the level of stress we have been dealing with for the past nine months." @DrewMcLellanCLICK TO TWEET"We as agency owners are not a group of people that likes to feel stuck or have control taken away from us. I think one of the things that dealing with stress overload does is render us completely out of control." @DrewMcLellanCLICK TO TWEET"Being powerless is not something we are used to—or comfortable with. I believe that we have to take some of that control back." @DrewMcLellanCLICK TO TWEET"We as agency owners have to find new ways of dealing with stress overload. We need to put on our oxygen masks first so we can fight another day." @DrewMcLellanCLICK TO TWEET About the Author: Drew McLellan For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more. Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for agency 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 over 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 several books, including Sell With Authority (2020) 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: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/ Tools & Resources: Sell with Authority (buy Drew's book) Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast

If you're not new to the podcast or AMI, you know that I am a proponent of agencies differentiating themselves by finding a niche where they can develop a depth of expertise or a position of authority. It's one of the core messages in the book I co-wrote with Stephen Woessner, Sell with Authority. Which makes Brent Weaver a kindred spirit! Brent Weaver shares our philosophy of niching down, and he joins me to talk about what he believes it takes to become an authority. Brent is a former agency owner and now focuses on helping business leaders finding their niche. He currently serves as the founder and CEO of UGURUS, a business training and education company dedicated to helping business owners achieve freedom by owning their markets. His work focuses on helping clients overcome their dependence on referrals and word-of-mouth through developing thought leadership. If you didn't get a chance to meet him during our previous conversation, check out Episode #66 where he explains how to turn a profit doing web dev. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Brent provides valuable insights about finding your niche. He shares his own experience on niching down so you understand what it takes to become the dominant player in a specific market segment, even in times of crisis. Learn how to find your market, own your market, and, as a result, scale your business. 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 framework of Brent's book, "Get Rich in the Deep End" How finding your niche and serving that audience will make everything in your business easier The difference between having a lot of clients in a niche vs. being an authority Why niching down will enable your agency to thrive in good times and bad How to find time to market your business amidst your chaotic schedule What type of content is central to developing a position of authority The correlation between niching and scaling a business How niching goes beyond marketing "Finding your niche and serving that audience will make everything else in your agency 10x easier." @u_gurusCLICK TO TWEET"Having a select market and consistent deliverables makes it easier to sell. It also makes it easier to deliver results for your clients." @u_gurusCLICK TO TWEET"It's one thing to have a lot of clients in a niche. When you are the thought leader and the marketing authority in your niche, clients will start coming to you." @u_gurusCLICK TO TWEET"When you're a niche agency and times are good, you make more money than anyone else. And when times are bad, you get back on your feet quicker than anyone else because clients are not looking for a generalist." @u_gurusCLICK TO TWEET"The more complex your business is, the harder it is to scale. Finding your niche simplifies the equation." @u_gurusCLICK TO TWEET Ways to contact Brent Weaver: Book: https://ownyourmarket.com/pre-order Website: https://ugurus.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentweaver/ Twitter: @u_gurus Additional Resources: AMI Assessment 2019 Agency Research Study Money Matters Live Workshop Build and Nurture Your Agency's Sales Funnel Live Workshop Sell with Authority (buy Drew's book) Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast

Successful business development strategies are always a hot topic when I'm talking with agency owners. That was true before the pandemic, so you can imagine how often we're talking about it now! Business development for agencies has made a 180 over the past decade. Have you changed the way you sell to keep current? Greg Jacobs is the head of Strategic Partnerships at Schiefer Chop Shop, an Irvine-based brand transformation agency where he developed a unique recipe for successful business development strategies. He also led NASCAR's unscripted content division and served as Head (SVP) of Monetization at Red Bull & Red Bull Media House. As you might imagine, with that background, he comes at prospecting for his agency in a very different way. During our conversation, Greg walks us through his approach to creating successful business development strategies and offers up some suggestions for agency owners who are looking to hire a salesperson for their shop. It's never too late to re-tool your own biz dev strategies and this episode is sure to point you in the right direction. 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: Greg's approach to building successful business development strategies and how agency owners can use it in their own niches Greg's transition from content creation to biz dev How Greg mediates between biz dev and content creation teams How to attract and retain the right biz dev talent What Greg does to differentiate his agency and make it stand out from the crowd How content plays a role in Greg's biz dev efforts today How newcomers can be successful in an agency biz dev role "Content can be a universal language. If a brand has an interesting story and you can tell that story in a short form piece of content, the brand now has an asset they can use across their owned and operated channels." @GregoryJacobsCLICK TO TWEET"The key metric of any piece of content is engagement. Will they click on it, will they watch it, and will they stay for a period of time?" @GregoryJacobs" @GregoryJacobsCLICK TO TWEET"There is no biz dev rep worth their salt that will do one of two things: A) Work on commission only. And B) Claim they can close business in less than six months." @GregoryJacobsCLICK TO TWEET"Successful business development strategies give reps a window of time to figure it out, proper onboarding, some kind of retainer, and the ability to maintain relationships post-close." @GregoryJacobsCLICK TO TWEET"Successful business development strategies are all about finding a balance between what you want to make and what fits your partner's brand." @GregoryJacobsCLICK TO TWEET Ways to contact Greg Jacobs: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryscottjacobs/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/schieferchopshop/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearescs Twitter: @GregoryJacobs Twitter: @wearescs_ Additional Resources: December 17th Webinar Registration Executive Summary Money Matters Live Workshop Build and Nurture Your Agency's Sales Funnel Live Workshop Sell with Authority (buy Drew's book) Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast

It's an age-old adage – books are a three-dimensional business card. In today's vernacular (from the book Sell With Authority) a book is an excellent example of cornerstone content. Many agency owners I know are curious about how to become a successful author but have decided they'll never have the time or space to actually write that book. Josh Steimle has helped many clients recognize that they actually can get that book written and it doesn't have to take years or be a painful experience. Josh is an agency owner and former guest (Episode #182). As his agency (MWI) matured and his partners were running the day-to-day operations, Josh decided to explain what it takes to become a book author to grow their businesses just like he had done for his agency. During our conversation, Josh explains how agency owners can write a book that demonstrates their expertise and allows them to step into their authority position. He then breaks down the book writing process to make it faster, less cumbersome, and very doable for the busy agency owner who wants to learn how to become a successful author. This is the episode for you if you'd like to add the title "author" to your list of accomplishments. Josh busts many myths and helps the listeners chart a course to getting that first draft done! 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: If you decide to go with a different keyword, make sure to have the keyword listed in at least one bullet point in bold. How to write a book and use it as cornerstone content Why a book is a strong way to tie your thought leadership and content creation efforts together How to become a successful author so you can build your agency's position of authority. How Josh helps business owners navigate the book writing process Why being an author and having a book escalates your agency's growth and creates new opportunities How being an author can actually shorten your sales cycle Different ways you can use storytelling techniques to write a business book How to organize the content/expertise you already have into an outline for your book "Thought leadership has a lot of potential, and there are so many different places to publish and promote our content. A book is the glue that binds all of our content creation efforts together." @joshsteimleCLICK TO TWEET"There are three hard parts to writing a book: getting started, finishing it, and everything in between." @joshsteimleCLICK TO TWEET"If you have tossed around the idea of how to become a successful author, it is easier than you think. A book helps agency leaders propel their businesses in directions they don't normally get to go." @joshsteimleCLICK TO TWEET"We've had potential clients call us and say, 'we read your book, we want to work with you, send us a contract.'" @joshsteimleCLICK TO TWEET"Even if it's a bad book, it takes so much work for agency leaders to get a book done. That is why you need a process for how to become a successful author." @joshsteimleCLICK TO TWEET Ways to contact Josh Steimle: Website: https://www.mwi.com/ Website: https://www.joshsteimle.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuasteimle/ Book: https://amzn.to/2Es5rmI Additional Resources: Executive Summary Money Matters Live Workshop Build and Nurture Your Agency's Sales Funnel Live Workshop Sell with Authority (buy Drew's book) Facebook Group for the Build a Better Agency Podcast

How are clients thinking about and reacting to both COVID and the recession it triggered is on every agency owner's mind. Will our clients go dormant? How are they approaching 2021 budgets and plans? Because we know this is vital intelligence for you, we decided to make that the focus of the 2020 Agency Edge research project. You're going to find the data insightful and a relief. The Agency Edge research series is a collaboration between AMI, Audience Audit, and Dynata. Audience Audit's Susan Baier joins me to walk you through the highlights of the research findings and what you should do next, based on what we learned. We believe the insights will help you strengthen your relationship with your current clients, dodge some potential landmines, and navigate your biz dev prospecting with more success. After you listen to the podcast, be sure to grab the 30-page executive summary from the show notes. 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: Findings from the 2020 Agency Edge Research Study How agency owners are feeling as they deal with the impact of COVID and the recession The 3 distinct segments that capture agency owner sentiment in 2020 How the agency relationships of respondents have been impacted by COVID and the recession What clients want out of their agencies during COVID and the recession Why the data from the latest research study paints a more optimistic picture than we'd feared New opportunities for gaining market share in 2020

It's an age-old discussion. Should an agency specialize and focus on specific niches or should they be a generalist? If you're familiar with AMI or have read the book I co-wrote with Stephen Woessner (Sell with Authority), you know that I believe there are some huge advantages to claiming your authority position and being a specialist. You don't have to take my word for it – in this episode, I am going to show you some data to make the point. But, even if you choose to remain a generalist, that doesn't mean you can't have a rock-solid sales strategy that keeps your pipeline full and attracts your best-fit prospects. It's going to take longer but you can get there. In this episode of Build A Better Agency, I want to walk you through the stages of an agency's biz dev evolution and the potential power of holding a position of authority so that prospective clients hunt you down and ask if they can be your client. 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: https://www.whitelabeliq.com/ami/ What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why agencies who specialize have a distinct advantage when it comes to sales and retention Why referrals shouldn't be the only way you grow your agency The goal today for agencies is to be sought after The evolution of how agencies sell The importance of developing thought leadership and expertise within a niche The research data behind how and why agencies get hired How to carve out a position of authority and sell from that position

Thought leadership is one of those buzzwords that has been so overused, it has almost been rendered meaningless. But as Stephen Woessner and I preach to agency owners in our book, Sell with Authority, when done well for the right reasons, being an authority can drive significant revenue for your agency. Stephen's agency, Predictive ROI, decided they wanted to quantify the value of thought leadership so they engaged Susan Baier (Audience Audit) to do some research to answer the question "is there an ROI to being a thought leader?" Creating unique, relevant content targeting a very narrow niche is time-consuming. Is there a payoff? How does it impact both new sales and retaining clients? Does it influence the sales cycle? How do people define what is and isn't a true authority? In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Susan and Stephen join us to share the data that came out of the research and the implications that data has for us as agency owners, both as we think about our own biz dev but also how we advise clients about their own thought leadership efforts. 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 agency owners can use data to measure the value of thought leadership The origins of Susan and Stephen's research about the ROI of being an authority The research methodology Susan used for the ROI of thought leadership study What Susan and Stephen's study uncovered about people's attitudes/beliefs toward experts in their field The distinguishing characteristics that others use to determine if someone truly is an authority How referrals are impacted by someone's position of authority The big takeaways of the study on the ROI of thought leadership and how to apply them in your agency

After this year, I think agency leaders can all rightfully claim their MBA in leadership! With the recession and COVID-19 rewriting our plans for 2020, we've all been challenged to step way outside of our comfort zones. And yet, I believe we can all get even better. How can we level-up as leaders and make sure our team is aligned and bringing their best to the job? My guest this week, Chad Carden, is on a life mission to improve the way leaders interact with their teams to create greater engagement and better results. His style is very results oriented, but it's balanced with a goal of helping everyone on the team do their best work and feel good about the contribution. This head and heart combination lines up nicely with how I know agency owners think about and care about their team members. During this conversation, Chad and I discuss the different ways we can ramp up for success as we build momentum into the 4th quarter of 2020 and head into 2021. Chad outlines how we can show up as better agency leaders, transform our internal environments, and drive results. We all know that when everyone is happily rowing in the same direction – good things happen! 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 2020 has forced agency leaders to level-up their leadership How agency leaders can carve out time for their people and build stronger connections without taking too much time out of the day What agency leaders can do to make professional development a consistent part of the day-to-day Why agency leaders should be focused on creating a sense of clarity, alignment, and purpose within their teams What agency leaders can do to win the day and maintain the agency's course to success How agency leaders can inspire their teams to work better together

Creating content is both a huge opportunity and a big challenge for agencies. How do you elevate your efforts so that the content is actually meaningful to the audience and attracts prospects? How do you properly price your content efforts so you get paid fairly? If you're looking for good writers – what are the clues that they'll be able to do the work? All of these questions affect your bottom line. Luckily, there are principles you can follow to ensure your content creation is on-point, whether you are outsourcing writers or doing everything in-house. My guest for this week's episode is Steve Pockross, Owner and CEO of Verblio. Steve brings more than 20 years of startup, Fortune 500, and nonprofit experience to his role at Verblio. As CEO, he applies leading marketplace and SaaS principles to create an industry-leading content creation platform with 3,000 writers supporting thousands of clients with their digital marketing. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Steve joins us to talk about trends in content creation. He explains what agency owners can do to work better with outside writers and breaks down the traits you should look for in prospective writers if you want to build out a content creation team of your own. Whatever route you choose to take, Steve's experience will provide you with insights to take full advantage of the content revolution. 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: Current trends in content creation How we can work better with outside writers What agency owners should look for in writers as they build out their own writing staff How to achieve quality at scale How the agency landscape has changed since COVID hit How content is being refreshed and repurposed to create an immediate impact for clients How we will consume content differently in twelve months

A.I. As agency owners and leaders, we understand what it is and what it does, but we haven't quite figured out the best way to use it in our own agencies for ours or our clients' benefit. Many still believe it's something inaccessible or unaffordable. But, A.I. can transform our deliverables, change the ROI we deliver to clients, and make us even better at what we do. Today. At an affordable price. My guest for this week's episode is Neil Sahota, a professor at UC-Irvine in California. Neil is a specialist in artificial intelligence marketing. He was an IBM Master Inventor and is currently doing some astounding work as an A.I. Advisor for the United Nations. Neil authored the book, Own the A.I. Revolution, and is one of the foremost expert on emerging technologies as they relate to business strategy. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Neil joins us to share his journey and technical expertise. He explains what agency owners can do to harness the power of artificial intelligence marketing so we can use it in ours and our clients' favor. He also walks us through some of the most progressive A.I. tools marketers are using to communicate with their audiences more effectively. 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 we as agency owners can harness the power of artificial intelligence marketing and use the technological disruption in our favor How to use A.I. to get data and use it in your client interactions What tools agencies can use to leverage data and turn it into ROI Where agency owners should look for guidance on what A.I. can do and how to do it What inspired Neil to write his book, "Own the A.I. Revolution" Neil's perspective on the ethics of A.I. in marketing