Build a Better Agency Podcast

Many agency owners are familiar with the book Traction by Gino Wickman and his Entrepreneurial Operating System. It's a fantastic methodology for improving your agency's ability to scale effectively, growing a leadership team and building a more sustainable, profitable agency. If you implement Traction properly. Otherwise, it can be a huge waste of time and money. Traction" is not just a book — it is a new way of running your business so that you can delight your clients but also make your own agency a priority. No more "cobbler's children have no shoes" excuses about why your website is never updated, your internal priorities are ignored or your agency is stuck in terms of growth and profitability. I have served many agencies as their Traction implementer and through that experience have figured out some of the biggest pitfalls, mistakes and challenges that agencies run into when they launch Traction inside their shop. In this solocast, I will walk you through the benefits of Traction and how to get the most from the effort. 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 benefit from Traction and EOS How to build your agency's traction team How to implement Traction in your agency What decisions/practices impact the effectiveness of Traction in our agencies How to navigate the challenging segments of the Traction process AMI works with agency owners by: 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: BaBA Summit Registration: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/babasummit/ Sweet Spot Client Filter: agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter Sell With Authority Traction Rocket Fuel

I have long preached the concept of being a specialist versus a generalist to my audience, so it should come as no surprise to you that along with my co-author Stephen Woessner, CEO of Predictive ROI, I have just written a book on the subject. Sell With Authority is a playbook for agency new business efforts that will allow you to shorten your sales cycle, increase your pricing and profitability and actually attract your ideal customers to knock on YOUR door, rather than the other way around. In this week's episode, Stephen and I talk about some of the core principles of the book and why we're both so passionate about the approach. 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: The inspiration and core concepts behind our new book, Sell With Authority How to be seen as an authority in your industry The biz dev decisions that will help you achieve rapid growth Why you should narrow your agency's focus How to differentiate your agency by having a unique point of view How to use cornerstone content to build authority across multiple channels Ways to Contact Stephen Woessner: Website: https://predictiveroi.com/ Books: Stephen's Author Page and Drew's Author Page Sell With Authority Podcast: Onward Nation Twitter: @stephenwoessner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a global marketing agency that specializes in partner or affiliate marketing. Initially, I planned on spending our time debunking the myths around affiliate marketing space (which we still covered), but our conversation took an interesting turn and instead we focused on Acceleration Partners' growth journey. Robert described the transformation of his agency from five employees to several hundred in multiple countries – all in less than a decade. As you might imagine, it was not without some difficult crossroads. Robert is the author of the new Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, Elevate on how to build capacity while setting and achieving agency goals while helping the individual team members do the same. On top of sharing an agency leader's perspective of the story behind Acceleration Partners' growth, Robert discusses the inspiration behind his written content and what it means to him. 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: Robert's role as the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners Robert's view of affiliate marketing in the agency world How Robert took his agency of five FTEs and grew it multifold How agency culture played a role in the immense growth of Acceleration Partners How Robert holds his team accountable for maintaining Acceleration Partners' culture

We get hired because our clients want to surround themselves with expertise and a depth of knowledge that they don't have in-house. They know we have to stay current on the trends shaping our business and theirs if we want to remain relevant. But in a rapidly evolving marketplace, it's challenging to stay ahead of the curve. Rohit Bhargava and his Non-obvious book series has been a go-to resource ever since the first book appears in 2013. Back in Episode #33, Rohit walked us through his process of curating and tracking trends as a part of his Non-Obvious book series. In this week's episode, he comes back on the show to tell us which trends from his new book, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future, of particular importance to agencies and their clients. 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: The biggest trends agency owners and leaders face in 2020 Rohit's journey through the agency realm What makes Rohit's new book, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future a little different from the rest Critical trends agency owners and leaders should be paying attention to in 2020 Ways to Contact Rohit Bhargava: Website: https://www.rohitbhargava.com/ Books: https://www.rohitbhargava.com/books-publications Twitter: @rohitbhargava YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVogCMB50uIYYdbwv7_w-tQ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitbhargava/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohitmarketingauthor

Most of us didn't major in math or accounting. In fact, many of us were drawn to our industry because it wasn't math centric! Unfortunately, agency leaders are not math exempt. Without proper financial data, it's impossible to successfully run a profitable agency. This means your accounting partner, in-house or not, should be your constant companion. Many agencies are exploring an outsourced accounting solution, just like most of us outsource our tax prep. But there is more to accounting than what meets the eye. Chris Hervochon is the founder of Better Way CPA that was built to serve agencies. Chris and his team approach accounting as a vital source of data that can help us make better decisions in real-time. Chris joined us to discuss the metrics and best practices we can use to run our agencies better. We also talk about how to automate some of your accounting to really take full advantage of the information you have. 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: How to maximize the value of an outsourced CFO Chris' view on the purpose of accounting Common mistakes that agency owners make with their books The automation of accounting and the value it can bring to your agency How accounting has changed and what it is able to do for us as agencies owners Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Ways to Contact Chris Hervochon: Website: https://www.betterwaycpa.com/about/ Twitter: @ChrisHervochon Instagram: @BetterWayCPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishervochon/ Wayfinder Service: betterwaycpa.com/wayfinder eBook: From Agency to Freelancer YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV47G1cxtV_ElKokUt2ChXw Strategy Session: Click Here to Sign Up Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterWayCPA/

It doesn't matter if you are a small shop, a specialized shop, in a major market, or based in rural areas – odds are, your biggest struggle right now is attracting and retaining talent. Many agency owners are losing sleep over staffing up or even worse, losing one of their key players. Interestingly, how you're hiring may be one of the reasons your tenured employees are giving notice. Right now, employees and prospective employees hold all the cards. They are being recruited by organizations that can pay better than any agency and offer what appears to be a more stable, slower-paced work environment. What is an agency owner to do? I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but you should make people work harder for the privilege of working for you. In this episode of Build a Better Agency, we'll walk through how playing a little hard to get will earn you better prospects and future employees and keep your current employees satisfied. 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: Why there is such a high turnover rate in agencies across the country What you can do to attract and retain top talent Why you should play hard to get, despite the challenges of hiring How to strengthen your interview process to make better hires What to look for in potential candidates for your team AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for 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 those 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 two books 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." Subscribe to Build A Better Agency! Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/ Tools & Resources: Agency Owner Life Plan: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ami-OwnerLifePlan.pdf Agency One Page Business Plan: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ami-businessplan.pdf Adam Carroll's Podcast: https://masteryofmoney.lpages.co/babl-blueprint/

Culture matters. As agency owners and leaders, we get that. And we love creating a "great culture." But, developing a great culture is about more than beer o'clock and having a ping pong table. Yes, fun is important. But if you want to attract and retain the top talent in your industry, that alone is not going to cut it. John Waid of Corporate Culture Consulting joins us on this episode of Build A Better Agency to teach us a fresh approach to developing agency culture. He explains how to identify and define your organization's culture, so you can align it with your strategic goals. By focusing on organizational culture instead of a more superficial definition culture, we create an environment where the best employees want to stay and thrive. It enables us to map out our core values so we can weave them into the DNA of the agency and establish clear rules of engagement for clients, peers, and leadership alike. John has a very unique perspective on how culture comes to life and how you can foster a culture that is outcome-focused. This conversation will reshape your perspective even if you think you have this one nailed. 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: Superficial culture vs. organizational culture The factors that contribute to a great agency culture How your culture plays a major role in talent acquisition and retention How to set behavioral expectations that bring your agency's core values to life Why a great culture has the potential to course-correct a poor work ethic How to introduce new values to your agency and maintain them for years to come Ways to Contact John Waid: Website: c3culture.com Email: jwaid@corporatecultureconsulting.com Phone: (404) 915-3051 Twitter: @C3PeopleSkills LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwaid/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/c3culture/

Biz dev, mentorship, and relationship management are critical responsibilities of every agency owner. But the hours in a workday are limited, and if we fail to delegate with confidence, the work that is uniquely ours will not get done. It's just too easy to get sucked into client work or internal issues that we shouldn't be focused on. Every agency owner needs a #1 who walks, talks, and leads like an owner because they enable us to actually do our job. In this episode, AMI's own Craig Barnes chats with Drew about his observations as to what it takes to recognize, find and keep a great lieutenant from his lens as the facilitator of AMI's Key Executive networks. Craig also walks us through how to groom an existing employee who you believe has the potential to fill that role. Throughout his experience running his own agency for 25+ years and his role at AMI, Craig has gleaned some invaluable insights about leadership team level team members in the agency world. If you are interested in learning how to identify that critical player for your team and prepare them for success, this episode is for you. 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: The common traits of agency key executives All of the different functions that key executives can serve How to identify key executives on your team and groom them for success How you can grow as an agency owner so that your key executive can flourish Why this is the ideal time to find and nurture a new leader Ways to Contact Craig Barnes: Website: http://marketgrowthaccelerators.com/ Twitter: @CraigSBarnes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigaga/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/market-growth-accelerators/about/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Market-Growth-Accelerators-221876281273730/

One of the challenges of agency life is that typically everything we sell is a custom job. It's tough to build in efficiencies or systemize our production when we never make the same deliverable twice. But it doesn't have to be that way. Back in Episode 100, we discussed the idea of structuring your agency as a wonder bread factory vs. an artisanal bakery and there are different pros and cons for each. Website By Tonight's Jared Gold successfully transformed his agency from an artisanal bakery into a wonder bread factory for web development. And in this episode of Build A Better Agency, Jared joins us to share the lessons he learned throughout the process so you can apply them in your own agency. 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: Jared's journey from artisanal bakery to wonder bread factory with Website By Tonight The benefits and drawbacks of productizing your agency's service line The lessons and insights Jared learned while switching from custom to standardized deliverables How to determine what parts of your agency can actually be productized Creating firm boundaries around your productized offerings so that you can always meet expectations How Jared's target audience changed when he introduced the productized service line with Website By Tonight Ways to Contact Jared Gold: Website: https://websitebytonight.com/ Free Productized Agencies Directory: turnkeyagencies.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredgold1/ Additional Resources: Agency Planning Tools: agencymanagementinstitute.com/herecomes2020 Access Jared's agency-to-agency project/partner referral Slack group: https://websitebytonight.com/partner Jared's agency partner program: https://websitebytonight.com/faq-partners

Most agency owners hope to sell their agency someday down the road. If that's you, understanding how agencies are valuated today will help you maximize that opportunity whenever it comes. Even if you aren't interested in selling, you can and should still be beefing up your agency's value. Gina Cocking joins us for this episode to provide an investment banker's perspective on the valuation and sales process. She'll walk us through the key items investment firms look for in your agency's valuation and explain the technical numbers-side. She'll also help us identify ways you can add value in advance. Gina is managing director and partner at Colonnade Advisors, a boutique investment banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the business services industry. Colonnade has helped many agencies buy and sell, so Gina understands what it takes to help agency owners get the most out of their purchase deals. 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: A glimpse inside the process of selling your agency How Colonnade Advisors represents business owners selling their companies The importance of enterprise value, recurring revenue, and client relationships when you sell your agency How your key employees factor into a purchase deal The various elements that increase or diminish an agency's value in the marketplace How to approach the numbers-side of selling your agency Ways to Contact Gina Cocking: Website: www.coladv.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginacocking/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/colonnade-advisors-llc_2/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colonnade-Advisors-LLC/308550405834700