Build a Better Agency Podcast

Whether we articulate them or not – we all have dreams. One of mine for me (and for all of you!) is to visit every Disney theme park in the world. Not that I want to mandate your dreams but who doesn't love Disney? The truth is, a serious business case can be made for agency owners to help their team members achieve their dreams. I know this from first-hand experience. More than a decade ago, I read the book Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly and began to implement it in my own agency. I believe it's one of the reasons I have the employee tenure (17+ years on average) that I do. So when I met Dan Ralphs and learned about his company/mission, I knew I had to get him on the podcast. Dan is the founder of Dream Leadership Consulting and is one of the world's foremost experts in unlocking the power of dreaming inside a workplace. We often think that someone's personal goals and dreams should be separate from their work life but that's so short-sighted when you think about it. Your goal is to create an environment where your rock stars can flourish, be happy, and stick around for a long time. Why not help them achieve their dreams? Before founding Dream Coach, Dan was the facilitator of the Dreaming Program at Infusionsoft, where he helped its employees identify, articulate, and accomplish their dreams – all based on the work by Matthew Kelly's book. Dan has the amazing ability to help people discover their dreams and learn how to go after them. His realistic approach toward dreaming recognizes that dreaming is not a 'magic pill' but, rather, a new way of thinking about our ability to create. He is also the creator of the Dream Leader Certification course, through which he has helped more than 100 leaders from across the world become Dream Leaders to those whom they lead. Together, they have helped their people accomplish dreams like buying a first home, riding elephants in Thailand, and starting a foundation to help mothers facing infant loss. Due to the efforts of Dan and the Dream Leaders he has certified, thousands have been awakened to their dreams and their ability to achieve them. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The power of helping employees achieve their dreams Why investing in employees leads them to invest in the agency How to advocate for people's dreams without simply writing a check Why helping employees achieve dreams must be more than a means to an agency end How to establish systems around dream fulfillment How to help people understand the price tag attached to their dreams Why agency owners experience greater fulfillment in their work when they encourage others to fulfill their dreams Ways to Contact Dan Ralphs: Website: https://www.dreamleadershipconsulting.com/ Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/766881.The_Dream_Manager

Figuring out which prospects align with your sweet spot and then doing the work necessary to earn their business are the difficult tasks of agency ownership. It starts with understanding what your sweet spot is. Who do you serve best? Where do you have a specialized knowledge that gives you a competitive edge? As you have heard me say time and time again, for most agencies, being a general practitioner is neither desirable nor practical. It's tough to compete on anything but the price when you look, sound and act the same as all of the other agencies out there. The brain surgeon is always more sought after and gets paid more than a general practitioner does. That's why I talk so often about positioning your agency. It's how you find the right clients and focus on the right activities to attract and best serve those clients. In this solocast, I spell out some of the options you could consider as you think about how to niche your agency. I walk you through the steps to take and areas on which to focus so that you can position your agency as a standout leader in whatever niches you are best suited to serve. How do you discover your sweet spot clients? How do you hone in on your point of view? How do you demonstrate subject matter expertise that will win the business? In this episode, you'll get some answers and perhaps come away with a few questions to ask yourself and your team as you move towards that goal. What You Will Learn in this Episode: The importance of defining who you serve and whom you don't serve The 4 ways to think about niches Ways to narrow your niches How to position your agency by solving a particular problem Why POV is so important in positioning your agency How POV helps you stand out and focus on activities with the highest payoff Why you must not only claim but also demonstrate subject matter expertise Why walking away from a big bag of money is sometimes the right call Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew's unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. 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." Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Sweet Spot Client Filter: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/client-filter-var1/ Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

Artificial intelligence generates lots of interest and more than a little bit of fear among agency owners. How will machine learning, AI, and all that super-technical stuff change agency life? Will it make agency work irrelevant? Not according to my guest, Paul Roetzer from PR 2020 and The Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. In this episode, Paul shared how his agency is leaning into AI because of the power and possibilities he sees in terms of agency efficiency and profitability. He makes a strong case that AI has the potential to make agency work more intelligent and even more human. AI is one more way agencies can leverage new technology and new tools to serve our clients better, to help them grow their businesses, and to more profitably, efficiently, and effectively grow our own agencies. I'm sure that some of you find this a little scary to even contemplate. But just like we've embraced all of the technologies before AI (the internet, mobile, programmatic media buying, etc.) we're going to have to wrap our heads around this one too. One of the best aspects of owning an agency is that we constantly get to evolve and re-invent ourselves to better serve our clients. AI gives us all the opportunity to scale and grow in ways we couldn't imagine. AI isn't about robots stealing jobs. It's about the potential to eliminate the boring, repetitive tasks so we can spend more time thinking creatively. Paul always sets his eyes toward the horizon. He's continually wondering what will happen next in our industry and how he and his agency can be at the forefront of that. So, I wasn't at all surprised when Paul and I were talking a few years ago and AI started to creep into the conversation. In the last year or so, Paul has doubled down on that, not only in terms of what he's doing with his own agency but also through his new organization, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. Later this summer, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute is presenting MAICON, an AI convention for marketing leaders (use discount code McLellan19 to save $100 off the registration fee). Its mission is to make AI approachable and actionable for modern marketers so they can use this technology to build a powerful competitive advantage. Paul has also written two books that I highly recommend: The Marketing Agency Blueprint and The Marketing Performance Blueprint. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How intelligent automation will continue to make repetitive agency work easier Why AI isn't after your agency job How machine learning can help you share data with clients in a cost-effective way How agencies can understand AI and be a learning resource for clients How to develop use cases for testing AI in your agency Why small and mid-sized agencies are well-positioned to pivot into AI Ways to Contact Paul Roetzer: MAICON: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/events/marketing-artificial-intelligence-conference-2019 discount code: MCLELLAN19 Website: https://www.pr2020.com/ Website: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/ Resources Page: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/resources New Intelligent Automation Solutions Post How Do We Prepare College Students for the Age of AI? Post Book: AI for Marketers: An Introduction and Primer: Second Edition

For 95% of all agencies, referrals and word of mouth are the #1 method of gaining new clients. On the one hand, that's great. It means your clients, friends, and peers love and trust you enough to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. From staffing challenges to constant client demands, agency life can be bumpy. Our industry is in a state of constant change and that's not going to let up anytime soon. For some owners, that's exhilarating and challenging. For others, it just makes them bone tired. Right now, most agencies are enjoying healthy profits, lots of new business opportunities, and a very difficult hiring season. Our employee base is changing and many owners struggle to find and retain talent that will help them grow and strengthen the agency. Clients are demanding more on tighter timelines and budgets. How do we thrive in this ever-shifting environment? In this episode, I talk with someone who has seen it all – Nancy Hill. She is a veteran of big box agencies, former president and CEO of the 4As, and, more recently, has started her own consultancy, Media Sherpas. This broad range of experiences has given her important insights into the current climate – the challenges and opportunities we face every day, especially when it comes to staffing and client relationships. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to think differently about your agency's staffing challenges How to get more creative with your benefits package so that you retain younger employees How to establish mutually beneficial expectations with agency employees Negotiating with clients about scope instead of lowering prices Managing just-in-time staffing Why independently owned agencies need to be nimble in their decision-making How to boost your agency's ability to say no How to thrive in an environment of constant change Ways to Contact Nancy Hill: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-hill-advertising/

This has happened at my agency and I'm sure it's happened at yours. You start a huge client project and are excited to keep things rolling – both to protect your agency's production schedule and to exceed the client's expectations in terms of delivering on time and on budget. But then, you hit the roadblock. The cold silence you hear when you ask your client for the assets you need. Whether it's images, video, or copy points – you're stalled until they cough it up. So much for on time or on a budget! On this episode, I talk with James Rose about how to streamline the content collection process. Back when he was running a web dev shop, this was a major frustration for him and his team. So much so that his company developed what is now its core business: a content collection platform called Content Snare. As content increasingly becomes central to much of agency work, solving the content collection conundrum is often the difference between profitability and charity work. Take a listen as James offers many no tech, low tech, and SaaS solutions to help us stay in the black. James and his business partner, Mark Beljaars, started a single-product SEO software company in 2010. As they networked with other business owners, they heard countless stories about website projects that have gone wrong. They thought maybe they could help things go right. With a passion rooted in software, they identified a few bottlenecks in the web design process. The worst one, which resonated most with other designers, was chasing down clients for their web content. That's when Content Snare was born. Clients don't think about projects the same way we do – they don't mean to be a bottleneck, even though they often are just that. Finding ways to keep content flowing ultimately helps us deliver an end result worthy of our efforts and our fee. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why gathering content from clients is such a universal pain point for agencies How agencies can set content expectations as a part of the terms and conditions in a service contract How to give clients a firm content deadline and make the stakes very clear Why content collection is more than just setting up reminders How to stop wasting time chasing after clients How agency owners can help clients avoid overwhelming deadlines Why you must manage agency expectations about how much data to expect from clients at one time

Every agency has a culture. The question is – is it intentional? And when I say culture, I'm not talking the beer thirty or holiday party aspects of culture. I'm really focusing in on the shared beliefs and agreed upon "rules" of engagement in terms of how we work together, deliver for the client and push towards our goals. In too many agencies, this is not as intentional as it needs to be. The agency's vision, mission, and values may exist somewhere, in a file folder, or at best in an employee manual, and then agency owners check off the box, hoping that their team picks up on it. It's culture by default, not by design. I've become increasingly convinced that culture isn't just a nice idea. It's not simply a day out serving the community or a potluck lunch held the first Tuesday of every month. Those things can be good and a part of the culture but the concept goes much deeper than that and it has implications for the bottom line. In this episode, I talk with Tristan White, who early on in his business realized that intention and methodology were necessary to build a strong and healthy work culture. He soon realized that culture isn't a distraction. It isn't peripheral to business. Culture is everything. Tristan White is the CEO of a company called The Physio Co. in Australia. Its core purpose is to increase the physical wellness and activity levels of seniors to keep them healthier, happier, and more mobile. In the process of building The Physio Co., Tristan did a lot of learning and a lot of experimenting with respect to culture and its influence on company performance. He ended up writing a book called Culture is Everything. Inside that book, Tristan lays out a system for building a foundational culture inside your organization. We explore that system and dig into why culture is so critical to running a long-term successful business. What You Will Learn in this Episode: Why it's never too late to grow and foster a healthy work culture How to live the corporate values you espouse A methodology by which to operate from your core values Why culture can equal cash How to design a culture that withstands challenging times How to develop a culture of substance Why a healthy work culture must go beyond a day of service and Taco Tuesdays How to bake things like empathetic connection into your culture How to interview for alignment with your culture Where to start in shaping or reshaping your agency's vision and values Ways to Contact Tristan White: Content for Listeners of the Podcast: https://www.tristanwhite.com.au/bba Culture is Everything Book: https://www.tristanwhite.com.au/product/culture-is-everything-book/

The results are in, and 2018 was clearly a good year in agency life. On this episode, I unpack and dig deep into the findings of our most recent Salary and Benefits survey. Employees are reaping the benefits of the continued tight labor market. Agencies that want to attract and keep the best and brightest are paying better and providing some robust benefits. We all know it's hard to compete against the lure of a corporate paycheck, but agency life has so much more to offer than corporate life. Many of you are finding ways to express that to your employees, and my advice is simple: keep going! There are many more trends to unpack and some considerations for what the road ahead may look like. The salary and benefits survey always gives us a lot to talk about, and this year is no exception! What You Will Learn in this Episode: What similarly sized agencies in your market are doing with salary and benefits How the focus on content is favoring writer creatives over art creatives The state of entry-level starting salaries What agencies are doing to keep their staff from seeking greener pastures Why agencies tend to be so generous with benefits How to attract and retain top employees when you can't compete on price The intangibles that make agency life so rewarding, and how to emphasize them Drew McLellan is the CEO at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency since 1995 and is still actively running the agency today. Drew's unique vantage point as being both an agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year gives him a unique perspective on running an agency today. 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." Helpful Resources from this Episode: 2019 Salary Survey: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/agency-tools/salary-survey-2019/ Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

Let's admit it. Agency owners are reluctant salespeople. However, biz dev should be a significant part of how we spend our days. When I hear agency owners say that they don't have to prospect because they get so much business via word of mouth, I always ask, "Are those the clients you would choose to work with or are you simply working with them by default?" When we're honest with ourselves, the truth can sting a little. I get it – no one likes to be told no. That doesn't make selling any easier. But how do we change our mindset? Hearing no (or deafening silence) feels like a failure, so we avoid it at all costs. But what are the costs of fearing the "no" and settling for whatever comes our way? In episode #184, I talk with Andrea Waltz, co-author of the best-selling book, Go for No. We have to re-think the word no. A "no" is one step closer to a "yes". Andrea and I talk about the no, not just in sales, but also in the creative process. Sometimes we phone it in because big, bold ideas have been rejected in the past. So we play it safe, even though we know that's not in our clients' best interests. Andrea Waltz is a keynote speaker, author, and sought-after sales strategist. At the age of 8, she called George Lucas to see if she could work with him on future movies. She was the youngest general manager in eyeglass retailer Lenscrafters' history. At the age of 24, she launched her own training company. Hubspot named Andrea one of the "25 Sales Experts You Should Follow on Twitter" while Salesforce.com named her one of the "25 Sales Influencers to Follow on Twitter." She was also named among the "Top 100 Sales Influencers" and "Top 65 Women Business Influencers" by Tenfold and one of the "47 Top Sales Speakers and Influencers to Follow on Twitter" by SummitSYNC. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to retrain your brain to accept more "no's" Why setting "no" targets is as important as setting sales targets How going for "no" translates beyond sales The power of actually wanting to fail Getting ready to fail bigger and fail faster to get to "yes" Why celebrating failure is so important How to encourage the effort and not just the result Ways to Contact Andrea Waltz: Website: http://www.goforno.com/ Go for No Book: https://amzn.to/2JC7FES LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goforno/

For 95% of all agencies, referrals and word of mouth are the #1 method of gaining new clients. On the one hand, that's great. It means your clients, friends, and peers love and trust you enough to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. Unfortunately, they're not always the right clients for our agency. What if they aren't a good fit? What if they are the furthest thing from a sweet-spot client for who you are and what your agency does? We have to be more intentional about referral and word of mouth. That's why my conversation with Steve Gordon arrived right on time. Steve has developed processes and systems that you can use to leverage word of mouth, qualify referrals, and scale your efforts so you don't have to spend more time in one-on-one meetings than you have hours in your already stretched-to-the-limit day. Steve Gordan started the Unstoppable CEO in 2010. He has invested nearly two decades into studying, implementing, testing, and proving the strategies that work to sell professional services. Through Unstoppable CEO, Steve shares this knowledge with growth-minded professionals who are ready for world-class help with their marketing. He has become an expert at leveraging and scaling referral systems and word-of-mouth marketing techniques. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to leverage your word of mouth and referrals Why you must vet referrals to ensure they are a good fit for your agency How to use presentations as referral machines The many ways to leverage technology in gaining referrals Why human nature creates points of interaction that don't change over time How to become a successful journalist How to turn podcasts into referral engines What it means to gain total business freedom Ways to Contact Steve Gordon: Website: https://unstoppableceo.net/ Just for listeners: https://unstoppableceo.net/build/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonsteve/

When you think about or define a global agency, do you think of those giant conglomerates that started on Madison Avenue and have mushroomed into marketing behemoths? Well, that's one model – but certainly not the only one. What if your global agency was set up more like a series of regional micro-agencies still under one banner? On episode #182 of Build a Better Agency, I talk with Josh Steimle, who has developed a unique business model that is really working for him and the growing team at MWI. We dig into it all: how to develop a cohesive culture across multiple locations, how to hire well, and how to niche down. What they are doing is still very unique in the agency world but seems to have the potential for replication – as many successful ventures do. Josh founded MWI in 1999 while a college student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In 2013, he moved from Salt Lake City to Hong Kong to open MWI's first international office. Josh is the author of Chief Marketing Officers at Work: How Top Marketers Build Customer Loyalty, a TEDx speaker, and regularly presents at marketing and business events. He has written over 200 articles on marketing and entrepreneurship for publications like Mashable, TechCrunch, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and Time. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Why there is more than one way to scale a business How to rethink the global agency Why hiring the right person is such a critical decision How a niche service can land you big clients Why even small events can pay off with good business opportunities How to build credibility in the marketplace through strategic partnerships Using credibility to sell your services The ROI of giving away advice Challenge and opportunity in building a global group of micro-agencies Building an agency that is both virtual and face-to-face Ways to Contact Josh Steimle: Website: joshsteimle.com Website: mwi.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuasteimle Book: https://amzn.to/2Es5rmI