Build a Better Agency Podcast

We talk to clients about positioning every single day. We walk them through differentiation strategies. When they don't take our advice, we walk away shaking our heads. However, guess who is lousy at taking our own medicine! I say this all the time, but it bears repeating: Being a generalist is not going to cut it in today's marketplace. Getting clear on your subject-matter expertise – the heart of your differentiation – has never been more important. I don't think there is a way to overstate that point. On episode #181 of Build a Better Agency, I talk with David C. Baker, who has seen it all as a consultant, often working with design firms and agencies. It's why he wrote the book "The Business of Expertise." He speaks regularly on more than 70 topics relevant to entrepreneurial expertise and also appears as a guest on many entrepreneurial focused podcasts. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The most egregious mistake agency owners make Why "seats on the agency bus" does not always equal success Why establishing subject-matter expertise is more important than ever The ideal numbers of prospects and competitors that define strong differentiation How to measure and demonstrate your subject-matter expertise Why your geographic reach is an important metric Why employees are not as interchangeable as they once were How to elevate training in agency culture Why 85% of agencies are niched vertically Ways to Contact David C. Baker: Website: davidcbaker.com

Agencies have an accountability problem and it starts at the top. Every day, as owners and team members we make promises to our team. I'll get the copy to you by 5." Or, "I'll have my part of the RFP done by Tuesday." You've heard yourself making those commitments and then you hear that voice in the back of your head say, "I hope." If we as owners can't honor our promises, how on earth can we expect our team to honor theirs? As owners and principals, we overfill our schedules. We overpromise – and guess what? The natural outcome of that is we under deliver, let down our team and set up a pattern where pretty soon, they take everything we say with a big grain of salt. Everything we do, internally and externally, is deadline driven. If you're wondering why your employees don't seem to worry about deadlines or other commitments, like budgets, look no further than your mirror. Odds are, without knowing it, you've taught them that the promises we make are "fluid." We must be accountable – and hold our teams accountable – for time commitments. This episode of Build a Better Agency is a solocast. It's all about providing more leadership in our promises to deliver projects (or answers, or whatever the deliverable may be) on time. We're all incredibly busy, and too often we use that – and accept that – as an excuse. You don't want your agency to be a place whose staff members don't respect each other enough to keep their promises. And you don't want your agency to let down or embarrass clients because you didn't deliver something on time. These are the games we play when we don't take our time commitments seriously, and they have to stop. Accountability is the key to honoring our word and earning our team and clients' confidence. Dig into this issue with me and let's examine a culture that is reluctant to say no. Let's look at how we track (or don't track) our time and our employees' time. Our goal is not to micromanage or pad billable hours but to get a clear handle on whom and what it really takes to deliver on a project so that we are putting enough time in the calendar to get it done on time and within budget. What You Will Learn on This Episode: The difference between expectation and agreement Why accountability for deadlines starts with you How to put more breathing room into your calendar so you can honor your agreements The life-changing magic of timesheets Why internal deadlines are at least as important as client deadlines How to build a traffic management function into an agency of any size How to make accountability a lived core value within your agency 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: Weekly Podcast Giveaway: agencymanagementinstitute.com/podcastgiveaway Ways to contact Drew McLellan: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan

The number one barrier to growth for agencies in 2019 is staffing. Agencies are struggling to find and keep good talent. And that conversation always leads to the topic of culture. When we think about culture – we often think about the fun stuff – parties, bonuses, and recognizing people for going above and beyond for clients. All of that is super important but it is also equally critical to instill a culture that seeks, celebrates, and rewards growth. What are the attributes of a growth culture – and how do you make sure your agency has it? A longtime practitioner in this area of creating a growth culture inside your agency is my guest on this episode: Doug Austin. In this episode, we talk about why that is the key to, in Doug's words, "having permission to win that business." Doug has been doing agency work for many years and now spends his time as a consultant, working with agency owners and leaders to create a culture of growth in their business. We're going to dig deep into what a growth culture means and how to get it. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The steps of a four-tiered plan for growth and innovation Why it is important to know your client's business inside and out How to build training in the industries you serve into your overall training program How to write a brief that makes sense to your client Best practices for setting up training for agency employees Creating a culture of growth Building a culture based on the worth of all people and doing the best work you can The connection between continuous learning and a culture of growth How to perform a service audit of your agency Dealing effectively with culture culprits Ways to Contact Doug Austin: Website: austinamplifies.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-austin-b978915/

Agency owners are notoriously ill-informed (and uncomfortable) when it comes to their agency's finances. Which means they make important decisions in the dark. Not ideal and we're trying to change that at AMI. That doesn't mean you need to understand all the fine-grain details. But you do have to understand where you stand financially at any given time. On episode #178, I talk with Jenn McCabe, who started out in accounting at Ogilvy and Mather but soon started her own accounting firm to help small to midsized agencies figure out their numbers. The numbers you need to know (and if you do any AMI planning, this will sound familiar) should fit on one sheet of paper. We're not talking about miles and miles of Excel spreadsheets. Just the key figures and concepts you need to understand your agency's financial health. We'll also talk about best practices for preparing your agency for sale when the time comes. Recently Jenn merged her company with Armanino. They provide, among many other services, outsourced accounting, finance, and HR, working primarily with agencies to create simple accounting dashboards and financial documents that allow the agency owner to make good decisions. What You Will Learn in This Episode: The difference between cash accounting and accrual accounting (and why you NEED to know the difference) The need for accounting rather than bookkeeping Understanding run rate, aka your monthly "nut" Why you need to pay yourself as an owner Best practices around owner salary How much cash and cash equivalents to keep liquid and available How to be an attractive acquisition target Transitioning your employees to new owners Managing an internal agency purchase Why management buyouts are becoming less common Ways to Contact Jenn McCabe: Website: armaninollp.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mccabe-3766283/

Staying on top of the social media landscape and what it means in terms of going from engagement with fans to ultimately generating new opportunities and sales is one of those ongoing tasks in agency life. Algorithms are always evolving, so what got you reach last year – or even last month – might not get you the same reach today. We are creating social content for clients every day. Add to that the thought leadership we want to develop for our agency – and that's a lot of social interaction to manage! On this episode, we dig into the current data. What's happening on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and, oh, yeah – Twitter. How do we engage on these social platforms in smart and effective ways? My guest is Scott Ayres of Agorapulse. His Social Media Lab (a literal lab and also a podcast he hosts) digs into this question with gathered and analyzed data to back up any answers given. Scott has the awesome title of Content Scientist at Agorapulse. He takes what we all believe to be best practices or questions we have around engagement or audience activity or behavior, and he looks for data points that will help us make better choices in terms of how we use these social channels for our agency and clients' benefit. What You Will Learn in This Episode: What social metrics to measure, and why Why local business pages are still thriving on Facebook How people are using hashtags as "Google" Whether or not emoji usage changes engagement Why you might want to post on social networks before or after peak How social media channels are beginning to segment in a good way Why LinkedIn text-only posts perform better than FB text-only posts Data around the resurgence of the Twitter chat Ways to Contact Scott Ayres: Website: agorapulse.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottwayneayres/

This is one of those episodes that proves that you don't know what you don't know. We're tackling the subject of health insurance – how to manage costs as an employer since it is such a big-ticket cost for most agencies. I've been an agency owner for the past 25 years or so, and health insurance is something I want to offer because I value my team and want to provide a generous benefit package. But when renewal time comes around, I'm always wondering what kind of increase is coming. Like most of you, it's usually in the double digits and super painful. Someone (me or my employees) has to endure that increase or we have to increase the deductible or reduce features. One thing I do know: For all of us, healthcare costs typically one of our biggest expenses and feels completely out of our control. I wanted to tap into the wisdom of Allison De Paoli, who works with businesses to get more out of every healthcare insurance dollar. She offered some incredible insight on managing the costs, increase the benefits to your team and protect yourself when it comes to renewals. A veteran of the insurance and benefits industry, Allison and her firm are members of Next Generation Benefits Network (NBN). NBN is a national alliance of elite independent benefits firms that are successfully challenging the healthcare status quo to improve benefits for employees, while reducing the costs for employers. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Creative ways to manage your healthcare line item The difference between a level-funded plan and a standard premium plan Cost savings and other benefits of telehealth programs Finding a benefits advisor who will truly advocate for your best interests How to make sure employees of every age are getting the right kind of medical care Hidden drivers of healthcare costs The role and surprisingly affordable cost of a direct primary care doctor Why self-funded plans are not as scary as you might think How a health savings account can act as a retirement savings vehicle Ways to Contact Allison De Paoli: Website: allisondepaoli.com/build/ Book: https://amzn.to/2SYJWyM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-de-paoli-b48825/

When I talk with agency owners, there's one topic that often comes up in conversation. They say, "I wish my employees would think and act more like owners!" And my question back is, "why would they – they aren't owners." Think about it. As the agency owner, you run the business, and you understand clearly what's at stake every month. You stand to win or lose something each month when you make or don't make your adjusted gross income (AGI), and the agency's performance has a direct impact on your success. If the agency doesn't do well – you're the one who does not get a paycheck. But they do. On the flip side, when the agency does very well, you reap the benefits of that windfall. You might pay out bonuses to your team but rarely do agency owners explain where the bonus came from or what was done to earn it. Without similar incentives to meet targets, why would the staff feel a sense of ownership that drives their thoughts and actions? This episode of Build a Better Agency is a solocast – and on it, I walk you through the AMI bonus programs that is designed to teach your team agency math (how we make and lose money) and create incentives so that they do start thinking and acting like an owner. Ideally, a bonus program educates your team to think like owners, helps with retaining your best people, and shares the spoils from a good year. It also eliminates the obligatory year-end bonus that is not tied to anything but the calendar. As you know, if you give away a bonus a couple years in a row – without tying it to performance metrics, it becomes an entitlement. Walk through the actual program with me on this episode and be sure to download the PDF so it's easier to follow along. What You Will Learn on This Episode: How to incentivize employees to think like owners Why automatic raises might start to backfire Why you should divide quarterly bonus funds evenly How to tell your team the story of why you did or did not hit your AGI target How to be reasonably generous and not ridiculously generous with bonus programs How to adjust AGI goals based on what happened in the previous quarter Why a bonus program is a good retention tool How to build behavioral incentives (continuing ed, time sheets) into your bonus program Why a bonus program can replace conversations about raises 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: Email: drew@agencymanagementinstitute.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan Resources: AMI bonus program document

Agencies are creative spaces. Especially as owners, we may bristle at the thought of being managed. But as your agency grows, there a definite need for systems and processes that ensure that things get done on time, on budget, and as promised. I understand that even as the owner I get managed in order to keep tasks and projects on track. As agencies grow and need more structured management of tasks and processes and eventually, a full-time project manager. I did a solocast on the role of the traffic manager, if you'd find that useful. But on this episode of Build A Better Agency, I have Timothy Johnson as my guest who is a seasoned project manager for hire and a professor of project management at Drake University. Tim also has been known to wear a pink bunny suit for reasons I may or may not be at liberty to discuss. Bunny suit aside, Tim knows a thing or two about getting down to business. We talk about the needs of project managers, agency owners, and the agency staff. Often project managers feel like the odd person out, especially in the agency world. But it doesn't have to be that way. Project management is necessary, but it is not an evil. Tim is the perfect guest to help us really understand the ins and outs of project management, and maybe even getting a little excited about upping your PM game. Tim has successfully led many high-end projects and programs, serving as both a project management consultant as well as a business analyst consultant across the U.S. He is the author of Race Through the Forest and other project management books. Timothy believes in delivering value, completing the deliverable, seizing the accomplishment, and getting out. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Working under the triple constraints: on time, on budget, and delivered as promised Components of a S.H.A.R.P. report How Agile is so useful in scaling the management to the size of the project The communication and other skills to look for in a good project manager How creating quick wins can create buy-in around new process frameworks Why you should avoid the phrases "we need" or "we have a lack of" How to ask for project management to share stories in the interview Why agency owners need to hire people who can manage them How to define the specific requirements of what done looks like How to give project managers time to find their way in a new agency setting Ways to Contact Tim Johnson: Race Through the Forest Book: https://amzn.to/2QNj9Yx Website: https://carpefactum.typepad.com/

Maybe things run smooth as silk at your agency. I know that's what I hope for in mine. It's more likely to happen on a Saturday or Sunday! One of the ways that we all try to evoke that sense of efficiency and calm is by creating processes that systemize and manage work flow. Not that many agencies do this (if anything, we are system adverse, not system advocates) you can take it too far. There's a fine line between creativity and process. But if things can run more smoothly and free you and your team up to do more interesting things like coming up with bigger, more valuable solutions for your clients, then the payoff is worth the challenge of getting it in place. If you remember my solocast where we talked about being a wonder bread factory versus an artesian baker, that's part of what I talked about. How much uniformity and what kinds of boundaries do you want to put around your business? There's no right or wrong answer – just a right or wrong answer for you. That's what I wanted to talk to Michael Koral about, because he's lived it. Michael started out with a more traditional agency that was primarily a web dev shop with some ancillary services. Their work was very labor and people-intensive. He and his partners decided to make an interesting pivot. They decided to leverage the power of artificial intelligence, data and numbers around advertising on Facebook and Instagram – to get people the best results possible and now they run a very different kind of agency. Michael is an operations guy, with some fantastic ideas on process and automation –he naturally knows how to get more done, more simply. His company, Needls, helps businesses advertise effectively on Facebook and Instagram, so I am going to pick his brain about what they've learned in that arena as well. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How the right processes and automation can help you scale your business There are lots of right ways to do things Why taking time to document and develop processes makes for a better agency What to know about Facebook advertising post-Cambridge Analytica Click vs. Reach – what you should optimize for Why you NEED to optimize for mobile Best ways to capture attention with video Between Facebook and Instagram, where people are watching longer video content Why you should put closed captioning on videos How and why to track your ads Ways to Contact Michael Koral: Website: http://www.needls.com/ Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-koral-01bb159/

Before the '08 recession, most agency owners couldn't fathom the idea of remote employees, let alone working with a virtual assistant they'd likely never meet. But with sites like UpWork and elance teaching us that sometimes it makes good business sense to source work from with someone we've never met, the concept of working with virtual assistants has grown in popularity. In my world, on both the agency and AMI side – we've found it to be a very effective way to get a volume of work handled effectively and efficiently. This is definitely an ongoing topic of conversation with agency owners. How do we keep up with the needs and demands of clients in a cost-effective way, without putting quality or the client relationship at risk. For any agencies, virtual assistants are one of the answers to that question. On episode #172 of Build a Better Agency, I talk with Barbara Turley of The Virtual Hub. She recognized the need for high-quality VAs and decided to create a business around that need. We discuss the many upsides of hiring one or more VAs – like freeing up your most scarce resource: time. But we also discuss some of the pitfalls to avoid, especially around rigorous training and expectations on both the VA and the agency side. I found it to be a fascinating conversation and I hope it's incredibly useful for you. Barbara is the founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub – a business she started by accident that exploded in the space of 12 months to become one of the leading companies that recruits, trains, and manages virtual assistants in the digital marketing and social media space for businesses who need to free up time and energy so they can go to the next level. What You Will Learn in this Episode: How to set expectations for a virtual assistant – and your agency Understanding the difference between hiring within your national borders and offshoring The right questions to ask about prior training How to share processes around tasks and check in Why you should consider a virtual assistant a permanent and integral part of your team How to integrate a virtual assistant into your team How to choose the right virtual assistant for the right tasks Your role as an agency owner as it relates to virtual assistants Which unwanted tasks you can hand off to a virtual assistant How to Contact Barb Turley: Website: https://www.thevirtualhub.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-turley-b6a981a/