Podcasts about agencies

Police agencies will never have unlimited personnel or time. As workloads expand, administrative demands grow and recruiting remains difficult, leaders must make deliberate choices about where officers, investigators and supervisors spend their working hours. Artificial intelligence may ease some of that pressure, but automating a task is only valuable if an agency uses the resulting capacity to improve policing. In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with retired Police Chief Jim Bueermann, founder and president of the Future Policing Institute, about where AI can make police work more effective — and where human judgment must remain firmly in control. They discuss AI-assisted report writing, continuously operating investigative agents, the need for agencywide AI policies and audits, and the central leadership question behind adoption: If technology gives personnel time back, what should the agency do with it? Visit the Future Policing Institute's Center on Policing and AI. About our sponsor This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by Veritone, a leader in enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software and solutions. Since 2014, Veritone has focused on building intuitive technology that solves problems for its customers in the public sector. Veritone Public Sector enables teams in law enforcement, government and public safety to manage and analyze evidence faster, accelerate redaction, easily generate stop-data reports, automate transcription and translation, and more. For more information, visit Veritone.com.

AdTechGod sits down with Alex Brownstein, CEO and Founder at AHB Advisors, to examine where advertising and ad tech are heading. They discuss The Trade Desk's organizational evolution, why mid-size agencies could become active acquirers, how AI may reshape the agency model, and why the industry may need to rediscover memorable brand building alongside performance and measurement. Read more from Alex Brownstein by subscribing to his Substack: https://ahbadvisors.substack.com/ Interested in sponsoring the show? Contact http://marketecturemedia.com Takeaways Ad tech companies should evolve through thoughtful expansion rather than abrupt strategic pivots. Mid-size agencies could become more active acquirers as larger holding companies navigate structural complexity. AI will reshape agency work, shifting value from routine execution toward strategy and business outcomes. Agencies may find new value as intermediaries between brands and dominant technology platforms. Advertising needs a better balance between measurable performance and memorable, long-term brand building. Chapters00:00 Introduction to the AdTechGod Pod00:18 Meet Alex Brownstein, Strategic Advisor, former 3C Ventures and McKinsey01:22 From investment banking to LiveIntent and ad tech03:18 What finance taught Alex about advertising and business strategy05:17 The Trade Desk, CFO changes and organizational alignment09:02 Why ad tech companies are evolving their core businesses12:04 Why mid-size agencies could become major acquirers16:00 The complexity of large agency organizations17:13 What McKinsey's operating model can teach agencies18:29 Will AI kill agencies or change how they work?20:56 A new potential role for agencies between brands and platforms22:27 Alex's prediction for the next three years of advertising23:25 Why memorable brand building could make a comeback25:17 What advertising lost in the influencer era26:05 Have advertisers gone too far toward data and measurement?27:53 Brand recognition and the top of the marketing funnel28:21 Closing thoughts with Alex Brownstein28:38 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Building active income is great, but how do you create real enterprise value? The group analyzes how life insurance agencies are bought and sold at tech-like multiples. Featuring a deep dive into Patrick Bet-David's $250M sale of PHP to Integrity Marketing, this section breaks down how recurring renewal revenue, proprietary tech IP, and team overrides drive high 10x–15x EBITDA exit valuations.

Read more from VPM News:  Democratic National Committee taps Virginia for early 2028 presidential primary⁠  How do Virginia agencies use tech to hire workers?  WATCH: Amending Virginia    Other links:  Records: public housing staffers accused of trading maintenance work for sexual favors (Richmond Times-Dispatch)*  Ellwood Thompson's parent company acquired by data center owner (The Richmonder)  VCU suspends fraternity after hazing, assault allegations (WRIC)  LPD pauses operation of Flock license plate reader cameras (The News & Advance)*  Intern at Virginia seminary finds original draft of letter by Martin Luther King Jr. (WTOP)  *This outlet uses a paywall.  Our award-winning work is made possible with your donations. Visit vpm.org/donate to support local journalism.

Grab our High-Converting Web Design Proposal Template and start confidently charging a lot more for custom web design projects, without hustling, overworking, or losing all your clients: https://webdesigneracademy.com/proposal #208 - Why Web Designers Need to Think Like Conversion Strategists, Not Just Designers, with Cathy Olson I sat down with Cathy Olson, co-founder of Funnel Gorgeous and FG Funnels, to talk about the thing that actually separates a web designer charging a thousand dollars from one charging fifty thousand dollars for the same skill set, and it comes down to understanding the psychology behind why design sells and being able to explain it. Cathy spent years running a high end web design studio before she discovered sales funnels and completely shifted how she thought about her work. In this episode we get into why explaining the "why" behind your design decisions builds trust and lets you charge more, what a sales page can teach you about conversion psychology even if you never build a funnel, why she thinks AI is actually good news for designers willing to level up, and what it took for her to walk away from a business community that turned on her when she made a decision that was right for her company. What you'll learn...  Why explaining your design decisions is the difference between a $1,000 website and a $50,000 one  How to study a sales page like a masterclass in conversion psychology  Why testimonials work as trust buffers and what an offer stack is really doing for a buyer  How Cathy uses AI inside her own business without losing what makes her work valuable  Why the courage to walk away from what isn't working almost always opens up something better Resources mentioned...  FG Society, Cathy's membership community for marketers and designers, starting at $67 a month  Cathy's new solo Instagram account for conversion design tips: @cathyfunnels Funnel Gorgeous on Instagram Related episodes...  Episode 180: The Truth About Pricing with Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business Podcast, https://webdesigneracademy.com/180  Episode 189: How To Price Custom Web Design Projects with Shannon Mattern, https://webdesigneracademy.com/189  Episode 202: Is AI Ruining Web Design? (Or Making It Better?) with Diane Whiddon, https://webdesigneracademy.com/202 About Cathy Olson: Cathy is the co-founder of Funnel Gorgeous and FG Funnels, where she and her business partner Julie Chenell help online business owners build profitable, ethical marketing funnels. Website: funnelgorgeous.com | Instagram: @cathyfunnels About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method and the founder of the Web Designer Academy where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

New Australian Law Targets Tech Giants with News Bargaining Tax, Google Launches AI-Powered Study Suite for Search and Gemini, and Meta Faces Scrutiny Over Kromix Deepfake Advertisements. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE for free or get DTNS shows ad-free. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible. If you enjoyContinue reading "U.S. Agencies Warn of AI-Driven Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure"

Newly released documents reveal how evidence of Chinese penetration of voter registration files and plots to interfere in the election were withheld or downplayed.The new files reveal one of the intelligence officers said they “deliberately massaged” the presidential daily briefing in 2020 to downplay election-related information, with another stating, “I'm basically running a shadow government across the FBI at this point.”John Solomon is chair of the White House Government Transparency Task Force, an award-winning journalist, and founder of Just the News. He breaks down key documents his task force has released—and what more we can expect to see in the coming days and months.Newly declassified documents also upend the prevailing narrative on the Biden–Ukraine story, revealing how the FBI allegedly ran a secret operation known as Round River. According to the documents, it labelled whistleblowers as Russian “conduits” and dismissed the evidence they provided on the Biden family as “Russian disinformation.”John Solomon places Round River within a broader sequence of FBI operations targeting Trump that included Crossfire Hurricane, Plasmic Echo, and Arctic Frost. This is “a wash, rinse, repeat cycle,” he said, going all the way back to the 2016 election and the debunked “Trump–Russia collusion” narrative.In this episode, we examine questions of accountability, the extent of the cover-up, and whether FBI Director Kash Patel will be successful in building a “grand conspiracy” case.Note: This interview was filmed before the latest document drop related to former Rep. Eric Swalwell and alleged Chinese operative Fang Fang. Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Grab our High-Converting Web Design Proposal Template and start confidently charging a lot more for custom web design projects, without hustling, overworking, or losing all your clients: https://webdesigneracademy.com/proposal #208 - Why Web Designers Need to Think Like Conversion Strategists, Not Just Designers, with Cathy Olson I sat down with Cathy Olson, co-founder of Funnel Gorgeous and FG Funnels, to talk about the thing that actually separates a web designer charging a thousand dollars from one charging fifty thousand dollars for the same skill set, and it comes down to understanding the psychology behind why design sells and being able to explain it. Cathy spent years running a high end web design studio before she discovered sales funnels and completely shifted how she thought about her work. In this episode we get into why explaining the "why" behind your design decisions builds trust and lets you charge more, what a sales page can teach you about conversion psychology even if you never build a funnel, why she thinks AI is actually good news for designers willing to level up, and what it took for her to walk away from a business community that turned on her when she made a decision that was right for her company. What you'll learn...  Why explaining your design decisions is the difference between a $1,000 website and a $50,000 one  How to study a sales page like a masterclass in conversion psychology  Why testimonials work as trust buffers and what an offer stack is really doing for a buyer  How Cathy uses AI inside her own business without losing what makes her work valuable  Why the courage to walk away from what isn't working almost always opens up something better Resources mentioned...  FG Society, Cathy's membership community for marketers and designers, starting at $67 a month  Cathy's new solo Instagram account for conversion design tips: @cathyfunnels Funnel Gorgeous on Instagram Related episodes...  Episode 180: The Truth About Pricing with Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business Podcast, https://webdesigneracademy.com/180  Episode 189: How To Price Custom Web Design Projects with Shannon Mattern, https://webdesigneracademy.com/189  Episode 202: Is AI Ruining Web Design? (Or Making It Better?) with Diane Whiddon, https://webdesigneracademy.com/202 About Cathy Olson: Cathy is the co-founder of Funnel Gorgeous and FG Funnels, where she and her business partner Julie Chenell help online business owners build profitable, ethical marketing funnels. Website: funnelgorgeous.com | Instagram: @cathyfunnels About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method and the founder of the Web Designer Academy where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

Agencies are pushing AI deeper into everyday work while still figuring out what should and shouldn't be automated. Digiday caught up with agency leaders and early-career marketers about AI, automation and where they're drawing the line.

A Georgia researcher's public records request has revealed that the police department in the small Chicago suburb of Schaumburg is sharing its automated license plate reader data with more than 400 Illinois law enforcement and government agencies—a finding that comes as public debate over the mass surveillance of Flock and other plate-reader networks intensifies across the country. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/17/have-i-been-flocked-researcher-says-over-400-illinois-agencies-have-surveillance-network-access/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another insightful episode of Build a Better Agency! This week, host Drew McLellan welcomes Shawn Yeager, founder of Upshift, for a candid conversation about the seismic shifts AI is creating in the agency world. Together, they go beyond the hype and headlines, examining how agencies can genuinely commercialize AI—not just adopt new tools, but strategically redesign what they sell and how they deliver unique value in an AI-enabled marketplace. In this episode, Shawn Yeager draws on more than 30 years at the intersection of technology and business, sharing a roadmap for agency leaders. He explains the three traps many agencies fall into when adopting new technology—becoming more efficient but less profitable, becoming educated without application, and buying into platforms without changing go-to-market strategy. Drew McLellan and Shawn Yeager also break down the difference between operational AI (streamlining internal processes) and commercial AI (transforming what you offer clients), and why the latter is critical for agency growth and survival. Listeners will discover practical frameworks to evaluate service offerings, price on outcomes (even when clients aren't sure how to measure them), and proactively use AI to become indispensable advisors—not just vendors. Shawn Yeager discusses the blend of efficiency and artistry required in the modern agency, how to avoid the risks of commoditization, and why focusing on judgment, relationships, and the "decision sandwich" will separate thriving agencies from those left behind. If you're looking for actionable steps to future-proof your agency, navigate staffing shifts, or reimagine your client relationships in light of AI's rapid evolution, you won't want to miss this episode. By the end, you'll have new strategies and a fresh mindset for turning the AI revolution into your agency's greatest opportunity. 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: Moving beyond efficiency to true AI-driven business transformation Rethinking agency offerings for an AI-enabled marketplace Shifting from billable hours to outcome-based pricing models Harnessing judgment and expertise as differentiators alongside AI tools Blending scalable, repeatable processes with bespoke, high-touch service Preparing agency staffing models for a shrinking entry-level workforce Proactively evolving client value propositions to stay ahead of commoditization

Grab our High-Converting Proposal Template and learn what to include (and what to leave out) to turn more of your proposals into higher-paying clients: https://webdesigneracademy.com/proposal Episode 207: Why Web Designers Are Already Doing Brand Strategy (Just Not Charging For It) with Sarah Robb Sarah Robb of Brand Strategy Academy has spent over twenty years building brand strategies for companies like Pfizer, EY, PepsiCo, and Oracle, and in this episode she and Shannon break down why brand strategy has almost nothing to do with fonts and logos and everything to do with four simple questions every strong brand can answer. Sarah makes the case that most web designers are already doing this work with clients, they just haven't named it, structured it, or charged for it, and she and Shannon talk through exactly what it looks like to shift from being seen as the person who executes a client's vision to the person who leads them through a real strategic process. What you'll learn in this episode: The four questions behind every brand strategy, and why they matter more than any logo or color palette Why the "discovery phase" you're already running with clients is brand strategy work you're underpricing How to shift from executor to advisor without becoming a different person, just a more structured one Why AI can speed up research but still can't replace human judgment in strategy work Why small and medium sized businesses need strategic help more than ever, and what that means for who you target next What's actually inside Brand Strategy Academy Resources mentioned: Brand Strategy Academy Rebrand Right by Sarah Robb and Rachel Fairley Related episodes: Episode 154: Strategic Branding That Pays Off Episode 143: Building a Brand with Jacob Cass of Just Creative Episode 111: The True Value of Branding with Mike Brevik of BrandRetro & Cyberdogz About Sarah Robb: Sarah is a brand strategist with over twenty years of experience, the co-author of the Amazon bestseller Rebrand Right, and the founder of Brand Strategy Academy, which has helped over four hundred designers become confident brand strategists. Website: brandstrategysarah.com | Instagram: @brandstrategysarah About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method, and the founder of the Web Designer Academy, where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout, and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

You are losing sales every time a customer says it is too expensive, they need to talk to their spouse, or they want to check with another agent first. On August 20th at noon CST, Michael is teaching a free live training on exactly how to overcome objections in the auto conversation.

Following a year of sweeping staffing reductions, the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for agencies to ramp up recruitment efforts. The Office of Personnel Management has directed agencies to begin assembling “annual staffing plans” for fiscal 2027. The guidance places a particular focus on hiring technologists and early-career talent. Here with more, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(August 12, 2026) HHS & HUD Secretary rips Los Angeles homelessness agencies. Europe has a new passport system and it’s driving travelers crazy. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany speaks on President Trump’s executive order changing the childhood vaccine schedule.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federal agencies signal upcoming contract dollars through the president's budget months before a solicitation ever posts, and the FY2027 budget was published just weeks ago. Tracy Marcinowski, a former Air Force contracting officer who rose to Assistant Commissioner for Acquisitions at GSA's Public Building Service, a $4 billion organization, walks through how a small business reads that budget to find where the money is going before competitors do. What you'll learn in this episode: Why a signed GSA schedule or OASIS Plus contract can carry zero obligated dollars, and what you still have to do after you win one How to read the president's budget to spot which agencies and programs will have money next year Where federal spending data went after SAM.gov absorbed FPDS and USASpending, and how to pull it now Which GSA vehicle actually fits your business, and why the schedules are often the wrong first move The right people to reach inside an agency, program managers and requirements owners, not the CEO Chapters: 0:00 - Tracy Marcinowski's path from Air Force to GSA 3:00 - Why the government does not buy everything 9:00 - The vendor who pitched the wrong buyer six times 11:30 - Who inside an agency actually shapes requirements 15:30 - Choosing a contract vehicle that fits what you sell 17:30 - Starting research with the president's budget 23:30 - Why GSA is the easiest agency to break into 25:00 - CMMC, NIST, and Department of War requirements 32:30 - Action steps for a first-time small business Mindy gives you the federal opportunities, agency signals, recompete intel, and pursuit briefs that tell you not just what contracts exist, but which ones to chase and how to win them. Sign up for free Daily Alerts and get opportunities delivered to your inbox before the day starts.

Get our free course to help women web designers stop undercharging and overdelivering and create a consistent, full-time income at https://webdesigneracademy.com/freecourse⁠ Episode 207: Why Web Designers Are Already Doing Brand Strategy (Just Not Charging For It) with Sarah Robb Sarah Robb of Brand Strategy Academy has spent over twenty years building brand strategies for companies like Pfizer, EY, PepsiCo, and Oracle, and in this episode she and Shannon break down why brand strategy has almost nothing to do with fonts and logos and everything to do with four simple questions every strong brand can answer. Sarah makes the case that most web designers are already doing this work with clients, they just haven't named it, structured it, or charged for it, and she and Shannon talk through exactly what it looks like to shift from being seen as the person who executes a client's vision to the person who leads them through a real strategic process. What you'll learn in this episode: The four questions behind every brand strategy, and why they matter more than any logo or color palette Why the "discovery phase" you're already running with clients is brand strategy work you're underpricing How to shift from executor to advisor without becoming a different person, just a more structured one Why AI can speed up research but still can't replace human judgment in strategy work Why small and medium sized businesses need strategic help more than ever, and what that means for who you target next What's actually inside Brand Strategy Academy Resources mentioned: Brand Strategy Academy Rebrand Right by Sarah Robb and Rachel Fairley Related episodes: Episode 154: Strategic Branding That Pays Off Episode 143: Building a Brand with Jacob Cass of Just Creative Episode 111: The True Value of Branding with Mike Brevik of BrandRetro & Cyberdogz About Sarah Robb: Sarah is a brand strategist with over twenty years of experience, the co-author of the Amazon bestseller Rebrand Right, and the founder of Brand Strategy Academy, which has helped over four hundred designers become confident brand strategists. Website: brandstrategysarah.com | Instagram: @brandstrategysarah About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method, and the founder of the Web Designer Academy, where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout, and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

Want an AI content engine that publishes at a pace your domain can actually carry? Go to https://www.8figureagency.co/get-aiagency-ops for a free AI consultation.Any agency can do SEO. Any agency can also torch its domain in six weeks doing it wrong.A few weeks back I had someone on this show who was publishing 20 AI-written blog posts a day. Cameron LiButti — founder of BidView Marketing, 13 people, ~70 clients, close to 200 locations across medical, legal, professional services, and large home services — told me exactly what would happen. Google de-indexed the site inside six weeks.So I brought Cam on to answer the question I actually have as a founder learning this myself: how do you use AI for SEO aggressively without setting off Google's alarm bells?We get concrete fast. Cam explains crawl budget — how much compute Google decides your site is worth, and why a site crawled every three to six weeks publishing 20 posts a day is a flare in the sky. He covers the audience question most agencies skip: his medical practices serving 65+ patients get under 5% of leads from AI search, while his tax attorney client gets 40–50%. Same firm, same tactics, completely different priority.Then the part you can build on this week. Google's non-commodity content standard, and the two-part article structure that satisfies it: the first half answers the questions traditional SEO and AI both want answered, the second half is a real client situation — the problem, what you did, the outcome. That's the point of view Google can't get from a commodity blog.Cam gives the exact ramp: start at three posts a week, submit each one in Search Console, and check whether it's still indexed two weeks later — not 48 hours later. Still indexed at week three? Go to four. Then five. You earn 14 a week; you don't switch it on. And if pages drop out of the index, that's your signal to stop and diagnose before you scale the problem.We close on off-site: niche directories like G2 and Clutch, local citations off a Google Business Profile, press releases as safe volume, newsjacking for the links that actually move, and the two sources AI models cite most — YouTube and Reddit.If you're an agency owner planning to point AI at your own SEO this quarter, listen before you publish anything.CHAPTERS00:00 — He got de-indexed. Cam saw it coming.00:57 — Engineer to SEO: BidView Marketing, 13 people, ~70 clients, ~200 locations02:51 — The card catalog framework: Dewey decimal → PageRank → organizing data for AI05:37 — Crawl budget explained, and why 20 posts a day on a low-authority site is a red flag07:48 — Where are your clients? 5% of leads from AI vs. 40–50%, same tactics08:24 — Site foundations that still matter, plus why brand became an SEO input10:49 — Non-commodity content: Google's term, and what it demands from you11:18 — The two-part article: the how-to, then the client case with a point of view13:38 — How often can you publish? Jordan's real numbers pressure-tested14:37 — The ramp: 3 a week, index checks in Search Console, the two-week rule, earning 1417:15 — Off-site: directories, local citations, press releases, and newsjacking19:40 — YouTube and Reddit: the citation sources AI models pull from20:18 — Where to find CameronLINKSCameron LiButti — bidviewmarketing.comCameron on LinkedIn — search "Cameron LiButti"Google Search Console — for the index checks discussed at 14:37CTAWant an AI content engine that publishes at a pace your domain can actually carry? Go to 8figureagency.co for a free AI consultation.

One retired FBI agent, three cases, one theme that will not go away: who checks the people running the investigation? Jennifer Coffindaffer sits down with Tony Brueski on Hidden Killers for a triple episode spanning the Nancy Guthrie disappearance, the Alex Murdaugh retrial, and the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.Guthrie first. The agency running that case handed the public its best evidence by mistake — a media release with the alleged kidnapper's Bitcoin wallet address printed on it. Coffindaffer traced it. No ransom was ever paid; the wallet's lone deposit is roughly three hundred dollars from the FBI, and direct messages to the wallet, including the family's own words about paying, went unanswered for six months. Sheriff Nanos calls the FBI partnership great while thousands of hours of video sit unreviewed.Murdaugh next. Becky Hill's jury interference forced the retrial, yet her guilty plea covered a book photo, bonuses, and sealed exhibits, not the tampering, with no prison time, and a federal judge just dismissed Murdaugh's lawsuit against her. The agency that investigated Hill was SLED, whose biggest conviction depended on her verdict surviving. Now a defense motion demands SLED's files be searched and certified clean in writing, with lead investigator David Owen already connected to a separate case dismissed over undisclosed evidence.Clancy last. Her defense stipulated to the forensics in week two, stripping the trial to a single question: was her mind her own the night Cora, Dawson, and Callan died? The state answered with toxicology in a case that was never about an overdose, and a calm-patient snapshot from six days later.Murdaugh and Clancy are presumed innocent. Nancy Guthrie is still missing. Coffindaffer has worked inside the machine, and this is her honest read on what the machine is doing in all three.LINKSJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodDISCLAIMERThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.HASHTAGS#NancyGuthrie #AlexMurdaugh #LindsayClancy #BeckyHill #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #FBI #MurdaughRetrial #ClancyTrial #JenniferCoffindaffer

What if I told you your biggest growth opportunity is hiding inside your agency? In this episode, I sit down with Rebecca Menefee of M3 to unpack how her team built Elevate, a dedicated small business division that grew from roughly $3.5 million to $11.5 million in revenue in 5 years.We break down how to stop overservicing small accounts, build a service model that actually scales, and create a system that allows clients to grow without outgrowing your agency. You'll also learn how technology and AI are changing client expectations, what it takes to build the right team for small business, and how an overlooked book of business can become a profitable growth engine for your agency.In this Episode, You Will LearnThe service mistake quietly destroying your small business margins.How M3 turned a $3.5M division into an $11.5M growth engine.The hidden opportunity inside the accounts most producers overlook.How to give small clients exactly what they need without overservicing them.The expectation trap that makes great service impossible to sustain.How to build a small business model your producers actually trust.The system that lets clients grow without outgrowing your agency.When keeping your small business book makes sense and when it's time to get out.What to look for when hiring producers who can thrive in a high-volume market.How AI is giving your clients a new way to challenge your advice.The question that can expose a client problem before it costs you the account.How community relationships can become a competitive advantage in small business.The mindset shift that can turn “small accounts” into some of your most valuable long-term relationships.Resources + LinksAccelerate your insurance sales - schedule a discovery call here FollowFollow Andy Neary on LinkedIn for more insurance sales strategies and high-performance insights.Learn more about Complete Game Consulting:https://completegameconsulting.comConnect with Rebecca: https://m3ins.com/person/rebecca-menefee/

Episode 231: Stuck at the Same Level in Your Coaching Business? Get That Fixed Here: https://go.digitaltrailblazer.com/7-dollar-biz-auditMost business owners walk into networking events ready to pitch within the first two minutes, then wonder why nobody buys and nobody remembers them. That habit kills the referral partnerships and strategic relationships that actually move a digital business forward.In this episode, Barry Bradham teaches us how to turn strangers into long-term collaborators. He shares what to say instead of pitching, how to build a follow-up system so new contacts don't go cold, and an unconventional icebreaker that gets even hard-to-reach decision-makers to take your call.About Barry Bradham: Barry Bradham is an entrepreneur, systems builder, automation strategist, and business mentor who helps business owners simplify operations, improve client experience, and scale with clarity. He is the founder of several ventures at the intersection of marketing, technology, automation, and AI, including Surfline Media, Metaverse Digital, DigiLink, Street Beat Promo, OneFlow, and Wrrkflo — platforms that help agencies and service-based businesses organize client requests, communication, and fulfillment, including through white-labeled client portals.Beyond his companies, Barry is passionate about relationship-driven growth. As a Regional Director with M3 Linked across California, Florida, and Greater Houston, he connects entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals around collaboration, referrals, and leadership. He speaks on entrepreneurship, automation, AI, and what it takes to become a "Calm CEO" — a leader who runs on vision instead of constantly reacting to fires.Connect with Barry:https://digilink.global/barrybradham-entrepreneur https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrybradham/ https://www.facebook.com/barrybradham https://www.instagram.com/barrybradham_entrepreneur/Want to SCALE your online business bigger and faster without the endless hustle of networking, referrals, and pumping out content that nobody sees?Grab our Ultimate Ad Script for Coaches, Agencies, and Course Creators.Learn the exact 5-step script we teach our clients that allows them to generate targeted, high-quality leads at ultra-low cost, so you can land paying customers and clients without breaking the bank on ad spend.Grab the Ultimate Ad Script right HERE - https://join.digitaltrailblazer.com/ultimate-ad-script✅ Connect With Us:Website - https://DigitalTrailblazer.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltrailblazerTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltrailblazerX (Twitter): https://x.com/DgtlTrailblazerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/DigitalTrailblazer

Agency partnerships can be one of the fastest ways to grow your business—or one of the quickest ways to create unnecessary headaches. The difference usually comes down to communication, expectations, and choosing the right partners.Whitney breaks down what makes agency collaborations actually work, from building trust and defining roles upfront to avoiding common pitfalls that can damage client relationships. The goal isn't just finding partners—it's creating partnerships that benefit everyone involved.In This Episode, We Cover:How to build strong, mutually beneficial agency partnershipsWhy clear communication prevents costly misunderstandingsCommon collaboration mistakes that can hurt client relationshipsHow to set expectations and define responsibilities from the startWhat to look for when deciding whether another agency is the right fitWhether you're considering your first agency partnership or looking to strengthen the ones you already have, this episode offers practical strategies you can put to work right away. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and connect with Whitney Lee for more straightforward business insights.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedIn

The future of client service will not be built around adding more people to handle every request. Daniel Metcalf and Mike Stromsoe examine how independent insurance agencies can combine human expertise, artificial intelligence, automation, and self-service technology to serve clients more efficiently. They challenge agency owners to identify which relationships require personalized attention and which routine requests can move through technology-driven workflows, creating more capacity for their highest-value team members and clients. Key Topics:   • How client segmentation can expose the true value and profitability of an agency's book   • A simple policy-count method for dividing clients into service tiers   • Why monoline clients may require a different service model   • Why existing client portals and self-service applications often remain underused   • The role of documented workflows and standard operating procedures in agentic automation   • Why an agency's current processes may need to be redesigned before introducing AI   • How changing customer expectations should influence future service models   • Why each agency needs a technology approach built around its own systems and processes   • What agency leaders should budget beyond the monthly cost of an AI tool  • How revenue concentration can expose unprofitable portions of the client baseConnect with Daniel:LinkedInWebsiteConnect with Mike: LinkedIn TwitterClient service does not have to be entirely human or entirely automated. The strongest model gives technology the repetitive, process-driven work while preserving human attention for complex decisions and valuable relationships. Agencies that segment their clients, redesign their workflows, and invest in AI-forward operations can protect profitability while continuing to deliver the service their clients expect.

Wondering why some Amazon sellers do really well and others don't? In this video, Michael and Destaney Wishon from BetterAMS share their own ups and downs with Amazon ads. They talk about how tricky Amazon advertising can get, why focusing too much on one thing can be a problem, and what basics you need to know. They also discuss whether it's better to handle your ads on your own, use software, or work with an agency.This episode is a rerelease of one of our most popular episodes. Please note the resources and link section for any relevant updates.We'll see you in The PPC Den!

Get our free course to help women web designers stop undercharging and overdelivering and create a consistent, full-time income at https://webdesigneracademy.com/freecourse⁠ June 2026 Income Report Welcome to my June 2026 Income Report where I share how much we made, how much we spent and all of the lessons I learned along the way. In This Episode: How I finally let go of the belief that I'm bad at sales. How I sold out my private coaching offers. How to untie your pricing from your time Why 10 people joining a brand new program beat out my goal of 25 The biggest myths about the Next Level Mastermind, debunked Resources mentioned: 90-Day Shift Private Coaching Next Level Mastermind ShannonMattern.com for the Package Matrix Method High-Converting Proposal Template Related episodes: Episode 200: May 2026 Income Report Episode 196: April 2026 Income Report Episode 189: How To Price Custom Web Design Projects with Shannon Mattern About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method and the founder of the Web Designer Academy where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: https://webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: https://shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

Could your agency's growth actually be creating the very pressure, chaos, and overwhelm that you hoped success would eliminate? At what point does scaling stop being about getting more clients and become about transforming the entrepreneur behind the business?In this episode of The Agency Blueprint Podcast, we break down the reality of agency growth that every stage of scaling demands a new version of the entrepreneur behind the business. We explain why agency scaling is not just about increasing revenue, but about evolving systems, mindset, and leadership capacity.Don't miss this episode to learn why some problems can only be solved through experience, mentorship, education, and strategic hiring.Key Questions:[03:07] Are you still operating your agency with the same mindset and leadership style that worked at an earlier stage of growth?[04:53] Have you noticed signs that your current management approach is no longer sustainable as your team expands?[09:12] Do you currently have enough financial stability and cash reserves to hire the right people before burnout becomes inevitable?[15:14] Have you been distracted by quick success promises instead of focusing on sustainable business growth?[21:02] Are you building the business you genuinely want, or the business the internet says you should want?What You'll Discover: [01:11] How every stage of business requires entrepreneurs to evolve into a new version of themselves.[03:22] Why managing a team of ten people require a completely different leadership style than managing a team of three.[05:25] The difficult transition between needing help and being financially ready to hire experienced talent.[06:30] The three major business growth stages and the unique challenges agency owners face at each level.[08:11] Why constantly “battering through walls” is not always the smartest path to business growth.[09:52] Understanding when education, mentorship, or outside support becomes necessary to overcome business roadblocks.[12:35] The common revenue milestones where agencies typically experience major operational growing pains.[13:56] How infrastructure debt quietly compounds inside agencies until it creates major operational breakdowns.[15:33] How real growth often comes from experiencing pain, failure, and difficult lessons firsthand.[19:16] A simple framework for identifying business problems, understanding why they exist, and creating systems to solve them permanently.[21:02] Why true growth is less about doing more work and more about becoming capable of handling the next stage of business.

Marketing agencies must shift from deliverables to strategy as AI continues to commoditize execution, content production, reporting, and other traditional services. Drawing on research from hundreds of agency leaders and clients, Brian Gerstner explains why agencies remain highly relevant while facing growing pressure on fees, retention, positioning, and client relationships. The strongest agencies are responding by developing clear authority, focusing their expertise, and providing the judgment and direction clients cannot get from tools alone. This is a practical look at how agency differentiation, strategic leadership, pricing power, and client expectations are changing in the age of AI. 00:00 Introduction 01:56 What Sets Confident Agencies Apart 05:14 How to Niche Without Losing Revenue 06:35 Why Agency Strategy Fails in the AI Era 08:20 Why Clients Value Agencies but Cut Spending 11:12 From Deliverables to Marketing Leadership 13:06 Why AI Alone Won't Differentiate Your Agency 15:13 How Strategy and Focus Protect Agency Pricing 18:44 Agency Survival and the New Talent Gap Rate, Review, & Follow If you liked this episode, please rate and review the show. Let us know what you loved most about the episode. Struggling with strategy? Unlock your free AI-powered prompts now and start building a winning strategy today!

Traditional media buying breaks down when attitudinal audience data gets lost between upstream research and downstream media activation. Bright Mountain's Andy Davidson and Deep Focus's Kyle Krueger unpack how synthetic personas, unified YouTube-to-CTV strategies, and responsible creator management keep ad campaigns aligned and effective. Key Highlights

DR Congo Ebola outbreak: Agencies on high alert in displacement campsGaza: 300 children killed in 300 days of Israeli-Hamas ‘ceasefire'Guatemala: El Niño coupled with lean season driving 3.2 million people into acute food insecurity - IPC

The battle continues! Episode 110 features an Expansion Face-Off between SETI: Space Agencies and Shackleton Base: Below. Within. Above. We'll break down what each expansion brings to the table, who they're best for, and ultimately crown the winner. If you're wondering which expansion is worth adding to your shelf, this episode is for you.   Also check out Episode 69 where these two titans originally battled each other in one epic clash. Episode 110: Expansion Face-Off: SETI: Space Agencies vs Shackleton Base: Below.Within.Above Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:20 What's on your table? 13:21 SETI: Space Agencies  23:48 SETI: Space Agencies: Collector's Corner 24:52 SETI: Space Agencies: Final Thoughts 27:32 Shackleton Base: Below.Within.Above 42:17 Shackleton Base: Below.Within.Above: Collector's Corner 43:18 Shackleton Base: Below.Within.Above: Final Thoughts 46:15 Battle of the Funnest Showdown Thanks for listening! Want to keep the conversation going? Reach out to us at thefifthmeeple@gmail.com—we'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, and hot takes. And as always… play more board games!  

Grab our High-Converting Proposal Template and start confidently charging a lot more for custom web design projects... without hustling, overworking, or losing all your clients: https://webdesigneracademy.com/proposal June 2026 Income Report Welcome to my May 2026 Income Report where I share how much we made, how much we spent and all of the lessons I learned along the way. In This Episode: How I finally let go of the belief that I'm bad at sales. How I sold out my private coaching offers. How to untie your pricing from your time Why 10 people joining a brand new program beat out my goal of 25 The biggest myths about the Next Level Mastermind, debunked Resources mentioned: 90-Day Shift Private Coaching Next Level Mastermind ShannonMattern.com for the Package Matrix Method High-Converting Proposal Template Related episodes: Episode 200: May 2026 Income Report Episode 196: April 2026 Income Report Episode 189: How To Price Custom Web Design Projects with Shannon Mattern About Shannon Mattern: Shannon Mattern is a Pricing Strategist, creator of The Package Matrix™ Method and the founder of the Web Designer Academy where she helps experienced women web designers book higher-paying web design projects, charge more with confidence, run projects without overworking and burnout and break through to their next level of income and freedom. For Web Designers: https://webdesigneracademy.com For Service Providers, Consultants & Agencies: https://shannonmattern.com Instagram: @profitablewebdesigner

Relebogile Mabotja speaks to Stephan Ferreira the CEO & Co founder of Bredell Ferreira, a debt collection and credit management company taking a closer look at the debt collection industry, unpacking how debt collection agencies work, when a debt can legally be handed over for collection, how payments are processed, what ethical and legal standards agencies must follow, and what consumers should do if they believe they have been treated unfairly. 702 Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja is broadcast live on Johannesburg based talk radio station 702 every weekday afternoon. Relebogile brings a lighter touch to some of the issues of the day as well as a mix of lifestyle topics and a peak into the worlds of entertainment and leisure. Thank you for listening to a 702 Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja podcast. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 13:00 to 15:00 (SA Time) to Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/2qKsEfu or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/DTykncj Subscribe to the 702 Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 230: Stuck at the Same Level in Your Coaching Business? Get That Fixed Here: https://go.digitaltrailblazer.com/7-dollar-biz-auditMost business owners assume that once someone clicks their ad or social media post, the hard part is over. But traffic without the right system behind it just leaks money, leads go cold, and bookings never happen even when the clicks look great.In this episode, Lee Thompson teaches us how to close that gap. He breaks down why niching down changes everything about who converts, what actually belongs on the page people land on, and the follow-up habits that separate businesses that book calls from ones that just collect leads. If your marketing is getting clicks but not customers, this one's for you.About Lee Thompson: Lee is the founder of ClickSense, where she helps wellness businesses turn online attention into paying clients and predictable revenue. After years in web and SEO, he noticed the same pattern across businesses: plenty of traffic and leads, but inconsistent revenue. That gap between clicks and customers became her focus.Rather than chasing more traffic, Lee zeroes in on what happens after someone finds a business: conversion, follow-up, and retention, where most real growth (and lost revenue) actually happens. He keeps things practical and honest, breaking down why typical marketing advice falls short for small businesses and what actually drives consistent growth.Grab Lee's Wellness Growth Roadmap: https://clicksense.io/wgrConnect with Lee:https://clicksense.io/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/clicksense/ https://www.facebook.com/clicksense.ioWant to SCALE your online business bigger and faster without the endless hustle of networking, referrals, and pumping out content that nobody sees?Grab our Ultimate Ad Script for Coaches, Agencies, and Course Creators.Learn the exact 5-step script we teach our clients that allows them to generate targeted, high-quality leads at ultra-low cost, so you can land paying customers and clients without breaking the bank on ad spend.Grab the Ultimate Ad Script right HERE - https://join.digitaltrailblazer.com/ultimate-ad-script✅ Connect With Us:Website - https://DigitalTrailblazer.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltrailblazerTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltrailblazerX (Twitter): https://x.com/DgtlTrailblazerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/DigitalTrailblazer

Artificial intelligence is forcing marketing agencies to redesign how they operate. In this episode, Eleanor Kubacki of EFK Group explains what happened when her agency decided to go all in on AI. The change affected strategy, staffing, partnerships, workflows, governance, creative development, and client service.Her leadership mantra became simple: get comfortable being uncomfortable. AI evolves quickly. Systems that create value today may require a major pivot within months. That speed creates opportunities for smaller agencies. They can test ideas, form partnerships, and compete with larger organizations.However, responsible adoption requires clear boundaries. Agencies must protect client privacy, proprietary information, brand voice, and human employment. These concerns become especially important for government, university, and regulated clients.AI can support data mining, first-pass strategy, audience analysis, personalization, media buying, and real-time optimization. AI enabled Market Research can reveal current customer behaviors and interests. This reduces dependence on broad, assumed personas.Yet AI still struggles with empathy, humor, originality, emotional connection, and distinctive creative thinking. Eleanor explains why EFK Group uses AI as a baseline rather than a complete creative replacement. Copywriters, strategists, designers, developers, and account specialists remain central. The conversation also examines security across different AI platforms. Sensitive information should never enter a system without appropriate safeguards.Topics Covered• Transforming an established agency around AI• Scaling AI without eliminating human jobs• Creating internal governance and ethical standards• Protecting data and proprietary information• Preserving brand voice across AI workflows• Using AI for data mining and first-pass strategy• Moving beyond traditional audience personas• Learning from AI-generated advertising experiments• Adding AI specialists to client account teams• Preparing new marketers for an AI-driven industryThe future of AI and Marketing is not automation without oversight. It is a partnership where machines increase speed and humans provide experience, creativity, accountability, and judgment.

Most agencies hit a point where referrals stop being enough. The question is: do you pour money into ads, or double down on relationships? The answer isn't as obvious as people make it seem.Business development isn't about chasing the newest marketing tactic. Whitney breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of paid advertising versus referral-based growth, why so many agencies struggle to scale, and how relationship-building creates a more sustainable, predictable pipeline over the long term.In This Episode, We Cover:The pros and cons of paid ads versus referral-driven growthWhy relationships remain one of the most valuable business development strategiesCommon mistakes agencies make when trying to scaleHow to create a more sustainable and predictable client pipelineWhere to invest your time and marketing budget for long-term growthIf you're looking for practical strategies to grow your agency without relying on guesswork, this episode is worth adding to your queue. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and connect with Whitney Lee for more straightforward business insights.Connect with Whitney on InstagramConnect with Whitney on LinkedIn

Send us Fan MailPosted at https://homecaremarketingnews.com/handling-family-conflict-how-home-care-agencies-can-help-families-get-to-yes-faster/Families don't delay home care because they love waiting. They delay because everyone in the room is protecting something: a parent's independence, a spouse's pride, a sibling's wallet concerns, or their own fear of making the wrong call. We walk through what's really happening behind “We need more time” and how to move a family toward clarity without pushing, pressuring, or picking sides.We share the most common reasons families hesitate, then break down the four main stakeholders you're actually communicating with: the older adult, the adult daughter, the adult son, and the exhausted spouse caregiver. From there, we get tactical with listening skills and specific questions that uncover hidden objections, build trust fast, and turn a tense assessment into a calmer partnership conversation. You'll hear practical language for responding to “Mom doesn't want help,” “My brother disagrees,” “It's too expensive,” and “We'll handle it ourselves,” while still keeping your expert role.Then we go past the signed agreement, because client experience and retention are won in the first 30 days. We cover expectation-setting, common complaints, the CARE framework for de-escalating tough calls, and a proactive check-in cadence that prevents silent dissatisfaction from turning into cancellations. We also dig into caregiver matching, personality fit, and how to gather the right details during intake so the first week of care starts strong.If you work in home care sales, senior care marketing, or client services, this one is a practical playbook you can use immediately. Subscribe for more training, share this with a teammate who handles assessments, and leave a review with the hardest family objection you want us to tackle next.Continuum Mastery Circle IntroVisit our website at https://asnhomecaremarketing.comGet Your 11 Free Home Care Marketing Guides: https://bit.ly/homecarerev

What if better data did not have to mean more paperwork? In this episode of Manager Minute, Sarah Leonard from the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and Pamela Clayton-Johnson from Maryland DORS join Carol Pankow to talk about their National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute research on the RSA-911. Their project takes a hard look at the growing administrative burden of federal reporting and asks a timely question: Are we collecting the right data for the right reasons? Sarah and Pamela discuss their recommendation to remove 71 data elements they believe exceed statutory requirements, while still maintaining accountability and protecting the integrity of VR data. The conversation also explores the importance of involving frontline staff, using data to improve services, and creating space for counselors to spend more time doing what matters most: helping individuals with disabilities achieve meaningful employment. Tune in for a thoughtful, practical, and refreshingly candid conversation about smarter data, stronger services, and leadership that challenges the field to think differently. Listen Here   Full Transcript {Music} Sarah: That's kind of my whole philosophy of who I am as a person. I'm always looking for how we can do things better and questioning, like why we're doing things like, why are we reporting this? Why are we doing that? And so I think that kind of shows up in the paper. Pamela: I think we chose to focus on streamlining the RSA nine over 11 report, because we recognize how much time and energy staff spend on administrative tasks and reporting requirements. Sarah: Were spending all this time to report this data. It must be important. It must be being used somewhere. but, I am not seeing that for some of this. Intro voice: Manager minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow. Carol: Welcome to the Manager Minute. Today, we're joined by Sarah Leonard, planning and reporting director from South Carolina Commission for the Blind, and Pamela Clayton-Johnson, program manager for the Eligibility Unit at Maryland DORS. So how are you doing today, Sarah? Sarah: Good. I'm doing great. How are you? Carol: Awesome. And Pamela, how about you? Pamela: I'm good. Enjoying all this rain that we had within the last week. Carol: Oh, nice. Well, we're in a heat wave. I'm in Minnesota, and, boy, it's been smoking hot. Sarah: It's been hot here. Carol: So Sarah and Pamela recently published a cohort project through the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute that takes a thoughtful and timely look at the RSA 911. Their paper, Smarter Data, Better Outcomes, explores how reporting requirements have evolved over time, and the growing administrative burden on agencies, and what it would mean to streamline data collection in a way that would better support the core mission of vocational rehabilitation, which is helping individuals achieve employment and strengthening America's workforce. Their work raises important questions for the field about the balance between compliance, data, and outcomes, and offers practical ideas for rethinking how we can approach federal reporting moving forward. So let's dig in. So let's start with each of you. How did you get into vocational rehabilitation and what drew you to this work. And Pamela, I'm going to go to you first. Pamela: Okay. My interest in vocational rehabilitation began in 1999, after one of my close friends sustained a gunshot wound and became a quadriplegic. He was no longer able to do the work he had done before, but he still had a strong desire to work and remain independent. I began to help him research for programs and resources that could support him. And during that process, I discovered the Division of Rehabilitation Services DORS. So that experience changed my life and inspired me to pursue a career helping individuals with disabilities achieve their goal and match their full potential. I later earned my graduate degree in adult Education with a minor in Rehabilitation counseling, which allowed me to combine my passion for education, advocacy and services to others. Carol: That is an amazing story. You are the first person I've heard with like a story like that. And how is your friend doing today? Pamela: He is doing great. He is living independently. He has services in place for him. It's been so many years and he is doing well and he's thriving. So oh. Pamela: Yes. Carol: He's lucky to have a friend like you. I think that's awesome. Pamela: Yes. Carol: Sarah, how about you?How'd you get involved in VR? Sarah: My journey to VR is a recent one. I just started in VR in 2023, and I actually started my career as a public education teacher. And when I was looking to kind of make a career change, I was looking to kind of stay in the public service realm and ended up finding some job openings with the Commission for the blind and kind of my experience as an educator and everything. It just was kind of a natural fit. So I really enjoyed kind of the past three years now, and I'm excited for what's to come. Carol: Very cool. I remember when you first started, I feel like it was longer ago than three years. Time passes really fast. Sarah: It does. Carol: You both participated in NRLI live, and I just want to know a little bit about what that experience was like. And how did it shape your thinking as an emerging leader? And Sarah, I'll ping you first on that. Sarah: NRLI was an amazing experience and I learned so much from the staff from NRLI, but also just from connecting with so many VR professionals across the US. The way it's structured, you meet four times over the course of almost a year. And I think kind of as the year progresses, you are in different places in like kind of what you're doing at work. So when you come together each time as a group, you're kind of experiencing something different and everyone else kind of brings their own experiences and their different kind of situations currently occurring in their agencies to those conversations. So as like an emerging leader. It's just really helped me kind of see the bigger picture of VR on the national scale and how I kind of fit into that on the state level. Carol: Yeah, I love that so much because you see people from start to end because I get to help participate, at least in one of the weeks with doing some of the training, but really seeing how kind of the light bulbs are going on for you guys with that whole bigger national picture. I think that's awesome. Sarah: Yeah. Pamela: Right. Carol: How about you, Pamela? Pamela: Well, participating in the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute was a very rewarding and eye opening experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to connect with rehabilitation professionals across the country, and who all share the same passion for helping individuals with disabilities succeed. The experience helped shape my thinking as an emerging leader by teaching me the importance of collaboration, advocacy and being servant leadership. I learned that leadership is not just about managing people, it's about listening and supporting others, creating positive change of course, and making sure the voice of the people we serve are heard. The institute also encouraged me to think bigger about the future of vocational rehabilitation and the impact we have in helping individuals achieve independency, employment and a better quality of life. It strengthened my confidence as a leader, and it also reminded me that growth happens when you are willing to learn from others and step outside of your comfort zone, and being a part of the group really helped me step outside my comfort zone. So it was an amazing experience for me. Carol: I love that, and I know they have that coaching component. And so you each get a like a mentor coach that is with you throughout the whole time. And that I just think adds an extra element, like a personal touch for you specifically and all of that. So it really is a great, great program. NRLI is about building leadership capacity and driving change. How did that show up in this project that you chose to take on? And I'll throw that to either of you. Sarah: I mean, that's our whole project. Pamela: right. Sarah: Our whole goal was to kind of advocate for some changes in terms of reporting, specifically the 911. So I think that's kind of my whole philosophy of who I am as a person. I'm always looking for how we can do things better and questioning like why we're doing things like, why are we reporting this? Why are we doing that? And so I think that kind of shows up in the paper. Carol: So what led you guys specifically to go after the RSA 911 for your project? I know you went through some iterations of different topics you were going to pick. Pamela: Yes. I think we chose to focus on streamlining the RSA 911 report because we recognize how much time and energy staff spend on administrative tasks and reporting requirements. Our goal was basically to look at ways to reduce the burden, so vocational rehabilitation staff could spend more time focusing on what truly matters, which is helping individuals with disabilities prepare for, obtain and maintain employment. We wanted to help shift the focus to building America's workforce and improving outcomes for the people we serve. This project taught me that leadership is about identifying the challenges and working together to find solutions, and being willing to advocate for meaningful change that benefit both the staff and consumers. It also showed me the importance, of course, of innovation and thinking about how systems and processes can work more effectively while still meeting federal requirements. So we ponder over a lot of different topics, and this is the one that we end up with. So I'm happy with all that we did with this particular paper and all that I have learned in this process. Carol: So Sarah, you specifically, I know have lived this burden of the RSA 911 every day. How would you describe it to other folks that may not understand? Like, what's the big deal about that? Sarah: I think what people don't realize is how much that report really drives like agency processes, just like day to day. The data that we collect as VR agencies as a part of the intake process, the closure process, all of that that gets reported on the 911. And then for those who aren't kind of in it every day, kind of one of the biggest shocks when they start kind of looking at what is all involved, especially, I think Pamela did this. She went to her person in Maryland who oversees the 911 and asked to see kind of the whole data file that gets submitted up to RSA. And I think that's kind of what puts it into perspective. So for those that haven't seen that, there's a line for every single consumer at your agency who has an open case or was applying for services that quarter or who has closed within the past six quarters. And they stay on that report for those six quarters after they close. And for each of those participants, those individual people, there's a ton of columns of data that gets reported for each of those consumers. And those are the data elements of the 911. And so for those that haven't seen that, I would really encourage them to just ask the person at their agency who is in charge of the 911 just to kind of it puts things in perspective. I think that all of those entries into the case management system, like all of that gets reported out in some sort of fashion on that 911. And so there's stuff that has to go on in the background too. Like our field staff, of course have to collect the data, but most agencies have a whole case management system team who kind of keeps their case management system running. And those data elements all have to be maintained with coding in the back of the system, so that it can get reported out correctly on that report. So there's field staff hours that go into this report. There's technical staff hours that go into this report. And then of course there's data collection that may be involved as well that has to go into the report. So that's a collaboration between technical and people in positions like myself, but then also the field staff to make corrections if those are needed on the 911. So. Carol: And how many data elements are there exactly? Sarah: Over 300. Yeah. Pamela: Yes, it was over 300. And we understand how important that report is for the vocational rehabilitation industry. So we recognize that the counselors and employees spend a large amount of time entering and reviewing data, which can sometimes take away from the direct services to consumers. So we just wanted to explore ways to make the process more efficient. Carol: Well, you guys make the point because you say in your paper the reporting requirements expanded beyond what's required in statute. And so why does that matter to the field right now? Sarah: Well, it's just extra work. Like if we're going to expand the requirements beyond what is like actually legally required, there should be a reason for that. And some of these data elements that are beyond kind of legal requirements, you know, like with the rehab act and everything, some of those data elements, I don't see them being used by RSA. I don't see them being used by Congress in any way. So RSA puts out an annual report to Congress every year, and the amount of data that actually goes into that report is very small, compared to the over 300 data elements that are reported for each consumer at every VR agency in the country. Pamela: And it just increased the workload for staffing agencies. You know, when reporting requirements continue to grow for the counselors and staff, they can spend more time focusing on paperwork instead of the data entry and working directly with the consumers and employees. You know, this can impact, of course, you know, the efficiency, staff morale and overall ability to provide timely services. So it's especially important because the VR agencies, which is us, are focused on helping build America's workforce by supporting individuals with disabilities in reaching their employment goals. So the field wants to make sure that the focus stays on serving people. That's the main goal, creating opportunities and improving employment outcomes, not becoming overwhelmed by administrative tasks, you know? So that was our main focus. Carol: Yeah, I hear that a lot. You know, people are like, I'm just pushing paper now. Pamela: Right? Carol: I'm the data collector. Instead of having time to actually talk to the people. So was that like your biggest realization that all that data wasn't actually going into the reported to Congress? Sarah: That was one of them for me. I think because I just would expect, if we're giving this data out, it would be being used in some sort of way. We're spending all this time to report this data. It must be important. It must be being used somewhere. But I'm not seeing that for some of this. When I kind of came to that realization, I was like, well, then why are we doing all this work? Why are we doing this to ourselves? Yeah, that for me, it was. Pamela: Yeah, we still understand that equity and good data are important, but there also needs to be balanced so agencies can effectively carry out the mission and the best support the people that we serve. So that's our main focus. We want to make sure that we're providing, you know, services to consumers instead of spending a lot of time on paperwork and things that, you know, they're not even looking at or is not meaningful. So it's just like, we're just trying to focus on what matters and balance out the workload. Carol: You did a really thorough job on being super specific on the data elements you recommended that got removed. I mean, it was like, I'm like, holy cow, because it was like you went through the whole entire directory and there were a lot, I don't even know how many, but how did you guys go about doing that to decide the elements that you were recommending to remove? Sarah: We spent a lot of time reading the laws and the regulations. I read the Rehab Act and spent time kind of analyzing that to determine like, what is actually required by the Rehab Act for us to report on. And after doing that review, I came to the conclusion that these 71 data elements that we proposed in our paper. There's no kind of legal requirement for those to be reported in the way that they're currently asking us to report them. Pamela: Right. Sarah: So most of the data elements that we propose to remove are related to service provider type. And the Rehab Act stipulates that only aggregate data on the types of providers and agency uses needs to be reported in some sort of fashion, but it does not stipulate that it needs to be reported on an individual case level for each of the services every quarter, which is what we're essentially doing right now through the 911. Pamela: And Sarah has so much experience because this is what she does every single day. So she was very, very helpful in teaching me about all the different data elements and what is used and things like that. So it was very informative. I had learned so much throughout the process when we were researching this paper and just trying to make sure that we're accurate on what we're reporting. Carol: Yeah, I liked it because I felt like you guys were very thoughtful and you approached this in a really good way and did an extremely thorough job. I would think RSA would be super interested in what you did. Have you spoken to RSA and maybe if you did, like what was that conversation like? You're kind of calling their baby ugly, you know? Pamela: We actually met with them. We met with Michael Quinn and he provided great insight and was very open to hearing our ideas and concerns regarding the RSA 911 report process. One of the biggest things that we learned was the importance of collaboration and having honest conversations about the challenges VR agencies face. It was encouraging also to hear that he believed our paper and research were realistic and thoughtfully developed. He also shared that his team will review our paper and take our recommendations into consideration, which showed us that there's value in bringing forth ideas that could improve processes within the vocational rehabilitation system. For me, it reinforced the idea that meaningful change starts with research, communication, and a willingness to work together to find practical solutions. Of course, that benefits both agencies and the individuals we serve. So meeting with his team was very informative and he was very realistic with the expectations and things like that. It was good. Sarah: We actually met with him twice, so we met with him once while we were kind of developing the paper. And that's what really shaped kind of our approach to writing the paper and research that we did. He told us in a bit of a cryptic way. He told us that we needed to think inside the box first and then think outside of it. So he encouraged us to read the laws, read the regulations. So that's kind of what shaped our method to collecting all of the research and the knowledge that we needed in order to be able to propose these changes. And then just meeting with him and his team kind of after the paper was done, when we went to DC for the final session of NRLI, It was really encouraging because him and his team were really open to the recommendations that we were making. And also, they said it was like getting public comment before the public comment period. So as everyone knows, the RSA 911 is up for renewal and was recently posted for public comment through the OMB. So they, I think, genuinely are looking for feedback on their reports and things like that. And I would really encourage agencies to take advantage of the public comment period on these reports, not just on the 911, but on the RSA 17, the 15, all of those different reports that we have to do, because RSA genuinely, I think, wants our feedback and wants to know the burden that it's putting on agencies and our ideas for streamlining. Carol: So I'm sure you're quoting this paper in the public comment, correct? Pamela: Yes. Sarah: Yes. Carol: Yeah, that's great. Well, you both bring up a really good point about being able to like do the research and speak up because I have heard for years people complaining about the 911, but I have never seen anyone do the job that you two did to dig in deep, do your research, do all the homework, and I'm glad Michael steered you down that path. Like read the rehab act... Pamela: right. Carol: ...look at the things, what's required, and then going back and meticulously, like coming up with 71 data elements. Wasn't 78 or 69. You came up with 71. You go, these are the ones. We don't need them. And I think a lot of times in VR, we kind of complain about things, but we don't always bring it up to the source that could do something about it because they just hear us anecdotally like, oh, you know, it's too much. But what exactly and what exactly could be removed? I think you did the work. People are going to be super happy about this if you get some success with that. Pamela: Yes. Carol: So if your recommendations were implemented. What do you think would be the biggest shift agencies would feel in their day to day operations? Pamela: I believe the biggest shift for VR agencies will feel is having more time and flexibility to focus on serving consumers, instead of spending so much time on administrative tasks and data entry. You know, counselors and staff will likely experience a reduction in paperwork as well and reporting burden, which could improve efficiency, reduce stress and allow more attention to be placed on counseling, job placement, employee engagement, and consumer support. I think agencies will still be able to collect important data and maintain accountability, because that's still important, but the process could become more streamlined and meaningful. The goal is not to remove the reporting, but to make sure the information being collected truly adds value and support that better outcomes. So overall, the biggest change will be shifting more time and energy back to the mission of vocational rehabilitation, which is helping individuals with disabilities prepared for, obtain and maintain meaningful employment while supporting America's workforce. Sarah: I think as well, like we call for removing those 71 data elements, but we also call for RSA to take a genuine look at the number of burden hours through the Paperwork Reduction Act and determine a more accurate estimate of those hours. And then also, we call for them to explore some opportunities to develop some centralized federal databases and data sharing systems, so that information on other WIOA program involvement and things like post-exit wages and credential data, that data could be more easily obtained by agencies. So a lot of agencies right now, they have to kind of manage these individual agreements with these... Carol: Right. Pamela: Right. Sarah: ...different entities to obtain some of this data. And so if we could in some way centralize that, so that whole process is easier. Agencies wouldn't have to kind of independently maintain these agreements with separate Agencies or organizations. Pamela: Right. Carol: Yeah, I thought that was a very interesting point. Thinking about that centralized data collection, I know like DDS, Pamela, you worked in that, you know, Pamela: yes. Carol: There is our centralized system. I used to manage DDS. And so thinking about kind of that nationwide database or whatever that you could possibly have. Now, I suppose people would say it's a little easier said than done, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Was there any traction? Did you get to talk to Michael about that concept at all? Sarah: We did, and his comments back were kind of similar to what you just said, that it's easier said than done. But, you know, we have things like the Swiss data right now for wages. So I think it could be done. It just wouldn't be, you know, at the snap of your fingers, it would take some time to develop those. Carol: Well, you guys can be part of something like magnificently great. That could happen with your recommendations. I love it. Pamela: Yes. Carol: So stepping back as emerging leaders, what advice would you give others about like balancing compliance, data collection and achieving those real employment outcomes? What advice would you give agencies as they're facing all this? Pamela: I would say that it's important to remember that compliance data collection and employment outcomes all matter, but the mission should always stay centered on the people we serve. Data reporting are important because they help show accountability, measure progress, and tell the story of the work being done. However, we have to be careful that the process does not become overwhelming, that it takes away from direct services and meaningful engagement with consumers. My advice would be to focus on balance, use data as a tool to improve services and outcomes, not just a task to complete. Encourage teamwork, open communication and innovation when looking at processes and systems. It is also important for leaders to listen to frontline staff because they often understand where the biggest challenges exist and most importantly, never lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is helping individuals with disabilities achieve independency, meaningful employment, and success in their lives. Sarah: Pamela, I think you summed that up beautifully. Pamela: Thank you. Sarah: Yeah. I think my biggest advice to agencies is to start looking at your data and looking at your data with your front line workers who are in it every day and doing the job. They deserve to see that data and be involved in conversations surrounding that data. And it's a culture shift to kind of get your agency talking about that data, especially if you've not done it before. Some field staff, I'm sure, have never heard of the RSA 911 before in some agencies. So I think they deserve to be in those conversations and those conversations. I think it equips them to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Carol: I think people get so exhausted. I feel like sometimes with the collection of the data and making sure it's accurate, and then you submit it. And then on the other end, I know when we go on and do TA and you ask people about like the data or the observations, this isn't everywhere, but I think sometimes it gets so exhausted by the process, you forget to, on the other end, actually like use it and take a look at what the data is telling you. And I love that you said, you know, to involve your frontline staff because there have been different times we have like, say we look at the data dashboards and we're doing a little training with an agency and we have the field staff in there. They've never seen any of it. They don't know where this goes. They just know they have to do this thing where they're collecting all this stuff and it goes to some mysterious place, but they have no idea what it says. And it really is the story of your agency that does get communicated to Congress. Otherwise, they don't have any way to know about the anecdotal, awesome, wonderful things that are happening and getting people into employment unless you have something you can share. So we don't want to fall down at the very last minute and go, okay, we did all the thing, but we're not letting anybody know internally about what's going on with our data and then making changes as a result of it. You know, when you see different trends or things happening, being able to go in and go like, hey, what's up? You guys and the frontline people are sometimes, well, not sometimes they are the best people to talk to. They see what's happening and it comes out in the data. And everybody's sitting in central office like, mm, what's going on in that region? Go talk to that region and find out what's happening. Pamela: Exactly. The frontline staff, we need them. We need to get feedback from them because they are important in the decision making regarding things that, you know, the input and things like that for the different data elements. And I had a conversation with some of my staff because I work, you know, on the front line, just getting answers regarding, you know, different data entries at the time that they spend gathering information. So it was a lot of information that I learned. And just looking at the RSA 911 for the first time, it was overwhelming because I didn't even know all that information was being collected and used. So it was eye opening for me. Carol: And bless her heart, she does it all day, every day, I know. Are you sure you're happy you left public to do this? Sarah: And I think talking with our field staff about like the 911 data, for instance, like that, like just like NRLI, how we kind of came to this realization of how we fit into this bigger kind of national picture. I think for our staff, having conversations around our data and things like that can help them see that as well. Carol: Yeah. That's cool. So one last thing for you all. What about a little plug for NRLI, is there any like if we have listeners out there going like, what's this thing you all participated in? Do you have any kind of little plug you want to tell them about why they should do that program? Pamela: It was a leadership program, a leadership program where all people from all over the world, different walks in their career path participated. And I learned so much from people networking in itself. We still stay in contact, and their system sometimes may be a little different from how we do our things in Maryland. But just being around those folks that we are passionate about, the vocational rehabilitation process was just amazing and very fulfilling for me, and I think it will be an amazing experience for anyone that wants to be a part of this career path to participate. It was an awesome experience for me. Carol: I love that. Sarah: I really appreciated how, I guess intentional the whole entire experience like is designed like. So I think it's really intentional that it happens over the course of like basically a whole year. And then the different sessions or each week has kind of like a different almost like theme, I guess, or concept that you're learning that week. And then by the time you get to the final session in DC, it's kind of the culmination of everything that you've learned. But since time has passed and it's not just kind of like a one and  done thing, you have also kind of matured in your career. At least that's kind of how I felt as I went through it. I also started supervising two new people during that time period. So it was all very relevant and very, I guess, eye opening. But then also there's something I think, really important about it being a leadership program that's also in the lens of VR, right? Like there's tons of leadership programs out there, but they're not kind of tailored towards being a leader in VR. And so I think that's what makes NRLI so unique and different. Pamela: Most definitely. Carol: Yeah, I've seen over time, you know, those cohorts, you make those networks of friends, you guys have, you know, chat groups and all different things and getting together when you're at a conference or, you know, just people to call on and get ideas. If you run into trouble at your agency. You're like, oh, I'm gonna pick up the phone, I'm calling Pamela now, or I'm calling Sarah because they might have a different perspective on that. And I just love that transplanting of ideas across the country. There's such great benefit in that. I'm so glad you guys had a great experience. Pamela: I did, it was amazing. Carol: Thank you both today for this conversation. I'm expecting great things from your paper. I'm really hoping that it is the start of some cool changes. And thank you for joining me. Appreciate you both. Sarah: Thank you. Pamela: Thank you so much. {Music} Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

According to Chris Badgett, effective LMS and eLearning companies gain valuable clients by serving as strategic business partners rather than just creating websites. Agencies should charge for a systematic discovery process that produces a clear blueprint before any work starts, rather than diving right into development or offering planning for free. He likens it to […] The post The Agency Sales Process Behind 5-6 Figure eLearning Website Clients appeared first on LMScast.

Recruiters, do not limp into December. The Finish The Year Strong 2026 virtual summit runs September 28 through October 5, with the top producers and leaders in recruiting, including Pinnacle Society's Michelle Flynn, sharing exactly what is working right now to close the year with momentum. Grab your spot: https://recruiters-finish-the-year-strong.heysummit.com/ This episode is brought to you by Atlas, the CRM that actually understands context. Atlas captures every interview, client call, email, and message automatically, then tells you the next action to take. Agencies building on Atlas are reporting 50 percent higher candidate response rates and monthly billings jumping 85 percent. See it for yourself at https://recruitwithatlas.com/ What actually separates a recruiter who plateaus in the mid six figures from one who breaks a million? Kimberly Laipple spent years stuck between $500K and $600K before she found the answer, and it was not a new sourcing tool or a script. In this episode she tells the story most top billers never tell, starting with the moment at 18 when, as a pregnant single mom, someone told her she would never get a degree. She went on to survive foreclosure, stand in line at food banks to feed her kids, and pour herself into a recruiting desk at Scientific Search, the firm she joined 18 years ago as a recruiter and now leads as president. Kimberly personally billed $1.4 million in her best year while running a team of nearly 20, and she is one of only 80 recruiters admitted to the Pinnacle Society, where she serves as vice president of the board. But the heart of this conversation is how she got unstuck. She walks through the inner work that took her from years of plateaued billings to her first million dollar year, why she believes the one constant in every stuck recruiter's story is the person in the mirror, and what happened when she stopped blaming the market and started examining how she showed up for clients, candidates, and her own team. From there it gets tactical. Kimberly breaks down the Mr. Miyagi deal she makes with every new hire, six months of painting the fence and waxing the car before they ever freelance, and the repeatable process that turned her desk into what a fellow Pinnacle member called a production line, stacking $100K months back to back. She explains why nobody on her team is allowed to source a single candidate until their pitch, email, and voicemail are written and reviewed, how she reads hiring managers that everyone else misreads, and the exact playbook she used to grow from recruiter to president inside one firm: prove yourself, then ask for it. She also shares why she still chooses contingent search at the highest level, how she builds a culture where recruiters stay seven and eight years, and the philosophy that reshaped her career: you cannot keep what you do not give away. If you are sitting at a plateau right now and wondering whether the problem is the market, this episode will challenge you in the best way.  Links:  

Venture capital is pouring into the agency world because of AI — and Jordan sits down with one of the founders at the front of that curve. Jason Hu (UChicago '22, ex-AI researcher, a16z-backed) built Nexad, an AI-native platform for marketing agencies that wraps every major model and 1,000+ integrations into one command center. They cover the three archetypes of AI adoption in agencies, a live demo of creative generation, account health audits, and bulk campaign operations, how Nexad auto-routes between models like Claude, GPT, and Kimi K3 based on daily benchmark evals — and why Jason believes agencies will thrive, not die, in the AI era.Key TakeawaysThe three AI-adoption archetypes: (1) the unfamiliar — heard the buzzwords, only ever used ChatGPT as a chat; (2) the majority — using point solutions (creative gen, one-off agents) but not chaining them into agentic workspaces; (3) the frontier — operators running 20+ agents simultaneously. Each has different pain points; the platform meets all three where they are.The "impossible to keep up" problem: New models ship weekly. Nexad positions as a wrapper and router — an internal eval system runs each new model against ~30 representative agency tasks (health checks, complex campaign ops, long-running tasks) and auto-selects the best cost/performance option daily.Real routing example: Within an hour of Kimi K3's launch, their evals found performance comparable to Claude Opus 4.8 at roughly half the cost — so mid-tier traffic was rerouted automatically. Users pick a tier (Light / Pro / Max), not a model.The agent = a marketing employee's loop: ingest inputs (client comms, ad platform data from Meta/Google/TikTok/GA4, competitor intel), process (analysis, creative generation), output (campaign changes, uploads, client-ready reports). The demo covered competitor creative teardowns, a shareable account health audit, and bulk-uploading 100 creatives to Meta.Guardrails for sensitive actions: budget or creative changes trigger explicit review-and-approve prompts and batch action review — a contrast Jason draws with running raw agents that can "go rogue" in the backend.Client context is the killer feature: the platform reads Slack, Gmail, meeting transcripts, and Drive to build persistent client context ("no logos in creatives") that agents apply automatically — over 50% of agency hours go to client communication, and this attacks that directly.Chat first, automate second: typical adoption path is playing in the chat interface, then converting proven outputs into scheduled automations (e.g., daily health check → Slack report) in about 10 seconds.The closing thesis: AI commoditizes the execution layer of agency work. What remains — and becomes the whole game — is creativity, client trust, and proprietary market insight. Agencies thrive in the AI era; they don't disappear.Resources & LinksNexad: nex.adJason Hu on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/qitian-huWork with Jordan: 8figureagency.co

In the first installment of a four-part summer miniseries, hosts Kate Scott-Dawkins and Sam Weston pressure-test one of four plausible — and deliberately contrasting — futures for AI, advertising, and power by 2035. The scenario under the microscope: The Closed Loop, a world where a handful of vertically integrated platform ecosystems, not governments or open markets, come to govern everyday commercial life. The overarching story: convenience becomes a form of private governance, AI agents become the primary interface between brands and consumers, and marketing itself evolves into an exercise in shaping the instructions humans give their digital assistants.Key Topics DiscussedA control-vs-distribution framework for mapping four AI-driven futures, building on WPP's 2020 "Advertising in 2030" reportThe Closed Loop scenario: persistent AI assistants that manage household purchasing, negotiate on your behalf, and default to platform-preferred merchants and payment systemsWhy closed platforms must consistently outperform open-source alternatives for consumers to accept this trade-offThe regulatory gap between AI capability development and policymaking, referencing Dario Amodei's commentary and Mark Zuckerberg's Wall Street Journal op-ed on open AIHow brand purchase decisions increasingly get intermediated by agents — and why "human prompt injection" (shaping brand preference before the prompt is even written) becomes a core marketing disciplineMedia planning's evolving role in identifying when and how brand preference actually gets setGlobal parallels already in motion outside the US, including Tencent's WeChat super-app, plus Xiaomi and ByteDance's platform ambitionsThe national champion question: will governments cede control to platforms, or assert regulatory authority over themA year-by-year backcast of how this future could unfold, from the "convenience bargain" (2028–2030) through agentic commerce maturity (2032–2033) to full platform-architected life (2034–2035)CRM supremacy, membership psychology (with a Costco parallel), and brand-specific platform variants as retention toolsThree concrete moves for marketers in 2026: one strategic bet, one risk to map, and one signal to watchChapter Stamps00:00 - Introduction & Cold Open00:36 - Series Overview: Four Plausible Futures for 203504:32 - The Framework: Control vs. Distribution Axis06:53 - Introducing "The Closed Loop" Scenario09:35 - What's Missing Today: The Gap Between Now and 203511:09 - The Policy Race: Capability vs. Regulation15:26 - Open vs. Closed AI: The Zuckerberg Op-Ed Debate17:42 - The Existential Question: What Happens to Brands?19:32 - Agents as Intermediaries & Platform Differentiation21:38 - Human Prompt Injection & Brand Preference24:41 - Agencies' New Role: Negotiating Platform Environments26:49 - Beyond the US: Tencent, Xiaomi, ByteDance & Super Apps27:55 - National Champions & the Government-Platform Power Struggle29:19 - Backcasting the Timeline: How We Get There32:23 - 2028–2030: The Convenience Bargain34:30 - CRM Supremacy & the Membership Model36:53 - 2034–2035: Platforms as Life's Architecture40:21 - Three Moves for 2026: Bet, Risk, Signal44:50 - Next Week Preview: "The Agent Commons"

Federal agencies often struggle to turn high‑level guidance on AI and cybersecurity into everyday decisions about procurement, deployment and risk. NIST's new Cyber AI Profile is meant to help close that gap by showing how AI risk management can work in practice. We'll talk about how it's intended to be used and what not to do with it, with Kat Megas, the program manager for cybersecurity, privacy and AI at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

FedRAMP has changed before. What makes the Consolidated Rules for 2026 different is that the dates are on the calendar and the fence sitters have run out of runway. Jason Ford, Co-Founder and CEO of Steel Patriot Partners, has been inside the program since Rev 3 in 2013. Michael Parisi, Chief Growth Officer, comes at it from the business side. Together they map what changes and, more usefully, what it means for the decision in front of a provider right now. So what actually changes? The program consolidates into two paths, 20X and Rev 5. FedRAMP Ready moves to legacy status. Class A, B, and C pipelines open across a thirty to sixty day window, mandatory adoption arrives January 1, and new Rev 5 certifications close on June 11, 2027. Authorized becomes certified. Jason Ford also points out where the rules live: fedramp.gov, hosted in GitHub, which means they move with a commit. Reading them once is not tracking them. Why did FedRAMP need to change at all? Michael Parisi frames it as a supply problem. Agencies and primes have been working from a limited and aging set of technologies while better tools sat outside a process that was slow, rudimentary, and expensive. The action was warranted. His follow-up question gets less airtime: if the process moved faster, did responsibility move with it, and does the stakeholder now holding that due diligence know it yet? The engineering shift is real and it is the part most teams see coming. Jason Ford describes RMF thinking giving way to continuous DevSecOps, proving compliance in real time rather than at a point in time. Vulnerability remediation is where the compression bites. CISA's updated guidance drops severity score as the driver in favor of stepped prioritization, and windows that used to run 30, 60, and 90 days now land closer to three to twenty-one. What does this cost a business past the budget line? Time and capacity. 20X is faster than a Rev 5 process that once ran eighteen months, but faster is not instant. Retraining a couple hundred users inside a thousand-person organization is not a small endeavor, and if the transition eats half of the organization's capacity for a year, that is half as much capacity aimed at the business paying for it. Jason Ford is not arguing against the move. He is arguing that disruption belongs inside the decision. Then there is the internal work almost nobody has started. Mapping an existing Rev 5 ATO scope into a new certification level is not clear-cut, and past the mapping, marketing and sales both need re-education. Michael Parisi describes building a translation layer for customers: here is what we provided before, here is what it is now, and this change came from the program rather than from any reduction in assurance. Roughly half the time, Steel Patriot Partners tells organizations not to pursue certification at all. Michael Parisi treats that as one of the more valuable things the firm does. The opposite failure shows up just as often, with companies preparing to spend heavily on 20X because it sounds quicker and cheaper, when the agency or prime they are chasing expects a certification level. A lower bar only helps if the buyer accepts it. Where should a business start? With the business conversation. Michael Parisi notes the answer does not have to be yes or no today; it can be a maybe with defined trigger points. Jason Ford closes on posture: come with an open mind, and do not hand a multi-year commitment to a language model whose guardrails and training are not built for that call. Or, shorter: don't wait, and don't go it alone. Steel Patriot Partners built a three-question starting point for that first conversation at https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com/find-your-path. This is a Brand Story. A Brand Story is a ~35-40 minute in-depth conversation designed to tell the complete story of the guest, their company, and their vision. Learn more: https://www.studioc60.com/creation#full GUESTS Jason Ford, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Steel Patriot Partners On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-ford-5ab206/ Michael Parisi, Chief Growth Officer, Steel Patriot Partners On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-parisi-4009b2261/ RESOURCES Learn more about Steel Patriot Partners: https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com/ FedRAMP's Consolidated Rules for 2026: What It Means for Cloud Providers: https://resources.steelpatriotpartners.com/fedramps-consolidated-rules-for-2026 Find Your Path, a three-question starting point for ISO, CMMC, and FedRAMP decisions: https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com/find-your-path Complimentary ROI Workshop: https://www.steelpatriotpartners.com/roi-workshop Are you interested in telling your story? ▶︎ Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#full ▶︎ Brand Spotlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlight ▶︎ Brand Highlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#highlight KEYWORDS jason ford, michael parisi, steel patriot partners, sean martin, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast, fedramp, fedramp consolidated rules for 2026, fedramp 20x, rev 5, fedramp certification classes, cloud service provider compliance, federal compliance, cisa vulnerability remediation, continuous monitoring, devsecops, ato, 3pao, govramp, cmmc, grc, federal marketplace, compliance roi Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. 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Employers face new challenges in responding to the Trump Administration's latest “regulatory and deregulatory agenda” and the President's greater control of the federal workforce agencies following the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Slaughter. Join David, Burt and Nita as they discuss the impact of Slaughter on the formerly independent agencies as well as the Trump Administration's plans to remove many long-time regulations at both DOL and EEOC.Contact Fortney & Scott:Tweet us at @fortneyscottFollow us on LinkedInEmail us at info@fortneyscott.comThank you for listening!  https://www.fortneyscott.com/

AI can now write a marketing recommendation about as well as most marketers can. It'll pull the data, read the account, tell you what it would do, and it'll do it in about three seconds. So here is the question that should be keeping every founder and every agency up at night: if the machine can recommend, what are you actually paying a human for?In this solo episode, I break down four things AI structurally cannot give you, why the value of the right humans goes up as automation gets better, and what I am building at Kynship around it.This is not a doom episode. It is the opposite. But it does require agencies and the brands hiring them to make a real shift in what they are actually paying for.Subscribe for more conversations on DTC strategy, eCommerce growth, and what it really takes to build a brand past eight figures.Key Takeaways:00:00 If AI Can Recommend, What Are You Paying a Human For?01:00 What People Are Actually Paying Kynship For02:08 Done Is Not Always Beautiful02:22 The Cabinet Analogy: Agencies as Strategic Partners03:08 The Cross-Client Edge You Cannot Get In-House03:46 Two Essays Every Brand Operator Should Read05:48 The Generic Recommendation Is Now a Commodity06:44 The 4 Things AI Structurally Cannot Give You09:48 Be the Bread, Not the Middle10:32 How Kynship Is Building Around This12:14 What to Ask in Your Next Agency Pitch13:16 The More Automated Everything Gets, the More Valuable the Framer BecomesGrow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/CONNECTGrow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/Follow Cody on X: https://x.com/Cody_WittickFollow Taylor on X: https://x.com/TaylorLagaceFollow the podcast: https://pod.link/1631630533The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.#TheBottomLine #DTCpodcast #aimarketing #ecommerceagency #dtcstrategy

What can private companies learn from government caseworkers about adopting automation and using data more effectively? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I speak with David Turner, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Government Services at Equifax Workforce Solutions, about public sector automation, data modernization, and the people responsible for delivering social services. The conversation begins with a surprising finding from an Equifax Government Services study of over 500 U.S. government employees. Every respondent expected efficiency to improve during the following year, while 95% believed automation would free time for higher value, human centered work. David explains why government employees may be more receptive to modernization than many people assume. Caseworkers operate under rising demand, staffing pressures, changing policy, and limited budgets. When technology removes repetitive administration or supplies information faster, they can see an immediate connection between the tool and the person waiting for support. We discuss how the meaning of automation has changed inside social services. A few years ago, it might have meant entering information into an online portal. Today, integrated connections can search data sources behind the scenes and return verified information during the caseworker's existing process. David describes continuous evaluation, which can identify when circumstances within a caseload have changed. Instead of searching every case for a possible update, a worker can direct attention toward the people whose income, address, or employment data indicates that further review may be needed. Income verification provides another example. Equifax says it can return income information in under one second, helping prevent the delays created when an applicant must leave the process to find a document. Those pauses matter when an eligibility decision already involves several stages and numerous external systems. The gig economy makes this work harder. Applicants may receive income from employment, contract work, digital platforms, and several side projects. Agencies need access to a fuller income picture without sending people back toward paper forms and manual verification. David also shares what Equifax has learned through its Day in the Life program. The team spends time with caseworkers to understand their processes, policy restrictions, and information constraints. He believes public sector leadership can remain closely connected to employees in the field because many agency executives previously performed those roles themselves. AI introduces further possibilities. David discusses how data and AI could eventually identify signs that someone who has left an assistance program may be experiencing financial difficulty again. Community groups, food banks, or other services could potentially offer support before that person returns to crisis. Such a system would also require careful decisions around consent, privacy, accuracy, and responsibility. The central lesson is refreshingly human. Technology creates value when it removes administrative pauses and gives experienced caseworkers additional time to understand someone's circumstances. Could public sector automation teach private companies how to connect technology investment with human outcomes? Listen to the episode and share your thoughts with me.

Recorded live at Cannes, Wpromote CEO Andrea Bendzick exposes why agile independent agencies are eating traditional holding companies' lunch while everyone else scrambles to build overpriced tech platforms. She maps out how mixing performance marketing, smart M&A, and hard revenue-backed brand metrics gives modern agencies an unbeatable edge. Key Highlights ⚖️ Independent agencies sit in a sweet spot where they're big enough to handle massive brands but agile enough to pivot while legacy holding companies stay stuck.

Episode 229: Stuck at the Same Level in Your Coaching Business? Get That Fixed Here: https://go.digitaltrailblazer.com/7-dollar-biz-auditMost coaches, consultants, and agency owners get booked on podcasts, say all the right things, and still walk away with no leads or sales - so they blame the show instead of their strategy.In this episode, Justin Cross teaches us how to turn podcast appearances into real revenue. He unpacks the one thing missing from most guest pitches, the myth keeping founders stuck on the wrong podcasts, and the make-or-break moment most guests get wrong. If you've wondered why one guest turns an episode into a client machine while another gets nothing, this one's for you.About Justin Cross: Justin helps founders, coaches, and consultants turn media appearances into actual clients.Instead of just booking podcasts, speaking gigs, or press, he focuses on what most people miss. What you say, how it lands, and whether it creates real demand.With over 20 years in sales and consulting, Justin works at the intersection of media, messaging, and buyer psychology to make sure appearances lead to qualified conversations, not just more exposure.Grab Justin's Media Playbook: https://justincrossmedia.com/Connect with Justin: https://justincross.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/customadvisor/Want to SCALE your online business bigger and faster without the endless hustle of networking, referrals, and pumping out content that nobody sees?Grab our Ultimate Ad Script for Coaches, Agencies, and Course Creators.Learn the exact 5-step script we teach our clients that allows them to generate targeted, high-quality leads at ultra-low cost, so you can land paying customers and clients without breaking the bank on ad spend.Grab the Ultimate Ad Script right HERE - https://join.digitaltrailblazer.com/ultimate-ad-script✅ Connect With Us:Website - https://DigitalTrailblazer.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltrailblazerTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltrailblazerX (Twitter): https://x.com/DgtlTrailblazerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/DigitalTrailblazer

War Room Dem. Gov. Forced to Admit Trump Was Right After “Software Glitch” Registers 6,600 Non-Citizens to Vote & Minn. Dem AG Reveals Party's Scheme to Steal Midterms, PLUS, Trump Directs Agencies to Waive NDAs for Fmr. Employees Involved in UFO Investigations

On today's podcast, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett talks with Nick Bednar, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and a contributing editor at Lawfare. They talk about two Supreme Court cases issued last week that will have a huge impact on the president's authority over agencies that Congress set up to be independent. In Slaughter v. Trump, the Court held that the president has the power to remove members of independent agencies who had previously been understood to have employment protections that forbade the president from firing them. In Cook v. Trump, the Court carved out a special exception to that rule for the Federal Reserve. They discuss Nick's recent article for Lawfare, what the opinions say, what they fail to say, and what it means for the workforce that makes the federal government function.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.