Podcasts about agencies

Guest Host: Ralph Winterrowd, RBN host of The Ralph Winterrowd Show | IRS, LAW, COURTS DECISIONS, COVID, REGULATIONS & LEGAL AUTHORITY, AGENCIES

As America moves toward a post-pandemic world, hybrid workplaces, Zoom meetings, and social selling are here to stay. Whether you have embraced the transition to a more digital mindset or not, your customers have, and your brand needs to meet them where they are. For this episode of OUTdrive, Cliff sits down with Randy Herbertson, an agency owner and an established thought leader in digital and innovative marketing.  Randy is a recognized brand strategist and creative director with over 25 years experience in marketing and innovation. He is also a business entrepreneur and founder of The Visual Brand (TVB), a marketing agency operating in Westport, Connecticut that specializes in new products, concepts, and services for existing companies. His team's impressive portfolio includes collaborations with brands like Benjamin Moore, Smirnoff, Volvo, and many others. Prior to creating TVB, Randy filled roles as a corporate facilitator, consumer insight specialist, and creative strategist. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Randy earned a degree in marketing and international business at the University of Colorado (at Boulder). Outside of work, Randy is an active member of the community, serving on a number of boards and as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University. With a background in client, agency, media and digital realms, Randy brings perspective from a diverse range of companies and industries to this episode of OUTdrive. Cliff and Randy tackle topics from fine tuning brand insights to preventing burnout in this 24/7 virtual society.   What you'll learn:  Understanding the difference between insights and conclusions, and why it's crucial to the branding process. An in-depth look at the digital revolution, from how advancements in technology pushed innovative ideas to using outsourcing to your advantage to the challenges of navigating the virtual elements of business. Randy's speciality in the “non-iterative” and what he loves about being an independent agency owner. Examples of clients who navigated the COVID-19 pandemic to their industry advantage. The pros and cons of working on a tight deadline versus having an endless timeline that can hinder momentum.  Details behind the structure of The Visual Brand (Randy's agency), employing people of diverse talents, and investing in what Randy calls “people development” Randy's “life hacks” for managing a true work-life balance, specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs.   How Randy got started in marketing and his path to entrepreneurship.  How Randy got started in marketing and his path to entrepreneurship.       

Key Points: How G makes winning a repeatable science (02:38) How G starts establishing opportunities for growth (04:10) My thoughts on maintaining 'scent' and keeping pre and post-click messaging consistent to drive conversions (07:19) How G works with a client, step-by-step (08:20) My thoughts on how drift managed to lead by introducing a new narrative (11:15) G's thoughts on category creation and how to stand out whilst avoiding a feature war (11:55) My thoughts on successfully creating new categories by adding 'must-have' features (17:05) G's thoughts on establishing the full extent of your theoretical customer base (18:00) My thoughts on choosing the ideal market segment from the pool of potential customers (19:50) How G uses data to work out who to target and how to effectively communicate with them effectively (20:55) My thoughts on brand-based differentiation (or lack of) between competitors (25:35) G on how to ensure a connection with your audience using brand ambassadors (28:10) G on how to build up an insight-based customer persona in order to differentiate your brand and offer the right solutions (30:40) Wrap-up (33.40) Mentioned:DriftSegmentGorgiasGainsightG2OwlerForrester ResearchGartner Research My Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

In this episode of Sweathead, Colleen Merwick talks about her experiences as the target of workplace bullying. She takes us through three experiences in three different companies and explains how she's trying to come to terms with what happened and what kind of work life will suit her in the future. Colleen earned a degree in Advertising at Penn State University and a Masters in Creative Account/Brand Planning at Bucks New University. She is currently a freelance brand strategy director in the UK. Her personal mantra is, "What makes me different is my strength." You can find Colleen on LinkedIn here: http://linkedin.com/in/colleen-merwick-06b7885 And you can check out her blog, Baby on My Brain here: https://babyonmybrain.com ** The first Sweathead Strategy Accelerator launches November 1, 2021: http://bit.ly/sweatheadaccelerator

 On this episode of NO More Excuses Wake Up! Introducing the one and only me host Stenell Myers also known as Stenell The Money Therapist. We will be discussing Who I am . What I Do. The agencies I run under Stenell Myers Enterprises When and How I got started owning my businesses From this episode, you will learn:    The year I started both of my businesses JOY Making A Difference (nonprofit) After SchoolProgram and A Second Touch Support Coordination agency (for profit)      What I do in my businesses and the importance of running them togetherThe importance of having a person that walked the path before you to guide you in your business endeavorsThe dream God gave me that ended up being both businesses simultaneouslyHow many clients and staff do Ihave and what I do in both agenciesAdding on a new business DirectSupport (Community Base) to A Second Touch which is two separate businessesBreak down running a nonprofit agency, reimbursement, administration, and the overall duties that come with running a grant ran agencyBreaking down the difference between Stenell the Money Therapist and the Business owner that runs several businessesKnowing when to shut the doors of abusiness and being honest in your truth    Thinking outside the box and notletting the business world dictate who you areUnderstanding my specialty andbeing connected to me to better serve othersIncrease Ministries Rentals my investment property business as a landlord                                             MY PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANTRA  BUDGET   PAY DEBT  SAVE  INVEST   AND   LIVE     On each episode of No More Excuses. Wake Up! We will be talking about Money,Entrepreneurship & Life Skills that were not taught.            You can download my free budgeting spreadsheet at www.stenellthemoneytherapist.comwhile you are there watch my video as I portray Muhammad Ali showing you how Ikick down closed doors.              Book a 3-month 1-1 personal or business coaching call with mehttps://stenellthemoneytherapist.as.me/consultation                  Learn more about me and my agencies:                                www.stenellmyersenterprises.com      If you would like to be on No More Excuses. Wake Up! Podcast, please email me atcontact@stenellthemoneytherapist.com    Have a question? Want to share a topic you think I should discuss? Email me yourquestions and suggestions atcontact@stenellthemoneytherapist.com                               Connect with me atwww.stenellthemoneytherapist.comhttp://www.instagram.com/stenellthemoneytherapisthttp://www.facebook.com/moneytherapyinstitutehttps://linktr.ee/stenellthemoneytherapist       MONEY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LIFE SKILLS  THAT WAS NOT TAUGHT                                            &nb

Key Points How Lattice identified and focused on its niche through conversations with customers (01:55) My thoughts on how to enter a crowded market and find your space by attacking from below (05:00) How Lattice honed their marketing strategy and began interviewing big-name non-customers for their media channels, building a brand association (06:24) My thoughts on building mental availability with professional customers by keeping them in mind and engaging with them early, delivering them unique insights so you are a name they think of when they are ready to buy (07:57) How Lattice developed new products which threatened the existing major players, and their ongoing product strategy (09:09) How Lattice developed its culture around sharing success and caring about conversations, and the importance of that in a people-management platform (11:56) How Lattice managed to differentiate itself from its competitors by focusing on what employees needed, and building a non-sales focused community of HR professionals (14:24) My thoughts on building mental availability by placing yourself at the center of a user community, and leveraging that down the line (18:04) How Lattice managed to differentiate itself as a brand using distinct messaging once competitors caught up from a product perspective (20:54) My thoughts on hooking site visitors with great copy and design (23:18) How Lattice looked outside the box to market its product with books and billboards (23:50) My thoughts on introducing slight cognitive disfluency to your messaging, to force people to stop, think and notice you (24:29) How Lattice has managed to retain its customer base whilst targeting higher-worth customers, by providing messaging and support to both markets, and adapting its marketing and sales strategies (25:30) How Lattice has become more ambitious with its marketing as it has grown, taking larger, big-budget risks to build its community (28:21) Wrap up (31:15) Mentioned:Alex is now CEO and founder at Dock.usLatticeCulture AmpDavid Cancel (Drift)Clayton ChristensenMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

In this episode of the Ridiculously Amazing Insurance Agent podcast, host Kelly Donahue-Piro brings you a mashup of her 3-minute videos. Over the last two weeks, we have been going over how insurance agencies make money and we boiled it down to EIGHT ways. Today, we are wrapping up the second week.   Episode Highlights: Kelly discusses carrier management. (2:41) Kelly discusses the controversial aspect of carrier management. (3:43) Kelly believes that to truly grow an agency, you have to be strategic about where you place business. (4:28) Kelly explains how agency expense management can help with agency growth. (5:34) Kelly encourages agency owners to plan investments for updates to management systems, phone systems, and when they will make their next hiring. (7:27) Kelly shares a little secret about the company's latest course. (8:47) Kelly discusses the benefits and drawbacks of agency fees. (11:27) Kelly discusses the different kinds of agency fees. (13:35) Kelly explains how firing the agency's least profitable customers can help it grow. (15:22) Kelly mentions that agency owners must develop a strategy for letting go of the worst clients in order to focus on the top clients. (19:00)   Key Quotes: “Doing the best thing for the client, it's not always about burdening them with the cheapest carrier. It's also about where we put our money and where we put our business.” - Kelly Donahue-Piro “In order to really grow an agency, you have to be intentional on where you're placing business. And that doesn't always mean the least expensive. It means the best for you and for that client.” - Kelly Donahue-Piro “If there are customers that are draining your agency, we have to remember we cannot be everything to everyone, even though we try.” Kelly Donahue-Piro   Resources Mentioned:   Kelly Donahue-Piro LinkedIn Agency Performance Partners  

Lisa Vielee is President at Well Done Marketing, a 15-yer-old full-spectrum, strategic, creative, and technical agency that provides design, branding, content marketing, public relations, and digital strategy services . . . but not traditional media-buying.  Lisa claims this small, independent agency is unusual for its size in that it has a full web development team and can “go straight from web design to UX, UI, and development, testing, and then continue with ongoing maintenance web development. Lisa explains that “design to development” can be a rocky handoff – but keeping everything “in agency” eliminates this problem. Today, websites, which used to be one-and-done “catalogs,” require constant updating to make sure they provide great customer experience, enhance and support the customer journey, and align with changing customer needs. New business comes into Well Done in one of three ways—through referrals, through “the dreaded RFP process, and finally, and through outbound sales. Dedicated service managers serve as primary points of contact for clients, represent the agency's team for the client and the client internally, and bring in the staff with required skill sets as they are needed. Lisa believes the agency's small size of 30-some employees promotes nimbleness and the ability to maximize budgets. The agency's clients present the agency with “problems to be solved” but solutions now are far more comprehensive than they were in the past. Lisa says it is important to “not just focus on the initial creative strategy” (which tends to live short term inside a campaign) but to take a wider view and develop marketing strategies aligned with long term business and brand goals. She says marketing, is “more than just distribution channels and the4 Ps” (product, price, place, promotion)—marketing needs a seat at the C table.  Lisa feels it is important to mentor younger people and asks them to define their “end goals” and “their visions of success.” She explains that some people may want to create a company, sell it, and become millionaires. Others may want a tight, small, focused team that provides meaningful service and personal satisfaction. Still, others just want to come to work and do a good job, day in and day out. Lisa says these are all valid and that, no matter what each individual is pursuing as success, Well Done will work to keep them challenged.  Lisa, who refers to herself as a “communications generalist,” did not start her career at Well Done Marketing. After earning a degree in journalism, she almost immediately went to the “dark side,” and worked in a variety of public relations positions. When her political candidate/employer lost an election, Lisa started her own PR firm . . . which grew until she had a choice, she either had to start saying “no” or add employees. She met with an old friend, Ken Honeywell, to ask him to mentor her and help her grow to the next level.  But Ken Honeywell had other ideas. He and a fellow freelance writer had started Well Done Marketing by outsourcing their services to other agencies. As they grew, they added visual and strategic skills and data management. Now, Ken wanted to add public relations to his firm's offerings. He brought Lisa on board to add PR and with the intention of grooming her to take over the agency's leadership as he started his 5- to 8-year journey toward retirement.  Six years in, Lisa understands the culture, knows where the agency excels and has developed her vision for the agency's future. Ken will be retiring at the end of the year. Lisa says the hardest part for her in stepping into the role of president has been giving up day-to-day client interaction. Her focus now is on agency-level problems and issues, expanding the agency from a regional to a national “marketing force,” and making it a legacy that lives beyond this transition in leadership. Lisa is available on her agency's website at Welldonemarketing.com. Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I'm joined today by Lisa Vielee, President at Well Done Marketing based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to the podcast, Lisa. LISA: Thanks, Rob. It's good to be here. ROB: It's excellent to have you here. Why don't you give us an introduction to Well Done Marketing and what you do that is so well done? LISA: Well Done Marketing is a 15-year shop here in Indianapolis. We're a full-service marketing agency. We like to say that if it's strategic, creative, or technical, we probably do it. That's everything from design, branding, content marketing, public relations, digital strategy. Also, kind of unusual for an agency our size as a small/mid-size agency, we have a full web development team. So we can go straight from web design to UX, UI, and development, testing, and then ongoing maintenance for our clients, which is really great because sometimes that handoff from design to development can be a little rocky and some things can get lost in translation. That's part of the reason why we brought it in-house. For the most part, unless it's traditional media buying, you can find it here at Well Done. ROB: That's an interesting evolution, because for a time – and this may be part of your transition – web development used to be kind of one-and-done. It seems to me now that a website is never really done and needs to be adjusted alongside everything else that's going on with the brand. LISA: Absolutely. Websites have gone from brochures online to really more of a customer experience. It's the first thing people see and learn about your company, so keeping that content fresh has really evolved from being just updating blog posts to updating everything on your site and making sure it aligns with what the customer wants. The customer journey is paramount, and I think that's where having data and content and having that come together makes a lot of sense, and being able to change that in real time helps us as an agency, and we think helps our clients be really competitive in the market. ROB: Right. It turns it from this big event into just part of the cadence. I totally understand that. Can you maybe give us a picture through the lens of a particular client? What's a walk-through of a typical-ish client engagement for you? Who are you working with? What are the touchpoints? LISA: For any advertising agency, there's probably no such thing as a “typical” client. The clients that we love to work with are the clients that come to us with an overall problem to be solved. It used to be that was always an agency of record, but now it tends to be a project comes in and they recognize that marketing partners such as ourselves can help them do more than put a piece of content or an advertising campaign together. One of our philosophies is to not just focus on the initial creative strategy, but to really take a step back whenever we can and focus on the marketing strategy. That's really more aligned with business goals and brand goals, whereas a campaign – creative strategy tends to live in that campaign, that short term. For a lot of our clients, they'll come to us for a project and then find that we're asking questions and going outside of our lane, giving advice to them that goes beyond the campaign. Even if they don't continue with us, our hope is that we can help that marketing person or that marketing director really understand why they need a seat at the table in the C-suite, and that marketing is really more than just distribution channels and the 4 Ps. ROB: Right. As you talk about the range of services that you work with clients on, how are you then structuring the client engagement and the team around them? How are you establishing the primary point of contact and how do you bring people to the team around them? What's that structure look like? LISA: We have dedicated service managers responsible for all of our clients. They're the primary point of contact. Then we bring in people as needed. Again, as a small independent agency, we can be a little more nimble. We can maximize budgets that way. So we'll tell clients, with the exception of the initial kick-off meeting, where you want everybody at the table – other than that, you will see people when you need them at whatever stage of the process you're in. That account manager's responsibility is not only to represent our team for the client, but also to represent the client internally. ROB: It's such a key relationship and it's always interesting to think about how to structure it, because it's really make or break. There's a lot of stake there in that role. LISA: There absolutely is. A lot of agencies get started with the trifecta. You've got a creative person, a writer, a designer, and an account service person. For us, that's not really how we started. Our two founders were both freelancers, so they started with this loose coalition of freelancers. The two people were writers, and they started an agency based on providing good content. Their first clients were typically other agencies. Along the way, our founder decided that we could do more, that it really was about how he and his partner were thinking as well as the content that came out of it. So as the agency evolved, we found it made sense to show how that thinking works visually, strategically, through buys, through data management, and ultimately – my background's in PR, so also in how we were communicating to different stakeholders. ROB: Absolutely. I think you bring us to an important part of the conversation. You mentioned the founders of the firm, you mentioned those older parts. You've taken us through a little bit of the origin story, but let's talk about your journey into the firm, what you were up to before, and what it looked like to dive into Well Done, and now you're the president. LISA: I am a proud communications generalist. I graduated with a degree in journalism, went over to the dark side and started working in public relations almost immediately, and over the course of my career, I've worked in internationally recognized nonprofits; I've done a stint in two or three different agencies of different sizes. I worked in state government, and then, as is typically the case in government, eventually your candidate loses. When my candidate lost, I took some time to think about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to balance my work and life. I decided to hang my own shingle. You get to a point as a freelancer where you have to decide if you're going to start saying no to preserve your own sanity or if you're going to add people. I have trouble saying no, so I started adding additional people. Ken Honeywell, our founder, and I have known each other forever. Indianapolis is known as one of those “small town” big cities. Everybody seems to know everybody, and in the marketing and advertising space, we all have tended to work with each other or for each other. So Ken and I have known each other for years. We came to a point where I actually asked him to go to lunch because I wanted to ask him how to take the next step. I was under five employees; he at the time had about 20, and I wanted to ask him to be my mentor and really help me grow. It was a fun conversation because his answer was, “Well, sure, I'd be happy to help you, but I was hoping we could take this conversation in a different direction. I think we need to add PR, and why don't you come on board? And oh, by the way, I think you'd be a great successor and a great leader for Well Done.” Really, it was one of those I was looking through a door and he opened the window, and we started having that conversation. From the beginning, we were very intentional about not only how to add that service line and that different way of approaching a customer's communication needs, but also how we were going to approach the internal management of the agency. The staff immediately knew that it was a sign that Ken was going to retire. We always said it was a 5- to 8-year journey so that I could learn the culture, I could really come in and understand where we did our best work and what that meant, and also put my vision together for the second generation of leadership. And now here we are 6 years later, and it's bittersweet because Ken is retiring at the end of the year, but everyone is ready. Not ready as in “Get out of here,” but ready in terms of we know where we've been, where we're going, how our story is evolving. ROB: What I'm hearing you say is first day in the door, you were going from around five people in your organization to maybe around 30 or so? What was that jump in responsibility? LISA: Yeah, I was employee #24. In the last few years, we've added people. I think we're now at mid-30s. I'd like to think that bringing my company in was a good addition because we've been able to add clients and add people. But the other thing that I've realized, again, as that communications generalist, is I was well-positioned to understand the agency from a business perspective. A lot of agencies that are started the way ours started don't necessarily have the greatest business structure. I take this role of president really seriously in that I've given up being involved on the day-to-day – which was really, really hard. That was probably my biggest challenge at first. I didn't want to give up that day-to-day client interaction and being involved in solving their problems. It took me a couple of years, but I realized after time that my job was to solve the problems and issues of the agency and working on the agency. That's really set us up for success going forward because my leadership team, we have big dreams. We want to grow from a regional company to a more nationally recognized agency. And having someone at the helm of that is a really important part to making that happen. ROB: Was that the hardest part to let go of? The last responsibility you wanted to give up was working directly with the clients, then? LISA: It's been a 5-year journey. To be fully transparent, I am turning over the reins for my last client next month. ROB: That's progress, right? I think you highlight a neat opportunity for the entire services industry. There's seemingly always room for the next wave of companies to rise up from nothing to regional player to national player. Some of them get bought along the way and some of them stand strong. It's a great journey to be on. LISA: Yeah, I think so. It's exciting, for sure. In my experience, from the places where I've worked, a lot of agencies, especially in the Midwest – we're very humble people. It's kind of scary to share that big goal. But again, to have a founder who is so willing to help his baby get to the next step and bring on someone that can really make it become a legacy – because that's the other thing. Agencies tend to come and go as the founders come and go. It's been a real gift to have this opportunity to really work with our leadership team and envision where we want to go and make it something that can be a legacy for our founder. ROB: When you start to think about growth, there's lots of struggles, but there's a couple that constantly come into play. It's sales and execution in the services business overall. I think one of the hardest things to get predictable for an agency can be seeing a lane to predictable growth beyond – I think sometimes we just feel like we luck into business, we get referrals, we grow organically. How have you thought about scaling growth? I think that can be very intimidating. LISA: That's an interesting question, because we've tried several different models for that. We have had a couple of new business directors and have found – and maybe it's just my poor hiring, but we've had people that are great networkers and can open doors, but are not salesmen, and we've had people that are great salespeople but don't necessarily understand the agency business. We have now made business development a responsibility of our accounts team and really have encouraged anyone that has that dream client or that industry that they bring some expertise or they want to grow in, to bring that to the table, and we'll start looking for connections. I might be dating myself here, but it's a little bit like seven degrees of Kevin Bacon. Eventually we sit down and realize that there's no such thing as a cold lead. ROB: Right. What I hear you saying is that the accounts team function in an opportunity identification mode, and then it's more of a team sport after that. LISA: Yeah, it is. Let me take a step back. New business comes in in one of three ways. We've mentioned referrals; that's always a primary source, especially from clients who believe in what you do and think you're a good partner. There's always the dreaded RFP process. [laughs] It's a necessary evil of our business and can result in really good work. Then the third piece is that outbound sales. I think this is a place where ecommerce, SaaS companies – obviously, you get into the retail and consumer market, people do really well. But professional services tend to have a struggle in carving out time for that. I think that's the difference. That's where the lead really happens for a small agency to become more of a mid-size regional player: by recognizing that you have to sell yourself a little bit as well and go after some of those big fish. For a long time, we talked about how we were punching above our weight class. I've really challenged our team to start thinking, maybe we're in our weight class. Let's just punch where we are because we can do the work and we bring a special kind of strategy and thinking to the table that helps distinguish us from some of our larger competitors who may have scaled to such a size that the process is there, and it works for their clients, but we're a little bit scrappier. ROB: Right. There's an extent to which I think unless an organization is very intentional about seeking a particular size of opportunity – I know very small consultancies that pursue very large clients, and we've talked to a couple of agencies on the podcast that are 800 people and they're working with local plumbers. Those are the exceptions. Everything else seems like, to an extent, the right size opportunity ends up matching your speed. I can't quite explain the serendipity of it, but it seems the size of opportunity comes to you when you're ready for it, to an extent. LISA: Yeah, I completely agree. Serendipity is a great word. I have always referred to it as karma. One of the things any company has to do, in my opinion, as they grow is have the ability to say no. That's the local plumber thing. It's really hard to say no to business, especially – we're a 15-year agency; we lived through the recession. We're currently living through COVID, and third and fourth generation of COVID. There's a tendency to just take any work as it comes. I'm a firm believer that if you say “No, thank you” with a referral – “Let me hook you up with someone that might be a better fit” – that's karmic, and people remember that. They remember that you're good people, and when the time is right, that's going to come back around and it's going to serve you. ROB: Something I think you alluded to when you mentioned the SaaS companies, the startups, the software companies – it seems that sometimes service companies, agencies, will try to borrow maybe a little bit too much from those playbooks, and in the process they'll try to act like a SaaS company that's trying to sell $500 a month widgets, which is never going to feed the business sufficiently. How have you thought about the right granularity of sales? It sounds like by surfacing the leads through a thoughtful process with the team, you're avoiding this kind of “Let's blast the universe and everyone who could be our customer.” LISA: You couldn't have said it better. On my drive in to work, I listen to marketing podcasts much like this one, and I wish I could remember where I heard it so I could attribute it correctly, but I heard someone talk about issuing a challenge to agencies to decide where they live on a continuum. Are you an agency that makes things, or are you an agency that thinks things? So a true consultancy, which has become a bad word, or that widget-maker? I like to think Well Done leans more to the thinking things side. We're not a good fit for people that need widgets. We're going to be too expensive, or our process is going to be too frontloaded, or frankly you're going to get frustrated because we are interested in creating your brochure or your website. We're really interested in understanding not only how to find a solution for your problem, but why is your problem a problem? So we tend to really look at context as well as content. Our model is very audience-centric, and that means our client – we get that our clients have 1,000 things to think about. For us, we're thinking about them 100% of the time we're working on the account, but for them, our work is only a part of it. If we can ask smart questions, help them consider things outside of our little part of it, and take some of that off their plate simply by understanding the context in which they're working, then for us, that's really when we're successful at our job. ROB: That makes sense. You're going to naturally match pace with some of those clients that look like where you are as an organization and where you're comfortable. In the startup world, they talk about – not that we're hunting animals; people won't like that metaphor – but the question, are you hunting rabbits or deer or elephants? You need to know, because those tasks all take specific tools, specific teams, specific tactics, and you're going to have to build the whole organization around it. Or you're just going to wait around and see what falls into the trap, I guess might be the metaphor. [laughs] LISA: [laughs] And it requires some strength of character as an organization as well. When you hunt elephants, that's a longer play. It takes more people. You've got to see the elephant from every side, and there's some risk involved with that. So it's building some of that internal trust that this is going to be the right fit for us; this is going to fit our mission. For Well Done, our mission is to do good in the world and work with clients who are doing good in the world. That's not a fit for everybody. Yeah, sure, we could – what's the other analogy? – shoot fish in a barrel, as long as we're on the hunting theme here. You could shoot fish in a barrel and get all of those little projects pretty easily, but it doesn't help an agency grow, and frankly, in my experience, I don't think it is satisfying for people that really have a passion for this industry. ROB: Lisa, as you reflect on your tenure with Well Done, but also leading into that, what are some lessons you've learned along the way that you might want to go back and tell yourself to do things a little bit differently if you were starting over? LISA: Some of it is really personal to me and my personality, so I'm not sure how helpful this'll be, but all the personality tests I've taken, I'm a driver, I'm a high D, Type A. One of the things I've learned along the way is the bull in a china shop method is really not effective. It really, really is not effective. It really is about listening and learning and creating a culture of mentorship. Up, down, sideways, we all have something that we can teach one another. I think when I stopped moving and sat and observed this agency – and that was really a gift, to have that time to do that – that was when I recognized that the sum is greater than the parts. I know it sounds kind of cliché to say that, but you've got to focus on people as well as profits. I get a lot of questions from our team about “How big is big enough? How large are we going to grow?” It's really hard to put a concrete number to that for someone like me. It really is about we will be too big when we can't focus on our people and also maintain a profit that allows us to grow. That's the best answer I can give. That's when I'll know that we've grown too large: when our culture and our mission start to suffer. ROB: That is so much the answer that I think is hard to learn and hard to articulate. Start with the mission. What is the mission? We actually had a situation where our team said, “We're too small to be the partner that we want to be for clients right now in every respect.” But that's part of the goal of the mission: to have a place to go to. If you're not doing it anymore, then you realize you're not on the mission and it's too big. LISA: That's really interesting. I know several companies here locally that have actually decided to downsize because they weren't able to provide what they felt was best. I applaud that. I'm at a stage in my career where it's really important to me to start giving back to younger professionals, and one of the things I tell the people that I mentor is to really understand how you define success. Success doesn't have to be creating a company that gets bought and you're suddenly a millionaire. For some people, that's exactly what success looks like. But for other people it really is having a tight, small team and staying in your lane and providing the service that is meaningful for you and allows that personal satisfaction. I think generationally, that is starting to change. I think the younger generation gets the fact that there needs to be some personal satisfaction and that the career ladder is not maybe as important as it used to be, and the focus on personal growth. That's something that, again, talking about listening, we try to understand as people come on board. What is your vision of success? What is your end goal? If you want to go from production designer to designer to art director to creative director, if we know that, we can help provide a better career for you and also know that you are interested in growing with us. But you know what? If you want to come in and do your job effectively, day in and day out, there is absolutely room for that as well, and we're going to try to keep you challenged. That's something as an industry I think marketing and advertising needs to come to terms with: people that just want to come and do a great job every day are still so valuable to the organization. ROB: Yeah, it's a very timely both challenge and opportunity. In this time, I think a lot of people have reconsidered what kind of role they want to do, and when and where. People who want to max out compensation can play that game, and some people who want to do meaningful work can play that game, but they might want to do it differently from how they were doing it let's say two years ago. LISA: Yeah, it's a totally different way to think about business, and that can be a challenge, to be that kind of flexible organization. And again, there are very large agencies that are doing it really well. It just depends on where you want to go and what your definition of success is. But I think to your point, it also is really important that we change the business mindset to fit the people that are coming into it. ROB: Lisa, when people want to find you and connect with you and Well Done Marketing, where should they go to track you down? LISA: Well, they'd better go to the web, because I just said that's where everybody starts. [laughs] The nice thing about our name is it's really searchable. Welldonemarketing.com is our address. If you're in Indianapolis, we say our door is always open. We're right next to a Mexican restaurant with great margaritas, so you can come and see us too. ROB: That's wonderful. I do recommend a visit to Indianapolis. I've enjoyed some time there, for certain. Thank you so much, Lisa, for coming on the podcast and sharing your journey and the story of Well Done. LISA: Thanks, Rob. It's been a really great discussion. ROB: Be well. Thank you. Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

This week on Deadline City we head to the Query Quarter. We have an honest discussion about how we got our agents, when you know you need to move on, and how to keep going. Whether you're polishing your first letter or an author thinking of making a change, this episode is for you. Support the show (http://Ko-fi.com/deadlinecity)

Are you thinking about the ways you could use NFTs for your digital agency? After working in nine agencies, Kent Lewis decided to start Anvil Media in 2000, which is nowadays one of the oldest search engine marketing agencies in the Pacific Northwest that specializes in analytics, SEO, paid media, and organic social media strategy. Last year, during the NFT boom, Kent wrote a not so serious press release about this phenomenon and got the attention of companies wanted to learn how to use these one-of-a-kind digital assets. Just like that, he got into the NFT world and is developing some projects around them. Today he joins Jason to talk about what are NFTs, how some companies started using them, the possibilities to further develop their potential, and how can digital agencies get in on the action too. 3 Golden Nuggets What are NFTs? There's been a lot of talk about non-fungible tokens since their boom last year. In essence, it is is a unit of data stored on a blockchain that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable. We've seen sold for hundreds of thousands, but how can companies use them? Some early adopters saw success from selling digital items to create brand awareness (Pizza Hut selling digital pizzas, Pringles selling a golden chip). But there's still much room to continue innovating. How brands are using them. If the first step was brand engagement the future of NFTs for companies includes brand engagement and brand perception management. In this post-pandemic world of much more remote work and remote communication, it makes sense to add digital products to your offerings. The future of NFTs includes its gamification, meaning tokens, rewards, exclusive access, and more. How can agencies get in on the action? As we've seen, agencies can help their clients jump on the NFT trend to create brand awareness and engagement. But some agencies are themselves starting to use NFTs. Access to exclusive rewards is a good way to create interest in your brand. Some agencies are starting to do this by the tokenization of their time. For example, someone that gets a good deal on one of your agency's tokens could get a good deal for an hour of your time. Kent also recommends paying close attention to how Gary Vaynerchuk is innovating with NFTs. Sponsors and Resources Wix: Today's episode is sponsored by the Wix Partner Program. Being a Wix Partner is ideal for freelancers and digital agencies that design and develop websites for their clients. Check out Wix.com/Partners to learn more and become a member of the community for free. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher | Radio FM Using NFTs Like Gary Vee To Create Brand Engagement Jason: [00:00:00] Hey, what's up, agency owners? Jason Swenk here and have another amazing guest for you. We're going to talk about how your agency can use NFTs. That's right. And we're going to tell his story and so you can do that. So let's go ahead and jump into the episode. Hey, Ken. Welcome to the show. Kent: [00:00:25] Pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. Jason: [00:00:27] Yeah, man. I'm excited to have you on. So tell us who are you and what do you do? Kent: [00:00:32] So my name is Kent Lewis. I am based in Portland, Oregon since 95, you know, marketing PR background. But in 96, I got involved in the internet, started optimizing websites before Google was a thing. And I've been a part of nine agencies, founded two, co-founded two. But when I was fired the second time from an agency that I was a key manager in, I decided I'm probably unemployable. Better do my own thing. So started out in 2000 with Anvil Media, as a consultancy and started bringing in employees in 03. And have been active and keeping it a relatively boutique-sized digital marketing agency since then. And when I'm not doing the agency thing, you know, I'm trying to get outside. That's the great thing about Portland, we're an hour and a half from the ocean, from the mountains from rivers, you name it. Jason: [00:01:20] Awesome, so are you a fly fisherman? Kent: [00:01:23] My first ever fly fishing experience was on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, about three months ago. Gal, one of my friends, she gave me the rod and said Kent, and one just keep throwing it. And I caught a least solid three and a half-inch steelhead. So I didn't eat it. It was probably good for a pizza. And I guess you could say I was maybe hooked. So I think I might try more of that later, but I'm mostly like bike cycling, snowboarding, skiing, kind of guy. Jason: [00:01:50] Very cool. We'll get along very well. That's, that's all me. That's why I live in the mountains. But, um, we're not here to talk about the mountains. Let's talk about… I'm curious, because I've been fired from almost every job. Why were you fired from that one agency? Kent: [00:02:05] Well, so the first time I was fired was an agency I co-founded in 99. And by fall of 2000 we had a disagreement about equity and our role. There were two junior folks. I was like 25, 26 at the time. And there was the founder who used his 401k to fund it and we helped grow it to three and a half million, 35 people in less than two years. But, you know, we had gone in… much as I should ran of myself, my other young partner who ran the PR side and I ran the internet side. She was like I'm going in to get more equity. Are you in? I was like, I guess, yeah, because I helped build this thing. And he was offended by that and instead of firing just her he fired both of us. And by the next week, uh, October, 2000, I created Anvil as a, as a placeholder. Interestingly, the name Anvil Media comes from an easy I'd been running for four years. I thought I'll just sell the easy for a million dollars and retire. It's still archived at @anvil-media.com, but I haven't touched it since 06. Not worth a dime now, but that team that I left in late 2000 was acquired by another agency. And then my boss, who was my mentor and, you know, it was tragic to me that we had a falling out. He died of a massive heart attack at 42. So they needed somebody to run my own team. So this old school agency asked me to take my team back over and I tripled revenue. Then, in the end, my girlfriend decided the Creative Director was more interesting than I was, even though he was married. And since he was on the board and had been there 20 years, he had a little more juice than I did and canned my ass. And then I decided I better do my own thing. So it was about a girl the second time. Actually, it was about a girl both times. The other was my business partner and she was very amazing and also made a lot of bag mistakes. And I got lumped in when she and I united. So there's a whole book there somewhere when I have the time, but it was never about my performance. It was never about my abilities. It was always about bad judgment. I'm not innocent in it so much as I picked the wrong horses. Jason: [00:03:56] Yeah, gotcha. I do want to get to how you tripled revenue later on, but I do want to get into the NFTs. So explain for some people that have… I mean, if you've been living under a rock, what an NFT is and then how can agencies use NFTs to really benefit their agency? Kent: [00:04:15] Yeah. So it's actually a great story, but I'll just answer your question directly. If we have time, I'll go into the backstory because it exemplifies the timing in my career. Um, I'm not that smart. I'm just tall male with a short name and I'm not unattractive. And I think that's been as much of my success as hard work and smarts. So NFTs. So I'd been reading about, you know, what Pizza Hut and Pringles and all these brands were messing around doing these little PR stunts, basically. Creating these little non-fungible tokens, being their little digital assets that you can own. And, you know, buy, sell, trade. And because they're probably of blockchain, you can have a whole history of that item. So brand we'll get into, you know, why it matters to marketers. But to back then, we're talking March, 2021. I was like, this seems like second life. You remember second life, the virtual world. I was consulting with HP on that like however many, 14 years ago. And I realized for the first time in career, I could be one word ahead or one sentence ahead in the book. I didn't have to write the book. I didn't have to write the chapter, I just needed to spend a little more time on it and think about it just another 30 minutes longer than my client, and then help guide them through how to create a second life experience. Same thing with, uh, it's all over again, right? The world repeats. It's a spiral and a circle, historically speaking, even in tech. I read about these non fungible tokens. You create this asset, like these virtual tacos or virtual pizzas, like Pizza Hut or these Pringle gold chips. And then people get excited because you're an early adopter, even if there's a fairly worthless asset. But it wasn't because people were reselling these on the secondary market. They got them for free and they were selling them for 10, 20, $30,000. And I was like, this sounds a lot like Bitcoin for brands. And so I wrote a press release April 1st, as I've been doing the last 15, 18 years. I write a fake press release on April every year, and this one was about NFTs and, you know, NFTs, you might know as most famous things, digital watches from Jacobson and Company or digital sneakers. And so I took the idea of a digital sneaker because we're in the backyard of Adidas America and of course, Nike and I said that these other agencies are building digital sneakers. We're 10 steps ahead where building virtual shoe boxes to story of virtual sneakers to put in a virtual closet and a virtual house that we build you just to store your digital sneakers. Just totally full of it, right? Totally riffing off of a core concept. And low and behold, a very large social media platform with a blue logo reached out to me and said, hey, we need help. We've got… We're getting a virtual sneaker build for one of their communities. And we can, would, they could tell that we're very serious about it by reading that press release. So they didn't read the press release that closely, bless their hearts. And that led to another conversation. So basically what I did is I would hopped back a second and I was like, shoot, if they're serious, then I'm serious. So I read up on it. I wrote an article that's on a website called thinknorthwest.org. It's a big ad networks for the West Coast, Portland, San Francisco. Uh, about what is NFT and why does it matter? And we can talk more about that in a second, but in the end I've been talking to three large brands, including a sneaker brand about how to use NFTs. Including one of the brands that's a big technology company with a black and white logo that basically is trying to use it for B2B. How do you get into the tech community? And can we use NFTs to incentivize behaviors for deep tech clientele. Even the OEM channel reseller channel, very complicated, convoluted, not theoretically as sexy. And I love the challenge. So I'm talking with them in an hour, then try and see if we can finalize a project. So long story short, we took this, what was a press release joke into a reality of an offering to clients. And we're having these multiple discussions with larger brands. So in the past, I've evangelized mobile marketing, video marketing, podcasting, voice search, Amazon marketing. And I evangelize it as a, with my PR background, speak about it, write about it, and then develop through my articles, a concept or a structure for a service, and then sell that service. I've done that for most of my career. And the NFT happened to start out as a joke, skeptical, healthy skepticism, that it was really something. As I did the research, I realized it's extremely powerful. Because it solves… NFTs, non-fungible tokens, unlike Bitcoin, where if there's equal value, one Bitcoin equals one bitcoin. I own one, you own one. It's the same value. And a non-fungible is a one-off item that you can pay me for with Bitcoin, but it's non-replicable. Non-scalable. And so the idea is you're, you're owning an asset for something. And that's why you can say that's 30 grand to own this. Or the meme of the fire girl, the little girl with the blazing fire out of her house. And she's staring at the camera and they sold… That gal, now that she's going into college, sold it for half a million dollars and helped fund college and gave some to charity. Just for some rich person to own the digital rights to that, right? Beeple's $69 million collage. Um, he's arguably not a good artist, but he's a first-mover developed a lot of credibility in the space and had enough of a following that some very wealthy art collector, using the term loosely, decided to get a bidding war and spend crazy money. But how does that relate to brands? So there's a couple things to keep in mind for NFTs. And that is there's, because it's blockchain, it's trackable, defensible. There's no fraud, theft, or manipulation possible with an NFT, you can create as many copies as you want. You can sell them, you can give them away. But it allows… In the end, it allows for a few different things for brands. One is just general awareness. So the things that you've seen in the, in the press related to these predominantly quick-service restaurants or manufacturers and retail, lifestyle brands, Pringles, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut… Charmin has an NFT-P as in "TP." So they're just creating brand awareness. And if you like the brand, you might love them for that, if you're technologically savvy. But what I think is the next phase, because that's really what's happening in the last year. What's happening in the next year is brand engagement brand perception management. So luxury brands are getting into it. Hoochie, Jacob & Co., like I said, Jacobs & Co. are obviously a very expensive watch brand and sold an NFT watch for $100,000. Again, fairly worthless other than to the buyer, right? So brand engagement. Uh, what I think is really the secret sauce is, and this is where it gets into the B2B world, where it can apply is in the engagement for the customer. And customer retention is using it for gamification and incentives. So tokens, loyalty reward programs, earn certain tokens. Those tokens can be exchanged for things, art, music, whatever. And so it's just a clever way to up your ante and see, be seen as a forward-looking brand or an agency that creates this stuff for clients. Because a lot of like the top shot, NBA, virtual trading cards of the top 10, most expensive trading cards of all time up there with Honus Wagner is the Dallas Maverick, right? And his car traded for almost $3 million and it's a digital card. But in my backyard, Damian Lillard with the Portland trailblazers, he's added special access to groups, discussion groups, VIP access to certain events, or just access to him. So you're getting, you're paying a premium, but you're getting something that's very exclusive. That's really what NFTs are about right now, or now is exclusivity. I think also that the next phase, which will be one plus years out would be the product extensions. Agencies helping brands create products that are natural extension of their current offerings, especially in a post pandemic world. There's a lot more of this remote work, remote communication. So creating products that are more digital and interactive, it's particularly interesting right now. And then the last component would be the tokenization of time. So as an agency, you could tokenize your time where it can be bought and sold on the secondary market. Why people might do that? Hard to say. But, uh, there's a Reuben Bramanathan who's with IDEO CoLab Ventures. He's tokenized his time. And one token is equal to one hour of his time and the guy might trade his time. He might, I might have to pay him 500 or a thousand dollars. But if I get a good deal on a token, I might save a ton of money more than likely to pay right now, paying more for a token than it's worth. And then relate to that is just creating that digital ecosystem. So when I mentioned second life, there's a new version of that. And that is, there are many of them actually, but one of them is popular. It's called Superworld, where you can own the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel tower in a virtual recreation of the world, the planet. Using satellite imagery, you could add things into that world. You can develop things like second life, but mainly if you want to say I own the Eiffel tower, you can go in Superworld and buy it. If it's not already been purchased since I last looked. The Great Wall, Taj Mahal, etcetera. Those are just some of the ways a brands are using it today. One that I glossed over that's product extension. A good example is gaming. So you've got Ubisoft has a game called Rabbits. F1 has Delta time. So what, what F1 has done well with their reality show on I think Netflix. And then this, uh, F1, uh, Delta time NFT assets related to kind of gamification of F1 is they're extending out what is a very elite wealthy following. Most people don't fly to Monaco to watch the race from a yacht, but there are other ways to interact with the brand. And F1 has mastered that. Uh, and then even Microsoft has a fairly ghetto Minecraft-like game called Azure Space Mystery. That is, um, kind of remedial, but it has, it's in the NFT world. So, um, how that relates is Fortnight, if it stays relevant for another year or two, or other games like it, you could buy and sell armor and weapons and other customizations. That's one way you can buy, sell, and trade your gear within the games would be through NFTs because of the trackability that you need to do the anti-fraud protection. And then brands can obviously create assets and then know that they've protected that asset through NFT. Jason: [00:14:41] When you're an agency partner with Wix, you unlock an entire digital ecosystem for creating, managing, and growing your agency. Get the full coding and design freedom to create anything your clients need, along with the tools to manage and collaborate with your team seamlessly from anywhere. And when it comes to growing your agency, you can get matched with new leads every day and earn revenue share for every website you guys create. They're backed by the Wix industry, leading security and site performance. You'll also have a dedicated account manager on standby 24/7. So you can reach your goals and start setting new. See for yourself, head over to wix.com/partners. And re-imagine what your agency can accomplish. Now my head's spinning, which I… with ideas. And I mean, it's just to comprehend all of this is a, a little overwhelming figuring out. But that's, it's really pretty fascinating that's where a lot of the world is actually going. And, uh, those are some great examples, you know, from F1, Microsoft, and even how some of the agencies are selling their time for NFTs. It's crazy. Kent: [00:16:02] Yeah. For now it is and it will settle down. It's, it's more profound, you know, Gary Vaynerchuk has doubled down. So if you want to figure out how does an agency monetize NFTs just look at what Gary Vaynerchuk has done with NFTs. And I've had the luxury to seen him speak twice. And I thought he was just a grade-A douche bag and nothing better. And he's far more than. In fact, I firmly believed that it's, his, his character his act and he really has a huge heart and does a lot of good things. You just wouldn't know it because he has a potty mouth, which I have no problem with. And, uh, just the way he kind of yells and preaches at people. But he has a lot of good things. I never disagree that he's a smart guy and he's on point, but he's doubling down on NFTs in ways that make me look like a troglodyte. Like I'm, you know, like, I don't get it. And he's built a whole marketplace and a bunch of assets and that's cool. Cause he can do that. Cause you know, he shouldn't even be working anymore, but he's never going to stop. So look at what he's done. If you want to see what a true agency pioneer that started out just as a small wine dealer has done, it's pretty remarkable. Jason: [00:17:00] Give us one example of what you really liked that he's doing in his agency using NFTs. Kent: [00:17:06] Well, I like that he's giving back. So with his NFT agency and I, we're going to apply cause we're doing an NFT mural fundraiser here in Portland, in September. But we can apply once we build the NFT and what do you call mint it, then we can apply. If we put it on the right, uh, marketplace and use the right technology, he can use some of the proceeds and resources he's developed with his NFT company. You know, like it basically an NFT agency to help you build something better, especially if it is for a nonprofit or cause-driven social responsibility sort of thing. And, and you can get some horsepower. So he's already built giving back into his model, which I really appreciate and admire. Look at what he's doing there. So he's not just riding the money train, he's pivoting that to provide opportunities to do social good in the process. Jason: [00:17:55] Awesome. Well, this is been very educational and, uh, and really pretty cool to listen to. What's the website people can go and, uh, check the agency out? Kent: [00:18:04] Uh, you can go to anvilmediainc.com or just Google Anvil Media. You'll find me with Anvil, Portland, anvil, Kent Lewis, whatever. And then if you just Google Kent, Kent Lewis NFT, or just go to thinknorthwest.org and their blog, you'll find my article, NFT Marketing: How brands can use NFTs to engage consumers and generate revenue. I think that's a great read. And then just also look at what Gary Vaynerchuk and NFTs looked that up and news and, um, Google search generally, and you'll find a lot of great information. Jason: [00:18:36] awesome logo. Everyone go check that out and thanks so much, Kent, for coming on the show. If you guys liked this episode, make sure you guys subscribe. Also, if you want to be around other agency owners who are on the cutting edge and they're sharing the stuff that's working and be able to see the things that you might not be able to see. I'd love to invite all of you to join our exclusive mastermind. It's called the digital agency elite. So go to digitalagencyelite.com and apply. And then if we feel that you're right for the community and the community is right for you. We'll have a conversation and see if it's, uh, uh, double-check that. And so make sure you go there now. And until next time have a Swenk day.

One of the biggest challenges at transit agencies during the pandemic has been making sure there was enough money to stay in operation. In New Mexico, the Department of Transportation took a unique approach that underscores the spirit of cooperation we found throughout the transit industry. They funded the operating expenses for the 21 transit agencies in the state and were able to do that because the three largest agencies in the state agreed to forego their share of federal funding to help the other 18 agencies. David Harris, Director of Transit and Rail Division in the New Mexico Department of Transportation tells Paul how this unique funding plan came together and how his state of 2 million people is connected by bus and rail. Next week we have a special episode from Nashville, Tennesee and hear from not just the head of the agency, but his executive team as well. The interviews from the episode will also air as one of the upcoming Transit Unplugged TV episodes, along with extra behind-the-scenes footage of the agency and the city. If you have a question, feedback, or want to be a guest on the show, you can email us at info@transitunplugged.com.  Until next week, ride safe and ride happy.

In today's episode, we talk to Bob Roth, Managing Partner of Cypress HomeCare Solutions. Speaking from an extensive career in home care, Roth, who is also the radio show host of Health Future and writes the monthly column, “Aging Today,” discusses his work with Cypress HomeCare. He also goes on to explain how consumers in the home care field can benefit from using an employee-based agency as opposed to hiring a private caregiver, which may lead to more liability on the consumer. Roth also explained some of the pressing workforce issues in the home care field and some of the things that can help solve those issues.  In today's episode, we discuss:  The personal experience that led Bob Roth to home care  The benefits of an employee-based agency  Workforce issues in home care 

Christian discusses with Simon Severino (based in Vienna) on SaaS Business strategies: How B2B Saas companies double their revenue in 90 days when nobody knows them Who is Simon Severino? Simon Severino helps business owners in SaaS and Services (Consultancies, Agencies) discover how to be able to run their company more efficiently which results in sales that soar. He is also a Forbes Business Council Member, a contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine, and a member of Duke Corporate Education. You can reach his company at: https://strategysprints.com or connect with him via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonseverino/   Are the questions you need answered in future episodes? Suggest topics for future podcast episodes: https://meetchrisbartsch.com/how-you-can-suggest-a-podcast-topic-for-the-growth-zone-show/ Are you looking to increase your revenue by creating new products or service offers? To achieve true market innovation you need to design your entire value to market strategy in alignment with the requirements of the P9 concept. This allows SMEs and corporates to grow their market share where competition is not in sight. If you are a business leader with $10m+ Revenue and want to know more about how Christian advises business leaders on market innovation, then contact him here: meetchrisbartsch.com

Whether you're a 2 person or a 2,000 person agency; there is a need diversity, equity and inclusion. MJ Insurance has embraced this philosophy. Join Jon Loftin and Shaq Thomas, MJ Insurance as we discuss being better if we can all live our truth. We welcome your review of Closing the Gap on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about Westfield's independent agency partners.

Which agencies were able to not only survive—but thrive—amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Adweek presents our third-annual Fastest Growing Agencies list. We're joined by AgencySpy editor Kyle O'Brien and agencies reporter Emmy Liederman to discuss.

Key Points How Colin and Customer.io broke into their category (01:22) My thoughts on product-based differentiation (03:03) What game Customer.io is trying to win (04:34) How Colin is trying to differentiate Customer.io (05:47) Colin's thoughts on building and running a distributed company (09:06) My view on new ways of management (10:53) How Colin thinks about moats (12:40) Colin's take on the big players in his category (16:12) How Customer.io attracts tech-savvy buyers (20:30) My thoughts on competing through innovation (21:22) My advice on building a personal brand (25:35) Wrap up (28:27) Mentioned:TeslaLucidDriftIntercomMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

My guest today is Johan Van Zutphen - CEO of Robin (www.robin.jobs). Robin offers intermediate services between temporary employment agencies and people looking for a job with a living space.  During his Master studies in International Business in 2007, Johan established Robin: the first Lithuanian agency that recruits Lithuanian staff for Dutch employment agencies. 14 years later, Robin has built up a database with over 220,000 candidates and recruited over 20,000 candidates from Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary for the Dutch employment market. To see the list of topics as well as all the details of my other guests, check out the show notes here: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Podcast WANT MORE CLIENTS? Want more clients and/or want to position your agency or consultancy as a thought leader in the Human Resources industry? Check out: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Services. Also, if you're looking for more ideas to help you grow your HR-related business, here's something that will help . . . Check out my free presentation (no signup required) on 10 clever ways that successful consultancies are bringing in more business. You can see the video and download the slides here: www.getmorehrclients.com/marketing-advice-for-sme-consultancies/webinar/ WANT TO START AN HR BUSINESS? Want to launch your own consulting business in the broad Human Resources sector? Check out the guide and the new online course: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/blog/How-To-Start-An-HR-Consulting-Business.

Printers and Agencies return to Industry Trade Shows. What are the five things you should be ready for? Much has changed, but the value is still there. Are you excited to see people again? This is still a great way to get your message out! RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE Join the Texting Community: Text Dave at: 1 (949) 506-5835 Or click this link: bit.ly/DaveRosendahl View the post: https://mindfireinc.com/podcast-2/ Add a comment here…

Are you looking to get into the Adult Movies and don’t know where to start? How about you find an agent to represent you on your journey. Make sure you do your research before you pick the company that is going to represent your brand. Topics:101 Modeling Los Angeles – Adult Talent Management – Bravo […] The post Adult Modeling Agencies | Sick Addictions with Joclyn Stone appeared first on Adult Film Star Network.

Are you looking to get into the Adult Movies and don’t know where to start? How about you find an agent to represent you on your journey. Make sure you do your research before you pick the company that is going to represent your brand. Topics:101 Modeling Los Angeles – Adult Talent Management – Bravo […] The post Adult Modeling Agencies | Sick Addictions with Joclyn Stone appeared first on Adult Film Star Network.

Key points: Why Ross originally decided to lean into content marketing (2:07) My thoughts on developing a strong brand (3:50) How Siege chooses high quality clients (7:21) How Siege attracts the best people to work for them (8:17) My take on the war for talent (9:14) How Siege's marketing strategy has evolved (15:13) My thoughts on how to become a top name in your industry (16:38) Why people want to follow people, not brands (20:45) How Ross thinks about creating moats (25:00) Why my view on "hiring for talent, training for skill" has changed (29:29) What strategies Siege are doubling down on (30:30) Wrap up (32:35) Mentioned:Content and Conversations PodcastSeth GodinDave GerhardtMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeero

Hi. I'm Christian. I started a concert promotion and experiential marketing agency in high school and would grow it to over $10MM in sales. We activated hundreds of events each year with artists like Lady Gaga, T-Pain, and Pitbull, and provided event marketing programs for clients like Disney, Toyota, Anheuser-Busch, and Red Bull. When the 2008 recession happened, our business took a hit. I needed a system that landed new business opportunities predictably. I began reading books, taking courses, and even hired a sales consultant. But unfortunately, it was too late, and the agency didn't make it. Inspired by the sales strategies and tactics that I began to implement, I pivoted my career. Since then, I've held various agency biz dev roles and was VP at an outsourced lead generation firm. Throughout this journey, I've been endlessly researching, experimenting, and optimizing my own lead generation system. I've experienced immense success, winning millions of dollars of new business.  https://christianbanach.com/ Fast forward to today. Rather than work for one agency as an individual contributor, I've decided to branch out on my own again so that I can help hundreds, maybe even thousands of agencies, land 6- and 7-figure opportunities predictably through my system.

Summary: In today's episode, we break down some of the ways that we maintain predictable revenue. Retainers can be used by any agency to keep their income consistent. But they bring other potential issues. It's also important to invest in a great team that consistently does great work. This is a simple yet effective way to increase returning clients and has the potential to increase your revenue. “Your journey towards predictable revenue is never over.” -Ancient Agency Exposed Proverb   Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode:    Use retainers. Retainers are the traditional way to create predictable revenue streams. But not all retainers are good. And not all revenue should be retainer based. Be sure to understand the pros and cons of retainers and the appropriate mix of retainer and project income. “if we didn't have 50% of our billings being retainers, it would be a lot more difficult to manage our cash and understand what's coming in.” Don't accept seasonality; do something about it. Although most businesses have some form of seasonality, don't allow your agency to be dictated by the seasonality of one client type or industry. You must diversify. Diversify across industries with opposite seasonality. Diversify across industries that serve opposite ends of the spectrum. Like an investment portfolio, you want business that will thrive no matter what time of year and no matter what the economic environment.  “there's always something to do. The challenge is, is does that something create revenue right now or in the future?” Invest in an excellent team that does excellent work. When you shop at a retail store and have a great customer service experience and a high quality product, you are much more likely to return to that retail store. This concept is the same with agencies. Investing in an excellent team that does excellent work is a simple yet effective way to increase returning customers and potentially, income. “the way that you engage customers and clients has a lot to do with the stability of your income.”     For more tips, discussion, and behind the scenes: Follow us on Instagram @AgencyPodcast Join our closed Facebook community for agency leaders About The Guys:  Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from 2000-2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob:  Bob on LinkedIn twitter.com/BobHutchins instagram.com/bwhutchins Bob on Facebook Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad's knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently, that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad: Brad on LinkedIn Anthem Republic twitter.com/bradayres instagram.com/therealbradayres facebook.com/Bradayres Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world's most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken:  Ken on LinkedIn Metacake - An Ecommerce Growth Team Growth Rebel TV twitter.com/iamKenOtt instagram.com/iamKenOtt facebook.com/iamKenOtt   Show Notes: [1:26] Brad open's today's episode by discussing this week's topic. He asks, “How do you stabilize your revenues so that there's some consistency, over a longer period of time?” [2:18] Ken asks about the seasonality of Brad and Bob's agencies. [3:09] Brad talks about how although some months are lower than others, it has become more predictable. [3:51] Ken says that as an agency, “you should never accept seasonality.” [4:43] Bob mentions the role outgo plays when an agency is stabilizing their income. He also says that “the way that you engage customers and clients has a lot to do with the stability of your income.” [9:52] Brad talks about the challenges of not having retainers. [11:15] Ken mentions the importance of having foresight when trying to stabilize your income. [11:53]  Ken talks about how oftentimes with seasonality, it can be feast or famine. [13:31] Ken discusses how, “it's a challenge to not get into a scarcity mindset.” [14:40] Bob talks about how investing in excellent people and doing excellent work can help stabilize your income. [17:42] Bob begins a discussion that unpacks the various meanings of retainers [20:04] Ken talks about how his agency uses different retainers and some potential incentives to help convince clients that a retainer is in their best interest. [22:34] Bob mentions his agency's use of retainers and some of the methods they use. [24:26] Brad discusses the way his agency uses retainers and points out that even retainers are flexible and can change. “if we didn't have 50% of our billings being retainers, it would be a lot more difficult to manage our cash and understand what's coming in.”  [27:16] Bob asks, “What are other ways that you can stabilize your income?” [33:17] Brad talks about how, “as agencies, we don't plan out our customer business correctly.” [34:09] Bob tells a story about how he used a client's desire to move funding from his agency to work with another agency as an opportunity to suggest other ways his agency could help them. “there's always an opportunity, there's always something you can do for that customer” [36:42] Brad talks about how seasonality can make you feel like, “we're either hustling or double hustling.” [37:34] Ken discusses how even during a lower season, agencies should always have something to do that either brings in other sources of income or invests back into the agency. “there's always something to do. The challenge is, is does that something create revenue right now or in the future?” [38:45] Ken wraps up by talking about the scarcity mindset and the challenges of trying to get out of it. “the leader needs to have a mindset of balance and stability.”

I met today's guest on Clubhouse and next month we get to speak together live at the Transform U event. I'm so excited to share him with you because his story and his mission are powerful. Brad is all about producing happiness for others.  Brad R Lambert is a Producer, Talent Manager and International Speaker in Los Angeles, CA. Having spent almost a decade in the Sports Industry, working with the top Franchises, Players and Agencies, he moved to Los Angeles and hit the ground running with Robert Downey Jr. After about a year with the biggest name in Hollywood, he went to Warner Bros. and managed their Digital Marketing campaigns for 2 years, winning 3 CLIO Awards during his tenure (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The LEGO Batman Movie, Kong: Skull Island). Since leaving Warner Bros., he became an Independent Producer, Talent Manager and International Speaker; working with the top Brands, Studios, Celebrities, Artists and Professionals in the Industry - Prominent collaboration partners include: Walt Disney Studios, Robert Downey Jr., Marvel Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Gary Vaynerchuk, The Russo Brothers, Chris Hemsworth, The Pittsburgh Steelers and more. In 2019 he worked on the Marketing Campaigns for 2 of the biggest movies of all-time, collaborating with Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios on their release of "Avengers: Endgame" and Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios for their release of "Spider-Man: Far From Home". In 2021, he is producing multiple film and TV projects, consulting with major brands and studios, managing talent, writing a book and speaking all over the world. In this episode, Brad shares amazing stories of how he has learned to pivot, set boundaries, give back, and create values that produce happiness. This is a beautiful conversation for anyone who is looking to create more happiness in their life!   Here's what you will learn: How Brad was able to pivot his speaking business in the pandemic (2:54) Where to find the values you need to thrive  (9:31) How to set healthy boundaries with “energy vampires” (17:47) The impact of powerful positive moments in your life (26:20) How to find people to work with while setting boundaries (35:47) Screenshot your favorite part and post to your IG story and tag me @amberlylagomotivation and @bradrlambert so we can see and repost to our stories! Join me along with other world-class mentors in North Carolina, in person or virtually, and get UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM in a high-octane experience!! I will be sharing how to harness the power within you along with Tom Bilyeu, Lisa Bilyeu, Anthony Trucks, Mel Abraham and so many more!!! Grab your ticket now!   Follow Brad: Facebook Instagram Twitter IMDB   Mentioned in this episode: Transform U Event    Ready to activate your highest potential and live the life you deserve? Join the waitlist for the next Your Unstoppable Life Mastermind! Apply now and let us know you are ready for greatness! Read the "True Grit and Grace" book here and learn how you can turn tragedy into triumph!  Thank you for joining us on the True, Grit, & Grace Podcast! If you find value in today's episode, don't forget to share the show with your friends and tap that subscribe button so you don't miss an episode! You can also head over to amberlylago.com to join my newsletter and access free downloadable resources that can help you elevate your life, business, and relationships! Want to see the behind the scenes and keep the conversation going?  Head over to Instagram @amberlylagomotivation! Audible @True-Grit-and-Grace-Audiobook  Website @amberlylago.com Instagram @amberlylagomotivation Facebook @AmberlyLagoSpeaker

Key Points: My thoughts on the agency business model (2:14) How Profitwell's original mission evolved (3:32) One of the best pieces of advice Patrick can give (4:17) My take on keeping your brand focussed (5:38) Key bets Profitwell made that didn't work out (6:49) The highest ROI campaigns Profitwell have run (8:58) My take on using standard playbooks (10:37) Patrick on the fine art of throwing shade at competitors (11:48) How Profitwell educates potential customers (12:40) My thoughts on having strong opinions (15:19) How Patrick thinks about building moats (18:20) The big bets Profitwell is making for the future (23:35) Wrap up (24:55) Mentioned:Pricing Page TeardownBoxed OutConvertKitMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

Joanne has a special guest Wayne Shipman that shared his story of homelessness to a home owner in Part 1 Podcast #64 Emergency Homeless assistance. He wants to share solutions to the Homeless population and their families and the public to help them know and understand that there are things that you can do to help.   Wayne shares how he is still engaged with homeless community and how the mental health issues are huge. He estimated that 70% has a mental illness and are stuck without resources for their emotional issues. Recovery can be very difficult and how shame can play a huge part. Covid has affected the help that the homeless receive with agency shutting down centers and not allow their staff to be exposed to covid. Wayne wanted to give a shout out to police and security guard asking for them to call off the harassment of the homeless. Wayne sees a snowball effects and describes how he got stuck in homelessness and needed Life skills to get out.  It is hard to get away from it alone.  Wayne describes what helped him was to start each day with a routine to check in with a daily routine and have mental toughness. He needed constant reminders to not give up, Hope is a rope tied to something secure. He thought to set out notebooks, stamped envelopes and pens to write to their loved ones. Understand that the homeless feel anxious and vulnerable. Need to develop a mindset to thrive is needed Wayne wants a homeless person, their families and the public to know that there are ways they can help. Having the will to help and help them find hope. Give encouragement and reach out Giving hope- Inspiring messages of self-help Give them materials to listen to like, CD's or mp3 tapes to increase their skills. Homeless need to take responsibility for their own safety. Agencies band together forcing the Police protecting instead of harassing. We can do something, if we don't get into the politics of blaming or judging. Resource 1-888-358-2384 Get Help - Coalition For The Homeless https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org ›  His Website: Acrossthemiles.org FB-Wayne ShipmanHe has a book coming out soon. This is by no means a replacement for therapy of any medical attention if you need it.  Always reach out and take care of yourself or if you are feeling like you want to hurt yourself, there is always someone standing by at 1800-273-8255 or call 911. AnxietySimplified.net Podcast videos to feel more in control of your life. Youtube channel Anxiety Simplified Podcast  ESA Pros.com for an emotional support animal or a Psychiatric Service Dog to go with you everywhere you go

In this episode of the Ridiculously Amazing Insurance Agent podcast, host Kelly Donahue-Piro brings you a mashup of her 3-minute videos. Kelly discusses the risks of insurance agencies becoming blockbusters, as well as a few strategies to avoid this. Episode Highlights: Kelly discusses the insurance industry's two main technology problems. (3:16) Kelly suggests that every agency should create clear personas for their ideal client and what matters to them, and then match their products and services to that clientele. (7:31) Kelly discusses why the insurance industry may become a blockbuster if insurance companies don't embrace that the consumer is changing. (8:46) Kelly explains why agencies must start to prioritize the consumer. (10:10) Kelly explains why it's important to set a goal. (11:18) Kelly discusses the agencies that operate in small towns. (18:34) Key Quotes:  “We need to embrace technology, even basic technology so that we have a fighting chance not to become blockbusters.” - Kelly Donahue-Piro  “The idea is that there's no such thing as a perfect AMS, they all have their hiccups and challenges, but they're all getting better and better every day.” - Kelly Donahue-Piro  “If we lose sight of what's important to the customer, then guess what, we will lose everything and be blockbuster.” - Kelly Donahue-Piro Resources Mentioned:   Kelly Donahue-Piro LinkedIn Agency Performance Partners

Host/CEO James Prendamano sits down with Matt Teifke of Teifke Real Estate. Teifke Real Estate is a full-service provider of professional realty services, including finding investment and development opportunities, coaching for investors and cash offers for distressed sellers. The wide range of assistance they can offer you makes them the go-to real estate brokerage firm for whatever you need.

A climate campaigner says there's a bunch of good reasons for the Government to delay its plan to tackle the climate crisis - the main one being what he calls the 'staggering ineptitude' of government agencies to get started on the work. The government is giving itself a five-month extension on its deadline to publish the Emissions Reduction Plan, which will set out how New Zealand will meet its climate targets. The plan was due by the end of the year but Cabinet agreed to the delay because of the Covid-19 pandemic and to align the plan with next year's budget. This came on the same day that a global watchdog slapped our response to the climate crisis as 'highy insufficient'. 1Point5 Project founder Dr Paul Winton spoke to Corin Dann.

“Wow, first of all I love that word. When I first saw it in an email, I was like, ‘It's gotta be the cousin to multi-faceted' because that's the word I carry with me.” Jason tried for the conservatory. He tried for Macbeth. He tried to be the Latinx Carrie Bradshaw. He couldn't be just one -- he had to find a way to access all of these proficiencies. “When you come from a place without privilege or access, you have no choice but to be multi or just fall to the ground,” says Rodriguez.  Jason understands that his work doesn't end after he's done performing -- he knows as a Latinx performer, he must create accessibility into the industry. He and his business partner, Ricardo Sebastn, are trying to change the game with their new agency Arrangency -- with the singular mission of bringing BIPOC, Trans, and Queer people to the forefront of all creative industries. “We're trying to build a support system for talent when they walk into set,” says Rodriguez. “When they go to their jobs, when they do their gigs… their projects… create their production… and they know they have a team behind them that they can relate to… that see them… that understand them and then it just becomes the work between the talent and the work. Nothing else is in the way.” In this episode Jason and Michael dissect what it means to provide access in the industry, delegating the steps to starting a new agency, working relationships, representation for artists, hopes and dreams, and more. Jason Rodriguez is the unequivocal face of voguing for an entirely new generation of dancers and dance enthusiasts. He starred for three seasons as Lemar in Ryan Murphy's Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated television series “POSE,” where he also shared his expertise with the cast as Movement Coach and Choreographer. Born and raised in Washington Heights NYC, Jason's name has become synonymous with the art form of voguing. Jason's masterful embodiment of the art form has been noted by countless dance critics and journalists, including The New York Times' Gia Kourlas, who described how his “radiating limbs transform his torso into a solid stretch of sinew and muscle, making him at once tense, velvety, and effortless.” Jason has taught Vogue across the U.S. and the world and currently teaches at various schools and institutions throughout New York City. In addition to “POSE,” Jason has been seen on Baz Lurhmann's “The Get Down” on Netflix, “Saturday Church,” and on HBO's “The Deuce.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bobby Gillespie leads the team at Propr Design in Baltimore, an agency that prides itself on using above-board methods to help solve their clients' branding and growth marketing challenges. He and Jason get personal about what authenticity means and how you can embrace your individual personality while growing a wildly successful agency. This episode is chalked full of agency guidance and personal advice—soak it all in!

In Episode 211 of District of Conservation, Gabriella updates listeners on the latest conservation and environmental news from around the nation. First, she discusses catching a fingerling brown trout at the legendary Gunpowder Falls State Park in Maryland, then about the need for proactive forest management and the next battle to shield hunting and fishing from attacks by radical preservationist environmentalists. SHOW NOTES Gunpowder Brown Trout IWF Op-ed on Forestry in Daily Caller NPR Prescribed Burn Article Sen. Lummis, Rep. Newhouse STOP Catastrophe Act for Forest Management Kat Dwyer's Salt Lake Tribune op-ed Preservationist groups want to reimagine wildlife agencies (Wash. State) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/district-of-conservation/support

On today's episode of #TSR I go over all the different PED testing agencies that regulate combat sports - WADA, VADA, USADA, or State Athletic Commission Testing. I discuss the difference between them and the different levels of scrutiny athletes are under depending on which agency is regulating their competition. I point out vulnerabilities with each, give examples of how fighters are getting around the testing, and explain how commission testing is basically the same as not testing at all. I relay back some of this information to talk about the outcome in this last weekend's Triller Boxing event which included the career implosion of both one Tito Ortiz & Evander Holyfield. Listen. Subscribe & Share and don't forget to Rate & Review but most importantly ENJOY!

802- Have you ever been underpaid for your work? If you run a creative or digital agency, the experience of going WAY over budget on a project or overservicing a retainer is almost a right of passage. After helping hundreds of agencies improve their profitability, I've learned that this is a regular occurrence for most (and half of them aren't even aware that it's happening) Running a profitable agency is tough, that's probably why only a fraction of firms consistently achieve an EBITDA of over 20% annually. Everything I do is about helping you join that exclusive group of elite profitability while ALSO helping you get your team home in time for dinner more consistently. I know that sounds like a contradictory statement, and a tall order - but it's actually much simpler than you might think. In fact, I've boiled the process I've used to help all my clients improve their profitability by over 100% into 4 simple steps… You can learn about those here: www.parakeeto.com ________ Want your customers to talk about you to their friends and family? That's what we do! We get your customers to talk about you so that you get more referrals with video testimonials. Go to www.BusinessBros.biz to be a guest on the show or to find out more on how we can help you get more customers! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/businessbrospod/support

Key points: How Intellimize thinks about competing (1:56) Two key ways Guy thinks about differentiation (4:45) My thoughts on "job to be done" boxes (5:10) The third way Intellimize thinks about differentiation (9:07) How Intellimize's competitive strategy has evolved (10:51) What I think is the most power moat a business can have (14:45) How Guy thinks about building moats (15:52) My view on the power of having a narrow focus (18:20) What competitiveness really means (22:24) How often Guy thinks about the competition (24:00) My take on the best way to deal with competitors (25:30) Wrap up (31:34) Mentioned:Hot JarHubspotBernadette JiwaTeslaProfitwellMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

Do you run or might you be planning on running a marketing agency? If so, you've probably experienced, or you're going to experience clients coming and going, and revenue going up and down. In this, episode 261 of Digital Marketing Radio we're going to be looking at why clients leave, why revenue isn't as stable as you'd like, and how to fix it. Joining me to discuss that is the co-founder of a marketing platform specifically designed to help agencies thrive. He's the CEO of HighLevel - welcome to DMR - Shaun Clark.

Listen and learn: The problem Unbounce was originally trying solve (1:14) My take on the risks of competing on features (3:30) How their industry became a race to the bottom (5:30) Why you should aim to be unique, instead of being the best (6:42) How Unbounce thinks about the competition (11:10) My thoughts on taking a differentiated position in the market (15:18) What category Unbounce are trying to create (20:54) My take on the power of category creation (21:14) What Unbounce are betting their entire business model on (24:47) Unbounce's secret sauce (31:17) Wrap up (33:44) Mentioned:UnbounceAnimalzMichael PorterChristopher LochheadMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

Have you had a few failures in the agency world? Everyone is afraid of failure. But when you change perspective and treat it like a lesson instead of a defeat. That's the lesson from today's guest, Frank Kern, a well-known marketing consultant and agency owner who has ventured to start several agencies over the years. In this episode, Frank discusses some of his failures from these past businesses, the lessons learned, and what he would do differently. He offers valuable advice for anyone starting a digital marketing agency. He offers an honest and upfront take on every stumble, from starting in the advertising world without really knowing the rules, not listening to his own advice, and taking on every client, even the bad ones. Don't be afraid to start over. Frank shares the knowledge he has gained over the years starting different agencies and learning from the mistakes made in each new venture. He has never been afraid to start over. “That's what I love about the advertising business,” he says, “it's never going away”. So there's always a new opportunity waiting for the ones who dare to take that step and learn from past mistakes. He is now enjoying his most successful venture and is very glad everything happened as it did. Don't try to grow too fast. This is the first lesson Frank has taken from his past agencies. Where in the past he used to take as many clients as he could get, now he sets a target. Five clients a week. This enables him and his team to not be reactive and build out operations. It's been a learning curve for them. Drilling into the process, making sure there are checklists, getting better at inner team communications. But Frank says it's been worth it and that he's definitely seeing the results. Take accountability. Having a business partner is not easy and takes serious commitment. Some prefer to not even attempt it. Frank has been lucky to have a few amicable separations from past partners. The secret? He doesn't really know, but he shares the importance of taking accountability for your mistakes. “If things are your damn fault, you have to realize they're your fault”. YOUTUBE AUDIO LINK Sponsors and Resources Wix: Today's episode is sponsored by the Wix Partner Program. Being a Wix Partner is ideal for freelancers and digital agencies that design and develop websites for their clients. Check out Wix.com/Partners to learn more and become a member of the community for free. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher | Radio FM Don't Be Afraid to Start Over in the Agency World, Just Like Frank Kern Jason: [00:00:00] What's up, agency owners? Jason Swenk here, and I have another amazing guest, Frank Kern. If you guys haven't heard of, uh, he is amazing. I've learned so much from him over the years on writing copy and marketing and direct response. Kind of the godfather of direct response marketing. A lot of you guys know Frank Kern and he's done a bunch of agencies in the past, so we're going to talk about his experience with marketing and his agency. Let's go ahead and get into the show. What's up, Frank? How's it going? Frank: [00:00:40] Dude, I was just watching the intro roll. I love the just two seconds of pensive staring off into the distance. Jason: [00:00:47] Well, I don't want to lose anybody's attention. Especially people with ADD like us. So, you know, you got try to keep them there. Frank: [00:00:55] I didn't tell you this pre-interview. So if I don't make any sense today it's because I have dyslexia and ADD and I woke up at 12:52 and… No, or 12 something, and my dyslexia… I mean, I have the biggest font size ever on my watch. And I thought it was, I thought it said 4:52. So I took my ADD meds, which I keep right beside the bed. And they kicked in. I've been awake since 2:00 AM I'm just like… so stupid right now. Jason: [00:01:24] There you go. Well, that makes it fun for a podcast. Frank: [00:01:28] Yeah, that's my disclaimer. Jason: [00:01:30] Awesome. Well, um, for the people that have lived under a rock for a little bit… Tell us kind of a little bit of your origin story about how and why you've wanted to create an agency over the past couple of years. Frank: [00:01:45] Uh, okay. I'll be mercifully brief because this isn't even remotely interesting for anybody. Um, sold credit card machines door to door. Hated it, very bad at it. Um, Googled or there wasn't Google back then, it was 1999. Did a search for how to sell credit card machines on the internet cause I didn't wanna have to talk to people. They were all mean to me because I was going door to door and interrupting their, uh, place of business. Discovered direct response marketing and advertising that way and started selling courses. Sold one that got me in trouble with the government. Um, it's important to learn the rules of advertising if you want to do advertising. I did not learn them, but, uh, after that I did. And um, then, sold stuff about dog training and kind of cut my teeth on that and sold a lot of marketing-related information. And always felt like… It's going to sound really weird, but I always felt like it didn't count, you know? Like that's… to use my, uh, my late grandfather's term it's Mickey mouse BS. And I was like, I need to do it for real. I need to actually build campaigns and do stuff with real businesses. So it was for that reason and because I absolutely love advertising and I get to hit refresh on other people's stats besides my own. Um, that's why I did it. Jason: [00:03:00] Yeah. Well, um, you, uh, like I told you a couple of years ago, you kn… I found you and Jeff Walker and a couple other people through a Tony Robbins event I went, where they sent out the, I guess the money masters or something. And that's right when I was coming off selling the agency and I'd never heard of direct response at all. And I was like, wow, if I could put this together with what I know here… I was like, man, this could be a pretty good machine. Uh, so I want to thank you for, for, for doing what you've done over the years. And, and, uh, you've been… Someone that has really figured out how to make someone kind of respond to you. You know, especially in the marketing front. What what's kind of like, how did you go about figuring that out? Or was that just kind of intuition? Like I know you were saying, well, I just hated getting kicked out of strip joints and all these kinds of restaurants I was going into. I needed to get them to come to me. You know, how did you figured it out? Frank: [00:04:05] Well, I started by making horribly egregious unsubstantiated claims in advertising because that's what I responded to. And of course, I didn't realize there were things like regulatory bodies. This is again in 1999. And then I learned that you really can't do that and it's frowned upon. Um, so I wanted to see, well, what, what if you don't do that at all? And, um, I kind of stumbled over the whole philosophy of results in advance, which is the easiest way to convince somebody you can help them is to actually help them in advance of asking for their business. So that's always been my big secret, you know, and it was just doing that. Jason: [00:04:43] Yeah. And so when, when you started the first agency, what were some of the challenges that you experienced? Uh, and how did you overcome them? Frank: [00:04:57] Dude, so the first one… I think this is number four for me. We've got it right now, finally. But I've been attempting this since 2010, all right? So we're 12 years into your boy, Frankie, trying to make, trying to work 30 times harder for way less money, basically. When you, I know, but I like it. I can't help it, you know, and I would rather do this and make less money than do the other stuff. I don't know why. But anyway, the first one was a partnership between my cousin, Trey Smith and I and Jordan "Wolf of Wall Street" Belfort. And we had a plan, Trey and I mainly had this plan, which was we would create lead gen pages for home services companies and then manage their Google PPC accounts. We would charge a flat fee and then like, you know, let's say it was 600 bucks a month or something. And we'd spend 400 bucks on traffic and we'd keep the $200 bucks. It, uh, we did roughly 15 seconds of research, you know, and were convinced that we were geniuses. And Jordan's job was to, uh, hire and train salespeople. Cause neither Trey nor I are qualified to do that at all. So, um, that failed spectacularly, you know? So we, uh, by we, I mean, I leased a bank building in, uh, on Prospect Street all the way in California that… You know, we hired, I wanna say 40 people off of Craigslist. You know, and Jordan was training them up and then he had to go on tour to sell his stuff. And then like, nothing really happened. I got to, I got to have a lease on a bank building for a couple of years. So that was fun. Jason: [00:06:41] So why did that fail though? Like what, looking back, what could you have done to make that work? Frank: [00:06:48] Um, I could have, uh, used ads to get them, you know. So for whatever dumb reason, uh, I oftentimes fail to heed my own advice, which is all right if you want to grow the business, take the thing that's working real good and do a whole lot more of that. And then find a way to systemize and automate and scale from there. So we had this method of getting customers, which was internet ads. But when we partnered with Jordan, we were like, nope, we're not going to do that, we're going to do something we have no idea how to do, which is to call them out of the blue and then, uh, try to sell them something, you know, and so that was dumb. Uh, I mean, I'm sure people make it work, but we didn't know what the heck we were doing. And of course that model, I think would probably have ultimately doomed us because there wasn't enough margin in it. Jason: [00:07:42] Yeah. So what was version two? Frank: [00:07:46] Uh, let's see. Version two was current branding. It, that was so close to working. That's where, uh, we would do video campaigns for people. So we'd script their videos. They would shoot the footage. We would have it edited. We would run them. Excuse me, I'm losing my voice already. That's what happens in the wake up at two. Um, we would run their Facebook media for them and everything. And that actually was going pretty good. Um, I did what, uh, what I think a lot of people who are creative types do is I immediately outsource the operation. And I outsourced it to someone who didn't understand advertising. Really good understanding of operations, but didn't understand advertising. And all of this is on me because I never sat down and said, here's how the business works and here's how all the moving pieces work. So we ended up over-hiring tremendously and didn't make any money, you know, but that was, that was pretty close. Jason: [00:08:46] Okay. And then what about option three or version three? 3.0. Frank: [00:08:50] So version 3 was, uh, we tried, um, in-house again, uh, current branding once again. But instead of doing all that production for people, we were like, you know what, man? We're just gonna run their media for them at a pretty decent price. I just arbitrarily pulled 2,800 bucks off my butt. You know, like seems like an easy yes. And, um, that was going great. And then I decided it would be a good idea to partner with Grant Cardone and, uh, form Cardone Kern. I did that because I made a lot of assumptions that I'd never discussed with Grant. Uh, so again, I, I want to take full responsibility for this. I'm not here to say Grant is a bad guy or anything. So I partnered with him thinking that they would have the infrastructure that we needed to grow the agency. Cause you know, you go down to his operation, it's pretty impressive. They got meetings and stuff and… you know, meetings and stuff and people wear suits and they, they really look like they know what they're doing. And they do, but not for an ad agency. So when we partnered together, oh, and I also thought his audience was primarily business owners like brick and mortar people. So my vision for that, and this was incidentally, a conclusion that I drew after going to one event and talking to one attendee who was a roofer. And I was like, this would be the easiest client to win forever. This must be what all of his customer base is like. We should partner up, you know, and so zero foresight on, uh, on my part. So we, it, it blew up. Um, well it blew up in a good way. We got to walk clients really fast. We grew it to damn it, it was $895 a month, just under $900, a grand. And then, uh, we started hemorrhaging because the operations were bad. We, uh, by we, I mean, I, uh, had to hire a team. And then I had one dude to help me manage them. And he was good, but he was inexperienced too, in terms of trying to manage a team that big. So we just did a bad job, ultimately. Mainly is a result of operations, like missing calls, you know, like dumb things that operations people know how to do. Jason: [00:11:04] So what were some of the… I don't want to put words in your mouth about some of the assumptions, like thinking about, you know, if you were going to partner… Because a lot of people listening on the show, they, they reach a, a plateau or they're, they're kind of an inner plateau and they go, I need a partner because I can't, I don't, I feel like I've reached my max and I need to work with someone. And then they were like, well, let's just join together. So, you know, so many people are doing this and then it blows up in their face. So what would, what would have been some of those questions or assumptions to check with your partner and go, and then be like, oh, well let's kind of try this out or no, this is probably not going to work out that you could have avoided. Frank: [00:11:48] Yeah, I probably should have said, okay, I'm operating under the assumption that you're going to provide this team. Is that a true assumption? And he would have said no, because he doesn't lie. You know, he's not a bad person. Just, I've never had the damn sense to ask him. And Grant so busy he's like, all right, cool. Don't mess it up. Sounds like a good idea. Let's go. You know, so it was, we didn't really talk it out. So that probably would have been the first question was, you know, here's my assumption is this accurate? And, um, that would, that really would have been it. I think we could have overcome everything else. You know, he would've said, no, dude, I don't have that. And I'm not going to give you that you got to go build your own. I would have said, oh, I could do that on my own; I don't need us to partner together for this. We would rather keep all of the money and… You know, if I'm going to have all the headaches anyway, I might as well keep all the money. Jason: [00:12:38] Yeah. And so what, what are we looking like at version four now of, you know, post, you know, kind of making that partnership go away? I think this is the version you're on right now. Is that right? Frank: [00:12:53] Yes. Yeah. So we're looking great. What I learned is number one, don't try to grow too fast. So our target is five clients a week, you know, where it used to be as many as you can get, let's just hire more people, right? Nope, five a week. That's it, you know. So that was lesson number one. And that enables you to not be reactive and building out your operations. And lesson number, whatever number we're on is most of this stuff, I mean, I don't know about you dude, but ads are easy, you know? It's not, I mean, don't, don't tell clients it's for God's sake, but it's not really that hard. But the operations behind it, especially when you do it, we do, which is we're full service. So we'll, you know, the first thing we typically do is go fix their email. Cause that makes everything work better and they get immediate sales and then they're happy, you know? So that requires so many tiny little things to go right. That, um, that's just been a tremendous. Um, a lesson it has been that big of a learning curve, really. It's just more. Okay. Let's just keep drilling into this process, you know? And make sure there's checklists and yada yada, yada, yada. So it's been good. And then inner team communication is still we're good at it, but we could really be better at that. Um, but with clients we're good. But between ourselves, you know, we're doing… Jason: [00:14:28] When you're an agency partner with Wix, you unlock an entire digital ecosystem for creating, managing, and growing your agency. Get the full coding and design freedom to create anything your clients need, along with the tools to manage and collaborate with your team seamlessly from anywhere. And when it comes to growing your agency, you can get matched with new leads every day and earn revenue share for every website you guys create. They're backed by the Wix industry, leading security and site performance. You'll also have a dedicated account manager on standby 24/7. So you can reach your goals and start setting new ones. See for yourself, head over to wix.com/partners. And re-imagine what your agency can accomplish. Yeah. When I, when I look at kind of the stages of agency owners that go through, they go through, there's like six. And I look at kind of the first stage is like, figuring out, like, how do I get the clients? And then the next is like, how do we get the right clients? The next is like, like, how do I replace myself from not being the salesperson or being the account manager for the clients? And then it's like, how do I build the team? And it's just like all these little stages you have to go through or systems that you need to actually set up in order to kind of, you know, get you to a point where you can pick and choose and do the things that you love doing. Like, cause I was telling you years ago it was like most agency owners are accidental. They don't want to get into it. They just, they knew how to do something really cool in marketing. And someone's like, hey, do you do this for me? And they're like, okay, you're going to give me money to do this? Like, all right, let me go do more of that and, uh, you just kind of fall into it. And then, like you're saying you're being reactionary. Um, one thing I, I have a question and probably a lot of people have a question on is, let's say you have a partner now. You got in, we didn't go over the assumptions that we figured out. Um, how can they actually go to their partner… Like how can we make a pleasant split up? Uh, you know, in order for us to go our own ways, because a lot of people, even including me, I had a partner and I looked at it like, if you don't know the bad partner, you're the bad partner. Um, that's kinda how I looked at it. And that's one of the reasons why we sold, um, you know, it was a good offer, but still I probably would have been still doing it. Um, I'm lucky that I had did have a partner that we disagree. But like what, what, what would you suggest to these people listening? Like how can you do a, a good breakup? Frank: [00:17:17] I have no idea. Um, I just ended up giving everything to the partner. I'm like, okay. Like, well, our very first one, you know, it was clear that it wasn't working and everything was in my name. So I was able to be like, all right, guys, this isn't working. Um, I'll keep paying the lease. It's in my name. See y'all later. And nobody, you know, no one cared, uh, because they're like, oh, thank God we have to mess with this anymore. This was way harder than we thought. With Grant, I just gave him the agency. I was like, we were still doing, um, I can't remember, maybe half a million a month or something in billings? At the time, I was like, you can have it. And I never talked to him, actually. I talked to other people in the organization. I voiced some things that I needed and I wasn't able to get them. And I was like, well, this isn't really gonna work for me. Um, y'all can just have this, if you want. We can just be cool. And they're like, alright. Jason: [00:18:18] So how do you get to a point where… I love that, because a lot of people would spend years and years fighting back and forth. No, I did this, my name is on blah, blah, blah, all this kind of stuff. And like tons of resentment versus you're like, fucking take it. Like, let me restart. Like, how do you do that? How do you, how do you get rid of those emotions that a lot of us would struggle with? Frank: [00:18:46] Well, if things are your damn fault, you have to realize they're your fault. And so like if it was a different scenario and Grant had misled me. And said, yeah, we got this, dude. Here's everything I'm going to do to the letter and then just didn't do it. And then it was like F you Frank. Then I would be mad, you know, we'd have a really serious problem. Um, but he didn't, I just didn't ask. So I had to, it was my damn fault, you know. It wasn't his. So what am I going to do? But you know, pitch a fit? If some dude, you know… he's got other stuff going on. He's gotta roll on out. But also in our business, it's like, it's easy to just to start another one. There's this, this is what I love about the advertising business. It's, it's never going away. You know, it doesn't matter what the economy does. It's like we ain't going anywhere. It could be world war three, you know. I've always made this joke and it's old by now that the world war three could happen and there'd be like seven people left. One of them selling cockroaches or something. And he's going to go to the guy with a bigger cave wall and be like, hey, I'll give you five cockroaches. If I can advertise my cockroach sales on your wall there, you know, like in, it'll take off from there. It's just never going anywhere. So I have no scarcity around it. Jason: [00:20:10] Well, you know, that's how I look at agencies is, you know, when we had the big gold rush, right? And the people that got the richest were the ones selling the stuff to make gold. That's kind of how I look at agencies. Um, especially as when COVID hit and everything started shutting down, I was like, you know, hey agencies are going to get a lot of business because people can't do what they used to do anymore. And, uh, and I, I guessed right on that. But I love how you, you say take ownership in your own mistake. It's like, it was my fault. And I, I think too many times, including myself, probably, I mean, that's a hard thing to do. Admitting, going, hey, I could have avoided this. This is my mistake. Let's just move on. And hit the reset button. And it's kind of like monopoly, let's play another game, here we go. It's like, I screwed up that one. Frank: [00:21:05] Yeah. I'm glad I screwed up that one. Cause this one's great. And I get to keep all of the money. So like, okay. You know, this actually worked out pretty good. Otherwise, it'd be giving most of the money to Grant. Nice enough guy. But, um, I'd prefer that I keep it. Jason: [00:21:22] I think he's got enough money too. Frank: [00:21:25] Oh, yeah. I think he, I hope they're doing well. Jason: [00:21:28] Yeah. Well, awesome. Well, Frank, this has been amazing, man. Is there anything I didn't ask you that you think would benefit the audience? Frank: [00:21:37] No. I want to ask you something. Because you said something that really hit me at the beginning. You were like, I've never even heard of direct response until after I'd sold the agency. And I think me and you were joking around about this by email. I was like, if I didn't have this damned, uh, I guess like moral compass and inability to sell something that is not measurable. I would be a zillionaire, you know, but I just can't do it. And I don't even know how to attempt to do it. Because I know there was some value to it and like having cool stuff and well-branded things. I don't know how to make those things, but that's why God made other people, you know. Um, how do you sell that kind of stuff? Not with a clear conscience. I, I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it as long as a client knows the game going in, you know.  But how…? Jason: [00:22:25] Well, we… Yeah, our agency, we developed, um, user experiences, you know, from websites and then we built applications. So if you think of sites like Legal Zoom, we built that, uh, you think of Hitachi Power Tools or Lotus Cars, their website, like none of those websites back then had really caught actions other than find my dealer, you know, Legal Zoom did about getting in, but we never really ran ads. Um, so we always said, you have to have this amazing, like when someone comes to your website, you have to have this amazing experience and tell the right story in order for them to, um, you know, build an trust you. You know, we never really, we, we, we didn't get their people's email addresses; even though looking back at the agency, we were one of the first to build e-commerce stores. We were one of the first to build an email marketing system. So our clients could broadcast to their clients. Like, and we were one of the first to build a CMS system, but we did what typical agency owners did was we kept working on our clients that kept paying the bills and we couldn't keep up. And then we, uh, started using other partners, like MailChimp. Like, we started all that before MailChimp. So, you know, everyone, uh, misses the boat. Uh, I think we missed the boat, but at the end of the day, I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I'm loving life and doing everything, so… Frank: [00:23:54] You get to have the pensive view off the balcony in your opening for the Podcast, man. The only way is like, we will make you more than you pay us or we'll refund the difference plus 20%. I mean, the company is called Grow Ads for God's sake, but that's like hard work. I mean, it's actually not because you just choose the right clients, but you know what I mean? It seems to me, hey, the grass is always greener, but I'm like, man, these dudes that are getting paid half a million bucks to make a commercial. Those are the ones that are the smartest people in the room. Jason: [00:24:24] Yeah. Well, I mean, it's, you got to do what you enjoy doing, right? Like you said, the grass is greener on the side that you water. So, you know, whatever side you want to water, like it's going to be, you know, you're going to enjoy it. I always just hate when people do something that they don't want to do in the agency just to make money. I think that's a big, big mistake. I'm like the money will come. Like all the, you know, the mastermind members and the clients I've worked with over the years that have had, you know, the best lives, it's the ones that they, they didn't care about the money. They just cared about doing the right thing and doing what they wanted to do. And that made all the difference. So… Frank: [00:25:03] Well, you've made a whole boatload of it. And I've made, spent a whole boatload of it. At the end of the day. That's really it, you know, am I going to have a good time today? Jason: [00:25:15] Well, I look at it as like you make money to save time in other things. So you have time to, um, you know, one of the things when, when I ask our mastermind members… I probably shouldn't tell people listening because now you know my trick question, but I ask them the first question usually is what do you do for fun? If they say I work all the time, I don't let them in. Frank: [00:25:37] Oh, dude, you wouldn't let me in then cause I really do all the time. But I love it so much, man. But because it's because I'm finally doing. Jason: [00:25:44] Yeah, but you surf and you do all… or do you still surf or no? Frank: [00:25:49] Seriously. Like, I'm in this little room right now and it's my pool house.And so I get up kind of pool house, go back. Um, I've gotten that routine, you know, during COVID and everything. But really, I really like it, you know, like to me, it's so cool. But I'm an addict. Like I'm a hard core ad person specifically with direct response. So I get to hit refresh a whole lot of other people's stats all the time. I get the dopamine hit constantly. You're like, ooh, hit, refresh on this to see how this is going. Okay. Is it refreshing over there? Hot damn. Moving on. What else can we do? You know? So to me it's not work, really. Jason: [00:26:27] Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, that's, that's the whole thing. But I still, I do want you to take some time off. Gotta have some time. So... Frank: [00:26:37] Well, you know, weekends and stuff. I'll sit around and walk over to the other house, the main house. Hang out there. Jason: [00:26:44] Well, awesome. Well, what's the website people go in and check out? Is it growads.com or…? Frank: [00:26:49] It's .org. I didn't have the money for the.com. Actually, I never even looked to see how much the.com costs cause .org seemed cooler to me. Jason: [00:26:58] Well, I think .org usually ranks higher anyway .org ranks higher in Google anyway. Frank: [00:27:04] Oh, I don't even know about that stuff. Jason: [00:27:06] Claim that. Frank: [00:27:10] I have no idea about SEO because I have ads. You know, it's like, you want to get known? Run ads. Yeah, or go to frankkern.com. Both of those sites will cure your insomnia pretty well. I think if you have it. Jason: [00:27:26] Whatever. Everyone goes, check out both those sites. And thanks so much, Frank for coming on the show. And if you guys want to be surrounded by amazing agency owners where, you know, we have a lot of fun, we're going over constantly what's working, what's not working. Sharing and being able to see what you're not able to see because we're too damn freaking close to it. I want you guys to go to digitalagencyelite.com. This is our inclusive mastermind. And until next time have a Swenk day.

Federal agencies recently released an interim final rule, “Part One” of the highly anticipated regulation regarding the ban on surprise billing included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This week, NAHU submitted comments to the administration with our thoughts and concerns about the rule. If you want to hear a detailed analysis of what's included in this interim final rule, you can listen to the July 16 edition of the podcast. On this week's episode of the Healthcare Happy Hour, we are focusing specifically on our response to the interim final rule, with Marcy M. Buckner joining us once again to review those comments.

This week, Marcus reviews the traditional KPI/Metrics model that many Agencies have used for decades - and promotes the idea of a more empowering, quality-driven model.8.5 minutes of great content - and next week we'll be back on the interview train with a TA professional from inside the business.

In this video, Andy Strote, a successful digital marketing agency owner and author, shares his best tips for how to get clients for your digital marketing agency.We extensively focus on these 2 topics:1. Identifying and finding professional clients, and how to avoid the amateurs2. Going after the clients you really want, I.e. not waiting for random clients to contact youMore about Andy:I have been a copywriter, creative director and founder of three creative agencies in Toronto. Before I started my agencies, I wrote for six Toronto ad agencies, large and small. My clients included Canon, Colgate, Canadian Tire, Delta Hotels and New Brunswick Tourism. In my first agency, I worked solo with other freelancers. By the mid-'90s, my billing was over $120,000 a year, but I couldn't grow because there are only 24 hours in a day. I knew I needed more resources and decided to start a larger creative agency. I found a compatible graphic designer who became my business partner. Together, we founded Fireworks Creative, one of Canada's first truly integrated creative agencies. We built websites for some of Canada's leading utilities, the first website where you could buy movie tickets, and many hotel sites. We also created major print and direct mail campaigns for some of Canada's most prominent corporate and government clients.In five years, we grew Fireworks Creative from two to 30 people. We were on the radar of two companies interested in buying our firm—a global advertising network and Cognicase, a multi-national IT company. We chose to sell to Cognicase for $3 million.Six months later, I was asked to leave (typical for those kinds of deals), and after a summer of thinking about the next steps, I started the next agency, Context Creative, with one partner and one employee. We grew that company to 28 people. After 15 years, I sold my shares to my partners. Today, I write for a select group of clients and I wrote this book. I've been lucky to work with great designers, art directors, photographers, filmmakers, animators, illustrators and programmers. I've also been fortunate to have had the guidance of two incredibly helpful accountants—you'll read about it in the book.I've hired people, fired people and had to let go of good people during a business downturn. Through all of this, I've learned the nitty-gritty of running a business, how to find the best clients and the most practical ways to work with staff and partners. Some of this I learned the easy way, and some the painful way.You can find Andy's book here: https://www.creativeagencybook.com/Follow Andy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StroteBook

In this episode of the Ridiculously Amazing Insurance Agent podcast, host Kelly Donahue-Piro interviews The Mayor, Heath Shearon. He's a Sales Consultant and Founder of the Insurance Town Podcast. Kelly and Heath discuss everything about insurance agency consulting and the top 4 challenges agencies face today. Find out what they are, and how your agency can tackle them today. Episode Highlights: Heath shares how he got into the insurance industry. (3:48) Heath shares a few highlights of his career as a sales consultant. (7:29) Heath explains how to get the right people during the hiring process. (11:31) Heath shares why agencies should not be afraid of hiring people in a different field or industry. (18:40) Heath explains the biggest problem that people seem to have in sales. (23:59) Heath mentions what he would always say to smaller agencies as they're growing. (28:36) Heath gives a piece of advice to agency owners. (30:33) Heath shares his opinion on smaller agency retention. (34:57) Heath explains why he thinks smaller agencies are like chickens most of the time. (43:39) Heath mentions a piece of advice on setting expectations. (49:24) Key Quotes: “People are all different and each situation is different. If your process is consistent, I think you'll get the right people that you need within your agency. If you don't have a process, call Kelly and get one. But, you definitely should.” - Heath Shearon “I think one of the things a lot of my clients or my agents that I've worked with over the years is finding that niche and finding that focus for them, and finding out where they what they want to focus on, what their hobbies, what their interests are.” - Heath Shearon “I think that in agencies, it's just as important, just as crucial to have that communication at any level. Like I said, if you can make it in a sly way, or a blatant way of making sure you're communicating everything you need to communicate with your people, it's only going to make your agency that much stronger.”  - Heath Shearon Resources Mentioned:   Heath Shearon LinkedIn Insurance Town Podcast Kelly Donahue-Piro LinkedIn Agency Performance Partners  

Guest Host: Ralph Winterrowd, RBN host of The Ralph Winterrowd Show | BIDEN, AFGHANISTAN, LAW, CODES, AGENCIES

This is the second episode of our This Foster Care Life miniseries where we bring you multiple perspectives around the same topic. Today's topic is how past trauma affects today's brain.  In this episode, you will hear from: Diamond Kobylinski, a self-described former gay foster youth, who describes how coming out while in the system affected his emotional state. Kaleo George, a longtime foster parent and foster parent trainer, about how her past trauma impacts her foster parenting. Patti Swope, a therapist, former foster parent, and mom to former kid in care Mattie, about how to manage your own trauma as a foster parent. Mattie Baker, Patti's daughter, a former kid in care and current social worker, about the intensity of trauma.  This episode was created in partnership with Urban Leaders Fellowship and made possible by generous support from Cobbled Streets and the Colorado Association of Family and Children's Agencies.

This week, VP of Sales and Marketing Zach Rego talks with Jarod Spiewak, Lead Strategist at Comet Fuel about the use of business and marketing knowledge when scaling agencies.

In episode #1842, Neil and Eric talk about the biggest mistakes they made while growing their agencies, and along the way they give a few tips for how to do things correctly. Our hosts touch on hiring, focus, leadership, relationships, education, marketing, and a whole lot more! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today's topic: Mistakes That Neil and Eric Made While Growing Their Agencies. [00:29] Avoiding an overly casual approach to managing people. [01:14] Realizing the importance of relationships for building a business. [01:47] The value of a broad base of the right types of clients. [02:17] Hiring people who have done what you need before. [02:25] The best ways to get new customers in Neil's opinion. [02:51] Focusing and drilling down on your central offer. [03:25] Using the correct hiring methods. [03:41] Doing M&A when you are further down the road. [05:20] That's it for today! [05:21] Go to marketingschool.io/live to learn more about our upcoming live event.   Get ad-free listening plus exclusive content with Marketing School Pro. Try for free at www.marketingschool.io/pro   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:   Let My People Go Surfing   Leave Some Feedback:     What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review.     Connect with Us:    Neilpatel.com Quick Sprout  Growth Everywhere Single Grain

Listen and learn: How Chris knew Refine Labs was going to win as an agency (1:45) How I built CXL using inbound marketing (2:50) My thoughts on creating strategic narratives (5:00) How Chris used LinkedIn to land Refine Labs' first clients (7:24) What I mean by being "the best" (10:12) Why Chris focusses on brand, rather than being transactional (13:50) My take on building personal brands (14:20) Refine Labs' vision for the future (17:25) How agencies can differentiate (18:15) Refine Labs' plan to take on industry giants (20:47) How Chris thinks about building moats (24:05) Wrap up (24:20) Mentioned:Refine LabsState of Demand Gen PodcastMy Links:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteWynterSpeeroCXL

The damage that will result from Biden's decision-making and the future implications to our allies and partners around the world is significant There is a bigger story here that the media refuses to cover. We will discuss it here in-depth with JD Rucker and Ilana Freedman. We will also talk with independent virologist and whistleblower Dr. Li-Meng Yan on the origins of this virus and why it is to be classified as an unrestricted bioweapon...

Intel Agencies throw Biden under the bus for Taliban debacle The Duran: Episode 1066 Intel community defends itself after US was caught out by speed of Taliban takeover https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/intel-community-defends-itself-us-caught-speed-taliban-takeover