Podcasts about engauge

Mike Popowski is CEO at Atlanta based agency Dagger and has led them from a three-person shop to a 2020 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year winner and one of Adweek's Top 100 Fastest-Growing Agencies consecutively (2019, 2020, & 2021) in under five years.  On this episode, Mike and I chat about Dagger's start, what advertising opportunity the city of Atlanta holds, and how innovation is driving Dagger in 2024.   Mike Popowski, CEO | Mike drives Dagger's vision, culture, and growth. A proven client partner and team leader, Mike has led Dagger from a three-person shop to a 2020 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year winner and one of Adweek's Top 100 Fastest-Growing Agencies consecutively (2019, 2020, & 2021) in under five years.    He brings over 20 years of digital, social, and brand-building experience with the world's biggest brands across a variety of industries. He joined Dagger in 2015 from TBWAChiatDay New York, where he led the global repositioning for GSK's global smoker's health business, Nicoderm CQ (US). Mike was previously SVP, Client Partner at Moxie (formerly Engauge), where he architected the agency's first content marketing practices for Cisco Systems, UPS and Wells Fargo. He was an early pioneer of social marketing as a consultant for AARP from 2008 to 2011, and implemented their early digital content practices.    As a native New Englander, Mike appreciates springtime in Atlanta.   Dagger IG   |   Dagger LinkedIn   |  Dagger Website  

Building a business requires a strong goal, proper management, sourcing, teamwork, and leadership. But success doesn't guarantee the absence of failure and the number of unwanted outcomes after the other.  In this episode, Raj Choudhury, the CEO of Alloy, shares his background in merge and acquisition and how he started Spunlogic before eventually selling it to a private equity firm. Alloy is a marketing agency specializing in technology brands. With the support from private equity firms, they made several acquisitions to create Engauge. The acquisitions were funded through a combination of cash consideration and rolling over equity into the new unit. Engauge made five acquisitions over five years before ultimately being sold again. Raj also talks about his experience working with Publicis Group and different companies. Raj reiterated the attitude that a team must have which involves people management, leadership, sourcing and evaluating potential acquisitions, integration processes, and future deal sourcing to aim for success in a business. In terms of valuations for service-based businesses, it depends on factors such as revenue growth trajectory and product market fit rather than specific multiples of EBITDA.  Raj talks about the factors to consider when valuing a business, such as revenue and expenses. He includes the importance of looking at the potential for growth and time value when considering acquisitions. He also shares the acquisition strategy to speed up their overall path to success such as a clean number and transparency are highlighted as crucial elements in preparing a business for sale. Additionally, it is advised to communicate with the management team about objectives and recognize one's strengths and weaknesses to facilitate growth. Looking to sell your business? Raj offers valuable advice, stressing the importance of clean financials and transparency. Get ready for a rollercoaster of entrepreneurial wisdom, and uncover the key elements to build a successful business.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: Strategies on how to assemble a larger unit How meeting with entrepreneurs and allotting enough time to source and evaluate potential acquisition targets affects Alloy's vision and strategy How does a private firm work The roles of cultural and work integration  How to build units to create firms The importance of having clean numbers and a well-structured balance sheet The importance of transparency and openness from entrepreneurs in a business Knowing strengths and weaknesses is essential for building and growing a unit.   CONNECT WITH RAJ: LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/rajchoudhury Website | alloycrew.com Twitter | @rmchoudhury THE EXIT PLAN The Exit Plan is for business owners that are interested in learning more about how to sell their business. Each episode Barnaby Cook interviews someone who has bought or sold a business - either a creative agency, or a production company. The conversation gets under the skin of why they wanted to sell, or were looking to acquire, how the deal was structured, how they agreed upon a valuation and what lessons they learnt along the way.  

On this episode, I talk all things "company culture" with my good friend Adam Albrecht, who's also the co-author of my latest book, The Culture Turnaround. We talk about the cultures we build within our families, how we worked to build the culture at Engauge many years ago, tips on how to build an "undeniable culture" within any team or company, and much more. You can grab your copy of the new book at Ripples.Media/shop Don't forget to subscribe

About Joe: Joe Koufman is responsible for introducing three married couples and countless business relationships. In early 2014, he parlayed his passion for connecting people with his deep relationships with marketers and agencies to build the marketing matchmaker service, Setup. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Joe spent six years leading business development and marketing for Engauge. As Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing there, he helped the agency build new relationships with high-profile clients like Cisco Systems, Newell Brands, AMC Theatres, Hanesbrands, and Hershey's. Joe serves on the board of directors of the https://www.ama-atlanta.com/about/board-of-directors/ (American Marketing Association (AMA Atlanta)), the https://www.atlantaima.org/about/board-of-directors-2019/ (Atlanta Interactive Marketing) https://www.atlantaima.org/about/board-of-directors-2019/ (Association (AIMA)), and the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. He also volunteers weekly at https://everybodywinsatlanta.org/ (Everybody Wins! Atlanta), and participated in the https://www.eonetwork.org/atlanta (Entrepreneurs' Organization) Accelerator program. Joe joins Guy to share how finding the right mix of compatibility and chemistry is crucial for creating long-lasting partnerships between agencies and brands. Links: @SetupSays social handles: https://www.linkedin.com/company/SetupSays (LinkedIn) https://twitter.com/SetupSays (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/SetupSays (Instagram) https://www.facebook.com/SetupSays (Facebook) https://www.pinterest.com/SetupSays (Pinterest) https://www.youtube.com/SetupSays (YouTube) Other links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekoufman/ (Joe LinkedIn) https://setup.us/how-we-help (Setup Website) https://marketingmachine.prorelevant.com/getting-started/ (Guy's Special Offer) https://mailchi.mp/prorelevant/newsletter (Sign Up for Guy's Newsletter)

On this episode, I talk with my good friend and former teammate at Spunlogic and Engauge, Jay Jhun. Currently the Director of Loyalty at Focus Brands, we talk about Jay's career, in which he's worked for agencies (like mine), technology companies like IBM, and now on the brand/client side at Focus Brands. We also talk about Jay's journey of adopting his son, as well as career advice for young marketers. Don't forget to subscribe! About me: Sign up for my weekly email newsletter! CEO: Dragon Army + Ripples Media My books: The Turnaround Leadership Series Nonprofits I've started: Ripples of Hope + 48in48 + The A Pledge Blog: www.jeffhilimire.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffhilimire --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

In this episode, I interview three couples that met at either Spunlogic or Engauge, and have since married and started families. Listen along as we reminisce and play our version of “The Newlywed Game”! Don't forget to subscribe! About me: Sign up for my weekly email newsletter! CEO: Dragon Army Author: The 5-Day Turnaround + The Crisis Turnaround Co-founder and Board Chair: Ripples of Hope + 48in48 Blog: www.jeffhilimire.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffhilimire Twitter: twitter.com/jeffhilimire --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

In this episode of the SpunMafia series of my podcast, I interview a few members of my former team: Joe Koufman, Shannon Delaney, and Raghu Kakarala. Listen along as we talk about a pivotal moment in Joe's career, when we had to stage an intervention to get him on track at Engauge. Check out SpunMafia Episode 5, The Advisory Board, here: https://youtu.be/vksTQrGJgJo Don't forget to subscribe! To Follow Joe: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekoufman/ To Follow Shannon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonmdelaney/ To Follow Raghu: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raghukakarala/ About me: Sign up for my weekly email newsletter! CEO: Dragon Army Author: The 5-Day Turnaround + The Crisis Turnaround Co-founder and Board Chair: Ripples of Hope + 48in48 Blog: www.jeffhilimire.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffhilimire Twitter: twitter.com/jeffhilimire --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

Meet Adam:   Adam spent his childhood in Vermont, where he was raised on maple syrup and snow. Following graduation from high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he studied psychology, journalism, and cheese curds. He also captained Wisconsin’s Big 10 Champion track and field team.   Adam started his advertising career as a copywriter at Cramer Krasselt working on iconic brands including Reddi-Wip, Ski-Doo, GNC, Snap-On, Briggs and Stratton, and Case IH. His next stop was at Engauge where he ascended to the role of Chief Creative Officer, winning work with such well-known brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Nationwide Insurance, Wells Fargo, UPS, and Chick-fil-a. Publicis Groupe acquired Engauge in 2013 and folded the agency into Atlanta-based Moxie, forming a 625 person marketing powerhouse. Adam remained at Moxie until 2016 when he left to launch The Weaponry. In your life story one of your stops was at Engauge where you ascended to the role of Chief Creative Officer, tell us about that.    I landed there as a Creative Director overseeing the Columbus office and there are offices in Columbus, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Orlando, and Austin. Two years later, I was promoted to Executive Creative Director, two years after that they made me the Chief Creative Officer overseeing all the offices, and we had 275 people. We started to crush, that was a really fun time. But over the course of the next couple of years after I became Chief Creative Officer, we won business with Nationwide Insurance, Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, we won business with, UPS, with Bob Evans, Walgreens, and it wasn't all me. But by the time we were, we were really rolling, we did a bunch of work with Kraft and Nike. So it was a hot time and the private equity firm that owned us after winning all this said "Let's sell." So I was involved as part of the four-person leadership team that did all the singing and dancing for all of our potential suitors. So in the first half of 2013, I was on Wall Street every single week, presenting, singing and dancing, and being with people who were interested in buying the agency. That was my advanced degree in business, and it set me up for the rest of my career.    What was that experience like?   The really interesting thing that happened to me here was that I spent my career in advertising as a creative. When I got into that sale process, and I got to sit down with, you know, the chief financial officers, chief executive officers and Chief Operating officers from these international holding companies, I quickly recognize going through the conversations with their banks, and such, that the people who are really making money in advertising are not the writers and the art directors, the media lady and the Account Exec who are up until two in the morning, trying to get the presentation ready for the next day. It's the bankers is the people who say, "Hey, I want to pay for that," or the investors who say, "I'll buy this business!" Those are the people who are really making bank. That was that that was all I needed to know. So I felt like, "Let's go change this in my next chapter."   So let's get into the next chapter where you start a business!   So after the sale went through I was incentivized to stick around with the next company for a couple of years. The company is called Moxie, based in Atlanta with offices in New York, LA, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. I was incentivized to stick around and I was trying to make the best of it, but I had an earn-out, which meant that a incentivize me to stick around for three years and every year on the anniversary they're like, "You did it, you stuck around another year!" By the end of my earn-out period, I was ready to go do something else. As I was thinking about what I might be doing next, one day, while sitting in my office at work in Atlanta, I get a phone call from a former client of mine named Chris Dawson who I had worked with him at Skidoo. He calls and says, "Hey, I'm I'm in a new situation, I'm now the chief operating officer of iKON Aircraft, we're launching this amazing new sport aircraft is like basically like a watercraft that flies and so I'd love to work with you again." He said, "I'd love to work with you, but I don't want to work with your current agency, would you think about starting your own business?" And I said, "Yes, absolutely I will do that." Well, so then two hours later, I get another call from another former client of mine who I worked with a Nationwide Insurance. He was a lawyer, and he was the Chief Marketing Officer of another good business. He said, "Adam, this new situation, I'm not a chief marketing officer, this new place, I love to work with you again, but I don't want to work with your current agency." I said, "Well as it just so happens, I started my business!" So then, two things happened. I looked around my office, I thought wow, this seems way too good to be true. Then I thought, "This is what I've been waiting for." When you think about going through life and waiting for those doors to open opportunities come your way, and this one just came my way. So now you got to run and figure out what to do next. I knew that I couldn't count on either of them to come through for sure, so let me see what else got what other kinds of interest there may be. So I quickly hit up a few other former clients and within about a week, I had five clients who said, "If you do this, we have work for you." So then I was like, Alright, here we go, but then I had a dilemma because I basically had a huge opportunity to go and start my own agency, which had been my goal from the beginning of my career. But I had been on the salary track all my career. I had a significant mortgage at the time, I had three kids and I have a wife that I really wanted to keep. So I'm trying to lock this how do you go from this, quote-unquote, sure thing of a salary position to entrepreneurship. One day, I was reading a blog post from a friend of mine, who's an entrepreneur, and it was 10 things you don't need to do to start your own business. I gotta tell you, it changed my life. I'm throwing that out there and making it seem dramatic, but it really unlocked the door for me, because I read this and there are things like you don't need a lawyer until you have money nobody's steal anything from you. You don't need a business plan, that's if you're looking for, you know, if you're looking for financing, you should have a plan, but you don't need any official business plan. But number seven was the one that really unlocked it for me. It said, "You don't need to quit your job, in fact, he says, I encourage you not to quit your job. Let your day job fund your entrepreneurial project, and hold on to that day job as long as you can." For me, that was the key in the lock, the door opens and I walk through because that's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to start this on the side and I'm hoping it will be my future. I started taking on clients nights and weekends, right? So a little bit of night work and some weekend work and it suddenly starts snowballing and then my nights are full, weekends are full, I'm not sleeping at all. So that’s how I got started.    I want to read what you put on that front page of The Weaponry that in my opinion is like a mindset. You guys put on your website, "The weaponry is an advertising and idea agency that believes business is war and to win the war of business, you have to outrank your competition." You go on to say, "Sound aggressive? Oh, we are aggressive."    I tell you what, I start off every company meeting, we say here's our philosophy, here's our belief, and if this is how you feel, then this is the place for you and if it isn't, then there's a better place for you. I absolutely believe this. I have a little bit of athletic background and one of the things that I have found is that a lot of athletes when they were college or professional, not so much if you're a high school athlete, but a lot of college athletes because it becomes such a big part of your routine in college, such a huge part of your time and such a such an important part of your identity. But when you are done with your athletics, a lot of athletes say, "I was lost, I felt like it wasn't me without sports." I would say I never felt that at all. As soon as I graduated, I just turned my attention to my career and took the exact same focus and drive, and willing to put in the energy to be great that I did for my athletics, and as a student. I put that into my career and it surprises me how few athletes do the exact same thing because it is the exact same blueprint for athletic success that drives the rest of the success in your career. The structure, the discipline, the focus, the background work that you have to do as an athlete you know, all those the little stupid things that we would do the little drills that you do over and over to perfect a piece of what you do. You do that in your career and it becomes highly specialized and you become world-class at the smallest thing. You add extreme value to organizations that make money off of that kind of work. So I remember early in my career, getting hyper-focused on concepts for a campaign or ideas for a new business pitch. It felt the same as those times where I was in the weight room, I'm focusing hard on getting those last few reps. It's the same thing, it's the exact same feeling.   Do you think college athletes in particular are given the room and space from what's expected of them? Do you think they're able to meet their expectations as a college athlete, and then also still have time to engage in these other facets of life?   No, that's a great, great point. The demands of the average college athlete are so great that it is hard to be well rounded, and that's and that's by design, right? I think that there's some truth to that with college athletics is that they give you time for academics, time for athletics, all you can eat, and then you have very little time to get in trouble. Then little by little and, and just enough time to get in trouble to blow off steam and almost no room to get involved with, you know, the jazz appreciation club, or to go and join the Outing Club and take sailing lessons on Sunday afternoon, and just to do all those other things that make you a really well-rounded human.    So it sounds to me if you if there was one maybe thing in particular that you would like to see changed in this world of sports, specifically at a high level, it's the freedom to have other interests.   I think that your point is good, yes, that would be great for people in the long run. But I also believe if you really want to be great things, go all in. There's such importance to being able to focus, focus your energy, focus your time, focus it on a goal if you really want to nail that. So I wouldn't necessarily change that because it leads to high performance and I think that there's a lot of athletes who go to college and say, "I don't have the same focus, I don't, I don't want to have this tunnel vision, just to be a track athlete or a wrestler or a volleyball player." Then they stop and they say, "Hey, I found a big exciting life outside of athletics," and then good for them because that would have broken my heart if that's how my store would have ended. I really cared about the challenge of track and field. Track and field is a little different than a  traditional team sport because it is all you and it's so cut and dry right there. I put a tape measure out or a stopwatch to figure out if I was improving and if I was better than a bunch of other people who have tried this as well. So and so from that standpoint, I just found the challenge of self-improvement to be intoxicating. And so much more...

Joe Koufman has always been a connector of people. In his 20+ years working in marketing and business development, he has built out a large and distinguished network of corporate and agency contacts.Joe founded Setup in early 2014 to help marketers level up. Today, Setup connects marketers with agencies, talent, and resources to fill gaps.Prior to founding Setup, Joe spent six years as SVP of Marketing and Business Development at Engauge (acquired by Publicis Group in 2013 and merged with Moxie), focusing on landing marquis clients such as Hershey's, Cisco Systems, AMC Theatres, Chick-fil-A, Newell Brands, and Turner Broadcasting. Before Engauge, Joe spent eight years leading strategic accounts for KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget in 2007) such as Computer Associates, Cognos (now IBM), and Oracle.In this episode, we discuss Joe's journey from managing big-brand retail to forming a business around his passion for matchmaking.  In addition, he shares several entrepreneurial tips, including: (1) don't do it, unless you are 100% committed, and (2) find your tribe.

The guys are back together again in the 4th episode of the SpunMafia series. In this episode, the Spunlogic founders discuss the final years of Engauge and the sale process to Publicis/Moxie. Jump to 1:30 to hear about the sale process and the guy's perspective on the time leading up to selling the company. Jump to 14:08 to hear about the offers. Jump to 18:20 to hear about the merge with Moxie, how Raj found out he was a part of the new management team, and how Raghu got roped in as well. Jump to 26:30 to hear about the integration and the cultural differences between Moxie & Engauge. Jump to 34:30 to hear about how Engauge won the largest agency in Atlanta in 2013, and the mystery behind that. Jump to 45:20 to hear about upcoming episodes. If you enjoyed this episode, check out: Jeff's blog: https://jeffhilimire.com/ Email Newsletter: https://eepurl.com/b9AZn1 The 5-Day Turnaround: https://amzn.to/2MNOYg6 The Crisis Turnaround: https://amzn.to/2MSfwNf --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

In this 3rd episode of the SpunMafia series, the founders of Spunlogic discuss their sale of the business to Engauge in 2008, the decision-making process that went into it, and the early years of working together at the new company. Details: Jump to 1:07 to hear about the different offers they received and what set Engauge apart. Jump to 4:00 to hear about the Engauge "concept" and why they chose Engauge. Jump to 6:40 to hear what everyone thought going into the acquisition. Jump to 10:09 to hear about how the first year went. Jump to 29:00 to hear about Raj's sabbatical and the job offer upon return. Jump to 35:33 to hear about Danny's decision to leave and gradual departure. Jump to 37:42 to hear about what Jeff refers to as "Engauge 2.0". Jump to 41:58 to hear about how aligning and becoming one company was a big win. Jump to 43:55 to hear about the process of trying to create a Spunlogic culture at Engauge. If you enjoyed this interview, check out Jeff's blog: https://jeffhilimire.com/. Email Newsletter: https://eepurl.com/b9AZn1 The 5-Day Turnaround: https://amzn.to/2MNOYg6 The Crisis Turnaround: https://amzn.to/2MSfwNf --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

Drew Hawkins is the Director of Digital Marketing at Womble Bond Dickinson, a transatlantic law firm. We worked together at my previous company, Engauge, and I thought it would be fun to 'record' one of our conversations, which always delves into our favorite to-do systems, ways that we stay productive, how we store our notes and documents, and most importantly, how we work hard to focus on our family before everything else. Things we specifically cover in this episode: Staying productive during COVID-19 (and with little kids running around) Asana vs. Todoist (to-do systems) Blogging cadence and writing something that feels worthy OneNote vs. Evernote (and our problem with digital hoarding) The iPad Pro + Apple Pencil kick that I'm on And quite a bit more... You can find out more about Drew at his blog: Brain Wads About me: Sign up for my weekly email newsletter! CEO: Dragon Army Author: The 5-Day Turnaround + The Crisis Turnaround Co-founder and Board Chair: Ripples of Hope + 48in48 Blog: www.jeffhilimire.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffhilimire Twitter: twitter.com/jeffhilimire --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeff-hilimire/message

Rob Riggs Chief Visionary at Market Engauge is interviewed in this episode. Follow Adam on Instagram at Ask Adam Torres for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to become a featured co-author in one of Adam's upcoming books: https://www.moneymatterstoptips.com/coauthor --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/moneymatters/support

Raghu Kakarala is the Managing Partner at FortyFour. Prior to cofounding FortyFour he helped build and grow Spunlogic and Engauge into the largest private agency in the Southeast. After participating in the sale of Engauge to Publicis in 2013 Raghu travelled extensively with his wife Dolly and twins Sai and Avi and came back to Atlanta to help create FortyFour into a premier place for local talent to envision and create great work for leading clients. With clients across the globe as well as based here in Atlanta, FortyFour has grown to over 50 employees in its headquarters in Inman Park.

On this latest episode of Gen X Amplified, Adrion is joined by Jeff Hilimire, CEO and Co-founder of Dragon Army, a mobile and innovation agency, and the Co-founder of 48in48. During this value-packed conversation, Jeff discusses his own extensive entrepreneurial journey from building websites in college, to co-founding and leading an award winning mobile agency. Jeff also provides some key insights on millennial leadership and also establishing a purpose for both your company and your personal brand. Jeff Hilimire is the Co-Founder and CEO of Dragon Army, a mobile and innovation company that helps clients navigate today’s connected landscape through the use of new innovations and technology. Prior to launching Dragon Army, he founded and sold two additional marketing agencies, Spunlogic and Engauge, within a 10-year span. Jeff is also the Co-Founder and Board Chair of a non-profit company called 48in48, where its mission is to build 48 nonprofit websites, within 48 hours in cities across the world. A graduate of the 2013 Leadership Atlanta class and a member of the 2012 Atlanta 40 under 40 class, Jeff is also on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and chairs the board of Central Outreach & Advocacy Center. In addition, Jeff is on the Leadership Council and Conservation Society for Zoo Atlanta and Executive Board of The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys spending quality time with his wife Emily of 19 years, and their five children. Key Takeaways: How Jeff began a career in entrepreneurship, particularly within the digital marketing and agency industry The reason Jeff created both his own personal mission statement Why participating in the Leadership Atlanta program was a transformational moment that changed his life The genesis and mission behind Jeff’s recent non-profit organization, 48in48 Why optimizing your time and what you focus on is key when it comes to starting and managing a business as a Gen X leader Why Dragon Army implements an open communication and inspirational workplace environment And so much more! Resources mentioned in this episode: Jeff 's Blog Jeff on Twitter Dragon Army 48in48 Leadership Atlanta Central Outreach and Advocacy Center Jeff's Personal Theme Song “Begin the Begin" by R.E.M. Thank you for listening!  

Mike Popowski is the CEO of Dagger. Mike drives Dagger’s vision, culture and growth. He brings over 17 years of digital, social and brand-building experience. A proven client service and team leader, Mike has had success building campaigns for the world’s biggest brands across a variety of industries.Mike joined Dagger from TBWAChiatDay New York, where he led the global repositioning for GSK’s global smoker’s health business, Nicoderm CQ (US). Mike was previously SVP, Client Partner at Moxie (formerly Engauge), where he architected the agency’s first content marketing practices for Cisco Systems, UPS and Wells Fargo. He was an early pioneer of social marketing as a consultant for AARP from 2008 to 2011, and implemented early digital content practices for AARP’s renowned Travel Ambassador, Peter Greenberg, and Health Ambassador, Martina Navratilova. Mike’s previous stints include AOL and SureClick, an Inc. 5000 digital agency based in Washington, D.C.Mike’s a native Vermonter so he really enjoys winters in Atlanta.

Jeff Hilimire is Co-Founder and CEO of Dragon Army, an Atlanta-based mobile and innovation company that helps clients navigate today’s connected landscape through the use of new innovations and technology. Prior to that, Jeff founded and sold two additional marketing agencies, Spunlogic and Engauge, within a 10-year span.

Joe spent over six years as SVP of Marketing and Business Development at Engauge(now Moxie, part of Publicis), focusing on landing marquis clients such as Hershey's, Cisco Systems, AMC Theatres, Newell Rubbermaid, Chick-fil-A, and Turner Broadcasting. Soon after Engauge was acquired in 2013, Joe recognized a gap in the market that he was uniquely suited to help fill - helping brands and agencies connect with each other. He founded AgencySparks in early 2014 to solve these problems.

E080 - Engauge Joe Fatora joins the DailySpin Startup Spotlight today to talk Engauge. Hear the story of how this startup was built for developers by a developer when Joe couldn't find the tools necessary to accomplish what he needed. Finding your audience and providing them with the right testing tool was critical and hear on today's podcast how Joe accomplished that. http://www.dailyspin.io/2017/07/27/12607/

Buckhead Business Show - Joe Koufman, AgencySparks Founder and Amy Glass, Realtor Amy Glass, REALTOR Harry Norman REALTORS As native of Georgia and Atlanta, Amy possess extensive knowledge of her community, local commerce and educational systems. She approaches real estate from a unique perspective, by providing the most current and relevant information available. As an associate of Harry Norman, REALTORS®, Amy has access and support to exclusive global affiliations unmatched by any other brokerage. Amy passionately offers her clients unparalleled support throughout the decision making process and will invariably hold your best interest as the priority. Amy feels strongly about giving back to her profession and to her community. She is a active supporter for a team dinner for the Trinity House for Men, Big Bethel, a member of the Atlanta Realtors Association (Governmental Affairs and RPAC Committee), and a member of the Buckhead Business Association. When not volunteering, Amy enjoys a wide variety of activities with her family and friends; from hiking the national parks in China and Peru to fishing in Alaska. While Amy loves to travel her favourite thing is to come home. There are many local hidden treasures to be found in and around Atlanta. Amy is passionate about art, music and great restaurants. I am known for my FacebookLive events and interviewing leaders in the industry. Topics to Discuss: Industry Trends, Business Model, Mission, Market update for Buckhead and Sandy Springs. School Trends for the area, Marketing Model, Lease with an option to buy Home Partners of America, Affordable housing. Three micro markets with in Buckhead and Sandy Springs. Web Site / Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/amyglassharrynormanrealtors/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-glass-53007a135/ http://amyglassweb.harrynorman.com/ https://twitter.com/AmyglassRealtor Joe Koufman, Founder AgencySparks Joe Koufman is responsible for introducing at least three married couples and countless contacts who established business relationships. In early 2014, he parlayed his passion for connecting people with his deep relationships with marketers and agencies to found AgencySparks (http://AgencySparks.com). Before that, Joe spent six years leading business development and marketing for Engauge (now Moxie, part of Publicis Groupe) and eight years growing strategic accounts for KnowledgeStorm (now TechTarget). Joe continues to give back to the marketing community by serving on the board of directors of the American Marketing Association (AMA Atlanta), the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AIMA), and the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. He also volunteers weekly at Everybody Wins! Atlanta, and is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization Accelerator program. Joe often jokes that he uses his Speech Communications major from Wake Forest University every day and his Politics major more frequently than he would like. When Joe isn't working, he loves to discover new music (he hosts a weekly radio show at http://GumboShow.com) and spend time with his wife, Michelle, and their twins - Joss and Radley. He spends most weekends supporting his kids activities, running, playing tennis, and immersing himself in music. Topics to Discuss: How brands and marketing agencies work together How they find each other What AgencySparks does to make quality connections between brands and agencies How AgencySparks has evolved over the last few years Web Site / Social Media Links http://AgencySparks.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/AgencySparks https://twitter.com/AgencySparks https://www.facebook.com/AgencySparks/ https://www.instagram.com/AgencySparks/ https://www.youtube.com/AgencySparks The Buckhead Business Show Spotlights Industry Leaders in Buckhead and Atlanta! Brought to you in part by The BBA and Broadcast LIVE from the Pro Business Channel Studios.

Joe Koufman. He’s responsible for introducing at least 3 married couples in countless contacts to establish business relationships. In early 2014, he parlayed his passion for connecting people and founded a company called AgencySparks, which is essentially a dating service for brands and marketing agencies. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Challenger Sale What CEO do you follow? – Jeff Hilimire Favorite online tool? — Lucky Orange How many hours of sleep do you get?— “I try to get 7” If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I would have invested even more in relationships. They will absolutely pay off down the road”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:36 – Nathan introduces Joe to the show 02:29 – AgencySparks focuses on making connections for brands and agencies 02:34 – AgencySparks is paid by the agencies to help them with their business development and outreach to potential clients 02:50 – In many cases, AgencySparks can help subvert the RFP and the client will hire the agency directly 03:15 – One of AgencySparks’ clients tells them about Coca-cola’s water sustainability efforts and that they need the story to be everywhere 03:46 – AgencySparks was able to make a connection with one of their agencies that focuses on public relations and they made a deal 04:13 – AgencySparks is shifting their model now 04:20 – AgencySparks is traditionally paid by agencies to get them through a thorough, upfront, vetting process 04:27 – AgencySparks is getting paid through monthly retainers and a percentage of the deal 04:34 – The monthly retainer is $5K per agency, which is 12-month deal 04:50 – AgencySparks was launched in early 2014 04:58 – Joe spent years with KnowledgeStorm which was acquired by TechTarget 05:05 – TechTarget went public and bought KnowledgeStorm for $58M 05:26 – Joe spent 6 years building marketing and business development in Engauge 05:31 – Engauge was then acquired by Publicis 05:56 – When Joe left Engauge, he had job offers from 6 different agencies and that’s when he had the idea of AgencySparks 06:21 – Joe’s highest offer from one of the agencies was $400K and he said “no” 06:55 – AgencySparks is Joe’s first entrepreneurship stint 07:11 – Joe didn’t have any equity in KnowledgeStorm 07:45 – Joe made a big transition while he was at KnowledgeStorm 07:47 – Joe started as an account manager in 2000 08:05 – Joe moved to sales and realized that he was just going to have the same exact salary 08:23 – Joe did well in sales and had grown big accounts 08:50 – Joe’s last salary was $210K, in 2007 09:20 – By the time Joe left, he was making around $300K in 2013 09:43 – When Joe started AgencySparks, he knew that we wouldn't have much revenue, at first 09:52 – First year revenue was $270K 10:03 – Year 2 was $370K and Year 3: $430K 10:13 – 2017’s goal is to double 10:25 – To achieve their goal, they have to change their model a bit 10:45 – The client is asking AgencySparks for different options 10:59 – They want to have multiple agencies in one category 11:27 – AgencySparks currently has 11 clients 11:40 – AgencySparks has other revenue streams 11:48 – The commission percentage is 10% 12:10 – AgencySparks offers other services like info-product 12:40 – March 2017 revenue 13:00 – Team size is 4 and all are in Atlanta 13:18 – Greg Crabtree’s labor efficiency ratio is the idea of hovering between 2 and to 3.5, so for every dollar spent on payroll, you should be bringing in $2.50 - $3.50, in terms of revenue 13:47 – As a CEO of a company, if you’re not pulling out the salary that you would be making as a hired CEO, then your business isn’t profitable 14:00 – Nathan’s computation within The Top’s 600 interviews done with SaaS companies 15:04 – AgencySparks’ net margin 15:27 – Joe is the guy who would re-invest his money into the business 15:33 – Joe isn’t a family business guy 15:44 – Joe is looking into 5 years, then selling his business 15:52 – AgencySparks already has interesting offers 16:14 – AgencySparks has a method that is a repeatable and sustainable as a business development process—which is part of what they’re teaching 16:57 – “The challenge is that this is a very relationship-focused business” 18:28 – The Famous Five   3 Key Points: As a CEO of a company, if you’re not pulling out the salary that you would be making as a hired CEO, then your business is NOT profitable. Continue to grow your business as much as you can, but be mindful of the interesting offers that come along the way. Invest in relationships.   Resources Mentioned: The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences Organifi – The juice was Nathan’s life saver during his trip in Southeast Asia Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books Freshbooks – Nathan doesn’t waste time so he uses Freshbooks to send out invoices and collect his money. Get your free month NOW Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Successful strategic partnerships are mutually beneficial to the participating parties or entities. But what does it mean to be beneficial when you are a small startup looking to larger organizations for support and resources? In this report from On The Road, host Laurence Colletti sits down with Michael Frankel, Carlos Gamez, Bill O’Boyle, David Coffee, and Dean Sonderegger from the Strategic Partnerships panel at the Evolve Law Summit in New York City to discuss ideal partnerships, how to approach large organizations, and four laws of attraction when it comes to courting a strategic partner. Michael Frankel serves as managing director and head of the Deloitte New-venture Accelerator. He is a senior corporate development, strategy, and operating executive and has led and closed more than 100 transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures, and alliances. He is a three time book author in mergers and acquisitions and has written several articles for the same. Carlos Gamez is the senior director of innovation for Thomson Reuters’ Legal Business where he partners with individuals to define the innovation strategy and to execute innovation priorities through strategic projects with the potential to drive organic growth. Bill O’Boyle founded North State Consulting and has an extensive background developing business models and negotiating at the executive level with global companies such as Sony , Fujitsu, Canon, Citrix, Worldox, Smarsh, Applied Systems, Lexis Nexis, Cicayda, Jostle, and mxHero. He was also a three time invitee of the AICPA’s Executive Roundtable. David Coffey was named SVP, chief digital officer of LegalShield in November, 2016. Prior to that, he was president of The Coffey Group where he served several clients including NBC Universal’s Biggest Loser, Meredith’s Hyper Factory/New Media Strategies, Engauge, Mr. Youth, and StrikeForce Communications. His past client list includes Allstate, Travelers Direct, Mercedes, Harrah’s, Career Education, CSI Direct, Chrysler, Charles Schwab, Edward-Jones, Janus Funds, Jockey, Bissell, HBO, Discovery Communications, Citi Bank, Virgin Charter, U.S. Post Office, Department of Homeland Security, and Mitsubishi Motors. Dean Sonderegger leads the Legal Markets Group of Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory US where he is responsible for accelerating the vision and strategy for the Legal Markets and Innovation teams. He has more than 25 years of experience working in the tax and legal software and services industries.

In this session of The Smart Agency Masterclass, I chat with Raj Choudhury, co-founder of Spunlogic — which became one of the largest privately held digital agencies in the Southeast, before it was acquired by Halyard Capital in 2008 to form Engauge. We discuss the journey Raj had in growing his business and his advice for owners out there looking to take their agency to the next level. In the beginning. Raj started out doing what he loved. In their early 20's he and his business partner, Jeff Hilimire, were building basic websites mostly for the tourism industry. Raj traveled the globe, building websites for ski resorts and backpacking groups in exchange for passes. "We didn't really realize what we were doing. We didn't even know what an agency was." According to Raj, "There were no real barriers. We just did something we were passionate about." In fact, it wasn't until they landed a gig for $65,000 that they realized they really had a business on their hands. The realization that they could sell. Like most agencies, Raj's experienced growth in stages - having one to five people, to 10-18, 20-25, and so on. Sometimes companies stall out at a certain stage for various reasons. Maybe they're comfortable being a mid-sized agency. Or perhaps they just don't know what to do next. "We grew because we were very aggressive in nature," Raj says. But it wasn't making money motivating them. They were just passionate about what they did. "It went from being a hobby to being a business." For agencies looking to make it over the next level of 10 employees, Raj says to be smart about your sales pipeline, "Don't underprice yourself because cash flow is a problem." He's right. [clickToTweet tweet="Be disciplined about how you handle your cash flow or else you'll find yourself in a constant struggle." quote="Be disciplined about how you handle your cash flow or else you'll find yourself in a constant struggle."] Early on, Raj brought salespeople onto his team believing it would help secure business. What he ended up learning is that salespeople are great at finding and cultivating relationships, but it's the founders who are usually best at closing the deal. Building a culture and team you can trust. Raj attributes the company culture to their being so young when the business started. It was about having fun, sharing experiences, and being edgy. They were a family with everyone passionate about making the business a success. Though he does share a word of warning, "As you grow, be sure to take a look at your staff. People who do well at small agencies may not do well at a mid to large agency." As far as building a team you can trust, Raj says to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if you're ready to let go. If you're not, you may not have the right people around you, or you simply may not be ready for the growth. If you want to get to the next level, you'll need to learn to delegate responsibilities. "You can't be effective if you micromanage," he says, "You've got to share the load and trust your team." Part of delegating and team trust comes from you taking the time to help your business thrive. Don't just be a reactionary leader. If you're constantly taking meetings and putting out fires, you're not helping your business. The low points. It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine for Raj. "We made so many mistakes," he admits. Instead of looking at the mistakes as failures, Raj says they took them down new paths. He doesn't regret the experience learned from making mistakes, including the knowledge of when to pull the plug. Admitting there is a problem and knowing when to just stop, is a big - often hard - lesson learned. When you're just starting out, landing that $50,000 project feels amazing. It feels less than amazing though when you realize that project actually ended up costing you $100,000. It's that kind of mistake Raj says led them to start using discovery scoping. A discovery phase can really help you get a better understanding of the client and the unknowns. Next Level Agency: Building long-term client relationships. It's not just about landing the client. You want to build long-term relationships with them. Raj did this by making sure the client looks amazing all the time. This way they'll remember you down the road. He also advises allowing your team to build relationships with their counterparts in the client's company. It helps to build trust, as well as identify new opportunities. Another thing Raj did was host lots and lots of round tables, including topics from email to emerging tech, and so on. They invited clients and let them network amongst themselves. "It wasn't a sales meeting," he says, "but it still helped promote our brand." By creating a community for their customers, Raj's company was able to build trust and drive business.   Want to read more about how you can improve your agency and yourself as an agency owner? You can read our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Whether you are starting an agency or you have an established digital agency, growing your business is usually always a goal. In this article, I share all the tips you need to know to achieve business growth from your agency from an agency owner who grew his agency to one of the best in the country. In this episode we cover: The steps needed to grow and/or sell your business - from hiring the right people to  forming a board of directors to defining a niche in your market. How Jeff Hilimire grew his digital agency to one of the best agencies in the country with top clients such as Chick-fil-a, Coke and CISCO. How he sold the agency twice, and what he recommends for take your agency to the next level. What Jeff considers his biggest mistake and his the secrets to successfully growing a digital agency. And finally, learn about the sale process when Jeff sold both Spunlogic (2008) and Engauge (2013). Setting a clear goal for the business. In Jeff's case, the end goal was to be acquired and to make sure decisions were based on this goal. He knew they needed to be one of the biggest agencies in the southeast with a fast growth rate and big name clients. This meant taking on clients and projects that sometimes lost money in order to get the big brand clients. He believed that once they get one big name, they could leverage that name to get even more. How to win big clients. Jeff picked a niche he could own - user experience. In doing that, he was able to start targeting big clients and focused on doing whatever it took to get the first one. He advises: Leveraging your past success once you get one big brand in order to attract more. Should you setup an advisory board? Yes, and you should set it up from the very beginning. Jeff wanted unsolicited advice and wanted to have different skill sets on the board. He picked one person from each discipline: Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Agency. What are some keys to keeping your business growing? You need to have at least one leader focused on growth. Invest back into the business and keep your own salary low. Learning to delegate is key to growing. Give power to your team. Build a culture where people want to have fun. Start a company trip to bring everyone together. Commit 100% to growing. What are two pieces of advice when selling your business? Don't get distracted when you go through the selling process. When you get to the talks about buying, treat it like it won't happen. Building and selling an agency, or any business, is a long, multifaceted process. Learning from those who have gone before you can ease and simplify the process if you are willing to learn. Ready to Achieve Business Growth? I hope you found this information helpful and inspiring for you to achieve those bigger clients and business growth you aspire to. If you are looking for advice on what you need to do as an agency owner or learn how to fast track growth for your agency, I can help. I have a bank of tips, tricks and insights that you can find checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. Or if videos are more your thing, you can check out the videos on my Youtube channel!

On this week’s podcast Engauge’s Rene Smith and Chad Elkins speak with Adam Hoffman, Director of Marketing and Community Development at Zaarly, Inc & Maria Joyner, a Zaarly User. Zaarly is a proximity based, real-time buyer powered market or a virtual bazaar. Buyers make an offer for … Continue reading →

On this week’s podcast Engauge’s Katie Melick and Rene Smith speak with Mac Helms, Founder of Tex’s Tacos, part of the Food Truck Phenomenon in Atlanta. Tex’s Tacos began when Atlanta resident and Texas native Mac Helms shared a meal out … Continue reading →

On this week’s podcast Engauge’s Chad Elkins and Katie Melick speak with Jared Malan, CEO and Co-founder of We&Co, a location-based app for people who provide and enjoy great service. By encouraging users to build a relationship with their favorite … Continue reading →

On this week’s podcast Engauge’s Rene Smith and DrewHawkins speak with Caleb Elston, CEO and Co-founder of Yobongo, a location based app that allows users to chat about common interests in real time. With users in San Francisco, Austin and New York, … Continue reading →

In this week’s podcast, Engauge’s Kaitlyn Dennihy and Rene Smith speak with Jonathan Yagel, Center Midfielder at LifeKraze.  Jonathan is in charge of communications within LifeKraze, a social networking website where users share accomplishments, get rewards and encourage others! LifeKraze motivates … Continue reading →

In this week’s podcast Engauge’s Jeff Hilimire speaks with Sgt. Lincoln Osiris of Tropic Thunder, delving into the world of celebrities and social media. Lincoln Osiris is a Sgt. in the U.S. Army, starred in the Movie Tropic Thunder, and is … Continue reading →

On May 5th, 2011, Engauge hosted DIG Day, it’s second annual new media immersion event.  Ninety of Engauge’s clients and partners attended to gain insight on new technology and get first hand experience with augmented reality, XBOX Kinect hacks, and … Continue reading →

In this week’s podcast, Engauge’s Rene Smith and Patrick Brandt speak with Georgia Tech’s Augmented Environments Lab (AEL) Director Blair MacIntyre and Argon Project Manager Alex Hill about the past, present and future of augmented reality. At the AEL, Blair and … Continue reading →

In this week’s podcast Engauge’s Rene Smith and Kaitlyn Dennihy speak with ExpoTV Owner Bill Hildebolt and CEO Daphne Kwon.  Here, they give great insight to ExpoTV and everything it has to offer. ExpoTV tries to create a “level playing field” … Continue reading →

This week on DIG:This, Engauge’s Rene Smith, Stacey Cohen, and Drew Hawkins speak with Chad Elkins, founder and community manager of Foursquare Atlanta. This morning, Chad was nice enough to stop by the Engauge office to discuss location based services. … Continue reading →

Behavioral Brand Planning and Engagement with David Grzelak, Executive Director of Behavioral Brand Planning and Cultural Insights at Engague. Engauge is one of the nation's largest independent marketing agencies, a total engagement agency that melds technology and creativity to ignite business growth for leading brands.His consumer insights inspired the successful and controversial launch of a vodka brand aimed at women – Van Gogh Blue. Find out how this brand brought sexy back for females in search of a good drink.

Mya Frazier is content director at Engauge. Mya is the author of Reality of the Working Woman: Her Impact on the female target beyond consumption, a white paper recently published in national business magazine Advertising Age.