Podcasts about why your agency needs

Do you want to know what pricing model is right for your agency? Do your clients understand the value of the services you provide? Are you doing enough to make sure your clients stick around? Performance-based pricing can be a great model to help grow your agency, but only when clients understand the real value your agency brings to the table. In this episode, we'll cover: Is performance-based pricing right for your agency? How to help clients understand value compared to performance. Why your agency needs to set big goals. Today I sat down for an informative chat with Justin Buckley, partner at ATTN, a performance and growth digital marketing agency. After spending years working in affiliate marketing, Justin and his partners realized they were spending too much time and money building other people's brands. Two years ago they decided it was time to make something of their own. Justin's here to talk about how their unique pricing model and aggressive goal setting helped grow ATTN fast. Is Performance-Based Pricing Right for Your Agency? One of the most important decisions you'll make is how to charge for your services. Whether you charge on value or performance, there a few things to consider: What type of services do your clients expect of you? What type of time commitment does this mean for your team? How much control do you have over your client's results? When ATTN chose a pricing model, they chose to go with a hybrid approach. What this looks like is a combination of a flat fee and a percentage of ad spend. ATTN chose to build a performance model into their pricing structure since they are a performance agency. Ultimately, when they perform well, their clients perform well and want to spend more. The more their clients spend, the more the agency makes off the ad spend. This helps balance out the lack of control the agency has on the backend of operations as well as offset the cost of working with clients who aren't as focused on growth. As you grow, you'll quickly learn what works for your agency. Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth and be willing to put the measure of your agency's performance on the line. How to Help Clients Understand Value and Performance There's a risk that comes with performance based pricing. If the clients don't get the expected results based on your performance, you aren't going to get paid what you need to. At the end of the day, it's up to you to get your clients to see the value of your services and make sure your agency can achieve the right outcomes. Justin says the number one thing they rely on to help their clients understand what they are getting is communication. If you don't show your clients what you are doing and the results you're achieving, how else are they going to know? While it's important to have regular meetings to review benchmarks and create goals, it's also essential your clients know you're invested in them. Talk to them about what they want to achieve and get a real understanding of their vision. When you know what your client wants and what they are working towards, you'll have an easier time delivering results. Why Your Agency Needs to Set Big Goals If you're not setting goals at your agency, you have nothing to work towards. Whether you're creating an exit strategy, improving cash flow, or building your team, you need to have goals. Don't be afraid to set goals that make you uncomfortable. The best way to meet your goals is to break them into manageable chunks. Want to be at $10 million in profits after 10 years? Where do you have to be at year five to make this achievable? Now break it down even more. What does year three look like? Year one? Finally, figure out what each quarter, each month, and each week looks like. When you do this, not only do you have a way to hold your team accountable, but you can also start putting the right pieces into place and deploying the resources you need to hit your goals. As an agency owner, your job is to provide a service. And with this, you continually have to prove your worth. Talk to your clients, create benchmarks, and schedule regular check-ins. When you and your client are on the same page, you'll both find it easier to find success.   Looking for a Payroll and HR Solution for your Agency? Payroll and benefits are hard. Especially when you're a small business. Gusto is making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for small businesses. You no longer have to be a big company to get great technology, great benefits, and great service to take care of your team. For a limited time, Gusto is offering a deal to Smart Agency Master Class listeners. Check out Gusto.com/agency for 3-months FREE once you run your first payroll with them. Building Your Agency I have advice for challenges you will face building your agency including recognizing common agency mistakes, how to keep great agency employees in your team as well as fostering the connections made with clients. If it’s challenging growing your business, I have agency growth hacks, the best ways to improve management of your business as well as why building a remote team can be beneficial in the long run. Learn more about my experience, as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. You can learn more from my experience from my Ask Swenk series and my videos on my Youtube channel. Check out the advice and learn even more from other successful agency experts featured on Smart Agency podcast twice every week.

Do you struggle to find clients that align with your core values? Are you looking for a way to be able to choose who you work with? When you have a clear understanding of your true north and share your vision with others, the perfect clients will find you. In today's episode, we'll cover:  How your true north can help you find your agency's niche.  3 ways to pick and choose your ideal clients.   Why your agency needs to put people first.  Today I sat down with Eric Kiker agency partner at LRXD, a full-service digital agency in the health and happiness sector. Eric has been with the agency for 8 years and considers himself the chief relationship officer. He's here to talk about how you can get to a point where you can choose your own clients and the importance of knowing who you are as an agency. How Your True North Can Help You Find Your Agency's Niche Your true north is where you see your agency and how you want your business to grow. While we often think of true north as agency values and culture, your vision should be at the core of determining your agency's niche.  When we talk about niche, we often think about what type of businesses we want to work with or what services we will provide. But the true question is: "What type of values do you want to align yourself with?"  LXRD focuses on the health and happiness sector. They choose to work with companies whose goal is to bring health and happiness to the world. If a prospect is just in it for the money, they're not a good fit. Take some time to figure out the types of clients your agency wants to work with, rather than focusing on specific industries.  3 Ways to Pick and Choose Your Ideal Clients  Every agency owner wants to get to a point where they can pick and choose who they work with. But often, this is easier said than done. Sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective: Focus on people, not brands. Too often we get caught up in big-name brands or clients who are the most profitable. But at the end of the day, the goal is to enjoy what you do. When you focus on the people and core values, you'll have an easier time finding a match.  Put your vision out there. As agency owners, we're natural salespeople. We have a habit of telling potential clients what we think they want to hear. Don't be afraid to be proud of your vision and put it out there. Not everyone will like you or believe in your mission and that's okay. The ones that do are the ones you want to work with anyway.  Be patient You won't get to a place where you can choose who you work with overnight. It took LRXD nearly five years to get to this point. If you focus on people and look for opportunities for growth, the business will take care of itself.  Why Your Agency Needs to Put People First People should be at the core of your true north. As an agency CEO, you should be the face of the agency. People have to know what you stand for. It may sound corny, but sometimes you have to lead with your heart before your head.  Any agency can pull together numbers, provide analytics, or a stellar sales pitch, what makes you unique is your attitude and values. When people know who you are and what you believe, there is no trickery or convincing. There will be plenty of people who dig what you do and those are the people you want to work with.  Finding the right clients won't happen all at once. But once you begin working with the people you should be working with you're going to be way more profitable, have the freedom to pick and choose, and be able to afford to bring on the right people. 

Do you feel like a "me too" agency, but you're not sure how to break the chains? Do you want to create a differentiator you can use to grow faster? The agency space is changing. With Facebook pushing business owners to create their own campaigns and hundreds of new agencies popping up monthly, it can be tough to grow. You probably feel like your trapped in a small room and in a rut. Don't worry! There's a way out. In this episode, we'll cover: 3 traits every agency owner needs. Why your agency needs to create a differentiator. 4 steps to creating and hosting agency events. Today, I talked with Mike McCloud, President & CEO of MMA Creative and founder of the World Food Championships. Mike is a tried-and-true entrepreneur with agency DNA. Not only has Mike been in the agency space since 1991 (that's 29 years now!), but he leveraged his agency to help him create the hyper-successful World Food Championships event. That event now generates 95% of MMA Creative's revenue! So, how did an agency owner create a renowned food league with its own TV show and top-tier sponsors? Like this! 3 Traits Every Agency Owner Needs Mike says these are the three traits every successful agency must have: Contrarianism: Is everybody selling Facebook ads? Then you shouldn't be. Winning as an agency owner requires lacing up your boots to go on the road less traveled. Opportunity is everywhere. Sure! You can be a "me too" agency and settle for the crumbs. But why wouldn't you want the whole cake? You have to think outside-of-the-box. What is everyone doing wrong? What is everyone ignoring? Figure that out, and use it to grow. Optimism: When tough times come knocking, you better be ready to answer. We all know that an economic downfall is on the horizon. It may not be today, but it's coming. And when it does, you need to be able to smile, sit down with your team, and figure out how to use that recession to your advantage. Never give up. Always have a trick up your sleeve. And persist through the good times and the not-so-good ones. Every agency owner is going to face situations where giving up is easier than pushing through. Experimentalism: This is a big one! You need to be willing to try new things. All of these blog posts and marketing podcasts aren't going to tell you the next big thing. Once others have figured it out, it's no "the next big thing" anymore. It's just a thing. You have to experiment and find those amazing growth hacks yourself. Why Your Agency Needs to Create a Differentiator There are two big threats to agencies. Business owners can live without you. As an agency, you're the middleman. Business owners can run Facebook ads without you. They can make creatives without you. And they can generate leads without you. They're probably not as good as you are, but they can. And as long as they can, some will. There are thousands of other agencies offering what you have. If you're a "me too" agency, you're a commodity. If your pitches revolve around price, you're racing to the bottom. Your strength shouldn't be your price tag. But it often is. Creating a differentiator eliminates those threats. What can you do that no one else can do? If you don't have an answer, find one. Mike created an event. But you don't have to. You can create an experience, a product, a service, or anything else your competitors can't. I've interviewed agency owners who use strategic gifting, promote their freak factor, and even build tech, just to name a few. They all share one thing in common. They do something unique in order to stand out. 4 Simple Steps to Creating and Hosting Agency Events Use your agency to catapult growth. While your agency is generating revenue, use some of it to experiment and create an amazing differentiator. Here's how Mike was able to create a massive food event using his agency as a springboard. Be profitable: Creating a product, service, event, or experience requires, well... cash. If your agency isn't in the positive or you don't have enough income to support yourself adequately, focus on that first. Learn how to build an evergreen agency. Differentiators don't happen overnight. You'll need income to help you build one. Find something valuable: What should you build? Great question! Here's the answer — something that's valuable to someone. Find a gap in the market and attack it. Did you notice there aren't any agencies using VR tech for restaurants? That's a gap! Get to work. Look at everything through an R&D filter: ABM = Always Be Experimenting. You're probably not going to create something amazing on your first try. You'll have some failures. Use some of your agency income to experiment with new strategies and services. Some of them may pay off dividends in the future. Have commitment: It took Mike 5 years for his food event to become popular. That's a long time! You must be willing to commit to something and nurture it in order to succeed.

Do you feel like your agency is stuck with subpar employees? Think maybe you have all the wrong people but too afraid to clean house? Firing employees is never easy. But, underperforming or toxic team members will kill your agency's growth. Check out the story of how one agency fired his entire team twice, the aftermath of the experience, and what learned by rebuilding. In today's episode, we'll cover: Why your agency needs a financial model. Creating a culture of personal ownership. 2 mistakes that led to firing all employees. Today, I talked with Aaron Edwards, co-founder of The Charles NYC. Aaron quit his job, moved from London to NYC, and created a digital marketing agency. Since then, Aaron's agency has grown into a multi-million dollar phenomenon. Success didn't come without hard work and many lessons along the way. In fact, he's had to fire ALL his employees twice. Talk about "cleaning house."  Aaron shares some great growth tips, including how to inspire culture, and which two mistakes led him to fire his entire team. Why Your Agency Needs a Financial Model Aaron worked in finance before he started his agency. And, his biggest financial tip is this — have a financial model. This means pulling out spreadsheets and diving into some math (which is something us creatives aren't usually in to). But, having a financial model can save you a ton of time and headaches in the long run. Here's a great way to get started. Think about the revenue goal you want to reach. Then, work the math backward to figure out how to get there. And, use those insights to create the right financial model. In most cases, you either need more clients or you need to charge more. You also need to figure out how to build up cash reserves to make it through some lean times (think 3 - 6 months of salaries and expenses). Plus, you should obtain a line of credit for the small emergencies. Ideally, secure the line of credit when you don't need it, so it's already available for when you do! And, cut your margins down as slim as possible. Remember, putting profit first can growth hack your agency. Creating a Culture of Personal Ownership Want to know what kills agency culture faster than anything? Egos! If your employees are taking failures too personally — they won't last long. Every agency has failures, but the difference is how you recover from them. Teach your team to treat failures as learning opportunities. Every employee has to be able to take ownership within their role without worrying that a mistake or misstep will threaten their credibility. To achieve this, you need an open culture. Employees should be able to talk to their leadership team about bad experiences. And, agency management should offer coaching/mentorship sessions to help fix issues. Don't let failures drag an individual or entire team down. Create an open culture where mistakes and failures are embraced. 2 Mistakes Which Led to Firing All Employees Aaron had to fire his entire team twice and rebuild the agency. Looking back, he says two big mistakes led to the massive house-cleaning: Not providing enough opportunity. You have to give your employees the opportunity to grow and communicate what that growth looks like. This means providing a clear roadmap to success at every step. It's not enough to tell them they can advance within the agency — they need to see it what that looks like. Aaron says his mistake was not providing showing his employees how to grow within the agency. When you don't do this, the good ones look for opportunities elsewhere. Or worse; productivity decreases as they get complacent. Not hiring for culture. You can teach someone skills; you can't teach them culture. Always think about how a new hire is going to fit into your company. If you don't, you may end up with a mishmash of different personalities and a bunch of cliques. If you see one of your employees isn't participating and they don't seem like a good fit, its ok to get rid of them. One bad apple spoils the bunch. And, when your entire team has a poor culture, firing them all may be your only option.

Are you having trouble handling your day-to-day agency operations while also growing your digital agency? Looking for an easy solution to management issues? It might be time to hire a CEO. Wait. What? That's right - hiring the right support as part of your leadership team can actually help transform an owner's role enough to grow the agency easier and faster. In today's episode, we'll cover: Why it might be time to hire a CEO. Why your agency needs a social media funnel. 4 steps to creating a killer social funnel. [smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/jasonswenk/Smart_Agency_Master_Class_Podcast_-_Audra_Brehm.mp3" ] Today, I talked with Audra Brehm founder and CEO of Brehm Media — a social media agency with a focus on health and beauty brands. Audra is also a member of my Digital Agency Elite Mastermind and she's here to share some tips and strategies she has used to realize some amazing growth at her agency. She's one of the few agency owners who actually hired leadership a CEO for her agency. She's also a guru at social media and gives us some golden nuggets on using social channels to find agency new business prospects. Is It Time to Hire a CEO? Being an agency owner is tough...  And, it's all much tougher when you're trying to handle everything yourself. The entrepreneur mindset attracts hustlers, movers, and shakers. We often think we can handle everything ourselves. But, the really smart ones hire and outsource for the things they don't enjoy or are not good at. That's what makes Audra such a smart cookie. She didn't love handling the day-to-day employee stuff, setting the culture, putting out fires, etc. Admittedly, it's just not her thing. As I like to say, "whatever you suck at - eliminate, delegate or automate." So Audra hired a CEO to handle all that stuff she doesn't enjoy and it's been a breath of fresh air. Now she can focus on things she enjoys and is really good at. Instead of constantly tending to crises, managing the team, or monitoring financials she has the space to grow the agency and take the business in the direction she wants, on her terms. Just because you're capable of doing certain things within your agency doesn't mean you should be doing them. There are ways you might be spending your time that could be spent more effectively, or more enjoyably. Celebrate your strengths and stop worrying about your weaknesses. The lesson here is to get out of your own way,  leverage your strengths, and hire for your weaknesses. Why Your Agency Needs a Social Media Strategy One of the biggest issues with social media is that too many marketers approach it without a plan. Audra says social media is actually more of a funnel. We should be developing a strategy with our social media that takes our prospects through the stages of the funnel. You have to plan ahead, develop a strategy, and constantly monitor results. Have a plan but also be patient and let the funnel do its job. 4 Steps to Creating a Killer Social Funnel Audra shared her 4 steps towards creating a lean, mean, conversion-machine social funnel. Know your mission, vision & why. Whether you're creating social campaigns for you or your clients, you have to know who you (or they) are. What's the purpose of your brand? Don't just copycat other people's social campaigns. You have to create campaigns that reflect your brand and your purpose. From the tone, voice, imagery, and colors — your social content should reflect who you (or your clients) are and what you (they) stand for. Have a strategy. Meaning, benchmark your goals so you can measure your progress. Consider how many sales do I want in 6 months? What about in one year? How many new clients? How much in revenue? This helps you develop the social media funnel and tweak if you aren't hitting those benchmarks. Execute. It's so important not to just throw stuff out there on social media without any sort of call-to-action or next step. Are you driving to landing pages? Are you retargeting effectively? Retargeting is key and it's often a missed step or executed poorly. Remember who you're going after and why. Continue to speak their language even in your retargeting efforts. Analyze. Analyze. Analyze.  Are your campaigns working? Look at your numbers regularly and figure out what's working, what's not working. Numbers don't lie. If your analytics are in the red or flatlined that means people don't know, like, and trust you as much as you think. So it's time to change things up. If you're constantly in the green that's great but are those numbers consistent with your new business? Is your growing social popularity translating into sales? We all know a lot of this, but we don't do it for ourselves as much as we do it for our clients. Treat your agency as well as you treat your clients :) Don't just execute without a strategy.

Are you struggling to compete with other agencies in your niche? Are you tired of losing new business to your competition? You can stand out if you learn how to disrupt status quo. You just need to get a little scrappy and start thinking outside-of-the-box. In today's episode, we'll cover: Why your agency needs to think differently. #1 way to achieve agency growth fast! How data can close more agency new business. Today, I talked with Jay Samit — serial entrepreneur, former VP of Sony, Vice Chairman of Deloitte, and best selling author. Oh! And he grew an agency from 0 in revenue to $200 million is 18 months. He's basically a superstar. And Jay's new book "Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation" is all about how you can create agency growth by being a little different. Why Your Agency Needs to Think Differently Jay talked about his experience coming into a marketing agency that had $0 in revenue and transforming it into a $200 million opportunity. How? He pivoted. The agency had a great idea, but they didn't know how to execute it properly. They had the framework of value exchange merchandising but didn't know what to do with it. Jay's idea was to offering value exchange merchandise for brands around the world. So for example, instead of paying for your in-game app currency, you could just watch an ad instead. Here's the crazy part. Within one year, the agency was charging advertisers $1,000 CPM! Maybe your agency has a great idea. And, maybe you're awesome at what you do. But, if you're not succeeding, it may be time to pivot. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Think about how you can apply those same services and skills to a broader or more nuanced user base. How can you utilize what you already have in a different way? No way to do things differently? Try adding some unique services that set you apart! The Best Way to Achieve Agency Growth Fast! I've talked about niching in the past, but what about niching into an unknown space? If you can find a way to be the only agency offering services to a particular group of people, you're in the golden zone. Jay told a story about an agency owner going from homeless to $70k in his first month — and $1 million by the end of his first year. How did he do it? He found a market no one else was serving. Sure, niching can be a great way to get hyper-specialized. But, if you can offer services to a market no one is paying attention to, you'll have a huge advantage. Here's a tip... Research a couple niches you're passionate about and see if anyone else is serving them. Start searching for those unexplored opportunities. You never know what you might find. How Data Can Close More New Business Are you having trouble pitching? Can you get your foot-in-the-door, but you seem to have issues closing? Try putting data to work. You can tell a prospect anything. But, if you can show them substance, they're going to be interested. You may have a killer strategy and a great idea that will help that prospect rake in customers. But if you can back it up with solid data, you're more likely to win the pitch. Data doesn't lie. Think you can triple their ROI on Facebook? I believe you, but your prospects need more than just your word on it. Explain the plan, then show them how you can do it by sharing a case story and reporting data that backs up your claim. The better the data, the better your chances. Cashflow or Bookkeeping Issues? FreshBooks is the solution with their ridiculously easy­-to-­use cloud accounting software for agencies. Freshbooks helps you work smarter and become more organized. Most importantly, it gets you paid quicker. Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.  

Facebook Live is one of the hottest ways to generate new agency business. You can spend tons of time and resources […] The post Why Your Agency Needs to be on Facebook Live appeared first on Smart Agency Masterclass: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies.

Are you worried that defining a niche will limit your agency’s potential? Don’t be. Check out one agency’s story about how […] The post Why Your Agency Needs to Start With One Niche at a Time appeared first on Smart Agency Masterclass: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies.

In this episode of Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, we’re talking with Paul Roetzer of PR 20/20, who shares the importance of developing your own unique intellectual property. Since I began hosting the podcast a year ago, I noticed a major difference in how big agencies market themselves compared to smaller agencies. Larger agencies almost always... The post Agency Advantage 40: Paul Roetzer on Why Your Agency Needs to Develop Intellectual Property appeared first on Hubstaff Blog.