Build a Better Agency Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 463: Successful podcasting from the audience's perspective with Tom Webster Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

We've spoken before about how podcasting is a great tool for building an audience that sees you as a thought leader. That's still true, but simply having a podcast is not enough.

To truly be successful in podcasting, you must know how to engage that audience and be worthy of their time. As our guest Tom Weber says, "You don't have a right to have an audience."

An audience must be earned.

Tom shared some insights about the importance of knowing who you're really speaking to. It's not just about demographics; it's about understanding your audience's needs, fears, and desires. We also explored how to build a captivating narrative that engages listeners and how to ask the tough questions that get you honest feedback.

If you want your podcast to engage your audience and make it past the first seven episodes, it's worth investing the time and effort to make it truly exceptional. Your audience will thank you for it — and more importantly, they'll keep coming back for more.

A big thank you to our podcast's presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They're an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

What podcasters get wrong about marketing their shows
Respecting the audience's time commitment that they're making to you
The #1 way to promote a podcast
Why creating a compelling narrative is extremely important in podcasting
Making your show something people want to listen to
Getting on your audience's level
Don't put out any content you're not proud of
Getting effective input and feedback from your audience
Starting a conversation with your listeners
Knowing what your audience wants to hear and learning from them

EP 462: Niching and thought leadership — the most critical components of biz dev with Susan Quinn Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

As agency owners, we're always looking for ways to improve our business development strategies and stand out in a crowded marketplace. This week, I'm flipping the script and sharing an episode where I was a guest on Susan Quinn's podcast, Better Experiences by Design.

Susan asks some great questions to help get to the bottom of the two main biz dev strategies modern agencies can count on today — niching and thought leadership.

Doing these two things can transform your agency's growth trajectory. We cover several key components, including how to leverage thought leadership effectively, why niching down is crucial for agency success, and how to overcome the fear of narrowing your focus.

We also explore common mistakes C-Suite executives make in marketing their own firms, the importance of consistency in business development efforts, and how to identify and attract "right-fit" clients for your agency.

Success in agency biz dev today is about being consistently interesting and relevant to your ideal clients over time. By focusing on your expertise, generously sharing your knowledge, and staying top-of-mind, you'll be the natural choice when prospects are ready to buy.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

How thought leadership is a critical part of biz dev
What clients should think about when hiring an agency
The riches are in the niches — narrowing your focus
Knowing when you've narrowed your niche enough
Why referrals aren't the best way to grow your agency
What does a right-fit client look like?
Taking advantage of AI as an industry disruptor
Bettering your best with constant learning

EP 461: Collaborating with clients in our systems and processes with Xenia Muntean Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Systems and processes are a tough nut to crack for agency owners, and it's even more challenging once you get clients involved. Many of us are accidental agency owners who thrive in the chaos and disarray of agency life but know that operating this way will reduce profitability.

This week, we're sitting down with Xenia Muntean to share her journey of becoming an accidental agency owner and what it taught her about agency systems and processes as she began to build her own workflow software.

We dug into some meaty topics that I know are on your minds: How do we balance creativity with structure? Is it possible to have systems and processes without stifling innovation? We explored how bringing clients into the process earlier — especially for social media work — can lead to faster approvals and better profitability.

Systems and processes can be the bane of most agency owners' existence. But with the right mindset and tools to get the job done, it can open the door to increased profitability and happier clients.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

Xenia's journey from accidental agency owner to software entrepreneur
The importance of balancing creativity with systems and processes in agencies
How larger agencies involve clients earlier in the content creation process
The value of getting client buy-in at the concept stage, especially for video content
Why operating reactively creatives operational debt
How to customize workflow while still having systems and processes
AI's potential to improve operational efficiency in agencies, beyond just content creation
The challenge and opportunity of embracing AI in agencies
How to be more systems and processes minded in how we operate

EP 460: Four things we need to make sales easier as agency owners with Drew McLellan Jul 29, 2024

Show notes

As agency owners, one of the things we fundamentally get wrong in sales is how heavily trust plays a role in the process. We're selling intangible services and solutions to people with a high price tag, and we expect prospects to trust that we'll deliver on our promises.

It's a risky proposition, especially for the ones putting their trust (and wallets) in our hands.

This week, I'm sharing how agency owners can earn and leverage their trust with client referrals to increase sales. When you sit back and watch the sales come in simply because someone knows, likes, and trusts you enough to recommend you to others, it's a beautiful thing.

I'll share the four things we need in any sales process: the etiquette of social proof and earning client referrals, and how to ethically become part of a community without becoming a billboard for your agency.

When you earn people's trust by being genuinely helpful, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to do business with, you won't have to lift a finger to make a sale.

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops and more.

In This Episode:

Putting ourselves in the shoes of the buyers
The role of psychological discomfort and decision fatigue in the buying process
4 things we need in any sales process to be successful
The pros and cons of waiting on referrals
The etiquette behind social proof and referrals
What does it mean to belong?
What it takes to earn someone's trust enough to earn a referral from them

EP 459: Creating positive momentum and taking control over your work day with Jason Yarusi Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

Agency owners have it tough these days, but we have more control over how hard it is for us than we think. This week, we're going to talk in-depth about how we can change the course and direction of our business by changing our habits and mindsets.

To help us, we're talking to Jason Yarusi about creating positive momentum around breaking bad habits, choosing to offload tasks that aren't propelling us forward, and cutting out unnecessary chaos in our lives.

You might think there's nothing you can personally change, or maybe you have too many variables that are completely out of your control. You could have a lot of fires popping up during the day that you have to address.

But the good news is we have a lot more say in what happens in our day-to-day than we think. And by taking a few moments to ground yourself in the reality of your situation, you'll realize that a lot of those big fires aren't fires at all — or someone else's fires to put out.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

The near-death experience that changed Jason's course in life
Being self-aware in how you're showing up each day
Starting the day off with a solid routine that sets you up for success
Regrounding yourself when things start going off course
How to recognize you're not focused on the right parts of your business
Finding your way out of the day-to-day grind to reach your long-term goals
Creating positive momentum around changing habits that aren't serving you
Where people get stuck in these habit shifts the most
Writing down 3 things you can do write now to build positive momentum

EP 458: Building a better pitch deck that gets you hired with Tom Martin Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

When you're stacked against other agencies with the same awards, credentials, and impressive case studies as you, it's tough to stand out above the rest. But with the right pitch deck, you're sure to catch the attention of your ideal clients.

This week, Tom Martin is teaching us a few things about crafting the perfect pitch deck that moves beyond just impressing clients, but making them remember you over the rest. You already have their attention just by getting the meeting, but your pitch deck is what will ultimately make you the undeniable choice in the end.

Tom shares his thoughts on strategic repetition, the science behind the pitch deck, and what agencies most often get wrong when building their decks. This episode is packed with tons of golden nuggets and actionable insights about what will make you the most memorable agency in the room.

Stop making easily fixable mistakes that could cost you right-fit clients, and join us to learn everything Tom can teach us about building a better pitch deck.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

The purpose of a pitch deck
The science behind an effective pitch deck
What makes us lose our audience while we are presenting
Agencies have earned the right to be in the room and should act like it
Taking your client on a journey with you during the pitch
Why you might want an appendix in your pitch deck
How to design slides for memorability and information flow
Getting scientific about strategic repetition
The most critical part of the pitch deck
Don't just show up and throw up

EP 457: Building the ideal agency-CMO relationship with Liza Adams Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

CMOs have a lot on their plates, and similar to agency owners, their role can be lonely in the C-Suite. Because of this, CMOs rely heavily on agency partnerships to keep them in the know.

To help us understand the crucial role of agency-CMO relationships, Liza Adams is giving us an inside look at what it's really like to be a CMO—what they value in strategic partnerships, what they need from agencies the most, and why agencies are an integral part of doing their job well.

This episode is packed with candid, practical advice from Liza for agencies to nail it in their client-agency relationships. When you boil it all down, if your CMO is happy, your agency will be happy. And that alone will carry you far in your business journey.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

What agencies don't understand about the CMO role
Getting out of the competition mindset against other agencies
What a CMO wants from an agency-CMO relationship
The difference between an agency that gets recommended by a CMO and ones who don't
How AI is changing the world from a CMO's perspective
Should agencies be trying to experiment with AI for clients?
How AI will change the CMO role in the future
How agencies can help CMOs do their jobs better

EP 456: What agency owners get wrong about recruiting top talent with Michael Palma Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

The glamor of working for an agency has worn off somewhat since the 80s and 90s. Markets are more saturated, salaries have stagnated, and recruiting top talent has become more difficult — especially since Covid.

As agency owners, that means we have to adjust our process to find and hire top talent to meet our clients' needs. To help us understand all the changes we're facing today, I sat down to talk with Michael Palma, an agency recruiting and business development expert.

With decades of experience in the industry, he's seen all the shifts and changes that have occurred in the hiring process for both agency owners and employees. In this episode, he shares what agency owners often get wrong about finding top talent and why finding top talent is so hard nowadays. He also helps us understand how agencies can find right-fit clients and right-fit employees to match our clients' needs.

Michael is essentially an expert agency matchmaker who has his finger on the pulse of the most pressing issues agency owners face, and helps us navigate them all with a "humble swagger."

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

What it means to "walk with a humble swagger"
What agency owners often get wrong about recruiting top talent
The downhill trend in finding right-fit agency employees
How to find be confident without arrogance
What's making it difficult for recruiters and agency owners to find top talent
Challenges in salaries in equity for agency employees
Knowing what you want in a candidate before you write a job description
How Covid has changed new business for agencies
Strategies that win over a client
Where agencies should be investing in their own biz dev and growth

EP 455: The trends that affect agency owners and employees in 2024 with Drew and Danyel McLellan Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

In the last solocast, we reviewed the agency trends that most affected agency AGI in 2023. This week, we're pulling back the curtain on the major trends rocking agency owners and their teams in 2024 — and giving you tips to stay ahead of them.

We'll give you a reality check on misguided expectations around agency valuations and sales. And we'll explore why daily timesheets and utilization metrics are so crucial for retaining your rock star team members.

Another big trend we unpack is moving back towards more in-office collaboration and nurturing agency employee fatigue through meaningful face time, employee retreats, and using in-office time more intentionally.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve and proactively build your agency's future, don't miss this deeper look at the key trends shaping the industry this year and beyond. And to catch up on all the other trends we unpacked, be sure to check out Part 1 from last month's solocast.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

Why a COO role is becoming increasingly popular, even with smaller agencies
Making the right decisions around selling your agency — or buying another one
Why taking a smaller salary as an agency owner isn't always better
Hybrid work trends for agency owners and employees
How contractors and freelancers can fill in worker gaps
The continuing importance of keeping accurate daily timesheets
What helps reduce agency employee fatigue and what's causing it
What agency owners are going to spend time and money on in 2024

EP 454: Improving client-agency trust and other takeaways from the 2024 Agency Edge Research study with Susan Baier Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

Every year, we go out into the field to understand the biggest pain points and priorities for both agencies and clients. This year, we took data from the 2024, 2019, and 2014 Agency Edge Research studies to compare how client expectations have changed over the years.

This year, the burning issue was client-agency trust — what clients look for in an agency, how an agency can retain clients, and what causes a client to look elsewhere for another agency.

To help make sense of all the changes, Susan Baier from Audience Audit joins us to discuss what agencies can do and are already doing to impress clients. We'll break down the three distinct client segments that emerged, their unique attitudes towards agencies, and what factors drive their decision to hire or fire an agency partner. We also discuss how to position your agency for better alignment with client priorities.

If you're looking to learn how to better position yourself to win and retain more clients in 2024 and beyond, don't miss our deep dive into the data to gain a competitive edge in your agency.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

What clients think agencies do really well
Changes in client-agency expectations over the years
Agency advocates, begrudging buyers, and exacting experts
How attitudes have changed toward having a trusted agency partner
Why agencies are having more in-house staff than before
What agency management fatigue has done to change client-agency relationships
What does agency trust look like to clients?
Do clients want an agency with a niche, or generalists?
What makes an agency a poor fit for a client
How client-agency trust can push a client to look for a new agency

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