The Agency Growth Podcast

**Cold Open (Our Advice to a Redditor // Google Local Service Ads are Changing)****Skip the Cold Open at 16:15**Our agency has been working on two very big things that are fundamentally changing how digital marketing agencies operate. We talked about one of those things in episode 123.This time, we're tackling server-side tracking -- specifically with Google's "Enhanced Conversions".The days of accurate paid media reporting are coming to an end with privacy regulations and tech companies blocking the ability to track user actions after engaging with an ad.This era breathes life into what's known as server-side tracking and attribution. However, no one seems to be talking about it right now.But we are.And that's what we're focusing on. We believe server-side tracking is what's going to set the agencies of tomorrow up for success and leave agencies and freelancers behind who are still relying on lead ads, webhooks, and pixels to report conversions to clients.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

Since the release of Chat GPT 2 years ago, we have seen a surge in AI-related tools and content.AI allowed creators to pump out content at 1000x the rate they were and at 1/1000th the cost. The content was good, too. Over time, it became detectable just by reading it.Jon Gillham from Originiality.ai joins us on this episode to talk about the efficacy of AI content detection, when it's applicable, and why it's an important tool as AI content is continually used to pump out massive amounts of content.We ask Jon what his thoughts are on false positives his tool and other tools spit out and how that affects real people like journalists. We also discuss if there is an over-reliance on these tools to sus out suspected AI content or if these are simply meant to be tools and not the judge and jury.Check out Originality.ai or find Jon on LinkedIn at:linkedin.com/in/jon-gillham-80912a14a/----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Skip to the HighLevel discussion at 36:58**A listener of the podcast has a bone to pick with us (Jake) on our position with High Level.Josh Kimmes owns a digital marketing agency called Bear North Digital up in Superior, Wisconsin who uses High Level as his agency's primary tech stack.We grill Josh on his whole agency journey, his business model, and his agency's size. Meanwhile, Josh makes the case for why High Level is the best agency tool on the market.Find Josh at bearnorthdigital.com or on LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/joshuakimmes/----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Someone told Cody our podcast was bad... to his face)****Skip the Cold Open at 25:44**It's not looking good for the world's most widely used website builder. WordPress' founder, Matt Mullenweg, attacked WP Engine the other week and WP Engine sent Matt a cease and desist.If you're not in the website-building community or manage websites, that's okay -- we'll give you the backstory.Basically the #1 website builder is going after the #1 website host that hosts that website builder and the fallout is nuclear (pun intended).There are a couple of things we get wrong in this episode -- like Automattic doesn't own the WordPress Foundation (however, Matt does own both).Jake actually made a pretty detailed YouTube video covering everything. You can find that here:https://youtu.be/hi7GaDqpFuQ?si=0pxw52X61C-PoVJ-In this episode, we weigh in on the whole situation giving our thoughts.Do you share the same thoughts as us? Let us know.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (AMAZON GIFT CARD CHALLENGE TO LISTENERS / Headlines without Context)****Skip the Cold Open at 19:50**We've had to dive down the email rabbit hole. Exploring SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and SMTP solutions.Why?Because our job is to deliver leads to our clients. When someone fills out a form on our client's site, in order for us to properly get credit for that lead, the client needs to be alerted immediately.However, as 2024 comes to a close, the website and digital marketing space has been plagued by email deliverability issues, which include websites sending lead form submissions.We reflect on what kind of agency we set out to be and how our continued pursuit of being that hands-off agency has led us down the path of becoming technical email deliverability experts.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencyuTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (A listener and guest sent us a gift box -- we taste and rank everything in it)****Skip the Cold Open at 13:08**If you don't have a lawyer and don't know how to write agreements for your agency, perhaps hearing how we write ours will help you craft yours.Because we need to say it, we're not lawyers. Our agreements are not airtight. But they work for us.We give practical advice for writing your agreements to make sure clients don't take advantage of you as well as helping you set the right expectations for your clients in your agreements.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

We talk to Andrew Jenkins at Catalyst RVA about his home service agency and how he was able to scale to $15k/mo in recurring profit in under a year.Does Andrew have a secret to his quick success that we don't know? How long can he sustain that? Does he plan to get any bigger... or can he?Find out more as we sit down and chat with Andrew over the next hour and a half.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @everbrosTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyuFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u

For the first time in over 2 years of doing this podcast, we're covering mental health. Specifically our own experiences with it as agency owners.We're covering both perspectives of coming into agency ownership with pre-existing mental health issues as well as developed ones from the natural stressors that come with operating an agency and business in general.We both deal with our own very separate issues. It's not just depression. It's anxiety, imposter syndrome, body dysmorphia, anger, and more.If you're struggling with something, perhaps hearing our own story and struggles will help in some way.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Skip the fun stuff and get to the meat of the episode at 21:26**The number one problem agencies seem to struggle with is getting clients. They often blame competition or not having a good enough value prop. But that's rarely actually the case.Lacking basic business, marketing, and sales fundamentals is what's killing agencies and causing them to spin their wheels.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

We're joined by Lindsay Halsey of Pathfinder SEO. Lindsay also owns her own SEO and PPC agency with her partner, Lori Calcott, called Webshine.Pathfinder SEO is a tool developed by Lindsay and Lori, to not only use in their own agency, but also help other agency owners learn the fundamentals of SEO as well as create standardized SEO processes and procedural SEO documentation.Get 30% off your first 3 months with code: EVERBROSpathfinderseo.comSEO is one of the hardest things to productize, package, and scale as an agency especially if you're not a niche agency.Lindsay gives us tips on how to package and productize SEO services so you can increase your recurring revenue, close more web design projects, and build long-term relationships with your customers.You can reach out to Linsday directly at [email protected] and at [email protected] recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:YouTube: @everbrosTwitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Tea, Coffee, Reviews, Our YouTube Channel)****Skip the Cold Open at 7:52**Even if you're not an SEO or web design agency, you should know how to audit a website. The website is an asset that affects everything in digital marketing whether you're a social media agency, email marketing agency, or even video and design agency.If you're a design agency, you may want to consider adding website maintenance and basic SEO service for monthly retainer work.If you're an SMMA, you might want to make sure websites perform well so your social media ads do as well.In this episode, we cover everything we look at when auditing websites for prospective clients and how to do that.Keep in mind, that we are auditing for our specific niche. If you're in other niches such as e-commerce, you might want to consider other things we're not mentioning.----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------Huge shoutout to Wix for sponsoring this episode. Check out Wix Studio, the website platform for agencies, today!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (The Everbros YouTube Channel)****Skip the Cold Open at 9:38**Agency software comes in different pricing variations. Picking the right software for your agency shouldn't just be about the features it has, how it's billed should also be a major determining factor in the scalability of that software in your agency as your agency scales.We break down the different types of pricing models and what software you should go with based on where your agency is in size as well as how your services and products are packaged.Low flat-fee software subscriptions might sound appealing, but the administrative headache that comes with them might not be worth it in the long run. High flat-fee software might be pretty and buttoned up, but are you throwing money out the window by not using all of the features?----------------------------------Our recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------Huge shoutout to Wix for sponsoring this episode. Check out Wix Studio, the website platform for agencies, today!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Our advice to a developmental agency owner)****Skip the Cold Open at 13:55**In this episode, we dive deep into what our onboarding process looks like for new clients. More specifically, we go over our entire Onboarding document that we make new clients fill out.It gives us every detail about their business that we need to know in order to effectively execute our services.That includes their brand messaging, the size of business they are, what their target CPA is, and even accounts we need access to.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

Our first agency guru-type episode where we talk about success.But more importantly... that when it comes down to it, nobody really cares if you don't succeed at something.The only person you should be doing things for you is you. Sharing your success is great, but don't be scared to do something if you feel like it might not lead to success because at the end of the day... nobody cares.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

Fresh off of Jake's appearance on Josh's Web Design Business podcast, Josh makes a special appearance on our podcast diving deep into just how accessible starting a web design agency is.We never wanted to build websites. It was something we realized we had to do for our clients because, at its core, any campaign is only as successful as the landing page. Josh is different. Josh started out doing what he loved -- designing and building websites.He went on to write for Elegant Themes (the company responsible for the Divi visual builder in WordPress), scale his web design agency to over the 6-figure mark, sell it, and create courses on how to grow and scale a web design agency.We wanted to specifically talk to Josh, not just about his career, but how other people who don't know much about web design, can get started and add it as a service to their offering.----------------------------------If you haven't listened to Josh's podcast, you can check him out here:https://open.spotify.com/show/54Lw9cfbfIPLQvc7ANmMmL?si=8485028fdfe646baYou can also find him and his web design courses at joshhall.co.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

Wix has never been a platform that agency owners or SEOs recommended. It was the DIY website builder for small businesses.SEOs brought up glaring issues such as the entire site structure being built with Javascript, the inability to issue 301 redirects, edit robots.txt, and the lack of simple integrations to necessary tools like Google Analytics, Search Console, and Facebook Pixel.Since then, Wix has had a bad reputation with agencies. However, it's clear the Wix of today is not the same Wix of 2015.In this episode, we talk to Kobi Gamliel, the Head of Agency Growth at Wix Studio on why he's confident Wix Studio is going to take over the agency space and become a preferred platform by agencies.Kobi isn't just all talk. He also founded and owned two digital marketing agencies prior to joining Wix in 2014 which we dive into and learn more granular details about.Wix Studio is a new platform for Wix built specifically for agencies who manage multiple client sites. For lack of better phrasing, we're quite blown away with the platform's new capabilities and integrations. WordPress should be afraid.And don't worry, we make sure to press Kobi on the bad SEO claims Wix has gotten in the past and why people are still repeating things initially stated a decade ago before we get into the Wix Studio platform.----------------------------------Kobi Gamliel is the Head of Agency Growth at Wix Studio. Leveraging almost a decade of experience at Wix, he previously led a product group dedicated to developing innovative marketing technology and services to help Wix SMB users grow their businesses. Before joining Wix, Kobi founded two digital marketing agencies. His extensive experience in digital marketing and agency leadership drives the growth and success of Wix Studio's agency initiatives, enabling the Wix Studio team to achieve impactful marketing and business outcomes.Reach out to Kobi on LinkedIn or email him directly:linkedin.com/in/kobigamliel/[email protected]⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (The new podcast music / Jake and Lauren started a new business)****Skip the Cold Open at 14:58**Increasing regulations and privacy-focused web users are making it harder for agencies to target in-market audiences and track conversions properly.It's our duty as agencies to do those two things:1) Target the right audiences2) Track our success and ROIThe harder it is for us to do that the harder it is for clients to justify paying us.In this episode, we talk about a number of privacy-related digital marketing topics like:The death of 3rd party cookies (Facebook & Google tracking pixels) and how conversions need to be tracked now that browser pixels are becoming less effective.How advertising budgets will shift away from programmatic media to magazines and publications (sources that own first-party data).And how increasing email privacy and spam policies are requiring agencies and businesses to become more tech-savvy to simply deliver a sent email.We predict that these changes are going to weed out certain agencies while increasing the barrier to entry for the industry.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (A question for the listeners)****Skip the Cold Open at 16:25**Whether you write content for your clients or you write content for yourself, writing good content for SEO is a must for every agency owner.And As Google pumps more and more spam updates into their algorithm their answer to everything seems to just be "write good content". But how do you write good content when the purpose is simply to get it to rank?In this episode, we give you extremely simple tips on how each of us writes content that ranks in Google so that anyone who cares about what they write can get ranked.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, follow us on YouTube, or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Cody eats breakfast-flavored cup noodles)****Skip the Cold Open at 9:39**White labeling can be an easy way to earn revenue for your agency while still trying to carve out your niche. But it can be a slippery slope when you're first starting out.There's a time and place to consider other agencies as your clients. For us, we don't white label for a few reasons. However, white labeling might be part of your business model and that's fine.We simply wanted to put this episode out there to string together our thoughts on white-labeling agency services to other agencies.Do you white label for other agencies?----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

We're joined by Cesar Gil, owner and operator of Symphony Advertising based out of Houston, Texas.We found Cesar through TikTok where he regularly posts updates of his agency and bares all for his audience. His videos are often spur-of-the-moment monologues on different issues he's dealing with or comments he gets.Cesar runs a similar agency to ours that's about 2/3 of our size ($25k MRR). There's just one problem... He has no idea what he's doing.Join us on this episode where we dive into Cesar's operations and numbers and uncover why he's been so successful with things we all struggle with like client acquisition, managing projects, keeping clients happy, and producing great results.Find Cesar on TikTok @cesargil----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Cody went to Scotland for a Taylor Swift concert)****Skip the Cold Open at 12:40**Our podcast is largely about practical advice we give to other agency owners as we grow ours -- however, we thought it would be a good idea to air out all of the problems our agency is currently facing.Every business faces new challenges as they grow. Problems don't go away, they just change.In this episode, we talk about the challenges we're facing today. Let us know if you can relate to any of them.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Cody and Jake talk office chairs and Chat GPT)****Skip the Cold Open at 7:57**It's been a year since we've talked about AI and its potential effect on agencies. Now that we have had some time, it's time to talk about what is actually being impacted.When we first thought about this, we figured the biggest impact would actually come from agencies using AI. However, we've noticed something a bit different... Vendors and media platforms like Google and Facebook using more and more AI and getting... interesting results.Check out how we've noticed AI affecting agencies in the last year in this latest episode today.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

We're excited to bring AJ Doppke from Marketing Qubed onto the podcast to talk about his main acquisition method for new clients -- cold calling.AJ is a long-time listener to the podcast and owns an agency similar in size to our own. We grill him on his agency size, niche, and services, but especially his cold-calling strategy.What is it that AJ is doing differently that gets him 1 appointment out of every 8 calls to a decision-maker and a 50% close rate once he presents his solution?Learn more from him over the next hour and a half on what most cold-callers are doing wrong to not land appointments.----------------------------------Find AJ on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/aj-doppke.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (The agency space is getting dumber)****Skip the Cold Open at 15:30**Most new agency owners can agree on one thing and it's that picking your niche is more difficult than it sounds. The majority of agency owners will pick niches they heard were good based on videos they've watched or what peers have said. Other agency owners will pick multiple niches to see which ones take off first.If you cast a wider net, won't you catch more fish?Not necessarily.We talk about the differences between just focusing on one niche vs spreading yourself over multiple and why focusing on one might actually yield more results and sales.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Physical therapist that helps gamers)****Skip the Cold Open at 4:58**Staying productive is hard when there is so much to do and you can start to get analysis paralysis by looking at your daily checklist of items. It's even worse when you leave your full-time job and you no longer have someone like a boss ensuring you come to work early enough and stay focused.We go through a few things we do to keep us focused and productive while working on our agency. That includes things like eating right, minimizing instead of maximizing, the 2nd morning, and working out.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Non-compete agreements are now illegal)****Skip the Cold Open at 9:15**We keep seeing things online about how your leads should only be costing you $2-$5 on Facebook or that a cost per lead of $80 is bad. But neither of those is necessarily true.We have clients at Evergrow that are willing to pay $200/lead. If we tried to get them the cheapest leads all the time, then we would likely be delivering poor leads.Jake breaks down his formula for helping clients understand how much they should be willing to pay per lead generated from ad campaigns using their own numbers. This is a formula that will help you and your client set expectations around what is and isn't realistic.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Cody got a check from a class action lawsuit / Jake's old job is hiring)****Skip the Cold Open at 12:39**Jake has seen a lot of new agency owners get hung up on what their offer should be to prospective clients. People aren't sure what their guarantee should be or what sets them apart from the numerous other agencies out there.However, we have a belief that your "offer" doesn't need to be an offer to your prospective client. It can be as simple as being good at your service or being niche-specific.In this episode, we dive into what it means to actually have an offer that sells your agency without you having to give anything away for free or deliver guarantees.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

We hit our biggest milestone in this podcast since we started... 100 episodes!Throughout the last 2 years, we've been asked numerous times why we're even doing this. What's the point? We aren't monetizing it with ads or even have anything to sell our listeners.We don't even bring on guests who have things to sell our audience.This episode answers that.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Jake gets involved with Agency TikTok / People on Reddit Suck)****Skip the Cold Open at 18:00**We talk cash flow and how our agency maintains a healthy flow of liquidity and a stockpile of cash in the bank that would make Ron Swanson blush.There are a few things we do to ensure that we are a cash-positive business and that there is enough money in the business to keep things alive for 6 months with everyone having jobs even if we were to lose all of our clients tomorrow.This becomes more and more important as the United States heads into an economic downturn ahead of the election.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (Do you use the tongs at gas stations?)****Skip the Cold Open at 6:30**This is an episode regarding a question we get asked frequently. What does our onboarding process look like when we onboard a new client?We take you through the process of the initial sales call all the way to the live website. Both from our perspectives as well as each team member's perspective who handles a portion of that onboarding.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @jakehundley

**Cold Open (We Have a Bone to Pick with Stacked Marketer)****Skip the Cold Open at 14:38**Evergrow Marketing's structure and goals are based on a business plan put together by Cody. But what is a business plan? What makes one good?We hear about business plans all the time but never really see them or see what's inside of them. In this episode, we talk about how we wrote our business plan, what's in it, and what business plans are even for.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Nickelodeon & Shohei Ohtani interpreter)****Skip the Cold Open at 13:55**All of the gurus tell you how important it is to have multiple streams of income. But what they don't tell you is that advice is not for you. It's not for people who haven't made their money yet.You need to focus on your one, primary income stream before you even consider a second income stream. It's better to build one house with bricks than to build multiple stick houses.We talk about when you should start considering another stream of income and what we're doing at Evergrow to not only increase the streams of revenue within our business but considering the tangential businesses and services we can operate that are complimentary to Evergrow.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

Cody and Jake were asked, "At which point should you take a salary at your agency?" which brings up a good point... when should you?The answer to this question has a lot of variables, especially if you're dealing with multiple owners of that agency.How much recurring profit is coming into the agency? Are you using the Profit First system? How are you forecasting?Although a salary leads to increased stability in your personal life, it often leads to inflexibility and instability in the business during the early stages.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Cody is jealous of Jake's electric razor)****Skip the Cold Open at 7:40**On this episode, we talk about common mistakes agency owners make when they choose to flex but can't back it up.It's incredibly easy for us to tell who is and isn't a legitimate agency owner by only having a short conversation. Furthermore, it's easy for your prospective clients to tell if you're not being truthful.Be honest about who you are, how big you are, and how many clients you have. This has actually gotten us more sales than pretending to be bigger than we are.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Jake's cigars and Cody solved the Google Ads suspension issue)****Skip the Cold Open at 13:20**We often get requests to handle SEO and PPC services for other freelancers and agency owners and we've always had a firm stance against it for a few reasons.In this episode, we explain why we don't white label and why white labeling your services could be a trap that works against your business.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Cody has to do Jake's job and hates it)****Skip the Cold Open at 3:25**We tend to get a lot of comments on the way we price our services and how we handle billing. Those questions might include things like why do we charge credit card processing fees to our clients? Why do we put our payment information in the ad account? Why do we bill forward vs execute the work and then bill back?We thought it'd be a good idea to answer all of these questions in one episode.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

We received an inquiry from a listener asking about how he could deal with contractors who weren't completing basic tasks such as time tracking.We decided to make this episode completely on how we handle not only underperforming contractors but employees as well. Ultimately, it starts at the hiring process and we get into why and how we pick our team but we also give really useful tips on how to manage team members when they aren't performing well or doing basic tasks or repeatedly missing something.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (The Russell Brunson thing... again)****Skip the Cold Open at 5:00**Google is picking a fight with us and suspending ad accounts over their own platform errors.Having your ad accounts get denied, disapproved, or suspended is every agency's worst nightmare and it's happening to us right now.In this episode, we go over what's going on with Google Ads and how we're fighting back. We also stress the importance of not having all of your eggs in one basket. Thankfully doing so has kept us safe from the issue we're dealing with Google on for the most part.in the middle of the episode, Cody talks about the article that he wrote on his website regarding this whole situation in order to get Google's attention. You can read that here:"Google Suspended Our Google Ads Accounts Over Their Mistake"----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Russell Brunson Punches a Kid?)****Skip the Cold Open at 11:06**A lot of agencies out there seem to still be charging things in a manner that isn't really conducive to a scalable model. Ultimately, what it comes down to is that the agency's owner is still stuck in a freelancer mindset.In this episode, we really dive into what it takes to get out of the freelancer mindset and start charging prices and packaging your services correctly so you're not putting too much work into the services you're selling based on what you're selling them for.We also make sure to cover how freelancers can start charging prices accordingly to set themselves up for correct and fair agency prices, even as a solo operator.If you're charging $20/hr then just get a job. If you're charging $2,000/hr... who do you think you are?----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold open (Jake takes a deep dive into agency Reddit and it sucks)****Skip the Cold Open at 10:20**Last year, we recorded from our hotel in Colombia and recapped our finances from 2022 and how much we grew.This year, we're doing the same thing and recapping 2023. We had some explosive growth and also faced some challenges along the way that caused us to not grow as much as we wanted to.We also cover things we spent more on and things we spent less on.----------------------------------If there's anything we've learned about owning a digital agency, it's that your online security is #1. After facing a Facebook hack with the hacker spending $30,000 on our ads account in a matter of 2 days, we've partnered up with Aura to monitor our online presence and secure our accounts.Secure yourself and your agency while supporting the podcast by running a scan of your personal information for free when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at aura.com/everbros.You can also get up to 50% off security and monitoring plans with the same link after your trial expires!----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Jake has a question for the audience)**We keep seeing gurus make the money part of owning an agency really simplified. How money is spent and finances are handled in an agency at $10k/mo and at $100k/mo look very different but no one talks about it.Cody and Jake do a deep dive in how money looks at different levels of the business.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Jake and Lauren sneak onto First Class train in Japan)****Skip the Cold Open at 13:18**There seems to be some confusion around the practical application of having a CRM in an agency. Jake aims to clear that up in this episode.Aside from the typical derailments, Jake talks about:What a CRM technically is (you're probably already using one and don't even know it)Why you should be using a free CRM at firstHow Jake uses it on a daily basisHow it helps Jake close more sales----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Jake and Cody talk about their Hubspot automation)****Skip the Cold Open at 7:08**There are many different lead generation agency models out there. On one hand, an agency can only be responsible for delivering leads. Another lead gen agency may also follow up with those leads for the client to make sure they close.We address why we don't like lead gen models in which it's the agency's responsibility to follow up with the leads.We also explain common objections to the idea of only supplying the leads and leaving the follow-ups and closing to the client such as:Knowing the close rate of the platforms you're driving leads on.Knowing your client's average close rates.Setting the right expectationsJake also explains that if you follow up and close leads for your client, you're taking a foot out of the marketing agency space and putting another in the "consulting and sales" space.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/Reddit: u/JakeHundley

**Cold Open (Cody's had his credit card hacked twice in two months)****Skip the Cold Open at 9:00**Jake and Cody answer the questions:What is networking?Who do you network with?Why should you network?For starters, it depends on what you're trying to do. Are you trying to grow your business or get better at growing your business? Because they're two different things.If you're trying to grow your business, Jake has tips and explains why you shouldn't care about networking with other agency owners. Instead, you should be networking with other professionals inside your niche that aren't agency owners.If you're trying to get better at growing your business, Cody talks tips and who to network with on the operations side... that is... other agency and business owners. But the challenge is knowing which agency owners to network with -- it's usually not the ones you meet online.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

Ahrefs has been in the SEO community chatter quite a bit since the pricing model change so we thought it'd be good to bring Tim Soulo himself on the podcast to talk a little bit about the reasoning behind that.But we wanted to get more value out of the episode than that.In this episode, Tim gives us some useful keyword research tips both using paid tools as well as free tools and sheds some light on the accuracy... or lack thereof... when it comes to the metrics that SEO tools spit out including how inaccurate Google's owned tools' metrics such as Search Console and Keyword Planner.Tim uncovers how Ahrefs does keyword research for their own blog using "Business Potential" keywords and the downside of using Google's free keyword tools.Additionally, if you're a longtime listener of the podcast, you know that Cody and Jake have been pretty anti-paid tools when it comes to SEO and SEO research. In this episode, hear Tim counter Cody and Jake's argument on the idea that paid tools aren't necessary for new agency owners.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------You can find Tim Soulo and Ahrefs at these profiles / locations:Twitter/X: @timsouloLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/YouTube: @AhrefsComWebsite: www.timsoulo.com/----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

**Cold Open (Jake's optimal morning)****Skip the Cold Open at 3:06**We hear a lot of people quitting their day jobs in order to start an agency in which they have no experience -- only "knowledge" they've gained from online resources.To be frank, this is a dumb idea.We have grown our agency to near the half-million dollar mark while Jake still has a full-time day job. Doing this has allowed safe and steady growth while keeping full-time benefits and the same standard of living.So where do we find time to run a successful agency while also dedicating 40 hours per week somewhere else?Well, we tell you how we did it and continue to do it in this episode.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

**Cold Open (Lissette is gone and we're sad)****Skip the Cold Open at 5:30**We keep seeing agency owners emphasize the importance of documenting processes in order to scale, but there are a few problems with this. Most people:Don't know how to document their processesDon't know where to put their documentationDon't know what to do with it once it's documentedDon't treat it like a living, breathing documentDon't even know what their processes areIn this episode, we go over what "documenting your processes" means, how we do it, what we do with it, what you should and shouldn't document, and where we organize it.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

**Cold Open (Cody is back from surgery)****Skip the Cold Open at 4:26**Jake is seeing way too many people looking for "appointment setters" and "high ticket closers" for agencies and SMMAs in Facebook groups.Building an agency off of this model will ultimately kill your agency.This also brings up an interesting point -- if you own a social media marketing agency... how good are your social media marketing services if you can't even get clients using the services you provide?Instead of complaining about the above, we talk about what you should be doing to get your clients and where to get them without appointment setters and high ticket closers.----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

**Cold Open (Jake has to do dad stuff)****Skip the Cold Open at 2:45**Cody and Jake often find listeners and other agency owners stuck. Whether they're stuck at only a few clients or struggling to move past $20k/mo, a few things keep popping up over and over again with these agencies who struggle to scale passed their current status.With these 6 things, nothing should be able to stop you from scaling your agency:You’re trying to scale too fastYou lack a foundationYour processes aren't outlined or documentedYou don't know your internal labor rateYou don't plan aheadYour product sucks----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website or connect with Jake on socials:Twitter/X: @HundleyJakeLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/Facebook: facebook.com/jake.hundley.1Instagram: instagram.com/jakehundley/

**Cold Open (Nobody with a beard is happy -- Cody has a beard)****Skip the Cold Open at 6:30**If you run ads for your clients, you've likely run into a few issues...The budgeted amount wasn't spentToo much was spentThe account spends inconsistently and you have to spend too much time managing the spendYou're getting too many accounts and it's hard to keep upWe discuss the 5 ways we manage client ad spend and budgets for platforms like Facebook and Google.We answer questions like:Whose card should be on file?If you plan to spend $500 in a month, how do you track and pace that to make sure you spend that?When do you need to pay attention to spend?What are ways you can prevent "doomsday scenarios" in which too much is spent?We break out how we manage client ad spend for over 50 accounts with 5 key points:Know who's legally responsible for overspendUse a daily budget trackerBeginning and end of month require more time for monthly accountsUse automated rulesLongterm honesty is better than short-term profits----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------