The Agency Profit Podcast

In Episode 31, Jennifer and Marcel address three potential time traps: superfluous meetings, email distraction, and issues around functional silos.Buckle up as we do a deep dive on making communication more efficient; how to map processes so they work optimally; plus how to implement them so they become part of your agency’s long-term process.About Jennifer Kikkert:Jennifer is a seasoned process facilitator and energizing public speaker, with 15 years of experience in process improvement and optimization, culture change, and operational excellence.Having spent 12 years working in the public sector, and then transitioning to the private sector, Jen has a wealth of experience in knowledge and service industries – where processes are hard to visualise. Hence the birth of her company Visualiiz Management Consulting Inc, which helps organizations ‘see’ opportunities for improvement that often go unnoticed. Points of interest…Below are some notable time stamps you can fast track to. There’s more information in our blog notes beneath the video.Principle of time efficient meetings 10:46Defining SLA around communication 15:22Utilizing your least productive time 22:16Cross function process mapping 24:27Common mistakes made when writing processes 28:08Implementing process mapping within your business 37:38 Principles of Time Efficient MeetingsOver the last decade, Jennifer has noticed a similar pattern emerging across the knowledge, services, manufacturing industries she’s worked with… inefficient meetings.By way of example; Harvard Business Review recently revealed that – in the last 10 years – meetings have increased by 65%. In short, some people favour talking over doing.To this point, Jennifer gets her clients to visualise the following scenario: “What if you had to run your meeting like the NBA or the NFL in a 62nd time out? What if you only had 60 seconds to get your point across, to have everyone discuss the issue, to come up with a solution, and have everyone to know exactly what they need to do, and then go back to work… Would you be able to do it?”So, what is the checklist to ensure more time efficient meetings?Do not run a meeting without an agendaMeetings should only be held to answer questions, not define questionsUpdate meetings should be omittedAsk meeting attendees not to bring phones; firstly, they won’t be distracted by their devices, secondly, they will be more inclined wrap a meeting efficiently to return to their phones!Use 5-10 minute (virtual) huddles at the start and/or end of each day, this can eliminate the need for a lot of additional meetings We don’t need everyone to sit for two hours and have everyone “go around the room.” It’s not a good use of people’s time. Time is our number one resource. Defining SLA Around CommunicationDuring our chat, Jennifer mentions that the “majority of workers check their email 77 times a day” and “can spend up to two-and-a-half hours just reading and sorting through email.” Sadly, the likelihood of this time adding any value to the client’s end product is limited.People are literally drowning in their inbox, however, there are proven strategies to help. The most notable one is simply “turn off all notifications.” Those who constantly succumb to the pinging and buzzing claim they’re “multitasking”. One could argue they’re not doing anything very efficiently because of continuous distraction.Every interruption leads to a loss of production, with it taking “seven-to-15-minutes to get back to where you were.” By disabling notifications, you control when you see your email, not the other way around.If possible, give yourself set times to check mail, ideally three times a day. For example, Jennifer tends to her inbox at 8:30am in the morning, then 11:45am, and lastly 4pm before the usual COB. You can give anyone emailing you a heads up by stating in your signature that your inbox is checked at these specific times. That way, you’re setting expectations. Within your organization, have an SLA around communication:Let those in the channel know when to expect a responseDefine what is an acceptable response time; within 12, 24, 48 hours?Have an escalation process in place if something is importantTime is precious, so people shouldn’t feel obligated to be at the behest of every communication channel fighting for our attention. Utilizing Your Least Productive TimeIn his book The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, author Dan Pink states the two most unproductive hours of your entire day occur between 2pm and 4pm.Research shows that productivity, mental alertness and judgement lags at this time, so important work between those hours should be avoided. If you have the luxury of choice, perhaps use those hours to catch up on those emails! Cross Function Process MappingMost organizations evolve over time. Due to vertical silos, all of our deadlines and priorities are also vertical. However, work generally flows horizontally.This can potentially lead to the following issues:

About Marcel:Marcel Petitpas is co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto. Indeed you do recognize him from The Agency Profit Podcast!In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – Marcel is also a renowned keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster. Time Stamps: points of interest• Intro 0:00• Behind The Agency Profit Podcast 3:35• Focusing on the numbers 6:37• Where should your focus be right now? 9:42• Implementing and utilizing changes 10:55• Identifying goals 13:27• Importance of both internal and billable time 16:17• Cost performance indexing 18:57• Increasing efficiency and profitability 22:15• Helpful tools! 25:00• Outro 30:30 Blog: Today’s episode of the Agency Profit Podcast is a bit different for you guys. Since we’re living in very uncertain times due to COVID-19, I decided to pause the usual podcast (on't worry; we've content in the can for the next few months!) and personally address how this outbreak impacts our lives – as well as all the agencies and businesses out there. Whether you're an agency that had an office and had to send everybody home, or you were already a remote agency, this is probably impacting you and/or your clients. I want to discuss some of the things I've addressed with our clients in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis. There are three really particular opportunities that exist around this situation, especially if you're in a position where you’re having to make a lot of changes to the way that your team operates. First, I want to talk about how to increase your focus on numbers; the opportunity to implement new changes in your agency; and how to make your business more efficient. Behind The Agency Profit Podcast Before we dive into the things, I want to share a few things: I am an agency profitability consultant, specializing in helping agencies essentially get a handle on their basic numbers. Most of our income as a company has been from consulting revenue, public speaking, appearing on other people's podcasts and speaking in virtual events. If you’re an avid listener to our bi-monthly APP, you probably know I always have a guest on the show to discuss how they've honed their business into a profitable agency and tackled potential pitfalls along the way. Focussing on the Numbers If you've been a frequent listener of the Agency Profit Podcast, you know the topic of increasing number focus is a hot topic. The three key foundations of the economic model of an agency are capacity, utilization, and average billable rates. • Capacity is defined as the amount of time your team could contribute towards doing billable work in any given time period. It’s determined by how many people you have access to on your team – from, freelancers or contractors – as well as how much of that time you expect them to work. This can quantify it in terms of dollars using an average billable rate. Essentially, if I know I've got 10,000 hours of billable time this year which I can sell, then that's good. You must invest time to earn revenue. It’s important to know what your capacity is and how much revenue you could potentially earn in a given time period. • Utilization is how much time your agency actually uses for things that result in payment from clients. This is the true and straightforward definition of the term. We'll discuss how there are a couple of different definitions of utilization that get used in the industry, and how to best use those with your team to avoid complications. • Average bill rate is basically every hour that my team invests working on projects for the agency or their client/s. When you have a really good handle on capacity, utilization, and average bill rate, it's easy to start modeling things such as: What are our best clients or services?How much revenue could we potentially earn in a given time period?What kind of revenue are we looking to earn in the future? Always remember; as an agency, the moment you sell a project, you have to start earning the revenue as there's already a gap due to liability. Interestingly, a lot of agency owners forget about this principle. Then, there's the cost of earning revenue; where you have to invest time and resources to earn said revenue. As much as possible, you must shorten that latency of when you close the revenue (when contract or bookings happened), and when you actually earn the revenue. You want to decrease that cost as much as possible. This should be the objective of your operational model when it comes to delivery. Gross profit or gross margin, for most people, is going to be a bit more challenging to follow accurately. Depending on how your systems are set up, generally you're going to want to do that via accounting software, or by spreadsheets. However, undertaking this exactly is usually more expensive than tracking the average bill rate, which is a super simple number to pinpoint. Where Should Your Focus be Right Now?Well, your focus really should be on utilizat

About Keith:Keith Scandone is co-founder and CEO of O3 World, a 15-year-old Digital Product Agency. Additionally, he’s co-founder of O3 Ventures – a spin-off of O3 World dedicated to investing in, and partnering with, existing Digital Product companies, aiding them to accelerate their businesses.As well as being a busy go-getter, Keith is co-founder of the Forge Conference, a 300 person UX and Design seminar. If that wasn’t enough, he’s co-founder of 1682; an invite-only Business of Innovation Conference, which they hosted this year. Wait, there’s more!Last, but certainly not least, he co-founded the Philadelphia chapter of the Awesome Foundation, and has sat on countless boards and committees, most notably the Philadelphia Global Identity Project, helping Philadelphia's global position.Time Stamps: points of interest• Intro 0:00• Keith’s unorthodox beginnings 2:43• O3 World’s business culture and their services 7:00• Identifying and overcoming the agency ‘growing pains’ 12:00• Importance of managing cash-flow 16:20• Knowing your strengths 19:27• Understanding the competition 24:05• Decision making plus executing strategic changes 30:01• Scaling your agency 35:12• Outro 47:22Blog:Keith Scandone is proof you don’t need a degree to start a string of businesses. A successful partner of O3 World and co-founder of 1682, Keith shares his humble start; the many challenges the ’08 recession brought the company; and how they overcame it. Most importantly, he pinpoints how to understand your company’s strong points while building a niche market.Before Keith found business success, acting was his passion. He was cast in a play while attending Loyola University, Maryland, and was swiftly bitten by ‘the bug', resulting in a move to Los Angeles. However, after seven years in showbiz, Keith realized he preferred working behind the scenes. Packing his bags once more, he headed to Philadelphia, whereupon he was hired as a marketing consultant for an online entertainment city guide. His soon-to-be business partners were freelancing at the same company…While their employers weren’t keen on working for bigger clients, Keith and Co knew they could do more. Spotting a gap in the market regarding client expansion, he and his partners set up O3 World 15 years ago, and haven’t looked back.Being involved in a tech-related industry means having to adapt to a continuously changing environment – a challenge for any tech agency owner. Humbled by his company’s tenacity, Keith reflects on how some of the businesses he used to aspire to no longer exist.O3 World’s Business Culture and ServicesO3 World currently has in the region of 50 full-time in-house employees, with Keith saying the company’s culture and collaborative nature plays a massive role in producing quality work. With innovation at its core, O3 World adapts to new technological changes and career opportunities.Constantly pushes boundaries with regards to new business and opportunities, Keith and his team ensure they’re astride their game when providing their range of services, including…• Brand Communications• Identity Development• API Development• Custom Integration• Account Strategy• Digital Content StrategyA go-getting and detail-oriented office culture is important, with Keith saying: “We don’t really like working project to project. We want to have more impact and influence on the work that we do…”It’s well documented that acquiring new clients tends to be more expensive than retaining existing ones (unless, of course, you’ve been letting 'scope creep' kill your margins that entire time).Another important consideration is that a mix of long-term or recurring income is critical to bolstering an agency’s valuation, and creating a strong foundation for cash-flow long-term. So, how are you going to extend the relationship with a new client once the project is over? Great question! Keith says you should reach out to your current client/s to consult with them on their future needs.With this in mind, O3 World honed an account strategy layer, selling on to clients, which turned out to be a successful venture.Identifying and Overcoming ‘Growing Pains’Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in life. I can’t think of an agency that hasn’t encountered challenges. In fact, facing difficulties in your business is normal – the result actually depends on how you handle these issues. In Keith’s case, his biggest challenge was going through a recession.He recalls 2008 and 2009 as one of the toughest periods in his career – when he almost went out of business. Like many business owners at the time, he remembers sitting down with his partners, looking at each other, and having no idea how they were going to make payroll.It’s tough enough building a business, but it’s obviously more challenging during a global recession. Not only will there be difficulty in finding new investors or clients, but it’s also tough risking whatever money you may have in your business.Luckily, while one of Keith’s part

About Chip:Chip Griffin is dubbed as “The Agency Whisper” in the industry. He’s the host of the Agency Leadership Podcast and Chats with Chip and helps PR and marketing agencies reach their goals and increase their efficiency. Chip became the CEO of Townhall.com when he was in his early twenties. And since that time he has built and sold several companies, both in tech, and he started and sold several agencies and consultancies. Today he spends his time educating, coaching, consulting, and speaking to agency owners on how to run and scale their agencies. Want to see more of Chip? Follow him online:ChipGriffin.comChip’s LinkedInChip’s TwitterChip’s InstagramThe Agency Biz PodcastsResourcesThe Agency BizThe Agency Leadership AdvisorsChipGriffin.comChip’s LinkedInGuide to Agency Project BudgetingAgency Business CheckupThe Agency Biz PodcastsLink to project budgeting template Timestamps:Intro 0:00How did Chip go from Building and Selling Businesses to Coaching Businesses? 3:28How to Properly Scope Projects and Create your Budgets 6:04When Should an Agency Evaluate the Cost Aspect of a Project 8:35Scoping and creating accurate budgets inside your agency? 11:59Expenses that Agencies Must Watch Out For 13:57Contingency Reserves Based on People’s Risk 14:52How to Reduce the Amount of Scope Creep Once the Projects Gets Underway 24:08Gross Profit Margin Target for Agencies 25:11Core Principles to Remember in Managing Relationship with a Client 36:55Outro 44:21How to Scope Projects & Protect Profits with Chip Griffin - Episode 28The foundation of running a successful agency lies in charging more money to clients than it takes for us to deliver outcomes to them. Ideally, we’re consistently achieving 50-70% gross margins on projects, which sets us up to have reasonable overhead and continue to cash-flow our growth.Unfortunately, we’ve all found ourselves losing our shirts and in some cases even spending money to work with a client. Most often, the culprit is a combination of poor scoping and scope creep leading to a dumpster fire of a project that leaves us with lots of work to do and very little profit to show for it.For some of us, this still happens more often than we’d like to admit.That’s why I decided to invite my friend Chip Griffin onto the show to share his knowledge and experiences in scoping projects and protecting profits. He didn’t disappoint, as he broke down what he’s learned from years of running and scaling his own agencies to multiple exits, and helping clients do the same.How to Properly Scope Projects and Create Your BudgetsThere are a lot of factors that play in when properly scoping projects and creating budgets. It’s a complex process that often requires some analytical savvy.According to Chip “The agency community is filled with really creative people who are fantastic at client service, but a lot of them just don't have a lot of business experience.”It comes as no surprise that many of the agencies I speak to have a difficult time getting a handle on scoping, and spend most of their careers feeling like they’ve never found a reliable way to do it accurately.When it comes to getting a handle on estimate, Chip states that agency owners must create a project plan with their clients that will be beneficial for both parties. From billing clients based on an hourly rate, flat-rate pricing, or value-based pricing; there are a lot more factors that you, as an agency owner must take into consideration. So it becomes increasingly important to get really good at figuring out how much or how long will it take to deliver the project with our desired outcome to our clients while making sure to stay within the budget and submitting them on-time. This means tracking actuals against estimates over time to feed that information back to whatever supporting data/documents you might use to create estimates in the first place.With that being said is it important to answer these questions before signing a contract to a client:How long will this project take?Do I need to hire new people?How much will all these expenses cost?Have we done this kind of work before? How much uncertainty exists around what the client is asking of us?What’s our gut-feel on the client, and how demanding they might become?Do I need to travel to meet up with my clients or remote employees?Are we importing assets / materials from the client?Will I be able to deliver and accomplish my clients’ expectations?What type of billing method is most beneficial for my agency and the client?etc.Being thorough in the discovery process and really assessing the risk of a project is key in establishing the right level of contingency and padding in your estimation.Chip is also a big fan of doing paid discovery, giving you the ability to get compensated for the time it takes to properly assess your client’s needs. Project Budgeting for Accurate ProfitabilityIf you want an overall profitable business, you need to sit down and take note of all the expenses and oth

About Chris Hervocohon:Chris Hervochon is often referred to as the Michael Jordan of accounting. A graduate from Elon University with a degree in Accounting and minor in Finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in South Carolina and Pennsylvania, and also holds the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) certification. A Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and have earned the Data Analytics Executive Certificate from the AICPA.In 2018, he was one of only 41 CPAs honored by the AICPA as a member of the Leadership Academy’s tenth graduating class. In 2019, I was named as one of CPA Practice Advisor's "40 Under 40" in the accounting profession.He started his firm called Better Way CPA, where he helps creative, digital marketing agencies, and service-based businesses with intelligent, actionable accounting.Follow Chris Online:WebsiteFacebookInstagramChris’ TwitterYouTube ChannelResources:From Freelancer to Agency Ebook WayfinderAbout PageMy YouTube ChannelTimestamps:Intro 0:00Who is Chris 01:00How Chris Started in the Service Business Industry 2:20What Makes Accounting Service Businesses Unique 4:48Why is it Important for Agencies to Have a Clean Accounting Data 8:58Common Mistakes Agencies Commit in Terms of Accounting 10:04Why Service Businesses Must Use Accrual Basis 13:53Revenue Recognition for Accrual Accounting 17:25Benefits of Cloud-Based Accounting 19:48Cash Reserves for Agency’s Survival 22:30The Right Corporate Entity for Your Business 28:10Biggest Problem for Service Agencies’ Chart of Accounts 30:35Freelancers Vs. Full-Time Employees 35:00Allocating Your Salaries 39:48Gross Profit Vs. Net Profit 41:50Maximizing Profit: Pricing and Operating Perspective 45:50Outro 50:00 Often, we base an agency’s success on its profitability. However, we tend to forget the financial aspect of things. And, why agencies need to understand the importance of accounting. And so there's just so many things that I want to talk to you about. And, I want you to ask yourselves why you chose to run or work on a service business.And according to Chris Hervechon:“Marketing agencies are a lot like accounting firms. How they operate. It’s a different service. Sure, it’s more creative, generally speaking. But they’re both service-based businesses.”What Makes Accounting for Service Businesses UniqueAccording to Chris Hervochon, there’s a lot of agency owners that do not realize that running a service business when it comes to accounting, which is very different than almost every other service business.And, its main difference happens above the margin. So your margin is your gross revenue minus all the variable costs that go into generating that gross revenue.If you think about a retail store that tends to have lower margins, your gross revenue is gonna be all the stuff that you sell. Let’s say you sold a television for $850, then that’s already your gross revenue. If it cost you $500 to buy the television, including taxes and licenses, then your gross profit is $350.On the other hand, service-based businesses tend to have higher margins. There is not much variable cost going into generating the revenue. It is solely based on human capital, on the amount of effort agency owners and their employees put into to generate profits.Why is it Important for Agencies to Have a Clean Accounting Data?The entire purpose of accounting is so that you can ask questions about your business and get accurate and reliable answers.According to Chris, you must ask yourselves these questions while also knowing how to answer them to see whether your business/es are properly tracked and documented:Is this project profitable?Is this service profitable?Is this niche profitable?What are the fixed expenses?Where can I cut costs to be more profitable?What's too expensive?What's not expensive enough?Am I spending enough or too much on my marketing?Through these questions, you will be able to know your agency’s trajectory and what to expect.Common Mistakes Agencies Commit in Terms of AccountingYou will be surprised at how agencies commit the same mistakes.Let's start with how often you sit down with your accountant. Agency owners are usually the creative type who is good at marketing and promotion. However, it is important that you, as an agency owner know to hire someone who has proven knowledge in accounting.Not having organized and systematic documentation of your expenses and revenue. Make sure that you keep track of the inflows and outflows of your money.They did not start using the accrual basis. From an accrual accounting perspective. I've got somebody who comes and goes. My clients come every week on a Monday, we hope, but they come every week nonetheless. That's a real base accounting. It's matching the activity with the expense of the revenue when it happened.Why Service Businesses Must Use Accrual BasisLooking at things on an accrual basis is certainly a change for a lot of people, especially small businesses. But it's something that you need to

About Erik: Erik Huberman is the Founder & CEO of Hawke Media, a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA that launched in 2014 and has been valued at $80 million. In just 5 years, Hawke Media has grown from 7 to over 120 employees and has serviced 400+ brands including Raden, BeautyCon, The Ridge Wallet, Buscemi, Red Bull, Evite, Verizon Wireless, HP. Want to See More of Erik? Follow him Online:Hawke Media WebsiteErik’s LinkedInErik’s InstagramErik’s TwitterErik’s FacebookTime Stamps:Useful insights and questions from this episode:Introduction 0:00Who is Erik Huberman? 2:12Starting Hawke Media 3:01Challenges in Growing an Agency 4:17How Important is Understanding the Cash Flow of Your Agency 8:05Figuring Out Your Business Goals 10:43How to Increase the Value of Your Agency 12:23How to Know the Right Time to Offer More Services to Your Clients 16:38Process of Adding New Services to the Agency 18:06How to Manage Employee’s Capacity 19:24Ensuring Your Team’s Well-Being 21:27Different Tools and Systems to Ensure the Performance of Your Business 23:02Convenient Automated Profitability Software 24:29What are the Important Core Metrics in an Agency 26:12Advice to Start-Up Agency Owners 28:14Blog: Hawke Media is one of the Top 20 Most Promising Digital Marketing Solution Providers in 2017 and was named at the Top Inc 5,000 fastest growing companies in 2017 as well. Hawke Media has worked with over 400+ brands including Evite, Red Bull, Verizon, HP. Today, Hawke Media continuously provides exceptional marketing services to the business owner along with their team of top tier experts that helps the different aspects of a business.Erik began consulting and advising and it was organic when he started an agency. He first sought out help, hired people, until it grew into an agency with over 170 people and is continuously growing up to this day. Understanding a niche that is completely under-served and needed help drove Erik into building the agency that is now Hawke Media.Despite being offered to sell the company quite a few times, Erik liked the idea of continuing. He loves the idea of working with different companies, helping entrepreneurs, and most importantly he is truly passionate about what he does. What are the Challenges in Growing an Agency? It’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to running an agency. And, according to Erik, here are the challenges he faced while growing his company:People are volatile and emotional. People have different personalities, wants, goals, and needs. Even though their payroll is similar to their monthly revenue five years ago, there are times where they get thin on cash wherein it took a while to catch up with the revenue to make money for the team.He also shared a challenging experience when they had a $400,000 payroll and $800,000 for a month while having only $13,000 in the bank. Entrepreneurs also said that it could happen again so he better get ready for his business. “That is very rare that you when you're growing a business like this and you don't have a ton of outside funding and you're not publicly traded, you’ll have so much cash that you're never gonna get thin.”Erik added, “Don't just let your money sit on the bank, invest it.”How Important is Understanding the Cash Flow of Your AgencyThe very first model Erik used to start his business was paying the flat base salary then giving 30% of what they get paid by the clients.On the next batch of talented individuals he hired, Erik said that they followed the same payroll model of which they give 30% of what they made in addition to their agreed flat rate. Erik found out that his employees are reactive. Erik added that they also looked at their amount of expenses on their first year to see how much they spent on overhead, advertisements, payroll, etc. He had a profit of 40% in the first year and from then, he knew it wasn’t sustainable. And, from the data which they have gathered, Erik and his team decided to change their business model, and see which works best for them.Figuring Our Your Business GoalsThe team experienced hitting their benchmark early so they had to find ways to maintain it. Erik's original plan was to get into 10 million in revenue. He didn't have a grandiose plan and now he has a multinational, multi-billion-dollar company plan.According to Erik, “I had a very clear path to 10 million, very clear what was going to take. In my head. We're going to do it. It's going to take four years. And that's what happened. And then two years, almost two years ago, we hit it.”It is really important to be objective, innovative, and realistic when you’re still figuring out your goals for your business. It’s not enough to conceptualize, and you have to actually put your time and effort into it. How to Increase the Value of Your AgencyLuckily, Erik is married to a person who is in private equity. His partner gives him constructive advice on how he can make his business more profitable. Now, here are the ways

About This Episode: In this episode, Clodagh Higgins, a digital agency director, consultant, coach, and the author of A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency joined us to share her knowledge and experience as an ex-Hubspotter who has worked with 500+ agencies around the world. We get into why agencies must build and scale company culture, useful tips and techniques to hiring the right people, and how to retain talented employees in the long run.About Clodagh: Clodagh S.Higgins is a Digital Agency Director, Consultant & Coach with the Growit Group based in Ireland and works globally. An ex-HubSpotter, she has worked with over 500+ agencies around the world, helping them in the areas of sales, marketing, services, scaling and growth in their businesses so that they can deliver exceptional results for their clients.From working in Hubspot, she is now an agency coach and Consultant that has owned her own digital agency for 8+ years in Sydney & Dublin. She is also the author of A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency and hosts a weekly podcast, interviewing agency owners about the highs and lows of running a professional services business, Agency Life.Clodagh believes that agency owners can have a profitable business of their dreams, with an expert team that is happy, while getting great results for their clients.When Clodagh is not helping agencies you will find her training for Powerlifting competitions and she has a World Record in Strict Curl and a National Record in Bench Press. She lives in the West of Ireland in her retreat in progress called Isleen Cottage. Want to See More of Clodagh? Follow her Online:Growit Group’s WebsiteGrowit Group’s InstagramGrowit Group’s LinkedInClodagh’s WebsiteClodagh’s InstagramClodagh’s LinkedInClodagh’s Facebook PageYouTube: Agency LifePodcast: Agency LifeBook: A Happy & Healthy Digital AgencyEmail: [email protected] Resources:Traction by Geno WickmanAgency Life PodcastAgency Life YouTube ChannelA Happy & Healthy Digital Agency by Clodagh Higgins Time Stamps:You can now repeat or jump to parts with ease!Introduction 1:09Who is Clodagh Higgins? 2:55Challenges Agencies Face 6:24Building and Scaling Company Culture 10:22How to Attract High-Quality Talent 16:21Hiring the Right Talent 21:31Interview Techniques and Strategy 22:26Onboarding New Employees the Right Way 28:17How to Retain a Talent in the Long Run 32:51Giving Up Control, Empowering Leaders, and Building Trust Inside Your Team 41:16Conclusion/Outro 45:07Blog: Running a profitable agency is no easy task. There are no shortage of challenges when it comes to managing projects, maintaining profitability, getting results for clients, closing deals and managing clients. But one challenge shared by all agencies is the complexity of managing their team. As my friend Rob likes to say “The best part about our businesses is that they’re made up of people. The worst part about our businesses, is that they’re made up of people” Why? Because people are unpredictable. Each person has their needs, wants, and capabilities. Let’s dive in and learn about the biggest challenges agencies face. How to scale company culture, how to hire, empower and retain employees in the long run. Entrepreneur’s Mindset vs. Their Employees’Now, I’m not going to take sides or tell you that the other one’s better than the other. The truth is, entrepreneurs and their talents have a different way of thinking. This causes struggles for the agency. Entrepreneurs are risk-takers. They work day in and day out, they’re usually not concerned with having a future nor structure. When entrepreneurs see that their idea isn’t working for their favor or they lose interest in a project, they often ditch the project and move on to the next one.The same cannot be said about employees. They often want to know details about their job. From their job description, company culture, and compensation. With that being said, employees prefer to have a structure. Why? It reassures their stability, they want to know whether they can take vacations or work from home. Employees want to start a project, work on it, and finish it. Entrepreneurs need employees to have a successful business. While employees do not need entrepreneurs since they can go get a job at the bank.According to Clodagh, when an employee decides to work for you they’re eager to learn more about you and your company. They believe in your vision and mission. And they find your company’s dynamic exciting because it's different. Without a proper business structure, policies, or training, you’ll run into scaling and retention problems over time.This is why it’s best to communicate both you and your employees’ needs, ideas, and expectations. To be able to move forward, collaborate, and work on your common goals. How to Avoid Idea FatigueIdea fatigue? Is that even a thing? Well, yes. I’m looking at you, Mr./Mrs. CEO! As entrepreneurs we’re often ready to move on to the next big idea before the last one has been fully implemented. Of

About This Episode:In this episode of The Agency Profit Podcast, we invited Troy Wruck, GM of Services at Vendasta to discuss how he runs and scales one of the fastest-growing white-label service teams in Canada. We talk about people, processes, metrics, scaling and everything in between. You won’t want to miss this episode.About Troy Wruck:Troy Wruck is the General Manager of Marketing Services at Vendasta, where he leads a large team of digital agents who provide social media, website creation, digital advertising, and other services in English and French to thousands of businesses worldwide.He has a successful track record in accounting, sales, marketing, and leadership, and has worked in a variety of organizations over his two-and-a-half decade career – from non-profit groups to small businesses, and enterprise companies. He has served in a variety of operational and management positions with Toastmasters International and worked closely with Tourism Saskatoon as a member of their National Strategic Advisory Committee.Follow Troy Online:Vendasta’s WebsiteTroy’s LinkedInTroy’s TwitterTimestampsValuable Insights and Questions from this Episode:Introduction - 0:08What is Vendasa? - 2:20The Importance of Excellent Whitelabel Delivery Team - 4:00Creating and Documenting Services/Processes - 5:55Keeping a Small and Effective Team - 8:32Ensuring the Team and Processes are Up-to-Date - 9:25How Does Process Improvements Work? - 12:00How to Add New Services Successfully - 14:42Ensuring Your Team’s Quality of Work - 18:32Scaling and Managing Your Team - 27:11Hiring Process - 31:00Creating Trust Within Your Team and Letting Go of Control - 34:00Importance of Reporting and Data - 39:34Conclusion/Outro - 42:55Blog:They say starting an agency is hard. While that is certainly true, most agency owners can attest that growing an agency is much harder.While a growing agency means getting more clients, it also means having to deal with more work, as well as more workers. For some agencies, this is where plateaus are hit, and progress stops. At times, scaling too fast can even be the reason things fall apart. For those that are prepared and/or are flexible enough to scale and adapt, they start to achieve the elusive feeling of “scaling” their service business.That’s why we invited Troy Wruck onto the show. Troy Wruck oversees marketing services at Vendasta and is scaling one of the largest and fastest-growing whitelabel services teams in the country.I’ve always known that scaling a white-label shop, even focused on just a single service offering (ie: facebook ads) requires operational excellence. When I found out Troy was doing it across multiple services, in multiple languages for clients of all different shapes and sizes; I knew I had to bring him on the show to see how he was doing it.The Secrets to a Successful AgencyBeing witness to the rise and fall of multiple agencies (and the success of Vendasta), we asked Troy about the qualities of successful agencies and what makes them different from those who failed.According to Troy, it all boils down to being able to offer what your customer needs. As an agency, it should be your goal to understand the pains and goals of your customers. You should be able to create a service for that customer that addresses all those points. Also, it helps if you accept the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to service and that every customer will have different needs.He also added that one of the secrets to Vendasta’s success was that they veered away from hiring generalists. He explained that while generalists, on paper, are great hires - they often become the reason why businesses can’t scale properly. This is because generalists tend to spread themselves too thin doing multiple things at the same time. If you want to grow as an agency, it should be your goal to hire and/or develop experts. This ensures that you have one or a team of individuals who are good at what they do and that you can trust them enough to create excellent output.Another thing that Troy mentioned which caught my attention was that keeping your teams small helps as well. This makes them manageable and allows enough flexibility while still being able to provide consistent output. The number will vary depending on the roles, but generally Troy recommends having no more than 8 direct reports per manager or team lead.How to Improve Your BusinessImproving one’s business is crucial, not only to earn profits. But, to have a structured and ever-developing business process to deliver consistent results and services to our clients. How do You Expand Your Service Offerings Profitably?Let's assume you have your first few clients and you see that business is doing good. You’re thinking about expanding and adding a few more services to your agency. This is a very exciting phase in a growing business but for many agencies, this becomes a slippery slope that starts causing “delivery indigestion.” Since Vendasta has succ

About John:John Garuti is a partner at digitalacquisitions.co specializing in M&A for digital agencies, ecommerce and other digital businesses.He found M&A after running his family manufacturing business for 15 years and eventually selling it, becoming fascinated with he M&A process.Since then digital acquisitions has helped hundreds of digital businesses reach successful exits and spends most of his time helping his clients prepare for exits and maximize their sale price.Resources:Email : [email protected] (CLICK HERE)Website (CLICK HERE) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Jason Swenk:After working at Arthur Anderson (a big 5 consulting firm) Jason realized he needed to be his own boss and launched his first digital agency Solar Velocity. He grew it to over 100 employees and worked with big brands like AT&T, Hitachi and Lotus Cars. After 12 years of growth he sold it in 2012.Now he helps agencies replicate his success.He’s the bestselling author of Accelerate Your Agency, the 8 Systems playbook for growing your agency faster.He’s the host of the Smart Agency Master Class Podcast - the #1 Digital Marketing Agency owner Podcast for sharing stories and strategies from real world agency owners that are working todayIn his free time, he races cars and competes in IronMan’s.Resources:Accelerating your Agency Book (CLICK HERE)Website (CLICK HERE)Podcast (CLICK HERE)YouTube (CLICK HERE) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Zach Hyder:Zach Hyder is an advisor and coach to professional services agencies in advertising, marketing, media, and public relations. He’s the founder of ThinkDendro and the host of The Dendro Cast - The podcast about the disruption of the agency businessHe spent his career working on agency business development and marketing, skills he now uses to help agency owners and executive teams rethink how they position and grow their business.Resources:Website (CLICK HERE)LinkedIn (CLICK HERE)Podcast (CLICK HERE)Podcast Episode with Marcel (CLICK HERE)Wikipedia article on Dendros (CLICK HERE) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Justin:Justin Gignac is the co-founder of Working Not Working, a curated, global platform connecting the world’s best creative talent with the most innovative companies. Apple, Google, Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Airbnb, Nike, and thousands of other companies are now using Working Not Working to staff their creative teams with freelance and full-time talent.Prior to Working Not Working, Justin was an award-winning Art Director and Creative Director at ad agencies around the United States. Perhaps he’s best known for helping create the original ElfYourself.com and unexpectedly unleashing the world’s elf fetish, with over 1.5 billion elves created since its inception in 2006. He also has gained notoriety for his various art projects, including NYC Garbage, Wants for Sale and Needs for Sale.Justin was named one of the 50 Most Creative People of 2015 by AdAge Magazine and Class Dancer by the Norwich Free Academy Class of ’98. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with his pet ping pong table.Follow Justin Online:Website: [CLICK HERE]Working Not Working: [CLICK HERE]The OverShare Podcast: [CLICK HERE]TalkingNotTalking: [CLICK HERE]LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]Instagram: [CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Melanie:Melanie is the founder of WeConsult and helps agencies scale their business by focusing on improving their financials, business administration infrastructure, and performance management / culture within the organization.Not only do I help you carve out the initiatives and goals, I’m also available to do the work to execute on those goals and metrics, which is something valuable that you can’t get from a coach.She’s spent her entire career in finance and operations helping companies be their best and has had two of her clients go through successful acquisitions.Follow Melanie Online:Website: [CLICK HERE]LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]Instagram: [CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Dev:Dev Basu is the founder of one of Canada’s fastest growing agencies - Powered By Search, he’s also the founder of Million Dollar Agency and is a Professor at the Seneca College School of Marketing.After growing powered by search to to multi 7 figure revenue he’s shifted his focus to helping other agencies move to and beyond the 7 figure mark and accelerate their growth.He’s truly one of the best agency operators I’ve met through my years of working with agencies and one of the best teachers in the coaching space.Follow Dev Online:Powered by Search: [CLICK HERE]Million Dollar Agency: [CLICK HERE]LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]Twitter: [CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Robby:Robby is a former digital agency owner. He started it at 14 and eventually was named top 20 in their 20s by LA Biz Journal and achieved seven figure revenue.Since 2013, He’s been the CEO of Bull Beard, an agency collective that helps large brands get vouched and vetted talent for their products.They recently launched Agency Match, which connects brands with vetted and vouched-for specialized agencies, shortcutting the shortlist and breaking down the barriers and brinkmanship.He’s been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Success, Entrepreneur, Fox News, Inc., HuffPost, Mashable and just about every where else.Follow Robby Online:Website: [CLICK HERE]Agency Match: [CLICK HERE]LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About Alyson Caffrey: Alyson is the Founder and Chief Operator of Operations Agency. She founded the agency back in 2015 to help digital agencies and service providers grow their capacity for more clients and experience a less stressful workflow. Her efforts and expertise have helped six figure agencies get to seven figures and above. Alyson has been featured on the Digital Agency Show and One Hour Funnel live to talk about how to implement processes into agencies and use them to scale. Resources From Alyson: Smooth Operator Podcast [CLICK HERE] Perfect Onboarding Process Blueprint [CLICK HERE] Follow Alyson Online: Website: [CLICK HERE] Facebook:[CLICK HERE] LinkedIn:[CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode we're joined by the brilliant Blair Enns from Win Without Pitching to explore his innovative approach to new business for agencies. He shares some of the fundamentals required to sell based on value to command higher prices and close more deals. We also discuss how the sales process can make or break your delivery process by setting precedents in the client relationship and so much more. About Blair Enns Blair Enns is the author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour. He co-hosts, along with David C. Baker, and the podcast 2Bobs: Conversations on the Art of Creative Entrepreneurship. Based in the remote mountain village of Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada, Blair lectures throughout the world on how creative professionals can win more business at higher prices and lower cost of sale. Resources from Blair: Win Without Pitching Blog: [CLICK HERE] The Win Without Pitching Manifesto Book: [CLICK HERE] Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour: [CLICK HERE] 2 Bobs Podcast: [CLICK HERE] Follow Blair Online: Website: [CLICK HERE] LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE] Twitter: [CLICK HERE] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode Chris Martinez from DUDE agency joins us to share how he's found affordable agency talent in an unconventional place. We talk about the keys to successfully building an offshore team, details on DUDE's hiring process and keys to running a whitelabel agency. About Chris Martinez Chris Martinez is the CEO and Co-founder of DUDE which partners with digital agencies to provide them the people and processes to help them scale profitably. He's also the author of Hacking Mexico. Chris owned a digital agency for over 6 years and in 2013 moved all of his web design and development to Tijuana Mexico and it was a total game-changer for his agency. He quickly learned that Tijuana gives agencies all the benefits of outsourcing and none of the downsides. In 2017, Chris launched DUDE and is now providing the perfect outsourcing solution for digital agencies. Follow Chris Online LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismartinez13/ Website: https://dudeagency.io/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dudeagency.io/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dudeagency/ Email Chris: [email protected] Book: https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Mexico-Outsource-Development-Tijuana/dp/0692148485 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode Chris Johnson from Upscale Method joins us for a fireside chat to discuss how to chose between adding services or niching down, how to niche down, developing a sales strategy, optimizing for profitability and more. About Chris Johnson Chris Johnson is a Web Agency Coach in Canada and the founder of Upscale Method. His Agency helped his clients earn $160M+ in revenue over 12 years. Today he helps other web agencies in his agency coaching program where he teaches them how to scale their revenues quickly and land more high ticket clients. Follow Chris Online: Website: https://upscalemethod.com/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisjohnsonmarketing Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/257690278442113/ Email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Scott Gellatly from Scale My Empire joins us to discuss his experience helping 100's of service businesses, consultancies and agencies systemize their business to increase their profitability and scale faster. Tune is to hear us talk tools, process, org charts and everything in between. About Scott Gellatly Scott Gellatly has helped 100's of mid market businesses in Engineering, Marketing, IT and Consulting to scale by systemising their operations and project delivery through his company Scale My Empire. They build systems for fast growth, project services based businesses that are ready to transition into mid market. They do this by integrating people, process and technology together in a cohesive framework. Connect with Scott Online LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/scottgellatly/ Website: https://www.scalemyempire.com/ email: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Bob Ruffolo from IMPACT joins us to share the story behind IMPACT - an award winning marketing agency. Among his lessons, he shares the struggle of getting stuck in the 20 ish employee range, and how he finally broke out of that to grow to over 60 employees today. About Bob Ruffolo Bob is the founder and CEO of IMPACT, a company focused on helping people find success with inbound marketing through education, events, and agency services. In 2017, IMPACT was recognized as HubSpot's Partner Agency of the Year. Personally, Bob is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and was inducted into their School of Business Hall of Honor in 2014 for entrepreneurial excellence. In the same year, he was also recognized as one of Hartford Business Journal's 40 Under Forty. Beyond being driven to grow IMPACT, Bob strives to be at the forefront of the inbound marketing movement and loves helping similar agencies execute their growth. In his spare time, he is a regular speaker at HubSpot's annual Inbound Conference and local universities, an active member of several entrepreneurial groups, and sits on the boards of local educational and community foundations. He is also an avid Yankees and Jets fan. Resources from Bob Jim Collins Books: http://bit.ly/JimCollinsBooks EOS System: https://www.eosworldwide.com/what-is-eos The Game of Business: http://bit.ly/GreatGameofBiz IMPACT Elite FB Group: http://bit.ly/IMPACTElite IMPACT LIVE: https://www.impactbnd.com/live Follow Bob Online Impact Website: https://www.impactbnd.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobruffolo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobRuffolo Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Kim Barrett shares some of the most important lessons from his journey growing Your Social Voice. He shares how things got out of hand, and how he scaled back his team, dramatically increased his profitability and systemized his business to take up less of his time. About Kim Kim Barrett is a world renown Social Media Marketer, focussing on Facebook. He Is an International Best Selling Author, Speaker and Trainer, having taught marketing around the world and helping businesses grow to 6 and 7 figures. He's also the founder of Your Social Voice, which helps businesses get heard on social media, and most importantly, build engagement, generate more leads and more sales. Follow Kim Online Website: http://www.kimbarrett.com.au/ Your Social Voice: https://www.yoursocialvoice.com.au Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realkimbarrett/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrkimbarrett/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Karl Sakas walks us through the differences in strategy for agencies who want to sell their business vs those who want to own it and fund their lifestyle. We talk specific metrics to measure & optimize, strategy changes and actionable tips to achieve your goals. About Karl Karl Sakas helps agency owners increase profits and reduce stress, by conquering growing pains. As a management consultant and executive coach at Sakas & Company, Karl has advised hundreds of agencies on every inhabited continent. He is the author of "Made to Lead," "The In-Demand Marketing Agency," and more than 300 articles on agency management on what we believe is one of the best agency blogs on the internet. When he’s not helping clients, Karl is an award-winning Past President of AMA Triangle and volunteers as a bartender on a 1930s railroad car. Resources from Karl Agency Growth Style (Lifestyle vs. Equity) blog: https://sakasandcompany.com/agency-growth-style/ Making yourself "needed but not necessary" blog: https://sakasandcompany.com/needed-but-not-necessary/ The "pile of crack" analogy, on sales pipeline strength: https://sakasandcompany.com/feast-or-famine/ Preparing to sell, by building a "Dream 100 Acquirer" list: https://sakasandcompany.com/get-acquired/ Free weekly tips: https://sakasandcompany.com/newsletter/ Agency Resource Library (50+ time-saving agency tools, templates, and SOPs): https://sakasandcompany.com/agency-resource-library/ Follow Karl Online Website: https://sakasandcompany.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlSakas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsakas/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Andrew Dymski walks us through his process for creating beautifully documented processes your entire team can follow. We'll get into the how, who, when, where and why of documenting process, and cover some other great tips for agency scalability along the way. About Andrew Dymski Andrew is a Founder at ZenPilot where he helps marketing agencies buy back time by developing the processes and systems they need to scale without reinventing the wheel for every client. He's also co-host of the Agency Journey podcast where each week he interviews an agency owner, consultant, or author. He's also a founder at GuavaBox, an inbound marketing agency. Formerly he ran DoInbound, a software platform that helped agencies manage their projects and process and is truly a master when it comes to setting agencies up for scale and profitability. Follow Andrew Online Website: https://www.zenpilot.com/ Podcast: https://www.zenpilot.com/inbound-agency-journey Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewJDymski Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdymski/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Robert Craven walks us through what he's learned from helping 100's of agencies develop market-proof strategies that lead their companies to success. From the long term vision and plan, to pricing and positioning and even how to plan and communicate to your team, we cover it all. About Robert Robert Craven is the bestselling author of 8 books on how to grow a profitable service business, including his newest book "Grow Your Digital Agency". He's also an international keynote speaker, the director of the Google Partners Business Coaching Program, the President of the GYDA Initiative (Grow Your Digital Agency) and the President of the Director's Center. Needless to say, he's a respected authority when it comes to helping agencies reach peak performance and has helped 100's do so through his consulting, training programs and content. Resources from Robert GYDA Book: http://bit.ly/GYDABook Free GYDA Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/GYDAFBGroup Follow Robert Online Website: https://robert-craven.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/Robert_Craven Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcraven/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, CEO and founder of Proposify Kyle Racki joins us to share the story of how he transitioned from running an agency to running a fast-growing startup. You'll hear the pitfalls to avoid, some great advice for mitigating risk and a few pro tips on sending better proposals. ** About Kyle Racki** Kyle Racki is the CEO and Founder of Proposify, an angel investor, speaker, host of the LTV Podcast and author of his newest book: Free Trials and Tribulations - How To Build A Business While Getting Punched In The Mouth. He went from running a small digital agency back in the early 2000's to building a software platform as a side project that eventually turned into Proposify, a company that now serves over 6,000 businesses worldwide. ** Follow Kyle Online** Website: https://www.kyleracki.com/ Proposify: https://www.proposify.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyleracki New Book: https://www.kyleracki.com/book/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Mandi Ellefson walks us through step by step tactics for agency owners who want to increase their prices and profits, while spending less time running day to day operations and build a business that can scale without them. About Mandi Mandi Ellefson is the founder of The Hands-Off CEO and a Scalable Freedom Strategist. She works with owner managed 7 and 8 figure consultancies, agencies, tech businesses, and B2B service business owners to first recover 20-40 extra hours per month. Then use that time to scale up without working more hours. When you’re removed as the bottleneck, you can sustain dramatic growth in a way where quality increases. She also offers a program for fast growing 6 figure businesses called Scale to Freedom. She got into this line of work to solve a problem she had. She was a manager at the time, but with an entrepreneurial spirit. She wanted freedom to play and travel, but also wanted to make a big impact. So she found another way, and simplified and systematized their business for them. In the process, she worked a quarter of the time, and got to travel around the world when it suited her. Now she helps other agency owners create the same lifestyle. Follow Mandi Online Website: http://handsoffceo.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mandiellefson?lang=en Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandiellefson/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Carl Smith has done and seen it all. He's worked his way up the ladder at a big agency. He's gone off to start his own agency, growing it to millions in revenue with thought leadership in his niche. Finally, he's taken over an organization that brings together agency owners all over the country. What's the most important thing he's learned through his trials and tribulations? Tune in to find out. About Carl A theater major who decided to act like he understood business, Carl spent 14 years in advertising before launching his digital agency, nGen Works, in 2003. nGen ran for 12 years, constantly experimenting with different models of management and team structure, including the Jellyfish Model which was flat before flat was cool. Towards the end of nGen’s run, Carl attended the very first Bureau event and fell madly in love with the concept of building community in the web industry. So much so that a few years later he closed nGen to take over the Bureau in 2016. Now Carl spends every day connecting digital professionals to give them the support they need. Follow Carl Online: Website: https://bureauofdigital.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlsmith Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-smith-4b46a32/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tune in to learn from Lee Goff on how you can start doubling your profits, cutting down your workload and setting your agency up for scale through productization. In this episode, we discuss what productization really means, how to do it, and what mistakes to avoid. About Lee Goff: Since founding GetUWired in 2003 in Lee’s upstairs bedroom, GetUWired has helped thousands of business owners around the world break through the glass ceiling and live the lives they deserve — making more money with less work and having more time for all the things they love. Lee is living proof that his formula works. In May 2016 he sold out his remaining shares to his longtime partners to pursue his lifelong passion of mentoring small businesses. His motto is “Success using vision, leadership and shared knowledge”. He shares everything he learned while building GetUWired. His new venture is leegoff.com and is in business to help small businesses grow faster and more profitable than they could have ever imagined. Follow Lee Online: Website: https://marketingagencycoach.com Twitter: @Agency_Coaching Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitalmarketingagencygroup/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jody Grunden is CEO & C0-Founder of Summit CPA Group - an accounting firm that works exclusively with Agencies. He's also an industry speaker, and a published author. He started Summit CPA Group in 2002, bringing more than 23 years of public and corporate accounting leadership, tax expertise, and executive management experience to his role with the company. With the mission of changing the way that people think about accounting, Summit CPA Group specializes in helping digital agencies manage and scale their financial health through solid forecasting based on both financial and non-financial metrics through its Virtual CFO Services. His latest book, Digital Dollars and Cents: A Virtual CFO's Playbook to help Digital Companies Create a Financial Roadmap to Success can be read on Kindle. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, we chat with Kelly Campbell about the power of positioning. Tune in to find out how positioning can help you attract higher quality clients, increase your profitability, shorten your sales cycle, increase your rates, and streamline your operations (among other things). About Kelly Campbell: After 15 years of starting, scaling and selling my own digital agency in New York, she loves helping other agency leaders do the same. She works with established agencies in the creative and tech industries, typically with $2-30MM in annual revenue, looking to transform and committed to investing in the significant growth of their organization. As a consultant, she takes a unique and holistic approach to helping agencies level-up (and helping CEOs define the life they want to live). Maybe it’s because she's one of the only women working in this space, or from experience, she understands that agency ownership transcends numbers— it’s a journey that can be an emotional roller coaster or lead to a spiritual awakening. She has two superpowers. Intent, active listening helps me understand the nuances of what’s being said and more importantly what’s not being said within your agency. Follow Kelly's THRIVE podcast: https://klcampbell.com/category/podcast/ Follow Kelly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/agencyscaler Follow Kelly on LinkeIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylcampbell Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.