Is your agency news newsworthy? How interesting, immersive, compelling, and targeted is your news to give you results? Making your agency newsworthy takes expertise and an understanding of what works for you and your goals. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Amanda Proscia & Mickie Kennedy to discuss PR and how to make your press releases newsworthy. Amanda is the co-founder of Lightspeed Public Relations and Marketing, a New York City-based agency focused on promoting in...
May 31, 2024•29 min•Season 12Ep. 137
Do you listen to your internal monologue? What stories do you tell yourself, and how are they impacting you? It’s so easy to get in your own way and tell yourself stories that distract and stagnate your growth. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to avoid being your worst enemy and instead become a believer in yourself as the first step to growth. I also describe how anxiety affects my decision-making and how I’ve learned to deal with it. Don’t miss this episode to learn more ...
May 24, 2024•18 min•Season 12Ep. 136
What are the existing issues that you have in your agency today? How are they preventing you from reaching the next stage of your growth? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how rapid growth can be achieved with the right structure. I also explain why rapid growth and success take deeper focus on what you’re doing instead of spreading your focus thin. Listen in to learn how to identify your ideal clients, build a network that gets you referrals, create alignment, and more. Key Que...
May 17, 2024•23 min•Season 12Ep. 135
Are your decisions guiding you to where you want to take your business? As an agency owner, you should focus your decisions on data to increase revenue, improve profits, and ultimately improve cash flow. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, Jon joins me to discuss the science of agency decision-making and why all decisions should be guided by data. Jon Morris is the Founder and CEO of Ramsay Innovations, a tech-enabled finance and strategic planning company that helps marketing agencies driv...
May 10, 2024•32 min•Season 12Ep. 134
What is the productization of agency services, and how can it be done? Productization can be defined as solving a problem you know people have, following a similar identical process for each client. The easiest transition to productization is when it’s derived from things you’ve already been doing for your existing clients, which doesn’t change your agency’s entire process. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Greg Hickman to discuss agency productization and how to design prod...
May 03, 2024•32 min•Season 12Ep. 133
Where is your agency’s focus on, efficiency or effectiveness? Is your focus creating the outcome you’re looking for? Maybe it’s time you open up to changing your mindset from efficiency to effectiveness. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the key differences between efficiency and effectiveness in a creative agency. We also explain why, as a businessowner, you should focus on developing an effectiveness mindset to create a larger impact on client deliverables and agency processe...
Apr 26, 2024•19 min•Season 12Ep. 132
How can you create operational excellence in your agency? The truth is, if you don’t have operational efficiency, you’re going nowhere. Creating operational efficiency is possible; it’s partly about recognizing primary problems, letting go and letting your team, and having a way of measuring where success lies and adjusting to it. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Rob Sayles to discuss what it takes to create the ideal operational efficiency in an agency. Rob has more than 2...
Apr 19, 2024•33 min•Season 12Ep. 131
Are you in a place where your revenue has declined in the last 12-24 months, and you’re looking to have a recovery? Or maybe you want to recognize potential risk areas and how you can mitigate that risk. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I share the journey of a particular agency, how they handled a crisis, and how they recovered from their situation. I explain the systems and processes I helped them put together to manage the crisis, avoid going out of business, and get back to agency gr...
Apr 12, 2024•20 min•Season 12Ep. 130
How do you approach creating a plan to serve content to your leads in a nurturing way? When marketing, it’s against your prospect’s attention, so you need to understand the value they get by committing to your content. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to strategically structure consumable content in the marketing and sales funnels. I explain the importance of always considering the level of commitment your content will take and where in the funnel each type of content belon...
Apr 05, 2024•16 min•Season 11Ep. 129
Do you have a due diligence process in your agency to deal with rebrands and building new brands? As your agency grows, mistakes will happen eventually, and having a due diligence process in place will protect you from legal problems arising from trademark and intellectual property. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Fernando Dutra to discuss brand trademark considerations for creative agencies. Fernando is a strategic trademark attorney who combines his experience, managemen...
Mar 29, 2024•29 min•Season 11Ep. 128
Is your process easily accessible, and does it cater to everyone’s learning style? When is it too much process, and when have you overprocessed? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the qualities of a well-framed process and whether a process can be over-processed. We explain the importance of having a process that focuses on individuals’ preferred way of learning. Listen in to learn how to make process augmentation much faster and easier and give your team a reference point. Key ...
Mar 22, 2024•16 min•Season 11Ep. 127
Is creating proposals the most time-consuming task in your agency? Do you feel like you need to change things up to make the process smoother and less time-consuming? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Joe Ardeeser to discuss all things agency proposals and how to improve your proposal processes. Joe is the Founder/CEO of Smart Pricing Table, an interactive B2B proposal software that allows you to create, distribute, and e-sign proposals with ease. Listen in to learn more abo...
Mar 15, 2024•29 min•Season 11Ep. 126
Team Cultural Impacts What does culture look like in your agency? Cultural issues can significantly impact your growth because they touch on everyone, from leadership to team members. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the meaning of culture, why it’s important, and how to combat the negative things that exist in culture. We explain how culture can guide you in identifying those who belong, those who get along with others, and driving goals in your agency. Listen in to learn how...
Mar 08, 2024•26 min•Season 11Ep. 125
Did you know there are some automation things you can do to reduce menial work in your agency? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to leverage automation so you and your team can focus on adding value to your agency. I also explain how automation allows your team to focus more on where they should be providing value to the client and agency. Don’t miss the episode to learn how to use Zapier software integrations to remove administrative work, make your agency more accurate, an...
Mar 01, 2024•16 min•Season 11Ep. 124
What is the best lead gen and marketing tactic your agency needs to succeed? You’ll be surprised to find out there’s no silver bullet with marketing; any strategy can be successful with consistency. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Claire Hutchings to discuss the power of consistency in lead generation and marketing, plus what makes consistency challenging. Claire is an award-winning marketing consultant and founder of Chime Agency with 15 years of experience in agencies an...
Feb 23, 2024•27 min•Season 11Ep. 123
How do you develop a strategic hiring plan that allows you to stay ahead of the curve? Bringing on people and continually adding more team members when needed can be challenging, but things get a lot easier with the right plan. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss how to develop a strategic hiring plan throughout your agency’s growth stages. We explain the information you need to utilize to guide your hiring decisions and factors to consider before hiring. Don’t miss the episode t...
Feb 16, 2024•19 min•Season 11Ep. 122
What makes you unique? What is your genius and how can you use it to stand out in your industry? Bringing your essence into your brand and being in your zone of genius will help you attract your ideal clients and find success. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Kaye Putnam to discuss how to leverage your genius and brand archetypes in your messaging and positioning. Kaye is a psychology-driven brand strategist with over 20 years of branding and business experience. She’s pass...
Feb 09, 2024•29 min•Season 11Ep. 121
Did you know there’s something you could be doing to substantially grow your agency without needing to add more new clients? It involves leveraging your existing clients by adding more strategic value to grow those accounts. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to grow your agency by enhancing your relationship with clients. I also explain the importance of slowing down, listening, and engaging with your clients to know and understand them better. Listen in to learn more about ...
Feb 02, 2024•19 min•Season 11Ep. 120
Are you conflicted about whether to position yourself as a corporate brand or a thought leader in the industry? Positioning yourself as a mission-driven authority in your industry is much easier because it builds trust with potential clients. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Rusty Shelton to discuss authority building to increase trust and agency scaling. Rusty is a bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker, and successful entrepreneur. He is also the founder of Zilker Me...
Jan 26, 2024•27 min•Season 11Ep. 119
Do you have a budget to guide your expenditure and reinvestment decisions? To avoid the nervousness that comes with questioning your financial decisions, it’s important to have a good budget management system. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss how to master the art and strategy of creating and managing different types of budgets. We share our typical budget cycles and how we manage budget adjustments to handle explosive growth or revenue. Don’t miss the episode to learn more ab...
Jan 19, 2024•21 min•Season 11Ep. 118
Do you realize the more work is done and redone, the less profitable your agency becomes? The cycle of doing and redoing things leads you to do things yourself, which is why your agency isn’t growing. How do you avoid losing time and personally paying for it? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to set up your projects for success by having a creative brief and investing time to work on your business. I also explain the importance of providing your team with the tools and infor...
Jan 12, 2024•15 min•Season 10Ep. 117
How do you walk through your design presentation in a compelling way? How do you sell your work, not just show it and ask for feedback? Are you selling your art during the design presentation? If not, how can you make improvements? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to sell your art during the design presentation process. I discuss the three primary components of a presentation that allow you to avoid getting the wrong feedback. Don’t miss this episode to learn more about how...
Jan 05, 2024•22 min•Season 10Ep. 116
Do you find yourself often overlooking project management? Project management is at the core of your agency and the heart of your future; without it, you will not scale. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the primary components of project management, how you should think about them, and how to make improvements. We also discuss the key functions of project management: client onboarding, ongoing client management, client follow-up, setting expectations, and closing and upselling ...
Dec 15, 2023•22 min•Season 10Ep. 115
How do you create systems and processes to allow for a full-service agency to scale? What does it take to set up a full-service agency in a way that it can function without the owner? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Amy Foley, the co-founder at Inbound Back Office. She started her entrepreneurial journey in 2011 when she left her corporate job for more flexibility and time with her family and started a small Virtual Assistant business. The business evolved into what is now...
Dec 08, 2023•27 min•Season 10Ep. 114
How do you tap into your network and their network? How do you equip your network with the right information to bring you leads without making them feel obligated? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to leverage your network with a smart non-sales pitch strategy. I explain how to approach your network and give them the opportunity to connect you with your ideal client without making it about you. Listen in to learn more about this approach and why you should focus on building ...
Dec 01, 2023•18 min•Season 10Ep. 113
Do you know you’ll be set on sale success by selling based on value? After confidence, the second most important thing in a sale is value. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I explain how to successfully sell based on value with three major strategies. I describe how to take your prospective clients through a third-party selling model, which allow them to see themselves in the position of a previous client. Don’t miss this episode to learn how to win the experience game by wrapping up all ...
Nov 17, 2023•16 min•Season 10Ep. 112
Do you believe in yourself enough to make a sale? Selling is a skill that gets better with time, and we all start at an awkward place. More than anything, making a sale requires confidence and an understanding of the value you’re delivering. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss the power of confidence and value as the best sales tactics. We share our initial experiences with sales and how we developed the confidence to be the great salespeople we are today. Don’t miss the episode ...
Nov 10, 2023•24 min•Season 10Ep. 111
What have been your experiences in the industry lately? A lot has been happening in the industry in the current economic environment regarding longer sales cycles, greater price sensitivity, and client ghosting. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I’m joined by Jody Sutter to share an update on the state of the industry. Jody is the owner of the Sutter company, a new business consulting company that advises small agencies on organizing and operating their growth strategy. Before starting Th...
Nov 03, 2023•31 min•Season 10Ep. 110
Change is constant; the industry is constantly shifting. Recently, there has been a migration from boutique to agency of record and back to boutique. How do you then leverage this change and capitalize on the opportunities available? In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss why brands are migrating from agency of record to boutique and its impact on agency owners. I explain the importance of asserting your specialization as an agency when working with enterprise clients. Don’t miss the...
Oct 27, 2023•18 min•Season 10Ep. 109
How often does operational chaos show up in your agency, and how do you manage them? Operational chaos causes many issues for agency growth, scale, profit, and your mental well-being as the owner. In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss operational chaos, how they affect the team and day-to-day, and how to manage them properly. We explain the four causes of operational chaos – self-created chaos, missing or not working process, miscommunication, and client issues. Don’t miss this epi...
Oct 20, 2023•25 min•Season 9Ep. 108
