As many agency owners will relate to, the holiday season can be the most stressful time of the year. You have projects that you have to wrap up. You have work that you have to put on hold. You know that the following year is going to be busy the moment you get back. How on Earth do you get to relax? The same goes for any holiday. Have you ever said you need a holiday to get over the holiday? In this episode we hear how our agencies wind down before the holidays. Full show notes: https://trailbla...
Dec 17, 2021•15 min•Season 42Ep. 6
Worry about being interrupted during the holidays? Will your clients be at the back of your mind when you are trying to take some down time? In this episode, we hear how our agencies manage client support during the holidays. They share their processes for setting client expectations, communicating the ground rules and ensuring everyone gets some time to relax. Full show note: https://trailblazer.fm/support-during-the-holidays/...
Dec 16, 2021•13 min•Season 42Ep. 5
How do you avoid a ruined holiday when something goes wrong? In this episode, we comfort our agencies as they share ghosts from Christmas and holidays past. Sometimes it’s great for us to be able to hear those horror stories that others have been through in order to help protect ourselves from similar situations. Full show notes: https://trailblazer.fm/ghosts-of-holidays-past/
Dec 15, 2021•18 min•Season 42Ep. 4
How should you show your appreciation to your clients this season? Our agencies share their ideas, experiences and one crazy idea we do NOT recommend. (Cough... looking at you Travis). Full show notes: https://trailblazer.fm/giving-gifts-to-your-clients/
Dec 14, 2021•17 min•Season 42Ep. 3
Wondering what sort of gift to give your team this holiday season? I spoke with our agency owners to discover how they handle the art of gift giving. Enjoy a plethora of unique ways you can bless your team throughout the year. We explore the gift of time, shared experiences, gift ideas and more. Full show notes: https://trailblazer.fm/giving-gifts-to-your-team/
Dec 10, 2021•15 min•Season 42Ep. 2
Celebrating the holidays and ensuring we honour our teams and supporting our clients can be a challenge. This season, we are interviewing agency owners from around the world, asking them key questions. How do they celebrate the holiday season? Do they give gifts to their team or their clients? Do they have any of those ghosts of Christmas past to share that we can learn from? How do they manage support during the holidays? How do they wind down before a break? And finally, we celebrate in episod...
Dec 10, 2021•18 min•Season 42Ep. 1
he shares five common mistakes agencies make when hosting summits for their clients. To learn more about summits, get guidance on coming up and validating your profitable summit idea, and understand all processes involved in hosting a summit, sign up for Jan's free workshops (running live every month) at agencytrailblazer.com/vsmworkshop Full show notes: agencytrailblazer.com/329
Aug 16, 2021•19 min•Season 41Ep. 7
Note: The next season of the podcast starts in September 2021. Have a wonderful summer! Angled Crown launched in early 2013 and was my passion for many years. Yet at the end of 2020 I began to close things down. I’d fallen out of love with what I was doing and it was draining me, physically, mentally and financially. As the host of a show dedicated to helping agencies build an agency they love, it felt right and proper to close down what I was doing in order to allow my other agency to flourish!...
Aug 04, 2021•19 min•Season 41Ep. 6
Meet Marie-Louise from the local networking scene here in Northamptonshire. Over years of networking, Marie-Louise noticed that those who were very specific about what they did and who they did it for were far more interesting and memorable. Backed by 16 years in design, branding, and her Design Degree, Marie-Louise shares how she's developed her niche utilizing, of all products, Canva! Full show notes - https://agencytrailblazer.com/327...
Jul 28, 2021•28 min•Season 41Ep. 5
Since 2015, many of you have left reviews that have helped spur me on and have helped change the direction of this podcast. In this week's episode, I read just some of your reviews which had a massive impact on me and share some of the background stories as to where I was at. Thank you for supporting the show over the years. If you would like to support us with a review, please click here . Episode page: https://agencytrailblazer.com/326...
Jul 21, 2021•18 min•Season 41Ep. 4
With the cost of entry dropping so rapidly for web design and development, how does an agency stand out when trying to generate new leads? According to Beth Livingston, they need to stop selling websites and start selling solutions to problems! In this episode, Beth unpacks the benefits of building a relationship and engaging in a much wider conversation with potential clients. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/325
Jul 14, 2021•26 min•Season 41Ep. 3
Do you stare at your screen overthinking the copy you need to create? Frustrated that you didn't write the perfect content first time? Struggle creating the content for your website? Chances are, many of your clients are facing the same struggle. What if you could beat writers block and support your clients? Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/beating-writers-block/
Jul 07, 2021•31 min•Season 41Ep. 2
In this episode, we catch up with Imogen Allen. She takes us on her journey of discovery as she learns more about herself and unlocks her own potential. Her business takes an unexpected shift, she recognises the value she can bring in helping others unlock their identity and the story they have inside. This has enabled her to launch a product to help others and created a fantastic opportunity to partner with one of her main clients. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/323...
Jun 30, 2021•21 min•Season 41Ep. 1
"When one door closes, another window opens." In this episode, we meet with Paul Lacey who made the difficult choice of closing down his agency. Having realised that keeping their agency going was not for them, Paul and his business partner agreed to part ways and are embarking on their own separate plans. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/322
Jun 23, 2021•43 min•Season 40Ep. 7
Last week, Nicole shared what an awesome experience she had with Design Box during her rebrand. What was it about her experience that we can replicate in our businesses? We ask Tom that very question and he delivers!
Jun 16, 2021•32 min•Season 40Ep. 6
Over the last few years, Nicole has been refining her audience and building an awesome business providing support to agency owners. Having originally served many niches, she realised her existing brand did not reflect who she was any more, nor did it necessarily attract those she wanted to serve. She connected with Tom and the team at Design Box Media , and thus began their rebrand process. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/320...
Jun 09, 2021•26 min•Season 40Ep. 5
Have you been underestimating the value of support contracts? This week, Dave shares how his care plans helped support his business through Covid. He discusses the initial impact Covid had on his mindset, how his care plans provided a recurring income and how he's been able to add immense value to his clients. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/319
Jun 02, 2021•31 min•Season 40Ep. 4
I was trapped in my agency and utterly hated it. Several experiences became the catalyst for change. In this episode., I'd like to start a bit of a raw conversation and find out how you are doing . I’ll share a couple of experiences as an agency owner and how tough I found them. To discover the transformation stages we went through to turn things around, be sure to check out Episode 200 . Full show notes and transcript: http://agencytrailblazer.com/318...
May 19, 2021•18 min•Season 40Ep. 3
In a break from the scheduled podcast and for personal reasons I’d like to share a few thoughts. Life is so precious. We spend much of it working hard and long hours. This impacts our mental health and our relationships deeply. Add lockdown to the mix and those who were already struggling with various mental illnesses are struggling so much more than many of us can possibly understand. I am grateful for the wonderful communities around us that help us all stay in touch. Shout out Facebook commun...
May 10, 2021•4 min•Season 40Ep. 2
The battle of the gatekeeper is often the most fought by agency owners. When trying to connect with small to medium enterprises, you will often be greeted by an overzealous assistants or team members who tend to be super protective of their managers time and will often become the blocker to further communication. In this episode we discover ways to get past the gatekeeper in order to connect with the decision makers… but… with a twist ! Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/316...
May 05, 2021•12 min•Season 40Ep. 1
On todays show we wrap our series with how to monetise your new podcast. These are all methods that we’ve applied to our podcast in the past and whilst there are many others, we like to teach what we know, not theory! We will look at: Sponsorship Affiliate opportunities Promoting services Custom products & services Creator donations Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/315...
Apr 28, 2021•12 min•Season 39Ep. 6
Over the last four weeks we’ve unpacked how to plan and create your show. With all that hard work, you will be ready to launch. In today’s episode we will look at: Pre-launch Launch day Ongoing episodic promotion Community building Marketing evolution Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/314
Apr 21, 2021•13 min•Season 39Ep. 5
This week we look at how and where you can host your new podcast and how to get it listed. We look at free or low cost solutions along with practical advice for ensuring you get the most out of the platform you choose. Remember this is part of our ongoing “How to start a podcast” series focusing on helping you build an MVP podcast to validate that idea you may have. As with previous episodes we get straight to the point. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/how-to-start-a-podcast-editi...
Apr 14, 2021•11 min•Season 39Ep. 4
This week we will unpack the process for editing your audio files and compiling your podcast. We focus Audacity, an open source and cross platform audio editor however the tips in here will work for most professional applications. As with our other episodes, we are focused on helping you get the MVP podcast up and running, so we don't beat around the bush. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/how-to-start-a-podcast-editing...
Apr 07, 2021•15 min•Season 39Ep. 3
This week we will look at the hardware and software you can use to record your show. Our approach is as a minimum viable product (MVP) ensuring a good quality recording utilising low or no cost solutions in order to validate your podcast over the next few months. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/how-to-start-a-podcast-hardware-software
Mar 31, 2021•14 min•Season 39Ep. 2
Over the next few episodes, I will be breaking down how to plan, launch and grow a podcast in your industry niche. Each episode will come with a workbook to help take you through each step and by the end of the series you should be ready to go live with your first show. This series assumes you have already gone through the necessary journey of unpacking your why and defining your target audience. It also assumes you have some goals to achieve with your new podcast. Full show notes: https://agenc...
Mar 24, 2021•19 min•Season 39Ep. 1
After years implementing awesome WordPress solutions we are breaking up. It's not just us... it's WordPress too! We will stay friends, we love the community and will continue to work with it where it meets relevant needs. But since we started dating, we feel WordPress has changed and not for the better. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/why-we-are-moving-beyond-wordpress
Mar 17, 2021•16 min•Season 38Ep. 11
What if I told you there was a text focused protocol that is picking up steam? Whilst it is not about to replace the internet, it can teach us a lot about content, it's structure and accessibility. This week I'd like to explore the Gemini protocol with you and share some valuable lessons I've learned that are changing the way I build our future. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/gemini-the-internet-youve-never-heard-of/...
Mar 10, 2021•14 min•Season 38Ep. 10
Computers the size of rooms helped win a war. A simple astrolabe helped explorers discovery new worlds. Countless classics were penned with ink on paper. Are we chasing the latest technology to the detriment of our own personal growth and the success of our business? Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/how-old-fashioned-tech-can-grow-your-digital-agency
Mar 03, 2021•24 min•Season 38Ep. 9
Does your inbox own you rather than you owning it? Over the last six months I've been changing my relationship with my inboxes to get back control of my time, productivity and worklife balance. It's an ongoing battle, and one I feel I am winning. In this episode I share what I've done so far, why, and what the benefits have been. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/fighting-the-battle-of-the-inbox...
Feb 24, 2021•18 min•Season 38Ep. 8
