"You have to think about the exit from day one.” – Ronik Patel, Founder of UnlimitedWP. If you’ve ever dreamt of selling your agency, look no further than this episode. Excitingly, we have another two-time guest on, as Corey welcomes back Ronik Patel to discuss his recent success in getting his company, UnlimitedWP acquired by E2M. And, if the latter sounds familiar, it’s because its founder, Manish Dudharejia, is also a recent guest and friend of the podcast! Ronik joins the show to share...
Aug 21, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast "The commitment to specialization gives clarity and perspective, leading to higher conversion rates and client trust." – Vlad Mkrtumyan, CEO of Restoration Inbound Today’s guest may have started as a general agency founder, but since niching down and taking a vertical approach, his team has helped one of their client’s achieve an increase of over $1M in new revenue. Meet Vlad Mkrtumyan, CEO of Restoration Inbound, a top-tier lead generation and SEO agency exclusively designed for mold remediatio...
Aug 14, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast "The audiences of niche podcasts are so much more engaged than some of these really big shows.” – Angie Trueblood, Founder of The Podwize Group Our guest’s founding moment might have originated by chance, but what followed was pure talent, and certainly, a knack for sales and pitching. Meet Angie Trueblood, Founder of The Podwize Group, a company that connects business owners and podcast hosts with other hosts who serve an aligned audience in their vertical. What started as a discovery of a nich...
Aug 07, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast "We get new clients by showcasing the wins that we do have and the return on investment that brands are getting.” – David Glaza , Founder/CEO of DIGITS Agency Retail media is a $54B a year industry, so as a niche, it’s extremely lucrative. Today’s guest saw an opportunity after fourteen years working at Target, and never looked back. This week, we welcome David Glaza to the show. He is the founder and CEO of DIGITS Agency, an independent retail media agency that, like Target, is based in Minneap...
Jul 31, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 17 Chapter Seventeen of Anyone, Not Everyone encourages agency owners to embark on their journey towards vertical market specialization, emphasizing that existing clients are likely to remain supportive during this transition. It clarifies that specializing in a vertical market is not a magical solution but a strategic step that requires solid business fundamentals and can serve as a foundation for future expansion or diversification. The chapter motivates agency owners to start the spe...
Jul 29, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast "One of the things that we do best across all of our product categories is talk to niche audiences.” – Josslynne Welch, President at Litzky Public Relations Public relations is a fast-moving industry, yet today’s guest has successfully stayed ahead of the news cycle for close to three decades. Meet Josslynne Welch; Today, she sits at the helm of the communications agency Litzky Public Relations, a company she joined some 26 years ago. The agency specializes in toy companies, publishing, and ente...
Jul 24, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 16 Chapter Sixteen of Anyone, Not Everyone outlines the importance of the agency founder in leading the transition to vertical market specialization, emphasizing that early successes can be achieved with the existing team. It advises agency owners to deeply understand their chosen vertical market, embodying the values and knowledge that will inspire and guide the team. The chapter also details functional skills required for each strategy phase, suggesting the use of internal resources f...
Jul 22, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast While we’ve had troves of agency founders on this show, today’s guest brings a unique spin to the typical genesis story. Peter Kang, Co-Founder of Barrel Holdings, started out running a website agency some 20 years ago. Today, the business has evolved into a sprawling portfolio of agencies, all homegrown under a single holding company umbrella. How did all this come to be? Looking back, Peter’s path to a holding company co-founder might make complete sense, yet he got there by ...
Jul 17, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 15 Chapter Fifteen of Anyone, Not Everyone discusses the significance of being on the "day one list" of vendors that buyers consider without prior research, achieved mainly through colleague recommendations, past experiences, and vendor websites. It emphasizes the importance of building a strong reputation within a vertical market community, akin to integrating into a village, through deliberate relationship-building with influential brands (tastemakers) and mavens. The chapter outlines...
Jul 15, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast "If I would have called my services Fractional CMO 10 years ago, people would have thought I was crazy. Now, the market's ready for it.” – John Jantsch, Founder of Duct Tape Marketing. In recent years, we’ve witnessed the resurgence of fractional CMOs - Why now? With the pandemic, many companies were caught red-handed for their lack of marketing strategy - coupled with financial strains, economic headwinds, and smaller budgets, the environment brought about opportunity for fractional CMO service...
Jul 10, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 14 Chapter Fourteen of Anyone, Not Everyone highlights the power of vertical outbound sales and marketing strategies, stressing the importance of proactively reaching out to potential clients within a targeted vertical market. It introduces the concept of the Zone of Indifference, where the majority of clients are neither actively seeking nor strongly opposed to new services, and emphasizes the necessity of targeted, personalized outreach, using unique and memorable gifts (USI gifts) to...
Jul 08, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast “I built out a cold outreach methodology around heuristics, which is a series of pattern interrupts, or shortcuts.” Justin Michael, Co-Founder of Hard Skill Exchange Ready for a different perspective on sales outreach? This week’s guest is an executive sales coach who has helped over 200 startups make over their outbound efforts by leaning into the unexpected. Justin Michael is a best-selling author of the book “Sales Superpowers” and the Co-Founder of Hard Skill Exchange, the world’...
Jul 03, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 13 Chapter Thirteen of Anyone, Not Everyone discusses vertical inbound marketing strategies, emphasizing the need for agencies to be easily discovered by potential clients who are already seeking solutions. It advises on thought leadership through content marketing, visibility through speaking at and hosting events, and targeting through paid advertising. The chapter stresses that a proactive approach to marketing—going beyond passive inbound tactics—is crucial for agencies aiming to se...
Jul 01, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Eventually, we stopped the shenanigans and got vertical." – Rob Murray, Founder and President of Intrigue Media Some founding stories are more eccentric, and entertaining, than others, and today’s guest certainly has a tale to tell. While these days, the digital marketing agency Intrigue Media does over $5 million in annual revenue serving 110 clients and counting, its founder, Rob Murray started his business selling local out-of-home advertising all the way back in college. While R...
Jun 26, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 12 Chapter Twelve of Anyone, Not Everyone outlines the necessity of creating specific sales and marketing materials to appeal to a chosen vertical market, stressing that most of a client's buying decision is made before the first contact. It recommends crafting a dedicated vertical webpage, compiling impactful client success stories and testimonials, and gathering vertical-specific social proof to demonstrate expertise and build trust with potential clients. Reminder that this is a chap...
Jun 24, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast “The first six, seven years were a lot of lessons. I made a lot of mistakes. I did not know how to lead people. I didn't know what kind of people should be hired." – Manish Dudharejia, Founder and President E2M Solutions This week’s guest, Manish Duharejia, is a true agency aficionado with over a decade at the helm of his marketing company, E2M Solutions. Founded in 2012, E2M Solutions is an integrated white label digital agency that helps other agencies expand their capacity through...
Jun 19, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 11 Chapter Eleven of Anyone, Not Everyone discusses vertical sales and marketing strategies, emphasizing the importance of choosing specific actions and avoiding others. The chapter breaks down the sales and marketing activities into inbound marketing, outbound sales and marketing, and relationship marketing, providing an approach to reach clients in the active buying process and underlining the necessity of being a top consideration for potential clients. Reminder that this is a chapte...
Jun 17, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Niche is the number one growth accelerator." – Josh Nelson, Mentor & Coach at Seven Figure Agency Growth can happen in an instant when you’re doing the right things. But when you find the right fit, niche, offering, and vertical, that’s the unfair advantage. Nobody knows this better than today’s guest, who not only coaches agencies on growth, but also grew his own verticalized agency from zero to seven figures in under two years. This week, we welcome Josh Nelson to the Deep Specializ...
Jun 12, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 10 Chapter Ten of Anyone, Not Everyone presents the development of a Vertical Messaging Guide as an essential framework for consistent, high-quality messaging in marketing efforts for a chosen vertical market. This guide compiles key elements such as the agency’s Point of View, vertical positioning, client attributes, business challenges, intrinsic and extrinsic wins, transformation narrative, and proof points to create a central reference point for crafting impactful marketing strategi...
Jun 10, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast "We specialize in B2B and we specialize in the experiences of three things: A better brand that will create a better employee experience and ultimately, a stronger client experience." – Susan Quinn, President and CEO of Circle S Studio It’s not every day you get to sit down with an agency leader with a career spanning four decades, and running! This week’s podcast guest, Susan Quinn, is not only deeply experienced, but also one of those leaders who spits quotable business wisdom on every t...
Jun 05, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 9 Chapter Nine of Anyone, Not Everyone discusses how crafting a unique Point of View (POV) for your agency provides a competitive edge and serves as a key differentiator in a crowded marketplace. The chapter guides you through identifying a significant, meaningful problem in your vertical market, framing it against a metaphorical villain, envisioning a transformed future without the problem, and presenting your agency as a bridge to that future, thus creating a compelling and emotionall...
Jun 03, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast "We've operated in over 30 states in Europe, Mexico and Canada. The Cannabis Creative Group has absolutely taken off like wildfire . " – Dan Serard, VP of Sales and Marketing for Cannabis Creative Group Let’s take a deep dive into a vertical that certainly is anything but dull. This week's guest, Dan Serard is a trailblazer in cannabis marketing and has stories to tell in setting up agency services for cannabis companies. As the VP of Sales and Marketing for Cannabis Creative Group, ...
May 29, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 8 Chapter Eight of Anyone, Not Everyone outlines a four-step process for developing a distinctive vertical positioning, ensuring your agency stands out in the marketplace. It involves identifying key attributes that your vertical clients desire, plotting these attributes to find your unique "white space," and crafting a vertical positioning statement that encapsulates your agency’s distinct place in the client’s perception. This strategic positioning is not a static tagline but a dynami...
May 27, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast "The average small business uses over three dozen different pieces of software to run different aspects of their business." – Jeff Tomlin, Co-Founder & CMO of Vendasta If you had to summarize Vendasta’s marketplace for small and medium sized agencies, it would be, in Jeff’s words, “Business in a box”. Vendasta gives 80k+ agencies a full-stack platform to rebrand and resell online services to local business clients, granting them the scalability of a SaaS recurring revenue model....
May 22, 2024•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 7 Chapter Seven of Anyone, Not Everyone advises on the importance of understanding your competition in the chosen vertical market, with 90% of marketers reporting positive outcomes from such research. It suggests balancing competitive analysis with a focus on clients, emphasizing that overconcentration on competitors may lead to reactive, non-client-focused decisions. This chapter guides readers through a three-step process to identify, research, and document findings on competitors to ...
May 20, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast "T he higher that gross margin is, the more optionality you have to make deliberate decisions about your agency . " – Marcel Petitpas, Co-Founder & CEO of Parakeeto Agency founders are often incredible visionaries when it comes to their core competency, but financials are rarely something they enjoy or excel at (pun intended). Between billable hours, shifting client scopes, clients scaling up or down, time-tracking, and pass-through costs, it’s no easy feat, either. In that vein, toda...
May 15, 2024•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 6 Chapter Six of Anyone, Not Everyone stresses the significance of deeply understanding the needs, desires, and fears of your target vertical market to create marketing that resonates and stands out amidst the noise. It guides readers on conducting buyer journey client interviews, a method superior to assumptions or surface-level market research, for crafting highly relevant and impactful marketing messages that echo the specific context and challenges of the vertical buyers. Rem...
May 13, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast " The two challenges that we see with most agencies are that they don't have a clear growth strategy nor the resources to execute it. " – Eric Brown, Co-Founder at Blood Sweat & Tears Most agencies initially grow through founder-led sales and tapping into leads in your network, but what is the next step? Where do agencies typically get stuck and how can they break through? There are no better people to answer these questions than today’s guests Nora DiNuzzo and Eric Brown, Co-Founders ...
May 08, 2024•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode: 5 Chapter Five of Anyone, Not Everyone introduces a four-step process for selecting the ideal vertical market for your agency, including gathering client data, identifying potential verticals, scoring them based on qualitative and quantitative factors, and finally, validating the market to ensure it can meet your business growth goals. This systematic approach serves as both an investment and insurance policy against the costly error of choosing an unsuitable vertical, emphasizin...
May 06, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast "We went from generalist agency to performance marketing for franchises and renovations . " – Marty Menard, President of Giant Creative Finding success by niching down your agency focus surely isn’t a new story on this podcast, but there is a reason our guests on the show have found scalable growth through verticalization. And, each story comes with unique insights founders can tap into. This week, we’ll hear Marty Menard's journey into specialization. He is President and Chief Business D...
May 01, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
