Build a Better Agency Podcast

Every business is struggling to be seen and heard. They spend a lion's share of their budget fighting to find an audience. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be that hard. They are often overlooking an incredible resource. Their own employees. Employees can be some of the best advocates for any business; especially with the right system in place. They know the company inside and out, they talk to curre...

Every year we partner with Audience Audit to conduct research that we know will benefit agency leaders. This year, we decided to re-visit some of the questions we initially asked in 2014 to see if there had been significant shifts. In some ways, the results showed a consistent trend and in some other areas, there'd been some pretty significant changes. In the 2019 study we included clients from th...

In the agency world, there are days where it seems like tomorrow will never come. It's easy to get fixated on what is broken or what else needs to be done. There's always one more tweak and THEN things will be good. Actually, no matter where you're at in the ebbs and flows of agency life, it's all pretty good. Even on your worst day, you have it better than most. The problem is, we often fail to r...

Our agencies and the work we do will inevitably be impacted by artificial intelligence in the next 3-5 years. That's just a fact. Odds are, it's probably already changing the way you do business every day. There's a lot of hype and buzz about jobs going away and most agencies are struggling to figure out how to keep up. Questions of what data to use, how to analyze it, what tasks can be automated,...

I'm a big believer in love. Sure — romantic love or the love you have for your family is awesome but that's not what I am talking about. I am talking about loving the people on your team and your clients. It's amazing the level of connectivity you can create when you lead with love. It may seem odd, but I think love is especially important in the workplace. Agencies lead with love towards their em...

Many agency owners are struggling to not only understand laws like the CCPA and GDPR, but more important — determine what your agency has to do to be compliant and avoid liability. What laws apply to your shop and your clients? What does compliant even mean in terms of practical do's and don'ts? What is the chain of responsibility if clients make bad choices? What are mistakes we should avoid? My...

There are people who are considered leaders because their title says they are and then there are people who lead, no matter where in the org chart they may be. Agency owners can't afford to be leaders in title only. We have to step into true leadership if we want our agency to thrive and grow. David Wood, founder of  Play For Real , is my guest on this episode of Build a Better Agency. David is a...

As agency owners, we all want to hire the mystical, magical salesperson that will allow us to hand that task to someone other than us. Can it be done? Yes, but probably not the way you think or wish it would happen. Sales is a challenging activity no matter what you're selling. Selling for agencies, even more so. In this solocast, I will walk you through the make-up of that unicorn of a salesperso...

Lawyers, financial planners and insurance salespeople. You joke about avoiding them at cocktail parties, but they are definitely not who you should avoid as agency owners. Many owners think of attorneys as an expense. I can tell you – the preventative investment you make with a lawyer to get a good contract and other tools is a pittance compared to what I have seen agencies lose when they don't ha...

One of the most expensive mistakes many agency owners make is leaving too much money in the business. It's too easy to forget that the retained earnings in the agency's checking account is actually your money. You've earned it. You've paid taxes on it. It should be in YOUR bank account. But, when you leave it inside the agency you often spent it on bad financial decisions, like staying overstaffed...

You've seen all the stats and you've personally experienced the explosive growth of video in the last 5+ years. It is not a channel we can or should ignore for ourselves or for our clients. But unless you or your client have a skateboarding cat – producing a compelling video that will attract and connect with viewers is no small task. (If you do have a skateboarding cat – can I borrow him?) In thi...

Millennials (people born from 1981-1996) comprise the largest and most diverse generation in American history. Most agency owners are either older millennials or Gen X or Boomers. When it comes to leading the team — sometimes those two worlds collide. They're coming at the world with completely different expectations, wants, needs and goals. Whenever I talk with agency owners, they almost always t...

During the spring gatherings of AGI owner peer network members, I walk them through a presentation on trends that I'm seeing in the industry. Then I devote two solocast episodes to these findings later in the summer. In episode 195, I covered what's happening with agency money and finance, along with some trends in ownership, decision-making, and how you and your peers are managing the pace of cha...

Influencer marketing isn't new. Remember Joe Namath in pantyhose? (If you don't Google it) But what is new is that anyone can harness the power of the internet and attract and monetize an audience. The value to our clients in that new twist is that there is an influencer for any subject, budget, or audience. This is an area where many agencies are crushing their financial goals. But if done wrong...

In all the years that I've been an agency owner (almost 25) and worked alongside agency owners (15+) there is a common pain point — biz dev. We love getting to the table and talking with a potential client about how we can help them. However, getting to the table feels like a slog. That's why, if we're honest with ourselves, we don't invest as much time and attention as we should to prospecting. T...

The customer journey, UX, customer experience: buzzwords or actually points of value we can offer clients? I think in the hands of the under-informed and without good data, a process for gathering that data, and a genuine understanding of what the customer journey can tell us, it becomes a matter of hearsay and guesswork. That isn't good enough for this week's guest, so we're taking the guesswork...

I know a lot of agency owners think about selling their shop. But do they think about it strategically? Or soon enough? Do they execute on a plan that will set them up for success 5-10 years before they're ready to sell? Usually, the answer to those questions is no. And on the flip side, how many agency owners think about growth through acquisition? Selling is a big part of the conversation but bu...

How's your year going so far? I might have a pretty good idea already. We work with and see how 250+ small to mid-sized agencies are doing every year and there are always patterns that emerge. Every spring, I give a trends presentation to all of the agency owners in AMI peer groups. Together we explore how those trends are showing up in our world and how they're impacting the industry. Then, in th...

My entreé into agency life was as a copywriter. I loved digging around and finding the story underneath the story. That love was the foundation for my belief in the power of a strong and smart brand. For decades my agency has helped clients define, develop, and deploy their brand both internally and externally. It's still some of my favorite work to do. Understanding your unique story is a powerfu...

The challenge with digital trends is that they are moving so swiftly, it's hard to keep up. There are so many shiny objects flying around our heads, it's dizzying. How do you know which ones are worth tracking and learning? That's where this week's guest comes in. Tom Webster is the senior vice president at Edison Research. Edison is probably best known outside our world for being the sole provide...

Speaking engagements can be a great way for agency owners to connect with their sweet spot prospects and be immediately perceived as a subject matter expert. Wanting to book speaking gigs and being successful at making that happen are two very different things. Even if you have some speaking engagements under your belt, getting chosen by a conference planner is another challenge to navigate. Even...

Whether we articulate them or not – we all have dreams. One of mine for me (and for all of you!) is to visit every Disney theme park in the world. Not that I want to mandate your dreams but who doesn't love Disney? The truth is, a serious business case can be made for agency owners to help their team members achieve their dreams. I know this from first-hand experience. More than a decade ago, I re...

Figuring out which prospects align with your sweet spot and then doing the work necessary to earn their business are the difficult tasks of agency ownership. It starts with understanding what your sweet spot is. Who do you serve best? Where do you have a specialized knowledge that gives you a competitive edge? As you have heard me say time and time again, for most agencies, being a general practit...

Artificial intelligence generates lots of interest and more than a little bit of fear among agency owners. How will machine learning, AI, and all that super-technical stuff change agency life? Will it make agency work irrelevant? Not according to my guest, Paul Roetzer from PR 2020 and The Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. In this episode, Paul shared how his agency is leaning into AI b...

For 95% of all agencies, referrals and word of mouth are the #1 method of gaining new clients. On the one hand, that's great. It means your clients, friends, and peers love and trust you enough to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. From staffing challenges to constant client demands, agency life can be bumpy. Our industry is in a state of constant change and that's not going to let up...