Creative Agency Success Show

“Having a strong forecasting process really should make it easier to eliminate things—like knowing if the seventh project is really one of the top seven things we need to do to hit our goals.” – Tom Wadelton   “When you build a budget, you're creating a plan for the next year, and then things happen. No one really expects a pandemic to happen, but things do happen. The question is, how do you...

Importance of podcasting for business owners Enhancing visibility and credibility through podcast appearances Networking opportunities provided by podcasting Role of podcast guest booking agencies in facilitating appearances Content repurposing strategies for maximizing podcast impact Overcoming imposter syndrome in podcasting Engaging team members in podcasting for brand representation Process of...

“If you sit down and really make sure that your profile resonates and is truly you, it feels good, and you smile. Ultimately, you become a person who doesn't have to look for a job. Jobs find you. You become a person whose phone rings because there are opportunities, because people know you, remember you, have worked with you, and they want to work with you again.” —Donna Serdula   The finer...

"Alignment is going in the same direction, fighting for the same things, and looking at the same big picture together.” – Rachel Gertz The finer details of this episode: ●       Importance of project management and operations in digital agencies and creative studios ●       Challenges in project management and the need for alignment between sales and project management ●       Solutions to im...

“Standing out is great, but conversion is crucial.” – Jason Swenk  It’s hard to build a business if you don’t invest in systems.” – Jason Swenk   The finer details of this episode: Analysis and insights on building a strong email list Sales cycle and close percentage Unique marketing strategies Importance of systems in building a successful business Concept of "land and expand" Effective...

“As you're building your business, you're building your agency, you're going to realize that there's some prospects that are just not right. You have to go through that Vegas buffet and get sick and food poisoning because you overate and you ate a lot of the bad shit and you tell yourself, ‘I'm not going to eat those raw craw legs anymore.’” -Jason Swenk   The finer detail...

“After almost 20 years of doing that nonstop, I started to lose myself a little bit. I started to wonder, is this what I want to do for the next chapter of my life? Is there something else out there for me? When I looked around in corporate America, what I realized and what I saw was that there were a lot of people like me. I really wanted to get off autopilot. I felt like nobody in my life was ge...

Episode resources: Summit Virtual CFO by Anders website:  https://www.summitcpa.net/ Love our content? Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.summitcpa.net/summit-newsletter Digital Dollars and Cents: A Virtual CFO’s Playbook to help Digital Companies Create a Financial Roadmap to Success , is now an audio book! Download it here: https://vcfo.summitcpa.net/ddc   Timestamps: The podcasting journey...

“Shifting from advocacy to inquiry is really important, and I think most leaders today are probably advocacy heavy because it's the model that we see most.” – J. Scott   The finer details of this episode: Importance of leading the way in marketing and working with clients Transforming high-potential individuals into high-functioning teams Rationalizing tasks and initiatives to align with cust...

“Clients don’t want to ask us for new ideas; they want us to come to them with new ideas.” Hannah Hood The finer details of this episode: ●       Shortening of the sales cycle indicating a positive shift in the industry ●       Trend of clients seeking specialized services from agencies ●       Emphasis on the need for agencies to specialize and market their expertise effectively ●       Importanc...

Episode Notes: “Delegation is challenging; it requires a lot of thought process and a lot of preparation. But you shouldn’t try to do everything on your own; use your team. Delegation is about giving them enough information so that they know what the end goal is.” Vicky Brown The finer details of this episode: Importance of supporting managers and helping them grow their leadership skills Challeng...

Sales is the engine of any agency, but oftentimes it's the hardest part to grow and scale when you move from a founder-centric shop to a full marketing organization. The clips in this episode offer some of the best pieces of advice our hosts of the Creative Agency Success Show have gathered, provided to you in bite-sized form, so that you can digest and try your favorites.   The finer details...

“As a little bit of contextual background for our listeners, if you don't already know, as a part of the suite of meetings and services that we offer our clients, we are in what we call our pipeline meeting. During these meetings and throughout our client relationship, we stress the importance of knowing your data. At the end of the day, you absolutely need to be looking at your data and unde...

“I'm the CEO. I'm not a CFO, but I was acting as one. It was not my favorite part of running a company because math doesn't excite me like it does some of you. I can do it, and I think I did it pretty well. But it was invaluable to be able to have your firm come in and take a look at how we've been running the company and just to get the reassurance of, 'You guys are good,...

“You want to be around people who are better than you – more talented, more experienced; go and soak it in. The places where I find the most growth for myself and my agency is where I’m around other people, and we’re just sharing ideas.” – Jay Owen   The finer details of this episode: ●       Jay’s journey of agency ownership and hosting events ●       Why attending events is good for networking,...

“When you start the agency, everyone expects you to be the contact. But you probably don't want to do that forever. Maybe initially you delegate implementation work, the subject matter expert stuff, or project management. Then you probably want to delegate account management stuff. Usually you're still doing client strategy, at least in the early to mid-days. The idea here is you're...

“Managers are far more costly than we realize. The more managing you have going on, the lower the overall productivity of the organization. Leadership matters, don't get me wrong, but agencies are managed to success.” – Jake Skeels   The finer details of this episode: Challenges of managing a growing agency or service-based business Impact of management structures on productivity Concept of m...

“When you are doing business development, you need to build your own identity. You need to have something that somebody will remember you for.” - Goran Kovacevic   The finer details of this episode: Transition of individuals from production roles to business development in creative agencies Importance of building a strong brand identity in sales and business development Changing dynamics of busine...

"Certainly, from an accountability perspective, that's the biggest benefit in coaching. The coach is going to help you follow through on the plan, and if you deviate, they'll ask why and what's the next mission as a result." – Russ Sorrells   The finer details of this episode: Importance of strategy, communication, financial oversight, and sales focus in businesses The rol...

"Two or three days of delay, because it takes you so long to create a scope of work or proposal, could be the difference between a potential client engaging with one of your competitors and building a lot of rapport." – Joe Ardeeser The finer details of this episode: Importance of proposal and pricing process in agency-client interactions Creating a product catalog for streamlining the p...

"For companies that have been around for a long time, often they get very disconnected from their actual client, and then they wonder why their growth just sort of flatlines." – Michael Johnson The finer details of this episode: Distinguishing between coaching, consulting, and agency roles Maintaining control and alignment as a CEO or owner Understanding and improving customer experience...

  Important Financial Metrics for Creative Agencies with David C. Baker https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/important-financial-metrics-for-creative-agencies-with/id1481877575?i=1000621344461 Business Coaching, Staying Relevant, Achieving Success: Insight from Pinnacle Business Guides Founder Greg Cleary https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-coaching-staying-relevant-achieving-success/i...

 “I went through life going through the motions. Around 30, I accomplished everything I set out to do. It was then that I realized it was time to work on my life, rather than doing things I thought I was supposed to do. I hit the delete button and everything in my life started fresh, realizing what matters most and clarifying who I am.” – Bob Shenefelt   The finer details of this episode: ●Finding...

“The first piece of advice that I give a client is ‘stop selling.’ And what I mean about that is, sales in the traditional sense of the word don’t work; people are engaging in behaviors that don’t work for most small business owners. It’s much more natural to engage in building relationships.” – Diane Helbig     The finer details of this episode:   Discussion on the ineffectiveness of traditional...

Importance of finding a single metric to measure firm performance Importance of exploring client budgets and validating them in the sales process Benefits and the potential of AI for automation in business Challenges faced by agencies in terms of burnout and stress Importance of having a trusted advisor in your business Episode resources: Summit Virtual CFO by Anders website:  https://www.summitcp...