Creative Agency Success Show

“You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” -Simon Severino   The finer details of this episode: Longer sales cycles and ghosting from potential clients Crafting a culture of opportunity creation within agencies  Standardizing and creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) in client delivery    Episode resources: Summit Virtual CFO by Anders website:...

“I think the biggest thing is just simply mixing and mingling afterwards and sharing candid conversations on how things are going in the industry—how things are going with their shops, what's going right, what's going wrong. I think those are really the biggest takeaways that you get from really any event."– Jody Grunden The finer details of this episode: Trends that the agency indu...

"Most agencies try to market the solution and convince clients that they're the best. What they should do is market the problem, and then they become the default solution." - Logan Lyles The finer details of this episode: Challenges in allocating resources for agency marketing efforts, especially during uncertain economic times Systematic approach to generating new pipeline and posi...

“Be patient with SEO. It takes time. It's not immediate. So if you want that immediate traction, paid ads will get you up there quickly. But over the long-term play, you have to build it up and keep building trust with Google.” - Brandon Leibowitz  The finer details of this episode: Importance of consistency and quality in SEO Google's algorithms focusing on quality over quantity Conside...

 “AI can be used to automate tasks that originally took people a lot of time to do. If you're a small business and you're growing quickly, you're probably going to be able to use automation to really hypercharge your growth. However, you have to know how to do it and implement it properly; if you're really focused on that, you can really get some good productivity going."...

"We want to provide the most value that we can in our clients' lives, in the impact that we're trying to make, and the legacy we're trying to leave." -  Crista Grasso The finer details of this episode: Finding the right support and leadership for successful scaling Mindset shifts for business owners as they grow their businesses Importance of systems and processes in manag...

“Let's build a strategy based on document systems. Let's build a culture that actually wants to do this and be a part of this to make a company of continuous improvement. And then let's just give them the tools to do it.” - Josh Fonger The finer details of this episode: Building a system that allows for flexibility and creativity while maintaining consistency The continuous process...

"Being positioned well within an industry can be really powerful. If you're good at helping the client understand that you've done this before and you understand their issues, it can be a really easy sell once you get to that point." -Logan Hoffman The finer details of this episode: The importance of niching and verticals: Benefits of specializing in a specific industry and how...

"The idea of change is the primal force. It's the end that we're all looking for in terms of storylines. We want to see things change, improve, and grow; we want to have a change of mind. That is a kind of change that happens inside people's hearts and minds."   - Jeff Bartch   The finer details of this episode: The concept of "and, but, therefore" – gateway to a...

 "We have real responsibilities not just to ourselves but to people and to our clients who are increasingly reliant on the work that we do." - Todd Nienkerk  The finer details of this episode: Adoption of brand guidelines and templates within the team  Rebranding process of Four Kitchens, including working with a branding agency and defining company values Impact of rebranding on externa...

Episode Notes: “Synchronous time is not always used wisely and people are really having meeting fatigue or feeling like they're not productive in meetings.” - Laïla von Alvensleben The finer details of this episode: The benefits of asynchronous communication in distributed teams Utilizing asynchronous communication to manage workload and availability Overcoming pushback against asynchronous c...

"Everyone's hungry’ everybody is out there trying to catch those leads. We've seen a ton of RFPs go out recently, and one thing we're seeing is that a lot of clients are not going right back with the incumbent. We've been invited to a lot of dances where the incumbents weren't part of the equation or were eliminated quickly because they're looking for new blood....

"Building a solid cash cushion is super important to any successful business and to any marketing firm out there." - David C. Baker The finer details of this episode: Different approaches to financial management The importance of financial planning and forecasting  Building a solid cash cushion  Episode resources: Summit Virtual CFO by Anders website – summitcpa.net Email us with questio...

"We focus not only on what a project manager would think, but how we can give that project manager a wider-angle view that they'd have if they were a COO, CEO, or CFO, so that when they're making decisions closer to the business, they're doing it with the perspective that's outside of their point of view. Because, overall, I believe that forecasting as a team is going to c...

"The companies that are going to succeed in the long term, or even in the next five years, are going to be the ones that are thinking right now about how they can question the way that they're working right now and see how they might be able to adapt to become more resilient, flexible, and adaptable." - Tammy Bjelland The finer details of this episode: Why some companies are failing...

"The marketplace is always changing, and you have to be willing to change with it." - Greg Cleary The finer details of this episode: The changing models of training and coaching businesses The importance of having a toolbox of tools for success in today's fast-paced world. The importance of constantly evolving and improving tools to stay ahead in business Episode resources: Summit V...

"I love working with a team that wants to climb the mountain together–from the CEO to the janitor; we're all in it together and if we do it right, we can all celebrate success when it comes.” -Peter Van Nest The finer details of this episode: The importance of finding the right people and putting them in the right place The role of a strong management team in putting KPIs in place to man...

"Leadership is crucial to any company because the more people who want to be part of where you're going, the more successful the team's going to be." - Dan White  The finer details of this episode: The importance of a growth mindset  The role of the leader in setting the vision and rallying the team around it The importance of active listening, paying attention, and probing to...

"I think it's really important to have a clear vision and mission for your business and to communicate that effectively to your team and your clients.” - Natalie Eckdahl   The finer details of this episode: Lifecycle of a client: Importance a great onboarding experience and checking in with clients to maintain a good relationship The three pillars of building an enduring business: enjoya...

“I think that there's going to be agencies that will come out of this as a new niche–super AI agencies that get you to market faster. But humans are the last line of defense between whether the creativity works or whether it’s just data driven because AI doesn't have any ideas. It just sits there waiting for an input; it still needs the spark of human creativity.” - JP Holecka The finer...

“In-person events are not gonna go away. Just like the virtual component is not going away. I think that we've just adapted and learned new ways to communicate through covid. And the convenience of having a virtual option is very appealing to our clients. We can get the message across to thousands of associates company wide, while saving thousands of dollars. I don't think it's ever...

“The idea of productizing a service is creating a category for something that you do really well and marketing it as it is.” - Ernesto Tagwerker The finer details of this episode: Productizing services and scaling businesses  Remote company culture: Benefits, team retreats, and working across time zones Niching down and pricing strategies for productized services Qualifying leads for product type...

“When you take ordinary messages and you elevate them into something extraordinary, incredible things happen. And the even cooler part is that you can do the exact same thing in business. You can take what some people might consider ordinary or boring, and you connect humanity to it, which can literally drive results in your business through the process.” - Jeff Bartsch The finer details of this e...

“Over the course of your career, the more that you can reject what you feel is not for your highest and best use, the better off you're gonna be. Your decisions become more and more intentional; you choose A over B, C over D. And that is a process of coming to your own highest and best use.  What happens over time is that, as your career goes on, you have more and more success. ” - Robert Jor...

“There are so many agency owners doing great work, and I think if they can solve some of these challenges that are inherently hard for an agency, they can actually get back to why they started their agency, which is to do good creative work or to make a difference. That helps eliminate so many of those business challenges that I think either forces a lot of agencies to shut their doors or make peo...