GYDA - Grow Your Digital Agency

Measuring return on investment solely by hours saved creates pressure to lower prices. Agencies must instead reposition AI as a revenue multiplier for higher performance. Firms should move away from selling labour by, for instance, productising anonymised industry data and adopting Agent-as-a-Service models. This creates essential infrastructure integration rather than hourly commodity competition...

Rob Illidge is the CEO of Vulse, the world’s leading employee advocacy platform dedicated to LinkedIn, helping teams turn personal profiles into powerful brand channels. His journey in social media began in 2006 while studying at a university in Connecticut, where he became one of the first Britons to access Facebook. That moment sparked a fascination with how social networks could be used to driv...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to Paddy Moogan. Paddy is an advisor, coach, mentor (and occasional unofficial therapist!) for digital agency founders via his consultancy, Founder Focus. He currently supports a range of agencies to help them run and grow their business, whilst focusing on the person behind the agency. Before this, he was the co-founder of his own agency, which he stepped back from a...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to Tom Telford. Tom is Clarity’s Chief Digital Officer. He has been leading digital marketing teams for over 20 years. He started out in ‘dot coms’, way before the technology was able to meet the ambition of this new era! This has given Tom a unique set of expertise which underpins his position leading Digital Marketing teams globally. Rob and Tom discuss Tom’s journe...

Pamela Miller runs AB Fiftyone, a digital agency specialising in traditional, technical B2B sectors. Helping energy, engineering and manufacturing companies boost visibility, build trust and stand out in crowded markets. She’s known for turning risk-averse businesses into confident, modern brands that communicate clearly and win more work. AB Fiftyone specialises in servicing the supply chain and...

Ade Holder is an SEO consultant/expert and speaker, business owner, surfer and advocate of all things positive. After years in print and digital sales as well as management, and then into agency account management, he felt it was time to start something on his own, and 427 Marketing was the result. 427 Marketing is now in its 7th year and is still consistently delivering results and high-quality S...

Blair Enns is the founder of Win Without Pitching, the sales training organisation for expert advisors and practitioners. Author of three books, The Four Conversations: A New Model for Selling Expertise (2024), Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour (2018) and The Win Without Pitching Manifesto (2010). Co-host, along with David C. Baker, of the podcast 2Bobs: Conversations...

In this GYDA Talks, Robert talks to Matt Essam, a creative business coach, author, and speaker who helps creative studio founders and service-based business owners attract better clients and grow with confidence. He’s known for practical frameworks such as his Partnership Playbook™, that turn relationship-building into a consistent client-attraction strategy. With over a decade of experience, Matt...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to Jon Payne… a "Totally unemployable" RevOps Consultant and Fractional Commercial Director. ‘It's called RevOps these days, but since 1998, I've been helping businesses grow through the creation and execution of digital strategies across marketing, sales and customer service, particularly around websites and, increasingly, HubSpot.’ Rob and Jon di...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to George Blandford, co-owner of the Ology Group. Specialising in different approaches to authority gain. 10+ years of experience in this sector. International speaker, trainer and oxygen consumer. Robert and George discuss scaling and rebranding agencies UK Linkology and Reachology to over £4 million in turnover. George talks through their strategy of leveraging busi...

In this podcast, Robert talks to PR Smith, who elaborates on the SOSTAC® framework's components, its application in agencies, the importance of 90-day review cycles, and the role of AI in planning, emphasising careful strategic use. We also discussed overcoming resistance to SOSTAC®, its long-term impact since 1993, and the critical need for a customer-centric approach in all business endeavo...

Robert Craven presents the "GYDA State of the Nation for Q1 2026," characterising the market as volatile. He emphasised that "trust is your superpower" for agencies facing AI, outdated business models, and low growth and goes on to detail winning strategies like niche specialisation and service expansion to possibly become "transformation partners." Robert concludes w...

David, Managing Partner at M&A Advisory and Principal at Eaton Square, leads M&A transactions to maximise client value in consulting, marketing communications, digital, and MarTech sectors. With over 30 years of experience in corporate finance, business management, and strategic consulting, David offers deep insights into industry dynamics and trends. In this no-nonsense conversation, Robe...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to Sarah Clay. Sarah is a LinkedIn trainer who helps professionals harness the power of social media to amplify their voices and grow their businesses. With a career that spans law, photography, TV production, and marketing, Sarah discovered her passion for social media while leading PR and social media for a film company. Growing up as the only girl among six brother...

In this GYDA Talks, Rob talks to Ryan Hall of Friday Solved, a consulting company that helps businesses solve their sales problems with sustainable and scalable solutions. Over the last 20+ years of experience in positioning, proposition design, and sales strategy, Ryan has helped lead global brands such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Sky, M&S, First Direct, Trainline, Vodafone, The Independent, UBS,...

Will is SUSO’s founder and CEO. He started the company in 2014 as a two-person consultancy business and has transformed it into a team of forty specialists providing technical SEO services for clients in a wide range of industries. While building SUSO, he has gained experience scaling a team of SEO experts and developed an international team based in Poland. Will values a people-first culture, whi...

Tom supports agency founders and leadership teams to solve gnarly issues. As Co-founder of Agency by Agency, he heads up product development and leads on bespoke research and work with M&A advisors. A people-centric business leader, strategist and marketer, Tom works with agency founders and management teams to develop differentiated propositions, improve operations and manage change.  He has...

In this GYDA Talks, Robert talks to John Readman of Modo 25 and Ask Bosco. John has over 25 years of experience in sales and digital marketing, scaling martech, SaaS and agency businesses. Currently, he’s building ASK BOSCO® - Marketing Analytics AI and Modo25 - Digital Marketing Inhousing - a business he set up with Bonamy Grimes, the Founder of Skyscanner, to revolutionize the way brands and age...

This podcast features a conversation between Robert Craven and John Readman, discussing John's career in digital marketing and the evolution of agency models. John has over 25 years of experience in sales and digital marketing, scaling martech, SaaS and agency businesses. Currently, he’s building ASK BOSCO® - Marketing Analytics AI and Modo25 - Digital Marketing Inhousing - a business he set...

In this GYDA podcast Robert talks to Rory Spence of The Wow Company. Key points of the talk are: Introductions The Issue of Agency Pricing Profit First Mentality . Understanding Financial Data Presenting Financial Information Effectively Developing Business Acumen The Importance of Forecasting and Planning Customizing KPI Dashboards The Golden Nugget: Obsess About Gross Profit https://www.linkedin...

Robert Craven and Amanda Walls of Cedarwood Digital, a Manchester-based performance marketing agency, discussed their client acquisition strategies, focusing on mitigating "ghosting" through initial calls and pre-qualification based on budget (£5,000-£15,000) and ideal client profiles (finance, insurance, healthcare sectors).  They emphasised a multi-pronged approach, including LinkedIn...

In this episode, Remeny Royle and Robert Craven pull back the curtain on the all-too-common pitfalls in agency-client relationships. Remeny helps agency owners and professional services to understand what their clients truly think of them. By listening to their clients, she can help proactively turn clients into advocates. From poor communication and lacklustre onboarding to a surprising disconnec...

Description : ”With well over 25 years of extensive experience both in depth and breadth at the heart of technology, business, eCommerce and digital marketing, I am considered a founding member of the eCommerce and online industry. I enjoy challenging situations, complex problem solving, developing teams and people, and integration of online and offline worlds. I am the CEO at Diginius, a London b...

The podcast is a conversation between Amanda and Robert Craven discussing Amanda's new book "Unblock" about productivity in organizations. Amanda Sokell is a process and productivity expert who helps companies thrive. She’s also a popular speaker, author, entrepreneur, creative, polymath and educationalist; lover of learning, chocolate, dancing and difference. In a 25-year career sp...

This podcast features Robert Craven interviewing Will Roberts from Webbox Digital about their journey, repositioning their agency. Webbox Digital initially tried to be a "full-service" agency serving all sectors. However, they realised the needed to narrow their focus to gain a competitive edge. Here's a breakdown of their journey: Version 1.0: Webbox transitioned from serving all s...