The Agency Scoop

Tips for setting achievable professional goals in 2024 On this month’s episode of the Agency Scoop, Jill and Maggie discuss holiday gift giving and how consumer shopping trends are changing as a result of inflation and supply chain issues. In the pull back the curtain segment, they talk through recent wins, streamlining processes, and the importance of transparency and outlining what’s needed befo...

In this month’s episode of Agency Scoop, Jill is dishing out the inside scoop of her BrightonSEO trip. She takes you on a journey through her conference experiences, providing valuable insights into what to do and what to avoid, ensuring that your next business trip is nothing short of successful. From practical tips to personal anecdotes, Jill's insight can be helpful for anyone seeking to ma...

Hiring an Agency 101 This month on Agency Scoop, are celebrity-generated AI bots taking over Hollywood? Jill and Maggie share their takes on the topic. It's Budget Season baby! Jill shares best practices for preparing proposals for potential and current clients. This includes cost estimation, resource allocation, and the importance of a well-structured budget for both the agency's and clie...

This month, Jill and Maggie cover the dynamics of various generations in the workplace. They tackle common misconceptions about Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z, drawing from their personal experiences. They also explore effective strategies to bridge the generational gap and foster team cohesion. Amidst the insightful discussion, they share some laughs and provide their own hot takes on high-...

How it Began: Starting an Agency with Greg Finn and Matt Mombrea of Cypress North

Unlimited PTO and Workcations | Paradise or Pitfall?

A Practical Guide for Managing Stress, Burn-Out, and Rust-Out, in Agency Life #managingstress #agencylife Managing work-life balance while working for a digital marketing agency can be challenging, considering the fast-paced and demanding nature of the industry. However, with effective strategies and prioritization, you can create a healthy balance between your personal and professional life. In t...

Agencies are Eliminating their College Requirements in 2023 Looking for details on how to help the American Cancer Society? Contact - jfecher@cypressnorth.com In recent years, there has been a trend among some digital marketing agencies to eliminate their college degree requirements for certain positions. The reasons for this shift vary, but some of the main factors include the desire to diversify...

The state of the economy is changing drastically with some sources saying that we could be heading into a recession. What does this mean for companies and their marketing budgets? We discuss the age-old topic, “hiring in house vs hiring an agency” and welcome a special guest, Cypress North’s Jess Budde to discuss our new client structure and how this structure has increased our productivity and cl...

The big talk from the technology space these past few weeks has been artificial technology and more specifically Chat GPT. We tried it out on this month's episode to see how it works.  We also tackle the topic of "Quiet Quitting" that has been all over the media lately. Is someone on your team quiet quitting or just setting boundaries? Find out what we think about it and how we are addressing...

New Year, New Scoop! Working Hard and Sometimes Remotely Jill Fecher is back with a new co-host Maggie Humphrey. Join these two in discussing the pros and cons of the main topic each month. As a listener you get to take a peak behind the curtain here a Cypress North. Discover what we're excited about and what we're struggling with.  This month Jill and Maggie will be discussing working remote...

Jill has an insightful Q&A with Katie Krawczyk, co-owner of 19 Ideas in Buffalo, NY. We discuss agency life, starting a successful agency on accident while waiting on your next big move, and how the culture of the agency has changed over time. We also talk about the beautiful, luxurious office space that Katie created as a love letter to her employees and the newest venture of 19 Ideas' founde...

This month, I'm joined by Irene Muchai from Online Optimism, a digital agency in New Orleans. We talk about new business strategies including what we look for in a new client, how to make sure your ideas will help them accomplish their goals and ideas for agency growth. 

Jill Fecher and Jordan Siefer talk about the evolution of the creative team at Cypress North. Jordan gives advice for how to understand your clients' challenges and needs, finding inspiration, and setting expectations for a career in design.

Join Jill this month with her special guest, Barry Schwartz, CEO of web service firm Rusty Brick and founder of Search Engine Roundtable. His career began at age 14 when he joined his twin brother in starting a software development business. Their unofficial business started with local and small businesses by helping their businesses become more efficient through their custom software. From there,...

Join Jill this month with her special guest Lauren Molenda of Riveter Design. Lauren has grown through her career in the agency world and is connected to all of the great agency talent in WNY. Riveter's microagency approach is unique and creative, benefitting clients who may not have connections to these types of resources and providing the hub of freelancers and part time talent a culture that is...

This month, Jill Fecher sits down with Tricia Barrett, Chief Operating Officer at Crowley Webb and Praxis. They discuss ways that Crowley Webb has differentiated themselves and diversified their offerings over the past 20 years, as well as the challenges agencies have faced through and after the pandemic.

This month's episode of the Agency Scoop features an interview with Charlie Fashana, Marketing Director of AAA of Western and Central NY.  We discuss his 20-year career journey from client-side to agency-side and back. Charlie gives great advice for companies looking to hire an agency, advice to agencies about how to serve clients better, and advice for anyone looking to get into marketing an...

This month I sat down with Sarah Burke, our Data & Analytics Manager at Cypress North. We talk about her journey from digital marketing to focusing on data and analytics. She gives us some insight into what is happening next with our newest division!

This episode is a look behind the scenes at how we go about building world-class websites. It includes a step-by-step process of what to expect in working with us as well as tips for selecting a website vendor to make sure your project goes smoothly.

When a company is wrestling with the decision of hiring an agency or hiring staff members to handle its marketing, there is not a one-size-fits-all answer. In this episode, I'm joined by Casie Gillette, an amazing marketer with experience both on the agency side and as part of an in-house team to talk about the pros and cons of each.

This month I’m joined by our two Spring 2021 interns turned full-time employees, Nicole Waddington and Caleb Blodgett. We talk about the expectations of an intern going into an interview, making the internship valuable for both parties, creating a full-time job opportunity from a temporary internship, and more. This episode is full of advice for anyone thinking of hiring an intern and college stud...

I had a chat with Amalia Fowler, creator of The Wholehearted Manager newsletter, marketing agency veteran, and long time people manager. We talked about management philosophies, avoiding burnout in an ad agency, company culture, and more.

This month I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with a long-time friend, and fellow agency professional, Donnie Broxson, to chat about agency culture, and his role as CEO of Acento Advertising, a Los Angeles-based advertising agency.   Acento focuses on cross-cultural advertising and promotes diversity in language and culture within their projects.  We discuss:  Challenges of m...

Over the past year, how we run our agency has evolved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I sat down with co-founders of Cypress North, Greg Finn and Matt Mombrea, to discuss how the pandemic has affected us, and how we have grown from it. We discuss: When COVID-19 first hit Going fully remote - the challenges & the wins Coming back to the office How our team felt about it all