Balancing Motherhood and Being an Agency CEO with Audra Brehm | Ep #679

How do you prioritize between family time and business responsibilities as an entrepreneur and parent? How is that balancing act working out for you? Being an agency owners and a parent can be a bit of a mess and there’s no magic formula to balancing parenthood and being an agency CEO. For some parents, this means a lot of guilt about not spending enough quality time with their kids or not being 100% focused during family hours. Today’s guest started her entrepreneurship journey while eight months pregnant and has been constantly learning ever since. She’ll share some of the boundaries she’s learned to uphold to protect her family and rest time. She also explains why hiring was a daunting but key step towards improving both her personal and business life.

Audra Brehm is the owner of Brehm Media, a social media marketing agency focused on the beauty and fashion industry. She’s been on the podcast before talking about raising agency prices and why it does not scare away the right clients.

As a business owner and a mother, Audra discusses the challenges of balancing life and work, going back to starting her agency while eight months pregnant and learning to embrace imperfection. Tune in to hear insights on making it work and finding success in business while navigating the demands of family life.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• The boundaries need to balance motherhood and being an agency CEO.

• Embracing imperfection to find work/life balance.

• how hiring the right team will set you free.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

The Balancing Act of Being a Mom and an Agency CEO

Balancing work and family is a common struggle for many individuals, especially for moms running their businesses. Audra jumped into the adventure of being a business owner while still eight months pregnant with her second child.

It was not exactly her plan. Freshly moving to Colorado and interviewing for jobs, she was presented with the choice to either relocate to Florida for work or start her own consulting firm with that brand as her first client. Being a self-declared bad employee, the possibility of becoming a business owner appealed to her even while eight months pregnant and she jumped at the opportunity.

Although excited about launching her business post-baby, managing both her business and family proved to be a challenging task. Many working moms grapple with the fear of neglecting their families while pursuing their professional goals. The initial years were particularly demanding for Audra as her business demanded a significant amount of her time. Over time, she learned to prioritize her time commitments alongside her financial objectives. Failing to uphold self-imposed time boundaries can lead to feeling torn between family and business responsibilities. Now she has non-negotiable boundaries such as being present during weekends or after a certain hour.

Does this mean she advises postponing starting a family until after establishing your agency? No. There’ll never be a perfect time to have kids, just like there’s never a perfect time to start a business. Audra’s advice is to stop pushing things off and just treat both with care. If you aspire to have a family and run an agency, you will find a way to strike a balance. It's a challenging juggling act that requires diving in and taking action rather than waiting for the ideal moment.

Finding Work/Life Balance Through Delegation and Goal Setting

Like Audra, many agency owners experience the guilt and stress that often come with trying to juggle both family and business. She’s found the way to be present in both aspects of life is to set clear boundaries. She has also learned to delegate tasks, set goals, and communicate with her children about the demands of her work. This open communication has allowed her to involve her children in her business and help them understand the importance of her work.

Similarly, Audra prioritizes quality time with her husband, who also serves as her COO. They have intentionally set aside dedicated hours each week to simply enjoy each other's company without discussing work or family matters. This practice helps them nurture their relationship beyond their roles as parents and business partners, preventing burnout from an exclusive focus on work.

Of course, accepting imperfection will also be key to finding peace as you try to balance both worlds. Audra believes even the smartest and most successful people have figured it all out yet. It’s a real struggle to maintain a good family life, be an engaged significant other, and have a successful business all at the same time.

“It’s a grind all the time and it’s okay to acknowledge that,” she says.

As a mom and a business owner, Audra knows giving herself grace and recognizing that it is okay to make mistakes or fall short is not only ok, it’s essential.

Hiring, Firing, and Finding the Right Employees to Set You Free

One of the key lessons Audra strives to impart to her kids is that you don't have to wait until retirement to start living life to the fullest. It's possible to build a thriving business while raising a family - the key is learning to find joy in the journey, through both the highs and inevitable lows.

Will there be challenging days where you feel stretched thin as a manager and parent? Absolutely. But there will also be triumphs when everything clicks into place. The path is about embracing the ebb and flow.

For Audra, one of the biggest game-changers in her work-life integration has been making the right hires, even if it represents an initial financial strain. Once intimidated by the prospect of expanding her team, she can attest that leaping to bring on supportive talent was one of the best decisions for her agency's growth and her own sanity.

With around 15 employees now, Audra can step away trusting her team will handle everything. "Are we the biggest agency? No. But I can walk away and come back without anything going up in flames," she remarks.

Of course, building a solid team is an ever-evolving process. It requires having the humility to learn from hiring missteps, the courage to make staffing adjustments when someone isn't the right fit, and the wisdom to provide learning opportunities that unlock each person's potential. By staying open-minded, nimble, and committed to continuous improvement, agency leaders can assemble a talented crew that propels the business forward while enabling a sustainable work-life balance.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Jobs both became the face of their brand, but could this marketing strategy cost you when it’s time to sell your agency?  How can you avoid becoming the brand to build a ‘sellable’ agency? Today’s guest is an entrepreneur who has successfully started and sold four businesses. He discusses the value of personal brands in relation to company success and delves into the challenges faced by service companies in building assets compared to tech or SaaS startups. Tune in to learn about common mistakes made by agency owners when considering selling their businesses and the pitfalls of an obsession with scale.

John Warrillow is the founder and CEO of The Value Builder System, a sales and marketing software for business advisors to find, win and keep their best clients. In addition to having started and exited four companies, John is the best-selling author, Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to add value to your agency.

• Build a ‘sellable’ agency.

• Equity rolls vs. earn-outs.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

Copper: This episode of Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by Copper, a CRM solution built specifically for agencies that use Google Workspace. Its CRM integration works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Drive, so you never have to switch tabs to add leads, track email conversations, find files, or manage tasks in your marketing or sales process. Head over to Copper.com/agencies to get a free trial just for Jason’s listeners!

How Businesses Fall into the Revenue Pitfall

Agency owners and service-based businesses often fall into the trap of overvaluing their companies when considering selling them. This common mistake is rooted in their relentless pursuit of growth and expansion. As a public, we tend to idolize big companies as opposed to good companies. This can turn into an obsession that leads agency owners to focus solely on increasing revenue, rather than building systems and processes that can make the business less dependent on the owners and founders.

This fixation on growth typically results in rainmakers focusing predominantly on their sales expertise, which, while driving business growth, also increases dependence on the founders. Paradoxically, this dependence diminishes the overall value of the business. For John, the obsession with growth does agencies a great disservice by creating a culture of focusing solely on revenue.

Consequently, businesses become so intertwined with the owner's presence that they essentially create a job for themselves rather than an asset that can thrive independently. This realization can be a bitter pill to swallow for many agency owners, especially when they recognize that their ego often drives these attitudes. By subscribing to the notion portrayed in "Mad Men" that their primary role is that of the charismatic pitchperson, they inadvertently create successful jobs rather than valuable assets.

An Easy Method to Add Value to Your Agency

So how can you avoid the revenue pitfall? John recommends agency owners take their CEO hat off from time to time and replace it with that of the parent of the business. In this sense, rather than micromanaging employees to hit revenue goals, empower them to take ownership of their work. They will feel greater pride and engagement, enabling the agency to thrive with or without you.

By prioritizing long-term sustainability you can increase your agency’s value and make it more attractive to potential buyers. It's not just about winning big clients or receiving accolades, but about creating a valuable asset that can stand the test of time.

John also introduces the concept of assessing agency services according to how "teachable, valuable, repeatable" (TVR) they are to make strategic business decisions based on this. The TVR framework encourages agency owners to assess each service based on how teachable it is to their team, how valuable it is in terms of differentiation from competitors, and how repeatable it is in terms of recurring revenue.

According to John, aency owners should focus on services that score high on all three criteria, as these are the services that will ultimately lead to a more sustainable and scalable business. This is not necessarily easy. Getting rid of some low-scoring services may mean walking away from 90% of your revenue. If this is your case, you can jettison the lowest-scoring services at least once a year.

Striking the Right Balance as an Agency CEO

Building a business that can run without you and that you can eventually sell will also require you to make the transition from agency owner to CEO. This means assuming different roles like setting the vision for the agency, being the face of the organization, understanding the financials, and coaching and mentoring the leadership team.

Personally, John disagrees with Peter Drucker’s notion that the two key functions that a CEO should focus on are product development and sales/marketing. In the context of an agency, the CEO should prioritize activities that drive revenue and attract new clients. “If you’re doing those two functions, your business is worthless without you” he argues.

CEOs who are too public-facing and personally branded may undermine the value of their agency when it comes time to sell. This is because potential buyers may view a highly visible CEO as a risk factor, leading to a larger portion of the deal being tied to an earn-out agreement. Therefore, CEOS need to strike a balance between being the face of the organization and focusing on the core functions of sales and marketing.

How to Avoid Becoming the Brand: Tips for Becoming a “Sellable” Agency

Would VaynerMedia continue to thrive without Gary Vaynerchuk? Just like Apple continued to grow without Steve Jobs, the most important element of that business is Gary’s framework and methodology. What people like Steve and Gary did very well in each case is that the brand supersedes the individual.

In Gary’s case, many people might not realize who he is as a creator or tie VaynerMedia to him. In any case, building a powerful brand that can grow even in your absence is all about branding processes and not just people. Of course, a strong personal brand can be beneficial but it is also essential to establish the processes that drive the business. By doing so, agencies can create value beyond the individual personalities of their founders or leaders.

For agency owners who include their name in the agency name, John suggests branding the processes; for instance, “3 things we do before onboarding a new client”. Codify and brand these processes to create a more valuable and attractive asset for potential buyers. This way, agencies can demonstrate a level of consistency and professionalism that goes beyond any individual's involvement in the business.

By establishing and branding the processes that drive the business, agencies can create value that is sustainable and transferable, ultimately leading to long-term growth and success. It’s something you can do in stages and could take 2 or 3 years complete. It’s an important element of reducing dependency on individual personalities and create a more valuable and attractive asset for potential buyers.

Equity Rolls vs. Earnouts: One of these will cost you MILLIONS

The classic way an agency is sold is you get approached by the buyer who says they’re willing to pay X multiple for it. However, once you take a closer look at that price, it’s really 40% upfront, with the other 60% tied to an elaborate earn-out component where you become an employee of another agency.

Alternatively, John highlights how private equity companies are increasingly doing "roll-ups" to consolidate agencies, especially in ad tech and tech-enabled services. In an equity roll deal, the seller gets some cash upfront but rolls the remaining amount into an equity stake in the entity owning the agency. This provides pros and cons compared to an earn-out model and gives owners more control over the transition.

Equity rolls like majority recapitalizations allow owners to sell just a portion of their shares to receive some liquidity. This payout offers financial stability to pay off debts or invest elsewhere while still having skin in the game to take risks growing the agency. However, selling a majority stake means giving up decision-making control. Owners must be comfortable with a new role and adapt to having outside stakeholders that may bring conflicting interests, especially regarding earn-outs or integrating services across divisions.

For its part, an earn-out means you’ll lose control of the agency, so be aware of the potential pitfalls of this structure. Instead, Jason suggests a different approach where the seller prioritizes receiving cash upfront and maintains control over the company until the earn-out or period of time is completed. This gives the seller more agency in the sale process and reduces the risk of losing control over their business.

All in all, as a seller, be aware of what the acquirer is trying to do, their motivations, and how that aligns with what you want to determine whether or not an earn-out makes sense for you.

Prepare Yourself Against the Potential Pitfalls of Acquisitions

There are potential pitfalls in agency acquisitions and it’s important to be cautious when considering selling or merging with another agency. Typically, as a seller, you have to be aware of the fact that you’re becoming a minority shareholder and giving up entrepreneurship for a job. Just be vigilant and protect your interests.

Do your due diligence when considering an acquisition and thoroughly evaluate the potential buyer and ensure that the terms of the deal are fair and beneficial to the agency. Furthermore, be wary of offers that may seem enticing on the surface but could ultimately result in a loss of control or value for the agency.

The most important way you can protect yourself is to understand the true value of your agency before entering into any acquisition agreements. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by promises of high valuations or potential growth opportunities without thoroughly evaluating the risks and potential drawbacks of the deal and ensure that all parties involved in the acquisition are aligned in terms of goals, vision, and values to avoid potential conflicts down the line.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Do you have enough of an appetite for risk to trigger exponential agency growth? Have you considered strategic partnerships as a growth strategy? Today’s guest changed the music scene for entrepreneurship and managed to grow his agency from $2 million to $16 million in just two years. How’d he do it? After getting past common initial struggles like developing sales and hiring the right people, he focused on strategic partnerships and found the right formula to scale his marketing agency. Tune in to learn from his incredible growth story and strategic approach to agency success.

Alex Rossman is the owner of Rossman Media, a socially led digital marketing agency that serves brands of all sizes to help them grow online, with a particular focus on social media. Rossman’s award-winning team is positioned for global expansion. He discusses the importance of having an appetite for risk and thinking long-term about company growth.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Learning when to hire employees.

• 8Xing a digital marketing agency.

• How to minimize the risks in an agency acquisition.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

When to Hire Employees For Your Agency

Alex started out as a musician and was actually signed by a record label and touring at some point, all while maintaining a corporate job. However, the corporate job was draining and the music gigs weren’t profitable so he needed another way to balance his creative side while using his experience with sales and marketing. This led to his start in the agency world back in 2017.

Over seven years of steering his agency, Alex pinpoints hiring as his biggest challenge. Though his hands-on experience gave him insight into each role's requirements, finding candidates who could confidently take the reins proved difficult. Like many founders, Alex struggled to prioritize - should he start by beefing up sales or operations?

Eager to scale rapidly, Alex also fell into the common trap of over-hiring. Buoyed by high growth, he staffed up quickly rather than strategically. Soon he was building the plane while flying it, scrambling to course-correct profitability and organization.

To surmount hiring hurdles, agency owners need self-awareness around strengths, weaknesses, and business stage. Rather than focusing on rapid growth alone, smart hiring means filling gaps with experts who complement the existing team. This prevents overstretching capabilities and sets an achievable path for sustainable scaling.

Looking back, Alex wishes he balanced ambition with patience. Hiring is never easy, but by aligning roles and capabilities to the agency's most pressing needs, founders can build a thriving team equipped for the long-haul.

Centering the Utilization Rate to Increase Agency Success

Having learned from over-hiring missteps, Alex now centers his growth strategy on utilization rate and team optimization - two pivotal aspects for agency success. By closely tracking utilization, he ensures his team effectively spends time on client work, driving productivity and profitability. Now, Alex and the team rate incoming leads as high, medium, and low, which plays into how they decide to hire based on the amount of work they’ll have in the coming months.

Focusing on high-impact tasks and leveraging each team member's strengths, or "superpower," will also help you ensure you’re optimizing team performance and maximizing productivity. This approach not only benefits the agency but also serves the individual team members by allowing them to excel in their roles and contribute to the company's success.

Moreover, with an adaptable mindset, Alex continuously reevaluates team efficiency as the agency evolves. Assessing performance, identifying improvement areas, and adjusting roles over time is key. This may involve revisiting responsibilities, offering training, or reallocating resources to tap the highest potential impact.

8Xing HisAgency in Just Two Years

The driving force behind the remarkable growth of his agency lies in strategic acquisitions. As the agency owner, Alex has diligently focused on enhancing services for clients and nurturing relationships with both clients and employees. Additionally, he dons his investor hat to assess the industry's current fragmented landscape. Recognizing an opportunity, Alex leveraged mergers and acquisitions to bring on board companies that not only aligned with the agency's culture but also addressed operational gaps.

In 2022, their pivotal acquisition involved the purchase of a complementary social media agency, a move that facilitated horizontal integration and bolstered the management team with fresh talent and clientele. Buoyed by this success, they have subsequently completed three more acquisitions, significantly fueling their expansion.

The Required Mindset Shift for Explosive Growth

In the competitive agency world, organic growth hovers around 10% and, for Alex, thriving in this environment requires embracing a new mindset that welcomes calculated risks. For this, agency owners must step back from day-to-day operations and chart a course for where they envision their company in the next five years. This long-term perspective is essential for pinpointing growth opportunities and forging strategic partnerships that can propel the agency to new heights.

In light of this, Alex initiated discussions with agencies he had built strong relationships with over the years, exploring potential mergers. His approach was all about identifying the right agencies to acquire that align with his goals and values.

Successful mergers and acquisitions can yield numerous benefits, such as bolstering the management team, expanding the customer base, and venturing into new industries.

Of course, strategic acquisitions will also require agencies to assess the potential risks. “Do not think that you’re just buying a company to multiply your company by two or three,” Alex advises. Factor in potential setbacks like employee and client retention issues to better prepare for the challenges that may come with integrating a new agency into their existing operations.

Trying the Acquisition Growth Strategy? Minimize the Risks

For agency owners considering the acquisition growth strategy, Alex suggests starting small to minimize risk with the initial deal. In his experience, they began by acquiring a small lifestyle business with strong client retention and a vision that aligned with their agency's goals. Subsequently, they progressed to larger acquisitions with the second and third deals.

By effectively integrating and expanding these smaller acquisitions, the agency can confidently pursue larger opportunities. For funding, Alex eventually explored debt financing to support growth beyond what the agency's profits could sustain. This allowed them to secure the necessary capital for larger acquisitions and expedite growth. However, it's important to exercise caution when taking on debt and avoid personal guarantees to mitigate financial risks.

Agency Integration: How to Succeed after Mergers and Acquisitions

The hardest part of agency growth through acquisitions is not the buying process, but rather the integration and scaling of the acquired agencies. Successful integration requires careful planning, clear communication, and a focus on aligning processes, systems, and cultures. You don’t want to come in and suddenly change everything that made that agency what it was.

Alex advises against quick changes and instead embraces the existing culture, systems, and processes of the acquired agency. Don’t rush into making changes that could disrupt the organization. Instead, take the time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the acquired agency, identify key personnel and clients, and create a timeline for integration that can lead to a smoother and more successful transition.

In this sense, having a dedicated team or individual responsible for integration can also be beneficial. Alex handles some of these tasks and then hands them off to his directors. However, he’s planning to turn this into a dedicated role and have someone focused on identifying synergies, streamlining operations, and ensuring a successful transition for both parties involved. By having someone dedicated to integration, agencies can avoid overloading existing leadership teams and ensure that the process is given the attention and resources it deserves.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Would your agency keep running and growing if you had to take a month off tomorrow? Or would it all fall apart? Which systems could you start implementing right now to keep this from happening? Today’s guest went through difficult times last year and his focus wasn’t fully in the business. These struggles proved to be too much for a recent purchase, which he had admittedly rushed; as that acquisition started falling apart and becoming a burden, it started to take a toll on mental health. In the end, he had to sell. Now he thinks carefully about the processes and systems that must be in place in case of an emergency. Tune in to learn how he navigates his agency to allow himself time to focus on the things that are more important than money.

Robert Lee is the owner of Lesix Media, a real estate-focused agency that thrives on doubling clients’ productivity, sales, and marketing through innovative frameworks. Robert discusses his experience buying and transforming an agency that now focuses on helping real estate professionals, commercial roofers, political candidates, and organizations. He shares insights on finding a consistent path to growth and how setting up the right systems will allow you to take care of your mental health.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How to use direct email to leave a lasting impression.

• Avoid regret by trusting your gut.

• More important than money: prioritizing mental health.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

Copper: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by Copper, a CRM solution built specifically for agencies that use Google Workspace. Its CRM integration works seamlessly with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Drive, so you never have to switch tabs to add leads, track email conversations, find files, or manage tasks in your marketing or your sales process. Head over to Copper.com/agencies to learn more and get a free trial.

From Young Freelancer to Entrepreneur Needing the Structure of an Agency  

Robert has been working with political candidates and organizations for around fifteen years. Starting as a freelancer who thought he could do it all, his understanding of what an agency was grew with experience. The more he learned, the more he appreciated the structure and organization needed to truly succeed. This wish to become a more formal and organized business was the idea behind his plan of buying into a direct mail agency. It was a natural transition after fifteen years in the business to grow a team and have a business he could grow.

In the end, he didn’t just buy into an agency but outright purchased one. They were one of his vendors around 2017 and it was actually a long process to complete. He already had the political marketing business and had plans to transition that business from just fulfilling mail projects to becoming a full-service agency.

Using Direct Mail to Leave a Lasting Impression

His agency currently focuses on helping political candidates and organizations spread their message. However, up until six months ago they were all about direct mail and were responsible for a lot of junk mail for real estate agents and commercial roofers. For Robert, direct mail may get a lot of hate but it can be impactful in a variety of ways. “You don’t have to use direct mail for everything, but don’t count it out,” he argues.

Personally, he favors sending obnoxiously large pieces because there are a lot ways to make it really creative and get people’s attention. It’s important to think outside the box when it comes to designing and executing direct mail pieces and there’s a lot of space for impactful designs, such as die-cut pieces and pop-up elements that leave a lasting impression.

Avoiding Regret in Your Agency by Trusting Your Gut

Looking back, there are many things Robert would do differently in that process to purchase and transition the agency’s services but the biggest one is to trust his gut. The company he acquired was a mom & pop shop with no sales processes in place. Despite having reservations about this, Robert chose to move forward with the purchase.

Instead of waiting until they created the necessary sales process and revisit the acquisition after a year, he argued against himself and went ahead with the purchase. As a result, he faced challenges and struggles that could have been avoided.

Basically, their sales process revolved entirely around the owners and referrals. There was no lead generation. Under these conditions, it wasn’t really a business so much as a job these owners built for themselves and were now trying to sell.

For his part, Robert had been planning this acquisition for a long time and was nervous he would lose the opportunity if he asked for more time for them to resolve the issues.

It was a valuable lesson in business. With those problems, the agency became more of a burden that needed his constant attention. It was not structured in a way that allowed Robert space to face these challenges and soon became an issue that took over his life.

In the end, he was forced to sell that business and, even though it was the right choice, he recognizes that if he’d listened to himself from the beginning, he could have avoid the headaches. In the quest for growth and success, it is essential to trust your instincts and listen to that inner voice that may be warning you to slow down and reconsider your actions.

More Important Than Money: Prioritizing Mental Health

Robert’s experience can be a great lesson for agency owners thinking about selling their business in the future and who are too involved in sales, marketing, or operations. If you’re too involved in any of these aspects and haven’t created a plan for someone else to take over, then you’ve created a great job but not an asset that you can sell one day.

Personally, Robert believes it’s important for agency owners to have those systems in place to prioritize mental health and rest whenever necessary. Last year he experienced two losses that left him lost and affected his ability to focus on the business. These times of personal crisis really underscore the importance of having a business set up to give you the time to handle a crisis. Without the proper time to grieve, he knows this grief would have eventually bled into his decisions and magnified the agency’s issues.

It was a reminder that running a business is not just about making money and achieving success, but also about taking care of oneself and prioritizing mental and emotional well-being.

Build a Machine, Not a Job: Structuring Your Agency for Sustainability

Reflecting on his experience, Robert realizes he should have invested more time upfront in developing structured processes and aligning his team towards shared goals. Though he had begun implementing some procedural tweaks, more robust and documented systems would have better prepared the agency when crises hit.

Many agency owners assume that building a business will automatically grant them freedom. However, in those critical early years, it often feels more like a noose around your neck. The end goal should be constructing an agency that runs smoothly without you, liberating you to focus on other pursuits.

In Robert's case, while his team was already taking ownership of their responsibilities, he still lacked a clear structure for making pivotal financial decisions. This resulted in undue financial risks, like retaining employees who did not align with the overarching vision. Though difficult, removing these individuals would have saved time and money over retaining them.

All in all, thoroughly systematizing processes and instilling a unified sense of purpose across your team early on is necessary so your agency can persevere in your absence. With a robust infrastructure in place, you’ll be able to focus less on maintaining day-to-day operations, and more on innovating and guiding your agency into the future.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Is the wrong prospecting process bringing you clients who are just not a good fit? Are you feeling trapped in a contract with clients you wouldn’t choose to work with again? Building strong connections with clients based on common ground and understanding can significantly impact the success and fulfillment of partnerships in the agency world. Today’s guest saw her first agency end after all partners lost their passion for the work. The reason? Working with clients who didn’t fit the agency’s personality left them all feeling stuck and overwhelmed. After selling and starting over, she has made the right prospecting process a focus of her new business and is seeing the results. Tune in for insights on starting over the right way after selling an agency that wasn’t working out.

Jodie Ball is an agency owner specializing in search engine optimization helping clients scale and grow. She has a decade of experience in SEO and digital marketing and uses a data-driven, non-siloed approach to capture target demographics at pivotal points during their decision-making process. Jodie shares her journey of building and selling her first agency with partners, along with the challenges and successes she experienced. She now enjoys the freedom to choose her clients and work with people she wants to work with.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How the wrong prospecting can lead to agency frustration.

• Ensuring your vision aligns with your prospects.

• Selling and starting over the right way.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

When Clients Don't Align: The Path to Agency Frustration

Jodie’s agency journey started when she was an intern helping build websites for musicians and got the amazing opportunity to work in the search engine optimization of an Amazon-owned business. She sort of fell into the role of executing an account for Amazon, a path she would have never imagined for her career. Later on, the people who first contacted her for that project called her when they decided to build an SEO agency and eventually became her business partners.

The Amazon gig helped them gain credibility as they started and grew their agency. Initially, she worked on sales and strategy and had to wear a lot of different hats as she and her partners figured out the agency.

After starting off with a bang with Amazon, Jodie’s agency went on to work with high-end fashion retailers like Skims and Good American. They stayed within the fashion niche to leverage their expertise and reputation in that area and attract clients who valued their industry knowledge and experience.

However, they fell into a pattern of taking on clients that didn't fit their agency's personality and started to feel stuck and overwhelmed. This led to stress and ultimately made the business less enjoyable. Five years in, her partners were now too busy for the agency and it seemed there was not enough meat left on the bone.

Basically, it seemed clients did not have a full understanding of the value the agency was providing. This resulted in unhappy clients and frustration on both ends. Looking back, Jodie sees their reporting was not complete enough to communicate the full extent of their results.

How to Find The Right Prospects: Correcting Past Communication Mistakes

Agencies must establish clear channels of communication with clients from the very beginning and consistently update them on the progress of their projects. By setting expectations and goals upfront, agencies can ensure that clients are aware of the value they are receiving and can better appreciate the results of their work.

There are certainly many things they could have improved which Jodie now implements in her new agency with her current understanding of prospecting that helps eliminate the wrong prospects since the beginning.

A lot of it has to do with educating the client during the onboarding process. Clients may not always be familiar with the intricacies of digital marketing, SEO, or other services offered by agencies, so it is crucial to take the time to explain these concepts in a way that is easy for them to understand.

Jodie finds that many times with clients the business model is a really great fit for the agency but the person they’ll be communicating with is not there yet in terms of understanding or being in the right mindset. This is not necessarily insurmountable and agencies can empower these clients to make informed decisions and better appreciate the work being done on their behalf.

Looking forward, Jodie would like to focus on growing the team, scale the agency to reach the 7-figure mark and retire to live a more relaxed lifestyle.

Selling an Agency and Starting Over the Right Way

As the partners' passion for the agency waned and problematic clients drained the joy from their work, discussions about a potential sale arose. Initially, Jodie resisted - in her early 20s with minimal living expenses, she felt ready to keep battling for their vision. But her partners craved more stability and Jodie admits their backend costs were spiraling out of control.

Then a familiar company came calling, sharing a business partner and needing project management with solid SEO chops. When Jodie's team opened their books to this potential buyer, the numbers spoke volumes - they were tanking fast. So they accepted a decent exit package and walked away.

For Jodie, the transition back to employee life quickly confirmed her entrepreneurial itch. Just selling websites at a corporate gig felt like a downgrade from the autonomy she once had. The realization cemented her future path - that the risks and rewards of building her own venture were worth the fight.

It was a bittersweet closing chapter for that first agency but Jodie emerged with the unshakable tenacity and determination to build something even greater in her next iteration as a founder.

Get Paid More with a Foot-in-the-Door Offer

Revamping her client onboarding has been enlightening for Jodie. She now deeply appreciates the value of an exploratory conversation to truly get to know prospects. In the past, she learned the hard way that seeming like a good fit upfront doesn't guarantee long-term alignment.

These days, Jodie's process kicks off with discovery calls and initial questions, but quickly dives into extensive conversations searching for that essential common ground. It's a critical step to prevent getting trapped in contracts misaligned with her agency's core. For Jodie, there must be a palpable connection - a sense you could comfortably chat with this person as a friend, beyond the business transaction. Without shared fundamental beliefs and values, any working relationship is doomed.

The next step to improve this approach would be to offer a "foot-in-the-door" to collaborate on high-level planning. This offer vets both sides - proving the client's seriousness and fit, while showcasing Jodie's agency value with some initial results. It's a win-win for rapidly progressing viable prospects toward full-scope engagements at well-deserved premium fees. With good results on this end, clients will see the value you bring for their business and be willing to pay a higher ticket to get there.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Do you dream of running a big agency? What’s your target number and how do you think you’d handle the added stress of an increasingly larger team? Today’s guest is the leader of an agency colossus: an over half-billion-dollar behemoth with around 4,000 employees spanning the globe, a scale very few founders could even imagine. He’ll share invaluable insights into engineering colossal expansion, the leadership mindset needed to wrangle this growth, and how his team handles agency valuations in their search to continue the agency’s growth. Tune in to this must-listen episode if you're looking for inspiration and practical advice on taking your agency to the next level.

Dimi Albers is the global CEO of DEPT, an agency that has seen phenomenal growth over the past eight years. He shares the pivotal moment back in 2014 when the partners at Dept decided to shift their focus from being a Netherlands-centric design and tech agency to becoming a global player that covers the full digital customer journey and the strategy behind acquiring 33 agencies.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• The road to scaling to $500M.

• Lessons from a cultural mismatch.

• Inspiring your leadership team.

• Elements to consider for an agency valuation.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

Convert Masterclass: Do you want the ultimate guide to building a profitable and self-driven sales team? Access our FREE masterclass and learn how much you should be charging to increase profitability, how to train your salespeople to respond to any objections, and more. Just go to AgencyMastery360.com/convert and unlock maximum profits.

Taking a $500M Agency to Global Markets

Back in 2014, Dimi’s agency made the pivotal decision to expand its services and target international clients. They wanted to transform from a design and tech-focused agency into a company that covers the customer’s full digital journey. This strategy was considered relatively unique and presented an opportunity for growth. At the time, the agency had a very good reputation in The Netherlands and was valued at 15 million USD.

To support their ambitious plans, the agency partnered with a Dutch private equity firm. This partnership provided the necessary resources and expertise to accelerate their growth, despite initial reservations about working with a private equity firm.

Even with capital backing, they remained relatively conservative in investments. Dimi focused on establishing profitability for core revenue drivers within a tight 12-18 month timeframe. The agency pursued a two-pronged growth strategy - mergers and acquisitions supplemented by nurturing intrapreneurial talent to drive organic business wins. Organic expansion from existing client relationships delivered a steady 25% annual growth rate, which compounded as M&A activity layered in.

For Dimi, scaling an agency is fundamentally a people business and requires making sound decisions consistently rather than betting on a few big moves. It may sound boring, but he cautions against the idea of explosive growth and highlights the unglamorous but crucial factors like hard work and incremental smart choices.

His agency methodically built its value proposition in the Dutch market first. From this solid foundation, they gradually expanded into Europe, the US, and ultimately APAC - advancing to new geographies only after careful evaluation of their capability strengths and each market's receptiveness. This thoughtful, capability-driven approach to global scaling enabled successful service expansions into new territories.

Trusting Your Gut: Lessons from a Cultural Mismatch

Quite early in their journey, when they were far less experienced, DEPT partnered with an agency that ended up being a cultural mismatch. This was the sole instance Dimi can recall facing such an issue. Being a first for him at that stage, Dimi admits to underestimating how long it would take to recognize and address the disconnect.

Ultimately, even though the merger was a sound financial decision, the misaligned team needed to be merged with a more culturally compatible group to rectify matters. Looking back, he thinks he could have made faster decisions by just trusting his gut. It’s possible to determine with a high level of certainty whether a partnership or hiring decision will work out after speaking with someone for a certain amount of time. In this sense, he’s learned to trust his intuition and instincts in business.

How To Deal With “Difficult” Clients at Your Agency

Dimi's agency evolved from being generalist to niche-focused through strategic mergers and acquisitions. As specialized firms joined, it opened up new service offerings and vertical markets like Amazon advertising expansion across Europe.

Their vision for growth centered on meeting client needs first. Starting with establishing a strong portfolio in the Dutch market, they then expanded across Europe as demand grew. For Dimi, prioritizing client satisfaction and value delivery guides their expansion more than conquering specific regions.

Within the agency, discussions revolve around ensuring both client and employee happiness take center stage before finances. Dimi meets daily with clients for meaningful dialogue on how his team generates value. He also connects with internal teams to gauge engagement, workload balance, and overall well-being.

When challenging client relationships surface, Dimi emphasizes communication to understand root issues, turn situations around through solutions, and either improve dynamics or mutually part ways if necessary.

Balancing Innovation and Strategy in Agency Growth

Scaling an agency requires clarity about some key questions. First of all, WHO; Who do you want to go after? Who do you need to hire to achieve this? Who do you need to become? Additionally, Dimi has also learned to think about the WHAT and HOW, because he’s found there’s a big difference between people who are good at defining the “what we’re going to do”, and the ones who are good at the “how we’re going to do it”. Instead, of looking for the unicorn who is good at both, he recommends looking for the brilliant WHAT people and the brilliant WHO people. Working and collaborating with individuals who complement each other's strengths requires self-awareness and the ability to recognize one's own limitations.

As a visionary who is mostly concerned with the ideas or the WHAT Dimi has run into some challenges when it comes to the structure systems an agency needs once it starts experiencing growth. In the past, he’s been slow to listen to the "how" people, who have a more cautious and strategic approach, which is something he continues to work on.

How to Inspire Your Team to Dream Beyond What is Logical

Although he admits to not being the best manager, Dimi knows his strength lies in inspiring people to think beyond what is logical. And he does it by setting the example. When he and his partner created the plan to expand and scale globally, everyone thought they were crazy. However, once they reached their goals in record time, they proved the sky was the limit.

Their vision not only challenged the team to think bigger but also provided a clear direction for the organization to strive towards.

Inspiring your team is about achieving something unique. It’s not necessarily about numbers and growth, it can also be about craft. Show them the impact they’re having. For instance, if you work with non-profits, show them how their work is helping change the world for the better. Reach beyond their perceived limitations and you’ll be motivating them to keep going.

Additionally, he also highlights the importance of vulnerability and personal connection. As a leader, Dimi openly talks about his mistakes. This vulnerability creates a sense of authenticity and trust within the team. It allows team members to feel comfortable sharing their struggles and mistakes, fostering a culture of learning and growth.

Key Considerations for Successful Acquisitions

Dimi’s agency has been acquiring agencies for some time as part of its expansion plans. For him, there are two main elements for a successful merger: capabilities and geography. Beyond that, they’ll consider:

• Culture: It is the first and most important aspect they’ll consider. Can they see themselves working and growing with their team?

• Quality of their work.

• Quality of their second and third generations: Basically, they look beyond the founders. Do they have a good team around them who are ambitious enough to keep growing and running the business once the founders decide to scale back?

• Numbers: His agency has excellent growth and margins, so any agency that joins them must be at that level so it doesn’t devalue the whole when they join.

8 Elements to Consider When Doing an Agency Valuation

While a general rule of thumb is that an agency making a million in EBITDA could be valued at four times that amount, there several factors that contribute to much higher multiples paid for agencies with exceptional qualities, such as:

1. Growth rate: The faster an agency grows, the more valuable it becomes.

2. Market: The markets that the agency is addressing also play a role in its valuation. Agencies that are targeting larger and more lucrative markets will generally be valued higher than those targeting smaller markets.

3. Team: It’s important to have a talented and capable team. A strong team can contribute to the agency's growth and success, which in turn increases its value.

4. Profitability: The margin percentage, or profitability, influences an agency’s valuation. Higher margins indicate a healthier financial performance and can lead to a higher valuation.

5. Addressable market: Agencies operating in markets with more potential for growth and expansion will generally be valued higher than those in smaller markets.

6. Popular and sought-after capability: Agencies that specialize in a highly in-demand area, such as AI technology consultancy, will be valued higher due to the premium placed on their expertise.

7. Recurring revenue: Agencies that have a significant portion of their revenue coming from retainer contracts are considered more valuable than those relying solely on project-based revenue.

8. Revenue concentration: Diversification of clients and revenue sources is preferred and can contribute to a higher valuation.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Are you looking for motivation to get your agency off the ground? How has your client acquisition strategy evolved since you started? Have you tried building client communities to foster a competitive spirit that will lead to client wins? Today’s guest is a young entrepreneur who turned to marketing as a teen knowing college just wasn’t for him. He focused on learning and building a solid base and now has 400K/mo SMMA and has purchased another two agencies. He and his partner understand their strengths lie in getting businesses off the ground and recognizing potential for growth in partnerships. However, they’re still figuring out how to scale to eight figures. Tune in to learn from his inspiring journey and his tips for successful mergers and acquisitions.

Matt Shields is the founder of Estate AI, an agency that seeks to shift the paradigm for realtors who rely on referrals by teaching them how to run a business with consistent opportunity flow.  Matt is a young agency owner who has achieved impressive success in a short period. His determination and entrepreneurial spirit led him to purchase his first SMMA course at just 17 years old. Now, with over $425,000 in monthly recurring revenue, Matt shares his unique approach to acquiring agencies and achieving high profit margins.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Matt’s client acquisition strategy.

• The $2,500 ad that got them a $1,000,000 win.

• Building communities for client success.

• Top tips for buying and selling your agency.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service.

Outgrowing Self-Doubt to Catalyze Agency Success

At age 17, Matt felt school wasn't the right path for him and wanted to try a different entrepreneurial approach. He purchased a $597 marketing course that taught him key skills - sales, outreach, onboarding customers, and Facebook ads. However, as Matt took his first steps into entrepreneurship, the biggest hurdle had nothing to do with practical business tactics.

In that crucial first year, Matt was forced to face deep inner fears - the fear of failure, rejection, and not being good enough. He realized he needed to work extensively on his own psychology and overcome limiting beliefs about his young age and ability to successfully build a business. Confronting these mental roadblocks proved just as important as mastering the outward skills.

Although Matt eventually reached a good place and found success, in his view he never fully overcame self-doubt. Getting too comfortable would mean stagnation, which he wanted to avoid. While he conquered early fears around sales and now thrives in that area, he continues to face the challenge of overcoming fears of leadership and leveling up his mindset.

It's a constant process of self-improvement, because as a business grows, so too must the entrepreneur grow personally. Most recently, Matt has focused on becoming disciplined enough to consistently take action on the hard things, regardless of his passing feelings or mental resistance.

The Evolution of His Agency's Client Acquisition Strategy

Matt scaled his first agency through the strategic use of free trials. To attract initial clients, they leveraged LinkedIn automation, Facebook direct messages, and cold email outreach. This approach worked particularly well when they started emailing gym owners to offer free trial services. They completed around 70 free trials over 6 months - but only for prospects they knew could convert to paying customers. After that 6-month ramp-up period, they were generating $20,000 in recurring monthly revenue.

This early method provided valuable entrepreneurial experience. However, Matt's agency has since evolved its approach to client acquisition. They now rely on paid advertising and use the same systems they sell to run their own growth campaigns. This strategy rocketed them from $10,000 per month to $150,000 within just 3 months, hitting $350,000 in monthly revenue by their first year - all through paid ads.

To fuel this exponential growth, Matt and his partner reinvested all profits into paid media spending and building a robust sales team. They also recognized offering a compelling guarantee in their ads was crucial for conversion. Rather than innovate from scratch, they analyzed competitors' guarantees and modeled their own to be slightly better than existing market offerings. Matt believes that SMMAs don’t need to innovate, just pay attention to what works and do it better.

Their simple but realistic promise - "10 listing appointments in 6 months for realtors" - resonated powerfully with their target audience. This honed, benefit-driven guarantee helped attract a steady stream of new clients. However, Matt cautions that overused or unrealistic guarantees can become saturated and erode trust over time when not thoughtfully implemented.

A $1,000,000 Win from a $2,500 Paid Ad

According to Matt, the agency’s most successful ad was sparked by this philosophy of “paying attention to what works and do it better”. Imagine a fun, catchy music video that racked up millions of views and shares for them. For Matt's agency, that viral sensation was worth a cool $1 million in new business - all off the back of a single $2,500 ad spend!

It was a stroke of brilliance sparked by a clever HVAC ad Matt discovered. He immediately contacted that production company with a request: "Can you take this same awesome concept and adapt it to the real estate niche?"

One week and $2,500 later, the magic arrived - a fresh, industry-tailored spin on the original video that immediately resonated and took off like wildfire.

By keenly observing what's crushing it, repurposing ideas executed extremely well, and layering on innovation for further gains, he unlocked exponential success, which underscores the importance of truly understanding your audience, leveraging existing momentum cleverly, and constantly elevating your approach to stay ahead of the pack

Building Communities for Client Success

Scaling so fast, it’s fair to assume that Matt’s agency had a hard time combating churn. He does admit in the beginning the agency was not securing many deals for their clients. Despite this, clients were still happy and satisfied, a trend he also observed in his first agency acquisition. This did change a bit after the expansion of the sales team, which meant the agency’s founders stepped away from sales. To address this new low, Matt and his partner created a client community modeled after Alex Hormozi’s client mastermind concept. By bringing clients together, providing coaching, and inviting experts, they aimed to foster a competitive environment that motivated them to excel and achieve success.

The implementation of the client community proved to be a game-changer for the agency. The competitive nature of realtors within the community sparked a desire to outperform each other, leading to increased effort, dedication, and ultimately, success.

Furthermore, Matt emphasizes the role of a free Facebook group in building this community. He and his partner purchased an existing Facebook group within their niche, which had 8,000 realtors. This acquisition proved to be a valuable resource, as it provided a platform for interaction, engagement, and the opportunity to showcase their expertise. The free group served as a stepping stone for potential members to become part of the main paid community, as they were already familiar with the agency's values and offerings.

Most recently, Matt has improved by leveraging industry expert coaches. Recognizing his own limitations, he pays experts to advise clients directly. This provides high-quality guidance while ensuring his team gains deep real estate knowledge, significantly improving account management.

Lessons Learned from Early Mistakes in Community Building

In the very beginning, Matt and his team would keep their community members engaged doing eight calls per week to talk about strategy and progress. However, he now sees they were overdoing it. It was one of those early mistakes he now takes as a lesson learned. Rather than only giving people the best, the calls started becoming diluted.

Bumping up the number of calls offered resulted in a decline of their show rate. Clients didn’t have the time to show up for so many calls per week and didn’t know which ones to prioritize. Instead, make sure the quality is solid and you’ll keep people coming back.

Another early mistake he’s learned from was not establishing clear core values from the get go. He now sees the importance of being firm and upfront about the community's values, and giving potential members the option to opt out if they do not align with those values. This approach not only filters out individuals who may not be a good fit for the community but also attracts like-minded individuals who are eager to be part of a group that shares the same values.

The Top Tip for Buying and Selling Your Agency

Matt and his partner have acquired two agencies by leveraging their expertise and reputation and recognizing their limitations. With a respected reputation within a specific group of people and his partner’s coaching company adding to their perceived value, they’ve managed to draw people and sell their vision for the partnership.

For their first acquisition, it was difficult to come up with a valuation since the agency had been around for less than a year. They relied on a multiple of one-time EBITDA, although Matt admits lacked knowledge in the area and trusted his partner to make the decisions. Nowadays he would just bring in a broker to provide a legitimate valuation.

He’s since also learned the importance of legal agreements and the role of lawyers in creating these documents. In their initial partnership, they created their own agreements. However, Matt now recognizes the need to involve a mergers and acquisitions lawyer to ensure that the agreements are legitimate and protect all parties involved.

For the second acquisition, Matt met an agency owner who had a lot of potential but seemed stuck in his growth, making only around 10k a month. That owner wanted Matt to be his coach, but he would only consider getting involved with his agency as a partner. They eventually cut a deal and the partnership began with a revenue-sharing agreement and phantom equity, which eventually evolved into a flat retainer and phantom equity. This partnership proved to be successful, with the agency's revenue increasing significantly under the speaker's guidance.

Pro tip: When it comes to taking phantom stock in a partnership deal, remember that sometimes small business owners change their minds when the business starts to grow and claim less access for you under the guise of it “just being a phantom stock”. To protect yourself, make sure to always get a lawyer. It's going to cost you more in the very beginning, but it will protect you later on.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Does your agency offer web design services? What is your perspective on creating impactful agency web design? What do you think of how most websites are currently utilized? Today’s guest is an expert in website design with a growth-driven approach to agency web design. He’s been working in web design ever since the early days of the internet and believes nowadays many businesses are building low-quality websites focused only on sales. In his opinion, websites should have a strong technical foundation and create a journey that leads to engagement and conversions. Tune in to learn about his passion for creating impactful websites, how he developed a very effective foot-in-the-door, and how he’s embraced podcasting as a way to attract the type of client he wants to work with.

Mark Bevington is the CEO and founder of Ninedot, a website design and development agency that takes underperforming websites and turns them into the best-selling tools for their clients. Mark shares his insights on the limitations of traditional websites and the importance of growth-driven design. With over 23 years of experience, he sees a need for websites to evolve and adapt to changing analytics and customer preferences and allow for easy updates that align with business evolution.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• How to provide value in web design.

• WebCare as a foot-in-the-door strategy.

• Using a podcast to create meaningful connections.

Subscribe

Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio

Sponsors and Resources

Attract Masterclass: Do you want to know the four secrets to attract your ideal agency clients? Access our FREE masterclass series and learn how to create a magnetic agency, become an authority, and master the art of client attraction. Just go to AgencyMastery360.com/attract and unlock maximum profits.

Three Differentiating Factors that You’ll Find in Any Quality Website

With over twenty years in the industry, Mark has seen a lot as a marketer and agency owner. When he started his agency, the internet wasn’t really a thing, so they focused more on print work and newsletters and eventually moved to digital. However, some things remain unchanged because they’re at the core of a solid business strategy, starting with quality, which has taken a hit with the onset of AI.

In his opinion, since the pandemic and the surge of many new agencies that don’t work with the necessary standards, it’s become common to see crappy work all around. It can be challenging to differentiate quality work from garbage in the context of website design and development. Here are some differentiating factors:

1. A reputable agency or designer takes the time to thoroughly analyze the client's business, target audience, and goals before embarking on the project. They conduct research and gather relevant information to ensure that the website aligns with the client's brand identity and effectively communicates their message.

2. A well-designed website is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and optimized for different devices and browsers. For Mark, UI and UX have become such buzzwords and most people don't understand what that means. It’s not just about getting a client from point A to point B. Behind that should be an understanding of the experience based on the journey you're creating.

3. A website should not be a static entity but rather an evolving platform that adapts to changing market dynamics and user preferences. A quality web agency conducts A/B tests, analyzes user behavior, and makes necessary adjustments to improve conversion rates and achieve business objectives. Garbage work, on the other hand, lacks this growth-driven approach and fails to leverage data to enhance the website's effectiveness.

Affordable Website Support as a Strategy for Long-Term Success

Mark’s web design agency has always provided some degree of web maintenance for its clients. However, as clients continually asked for a more affordable dedicated website support option, the agency developed a new service called WebCare. Through this service, his agency helps clients properly maintain the core functions of their websites by having an expert team keep a watchful eye out for technical issues. As Mark notes, most clients are brilliant at their actual business but lack the technical knowledge needed to run a website themselves and need reliable, judgement-free support to maintain it.

WebCare is all about maintaining a website as a long-term investment. While the aesthetics of a website may become outdated over time, proper maintenance ensures it continues to function effectively.

Additionally, it’s become a very effective foot-in-the-door offer for them. If a client comes to them with an underperforming site, they can offer this affordable option instead of hitting them right off the back with an expensive rebuild and get the relationship going. Being able to show quick wins to clients is a key element in building trust and further extending that relationship.

The Game Changer: Embracing Change Through a Mastermind

As a business owner, Mark acknowledges it can be difficult to allow himself to be vulnerable and open to change. Because of this, his business was at a point profitable but still not at the scale it could have been.

In this sense, becoming a mastermind member has proved to be the game changer for his agency’s growth as well as an emotional roller coaster.

The first 12 months were all about changing everything he thought worked about the business. Despite the initial challenges and doubts, the results of implementing these changes have been impressive in year two. Of course, success does not happen overnight and it requires time and effort to see the desired outcomes, but the mastermind has provided him with the necessary resources and support to implement the changes effectively.

After a year of establishing the right processes and SOPs, Mark now realizes how inefficient they really were with him handling too many tasks outside his expertise area. He needed to find people to handle these tasks. It was an investment – both financial and it terms of time – to get it right, but it’s been definitely worth it. This shift has brought newfound freedom to spend more time on personal interests and taking the time to think, implement, and try new strategies to grow the business.

Creating Meaningful Connections & Reaching the Right Audience with a Podcast

Even though his podcast it’s still in its early stages after launching three months ago, Mark loves podcasting as a way to connect with others, share stories, and create meaningful connections.

It all started as a way to reach more clients in the pet industry, since this is work Mark enjoys so much. A podcast seemed like a good way to get in contact with adoption shelters, animal centers, and independent pet companies.

Although he had initial resistance to the idea of starting a podcast, after discussing it with his colleagues and receiving encouragement, he decided to give it a try. It turned out to be another great benefit of being a mastermind member. The encouragement he received from the team pushed him to get into a world he now enjoys very much, with the experience not only serving as a marketing tool but also as a way to build unique relationships and friendships.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.