blumer

In this episode, Jason Blumer sits down with Josh Barrett and Gabe Levine to discuss how agencies and other creative business can "do business right" from the very start with foundational agreements. They cover several kinds of agreements in this show, including:

-Partnerships and mergers

-Employee agreements

-Contractor agreements

They also cover the kinds of agreements you need if you are in a growth mode vs. a stable mode and the importance of protecting intellectual property.

Andy Budd brings years of knowledge and experience to his interview. Hear from Andy on the changing shape of the agency world and how it has evolved during his career. Andy will also share why the clients he serves and his greatest competition are one and the same.

The market has shifted over the years and Andy describes why this has been great for how they like to work at Clearleft.

Hear the value of "sticking it out" in the digital world and why some people choose to leave the profession.

Todd Hartley's interview will make you want to shoot a video (or ten) before you even finish this episode.

Learn why Todd is so passionate about using video to help companies tell their stories.

Also hear from Todd about the Netflix Economy and what that has to do with your sales, which platforms work best for showcasing your videos, his favorite equipment, and his recommendation for the FIRST thing you can do if you are new to video.

David C. Baker is the expert's expert. In this episode, he challenges our thinking about what it really takes to become great agency owners.

David walks us through the relationships between pattern matching, intelligence, and positioning. He helps us think through the question of how much we should be getting paid as well as the problem of caring more about our value than our clients.

David also has us consider how capacity and opportunity are related and why SOMETIMES, you might even need to decrease capacity.

Listen to Steve Gordon of The Unstoppable CEO share how podcasting is unique in its ability to help your leads trust you.

Steve also shares his own difficult early lessons that made him care so much about sales and marketing and why selling in a marketing-based business will be less effective using methods that are most often used with product-based businesses.

Steve articulates the important role of trust for a client to receive the highest possible value. He also explains pre-selling and how NOT to be a commodity.

Visit the links in our show notes at businessology.biz for Steve's special offer for our listeners!

Jason Pontius and Tonya Moyle have YEARS of experience serving colleges and universities with web services, branding, strategy, consulting, and more.

In this episode, hear how they started serving a niche, how they understand their value, the impact of travel on their team and revenue, what they provide as a deliverable, and their view of offering different strengths and gifts to the company.

They will also share how they developed their own products for their specific niche and what that could mean for other developers. Tonya and Jason reflect on their slow and steady growth and what might have been different with alternative funding models as well.

John D. Saunders is passionate about digital marketing and helping businesses make the most of their online presence.

Listen for ideas, tips, tricks, and loads of wisdom about:

-SEO and how it's changed

-Repurposing Content and catering to YOUR preferences and style

-The value of long form content

-The 80/20 rule for social media sharing

-Taking a lead from awareness to a purchase

-John's favorite tools that anyone can use in digital marketing

Hear how Anna Wolf, CEO of SuperScript Marketing, has been growing her company.

She shares:

- How she chose her niche
- Why finding valuable team members is a challenge, but worth pursuing
- How she knows her value to her market
- How she and her team created their own "Playbook," a unique resource that helps clients know if their content marketing is delivering results
- Why metrics matter for content marketers

In this episode, hear from Proportion Design partner, Blake Goodwin. Blake shares how Proportion, a branding agency, runs their business.

Blake shares his thoughts on:
-when it’s necessary to lean on a contact
-how long a typical project lasts for Proportion
-how Proportion Design determines if a client will be a right fit (or not!)
-the internal team structure that allows for the best client experience
-the early collaborative process and the deliverables involved

Blake also shares his niche and why they enjoy working with local companies.

In episode 80, Jason Blumer and his guest, Jeremiah Smith of Simple Tiger, cover areas related to SEO and beyond, including:

- How SEO relates to inbound marketing
- The value of SEO to clients
- The importance of permission marketing
- Why he decided to choose one service (SEO) and commit to being excellent in that one area
- How Simple Tiger educates clients on getting the most value from the traffic they get
- The role of ethics in an SEO firm
- Researching key words
- Maximizing the value of videos and repurposing other content

In Episode 79, Jason Blumer speaks with Chris Vogel. Chris defines his company as a one man agency. He explains the difference between his model and a freelancing model.

Chris is a picture of intentionality in business. He can articulate each decision he has made.

Learn about Chris' love of process and his Instruction Maps, why he intends to remain a small agency, his definition of a brand, and the importance of his onboarding process.

Mike Lieberman shares with us how companies need to adjust their marketing strategy today, even compared to the strategies of just a few years ago.

He also explains the relationship between sales and marketing and what it REALLY means to the customer.

Mike shares the meaning behind his title (Chief Revenue Scientist), the model his agency uses to serve clients, how they manage retainers in a way that pleases the client, and more.

In this episode, Jason Blumer is honored to speak with Joe Erwin of Erwin Creates and Endeavor. Joe shares the story of how he co-founded Erwin Penland and lessons learned throughout his career.

Joe shares a few items from his list of what to do and what not to do as you grow your agency, including one item that actually made BOTH lists.

From Joe's list of dos and don'ts, he explains why it is great to start some traditions and why you shouldn't waste time with negative people, which leads to the story of the first time he fired someone. He'll also share how freeing it is to stop worrying about your competition.

This is a must listen episode. We hope you enjoy it!

Hear Kade Wilcox tell the story, and lessons learned, of how he grew Primitive Social from a 2 person team to a 30+ person, multi-million dollar company in 6 years.

Kade shares his thoughts on the value of a strong team, how he found and chose a partner, the impact hiring quickly has had on the company and culture, the challenge of finding people with the right skill level, and how to add new layers of leadership to their growing team.

Design Extensions is an 18 year old company that has grown each year.

Hear Jay Owen describe how that growth happened, and how he knew to implement intentional changes so that growth could continue.

Jason and Jay also discuss what is great but also difficult about growing a company. They focus on topics like culture, hiring, business structure, their favorites books and tools, and leadership.

Also learn about Design Extension's core values and how they shape everything the company does, both internally and externally.

Jason Blumer and Keith Shields discuss a number of topics including:

how Designli is able to build custom apps with fixed pricing

why customer education is so important from the beginning of the relationship

Designli's modular approach

the two types of clients Designli serves

why Keith believes the freelance model breaks down quickly

why hiring the right people is so important in a service based company

Marc Avila and Lysa Miller share their knowledge in the areas of:

-staying on the same page as partners

-why they chose to significantly prune their client base and the effect that had on their bottom line

-responding to growth and growing in a sustainable way

-why they focused on building a stronger leadership team over sales when they hit a growth ceiling

-why they decided to stay involved with their own business development

-how they help clients see the value they add with their services

-how they add new services to their existing client base

Mickey Mellen shares how he and his partner, Ali Green, started their agency and how they work as partners. He also shares the role of risk in their decisions, why they have chosen to keep their team at its current size, and how they hire.

Also hear Mickey's passion for the design community and why he began hosting meetups in the Atlanta area to build community with those who are normally competitors.

Dan Rundle is the CEO of Worthwhile, a 20+ year old software development agency. In this episode, Jason Blumer and Dan cover a number of topics including:

-Why Worthwhile eliminated several types of service to focus on software development three years ago

-The challenges of developing software (scoping projects, meeting objectives, etc.)

-How Worthwhile spends their time at the beginning of a project in order to guarantee their clients that they can create an accurate timeline, budget, and deliver on features

-Why Worthwhile says no to so many opportunities

-Why Worthwhile has chosen to have salaried employees vs. contractors

-How Dan discovered that he needed to communicate the Worthwhile vision with his team

Adam shares his story of freelancer to leader of a team at Image Conscious Studios.

Topics included in this episode:

-How Adam's relationship with design has changed

-How Adam, as the owner, works with the Project Manager at ICS

-Why finding the right cultural fit in new team members matters at ICS

-How the creative team at ICS works with clients