jasonblumer

Jason Blumer is joined by Trenton Moss, formerly of Webcredible, one of the UK's leading experience design agencies, as he explored how he built an agency for 15 years before sales and the whole business tanked overnight. After months of losses, he decided to sale. And this is his journey out of the chaos and into a coaching and training platform, Team Sterka.

Jason welcomes Andy Budd back to the Businessology Show for an insider look at what navigating inevitable transitions in agencies entails. They broadly discuss growth challenges and decision-making as leaders. While Andy also shares his personal decision to sell his company, ClearLeft, to his employees and how to think through these leadership moves.

For this Women's History Month, we're honored to welcome Anne Deeter Gallaher, co-author of Women in High Gear, and CEO of the Deeter Gallaher Group. Anne shares her non-traditional story of starting her own business later in life that drives her passion for female entrepreneurship and on-rampers. She and Jason also dig into the evolution of PR firms over the years, in light of the many voices social media allows for, and how vital authentically sharing your value is to the world.

"We’re not just making things someone thinks people need, hopefully we’re making stuff people really want and need, ” shares Jon Kolko of Modernist Studio on the unique and distinct work they are doing in their field. In this episode, Jon delves into the importance of curiosity and approaching design through empathy, which then leads to helping their clients envision and get excited about what the future could hold for them.

Jason Blumer welcomed Mickey Mellen and Ali Green of GreenMellen to this fourth episode in the Agency Recovery Series! Mickey and Ali share how the market has changed for them and how that has adjusted the ways they serve their clients. They also discussed how their niche hasn't involved picking a particular industry, but rather defining their ideal client. And how this position has uniquely prepared them for the challenges this year held.

This episode is part of a series of month-end specials where we will be bringing on strong agency leaders who have weathered this pandemic and hear strategies they've employed to navigate this new, ever-changing marketplace. Let us know if we can help your agency with recovery strategies by reaching out to us at info@blumercpas.com or checking our website [Blumer CPAs](http://www.blumercpas.com/)!

Jason Blumer has an engaging conversation with Dev Basu, CEO of Powered by Search. Dev shares the importance of having a proactive sales process to avoid bending to the client's buying process, which can be uninformed and ultimately fail them. He emphasizes the importance of educating the clients on what they need as part of the sales process, which allows for premium positioning, pricing, and better clients to work with.

Jason spoke with Anna Love of Stoked Design Firm for the next episode of our Agency Recovery Series. Anna shares how Stoked has readjusted during this year and created an emphasis on caring for companies that want to care more intentionally for their team.

This is our third episode in a series of month-end specials where we will be bringing on strong agency leaders who have weathered this pandemic and hear strategies they've employed to navigate this new, ever-changing marketplace. Let us know if we can help your agency with recovery strategies by reaching out to us at info@blumercpas.com or checking our our website [Blumer CPAs](http://www.blumercpas.com/)!

Jason welcomed advertising legend, Peter Levitan, to the show this week! Jason was able to pick his brain on what "building an unignorable brand" means and how to get noticed in this overly saturated market. Peter shares his journey through the years and what he has gleaned from his vast experience in the advertising world.

Jason spoke with Marc Avila of 3 Media Web for the second episode of our Agency Recovery Series. Marc discusses how 3 Media Web is adjusting in this ever-changing climate. He shares how they're focusing on aligning with clients and become their partners.

This is our second episode in a series of month-end specials where we will be bringing on strong agency leaders who have weathered this pandemic and hear strategies they've employed to navigate this new, ever-changing marketplace. Let us know if we can help your with recovery strategies by reaching out to us at info@blumercpas.com or checking our our website [Blumer CPAs](http://www.blumercpas.com/)!

Phillip digs into the details of what a brand is and how good brand management increases value. He discusses the human desire to be a part of a belief system and how a good brand crafts that. Jason then delves into the current climate of racial justice and asks Phillip to share his invaluable perspective as a black man in this industry.

Jason Blumer was able to connect with Charlie Poulson of Americano Design and dig into the fascinating topic of the psychology and behind-the-scenes work that goes into presentation design. Charlie shares the story of moving from a design/branding role in his twenties to now thriving in the unique niche work of designing powerful presentations for clients.

James Rose, CEO of Akura Technology and co-founder of Content Snare, sits down with Jame Blumer on this episode to discuss the nuance of Automation Engineering. He shares how the often difficult task of information exchange with clients has lead to building solutions, such as Content Snare. Jason and James further discuss how human nature plays a role in designing a product and a user interface for two very different groups of people - for the agencies themselves and then for the clients of those agencies.

Jason sits down with Methodical Coffee owners and business partners, Marco Suarez, Will Shurtz and David Baker. They share how their complimentary skill sets led to the thriving partnership they have today and how Methodical Coffee has captured branding being a wholistic approach to business.

Jason speaks with Chase Clymer, founder of Electric Eye, and the host of the Honest Ecommerce podcast, on the process of building an ECommerce agency. Chase shares their journey of moving from a contractor-model company to a solid, committed team of Shopify experts. He describes a marketing strategy they've employed and the way they have built a content engine into their agency through a weekly podcast, Honest ECommerce, where they give advice to their core market.

Jason had the privilege of speaking with Shannon Langrand of Langrand agency, based out of Houston, TX. They discussed the process of how Langrand took the risk to their narrow niche specifically in the healthcare industry. Shannon shares how they crafted their team around that expertise and the importance of building a team model that reflects the promises you make to your market.

Jason Blumer chats with Joe Rinaldi, founder of That Was Clutch, on this episode of the Businessology Show. Joe brings to to the table a creative take on business development and avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach with his clients. He shares how beginning the process with general principles, but then allowing the nuance of each unique owner and client to shape his strategy has been key. They close the episode with discussing how agency math is often misguided and how future non-revenue generating projects are vital to sustainability.

On this Businessology episode, Jason Blumer had the opportunity to talk with Jen Dary about what it looks like to coach clients through this economic disruption. Jen is the founder of Plucky, a leadership coaching and consulting firm based out of Berkley, CA. She shared with Jason her own personal transition and reframing her of goals through this season. As she has asked of herself and her clients “What is my COVID job right now?”, she has seen a new, more freeing frame of reference unfold.

Meghan Phillips of Honey joins Jason Blumer on this episode of the Businessology Show. Meghan and Jason talk about niching, designing internal processes and creating a tapestry with your team. Both Meghan and Jason are featured in Adam Davidson's new book, "The Passion Economy."
Come see Adam, Meghan and Jason at SXSW in Austin, TX!

We discuss 2 key problems a lot of agency owners face: (1.) they don't understand their financial metrics ('Agency Math'), and (2.) the agency owner is too entrenched in the day to day operations of the agency. AMI helps agencies solve these problems.

Here are some key ways to build a better agency:
- agency owners must move into their client's sales funnel, and begin helping their clients not only with websites and branding, but sales creation and documentation.
- after assisting with the sales funnel, the agency can go deeper into the sales funnel to: (1.) retain and delight the customer, (2.) obtain customer feedback, and (3.) upsell and add more value to the customer.
- though many agencies feel overwhelmed and want more team members, most agencies are actually overstaffed. Solving the problem involves creating better processes, not necessarily hiring more people.
- agency owners are too slow to make decisions to remove legacy clients or legacy team members that are no longer moving the agency forward.

In this episode, we discuss Kevin Hoffman's view on the Freelancer vs. the Agency. Which one should you be? Both? Neither? The Experienced Freelancer (aka independent design consultants) can do what agencies do because their network is so deep, and their overhead is so low. Those working in a design business on their own can build amazing teams, and still work with Fortune 100 clients. Maybe you can too.

Other topics discussed:
- freelancers as mercenaries,
- freelancers may take orders, but independent design consultants ask the client "how do you even know you have a problem?"
- pricing clients up front as a consultant,
- how he does project management,
- taking risks by saying 'No' to certain work and services,
- and much more!