Agency Hour – Détails, épisodes et analyse

AI has officially tilted the playing field. Cody Schneider breaks down why verticalized, productized agencies can now operate at enterprise output with tiny teams—using voice agents, UGC ad automations, and “vibe analytics” that turn raw data into decisions in minutes, not months. We get into real examples (med spas, restaurants, law firms), margins (60–70% possible), and how his new product Graphed turns connected sources (Shopify, GA, Klaviyo, ads) into instant reports, dashboards, and insights.

Guest
Cody Schneider — Serial entrepreneur, trend spotter, and founder of Graphed, an AI analytics platform for fast, contextual reporting.

Guest Links

• X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/codyschneiderxx
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/codyxschneider
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codyschneiderx
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@codyschneiderx
• Graphed: https://www.graphed.com/

Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Opal — spend management built for performance marketers: seamless payments and automated ad-spend control.

What we cover

• Why “one-person agencies” win: automations, productized deliverables, and vertical focus
• Real margins today (and why 60–70% is doable with the right stack)
• Building AI ad workflows: script research → UGC video generation → editing → launch
• Voice agents as SDRs: replying, qualifying, and booking via Calendly 24/7
• Client-facing chatbots trained on your delivery docs to reduce CS time
• “Vibe analytics”: asking broad questions of your data and getting actions back
• Graph’s thesis: data → insight → action without the BI learning curve
• Go-to-market: start vertical, then expand horizontal once the ICP is nailed

Tools, platforms & examples mentioned

HeyGen, ArcAds, Make UGC, CapCut, Stormy AI (influencer outreach + negotiation), Adam Robinson’s voice agent, EverBee (Etsy research + new ecom store), Shopify, Google Analytics, Klaviyo, CMSs, CRM agents, Jane (clinics), Clio (law), Shopify (ecom), Square case study.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Intro + why agencies aren’t “dead”
• 03:45 Med-spa marketing surge and productized services trend
• 06:50 The one-person agency stack for Facebook ads & UGC
• 09:50 AI production velocity: 10-person/2-week output in hours
• 12:00 Voice agents that cold email, reply, and book for you
• 14:45 Healthcare, restaurants & law firms: phone agents that convert
• 18:50 Client portals: turning delivery docs into an always-on chatbot
• 20:55 When AI shines: fixed scopes > bespoke one-offs
• 23:20 Launching Graphed: charts, dashboards, insights, data-scientist chat
• 26:55 Broad questions → targeted data pulls → instant analysis
• 30:10 Positioning that sells: “data to insights fast with AI”
• 33:00 Pricing power, urgency, and selling outcomes vs. process
• 36:15 Personalization, brand voice, and dialect in AI phone agents
• 38:20 Why specialization/verticalization is the ultimate edge
• 41:10 Vertical software playbooks (Jane, Clio, Shopify)
• 42:50 Square’s lesson: unlock the “unserved” part of the market
• 43:40 Wrap + where to find Cody & try Graph

Call to action

• Try Graphed (AI analytics for fast reporting & insights).
• If this episode helped, share it with a friend building an agency and leave a quick rating. 🙌

Join me as I chat with AI‑agency phenom Jacob Klug about scaling Creme Digital from a hustle he started at 17 to $170K‑MRR success.

Timeline:

00:00 – Niche > everything
00:42 – Meet Jacob Klug & Creme Digital
01:00 – Teen hustle → 7‑figure agency
01:29 – RFP hack: landing F500 clients
02:15 – Organic LinkedIn/X posts that print $$
03:02 – Sponsor: Opal spend card
03:35 – Starting at 17: origin story
04:10 – First $80K month (year 2)
04:54 – Revenue split: content, ads, referrals
06:05 – Bali nights & time‑zone juggling
07:12 – Profitable ads when you’re the product
08:35 – Biggest mistake: serving everyone
09:50 – Consistency beats “secret sauce”
10:40 – Drake’s “one‑more‑step” founder mantra

Key Points
 • Niche hard: be the biggest fish in a tiny pond and charge premium rates
 • RFP listings + one viral LinkedIn post = early rocket fuel
 • Organic social is still wildly underrated for agencies
 • $170K MRR today: ~60% content, 30% paid, 10% referrals
 • Luck matters—but showing up daily multiplies it
 • Hiring? Go 100% in or 100% out—no half‑measures
 • Consistency compounds; overnight success ≠ overnight

1. Niching Down — Verdict: Underrated
   • Smaller market = clearer messaging, higher fees
   • Easier to dominate SEO & community mindshare
2. Organic Content — Verdict: Untapped Goldmine
   • Daily LinkedIn/X posts drove the first Lovable deals
   • Builds trust long before cold emails land
3. RFP Listings — Verdict: Quick‑Win Growth Hack
   • Bubble RFP page vaulted revenue from $30K → $60K in 30 days
   • Less competition; higher intent buyers
4. Paid Ads Mix — Verdict: Only After PMF
   • Facebook ads profitable once case‑studies proved ROI
   • Keeps pipeline steady but scales cost

Notable Quotes
 — Jacob: “You want to be the best for a very small pocket—those clients pay more and stay longer.”
 — Alex: “Every business sucks at first; stick around and it eventually works.”
 — Jacob: “Nobody has it figured out. Even Drake wakes up thinking: ‘One more step.’”

SPONSOR
 Opal — spend management built for performance marketers. Control ad budgets, pay faster, grow smarter.

FIND ME ON SOCIAL
 LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/opal/
Site | https://www.opalspend.com/
X | https://x.com/alexsteeleopal

FIND JACOB ON SOCIAL
 X | https://x.com/Jacobsklug
LinkedIn | https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jacob-klug-37b254156

Jason Hu, founder and CEO of NexAd, joins to unpack the next generation of advertising: ad placements inside AI chatbots (think DeepAI, Character.ai, Liner) and fully automated ad ops via AI agents. We cover why chatbots behave like “answer engines” (higher intent than search), how conversation context supercharges targeting while preserving privacy via embeddings, and the real-world impact for agencies—automated onboarding, creative generation, campaign setup/management, and client comms. Jason also reflects on TikTok’s ad scale, the AI “bubble” vs. dot-com era, and the infrastructure (GPUs, energy) behind this wave. If you run paid media or build media products, this is your map of what’s coming—and how to benefit first.

Guest
Jason Hu — Founder & CEO, NexAd: https://www.nex.ad/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qitian-hu/
X: https://x.com/onjas_6

Key Takeaways

• Answer Engines = Higher Intent: Chatbots compress “search → click → compare” into a single answer flow; ad units embedded in that context convert.
• Contextual Targeting Without PII: Using embeddings preserves privacy while capturing ultra-specific intent (“car broke down at X & Y in SF”).
• AI as Staff: Treat agents as virtual employees for 80–90% of repetitive work—onboarding, creatives, campaign builds, budget iteration, reporting.
• Cost & Speed Gains: Agencies Jason works with report up to ~95% reduction in operational cost with better or equal performance.
• The Infra Is Real: This isn’t just software—GPUs, data centers, and energy provisioning are the new constraints (and opportunities).
• Ad Market Expands (Not Shrinks): Like the shift to social/search, AI ads are likely to grow the pie by improving the product.

Timestamps

00:00 – Why “Answer Engines” Beat Search — Chatbots return the answer, not just links; intent is off the charts.

02:00 – Ad Inventory Inside Chatbots — Live on major bots; conversation history enables precise, moment-of-need targeting.

06:00 – Privacy Approach — No raw chat storage; use of embeddings/anonymized intent signals.

08:30 – Workflow Automation for Agencies — AI as “virtual employees” for research, creative, campaign setup, budget iteration, reporting, and even client comms.

13:30 – Why Jason Picked Ads (TikTok lens) — The sheer scale of digital ads and how AI is changing it.

18:00 – Agencies vs. Platforms — It’s a partnership: platforms still chase advertiser performance and feedback.

22:30 – Is AI a Bubble? Lessons from Dot-Com — Revenue reality, who bears risk, and why utility outlives valuation cycles.

28:00 – The Physical World of AI — Data centers, GPUs, and energy constraints; macro tailwinds from infra build-out.

33:30 – Case Studies & Ops Impact — Small ecom wins; agencies cutting ~95% of ops costs with NexAd’s agents.

37:00 – How to Try It + Closing — nex.ad and direct email.

Sponsor
Opal — the spend platform built for performance marketers: https://opalspend.com/

Win on one channel—not eight. Oliver Brocato, Founder & CEO of Bustem, breaks down how to weaponize creator flywheels, pressure platforms to remove fakes, and turn an authentic personal brand into millions in pipeline.

After scaling Tabs, the viral “sex chocolate,” through a creator-led content engine, Oliver faced counterfeits, stolen ads, and fake listings firsthand. Those challenges inspired Bustem, a pay-per-takedown service that helps brands find, document, and remove scammers across Amazon, Shopify, paid social, and beyond. We get into:

• When one great acquisition channel beats eight mediocre ones
• The DMCA → platform → host/registrar → payments → Google delist escalation ladder
• Why marketplaces aren’t incentivized to protect you… until you push them
• How to build a creator swarm (hundreds of daily posts) without buying followers
• The personal brand flywheel that drives inbound deal flow for B2B

Time-Stamps

00:00 — “You only need to win on one channel.” Why focus beats “be everywhere.”
00:38 — Who is Oliver; why he built Bustem for e-com brands getting ripped off.
02:00 — From fidget spinners at 14 → Tabs → AI side projects → Bustem.
03:40 — The problem: stolen ads, dupe sites, fake marketplace listings.
07:03 — Case studies: why ingestibles/supplements get hit hardest; safety risk.
08:40 — How platforms actually work: Brand Registry, Transparency, APEX/arbitration; malicious takedowns and proof.
10:45 — When platforms stall: escalate to hosts, registrars, processors, and Google.
12:05 — Tabs’ creator flywheel: hundreds of branded accounts, 1–3 posts/day each.
14:30 — Compensation: small retainers + performance; Discord of thousands of clippers.
18:00 — When paid ads (Meta/Google/CTV) are the better, durable path vs clipping.
21:00 — The obvious growth lever founders ignore: hire proven sellers with your ICP.
22:06 — Bustem growth stack: SDR/appointments, Meta, cold email, LinkedIn.
23:05 — Personal brand playbook: be loud, be consistent, own a micro-niche.
25:00 — “Be the house, not the affiliate.” Turning audience into your own B2B offer.

Guest

• Oliver Brocato — Founder & CEO, Bustem 
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/oliver__b1

Sponsor

Opal — the spend platform built for performance marketers. - https://opalspend.com/

From jobless in 2020 to building a profitable podcast-first agency, Ben Albert (Real Business Connections) breaks down how a simple local show became a national lead engine for high-ticket clients—without paid ads. We cover booking bigger guests with social proof, repurposing every episode for long-tail ROI, and why treating your show like a public diary compounds trust, reach, and revenue.

What You’ll Learn

• Podcast → Pipeline: Turning conversations into high-ticket retainers (and why trust beats clicks).
• Guest Booking System: “Nominate” > referrals > name-drop social proof to land bigger guests.
• Repurposing Flywheel: Full episode → trailer → shorts → graphics → show notes → blog.
• Community-Led Growth: Using a free community to nurture, then upsell to a paid inner circle.
• Positioning Shift: Ditching low-ticket services to sell premium, recurring podcast ops.
• Diary-Style Content: Publish the journey, not just the highlight reel—compound returns over time.

Key Takeaways

• A podcast is a networking, brand, and content system—not just a media product.
• High-ticket > high volume: One right client can beat a thousand tiny offers.
• Stack social proof: press mentions, past guest list, reviews, testimonials—do all of it.
• Consistency compounds: Evergreen episodes keep working long after release.

Guest

Ben Albert — Real Business Connections: https://realbusinessconnections.com/
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realbenalbert/

Resources Mentioned

• Ben’s community: https://WeAllGrowTogether.com
• Sponsor — Opal (spend platform for performance marketers): https://www.opalspend.com/

In this episode of The Agency Hour, we sit down with Brad Smith, longtime agency owner and marketing innovator, to unpack how he scaled a $3M business by focusing on relationship-driven marketing, patient growth strategies, and systems that actually work.

Brad shares his wild journey from running a health and fitness business to pivoting into digital marketing after a life-changing accident. He breaks down his unique ad strategy on X (Twitter) that helped one client turn $3,600 in ad spend into $3M in annual revenue—all without sending a single click to a landing page.

We also dive into:

• Why most agencies fail at follow-up (and how to fix it)
• How to run hyper-effective profile visit ads that build trust before selling
• The magic of combining organic content with paid amplification
• The patience required to build lasting brand equity
• The power of staying focused instead of chasing shiny objects
• Lessons from scaling YouTube, X, and referrals into million-dollar channels

Key Takeaways

• Follow-up is everything. It now takes an average of 24 touches across 3 platforms before someone buys.
• Ads aren’t for selling upfront. Brad uses ads to drive profile visits, not clicks, building long-term trust through organic content.
• Be ready to pivot. Brad’s agency started after a devastating accident forced him to rethink his future.
• Content compounds. Eight years, 900+ YouTube videos, and $1M+ ARR later—consistency pays off.
• Focus wins. Agencies get stuck by chasing too many services. The winners get known for one thing.

Links & Resources

• Guest: Brad Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hylthlink/

• Brad’s Agency: AutomationLinks.com

• Sponsor: Opal – Spend management for performance marketing teams: https://www.opalspend.com/ 

In this episode, we sit down with Christopher Kennedy, CEO of Astrafuse, a performance-based lead generation agency specializing in the home improvement space. Chris shares the story of how he and four co-founders bootstrapped their company after being laid off just weeks before Christmas 2023, and why they all took pay cuts to chase equity and build something of their own.

What You'll Learn:

• How Astrafuse landed major clients through simple LinkedIn outreach and organic content
• The power of building a visible personal brand (even with zero followers)
• Their hybrid model combining web leads and phone calls for home improvement companies
• How they built a marketplace to resell excess leads
• Balancing CTO and CEO roles as a technical founder
• Using podcasting to build trust and credibility over time
• Why consistent content creation is still the best growth strategy in 2025

Key Takeaways:

"Just show that you have a pulse - be a real person by consistently posting. It doesn't have to be elaborate, just be consistent because people will research you." Our best buyers came from doing outreach on LinkedIn, and bigger clients often have more friction upfront, but once you smooth that out, everything else flows.

Guest: Christopher Kennedy, CEO of Astrafuse
Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chkennedy/

Sponsor

Opal — spend management for performance marketers
Get the ad-spend + back-office stack built for agencies: https://www.opalspend.com/ 

This episode is brought to you by Opal, the spend management platform built for performance marketing teams. Learn more at opalspend.com.

In this episode, we're joined by Yara Abaza, founder of YA Graphix, a neuromarketing agency. Yara evolved from a solo freelance designer into the creator of Instinct Intelligence, a proprietary neuromarketing system currently being clinically tested at the University of Toronto.

Yara discusses the emerging field of neuromarketing, which is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. She explains how her agency utilizes neuroscience technology, including EEG brainwave data, eye tracking, and biometric feedback, to help brands optimize their marketing strategies with a 100% success rate in segmentation, targeting, and positioning. The conversation also covers her journey in building the agency, the challenges of managing a remote team, and the importance of networking and follow-up in landing high-profile clients like Google.

Guest

Yara Abaza — Founder & CEO, YA Graphix (Neuromarketing Agency)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaraabaza/
Website: https://www.yagraphix.com/ (YA Graphix)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yagraphix/ (Instagram)
Press/Newsroom: https://pressroom.prlog.org/yagraphix/ (pressroom.prlog.org)
Research (Academia): A Comprehensive Neuromarketing Study… via Instinct Intelligence™ — https://www.academia.edu/143546098 (Academia)

Sponsor

Opal — spend management for performance marketers
Get the ad-spend + back-office stack built for agencies: https://www.opalspend.com/ 

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Cold open: “Neuromarketing will grow to $2.62B…” (industry momentum & bold claims)
• 00:22 — Host intro + welcome to Yara / YA Graphix
• 01:16 — What is neuromarketing vs. “the algorithm”? EEG, eye tracking, biometrics explained
• 03:32 — The origin story: design → marketing → why neuromarketing
• 04:45 — Inside Instinct Intelligence™: octagon model & eight consumer categories
• 06:10 — Running a study: ICP selection, stimuli, devices, data integration
• 08:05 — Evidence & differentiation: case studies, university collaboration, publishing results
• 10:12 — Operations: team makeup, contractors, global time zones
• 12:00 — Pricing levers: sample size, scope, confidentiality, retainers
• 14:05 — Biz dev: in-person networking, cold outreach, and the follow-up habit
• 16:20 — Founder life: long hours, family reactions, choosing your city
• 19:00 — What’s next: more trials, more research, productizing IP

Key Takeaways

• Yara’s path: freelance designer → traditional marketing → neuromarketing agency founder.
• What neuromarketing actually measures (EEG, eye tracking, biometrics) and how that differs from social algorithms.
• How Instinct Intelligence™ works (octagonal scale, eight consumer drivers/categories) and how trials are run with ICP-matched participants.
• Building IP inside an agency: partnering on studies, creating case-study proof, and using evidence to speed sales cycles.
• Remote research teams, recruiting participants, and the pricing knobs that change study size/scope.
• The reality of founder hours, perseverance, and choosing cities (Denver, NYC, Austin) for network and operations.

Resources & references mentioned

• YA Graphix (Neuromarketing agency): https://www.yagraphix.com/ (YA Graphix)
• Instinct Intelligence™ overview (brand channels): https://www.instagram.com/yagraphix/ (Instagram)
• Recent study by Yara Abaza (Academia.edu): https://www.academia.edu/143546098 (Academia)
• Neuromarketing & EEG — recent scholarly overviews:
  • A systematic review on EEG-based Neuromarketing (2024): https://braininformatics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40708-024-00229-8 (SpringerOpen)
  • Technological advancements & opportunities in Neuromarketing (2020): https://braininformatics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40708-020-00109-x (SpringerOpen)

Notable Quotes

• “We decode the subconscious—EEG and biometrics tell us what surveys can’t.”
• “Instinct Intelligence™ lets us measure competitors on an emotional scale, not just clicks.”
• “Case studies + clinical-style trials are our sales engine.”

Jennifer Mancusi, Co-Founder & CEO of Growgetter, joins Agency Hour to share how she transitioned from CRO at Voxpopme to running her own B2B growth agency. We dig into the realities of founder life, the hidden weight of sales, and why customer-centric marketing always wins. Jennifer also breaks down the right way to use AI (restructure and repurpose your own ideas—don’t replace them), how referrals and one great content download built her client base, and why disciplined CRM habits keep pipeline honest. This episode is packed with actionable insights for agency leaders, marketers, and founders who want to scale smarter.

Guest

• Jennifer Mancusi — Co-Founder & CEO at Growgetter

• Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mancusi/

Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by Opal
 — spend management for performance teams.

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Why yesterday’s tactics won’t win today; AI in marketing
• 01:00 – What Growgetter does & who they serve
• 02:30 – From CRO to founder: admin shock & commitment shift
• 06:10 – The selling reality of agency life
• 09:00 – CRM discipline & pipeline honesty
• 12:30 – Landing the first clients: referrals + one content download
• 15:30 – Balancing client work with your own marketing
• 18:30 – Podcasting’s compounding effects
• 21:00 – Rapid change cycles: AI, Google updates, shifting trends
• 23:00 – Using AI: research, restructure, repurpose
• 27:00 – Targeting evolution: demographics → behaviors & intent
• 31:00 – Lululemon’s “Ocean” persona & customer-first strategy
• 35:00 – Timeless principle: start with the customer, channels follow
• 38:00 – What’s next: educating the market & building community

Key Takeaways

• Marketing playbooks transfer, but tactics must evolve.
• The founder’s #1 job is selling—clients, talent, and retention.
• Use AI daily for research, restructuring, and repurposing.
• Referrals + niche focus = the first wave of clients.
• CRM discipline and pipeline honesty are non-negotiable.
• Deep customer personas win over demographic targeting.
• Balancing client delivery with your own brand marketing is hard—but critical.

Links & Resources

• Growgetter: https://www.growgetter.io/

• Jennifer Mancusi (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mancusi/

• Voxpopme: https://www.voxpopme.com/

• Opal (sponsor): https://opal.com

• Guy Kawasaki: https://guykawasaki.com/

• Andy Crestodina (Orbit Media): https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/author/andy/

• David Ogilvy Bio: https://www.ogilvy.com/people/david-ogilvy

Quotes

• “If you’re not using AI tools, you’re doing something wrong.”
• “Measure meticulously so you can experiment freely.”
• “Delivery seemed like the hard part—turns out selling is the founder’s real job.”
• “Start with your own source content. Use AI to restructure and maximize it.”