Build a Better Agency Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Agency leaders have some of the most important roles in the agency. They’re key team members supporting the agency owner in the agency’s day-to-day operations and taking on roles that allow the agency owner to focus on business development and other key tasks.

The truth is, it can be a lonely position.

As agency owners, we need to consistently work on being more supportive to these key leaders — whether they’re our COO, creative directors, department heads, account leads, or even the company president.

These positions are mission-critical and will support the long-term growth and success of the agency all the way to its succession. So naturally, it’s our job to create opportunities for growth, career development, and constructive feedback that support our agency leaders to be better at their jobs.

This episode is a great one to sit down with your agency leaders and go through the different points we discuss so you can learn what opportunities you and your agency leaders can create together for their continued growth and development.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Which agency leader positions typically qualify for leadership peer groups
• Why Del found value in sending his agency leaders to peer groups at least twice per year
• How agency peer groups help agency leaders feel less lonely in their positions
• Why money isn’t always the solution to keeping agency leaders happy
• The value of mentoring and coaching leaders, and how to structure time for it
• How to give your agency leaders more autonomy in their roles
• The importance of workshops, peer groups, and other leadership training opportunities
• Helping your agency leaders grow in their roles within the agency
• How agency leaders want feedback presented to them

Agency owners and leaders are no strangers to proposal writing. But despite our vast experience, there are things we still get wrong, and there is always something we can improve — especially as the industry shifts and changes so quickly.

I got to sit down with Robin Boehler and Emily Shapiro from Mercer Island Group to talk about the often-overlooked pitfalls in our agency proposals. This conversation is a game-changer for anyone looking to level up their agency’s pitch game.

You might even see yourself in some of the examples of what not to do in an agency proposal, cover letter, or bio, but don’t be too hard on yourself. This episode is all about unlearning the bad habits so we can replace them with ones that will get you to that next conversation with a prospect.

Quality over quantity is the name of the game when it comes to winning new business with agency proposals. So, if you’re ready to transform your proposal process and start landing those dream clients, this episode is a must-listen.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Unintentional errors agencies make that cost them new business opportunities in their proposals
• Framing your proposal as client-centric instead of agency-centric
• Crafting a story with an agency proposal
• How to show a client you’re a good listener
• The most common reasons why clients move on to a new agency
• Using case studies to talk about other clients without going overboard
• Making sure it’s not too hard for prospects to work with you
• What we get wrong about our agency bios
• Misunderstood agency proposal best practices
• The most glaring mistakes we make with our case studies

Agency owners have it tough these days, but we have more control over how hard it is for us than we think. This week, we’re going to talk in-depth about how we can change the course and direction of our business by changing our habits and mindsets.

To help us, we’re talking to Jason Yarusi about creating positive momentum around breaking bad habits, choosing to offload tasks that aren’t propelling us forward, and cutting out unnecessary chaos in our lives.

You might think there’s nothing you can personally change, or maybe you have too many variables that are completely out of your control. You could have a lot of fires popping up during the day that you have to address.

But the good news is we have a lot more say in what happens in our day-to-day than we think. And by taking a few moments to ground yourself in the reality of your situation, you’ll realize that a lot of those big fires aren’t fires at all — or someone else’s fires to put out.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• The near-death experience that changed Jason’s course in life
• Being self-aware in how you’re showing up each day
• Starting the day off with a solid routine that sets you up for success
• Regrounding yourself when things start going off course
• How to recognize you’re not focused on the right parts of your business
• Finding your way out of the day-to-day grind to reach your long-term goals
• Creating positive momentum around changing habits that aren’t serving you
• Where people get stuck in these habit shifts the most
• Writing down 3 things you can do write now to build positive momentum

Fear is a familiar feeling in agency ownership. It’s easy to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing or might be missing something important, especially if you’re doing it all yourself.

In this episode, I’m delivering advice on how to conquer the biggest agency owner fears in a Collabs & Cocktails event hosted by Predictive ROI. Whether it’s imposter syndrome, money worries, figuring out how to manage employees, or learning how to collaborate with other agency owners, I have some advice that will help ease your mind and get you back to focusing on the important things.

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops and more.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• The four biggest fears of agency ownership
• How to eliminate money fears by running things by the numbers
• Taking care of your employees so that they stick around
• Why you shouldn’t operate on only referrals and word of mouth for biz dev
• The importance of becoming an authority in your industry
• Generating right-fit leads
• Navigating imposter syndrome
• The right way to collaborate with other agency owners

One of the best ways to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and get more right-fit clients is by publishing a book. Often, the people who don’t want to publish a book fall into one of two categories: those who don’t think they know enough (or think everyone knows what they do) or those who think they have the “secret sauce” and don’t want to give it away willingly.

Our guest, Henry DeVries, is here to tell us why everyone has it in them to get published, why it’s the best way to find new clients who are a great fit to work with your agency, and the seven best ways to market the book once it’s written.

This episode is packed with tips that will teach you exactly how to set yourself apart from other agencies and get clients contacting you for work, not the other way around.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Why a book is the #1 marketing tool for an agency
• How to identify the topic of your book
• Why giving away your secrets will leave potential clients wanting more
• Why you know more than you think you do about your industry — so write about it!
• The “Magnificent Seven” of marketing your new book
• The spectrum of “getting published” and building your body of work
• Having a book as a legacy piece for your agency and your accomplishments

Today on the podcast, we’re challenging how you approach B2B prospecting. If you’ve ever been afraid to openly advertise your pricing, roll out a free offer for new customers, or try something completely different from the agency norm, I hope this conversation inspires you to take the risk.

In this episode, David Valentine and I discuss how his businesses have grown incredibly by using unorthodox methods to drive sales and keep clients for longer through “Outrageous Offers” and case studies. His agencies have closed 75–85% of their sales by giving clients nothing to lose in working with him. He knows that what companies need most are results — and fast.

Tune in to hear what he’s learned over ten years of agency experience, the different methods he uses to drive sales, and how he guarantees his clients’ happiness.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• What is an “outrageous offer”?
• How to stop creating roadblocks for your agency to obtain new business
• The effectiveness of case studies in showing clients how you can guarantee results
• How to sell results over selling a product
• Why attaching free offers to a guaranteed outcome works
• Why transparency will generate new business for you
• Making yourself irresistible and undeniable to prospects

We always say, “What you measure matters,” on the podcast, and today is no exception. To keep you and your team fed, you need to measure metrics in your agency. Without this vital system in place, you likely have no idea how much money is coming in or being spent, which directly affects your team.

That’s why we have Marcel Petitpas here to teach us all about running your agency by the numbers. He’s the expert in AGIs, delivery margins, and profit and loss statements, and he knows how to keep agencies on the right track.

In this episode, we’ll discuss the most important metrics agencies should already be measuring, how to improve time utilization, calculate billable rates, and the importance of excellent project management. It might seem like an intimidating topic, but we promise that it’s not as painful as it looks, and it will make your life so much easier once you make the changes we discuss in this episode.

Marcel Petitpas is the CEO & Co-Founder of Parakeeto, a company dedicated to helping agencies measure and improve their profitability by streamlining their operations and reporting systems, a problem he discovered while running his own agency back in his early 20’s.

He’s also the fractional COO at Gold Front, an award-winning creative agency in San Francisco working with brands like Uber, Slack, Keap, and more. As well as the head strategic coach at SaaS Academy by Dan Martell, the #1 coaching program for B2B SaaS businesses in the world.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• The importance of measuring metrics and agency finances
• The difference between delivery margins and delivery costs
• Three ways to improve delivery margins
• How to approach employee utilization differently to boost profitability
• Why time tracking shouldn’t go out the window
• What to consider when setting billable rates
• The imperative role project managers play in measuring metrics
• Where agencies might face challenges in 2023

We’ve all been hearing it: a storm is coming. Or maybe it’s not. Depending on who you ask, we don’t know what our economic future holds. But one thing is for sure, if you stay prepared with recession planning, regardless of what the economy is doing, you can hold strong against those unexpected changes much more easily.

In this solocast episode, I will share with you the best ways you can start recession planning even if your agency is financially okay right now. It’s never the wrong time to start looking at how you can operate better, earn more profit, and keep great clients and employees, no matter the economic outlook.

Instead of waiting out the economic storm and wishing you had been better prepared, start making changes today and know that you have the power to pull yourself through anything while still making a profit. You just need to be smart about it.

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops and more.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• Things you should already be doing for recession planning
• Why you should be raising your hourly rates
• How to prepare yourself against a longer sales cycle
• The importance of renewing contracts and locking in good clients now
• The good and the bad of employee staffing during a recession
• Why having too much money in your agency is a bad thing
• The importance of maintaining a good attitude with your team
• Why you can still be profitable even if there’s a recession

What do you think of when you hear about Disney? Fireworks, castles, and happy families all probably came to mind for a moment. But you probably didn’t think of dishware — and we’re not talking about those cups from the 90s with Lion King characters on them that were in every family’s kitchen cabinets.

Today’s guest, Alvaro Melendez, knows brands deeply in a way that most of us could never even imagine. If you think you know the core of what makes a brand who they are, think again. Alvaro has been developing and using machine learning to measure brand awareness or “Brand Love” for years to help companies, both big and small, understand what makes people connect with them.

In this episode, we discuss how Alvaro uses technology to help brands reach a bigger audience. He speaks about how to advertise effectively, how DEI is imperative for brands, and how creativity and technology go hand-in-hand in brand innovation.

And, if you’re still wondering why Disney is defined by dishware, you’ll just have to tune in to the podcast to get your answer.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• How Alvaro and his team are using machine learning to make brands trackable
• Why organic social is the best way to advertise and promote your brand
• How machine learning has taught major brands things they never knew about themselves
• What the PPAI branding framework is, and how to use it to identify major brand metrics
• How smaller agencies can learn from the experimentation of big brands
• The importance of making DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) a huge part of your brand identity
• Why creativity and storytelling must still be people-centered and collaborative in an automated world

What makes an employee want to stick around at your agency? Every year since 2014, we’ve been doing the research and compiling it into our Agency Edge Research to help agency owners get to the bottom of how to maintain employee satisfaction.

We expected certain things like financial compensation and work-from-home flexibility to be most important this year. Still, we were surprised to find many other desires shining through that have nothing to do with money. This year, Susan Baier returns to help me break down our findings.

In our analysis, we’ll highlight three categories that most agency employees fall into and how their needs, wants, and levels of loyalty differ across the board. Each group has their own unique way of viewing their role in the agency, how they want to be cared for, and what’s missing that would make them want to stay. We’ll talk in-depth about each group and how we can best address their concerns to boost employee satisfaction.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

• What is the Agency Edge Research Series, and what agency-specific issues does it address?
• What questions do we ask agency employees when compiling the research?
• The three categories that most agency employees fall into when looking at employee satisfaction
• The most important things that employees feel are lacking in the agency culture
• Where millennials stood out more than other age groups in certain categories
• What are the driving reasons behind an employee choosing to leave an agency?
• How to build loyalty in your agency and take care of employees
• How to identify employees who might be at risk of leaving your agency or agency life altogether