Build A Better Agency Podcast

Bob Sanders is a powerhouse in the marketing industry. He has previously worked with Agency Management Group, a firm that specialized in the operations, finance, and technology consultations for multinational agencies around the world. Since then, he has become the leader of Sanders Consulting Group, a leading consulting firm specializing in helping agencies implement best practices faster and more effectively.  What you’ll learn about in this episode: How agencies can manipulate chemistry to their advantage The four quadrants people fall into and why this is an important thing to be able to assess when pitching new business Why you should never stop generating new business What agencies can do to get better at closing sales Strategies that work with big and small accounts Why spec creative isn’t something to be feared How to play on the misperception that agencies live exciting lives Why you need to alter your pitch based on who you’re pitching to How to be persistent to the point where potential clients a

Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. For the past 21 years, he has also owned and operated his own agency. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an active agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year, give him a unique perspective on running an agency today. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with those 250+ agencies every year — he has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.”   What you’ll learn about in t

Susan Baier began her career as a brand manager for companies like Dial and Conoco-Philips. She also worked agency side and within client companies in their research departments, honing her skills as a research professional. Recognizing that primary research was often too expensive for small to mid-sized agencies, she launched Audience Audit, where she conducts quantitative attitudinal audience segmented research. She helps her agency clients develop marketing strategy for their clients based on customer insights. They find it much easier to develop messaging, strategic plans, and business development plans with real data that helps them understand how customers who look (demographically) the same behave in very different ways and what motives those choices and behaviors. Over the past few years, AMI and Audience Audit have partnered together for studies on how business owners find agencies, their attitudes towards working with agencies, and more.   What you’ll learn about in this episode: How the research

Chuck Meyst has been in sales all his life, from his childhood bike route to CEO and founder of AgencyFinder.com, a matchmaking service for agencies.   What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Chuck started AgencyFinder and how it works Why agency descriptions of themselves should be results-focused What both clients and agencies need to do well to find the right partner The big mistakes agencies make with their websites Sales: why do agencies not like this word? The traits Chuck sees in terrible employees Why processes are so important, especially when it comes to sales The characteristics in agencies that clients love to see How agencies win business through pure chemistry What AgencyFinder does to assess agencies and how to receive that perfect score of 100 How AgencyFinder helps agencies team up with clients that are great matches Things agencies can do today to improve upon the topics discussed in this episode Ways to Contact Chuck: Website: www.agencyfinder.com Email: chuck@agencyfinder.com Phon

Karl Sakas served as the #2 man in a couple different digital agencies before he created the Marketing Agencies community at Inbound.org, which has over 1,000 agencies in 48 countries. As president of Sakas and Company, Karl advises agencies worldwide about strategy, operations, and leadership. He also volunteers as a bartender on a 1930’s railroad car. He has recently published a book entitled, “The In Demand Marketing Agency: How to Use Public Speaking to Become an Agency of Choice.”   What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Karl launched Sakas and Company High-growth agencies vs. lifestyle agencies How agency owners can do what they love without getting sucked into the day-to-day client work How to turn a high-growth agency into an asset that can actually be sold Things that get in the way of the growth and scaling of agencies and how to fix them Karl’s Time Bucket Template for improving time management How agency owners looking to sell their agency should spend their time Action steps agency owners

Before Trent Dyrsmid started a digital agency called Groove, he founded Dyrand Systems, a managed IT service provider that was recognized twice as one of Canada’s PROFIT Magazine’s 100 fastest growing companies. During his 8 years as CEO, Trent was fortunate to have been recognized as one of the Top 40 under 40 business people in Vancouver, B.C. In addition to overseeing Groove, Trent is also the host of the Bright Ideas podcast, where he regularly publishes interviews with some of today’s brightest entrepreneurs. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Trent’s journey into entrepreneurship, leaving to become an employee, and his return to being his own boss Why Trent created Bright Ideas and Groove Digital Marketing The importance of creating a business that works within a niche Generating leads through a lead magnet Why you should be targeting leads on Facebook How to make your agency more valuable by creating systems and getting out of the client work What’s next for agency owners that have successfully

Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. For the past 21 years, he has also owned and operated his own agency. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an active agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year, give him a unique perspective on running an agency today. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with those 250+ agencies every year — he has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.” What you’ll learn about in thi

Jay Friedman is a nationally recognized and accomplished digital media expert, speaker, and author. You will often find him speaking at conferences, writing for lead publications, websites, and books. He recently authored the incredibly well written, information packed 7th edition of “Thirty Days to PAID Digital Media Expertise.” He is, without question, a well-versed expert on digital media and programmatic buying. In 2006, Jay joined Goodway Group to launch the digital division. Now in 2015, Goodway has more than 200 clients across the country. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Programmatic buying: what is it? Why programmatic buying is much more effective than traditional ad buying models How to know whether to bring programmatic buying in-house or work with a partner and rules for both options Jay’s action plan for jumping into programmatic Why programmatic partners have to continually educate their agencies The qualities that the agencies that do programmatic well all have in common How agencies

Douglas Burdett is a B2B marketing agency principle. He is a former artillery officer, and his agency, Artillery, helps agencies get found online, convert website traffic into leads, and nurture leads towards a sale. Douglas authors two marketing blogs, Forward Observer and Fire Support, and he hosts The Marketing Book Podcast. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The importance of niche for creating a market How to run a niche blog that acts as lure for your other services Why buying email addresses is a bad idea Why absolute patience is key whenever you are creating content The Marketing Book Podcast How Douglas automates the promotion of his evergreen content Why Douglas only conducts one podcast interview per week Great productivity software Douglas and his team use Tips and resources for getting your own podcast started Ways to contact Douglas Burdett: Agency website: www.artillerymarketing.com Email: douglas@artillerymarketing.com Douglas Burdett’s Blogs and Podcast: Forward Observer: http://w

Mitch Matthews is a keynote speaker, a success coach, and a bestselling author. He has an amazing podcast titled Dream, Think, Do. Mitch works with leaders from companies such as NASA, Disney, Booking.com, and more. He is passionate about coaching entrepreneurs and leaders to dream bigger, think better, and do more of the stuff they love. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why mentoring your employees is so important Mentorship 2.0: how to structure your mentor/mentee relationships to draw out the best results The dangers of “getting a PhD in mentoring” Mentoring with the CEO vs. CFO model How to equip employees to make decisions The fundamental differences between how we were brought up and how millennials were brought up and how to deal with these differences How to mentor someone who is skilled in areas that you aren’t Mitch’s “Mentor Manager Cheat Sheet” Book Recommendations: "Drive," by Dan Pink "IGNITE" (2nd Edition), by Mitch Matthews Mentoring Cheat Sheet Ways to Contact Mitch: Website: ww

Sharon Toerek is an intellectual and property law attorney. Her national firm, Toerek Law, works with clients all over the country, devoting time to helping creative professionals protect, enforce and monetize their creative assets. Sharon consults with clients on legal issues surrounding copywriting, content protection, licensing of creative content, trademark and brand protection, and more. She is the former President of the American Ad Federation (AAF) Cleveland and serves on the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) Legal Consultant panel. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The most common legal concerns agencies have The big misperceptions that get agencies into hot water How and why you need to structure agreements with freelancers and clients The Legal and Creative Agency Protection System The big legal issues that are holding agencies back Employees and social media: the policies you need to put in place with your employees to protect your agency Some things you can do at low to n

Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency over the last 20-years. And all through the year, he straddles the fence of working in his agency and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies in a variety of ways. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with a lot of agencies every year — he has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.” What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to know if you are spending too mu

Stephen Woessner is CEO of Predictive ROI and the host of the brilliant Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, The Small Business Owner’s Handbook to Search Engine Optimization and Increase Online Sales Through Viral Social Networking. His digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine and more. His agency blends education in very transparent ways for clients. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Stephen’s agency blends education into what they do for their clients How you can charge a premium fee while building trust and proving expertise What needs to be changed to fix the money draining mistakes that are sucking money out of your business Predictive ROI’s scorecard The modern agency ecosphere Data vs. traditional creative: how do you blend them? Why Predictive ROI had to completely rewrite their client contract agreement How their money-back guarantee has helped them retain clients longer Strategies to

Peter Levitan builds successful brands, digital technologies, publishing and advertising environments, and highly effective marketing programs for Fortune 500 companies. He has 30 years of experience running Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, his own Portland Agency, and as the CEO of two Internet start-ups. What you'll learn about in this episode: The major mistakes agencies make in regards to bringing on new business How to create distinction using your website and the reason most agency websites aren’t attractive to clients The ways agencies are doing sales wrong and what can be done about it Specialization vs. generalization: how to specialize and still have fun The kind of research Peter’s agency does that helps them look better than their competition Why you should stop using the term “full-service” if you want to position your agency against your competition They ways many agencies and agency owners are failing when it comes to their content Recommended books and resources: The Levitan Pi

Jason Falls is one of the most widely read and respected voices in digital marketing and social media industries today. He leads digital strategy for Elasticity and he also shares his no-nonsense ideas regularly on his own website, www.jasonfalls.com. He is the author of some great books, including “No Bullshit Social Media” and “The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing.” What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why social cannot be an upsell The benefits of putting your pride aside, admitting you can’t do everything, and partnering your agency up with other agencies Why you need to be truly honest with yourself about what your agency’s strengths and weaknesses are How to protect your agency when partnering with other agencies How millennials are changing the entire landscape of our world and what we need to do to adapt The action steps you can take to start partnering up with the right agencies Recommended books and resources: No Bullshit Social Media The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing Website: www.jasonfa

Scott is an international recognized leader in digital communications, digital transformation, social media, and marketing. He is the principal of Scott Monty Strategies where he counsels brands and agencies on strategy, executive communications, influencer management, customer experience, and digital innovations. He has extensive experience in communications and marketing agencies, including a client base of IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences, Coca-Cola, American Airlines, T-Mobile, GE Software, and more. He has also authored the widely acclaimed Week in Digital newsletter at ScottMonty.com and is the executive editor and co-host of the Sherlock Holmes website and podcast “I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. What you’ll learn about in this episode: What Scott learned about agency/client relationships while working at Ford The qualities in agencies that clients want to keep around The things agencies tend to do that get on clients’ nerves How Scott sells his consulting services by having a side career giving speec