Leadership is seriously hard work. There’s a ton of pressure, juggling and personal sacrifice. Don’t let burnout get the best of you! Learn the signs of a major leadership crash before it happens and how to be a better agency leader by knowing how to stop self-sabotaging.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• What is a leadership crash?
• How to identify the signs of an impending leadership crash.
• How to be the leader your agency needs.

Today’s guest is Stephen Mansfield, a leadership consultant to CEO's, celebrities and politicians in crisis. He is also a speaker and author; and his specialty is helping with the recovery of leadership crashes. After years of handling things like major corporation CEO’s affairs and politician’s misuse of power, he has identified 10 signs of a pending leadership crash that will help us stop self-sabotaging traits. Stephen’s on the show to describe some of these signs in a proactive attempt to help us identify and avoid our own leadership crash.

What is a leadership crash?

A leadership crash, in Stephen’s words, is a high profile mistake - an affair, embezzlement, misuse of authority or credentials, etc. - that sabotages the career and life of someone in a leadership role.

Stop Self-Sabotaging: What are signs of a leadership crash?

1. Being out of season. A “season” is a predetermined, self-imposed period of time. Continuing to work in the same capacity outside of your season sets you up for a crash. Stephen’s examples of a season include: a retirement age, a political term, a period of time living abroad, etc. He says to abide by your commitment to your season.
   

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2. Choosing isolation. Friends know you best, so right before a major crash people tend to isolate themselves and avoid the issue. Isolation may be due to shame, insecurity, or embarrassment. If you find you’re starting to isolate, figure out why and prevent your own crash.
   

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3. Harboring an unresolved episode of bitterness. We all have issues from our past that have shaped who we are today. However, harboring unresolved issues with intense bitterness can lead to a serious crash. Holding onto issues only breeds resentment and anger, so Stephen’s advice is to reconcile it and learn how to move beyond it.
   

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4. Forgetting fun. The pressures of leadership can be soul crushing and mind numbing. It’s important to sprinkle some fun within your intense, hectic schedule. Stephen says boredom causes most crashes (particularly by men). So make time for vacations, adventures, sports or activities you love in order to build in some fun.
   

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5. Evading confrontation. Those who do not engage in low level confrontations end usually primed for a huge blow out in the form of a leadership crash. According to Stephen, many crashes are a result of no one speaking up when early signs indicate an issue.
   

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6. Serving artificial images. Social media can play a big role in your perceived image. All it takes is one exaggerated social post or embellished article and the bar gets set so high, you can’t live up to it. The result is tons of pressure that lead to disastrous decisions causing a leadership crash.
   

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7. Loss of poetry. Leadership starts as a vision but usually turns into being about processes. The loss of vision, passion and poetry is what leads to a crash. An uninspired leader cannot inspire his/her team. Stephen’s advice is to stay engaged in your business; remember your passion and your “why”.

Read more about the 10 Signs of a Leadership Crash in Stephen’s ebook for on Amazon (it's just $4).

How To Be the Best Agency Leader

“Great leadership is a connection between vision and possibilities with the practical processes to see those possibilities fulfilled.” ~ Stephen Mansfield

Your main job as your agency’s leader is to inspire your team. There’s a big difference between inspiring and motivating...  An inspired team doesn’t need motivation :) Stephen's best example of a great leader is Winston Churchill in WWII. During the war, Churchill first rallied his troops around his vision for winning it and then showed them how it could be done by embodying the vision and enabling them to achieve it.

Inspiring your team and communicating vision is one of the 5 roles of an agency CEO. The key is not to inadvertently de-inspire them. One bad decision can destroy years of building inspiration.

[clickToTweet tweet="A leader is someone who is not only showing what can be done but inspiring and enabling people to do it." quote="A leader is someone who is not only showing what can be done but inspiring and enabling people to do it. ~ Stephen Mansfield"]

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We’ve developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what’s working (and what’s not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Growing Your Business When You Stop Self-Sabotaging

When you can identify the signs of a leadership crash, you will be able to stop self-sabotaging behavior and improve as a digital agency owner. In order to build as an agency owner and grow your business, you need to be able to recognize other issues within your agency that needs your attention.

Look for weak spots in your business and then think of how you can fix them. No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can offer guidance from the different phases of growth you will experience to how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it’s time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team, creating a process for performance-based pricing which can be the best pricing strategy for your business and learning how to keep your big name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Do you know what you need to do to stay relevant and significant to your clients? Let’s face it, marketing is an ever-changing industry. And in the agency world, it’s survival of the fittest. So we must adapt or die! Here’s a great story about how one agency transitioned their business model in order to continue to thrive. Think about Blockbuster video - they didn’t adapt to the needs of the industry and are now extinct. Don’t be the next Blockbuster -adapt or die.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why it’s important to adapt in the agency space.
• 3 Keys to an agency transformation strategy.
• Why and how you can use vlogging to generate leads.

Elizabeth Sosnow is Managing Partner at Bliss Integrated Communications, a 50 person agency in New York City. She’s on the show today to tell us how Bliss transitioned from PR to an Integrated Marketing agency in order to stay relevant in a changing industry. Plus, she shares some great tips on vlogging.

Why It’s Adapt or Die in the Agency Space

Bliss was founded over 40 years ago as a PR agency with a specialization in health care, financial and professional services. Elizabeth says, though, in recent years they faced challenges during the collapse of the traditional news media industry. They quickly released it they needed to make a change in order to adapt to the needs of the industry. That’s when Bliss reinvented themselves from traditional PR to Integrated Marketing.

Their game plan was to use their in-depth knowledge and insights in their niche to pivot the agency. If they’d been generalists, they’d never have the expertise to fall back on. Consider this just another reason why your agency should have a niche :)

3 Keys to an Agency Transformation:

It’s hard to change - especially when you’re already an expert at what you do. But, along with the decision to transition the agency from PR to Integrated Marketing, came the realization that Bliss was entering a new playing field.

Elizabeth says the theme of the transition was “know what you don’t know.” Meaning, they weren’t going to bulls*t themselves, their clients/prospects, or competitors into thinking they could do things they couldn’t do. Instead, she says agency leaders did these 3 things:

1. Hired an outside source to educate their team on everything from operations to pricing.
2. Worked hard and put in additional non-revenue generating hours for agency growth.
3. Understand their limitations and concentrate on keeping control of the top level marketing.

How a Vlog Can Be an Agency Growth Strategy

People don’t want to read anymore. That’s why I’ve had a lot of guests on the show talking about the importance of video marketing and live streaming videos. But what about vlogging? It’s a smart content vehicle that isn’t being used much. I just started my vlog - you can check it out here. Elizabeth recently started one too, so she and I chatted about why and how.

Why vlog? Well, people like to consume information in multiple ways, all at once. Think about it - do you usually watch TV while also on your tablet or smartphone? So we have to reach and garner awareness when and how we can, right? This interview alone can be watched in video form, listened to in podcast form or read as a blog post so we are able to reach people in a variety of formats.

The goal of a vlog is to give your audience a authentic and genuine glimpse into your world. Elizabeth compares it to a lesson she learned as a high school actor. She says actors are translators for the audience trying aiming to tell a story and garner a reaction. The same is true of a vlog - if it’s done well you’ll get attention or a reaction from your audience.

How to Structure an Agency Vlog

Very few agencies are vlogging. In fact, the only one I know of who’s doing it right is Gary Vaynerchuck and his show, DailyVee. Gary vlogs to promote his personal brand as a growth strategy for his agency, VaynerMedia.

If you’re working on building your personal brand, it might mean footage of your daily activities and what makes you, you. Like my new vlog here. If you’re using a vlog strictly to promote your business, it might mean more of a candid and unrehearsed snippet full of business tips, like the one Elizabeth does for Bliss. Her vlog, Marketing Espresso Shots, is a 90-second bi-weekly, “quick jolt” of integrated marketing tips.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We’ve developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what’s working (and what’s not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

What's Next for Your Digital Agency?

No matter what your agency specializes in or the services you offer, you must have the ability to adapt as the industry and technology change.

Through my experience running my own digital agency and helping other digital agency owners, there are many topics I can offer guidance on whether you are an established agency facing struggles to new agencies unsure of what the different phases of growth you will experience will look like.

As you continue to grow your agency team, I can show you how to recognize when it’s time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team to perfect your business strategy by creating a process for performance-based pricing and how to keep your big-name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

If you’re looking for a unique, innovative and low-cost lead gen strategy check out this story. Live events can go far but one agency is using Meetup to find new prospects and turn them into leads while building the know-like-trust factor. Best part is, it’s totally FREE.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• What is Meetup and how does it work?
• 6 Steps to creating your own Meetups for lead gen.
• Using Meetup to capture the attention of big brands.

Our guest today is Ali Salman, co-founder of Rapid Boost, a lead gen agency in western Canada. He’s here to share a unique lead generation strategy that generated over $165K in just a few months and continues to keep their pipeline full with new prospects.

What is Meetup and Why Use It?

Meetup is a social network that facilitates in-person group meetings in various locations worldwide. It’s primarily used to connect people with common interests so they can idea-share, network and help one another. Meetup groups get together in their specific geographic location for social gatherings as well as educational and workshop-style events.

Meetup members join for free and find groups that align with their personal areas of interest, spanning everything from politics to pets to careers. By entering their postal code the Meetup system suggests events and groups and helps find place/time to meet.

There are a bunch of benefits to using Meetup but the biggest one is that you’re it’s an innovative way to build your list. As members join your group(s) you’re essentially creating a list of warm prospects who have an interest in or need for the services you provide.

[clickToTweet tweet="With Meetup, you can build relationships with people who are already interested in your topic." quote="With Meetup, you can build relationships with people who are already interested in your topic."]

6 Steps to Using Meetup for Lead Gen

1- Create a regional group. First, determine what type of group you want to create (this is an example of why niching is so important!). You’ll also have to decide on the purpose your group - is it a mastermind, workshop, etc.?

2- Name your group. Start by researching what groups already exist in your city. The group name should be creative but also specific to your target audience. Think about what type of group they’ll search for and what types of events they’ll attend.

3- Join groups and attend events. Ali suggests getting a feel for what’s out there by attending some local events. Get your toes wet first before jumping in! Look at groups and events both in and outside of your niche.

4- Plan and schedule your first event. Consider the topic(s) that will be of most interest to the attendees. Ali says he gets 30-40 people to attend his events, of those 4-5 have serious potential. The key is to provide value at the event. Try different styles to see what works for your group - presentations, workshops, partners/guest speakers, casual mingling, or a mix of any/all styles.

5- Promote your events. Use social media channels to promote your events in advance. You can also promote your event for free using Eventbrite and creating a Facebook event. Post photos from the event during/after for added emphasis and to gain interest in future events.

6- Be patient while your group gains momentum. Ali says it takes patience and lots of practice. But, it does take awhile to build momentum and he cautions us to stay patient and focused. Like anything else, consistency is crucial to success. The whole point is that you’re putting yourself out there and it takes time to get it right.

7- Work smarter, not harder. You can do the same presentation in multiple cities. This will help your lead gen efforts grow exponentially.

Don’t Start by Pitching!

Ali says he’s hosted dozens of Meetup events and learns a little more each time. The #1 most important lesson is not to sell right off the bat. The people who are in attendance are not there for your agency’s infomercial. Ali suggests preparing a couple of different presentations that provide value to your target audience by helping them with a common problem. Whether they’re interested right away or not, you are building a relationship.

Instead of pitching - what you can do is follow up after the Meetup by pulling the group member list. You can send an email with more information - like a cheat sheet or other takeaways from the event. Or, you can introduce a Foot in the Door offer to this select target.

You Can Target Big Brands Using Meetup

Ali says often times younger Marketing Coordinators or similar will join Meetup groups and attend events looking for the next big thing to show their boss. They want to learn new strategies and innovative ways to solve their problems. That’s where you come in and save the day! Remember, big brands aren’t just a logo - they’re people too. Be specific in who you’re targeting, and be authentic and genuine at the event. Provide enormous value without selling or pitching. Then you will stand out against the “me too” agencies and land bigger brands.

Ready to Discover the Best Agency Strategies Working Today?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We’ve developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what’s working (and what’s not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Keep Improving

Creating a strategy for lead gen for your agency can bring in more clients, particularly big brand clients and bring your digital agency to a whole new level but this can be a recipe for disaster if you don't work on the other challenges you have within your business. Don't worry, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you advice on recognising new client opportunities to different ways of building authority to improve your agency.

If you are having issues with growing your agency, I’ve the different phases of growth within your agency and how performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business as well as the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

Learn all about my career and different experiences as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Top 5 Tips to Accelerate Agency Growth

If you have your sights set on your agency breaking 8-figures this episode is a must. Do you want to know how you can accelerate agency growth? Today's guest is an agency owner who's gone from $0 to over 8-figures and he shares his top 5 tips so you can grow too.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you must niche down to accelerate agency growth.
• How to reward key employees without giving them ownership.
• Ways to stop doing all the agency stuff you hate.

Our guest today is Chris Spears, co-founder of Arke Systems the agency he started in 2006. Eleven years into the business he's seeing steady growth, has 80+ employees and loves his job! Chris and I go way back to my digital agency days when we were working as strategic partners. His agency has crushed the 8-figured ceiling and he’s on the show to share how you can do it too.

1- The More Niched, the Faster the Growth

Chris attributes a lot of his agency’s growth to an early appreciation of niching down. If he could do it all again, he’d specialize even sooner. Once Arke became #1 in a specific technology and marketed themselves as the pros in that arena, they had a full pipeline with tons of inbound prospects.

A lot of agency owners are afraid to become too specialized because there’s a fear of “losing” clients or “turning off” prospects. However, Chris believes buyers are much more sophisticated than we give them credit for. They won’t be your guinea pig for a project you’ve never done - they want an agency that's proficient in a specific skill or experts in an industry.

2- Get the Right People in the Right Seats

Surround yourself with people smarter than you and you will grow. Most entrepreneurs don’t think any one can do it (whatever “it” might be) any better so they end up being control freaks about everything. But when you get the right people in the right positions their skills and experience will help your agency grow beyond what you could do alone. When you have key people in the right roles, you can stop doing the things you suck at and spend time on your business, instead of in it.

Equally important to having the right people, is empowering them to do their good job. First, make sure they understand their role within the agency. Next, make sure they’re educated on all facets of the business so there are no missed opportunities for up selling, cross selling or obtaining referrals.

3- Keep Your Team Motivated

Once you’re surrounded by all the right people it’s important to keep them motivated. Chris says it goes beyond just having fun together at happy hour. An engaging culture plays a big part in keeping a team motivated. And a motivated team produces efficient, effective work yielding faster agency growth.

In terms of employee incentives, Arke Systems has a Stock Appreciation Rights Program. This program protects both the agency and the employee with built in contingencies if either party terminates the relationship. It’s also a great way to publicly recognize stellar employees without offering regular equity in the agency. (That’s a BIG no no!)

4- Stop Doing Things You Hate

How many hours do you spend doing things you hate? Invoicing, chasing payments, scheduling meetings, etc. Whatever those things are - eliminate them by delegating to your team or outsourcing. And if it’s something you can automate, even better! Chris also says not to build things from scratch if they already exist. Don’t make more work creating a solution for a problem if a solution already exists elsewhere. Things like this are a distraction and derails your focus from the important things. You can’t grow your agency when you’re spending time reinventing the wheel.

5- Know Your Exit Plan

Getting focused and staying focused is important. What does your end game looks like? If you know your long term goals and avoid distractions while trying to achieve them, you can grow your agency much faster. I like to tell my clients: build your business to sell, but treat it like you never will.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We’ve developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what’s working (and what’s not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

What Happens After You Accelerate Agency Growth?

With these tips, you should be able to make changes and accelerate agency growth for your business. However with this increase in growth, unless you are prepared it can cause more issues for your agency. This is why reviewing your agency consistently for areas of weakness or improvement will allow you to become a better agency owner and run a better business.

During my time in the industry, I have had my own experience running my own digital agency and helping other digital agency owners so there are many topics where I can offer guidance. Whether you are experiencing challenges as an established agency or a new agency unsure of what the different phases of growth you will experience will look like, I've got you covered.

As you continue to grow your agency team, I can show how to recognise when it’s time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team to perfecting your business strategy with creating a process for performance based pricing and how to keep your big name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Facebook Live is one of the hottest ways to generate new agency business. You can spend tons of time and resources sending a hundred emails to your perfect prospects but you’ll earn more trust in just one live video than all those emails combined. Live streaming video is where it’s at... and your competition is not doing it yet, so you will stand out from all the “me too” agencies. So what are you waiting for?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you need to be on Facebook Live.
• 6 Steps for starting live video.
• Tips to set you up for successful live videos.

Today’s guest is THE expert on Facebook marketing, Amy Porterfield - an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and social media marketing trainer. Following an amazing career at Harley-Davidson and working with Tony Robbins, Amy decided to give it a try on her own. After overcoming tons of obstacles, she’s become one of the most well-respected Facebook marketers today. She’s on the show to tell us all about why Facebook Live is one of the hottest new ways to generate new agency business.

Why You Need to Be on Facebook Live

When you put yourself out there in video format, you build trust with your clients so much faster than with the written word. You’ll get more traction with 1 video than in 100 emails or blog posts.

But recorded video can be overwhelming, stressful - the equipment, scripting, lighting, editing. Ugh! The difference with live streaming video is most of the overwhelm and stress is eliminated. It is what it is - no script, no editing. And your viewers get to know the real you. Sure, it opens you up to vulnerability and criticism but the more you practice the better you get.

There aren’t many people who love seeing themselves on video but still, Amy says you’ve got to embrace it. Social media channels like Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Facebook Live, etc. are not going away anytime soon!

And, your competition isn’t there yet so now’s the time to jump in and build your following!

The best part is, Facebook prefers video right now. Your live videos will jump to the top of your prospect’s news feed and you’ll be seen far more than regular social posts by your competition.

BONUS - When you are doing Facebook Live videos, you’re also creating amazing audiences for Facebook retargeting. You can segment your audience based on the percentage of videos watched and then market to them accordingly. There is a super low barrier to entry and the rewards are huge!

6 Steps to Starting Live Video:

1. Go live from your business page, not your personal profile. (A typical rookie mistake!) That’s where your prospects will be watching you and where you want the videos to live forever.
2. Do some prep work in advance by creating a rough outline of what you’re going to talk about. This will prevent you from losing your train of thought or rambling :)
3. Give the post a descriptive title so your audience knows why they need to watch. Name it something like: “How to Do {something cool} Without Doing {something that sucks}
4. Take your time. Facebook seems to prefer longer videos, like 20-30 mins. It might seem long, but it’s easy to do if you prepare in advance. Just share a few nuggets of advice, a story and answer questions/comments. If questions aren't posted by viewers, just ask and answer typical ones yourself!
5. Be patient while you build an audience. Don’t worry about the number of people who are watching the live stream… just act like people are watching and eventually they will.
6. Go live on a predictable schedule and at least weekly. Promote your live videos in advance with social posts so people know when to tune in. Going live regularly will help create a watching habit for your audience.

Tips to Set You Up for Live Video Success

Facebook Live is for everyone - no fancy software or equipment is necessary! Here are Amy’s tips for success:

• Go live from your desktop through your web browser, instead of your smartphone.
• Use your smartphone or tablet to read questions/comments that pop up during your live video.
• Have someone on your team give you a signal (like text or PM a thumbs up) when the audio and video is up.
• Use a window for natural lighting instead of messing with artificial light.
• Technology glitches are going to happen. Keep your emotions in check and handle it with grace. Don’t let tech issues hold you back from trying again.
• When you’re ready to go pro - Amy uses a Logitech webcam and subscribes to Wirecast screen sharing software.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We’ve developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what’s working (and what’s not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

How Can You Improve Your Agency Further?

So using Facebook Live for your agency is now ticked off your list of promoting your business on social media buy what's next? How can you improve further to take it to the next level?

Take a step back, look for weak spots in your business and then think of how you can fix them. No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

From my experience in the industry, there are many topics I can offer guidance from the different phases of growth you will experience to how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it's time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team, creating a process for performance-based pricing which can be the best pricing strategy for your business and learning how to keep your big name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.