You aren't alone if you've considered transitioning into a SaaS company; or launching a separate company to sell SaaS. The challenge is educating your team, your clients and yourself on how to go about it.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Reasons why you might want to develop a SaaS product.
• 4 steps to developing and launching a SaaS company.
• How to roll out your SaaS product and transition your agency.

If you’re thinking about developing or selling a SaaS product, this is the episode for you. My guest is Ethan Denney, founder and CEO of ConvertFlow. Ethan took his company from a service-oriented digital agency to a product-focused SaaS company. He shares the story of his agency’s transition including the steps he took to get there.

Why develop a SaaS product?

As a digital agency, Ethan’s company was focused on driving site traffic and lead generation. However, they found many clients needed site redesigns and lot of other, deeper services were more involved. These issues often decreased profitability and increased the sales cycle. (Not to mention that it created a major time suck.) Clients were not seeing results right away and Ethan’s agency was having difficulty proving their value right away.

In order to solve this issue they created a product that would provide more immediate value and shorten their sales cycle. It would also deliver faster results and more ROI to their clients. This cleared the way for ConvertFlow to charge on value and increase their profits.

Transitioning from digital agency to SaaS company

Often times the logistics of a product business sound much more appealing than a service business, am I right? Product companies have fixed costs, shorter engagement periods, and higher profit margins. But the grass is not always greener on the other side.

“The grass is greener on the side you water.”

Cashing in your digital agency and replacing with a productized company is not for everyone. In order to do be successful, it’s got to be done right. Ethan cautions us - it didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t easy.

4 BIG steps to developing a SaaS company:

1- Determine your agency’s core service. Then figure out what’s keeping you from doing it. What obstacles do you face? For Ethan’s agency it was cumbersome site redesigns that were keeping them from driving traffic and generating leads for their clients.

2- Develop a solution. Once you’ve identified what’s keeping you from doing what you love doing, play around with possible solutions. Look at it from all angles. What solution can you create to will solve these issues for you or eliminate the obstacles?

3- Decide on the goal for your tool. Will you keep this solution in your arsenal and have it be your competitive advantage? Or will you sell this tool as a stand alone product? There isn’t a right answer - in fact, it’s a very individual decision.

4- Strategically launch your solution. In Ethan’s case, they chose to rollout a product-based solution to their clients that would be a shorter engagement and allow clients to see more immediate value. This included a multi-step launch to their existing digital agency clients.

Rolling out SaaS for your Digital Agency

As Ethan’s agency developed more of the productize business they were able to use it as a low-end “icebreaker” service. They discovered that charging $1,500 - $2,000, they were earning steady recurring revenue. Other benefits are a shorter sales cycle and shorter engagement period with new clients.

Transitioning bigger, long term clients took a little longer and a bit more thoughtful strategy. Digital agency service clients were first transitioned to a productized service where the product was introduced to the client but managed by the agency. Eventually, they transitioned those clients from a productized service to a product they could manage themselves.

Overall, Ethan is thrilled with the entire transition. Now, ConvertFlow is able to concentrate on doing what they love, without getting weighed down by doing the necessary stuff they don’t love.

Analytics Software to Boost Your Business

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. Define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters in this cloud-based software. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Are You Ready to Learn More?

If you are looking for advice with your current agency or learning how to start your own digital agency, I can help.

Find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. And if videos are more your thing, you can check out the videos on my Youtube channel!

How to fire yourself from a key role in the business and transition from Agency Owner to Agency CEO. You built your business on skill and passion. You're the best at a certain aspect of it and giving that up can be really difficult. I can totally relate!  Here's how to  say 'yes' to the right things and 'no' to the wrong things so you can scale.

Lisa asked: "In the Agency Playbook, I watched the video on leadership where you outline the roles of an agency owner. Creative direction was not on that list.

Here's the thing -- and I'm not being arrogant -- but my company has grown because I'm best at being creative. I've experimented with backing off on smaller projects. But it's obvious the projects I work on are more creative and innovative than the ones I don't touch.

My question is, how do I successfully back out of the Creative Director role and shift into the (boring but important) role of a CEO? Or should I stay in the Creative Director role since my agency relies on my talent for it's success?"

I relate to this question as in the beginning, I was always the most creative person. It's challenging for a client to tell you what they want until they see it but this isn't scalable. To fix this, you need to set up a process and document the process from the beginning of a project for your team to follow along.

You should figure out a system if you are going to continue in your role or if not, find the next person you feel will suit the role and find what suits you best.

Did You Enjoy This Week’s Episode on How to Become an Agency CEO?

Find more of my Ask Swenk series by clicking here or why not visit my Youtube channel for more of the series and lots more videos that can help you as an agency owner improve your business.

If you're struggling to build the agency or creating the agency vision that you want or having issues taking it to the next level, it could be a lack of clarity.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• #1 Struggle of building an agency team
• How to create and communicate your agency vision
• An on boarding process that sets expectations from day one.

Today’s guest on the show is Danny Gonzalez, co-founder of Perception, the digital agency he and his partner built over the past fifteen years. Danny talks about how they communicate their vision in order to attract and keep top agency talent.

You’ve probably seen some of Perception’s work if you’ve watched Iron Man 2 or Batman vs. Superman. They’re the team responsible for the fictitious technology your favorite superheroes use. They also develop real-world tech solutions (for us non-superhero types), such as UX and UI designs for automotive and technology companies. Pretty cool, right?

#1 Struggle of Building a Team

The most difficult thing about building a team is getting your established clients to trust them. When you operate solo or as a partnership for a long time, your clients are accustomed to leaning on you. Although when you’re growing it becomes necessary to hire. The challenge is getting your existing clients to transfer their trust in you to your new team.

"Hiring the right people frees you up to concentrate on building the business instead of spending time in the weeds."

The key is to start slow. It takes time to educate your current clients and have them accept a reorganization. Be sure display complete confidence in your new hires and over time your clients will feel it too.

With new clients, it’s much easier. Get your team involved from the start. Let go of your need to be involved. Assure the client that you are available if there’s an urgent need or large scale issue but their day-to-day contact is super capable of handling everything.

How to Create and Communicate Agency Vision

For the first few years, it was just Danny and his partner. But as they started growing and hiring, they began making notes about what they wanted for their company - expectations, culture, values and goals. With an agency name of “Perception”, for them it is all about internal and external perception and the senses.

Eventually these bullet point notes of expectations, values and vision turned into a handbook. The handbook is given to new hire candidates before they're even hired. It includes “rules” things like:

• We don’t bullsh*t each other.
• We don’t shoot down each other’s ideas.

As well as the lifecycle of a project with a variety of scenarios that lead to different actions: “If this happens, then do X. If that happens, then do Y.”

This is definitely something that has evolved over time and it’s only one part of Perception’s on boarding process.

In my interview with a Zappos executive, she described their process for communicating Zappos Core Values. As a result, Zappos has increased productivity and creativity, reduced turnover and sick time and has topped many Best Workplaces Lists for several years.

On Boarding Process That Sets Expectations from Day 1

In addition to receiving the handbook, the partners give new hires their “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” presentation. They walk through past projects, clients and situation to go over what went right, what went wrong, what was learned and why sometimes you just have to walk away (that's the ugly stuff :) )

Other aspects of on boarding include communicating very role-specific expectations. Setting very clear expectations from the start also sets your team up for success.

Analytics Software to Boost Your Business

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. Define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters in this cloud-based software. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Creating the Best Agency Possible With Your Agency Vision

Creating the agency vision you aspire to will allow you to create the best agency possible moving forward. To maintain this high level of authority and your reputation as an agency owner, you should review if there are other weaknesses within your agency that are causing challenges that need to be resolved.

Don’t worry, i’m here for all the advice you need.

From my own experience running my own digital agency as well as helping other digital agency owners, I can provide advice on many topics. It can be anything from changes you want to make within your established agency or if you are a new agency, you might be unsure of what the different phases of growth will look like. These are just a few topics I can give guidance on.

If it's not the agency itself but your agency team, don't worry as I have you covered. Growing your agency team, I can show you how to recognise when to expand your sales team to perfecting your business strategy with creating a process for performance based pricing as well as keeping big clients happy.

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. Or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Today I'm answering some great questions about taking a one-man, or very small agency to the next level. Here's some great advice for building your business and agency scaling to a sustainable level and creating the role you want to be in.

Agency Scaling: From One-Man to Next Level

{0:22} Jeff asked: "I'm currently offering: site design, development and support, SEO, hosting/domain management, digital marketing, social media management, email marketing and some video production. First, I know that's a LOT to offer as a one man shop. Most of this has grown organically from WP website clients who asked for additional services. What advice do you have for me as one person who is building this business and doing all the work?

• Is partnering with white labels a good move? If so, how have you done that?
• Is outsourcing a better move? If so, how did you get started with outsourcing?
• Given that I'm on a tight budget, is there ONE software platform I should buy for marketing and running my own business? Something you just can't do without?"

Software/tools mentioned in the video include: Infusionsoft, Freshbooks and Wave.

Tired of Being Restricted in the Career Path You’re On?

Are you the owner of a small agency under $300,000? Or a freelancer, marketing professional or agency employee who thinks you can run your own agency better?

Jump Start My Agency is a program that covers everything you need to start a profitable agency and land high paying clients of over $20,000.

This 4 week course is designed to help you find the ideal clients, charge what you’re worth and learn how to build a team.

There are clients waiting to work with you! Let me help you by requesting an invitation to the program.

Growing Your Digital Agency

If you found this video helpful but are searching for more advice especially looking to get your business to that next level, I can help.

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by checking out our insightful blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

Increase Business: How One Digital Agency Doubled Business in 4 Months

If you're trying to grow an agency, you know you're going to need a foot in a door strategy to increase business and get you to the next level of success. The trouble is, you're selling the wrong service first.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• #1 strategy to increase business with new clients for your agency.
• Why you need a Foot in the Door offer.
• What makes a great Foot in the Door offer?

My guest on the show today is represents every reason why I love my work. Todd Earwood is the founder and CEO of MoneyPath Marketing. We first met when Todd attended one of my two-day workshops. A few months later he called me to share the success story on how his business doubled in just 4 months. Todd shares with us the #1 reason his agency was able to increase business so drastically and how he’s on track to do 3X business within 6 months of the workshop!

MoneyPath Marketing targets SaaS companies and like many agencies they have a hard time getting their foot in the door. Todd attended my workshop hoping to glean a little useful knowledge that he could implement right away. Ask and you shall receive...

#1 Strategy to Increase Agency New Business

Todd wanted more opportunities to get his foot in the door with prospects and that’s exactly what he got on Day #1 of the workshop. We discussed the principle behind the Foot in the Door offer and how one agency did $252K at a tradeshow using this strategy.

(A Foot in the Door offer is a slice off your core services. It is something a prospective will find informative and valuable, but does not solve a problem or involve a large investment.)

Todd found so much value in the Foot in the Door lesson that he implemented it right there during the workshop. That day, he jumped on a call with his salesman and a new business prospect. He offered the prospect a paid discovery (instead of going right away for a full scale project). They landed the paid discovery and nailed it, which lead to another project and eventually retainer business allowing him to increase business overall for his agency.

Why You Need a Foot in the Door Offer:

1- It offers a low cost point of entry. When you are pitching a prospect for a project that is $20K or $50K it’s a huge commitment. And although you are fully committed to being successful, the price tag can make it a tough sell. A Foot in the Door offer is just the bottom rung on your offer ladder. You’ll find you actually make more money when you start small and have your clients stairstep their way up.

2- It’s the courtship before the marriage. I get it - you want the bigger paid projects and retainers. But going for those higher price tags first is like proposing marriage on the first date. A Foot in the Door offer is a great way to get to know each other. You can build your authority and gain more trust, as well as get a glimpse of client’s work style.

3- It helps to determine what the client really wants. Let’s be honest. What the client thinks they need and what they actually need are often two completely different things. That’s why a blueprint or discovery is so valuable. It allows you to dig into the current situation to see what’s missing and provide insight as to how you can help.

4- It pre-qualifies your prospects. Think about it this way. If you have a prospect who balks at spending $2,500 for a paid discovery, how do you think a full scale project proposal will play out? Maybe something like this? By selling a Foot in the Door first, you’ll get the opportunity to qualify your prospects. You can find out if they have the budget to work with you. In addition you can determine in advance if you can help them.

5- It speeds up the sales cycle. When you have a lower price point of entry it’s much easier for your prospects to make the decision to work with you. After you fulfill delivery on the Foot in the Door and wow them with your expertise you’ll find subsequent sales decisions and are made much faster. Why is that? Because once a client buys from you they are 20X more likely to buy again in the future because they already know, like and trust you.

What Makes a Great Foot in the Door Offer?

First and foremost, it needs to be super simple. Make sure you are managing expectations as to what your prospect is getting from the Foot in the Door offer. Call it a discovery, blueprint, consultation or whatever you want... Just be sure it’s something you can explain pretty easily.

The process for proposing and delivering a Foot in the Door offer should be pretty turnkey. No fancy, lengthy proposal necessary. Todd says his agency sells theirs in a two page PDF that documents the timeline, process, deliverables and price.

Don’t over deliver. This was something Todd learned the hard way. He said he was used to doing free consultations, so the first time they did a paid discovery they felt the need to give an abundance of information so he could justify charging for it. He says the prospect actually told him it was too much information and needed a couple days to think about it. That’s not the goal. The goal of a Foot in the Door offer is to provide value and give just enough information that leaves the client wanting to do more.

Your goal is not to make a money on your Foot in the Door offer. Instead you’ll see exponential growth, revenue and profits by the increased business it brings in. Your goal is to build relationships, increase business and move prospects through your offering ladder.

How to Be Viewed as an Expert

Todd says another big takeaway from my workshop was the importance of standing out and not being a “Me Too” Agency. Another contributor to his agency's success is the declaration of a specialization. Although it's counter intuitive, marketing to a specific audience will make a real impact on your business.

When you have a specialization, you are able to create better content that speaks to a specific audience. When you niche down, you are able to use language specific to that particular industry. Focused marketing campaigns show prospects that you understand their problems, issues and challenges. And you will be viewed a subject matter expert.

Don’t be afraid to choose a niche and focus your energy there. This doesn’t mean turning away business. It just means targeting a specific group and saying: “I only help guys like you, I know what I’m doing and I know we can be successful.”

Give it a try... because the only thing worse than not trying is the regret you’ll feel if you don’t :)

Have You Hit a Plateau With Growing Your Agency?

Do you feel that you don't have what it takes to really scale and grow your agency? As you may have noticed, the agency world is definitely going through some changes. If you would like to attend the same workshop that Todd attended and talked about in this article, click here.

Analytics Software to Boost Your Business

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. Define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters in this cloud-based software. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Next Level Digital Agency

Now that you have heard from Todd, are you ready to increase business for your agency and take it to the next level?

In order to build as an agency owner and grow your agency to the next level, especially when you are looking to increase business, you need to be able to recognise 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 challenge 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.

What to Consider in Your Hiring Practices

What do you do when during a phase when you are hiring new team members, you discover they hope to eventually own their own agency?

In this week's episode, I cover some important questions about hiring practices. Should you hire someone who tells you in the interview that they hope to someday run their own agency? If they're otherwise qualified, should that be a deal breaker? Also, if you find a great new hire but they don't live close, should you pay for relocation?

{0:30} Jack asked:  "Say you're interviewing candidates for a sales position at your agency. When asked what they want to be doing in five years, the candidate says they want to run their own agency some day. Is this a deal breaker? We both know how hard running an agency is! Chances are, they won't be. But even if they did -- should that be an issue? I'm thinking it's kind of inevitable in our industry and I'm leaning towards being OK with it but I'm curious about your perspective."

{3:13} Aaron asked: "Would you suggest paying relocation costs for new hires? If so, under what circumstances would you offer it... Junior level or only Mid/Senior level? Would you stipulate they had to be a certain distance away in order to pay for a move? And would you reimburse certain kinds of moving expenses or just do it as a lump sum signing bonus?"

Growing Your Agency Brand

If you found this helpful but are searching for more advice especially looking to get your business to that next level, I can help.

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by checking out these helpful blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

Looking to land those bigger retainer clients for your agency but don't know how to get there? I've got you covered in this week's episode.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you might need to work for free.
• 5 steps to landing bigger retainer clients.
• How to implement the foot in the door strategy.
• How to stack the deck to gain more new agency clients.

My guest today is Justin Brooke, founder of IMScalable and also known as “The Traffic Guy.” He’s got an awesome story about how he went from not being profitable, to working for free, to landing a couple huge retainer clients. In this episode, Justin shares his strategy for how to land the big clients you want and leveraging them to land more big retainer clients.

Why You Need to Work for Free

If you don’t have a success story or case study to use in your sales pitches, you might want to consider this strategy just get you one... Justin says he spent a couple years being unprofitable. However what he realized was that he needed one really great success story to ignite his business. That’s when he decided to work for free. It started with research.

Justin did some digging to find the right client whom he knew he could help. Then he posed a proposition to the owner - he would work for free to increase traffic and leads if he could use them as a case study for his own marketing purposes.

They agreed. He succeeded. And BOOM! Justin had his first case study to use for future sales pitches.

This is a great strategy whether you’re just getting starting, or if you want to begin targeting a new niche. You need some sort of “proof” that you are valuable. And when you select a business that you’re confident you can help, you’re setting yourself up for success.

How to Land Big Retainer Clients

A lot of us can relate. You’re doing ok, but you know there are bigger clients out there with issues you can solve. You want to catch the bigger fish you just don’t know how.

The key is to NOT go after the big projects right away. Start small. Prove yourself. Then move up the food chain.

Justin broke his strategy down into 5 steps for us:

1. Identify some of the businesses you know you can help and make a short list.
2. Do your homework to find out how the businesses on your list are spending their digital ad budget. Tools such as AdBeat can help.
3. Look for a hole or gap in your prospect’s digital strategy. Pinpoint one, small but specific thing they aren’t doing, or aren’t doing well.
4. Contact the prospect(s) you identified and tell them what you’ve discovered. Something like: “I noticed you aren’t doing ‘X’ and I think it’s because of ‘Y’. I know I can do ‘Z’ to solve your issue and get you better results.”
5. Be specific. Be confident. And DON’T be afraid to promise results.

Stack the Deck to Gain More Clients

The real trick to building your revenue base is to continue working Justin’s 5 step process.

Keep targeting new businesses and researching to find what’s missing in their digital strategy. Keep going after the smaller projects and providing amazing results in order to earn larger ones. This is how you implement your foot in the door strategy and use it to grow your client base.

You can leverage your results from one client to earn you credibility with the next. It just takes some research, persistence and extra effort in your presentation.

When you’re working with another prospect, use your case study to report results however make it unique and relevant. Nothing generic! Do your homework - know your audience. Make it visually stunning, useful and relevant to a specific prospect... Check out Klipfolio (and the special offer below) to create an amazing analytics report.

PRO TIP: As attractive as it might seem, you do not want just a few large clients. Your client mix should be made of a variety of sizes. If you only have 3 large clients and one leaves, you’ll lose 33% of your revenue.

Analytics Software to Boost Your Business

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. It's cloud-based software allows you to define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Next Steps For Your Agency

Need help with your agency? If you need advice on any topic, I have probably experienced them myself and can help you from what I learned. From what to do with your sales processes, ways to increase your profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency.

I can show you how to stop losing money on projects, why solid processes for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy and how having remote working or freelancers in your team can be beneficial and the best ways of managing them.

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.

Find 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 need a sexy web design for your agency website in order to land 6-figure deals? In this episode of Ask Swenk, we hear about what big clients really want from their agency. We also cover the question of can you build your digital agency around your personal brand?

Want the answer? Yes, you can!

Here's how.

How a Sexy Web Design Can Land New Deals

{1:13} Jarrett asked: “My team comes from a design heavy background. We typically build beautiful websites and admire companies like Huge & Firstborn. We came from rsq.com and our website is mightyadvertising.com. But I've noticed a lot of digital shops like Solar Velocity who have less sexy websites are able to sell six-figure deals. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to building a sexy digital website versus on not-so-sexy website? Are those prospects not concerned with that level of design?”

The biggest issue that can occur with a sexy website design can create the wrong positioning on your website and lead you and your agency into the weeds. You need to position your client as the star in the story you are telling them rather than making yourself the star. Be the Alfred to their Batman and get them where they want to go. Be the guide as no client wants to feel as the sidekick.

{5:03} Charles asked: “Can you build your agency around your personal brand?“

Have More Questions?

If you want that bit of extra help in getting your agency in front of potential clients, I can help!

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Are you using value-based pricing within your digital agency? Did you know that through value-based pricing, it can support you in increasing the profit of your agency?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why value-based pricing will keep you from losing profit.
• How to setup a value-based pricing model.
• How to understand your client’s perception of value.

This week on the Smart Agency Master Class, we’ll hear from Dan Mall founder of SuperFriendly, a design collaborative. Dan has spent his entire 18-year career in design and in that time he’s grown to understand a ton about pricing. He’s going to share how to develop value-based pricing so you can stop losing profit.

Why a Value-Based Pricing Model?

You are providing a service based on your unique skill set, knowledge and experience. Value-based pricing takes all those elements into consideration and quantifies. Value-based pricing is the intersection between: what it’s worth to the client and the amount of compensation you’re willing to take.

And if that isn’t enough to convince you -- consider this analogy.

A woman calls a plumber to come to her house and fix a leaky faucet. The plumber is there for 5 mins, tightens one screw and the leak is fixed. He hands her a bill for $1,000.

She asks “Why are you charging me $1,000 when you were only here for 5 minutes?”

He says, “It’s $10 to tighten the screw and $990 for knowing which screw.”

When a client has a problem and you know which screw to tighten your value is priceless :)

How to Setup Value-Based Pricing

Dan’s agency is 5 years old and has been using value pricing since the beginning. Here are 3 steps you can take to get started with building this type of price model.

1. Start with pricing that is easy to understand. You have to be able to explain your pricing structure to a client, so make sure you can easily rationalize it.
2. Determine client expectations and the perceived value of the project. You’ll have to ask a lot of questions to get to the real meat of what they want and why. Experiment with pricing over time.
3. Learn from one project to the next and test out different pricing. Figure out what works and what doesn’t. Then apply a combination of experience and gut instinct to get to the right pricing structure.

How to Determine “Value”

It’s not easy! Dan says it takes time and those 3 steps above won’t can’t overnight. But what you can do is gather as much information as possible from your client so you can fully understand what they need or rather, what they think they need and how you can help.

In his experience as a designer, Dan said he’d often learn information a few days or weeks too late. Some issues are preventable and some problems aren’t solvable unless you get to the core of the issue. To do that, you have to ask the right questions. Go beyond the logistical and go deeper to fully understand the expectations/goals.

Great client service starts with building a relationship. And to build a relationship you have to ask questions.

Questions You Need to Ask

If you’re building a new website - don’t just be an order taker and build the website as instructed. Ask why the client wants a new website. Ask what the goals are for the new site. Is it for a better reputation? Is it for lead generation? What you’re doing and why you’re doing it go hand-in-hand.

The goal for asking questions is to identify what the client needs - which can be different from what they're asking for.

Here’s a few questions to get you started:

• What worries keep you up at night?
• How can my agency ease these concerns for you?
• What is your business model?
• How do you make a profit?
• When was the last time you were profitable?
• What is the problem costing you, in terms of revenue/profit?
• How does a solution translate to your bottom line?

Most importantly, you want to understand the 3i’s: Issue, Impact and Importance. You can this information in developing solutions and in handling objections or pricing concerns.

Don’t let a value-based pricing model worry you. People don’t choose to work with you on price alone. And those who do are viewing you as a commodity. If you are viewed as an expert in your field (think plumber!) and can get the results they desire (think leaky faucet!) price won’t matter as much as you think it does.

Resources mentioned:

• Implementing Value Pricing by Ron Baker
• Pricing for Profit by Dale Furtwengler

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful.

Check out Qwilr. Sign up now for free by using the coupon code smartagency while upgrading.

What's Next For Your Agency?

Now that you know the benefits of value-based pricing for your agency moving forward, what's next on your list? Why not take the time to take a step back and look at other processes that need attention? No matter what challenge your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can give advice on from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit or how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

Want more? 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 have trouble making big agency decisions for your business? Do you hesitate to commit because you're afraid to fail? This episode is all about getting out of your own way so you can find the courage to take action that impacts your agency.

Many of my clients tell me they have a hard time making decisions. Whether it's a decision that requires a big commitment or taking action on something that can dramatically impact their business. Some people have trouble pulling the trigger. As a result they stand in their own way of reaching success.

Make Agency Decisions Like Seth Godin or Gary Vaynerchuck

I get a lot of my inspiration from guys like Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. I was listening to Seth's podcast recently and he talked about making your big life decisions the way you make decisions in the game Monopoly. In the game, you have to decide quickly if you're going to buy property or not. Sometimes you land on Boardwalk and lose a bunch of money. Sometimes you make all the right decisions and WIN. Still other times you lose the game entirely. And that's OK. You learn from it and play differently next time.

#AgencyLife is Like Playing Monopoly

The same is true in real life and with real money. You can't let hesitation or fear stand in your way. Make a move. Use your gut to make a decision. You'll either succeed because of it or fail, learn from it, grow and move on.

When you change perspective you'll see your failures as successes.

Want More Information?

Want extra help in taking your agency to the million level?

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

Stuck finding ways to generate new business for your agency? Then the real question to ask yourself is have you ever considered adding video marketing to your online marketing strategy. If not, this is the episode for you.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• The benefits of rich media in your agency marketing.
• Top 3 mistakes to avoid in video marketing.
• How to repurpose your video content and give it legs.

In this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class, Brian Town, schools us on video marketing. After a 17-year career as a high school TV and video production teacher, Brian switched gears and founded Michigan Creative.

Over the past 5 years the agency has grown to a team of 10 which serves clients in web development, video branding and social media. Brian shares some great tips on starting or improving your video content to it becomes a major lead generator.

Why video marketing?

The real question is, why not video?

1. It’s never been easier or cheaper to produce and edit video.
2. Video content lives forever on multiple formats and can be repurposed in many different ways.
3. No one can replicate you on video.
4. One video, genuine and authentic personalities shine through. People buy from people.
5. Developing a great video takes as much time as writing a stellar blog post and gets just as much SEO juice.
6. Videos are more easily consumed than a written blog post. People would rather watch than read.

Mistakes to avoid in video marketing

1. Not using the right equipment. Brian says video still has reputation for being expensive but all you really need is a few inexpensive pieces of equipment - it’s much more affordable than you’d think.

It’s true you can record great video on your tablet or smartphone. (ALL my videos are done on my iPhone or iPad and a ring-light like this one.) The other two pieces of essential equipment that Brian recommends are a tripod and external mic. There’s a huge difference in sound quality when you’re mic’d.

2. Being “birthday mom or dad." You know the type. They’re the person who records the entire birthday party from start to finish. No one ever wants to watch that video. It’s a total snoozer. People just want the highlights. So capture the special moments - not every minute.

Make sure you communicate the goal of the video right away. Then make your point in a direct, brief manner and include a specific call to action. Be brief - like 60-90 seconds, max.

3.  Unclear or too many call-to-action(s). Your video should solve one problem or ease one pain point for your prospects. If you have more to say or more to accomplish create a new video for it.

Think about how/why you search for a video in YouTube… in most cases you have a problem you want to solve quickly. Brian recommends putting yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Determine what they’re searching by making a list of their common questions, issues and problems.

How to repurpose videos for more impact

Once you’ve got a great list of video topics, Brian suggests spending part of day shooting 5-10 at once. They can then be edited into multiple pieces of content to use in a variety of ways across different platforms.

For example: my #AskSwenk videos are usually 7-10 minutes long and answer 3 questions. (I even did one about video marketing for your agency.) The full video get posted in the blog section on my site. I also slice those into 3 separate, mini-episodes and post them socially. The shorter 2-3 minute videos get even more engagement than the full episodes.

Get creative about where you use video… It can live on your site as a vlog, embedded into emails, posted on social platforms. You can also pull GIFS or sound bites to post on social, you can use it on your About page… the opportunities to use and reuse video are endless.

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful.

Check out Qwilr. Sign up now for free by using the coupon code smartagency while upgrading.

Grow Your Agency

I hope this spotlight on how video marketing can transform your agency was beneficial to your marketing strategy moving forward. Don't just stop there but take a step back and really look struggles you need to focus on to improve your business. I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have advice on topics from gaining agency exposure in the news, how to build authority for your agency or even ways to use facebook marketing strategies to expand your brand awareness. If growth is your focus, I've discussed the four phases of growth within your agency and how website issues could be holding your business back from reach your potential.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! You can 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.

How to Create the Best Growth Strategy for Your Business

It can be tough to feel you are doing everything you can to bring your agency to the next level but for not to see that growth you were hoping for. Should you be trying something different with the growth strategy for your business?

Did you ever consider taking a closer look at the growth strategy that Donald Trump used to gain his popularity?

In this video we identify Donald Trump's #1 growth strategy that has gained him a record number of supporters and cover how it applies to your digital agency.

It's US Election Day 2016.  Maybe you're an American citizen with the privilege to vote? Or, maybe you're one of my global followers with the good fortune of observing this election from afar? Either way, you'll want to watch this brief video.

I am neither a Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump supporter. However, observing their growth strategies got me thinking. This one single tactic can be a real game changer in your business. Are you ready to "Make Your Agency Great Again"? :)

Let Me Help You

Want extra help in making the best decisions for your business as an agency owner?

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

If you are an agency owner, you can also find more information by checking out the help section on my website or get in touch and we can speak strictly confidential. Click here to get my help now.

Do you want to learn how you can use Facebook Ads to create lead generation for not only you but for your clients too? Then you need to keep reading.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you should be using Facebook ads and how to get started.
• 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Facebook marketing for your agency.
• How to know if your Facebook ads are working and key metrics to monitor.

Whether you’ve never tried Facebook marketing or you’re just looking to improve at it, you’ve got to hear from my guest Art Malkov. Art is the co-founder of NeedGrowth.com, a digital agency specializing in using Facebook to supercharge lead generation for themselves and their clients. Art shares some great tips on starting and maintaining Facebook marketing as well as some major mistakes to avoid.

Does Facebook really work?

Heck yeah, it does. Agency owners often tell me their audience is not on Facebook. Art says he hears it from clients, too. There are 1.5 billion users on Facebook. (That’s 3X more users than Twitter and Instagram combined.) Your prospects are on Facebook. They aren’t looking for you there, but they’ll definitely find you if done correctly to disrupt their pattern.

How to get started with Facebook ads

The problem with Facebook ads is that there’s no guidebook. There’s no training and no certification. No one really knows how to do it correctly - it’s all trial and error. So, most people end up winging it, become frustrated and feeling defeated. Art says he and his partner created a statistical approach that has been super successful for their agency and their clients.

Art says to think of Facebook ad management like the controls in the cockpit of an airplane. Each dial you turn or switch you flip has to work with the rest of the dials and switches to create a smooth ride. One wrong move and you can mess up the entire flight.

5 Facebook Ads Do’s and Dont's

1. Do a combination of video and still image ads. Don’t just do all video or all image ads. Art says when one client made the switch to combining the two they went from a 1 share : 50 likes ratio to a 1 share : 1 like ratio. (Pro tip: ‘Shares’ are more valuable than ‘likes.’ When people ‘share’ your content they actually reading/watching it and found value in it. When people ‘like’ your content they might be scrolling right past it.)
   

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2. Don’t use traditional ad copy. Generic adss do not get user engagement. Your ad content must be something of value. The headline must resonate with a specific audience and the content must solve a pain point of theirs. Try questions that start with: “Do you struggle with…?” or “Are you feeling…?”. Avoid anything like: “Click here for…”
   

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3. Do be direct to attract the right people. No matter who you’re targeting, call them out in your ad. My audience is Digital Agency Owners - so I have Facebook ads with the headline “Digital Agency Owner?”. Not only do my ads reach the right people, but I’m even seeing people who aren’t an agency owner tag their friends who are - and those tags are getting my ad in front of the right people without costing me anything.
   

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4. Don’t go in blind - educate yourself. Spend a couple weeks understanding all the options that are available. Not all the default settings will work in your favor. For example, there is a default setting for ads to share between Facebook and Instagram. If you don’t turn off the default option on Instagram you will spend a large chunk of your budget on Instagram without knowing it and you’ll think your Facebook ads aren’t working.
   

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5. Do target specific audiences. You can pinpoint a specific geographic region, even a particular section within a city if you want. In fact, targeting can be so impactful that one agency grew their opt-in rate from 0.3% to 32% just by targeting their Facebook ads properly.

How to tell if your Facebook ads are working

Art says you have to have someone appointed to monitoring your Facebook ads all the time. You cannot just “set it and forget it” - you absolutely have to watch and evaluate regularly.

You can gauge your success on user engagement - likes and shares - not on impressions. The more a post is shared the cheaper it becomes with yields amazing ROI’s. Ad prices can drop 3-5X if managed properly. However, if you aren’t monitoring this you will blow through your budget very quickly.

Key Facebook performance metrics to monitor

Relevance Score: This is how Facebook determines which ads to show a person. When your ad is relevant to your audience, its relevance score is higher, and is more likely to be served than other ads targeting the same audience. The more relevant your ad, the lower the cost to you. Relevance score is on a scale of 0 - 10. Once your post reaches 500 impressions you want your score to be a 5 or better. If it’s not, you need to reset your ad.

Cost per Conversion: What’s a lead worth to you and what are you willing to pay for it? In the beginning you cost per lead will be higher, but the cool thing is that Facebook will optimize your ads for you and you’ll see the cost go down.

Frequency Rate: Some people say that you don’t want your Facebook ad frequency to be over a 2 but Art and I agree if an ad is converting, then more is better. People will scroll past your ad the first few times they see it. Shoot for an 8 if you want to be in front of people as often as possible.

These are just some of the top Facebook marketing tips. But, if you’re interested in using Facebook to generate 25+ leads per day like so many of my clients you have to check out my Generate Leads Every Day program. I’ll cover even more in depth Facebook ad training, as well as more strategies so you can stop relying on referrals and fill your pipeline with more qualified leads every day.

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful.

Sign up now for free and get 50% off for 3 months by using the coupon code smartagency while upgrading.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

What Else Do You Need Support With?

Now that i've covered using Facebook ads to create lead generation, what else do you need to know to grow your agency and improve as an owner?

I have advice on many topics from the struggles you may face with failing economies to how speaking opportunities can generate new business and using Youtube to boost your marketing for your agency marketing strategy.

You can learn more about me and check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

If videos are videos more your thing, don't worry, i've got you covered!

You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid To Ask

Do you have questions about me and my agency experience that you've been wondering but were afraid to ask everything?

In this episode of Ask Swenk, I take your questions that many you have asked about my journey as an agency owner. Here's everything you've been wanting to know about why I sold my agency, what I'd do differently, what I regret and why I do what I'm doing now.

I've been getting some great questions about my past experience as an agency owner and thought it would be a great #AskSwenk episode to show you I'm totally transparent when it comes to my successes, failures, lessons learned and regrets. Check it out:

{0:30} If you were so successful, why did you sell your agency?

{2:00} If you could do it all again, what would you do differently as an agency owner?

{4:52} What do you regret about the acquisition process?

{7:37 } Why do you do what you're doing now?

What More Do You Want to Know?

I hope you found this instalment of Ask Swenk beneficial and it helps you with any of your business concerns.

If you have more questions about how you can improve your agency, I can help. I have covered topics including how to start an agency from scratch to reasons you should sell your agency.

Have other topics you want advice on? You can check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Multi-Million Dollar Agency Building: How One Agency Owner Built Three

Every digital agency owner dreams of building a multi-million dollar agency and what better way to learn how than from an owner that didn't just make one, but built three multi-million dollar agencys.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 3 lessons on scaling your business into a multi-million dollar agency.
• How to have growth-minded hiring practices.
• Attracting, hiring and keeping top talent.

Lance Hollander is my guest this week on The Smart Agency Master Class. He’s the owner of his third multi-million dollar agency, Delphic Digital. Yep, you read that right. He's been owner to three successful, 7-figure agencies. He profitably sold the first two agencies, but can’t stay away from the business and earned partnership in another. Lance swears this is the third and last… but we’ll believe it when we see it :) Today he's here to share the lessons he’s learned climbing to the top 3 times and his secrets to scaling each multi-million dollar agency.

3 lessons on scaling a successful agency

1- The right partner is critical to success. Lance says service businesses are best held by multiple people with different skill sets. And in his words - any single who would run an agency alone is both incredibly smart and incredibly crazy.

2- Strive to always be the dumbest person in the room. Surround yourself with people who are the best at what they do. You can achieve success by working with people who are better than you at what they do.

3- Always be seeking new business - even when you’re busy. Lance’s advice is 50-60% revenue from existing clients and the balance from new business. It’s very common to get so busy that you just don’t have time to fill the pipeline because you’re concentrating on delivery only to find yourself eventually un-busy with an empty pipeline.

[clickToTweet tweet="Hiring #agency talent is like Tetris. Every piece that falls dictates your next move. Learn via @jswenk" quote="“Hiring is like Tetris. Every piece that falls dictates your next move.” ~ Lance Hollander"]

How to have growth-minded hiring practices

When you’re first starting out, you need to hire people who can be the Swiss Army knife of your business. Your business needs people who can many different jobs with the common goal of growing. As your agency gets larger, you can begin to hire specialists in their field who just want to wear one hat.

Lance has learned if you approach hiring wanting to save money, you will not save money. You need people who can run the show without you. And in order to do that you have to be willing to pay senior staff salary. After you have a good team of lieutenants running things you can afford to hire junior staff members and save some money. And more good news - you’ll already have senior staff in place to train them well.

Ways to find & attract ideal agency talent

One hugely helpful resource is LinkedIn. Lance says he used to spend up to 30 hours per week scouring LinkedIn, familiarizing himself with who’s out there and looking for the right talent to match his agency’s needs and culture.

Then Dephic Digital went through a period of rapid growth, with 50% increases year over year for several consecutive years. The lesson they learned is rapid growth means spending time recruiting, paying recruiters or asking your senior people to recruit - none of which is ideal.

So when the agency reached about 50 people Lance hired a full time Head of Talent who is responsible for identifying and recruiting new talent while keeping the existing team happy. He says it’s the best non-billable position they have… in fact, he says they should have created the position when they were at 30 people.

2 Secrets to getting beyond the plateau

Align expectations & value. When you’re in a service business like ours, it’s important to make sure expectations and value are aligned. Do your clients have reasonable expectations? Are you showing them results they can attach value to?

Reporting is a great tool to achieve this but that doesn’t mean pulling a report and reading it to your client. It means monitoring analytics and using it to tell a story to your client.

Account Management isn’t the star. Lance’s agencies are known for keeping happy clients on retainer for 5+ years. In fact, his first couple agencies were bought by clients! He says the secret to keep clients happy is by making them the star.

Do a great job at making your key client contact a star. Complete projects on time, under budget and occasionally over deliver… when they look good because of you, they’ll remember it and want to keep you. Your end goal is to get your client promoted and start all over with the newbie.

Moving Forward

I hope this was beneficial and transforming your business into a multi-million dollar agency now seems like a goal that can be reached. However, moving forward you won't be able to accomplish this unless you identify areas within your agency that needs work. So what's next on the list?

If you need support and advice on any topic, I have most likely experience them myself and can help. From what to do with your sales processes, ways to increase your profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency.

I can show you how to stop losing money on projects, why solid processes for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy and how having remote working or freelancers in your team can be beneficial and the best ways of managing them.

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.

Find 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.

Why I Charge for Agency Programs

Ever wonder why I charge for my programs? Asked and answered right here! Also, how to quit being dragged into client work so you can grow your agency. Plus what do to when a client refuses to sign a contract and questions why you even have one.

{0:52} Simon asked: Everyone says a business owner should work on the business and not in the business. However, we’re a very small team of 5 people. The biggest challenge we have is hiring talented senior people who can run and grow the clients' businesses. Simply put we don’t have the money to pay the huge wages they command. And our clients don’t and won’t pay that much to have someone manage their account. So I get dragged back into client work and can't work on my own business. How can I prevent this from continuing?

{4:07} Simon asked: Just out of curiosity, if you sold your agency for 8-figures I'd assume you’re set up for life and can live off the savings. If that’s the case why aren't you giving away your Playbook for free and just charging for 1-on-1 sessions?

{7:23} Tim asked: I’ve got a local client who is taking issue with my contract. Nothing IN the contract, but the fact that I have one at all. In their words, "We do relationships, not contracts." The entire document is essentially a T&C agreement that covers liabilities and outlines a work process so that once signed, it stays on file. How do you handle contracts in a way that makes them approachable to clients?

Advice For Your Agency

I hope this episode of Ask Swenk was helpful and brings you clarity on agency programs and how to get those contracts signed.

If you want to know how to improve your digital agency, you may come across challenges and knowing how to adapt will make you a better agency owner. I cover all topics from the struggles you may face in your agency to creating the best agency proposals and more. I hope you found this helpful and can put it into action.

Have other topics you want advice on? You can check out all my tips, tricks and insights in my blog covering a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

When looking to improve the lead generation strategy of your digital agency, you might find it difficult in identifying the ways you can do this. One of the ways you can improve your lead generation strategy is by contributing to podcast content by being a guest.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 3 Benefits of being a podcast guest.
• How to get find shows and rock an interview like a pro.
• How to turn other podcast listeners into your clients.

My guest today is Tom Schwab founder of Interview Valet, an inbound marketing agency. Tom’s background is in engineering - he even ran a nuclear power plant in the Navy - which means he’s brilliant at building process and systems that generate maximum output for minimum input. Tom shares the genius of being a podcast guest as a lead generation strategy, as well as the secret to getting more bang for ($0) bucks.

Why Being a Podcast Guest Is Important for Lead Generation Strategy?

Fresh content is still a thing, but blogging just isn’t. People want to consume information in different ways, on their terms and in their own time. That’s why podcasting is so awesome. I chatted with podcast master Pat Flynn about starting your own podcast. In addition to hosting, it’s also a great idea to get yourself out there to be interviewed as a guest.

Think of being a podcast guest as a way of having more content out there. Podcasts are evergreen. Make sure your interview content is something that is going to earn awareness, respect and trust.

Podcasts are also more convenient to consume. Reading blogs or watching videos isn’t always convenient, however people are downloading podcasts to listen to on the go. They can even be listened to on 1.5X or 2X speed for quicker consumption.

People also really love podcasts because they are more conversational in nature. Videos tend to feel scripted and “perfect” but podcasts are natural with more of a human touch.

3 BIG benefits of being a podcast guest.

1. A captive audience. The host show has an established audience that is already tuned in to hear the valuable content the being serves up. They are voluntarily listening to what you have to say!
2. Pre-qualified leads. You’re getting targeted reach to your specific market, which means your ideal customers are the ones listening and leads are pre-qualified. Be selective with the podcasts you choose.
3. Shorter sales cycle. Prospects earned from a podcast already know your story and enter into the sales cycle educated. They aren’t the tire kickers - they’re already interested. Your sales cycle is shorter because you don’t have to spend as much time convincing.

Getting started as a podcast guest.

It’s the same marketing principles that we’ve always known: Marketing is just a conversation with your ideal clients. So you need to find them, connect with them, and make it easy for them to become a paying customer.

1st - Identify podcasts to target.

Find the right podcast audience. Identify shows that have listeners with the right buyer persona. Start by searching shows by keywords in iTunes or SoundCloud. Do your homework to find out the size of the podcast and density of listeners that fit your target audience.

Some other things to look for:

• Age of the podcast - many die by episode 10.
• Show notes - important for SEO and backlinks.
• Explicit rating - decide if your brand/audience will be OK with offensive language.

Start by making a list of podcasts to target. Then check out Tom’s infographic on getting booked as a podcast guest.

 2nd - Be a superstar guest.

Your job is to make the show’s host look like a genius for having you on the podcast. Do that by being your charming self and providing super valuable content.

Be genuine in your interview to attract the right clients. Draw in the people who are entertained and excited by the thought of working with you. Be yourself and let your personality shine through in the interview.

Make sure you’re providing valuable information that will stay relevant in an evergreen platform like a podcast. This will all contribute to improving your lead generation strategy.

3rd - Turn listeners into leads.

Use your interview like a lead magnet. Remember, podcasts are just more content so you need to provide a call-to-action. The tricky part is that your leads are listening on the go, so you have to make it very easy. Send them to a dedicated page on your site, invite them to listen to your podcast, or give simple instructions to sign up for a webinar. Simplicity is key.

Also, make sure you help promote your episode once it goes live. Tweet it, share it - do your part to get it out there. You can also transcribe the interview and tweet out key phrases, or take a piece of it and expand on it in a blog post. Be creative about repurposing interview and all your content. Not everyone sees everything you put out there, but the more you have out there the better odds that everyone will see something.

4th - Avoid these mistakes.

Don’t just go for the shows with the biggest numbers. Spend some time interviewing on smaller shows first so you can fine tune your interview style and topics.

Make sure you’re prepared. You don’t want to be caught off guard with surprise questions/topics. Prepare for the interview like you’re giving a keynote on stage.

Be sure you’ve got the right equipment and that it’s in working order. Test your connections and mic before every interview.

Would you like to be a guest on my podcast?

I'm looking for people willing to share their amazing stories to help our agency community. Agency owners only, and you must be over $1 million in annual revenue.  Click here for details. 

Are you losing out on improving your agency profitability why having the wrong internal processes for your business?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• How to fix the #1 problem every agency experiences.
• 3 ways to standardize your internal processes and increase profits.
• 2 strategies to upsell to existing clients.

This week’s guest is the expert on creating systems and processes. (Which means I’m a big fan because you already know how I feel about systems and processes.) Anthony Chatfield has an extensive background in the agency space and is the founder of Lead Connect, an agency specializing in inbound marketing. He also consults with agencies that are great with lead generation and closing deals, but struggle with delivery. Anthony shares strategies for making your agency operate more efficiently with some key process documentation.

The Gap In Agency Internal Processes

The biggest problem Anthony sees in agencies is the breakdown in communication between sales and fulfillment. So many times a salesperson promises the moon and stars, but the account team delivers something far less. This leads to frustration on the client’s part and resentment internally.

There’s a three-part fix to this problem that Anthony says in crucial in for every agency:

1. Formalize a checklist for your core services.

Operations standard are a must. Creating a document that you can share with the client about what is (and what is not) covered in a project fee manages expectations and minimizes or eliminates profit leaks.

2. Develop a master document for the engagement.

Include everything from target demographics to KPI’s. Understand the client's definition of success and spell out how the client will measure the success of your agency’s work. This should be in place by the end of the first meeting. It’s good to have a template or standard document that can be customized on a project/client basis. If you want access to the exact agency documents we used, click here.

3. Get everyone on the same page from day #1.

Get sign-offs from everyone involved - external and internal. This is another important way to manage expectations and maintain accountability. Have the client sign everything from the checklist, to the brief, to the proposal, to zero dollar change orders.

When you have a standard process in place the client learns off the bat how you operate. You manage them and the project instead of allowing them to manage you.

2 Strategies to Upsell Your Agency Clients

1. Meet more. 

No one wants to add more meetings to their calendar but when those meetings are revenue generating you better believe they’re worth it! Anthony says a lot of agencies aren’t talking to their clients frequent enough. When you increase communications there are natural opportunities for upsells. He says account teams should be holding weekly status calls with clients. This keeps everyone accountable - especially the client who might be holding up a project. When you’re ahead of schedule and the client is seeing results, they’ll start asking you what else they can pay for to get more results.

2. Tell a story. 

When you deliver results, don’t just email them a spreadsheet or report. Analyze the results and give it to them in story format. Present what happened, what was learned and what else you can do with the data to drive more or better results. When you frame it this way you are opening up dialogue for next steps, more projects, etc. And whenever possible present these results face-to-face. Hiding behind email does not allow for discussion - personal meetings are going to open up more opportunities.

Cashflow or bookkeeping issues?

FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Build Your Agency

Revising the internal processes of your business can create benefits not only for business but for your teams and you as an owner.

Are there other areas of your business you want to improve? By evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

So many agency owners become consumed by their top line revenue and what they need to do to make it better. Incase you didn't know, top line revenue isn't everything and yours means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why top line revenue isn’t everything.
• 2 ways to tackle profitability.
• How to get past the excuses and be a content machine.

I’m super psyched to have Joe Apfelbaum as my guest on the podcast today. Joe’s the owner of Ajax Union, a 7 year old, $4 million dollar agency. In addition to being a successful agency owner, Joe is also a mega content producer. He tells us all about what he’s done in order to get to the multi-million level, what he stopped doing to stay there and how in the world he has the time to create so much content.

Top line revenue isn’t everything

When they started seven years ago, Ajax Union was operating as a full service agency. They would do anything/everything for anyone/everyone. They experience significant growth while revenue doubled every year for the first 4 years. They were also on the Inc. 500 list as the fastest growing agency. BUT, top line revenue and quick growth isn’t everything if you aren’t managing profitability…

Back then the agency had 350 active projects at any given time, which meant 75 full time employees to service their growing client list. They were building their top line with no regard to the bottom line. Joe knows firsthand - you always have to be working on your bottom line.

In early 2015, Joe decided to take a hard look at where his agency was heading. After He restructured his agency and his approach to business. He made two huge decisions which impacted business dramatically:

2 Ways to Tackle Profitability

1- Focus on a specialization

Instead of being a full service, “me too” agency, Ajax Union focuses now on B2B lead generation. Doing this meant deciding who they can and cannot serve… and willingness to turn away work that is not ideal and specific to their niche.

Defining a niche not only meant targeting specific businesses with their outbound strategy but doing this also created a built-in screening process for inbound. The result was a cut in full time staff and outsourcing more work in order to manage profitability.

It’s scary when you define who you are and who you’re not, because it means eliminating opportunity. Now, Joe says he turns away 90% of his prospective clients but it hasn’t hurt revenue one bit.

2- Build relationships

Joe says he also realized building relationships was going to be the key to sustainability. Rather than just driving leads and competing with every other agency, he has now created a network of agencies that have complementary skills and developed a referral community. He is sending business to other agencies and they’re reciprocating.

Relationships and networking is a great business building strategy. In fact, I interviewed one agency owner who doubled their business by referring work to other agencies. When you stop competing and start trusting your connections, everyone wins.

The other huge benefit to having great relationships with other agencies is for your future. You may want to buy another agency as a growth strategy - you may want to sell your agency to someone you trust. If you have established relationships these transactions are much easier.

How to Get Past the Excuses and Create Massive Content

Content is king, for sure. And Joe’s a big proponent of helping without selling. He believes great content helps serve your target and they will remember you for it when it’s time to work together.

Even though he produces a ton of content now, it wasn’t always like that for him. He says he started and stopped several attempts at blogging, email marketing, podcasting and video production. Like all of us, it’s hard to make time to write or record yourself. Life gets in the way -plus- there’s all the usual reasons not to do it: camera-shy, fear of speaking and general lack of confidence. Joe had all those reason (excuses) too, and that made it nearly impossible to commit to content creation.

2 Steps to Being a Content Machine

1- Define your goals to grow to your agency.

It’s all about clarity. Getting really clear about where you’re going means you’ll get there a lot faster. Joe says it took him a long time to understand and appreciate his ‘why’. But, once he got clear about his personal purpose he was able to create a personal brand.

When you aren’t sure who you are, you end up hiding behind a facade or some notion of who you should be… so, figure out who you are and why you’re doing what you’re doing.

When Joe got clear about his purpose, he realized it’s about being helpful and inspiring to others. He merged that with his business goals and knew he had to start putting himself out there.

2- Commit and make it priority.

Don't allow it to take a back seat.

With crystal clear purpose, Joe’s done a complete 180. He shed his excuses and now has a weekly podcast, internet TV show and posts daily inspirational videos on Facebook. He also sends a weekly blog-style email to the top 100 ideal clients he’s targeting. He writes for Entrepreneur, Forbes, Business Insider and more.

It’s not really about how much content you can create it’s how much you can you share, re-purpose or re-package it. I live by the 80/20 rule. Spend just 20% of your time on on content creation and 80% on distribution.

Is time the problem? Don’t let time be your reason. Make time or hire someone dedicated to content creation and agency marketing. Commit to a content schedule and block out time to crank it out. Or, delegate to a team member who can make it a priority if you can’t. It should be a non-negotiable growth strategy.

#1 Strategy that Drives 100% Agency New Business

I asked Joe how much of his business comes from his content. His answer? “ALL.”

And if you think about it, it makes sense. He says he’s got stuff everywhere. So every brand that’s working with Joe’s agency has seen or heard something from him prior to working together. He has done the groundwork and built the know-like-trust factor.

His best advice is to just get started. Be on a predictable schedule and be patient while momentum from your content builds. Whatever you do, don’t his the pause button - it’s just too hard to get motivated to get going again once you give yourself permission to take a break.

Cashflow or Bookkeeping Issues?

FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Next Steps For Your Agency

Has your opinion on top line revenue changed?

I hope it's starting to sink in for you that your top line revenue of your agency doesn't mean anything and it has encouraged you moving towards the next steps of growing your agency. But what's next on the list?

If you need support and advice on any topic, I have most likely experience them myself and can help. From what to do with your sales processes, ways to increase your profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency.

I can show you how to stop losing money on projects, why solid processes for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy and how having remote working or freelancers in your team can be beneficial and the best ways of managing them.

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.

Find 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.

Every agency owner has the goal of growing their agency to a level that they can target the bigger potential clients. This is because with bigger clients comes creating proposals for bigger budgets.

This week is we are going to talk all about budgets...  more importantly, we are going to talk about client budgets. In this episode of Ask Swenk, I take a closer look into what you should do when clients lower their budget during a project, the strategies for getting an increase in budget and how to land bigger clients with bigger budgets.

Bigger Budgets

{3:17} MJ asked: What do you do when a client won't give you the budget promised?

{6:21} Carl asked: What are the best strategies and tactics for a digital marketing agency to increase the budget of key clients?

{9:29} Andrew asked: As a small video agency, what is your best advice for acquiring new clients, moving up the food chain and commanding bigger budget projects?

Special Offer

Did you realize this is the 50th episode of #AskSwenk? To celebrate this milestone and thank you for the awesome questions, we've got a special offer! CLICK HERE to get $500 OFF my Agency Playbook, which includes the systems every agency needs to be easier to run and scale to the next level.

Grow Your Agency With Your Clients

I hope you found this episode of Ask Swenk and that your questions about achieving those bigger budgets have been answered.

Growing your agency can be a major goal for many agency owners. I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

You can also learn 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.

Want to learn how to increase agency revenue four times over? Or are you having trouble finding your agency's nice and the best sales process for you? Don't worry, this week's Smart Agency Master Class has you covered.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 2 strategies that helped increase agency revenue & client list in one year.
• How to select your ideal niche to succeed.
• How to create a sales process that keeps your pipeline full.

This week’s podcast guest is my client, Zach Williams who is the definition of crushing it. At his agency Venveo, the client roster has quadrupled year over year, the pipeline is full, sales cycle is shorter and conversion rate is higher. Learn all the strategies Zach and his team are using for such huge success and increase agency revenue.

Zach got his start creating websites at the age of 16 and continued to do it as a freelancer through college. It’s all he’s known, so starting an agency seemed like the natural next step. They grew organically for several years with referrals but hit a plateau where they spent two years. That’s when Zach searched for something to help get them beyond that plateau in order to scale… and found me :)

Strategies to Increase Agency Revenue

Strategy 1 - Focus on a Specialty

WHAT: Focus on a specialty where you can position yourself as an authority.

Venveo is a digital agency specializing in building manufacturing materials but they weren’t always in that niche. In fact, Zach says they had no niche - just another “me too” agency promising they could do everything for everyone. It took him awhile to understand this was the one thing holding them back.

HOW: Stop worrying about what could go wrong and think about what could go right.

Zach said the biggest thing was getting over the initial fear of turning work away and figure out what space you can make yours. Most people fear specializing because they think they will be turning off potential clients. Zach says he learned the opposite is true. When you are aiming at a specific target you have a better chance at hitting it.

It was a tough decision but Zach says he explains it as being the intersection between what you love, what you’re good at and what people need and described it like this Venn diagram:

It’s a stressful decision and once it was made there was a ton of pressure for it to work. Patience is key. It took 1.5 - 2 years for it to feel like selecting this niche was the right move. Zach's advice is to stay the course.

Strategy 2 - Focus on a Sales Process

WHAT: Focus on a sales process for new client acquisition to keep your pipeline full.

New client acquisition is super important to the health of an agency. When Zach started focusing on a sales process he noticed a tremendous impact on his business. Agency clients quadrupled year-over-year.

HOW: Create an irresistible Foot in the Door offer to attract new clients.

Most agencies want to go after the big, high-ticket projects right off the bat. But using a foot-in-the-door offer as a lower-priced, smaller commitment is the way to go. Getting a chance to show your awesomeness in a small way will lead to bigger projects. This gives the client an opportunity to test you out AND gives you the chance to filter out bad prospects with a smaller engagement instead of a huge one.

Have trouble figuring out your Foot in the Door offer? Here's a video all about it. Keep in mind, this is not a “paid proposal”. When you’re deciding on your offer it needs to be something that is valuable and packed full of information. This is bigger than a proposal because it’s your first opportunity to ‘wow’ them. Some ideas might be: a discovery session or audit, a competitive analysis, or an analytics setup.

Beware of these 3 common Foot in the Door mistakes:

1. Over promising. A great Foot in the Door is easy to understand and simple to deliver. After learning this lesson the hard way, Zach’s approach is to set expectations low and knock it out of the park with delivery.
2. Lack of confidence. Remember you are an expert in your field and you see things other people don’t see. Something that might seem very basic to you could be highly valuable to prospects.
3. Not building the relationship. People buy people. The Foot in the Door is your opportunity to build a relationship with a potential client. Work closely and develop a rapport. And for sake - do not send them the finished product - present it.

Cashflow or bookkeeping issues?

FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

What Do You Do When You Have Your Ideal Clients?

When you increase agency revenue, you are both opening your business up to new opportunities as well as potential downfalls. This is why it's best to be prepared and be aware of other areas of your business you want to improve. Through evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business, and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

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

Should You White Label the Services That Your Agency Provides?

In this episode of Ask Swenk, we talk about all things to do with white labeling agency services. This is from whether you should white label in order to work with big brands, to charging for it and who's responsible for liability insurance on white labeled services.

{1:20} Phil asked: "I currently white label my services for another company and they are dealing with some pretty big clients.... What are your thoughts on white labeling?"

{5:34} Phil also asked: "I know the agency I'm white labeling for is adding a large chunk of money on top of what I am charging. For example, I charge them 5k for a website and they are charging the client 25k. I would otherwise be happy with the prices I charge them if I didn't know they were charging so much on top of it. Should I up my rates to them and risk them going elsewhere? Or do I carry on with them taking the lion's share of the profit?"

{7:38} Meg asked:  "In instances of white labelled services, which party is responsible for liability insurance for the services rendered? The company that is white labelling a service, or the actual service provider?"

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful.

Sign up now for free and get 50% off for 3 months by using the coupon code smartagency while upgrading.

If you want to read more about how you can improve your agency and yourself as an agency owner, find lots of amazing information by reading our blogs or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

What is a Healthy Profit Margin for a Digital Agency?

What is a healthy profit margin goal for your agency? If this is something you have asked yourself more than once or struggle with, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• What your digital agency profit margin should be.
• How to improve agency profit margins.
• 7 tips for healthy agency financials.
• Building cash reserves and improving cash flow.

Financials can get confusing. We all can agree there are so many different statements and ways of reporting - it’s all very overwhelming. That’s why his agency looks at the big picture and watches for trends, rather than focusing on the details.

Tip #1: Understand Healthy Profit Margins

Most CPA's says a 10% profit margin is good, and 15% is outstanding, but I believe and have seen margins well over the 32% range. If you aren't quite there yet, make this your top priority. A solid profit margin is a key to financial health. There are a variety of ways to calculate profit.

Gross Revenue - Expenses - Owner Salary = Net Profit*

Net Profit / Gross Revenue = Profit

*Note: Owner Distributions and Profit Taxes are taken from the Net Profit)

Tip #2: Make Profit a Priority

Most business owners consider their profit to be simply the amount “leftover” each month after all other expenses are paid. If that’s what you’re doing, you’re going about it all wrong! Jason mentions the book Profit First which explains an accounting method for making sure your business is highly and permanently profitable by setting aside profit before paying other expenses.

Tip #3: Regular Review of Financials

When you’re going over financials, the Income Statement is the #1 document you need to be reviewing regularly. Jason says this is the statement that’s going to give an accurate account of your agency’s financial health. It essentially takes your more detailed line items and lumps them together into larger categories to report gross revenue, expenses, and profit.

Tip #4: Build Cash Reserves

There is no magic number for how much an agency should have in reserve - it all depends on the risk comfort of the owner. However, a good rule of thumb is to keep 3 months of expenses in a savings account. This saves potential headaches and fears, and can also help float your cash flow if needed.

Tip #5: Improve Cash Flow

As you grow, you get bigger clients. The bigger the client, the more hoops there are to jump through to get paid. This drastically slows things down. So one trick Jason talks about it to change your billing cycle from every 30 days to every 15 days. The sooner you invoice, the quicker you’ll get paid.

I also have a blog post about additional ways to improve cash flow, including changing payment terms right in your proposal.

Tip #6: Don’t Let Growth Psych You Out

In a growth phase, cash can be deceiving. It feels like you’re raking in the dough but a lot of people don’t look at the flip side to see what each client is costing them. Sometimes they’re only breaking even. Jason cautions all agency owners to take a regular look at financials to see if you’re as profitable as you think.

And last but not least, meet with your CPA regularly. Agencies who are growing rapidly should meet with their CPA on a monthly basis or even more frequently.

Discover the Best Agency Strategies Working Today by Connecting with the Best Agencies. This collaborative mastermind is filled with other motivated agency owners that are cool, fun, and willing to share their knowledge and wisdom to help catapult you to the next level. Learn more.

Grow Your Agency

Understanding profit margin goals can be the first step into growing as an agency owner and your agency. I always suggest taking a step back to look for weak spots in your business. Are you ignoring these within your agency? No matter what challenge your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can give advice on 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 how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

Want more? 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.

Figuring out the right level of transparency to have with employees about agency finances. How much should they know in order to motivate them and how much is too much?

Transparency of Agency Finances With Your Team

Jack asked:

{1:35}  "I like the idea of bonuses based on profitability. How much info should I share with my team? Do they need to know everyone else's salary/wages so they can monitor project budgets, costs, profits, etc.?"

The short answer is you shouldn't share everyone's salaries as they don't need to know this information. A great way to create a process for bonuses leading by my personal experience would be to create a budget with the project managers as a buffer and provide bonus opportunities for completing the project under the budgeted time.

{3:47}  "How much financial info should I share, and how much is too much?"

This is a great question and completely depends on where these employees are in the business. Everyone wants to contribute and feel like they are making a difference within an agency and we personally shared top line agency finances to show the impact of work within the agency.

Sharing salaries can create conflict if they differ which can depend on many different aspects leading to employees within the agency feeling undervalued.

{6:59}  "Will employees get resentful knowing how much the CEO/Owner make?"

Not necessarily. From personal experience, we shared with our employees our salaries but withheld distributions and dividends that come with the perks of being an agency owner like tax relief and credits. This is what I would recommend doing for your own agency.

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly web pages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful.

Sign up now for free and get 50% off for 3 months by using the coupon code smart agency while upgrading.

Want More about How You Can Improve Your Agency and Yourself as an Agency Owner?

You can read our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Become a Better Owner

Sharing your agency finances and perfecting processes can help elevate not only your business but improve you as an agency owner. This doesn't mean that this is the end of your struggles but I can help you get through all of it.

From my own experiences, 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 can show you 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.

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

In this episode, we’ll cover the 7 deadly sins that agency owners commit in their own marketing, and how to quit sinning and start winning new business.

This week on the The Smart Agency Master Class I talk with my friend Diane Young, co-founder of The Drum which is Europe’s leading marketing news platform, and recently has made it’s way to the US. Diane has spent over a decade observing and interviewing agencies. And in that time she’s been able to pinpoint 7 things that agencies do to themselves to negatively impact their own growth.

Diane shares the 7 Deadly Sins for Agency Marketing. Find out if you’re committing them and what you can do to stop before it’s too late!

[clickToTweet tweet="These are the 7 Deadly Sins #Agencies Are Committing. Are You Guilty of Any?" quote="These are the 7 Deadly Sins Agencies Are Committing. Are You Guilty of Any?"]

7 Deadly Sins of Agency Marketing

So what are the 7 deadly sins of agency marketing you need to avoid to elevate your marketing strategy? Let's break them down..

1. Lack of unique selling proposition.

   Agencies often either the lack a USP or lack the expression of it. So many agencies aren’t telling the story about why they’re different. What does your agency do better than anyone else? That’s what you need to communicate. Being a ‘me too’ agency or trying to service everyone is actually a doing a disservice to your business.

   ---

2. Lack of vision.

   Where’s your agency going? What’s your end-game? Your clients and your team want to be part of the amazing journey your on. However, you’ve got to identify and communicate where you’re going so they can get excited about joining you. If you have destination, it’s much easier to get where you’re going.

   ---

3. Lack of commitment.

   A lot of agency owners don’t fully commit to marketing their agency. They can’t or won’t put themselves out there - this is especially true of digital agency owners who are more technical and usually avoid networking and personal connections. Avoid committing this sin by going out of your comfort zone and putting yourself out there. No one knows how awesome your agency is better than you!

   ---

4. Lack of inertia.

   Often agency marketing takes a backseat to clients. And yes, clients do come first. But they can’t first, middle and last. Be sure agency marketing is somewhere on the priority list. You can do this by having a dedicated person or setting aside dedicated time to market. Also, adopt the motto: “done is better than perfect.” Agonizing over the perfect post, the perfect video, the perfect…. Anything, somehow goes from being an obsession to being an excuse. Don’t let it happen. Action leads to transactions.

   ---

5. Overselling or over claiming.

   This one's a doozy. An agency that claims to be the best, first, biggest, fastest, most award-winning is full of it and a prospective client’s BS meter is going to pick up on it. Don’t make claims if you can’t state a source. You don’t have to the best, fastest, most award-winning if you can simply own a specific skill in a specific niche and use your expertise to establish yourself as an authority. Be true and convincing in your agency marketing.

   ---

6. Disinterest or isolation.

   Agency owners, specifically digital agency owners are sometimes so focused on the technical side of their work they forget to spend time in the world around them. Some don’t see the value in getting out from behind their computers, meeting people face to face and learning more about others’ experiences. Professional networking groups like The Drum Network are great for gaining an understanding of what others are doing. When you let your guard down and start sharing your experiences with other agency owners you’ll be able to help each other build and grow, just like this agency that doubled their business in 6 months just by networking!

   ---

7. Lack of insight.

   It’s hard to detach yourself and see things objectively. The sin some agency owners commit is being too shortsighted to recognize their business’ strengths and weakness. You can avoid this by seeking out a third party perspective. Gain valuable insight by researching and understanding what you’re aren’t doing well. Then you can concentrate on getting better at it.

Bottom line, in a wide sea of agencies you’ve got to find your way to stand out. Have a unique selling proposition and a vision for where you’re headed. Then, commit to taking action and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to get it done. And remember not to commit the 7 deadly sins.

Agency Tools You Need to Check Out...

There's a couple pretty fantastic tools that all agency owners need to check out with some amazing deals just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners...

Cashflow or bookkeeping issues? FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. It's cloud-based software allows you to define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

What Do You Do When You Have Your Ideal Clients?

Being aware of the 7 deadly sins of agency marketing can help you elevate your marketing strategy and bring your digital agency to the next level within the industry but why stop there? Through evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And I can help you get through all of it.

I have provided many successful agency owner with support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing pains within an agency can be a major struggle and I can show you how to identify the different phases of agency growth, why placing a solid process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy and what the three questions you need to ask yourself are for you to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

Discover the pros and cons of a merger with an agency that has complimentary services. Determine if you are competitively priced in your market, and is it possible to scale a creative agency?

{1:35} Rikki asked: "We are a digital marketing agency considering merging with a design and development agency. We think this will be a good move because the services are very complimentary. What are the pros and cons?"

{6:03} Imani asked: "How do you know if you are competitively priced? I thought about getting proposals from my competitors for the type businesses that I would like to work with... should I?"

{9:29} Peter asked: "How do you scale a creative agency ? Can it even be scaled? Some say agencies, in general, cannot be scaled."

Hey, Smart Agency Master Class fans! Save time & win more work

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Sign up now for free and get 50% off for 3 months by using the coupon code smartagency while upgrading.

What’s Next After a Merger?

If you have more questions, I can help. Whether you have been an agency owner for some time or have just taken the leap and started a new agency, I have covered topics including bringing in big clients for your agency to leverage the use of Youtube for your agency marketing strategy.

Check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Building the Best Sales Team to Grow Your Agency

Want to know what you need to do to build the best sales team to grow your agency and bring in new clients? Looking for a new cold call strategy? I've got all you need to know.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Understanding and overcoming common sales team problems.
• A NO FAIL cold call strategy for agencies.
• Building the best sales team: finding, hiring, managing, and paying them.
• #1 tip for crushing your sales goals.

My guest on today’s show is Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer. Wes spent a decade in the Air Force and another in commissioned sales before starting his business as a sales coach and trainer. He shares some great tips for cold calling, as well as strategies for hiring and managing great sales people. His advice is totally practical and will help you develop a killer sales outbound strategy.

Common Sales Team Problems

Wes says most salespeople don’t fully understand the value of the resources and expertise they bring to the table. This causes 2 major issues:

1. Discounting prices - Salespeople undervalue the service they represent and are therefore willing to discount the sale price. Doing this conveys a bargain mentality and undercuts the agency’s level of authority, which also destroys the client’s confidence.
2. Talking too much - Similarly, salespeople who undervalue their agency also end up overcompensating by talking too much, instead of listening. If you’re talking instead of listening you aren’t hearing the needs of your prospect. You can’t fix problems if you aren’t hearing them.

Wes used the example of a heart surgeon: The surgeon is selling heart surgery but he doesn’t have all the answers, he is connected to a team and has confidence that together they can solve the problem. He has confidence in his team of MRI techs, anesthesiologists, etc. He knows he is connected to all the right people to solve his patients’ problems.

The solution for the best sales team for your agency: Sell on the fact that you are connected to all the best people in the industry. Be confident in the value that you represent and the fact that your team can solve the challenges and problems your clients face. Talk the talk and walk the walk. Be the best sales team out there.

A No-Fail Cold Call Strategy for Agencies

People say the old-school cold call is dead but Wes says in B2B, it’s still alive and well. For a successful cold call, you need to find a common connection or mutual relationship - someone or something they know or heard of - then use that as your opening.

Define your dream 100 list and go for it. If you can’t find mutual interest to get a foot in the door, you will have to go old school which can be hard in our technology driven society, BUT...

[clickToTweet tweet="Don’t let your prospect hide behind voicemail, caller ID and email with this strategy." quote="Don’t let your prospect hide behind voicemail, caller ID and email with this strategy."]

You’ll get the best response from a multi-media, multi-touch approach and circle them like a shark.

Develop a nurture series of reaching them via email, voicemail and social media, such as LinkedIn or other industry social communities.

Do your homework first.

Know WHO you’re talking to, WHAT they’re doing and HOW they’re doing it. In your multi-media messages cite case studies and specific examples of what you understand their challenges to be and how you are equipped to solve them.

Create a series of messages (voice, social and email) that are on-point and provide specific information. These can be scripted and follow a template, but you must customize them for this specific prospect. No one wants to hear a generic speech or receive a form letter. Say things like: “I’ll call you at 10AM on Tuesday” then actually follow-up on at that exact day/time.

Using this strategy you will prove that you are unique, thorough, consistent, creative and professional… a refreshing change from the usual cold calls they get.

Do’s and Don’ts for a great initial call:

• Don’t hit them over the head with everything your agency has done and can do. Listen to what they need and determine how you can help meet those needs.
• Do be calm and collected. Speak as though you are talking to your friend or neighbor, not like you're speaking to someone who's about to hang up on you :)
• Don’t bombard them with a bunch of stats and facts about you. Initial calls aren’t about you - they're about them.
• Do more listening than talking. This is the best way to understand their issues and figure out how your can help solve them. Remember, whoever talks the most loses.
• Don’t insult. If you looked at their site and think it’s crappy, keep it to yourself. No good can come when your prospect is immediately put on the defensive.
• Do compliment their current digital advertising. Tell them how great their site is and comment on how well it must be performing. Let them tell you what’s not working.

Finding, Hiring & Paying Great Salespeople

Always, always be recruiting. Don’t just look for great sales people when you have the need but focus on building the best sales team for your agency. Keep your eyes open and notice great skill when you see it. Just like college football recruiters, make room for an all-star even if you aren’t in need of one at the time.

To find exactly the right candidate, write an ad with some specific instructions on how to apply. This weeds out the people who can’t follow direction. To further screen people, put them through a really rigorous process and see how much they push back, even respond to their interview answers with “that was a terrible response” just to see if they’ll take it or defend themselves. Little things like this can give you real insight into their personality type.

When hiring salespeople be clear on duties, expectations and how you’ll measure success. In general, a salesperson should prospect, qualify and build relationships but the agency owner is the best closer.

#1 Tips for Crushing Sales Goals

Wes’s best advice is to manage activity and pay on results.

He says to start by breaking down the numbers. Know your annual sales goal and back out what that means monthly, weekly and daily. Also, track and measure your pipeline in 5-6 stages and know how many prospects you need in each stage to stay on target.

Manage sales activity by knowing how many prospects are in each stage of the pipeline at all times. Pay your sales team based on actual conversions. For an example Account Manager commission structure, check out my #AskSwenk advice here.

Agency Tools You Need to Check Out...

There's a couple pretty fantastic tools that all agency owners need to check out with some amazing deals just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners...

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. It's cloud-based software allows you to define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Cashflow or bookkeeping issues? FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

What Are Your Agency Concerns?

So we've covered how you can build the best sales team for your agency but these might not be the only concerns you have for your business.

It doesn’t matter if you have been an agency owner for a while now or have just taken the leap and started a new agency, I have covered topics from the struggles you may face within your agency to leveraging Youtube in your marketing for your agency marketing strategy.

Learn more about me or you can check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  Don’t worry! You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Facing Challenges as a New Agency Owner?

Answers to some great questions from a new agency owner about starting and growing an agency still in it's infancy stage. We'll cover everything from knowing when and how to hire, to generating leads and setting up all the right systems when you are still a very small agency.

Gillian asks...

{1:50}  "Right now I'm doing everything (lead generation, sales, project management, design, development, etc). How big should I get before I start hiring, and what are the first steps I need to take to replace myself?"

{6:20}  "I'm primarily a developer and I don't have as much experience in sales or lead generation. Do I need to reach some level of competency in these areas before taking the plunge, or should I "fake it 'til I make it"?"

{8:46}  "You talk a lot about having set up the right systems in place, and it's fascinating to hear you talk about roles of the CEO, sales people, etc. but what kind of systems do I need to have in place right now as I get started? How far ahead should I be looking?"

Tired of Being Restricted in the Career Path You’re On?

Are you the owner of a small agency under $300,000? Or a freelancer, marketing professional or agency employee who thinks you can run your own agency better?

Jump Start My Agency is a program that covers everything you need to start a profitable agency and land high paying clients of over $20,000.

This 4 week course is designed to help you find the ideal clients, charge what you’re worth and learn how to build a team.

There are clients waiting to work with you! Let me help you by requesting an invitation to the program.

Want to read more about how you can improve your agency and yourself as an agency owner? You can read our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

If one of your goals for your agency this year is to have doubled business and client numbers, this is the advice you need.

In this episode we’ll cover:

• How one agency doubled business in just six months by giving work to other agencies.
• Building a network and being a trusted client resource.
• Why you should join a mastermind group to help you grow.

My guest today, Ian Garlic is one of very few two-time guests on The Smart Agency Master Class. He’s the owner of authenticWEB, which he founded 8 year ago. You might also know him from my “I Will Never Do This” Agency Pledge video as the naked ukulele guy. (Don’t worry, he’s not actually naked :) ) In this interview, Ian shares how his agency business doubled in 6 months… check it out.

How to Achieve Doubled Business: Not All Competition Is Bad

I don’t know about you but when I owned my agency I was always very guarded about who and what we were working on. I would never have even considered working with other agencies, let alone idea sharing with them and especially when I wanted to work towards doubled business for my agency.

Ian says he comes from a place of abundance and believes there’s enough work to go around. So share and share alike… Easier said than done though, right? It’s our natural instinct to seek and destroy. But….

[clickToTweet tweet="This is how one agency DOUBLED business in just SIX MONTHS!" quote="This is how one agency DOUBLED business in just SIX MONTHS!"]

3 Steps to Growing A Referral Network

If you want replicate the steps that Ian took to double his business here’s what you need to do:

1. Change your mindset. Agency ownership can be very lonely. No one really ‘gets it’ besides other agency owners. If you look at them as part of your agency family instead of the competition it will open you up to a ton more opportunities.
   

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2. Specialize. You can’t be awesome at all things, so pick one and rock it. You can build a reputation for being the best in a specific area, and when another agency needs that specialty you’ll be the one they call.
   

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3. Do favors without expectation. As you meet other agency owners, build relationships and get to know their areas of expertise. Naturally, you’ll be able to refer your clients to other agencies when their services are needed. Over time, these relationships will evolve into a referral network.

I know what you’re thinking…

You’re skeptical because you think most other agencies will try to steal your clients out from under you. I get it.

Ian said it best, “If someone can steal your clients you’re not doing a good enough job servicing them.”

Be Your Client’s Most Valuable Resource

Your clients trust you. They rely on to bring awesome ideas to the table - even if you aren’t the one to execute them. Use your agency network to connect the dots and get things done for them. When you refer your clients to other agencies that specialize in an area you don’t, you’re proving that you are connected in the industry and they’ll view you as a valuable resource.

The Benefit of Masterminds

Ian credits his involvement in mastermind groups for a lot of his agency’s success. He’s actively involved in 3 different groups right now. He says the idea sharing and accountability are crucial to growing and scaling.

Ian says even if you have the best team ever, you still need a peer group to keep you in check. Mastermind members are great for:

• A different perspective and help you see things differently.
• Giving you crap when you don’t follow-through.
• Advice and the benefit of a similar experience.

In fact, Ian and I have been working together for a while. We both have benefitted from mastermind groups for various aspects of our business and have decided to develop one strictly for agency owners.

Digital Agency Elite is a group of agency owners with the common goal of idea sharing to grow and scale their agency. The group meets monthly by phone and in person quarterly, the day before various marketing conferences around the country.

If you think this format of mastermind is right for you, check out Digital Agency Elite to learn more and apply. We are only selecting successful agency owners who are committed to everyone’s mutual benefit will be accepted.

Agency Tools You Need to Check Out...

There's a couple of pretty fantastic tools that all agency owners need to check out with some amazing deals just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners...

Cashflow or bookkeeping issues? FreshBooks is the solution. FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy­ to ­use cloud accounting software for agencies that will help you work smarter, become more organized, and most importantly, get you paid quickly.

Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies continuously monitor and report analytics. It's cloud-based software allows you to define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Whether you are starting an agency or you're an established agency that has potentially hit a plateau, finding the best team especially your sales team is important. In this episode of Ask Swenk, I discuss everything you need to know about finding, hiring, paying and managing great sales reps to CRUSH IT in your agency new business.

I talk about everything from skill criteria and previous experience to salary and commission.

{1:42} Ramzi asked: “I was wondering if you have any great strategies to get referrals from current clients?”

{4:15} Myles asked: "Should I let my full time staff freelance in their own time? If so, what measures do I need to put in place to protect myself and my business?"

{7:02} Blake asked: "I am a big fan of your content. I own a 6 man agency and we’re going through that process right now. We’re trying to build our following with video marketing but it’s just tough getting started! Any advice you could share would be appreciated."

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Let Me Help You

I hope you found this episode of Ask Swenk helpful for your business but what are the other challenges you are facing in your agency? How can I help?

I have covered topics from facing failing economies and recessions or how a speaking opportunity can create business for your agency. Or maybe you want to know the four phases of growth within your agency and want extra help in taking your agency to the next level and sell your agency for a larger profit? I have all the information you need to help you through it.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! You can 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.

Many agencies make the mistake in believing they just need to report on their analytics rather than monitoring them consistently. I am going to explain why you need to monitor analytics in order to build your business.

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• What agencies are doing wrong with analytics reporting.
• 4 steps you need to improve client analytics.
• Ways to monitor analytics to grow your agency business.

My guest on today’s episode is Mychelle Mollot from Klipfolio. She’s got a background in engineering, analytics and marketing… which makes her perfect in her role as CMO for marketing analytics software. Mychelle talks to us about the major differences in reporting vs. monitoring analytics, plus ways you can use analytics to grow your agency.

In our 2016 Future Outlook of Digital Agencies, we reported that brands are hiring 85% of brands are selecting agencies based on their ability to report and react to analytics. Unfortunately most agencies believe they’re being hired for their marketing and creativity.

That means there’s a major disconnect between what clients want and what agencies deliver. Agencies are not meeting expectation in this area - but there's hope!

Reporting analytics isn’t enough

Mychelle says a lot of agencies aren’t reporting analytics to their clients. And if they are, it’s a pretty generic monthly or quarterly overview that gets rolled up and presented in a neat little Powerpoint. That’s the problem, though. It’s a recap of what has already happened. If there’s a change in numbers you might be able to explain why, but you can’t do anything to correct it.

Instead, agencies should be establishing themselves as a valuable asset by bringing business growth ideas and strategies to the client when it’s relevant.

1. Change your mindset to use data proactively.
2. Work with your client to identify the most important metric(s) for their business.
3. Monitor key metrics in the moment (daily or every 2-3 days).
4. Use real time data to proactively change strategy and impact the client’s business.

Monitor analytics to grow your business

Create new opportunities with existing clients.

By monitoring analytics you can leverage your knowledge of real time analytics to pitch new projects to your existing. If you see an area that needs improvement or a different direction the client should be take, present those opportunities to the client with the data.

Analyze your own metrics.

You’re a digital agency but sometimes you’re more like the shoeless cobbler. You can use real time analytics to monitor your agency’s marketing. Just follow the 4 steps above and learn what’s working and what’s not. Tweak things proactively to impact your agency business.

Charge for analytics monitoring.

Agencies who provide analytics reporting usually do it as a built in service. However, if you are continuously monitoring activity there is potential to charge for this service. It can become cyclical this way… you charge to develop the work, you charge to monitor the progress and you charge for new projects that you discover through monitoring.

The KEY is understanding that monitoring is so much different than just reporting. The opportunities and growth potential is limitless.

Klipfolio is a tool that is helping agencies achieve continuous monitoring. It is cloud-based software that allows you to define KPI’s based on your preferences and filters. With 50+ built-in marketing metrics, you can create a dashboard for yourself and your clients which can be viewed on desktop, mobile or old-fashioned PDF.

I've played around with Klipfolio and it's a pretty awesome tool that can give you an edge over your competition.

For a limited time, Klipfolio has a special deal for my listeners. Get a FREE TRIAL and an amazing offer just for The Smart Agency Master Class listeners at Klipfolio.com/SmartAgency.

Growing Your Agency

When you monitor analytics for your agency, it gives you a consistent view of the performance of your business. In order to create the best business possible, you need to look from the foundations up for any other areas you need to monitor. By evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

The post Why Agencies Need to Monitor Analytics, Not Just Report Them appeared first on Smart Agency Masterclass: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies.

Whether you are starting an agency or you're an established agency that has potentially hit a plateau, finding the best team especially your sales team is important. In this episode of Ask Swenk, I discuss everything you need to know about finding, hiring, paying and managing great sales reps to CRUSH IT in your agency new business.

I talk about everything from skill criteria and previous experience to salary and commission.

Finding, Hiring, Paying & Managing Agency Sales Reps

{1:03} Simohammed asked: “I’m thinking of hiring a sales rep for my agency. I know it's good to make the salary based on the representative's performance but from your experiences do you give a small salary as a base if there is no performance or is it always based on performance like project commissions and percentages?"

{3:48}  “What are other criteria that you look into a sales rep, besides being good in communication and a good sales person?”

{7:39}  “Is it possible to look for people with an existing network or previous experience in the same field etc?”

Grow as a Business

I hope you found this information helpful in finding the best sales reps for your agency to bring in those bigger clients and achieve the business growth you aspire to.

If you are looking for advice on what you need to do as an agency owner or learn how to fast track growth for your agency, I can help.

On my website, I have a bank of tips, tricks and insights that as an agency owner, you might find helpful. Head on over to the blog section of my website where you can find everything you need covering a wide variety of topics. If videos are more your thing and you find the more beneficial, you can check out the videos on my Youtube channel!

Have you ever considered starting a podcast to connect with your customers and create an audience for yourself and your brand?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 4 big reasons every agency should have a podcast.
• Common fears of podcasting and how to overcome them.
• Starting a podcast and building an audience of new business prospects.

I’m super psyched to have Pat Flynn as my guest on today’s show. He’s the successful guy behind Smart Passive Income - a major resource for entrepreneurs looking to scale their business. He’s also the podcasting guru and is sharing tips with us about the benefits of podcasting, as well as how to get started - including ways to get over your fear of recording your own voice!

Pat got his start as an entrepreneur when he was laid off from the architecture industry in 2008. He started an online study program for architecture’s LEED exam, called GreenExamAcademy.com and it took off. He learned a ton about quickly scaling an online business and over time turned that smart, passive income in another business… hence the name, Smart Passive Income :)

Pat says a HUGE way to nurture leads and establish a relationship is through podcasting.

4 BIG Reasons to Podcast

1. The podcasting space is less crowded. Stats vary but there’s something like 5 million+ active blogs and only 500,000 active podcasts. Those are great odds! Podcasting is far less cluttered so you can find and reach your target audience.
   

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2. Podcasts are evergreen. There’s potential for exponential growth when these shows live out there forever. Pat has episodes from 2010 that are still getting downloaded six years later!
   

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3. People are still discovering podcasts. Listenership is growing and by starting a podcast sooner than later you’ll get in on the ground level. Listeners are downloading podcasts to listen to on the go: during their commute, working out, waiting in long lines, etc. When they find something they love, they’re even binge-listening!
   

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4. You’ll gain credibility. You’re trying to establish yourself as an authority with your audience. And when you interview expert guests you are also adding to your own credibility.

Another bonus? Content can be repurposed. You can turn an episode topic into a blog post or ebook, create a Slideshare or live event, even a lead magnet.

Getting Over Your Fears

Maybe you’ve been thinking of starting a podcast but you’ve got some hang ups about it. You’re not alone. There are several common fears a lot of people face which hold them back from getting started. Here’s how you can get over those fears...

“What if people can’t find it?”

They will find it as long as you’re specific in who you’re targeting. People search for podcasts based on their interests, problems and focus. If you’re searchable in one of those areas, they will find your podcast. It just takes a little time to build your audience so be patient and let it grow.

“What if I can’t come up with show content?”

There’s a couple different formats you can try out and see what sticks.

Invite expert guests on your show to be interviewed on a specific topic that interests your audience. People like: authors, prospects, existing customers, and forum owners make great guests. Interviews are a win-win because you get some great show content and the guest gets to promote their business, book, forum or area expertise.

Another popular show format is Q&A. Take common questions and record your answers, solution or advice. This is an awesome way to establish authority and credibility with your target audience.

“What if people don’t like it?”

The key is to help your audience. Choose topics that are relevant and helpful to them. Don’t guess what people want to know - research it online. Find out where your audience congregates online and see what problems, issues, or questions they are posting. Develop your show topics surrounding those issues and helping solve those problems. Don’t sell right away, just help.

“How can I find my ‘hosting’ voice?”

Everyone feels the same way and you’ll get over it in time. Pat says finding your voice is just trial and error. You’ll get into a groove but in order for that to happen you have to start somewhere. Go back and listen to yourself, critique yourself and do better next time. Also, read the comments that follow your podcasts and make changes based on that feedback.

The best thing you can do is: be you. It’s ok to look at other successful podcasters and model after them, but don’t copy their style. Be authentic and your “hosting voice” will develop by itself.

“I don’t understand the technology and equipment.”

Pat says the technology has come a long way since he started in 2010. You just have to research and education yourself.

The thing about fear of something like this is that is a sign that you’re about to do something that could be a really awesome game changer. So embrace the fear and psych yourself up for extreme awesomeness.

In fact, Pat offers a Podcasting Course which break down everything you need to know about getting started.

Starting a Podcast

To be successful in podcasting you’ve got to fully commit. 

Tell yourself this is something you’re doing and going to continue to do. Then stick to it.

It was December 2008 when Pat first decided he was going to start a podcast. It wasn’t until July 2010 that he actually published his first episode. It took him a year and a half to get started?!?

Pat’s best advice…. COMMIT. Just take action.

Building Your Audience

You absolutely have to specialize. Pick a niche and be super specific on who you’re helping. When you try to serve everyone, you end up serving no one.

The more specific the better. In fact, when you upload your podcast to iTunes, Stitcher etc. you need to select a specific category in order to be searchable.

Specializing doesn’t mean that you have to turn away other prospects. Pat used the example of a video agency that specializes in streaming video classes. The agency owner knew a lot about yoga, challenges, lingo, phrases, etc. and targeted just yoga instructors and studios. She focused her advertising on this niche and was wildly successful. With that success she was able to expand to cross fit gyms, pilates studios etc.

Also, be prepared to be super patient. In Pat’s experience he says it takes a year or two to build a following and see real results. He stresses patience when you are trying to build a community of followers when starting a podcast. If you’re putting yourself out there, word will spread but it doesn’t happen overnight.

An Agency Tool You Need to Check Out...

If you're looking for a tool to help grow your agency you've got to check out Redbooth. Using this software will help you grow your agency and eliminate major profit leaks, such as scope creep. Right now, you can get a FREE TRIAL for 30 days and bonus agency templates for client intake, social media management & more by heading to www.Redbooth.com/Smart. Hurry, this is a limited time offer!

Curious about selling your agency? In this episode of Ask Swenk, I cover how to determine your agency's current value and what you can do to increase it. I also take a real look at the process to eventually sell your agency and gain profit.

{0:48} Tim asked: "What is my digital agency worth if I sold it today?"

{4:10} Bree asked: "What does the process look like when you sell your agency?"

{7:32} Tony asked: "How can you increase your agency valuation?"

Tim asked: "What is my digital agency worth if I sold it today?"

The short answer is it's worth whatever someone will give you money for it, and whatever you're willing to take. The thing I want to debunk right now is if you can get over $5 million, that you'll get tons and tons of money, or get over a million. It doesn't matter on your gross. I know agencies that are over $10 million in revenue, and they're like at 4% profit, which is horrible. Your goal for a profit margin should be 40% and more than that. If it's not, you're doing something wrong. There's a lot of people doing something wrong, but the cool thing is, know there's something wrong, and you can make it darn change. Through doing this and making that change, you can focus on how your agency can gain profit. Right? I don't want to cuss.

To answer your question, to give you kind of a baseline, it's all about looking at the past three-year track record. As a possible acquirer wants to know is, they want to make sure you're going up. If you're going down, it's going to be like a fire sale. They're going to be like, "Well, we'll just acquire your assets, and we'll give you this amount of money, and that kind of stuff." You really want to look at has my revenue grown, and by what percentage year over year in order to figure that out. On a low end, it would be 15% gross every year. On a high end, it might be 50%. Then you also need to look at the profit. That's really where it is. Who cares if you're a $10 million agency. You should be making mad bank on the profit. Then you can base your margins ...

On a small side, I'll give you a low, and a small, just to give you some kind of range. If you were 15% gross, or growing every year for the past three years, at 15%, and then 15% profit, you'd probably have a 5x multiple on profit. If you were at $1 million profit, you would get 5 million valuation for your agency. That's not saying you're getting $5 million cash, that's just what they evaluate it at, and then you can go through all the other stuff that I'll cover in the next question.

On a high end, let's say you're at 40% on both ends, 40% growth, 40% margins, then it could be 11x. Let's say you were $1 million profit, then you would get $11 million valuation.

That's just a rule of thumb to give you kind of low, and the high, and then you can calculate if you really want to sell it or not. A lot of times, I tell people not to sell their agency, because a lot of agency owners, and tell me if I'm wrong, they go, "Well, the grass is greener on the other side. I want to go build this product." This was me. "I want to go build this product, because it's so much easier, and I don't have to do all the hard work, and deliver, and all that kind of stuff. What they find is that the grass is greener on the side you actually water. If you did actually want to do a product, you can actually use the agency as an incubator, or this kind of system that just keeps producing these amazing products and technologies. Keep the agency, since you're not getting the huge multiples that you would on a Saas company. Build up these amazing Saas companies, and then you're off to the races, right? You get the money that you want, if that's what you want. If you're doing it just for the money and to gain profit, you shouldn't be doing it.

Bree asked, "What does the process look like when you sell your agency?"

The first thing is is an acquirer is going to reach out to you and ask you a number of different questions. They're just trying to get a baseline to figure out, "Am I going to give you a letter of intent," which will basically give you an idea of what they evaluate your agency worth, and kind of a high level structure of a deal. Maybe I evaluate your agency a $5 million. I'll give you $1 million cash up front. The other $4 million will be tied up in equity, and earn out over time. Something like that.

You have to be happy with the letter of intent. If you're not happy with the letter of intent, you don't want to go to the due diligence phase, because it's going to be a waste of time. You want to kind of negotiate back and forth, be like, "How did you come up with that valuation?" That kind of stuff. The other thing I want to tell you is when you actually start going through an acquisition process, whatever the acquirer asks you, ask them back. A lot of people do not know that, and they do not ask the right questions. They're just so excited someone wants to give them a bag of money, they're like, "Cool!" Sometimes they're just prying to figure out what's your strategy, and who are some of your clients, so you've got to be careful.

One of the things that I would recommend you do is set up an escrow account, or have them set up and escrow account saying ... After the letter of intent. Let's say you agree on the million cash up front, and then $4 million over time in equity. What I would do is I would say, "Let's put 25/50,000 in escrow. If everything you've asked me so far is true, when you actually start going through everything, and you back out, we keep the escrow. If it does go through, then you get that money back." It just keeps a lot of the time-wasters at bay. You'll see if they're really serious.

After the letter of intent, and you start going through the due diligence phase, then they'll actually draft up kind of a term sheet. This is the legal document. This is telling you everything. What you're really looking for is cash up front. The one thing I'll tell you, be happy with the guaranteed cash. Expect kind of the earn-out, the equity, all that that it won't ever happen. If it happens, great. But I want you to be happy with the cash. A lot of people, they'll get a $5 million valuation, they'll sell their agency, but they only got like $100,000 in cash. Then they never see the other $4.9 million. It's happened to so many people. Be happy with the cash up front. You have to figure out why you're selling as well.

After the term sheet, then you're sold. Then you've got to figure out am I staying on with the acquirer? What do I need to do? Am I going to have a non-compete? All of that other stuff. Then you can actually celebrate, because congratulations, you just sold your agency. Now what? I struggled for two years trying to figure out what the heck am I going to do next? I was just lucky enough that a lot of you reached out for help, and I truly loved it.

Tony asked, "How can I increase my agency's valuation?"

Well, there's a number of different ways you can actually increase it. The first one is looking at your assets. What assets do you have? Assets could be your client contracts. You want to make sure you have long-term contracts, not clients can cancel at any time. If you're month to month, that's not good. You want it fully extended. Also, too, you want to make sure that you can transfer those agreements with just written notice, that you don't have to get their approval. A lot of acquisitions, agencies will be an asset purchase, meaning if someone wanted to buy you, you actually have to go to your clients, get them to sign off ... You being able to sell that contract to them. You want to put that in your contract now. Just chat with your lawyers on that. It's just a transferable contract with written notice. That's about it.

Then you want to make sure that you don't have too much revenue tied up in one or two accounts, right? If you lose that account, you're going to lose a ton of money, and you don't want that either. You've got to make sure.

The other thing is kind of the profit. You want to make sure you're charging enough, you're not over-delivering, and is actually kept at a minimum, because that increases your profit, so you can keep growing, keep going up and gain profit. They also want to make sure you have multiple channels for your business development, right? I always tell people that I work with, and this is what we had: inbound strategy, outbound strategy, and strategic partnership strategy. I'm not talking about you give me a referral, I'll give you a referral. It's more about who is my strategic partners, how can I align with them, how can I help them out, and move forward?

Other things are, you want to really have a good snapshot of all your KPIs, right? My profit. How much does it take to acquire a client? What's the lifetime value of the client? What's my burn rate? All of these, you want to make sure you have a really good understanding of it. We've all watched Shark Tank. It's one of my favorite shows. I love when an entrepreneur comes in there, and they're not prepared knowing their numbers. That's what you look like if they start asking you questions, and you take a while to get back to them. We had everything ready. When they asked us questions, we're like, "Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom." Just giving it to them. They knew we were prepared. We knew our stuff.

The other one is really, a lot of times, getting outside perspective. You want that outside perspective to see through the trees. That helped us increase our valuation, because when you're in it, running it every day, that's hard. If you want to set up an advisory group, or board of directors, work with me, hint, hint. I'm winking, if you can't see me. Gives you that outside perspective in order to really get to the next level.

Want to Know More About How You Can Gain Profit as an Agency and Become a Better Agency Owner!

If you want extra help in taking your agency to the next level and want to gain profit or become a better agency owner? You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

What To Do When A Client Files a Business Lawsuit Against Your Agency

When a project begins to go south, you run the risk of a client filing a business lawsuit against you which can be detrimental to your agency's reputation and future.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• The warning signs of a project that’s going south.
• Why it’s so important to have documented processes for your agency.
• 3 ways to handle a business lawsuit from a client.

This week’s podcast is a little bit of a different format. Instead of interviewing a guest who shares great strategies to help you grow your agency, you get to listen in on a coaching call with a client who is facing a client business lawsuit. I recorded the call with his permission and we chat about how to handle it without wasting outrageous amounts of time, money and emotion.

Before we dive any further, you should know a couple things:

1. This is not legal advice. I’m not an attorney :)
2. In the interest of privacy, names have been changed/omitted.

The Backstory

So today, I’m talking to Jake who owns a small digital agency in the midwest. They work with small and midsize businesses and have been in business for nearly a decade.

Jake’s agency took on a client who was retired from a successful military career. She was starting a side project which included an educational website. Jake’s agency quoted the project at $15,000 with payment terms as: $5,000 upfront, $5,000 at concept approval and $5,000 upon completion.

Why You Should Never Ignore the Warning Signs

Before they knew it Jake’s team was two-thirds into the project, victims of scope creep, way over on hours and project scope had changed many times… Jake admits all the warning signs were there and they ignored them.

He says in hindsight they should have fired the client and walked away. Instead, they kept working in order to recoup their loss and get the last $5,000 installment.

Finally, the project was complete and delivered. They didn’t hear from the client for about a month until she contacted them to help with a server upgrade. Which they did. For free. Again. :/

3 Words to Dread: “You’ve Been Served”

Another month after final contact with this client, Jake says it was business as usual at the agency until a gentleman arrived at the office, asked to speak with the owner, and officially served him with a lawsuit. It was exactly like the movies.

The client is suing Jake’s agency for $5,000… Which is baffling because it’s only for part of the project cost, not the full amount. This has never happened to Jake in almost 10 years in business.

In 12 years running my agency, I went through this process 3 or 4 times. It’s scary at first. The best way to handle it is professionally. Keeping your cool and an open mind.

Why Processes Outperform Talent Every Time

Without knowing the exact reason for the business lawsuit, the first thing to look at is Jake’s agency’s process. Could they be at fault or negligent in delivering what was expected, promised and paid for? He says no.

Jake had purchased my Agency Playbook and has access to all my agency documents. He assures me that his team has documentation of the approved proposal, launch order forms, $0 change orders and project approval. He has full confidence that his team followed their processes and has a paper trail to prove it. So what piece of the story are we missing?

3 Ways to Handle a Client Business Lawsuit

1. Keep attorneys out of it (if possible). In Jake’s case, his agency was being sued for $5,000. Attorney fees would be least that much. This is a small claim should be easily resolved without racking up legal fees.
2. Make a personal phone call. Even though you’re shocked and insulted call and ask for a phone or in-person meeting to discuss her side of the story. There must be a reason she resorted to legal action, so give her a chance to explain.
3. Diffuse the situation. You definitely want to defend your agency and your team, but just ask for her story and then listen without interrupting. Most people want to be heard so let her rant and vent and just hear her out. Brace yourself, because this could be the hardest part.

Moving Past A Negative Experience

Every experience has the potential to be something you learn and grow from… Even something like this. It’s important to me that Jake not only get through this but also walked away learning how to avoid it in the future.

Obviously, this agency’s project delivery process is completely buttoned up. But, I always say there is no bad agency client - only a bad prospect or bad process. So somehow this really bad prospect slipped in and became a difficult client - which is the result of a flawed screening process.

What I wanted to make sure Jake is able to avoid any future issues, so we talked about what he could do differently next time. Here’s my advice to him moving forward:

• Trust your gut and don’t ignore the warning signs. If a project or client is getting out of hand, fire them. Walk away and don’t look back.
• Never, never keep working on a project just because you’re too far in. You might want to recoup what you've already invested but you'll lose so much more. You’ll never get the time back and it’ll cost you even more in lost opportunities.

Jake ended our call with the intention of calling this former client to see if they could meet to go over her complaint.

Justice Is Served

Update since the interview: As it turned out, Jake was forced to meet his former client in court. She was suing the agency on claims that she lost business while the site was being built.

The $5,000 she was suing for included the cost of business trips she couldn't take because the site wasn't finished, as well as her phone bill for the business line that was tied to the website.

Jake and his team went to court in with a 5” binder of every email, signed document and a timeline of the project. When the judge asked questions, they had answers with documentation.

In the end, Jake says it was a really good experience and he feels a new sense of confidence in their work and their processes.

An Agency Tool You Need to Check Out...

If you're looking for a tool to help grow your agency you've got to check out Redbooth. Using this software will help you grow your agency and eliminate major profit leaks, such as scope creep. Right now, you can get a FREE TRIAL for 30 days and bonus agency templates for client intake, social media management & more by heading to www.Redbooth.com/Smart. Hurry, this is a limited time offer!

Moving Forward With Your Agency

Avoiding a business lawsuit moving forward with your agency should be a key consideration when you are looking into project maintenance, communications as well as the customer service between the client, you as the owner and your team.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

Employee Profit Sharing, Referral Commission & Hourly to Retainer

Is employee profit sharing a good idea? In this episode of Ask Swenk, I answer your questions about if and how to compensate clients for referral business, how you can convert a longtime hourly client to monthly retainer and profit sharing for your team of employees.

{1:58} Geoff asked: "What are your thoughts on profit sharing for key employees?"

{4:50} Ryan asked: "I know you've talked about sales people and compensation before but, what about referrals? Flat fee or percentage? One time or for the life of the project/client?"

{7:28} Kirk asked: "I have a great client we do work for at an hourly rate -- this is the only client we have like this. We want to transition that client to a long term contract for a flat rate. Any suggestion on the best way to have that conversation about making the transition?"

Improving Your Agency

To bring your agency to the next level, finding ways to improve is always important. Through my years of experience, It's allowed me to provide advice on many topics from the struggles you may face with failing economies and recessions to how accepting a speaking opportunity can create business and the four phases of growth you may experience within your agency.

Want extra help in taking your agency to the next level and sell your agency for a larger profit? Or want to become a better agency owner?

Learn more about me and my experience and find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics!

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! 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.

Creating Fast Track Revenue for Your Agency

If you want to know how to be up there with the big name agencies through fast track revenue, then my interview with Brad Martineau has everything you need to know.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 2 secrets to building multi-million dollar through fast track revenue.
• 2 things agency owners should quit being afraid of.
• A cool strategy for qualifying and educating new prospects.

My guest on this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class is Brad Martineau, co-founder and Chief Baller (best title EVER!) at SixthDivision. He started his digital agency after leaving a seven year career at Infusionsoft. He shares with us the secret on how he built a $3 million agency in just a few years.

Brad started at Infusionsoft in 2004, as their sixth employee. When he left in 2011 they had 650(ish)! What he discovered over that time is that Infusionsoft is a very powerful tool that very few people can actually use. When he left, he began consulting and eventually founded an agency for helping business owners master automation and technology so they can enjoy greater success and free up more of their time to enjoy life.

Fast Track Revenue: 2 Secrets to Building Multi-Million Dollar Agency

1. Serious focus (to the point of perfection).

Brad says it’s super important to stay focused on building one great, profitable product.

He was first exposed to this idea in book Ready, Fire, Aim: $0 to $100 Million in No Time Flat. His biggest takeaway was that a business owner’s sole responsibility in getting to that first million is to figure out how to sell just one product profitably.

He took this principle very literal and for three years, SixthDivision focused on one single product… The Two Day Makeover. Brad says at first, a "two day" makeover was taking more like two weeks, which obviously wasn’t efficient or profitable.

Working in this way, though, gave the team a chance to get smart about developing a successful process that is profitable, without the distraction of developing and selling other products.

2. Systems and processes that automate the sales process.

Do you have a process for screening your leads? If not, learn how to qualify a prospect quickly here.

Not only does Brad have a screening process, but he also puts his qualified leads through a campaign that establishes the know-like-trust factor before they even jump on the phone together.

Check out this super cool strategy for increasing conversions:

• The prospect requests to chat using the online contact form.
• The prospect answers pre-screening questions before their request is approved.
• If approved, the prospect is put into a “prep and reminder sequence.” They receive emails about how to prepare for the call, as well as videos to watch prior to it. Video include info on what and how SixthDivision works, success stories, etc.
• On the call, the sales person can jump over the informative stuff and dive right into specifics.

Most people are so anxious to jump on the call, they end up doing the rest of the work on the backend. Doing it Brad’s way means spending more time talking about the prospect and their needs, well as more time for objection handling.

This process leads to more efficient sales calls and a higher conversion rate. It also give you the opportunity to elevate the client’s experience on the initial call because they’ve had the opportunity to be educated. (And using software, you’ll know whether they watched the videos or not. So, you’ll know if they’re showing up to your call prepared or not… which gives you the upper hand.)

2 Things Agency Owners Should Quit Being Afraid Of

Here’s a couple things Brad and I find commonly hold back most entrepreneurs from reaching their revenue goals.

1. Raising Prices

My clients often complain about not being profitable but are afraid to raise their prices because they don’t want to lose clients. Brad says he sees and hears the same thing. Most entrepreneurs are stuck on a specific financial model - even if it’s broken. If you’re losing money you need to restructure your pricing. If you lose clients by raising prices, that’s OK because you were losing anyway. Bottom line: take action.

2. Specialization

There’s some sort of weird satisfaction in being able to say you offer everything to everyone… but if as the saying goes, when you are a jack of all trades, you are the master of none. It’s not realistic to say that you’re a full service agency. Let go of your hesitation to specialize. If you need more convincing, check out this interview about one agency owner who increased leads by 30%+ by getting super specific in a niche.

Support Our Sponsor

If you're looking for a tool to help grow your agency you've got to check out Redbooth. Using this software will help you grow your agency and eliminate major profit leaks, such as scope creep. Right now, you can get a FREE TRIAL for 30 days and bonus agency templates for client intake, social media management & more by heading to www.Redbooth.com/Smart. Hurry, this is a limited time offer!

Challenges Growing Your Agency

I hope this episode has helped you take the first steps towards fast track revenue but do you need to focus and improve other aspects of your digital agency to ensure you continue that growth?

I have provided many successful agency owner with support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing pains within an agency can be a major struggle and I can show you how to identify the different phases of agency growth, why placing a solid process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy and what the three questions you need to ask yourself are for you to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

First Pitch to a Client

On the first pitch to a client, it can create different obstacles for you as an agency owner as well as your team. Understanding your agency, resources you have and those you can bluff can make the difference in any first pitch with a potential client.

In this episode of Ask Swenk, I talk about understanding cash reserves for your agency, why clients leave and how to avoid it, PLUS how to respond when prospects ask for an success story that you don't have yet.

{3:01} Alina asked: "How much money should we have in reserve for a rainy day to run our agency successfully?"

{6:12} George asked: "We just lost a major long term client. We never saw this coming because we've won a lot of awards on their work and they've seen traffic and sales growth every year we've worked together. Why do you think they left and what could we have done differently?"

{9:11} Phill asked: "When you're pitching for that first big project that you have not done for anyone yet, what is a good approach when the prospect asks, "Do you have an example of this that has been successful for another client?" And this being your first pitch for this type of project, you don't have any examples to give them. So, what's a solid comeback?"

Agency Owner Advice?

Want extra help in making the best decisions for your business as an agency owner  to get those potential clients on board?

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

If you are an agency owner, let me know if you would like to chat about your possible EXIT plan – strictly confidential. Click here to get my help now.

Is your goal for your digital agency to increase your agency profit but are finding leaks within that are preventing you from achieving your goal?

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• Why scope creep happens and how to put a stop to it.
• 5 ways to scale your agency and eliminate the leaks that drain agency profit.

Today’s guest on The Smart Agency Master Class is Charles Studt from Redbooth, which is a project management tool and so much more. Charles shares some amazing advice on ways to make your agency run more efficiently so you can maximize time and profit. He also talks about ways to eliminate the biggest profit drain of ‘em all... SCOPE CREEP.

Why Scope Creep Happens

Charles says most cases of scope creep is not due to an over zealous project team or a super demanding client. In most cases, it’s an agency’s lack of documented processes and lack of client education.

Without a clear definition of the project and deliverables, there’s too much gray area. So, when a client asks for a little something extra an agency instinctively says ‘yes’ without having a plan in place for tracking and billing for it… and the scope creep monster rears its ugly head.

That means you have to have a very specific client onboarding process which spells out what is (and is not) included in their new project.

Do you have a documented client onboarding process? Is it consistent and repeatable? Having a process in place is just one of the 5 Steps to Prevent Scope Creep. And, if you have a client onboarding process, it will be your point of differentiation and part of your value statement.

5 Ways to Scale & Grow Agency Profit

1. Avoid scope creep and create upsell opportunities. Consider your core service and figure out what services you offer that compliment it. Make sure to spell out these “optional extras” to your client so that when they throw you a “special request” or “quick 5 minute change” you are prepared for handling it and charging for it.
   

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2. Become more efficient with your project documentation. Manage your client’s experience with technology so you can keep a project moving. There’s nothing worse than digging through old emails trying to find the one with client approval. Using a tool like Redbooth manages communications, status, revision cycles at a glance.
   

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3. Manage your team more effectively. Charles says that the average employee wants to spend 6 hours per week with their manager in order to feel effective. In a small agency, that level of personal attention can be difficult to achieve without adding to your team. A PM tool can be a great way for managers to be involved in the details of a project, while eliminating time consuming status meetings.
   

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4. Treat yourself like you treat your clients. Internal processes are just as important as client-facing ones. Using a tool like Redbooth can streamline routine HR functions like time-tracking, new hire onboarding, weekly team meetings, annual reviews, etc. In fact, Redbooth has customizable templates that help create and document processes so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time.
   

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5. Get projects completed (and therefore paid) on-time. Ever get tired of waiting for the client to provide feedback or approval? Charles says Redbooth has a feature that allow you to communicate with your client via automated emails, mobile push notifications and real time, in-app instant messaging. Deadlines and tasks can be flagged, users can be gently reminded and you will get more done.

I’ve checked out Redbooth and it’s a pretty fantastic tool for agencies. You can check it out for yourself FREE for 30 days by heading to www.Redbooth.com/Smart. Enroll in your trial PLUS get the agency templates such as: client intake, end of project, social media marketing, agency management, and more... all for FREE.

Creating a Better Agency

Creating a solid strategy to grow agency profit can open up many doors for you as an agency owner.  By evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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 want to learn more about the best way to build relationships, streamline your deliveries and the best way to critique proposals? In this episode of Ask Swenk, I answer these questions and share more insight into how you can improve your agency.

In this episode I discuss:

• How to streamline processes without being too cookie cutter.
• What to do when you're new in town and need to build relationships.
• PLUS, watch my critique of another agency's actual proposal.

{1:52} Tara asked: "I feel like every time we get a new client we are on '50 First Dates.' How can we change this problem?"

{4:16} David asked: My biggest challenge is that I've moved from Atlanta from New York and I have to build my network from the ground up. I've been able to do this over the past year, however I still don't have enough relationships to bring on the net worth clients where I can build an agency."

{6:44} Aman asked: "Can you review my marketing proposal and tell me what I am doing right and wrong?"

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

What Do You Need to Do When You Build Relationships?

Whether you need advice on starting an agency, how to plan who you hire for your agency or how to bring your agency to the next level, I can help. I hope you found this helpful and can put it into action to build relationships with clients, partners and your team.

Please find all my tips, tricks and insights in my blog that covers a wide variety of topics. Videos more your thing? You can check out the videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Have you ever considered direct mail marketing for your digital agency? Not even sure how to develop a strategy for it? I talk with Justin Christianson and he shares how his agency has gained huge success from using direct mail marketing strategies.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• How to define your target market.
• 1 old-school outbound tactic that is getting massive 25% response.
• 4 steps to successful direct mail.

Today’s guest is 14-year veteran entrepreneur, Justin Christianson. After selling his previous business to his partners he began consulting and eventually created Conversion Fanatics, an SEO agency.

Justin happens to also be a client of mine and is seeing some really great results with his outbound efforts. I invited him on the show to share his story, outbound strategy and the cool, old-school tactic that’s getting a up to a massive 25% response rate! Check it out…

Defining Your Market is Crucial

Justin says, at first they were completely non-selective about who they would work for - targeting just about anyone and everyone. But rule #1 when you work with me is to get super specific about who you target… Justin is glad he listened.

To define their target, Conversion Fanatics looked back at their success stories. They discovered patterns and consistencies among their best projects and used that information to create a customer avatar. They define their ideal client based on average spend and traffic type.

Now that they know who they are marketing to, they can really drill down and become a leader in a specific niche.

Justin says they did a ton of research to figure out how to get through to their ideal clients. They want to understand the issues, struggles and pain points of their prospects. They gathered this information in the form of formal surveys and data gathering, along with informal conversations, then use this in their marketing and when speaking to new leads.

Why Outbound is Essential

Cold traffic can be the hardest of the 3 Types of Traffic to go after, but for Conversion Fanatics it’s been critical to their success. In fact, 70% of their marketing is cold outreach. But they’re being smart about it by batching their efforts, and being very selective about who they target.

One Old-School Outbound Tactic

Most of their outbound campaigns are direct mail. YES postal mail - the kind the mailman delivers. They also weave-in custom emails and PURLs (personalized URLs) as well.

They do a ton of research first and get really specific about who they target. Their market is bigger companies with $30+million in revenue so they goal is to stay top of mind for when the time is right.

The direct mail marketing piece is letter from Justin personally. It has customized information about the prospect’s website, issues he sees and opportunities for improvement. It’s short and to the point. And most importantly - it’s not a form letter!

4 Steps to Successful Direct Mail Marketing

1. Provide massive value. Establish credibility by being helpful. Don’t ask for a sale right away. Set-up yourself as the authority.
2. Be specific. Use headlines that ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions that are very specific to a problem or issues they face.
3. Don’t mass mail. Control the process by focusing your efforts on a small group of prospects. Send small batches.
4. Have a contingency plan. Justin says his outbound strategy is a lot of work and takes 10-12 touches in order to be effective - but it’s worth every bit of the time and effort it takes. However, unresponsive prospects get a free copy of Justin’s published book. This is helpful, valuable and reinforces his credibility and authority in the industry.

Other tactics Justin is using: plain text emails and PURLs. Just like the hard copy direct mail, he keeps emails personal, short and sweet, with a writing style that is friendly and familiar (not all cheesy, sales-guy style).

And when you get cold traffic to the proposal stage, support our sponsor, Qwirl.

Head to Qwilr.com/welcome/smartagency for a FREE TRIAL and special savings just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners.

Become a Better Agency Owner

Direct mail marketing might be seen as a thing of the past but today's episode has shown there is potential for huge success for your agency. Becoming a better agency owner means understanding that in order to grow, you need to be able to recognise 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 challenge 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 need help in untangling the many pieces of information and advice on how to use social media to elevate your agency and bring in more clients?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Advice for keeping up with new social media trends and platforms.
• How to use social media for agency new business. 2 mistakes to avoid using social for your agency or your clients.
• How to sell social media management.

If you’ve been wondering how to manage and optimize opportunities on all the various social networks – for you and for your clients – you must not miss this episode. Today’s guest is with Emeric Ernoult, founder and CEO at Agorapulse, a social media management tool. Pretty cool tool, and I recommend you check it out.

Emeric is a longtime entrepreneur who spent the first part of his career in business law before dabbling in SAAS startups. He says he landed in software and social media because it’s fast-paced and ever-changing, which keeps things fresh and challenging.

Emeric developed Agorapulse as an answer to managing multiple social media platforms, from messaging and notifications to scheduling posts and analytics/reporting. (Plus, there’s a filter for ignoring annoying automated direct messages that clog your inbox!)

Advice for keeping up with social

In short, you can’t. You’ll never keep up with the latest and greatest while also managing what’s current… Not to mention all the other responsibilities you have to your agency. Instead, Emeric says, delegate or outsource to a person or team dedicated to technology research and social management.

If you’re looking to learn a new social channel, Emeric advises us to start small. Learn one and master it, then move to another. All are similar but different, so finding the right platforms just depends on your business goals.

How to use different social channels for new agency business

Twitter is still #1. As a digital professional you should be a thought leader in this space, building your Klout score and positioning your agency in this ecosystem. Use social management tools, such as Agorapulse, to quiet the noise and eliminate the distractions on Twitter.

I believe Facebook is a powerful vehicle for targeting and retargeting. Not many B2B or service businesses are using it yet, most ads are consumer products. Here’s a great post I did on How to Scale Facebook Ads.

As for LinkedIn, you can use it create to create a great inbound strategy. There’s a new content publisher that seems to have fairly good reach. As a matter of fact, I interviewed an agency owner who lands a good majority of her business using LinkedIn. Here’s the post with tips for making your LinkedIn profile a lead generator.

2 mistakes to avoid using social for your agency or your clients

Your social presence can help you establish trust and authority in a low cost, highly effective way. Here are two things to avoid to ensure that happens….

1. Social strategy - you need one! Post with intent and consistency. Know your audience and how to balance the promotional messaging with the helpful information. (If you want to see how it’s done, check out VaynerMedia and Gary Vee on any and every social channel!)
2. Testing - lots of it! Start with a plan and implement it. Analyze results and then tweak. Analyze again. Don’t settle for what you think might be working… Experiment with variables until you hit the jackpot!

Selling social media management

Often clients can be leery of social management as a service because they have a hard time justifying the expense of it. Here are the two things you need to do to help them get on board:

1. Ease their pain. Understand what frustrates them and where they are wasting time in their marketing efforts. Show how you can implement a social strategy with your streamlined processes and systems. (It helps if your social presences is also stellar.)
2. Demonstrate value. Own the numbers. We learned in our 2016 Future Outlook of Digital Agencies, that brands want analytics. They want measurable proof, so use reporting tools and data to your advantage. Hard data is the best way to increase the client’s perceived value of this service.

Support our sponsor

Check out Qwilr.com/welcome/smartagency for a FREE TRIAL and special savings just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners.

How Can I Help?

You now know how social media can generate new business for your agency but you need to consider what will take your agency to the next level. You should take a step back and really look at areas you haven’t explored yet as well as struggles you need to focus on to improve your business and then check out how I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have advice to share with you from how to implement Facebook in your marketing strategy, ways of building authority to improve your agency or the best way to pitch to big brand clients. If growth is your focus, I’ve discussed the different phases of growth within your agency and how bad website issues could be holding your business back from reach your potential.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, did you know I have a Youtube channel?

You can 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.

We chat about landing your first client as a creative agency, how you go from initial contact to a paid consult, […]

The post Landing 1st Client, Initial Contact to Paid Consult, & Charging to Restart a Project #AskSwenk ep 39 appeared first on Smart Agency Masterclass: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies.

Profitable Brand Building While Ignoring BS "Best Practices”

Want to know the best ways for profitable brand building while ignoring all the BS best practices out there?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 2 ideas for profitable brand building to effortlessly generate more leads without BS best practices.
• How to break the “me too” agency mold.
• The #1 thing to grow your business.

Today’s guest is Matt Giovanisci and, I feel like he’s my brother from another mother… We have a similar quirky sense of humor, we’re both in the digital marketing space, we like to drop F-bombs in unlikely places, and to be honest, we both suck at writing! :)

Matt’s the founder of Money Lab, a business he founded with the sole purpose of making money online. His business model involves some fresh, unique, and humorous attention-getting marketing that ignores all the “rules” of marketing. He shares his story with us and the #1 key to standing out.

Matt got his start in the pool business. Yep, you read that right - pools and hot tubs. After job-hopping between pool companies, he eventually worked his way into digital marketing for them. From there, he gained agency experience and picked up coding, too. He founded and currently runs SwimUniversity.com where is clients learn to care for their pools and hot tubs. He also founded and operates Money Lab, which he calls his experiment for making a passive income online. In addition, Matt is a blogger, video/music producer and a former podcaster. Busy dude, right?

2 Effortless Ideas To Drive Traffic

Matt’s doing a ton of unique stuff to market his online businesses as well as some profitable brand building, but here are just a couple of examples:

1- Opt-in Landing Page

I first discovered Matt’s content when his “I want your email address” landing page went viral. It’s hysterical and you’ve got to check it out here. Basically, it’s an entire landing page he created to poke fun and shed light on the ridiculous marketing practice we’ve gotten into where we literally hit people over the head trying to capture their email address. Think of it like an interactive SNL skit for digital marketers :)

The goal for this page was pure entertainment… but the result was over 1,700 email addresses! The page was only promoted on Facebook, shared by DigitalMarketer.com and picked up by Reddit. Effortless leads.

2- Podcast Guest Interviews

Being a former podcaster, Matt knew the impact of being a podcast guest. He also knew what podcasters aren’t looking for from a potential guest. He decided once more to create a satirical page pitching himself as a podcast guest. It’s all about his qualifications as a guest, but is dripping with sarcasm and all the while making fun of the traditional promotional “one-sheet” most guests use. Matt booked 16 interviews in 24 hours with this tactic, and he’s still seeing results.

How to Break the ‘Me Too’ Agency Mold

I asked Matt how agencies could try to be different… and his perfect response was not to “try”.

That’s the thing that business owners are getting wrong. Everyone tries to be different, when really we are all intrinsically different to start with. So, be you and you will be different. Most people just copy what they see being done because of social acceptance.

Matt’s advice was to stop what you’re doing and talk to yourself:

• Think about what bothers you - then fix it.
• Think about what you find funny - then make fun of it.
• Think about what you wish existed - then create it.

Be different without trying, by being yourself.

In case you missed it, that’s exactly what we did in our Agency Owner Pledge video. This is stuff that bothers agency owners, that they always say they will stop doing but never seem to be able to quit!

#1 Thing to Grow Your Business

Know what you hate doing, or what you suck at doing - and find a tool or outsource for it.

For example, Matt says he’s a terrible writer, and has always hated it. He found a solution for the problem when he discovered HemingwayApp. With the app, Matt writes as much as he wants and the app helps him trim down any unnecessary wordiness, grammatical errors, and typos.

He now approaches writing with intention and purpose. Matt says he likes reading simple text with short and punchy sentences. He has made that his signature writing style and has even incorporated this into Money Lab’s brand guidelines.

If you want to learn more, head over to MoneyLab.com/dingle. Yep, "DINGLE" ...and see more of Matt’s craziness for yourself.

Improve as an Agency Owner

I hope this puts a spotlight on how you can have profitable brand building for your agency without getting swept up in the fake best practices out there. Don't just stop there but take a step back and really look at struggles you need to focus on to improve your business. I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have advice on topics from gaining agency exposure in the news, how to build authority for your agency, or even ways to use Facebook marketing strategies to expand your brand awareness. If growth is your focus, I've discussed the four phases of growth within your agency and how website issues could be holding your business back from reaching your potential.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! You can 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.

How to close a pitch and how to accurately calculate profit. Plus, managing your team priorities when it comes to training and continuing ed within the industry.

Closing a Pitch

{0:38} Yasser asked:  Just a quick question... how do you end a pitch?

Calculating Agency Profits

{2:02} Myles asked: I was wondering what your thoughts are on trying to work out the profit we make on a deal? I feel it’s a bit of a guess at the moment, as I’m not sure exactly what we should factor in to the cost of sale? Same goes for the monthly retainers, I’m not sure how we try and work out what it’s costing our business in terms of supporting the client?

What are your team priorities?

{4:23} Phil asked: Say you found a fantastic video course that offers in-depth training on one of your core services. You get excited about it, and purchase it for your team to watch. You can't wait for your team to watch it, so you can start a conversation about the course... But 7 days later, you find that no one on the team has "had time" to watch the course. Do you scream, cry, force them or just give up?

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Build Your Agency Authority

I hope this episode of Ask Swenk has given you an insight into the best way to close pitches, calculate revenue and recognise team priorities. Have you taken the time to see what other challenges you are facing within your agency? Now is also a great time to step back and look at other processes that need attention. No matter what challenge your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can give advice on from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes 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 you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

Want more? 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.

How to End the Time Suck of Creating Proposals

When it comes to creating proposals, you may find yourself spending hours upon hours trying to craft the best proposal you can to win that job. But if you are unsuccessful, you will find the time was wasteful.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• The #1 tip for winning a proposal.
• 3 key elements of a successful proposal.
• A super cool tool to put an end to the time suck of creating proposals

Today’s guest on the show is Dylan Baskind, my first-ever guest from Down Under! (I think?!) He shares with us the key elements of creating killer proposals, as well as a way to save you time, energy and frustration on the whole process.

After nearly a decade as a software design/engineer consultant, Dylan had a long list of the things he hated about creating proposals. His proposals had landed him work with all types clients, from small, local ones to large, multinational ones but not without a tons of work and frustration. He wanted something simple yet attractive that would be customizable but uniform. Enter the solution called Qwilr, which Dylan is co-founder and is CEO.... I’ve messed around with this tool myself and it’s a pretty cool tool!

#1 Tip for Winning A Proposal

Case studies!

At the end of the day it comes down to numbers. When you present a proposal you are meeting with a business person who wants a specific business goal met. You need a success story that can prove you are the right person that can deliver the desired results with data to backup your claim.

We learned in our 2016 Future Outlook of Digital Agencies Report that brands want agencies to commit to specific results. Numbers don’t lie. So, Dylan’s advice is to use analytics and metrics and tell your success story in your proposal.

That can be easier said than done, though. If you can’t get a baseline from a prospect, it makes it much harder to prove the value and potential results of your work. However, if you can get them to measure “X” and you promise to deliver “Y” you’re golden.

3 Key Elements of a Successful Proposal

In addition to a case study, there are a few more keys to make your proposal a slam dunk. The upfront section should be dedicated to describing the client’s problem and your proposed solution.

Then, in this order, you want to include the following:

1. Reformulate the problem using industry terminology. Rephrase the 3 I’s (Issue, Impact, and Importance) in your own lingo. This confirms that you understand what needs to be done and why.
2. Tell a compelling story about your team and why their experience and qualifications make them uniquely suited to work on this project. This is the first time in the proposal where you should talk about yourself. Everything up until this point is about the prospect!
3. Provide one call to action. A lot of times proposals offer a variety of 3-4 different options. Eliminate the confusion and make sure you have one single, very clear call to action.

[clickToTweet tweet="Your #proposal is your most important touch point. Here's how to get it right. " quote="Your proposal is your most important touch point. You have to get it right."]

Your proposal is the face of your business. It used to be trendy office space created an  impressive first look at a business. Today, with all things virtual and cloud-based, it’s now the proposal that makes the first real impression.

Dylan says your proposal has to be as good as your business - and it’s where you need to display your innovation and creativity. Meaning, if you’re a video production company your proposal has to have a video element. If you’re in web design it needs to include an actual site. This tactic serves as a dual purpose for both delivering proposal content and a sample of your work.

Crafting the Perfect Proposal

After 8 years Word and PowerPoint just wasn’t cutting it. Dylan says his proposal process was very organized but it was archaic. Since he is trained in both design and engineering he wanted his proposals to be both functional and pleasing to the eye.

Proposals = Major Time Suck

Major struggles included:

• Resizing images in PowerPoint or MS Word.
• Formatting issues when trying to paste an Excel chart into a Word Doc.
• Manual data entry of proposal pricing into accounting software.
• Pulling data from the proposals into the rest of Cloud-based agency business.

Sound familiar? ;)

Dylan created Qwilr as the solution to these problems and it has evolved into so much more. Qwilr saves ton of time, and includes design, quoting, analytics and internal communications features. It’s an interface between your business and the outside world.

It’s the little details that separate you from everyone else… you don’t have to be a designer to create gorgeous, user-friendly proposals.

Check out Qwilr.com/welcome/smartagency for a FREE TRIAL and special savings just for Smart Agency Master Class listeners.

What's Next?

You may think that now you've improved your methods of creating proposals, what's next?

Whether you need advice on growing your agency team, what you need to do as an agency owner or learn how to fast track growth for your agency, I can help.

Find all my tips, tricks and insights in my blog section that covers a wide variety of topics. Videos more your thing? You can check out the videos on my Youtube channel!

How to BONUS the Creative Team, Prospect Selection & Sales Process, Sales Team Model?

#AskSwenk 37: How can you bonus and incentivize your creative team? What to do when the prospect is controlling the sales process and expects some "free" work. PLUS, how to structure your agency's sales team.

{0:32} Meny asked: "How can we build an incentive program for our creative team members, and what would that look like?"

{3:53} Jared asked: "How do you address prospects who want to control the sales process? We're talking to someone right now that is putting us through their selection process with very little regard to our process and getting the information we need to put together a proposal. Normally I would go through their motions, but some of the questions they're asking are very tactical and would almost cross over into the 'working for free' zone."

{6:22} Jack asked: "Selling has always come natural to me. I know some agencies have the CEO do ALL the sales, but I don't think that's as scalable as having Account Managers who can sell. What's the best business model for a sales team:

• The hunter/farmer model?
• The account manager does both model?
• CEO does all the sales, hands off to account manager?"

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Build a Better Agency

Through my life in the industry, I have gained so many experiences that allows me to share advice on many topics from the struggles you may face with failing economies to how speaking opportunities can generate new business and using Youtube to boost your marketing for your agency marketing strategy.

You can learn more about me and check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

If videos are more your thing, don't worry, i've got you covered!

You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Rapid Agency Growth: The 4 Serious Strategies For Your Agency

Every agency owner would most likely have rapid agency growth on their list of aspirations for their business.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why you should niche to become more successful and achieve rapid agency growth.
• Ways to change your pricing to increase revenue and profit margins.
• How to use case studies as a lead generator.

My guest today is Dan Lok, a self-made millionaire and entrepreneur who consults businesses for an equity position. He has taken on not one, but three troubled agencies and turned them into 7-figure businesses. So, if you are new to agency ownership or been in the game awhile but need some tips for shaking things up, you’re going to want to know more from this self-made millionaire.

4 Serious Strategies For Rapid Agency Growth

Strategy #1 - Be a specialist.

Does your agency claim to be able to do everything for everyone? Or, is your target something broad, like “small businesses”. You are a generalist but… the riches are in the niches.

You might want to help everyone, you might even think you can. But if you’re busy trying to be good at all things you will be the best of none of them. Every industry has it’s own nuances, lingo, standards, etc. If you specialize within just one, you only have to learn about that specific industry. Then you can dig deeper to get a richer understanding. You become more efficient which saves you time and increases productivity. You also become the authority in the field and get referrals within the industry. There’s a cyclical effective that generalists just can’t achieve.

Case in point... One of Dan’s first ventures was with an agency called Standard Marketing. Lame name, right? You don’t get any more general than “standard marketing” and they were handling all sorts of marketing for all sorts of clients.

The fix... After some analysis, they realized more than 50% of their clients were real estate agents. They decided that was the niche, rebranded the agency, calling it Top Agent Marketing, and wrote a book about real estate lead generation.

The result... Sales nearly tripled in the first year… from $30k/mo to $80/mo! Today, they’re hitting a 6-figure monthly revenue.

Strategy #2 - Revamp your pricing strategy.

There’s two ways to go about this…

1. Performance Pricing: Think of it from the client’s perspective. They want results. If you are getting paid based on the results, you are motivated to deliver better results.

If you follow a pricing model that allows for a base rate + incremental amounts based on performance, you’ll find you work with less clients and make more money.

The key to successful performance-based pricing is creating the right criteria to set up success. Be selective to be effective. For more on implementing performance-based pricing check out this interview with Tom Breeze who’s also mastered this pricing model.

2. “Three Boxes” Pricing: We see it all the time - car washes, movie theater concessions… There are three levels of pricing: basic, moderate and deluxe. The basic package is so lame that no one goes for it. The deluxe package is so outlandish that no one goes for it. These two are the decoys to get people right where you want them - the moderate package. The moderate package is what you’re already best at anyway.

The great thing about these three boxes is that it provides a basic option for budget conscious clients. And for the 80% that end up with the moderate package, it plants the seed that there is more.

Strategy #3 - Use your success stories.

Prove you can do what you say you can do. When you are a specialist in a specific niche you can build recognition and establish authority by featuring case studies in your marketing. It sound elementary but it’s a great way to increase your profits and it’s often overlooked.

Case in point... In early 2013, Dan invested in an agency that specialized in the digital marketing for audiologists. They were making $90K/mo but 0% profit. They were 90 days behind in delivery and $90K in debt.

The fix... They evaluated everything from staffing to clients to pricing. In a short time, the entire team was slowly let go, nearly 25% of the clients left or were let go, and success story marketing was implemented.

The result... In three years, profit margin went from 0% to 35%. The team went from 11 to 16 full-time employees. They are in no debt and have $200K in savings. They are on track to hit $4 million this year.

Strategy #4 - Be your charming self.

You love working on your computer. You ‘get’ your computer. Your computer ‘gets’ you. That's why digital marketers aren’t typically known for being super personable. But hiding behind your computer isn’t going to accelerate your business.

As a digital marketer, you’re selling an intangible service and your clients won’t see results right away. In order to want to spend money working with you, they’ve got to get to know, like and trust you first. People want to work with people.

That means you can’t hide behind your computer screen. You need to connect with people on a personal level by networking, speaking, working trade shows, making phone calls… And last but not least, don’t send proposals via email. Meet to go over them in person!

Growing Your Agency

You now have the strategies to put into place for rapid agency growth for your business but what's next? Consistently improving your business is needed to you are hoping to run your business in the long term. If you achieve rapid agency growth, you also need to have a solid foundation to your agency to ensure you and your team can handle the workload.

Are there other areas of your business you want to improve? By evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

What Makes Good Lead Magnets and How Can You Engage with Prospects?

In this instalment of #AskSwenk, I discuss what exactly makes good lead magnets and how can you engage with prospects. I also share how to handle clients who approve work without reviewing and whether telesales companies are a good option for the outbound sales of your agency.

{0:33} Frank asked: "What are others finding are good lead magnets to generate new contacts/leads? Beyond that, what are good ways get contacts to engage your firm once they are in your database?"

The best lead magnets in my opinion are case studies. Headlines are the most crucial part of a case study to use them as lead magnets and I like to stick to the template in my headlines of "How to do something cool without doing something that sucks" to grab the attention of your audience.

Once they are leads, ensure to provide them with good content with call to actions to get your prospects to move to the next stage.

{2:43} Kelsey asked: "Does anyone have any experience with clients who approve work without actually looking at it? I have a client who has approved all of my work, but who just admitted to not actually taking the time to read any of the content I am posting on her behalf. Any thoughts?"

Yes, I have had this experience. Sitting down with a client and explaining to them and sharing all the information to walk them through your process as an agency. Creating a signed paper work trail will support you when you need to go back to a client to show they approved an aspect of a project and additional changes will come at additional costs.

{4:22} Oscar asked: "I see outbound marketing as a key component to growing the agency. Having tried this already with a couple of companies recommended by others with mediocre results (and I am being generous), I thought of asking you for your experience in this respect and any recommendations you may have on telemarketing/appointment setting companies."

Most agencies have used telemarketing companies at some point. From my own personal experience for my own agency and for clients, I haven't seen any benefit from them. There's no value for your outbound marketing of a telemarketing company that doesn't know your business or understand your audience's businesses making a thousand calls trying to organise marketing audits.

Better to create a targeted hit-list after research into your audience and then call them and offer them something of value for their business.

Looking for More on How You Can Improve Your Agency and Yourself as an Agency Owner?

Are there weaknesses within your agency that are causing everything to breakdown? Don't worry, i'm here for all the advice you need.

I have been in the industry for a long time and I have had my own experience running my own digital agency as well as 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. Or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Could a killer outbound sales strategy take your agency to a whole other level in how you perform and the clients you attract?

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• Why an outbound sales strategy is important.
• One killer outbound sales strategy for new agency business
• 4 steps to a successful 100 Call Challenge.

Today’s guest, Gene Hammett, knows a thing or two about outbound sales. He used to be my agency’s VP of Sales and scored us meetings with huge brands like Home Depot and Porsche just to name a few. He’s now using his knowledge and experience as a writer, speaker and Strategic Coach for competitive service-based businesses. Gene also hosts Leaders In the Trenches, a podcast for entrepreneurs.

Gene recently turned one of his coaching strategies on himself and created a 10-Day, 100 Call Challenge. He’s seeing some fantastic results and shared all the details with us.

Why is a Outbound Sales Strategy Beneficial?

Having an outbound sales strategy has been lost and forgotten. So many business focus solely on lead generation and ways to amplify inbound sales. As business owners, we can’t always expect leads to come to us. Sometimes we have to approach them first and ask for their business. Outbound sales doesn't have to mean cold calls, though. It means defining a criteria for who you want to work with and then seeking them out to showcase your offering.

Gene’s self-imposed 100 Call Challenge is a way to re-introduce outbound sales strategy efforts back into your agency.

What is the 100 Call Challenge?

Most people think it’s 100 cold calls and dread the thought of it. But really, it’s a commitment to having 100 conversations.

Gene breaks his goal setting down into annual, quarterly, monthly and then two week increments. For the first two weeks of February 2016 he decided he needed a jolt in his business - something drastic to stir things up. That’s when he implemented the 100 Call Challenge. The results?

• 3 new speaking gigs that weren’t already on his radar
• 2 new clients
• A booked calendar for an additional 2 weeks
• A flurry of new activity creating a snowball effect on his business

4 Steps for setting up a successful 100 Call Challenge:

1- Decide what you have to offer.

You can’t just start making sales calls to set up appointments. Major turn off.

Time is valuable. So if you’re going to ask people for their time, you better have something super valuable to offer in return.

Think of reasons why prospects might want to spend time with you. What can you offer in exchange for an hour of their time?

• For new prospects:  Develop a great solution to a common problem or something to ease one of their pain points. Then invite them to a cocktail hour, lunch & learn or other live event where you give them this information for FREE. Make a deposit before making a withdrawal. This strategy is HUGE - it establishes authority and creates goodwill. Host a live event and then make calls to get the right people in the room. That’s how you stack the deck in your favor.
• For old leads:  Follow-up is definitely a lost skill. Think about all the “no” or “not right now” responses you’ve gotten in the past year or so. Shoot an email letting them know you’ve been thinking of their X problem (something specific they experiencing the last time you spoke) and that you have some ideas. State that you’ll be calling later that day to talk. Then make your call and provide the information - no strings. Chances are, the problem is still a problem and they’ll be ready to listen to your solution. The goal here is to re-open the dialogue. Not score a sale. 

2- Mindset is KEY.

Gene has no hesitation in making phone calls and no fear of cold calling. (That’s how he scored my agency with meetings with huge brands!) But what he has come to realize is that he wasn’t making time to make calls. He was making excuses.

Gene’s advice is to get over your hang ups. (Pun intended!:) ) Have the courage to create what you want. It’s easy to settle for status quo. You have to find your “everyday courage” which sits inside every one of us but becomes dormant as we get comfortable. Push yourself to go outside that comfort zone. No excuses.

3- Establish initiatives.

For Gene, the goals were revenue-based and he set a two-week time period in order to reach them. He decided there were 3 routes to achieve his revenue target:

• more speaking engagements
• more clients
• higher profile attendance at his live events.

What are your desired results? How can you get there? Be specific and make sure it’s something you can measure. Hold yourself accountable to the timeline and results.

4- Pull the trigger.

If you’re making 100 calls in 10 days commit to roughly 10 calls per day. Even if you’re out of the office. No excuses! Here’s how Gene implemented his three-fold plan:

• More speaking gigs:  Gene paid a Virtual Assistant to create a list of events that met his specific criteria. The list contained URLs, names, email addresses and phone numbers for 52 different events. He used that list to make contact and start a conversation about speaking at the event. (For reference, he paid $5 per name so the list only cost $260 and saved him loads of time.)

• More clients:  Gene decided to initiate contact with old leads. He made follow-up calls - NOT  “checking in” calls. He made note of the last conversation he’d had with them and asked a specific question about something that was discussed. Another tactic Gene used was contacting past clients for referrals. He emailed some past clients and mentioned that he’d be calling them later the same day. Following this ‘heads up’ email he’d make the call and ask for referrals.

• High profile event attendees:  Gene holds live events and wants to fill the seats with his ideal clients… which just happens to be Inc. 500 CEO’s. He used a VA to compile a list with contact info for all 500 and sent emails to each one. Anyone who engaged with the email received a phone call from Gene. Admittedly, getting them on the phone was tricky but he says it just takes dedication and persistence. See #2 about Mindset! :)

Revelations from a 100 Call Challenge:

Not only did Gene experience great results, he’s was able to reflect back on the experience and to share some learning from it, too...

• This goes against the grain and that is a good thing! Think about it… What kind of calls do you get? Does anyone ever follow up with you, after you give a ‘no’? Probably not! Doing it is different, unexpected and often welcomed.

• The more calls Gene made, the easier it got. People actually even called him back from voicemail messages… which is how he ended up with 102 conversations by the end of the 10th day! :)
• If it takes 2-3 phone calls to advance a relationship, then each of those conversations counts toward the 100. It’s all about having conversations that elevate your business toward your goals.

Want to read more about how you can improve your agency and yourself as an agency owner? You can read our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Payment Schedules, Payroll for Owners, & Yearly Reviews

In this episode of Ask Swenk, i'm talking all things payment and payment schedules. The best client payment schedule and how to get your clients to stick to it. Plus, whether the owner should be on payroll and how to handle those dreaded annual employee reviews.

{1:14} Stuart asks: "We have tried to implement your payment schedule of 50% upfront, then 25%, 25%, based on milestones or timelines. However, we haven't had any success with this, and clients have pushed back hard to get this upon them signing off on the work. Aside from not working with these clients, how have you handled push backs like this?"

{4:44} Adina asks: "Do you pay yourself a salary on payroll? My accountant says I need to pay myself like an employee and then remit payroll tax ...for myself! Just wondering if this is common practice.

{6:37} John asks: "Should my company keep doing yearly reviews for my employees?"

How You Can Improve Your Business

I hope this provided you with a clearer idea of payment schedules when it comes to your own team and your client projects in the future.

If you have more questions, I can help. Whether you have been an agency owner for some time or have just taken the leap and started a new agency, I have covered topics including bringing in big clients for your agency to reasons you should sell your agency.

You can check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Do you want to learn how to go from the freelancer life to starting a digital agency and even grow it so it's worth seven figures.

In this episode, I’ll cover:

• 3 steps for transitioning from freelancer to agency owner.
• How to identify and overcome growth struggles.
• How to hire when you’re ready.
• #1 advice for newbie owners.

Rob Riggs has a great story to share about his digital agency journey, and it all begins with freelancing for a pretty awesome guy... ME :)

Seriously though, I met Rob through owning my digital agency and we frequently sent work his way. Over the years Rob has turned his freelance business into a thriving digital agency. In this interview, he tells us about the transition that began in 2004, from a one-man show to 12 person digital agency, Your Design Online. He shares how he overcomes challenges, how his role has evolved, and what he would tell his former self to do differently.

3 Steps to go from freelancer to digital agency owner

1. Identify a narrow niche. Rob says he stopped taking on “just any project.” He drilled down to a specific niche and became a specialist.
2. Go outside your comfort zone. In Rob’s case, he emerged himself in more complex projects that were beyond building websites. He took responsibility for delivering results and showing ROI to his clients.
3. Be self aware. Know what you stand for, what you believe, and what you are (and aren’t) willing to work on. (For more on that check out this post on how to Quit Being a Prisoner to Your Agency, and read about an agency owner who created his agency around his life - not the other way around.)

Solving the biggest growth challenges

Rob says his biggest challenge, at first, was landing projects that were beyond what he could do himself. Once he got over that hurdle and grew to 3-4 people, then they were dropping the ball with details. As they grew even more, their issues were with delivery.

You’re always going to have issues, they just evolves as your business grows. The key is identifying the issue and the need for change. Then take action!

When project details were an issue, Rob says they starting using Basecamp. When they outgrew that tool, they adopted new PM software that did more in the backend. When delivery was an issue, they created standard operating procedures for delivery.

It seems counterintuitive but your need systems and processes that are made the be changed. Have a system in place for everything, but be able to identify when that system needs a makeover.

If you have an isolated problem, you get through it and you learn from it. But if there is an issue that becomes a repetitive problem, there needs to be a standard process for avoiding it. As Rob says, “I never want to type the same sentence twice.” And he’s right - if you have great processes in place, you shouldn’t have to!

How to find talent when you’re ready to hire

Rob’s first hire was a developer, who has been with him since the beginning. His role has evolved significantly over the past 12 years into project manager, problem solver and he’s now a key decision maker who runs things while Rob is out of the office procuring new business. Rob says he always looks to hire people who are sharers. Part of his process is to do a post-mortem after a project wraps. They talk about things that went right and things that went wrong. For this to be a successful process, everyone on the team has to be honest about their own mistakes. He also looks for a good fit with the agency culture - making sure to hire people who can get behind the company’s mission. He uses a lot of hypothetical situations in his interview process so he can look for creativity and problem solving skills.

And, you don’t have to pay top dollar for get great talent... Rob believes even coders making $200,000 are going to be unhappy and won’t work hard if they can’t get behind what they’re working on.

As the agency owner, you want to slowly replace yourself so you can be doing things that generate revenue. Often times that means being out of the office working prospects... not projects. (Not sure how to replace yourself? Check out this interview with an agency owner who fires himself at least once a year.)

#1 advice for starting out?

There’s a reason I say “systems outperform talent every time.” It’s true! In Rob’s case, there’s a delicate balance owning an agency of this size. They are just small enough to be agile and make quick moves and just big enough that they need standardization for consistency’s sake. If he had to do it all over again, Rob says he would tell his former self to this first.

Tired of Being Restricted in the Career Path You’re On?

Are you the owner of a small agency under $300,000? Or a freelancer, marketing professional or agency employee who thinks you can run your own agency better?

Jump Start My Agency is a program that covers everything you need to start a profitable agency and land high paying clients of over $20,000.

This 4 week course is designed to help you find the ideal clients, charge what you’re worth and learn how to build a team.

There are clients waiting to work with you! Let me help you by requesting an invitation to the program.

Are You a Freelancer That Needs More Help?

If you found this helpful but want to know how to grow your agency the best way, I can help.

You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my videos on my Youtube channel!

What You Should Do (And Shouldn't Do) When Selling Digital Agency

In episode thirty four of #AskSwenk, I discuss what you should do (and shouldn't do) when selling digital agency, plus how to compensate referral agencies and how to follow-up when a prospect goes dark.

{1:08} Amy asked: "I'm in negotiations to sell my marketing agency. What should I be aware of? Pitfalls to avoid?"

You need to determine why is the other agency or business interested in buying your agency?

• Revenue?
• Location?

It's important to figure this out for the leverage of your agency and make sure to ask them the same questions they ask about your business to evaluate if they can afford you. You should also keep the fact you are considering selling confidential to avoid potentially losing clients.

{5:57} Scott asked: "What are your thoughts on paid referrals or partnerships between agencies? For example, your agency refers me work I pay you x% commission. "

This can be done a couple of different ways but depends on how big projects or retainers are. For a good strategic partnership to work, it should work both ways when it comes to referrals with a sliding scale for commission percentages.

{7:38} Stuart asked: "We are walking our clients through the proposals, in person, as per your advice. However, we still find that once we have done this, the client then goes quiet on us (never a good sign). How do we persistently, yet politely, follow up to expedite this last stage of the sale and to find out if we are their preferred supplier?"

A client going silent is a bad sign but you can probably trace it back to the first conversation you had with the client.

• Do they have the budget for the project?
• Do they have the authority to make decisions for the project?
• Do they have realistic timing?

This will help you with your follow up strategy by following the three I's: Issue, Impact and In meeting scheduling.

Check out Ask Swenk Episode forty three for more related questions!

Improve Your Agency and Become a Better Agency Owner!

Want extra help in taking your agency to the next level and become a better agency owner? You can find lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!

Are your team within your agency losing far too much time in email communications both internally and with clients?

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Gaining control of your clogged and cluttered email inbox.
• A system that sorts, organizes and stores emails in a way that makes sense.
• How to save time so you can get busy making money.

Today’s guest is digital agency owner Ian Garlic who owns Authentic Web, a video production and distribution agency and host of the podcast, TAO of Inbound. He shares with us a solution for sorting and organizing internal communication.

Buried by emails?

As his agency grew, Ian was having a problem with his email inbox getting clogged. He was cc’d on everything but wasn’t necessarily involved in the details of every project. So, when Ian needed to jump in on something he was digging through emails trying to get a macro picture of what what going on by having to weed through all the micro details in old emails.

The solution Ian discovered is Slack - a communication tool for tracking, sorting and archiving team communication. (The opinions expressed in this interview are our own. Neither Ian or I are affiliates of Slack.)

Eliminate the time suck of email

[clickToTweet tweet="Get a high-level, quick view of what’s going on in your agency." quote="Get a high-level, quick view of what’s going on in your agency."]

Benefits to Slack:

• Create different channels for sorting and organizing information (client or topic specific). Do you dig through emails looking for information only to realize it’s buried in with something completely unrelated? Slack eliminates this problem by sorting things in the channels your create.
  

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• Tag people when their attention is required. Do you skim (or skip) over emails where you’re cc’d only to realize that your input was needed but you were only half-listening? Slack will keep you and your team in the loop but individuals can be tagged and notified with their attention is needed.

• ---

  Automatically sequences information in chronological order. Ever scroll through an chain of emails trying to determine which parts of the conversation came before others? Who said what and what? Try as it might, Gmail and others can’t always keep it all straight for us. Slack puts communication in chronological order and archives the old stuff for you.

  ---

• Cool integrations with PM software and GoogleDocs. No more switching between email communication and your other agency tools. It’s all in one place on Slack.

Getting started with Slack

3 steps to setting up:

1. Create your teams and invite members.
2. Create your channels. (Authentic Web has channels for: weekly meetings, KPI’s, each client, miscellaneous and one for office humor.)
3. Download the mobile/tablet apps so you can use Slack without going through a web browser.

Agency Case Studies, Team Accountability & Avoiding Client Changes.

On this episode of #AskSwenk, we'll cover: How you can use case studies to attract agency new business, how to improve your team accountability, and what do you do to stop your client from requesting a zillion changes.

This Week's Questions:

{0:51} Christian asks: "How can I use a successful case study to attract more business within the same niche?"

{3:01} Eric asks: "What can I do to hold my team accountable to their goals? More importantly, if they don't hit them... what kind of repercussions should there be?"

{5:26} Steve asks: "How can I handle a client who wants a zillion rounds of changes? We are constantly making changes only to find out they want more changes on top of their changes. It's killing us in hours. Is there a more efficient and profitable way to handle it?"

Would You Like To Work With Me LIVE & In Person?

I'm doing a live workshop here in Atlanta, GA in July, and I wanted to see if you'd like to come. This is an exclusive opportunity to WORK DIRECTLY WITH ME, IN PERSON, and I'll teach you the agency strategies that have helped me build a very successful digital agency.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

What Are Your Agency Concerns?

So we’ve covered how you can improve your team accountability, use case studies for success for your agency and handling changes from clients but these might not be the only concerns you have for your business.

It doesn’t matter if you have been an agency owner for a while now or have just taken the leap and started a new agency, I have covered topics from the struggles you may face within your agency to leveraging Youtube in your marketing for your agency marketing strategy.

Learn more about me or you can check out all my tips, tricks and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answering your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  Don’t worry! You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.

Struggle to find the work-life balance for you and your agency? As an agency owner, it's so easy to become a prisoner within your business as you strive to make it the best digital agency out there.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• How to build your agency around your life, to find a work-life balance instead of being a prisoner.
• 3 ways to build your agency around your personality.
• How to brand your agency and be the leader in your category.

Today’s podcast guest is Re Perez, founder of Branding For The People, a branding agency for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Re has worked for some pretty huge agencies working on some major Fortune 500 clients. He talks to us about leaving all that behind in order to build an agency around his personality and lifestyle finding the best work-life balance.

Re had a pretty interesting journey that led him to starting his agency.  His highly successful career took him from New York to Dubai and back to New York. Yet despite a successful career he wasn’t fulfilled with the work he was doing. He says that feeling coupled with a negative personal experience left him deeply questioning his next steps in life.

He took 6 months off to travel, meditate, practice yoga and figure out what was next… In his travels, he learned about a yoga studio called “Yoga For The People” and later a restaurant, “Food For The People”. Coincidence or fate?? :) Re took these signs, coupled with his gut instinct to become an entrepreneur, and started his agency Branding For The People - an agency that brings Fortune 500 branding solutions to small businesses.

Branding Your Agency

Re says logos and slogans do not make a brand. Those things support a brand but are only marketing tools for identifying a brand.

Branding is a desired perception. In order to create a desired perception you must first have a desirable perception of yourself.

As a small business, if you want to be perceived as the leader in your category you have to behave like the leader in your category by:

• Practice what you preach. Agency owners are famous for giving great advice to clients and NOT following it themselves. Start taking your own best advice!
• Be genuine. People can smell BS a mile away and they will call you out on it. Be who you are and be willing to let go of clients who aren’t OK with the real you.
• Don’t “act” like the big agencies by copying their behavior. Find your own unique position, while still behaving like a big agency.
• Don’t force a square peg in a round hole. Always align yourself with the projects and brands that excite you. Allow agency’s brand to be determined by your own core values.

Work-Life Balance: How To Build Your Agency Around Your Lifestyle

Re has one key motivator which determined how he would structure his business while staying true to himself:  He didn’t want a traditional office job. Meaning, he didn’t want to work for anyone else or spend a bunch of time in board rooms. He wants to travel and connect with people outside of the office walls. He is very clear on his goals and values. Are you?

3 Ways to Build Your Agency Around Your Personality

1. Change the terminology. Re doesn’t refer to them as “clients” or “projects”, they are “relationships” or “engagements”. He’s a people person and treats each opportunity with care. A change in terminology also changes the perceived value of the experience. Check out my previous post about how changing terminology can even help you increase your prices! {BONUS!}
2. Be self aware. Know how you are (and who you aren’t). You can’t get real clarity on leading your business until you know who you are... Ask yourself: “Is this agency fulfilling?” or “Does the work I’m doing really matter to me?” and “Does my agency support my desired lifestyle?” If not - you can take a sabbatical like Re, or find another way to quiet the noise and distractions that are standing in your way. Here are the 4 common things that could be standing in the way of your clarity.
3. Don’t make decisions based on money. We all take on clients or projects because we need the money. And, you have to have some bad experiences so you know what you don’t want to do. But at some point you also have to realize though that not every person with a credit card was meant to be your client. Instead, think and act like a millionaire, even if you’re not… yet.

Best advice:  Be true to yourself and let the rest unfold.

What’s holding as a prisoner to your agency? Comment below and tell me your biggest challenges.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Building Your Authority

Finding a work-life balance for you as an agency owner will not only benefit your agency but your team as you are establishing a healthy work relationship. But in order to build authority as a business owner and your digital agency, you need to be able to recognise other issues within your agency that needs your attention. No matter what challenge your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can offer guidance from what the different phases of growth of your business will look like to how working with freelancers can benefit your team.

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 find it hard to keep up with developments in technology and getting client contracts just right? In this episode of #AskSwenk, I answer your questions and cover these topics for you: What KPI's your agency should be measuring, how to keep up with all the latest technology and what key info you need to include in client contracts.

Agency KPI's, Technology, & Client Contracts

This Week's Questions:

If you are looking for technology secrets for your agency to impress your clients, then today's episode is just for you.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• 3 technology secrets that will WOW your clients.
• A Facebook development that every business should be using.
• The hottest trend in live streaming video.
• The #1 easiest hack to boost your Google ranking.

On this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class, we’ll hear from Ryan Steinolfson with some advice that can boost your business and totally impress your clients when you bring these growth solutions to the table.

Ryan’s agency, Accelerate Marketing, specializes in social proof and live streaming video for it’s clients. He says live streaming is a lot more complex than it appears and his agency helps their clients with it in three ways:

1. Live streaming on the client’s behalf.
2. Teaching client teams to live stream, or with their course Live Stream Blueprint.
3. Developing “Advocacy Days”, which are live stream events among multiple strategic partners that are connected using a common hashtag.

According to the 2016 Future Outlook of Digital Agencies, we know brands hire agencies to be their technology leaders. They expect their agency to bring them emerging trends that will build business. I’ve been saying it for months now, Live Streaming is H-O-T and your clients need strategies for using it to their benefit.

Here’s more about live streaming video from a previous podcast guest, Kim Garst, founder of Boom Social.

Here are 3 major technology secrets that will WOW your clients!

1. Facebook Live can now be used for any business page.

As of a few weeks ago (from original post date April 2016), Facebook Live can be used on any business or public profile page. They just flipped a switch and made it available - and this is HUGE NEWS!

Using Facebook Live, you can:

• Stream live video using the Facebook app from your iPhone or Android device.
• Add call to action text over your live stream
• Boost your videos by add keywords optimization
• Embed or repurpose your videos.
• Have your followers subscribe to get notified when you’re broadcasting.
• Allow your followers to comment in real-time, share and embed your video.

(Be sure to “like” my page and check out my Facebook Live videos now!)

And Ryan has learned that right now, Facebook is giving preferential treatment to people/businesses who are using the Facebook Live feature. So live streaming videos are jumping to the top of news feeds (for now)... that means more opportunities and more reach.

2. The next big thing in live streaming video is 360

After Meerkat and Periscope introduced this technology, we’ve seen both Facebook and YouTube jump on board. YouTube allows you to give access to others to live stream on your channel and drop a graphics card into your live video. Which is super cool.

But the next BIG thing in live streaming is 360° videos. Ryan says he’s got his eye on Livit - an app for live streaming in 360°. It integrates with 360° cams for one of the coolest end-user experiences he’s ever seen.

3. The BEST trick for moving up in Google rankings

We know social proof (or social influence) carries huge weight in purchase decisions. Did you know that you can help your clients generate leads and crush it just by getting more reviews?!

According to Ryan, 15% of your Google ranking is based on your social proof.  So more positive reviews, means a high ranking. His agency has even seen movement from a D-position to A-position just from getting 10 or 15 reviews. This is a powerful tool that you and your clients are probably not taking advantage of, but should be!

What You Need to Know When Starting an Agency

When starting an agency, it can be intimidating from building the best team to creating your portfolio of clients to make your business profit. But as the agency grows, you may find yourself outgrowing clients that you had when you initially started and needing to consider growing your team or outsourcing content for different projects.

On this episode of #AskSwenk, we'll cover:  what to do when your agency has outgrown a client, all about starting an agency (like when and how), and whether you should outsource your content writing.

(0:21) Jojo asked: "My question is, how far do we need to go for these clients before it is time to think about politely passing them off to a more suitable freelancer or smaller agency? I appreciate that they were part of our business growth up to this point, but some of these clients are "loss-making" for us and get in the way of other work."

(2:46) Nancy asked: "What will I be ready to start an agency? Should I start one now and leave my job?"

(5:25)  Enoch asked: "Do you think outsourcing content makes you more productive?"

You can also find more of my Ask Swenk series as well as my other videos by checking out my Youtube channel!

Tired of Being Restricted in the Career Path You’re On?

Are you the owner of a small agency under $300,000? Or a freelancer, marketing professional or agency employee who thinks you can run your own agency better?

Jump Start My Agency is a program that covers everything you need to start a profitable agency and land high paying clients of over $20,000.

This 4 week course is designed to help you find the ideal clients, charge what you’re worth and learn how to build a team.

There are clients waiting to work with you! Let me help you by requesting an invitation to the program.

Are you considering hiring freelancers but don't know the best way to successfully manage remote teams for your digital agency?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Creative ways to find top talent.
• Freelancer onboarding… or not?
• Managing freelance and remote teams.

Today’s guest is the co-founder of Hubstaff, a technology solution for managing a remote staff with everything from time tracking and progress monitoring to payables and financials. Dave Nevogt shares with us some great tips on sourcing, hiring and managing freelancers.

Out-of-the-box talent searching ideas:

Often times agency owners don’t know where to look for the right candidates. Most end up relying on referrals or freelance marketplaces. Very few agencies experiment with other sources, such as:

• Check out LinkedIn or AngelList. Create a LinkedIn search filtered by your criteria. You never know who’s looking, who might be employed but unhappy. Reach out in a personalized private message and include a link to the job description. If they’re interested, they’ll reply.
• Use your website to continuously recruit. You should always be scouting for good talent, whether your need extra help or not. Advertise “now hiring” on your website. This portray growth and attracts talent. Post job descriptions, too.
• Run targeted Facebook ads to enlist talent from a specific source, such as a specific company, geographic location, etc.

How to handle freelancer onboarding

Hubstaff has a small team stretched around the globe. Here’s how Dave onboards (... or rather, how he doesn’t onboard) new team members:

• Have a candid conversation about the position and the potential growth. You might see the potential for full-time but don’t start out that way. Get settled in first and see if the person is the right fit. (Note: the U.S. IRS frowns on full-time freelancers. Check out this interview “How to Avoid an Audit” with an agency-focused tax accountant.)
• Don’t fully onboard immediately. Start slow and make sure it’s going to work on a surface level first before you using time and resources to train.
• Spend the first 30-days testing the waters. Learn each other’s personalities traits and work ethic. Get a feel for the freelancer’s effort and response time.
• Start slow with lots of involvement by the manager. But remember, there’s a fine line between “involved” and “micromanaging.”
• Communicate a ton and understand their workload. Make sure requests are filtered through you for now.

Managing freelance and remote teams

How can you ever be totally sure a contractor is working on the project you’re paying for and not watching cat videos online? Truth is, you can’t. What you can do is have an upfront conversation about expectations and your vision for the position.

Tips for managing freelancers:

• Use a collaboration software such as Trello or Slack. This gets everyone OUT of their INBOX. It also allows the manager to see what everyone is working on and upholds a culture built on transparency.
• Hold live, weekly status meetings to see who’s working on what. Even with PM software, private messages and direct requests can hijack a freelancer’s time without your knowledge.
• Communicate goals and priorities. Know what your team is working on and keep it minimal (like, 5 things instead of 25). Often, when someone is overwhelmed they’ll just shut down.
• Use a tool like Hubstaff for tracking progress on projects, budgeting, time tracking and random screenshotting in real-time.

Working with freelancers or a remote team can be SUPER beneficial to both parties. It works for me, it’s working for Dave at Hubstaff and it’s been working for another agency owner I interviewed who has a $3 Million Agency With No Employees.

SYSTEMS to help your GROW & SCALE

My Agency Playbook contains the 12 Systems I used to grow and eventually sell a SUCCESSFUL multi-million dollar agency. It includes all the resources and tools as well as step-by-step strategies to save you tons of time. Everything you learn can be implemented immediately. Learn more by clicking here. 

Build Your Agency

Growing your agency team through freelancers and remote teams can provide many benefits and many businesses in the future will move toward remote working, especially in the digital field. Are there other areas of your business you want to improve? By evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency, you can create a better business and improve as an agency owner. And the best thing about it is, I can help you get through all of it.

I can give you support and advice on many topics from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit margins or how you can build an authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

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.

Find 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.

On this episode of #AskSwenk, we'll cover:  How to handle clients who think you have a conflict of interest because you're specialized in a niche. Also, ways to get your foot in the door with new clients, plus getting better business leads for your sales team.

This Week's Questions:

Tackling Conflict of Interest

{0:29}  Giles asked: "We specialize in design and marketing for the bar and restaurant sector. We've recently had a couple of meetings with prospects who were concerned about a conflict of interest as we already do work for one of the largest players in this sector in the UK. How would you tackle their concerns?"

Getting Your Foot in the Door

{2:36} Bobby asked:  "What assessments would you use for getting a foot in the door with a client?"

Finding Better Business Leads

{5:16}  Phil asked:  "There's one thing I consistently hear from my sales team and that is 'it's just bad timing for the client right now.' Have you found a good way to overcome this objection? "

Related:  http://jasonswenk.com/askswenk50

Improve Your Agency

Now that you have strategies for getting your foot in the door and bringing in better business leads for your digital agency, what's next on your list? What other challenges and obstacles are you facing preventing you taking your business to the next level?

I have covered topics from how to handle a recession or how to increase your profits without losing customers for your agency. Or maybe you want to know the four phases of growth within your agency and want extra help in taking your agency to the next level and sell your agency for a larger profit? I have all the information you need to help you through it.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! You can 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 Business Growth Tips on How to Scale Your Agency

Are you struggling on scaling your agency and just can't find the best business growth tips that fit your business model?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Top 5 business growth tips to grow and scale your digital agency.
• How to juggle and manage multiple businesses.

If you’re looking for a 7 or 8 figure entrepreneur to model, this guy might be it…

Syed Balkhi is the owner of several multi-million dollar online business and he's crushing it. Syed’s trifecta of online startups includes:  WPBeginner (the largest free Wordpress resource), OptinMonster (lead generation software, and List25 (entertainment site) -- all of which are hitting 7+ figures and combined, serve over 400 million visitors! He’s also a former agency owner and a stakeholder in several other businesses.

In this episode, Syed shares his best advice for getting your business to the next level. He’s got a ton of great tips for growing and scaling.

Top 5 ways to grow and scale

#5 - Answer everybody’s questions. Syed says he spent very little on marketing his startups. Instead he would run hashtag searches on Twitter and respond to every tweet that had anything to do with a particular topic (in his case, Wordpress). Don’t reply with a hardsell. Reply with a helpful tip or solution.

#4 - Identify and solve one problem at a time. We’re entrepreneurs. It’s easy to get distracted by all those fantastic ideas that pop into our heads. Syed says a key factor in his success was concentrating on one idea at a time.

#3 - Use a lead magnet. You’ll have far better success with an opt-in that offers a payoff in the form of a useful checklist or tool. People are always hesitant to opt-in for fear of spammy junk mail. Bribery works so much better :)

#2 - Follow-up is paramount. Once you capture contact info use it to establish trust and gain authority. Don’t just send your monthly e-newsletter, which is all you. Provide goodwill content by offering resources and valuable information that helps them.

#1 - The BEST advice to grow and scale:  Find the right combination of content marketing and marketing automation. Build a system that establishes the "know-like-trust" factor with content and useful tools. Test and tweak often. 

How to succeed at multiple businesses

The key is F.O.C.U.S. - Finish One Commitment Until Success. Syed says your agency should  have to be focused on the strengths of your business.  Identify a problem your prospects experience and then solve that problem differently and better than anyone else.

Sometimes agency owners see a common problem their clients’ experience and want to develop a product solution. Resist the urge. FOCUS. If you do decide to venture into developing a product, make sure it is a separate entity with a dedicated team. Don’t overlap your resources between your service business and your product business. You can’t excel at both simultaneously, so one will always suffer. In the end, neither business will flourish.

In terms of juggling it all… Syed says he doesn’t. He is in regular communication with team leaders that manage each of his businesses. He and his teams use tools like Slack and Basecamp to stay looped in. Syed's role now is mainly marketing, support and coaching his team. In fact, he’s so far removed from daily operations, he doesn’t even have coding access anymore (and he's OK with it!) :)

If you want to grow and scale your agency, check out my Agency Playbook. It includes the 12 systems I used to start, scale, enjoy, and sell my agency. Check out this video on you can use my Playbook to take your business to the next level.

Building Your Business

Using these business growth tips, I hope you begin to see a real difference for your agency.

If business growth tips aren't the only piece of advice you need, what other challenges are you facing?

I have probably experienced all the different struggles for an agency owner through my own experience and I can help you from what I learned. From what to do with your sales processes, ways to increase your profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency.

I can tell you the best ways to stop losing money on projects, why performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your agency as well as why including remote working or freelancers in your team can be beneficial in the long run.

You can learn more 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.

Find 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.

On this episode of #AskSwenk, we'll cover: What awards you should be looking at nabbing to attract big brand clients, whether you should be putting your published pricing on your website, and how to protect the concepts you've pitched.

This Week's Questions:

Do you know how to ensure you are guaranteeing leads for your business? If you are struggling with this as well as growing your team or how to prevent time lost to bad clients, this episode of Ask Swenk is the one you need.

In this video, I’ll cover:

• What to do when a prospect wants you to guarantee leads.
• My #1 struggle in growing my agency team and 3 ways we overcame it.
• How to fire a terrible client so you can quit wasting time.

Guaranteeing Leads in a Proposal (0:23)

Lawrence asks:  "A prospect is asking for us to guarantee the number of sales leads our digital marketing will create -- which is impossible and could change over time. How would you go about putting this into the proposal?"

Don’t shy away from guaranteeing performance! Take pride and back your work.

I have NO issue with guaranteeing leads... DO IT! But, you cannot guarantee sales. Lead generation in your control, converting leads and the sales process is not.

3 steps to guaranteeing leads:

1. Determine a very specific criteria for qualified leads. Be very definitive on what a quality lead looks like.
2. Look at similar, past clients as a benchmark for your past performance.
3. Establish compensation at both a fixed level and performance level. For example, you get paid “X” rate for deliver “X” fixed amount of leads, and an additional “Y” rate for every lead thereafter.

Here’s an interview with an agency owner who runs his business totally on a performance-based pricing model. He has over a 50% margin and a 95% close rate. Talk about qualifying leads!

#1 Struggle of Growing My Team (2:22)

Christina asked:  "What were your biggest pain points in growing your agency from a just few people to more and how did you overcome them?"

The biggest struggle I had with growing my team was worrying about being able to afford them. Cash flow and making payroll was my #1 concern.

3 things that helped us overcome cash flow worries:

1. Project receivables. We looked for holes to forecast where cash flow would be an issue and then we could be proactive instead of reactive. We use these “holes” as deadlines to motivate the sales and leadership teams.

2. Change payment terms. We made recurring revenue (retainers) due upfront with incentives for prepayment for the entire contract period. Project payment terms changed to: 50% upfront, 25% due on a specific date or at a specific point in the project (whichever comes first), and 25% due upon completion or at a specific point in the project (whichever comes first).

3. Increase pricing. We increased our prices for both our existing and new clients. Once you make the decision on what agency you want to be, make the moves to act and charge like it.

Firing a Terrible Client (5:18)

Glenn says:  "We need to get rid of a terrible client. They're not taking the hint, so I need to formally drop them. A lot of thought went into this decision and they must go.  How would you go about it?"

Congratulations! I’m so proud that you’ve realized it time to get rid of this client.

I have a motto: There’s no such thing as a BAD agency client - just a bad prospect or bad process. It’s OK that your process let a bad prospect sneak it and it’s awesome that you’re ready to get rid of them. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Check the language in your contract to see how much lead to time you need in order to end the relationship. Abide by the contract at all costs.
2. Make a phone call, not an email and definitely not a text message, to talk to them. In the call explain that it’s not working out and that your need to sever the relationship.
3. End on good terms by giving them all their files and even a refund if you think it’s necessary.
4. Draw up a letter that details everything that was discussed on your call and all the assets you’ll be releasing to them. Send this letter to them USPS Certified so that you can prove it’s been received. And, keep a copy for yourself.
5. Consider setting up an introduction between your newly fired client and your biggest competition :) 

After it’s all said and done, forget it. Good riddance! You’ll notice a huge difference in your team and your culture when you eliminate this baggage.

In fact, take a look at the rest of your client roster. Are there other clients that are causing distractions or making it harder to become the agency you want to be? Quit wasting time on the wrong prospects and concentrate on the right ones.

Do you like this NEW  3 question format?

Give us some feedback below. And, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’re getting the newest video advice each week!

Build Your Agency

Now that you know how to improve on guaranteeing leads, growing your team and more, this may be only the tip of the iceberg. But don't worry, I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have covered topics from how to handle a recession or expanding your brand awareness with a social media community. Or maybe you want to know the four phases of growth within your agency and want extra help in easing through agency growing pains? I have all the information you need to help you through it.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! You can 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 really need to have a big agency experience to truly be successful as an agency owner?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• What it’s like working at a big agency.
• Why a CCO would leave a large, publicly traded agency.
• Does size matter? 
• How you can determine your purpose and use it to build your brand.

For anyone who has questions or doubts in their own abilities to startup a digital agency and run better than the big dogs, you’ll have to check out this interview. My guest, Kerri Konik, has worked at some pretty huge agencies, and left her latest as Chief Creative Officer in order to start her own agency. She tells us what it’s like at the big agencies and why she left to do her own thing.

The grass isn’t any greener at the big agencies… it’s greener on the side that you water:)

What it’s like at a big agency (...and why leave)?

After years of working at big agencies Kerri started her agency, Brandscape Atelier, five years ago because she felt like she wasn’t making much of an impact on her clients’ businesses.  

Like anything else, there’s pros and cons, of course. First and foremost the resources are top-notch. You have a team full of people who are experts in their specific area - people don’t wear more than one hat. This means, you can learn a lot and get exposure to the big picture. However, big agencies tend to sound very glamorous when in actuality, they are not. Sure a big agency can be very fast paced and they land 2-3 year agency of record contracts, however there are too many layers to be effective. A typical client/agency meeting often included 18-20 people… making execution very inefficient.

Kerri left because she felt like she wasn’t making much of an impact on her clients’ businesses.  She started Brandscape Atelier (translation: “artist workshop”) to bring sophisticated, big agency strategies to small businesses who are looking to grow.

Does size matter?

No it does not. You don’t need a huge team to do amazing work. Kerri’s agency operates with just six core team members and they bring in subject matter specialists as needed. They are in their 5th year and Kerri has no plans to get too big. She feels it’s too difficult to be nimble when you are too big.

More benefits of staying small:

• You make decisions based on the long term. Large corporations look at making growth decisions based on the short term, which doesn’t have lasting effects for sustainability.
• You can turn down the wrong clients or wrong jobs that distract from your long term goals.
• You can make build your brand equity by defining your purpose. Why you do what you do.

How to select clients that set you up for a WIN.

Brandscape Atelier works with startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs that are looking to grow and be competitive with bigger brands. They have a pretty specific criteria on who they will (and will not) work with, including:

1. Businesses that are focused and clear. They want to work with clients who want to make a big impact in their industry.
2. Businesses the agency views as viable and sellable.
3. Businesses the agency can bring to life by bringing the owner’s unique and genuine personality into the mix.

Set yourself up for a WIN by being selective in your prospecting. It’s hard when you’re starting out - sometimes you are hungry enough to take on any work that is thrown your way. If you can avoid making decisions based on short term gain, you will reap long term benefits.

Remember: There’s no such thing as a bad client. Only a bad prospect or a had process! Click here to learn what I mean.

How can you determine your purpose?

In Kerri’s case, she kept finding herself beginning a lot of sentences with with “Someday, I’ll...” She realized she had gotten to a point where she wasn’t really doing what she wanted to be doing. She was just waiting for that “someday.”

If you want to find your purpose, figure out what you’re passion about. Ask yourself questions like:

• “What can’t I help doing?”
• “What do I want to see more of in the world?”
• “What do I want to see less of in the world?”

Sometimes it’s easier to start with what you don’t want to do, then narrow down to what you DO want to do :) Use your findings to position your agency (and yourself) for success. When you’re working on something that moves and inspires you, it also empowers you to be successful.

Bottom line is, you do not need big agency experience to be a successful owner. My best advice is to stay in the game of learning. Stay on top of trends and technology and avoid being viewed as a commodity by your clients by continuing to take your level of knowledge and service up a notch.

No matter what your size, there are five levels of agency service - check out another interview about them here. Comment below and tell me which level of service you provide? Which one are you be striving for?

Building Your Agency

I have more than likely experienced all if not most of the different struggles an agency owner experiences through my own experience and I can help you from what I learned. I have covered many topics from what to do with your sales processes to improve them, how you can increase your agency profit margins or how you can build authority for your agency.

I have the best ways for your business to stop losing money on projects, how performance based pricing models can be the best strategy for your agency and why including remote teams or freelancers in your team can be beneficial in the long run.

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

Find 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 how to ensure you are guaranteeing leads for your business? If you are struggling with this as well as growing your team or how to prevent time lost to bad clients, this episode of Ask Swenk is the one you need.

In this video, I’ll cover:

• What to do when a prospect wants you to guarantee leads.
• My #1 struggle in growing my agency team and 3 ways we overcame it.
• How to fire a terrible client so you can quit wasting time.

Guaranteeing Leads in a Proposal (0:23)

Lawrence asks:  "A prospect is asking for us to guarantee the number of sales leads our digital marketing will create -- which is impossible and could change over time. How would you go about putting this into the proposal?"

Don’t shy away from guaranteeing performance! Take pride and back your work.

I have NO issue with guaranteeing leads... DO IT! But, you cannot guarantee sales. Lead generation in your control, converting leads and the sales process is not.

3 steps to guaranteeing leads:

1. Determine a very specific criteria for qualified leads. Be very definitive on what a quality lead looks like.
2. Look at similar, past clients as a benchmark for your past performance.
3. Establish compensation at both a fixed level and performance level. For example, you get paid “X” rate for deliver “X” fixed amount of leads, and an additional “Y” rate for every lead thereafter.

Here’s an interview with an agency owner who runs his business totally on a performance-based pricing model. He has over a 50% margin and a 95% close rate. Talk about qualifying leads!

#1 Struggle of Growing My Team (2:22)

Christina asked:  "What were your biggest pain points in growing your agency from a just few people to more and how did you overcome them?"

The biggest struggle I had with growing my team was worrying about being able to afford them. Cash flow and making payroll was my #1 concern.

3 things that helped us overcome cash flow worries:

1. Project receivables. We looked for holes to forecast where cash flow would be an issue and then we could be proactive instead of reactive. We use these “holes” as deadlines to motivate the sales and leadership teams.

2. Change payment terms. We made recurring revenue (retainers) due upfront with incentives for prepayment for the entire contract period. Project payment terms changed to: 50% upfront, 25% due on a specific date or at a specific point in the project (whichever comes first), and 25% due upon completion or at a specific point in the project (whichever comes first).

3. Increase pricing. We increased our prices for both our existing and new clients. Once you make the decision on what agency you want to be, make the moves to act and charge like it.

Firing a Terrible Client (5:18)

Glenn says:  "We need to get rid of a terrible client. They're not taking the hint, so I need to formally drop them. A lot of thought went into this decision and they must go.  How would you go about it?"

Congratulations! I’m so proud that you’ve realized it time to get rid of this client.

I have a motto: There’s no such thing as a BAD agency client - just a bad prospect or bad process. It’s OK that your process let a bad prospect sneak it and it’s awesome that you’re ready to get rid of them. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Check the language in your contract to see how much lead to time you need in order to end the relationship. Abide by the contract at all costs.
2. Make a phone call, not an email and definitely not a text message, to talk to them. In the call explain that it’s not working out and that your need to sever the relationship.
3. End on good terms by giving them all their files and even a refund if you think it’s necessary.
4. Draw up a letter that details everything that was discussed on your call and all the assets you’ll be releasing to them. Send this letter to them USPS Certified so that you can prove it’s been received. And, keep a copy for yourself.
5. Consider setting up an introduction between your newly fired client and your biggest competition :) 

After it’s all said and done, forget it. Good riddance! You’ll notice a huge difference in your team and your culture when you eliminate this baggage.

In fact, take a look at the rest of your client roster. Are there other clients that are causing distractions or making it harder to become the agency you want to be? Quit wasting time on the wrong prospects and concentrate on the right ones.

Do you like this NEW  3 question format?

Give us some feedback below. And, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’re getting the newest video advice each week!

Build Your Agency

Now that you know how to improve on guaranteeing leads, growing your team and more, this may be only the tip of the iceberg. But don't worry, I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have covered topics from how to handle a recession or expanding your brand awareness with a social media community. Or maybe you want to know the four phases of growth within your agency and want extra help in easing through agency growing pains? I have all the information you need to help you through it.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, don’t worry, i’ve got you covered! You can 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.

When building an agency, having big brand clients can elevate your agency to a whole other level. This is where the challenge comes in of how do you grab the attention of those big brands?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Grabbing the attention of big brands.
• 5 Steps to creating a winning environment.
• The hierarchy of an agency with big brand clients.

Don’t be a “me too” agency

Mike says the agency’s Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Zak Mroueh, has always made it their mission to capture the attention of big brands and get to the next level. He says agencies are always telling their clients to stand out, be different, and do things that are uncomfortable. However, they don’t “walk the walk” and follow their own advice. For example, ever notice how agency websites all look the same?

That’s why Zulu’s website is one of the most entertaining agency site you’ll see. It pokes fun at the agency industry’s cliches and stereotypes. It’s edgy, it’s funny, and it’s one example of Zulu walking the walk. (I’m telling you that you’ve got to check out their site - it’s pretty awesome.)

5 Steps to creating a winning environment

1. #SayNoToSpec  At Zulu, they don’t make decisions based on monetary gain. They’re OK with turning down work that doesn’t get them closer to their long-term goals. Spec work is a hinderance and an unfair expectation on the client’s behalf. Just. Say. No. When they implemented this 5 years ago they were turning down 80%+ of their RFP's.
   

   ---

2. Focus on long-term dominance. Zulu’s website is just one example of their out-of-the-box creativity. Mike says the humor on the site isn’t for everyone. It’s a turnoff for some - and that’s OK. They take risks in pursuit of new clients. Zulu’s thinking:  If a prospective client doesn’t like their spoofy website, they’re probably not the right fit anyway.
   

   ---

3. Know why you do what you do. What’s your agency’s purpose? What are your core values? Why did you start an agency? (Don’t say you’re in it to make money. Money is an outcome, not a goal.) Determine your answers and communicate them from the top down. When you know your belief system it makes bigger decisions a lot easier to make.
   

   ---

4. Be purposeful in your onboarding. Start day 1 with setting the right tone and helping a new employee adapt to the culture. At Zulu it's an orientation called “The Zulu Way” and it’s a 90-minute one-on-one with the agency founder where a new hire learns expectations and do’s/don’ts of the agency. It sets both parties up for a long and successful relationship.
   

   ---

5. Hire senior people in key roles. This circles back to not making decisions based on money. You need some experienced people - ones who’ve already made their big career mistakes - in leadership roles. According to Mike, one of the best things they did was hire a seasoned CFO and an IT Director. Stop thinking about how these positions re non-billable. Having senior people in place sets a foundation for success and their value to the agency is priceless.

As you grow, structure your agency for greatness

So wait... the Founder is NOT the President?

That’s right. After about one year juggling the roles of Founder and President, Zak Mroueh, realized he’d rather be working IN the business than ON the business. Zak hired Mike Sutton as agency President to deal with all the “business stuff” that was getting in his way of being creative. Today Zak is the Chief Creative Officer and uses his experience and technical skills to oversee all aspects of creative, while Mike is the President overseeing contracts, billing, scopes, and other business details.

Beneath the top tier of agency leadership, each department has 4-5 layers much like a traditionally structure agency.

Moral of the story: know your strengths. Know your team’s strengths. Be the best at one thing. Hire people to do what you can’t (or don’t want to) do.

That’s all great advice but what with the name?

Why Zulu Alpha Kilo? It stems from the global Nato Phonetic Alphabet, the widely known language often used by pilots (aka: the “Alpha Bravo Charlie” alphabet). It’s symbolic of the agency’s dedication to clarity of communication. And it just so happens to spell Z-A-K, which is the founder’s first name :)

By the way - here’s another super cool example of Zulu pushing themselves outside their comfort zone: http://creativity-online.com/work/zulu-alpha-kilo-zulu-blank-canvas/45173

Challenge:  What are YOU doing to stand out? Comment below and share how you separate yourself from the pack.

Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster.

Bringing Your Agency to a New Level

Landing big brands for clients can really bring your agency to a new level but also improve how you reach out to prospective clients moving forward. I hope you found this beneficial but I know there are other potential struggles you are experiencing in your agency and I can help.

I can give you advice on recognising these new potential client opportunities to creating the best marketing proposal to land these new potential leads.

Issues with growing your agency? I’ve broken down the different phases of growth within your agency and how performance based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business. And let's not forget the three questions you need to be asking 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.

What pricing model are you using in your agency? If you didn't know the benefits of using a performance-based pricing model within your agency, I can show you how to implement it and why it will be worth it in the long run.

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• The benefits of performance-based pricing.
• Maximizing agency revenue using performance-based pricing.
• Tips for turning your videos into low cost, high quality lead generators.

Today’s episode is by far one of my very favorite -- and no, I don’t say that about every interview:) Tom Breeze not only trains people on getting more leads for their business using video, but he’s also so confident in his agency’s skill to do the same, that Viewability operates on performance-based pricing.

With undergraduate and master’s degrees in psychology, Tom launched his agency only after learning to successful market his private anxiety counseling practice using video on his website. This was back when video for web was pretty new. (We’re talking pre-smartphone era... Tom carried a camera-less PDAs and recorded his videos old-school, with a camcorder!)

He discovered his videos had a great conversion rate and cost far less than he was spending on Google Adwords. This transformed his business and eventually launched a whole new career into business video training and digital advertising.

What are the benefits of performance-based pricing?

Tom compared his business model to a trojan horse story. On the outside it appears his agency takes on all the risk and fronts all the costs. In reality, they’ve got a killer process for qualifying their leads, they’re very picky with who they’ll work with and they know how to crush it when it comes to fulfillment.

Performance-based pricing is packaged with the notion that it must work, otherwise the agency wouldn’t be doing it... This means the agency’s inbound leads are “pre-sold” on the idea of working this way - there’s very little convincing or converting.

So exactly how do they get paid? At the onset of a new relationship, they have a frank discussion with about the breakeven CPA (cost per acquisition). They create a script, edit footage and run the ads in a 4-6 week test. Then analyze, tweak and repeat a second month. Tom’s agency usually absorb the first month’s costs, breaks even the second month and is profitable by the third month. Once the campaign is up and running successfully, they can “set it and forget it” - so there’s a greater profit margin.

About 4 out of every 5 clients are a win. And, when the client is seeing results they’re happy to pay, even though this structure ends up costing more than a traditional agency’s pricing model. Viewability’s qualification process is so efficient and effective - they’ve never been stiffed on fees.

Setting up success for agency performance-based pricing.

Thinking of a performance-based pricing model for your agency? Here’s some of Tom’s very best advice for minimizing risk and maximizing revenue potential:

1. Do not act as an agent, act as an affiliate. Rather than structuring client relationships like most service-based businesses, Viewability establishes a partner relationship where they work with their clients instead of for them.
   

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2. Know the formula for what makes a good client. Tom’s agency has a super specific list of questions and criteria that determines who they’ll work with - selecting quality over quantity. They take on fewer clients, but they have more time to spend with them.
   

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3. Work directly with the decision-maker. For Viewability, that’s the business owner who can provide specific direction as well as maintains accountability for payment.
   

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4. Maintain realistic expectations. Goals need to be measurable and attainable. Ask and answer these questions first: Do they know their current cost per lead and what they’d like it to be? (If not, that’s a major red flag.) Is it an evergreen offer that just needs more promotion? Has the funnel already been tested?

How can you predict cash flow with a performance-based model?

In a sense, the revenue from current clients funds the activity for future clients. However, within a couple months they’re self-sustaining.

It takes a shift in mindset. As a results-driven agency they’re dedicated to only taking on clients with a greater lifetime value. The drawbacks, of course, are the upfront cost and the lack of predictability that retainer clients provide. However, as highly effective specialists in a narrow niche with a great profit margin the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Turn your agency YouTube videos into lead generators.

Tom says to look at the 4 P’s to lower the cost per lead, maintain or increase the volume of leads and improve the quality of the leads,

Here’s a few simple hacks to make your existing video content lead generators:

1- Platform - learn where your leads hang out and put your video in front of them. He says you should connect on YouTube and convert on Google.

2- Person - connect with your organic traffic by linking your YouTube channel with your AdWords account.

3- Pursuit - change the customer’s journey. Why didn’t they opt-in? Change your lead magnet to improve results, some may prefer a webinar and others a download of swipe files.

4- Promotion - improve the ad itself by using pattern interruption or dynamic keyword insertion.

Taking Your Agency to the Next Level

You now know how to implement performance-based pricing in your agency but this is only one aspect you need to consider when wanting to take your agency to the next level. You should take a step back and really look at areas you haven't explored yet as well as struggles you need to focus on to improve your business and then check out how I have all you need to get through these obstacles.

I have advice to share with you from using Facebook in your marketing strategy, ways of building authority for your agency or even ways to pitch to big brand clients. If growth is your focus, I’ve discussed the four phases of growth within your agency and how website issues could be holding your business back from reach your potential.

You can learn more about my life and my experience as well as lots of tips, tricks and insights by reading my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

If videos are more your thing, did you know I have a Youtube channel?

You can check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from me and other agency experts.

Have you ever considered live streaming as part of your marketing strategy for your business? Not sure how to get started?

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why live streaming video is so HOT right now.
• How you can use live streaming video for generating new agency business.
• One new technology that will keep you ahead of current trends.

Former agency owner Kim Garst is totally on top of the social media game. She’s been named on a couple pretty prestigious lists, including Forbes’ Top 50 Social Media Influencers and Top 20 Women Influencers. She’s a serial entrepreneur who has spent the last two decades forging her way with online startups - including a digital agency.

Kim’s business, Boom Social began as an agency which has now morphed into a social media training resource for entrepreneurs. She’s finding more success and satisfaction in helping entrepreneurs find and develop their social media voice. Here’s what she shared about this year’s hottest trend: live streaming video.

What’s the big deal with live streaming video?

Live streaming video isn’t new. What is new, is the accessibility and convenience of it. Apps like Meerkat and Periscope brought live stream to handheld devices and their popularity soared. This is the year for Live Streaming Video. Already this year, we’ve seen Facebook and YouTube jump onboard.

As a society, we’ve spent the better part of a decade on social media. Status updates and Tweets are the norm. But as humans we crave more personal contact. When we consume in video form we find it more personal. When it’s a live feed, it’s more authentic, raw and real.

If you’re apprehensive about recording live video, you’re not alone. It definitely exposes you and makes you more vulnerable. The upside is, you’re not alone!

How to use live streaming video for business:

Remember people are craving that personal element that video provides? Use it to your advantage! Pick a platform and use it for things like -

• Recruiting Top Talent - if you’ve got a great company culture, spotlight it on video.  Showcase the people and environment of your agency and let viewers get a glimpse.
  

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• Client Retention - showcase who’s doing what. This lets your clients see some of the “behind the scenes” work that goes on.
  

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• Generate Leads - consider it a “video blog”. You’re already creating content that solves a problem or eases a pain point for your prospects. Turn on the video camera and talk through it instead of writing it. Create that know-like-trust factor a lot sooner by giving it a personal touch.

If you’re personable and providing valuable information you will convert faster using live streaming video. The effects of live streaming video moves much faster than blogging or tweeting. Kim says she’s even converting some leads after just one touchpoint!

Clients expect you to bring them emerging trends.

You’re an agency so you’ve got to be on top of the latest technologies. In our Future Outlook Report for 2016, we discovered the #1 thing brands want from agencies is new business building strategies and solutions. Even if you aren’t using some of the latest social media technologies for your own business, your clients are expecting you to be skilled at using them.

One new, cutting edge technology.

One super NEW social app is Anchor. It’s an audio app described as “radio by real people”. Anchor is  a free iPhone app that let’s you broadcast short (2 mins or less) audio clips to global followers. Listeners can talk back which is something live streaming video doesn’t allow.

Kim and I agree that Anchor is the next BIG THING. Anchor encourages more engagement and satisfies our human craving for personal contact. She does say, however, that Anchor can become time consuming because it requires attention and constant follow-up to develop relationships.

2 creative ways to use live video and audio for business:

• Work smarter, not harder. Think of ways to stack your social media efforts. Get this -- Kim hosts live Q&A’s on Anchor while broadcasting on TWO live streaming video platforms - Periscope and Facebook Live. Then she embeds the Anchor broadcasts into blog posts to repurpose and give it a longer life. Don’t know about you, but my mind is officially blown.

• Start your own Q&A. You don’t have to score a triple-pointer like Kim, but answering your client’s biggest questions is the easiest and most effective ways to use these live video or radio apps. Find out what people want to know, let them ask and you answer. Establish authority and nurture the relationship into trust and eventual sales. Speaking of...  ever heard of #AskSwenk? :)

Kim’s best advice:  Jump over the fear hurdle and hit the “start broadcast” button!

Take action NOW ...because ACTIONS lead to TRANSACTIONS! 

How Can I Help You?

I hope you found this beneficial and it gave you an insight into using live streaming video for your business and marketing strategy.

If you have more questions about how you can improve your agency, I can help. Whether you are an experienced agency owner or have just started a new agency, I have covered topics including how to stop losing clients to reasons you should sell your agency.

Have other topics you want advice on? You can check out all my tips, tricks, and everything you need to know in my blogs. I have covered a wide variety of topics as well as answered your questions in more from my Ask Swenk series.

Are videos more your thing?  You can check out my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel for advice from myself and other agency experts.