The Agency Profit Podcast: Recent Episodes
Parakeeto, Marcel Petitpas
Welcome to the Agency Profit Podcast hosted by Marcel Petitpas, CEO and Co-Founder of Parakeeto.
Finally, an agency podcast that isn't JUST about getting more clients.
On the show, we bring in experts, agency owners and consultants to share their actionable tips for improving profitability and operational efficiency.
Here, you'll learn what systems to implement in your business, what kind of KPI's to track, and benchmarks to aim for. How to manage things like capacity, utilization, billing rates, processes and procedures, what tools to use, mistakes to avoid and so, so much more.
If you're tired of putting out fires, working long hours, and growing revenue but not profits, you're in the right place.
Points of Interest 00:00 – 02:50 – Introducing Owner's Clarity: Kristen Kelly welcomes Mike Grinberg back to the podcast to discuss why founders should develop personal clarity before focusing on positioning or marketing strategy. * 02:50 – 05:30 – Why Successful Founders Still Feel Miserable: Mike explains how many founders build profitable businesses that ultimately fail to support their personal goals, values, or fulfillment. * 05:30 – 07:10 – A Real-World Example of Misalignment: Mike shares the story of a founder whose business model eliminated the mentoring opportunities that gave his work meaning, despite excellent financial performance. * 07:10 – 10:15 – Learning from Personal Experience: Reflecting on his own agency journey, Mike explains how removing himself entirely from client work created a leadership role that didn't align with his strengths or interests. * 10:15 – 16:05 – The Four Constraints of Owner's Clarity: Mike introduces the four pillars of Owner's Clarity—purpose, identity, intent, and capacity—and explains how each influences business decisions and long-term satisfaction. * 16:05 – 20:00 – Discovering Purpose Beyond the Business: Mike discusses how uncovering a founder's true purpose often requires deep personal conversations that go far beyond surface-level business objectives. * 20:00 – 24:35 – Translating Clarity into Operational Decisions: The conversation explores how understanding intent and capacity influences hiring, delegation, automation, forecasting, and leadership responsibilities. * 24:35 – 29:55 – Burnout Is an Alignment Problem: Mike explains that burnout is often caused less by workload and more by operating outside your strengths or building a business that conflicts with your identity. * 29:55 – 33:45 – Building a Business Around Founder Constraints: Mike shares how Owner's Clarity influences technology investments, financial planning, reinvestment decisions, and sustainable business growth. * 33:45 – 35:40 – Using the Constraint Alignment Test: Mike outlines when founders should revisit their Owner's Clarity, including after major business milestones, partnerships, or significant life changes. * 35:40 – 38:25 – Think About Your Exit Early: Mike encourages founders to define how they want to feel at the end of their ownership journey, using that vision to guide strategic decisions from the beginning. * 38:25 – 41:50 – Advice Mike Would Give His Younger Self:* Mike reflects on the importance of designing a business that supports the founder, embracing healthy selfishness, and intentionally building a company around personal fulfillment rather than external expectations.
Show Notes Connect with Mike Grinberg on LinkedIn * Owner's Clarity Toolkit™*
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Points of Interest 00:01 Introduction and New AI-Driven Call Analysis: Kristen and Carson introduce a new process where they use Claude to analyze client calls regularly and surface recurring themes for the podcast, starting with today's topic: pass-through. * 01:14 Defining Pass-Through: Kristen defines pass-through as any money that flows from a client through the agency to another vendor, where the agency isn't responsible for that cost's profitability, citing examples like media spend, print budgets, and stock imagery. * 03:26 Defining AGI and the Formula: Carson explains Agency Gross Income (AGI) as top-line revenue minus pass-through, emphasizing that a $5 million agency by billings might actually be a $1 million agency once pass-through is removed. * 05:34 Case Study: Media Spend Masking True Agency Size: Kristen shares an example of a $3 million agency that was really closer to $1.5 million once media planning and buying income was stripped away, due to a messy chart of accounts. * 07:26 Case Study: Off-Balance-Sheet Media Slush Fund: Kristen describes a second client who kept media dollars off their P&L entirely, creating the illusion of abundant cash on hand and complicating tracking of which funds belonged to which client. * 09:17 Cash Flow Risks of Fronting Pass-Through: Kristen and Carson discuss how agencies that don't collect pass-through funds upfront risk becoming an unintentional bank for their clients, leading to cash flow trouble. * 10:16 Case Study: Events Agency Mistaking $10M for $2M: Carson recounts a client who operated as if they were a $10 million agency when 80% of that revenue was pass-through events costs, leaving them a $2 million agency with unsustainable spending habits. * 12:02 Case Study: Understaffing Miscalculation on a $100K Event: Carson shares a second events example where a team overstaffed a $100,000 event without realizing only $20,000 of that actually belonged to the agency, locking them into a multi-year contract destined to lose money. * 16:26 The Contractor Decision Tree: Kristen walks through a sequential framework for classifying contractors as pass-through, delivery expense, or shared delivery cost, based on questions about salary status, compensation structure, and cost attribution. * 23:15 Pricing and Estimating Projects with Pass-Through in Mind: Kristen and Carson explain how to separate people costs from pass-through costs when building project estimates, using breakeven calculations to arrive at a target price with margin. * 25:09 Making Pass-Through Visible on the P&L: Carson advises working with bookkeepers to separate pass-through from cost of goods sold so agencies can clearly see their AGI rather than having it obscured within a muddled COGS section. * 28:15 Tracking Costs and Empowering Project Managers:* Kristen recommends empowering project managers closest to the delivery work to track and flag cost overruns proactively, rather than leaving pass-through reconciliation solely to bookkeepers or finance.
Show Notes Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform * Connect on LinkedIn + Carson Pierce + Kristen Kelly*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:43 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Sarah Still, Partner and COO at RAYNE IX, and frames the conversation around agency operations, profitability, scaling, and building valuable businesses. * 01:44 – 02:28 – Helping Women Build Valuable Agencies: Sarah explains how RAYNE IX works with women agency owners to improve performance, build enterprise value, and prepare for future exit opportunities. * 02:29 – 04:33 – From Finance to Agency Operations: Sarah shares how her accounting background led her into agency operations after helping clean up the books of a startup marketing agency. * 04:34 – 06:10 – Building RAYNE IX After Agency Leadership: Sarah describes leaving her COO role after 11 years and eventually partnering with Kylie Peters to support women building healthier agencies. * 06:11 – 08:39 – Why Focus on Women Agency Owners: Sarah explains the personal and professional motivation behind helping women founders capture the value they are creating in their businesses. * 08:40 – 11:32 – Operationalized Leadership: Sarah argues that agencies often miss the importance of defining values, behaviors, standards, and leadership cadences that protect the business as it scales. * 11:33 – 13:58 – Clarifying Founder Values: Marcel reflects on how unclear values at Parakeeto led to frustration, poor leadership moments, and delayed decisions around hiring and accountability. * 13:59 – 15:43 – Culture as the Result of Enforced Values: Sarah explains that culture is not created through intention alone, but through the behaviors, standards, and values that leaders consistently enforce. * 15:44 – 19:18 – The Power of Clear Expectations: Marcel and Sarah discuss how expectations shape leadership, performance, accountability, pricing, forecasting, and enterprise value. * 19:19 – 24:52 – Assumptions Before Certainty: Sarah and Marcel explore why agencies should not wait for perfect clarity before taking action, but should make assumptions explicit so results can be compared against expectations. * 24:53 – 28:59 – Time Tracking and Precision Traps: Sarah and Marcel discuss why unreliable time-tracking data can be worse than no data, and how agencies often overcomplicate measurement without knowing what question they are trying to answer. * 29:00 – 43:38 – Finance, Operations, and Profitability:* Sarah and Marcel unpack why profitability is an operational problem made visible through finance, and why agency leaders must understand the tradeoffs between margin, hiring, utilization, pricing, team health, and growth.
Show Notes RAYNE IX * Connect on LinkedIn + Sarah Still*
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:53 – Why Revisit Positioning: Carson and Kristen introduce Parakeeto's repositioning effort and explain why they wanted to publicly discuss the evolution of the company's messaging. * 00:53 – 02:18 – The Profitability Problem: The discussion explores how Parakeeto's heavy emphasis on profitability created confusion about what the company actually does for clients. * 02:18 – 04:21 – The Challenge of Category Creation: Carson and Kristen reflect on attempts to create or fit into categories like FinOps and why unfamiliar categories often create more confusion than clarity. * 04:21 – 06:18 – From Profitability to Stewardship: The conversation introduces the new positioning centered around helping agency owners focus on building their businesses while Parakeeto takes care of the money. * 06:18 – 09:11 – The Emotional Side of Finance: Carson shares how financial discomfort and avoidance can affect decision-making and explains why confidence is a critical outcome of financial stewardship. * 09:11 – 11:31 – What Taking Care of the Money Means: Kristen outlines the practical components of Parakeeto's approach, including accounting, forecasting, reporting, and operational guidance. * 11:31 – 13:19 – Agency-Specific Financial Expertise: Carson explains how deep agency experience allows Parakeeto to interpret financial data within the operational realities of agency businesses. * 13:19 – 15:06 – Turning Financial Insights into Action: The discussion highlights the importance of translating financial reporting into operational recommendations that improve agency performance * 15:06 – 17:37 – Expanding into Accounting and Bookkeeping: Kristen explains how bringing bookkeeping and accounting services in-house creates continuity between financial data and strategic decision-making. * 17:37 – 19:54 – The Agency CFO Perspective: The conversation explores why the title "Agency CFO" better communicates Parakeeto's blend of financial expertise and operational advisory support. * 19:54 – 24:13 – Who Benefits Most from This Approach: Carson and Kristen discuss ideal client profiles, including agencies crossing the $1M mark and larger firms seeking greater visibility and clarity. * 24:13 – 28:19 – Building Confidence Through Partnership:* The episode concludes with a discussion about education, long-term partnerships, and helping agency owners feel more confident managing the financial side of their businesses.
Show Notes Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform * Connect on LinkedIn + Carson Pierce + Kristen Kelly*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 02:12 – Jason Swenk's Agency Journey: Jason shares how he accidentally started an agency in 1999, grew it to more than 100 employees, sold it after 11 years, and eventually transitioned into coaching agency owners worldwide. * 02:12 – 06:22 – Designing a Lifestyle Business: Jason explains how agency owners often aspire to more freedom and flexibility, sharing how he structures his own workweek and prioritizes experiences outside of work. * 06:23 – 10:14 – Escaping the Operator Trap: Jason introduces an exercise that helps founders identify the tasks they dislike and begin designing their business around their strengths instead of remaining stuck in daily operations. * 10:15 – 13:19 – The Manager Stage and Delegation Challenges: The conversation explores why many founders struggle after hiring employees and how poor delegation often creates more work rather than less. * 13:20 – 16:50 – Building Trust and Better Decision-Making: Jason explains the 1-3-1 framework for problem solving and discusses how leaders can develop trust while allowing team members to learn through small mistakes. * 16:51 – 19:41 – The CEO Identity Shift: The discussion focuses on how founders must evolve their role as the business grows, moving from execution toward vision, coaching, and strategic leadership. * 19:42 – 22:17 – Becoming an Architect: Jason outlines the Architect stage, where leaders create systems, processes, and frameworks that allow teams to operate independently without constant oversight. * 22:18 – 24:09 – AI as a Founder Knowledge System: The conversation explores how agency owners can use AI to capture expertise, document decision-making processes, and reduce dependency on the founder. * 24:10 – 27:31 – Avoiding the Rubber Band Effect: Jason explains how founders often sabotage growth by reverting to old habits and stepping back into roles their team is capable of handling. * 27:32 – 30:31 – The Difference Between CEO and Owner: The discussion examines the Owner stage, where the business no longer relies on the founder for day-to-day decisions and leadership functions. * 30:32 – 34:30 – Growing Leaders Within the Organization: Jason shares insights on helping employees develop their own careers while recognizing that not everyone wants to move into leadership positions. * 34:31 – 41:02 – Building a Business Around Your Goals:* The episode concludes with Jason discussing his book, Operator to Owner, and emphasizing that agency owners should intentionally design businesses that align with their desired lifestyle and ambitions.
Show Notes Agency Mastery Website * Operator to Owner book details * Smart Agency Masterclass Podcast + The Seth Godin Episode * Upcoming Events * Epic Friday * Jason Swenk on LinkedIn*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:00 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Colin Hewitt, CEO and founder of Float, and frames cash flow as the lifeblood every agency depends on. * 01:01 – 02:09 – The Origin of Float: Colin shares how running his own agency exposed the limits of spreadsheet-based forecasting and led him to build a cash flow product for service businesses. * 02:10 – 05:24 – Direct vs Indirect Cash Flow Methods: A look at why traditional P&L-derived forecasts age the moment they are finished, and how a hybrid direct method delivers a forecast owners can trust day-to-day. * 05:24 – 07:31 – Why Agency Cash Flow Is Uniquely Complex: Retainers, milestone billing, and time-and-materials projects each behave differently — modeling them well requires more nuance than most generic tools provide. * 07:32 – 09:09 – The Trade-Offs of Outsourcing the Forecast: When forecasting is handed off entirely, owners often lose the context behind the numbers and end the month more confused than clear. * 09:09 – 12:48 – Precision vs Accuracy in a Forecast: Colin and Marcel discuss the tension between infinitely precise forecasts and forecasts that owners will actually maintain — and how to find the right level for the business. * 12:48 – 14:07 – Mapping Budgets to the Accounting System: A deliberate separation between transactional accounting detail and forward-looking budget categories keeps the forecast usable without doubling the work. * 14:07 – 16:54 – Cash Flow Strategy When Things Get Tight: Visibility into the next 30, 60, and 90 days lets owners distinguish a temporary blip from a structural issue — and decide what to push, chase, or restructure. * 16:54 – 18:47 – Pulling Cash Forward and Deferring Expenses: A short walk-through of practical levers — invoice financing, payment timing, expense sequencing — and a pointer to a deeper episode on the topic. * 18:47 – 21:10 – AI's Impact on Software and Agencies: Colin reflects on what is changing for SaaS founders and what is opening up for agencies as the cost of building software falls. * 21:10 – 23:43 – Where Software Moats Hold Up in an AI World: A candid view on which products remain defensible — auditability, trust, collaboration — and which become commoditized prompts. * 23:43 – 27:23 – When Conversational Interfaces Replace UIs: A near-future where owners interact with agents instead of dashboards, and the underlying systems quietly stay in sync. * 27:23 – 30:43 – Sustainability and Boundaries Around AI Work: A frank conversation about the pull of constant tinkering, the risk of AI-driven bloat, and the case for considered, well-crafted decisions. * 30:43 – 35:20 – Speed vs Velocity, and Closing Thoughts*: When everything can be built, the discipline shifts to choosing what to build — and Colin shares where listeners can follow along with Float.
Show Notes Float Website * Colin Hewitt on LinkedIn * The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Agency's Cash Flow with Carson Pierce – Ep.210*
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:38 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Sei-Wook Kim, co-founder of Barrel and Barrel Holdings, highlighting his experience building and scaling multiple agencies. * 00:38 – 01:31 – What Barrel Holdings Does: Sei-Wook explains their holdco structure, managing a portfolio of independent, specialized marketing agencies with a long-term acquisition strategy. * 01:31 – 03:31 – Origin of the Holdco Model: The conversation explores how Barrel evolved from a single agency into multiple businesses through spin-offs and organic opportunities. * 03:31 – 04:56 – Shift from Incubation to Acquisition: Sei-Wook shares why they moved from building agencies from scratch to acquiring established firms to accelerate growth. * 04:56 – 06:07 – Independent Portfolio vs Roll-Up Strategy: They discuss why Barrel Holdings avoids the traditional roll-up model in favor of independently operated agencies with separate P&Ls. * 06:07 – 07:31 – Long-Term Investment Philosophy: Sei-Wook explains their long-term hold strategy, focusing on durability, adaptability, and avoiding short-term exit pressure. * 07:31 – 09:09 – Capital Strategy and Self-Funding: The discussion covers their decision to fund acquisitions through internal capital and debt rather than external investors. * 09:09 – 12:52 – What Makes an Agency Attractive: Sei-Wook outlines key acquisition criteria, including specialization, recurring revenue, and strong leadership teams. * 12:52 – 15:06 – Challenges in Financial Diligence: They break down common issues in agency financials, including inconsistent revenue tracking and unclear cost structures. * 15:06 – 17:29 – Understanding True Profitability: The conversation highlights how to normalize owner compensation and adjust financials to reflect true EBITDA. * 17:29 – 21:01 – Operating Model and Performance Metrics: Sei-Wook explains their weekly and quarterly cadence, including key metrics like revenue, expenses, and pipeline forecasting. * 21:01 – 35:43 – Forecasting, Scaling, and the Impact of AI*: The episode closes with insights on forecasting discipline, scaling leadership across multiple agencies, and how AI may reshape agency value and delivery.
Show Notes Sei-Wook Kim on LinkedIn * Peter Kang on LinkedIn * Agency Habits Website * Barrel Holdings Website*
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 02:30 – The Cost of Poor Sequencing: Marcel and Kristen introduce the core issue—agencies often apply the right tactics in the wrong order, leading to wasted effort and stalled profitability. * 02:30 – 05:00 – The Insight Formula: They explain that data alone is meaningless without context, introducing the key concept that insight comes from comparing expectations to reality. * 05:00 – 06:30 – Start with a Business Model: Agencies should begin by building a model of their business to define what success should look like before measuring performance. * 06:30 – 08:30 – The Danger of Starting with Data: Many firms overinvest in tracking actuals first, only to realize they lack the benchmarks needed to interpret the data effectively. * 08:30 – 10:30 – Why Expectations Come First: Establishing expectations is faster, requires no new data, and is essential for designing meaningful feedback loops. * 10:30 – 12:30 – Misguided Pricing and Benchmarking: Agencies often rely on market benchmarks instead of internal cost structures, leading to misaligned pricing and profitability issues. * 12:30 – 14:30 – Framework vs. Frankenstein Metrics: Combining disconnected industry formulas creates inconsistent and unreliable financial insights, highlighting the need for a unified framework. * 14:30 – 17:00 – Forecasting as the Next Step: Once a model is established, agencies must forecast workload and capacity, starting with clear scope and effort assumptions. * 17:00 – 20:00 – The Precision Trap in Forecasting: Overly detailed planning creates friction and reduces adaptability; executive-level forecasting should prioritize accuracy over precision. * 20:00 – 22:30 – The Power of Forecasting Without Time Tracking: A strong forecast can provide meaningful insight even without detailed time-tracking data. * 22:30 – 25:30 – Installing Feedback Loops: Feedback loops help refine assumptions and uncover operational issues by comparing planned vs. actual performance. * 25:30 – 30:00 – Prioritizing Profitability Levers:* Marcel outlines the correct order for improving profitability—starting with overhead (if needed), then utilization, followed by pricing (effective rate), and finally cost structure.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform*
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:38 – Introduction: Marcel opens the episode by introducing Peter Lang as an entrepreneur, investor, and operator deeply focused on mergers and acquisitions. * 01:00 – 02:13 – From Holding Company to Teaching M&A: Peter explains that he now runs a holding company, invests in assets including agencies, and is focused on teaching other founders how to acquire and grow businesses. * 02:41 – 06:09 – How an Agency Owner Became Obsessed with Acquisitions: Peter shares how an early interest in corporate finance, investing, and business ownership evolved alongside accidentally building a digital agency. * 06:34 – 09:23 – The First Deal and the Power of a Motivated Seller: Peter recounts the unusual acquisition that pulled him into M&A, showing how urgency, creative deal structure, and downside protection shaped his first major transaction. * 09:44 – 12:25 – Why Buying Can Be Faster Than Building: Peter reflects on completing 21 transactions and argues that acquiring existing cash flow is often easier than spending years building the same result organically. * 12:34 – 15:13 – Why More Founders Still Do Not Pursue Acquisitions: Marcel and Peter discuss the real barriers to M&A, including fear, lack of information, false beliefs, and the failure to consistently make time for acquisition work. * 15:20 – 18:28 – Risk Versus Risky Behavior in M&A: Peter explains the difference between unavoidable business risk and reckless decision-making, emphasizing that preparation, education, and structure are what reduce exposure. * 19:07 – 23:19 – Diligence, Integration, and What Buyers Are Really Acquiring: The conversation shifts to best practices in deals, with Peter stressing that due diligence and post-close integration matter more than the excitement of signing the deal itself. * 23:19 – 28:12 – How to Evaluate Culture Before an Acquisition: Peter outlines why cultural fit must be measured, not guessed, using tools like NPS, eNPS, personality frameworks, and manager-role alignment to avoid poor integrations. * 28:12 – 32:00 – The Great Wealth Transfer Creates a Major Opportunity: Marcel and Peter discuss how retiring owners and succession gaps are creating a historic supply of businesses that need buyers over the next two decades. * 32:00 – 36:21 – How AI Is Changing Seller Behavior and Buyer Strategy: Peter explains that AI is accelerating uncertainty for agency owners, which may push more founders to sell while also reshaping what makes a business attractive to buyers. * 36:38 – 45:45 – Why AI-Forward Agencies and Programmatic Buyers Will Win*: Marcel and Peter close by exploring why service businesses remain resilient, why agencies still have a future, and why buyers who combine acquisitions with AI adaptation will likely outperform.
Show Notes* Connect with Peter via LinkedIn * Website: Scale your agency with Mergers & Acquisitions
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:37 – Introduction: Marcel and Kristen open the episode by introducing a more philosophical discussion about why Parakeeto’s work matters beyond the surface-level goal of improving profitability. * 00:37 – 02:01 – The provocative reframe: Kristen references Marcel’s recent message, “you don’t actually care about profitability,” and frames the conversation around why that idea sits at the center of a broader positioning shift. * 02:01 – 03:59 – Profit is not the full story: Marcel explains that Parakeeto has become very good at talking about profitability tactically, but has not spent enough time explaining why profitability matters in the first place. * 04:17 – 07:05 – The ‘Dig’ process and brand clarity: Marcel shares how a day spent with his friend Rich, using a branding exercise called the Dig, helped reveal that Parakeeto’s messaging had been missing the emotional and philosophical “why.” * 07:17 – 10:13 – Business as a vehicle for social change: Marcel outlines his belief that well-run, for-profit businesses are one of the most powerful tools for creating positive change because they solve problems, create jobs, and enable founders to do more good. * 10:13 – 11:31 – Profitability as the ‘so that’: The conversation reframes profitability as an enabling condition rather than the end goal, since most agency owners ultimately want freedom, creative fulfillment, stability, and a healthy team. * 11:31 – 14:43 – Escaping agency trauma: Marcel explains that many agency founders are not chasing profit obsessively, but are trying to avoid repeating the burnout-driven, exploitative culture they experienced in traditional agency environments. * 15:19 – 19:08 – Why profitability is hard to own: Marcel breaks down the structural challenge that profitability touches finance, operations, sales, and leadership, yet rarely belongs clearly to any one role inside the agency. * 19:11 – 21:38 – Empowered, fearless, and abundant: Marcel shares that the word he landed on for how he wants clients to feel is “empowered,” along with “fearless” and “abundant,” reflecting the confidence that comes from financial clarity. * 22:44 – 26:13 – A more complete solution for the money side: Marcel describes how this reframe is pushing Parakeeto toward a more holistic offering, including the possibility of integrating accounting and bookkeeping more directly. * 26:31 – 28:09 – Removing title confusion for clients: The discussion highlights how confusing the financial services landscape can be for founders, who are often left trying to decode titles like CFO, accountant, consultant, and ops lead just to solve one problem. * 28:41 – 30:11 – The closing takeaway*: Marcel closes by reinforcing that the goal is not money for money’s sake, but getting money out of the way so agency owners can build the business, team, and impact they originally set out to create.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 03:21 – From UGURUS to E2M: Brent Weaver shares how he went from coaching thousands of agencies at UGURUS to becoming CEO of E2M Solutions after the DigitalOcean chapter ended. * 03:35 – 04:51 – What makes E2M different: Marcel frames E2M as a standout white-label partner, and Brent explains why serving only agencies creates sharper focus on partner success. * 04:51 – 08:16 – Process flexibility as a moat: Brent contrasts “one standardized process” versus adapting to each agency partner’s SOPs and tools and why fitting into the partner’s workflow improves outcomes. * 08:27 – 10:08 – Why anti-fragility matters right now: Marcel connects E2M’s adaptability to the broader need for agencies to stay resilient through another major disruption cycle. * 10:08 – 12:01 – Defining anti-fragility in business terms: Brent explains anti-fragility as building a business that can withstand shocks by avoiding fragility drivers like thin margins and operational vulnerabilities. * 12:01 – 15:53 – Practical fragility reducers: Brent outlines concrete levers, higher margins as a buffer, less debt, fewer single points of failure, and building teams and systems that scale. * 13:29 – 15:53 – Perennial value drivers: Brent argues agencies should anchor decisions to what clients always want, faster delivery, lower cost, and higher quality and certainty, regardless of the economy. * 15:53 – 18:01 – Investing under uncertainty: Marcel reframes strategy as betting on what will not change and asks how agencies can choose investments that will keep paying dividends. * 18:01 – 22:44 – AI audits, not shiny tools: Brent describes E2M’s AI assessment approach as constraint-hunting, then using automation and process optimization to reduce friction and accelerate results. * 23:08 – 25:02 – High-impact AI use cases: Brent lists repeatable agency wins, lead research and sales prep, proposal and scope automation, and workflow-friendly tooling like Slack-based automations. * 25:02 – 26:45 – Client reporting as a force multiplier: Brent highlights AI-driven reporting and analysis, using chat interfaces connected to analytics data to produce consistent client insights faster. * 39:51 – 41:13 – Where to learn more:* Brent shares where to find E2M Solutions and the Vistara AI event, including the May 11–13 Austin dates and the waitlist link.
Show Notes* List Agentic workflows - AI workflows E2M actively run for 50+ agencies - ready to plug into your delivery, sales, and operations * E2Msolutions.com * Vistara AI Event @ Austin, Texas on May 11-13, 2026 * Brent’s LinkedIn
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 01:36 – Introduction: Marcel introduces the episode as a public reflection on Parakeeto’s positioning, prompted by feedback from LinkedIn and client conversations. * 01:36 – 02:43 – The Identity Problem: Carson shares the internal confusion many consultants feel when their role spans finance, operations, delivery, and strategy. * 02:43 – 04:52 – Clear Problem, Fuzzy Solution: Marcel explains that while Parakeeto has always been clear about solving profitability, clients still struggle to understand how that actually happens. * 04:52 – 05:44 – Profitability Touches Everything: The discussion highlights why profitability work inevitably spans finance, delivery, ops, leadership, and new business. * 05:44 – 08:12 – Category Creation vs. Familiar Labels: Marcel reflects on the challenge of inventing “profit management” as a category versus borrowing understanding from CFO and COO roles. * 08:12 – 10:17 – Why Titles Don’t Really Help: Carson points out that many agencies don’t think in executive titles at all—they just need someone to make the whole system work. * 10:17 – 14:18 – The Real Founder Frustration: Marcel describes the pain of having too many specialists, unclear ownership, and no one quarterbacking profitability end-to-end. * 14:18 – 18:05 – Agency Context as a Force Multiplier: Carson explains why Parakeeto’s deep agency experience eliminates the long ramp-up most external hires require. * 18:05 – 22:23 – CFO vs. COO (and Why Both Fall Short): Marcel breaks down the limitations of finance-only or ops-only approaches and why profitability lives at their intersection. * 22:23 – 26:49 – The Assessment Explained: Marcel walks through Parakeeto’s assessment process—modeling, interviews, and workshops that create clarity and a focused roadmap. * 26:49 – 30:44 – Ongoing Profit Management in Practice: The conversation details how recurring reporting, forecasting, and advisory support keep teams focused on the right levers. * 30:44 – 40:56 – What Actually Creates ROI:* Marcel and Carson emphasize that alignment, confidence, and decisive action—supported by numbers—are the true outcomes clients pay for.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 02:00 – Why Agencies Avoid Talking About Money: Drew reflects on why financial transparency was rare in agencies historically and why that silence created widespread confusion about profitability. * 02:00 – 05:00 – The Myth of “Impossible” Profitability: Drew explains why claims that an agency “can’t be profitable” usually stem from avoided decisions, misunderstood agency math, or intentional lifestyle choices. * 05:00 – 07:30 – Agency Growth Breaking Points: Drew outlines common headcount thresholds where systems, processes, and structure begin to break down as agencies grow. * 07:30 – 10:00 – Challenges of Very Small Agencies: The conversation explores why sub-10-person agencies struggle with inefficiency, tribal knowledge, and inconsistent delivery. * 10:00 – 13:00 – Generalists vs. Specialists: Drew explains why early-stage generalists often struggle as agencies scale and why specialization becomes essential for profitability. * 13:00 – 15:30 – Management Layers and Cost Pressure: Marcel and Drew discuss how introducing management roles adds financial strain and operational complexity. * 15:30 – 17:30 – The Most Profitable Agency Size Range: Drew shares data showing agencies with 15–40 employees consistently outperform others on profitability. * 17:30 – 19:30 – Why Growing Up Improves Margins: The episode breaks down how systems, niching, and client selection drive efficiency and longer tenure at mid-size agencies. * 19:30 – 22:00 – Bigger Agencies, Bigger Expectations: Drew explains how larger clients demand higher sophistication, better talent, and increased operational investment. * 22:00 – 25:00 – Lifestyle Businesses vs. Scalable Agencies: The conversation reframes success, validating highly profitable small agencies that are never intended to be sold. * 25:00 – 28:00 – Running the Business by the Numbers: Drew and Marcel align on first principles like AGI and the 55-25-20 model as the foundation for healthy decision-making. * 28:00 – 37:00 – AI, Commoditization, and the Future of Agencies:* Drew connects decades of industry evolution to today’s AI shift, arguing that strategy, thinking, and leadership—not production—are the true sources of agency value.
Show Notes* Connect with Drew via LinkedIn * AMI + Website + Newsletter + Podcast
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 01:04 – Framing the PM/AM Pricing Question: Marcel welcomes listeners, introduces Carson Pierce, and frames the central question agencies face around whether and how to charge for account and project management time. * 01:04 – 02:14 – Why This Issue Persists: Carson explains why underpricing project and account management work continues to surface across agencies despite increased industry maturity. * 02:14 – 03:28 – The Myth That Clients Won’t Pay: Carson challenges the belief that clients resist paying for PM and AM work and reframes these roles as valuable parts of delivery. * 03:30 – 04:32 – Why PM and AM Time Is Hard to Track: Carson outlines how fragmented tasks, short work intervals, and multi-client meetings make accurate time tracking impractical. * 04:33 – 06:20 – Pricing Model Confusion as the Root Cause: Marcel connects PM/AM underpricing to weak separation between price, scope, and cost, especially in time-based billing models. * 06:21 – 07:25 – The ABR Distortion Effect: Carson explains how excluding PM time inflates average billable rate and hides true delivery economics. * 07:25 – 08:24 – Two Ways to Price PM and AM Work: Marcel introduces the two viable approaches—pricing PM/AM directly in scope or absorbing the cost through margin targets. * 08:24 – 09:50 – When Client Pushback Actually Appears: Carson explains why most clients accept reasonable PM allocations and why resistance typically signals excessive or poorly designed PM effort. * 09:51 – 14:02 – Why Time-Tracking Fixes Often Fail: Carson reviews common PM tracking approaches and explains why they frequently add overhead without producing actionable insight. * 14:03 – 19:59 – Building PM Costs Into Margin Targets: Marcel explains how agencies can model PM and AM costs directly or indirectly based on tracking feasibility and role structure. * 20:00 – 29:00 – Structuring Account and Project Management Roles: Marcel and Carson discuss when to separate AM and PM roles, referencing Brett Harned’s perspective and tying structure to work complexity. * 29:01 – 36:13 – Sales Allocation, Overhead Clarity, and Wrap-Up:* The episode concludes with guidance on allocating AM time to sales only when explicit, avoiding circumstantial overhead, and reinforcing intentional PM pricing.
Show Notes* Brett Harned - Agency consultant and advocate for separating account and project management roles. * Related Episode: Casey Brown on pricing increases and margin correction.
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Points of Interest 00:01 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Skye Waterson and frames the conversation around SOPs, documentation, and building operational “rails” that teams can actually use. * 01:07 – Skye’s background and motivation: Skye shares her journey from academic burnout to discovering adult ADHD and building a business focused on helping founders work with their brains, not against them. * 03:04 – Why ADHD frameworks help everyone: Skye explains how ADHD-friendly systems emphasize flexibility and challenge outdated assumptions about productivity and work structure. * 05:05 – First principles for ADHD productivity: The discussion covers practical strategies like rewarding task initiation and reducing reliance on working memory through better capture systems. * 06:56 – The core problem with traditional SOPs: Skye and Marcel outline why most SOPs go stale—delegated, filed away, and only referenced during onboarding or emergencies. * 09:18 – SOP neglect as a hidden operational risk: The conversation highlights how disconnected SOPs undermine dashboards, metrics, and leadership visibility. * 11:32 – Visualizing the business as a flow: Skye introduces her core framework: mapping the business end-to-end (acquisition through expansion) using a visual tool like Miro. * 14:02 – Why digital visual tools matter: Skye explains why paper-based process mapping fails and why digital tools enable iteration, ownership, and follow-through. * 15:52 – Assigning a single DRI per process: Each node in the business flow is assigned a Directly Responsible Individual to eliminate ambiguity and improve accountability. * 16:40 – Red, orange, green process health: Processes are color-coded to show whether they are broken, manual and CEO-dependent, or documented and team-run. * 18:09 – Tying SOPs to weekly cadence and metrics: Skye explains how reviewing SOP health alongside performance metrics turns documentation into an operational diagnostic tool. * 24:41 – AI and living SOPs:* The episode closes with best practices for using AI to bootstrap SOPs, delegate ownership, and treat documentation as a living draft rather than a finished artifact.
Show Notes* Connect with Skye via LinkedIn * Unconventional Organization * Skye’s Podcast ADHD Skills Lab * AI Chatbot: Message Skye on Instagram with the word “Marcel” and she’ll send you the chatbot * Software as a Science Book * Matt Verlaque
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:31 – Introduction: Marcel and Kristen open with a relatable riff on Notion and AI features before framing the core issue of the episode: messy handoffs between sales, account management, and delivery in service businesses. * 01:31 – 03:14 – Why Handoffs Are a Universal Agency Problem: Kristen explains why sales-to-delivery handoff issues show up in agencies of every size and maturity and highlights their downstream impact on profitability and operational sanity. * 03:14 – 05:34 – Common Symptoms of Broken Handoffs: Kristen outlines key symptoms such as work starting in a vacuum after the contract is signed, deliverable-only briefs, and delivery teams missing the strategic goals and context from sales conversations. * 05:34 – 07:28 – Client Game of Telephone and Disjointed Data: Marcel describes how clients end up repeating themselves to every new team member and how poor internal communication leads to scattered information, inconsistent naming, and misaligned expectations across tools. * 07:28 – 10:34 – Incentive Misalignment Between Sales and Delivery: Kristen breaks down how quota driven sales teams and risk conscious project managers operate with different goals, creating tension when there is no shared understanding of scope, clarity, or repeatability. * 10:34 – 13:35 – Consequences for Client Trust and Profitability: They explore how early missteps fuel buyer’s remorse, create invisible client scorecards on trust, and generate internal gaps between what was promised, what is being delivered, and how profitable work actually is. * 13:35 – 17:29 – Ingredients of a Strong Handoff: Kristen shares practical tactics such as transferring rich context, sharing sales call recordings with the full delivery team, and having the future account lead sit in on the final sales call to align expectations before the handoff. * 17:29 – 20:20 – Separating Scope From Price and Avoiding Bad Math: Marcel goes on a rant about the dangerous habit of turning project price into hours by dividing it by an arbitrary rate and explains why scope, time, cost, and margin must be defined separately from the client facing price. * 20:20 – 24:40 – Structural Alignment Across CRM, PM, and Accounting: Marcel highlights the need for a consistent schema for how projects are represented across contracts, invoicing, project management, and time tracking so that reporting can tie expectations back to actual performance. * 24:40 – 27:16 – Kickoffs, Assets, and Tools That Improve Handoffs: Kristen covers how internal kickoffs, sales call recordings, and structured client intake tools can give creative and delivery teams the context they need while keeping meetings focused and efficient. * 27:16 – 31:18 – Using Reporting as a Forcing Function for Alignment: They introduce the idea of expectations versus actuals reporting and the agency profitability flywheel as a way to expose process gaps, bring sales and delivery into the same conversations, and drive better decision making. * 31:18 – 36:24 – Q4 Planning, Cross Team Empathy, and Next Steps:* Kristen and Marcel close with advice to use annual planning cycles to realign services, pricing, and scope and encourage leaders to create empathy between sales and delivery by having teams observe each other’s work and “watch game tape” together.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:38 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes agency legal specialist Sharon Toerek, highlighting her long track record in the industry and setting the stage with a discussion about how quickly the agency world is changing. * 01:38 – 02:45 – Framing the AI Legal Conversation for Agencies: They position the core topic of the episode as the legal implications of AI adoption inside agencies, especially when serving enterprise clients with sensitive data and heightened risk concerns. * 02:45 – 05:03 – The Two Biggest AI Risk Buckets: IP and Data Privacy: Sharon identifies intellectual property and data privacy as the top two legal risk areas agencies must consider when using generative AI in strategy, creation, and data manipulation. * 05:03 – 08:11 – IP Infringement, Ownership, and Contract Clarity: She explains how generative AI can inadvertently infringe on others’ IP, complicate ownership of deliverables, and increase the need for explicit AI usage and ownership language in MSAs and SOWs. * 08:11 – 10:23 – Agency-Created IP and Contractor Use of AI: Sharon explores the risks of building agency-owned IP with AI when ownership is uncertain, and stresses the importance of knowing how contractors use AI so their work aligns with promises made to clients. * 10:23 – 15:11 – The State of Case Law and Fair Use Signals: They discuss how little case law exists around AI, what early decisions suggest about training data and fair use, and why we still do not know how much human contribution is needed to secure protectable IP. * 15:11 – 18:26 – Blurring Lines Between Human and Machine-Created Work: Marcel and Sharon reflect on how modern creative tools embed AI in everyday workflows, making it harder to distinguish human-made from machine-generated content for legal and practical purposes. * 18:26 – 22:40 – A Practical Playbook for Reducing AI Legal Risk: Sharon outlines concrete steps agencies can take now: have AI conversations with clients, update contracts, understand tool terms, set internal and external AI policies, and right-size risk based on audience scale. * 22:40 – 26:05 – Where Insurance Fits in the AI Risk Equation: They examine how general liability, E&O, and cyber policies currently treat AI-related issues, and why insurers are likely to carve out or slowly add AI-specific coverage as risks and profits emerge. * 26:05 – 30:31 – Market Volatility, AI Shock, and Rising Agency M&A: Sharon connects AI disruption, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical tension to a surge in small and mid-size agency deals, noting many founders are simply tired of reinventing their businesses again. * 30:31 – 35:40 – IP as a Lever in Exits and Next Career Moves:* She makes the case that agencies who develop and package their own IP create more options in M&A, whether selling IP separately, splitting the business, or using it to launch the next chapter of their careers.
Show Notes* Innovative Agency Podcast * Website: legalandcreative.com * LinkedIn - Sharon Toerek * M&A Webinar Replay with Sharon
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Points of Interest 00:02 – 01:49 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Kristen back to the show and sets up another practical client case study focused on a real agency engagement. * 01:50 – 04:00 – The flex-labor, video production agency profile: Kristen outlines the agency’s model: a small FTE core, 10–20 contractors, just under $2M in revenue, and constant cash flow stress tied to contractor payments. * 04:01 – 06:21 – Why video production and events are so punishing for cash flow: Marcel explains how big production days and lumpy project work make earned revenue, contractor management, and cash flow especially tricky for this type of agency. * 05:05 – 07:16 – Growth, service-line complexity, and early unprofitability signals: Kristen describes how larger clients, new service lines with tight price ceilings, shifting deadlines, and creeping unprofitability pushed the founders to hit pause and seek help. * 06:22 – 07:25 – Becoming “exit curious” changes the stakes: Marcel notes that the owners had started thinking about selling, and viewing the business through an enterprise value lens made their efficiency and profitability issues feel more urgent. * 07:26 – 11:05 – Spreadsheets, PM tools, and the stalled silver-bullet implementation: Kristen walks through the spreadsheets they built, the expensive all-in-one PM platform they bought, and how personnel changes left the implementation half-done and overwhelming. * 09:06 – 13:58 – Why PM tools fail without a profitability framework: Marcel unpacks the gap between the tool’s promises and reality, highlighting how unclear definitions of cost rates, pass-through expenses, margins, and scope make it impossible to configure a PM system effectively. * 14:52 – 18:52 – The client’s original thesis vs. the real problem: Kristen shares that the client blamed headcount, tools, and “project management issues,” while Marcel points out their weak time-tracking culture and the failure to treat producers as true delivery costs. * 19:05 – 22:12 – Diagnosis: a business model and unit economics problem: Kristen explains how reviewing the cash-basis P&L, time data, spreadsheets, and contracts revealed that the core issue was delivery margin and pricing, not execution quality or PM discipline. * 24:52 – 27:42 – Fixing the data: contractor classification and cash-basis adjustments: Kristen describes using Parakeeto’s decision tree to classify contractors as delivery expenses, annualizing their cost and hours, and reverse-engineering hours from invoices, while Marcel adds tips for reducing noise in cash-based books. * 28:18 – 35:57 – Rebuilding the model: estimator tool, 70% margin, and hire-vs-contractor math: Kristen shows how the estimator tool exposed project-level unit economics and ABR targets, then explains how they improved time tracking, pricing strategy, contracts, and PM tool setup, plus modeled when it actually made sense to hire FTEs instead of using contractors. * 36:43 – 39:01 – Key lessons and reassurance for nuanced agency models:* Kristen closes by emphasizing that every agency has quirks, but a clear framework can still make it profitable, while Marcel underscores the value of external support in untangling model vs. execution problems.
Show Notes* Agency Fee Calculator
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:30 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes M&A advisor Todd Taskey, who specializes in investment banking transactions for digital marketing agencies doing $1–5M in EBITDA. * 01:30 – 02:40 – What Investment Banking Actually Means for Agencies: Todd explains what “investment banking transactions” are in plain language, covering how his team guides owners from first conversations through closing and integration. * 02:40 – 06:30 – The “Second Bite” Thesis and Evolutionary Transactions: Todd introduces his “second bite” concept using real client stories, showing how selling part of an agency can be a strategic leap forward rather than the end of an owner’s journey. * 06:30 – 09:20 – Private Equity as Growth Partner, Not Villain: Marcel raises common fears about private equity, and Todd contrasts horror stories of big corporate deals with growth-focused PE in the $2M EBITDA range that needs more good people, not fewer. * 09:20 – 12:30 – How Earn-Outs Go Right (or Wrong): Todd shares how unrealistic projections in a pitch deck can make earn-out targets impossible, and explains his playbook for setting conservative growth assumptions that founders can actually beat. * 12:30 – 16:30 – Inside the Private Equity Business Model: Todd breaks down how PE funds are structured, how they earn management fees and returns, and why growing EBITDA and achieving multiple expansion is central to their strategy. * 16:30 – 19:30 – Case Studies of PE-Backed Agency Growth: Using examples like Power Digital and other PE-backed platforms, Todd illustrates how tucking in specialized agencies (CRO, Amazon, etc.) can generate outsized returns for both founders and investors. * 19:30 – 24:30 – Why Private Equity Wins: Data, Rigor, and Talent: Todd describes the level of analysis PE brings to the table—cohort analysis, retention metrics, financial rigor—and how this “art and science” combination helps them repeatedly grow and sell agencies. * 24:30 – 28:40 – The Experience Imbalance and Need for a Real Process: Marcel highlights the experience gap between founders and professional acquirers, and Todd explains why running a structured process with multiple buyers is essential for true price discovery. * 28:40 – 33:10 – Free Consulting: What the Market Really Values in Your Agency: Todd outlines how conversations with 20–30 serious buyers surface recurring themes—“this, that, and the other thing”—that tell you exactly what to fix to increase valuation, even if you do not sell. * 33:10 – 38:30 – AI, Efficiency, and the Future of Agency Valuations:* Todd shares his view that AI will most directly impact valuations through efficiency gains and margin expansion, allowing agencies to stack more clients on the same headcount and drive higher EBITDA.
Show NotesConnect with Todd:
- Tower Partners
- Email: todd@towerpartners.com
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 01:28 – Introduction: Marcel and Carson set up the focus of the episode on why cash flow deserves as much attention as profitability in agency businesses. * 01:28 – 03:31 – Two Extreme Cash Flow Scenarios: Carson shares real client examples of agencies with tight cash despite solid operations and others with healthy bank balances masking eroding profitability, highlighting why cash and profit are easy to confuse. * 03:31 – 07:35 – Cash Flow vs Profitability and the Accrual Lens: Marcel explains that cash flow and profitability are correlated but distinct, outlining how agencies can be profitable with poor cash flow or unprofitable with strong cash, and introduces the importance of having both cash and accrual views. * 07:35 – 11:01 – Debt, Leverage, and the Cost of Poor Cash Flow: The conversation turns to agency debt, debt service ratios, and how borrowing is often used to cover weak unit economics, with Marcel warning how costly debt and “poor person pricing” can wipe out thin margins. * 11:17 – 18:03 – Lever One: Speeding Up Cash Collection: Marcel walks through practical ways to accelerate cash in the door, including stronger payment terms, bigger deposits, earlier invoicing, incentives for early payment, AR processes, auto-pay, and invoice factoring, while stressing how faster cash can create a dangerous illusion of higher profitability. * 18:03 – 21:28 – Lever Two: Delaying or Spreading Expenditures: The discussion shifts to reducing or smoothing cash outflows via flexible labor, aligning contractor terms with client terms, shortening the “cash down payment” needed to serve large projects, and avoiding unprofitable work chosen only for easier cash flow. * 21:28 – 26:34 – Variable Cost Models, Leasing, and Refinancing: Marcel outlines options like moving from upfront to usage-based models, leasing instead of buying, using tax planning, and refinancing expensive lines of credit into longer-term, lower-interest loans to ease monthly cash burden. * 26:34 – 29:04 – The Trap of Short-Term Cash Fixes: They highlight how tactics that conserve cash now—high-interest credit, invoice factoring, short-term debt—often make the business more expensive to run later, and stress the importance of applying for credit while the business is still healthy. * 29:04 – 33:12 – Lever Three: Building Cash Reserves and Planning for Seasonality: Marcel explains how to build three to six months of operating expenses plus two to four payrolls in cash, manage owner distributions, plan for slow periods like holidays, and use shareholder loans and credit strategically. * 33:12 – 36:21 – When Big Cash Reserves Hide Problems: The hosts discuss how large cash balances can mask emerging profitability or cash flow issues, arguing for a disciplined cadence of reviewing both cash and accrual metrics so owners see problems before they become crises. * 36:21 – 40:25 – Key Profitability Benchmarks Agencies Should Track: Marcel summarizes the core accrual benchmarks—delivery margin, direct delivery margin, overhead as a percentage of AGI, operating margin, average billable rate, utilization, and average cost per hour—as the foundation of sound unit economics. * 40:25 – 43:11 – Cash Flow Metrics and Parakeeto’s Evolving Role:* The episode closes with a rundown of cash-specific metrics—cash reserves, operating cash flow vs EBITDA, AR/AP days, CAC payback, debt service coverage, and line-of-credit usage—and a look at how Parakeeto is expanding its services to help agencies manage profitability and cash flow holistically.
Show NotesPodcast Episode on Revenue Recognition with Marcel & Carson
Link to Notes File For Cash Flow Improvement
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Points of Interest 0:01 – 01:27 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes returning guest Vito Peleg, CEO of Atarim, and frames the conversation around how agencies can streamline creative collaboration and leverage AI to improve delivery efficiency and profitability. * 01:28 – 03:27 – From Touring Musician to Collaboration Software Founder: Vito shares his backstory as a touring musician building websites from a van, then running a web agency, and how constant friction getting clients to give timely, clear feedback led to the first version of Atarim as a WordPress plugin. * 03:27 – 06:46 – The True Cost of Collaboration on Delivery Timelines: Marcel highlights how reducing delivery time by 50–70% transforms profit and cash flow, and Vito reframes the issue by showing that collaboration with clients and stakeholders routinely increases project timelines by 500–700%. * 06:46 – 10:06 – Why Text-Based Feedback Breaks Creative Work: Vito explains that human feedback is naturally three to five words and visual, but agencies force clients into long, text-heavy descriptions via email, docs, and tickets, creating procrastination, dead time, and constant misalignment. * 08:39 – 10:06 – Vague Feedback and Week-Long Clarification Cycles: Citing Atarim’s data, Vito notes that 68% of creative comments written in text are too vague to action on first pass, leading to clarification cycles that typically add a full week to even simple tasks like updating a slide. * 10:12 – 15:07 – Building Momentum and “Two Days and a Weekend”: In response to Marcel’s question about where agencies lose the most efficiency, Vito argues the biggest gap is at project start and introduces the “two days and a weekend” framing plus fast, simple deliverables (like a sitemap) to create momentum and urgency. * 15:15 – 17:28 – Getting Imperfect Work in Front of Clients Early: Marcel and Vito discuss reframing early deliverables explicitly as rough first passes so clients expect to react rather than receive perfection, reducing sunk-cost risk and speeding up alignment on direction. * 17:28 – 24:49 – How AI Is Compressing Build Time and Changing UI: Vito describes the evolution from hand-coded sites to drag-and-drop builders and now prompt-driven interfaces, arguing that AI will shrink creation time so dramatically that collaboration will become an even larger relative drag on projects. * 22:29 – 25:56 – The Future of Figma, Builders, and Dynamic Interfaces: Vito predicts that the traditional Figma-to-dev pipeline will erode as tools let teams go from prompt to production UI, while Marcel adds a Google perspective on a future where AI dynamically renders interfaces tailored to each user. * 30:37 – 37:42 – Agencies as Orchestrators of AI Agents, Not Just Humans: Vito outlines a future where agency owners orchestrate a team of AI agents instead of being the “talent,” potentially pricing work by tokens instead of dev hours, and using agents to automate follow-ups, support, and clarification cycles like Atarim’s Claro. * 39:14 – 45:19 – Atarim’s Agentic Creative Team Vision and Next Steps:* Vito explains how Atarim is building a multi-human, multi-agent collaboration environment where specialized AI teammates (design, accessibility, performance, PM) work together in threads, and invites listeners to explore the early-access experience at Atarim.io.
Show Notes* Connect with Vito via LinkedIn * Website: Atarim.io
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 02:30 – Introduction: Marcel and Kristen introduce the episode’s focus on productized services versus custom work and set the expectation for a nuanced, non-dogmatic discussion for agencies. * 02:31 – 07:25 – Defining Productized Services & Common Misconceptions: Marcel defines productization as selling a clear outcome for a fixed price, explains that backend processes do not need to be identical every time, and debunks the idea that productized services must be rigid or factory-like. * 07:26 – 11:31 – Benefits of Productized Services for Sales and Operations: The hosts outline how productized services can shorten sales cycles, simplify proposals and contracts, standardize onboarding and delivery, and support more scalable, profitable operations when paired with strong process and pricing. * 11:32 – 15:43 – Hidden Costs and Rigidity of Productization: Marcel explains how process investments create product and operational debt that are expensive to maintain and slow to change, highlighting the risk of misfit productized offers in complex or iterative work like web and software development. * 15:44 – 19:00 – Pricing Model Quadrant and Scope–Contract Alignment: The conversation explores the value–risk pricing quadrant and shows how flat-fee or fixed-scope productized offers can clash with agile, fluid scopes when every backlog change forces contract renegotiation and erodes margin. * 19:01 – 22:33 – Abstracted Time & Materials as a “Productized” Offer: Marcel introduces abstracted time and materials models such as leasing a cross-functional team per sprint, arguing that agencies can sell clear “products” without fixed deliverables while using pricing structures that better share risk with clients. * 22:34 – 27:10 – Strategic Upsides of Custom Work for Complex Problems: The hosts outline how custom work suits complex, high-value, or enterprise-level problems, enables larger deal sizes and higher absolute profit, and lets agencies operate in less crowded, harder-to-solve problem spaces. * 27:11 – 29:40 – Staffing Strategy for Custom Agencies: Marcel describes a staffing model built around a small core of senior experts and a flexible bench of freelancers or contractors, enabling agencies to absorb project volume swings without constant hiring and layoffs. * 29:41 – 33:44 – Pricing, Delivery Margin, and Contractor Economics: The discussion dives into calculating delivery margin targets for internal staff versus contractors, marking up units of time appropriately, and deciding when to treat outside experts as pass-through costs while still protecting project profitability. * 35:07 – 37:48 – Debunking the Myth That Custom Work Cannot Scale: Marcel challenges the claim that custom work is inherently unscalable or unprofitable by pointing to large professional services firms, while acknowledging the real challenges around utilization, staffing, and pricing on time and materials. * 37:49 – 42:32 – Market Context, Price Ceilings, and Competitive Pressure: The hosts explain how custom approaches can price agencies out of mid-market segments where clients do not value extensive process, and emphasize matching the business model to what the market needs and is willing to pay for. * 42:33 – 48:53 – Choosing the Right Model and Recommended Resources*: The episode closes with a call to map services against value and risk, design pricing and delivery models accordingly, avoid chasing productization as a silver bullet, and check out suggested experts and resources on productized services and pricing.
Show Notes* Pricing Model Quadrant * Chris Dubois * Anthony Gindin * Brian Kessman * Greg Hickman
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Points of Interest 00:00 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Dr. Matthew Jones and frames the co-founder relationship as a critical driver of business health and day-to-day well-being. * 01:14 – Origin Story: Matt explains how mediating friends’ founder conflict revealed a gap between business coaching and psychological expertise for co-founders. * 02:20 – Why It’s Hard: The relationship requires a dual lens—operational structure and psychological dynamics—or teams get shortchanged. * 05:40 – Red Flag to Watch: Recurring disagreements usually mask unspoken emotional issues around power, recognition, or closeness that stall decisions. * 08:19 – Two Kinds of Trust: Matt distinguishes operational trust (competence) from personal trust (availability and attunement) as separate failure points. * 09:34 – Tools & Frameworks: Introduction to the Co-Founder Satisfaction Index and the three-phase Conflict Navigation System (prep, conversation, accountability). * 10:33 – Cadence That Works: “Syncs” for operations and “dates” for meta-communication humanize partners and prevent ad hoc, disruptive alignment. * 13:51 – Containment in Practice: Schedule conflict conversations instead of reacting in the moment; example reframes an all-hands interruption into a debrief. * 15:49 – Written Feedback Protocol: Parakeeto’s situation–behavior–impact flow with consent sets clear context and reduces emotional reactivity. * 18:54 – Running the Conversation: Use “I-messages” for low-intensity talks; switch to reflective dialogue (speaker/receiver, paraphrase, validate) when emotions run high. * 22:08 – Commitments & Follow-ups: Translate insights into concrete commitments with a timeline to “close open loops” and reinforce accountability. * 25:34 – When Splits Happen:* Matt’s “Stabilizer Split” month helps decide path; negotiate together before lawyers, expect grief and manage emotional debt.
Show Notes Book: The Cofounder Effect * Cofounder Satisfaction Index * Website: Cofounder Clarity * Connect with Matt via LinkedIn * Email: matt@cofounderclarity.com*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes recurring guest Carson Pierce to the Agency Profit Podcast and introduces a new format—walking through a real, anonymized client assessment to show how Parakeeto diagnoses and solves profitability challenges. * 02:00 – Every Agency’s Problems Are Unique but Familiar: Carson explains that while every agency’s situation feels unique, most share a few core underlying problems that manifest differently based on team structure, services, and culture. * 03:40 – Client Background: The featured firm had around 12 staff, close to $1M in revenue, but was losing roughly $80K per year. Despite solid demand, they couldn’t pinpoint the source of their declining profit. * 05:00 – Early Misdiagnoses and Attempts: The leadership team suspected overhead costs like health insurance and software were to blame and tried tightening internal processes, but those adjustments didn’t solve the deeper financial issues. * 06:30 – Leadership Misalignment: With multiple co-founders holding different perspectives, the agency struggled to align on the root cause of its issues, each assuming the problem lay outside their area of expertise. * 10:00 – Starting the Assessment: Carson outlines Parakeeto’s assessment process—benchmarking against a healthy “agency model,” ingesting financial and time data, and identifying gaps between planned and actual performance. * 11:50 – Payroll Red Flag: Analysis revealed that 98% of all revenue was going directly to payroll, leaving no margin for overhead or profit—a clear signal of structural imbalance. * 13:30 – Data Gaps and Adjustments: The team had poor time-tracking compliance and a prepaid revenue entry on the P&L that skewed results. Parakeeto corrected these to reveal a more accurate financial picture. * 16:30 – Root Causes Identified: The agency was top-heavy with overhead roles, under-utilized due to a bottlenecked design team, and priced below the level their delivery costs required. * 20:30 – Building the Roadmap: Quick wins included improving time-tracking compliance and reclassifying project management and account management as billable delivery hours. Longer-term actions included hiring a designer, raising prices 10–15%, and training PMs in scope management. * 25:50 – Strategic Choice: Grow, Don’t Cut: Instead of downsizing, the founders chose to grow out of the constraint—adding delivery capacity to balance the team and improve utilization since demand existed. * 28:40 – Coaching and Next Steps:* Carson explains the ongoing coaching plan—educating on data hygiene, improving utilization, then progressing to deeper ABR and project-level analysis—focusing first on leading indicators before tracking lagging outcomes.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 00:39 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Simo Lemhandez, founder of Folk CRM, one of Europe’s fastest-growing SaaS startups recognized by Product Hunt. * 00:42 – 02:18 – Defining Folk CRM: Simo explains Folk’s mission to redefine CRM as an AI-native platform that centralizes all client touchpoints and automates busywork. * 02:21 – 04:20 – Origin Story: Simo shares how freelancing revealed the shortcomings of traditional CRMs and inspired him to build one that truly works for its users. * 04:31 – 07:26 – Product Philosophy: Folk deliberately focuses on small and mid-sized businesses (1–100 people) with a simple interface and complex backend automation. * 07:26 – 10:23 – Evolution of Go-to-Market: Simo outlines emerging trends: multichannel social selling, account-based marketing, and deeper personalization powered by AI. * 10:23 – 12:00 – Centralizing Context with AI: Marcel highlights how AI can synthesize client interactions across platforms, reducing manual data entry and complexity. * 13:16 – 16:13 – Human-in-the-Loop Design: Simo shares his framework for balancing automation and human oversight using a “workflow criticality × automation difficulty” matrix. * 16:13 – 19:54 – Platformization & SaaS Rationalization: Discussion on SaaS consolidation, where AI accelerates integration and reduces the need for fragmented tool stacks. * 20:03 – 23:10 – Building Flexible Architecture: Marcel and Simo explore how AI allows software to handle complex workflows while keeping user experiences simple. * 23:10 – 28:34 – The Future of Expertise: Both reflect on how AI lowers the barrier to competence but raises the premium on originality, strategy, and creativity. * 28:46 – 30:57 – Closing Thoughts:* Simo encourages experts to embrace AI change cycles, stay curious, and focus on high-value creative work while AI handles repetition.
Show Notes FOLK FREE TRIAL - use promo code PARAKEETO* for 30% OFF your first 3 months * Connect with Simo
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:55 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Kristen Kelly and frames Q4 as prime season for annual and quarterly planning, noting the high cost of leadership offsites demands clear outcomes. * 01:18 – 03:10 – Why Planning Feels Hard: Kristen cites common hurdles—turning history into forward plans, aligning stakeholders, and building forecasts that can flex with scenarios. * 01:55 – 03:47 – Frameworks Without Dogma: Marcel references EOS and Scaling Up, extracting shared essentials: look back, look forward, set a few priorities, and install a cadence. * 03:48 – 05:16 – From Ideas to Execution: Teams stall when models are rigid or fragmented and when revenue targets are arbitrary rather than grounded in capacity, pricing, and cost. * 05:17 – 08:43 – Static Models Create Drag: Rigid spreadsheets bias decisions toward the status quo, force opinion-driven debates, and delay choices into the quarter, shrinking execution time. * 08:44 – 11:48 – Prep That Actually Works: Start with mission and quantifiable goals, anchor to a simple, accurate, flexible model, and compare forecast to actuals to keep scope tight. * 11:49 – 14:32 – Surface Misalignment Early: A pre-offsite FUD survey (fear, uncertainty, doubt) creates psychological safety, reveals blind spots, and primes productive discussion. * 14:33 – 17:16 – Make the Look-Back Lightweight: Ongoing scorecards make recaps brief; focus on AGI, delivery margin, overhead/AGI, operating profit, and levers like utilization, ABR, and average cost per hour. * 17:17 – 20:56 – Prioritize by the Numbers: Identify which metrics must move, set a small set of OKR-style priorities, and tie initiatives directly to measurable outcomes and weekly execution. * 20:56 – 23:47 – Objectives Stay Stable; Communicate Often: Big objectives change slowly; raise the bar via evolving key results and over-communicate the plan so decisions map back to it. * 25:23 – 27:58 – Commit, Then Figure It Out: Install scorecards and targets even if imperfect; the commitment becomes the forcing function to solve data structure, forecasting, and tracking. * 28:27 – 36:56 – Model-Backed Decisions & Facilitation: Use a living model to handle cyclical topics (price raises, comp), budgeting, and tradeoffs; third-party facilitation drives objectivity, buy-in, and offers ABR-improving options beyond price increases. * 36:56 – 39:29 – Unified Budgeting & Final Advice:* A connected model aligns payroll, pricing, overhead, and delivery targets, preventing unrealistic constraints; the closing takeaway is numbers-first planning that builds alignment and speeds execution.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform*
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Points of Interest 00:00–01:02 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Stephen, a veteran agency operator, author, and CEO of Predictive ROI focused on helping agencies sell more by adding value. * 01:02–03:09 – Who Predictive ROI Serves: Stephen explains their exclusive focus on agencies and their expertise in business development through authority positioning and structured nurture. * 03:09–05:18 – Systems Mindset Origin Story: From Air Force missile silos to agency life, Stephen shares how life-or-death procedures taught him the power of process in selling. * 06:21–07:30 – Why Go-to-Market Matters Now: With AI as a new disruption, positioning and trust creation become mission-critical as channels get noisier. * 07:30–11:30 – Trust Starts Below Zero: Referencing market skepticism, Stephen argues prospects begin in “distrust,” so sellers must over-prove capability through repeated value. * 11:30–15:43 – Expertise vs. Empty Positioning: Marcel critiques “lipstick positioning” and argues public demonstrations of expertise are required to restore credibility. * 17:06–20:30 – Power of Long-Form Content: Both highlight unscripted, long-form conversations as a stress test that builds trust better than polished sound bites. * 20:49–23:55 – Step 1: Choose a Narrow Who: The framework begins by declaring a niche, rejecting generic messaging, and embracing focus as the path to demand. * 23:55–28:27 – Step 2: Name the Methodology: Codify problems, pillars, and levers; document common mistakes and strategic moves so teaching and delivery match. * 30:18–33:51 – Trust Architecture: Help Me Understand: First sales meeting is a five-question diagnostic about the prospect’s priorities, obstacles, and market—no pitching. * 34:08–39:53 – Align & Prescribe → Meet & Greet: Use a self-scoring “Focus Finder,” then have strategists teach the system, add proof and ROI, and gain conceptual agreement. * 40:24–48:00 – Content Blueprint & Consistency:* Turn the methodology into pillars (Grow, Nurture, Sell), create cornerstone content, repurpose across channels, and show up weekly.
Show Notes* Edelman Trust Barometer report * Predictiveroi.com/resources * Stephen’s LinkedIn
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:30 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Parakeeto’s Kristen Kelly back to discuss a recurring misconception in agency operations—the belief that a better project management or PSA tool can solve profit management challenges. * 01:30 – 03:25 – The PM Tool “Silver Bullet” Myth: Kristen explains how leaders and PMs often adopt new tools to tame chaos, believing marketing promises that they’ll also solve utilization, capacity, and profitability issues. * 03:25 – 06:00 – Why Agencies Fall for It: Marcel and Kristen note that while PM tools are valuable, they’re often oversold as full profit-management systems. Agencies end up frustrated by missing fields, tool quirks, and data limitations. * 06:00 – 08:45 – Hitting the Wall: Many teams find themselves with tools that improve delivery workflows but still leave them unable to make key financial or operational decisions because the data remains fragmented across systems. * 08:45 – 11:43 – Introducing the Framework → Data → Process Model: Marcel outlines Parakeeto’s three-part sequence for solving profit management: define the framework (metrics and formulas), structure the data, and establish ongoing processes for hygiene and cadence. * 11:43 – 12:46 – Why Sequencing Matters: Without first defining what needs to be measured, agencies make poor configuration choices in PM tools—creating rework, confusion, and endless tool migrations. * 12:46 – 15:19 – Defining the Framework: Agencies must precisely define how metrics like utilization, delivery margin, and project profitability are calculated, and understand the relationships between those measures before configuring tools. * 15:19 – 19:54 – The Role of Process and Data Hygiene: Marcel explains that real-time reporting fails if data quality is poor. Clean, reliable reporting requires an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process, not direct reporting from source data. * 19:54 – 22:55 – The Precision Trap: Kristen and Marcel explore the conflict between PMs needing granular precision and executives needing simple, high-level rollups. Forcing perfect data consistency across teams destroys usability and compliance. * 22:55 – 26:28 – Practical Limits of In-Tool Reporting: Marcel describes how building detailed profitability reporting directly in PM tools creates unsustainable complexity, unrealistic data maintenance, and unreliable results. * 26:28 – 34:38 – Building a Sustainable Data Architecture: They outline how Parakeeto’s ETL pipeline works—extracting time data (person, project, hours), joining it with payroll and project grids, normalizing fields, and applying ongoing QA to ensure accuracy. * 34:38 – 42:37 – The Big Takeaway:* Kristen and Marcel conclude that PM tools are essential for delivery but not the whole profit solution. Agencies should use them for managing work while relying on a clear framework and data pipeline for accurate reporting.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform*
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:15 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Casey Brown, author of Fearless Pricing and founder of Boost Pricing, highlighting her experience generating over $1B in client profit. * 01:15 – 02:15 – Defining a Pricing Geek: Casey explains her passion for pricing as the intersection of psychology, process, and data, with a mission to help firms earn the prices they deserve. * 02:15 – 03:09 – From Engineering to Pricing: Casey shares how she moved from chemical engineering into pricing at GE, discovering its blend of strategy, negotiation, and value creation. * 03:09 – 04:29 – Pricing as Poker, Not Economics: Casey contrasts real-world pricing with textbook theory, describing it as a poker game where buyers and sellers strategically hide information. * 04:29 – 07:01 – The Price–Quality Effect: Casey highlights how higher prices in professional services often increase demand, as clients equate higher cost with higher quality. * 07:01 – 09:13 – From Strategy to Mindset: Casey explains how shifting focus from pricing models to training sales teams on confidence and value communication created better results. * 09:13 – 14:22 – Why Agencies Struggle with Pricing: Casey outlines two main barriers—lack of focus on pricing strategy and fear of rejection—that lead to underpricing and discounting. * 14:22 – 18:35 – Running a Pricing Meeting: Casey recommends quarterly reviews of market shifts, win rates, and client profitability to make pricing a consistent strategic priority. * 18:35 – 22:18 – Operational Levers for Pricing Power: Marcel and Casey discuss how utilization, staffing models, and capacity planning affect the ability to hold firm on price. * 22:18 – 26:30 – New vs. Existing Client Pricing: Casey stresses segmenting price increases by client type and keeping communications brief, personal, and unapologetic. * 26:30 – 35:51 – Preparing Teams for Sales Conversations: Casey emphasizes role-play, objection handling, and value-first framing to help frontline teams confidently present pricing. * 35:51 – 47:56 – Raising Prices with Longstanding Clients:* Casey shares phased approaches and cautions against gimmicks, while Marcel introduces tactics like repackaging and the “3 Rs”—Recapture, Rescope, Replace.
Show Notes* Pricing Meeting Structure Guide * Pricing & Scoping for Agencies Podcast * Boostpricing.com/resources * Casey’s LinkedIn * Fearless Pricing Book
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Points of Interest 0:50 – 2:07 – Introduction: Marcel and Carson set up the challenge of revenue recognition in agencies, where payments and work schedules rarely align, creating distorted profitability metrics. * 2:19 – 3:22 – Cash Accounting Pitfalls: Carson shares a client example where tracking only bank deposits caused wild swings in monthly profit and billable rate reporting, rendering metrics unreliable. * 3:37 – 4:15 – Why Cash Accounting is Common: Marcel explains that firms default to cash-based accounting because it is cheaper and simpler, but acknowledges the operational limits for service businesses. * 6:13 – 7:17 – Cash vs. Accrual Explained: The hosts break down the difference between cash accounting, which records money moving in and out, and accrual accounting, which aligns revenue and expenses with when they are actually earned or incurred. * 8:35 – 9:26 – Project Example of Misalignment: Marcel illustrates how upfront deposits and final payments distort monthly reporting, showing why cash accounting fails for project-based agencies. * 11:07 – 12:13 – Complex Expense Timing: They highlight how vendor terms and delayed payments further complicate accrual accounting, making profitability appear very different depending on the lens used. * 13:42 – 14:58 – Payroll Timing Issues: Carson notes that biweekly payroll cycles can skew monthly reporting, making accrual adjustments essential for accurate performance measurement. * 15:12 – 16:20 – Why Invoice Dates Don’t Work: Marcel warns that many accountants mistakenly use invoice schedules for accrual recognition, which misrepresents how much work is truly complete. * 16:38 – 19:48 – Four Earned Value Methods: Marcel outlines four ways to measure progress for revenue recognition: time versus timeline, time versus budget, burndown via story points, and subjective project manager input. * 21:38 – 23:16 – Forecasting and Performance Indexing: They stress the importance of pairing earned value with forward-looking forecasts and using cost or schedule performance indexes to spot projects at risk. * 24:23 – 26:04 – Phasing Projects for Accuracy: The conversation explores breaking projects into major phases to better reflect real effort, while avoiding overly complex setups that burden teams. * 27:25 – 29:19 – Accountant Impact and Liabilities:* They emphasize that proper accrual requires manual journal entries and careful tracking of deferred revenue and liabilities, ensuring agencies avoid misleading profitability and balance sheet risks.
Show Notes* Podcast Episode: Revenue Recognition in Agencies (with Rich Brett) * Blog: Understanding Cost-Performance Indexing * Free Tool: Cost Variance Calculator
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Points of Interest 00:08 – 01:42 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Mark Drager, founder of Sales Loop, and sets the stage for discussing his Core Selling Identity Framework. * 01:42 – 04:06 – Early Career in Film and Television: Mark shares his beginnings in film school, early TV roles, and the realization that career progress in the industry was too slow for him. * 04:06 – 06:33 – Crash Course in Internet Marketing: Mark describes his time at an internet marketing franchise in 2005–2006, where he learned fundamentals like segmentation, AdWords, and split testing before launching his own agency. * 06:33 – 07:36 – Launching an Agency: Mark explains how he built his agency through video production, applying strategic questionnaires and deep client understanding to ensure valuable outcomes. * 07:36 – 09:59 – Selling on Tactics vs. Strategy: Mark contrasts transactional, tactic-driven sales with strategy-driven sales that command higher fees but carry more responsibility. * 09:59 – 12:30 – Challenges of Strategic Responsibility: He outlines the risks of owning outcomes in strategic engagements, emphasizing that greater accountability enables higher pricing but also higher client expectations. * 12:30 – 13:31 – Why Clients Reject Proven Strategies: Mark notes that clients often resist effective strategies due to psychological discomfort, sparking his pursuit of a framework to explain these reactions. * 13:31 – 16:04 – Development of the Core Selling Identity: Mark describes years of research and workshops that led to defining three archetypes of selling identities, tested across industries and client types. * 16:04 – 19:52 – Tribe Leader Profile: The first identity, Tribe Leaders, rely on relationships, networking, and referrals, benefiting from low acquisition costs but struggling to scale consistently. * 19:52 – 22:13 – Farmer Profile: Farmers use marketing-driven systems, data, and attribution models to generate leads, achieving predictability but requiring high capital investment and systemization. * 22:13 – 26:32 – Hunter Profile: Hunters rely on outbound sales, structured pipelines, and sales management to drive predictable growth, but often dismiss branding and content strategies as distractions. * 26:32 – 34:26 – Applying the Framework for Business Growth:* Mark and Marcel discuss how identifying your selling identity enables focus, reduces wasted spend on mismatched tactics, and sets a path for scaling through consistency and aligned strategies.
Show Notes Connect with Mark via: + LinkedIn + YouTube + Email:* mark@salesloopbrand.com
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Points of Interest 1:08 – 1:44 – Defining Retainers: Marcel and Carson introduce the topic of retainers, noting how different agencies define them in varied ways. * 2:05 – 2:37 – Core Benefit of Retainers: Carson explains that retainers create recurring revenue and provide clients with consistent access to agency resources. * 2:50 – 3:33 – Historical Context: Marcel traces retainers back to traditional professional services, where upfront payments secured future capacity. * 3:44 – 5:19 – Modern Variations: The conversation highlights how retainers have evolved into many models, including time-and-materials, flat fees, and performance-based pricing. * 5:32 – 7:04 – Pitfalls of Prepaid Hours: Carson critiques “bucket of hours” retainers, emphasizing their lack of control and operational strain. * 7:10 – 9:29 – Accrual Accounting Risks: Marcel outlines how prepaid hours create deferred revenue liabilities that are often untracked, leading to serious cash flow problems. * 11:05 – 11:41 – Operational Consequences: Carson notes that unexpected claims on rollover hours can overwhelm teams, forcing agencies into overwork or costly freelancer hires. * 12:04 – 14:33 – Pricing Model Quadrant: Marcel introduces the value–risk quadrant, showing how agencies should align retainer structures with engagement value and project risk. * 15:07 – 16:31 – Abstracted T&M Models: For high-value, high-risk work, Marcel explains why abstracting hours into larger time blocks or cross-functional teams improves leverage and profitability. * 17:00 – 18:21 – Low-Risk Models: The hosts outline flat retainers tied to deliverables and performance-based pricing tied to client outcomes, noting challenges with attribution. * 19:00 – 20:27 – Pricing Dynamics: Carson and Marcel discuss how flexibility and overages influence rates, with retainers often discounted for predictability but charged higher when clients exceed agreed capacity. * 37:06 – 38:14 – Account Management Posture:* Marcel contrasts T&M models, where account managers say “yes and” to client requests, with fixed-scope retainers, where the posture shifts to “yes but” requiring tradeoffs or renegotiation.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * 4 Agency Pricing Models: Which One is Right for You? * Maximizing Project Profit Margin: A Guide to Increasing Returns * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 01:09 – Introduction: Marcel introduces guest Matt, founder of The Creative Life and bestselling author, highlighting his mission to help creatives design businesses that align with their lifestyles. * 01:14 – 02:24 – Coaching High-Level Creatives: Matt explains his role as a coach for award-winning creatives seeking fulfillment beyond the hustle, sharing examples of clients from Disney, Spotify, and the music industry. * 02:39 – 05:00 – Early Career and First Business: Matt recounts his start in advertising agencies, the launch of his own creative business, and his pursuit of a digital nomad lifestyle inspired by The 4-Hour Workweek. * 05:00 – 07:28 – Incongruence of Success and Fulfillment: While achieving his dream of running a remote business, Matt realized his work lacked meaning and fulfillment, sparking a personal crisis after the sudden loss of a family friend. * 07:57 – 10:46 – Discovering Core Values: Through coaching, Matt identified that fulfillment comes from emotional states like freedom, impact, and significance, which guided his transition into life coaching for creatives. * 12:02 – 15:47 – Three Core Challenges for Creatives: Matt outlines the main struggles creatives face: lack of differentiation, poor communication of value, and inability to scale delivery beyond the founder. * 18:03 – 20:56 – Differentiation Through Unique Experience: Matt introduces the idea of standing on a “mountain of value,” emphasizing that personal stories and experiences create unique positioning for creative businesses. * 21:38 – 24:00 – The Four P’s of Positioning: Matt shares his framework for differentiation—Person, Problem, Promise, and Process—illustrated with a case study of a former Spotify designer who grew by niching into music tech branding. * 26:26 – 28:22 – Communicating Value Through Symptoms: Matt explains why creatives must focus on client symptoms rather than their own services to attract higher-quality clients earlier in the buying journey. * 30:28 – 34:52 – Shifting the Sales Approach: Marcel and Matt discuss how education and thought leadership build trust, while Matt emphasizes the importance of mastering sales conversations to accelerate client acquisition. * 35:32 – 37:20 – Building Scalable Delivery Systems: Matt describes how to design repeatable processes that move clients from current challenges to desired outcomes, enabling agency founders to step back from daily delivery. * 39:38 – 42:26 – Final Advice and Resources: Matt promotes his upcoming book The Creative Studio Roadmap* and diagnostic tool and encourages creatives to intentionally design businesses that bring freedom, fulfillment, and financial security.
Show Notes* Connect with Matt via: + LinkedIn + Website * Matt’s One Page Sales Framework * Creative Courage Podcast: 3 Strategies To Skyrocket Your Agency’s Profit with Marcel Petitpas * New Book Tool: Quiz Tool
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:51 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Carson Pierce back to the show and introduces the episode’s focus on utilization, specifically the hidden costs of low utilization in agencies. * 01:18 – 01:50 – Why Utilization Matters Now: Marcel notes that many agencies are struggling with overstaffing and underutilization in a difficult market, which compounds hidden costs over time. * 01:50 – 02:45 – Carson’s Perspective on Utilization: Carson explains that agency owners often see only the surface-level financial impact of low utilization, but miss the deeper, unexpected effects it creates. * 02:45 – 03:26 – Everyday Utilization Analogies: Carson shares real-world examples, like an unused Jeep and moving trucks, to illustrate how underutilized assets quietly drain resources. * 03:39 – 05:59 – Defining Utilization Clearly: Marcel defines utilization as the percentage of purchased team capacity actually used for revenue-generating client work, clarifying common misconceptions and variations. * 07:25 – 09:25 – Over-Servicing as a Hidden Cost: Carson highlights how idle team members often fill time by overservicing clients, which distorts expectations, undermines project profitability, and becomes habitual. * 09:25 – 11:00 – Internal Projects and Incentives: Marcel explains that low utilization often shifts time into internal projects, which can be productive but frequently become unfocused or misaligned with priorities. * 11:00 – 13:47 – Lost Efficiency Without Pressure: Carson argues that high utilization forces efficiency improvements, whereas low utilization removes urgency, leading to stagnant processes and missed bottleneck discovery. * 15:55 – 17:46 – Disengagement and Cultural Risks: Carson warns that underutilized employees may feel unproductive, disengage, or eventually leave, while survivors of downsizing can resist returning to higher workload levels. * 20:08 – 21:34 – Opportunity Cost of Low Utilization: Marcel expands on the long-term financial risks, including reduced profitability, lower enterprise value, depleted cash reserves, and a shift to defensive decision-making. * 25:23 – 27:35 – Managing Unutilized Time Wisely: Carson advises agencies to be deliberate with excess capacity, setting clear expectations for client over-servicing or internal projects and preparing for busy periods. * 29:21 – 34:21 – Modeling and Leadership Lessons:* Marcel and Carson stress the importance of building a business model to set realistic utilization targets, and Marcel shares candid lessons from Parakeeto’s restructuring journey.
Show Notes* Deep dive on Utilization * Utilization Calculator * Book: The Goal
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Points of Interest 1:10 – 2:03 – Introduction: Marcel welcomes Mike Grinberg, founder of Proofpoint Marketing, who specializes in helping boutique firms strengthen positioning to compete against large incumbents. * 2:15 – 3:54 – Competing with “IBM”: Mike explains his role as helping boutique firms reduce client risk perception so they can win against well-known, safer-seeming competitors. * 4:48 – 5:40 – The Safe Choice Problem: Agencies that differentiate too much without context risk being seen as confusing or risky, which often drives clients back to incumbents. * 5:46 – 8:44 – Positioning Overlooked Through Risk: Traditional positioning frameworks focus on being better or different but rarely consider how buyers perceive risk in making a nontraditional choice. * 10:08 – 12:52 – Why Positioning Matters More Now: In uncertain markets, poor positioning is exposed. Firms that only grew with the tide find themselves struggling when growth slows. * 13:10 – 14:16 – Positioning as an Operational Issue: Positioning cannot be treated as surface-level messaging; it must be reflected in delivery, hiring, onboarding, and overall business design. * 15:13 – 17:29 – Three Levels of Differentiation: Mike outlines functional, intellectual property (frameworks, tools, methodologies), and promotional differentiation as the three vectors agencies must align. * 19:00 – 20:13 – The Category Dilemma: Agencies often struggle between fitting into known categories, which brings competition, or creating new ones, which increases client risk and education costs. * 22:23 – 24:03 – Functional vs. IP Positioning: Mike advocates anchoring to existing categories functionally while differentiating through intellectual property and go-to-market messaging. * 26:30 – 27:49 – Starting with Ideal Client Profile (ICP): Effective positioning begins with deeply defining the ICP beyond titles and industries, including attributes like stage, structure, and challenges. * 30:26 – 36:23 – The Risk Perception Matrix:* Mike introduces his framework with two axes—personal vs. organizational risk and internal skepticism vs. external questioning—to explain how agencies can derisk buying decisions at every stage.
Show Notes* Connect with Mike via LinkedIn * Newsletter: Proofpoint.marketing * Risk Perception Matrix
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 0:17 – Opening: Marcel reflects on building production-level software using low-code tools without prior coding experience, setting the stage for a discussion on rapid change in the agency landscape. * 1:01 – 3:40 – Conference Context & Audience: Marcel shares his experience at Web Summer Camp in Opatija, Croatia, hosted by Netgen, describing its highly technical European attendee base and collaborative environment. * 5:03 – 7:18 – European Agency Realities: The conversation explores regulated salaries, generous benefits, and extended vacation policies in markets like North Macedonia, and how these shape agency cost structures compared to North America. * 7:18 – 11:16 – Local vs. Export Markets: Many Eastern European agencies balance serving lower-rate local clients with the opportunity and challenges of selling into higher-priced North American and UK markets. * 11:16 – 14:22 – Trust and Positioning Across Borders: Marcel emphasizes that weak positioning, not geography, is often the real barrier to winning high-value international work and urges agencies to invest in thought leadership. * 16:19 – 18:20 – AI as a Global Equalizer: They discuss how AI is redefining “geo-arbitrage” by giving agencies worldwide access to powerful, low-cost capabilities, eroding traditional labor-cost advantages. * 19:09 – 21:05 – Universal Agency Benchmarks: Marcel notes that delivery margin targets above 50% and overhead at 20–30% apply globally, though currency differences can magnify software cost burdens in some regions. * 22:24 – 25:26 – Retaining Talent in a Global Market: Agencies face competition from multinational firms and startups for top talent, leading many to adopt flexible, growth-oriented cultures to keep their teams engaged. * 26:29 – 28:19 – Collaboration as Competitive Advantage: The cooperative nature of the agency community, in both Europe and North America, is positioned as key to navigating future M&A activity and industry shifts. * 29:17 – 31:35 – The Power of Networking: Marcel highlights the role of trusted peer relationships in unlocking referrals, partnerships, and acquisition opportunities during both strong and challenging economic cycles. * 32:05 – 36:18 – Positioning for the North American Market: Competing solely on technical capability is becoming harder; agencies must lean into operational excellence or deep specialization to sustain premium pricing. * 37:00 – 40:19 – Final Take on Adaptability:* Marcel closes by underscoring the importance of solving specific, high-value problems better than anyone else, with specialization and clarity as enduring competitive levers.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:25 – Guest Introduction: Marcel welcomes James Friel, serial entrepreneur, investor, and leadership expert, to discuss building scalable, profitable businesses through effective operations and leadership. * 1:26 – 3:08 – Journey from Corporate to Entrepreneurship: James shares his transition from aerospace and software engineering into consulting, entrepreneurship, and acquiring businesses, driven by a curiosity for how businesses function. * 3:09 – 4:48 – Building a Sellable Business: James outlines his core focus—helping founders create businesses that generate cash flow and are structured for potential exit through strong infrastructure and operational clarity. * 5:00 – 6:46 – The First Principle: Customer-Perceived Value: A business is only viable if customers see genuine value in its offerings. Founders often overvalue their own ideas and under-prioritize market fit. * 6:47 – 10:14 – Value Creep and Feature Fatigue: James critiques how companies add features that customers don’t value, creating bloat and eroding customer loyalty—highlighting the need for focus and feedback. * 10:15 – 11:24 – People and Culture as Core Assets: A business with enterprise value depends on its people. Leadership, culture, and alignment are foundational to building an organization that can thrive without the founder. * 11:25 – 13:56 – James’ Leadership Struggles and Realizations: James recounts his early leadership challenges and how they motivated his deep dive into team performance, management systems, and organizational design. * 15:00 – 16:15 – The Three Core Failures: Most performance issues stem from lack of leadership, accountability, and clarity. Fixing these creates the foundation for sustainable team success. * 16:16 – 21:24 – Why Leadership Is a Profit Lever: Leadership is essential for ROI on your largest expense—people. Poor leadership silently burns cash and stalls growth, despite having the right strategy or data. * 23:37 – 26:17 – Willingness vs. Ability Matrix: James introduces a simple performance framework that helps leaders assess team members based on their alignment (willingness) and skills (ability). * 33:01 – 37:52 – Role-Based Scorecards: James breaks down his approach to team structure using one-page scorecards for each role—clarifying objectives, tasks, metrics, and reporting expectations. * 38:00 – 40:17 – Introducing the “57 Hats” Product:* James shares his new gamified tool that helps founders identify and delegate responsibilities, creating clarity on team structure and freeing them to focus on growth.
Show NotesConnect with James:
- Website
- Game: 57 Hats
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 0:13 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces the importance of pricing in agency profitability, emphasizing that even great delivery and project management can’t compensate for poor pricing strategy. * 1:00 – 1:39 – The Problem with Pricing Guesswork: Kristen Kelly explains that most agencies lack a formal pricing framework, often relying on gut feelings, competitor comparisons, or outdated rate cards. * 2:09 – 3:49 – “Vibe-Based” Pricing Explained: Marcel highlights how pricing decisions are frequently made without math or structure, leading to unclear expectations and poor profit outcomes. * 4:00 – 5:35 – Budget-First Pricing Pitfalls: Agencies that accept client budgets without recalibrating scope or checking for margin risk setting themselves up for failure from the outset. * 6:27 – 7:46 – Undercharging and Overdelivering: Many agencies underestimate the margin needed for true profitability, aiming too low and failing to account for overhead, unutilized time, and business costs. * 9:00 – 10:33 – Scope Creep and the $0 Change Order: Kristen and Marcel discuss strategies for managing out-of-scope requests, including the effective use of $0 change orders to maintain boundaries. * 11:43 – 14:20 – The Right Way to Factor in Overhead: Marcel breaks down how to incorporate overhead and indirect costs into pricing without overly complex calculations or flawed net profit heuristics. * 16:15 – 19:49 – Choosing the Right Pricing Model: Using the Agency Pricing Quadrant, the episode explores how risk and value should guide pricing models—ranging from hourly to value-based strategies. * 19:53 – 22:34 – Tracking Average Billable Rate (ABR): A simple but powerful metric, ABR helps agencies estimate delivery margin and benchmark performance across services and projects. * 22:56 – 25:09 – Overcoming Fear of Raising Prices: Kristen and Marcel debunk fears around increasing prices, offering strategies for timing and managing legacy client transitions. * 25:21 – 26:54 – Delivery Margin as a North Star:* The key takeaway: aim for a 70% delivery margin when pricing services to ensure room for overhead, profit, and sustainable operations.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform * Pricing Calculator * Pricing & Scoping Episode * Pricing Model Quadrant*
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:05 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Stephen Neville, CEO of BugHerd, highlighting his background in agency work and his transition into running a SaaS company that helps agencies streamline QA and client feedback. * 2:24 – 3:10 – The Dream of SaaS: Marcel and Stephen discuss the allure many agency owners feel toward building a product, inspired by success stories like 37signals—often without fully grasping the implications. * 5:30 – 7:10 – Major Model Differences: Stephen outlines key contrasts between service and product businesses, including delayed ROI in SaaS, the shift from clients to customers, and the challenge of proving value before seeing returns. * 8:02 – 9:09 – Saying No at Scale: Product businesses require frequent, disciplined “no’s” to user feedback—unlike services, where agencies are more likely to say yes. This shift is critical to managing scope and long-term product health. * 10:14 – 11:02 – Why Agencies Want to Pivot: Common motives include stabilizing revenue, creating proof of expertise, and giving teams opportunities for skill development—though not all transitions are strategically sound. * 13:19 – 14:04 – Common SaaS Misconceptions: Marcel highlights flawed assumptions—such as SaaS needing less human capital or being less client-facing—debunking the idea that software removes the need for people. * 16:20 – 17:01 – SaaS Risk Profile: The risk and financial exposure of building SaaS is often underestimated, with founders needing to endure potentially years of losses before seeing profitability. * 21:15 – 22:53 – Lessons to Apply in Services: Stephen emphasizes adopting the SaaS discipline of qualifying and deflecting misaligned client requests, to protect team capacity and maintain healthy utilization. * 24:01 – 24:59 – Productization Without Code: Agencies can create repeatable, value-rich offerings by productizing existing services—without building software—through structured, process-driven deliverables. * 28:29 – 30:20 – The Real MVP Framework: Marcel shares his “Three Ps” framework—Problem, Point of View, and Process—as the true foundation for product development, arguing services are the best way to validate solutions. * 33:01 – 34:46 – Services as a SaaS Growth Lever: Stephen explains how services improve acquisition, onboarding, and retention—especially for enterprise clients—making them a strategic tool, not a liability. * 35:46 – 37:25 – Monetizing Services in SaaS:* The conversation closes on the growing trend of SaaS companies charging for implementation and support, reframing these formerly free functions as value-rich offerings worth paying for.
Show Notes* Connect with Stephen via LinkedIn * Website – Bugherd.com
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:20 – Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly and sets the stage for a deep dive into the roles of fractional COOs versus building operational intelligence within growing agencies. * 1:21 – 2:25 – The $1M Growth Threshold: Kristen explains how agencies crossing the $1M mark often face operational strain and confusion about whether to hire help or improve their systems. * 2:26 – 5:05 – Defining a Fractional COO: Marcel outlines what a fractional COO typically does—bridging strategy and execution—and highlights the lack of standardization across ops roles in agencies. * 5:06 – 7:59 – Scope Differences by Agency Size: The team discusses how the expectations and responsibilities of a COO differ dramatically between a 20-person and 200-person agency. * 8:00 – 10:16 – Operational Intelligence vs. Role Ownership: Marcel explains why data and modeling are essential for prioritizing and sequencing initiatives—work that can't fall solely on a fractional COO. * 10:17 – 13:03 – Metrics Frameworks as a Foundation: The conversation shifts to the importance of shared definitions for key metrics (like utilization and gross margin) to avoid costly misalignment. * 13:04 – 16:51 – The Risks of Poor Data: They explore the consequences of relying on messy or inconsistent project and financial data—including delayed decisions, accuracy issues, and limited insight. * 16:52 – 20:21 – When to Hire vs. When to Model: Marcel outlines when it makes sense to bring in a fractional COO versus starting with operational intelligence, depending on strategic versus tactical needs. * 20:22 – 22:25 – How Parakeeto Supports Agencies: The hosts explain how Parakeeto provides not just reporting tools but also the advisory layer to help agencies convert intelligence into action. * 22:26 – 24:42 – Bringing Operational Alignment: Kristen emphasizes how Parakeeto helps unify internal teams around a shared understanding of the business model and key profitability levers. * 24:43 – 27:32 – The Scope of Operational Intelligence: Marcel breaks down the full picture of operational intelligence, from framework creation to data integration, reporting, and cadence-building. * 27:33 – 34:15 – Final Advice & Avoiding Costly Mistakes:* Marcel and Kristen caution against relying on underqualified ops hires to build complex systems, advocating instead for investing in clarity and frameworks first.
Show Notes* Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Agency Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform
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Points of Interest 0:31 – 1:09 – Welcome & Guest Intro: Marcel introduces Michael Zipursky, founder of Consulting Success, highlighting his global impact helping consultants build six- and seven-figure businesses that align with their ideal lifestyles. * 2:33 – 4:11 – Consulting Success Origins: Michael shares how his early ventures led to launching Consulting Success with his cousin, aimed at sharing lessons learned and helping others avoid common pitfalls in consulting. * 6:02 – 6:24 – Agencies vs. Consulting Firms: Marcel and Michael discuss the blurring lines between agencies and consulting firms, noting how business models are converging and overlapping more than ever. * 6:30 – 9:39 – AI in Consulting: Michael unpacks the impact of AI on consulting, emphasizing it’s not a threat but a major opportunity—especially for those who learn to leverage it for delivery, marketing, and efficiency. * 10:15 – 12:33 – Strategy vs. Delivery Firms: The conversation explores how AI disruption will accelerate a divide between strategic firms and commodity delivery shops, urging firms to specialize and double down on expertise. * 15:03 – 17:09 – The Prompting Advantage: Michael argues that asking the right questions is now a critical skill in the AI era—those with deep expertise will extract far more value from tools like ChatGPT than generalists. * 17:20 – 22:00 – Solo Consultant vs. Firm Builder: Michael outlines the typical journey from corporate professional to solo consultant, and the eventual fork in the road: stay lean and independent, or scale into a firm. * 24:27 – 27:00 – The Cost of Scaling: Marcel shares the hidden costs and risks of transitioning from a solo consultant to a firm owner, including potential income dips, increased complexity, and the need for strategic planning. * 27:00 – 29:54 – Smart Scaling Tactics: Michael stresses the importance of hiring slowly, keeping teams lean with A-players, and being clear on whether you’re optimizing for lifestyle or enterprise value. * 30:06 – 31:10 – Fractional Talent & Flexibility: The hosts discuss how fractional hires and global talent access have reduced the risk of scaling by allowing firms to incrementally buy back time and capacity. * 33:01 – 34:58 – Profitability Levers: Michael highlights two key exercises to improve profitability: analyzing profitability by client type and by service offering, often revealing the 80/20 opportunities within the business. * 36:02 – 39:19 – Strategic Pricing in Uncertainty*: In challenging economic times, Michael encourages firms to build stronger business cases and consider raising prices—not lowering them—as a path to higher profitability.
Show Notes* Consulting Success Website * Consulting Success Podcast * Consulting Success Course
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:14 – Introduction & Context Setting: Marcel introduces Carson Pierce, Parakeeto's Head Consultant, to discuss project management tools in the agency space and the fundamentals that remain relevant despite ever-changing software options. * 1:14 – 4:01 – Common Tools Used by Agencies: Carson outlines the most frequently used project management tools among Parakeeto clients, highlighting Asana, ClickUp, and Teamwork, and noting the emergence of all-in-one solutions like Scoro. * 4:01 – 6:02 – Complexity of the Tool Landscape: Marcel emphasizes the oversaturated, overlapping software market and categorizes tools by function—core PM, all-in-one, and emerging database-like tools like Notion and Airtable. * 6:02 – 8:20 – Evolution & Blurring Tool Categories: Discussion on how tool capabilities are converging, with time tracking and resource planning platforms increasingly offering PM features, making distinctions between categories less clear. * 8:20 – 13:01 – Prioritizing Workflow over Tool Choice: They argue that enabling smooth team workflow is more important than picking the “right” tool, especially since tools change often but foundational processes must endure. * 13:01 – 17:03 – Why Tools Fail to Deliver Reporting: Marcel explains that no platform offers fully automated, reliable reporting due to inconsistent data inputs, evolving structures, and platform limitations in data visualization. * 17:03 – 20:57 – ETL Framework for Reliable Reporting: They introduce the Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) approach as a best practice, outlining how agencies can clean and structure messy data outside their tools for accurate reporting. * 20:57 – 24:02 – Structuring Data for Better Insights: Carson and Marcel explore how to align time tracking, estimates, and project categorization by writing logical rules that map inconsistent inputs into standardized outputs. * 24:02 – 27:20 – Ensuring Trustworthy Data: Emphasis on creating repeatable logic statements and reducing manual input to increase data reliability, and avoid costly decision-making based on inaccurate data. * 27:20 – 30:05 – When & How to Choose a New Tool: They outline a responsible selection process—start with workflow mapping, validate with team input, and avoid changing tools unless truly necessary to avoid unnecessary disruption. * 30:05 – 32:11 – Cautions Against Overengineering Implementations: Marcel advises keeping implementations simple and avoiding overly rigid structures that fail when team behavior inevitably deviates from ideal input patterns. * 32:11 – End – All-in-One vs. Best-of-Breed Tools*: Final thoughts on the cyclical industry shift between all-in-one and specialized tools, noting the decision should hinge on agency maturity, flexibility needs, and workflow alignment.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Get access to this model tool in the toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform * Book: Software as a Science
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:00 – Opening: Marcel introduces the episode’s focus on financial visibility and growth, and welcomes returning guest Jon Morris, CEO of Fiscal Advocate and creator of EngineBI. * 1:00 – 2:55 – Jon’s Background: Jon shares his journey from founding Rise Interactive to launching Fiscal Advocate, emphasizing the value of financial insights in scaling agencies. * 3:00 – 4:30 – Overview of Fiscal Advocate & EngineBI: Jon explains the core services of Fiscal Advocate—bookkeeping and FP&A—and how EngineBI enables forward-looking budgeting, forecasting, and business intelligence. * 4:30 – 6:45 – Clarifying the Relationship Between Fiscal Advocate & Parakeeto: Marcel and Jon outline how their services complement each other—Fiscal Advocate focuses on company-wide financial health, while Parakeeto dives deep into project-level delivery profitability. * 6:45 – 8:25 – The Profitability Venn Diagram: The duo discusses the intersection of finance and operations in agency profitability, stressing that complete visibility requires both financial structure and operational clarity. * 8:25 – 12:00 – The Three Key Financial Metrics: Jon presents his core framework: cash relative to monthly overhead, profitability (target 20% EBITDA), and year-over-year revenue growth (target 20%). * 12:00 – 15:10 – Managing Cash with Discipline: Jon details a best-practice approach to managing cash through segmented bank accounts—operating, accrual, savings, and (if applicable) media accounts—with clear reserve targets. * 15:10 – 17:20 – Strategic Use of Excess Cash: They explore scenarios where excess cash should be reinvested or removed from the business, with an emphasis on growth-minded planning or lifestyle-business clarity. * 17:20 – 22:35 – Accrual Accounting & Forecasting Pitfalls: Jon explains how deferred revenue and mismanaged payment terms can create false security in cash flow and emphasizes the need for accrual-based accounting and detailed forecasting. * 22:35 – 24:45 – Spending Benchmarks by Function: The episode outlines ideal spending allocations—50% on delivery, 30% across admin/ops/marketing, and 5% on R&D—to balance growth and margin targets. * 24:45 – 27:55 – Growth vs. Profitability Tradeoffs: Jon advocates for disciplined reinvestment of margin into scalable functions rather than focusing solely on profit extraction, aligning with the “Rule of 40” growth philosophy. * 27:55 – 33:59 – Importance of Gross Margin Visibility:* Marcel and Jon stress the necessity of management accounting to accurately track delivery margin, revealing it as the single most powerful lever for scaling profitably.
Show Notes Connect with Jon via LinkedIn * Fiscal Advocate * E-Book: Decision-Making Science For Agencies * Email: jon@fiscaladvocate.com*
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Points of Interest 1:08 – 2:17 – Why Time Tracking Still Matters: Kristen and Marcel introduce the episode’s goal—to reframe time tracking from a frustrating chore into a strategic advantage for agencies. * 2:28 – 4:59 – Debunking Common Misconceptions: Marcel breaks down the three common arguments against time tracking, particularly the mistaken belief that it's only relevant for time-and-materials billing. * 5:04 – 6:19 – Understanding the Agency Business Model: Marcel explains why all service businesses, regardless of pricing model, must measure time to truly understand costs and profit margins. * 6:33 – 8:39 – When Time Tracking Becomes Non-Negotiable: The hosts argue that the ideal conditions for skipping time tracking rarely exist—most agencies operate in too much uncertainty. * 8:45 – 10:47 – The Cultural Problem with Time Sheets: Beyond logistics, the core issue is lack of transparency—teams don't understand how time data is used or how it benefits them. * 10:53 – 13:12 – Misuse of Metrics and the Consequences: Marcel describes how overexposing metrics like utilization or budget variance skews behavior, leading to inaccurate and untrustworthy data. * 14:20 – 16:38 – Time Tracking and Cost Visibility: Even with fixed pricing models, agencies must know how much time goes into work to assess whether it's profitable or sustainable. * 16:44 – 18:58 – Key Metrics Affected by Time Tracking: Delivery margin, utilization, and average billable rate are highlighted as critical performance indicators that depend on time data. * 19:04 – 21:58 – The Profitability Flywheel Explained: Kristen and Marcel introduce Parakeeto’s four-step framework for building a feedback loop that drives clarity and continuous improvement. * 24:22 – 27:33 – Modern Alternatives to Time Sheets: They outline a spectrum of options—from traditional time sheets to resource planning and AI-assisted tools—offering flexibility based on agency complexity. * 28:06 – 32:25 – Sequencing Time Tracking for Success:* Marcel shares Parakeeto’s phased approach: start with modeling and forecasting before implementing time tracking to ensure team alignment and data utility.
Show Notes* Boost Agency Profits: Calculate your Profitability Targets * Maximize Project Profit Margins: Boost Returns Today * Essential Agency Metrics & KPIs for Boosting Profitability * Master Agency Time Tracking: Optimize Without Timesheets * Request demo videos of our reporting platform
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Points of Interest 1:09 – 2:28 – Meet Rich Brett: Rich shares his background in agency finance and how he now serves 12–15 agencies monthly by bridging gaps between finance, operations, and strategy. * 2:29 – 4:03 – The FinOps Mindset: Rich defines FinOps as the intersection of finance and operations—connecting financial data with the reality of agency delivery for more meaningful insights. * 4:04 – 6:02 – Rate Cards and Data Integrity: The duo explores how operational metrics like utilization and recovery must align with financial planning, especially when building rate cards. * 6:03 – 9:03 – Revenue Recognition Fundamentals: Rich explains revenue recognition as booking revenue based on delivery progress rather than invoice or payment dates, providing a more accurate financial view. * 9:04 – 12:08 – Cash vs. Accrual Accounting: Marcel and Rich outline the critical distinction between accrual accounting for tax, GAAP, and management purposes—and why methodology matters for insight. * 12:09 – 15:17 – Common RevRec Mistakes: Many agencies overcomplicate revenue recognition or fail to track only fee-earned income, leading to distorted financials and misaligned reporting. * 15:18 – 17:55 – Building a Methodology: Rich outlines a practical approach using project forecasts, resourcing, and delivery inputs to estimate monthly revenue earned from projects. * 17:56 – 21:08 – Percent Complete Frameworks: The episode covers five models for calculating project completion—from time vs. timeline to project manager estimates—each with pros and cons. * 21:09 – 24:47 – Operational Insights from Finance: They highlight how mismatches between recognized revenue and time tracking reveal performance issues and inform staffing decisions. * 24:48 – 27:37 – Working with Accountants: Rich emphasizes keeping revenue recognition simple and ensuring bookkeepers support your methodology with appropriate journal entries. * 27:38 – 36:00 – Scope Clarity and Internal Truth:* The conversation turns to separating internal planning from client-facing documents and how poor internal assumptions lead to inaccurate reporting.
Show Notes Rich’s LinkedIn* * My Framework + Time vs. Timeline + Hours vs. Budget + Burndown Chart/ Task Checked Off + Initial Project Shape/ Resource Plan- Based Forecasting + % Complete
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:00 – Introduction to Forecasting Challenges: Marcel and Kristen set the stage by identifying forecasting as a critical but often misunderstood aspect of agency operations, particularly in scaling businesses. * 1:06 – 2:30 – Defining Forecasting’s Importance: They explain how forecasting provides the necessary visibility to manage capacity, revenue, and key metrics, forming the foundation for informed decision-making. * 2:47 – 3:48 – Forecasting as a Management Function: Marcel discusses how balancing workload and staffing is a core leadership task, becoming more complex and high-stakes as agencies grow in size. * 5:05 – 6:17 – Bottom-Up Forecasting Explained: Marcel describes the traditional method of forecasting via detailed task-level planning, often used by project managers to allocate resources with precision. * 6:32 – 7:52 – Limitations of Bottom-Up Approaches: Kristen and Marcel highlight how bottom-up forecasting becomes difficult to scale due to its complexity and sensitivity to frequent changes in scope or staffing. * 7:59 – 9:39 – Top-Down Forecasting Defined: The conversation shifts to top-down forecasting, which simplifies inputs by modeling at the role or department level, enabling faster, strategic scenario planning. * 11:00 – 12:20 – Embracing Uncertainty in Leadership Planning: Marcel explains how top-down methods are better suited to leadership conversations, which often require evaluating multiple uncertain scenarios quickly. * 13:04 – 14:27 – Statistical Logic Behind Simplicity: Marcel introduces the concept of reliability block diagrams, illustrating why less granular systems can actually offer more consistent accuracy over time. * 17:00 – 17:45 – Precision vs. Accuracy in Uncertain Contexts: The hosts explore how broader, less precise estimates (e.g., ranges) are often more accurate and actionable when future outcomes are unknown. * 20:31 – 23:01 – Keeping Systems Separate for Efficiency: Marcel warns against tightly coupling bottom-up and top-down systems, advocating for independent but aligned processes to avoid maintenance burdens. * 26:15 – 27:02 – Material Discrepancies and Process Discipline: They stress that small mismatches between forecasting systems aren’t necessarily problems and underscore the importance of scope-driven planning. * 30:57 – 34:20 – Getting Started with Top-Down Forecasting:* The episode closes with advice on how agencies can start building simple top-down models using team capacity and project estimates to guide executive decisions.
Show Notes Book a call and learn more about our Forecasting system * LinkedIn Post on Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Math * Request demo videos of our reporting platform*
Points of Interest 0:00 – 1:18 – The Real Growth Blocker: Mandi kicks off by addressing how many agency owners avoid growth-driving actions not due to lack of knowledge, but due to fear and discomfort. Commitment to transformation must outweigh resistance. * 2:22 – 3:53 – Mandi’s Mission at Hands-Off CEO: Mandi shares her focus on helping service-based agencies scale sustainably and profitably by building systems that allow businesses to grow without the owner being in the weeds. * 4:00 – 5:15 – Understanding Delivery Margin: Marcel introduces delivery margin as a core profitability metric—the portion of revenue left after delivering services, which can fund growth, overhead, and profit. * 5:23 – 7:23 – Charging More for the Same Work: They discuss the first profitability lever: increasing your average billable rate. Mandi explains why agencies should price for outcomes, not deliverables, and how a value-focused approach earns higher fees. * 7:29 – 9:09 – Pricing Confidence is a Mindset Shift: Many owners struggle to raise prices because they lack confidence. Mandi emphasizes becoming the type of person who can confidently sell high-value offers before they’re “ready.” * 10:03 – 12:26 – Real Case: From $30K to $120K Projects: Mandi shares a client success story where reframing services as long-term transformational engagements led to a 600% price increase and more stable profitability. * 13:25 – 15:27 – Efficiency vs. People-Pleasing: The second lever—efficiency—is often blocked by the urge to keep clients happy. Mandi explains how this mindset causes scope creep and prevents outcomes-driven work. * 16:00 – 17:59 – Leadership Over Likeability: Mandi makes the case that effective client leadership, not compliance, drives results. You must be more committed to their transformation than to being liked. * 18:48 – 20:22 – Right-Sizing the Team (The Hard Way): As utilization drops, hard decisions arise. Mandi discusses the emotional difficulty of letting go of team members—even those who’ve been with you a long time—but insists it’s necessary for long-term vision. * 23:17 – 25:39 – Create Revenue Before Cutting: Instead of jumping to layoffs, Mandi encourages tapping past and current clients to unlock fast revenue with strategic conversations and new vision-based offers. * 30:05 – 32:59 – Rebalancing Workloads and Internal Focus: When utilization rises, teams often feel overworked. Mandi and Marcel recommend reprioritizing or pausing internal projects to ensure capacity goes toward revenue-generating work. * 34:07 – 36:46 – Reducing Average Cost per Hour*: The final lever involves delegation. Mandi outlines a “$5 to $5,000/hour” time audit to move low-value tasks off senior team members and improve margin through better team leverage.
Show Notes Download the Scalability Checklist * The Hands-Off CEO Book * Mandi’s Podcast * Mandi’s LinkedIn * Buy back your Time*
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Points of Interest 2:14 – 3:18 – Founding Insight: Parakeeto was created to help agencies easily answer crucial financial questions by replacing guesswork with structured systems. * 3:23 – 4:39 – How Agencies Make Profit: Strong delivery margin is key. Parakeeto targets a 50%+ delivery margin and 20–30% net profit as benchmarks. * 5:45 – 6:58 – Why Profitability is Hard to Measure: Profitability requires collecting and aligning fragmented data across leadership, ops, and finance functions. * 6:59 – 8:33 – Framework Misalignment: Agencies struggle with inconsistent definitions and relationships between key metrics like utilization and capacity. * 9:10 – 10:10 – Messy & Incomplete Data: Most agencies collect data in tools but struggle with consistency, structure, and hygiene—making optimization difficult. * 10:41 – 12:14 – Need for Operational Bookkeeping: Like accounting, operational data needs regular cleanup, maintenance, and review to support decisions. * 13:05 – 14:27 – Improved Visibility = Better Focus: Parakeeto’s framework simplifies agency metrics and identifies gaps to improve ROI tracking and alignment. * 16:02 – 17:30 – Modeling & Benchmarking: Agencies get clarity by comparing their performance against industry standards and their own financial goals. * 18:15 – 20:49 – Pricing Tools that Drive Profit: Parakeeto’s estimator helps standardize pricing, reduce guesswork, and align prices with profitability targets. * 25:02 – 27:15 – Forecasting Made Simple: “Top-down forecasting” lets agencies simulate staffing and revenue scenarios with minimal setup—great for scaling. * 29:39 – 31:58 – Actionable Reports Drive Change:* With consistent reporting cadences, teams align around data to reduce scope creep and focus on what matters.
Additional ResourcesCalculators
- Agency Profitability Target Calculator
- Agency Fee Calculator: How Much Should You Charge?
- Agency Rate Calculator: Determine Your Hourly Rate
- How to Calculate Your Billable Employee Cost-Per-Hour (ACPH)
Blog Post
- Measuring and Improving your Agency’s Profitability – The 2023 Guide
- 3 Key Profitability Drivers Agencies Need to Prioritize
- 8 Vital Agency Metrics & KPIs to Improve Profitability
- Maximizing Project Profit Margin: A Guide to Increasing Returns
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Points of Interest 1:14 – 2:53 – Introduction: Marcel introduces Tiffany, who explains her firm’s mission to help agencies use contracts as strategic tools rather than just legal formalities. * 3:06 – 4:08 – Why Contracts Get a Bad Rap: Many agencies view contracts purely as legal protection, missing their potential to strengthen client relationships and reduce future conflicts. * 4:38 – 6:02 – Misguided Legal Focus: Agencies often waste time on low-risk legal scenarios instead of focusing on practical issues that more commonly disrupt projects, like miscommunication. * 7:01 – 8:56 – Real Risks Are Operational: Most issues arise not from lawsuits, but from unclear responsibilities and client misunderstandings about what’s required to get good results. * 9:02 – 11:07 – Contracts Should Reflect Reality: A "Goldilocks" contract—just right for the business context—is more effective than copying generic templates that don't fit the agency’s operations. * 11:13 – 13:13 – Understand Common Failure Points: Agencies need to identify real-world issues (like IP problems or client-supplied content) and structure contracts to prevent and address them clearly. * 15:31 – 17:00 – Matching Pricing Models to Scope: Marcel introduces the Pricing Model Quadrant to explore how pricing (time-based, deliverables, outcomes) should guide how scope is documented. * 18:01 – 20:21 – Miscommunication in Scope Documents: Flexible contracts often fail when salespeople write scopes conversationally, leading to misinterpretation by delivery teams or clients. * 21:11 – 22:47 – Internal Clarity is Just as Vital: Clear scopes benefit internal teams too—so account and project managers can make aligned decisions without relying on secondhand info. * 23:00 – 24:49 – Scope Creep and Change Requests: Knowing the pricing model helps teams respond consistently to client requests—whether that means upselling time or renegotiating scope. * 26:27 – 29:30 – Trust Reduces Contracting Pain:* Tiffany shares that as client trust grows, they move from demanding rigid scopes to preferring flexible, time-based arrangements, simplifying collaboration.
Show Notes* Devant Website * Book: + Deal Makers + Essential Contract Drafting Skills: A Practical Guide * YouTube * Email: tiffany.kemp@devant.co.uk
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 0:14 – Introduction to Pricing Framework: Marcel introduces a universal pricing formula that applies across all billing models, setting the stage for simplifying agency profitability assessments. * 0:54 – 1:38 – Solo Episode Overview: Marcel explains that the episode will draw from his All Agency Summit presentation, covering how to price profitably and choose optimal pricing models. * 1:50 – 3:08 – The Best Pricing Model: Marcel emphasizes that the "best" pricing model is the one that consistently delivers the best margin, not a specific method like value-based or hourly billing. * 5:22 – 6:59 – Differentiating Pricing and Scoping: He defines pricing as determining what the client will pay and scoping as calculating what the service will cost the agency, advocating for separating the two. * 8:00 – 10:03 – Introduction to Delivery Margin: Marcel presents delivery margin as the cornerstone metric for agency profitability, explaining how to calculate it using agency gross income and delivery costs. * 11:02 – 12:34 – Setting Delivery Margin Targets: He recommends targeting a minimum 70% delivery margin to achieve healthy profitability after accounting for overhead and utilization inefficiencies. * 13:15 – 15:14 – Finding the Minimum Price: Marcel shares a formula to calculate minimum pricing: dividing delivery cost by (1 - margin target) and adding any pass-through expenses. * 16:39 – 17:16 – Introducing the Pricing Model Quadrant: The two vectors—client-perceived value and delivery risk—are introduced as key factors for determining the appropriate pricing model. * 17:49 – 19:17 – Understanding Value in Positioning: Marcel explains how niche positioning increases perceived value, affecting the pricing strategy and client comparisons. * 20:08 – 22:02 – Accounting for Delivery Risk: He discusses how accurately agencies can predict project costs and why risk significantly impacts pricing model selection. * 23:00 – 24:55 – Matching Pricing Models to Risk and Value:* Marcel outlines when to use models like time-and-materials, abstracted time billing, flat fees, or value-based pricing depending on project risk and value.
Show Notes* All-in Agency Summit * Chris Dubois & Dynamic Agency OS * Free Agency Profit Toolkit * Free access to our Model Platform * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 0:30 – 1:31 – Meet the Guest: Marcel introduces Mike as a prolific author and entrepreneur, best known for Profit First, and previews their deep dive into simplifying profitability for service businesses. * 2:00 – 3:36 – From Struggle to Simplification: Mike shares how his own entrepreneurial failures led him to journal his learnings, become an author, and dedicate his work to simplifying business for fellow entrepreneurs. * 4:00 – 4:58 – A Framework for Entrepreneurs: Mike explains the core business needs he addresses in his books—sales, profit, order, impact, and legacy—and how each book offers practical tools to tackle one of these pillars. * 5:06 – 6:31 – Rethinking Growth: Mike critiques the glorification of VC-funded hypergrowth, advocating instead for right-sized, owner-aligned businesses that are profitable and purpose-driven. * 6:38 – 11:02 – VC Realities vs. Bootstrapping: The conversation explores the downsides of venture capital—loss of control, high pressure, low founder pay—and makes the case for customer-funded, bootstrapped growth. * 11:18 – 12:11 – Constraints Drive Innovation: Mike explains how constraints, like taking profit first, can push businesses to become more creative and disciplined, leading to stronger, more sustainable operations. * 13:01 – 14:18 – Profit First in Practice: Through his investment work, Mike mandates implementation of Profit First in struggling businesses, using profit constraints to expose inefficiencies and force needed changes. * 16:00 – 18:23 – The Envelope System: Profit First functions like an envelope budgeting system for businesses, with multiple bank accounts directing funds to specific purposes—profit, taxes, owner’s pay, and operations. * 21:03 – 27:59 – Customizing for Agencies: Marcel and Mike discuss how to adapt Profit First for agencies, reverse engineering spending from lifestyle goals and avoiding industry average benchmarks. * 31:26 – 34:57 – Smoothing Lumpy Revenue: Mike recommends “drip accounts” to normalize cash flow for businesses with irregular income, ensuring income is recognized and allocated over time. * 35:03 – 37:35 – Tools and Support:* The episode closes with a preview of the new Profit First app and a global network of certified professionals to support business owners in applying the framework effectively.
Show Notes New Profit First App * Profit First Professionals * Mike’s new Imprint*
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Points of Interest 1:02 – 1:38 – Intro: Marcel introduces the session as a condensed version of his All-in Agency Summit talk, aimed at equipping agencies with the key levers to diagnose and improve profitability. * 3:05 – 3:18 – 80/20 Profitability Focus: The goal is to give agencies 20% of the knowledge that provides 80% of the insight needed to take control of profitability, regardless of market conditions. * 4:28 – 6:27 – The Growth Trap Cycle: Agencies often get stuck in a cycle of hiring during growth, losing profitability, scaling again, and repeatedly encountering the same financial challenges at larger scales. * 6:42 – 7:01 – Identifying the Real Problem: Founders are urged to identify whether their agency's issue is inefficient delivery (indigestion) or lack of revenue (starvation) to avoid insolvency. * 9:01 – 10:06 – Financial Metrics Foundation: Understanding core financial metrics—especially agency gross income (AGI)—is essential to making better business decisions beyond tax reporting. * 14:24 – 18:05 – Delivery Margin as the Core Metric: Agencies should aim for delivery costs to stay under 50% of AGI, enabling better spending on overhead and stronger profitability. * 21:44 – 26:44 – Lever 1: Average Cost Per Hour: Lowering the average cost of labor through delegation and improved processes helps reduce delivery costs and increase profitability. * 28:03 – 31:55 – Lever 2: Average Billable Rate (ABR): Maximizing revenue per hour of delivery time, regardless of billing model, improves margins—either by pricing higher or working more efficiently. * 34:17 – 38:24 – Lever 3: Utilization Rate: Utilization measures how much team capacity is spent on client work; improving it by selling more work or adjusting staff size directly affects profitability. * 42:01 – 44:45 – Utilization Benchmarks: Weekly and annual utilization targets vary by role; producers should aim for 75%+ weekly, and teams should average 50–65% annually including all roles. * 45:27 – 49:26 – Impact of Levers on Profit:* A case study illustrates how modest gains in utilization and ABR can shift profit margins from 10% to 40%, increasing valuation by up to 500% without hiring or cutting overhead.
Show Notes* All-in Agency Summit * Chris Dubois & Dynamic Agency OS * Free Agency Profit Toolkit * Free access to our Model Platform * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 1:04 – 1:46 – Introduction of John Meyer: Marcel introduces John Meyer, highlighting his experience as a successful agency owner, seller, and current business coach. * 2:10 – 2:30 – John's Current Focus with Leadmore: John explains his mission with Leadmore: coaching agency owners to avoid solopreneur traps and scale their businesses. * 2:30 – 3:11 – "No More Solo" Coaching Program: Details of John's group coaching for agencies in the $100k-$400k range focused on delegation and growth. * 3:11 – 3:37 – Coaching for Scaling Agency CEOs: Information on John's one-on-one coaching for CEOs aiming to delegate and further scale their agencies beyond $500k. * 4:32 – 5:30 – The Founding Story of Lemonly: John recounts the pivot from a broad digital agency to specializing in infographics for better focus and impact. * 5:36 – 6:50 – Strategic Niche of Infographics: How Lemonly's focus on infographics led to recognition and work with major brands like Netflix and MLB. * 8:38 – 9:25 – The Challenge of Scaling a Niche: The episode transitions to discussing the dilemma of staying niched versus widening services for continued growth. * 14:51 – 15:03 – Introduction to the Product Ladder: John introduces his framework of four ways service businesses can generate revenue. * 15:03 – 17:18 – Levels of the Product Ladder Explained: A brief overview of the custom, done-for-you, done-with-you, and DIY service levels. * 17:54 – 18:08 – Utilizing the Ladder for Increased Profit: The concept of moving clients up or down the ladder and repackaging services for better retention and profitability. * 26:58 – 28:31 – Avoiding Custom Work at "Done-For-You" Prices:* John cautions against providing bespoke services while charging for standardized offerings.
Show NotesConnect with John:
- Johntmeyer.com
- YouTube
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 0:23 – Small Cuts, Big Impact: Marcel explains how trimming small recurring expenses added up to $7K/month in potential savings. * 1:32 – 2:44 – Market Uncertainty Hits Everyone: Carson highlights how client indecision is stalling agency pipelines across the industry. * 3:04 – 3:23 – Opportunity in Unstable Times: Marcel frames uncertainty as a chance to optimize, streamline, and future-proof the business. * 4:02 – 4:36 – Sales Slowdowns and Staffing Pressure: Agencies must balance shrinking pipelines with existing team and overhead costs. * 5:02 – 5:25 – Avoiding Cost-Cutting Traps: Downsizing without strategy can hollow out delivery capacity and worsen long-term profitability. * 6:02 – 6:36 – Overhead First, Not Production: Carson shares a personal lesson on the importance of reducing overhead over core delivery staff. * 8:05 – 9:56 – Balancing Optimism and Cash Management: Founders must weigh hopeful projections against real cash reserves to avoid crisis. * 12:04 – 13:19 – Trigger-Based Decision Rules: Carson suggests creating clear, data-driven thresholds for when to take action—before it’s too late. * 17:03 – 17:22 – Austerity Exercise Yields Results: Marcel’s audit of seemingly small expenses uncovered significant monthly savings. * 21:01 – 22:37 – Smooth Transitions Are Possible: Fears around losing key people are often overstated—teams adapt and grow stronger. * 27:12 – 28:13 – Use a Payroll Grid for Clarity: Marcel introduces a framework for assessing roles, costs, and time allocation to guide decisions. * 34:10 – 35:06 – Profitability Benchmarks to Follow:* Aim for ≤50% of income to delivery, ≤30% to overhead, and utilization of at least 50–60%.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Get access to this model tool in the toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Free access to our Model Platform * Podcast on benchmarking
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Points of Interest 01:01 – 01:46 – Meet Today’s Guest: Jason Peck: Jason, a certified financial planner at EverWise Wealth Management, joins the show to share how agency owners can build wealth, protect their families, and stop relying solely on their business for financial freedom. * 05:00 – 06:10 – Unique Challenges for Agency Owners: Jason outlines what makes agency finances different—volatile income, illiquid equity, and a heavy reliance on the owner’s involvement in day-to-day operations. * 08:56 – 10:21 – Why You Must Build Wealth Outside the Business: Jason explains the risks of having all your financial eggs in the agency basket and how diversifying can protect you from unexpected life events. * 12:27 – 13:56 – The 9 Core Areas of Personal Financial Planning: From relationships to estate planning, Jason walks through the key components of a comprehensive financial plan tailored to agency owners. * 21:57 – 22:46 – The Tax Efficiency Trap: Marcel and Jason discuss the downsides of over-optimizing for taxes, including poor business visibility, unnecessary complexity, and missed opportunities for growth. * 27:03 – 29:12 – Estate Planning & Partner Protection: Jason shares how to safeguard your agency and your loved ones with wills, powers of attorney, insurance policies, and buy-sell agreements. * 30:53 – 33:36 – Planning for a Smooth and Intentional Exit:* Whether selling or passing the business on, Jason explains how to align exit planning with personal goals and financial security.
Show NotesConnect with Jason:
- EverWise
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Points of Interest 00:51 – 01:14 – Meet Today’s Guest: Carson Pierce: Carson, a fan favorite at Parakeeto, joins the show to discuss a key challenge for agency owners—transitioning from expert to CEO while managing financial complexities. * 02:01 – 03:10 – The Common Agency Struggle: Many agency owners are incredible at their craft but struggle with the financial side of running a business, leading to inefficiencies and profit loss. * 05:01 – 06:40 – The Knowledge Gap in the Agency World: Historically, there hasn’t been much comprehensive content available to help agency owners understand the financials of their business, making it difficult to navigate profitability challenges. * 09:01 – 11:00 – Breaking Down Agency Finances: Marcel and Carson introduce a simple but effective model that helps agencies determine whether they are set up for financial success or destined to struggle. * 11:01 – 13:30 – Understanding the Delivery Margin: Why agency profitability is largely determined by how efficiently they deliver client work and how much of every earned dollar is left after delivery costs. * 16:01 – 18:40 – The Impact of Small Pricing Adjustments: A 10% drop in billable rates can significantly affect profitability—why agencies must be intentional about pricing and scope. * 18:41 – 21:00 – The Payroll Grid: Your Agency’s Financial Roadmap: How to break down staff costs, expected billable hours, and rates to create a clear financial model for your agency. * 21:01 – 24:00 – Expense Allocation & Overhead Costs: Understanding where your money is going and ensuring overhead stays in check without cutting the things that drive business growth. * 24:01 – 27:30 – Profitability Benchmarks & The 50/30/20 Rule: The ideal breakdown for agency spending—50% on delivery, 30% on overhead, and 20%+ in profit—and why most agencies don’t hit these targets. * 27:31 – 30:00 – The Dangers of Underpricing & Low Utilization: Why agencies that don’t charge enough or struggle to keep their teams busy end up running on razor-thin margins (or even losing money). * 32:41 – 35:10 – Why Agency Owners Must Know Their Numbers:* Financial clarity leads to better decisions—knowing what’s working and what’s not is the key to running a sustainable agency.
Show Notes Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Get access to this model tool in the toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Books Mentioned:* + Digital Dollars and Cents + Financial Management of a Marketing Firm + Software as a Science
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Points of Interest 01:09 – 01:46 – Meet Today’s Guest: Mari-Liis Vaher: Marketing pro, entrepreneur, and author of The Greatest Marketer in the World, Mari-Liis is here to help agencies prove their value and keep clients happy. * 03:04 – 03:40 – The Big Marketing Trust Issue: Ever had a client drop you out of nowhere, even though you were hitting all their goals? Mari-Liis explains why so many agencies struggle to prove their worth. * 07:10 – 07:57 – Marketing Is More Than Just Ads: Think marketing is just running social media and ad campaigns? Mari-Liis breaks down why it’s actually a full system that needs to align with sales and leadership. * 11:51 – 12:36 – Scaling vs. Burning Out: Mari-Liis shares the hard lessons from running (and exiting) a seven-figure agency—why she left behind endless client work to build something more sustainable. * 17:04 – 17:46 – The Power of the “MIP Hour”: Setting aside an hour of focused, distraction-free work time each day can be a total game-changer for your productivity and stress levels. * 24:47 – 25:26 – Don’t Just Take Clients at Their Word: When a client asks for SEO, Facebook ads, or a website, do you ask why? Mari-Liis explains why digging deeper leads to better results. * 28:24 – 29:06 – The #1 Killer of Good Marketing: Most marketing doesn’t fail because the ideas are bad—it fails because of bad communication. Here’s how to make sure everyone’s on the same page. * 37:41 – 38:30 – Why Keeping Clients in the Loop Is Everything: If you’re not giving your clients updates, they’re making up their own (usually bad) stories about what’s happening. Avoid that trap! * 42:42 – 43:07 – Freebies & Book Launch:* Get Mari-Liis’ free productivity guide, take a DISC personality test, and get early access to The Greatest Marketer in the World!
Show Notes Free Productivity Guide for Overwhelmed Marketers - Learn how to work smarter, not harder: Download Here * Free DISC Personality Type Test to Boost Your Impact in Communication – Understand how to communicate effectively in sales and marketing: Get It Free With Code MARCEL (this is a paid tool but with the coupon MARCEL, it is possible to download it for free.)* * Book Coming Soon: TheGreatestMarketer.com * Connect with Mari-Liis: + Website + LinkedIn + Instagram + Facebook + TikTok
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Points of Interest 00:55 – 01:14 – Meet Today’s Guest: Carson Pierce: Carson, a fan favorite at Parakeeto, joins the show to chat about a big shift in the agency world—why more agencies are ditching big teams in favor of lean, contractor-driven models. * 01:34 – 02:29 – Agencies Are Shrinking Their Core Teams: Carson talks about a growing trend—agencies are keeping their leadership and strategy teams small while outsourcing most of the production work to contractors, freelancers, and offshore talent. * 03:08 – 05:05 – Why Agencies Are Outsourcing More Work: Marcel breaks down the big reasons behind this shift, including rising salaries, AI shaking things up, a tough economy, and the fact that clients no longer care if their agency is local. * 06:04 – 07:26 – Why Old-School Utilization Metrics Don’t Work Anymore: Carson explains how traditional utilization numbers can be misleading for agencies using more contractors, and why focusing on average billable rate (ABR) is a better approach. * 08:03 – 10:44 – The Next Big Agency Trend: Internal Specialization: Marcel introduces the idea that agencies should focus on what they do best and outsource everything else—just like other industries have done to stay profitable. * 12:02 – 14:04 – What Should You Keep In-House vs. Outsource?: Marcel shares a simple way to decide—play to your team’s strengths, keep control of the most critical parts of your client experience, and let experts handle everything else. * 18:02 – 21:08 – Pricing Without Overcomplicating It: Marcel simplifies pricing strategy, explaining why agencies should stop obsessing over markup and hourly rates and instead focus on three things: revenue, pass-through costs, and delivery costs. * 25:08 – 28:26 – Offshoring: The Good, The Bad, and The Smart Way to Do It: More agencies are hiring offshore talent to save money, but success depends on having solid processes and clear communication—Marcel and Carson share tips on how to do it right. * 30:51 – 32:44 – The Future of Agencies: Smaller, Leaner, and More Specialized: Marcel predicts that agencies will continue breaking down into specialized teams, just like airlines and grocery chains have done, to survive in a market with shrinking margins. * 34:22 – 35:04 – Final Takeaways:* Marcel and Carson wrap up with a big reminder—profitability isn’t just about working harder; it’s about working smarter. Agencies that embrace internal specialization and strategic outsourcing will win in the long run.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Get access to this model tool in the toolkit * Link to Pie Chart Visualization * Parakeeto Foundations Course * Books + Digital Dollars and Cents by Jody Grunden + Financial Management of a Marketing Firm by David C. Baker + Software as a Science by Marcel, Dan Martell, Johnny Page & Matt Verlaque
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Points of Interest 0:00 – 0:32 – Show Introduction & Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Tim Thompson, Owner and Chief Revolution Thinker at RevThink. He shares how they met at the MYOB conference, where they bonded over deep discussions on agency profitability and creative business management. * 0:33 – 2:25 – Tim’s Background & The Journey to RevThink: Tim shares his career transition from Hollywood production, where he worked with legends like Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, to consulting creative studios. His firm, RevThink, now supports 750+ creative agency owners worldwide in building financially stable businesses. * 2:26 – 5:00 – The Challenge of Balancing Creativity & Profitability: Tim explains how many creative entrepreneurs struggle to balance financial discipline with artistic freedom. The industry often pushes efficiency metrics like utilization rates, but creative businesses need a different approach to pricing, budgeting, and decision-making. * 5:01 – 7:32 – The Shift from Cost-Plus Pricing to Value-Based Models: Marcel and Tim discuss the shift from hourly billing and cost-plus pricing to value-based models. Agencies that fail to adapt often undercharge and overdeliver, leading to profitability struggles. * 7:33 – 10:55 – How Agencies Can Ensure They’re Charging Enough: Tim introduces The Splits Method, a framework that separates costs into direct (project-related) and indirect (overhead). This helps agencies better understand where their money is going and ensures that profit is baked into pricing from the start. * 10:56 – 14:25 – The Power of Profit as an Expense: Tim challenges agencies to treat profit as an expense, meaning it should be allocated first before deciding how much to spend on project costs. This ensures business sustainability and long-term financial stability. * 14:26 – 17:00 – The Seven Ingredients for a Thriving Agency: Tim introduces RevThink’s Seven Ingredients framework—Creative, Production, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Entrepreneurship—which helps agency owners optimize their business holistically as they scale. * 17:01 – 19:50 – Overcoming the Fear of Raising Prices: Many agencies negotiate against themselves, fearing clients won’t pay more. Tim explains how agencies can increase their rates or adjust project scope to maintain profitability without sacrificing client relationships. * 19:51 – 23:30 – The Production Roll-Up: A Simple Meeting to Keep Projects on Track: Tim shares his method for a weekly production roll-up meeting, where agency teams quickly review: Creative quality, Client relationships, and Profitability. * 23:31 – 26:55 – The Importance of Profitability for Business & Personal Freedom: Marcel and Tim discuss why profitability isn’t just about numbers—it’s about freedom, growth, and legacy. Many agency owners unknowingly sacrifice their financial future because they aren’t pricing or managing projects correctly. * 26:56 – 29:30 – Why Business Owners Must Stop Negotiating Against Themselves: Many agency owners undercharge out of fear that clients won’t pay more. Tim encourages owners to ask for what their work is truly worth and, if needed, target better clients who understand the value they provide. * 29:31 – 32:10 – The Role of Entrepreneurship in Agency Growth: Tim discusses the entrepreneurial mindset required to scale a creative agency while managing financial risks. He explains how business growth, personal wealth, and legacy planning must be aligned. * 32:11 – 35:50 – How Agencies Can Adapt to Industry Changes & Maintain Profitability: Marcel and Tim analyze industry shifts, including advances in technology, changing client expectations, and pricing pressures. They discuss how agencies can innovate and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. * 35:51 – 38:20 – The Moral Argument for Running a Profitable Business:* Marcel and Tim discuss why being profitable is a responsibility, not just a goal. A profitable agency provides stability for employees, fosters innovation, and allows owners to reinvest in their vision.
Show Notes* Revthink.com + Revthinking Podcast * Community * 1-1 consulting * Accelerators
Points of Interest 0:24 – 0:54 – Show Introduction & Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, highlighting her expertise in operations and agency profitability management. * 1:01 – 1:45 – The Three-Part Profitability Management System Overview: Kristen recaps the framework discussed in previous episodes: the right data, ensuring financial, delivery, and sales data are clean; the right framework, having clear metrics and understanding relationships; and the right process, implementing structured cadences for decision-making. * 1:46 – 3:07 – Why Process is Often the Missing Piece in Profitability Management: Marcel explains that many agencies mistakenly view profitability management as an event rather than an ongoing process. He highlights common pitfalls, such as assuming data will always be clean or that a one-time setup will be sufficient. * 4:59 – 7:46 – Data Hygiene: Managing Messy Data in Agencies: Kristen and Marcel dive into the first major component of process—data hygiene. They discuss common data inconsistencies, such as naming conventions, incorrect project tracking, and human input errors. Marcel emphasizes the importance of an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process to clean and normalize data. * 10:03 – 13:26 – Managing Change in Agency Operations: Kristen and Marcel discuss the second key aspect of process: change management. Changes in sales strategies, CRM systems, or project management tools can disrupt data reporting. A structured process ensures smooth transitions and prevents disruptions in decision-making. * 17:01 – 20:52 – Cadence: Aligning Stakeholders for Operational Success: Establishing consistent meeting cadences ensures alignment between sales, operations, and finance teams. The right frequency depends on agency size and project nature. Monthly executive meetings should focus on key business objectives and resourcing decisions. Regular check-ins help prevent last-minute hiring crises and pricing inefficiencies. * 28:51 – 33:07 – How Operators Can Manage Up and Set Expectations: Operators should proactively align reporting with leadership goals. Stakeholder management is crucial—Ops leaders should ensure data supports executive decision-making without overwhelming them with details. Simplification and consistency are key to maintaining executive buy-in. * 33:08 – 36:56 – Fighting Unnecessary Complexity in Reporting: Marcel shares a common mistake: leaders often want overly detailed reporting, which adds unnecessary complexity and friction. The key is balancing detail with usability to avoid overwhelming decision-makers. Simple, actionable reports are more effective than highly detailed but impractical ones. * 36:57 – 40:26 – The Real Value of Efficient Reporting: Shorter, More Productive Meetings: The success of a reporting system is measured by how quickly teams can align and take action—not by how long they spend looking at data. The less time spent in meetings discussing reports, the more time can be spent executing on insights. * 40:27 – 42:40 – Final Takeaways: How to Get Started with Process Implementation:* Start by identifying the key business decisions that require data support. Work backward from business objectives to define the right data and process framework. Establish clear cadences and responsibilities for maintaining data hygiene and managing change. Prioritize alignment and simplicity over excessive detail.
Show Notes* Connect with Kristen via LinkedIn * Free Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 01:04 – 01:35 – Guest Introduction – Mikael Dia of Funnelytics:* Mikael Dia, former agency owner turned SaaS entrepreneur, shares his journey from running an agency to founding Funnelytics, a tool designed to visually map and analyze digital marketing funnels. * 06:24 – 08:20 – How Funnelytics Was Born: Funnelytics emerged from the need to overlay real marketing data on top of strategic visualizations, allowing agencies and marketers to prove and optimize their funnel strategies effectively. * 08:25 – 10:05 – The Importance of Visual Communication in Business: Marcel and Mikael discuss how visual communication aids in client understanding, enhances learning, and fosters trust, a principle rooted in adult learning theory. * 10:42 – 12:13 – Impact of Visual Strategies on Agency Sales & Retention: Using visual models in sales processes helped Mikael’s agency close deals faster and at higher prices by positioning services as strategic solutions rather than commodity offerings. * 12:24 – 14:06 – Enhancing Client Retention with Visual Reporting: By consistently tying marketing efforts back to a visualized strategy, agencies can effectively communicate progress, highlight bottlenecks, and demonstrate value to clients. * 15:02 – 17:08 – Clients Need a Clear Path, Not Just Services: Clients struggle to see how individual marketing services fit into a bigger strategy. Mapping out a clear pathway from initial engagement to desired outcomes transforms how clients perceive agency value. * 20:56 – 24:06 – Transitioning from an Agency to a SaaS Business: Mikael shares key lessons from shifting from an agency to SaaS, emphasizing the importance of knowing one’s strengths, finding a technical co-founder, and solving real customer problems. * 27:19 – 32:24 – Common Pitfalls in SaaS Development: Mikael and Marcel discuss the challenges of product development, the need for technical expertise, and the mistake of building features based on assumptions rather than market feedback. * 32:42 – 36:12 – The Reality of Finding Product-Market Fit: The conversation highlights the challenge of achieving product-market fit, the importance of iterating quickly, and the value of starting with a service-first approach before building software. * 37:03 – 39:00 – Shifting Mindsets: From Proving Yourself Right to Proving Yourself Wrong:** Marcel shares a key insight: the biggest shift in product development success comes when founders move from trying to validate their own ideas to actively seeking to disprove them as quickly as possible.
Show NotesConnect with Mikael
- Facebook Group
- Funnelytics
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Points of Interest 01:00 – 01:45 – Guest Introduction: Marcel welcomes back his co-founder, Ben Zittlau, highlighting his expertise in data operations and agency growth strategies. * 03:35 – 05:50 – Scaling Data Operations: Lessons from Jobber: Ben shares insights from his experience at Jobber, detailing the challenges of building and scaling a data operations team in a fast-growing company. * 08:43 – 13:14 – Why Agencies Struggle to Get Insights from Their Data: Discussion on how agencies collect vast amounts of data across multiple tools but fail to derive meaningful insights due to fragmentation and inconsistency. * 13:15 – 16:05 – The Myth of a “Single Source of Truth: Marcel and Ben challenge the common belief that pushing all data into a single platform solves reporting issues, highlighting the reality of messy operational data. * 19:26 – 21:48 – The Limitations of All-in-One Software Solutions: Exploring why all-in-one agency management tools often fail to deliver on their promise of seamless reporting and data integration. * 24:43 – 27:44 – The Hidden Costs of Locking into a Single Platform: Discussion on how agencies become “trapped” by software providers, making it difficult to switch tools without major operational disruptions. * 30:29 – 35:53 – How to Integrate Data Without Sacrificing Flexibility: A deep dive into the challenges of stitching data from various tools while maintaining adaptability and historical accuracy. * 35:54 – 41:14 – Accuracy vs. Precision: Why Clean Data is a Myth: Why agencies should focus on broader trends instead of pursuing impossible data perfection, and how to handle data inconsistencies effectively. * 41:15 – 44:15 – A Modern Data Approach: Extract, Transform, Load (ETL): Introduction to the ETL process, which allows agencies to clean and transform data before reporting, improving reliability and flexibility. * 50:14 – 52:00 – Lessons from Finance: What Agencies Can Learn from Accounting*: Marcel compares data operations to bookkeeping, explaining how structured financial workflows can serve as a model for better agency data management.
Show Notes Connect with Ben via* LinkedIn * Free Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 01:02 – 01:28 – Introduction to Manish Dudharejia: Manish Dudharejia, founder of E2M, is introduced as a leader in white label agency services, serving over 300 agencies globally with a focus on profitability and scalability. * 01:34 – 02:45 – Manish’s Journey and E2M’s Growth: Manish shares how E2M evolved from serving diverse clients to specializing in white label services for agencies, growing to a 270+ member team over 12 years. * 03:04 – 04:36 – Building a Culture of Excellence: Manish credits E2M’s success to a strong team and culture, emphasizing the importance of effective communication, realistic expectations, and timely delivery of high-quality services. * 07:01 – 08:15 – Shifts in the White Label Industry: Manish identifies two major trends shaping the industry: combining local account management with offshore execution and leveraging AI to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. * 10:55 – 12:01 – Problem-Solving as the New Specialization: Marcel explains how agencies are shifting from service-specific specialization to solving broader problems, requiring partnerships with white label providers to expand their capabilities. * 15:14 – 17:11 – Hybrid Models for Scalable Agencies: Manish discusses the benefits of a hybrid model, where agencies maintain in-house teams for client-facing roles like sales and account management while outsourcing execution to white label partners. * 17:11 – 18:47 – Profitability through White Label Partnerships: Marcel highlights how white label partnerships allow agencies to focus on high-margin activities, scale efficiently, and achieve better profitability by outsourcing execution. * 22:43 – 24:02 – Flexibility and Scalability with White Label Models: Manish emphasizes the flexibility white label partners offer, allowing agencies to scale resources up or down based on demand while minimizing operational risks. * 31:02 – 32:43 – Specialization and Delegation: Marcel and Manish discuss the importance of focusing on core competencies and outsourcing non-core tasks to partners who excel in those areas, enabling agencies to scale effectively. * 34:28 – 36:07 – Outsourcing What You Don’t Enjoy*: Manish shares two key frameworks for agency owners: + Outsource tasks that cost less than your billable rate. + Delegate tasks you dislike to partners who excel in those areas, creating win-win scenarios.
Show Notes Connect with Manish* + LinkedIn + Twitter + E2M Solutions
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Points of Interest 01:00 – 01:50 – Episode Kickoff and Guest Introduction: Marcel introduces Ben Zittlau, his co-founder and the “brains behind the operation” at Parakeeto, highlighting Ben’s instrumental role in shaping the company’s philosophies and tools. * 01:51 – 04:25 – Ben’s Background and Early Career: Ben shares his journey from studying electrical engineering to becoming deeply involved in startups, entrepreneurship, and eventually co-founding Parakeeto, along with his notable work at Jobber. * 04:26 – 06:44 – Lessons from Jobber and Shaping Profitability Frameworks: Ben reflects on his time at Jobber, where he observed how businesses transformed when they understood profitability over revenue, a realization that shaped Parakeeto’s focus. * 06:45 – 07:22 – Parakeeto’s Founding and Evolution: Ben discusses how he and Marcel connected over their shared passion for solving complex problems for service businesses, leading to the creation of Parakeeto. * 07:23 – 08:35 – Behind-the-Scenes Collaboration: Marcel highlights the depth of thought and iteration that he and Ben have poured into refining their profitability frameworks, setting the stage for their discussion. * 08:36 – 11:34 – Common Profitability Traps in Agencies: The duo dives into how agencies often fall into traps like relying on cash flow or revenue as proxies for profitability, leading to poor business decisions. * 11:35 – 14:14 – The Pitfalls of Cashflow-Based Decision Making: Ben and Marcel explain how focusing on cash flow can create illusions of profitability or mask underlying financial issues, illustrated by real client examples. * 14:15 – 17:04 – Revenue vs. Profitability Decisions: They highlight how agencies often conflate cash flow with profit, sharing examples of businesses choosing lower-margin work due to short-term cash needs. * 17:05 – 19:57 – Differentiating Revenue from Agency Gross Income (AGI): Ben explains the importance of isolating pass-through expenses to get a true picture of what’s left for an agency to operate and grow. * 19:58 – 23:17 – Misconceptions About Markup and Rates: The discussion shifts to how agencies often misunderstand the role of markup in profitability and why focusing on average billable rates is key. * 23:18 – 30:45 – The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All Frameworks: Ben and Marcel emphasize the risks of trying to unify operational, sales, and accounting frameworks, advocating for purpose-built tools tailored to each team’s needs. * 30:46 – 43:39 – The Future of Profitability Insights:* They conclude by discussing how technology is making enterprise-level profitability analysis more accessible to smaller businesses, empowering agencies to make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Show Notes Connect with Ben via* LinkedIn * Free Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 00:51 – 01:29 – Introduction to Henrik Becker: Marcel introduces Henrik Becker, an expert in agency coaching, EOS implementation, and CRM systems, now leading Rev Hops to improve agency sales and marketing systems. * 01:30 – 02:13 – Henrik’s Career Journey: Henrik details his evolution from systematic marketing in 2010 to specializing in CRM platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot, emphasizing management systems for success. * 03:42 – 04:48 – Aligning CRM with Operations: Marcel and Henrik stress that CRMs and operational tools should address fundamental business issues, adopting a first-principles approach to technology. * 04:49 – 07:04 – Common CRM Problems: Henrik identifies signs of ineffective CRM use, such as Excel dependency, poor adoption, and data inaccuracies, which undermine sales and marketing efforts. * 09:18 – 11:24 – CRM Implementation is a Process, Not an Event: CRM implementation requires ongoing adjustments as the business evolves, rather than being treated as a one-time project. * 11:25 – 13:16 – Steps for a Successful CRM Setup: Henrik outlines a structured CRM setup approach: align on the problem, document processes, define requirements, design solutions, and implement incrementally. * 16:06 – 18:24 – Focus on Simplicity and Quick Wins: Starting with a simplified CRM setup to deliver quick wins builds momentum, avoiding over-engineered systems. * 18:25 – 20:42 – Avoiding Operational Complexity: Henrik and Marcel advise against overly complex systems, advocating for implementations aligned with team capabilities. * 20:43 – 23:08 – Agile vs. Waterfall in CRM Implementation: Henrik critiques improper Agile usage in CRM projects, recommending clear planning and incremental adjustments over chaotic trial-and-error. * 23:09 – 25:13 – Adapting to Change: Successful CRM implementations require regular updates to keep systems relevant and aligned with business evolution. * 29:24 – 32:08 – Marcel’s Choice to Build at Scale: Marcel shares his decision to scale Parakeeto, balancing cash flow, risk, and long-term enterprise value. * 36:06 – 38:54 – Final Words of Advice*: Henrik emphasizes prioritizing processes, accountability, and alignment before choosing or changing a CRM system, as software is secondary to clear operations.
Show Notes Connect with Henrik* + LinkedIn + RevHops
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Points of Interest 00:52 – 01:17 – Guest Introduction and Episode Overview: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, a member of the consulting team, and previews the episode’s focus on agency management trends, particularly on improving profitability and breaking down silos. * 02:57 – 05:00 – Challenges with Siloed Agency Models: Kristen explains how siloed operations between sales, delivery, and finance lead to fragmented data, inefficiencies, and breakdowns during planning and execution. * 05:00 – 07:30 – Modern Agency Realities and Challenges: Marcel highlights the need for integrated systems due to changing client relationships, dynamic pricing models, and rising economic pressures, which strain traditional agency structures. * 07:30 – 10:00 – What Integrated Agency Management Looks Like: Marcel introduces the concept of integrated management, where real-time alignment between sales, delivery, and finance drives profitability and operational efficiency. * 12:00 – 14:15 – Common Pitfalls of Over-Reliance on Finance: Kristen and Marcel discuss how relying solely on finance for insights often leads to delays, inaccuracies, and missed opportunities for timely interventions. * 16:30 – 19:40 – Starting with a Business Model: Marcel outlines the first step in building an integrated system: creating a dynamic business model that connects capacity, pricing, and operational structure. * 22:00 – 25:00 – Introducing the Feedback Loop: Marcel explains the importance of feedback loops that compare planned data to actual outcomes, enabling agencies to pinpoint areas needing improvement. * 25:00 – 28:00 – Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Data: Marcel discusses the importance of clean, structured data and why agencies often struggle when they attempt tracking without a proper framework. * 28:00 – 30:00 – The Three Elements of an Integrated System: Marcel introduces the three critical components of a successful system: accurate data, a deliberate framework, and an actionable process. * 30:00 – 32:30 – Implementing Cadences for Data Review: Kristen and Marcel emphasize the need for regular data review cadences tailored to an agency’s operational pace to maintain alignment and agility. * 32:30 – 36:00 – Costs of DIY vs. Professional Help: Marcel highlights the opportunity costs and challenges of attempting to build an integrated system internally compared to leveraging expert frameworks. * 36:00 – 38:53 – TLDR for 2025 Planning:* Marcel summarizes the episode’s main takeaway: transitioning from siloed to integrated systems is crucial for improving agency profitability and operational alignment, starting with a simple business model.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via* LinkedIn * Free Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 00:49 – 01:50 – Introduction to Ryan McNamara: Marcel introduces Ryan McNamara, Head of Operations at Rise at Seven, and highlights his impressive journey from startup founder to agency leader. * 01:51 – 03:00 – Building Rise at Seven: Ryan discusses the rapid growth of Rise at Seven, their creative-first, search-driven approach, and their international presence in the UK and US. * 04:21 – 05:40 – Defining Operational Leadership: Ryan explains the challenges and responsibilities of operational leadership, emphasizing the importance of understanding finance, team dynamics, and business goals. * 08:11 – 09:20 – The Rise of Operations in Agencies: The growing emphasis on operations and finance as key to agency survival is discussed, with insights on how agencies are adapting to a more competitive and demanding market. * 10:41 – 12:00 – Leveraging Personal Development Plans: The importance of structured PDPs (Personal Development Plans) and appraisals to help team members see their growth trajectory and contribution to the business is explored. * 12:01 – 13:20 – Process vs. Flexibility: Ryan explains the balance between setting processes for consistency and allowing flexibility for creativity and innovation within teams. * 13:21 – 14:50 – Managing Team Growth and Churn: The challenge of managing team growth in alignment with business needs while mitigating churn and ensuring cultural fit is unpacked. * 17:21 – 18:40 – Balancing Risk and Innovation: The discussion explores how agencies can manage operational risks without stifling creativity, enabling teams to focus on outcomes while maintaining flexibility in their processes. * 21:31 – 22:50 – Fostering Team Accountability: Insights are shared on creating systems where every team member understands their role in driving the business forward and how their contributions impact overall performance. * 24:01 – 25:30 – The Evolving Role of Operations: The conversation shifts to how operations professionals are becoming pivotal thought leaders, connecting finance, delivery, and team dynamics in modern agencies. * 25:31 – 26:50 – Challenges in Standardizing Processes: Ryan discusses the difficulty of standardizing processes in a creative environment, where flexibility is often required to deliver exceptional outcomes. * 29:41 – 31:00 – Advice for Aspiring Operators*: Ryan offers advice for those stepping into operational roles, encouraging them to focus on outcomes, embrace adaptability, and prioritize team empowerment.
Show Notes* Connect with Ryan + LinkedIn + Rise at Seven
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 00:47 – Intro and Gratitude: Marcel thanks listeners and sets up the episode's focus on benchmarking traps and performance evaluation. * 00:47 – 01:33 – The Benchmarking Trap: Marcel introduces the risks of relying on external benchmarks instead of understanding your agency’s internal performance model. * 01:33 – 02:53 – Rate Benchmarking Limitations: Marcel explains why comparing rates fails to provide meaningful insights, especially with modern pricing models. * 02:53 – 05:00 – Flat Fees and Efficiency: He discusses the rise of value-based and project pricing, and how efficiency affects realized rates. * 05:00 – 06:08 – Realized Rates vs. Rate Cards: Marcel highlights that listed rates (rate cards) rarely reflect the actual rates agencies earn. * 06:08 – 07:29 – The Power of Average Billable Rate: Marcel introduces average billable rate as a more meaningful metric, blending efficiency and pricing insights. * 07:29 – 09:30 – Challenges in Measurement: Marcel explains why few firms measure key metrics like average billable rate and the inconsistencies in benchmarking them. * 09:30 – 12:26 – Revenue per FTE Caution: He critiques absolute revenue-per-FTE benchmarks, emphasizing cost structure and geography's role in profitability. * 12:26 – 14:00 – Look Inward First: Marcel urges agencies to focus inward on their business models instead of seeking external validation. * 14:00 – 17:33 – Understanding Your Agency Model: Marcel explains how to map team structure, capacity, and time allocation to determine delivery and utilization ceilings. * 17:33 – 19:48 – Budgets and Cost Breakdown: He emphasizes categorizing hard costs into delivery, sales, admin, and facilities to build a clear financial model. * 19:48 – 22:44 – Revenue Potential Example: Marcel demonstrates how capacity, utilization rate, and average billable rate determine an agency's revenue potential. * 22:44 – 25:00 – Delivery Margin and Overhead Benchmarks: He shares benchmarks for delivery margin (50–60%) and overhead costs (20–30% of AGI) to evaluate profitability. * 25:00 – 28:47 – Operating Profit Targets: Marcel outlines healthy operating profit margins (20–30%) and explains how utilization and billable rates interact within a model. * 28:47 – 31:00 – Beta Tool for Agencies*: Marcel announces Parakeeto’s beta software for modeling agency performance, offering free access for listeners to analyze and improve their businesses.
Show Notes* Pricing models / Margin Targets * Episode on Rates * Toolkit Link * Link for our beta free access to our model software
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Points of Interest 00:47 – 01:38 – Chris’s Background: Chris shares his experience supporting consultants and facilitators in achieving measurable impact. * 02:07 – 03:04 – The Challenge of Change Management: Agencies face difficulty educating stakeholders and driving meaningful organizational change. * 04:03 – 05:26 – Behavior Change Precedes Results: Chris explains the importance of tracking behavior shifts that lead to KPI improvements. * 05:26 – 06:33 – Ambiguity in Brand Strategy: Marcel highlights challenges caused by subjective opinions and delayed results in brand strategy. * 08:31 – 09:44 – Three Requirements for Behavior Change: Chris identifies a clear path, motivation, and knowledge as key to driving behavioral change. * 13:43 – 15:06 – Chunking Tasks into Smaller Steps: Chris emphasizes reducing ambiguity with small, actionable steps to drive progress. * 19:01 – 20:14 – Feedback Loops and Impact Signals: Self-reported change helps measure progress before observable or KPI results emerge. * 21:56 – 23:10 – Connecting Daily Actions to Outcomes: Chris stresses clarifying small tasks that contribute to long-term project success. * 23:10 – 24:36 – KPIs and Leading Indicators: Identifying relevant KPIs and leading indicators creates measurable goals for success. * 26:04 – 27:45 – Aligning on Success Metrics: Chris highlights the importance of aligning with clients on clear success metrics and tracking progress. * 27:45 – 29:30 – Behavioral Change Before Visibility: Change begins internally and becomes externally observable over time. * 34:36 – 36:00 – Triple Double Framework:* Chris introduces a structured approach—double down on strengths, double back on gaps, and double click on new information.
Show Notes Connect with Chris* + LinkedIn + Actional.co + Behavior Change Toolkit
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Points of Interest 00:42 – 01:16 – Industry Stats Nerd: Marcel highlights Carson’s expertise in analyzing agency reports and introduces the core topic of navigating the agency world’s "new normal." * 03:00 – 04:10 – Financial Challenges in 2024: Carson explains how financial tightening, including cash flow and reserve issues, has become a significant pain point for agencies in the past year. * 04:11 – 06:15 – The “New Normal” for Agencies: Discussion about how the agency landscape is stabilizing into a "new normal," marked by consistent challenges and tighter margins. * 06:16 – 10:10 – Impact of Market Maturity and Global Trends: Marcel outlines how market maturity, globalization, AI, and freelancing trends are reshaping the competitive environment for agencies. * 10:11 – 14:47 – The Metrics that Matter: Marcel and Carson identify the three core levers of agency profitability: cost per hour, utilization, and average billable rate. * 14:48 – 18:35 – Improving Average Billable Rate: Marcel shares strategies to increase average billable rates without raising prices, focusing on efficiency, quality, and offering high-value services. * 20:50 – 22:38 – Utilizing AI for Operational Efficiency: The conversation shifts to how AI can improve efficiency in content creation, client management, and operational workflows. * 22:39 – 27:18 – Effectively Measuring and Managing Utilization: Marcel explains how to measure and use utilization effectively, debunking myths and aligning it with realistic agency models. * 27:19 – 35:45 – Internal Specialization and Future-Proofing Agencies: Carson introduces the concept of internal specialization, where agencies focus on high-value tasks while outsourcing lower-margin, high-risk work to specialized partners. A case study of an SEO agency illustrates this model. * 24:44 – 26:10 – Balancing Overhead and Delivery Teams: Discussion on the importance of properly modeling agency teams to maintain a balance between delivery capacity and profitability. * 34:22 – 35:00 – Importance of Quality Over Quantity in Revenue*: Carson and Marcel highlight the value of focusing on high-margin, high-quality work rather than expanding into low-margin offerings.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Agency Profit Toolkit * The Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 00:47 – 01:46 – Meet Patrick O’Connell: Marcel introduces Patrick and previews their discussion on building a profitable design or creative services business. * 01:46 – 02:41 – Patrick’s Journey to Success: Patrick shares how he transitioned from a nine-to-five to running a design agency, helping clients bring physical products to market while mentoring other designers. * 02:41 – 03:44 – The Chocolate and Broccoli Approach: Marcel and Patrick discuss the balance between delivering what clients want (chocolate) and the deeper strategies they need (broccoli). * 03:44 – 07:07 – Two Key Challenges for Creatives: Patrick outlines common struggles—spending too much time on craft over strategy and not understanding the math behind profitability. * 07:07 – 10:10 – Selling Outcomes, Not Features: Patrick explains the importance of focusing on the value of transformations for clients instead of relying on accolades, experience, or features to justify pricing. * 10:10 – 12:01 – Positioning for Success: The conversation shifts to the importance of starting with the client’s desired outcome and framing your services to match that need. * 12:01 – 14:34 – Value Pricing Done Right: Patrick emphasizes that charging based on value requires understanding the percentage of responsibility you’re taking for the client’s desired results. * 14:34 – 19:00 – Efficiency in Service Delivery: Patrick explains how focusing on reducing unnecessary steps in your processes leads to more profit and faster client results. * 19:00 – 21:31 – Solo vs. Team Business Models: Marcel and Patrick discuss the trade-offs between staying a solo consultant and scaling a team, emphasizing that the right choice depends on personal goals. * 21:31 – 25:55 – The Importance of Gross Margins: They dive into delivery margin basics, discussing the importance of average billable rates, efficiency, and cost control in scaling profits. * 25:55 – 33:54 – Creating Leverage with IP and Consulting: Patrick highlights how adding intellectual property or advisory components to your services can drastically increase value without adding significant cost. * 33:54 – 40:06 – Balancing Lifestyle and Growth: Patrick shares his personal experience of scaling down from a large team to a lean model to achieve more creative freedom and work-life balance. * 40:06 – 52:44 – Building Your Ideal Business:* The episode closes with actionable advice on defining your ideal lifestyle and designing a business model that aligns with it, whether that’s staying solo or scaling strategically.
Show Notes Connect with Patrick* + Instagram + YouTube + Website
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:43 – Welcome and Introduction: Marcel introduces Kristen Kelly, Parakeeto's newest team member, highlighting her quick ramp-up and prior involvement with the company. * 00:44 – 01:40 – Kristen's Background: Kristen shares her 20 years of agency experience, spanning six agencies, with a focus on account/project management and operations. * 01:41 – 02:50 – The Role of Operations: Kristen reflects on falling in love with operations at a startup agency, emphasizing its analytical and leadership demands. * 02:51 – 03:48 – Challenges of Operations: Marcel describes the ambiguous and multifaceted nature of operations roles, with operators often stepping in to resolve the business's weak areas. * 03:49 – 05:07 – The Complexity of Data Integration: Marcel explains how operators are often tasked with merging financial, operational, and new business data into a cohesive system, highlighting its challenges. * 05:08 – 06:50 – Leadership Misconceptions: Kristen discusses the disconnect between leadership's expectations of seamless reporting and the reality of fragmented systems and messy data. * 06:51 – 09:05 – The Fallacy of Perfect Automation: Marcel outlines the unrealistic expectations of fully automated reporting systems and the need for human oversight in data management. * 09:06 – 11:45 – Interconnected Metrics: Marcel explores the challenges of creating accurate and consistent metrics like utilization, requiring alignment across various systems. * 11:46 – 13:12 – The Realities of Data Pipelines: Marcel highlights the need for structured data pipelines and dedicated resources, drawing parallels to enterprise-level operations. * 13:13 – 15:01 – The Role of Finance: The discussion shifts to the differing scopes of tax accounting, financial reporting, and management accounting, emphasizing the latter’s importance for decision-making. * 15:02 – 18:52 – Aligning Cadences and Processes: Kristen and Marcel address how agencies can harmonize data reporting cadences with operational and leadership rhythms for better insights. * 18:53 – 25:04 – Lessons from Kristen’s Journey: Kristen reflects on her previous challenges in tackling operations without external support, estimating the significant costs of trial-and-error approaches. * 25:05 – 35:40 – The Parakeeto Framework*: The episode concludes with a deep dive into Parakeeto's three-pronged framework—data, metrics, and processes—and its ability to simplify and enhance agency operations.
Show Notes Connect with Kristen via* LinkedIn * Free Toolkit * Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 02:02 – 02:20 – The Prism Model: Chris introduces his "Prism Model," a framework for evaluating if a problem is worth solving. The model focuses on identifying problems that are painful, recurring, impactful, solvable, and marketable, helping agencies vet business ideas and align their offerings with market needs. * 05:21 – 05:40 – Service Saturation: Chris discusses the dangers of service saturation, where agencies compete on price and deliverables instead of outcomes, often leading to commoditization and reduced profitability. * 09:32 – 09:50 – Niching Down with a Purpose: Marcel and Chris explore the common mistake agencies make when niching based on services or verticals, emphasizing the importance of centering on a specific problem and solution for positioning success. * 14:35 – 14:55 – Point of View Rants: Chris highlights a simple but effective exercise to identify an agency’s unique point of view—by encouraging founders to rant about industry problems and extract their core beliefs and perspectives. * 22:03 – 22:20 – Four Times MVP: Marcel shares his "Four Times MVP" framework, emphasizing the need to address a problem, develop a point of view, refine a process, and then build a product, to create scalable, impactful agency solutions. * 29:38 – 29:55 – Efficiency vs. Innovation Spectrum: Chris explains the "Efficiency-Innovation Continuum," where agencies balance streamlined processes and innovative experimentation, deciding where to focus resources based on their goals and growth stage. * 35:44 – 36:02 – Internal Specialization: Marcel highlights the importance of internal specialization for agencies, emphasizing the benefits of focusing on core strengths while partnering with other experts to deliver comprehensive solutions. * 41:59 – 42:20 – Monetizing Churn: Marcel shares an example of an agency that monetized client churn by maintaining revenue streams through partnerships, turning what is typically seen as a loss into an ongoing profit center. * 43:01 – 43:11 – Closing Insights:* Chris emphasizes the importance of building partnerships and leveraging them to strengthen agency offerings while staying focused on core strengths, creating a sustainable model for growth and profitability.
Show Notes* Connect with Chris via LinkedIn * Dynamic Agency OS
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 01:00 – Introduction to Data Systems: Marcel introduces the episode’s focus on designing data systems that empower agencies and businesses to make data-driven decisions with clarity and alignment. * 01:00 – 02:30 – Why Agencies Struggle with Data: Marcel explains why many agencies face challenges in getting value from their data, often due to incorrect frameworks and a lack of process around data management. * 03:00 – 04:20 – The Pendulum of Tools: Marcel discusses how agencies often swing between using specialized tools and all-in-one platforms, creating unnecessary change management that doesn’t solve core data issues. * 05:00 – 06:15 – Outdated Billing Models in Agency Systems: Marcel explains how traditional agency frameworks assume time-and-materials billing, which isn’t suitable for many agencies today that use retainer or project-based models. * 07:30 – 08:45 – Misconception: Data Problems are Tool Problems: Marcel describes how agencies mistakenly frame data issues as tool problems, leading to constant tool changes without solving underlying issues. * 09:15 – 10:45 – Introduction to the Core Framework: Marcel introduces the three key elements for a high-functioning data system: data, framework, and process, with each playing a unique role in creating reliable insights. * 11:30 – 12:45 – The Four Essential Data Sets: Marcel explains the four critical types of data needed: finance, people, projects, and time, and why these are fundamental to any data system. * 13:00 – 14:30 – Framework: Metrics, Formulas, and Relationships: Marcel breaks down the importance of a clear framework to define which metrics to track, their formulas, and how they relate to each other and the business. * 15:30 – 17:00 – Challenges with Data Hygiene and Consistency: Marcel highlights the need for a process to maintain clean data and handle changes in structure, such as renaming teams or changing project codes. * 17:15 – 18:45 – Importance of Change Management in Data Systems: Marcel emphasizes that change within the business, like adding new services or tools, can disrupt data systems, requiring adaptable frameworks. * 19:30 – 21:00 – Realistic Expectations for Automation: Marcel cautions against fully automated data reporting, explaining that human oversight is essential for data hygiene and quality, even with AI assistance. * 22:00 – 23:45 – Cadences for Accurate Reporting: Marcel discusses the need for regular cadences, such as weekly time tracking, to ensure data accuracy and completeness before analysis. * 24:00 – 25:45 – How Parakeeto Helps Agencies with Data Management*: Marcel concludes by inviting agencies to reach out if they need support with data frameworks and processes, emphasizing that Parakeeto’s approach can save agencies time and improve profitability.
Show NotesConnect with Marcel:
- Connect with Marcel via LinkedIn
- Agency Profit Toolkit
- The Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:42 – Introduction to Guest: Marcel introduces Dr. Kristian Alomá, PhD, an expert in narrative psychology and author of Start With the Story, to discuss the power of storytelling in agency service design. * 00:48 – 01:14 – Background on Narrative Design: Kristian introduces his agency, Threadline, and explains narrative design as applying storytelling principles to branding, marketing, and business strategy. * 01:52 – 02:18 – What is Narrative Psychology? Kristian describes narrative psychology as the study of how people make sense of experiences through storytelling, emphasizing its importance in understanding client relationships. * 03:10 – 04:20 – Power of Storytelling: Marcel and Kristian discuss how storytelling resonates with both logical and emotional thinking, making it a powerful tool in sales and brand connection. * 05:38 – 06:30 – Changing Agency Landscape: Kristian explains how agency success has shifted from mere service delivery to forming meaningful client relationships that support brand values and identity. * 08:27 – 09:30 – Beyond Behavioral Marketing: Kristian discusses moving from a behavior-driven marketing approach to one focused on narratives that align with both client goals and agency values. * 10:23 – 11:33 – Client Relationships Across Career Stages: Kristian highlights the importance of adapting agency services to fit the evolving needs of clients as they grow from entry-level to executive roles. * 11:47 – 12:40 – Differentiation in a Specialized Market: Marcel and Kristian talk about how understanding clients’ unique stories allows agencies to differentiate in an increasingly specialized market. * 15:08 – 16:15 – Hero’s Paradox: Kristian explains the concept of the “hero’s paradox,” where placing the client as the hero ultimately strengthens the agency's role as a trusted partner. * 18:50 – 19:18 – Identifying Client Struggles: Marcel asks Kristian for tactical advice on understanding client struggles, which Kristian breaks down through his STORY framework. * 19:17 – 20:25 – Introduction to the STORY Framework: Kristian outlines his framework: Struggle, Tools, Objectives, Rewards, and Yearning (STORY), as a guide to designing client-centered services. * 23:29 – 24:45 – The Importance of Understanding Struggles: Marcel and Kristian discuss the importance of going beyond surface-level problems to truly understand a client’s struggle for deeper impact. * 27:39 – 28:32 – Focusing on Individual Challenges*: Kristian emphasizes the need to view client challenges from the individual’s perspective within the organization, making service solutions more impactful and personalized.
Show Notes Book: Start with the Story: Brand-Building in a Narrative Economy * Threadline: Visit the Website * Connect with Kristian A. Alomá*: + LinkedIn Profile + Personal Website
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:41 – Introduction: Marcel kicks off the episode with excitement, announcing the podcast's new weekly schedule, alternating between general content and Parakeeto-focused episodes. * 00:42 – 01:27 – Introducing Carson Pierce: Marcel introduces Carson Pierce, Parakeeto’s head consultant, with over two decades of experience in the agency world, emphasizing his popularity and unique career journey. * 02:02 – 03:00 – Carson’s Background: Carson shares his unconventional path, starting as a daycare owner before transitioning into agency work, becoming a developer, and eventually leading in project management. * 06:21 – 07:03 – Struggles in Resourcing: Carson recounts the challenges of resource management early in his career, highlighting the stress and inefficiency caused by a lack of data visibility. * 08:56 – 09:58 – Importance of Data: Marcel and Carson discuss how agencies often track data but don’t know how to leverage it, focusing on the need for clarity in profitability and efficiency. * 10:45 – 11:47 – Precision vs. Accuracy: They highlight the common mistake of focusing too much on precision in data, leading to inefficiencies, when accuracy at a higher level is more effective for decision-making. * 13:38 – 14:20 – Utilization Misuse: Carson shares how the misuse of utilization metrics at the individual level can create unnecessary pressure and mislead the team about actual workload. * 18:54 – 19:34 – The Importance of a Framework: Marcel emphasizes how having a structured operational framework can help agencies align their metrics and make data-driven decisions to drive profitability. * 23:01 – 23:47 – Pricing Myths: Marcel discusses how agencies often believe pricing is their main issue when, in reality, operational inefficiencies and over-servicing are often the real problems. * 28:23 – 28:53 – Estimating Challenges: Carson shares that while agencies may be good at planning profitable projects on paper, the execution often falls short due to poor estimating and scoping. * 35:17 – 36:30 – Looking Ahead to 2025: Carson expresses optimism for 2025, noting that agencies that learned efficiency during the lean times will be better positioned for profitability in the coming years. * 37:25 – 38:11 –* Conclusion: Marcel and Carson wrap up the episode, inviting listeners to connect with Carson and Parakeeto for more insights on optimizing agency operations and profitability.
Show Notes* Connect with Carson via LinkedIn * Agency Profit Toolkit * The Parakeeto Foundations Course
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Points of Interest00:44 – 01:55 – Evolution of Duct Tape Marketing: John explains how he developed a structured marketing system that focuses on strategy before tactics, addressing the unique challenges of smaller businesses.
02:43 – 03:09 – Growth of the Duct Tape Marketing Ecosystem: John talks about the expansion of his framework, which has now been adopted by over 400 certified agencies and consultants.
03:09 – 04:31 – Research on Fractional CMOs: John introduces his latest research on fractional CMOs and the increasing demand for this part-time, high-level marketing leadership role in the industry.
05:06 – 06:51 – Solo Consultants vs Larger Firms: John and Marcel discuss how fractional CMOs are typically solo consultants but are also being adopted by larger firms that are shifting toward more strategic offerings.
06:51 – 07:46 – Pressure on Agencies: Marcel and John address the challenges agencies face today, including AI-powered competition and offshore services, which force agencies to focus more on strategy and client relationships.
08:43 – 10:12 – Insight from Research: John shares key insights from his research, including how offering fractional CMO services enhances an agency’s strategic position, improves client relationships, and increases pricing power.
11:48 – 14:40 – Breadth vs. Depth of Experience: Marcel and John discuss the benefits of having broad marketing experience across industries versus being narrowly focused on one niche, and how this diversity brings fresh perspectives to clients.
17:20 – 19:09 – The Growing Demand for Fractional CMOs: John highlights how more small and midsized businesses are seeking fractional CMOs for strategic leadership as they recognize the need for high-level marketing guidance.
24:32 – 25:46 – Strategic Leadership Without Execution: Marcel and John explore how agencies can focus on strategy and project management while outsourcing execution, allowing for scalability and maintaining high margins.
30:29 – 32:16 – Growth of the Fractional CMO Role: John cites research showing that the fractional CMO role has grown by 60% in the past five years, predicting that this trend will continue as more businesses seek part-time strategic marketing leadership.
Show Notes* LinkedIn * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter/X * YouTube
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:44 – Marcel’s Introduction: Marcel Petitpas welcomes listeners to the Agency Profit Podcast and introduces Jason Swenk, a returning guest and friend of the show, known for his agency expertise and role as the founder of Agency Mastery 360. * 00:44 – 01:33 – Jason’s Background: Jason Swenk shares his journey of starting his first agency by accident in 1999, growing it to eight figures, and eventually selling it. He reflects on how he transitioned from agency founder to advisor and coach. * 02:20 – 02:55 – Success with Major Clients: Marcel highlights Jason’s success with major clients such as Lotus Cars and Hitachi, as Jason reflects on growing his agency into a multimillion-dollar business and the lessons learned. * 04:50 – 06:28 – Scaling with the Right Team: Jason explains the significance of building the right leadership team to scale and how to ensure the team is aligned with the company’s vision. * 07:35 – 09:55 – The Two "Whos" in Leadership: Jason outlines two key “whos” for agency growth: who do you need to hire to scale the agency, and who do you need to become as the leader to support that growth. * 12:19 – 14:35 – Shifting Focus to Long-Term Strategy: Jason shares how focusing on long-term strategy and empowering team members can unlock new levels of growth and how founders should stop managing day-to-day operations. * 16:07 – 19:25 – Empowering Your Team to Take Ownership: Marcel and Jason wrap up by discussing how to empower teams to take ownership of their roles, make decisions, and drive the agency forward without relying on the founder’s input for every decision. * 23:08 – 24:45 – Continuous Problem Solving: Marcel and Jason discuss how entrepreneurship is a constant process of solving bigger, more complex problems as the business grows, and how discipline and reinvention are key. * 25:52 – 27:54 – Core Values in Hiring: Jason shares the importance of aligning new hires with the company’s core values, ensuring that employees believe in the same vision and standards as the leadership. * 29:45 – 31:28 – Simplifying the Hiring Funnel: Marcel and Jason discuss how filtering applicants through creative processes like video submissions saves time and effort, allowing only the best candidates to move forward. * 32:55 – 34:45 – Trial Hiring for Leadership Roles: Jason advocates for hiring leaders as consultants for a 90-day trial period to assess their impact on the business before committing to a full-time position. * 34:45 – 35:52 – Measuring Success in Leadership Hires: Jason outlines how to measure success for leadership hires by focusing on how they streamline operations, save time, and work effectively with existing teams. * 37:25 – 38:45 – Invitation to Agency Mastery 360*: Jason invites listeners to check out Agency Mastery 360 and his resources for agency owners, including upcoming events like Elevate in Arizona, where agency owners can learn to step back from day-to-day operations.
Show Notes Jason’s Podcast: https://www.agencymastery360.com/podcast * Swenk.it * Elevate Event in Arizona Feb 2025 (Marcel is speaking)* https://www.agencymastery360.com/elevate
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:44 – Marcel’s Introduction: Marcel Petitpas welcomes listeners to the Agency Profit Podcast and introduces his guest, Ian Garlic, founder of Video Case Story and author of Video Testimonials That Land the Big Fish. * 01:11 – 02:54 – Ian’s Background: Ian shares his journey, including nearly 20 years in marketing, starting in commercial real estate and evolving to become a marketing consultant for attorneys and agencies, focusing on YouTube and video case stories. * 03:35 – 04:53 – Understanding Client Impact Through Storytelling: Ian emphasizes the importance of understanding the transformation businesses create for clients, and how telling compelling stories of that transformation can attract new business and retain current clients. * 06:20 – 07:20 – Listening to Client Needs Through Video: Ian shares how listening to client stories through videos has helped his agency refine its processes and improve the services they offer by focusing on what matters most to clients. * 09:03 – 10:15 – Difference Between Case Studies and Case Stories: Ian explains the difference between case studies (which focus on logic and numbers) and case stories (which focus on client emotions and transformations), making the latter more impactful for long-term engagement. * 11:13 – 12:57 – Overcoming Client Buyer’s Remorse: Ian discusses how video case stories help overcome buyer’s remorse by keeping clients engaged and reminding them of their goals, especially in the first 100 days of working together. * 16:58 – 18:22 – Consistently Collecting and Using Case Stories: Ian outlines his process for regularly collecting client stories, analyzing patterns, and using them not just for client acquisition but also for ongoing marketing and team engagement. * 20:54 – 22:19 – The Importance of Regular Storytelling: Ian highlights the importance of consistently sharing client stories to reinforce trust and credibility, both with clients and internally within the agency’s team. * 22:20 – 24:06 – Strategic Storytelling for Business Growth: Marcel and Ian talk about how understanding and refining customer stories can help businesses focus on high-impact services and clients, driving profitability and business growth. * 27:23 – 28:23 – The Meta-Effect of Client Storytelling: Marcel shares how powerful it is when clients feel like they know each other through the stories shared on YouTube, creating a sense of community and trust among them. * 29:38 – 30:00 – Preparing Clients to Tell Their Story:* Ian highlights the importance of preparing clients for storytelling by guiding them through the process and helping them articulate their journey, so that the story resonates with future clients.
Show Notes Podcast: The Garlic Marketing Show * Book: Video Testimonials That Land The Big Fish * Miro (Tool) * Dr Paul Zach - Chemistry of Storytelling * Ian’s LinkedIn* * Reach out to Ian on Linkedin and ask for these resources: + Case Story Tacklebox + Case Story Selector + The $100k client visualizer - LinkedIn Newsletter
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Points of Interest 00:49 – 01:52 – Shiv's Background: Shiv shares his journey from building and selling a company to now running How To SaaS, where he works with private equity investors and software companies on marketing strategies. * 01:53 – 02:51 – Marketing for Private Equity: Shiv explains his company’s focus on providing marketing due diligence, strategy consulting, and fractional CMO services to private equity firms and software companies. * 02:52 – 03:41 – The Power of Positioning: Marcel highlights the uniqueness of Shiv’s focus on private equity, differentiating How to SaaS in the market by addressing specific investor needs. * 06:06 – 07:40 – Product Market Fit: Shiv talks about the creation of a new market category—marketing due diligence—and how this focus on strategy over tactics helped his firm differentiate itself. * 07:41 – 09:05 – Preparing for Exit: Shiv explains how businesses should prepare for a sale by focusing on predictable revenue, reducing customer concentration, and ensuring operational efficiency to appeal to buyers. * 9:06 – 12:02 – Identifying Ideal Clients: Shiv emphasizes the need to focus on ideal customers who bring in scalable, predictable revenue and why saying no to less ideal clients is key to long-term success. * 12:03 – 15:57 – Strategic Specialization: Shiv highlights how specializing in a narrow, focused market can lead to higher margins, better client retention, and an overall increase in business valuation. * 15:58 – 21:38 – Internal Efficiency and Gross Margins: Marcel and Shiv discuss how internal specialization and optimizing gross margins can make an agency more profitable and attractive for acquisition. * 21:39 – 27:25 – The Importance of Sales Conversations: Shiv stresses the importance of clear sales processes and managing client expectations upfront, ensuring alignment with the agency’s focused services. * 27:26 – 34:50* – Post-Acquisition Strategy: Shiv outlines how post-acquisition marketing strategies must align with the new owner’s goals, focusing on budget efficiency, strategic cross-selling opportunities, and operational improvements to drive value.
Show Notes* Shiv’s Website: https://www.howtosaas.com/ * Shiv's LinkedIn * New Book: Exit-Ready Marketing * Old Book: Post-Acquisition Marketing
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:48 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas welcomes Taylor Welch, a seasoned sales and marketing expert, to discuss aligning sales incentives with client success, sharing insights from Taylor’s extensive experience. * 00:48 – 01:20 – Background: Taylor Welch introduces himself, sharing his journey from a touring musician to building a portfolio of companies, and the challenges he faced balancing business growth with family life. * 01:20 – 03:43 – Early Business Struggles: Taylor discusses his initial struggles with scaling businesses, the pitfalls of rapid growth, and the realization that he needed to prioritize both business and family. * 03:43 – 04:44 – Scaling Challenges: Marcel and Taylor explore the challenges of scaling businesses too quickly, the risks of overextending, and the importance of operational re-engineering. * 04:44 – 06:30 – Market Cap Concept: Taylor introduces the concept of “market cap” in business growth, explaining how operational inefficiencies can limit scalability and lead to negative consequences. * 06:30 – 07:46 – Service Industry Risks: Marcel highlights the dangers of selling more services without addressing underlying operational issues, especially in cash-based accounting. * 07:46 – 08:38 – Sales Philosophy: Taylor outlines his sales philosophy, emphasizing the importance of helping clients make the best decisions for themselves, even when it’s outside their comfort zone. * 08:38 – 12:01 – Sales Process Alignment: Taylor discusses the alignment between sales, operations, and delivery, and how incentive structures impact client experience and long-term business success. * 12:01 – 17:11 – Revolving Price Model: Taylor introduces the “revolving price” model, which balances charging what you’re worth while giving more value than expected, and how it influences client retention. * 17:11 – 21:17 – Client Engagement: The conversation delves into the importance of tracking client engagement and using data points to ensure long-term client satisfaction and retention. * 21:17 – 29:45 – Tracking Metrics: Taylor and Marcel discuss the significance of tracking key metrics, including customer effort scores (CES) and activity scores, to enhance client experience and predict retention. * 29:45 – 40:55 – Moral Authority in Sales:* The episode concludes with Taylor explaining the concept of “moral authority” in sales, where aligning business incentives with client success ensures sustainable growth and ethical business practices. Taylor also shares his online platforms for further content.
Show Notes* Taylor’s Website: https://taylorawelch.com/ * Taylor’s Socials: + Instagram + X/Twitter + YouTube + Facebook + LinkedIn + https://linktr.ee/taylorawelch * New Book: Winning at Sales * Book: The Exceptional Experience
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:41 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas welcomes Mark O'Donnell, the leader of EOS Worldwide, to discuss the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and its impact on businesses, focusing specifically on data and scorecards. * 02:04 – 03:38 – What is EOS?: Mark O'Donnell provides an overview of EOS, explaining its core components—Vision, Traction, and Healthy—and how it helps businesses align their leadership teams and execute their vision effectively. * 04:37 – 07:08 – Mark’s Journey to EOS Leadership: Mark shares his background, including his transition from running a vertically integrated pharma and biotech services business to becoming the CEO of EOS Worldwide. * 07:08 – 08:18 – Data and Scorecards in EOS: The conversation shifts to the importance of data and scorecards within the EOS framework, with Mark emphasizing how these tools help track business performance and drive accountability. * 10:31 – 11:49 – The Importance of Weekly Metrics: Mark explains the significance of maintaining a weekly cadence in measuring business metrics, ensuring that issues are identified and addressed quickly to keep the business on track. * 14:15 – 14:57 – Measuring What Matters: Mark discusses the importance of focusing on a small number of key metrics that provide a clear pulse on the business’s health, rather than overwhelming the team with too much data. * 19:31 – 21:48 – Building Effective Scorecards: Mark and Marcel talk about the challenges businesses face when building scorecards, stressing the importance of starting with the end goal in mind and working backward to identify key metrics. * 26:58 – 28:58 – Accountability and Leadership: Mark explains how the scorecard is not just a tool for measurement but also a way to ensure accountability across the leadership team, emphasizing that every metric should have an owner responsible for its outcomes. * 32:52 – 35:44 – Aligning Metrics with Business Objectives: Mark and Marcel discuss the importance of aligning metrics at the ground level with the high-level objectives of the business, ensuring that data tracked at every level contributes to the overall vision and strategy. * 35:44 – 36:09 – Holistic Approach to EOS Implementation: Mark highlights the importance of viewing EOS as a complete system, where all components—vision, data, people, processes—work together to create a cohesive strategy for business success. * 36:09 – 37:58 – Final Thoughts and Resources:* Mark concludes with advice on how businesses can effectively implement EOS, mentioning various resources available on the EOS Worldwide website, including free tools, software, and the directory of certified EOS Implementers.
Show Notes* Podcast * LinkedIn * Website * Books: + Traction + RocketFuel * EOSONE Software * Basecamp * Implementor Directory
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:36 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas welcomes David Tobin, a mergers and acquisitions expert, to discuss strategies for successful business exits. * 01:09 – 02:52 – David’s Background: David shares his journey from starting his first business in college to founding Tobin Leff, focusing on his niche in financial services and exit planning. * 04:26 – 06:37 – Exit Strategies: David outlines various exit strategies, including selling to another agency, management buyouts, ESOPs, and financial sponsors. * 08:20 – 10:13 – Planning for Exit: David and Marcel discuss how firm owners can think through and plan for their exit, considering different options and what might be most applicable to them. * 13:58 – 15:58 – Current Market Conditions: David talks about how current economic conditions, such as interest rates and market performance, are impacting M&A activity in the professional services space. * 17:52 – 18:55 – Impact of Performance: Marcel and David discuss how a firm's recent performance can significantly impact its equity value and attractiveness to buyers. * 19:37 – 21:54 – Vision for Growth: David emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision for growth and being able to articulate how a company can continue to expand under new ownership. * 24:53 – 26:36 – Investments in the Business: Marcel and David talk about the importance of making strategic investments in the business to enhance value and how to manage these investments without negatively impacting EBITDA. * 29:04 – 30:20 – Building Relationships: David advises firm owners to build relationships with potential buyers and keep their companies on the radar of industry players to facilitate smoother future transactions. * 30:20 – 34:04 – Tax Considerations:* David discusses how tax planning should not drive the exit strategy but highlights the importance of efficient tax treatment and managing working capital.
Show NotesConnect with David through:
- Website
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Points of Interest 02:02 – 02:20 – Ryan's Framework: Marcel explains how Ryan Tansom's "Independence by Design" framework has transformed his view on his own business. * 03:32 – 05:03 – Owner-Operator Challenges: Ryan describes the challenges of owner-operators and the importance of achieving true independence through sustainable business practices. * 05:09 – 06:47 – Systems for Independence: Ryan highlights various systems (EOS, scaling up, OKRs) that help owner-operators achieve freedom of time and money. * 08:13 – 09:19 – Understanding the Game: Ryan discusses the importance of understanding the true purpose of one's business and aligning it with personal goals. * 13:33 – 15:32 – Reverse Engineering Goals: Ryan and Marcel discuss the importance of reverse engineering lifestyle goals to determine necessary financial outcomes from the business. * 25:12 – 26:26 – Importance of Good Cash Flow: Ryan explains that good cash flow is essential for independence and attracting buyers, and how interest rates and the lending environment affect valuations. * 26:32 – 27:29 – Third-Party Sale Validity: Ryan highlights the validity of third-party sales and the importance of having a clear plan, whether it's raising money, scaling up, or focusing on cash flow. * 27:36 – 29:08 – Debt Service and Business Worth: Ryan and Marcel discuss calculating the business worth based on the debt it can service from its free cash flow, providing a rule of thumb for business valuation. * 29:14 – 30:21 – Choosing Your Game: Ryan emphasizes the importance of choosing the right game for your business and aligning your decisions with your personal and business goals. * 30:27 – 31:06 – Surround Yourself with the Right People: Ryan advises surrounding yourself with people who understand your goals and can provide relevant advice based on the game you are playing. * 31:12 – 32:10 – Influencing Decision-Making:* Ryan and Marcel discuss how different business goals influence decision-making, using examples like hiring a legal firm or implementing an ERP system.
Show NotesConnect with Ryan through:
- YouTube
- Website
- Independence by Design
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Points of Interest 00:54 – 01:39 – Matt’s Journey: Matt Bodnar shares his background, mentioning his experience at Goldman Sachs and his move to Nashville in 2011, where he bought his first IT service company. * 02:24 – 03:07 – M&A Realization: Matt explains how he stumbled into mergers and acquisitions and the importance of creative deal structures and the independent sponsor model. * 05:00 – 06:29 – Independent Sponsor Model: Matt discusses the independent sponsor model, which involves raising capital on a deal-by-deal basis, allowing him to start doing deals without needing a large fund. * 07:02 – 08:32 – Business Giveaway Deal: Matt shares an example of a 'business giveaway' deal where they acquired a data center, paying the seller a percentage of revenue over a few years, which was beneficial for both parties. * 08:33 – 10:42 – Cross-Selling Opportunities: Matt explains the benefits of cross-selling between the acquired data center and his existing IT business, which led to increased revenue and new opportunities. * 10:43 – 13:42 – Roll-Up Dynamics: Marcel talks about the concept of roll-up deals, using an example from the pharmacy space, and discusses the potential for similar strategies in the agency space. * 13:43 – 19:06 – Market Environment: Matt shares his perspective on the current market environment, emphasizing that interest rates are less of a concern than the impact of AI on agency valuations and M&A activity. * 19:07 – 23:51 – Creative Deal Structures: Matt discusses the importance of creative deal structures in mitigating risks and adapting to various market conditions, especially in the agency space. * 27:16 – 29:08 – Integration Challenges: Marcel and Matt discuss the challenges of integrating acquired businesses, with Matt emphasizing the importance of having a good operating infrastructure. * 30:50 – 33:58 – Understanding Seller Needs: Matt stresses the importance of understanding the seller's goals and desires to craft effective deal structures that work for both parties. * 33:59 – 36:04 – Structuring Deals:* Matt provides examples of different deal structures, such as non-voting stock and liquidity preferences, to illustrate how creative approaches can facilitate complex acquisitions.
Show Notes Connect with Matt through*: + LinkedIn + Twitter + YouTube * Website: https://mattbodnar.com * Deal Mastery Insider
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:58 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces the episode and guest Nicole Greer, founder and CEO of Build a Vibrant CultureTM. * 00:59 – 02:14 – Guest Background: Nicole shares her journey and experience, highlighting her work with notable brands like State Farm and The Ohio State University. * 02:15 – 04:05 – Importance of Culture: Discussion on why culture is crucial for any organization and how it impacts team performance and business success. * 04:06 – 06:27 – Defining Culture: Marcel and Nicole explore what culture means in a workplace context, emphasizing behaviors, actions, and organizational values. * 06:28 – 08:11 – Challenges in Building Culture: Common challenges agencies face when trying to build and maintain a positive culture, especially as they grow. * 08:12 – 10:05 – Introduction to S.H.I.N.E. Coaching MethodologyTM: Nicole introduces her SHINE framework, outlining its five components: Self-Assessment, Habit Work, Integrity Work, Next Right Step Work, and Energy Work. * 10:06 – 12:22 – Self-Assessment: In-depth discussion on the importance of self-assessment for leaders and how understanding oneself can influence team dynamics. * 12:23 – 14:11 – Habit Work: Exploring the significance of developing good habits and communication skills within a team. * 14:12 – 16:20 – Integrity Work: Nicole explains how integrity and accountability play a vital role in maintaining a vibrant culture and why feedback is essential. * 16:21 – 18:34 – Next Right Step Work: The importance of continuous development and career progression for team members to keep them engaged and motivated. * 18:35 – 20:01 – Energy Work: Nicole discusses the six types of energy (intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physical, social, financial) and how leaders can harness these to power their teams effectively. * 20:02 – 32:15 – Leadership's Role in Culture:* Marcel and Nicole delve into the responsibility of leaders in shaping and maintaining culture, practical steps for leaders, the importance of feedback and accountability, and personal stories illustrating the impact of a vibrant culture on organizational success.
Show Notes: Connect with Nicole through her profile:Nicole on LinkedIn * Vibrant Culture on LinkedIn * Character Traits List * Website:* https://vibrantculture.com/
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:40 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces Audrey Joy Kwan, a seasoned leadership coach and agency consultant, discussing her extensive experience in agency leadership development. Audrey shares her transition from law to marketing, leading to a significant career in agency leadership. * 06:57 – 08:26 – Leadership Styles: Audrey discusses the selection of appropriate leadership styles for different agency scenarios, addressing common misconceptions. * 10:24 – 12:33 – Practical Example: Audrey provides an example from event management to demonstrate how leadership styles are adapted based on team competencies. * 14:51 – 16:00 – Leadership Framework: Discussion on a quadrant framework that helps identify appropriate leadership styles based on team member confidence and competence. * 18:50 – 20:09 – Flexibility in Leadership: Emphasis on the importance of adapting leadership approaches to individual team member needs and project dynamics. * 22:35 – 24:59 – Assessing Competence and Confidence: Audrey elaborates on methods for assessing team members' skills and confidence to select the most effective leadership style. * 226:28 – 27:50 – Do’s and Don’ts of Leadership Styles: Marcel and Audrey discuss best practices for implementing each leadership style to maximize effectiveness and team satisfaction. * 29:46 – 31:33 – Directive Leadership in Depth: Detailed breakdown of how and when to employ directive leadership effectively within an agency setting. * 31:33 – 33:57 – Coaching and Supporting Styles: Exploration of coaching and supporting leadership styles, including how to empower team members through these approaches. * 36:00 – 37:23 – Identifying Leadership Missteps: Techniques for identifying when a chosen leadership style isn't working and how to pivot effectively to support team success. * 38:25 – 39:28 – Building Team Confidence*: Strategies for boosting team confidence through gradual increases in responsibility, helping team members grow effectively into their roles
Show Notes* Free Live Workshop: https://audreyjoykwan.com/leadershipstyles * Connect with Audrey through her profile: + IG: https://www.instagram.com/audreyjoykwan/ + LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwanaudrey/ * Website: https://audreyjoykwan.com/ * Marcel’s episode in Audrey’s pod: https://audreyjoykwan.com/podcast-ep86/
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Points of Interest 00:00 – 05:32 – Opening Discussion: Marcel and Joey highlight the critical role of clear communication and the art of building client relationships in agency settings. * 05:34 – 08:36 – Joey's Insights: Sharing his journey as an agency owner and creative director, Joey delves into why effective communication is foundational to strong client relationships. * 08:38 – 12:30 – Trust Building: Marcel and Joey explore the importance of understanding client needs and establishing trust at the start of any client engagement. * 12:33 – 16:34 – Vision and Communication: Early client meetings focus on clear communication and vision setting to foster trust and understand clients’ needs, as emphasized by Joey. * 16:36 – 20:34 – Managing Scope Creep: The duo addresses the challenges of scope creep, stressing the need for transparent communication and managing client expectations to prevent project pitfalls. * 20:37 – 25:22 – Strategic Communication: Joey provides tips and strategies for handling scope creep and managing expectations through effective communication and strategic discussions. * 25:24 – 30:41 – Extracting Value: Discussion on the importance of deriving high-value context from client meetings to fully grasp their pain points and project objectives. * 30:44 – 36:32 – Ongoing Engagement: The significance of continuous check-ins and communication to maintain trust and enhance the client experience throughout the project. * 36:34 – 42:14 – Emotional Engagement: Marcel and Joey talk about managing the emotional journey of client engagements, emphasizing the need to sustain excitement and vision. * 42:16 – 47:58 – Further Learning:* Joey shares additional resources and underscores the importance of genuine human interaction in nurturing client relationships.
Show Notes* Download the Think Like Your Client POV Guide here: https://www.joeytackett.com/podcastresources * Website: https://Joeytackett.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeytackett (Feel free to DM!) * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativejoey (Feel free to DM!) * Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeytackett * YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HeyJoeyTackett/videos
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:40 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces the episode and guest Jamie van Cuyk, an expert in hiring and onboarding, who shares her extensive experience in helping entrepreneurs effectively grow their teams. * 01:20 – 02:43 – Company Overview: Jamie describes her role and the objectives of her company, Growing Your Team, emphasizing its focus on teaching small business owners to hire like professionals. * 02:43 – 05:12 – Hiring Challenges: The conversation shifts towards the challenges of hiring, the negative impacts of poor hiring decisions, and the potential positive outcomes of effective hiring practices. * 05:12 – 06:47 – Profitability through Hiring: Discussion on how proper hiring can lead to increased profitability and efficiency within a business. * 06:47 – 13:56 – When to Hire: Marcel and Jamie discuss the indicators and timing for when businesses should consider hiring new team members. * 13:56 – 18:45 – Financial Considerations in Hiring: They delve into the financial aspects of hiring, including budgeting and the economic impact on a business. * 18:45 – 26:49 – Role of Management: Focus shifts to the importance of hiring middle management and its role in business growth and employee management. * 26:49 – 35:35 – Role Design: Jamie explains the process of designing roles within a company to align with strategic business goals. * 35:35 – End – Recruitment Strategies:* The final segment covers effective strategies for attracting the right candidates and the importance of a respectful and efficient hiring process.
Show Notes* Connect with Jamie through her profile: Jamie Van Cuyk on LinkedIn * Instagram * Facebook
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Points of Interest 00:01 – 00:58 – Introduction: Marcel Petitpas introduces the episode and guest Kelly Campbell, a trauma-informed leadership coach. Discussion about Kelly’s new book, “Heal to Lead,” and their approach to trauma, leadership, and consciousness. * 01:03 – 01:21 – Kelly Campbell’s Professional Background: Kelly shares their professional journey from owning a digital marketing agency to becoming a trauma-informed leadership coach, focusing on the deeper motivations and fears that impact leaders. * 03:03 – 04:38 – The Importance of Addressing Trauma in Leadership: Marcel highlights the personal relevance of the discussion on trauma in leadership and its impact on personal development and business effectiveness. * 04:38 – 07:54 – Impact of Trauma on Leadership Styles: Kelly discusses how both small and large traumas shape leadership styles, personal relationships, and professional environments. * 18:03 – 19:42 – Personal Reflections on Growth and Impact of Trauma: Marcel reflects on his personal development journey, the impact of pausing growth activities, and the importance of continuous self-awareness. * 23:15 – 28:37 – Healing and Leadership Coaching Techniques: Kelly provides insights into the modalities and processes they use in their trauma-informed leadership coaching, emphasizing the integration of trauma for enhancing personal and professional growth. * 37:07 – 38:49 – Conclusion and Book Promotion*: Where to find Kelly's book, the significance of supporting independent bookstores, and final thoughts on the necessity of addressing trauma in leadership for better overall effectiveness.
Show Notes* Book Pre-Order: https://klcampbell.com/heal-to-lead-book/ * Website: https://klcampbell.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelly.l.campbell * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylcampbell/ * Substack: https://kellylcampbell.substack.com/ * Leadership Quiz: https://klcampbell.com/leadership/ * Healing Resources: https://myhealingmenu.com
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Points of Interest 00:01 - 00:21 - Introduction: Marcel introduces the episode and guest Chris Rudolph, a business coach specializing in helping agency owners grow their businesses and improve their lifestyles. * 00:21 - 01:05 - Chris’s Background: Chris shares his journey from starting in the fitness industry to coaching agency owners, emphasizing his accidental entry into the agency space. * 01:05 - 02:41 - Why Agencies?: Chris explains his focus on agencies, driven by their unique challenges and his passion for helping agency owners develop CEO skills they typically lack. * 02:41 - 03:11 - Changes in the Agency Landscape: Discussion on how COVID-19 and economic changes have affected agency pricing, scoping, and client retention strategies. * 03:11 - 06:17 - Opportunities from Disruption: Chris highlights how disruptions can open up opportunities for agencies ready to adapt, especially in terms of performance retainers. * 06:17 - 09:18 - Hybrid Retainer Model: Chris introduces his hybrid model combining flat fee retainers with performance-based components to balance risk and reward. * 09:18 - 11:09 - Determining the Base Retainer: The conversation dives into how to calculate a base retainer that covers costs and a margin, ensuring agencies don’t lose money on performance-based contracts. * 11:09 - 18:59 - Setting Performance Fees: Tips on simple and effective ways to structure performance fees based on net sales, ROAS, or cost per lead, depending on the agency’s services. * 18:59 - 27:09 - Audit Process for Client Acquisition: Chris describes the process of conducting audits for potential clients to assess fit and demonstrate value before proposing a retainer model. * 27:09 - 35:26 - Retaining Clients Through Transition*: Strategies for transitioning existing clients facing churn or cancellations to the hybrid performance-based model as a way to retain their business.
Show Notes* Connect with Chris through his profile: Chris Rudolph on LinkedIn * Freedom Agency Coach
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Points of Interest
- 00:01-00:23 – Marcel kicks off the podcast by introducing Pete Everitt, a friend of the show, multi-agency owner, and coach specializing in helping agency owners with client acquisition and retention through recurring revenue.
- 00:24-02:04 – Pete details his professional journey, from agency work in the UK to launching SEO Hive during the pandemic, and his coaching role for agency owners.
- 02:04-02:25 – Discussion on the unique insights Pete offers by managing firms and coaching simultaneously.
- 02:25-03:31 – Pete shares his career trajectory, including his start in agencies post-university and the eventual launch of his own agency in 2016.
- 03:31-05:50 – The conversation shifts to Pete’s motivation for starting his own agency, spurred by a desire for more autonomy.
- 05:50-08:56 – The evolution of agency models over the last decade, contrasting traditional firms with modern digital agencies.
- 08:56-11:22 – The importance of providing value over simply reducing costs, especially in a post-COVID context, is discussed.
- 11:22-13:57 – Pete emphasizes moving from an order-taker to a trusted advisor by closely understanding and evolving with clients' needs.
- 13:57-17:16 – Marcel and Pete discuss how deep client understanding and problem-solving lead to better retention and expansion opportunities.
- 17:16-34:39 – The final segment covers steps for agencies to become more strategic with clients, underscoring the role of account management and the necessity of adapting services to client needs continuously.
Show Notes
- Connect with Pete through his profile: Pete Everitt on LinkedIn
- Account management Resources
- Product Management Resources:
- Lean Customer Development, Book
- Jobs to be done
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Points of Interest* 00:01-00:46 – Marcel kicks off the podcast by introducing David Jenyns, the genius behind a global agency that specializes in building business systems. * 00:47-02:12 – David opens up about his journey in the business world and what inspired him to pen down the book SYSTEMology. * 02:13-03:07 – Marcel and David get real about the struggles small businesses face when trying to grow, and how SYSTEMology swoops in to save the day. * 03:08-06:33 – David shares his own rollercoaster ride of running a digital agency, tackling hurdles like delegation and scalability head-on. * 06:34-08:27 – They dive into the telltale signs that scream, “Hey, it’s time for SYSTEMology!” * 08:28-09:57 – David lays out the initial steps for busting through bottlenecks systematically. * 09:58-11:37 – They discuss the importance of nailing down the top 10-15 systems in a business as the first step towards embracing SYSTEMology. * 11:38-14:26 – Tackling the challenges of getting your team onboard with new processes and systems becomes the focus of the conversation. * 14:27-16:14 – David unveils the concept of a systems champion and how it can transform your business’s culture. * 16:15-18:45 – Practical leadership tips for cultivating systems thinking and ensuring system maintenance take center stage. * 18:46-19:01 – David wraps up by pointing listeners towards more SYSTEMology gold, including his book and other resources.
Show Notes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-jenyns/ * Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/davidjenyns * Website: https://www.systemology.com/profile/ * Amazon link to book: https://www.amazon.ca/SYSTEMology-Create-profits-business-systems-ebook/dp/B08CDY993G*
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Points of Interest* 00:01 – 00:40 – Introduction to the Episode and Guest: Marcel introduces Michael Wark and his expertise in finance for agencies. * 00:40-01:00 – Michael’s Background and Passion for Agency Finance: Michael shares his excitement for the topic and his background in financial services. * 01:00-01:45 – The Role of a Virtual CFO for Agencies: Discussion on how Michael serves as a virtual CFO for agencies worldwide, blending operations with finance. * 02:10-03:18 – Why Michael Started Trimline and Focus on Agencies: Michael’s journey from corporate to entrepreneurship, focusing on creative agencies. * 04:15-05:15 – The Importance of Management Accounting Over Tax Accounting: Insights on how focusing on management accounting can better support growth and strategic decision-making. * 05:15-06:41 – Stages of Agency Growth Towards $5 Million: Michael discusses the growth stages agencies face on their way to $5 million and beyond. * 06:59-08:00 – Common Financial Pitfalls for New Clients: Challenges new clients face, such as mixing personal and business finances. * 10:38-11:29 – Restructuring P&L for Operational Profit: Strategies to clean up the P&L for a true look at operational profit, separating out non-operational expenses. * 14:03-15:42 – Accrual Accounting in Agencies: The complexity of accrual accounting for agencies and the importance of accurate revenue recognition. * 19:19-22:08 – Investing for Growth and Understanding Unit Economics: The investment mindset required for sustainable growth and the significance of understanding unit economics. * 33:11-37:02 – Building Real Value and Preparing for Exit: Focusing on building a business that’s attractive to buyers by systemizing operations and documenting processes.
Show Notes Link to E-book: https://jo.my/qr/trimline-growth * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wark-18627628/ * Website: https://trimline.co/*
Points of Interest
- 0:00-1:20 - Introduction to Craig Cody, a tax strategy expert focused on helping agencies pay less tax.
- 1:21-2:12 - The unique focus of tax planning for marketing agencies.
- 2:13-3:04 - The role of business model in tax planning for agencies.
- 3:05-4:29 - Understanding the tax code and the importance of tax planning.
- 4:30-5:45 - The importance of proactive tax planning and thinking year-round.
- 5:46-6:50 - The importance of tax efficiency and its impact on building wealth.
- 6:51-7:30 - Thoughtful decisions and tax efficiency for agency owners.
- 7:31-8:31 - The tension between making business tax efficient and the reality of business costs.
- 8:32-9:45 -The impact of entities and location on tax planning.
- 9:46-10:53 - Retirement planning as a key tax strategy for agency owners.
- 10:54-12:18 -The value of documentation and proper planning for tax efficiency.
- 12:19-14:00 - Strategies for maximizing tax benefits and expenses within the boundaries of the law.
Show Notes
- 12 Biggest Tax Mistakes Book: https://craigcodyandcompany.com/ (form on homepage)
- 5 Simple Ways to Save Thousands on Taxes Course: https://craigcodyandcompany.thinkific.com/courses/5-tax-strategies
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa/
- LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/craig-cody-and-company/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CraigCodyandCompany
- Website: https://craigcodyandcompany.com/
- Agency Research Report: https://craigcodyandcompany.com/agency-tax-research/
- Re-launching The Progressive Agency Podcast: https://craigcodyandcompany.com/agency-podcast/ - Date TBD
- Email: craig@ccodycpa.com
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- 00:00 – 00:18 – Introduction and background information on Rob’s 25 years of experience in the agency industry.
- 03:15 – 05:05 – Rob shares his experience transitioning into the digital industry and the challenges faced in the early years.
- 08:22 – 13:02 – Rob shares two crazy experiences from his time in the digital industry, including a major website launch mistake.
- 13:05 – 18:05 – Rob discusses the challenges of maintaining agency profitability and creativity and his transition into consulting.
- 19:18 – 21:17 – Discussion on the challenges of balancing creativity and agency operations, and resistance to introducing processes.
- 21:20 – 24:23 – Discussion on the need to introduce strategic consulting and the fear of process impacting creativity.
- 24:23 – 29:20 – Discussion on the importance of feedback loops and creating a culture of feedback within the agency.
- 29:20 – 34:00 – Addressing resistance during the implementation of processes and the need for organizational restructuring.
- 34:00 – 36:17 – Final advice on taking incremental steps and involving the team in the process to create a harmonious work culture.
- 36:17 – 38:00 – Conclusion and contact information for further follow-up.
Show Notes:
- Rob Sayles LinkedIn Profile
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- 0:00-2:00 – Introduction to the solo cast episode focusing on utilization rates, emphasizing its significance for agencies.
- 2:00-6:00 – Historical context of utilization, highlighting its relevance in the billable hour era and its evolving role in the modern agency landscape.
- 6:00-11:30 – Challenges in measuring utilization, emphasizing variations in defining billable hours and capacity, hindering benchmarking efforts.
- 11:30-15:00 – Emphasis on a comprehensive management framework and the interconnectedness of utilization with financial metrics.
- 15:00-18:00 – Discussion on the impact of utilization on agency profitability and the absence of a universal benchmark.
- 18:00-22:30 – Introduction to the Parakeeto framework and its consistent approach to calculating utilization within a broader context.
- 22:30-26:00 – Insight into utilization as a lever affecting delivery margin, with examples highlighting potential discrepancies in profitability.
- 26:00-30:00 – Exploration of the formula for utilization, defined as delivery hours over capacity, with detailed explanations of each component.
- 30:00-34:00 – Importance of considering delivery hours over billable hours in the context of utilization, using examples to illustrate profitability discrepancies.
- 34:00 – End Conclusion on the significance of a thoughtful and consistent metric aligned with a broader management framework, with a focus on the flexibility of the Parakeeto framework.
Show Notes:
- Capacity Planning 101: Strategies, Benefits, and Challenges: https://parakeeto.com/blog/capacity-planning-101-strategies-benefits-and-challenges/
- Toolkit: https://parakeeto.com/toolkit/
- Calculator: https://parakeeto.com/blog/utilization-rate-calculator/
- Utilization Rate & Capacity Forecasting: Marketing Agency’s Guide: https://parakeeto.com/blog/resource-utilization-capacity-planning-for-marketing-agency-2/
Points of Interest
- 0:00-0:22 - Intro & background of guests and their expertise
- 0:21-1:22 - Four stages of day-to-day involvement in an agency
- 1:23-1:18 - Six agency roles to consider delegating
- 2:20-5:05 - Clarifying swim lanes to define roles and responsibilities
- 5:08-10:10 - Values, goals, and resources for decision-making
- 10:11-11:00 - Developing high-functioning leadership within an agency
- 11:01-14:13 - Hiring strategies and delegation considerations
- 14:14-17:04 - Encouraging trust within the team and ongoing feedback
- 17:05-18:13 - Importance of assuming positive intent and effective communication
- 18:14-22:15 - The power and effectiveness of meetings, and leading by example
- 22:16-23:13 - Resources and training for leadership development
- 23:13 - 34:33 - Clarifying Swim Lanes and Evolution
- 34:33 - 48:41 - Leadership Coaching and Feedback
- 48:41 - 49:56 - Conclusion and Additional Resources
Show Notes
- Book Link: https://sakasandcompany.com/lp/work-less-earn-more-book/
- Website: https://sakasandcompany.com
- Newsletter: https://sakasandcompany.com
- Leadership Training:
- Home | Manager Tools (manager-tools.com)
- https://sakasandcompany.com/training-programs/
- Bureau of Digital Link: https://bureauofdigital.com/
- Free resources from Sakas & Company (including hundreds of articles, a newsletter for agency leaders, and more)
- Agency Leadership Intensive (eight-week virtual leadership development program for agency owners and execs)
- Work Less, Earn More book (including Amazon links, free sample chapter, and companion workbook)
- Audible edition of Work Less, Earn More
Points of Interest
- 00:00 - 00:15: Introduction
- 00:43 - 01:17: Significance of shared values and building relationships beyond transactions.
- 01:17 - 01:37: Agency's role as an extension of the client and factors contributing to successful partnerships.
- 15:03 - 15:54: Critical aspects of successful engagements and the role of expectations in sales relationships.
- 15:54 - 16:48: Warning against agencies making unrealistic promises and the importance of setting proper expectations.
- 16:48 - 17:25: Focusing on results through key performance activities and performance-based communication with clients.
- 18:21 - 19:26: Importance of people in agency success, team longevity, and functional infrastructure.
- 19:26 - 20:13: Recognition of external expertise impact and gratitude for positive collaboration.
- 21:19 - 22:46: Retaining a team through proper hiring and the importance of shared vision and goals.
- 22:46 - 26:15: Profiling jobs before hiring and developing team buy-in with shared goals.
- 26:18 - 28:34: Shift in agency focus - efficiency vs. strategy and the importance of pricing models and valuing agency work.
- 28:34 - 30:05: Delivering and receiving value in relationships and opportunities existing regardless of economic climate.
- 30:05 - 31:01: Call to re-evaluate pricing models
Guest Links
- Tim Burke's LinkedIn Profile
- Conduit Digital's Website
- Conduit Digital's LinkedIn Page
- Conduit Digital's YouTube Channel
Points of Interest 0:00 - 2:26 - Introduction: Marcel introduces Melissa Morris and her background. * 2:26 - 4:48 - Importance of Operations: Discussion about the role of operations in agency success. * 4:48 - 8:21 - Common Challenges: Melissa talks about common challenges agencies face. * 8:21 - 11:30- The Scope Creep Issue: Marcel discusses the issue of scope creep. * 11:30 - 13:45 - Team Clarity and Training: Melissa emphasizes the importance of team clarity and training. * 13:45 - 15:27 - Integrating Operations Early: The conversation touches on integrating operations early in an agency. * 15:27 - 16:02 - Starting with Conversation: Melissa talks about starting with a conversation when dealing with agency owners. * 16:02 - 17:37 - Importance of Output: Discussion about focusing on the desired output and the quality of project management tools. * 17:37 - 19:23 - Documenting Processes: Marcel transitions to discussing the timing of documenting processes and the potential pitfalls. * 19:23 - 22:20 - Framework - DISCO: Melissa introduces her DISCO framework for refining workflows and processes. * 22:20 - 28:01 - SOPs and Training: Discussion on the right time to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the importance of team training. * 28:01 - 32:55* - Additional Tips: Melissa suggests focusing on the tool stack and addressing team training.
Show Notes* Link to youragencyauthority.com * Link to Melissa's LinkedIn Profile
- 00:00 – 00:32: Introduction and background of the guest, Mandi Ellefson.
- 00:32 – 03:42: Discussing the challenges faced by service-based businesses, especially agencies, in scaling beyond $1 million.
- 03:42 – 07:38: Importance of creating an “irresistible offer” to enhance scalability and overcome common obstacles.
- 07:38 – 12:12: Exploring the concept of crafting a compelling value proposition and aligning it with client needs.
- 12:12 – 16:35: The significance of pricing strategy, client positioning, and delivering exceptional value to boost scalability.
- 16:35 – 17:21: The role of mindset in scaling a business and embracing the concept of “thinking bigger.”
- 18:56 – 19:15: Reflecting on the pivotal moment that transformed Parakeeto and the impact of reimagining the ultimate solution.
- 19:15 – 19:38: Overnight transformation in deal size and business growth by focusing on solving bigger problems with more value.
- 19:38 – 20:19: Zooming out to identify substantial problems, creating more value, and building a substantive process for better solutions.
- 20:19 – 22:02: Recognizing the importance of transitioning from services to software and standardizing processes for scalability.
- 22:02 – 22:49: Sharing experiences of intentionally under-engineering processes and the necessity of maturity in business decisions.
- 22:49 – 23:23: Discussing the process of scaling a service firm and the service product positioning matrix.
- 23:23 – 23:51: Emphasizing the impact of an irresistible offer on increasing prices and achieving a 300% or more price point increase.
- 23:51 – 24:39: Introducing the client success map as a sales tool and developing the service management blueprint for scalable outcomes.
- 24:39 – 26:50: Leveraging traffic light systems for internal evaluation, improving product quality, and enhancing client outcomes.
- 26:50 – 29:22: Progressing through the five exits for scaling: project/account management, operations management, client strategy, sales, and executive leadership.
- 29:22 – 30:39: Insights into the role of operations management in freeing up the CEO for growth and connecting operations with finance.
- 30:44 – 31:50: The order of exits and the significance of separating client strategy from account and project management.
- 31:50 – 32:51: The sequence of exits: sales as exit four and executive leadership as exit five, with a focus on building a scalable sales team.
Show Notes/Links* Mandi’s Scalability Checklist * Link to the book on Amazon * Link to Mandi’s Agency “Hands Off CEO” * Link to Mandi’s Linkedin Profile
Robert Patin is the founder of Creative Agency Success, a consulting firm dedicated to helping creative agencies scale. Robert is known for being a deeply inquisitive and analytical leader with a distinct ability to devise solutions that elevate companies and lifestyles.
He is a two-time international best-selling author and is passionate about sharing his next-level strategies so that creative agency leaders will find fulfillment and growth.
Find his books here:
The Agency Blueprint
The Practical Agency
Points of Interest00:01:06 – 00:01:26
Meet Robert Patin
Marcel highlights Robert’s background and accomplishments, emphasizing his expertise and experience in operations, finance, and consulting for creative agencies.
00:03:38 – 00:03:43
Introduction to Client Lifetime Value
Marcel initiates the discussion on Client Lifetime Value (CLV) and its importance, setting the stage for the main topic.
00:04:01 – 00:05:17
Importance of Increasing CLV
Marcel and Robert discuss the significance of increasing CLV, especially in the context of expensive client acquisition, and outline key levers to maximize its impact on agency profitability.
00:06:01 – 00:06:22
The Churn Ceiling
Robert introduces the concept of the “churn ceiling,” highlighting the critical role of client retention in agency growth.
00:08:18 – 00:08:54
Strategic Client Relationships
Marcel and Robert delve into the importance of building strategic relationships with clients, emphasizing the value of being a trusted advisor.
00:10:04 – 00:10:32
Undermining Factors in Client Retention
The discussion uncovers factors that undermine an agency’s ability to retain clients and improve CLV, focusing on delivering value and adapting to client needs.
00:12:45 – 00:13:00
Expanding Revenue without Operational Drag
Marcel and Robert explore strategies to expand client revenue without adding operational complexities, emphasizing understanding client needs and navigating opportunities wisely.
00:14:21 – 00:16:23
Quality vs. Quantity of Revenue
The conversation deepens into the tension between client lifetime revenue and gross profit, highlighting the importance of careful balance and considering long-term impact.
00:17:53 – 00:18:18
Creating Value through Adaptation
Marcel and Robert emphasize the value of adapting agency operations to facilitate problem-solving for clients, creating goodwill and trust.
00:18:55 – 00:19:15
Value vs. Short-Term Gains
The discussion reveals the pitfalls of contrived efforts to inflate CLV without providing genuine value, emphasizing the importance of solving customer problems.
00:22:59 – 00:23:40
Balancing Revenue and Profit
The podcast concludes with insights into balancing revenue and profit, stressing the importance of reconciling price, scope, and cash flow for long-term agency success.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- GoWP
- Quickly Hire
- GoWP FaceBook
ABOUT:
Emily is the Chief Operating Officer for GoWP, a company helping agencies grow through their dedicated staffing and via white-label WordPress service development.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Chris's Insta
- Chris's YouTube
- Dealmaker Concierge
- Dealmaker Wealth Society
ABOUT:
Chris Moore is an entrepreneur, investor, full-stack digital marketer, best-selling author, and business growth specialist. He has a strong background in business development, customer experience design, and business growth strategy.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Jason's author page
- Agency Mastery
- Jason's Blog
- Jason's Podcast
- YouTube
ABOUT:
Jason is one of the prominent thought leaders and coaches for digital agencies in the space. He's literally written the book for growing an agency from nothing to two eight-figure agencies.
Check out the full blog post for this solocast here!
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For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
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https://lovethepodcast.com/AgencyProfit
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Alife’s LinkedIn
- Alfie’s Facebook
- Cactus
ABOUT:
Chartered accountant and Managing Partner at Cactus, Alife helps small to medium-sized agencies to achieve profitable growth organically through Mergers and acquisitions. He also trains agency staff to be more commercially aware.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Ryan's LinkedIn
- Upsourced Linkedin
- Youtube
- Upsourced Accounting
- Agency Lifecycle blog
ABOUT:
Ryan is an experienced operations and finance leader for creative agencies and venture-funded startups. As a partner at Upsourced, he helps scaling agencies build better plans, see the future, and drive profits.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Corey's LinkedIn
- Corey's Website
- Vertical Go-To-Market podcast
ABOUT:
Corey helps agencies break the cycle of flat sales by becoming a vertical market specialist. Host of theVertical Go-To-Market podcast, Corey is also the author of Focus Vertical (Q3, 2023) and the former CMO at Scorpion (which he scaled from $20-$150M in 6 years).
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Ilia's Twitter
- Ilia's LinkedIn
- The Toggl Blog
- Toggl's Anti-Surveillance Statement
- Agency Profit Margins blog
ABOUT:
Toggle might be well known for their time tracking software, but they also offer project management/resource and capacity management tools (Toggl Plan) plus hiring software (Toggl Hire) used by over 70,000 teams across the world.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
MARCEL'S LINKS:
- Parakeeto
- Agency Profit Podcast
- Parakeeto’s LinkedIn
ABOUT MARCEL:
Marcel is co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto and fractional COO at Gold Front – a creative agency working with top tech companies in San Francisco, including Uber, Slack, and Google. In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains –he's also an in-demand keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- The Ad Girls
- CourtneyTarrant.com
- Courtney's Instagram
- Courtney's LinkedIn
- Million Dollar Agency Mentorship
ABOUT:
Courtney Tarrant is the COO & Owner of The Ad Girls, a female-focused Facebook & Instagram Advertising agency. She has built a thriving business by catering to female-focused online entrepreneurs with a unique messaging-first methodology that has created over $40M in revenue for her clients.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Jelly Academy
- Jelly Marketing
- Darian’s LinkedIn
- Jelly Marketing Facebook
- Jelly Marketing Twitter
- Jelly Marketing LinkedIn
- Marketing News Canada
ABOUT:
Darian Kovacs is the Indigenous (Metis Nation) founder of Vancouver-based PR, digital ads, and SEO company Jelly Digital Marketing & PR, alongside the digital marketing school, Jelly Academy. The host of the podcast Marketing News Canada, he’s also on the board of NPower Canada.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Yellow Pencil
- Paul's LinkedIn
- Paul's 311 podcast
- legendarypodcasts.com/paul-bellows
ABOUT:
Paul Bellows is the President and co-founder of Yellow Pencil. Since 1996, his team has designed and built digital platforms and worked alongside public sector clients to develop the operational maturity and cloud infrastructure that power exceptional experiences and service journeys.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Operations Agency
- Alyson’s Instagram
- Operations Agency LinkedIn
- Operations Agency YouTube
ABOUT:
Author of recently released book, The Sabbatical Method: How to Leverage Rest & Grow Your Business, Alyson focuses on helping her clients at Operations Agency to build scalability AND sustainability through ops.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Ashley's LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/ashleykcarroll/
- momentumaccounting.com
ABOUT:
Ashley Carroll is a solutions-focused COO at Momentum Accounting. Her passion? Helping CEOs bring their vision to life while prioritizing team wellbeing.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Nigel's LinkedIn
- alphainbound.com
- Alpha Inbound LinkedIn
- Ecom Alphas Podcast
ABOUT:
After leaving the corporate world aged 26, Nigel has spent the last four years building three marketing agencies – two of these agencies grew from nothing to 7-figure run rates within 12-month periods. As the CEO of Alpha Inbound, Nigel's now focused on building our reputation in the DTC landscape through business development, partnerships, and sales.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Dean’s LinkedIn
- Pro Sulum’s FaceBook
- Freedom in Five Minutes Podcast
ABOUT:
Dean is an expert at Systematizing Businesses while helping owners become truly wealthy – in all areas of life. All you have to do is commit to 5 minutes per day to help double your profits and reduce your workload by 70% – 80% in a matter of weeks.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Peter’s LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/peterlevitan/
- Peter’s Twitter twitter.com/PeterLevitan
- peterlevitan.com
- peterlevitan.com/category/podcast/
ABOUT:
During 16 years at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, Peter ran business development across Europe and the USA. He was also EVP Management Director in London and New York, alongside being GM of the Minneapolis office.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- ugurus.com
- Brent's LinkedIn @brentweaver
- brent@ugurus.com (again, if you fancy a free copy of his book, shoot him an email)
- The Digital Agency Show ugurus.com/podcast/
ABOUT:
Brent is on a mission to help 10,000 digital agency owners achieve freedom in business and life by helping them own their market. He also happens to be the founder and CEO of uGurus – a business training and education company dedicated to this mission.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- CleverProfits YouTube Channel
- Adam's LinkedIn
- Adam's Facebook
ABOUT:
Adam and his team at CleverProfits build and implement world-class financial frameworks for fast-scaling online businesses. Through CFO services, his talented cohort of Chartered Accountants, Advisors, and Financial Experts bridge the gap between your company vision and tangible goals plus projections.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Karsten’s LinkedIn @karsten-bjørk-rasmussen/
- TimeJam LinkedIn @company/timejam/about/
- TimeJam https://www.timejam.app/
ABOUT: KARSTEN RASMUSSEN
Karsten used to run a 30-people agency and is now the founder of TimeJam, which helps agencies motivate their team to track their time daily through engagement – such as gamification, humor, and by making it social.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Jennifer’s Linkedin @jennyplant
- AccountManagementSkills.com
- Creative Agency Account Management Podcast accountmanagementskills.com/podcast/
- Marcel’s Episode
ABOUT: JENNIFER PLANT
Host of the Creative Agency Account Manager podcast, Jenny’s journey towards Account Management Acceleration commenced when she left her role as General Manager of Publicis LifeBrands in 2010, whereupon she set up her current business, Account Management Skills Ltd
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Ryan's Twitter @rthrash
- Ryan's LinkedIn @ryanthrash
- MODX
ABOUT: RYAN THRASH
Ryan Thrash is the co-founder/CEO of MODX, which helps growing businesses crush SEO and conversion with a better, fully managed web platform.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Dan's website danmartell.com
- Buy Back Your Time via Amazon
- Dan's Twitter @danmartell
- Dan's LinkedIn @danmartell
ABOUT: DAN MARTELL
Dan Martell is a serial entrepreneur, with five startups, three exits, an investor in some of the biggest, fastest growing companies in the world, like Intercom, Udemy, AND an award-winning angel investor.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Paul Higgins Blueprint: https://paulhigginsmentoring.com/blueprint
- ICP Identifier: https://paulhigginsmentoring.com/ICP
- Lean Customer Development book
- Jobs to be done Framework
- LinkedIn – @paulhigginsmentoring
- Twitter – @PaulHiggins555
- Facebook – @paulhigginsmentoring/
- Instagram – @paulhigginsmentoring/
ABOUT: PAUL HIGGINS
Paul Higgins is a sales strategist, lead generator, podcaster, author, and business growth strategist. With almost 30 years in the business under his belt, Paul is passionate about helping Cloud Business owners to do this – scale to live life with NO LIMITS!
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Jhana's LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jhana-li/
- Jhana's Instagram instagram.com/thejhanali/
- Spyglass Ops spyglassops.com/
- support@spyglassops.com
ABOUT: JHANA LI
Jhana Li has over 4 years experience specializing in operations for digital startups. At the start of her career, she served as COO for two 7-figure businesses (an agency, followed by a coaching program for marketing agencies). Since then, she's become an operations consultant to dozens of agencies, plus Ops Coach to hundreds more!
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Sharon’s LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek
- Sharon’s Twitter twitter.com/SharonToerek
- Legal + Creative legalandcreative.com
- Innovative Agency Podcast legalandcreative.com/the-innovative-agency
ABOUT: SHARON TOEREK
Sharon Toerek is a marketing law and intellectual property lawyer dedicated to serving agencies. She’s also the host of the Innovative Agency Podcast. A former President of the American Ad Federation (AAF) Cleveland, she serves on the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) Legal Consultant panel.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Brad’s LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/bradfarris/
- AnchorAdvisors.com
ABOUT: BRAD FARRIS
Brad is known for helping owners of agencies and expert firms grow through the $1M barrier to be $3M – $5M thriving agencies. For over 20 years, Brad has worked alongside agency owners to help them to sharpen their focus, raise their prices, and hire better people so that their firm can scale. Find out more about the work he does at AnchorAdvisors.com
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Corina’s LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/corinaludwig
- FunctionFox LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/functionfox-systems
- FunctionFox Twitter twitter.com/functionfox
- FunctionFox FaceBook facebook.com/functionfox
ABOUT: CORINA LUDWIG
Corina Ludwig is the President of FunctionFox – the undisputed leader in Timesheet and Project Management Software for creative professionals worldwide. Now in its 22nd year, FunctionFox aids clients with productivity, profitability, and workflow management.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- BLASTmedia.com
- Blog|Podcast
- Statwax
- lindsey@blastmedia.com
- LinkedIn /in//lindseygroepper/
ABOUT: LINDSEY GROEPPER
As President of BLASTmedia (recently named AdAge top place to work 2022), Lindsey is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and operations of the B2B SaaS PR agency, as well as driving client acquisition
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- LinkedIn /in/JulianaMarulanda
- Facebook /ScaleTime
- Youtube /ScaleTime
- ScaleTime Podcast
- ScaleTime’s 5-Minute Diagnostic
ABOUT: JULIANA MARULANDA
With over 19 years of experience across Wall Street, the nonprofit sector, technology startups, and family-owned businesses, Juliana Marulanda, founder at ScaleTime, has served over 300 digital agencies.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Tatiyana’s LinkedIn @tatiyanacure
- Hire to Win
ABOUT: TATIYANA CURE
We’re joined this week by Tatiyana Cure to discuss the evolution of hiring in the modern world today. She helps managers and HR teams evaluate their talent/hiring strategies – a lot of which she has shared via her book, Hire to Win.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- https://altagency.com/
- Greg’s YouTube @GregHickmanTV
- Greg’s LinkedIn @gregoryjhickman
ABOUT: GREG HICKMAN
Greg is the Founder and CEO of AltAgency™, one of the top coaching and training companies for agencies looking to grow and scale by packaging their expertise. This involves installing systems for growth and leveraging automation to save time, with the end goal of divorcing their time from their income.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- ecommercepartnerships.com
- ecommerceagencygrowth.com
- Rachel’s LinkedIn @rachelmjacobs
ABOUT: RACHEL JACOBS
Jacobs is the number one trusted advisor for e-commerce agencies across the globe. Her business (ecommercepartnerships.com / ecommerceagencygrowth.com) is dedicated to maximizing agency efficiency and enabling agency owners to get out of the day-to-day of running their agency so they can focus on taking it to the next level.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Amanda’s LinkedIn @amanda-raye-hamilton
- Hamilton Raye
- Instagram @Hamilton_Raye
- LinkedIn @Hamiltonraye
ABOUT: AMANDA HAMILTON
Amanda Hamilton is the founder of Hamilton Raye, Your Outsourced Admin®, which brings professional remote administrative support to startup organizations and businesses!
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- The Digital Hug Newsletter
- Give & Get the book
- Employer Branding Sprints
- PH Creative resources/blog
ABOUT BRYAN ADAMS:
CEO and founder of PH Creative, there are many strings to Bryan’s bow – bestselling author, podcaster, creative strategist, specialist speaker – the list goes on! A recognized employer brand thought leader, Bryan changes the landscape of how it’s done with his ‘Give & Get’ philosophy and framework
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Wordable.io
- Codeless.io
- uSERP.io
- LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/bsmarketer/
ABOUT BRAD SMITH:
Brad helps marketers save 90%+ on publishing with Wordable. He's also the founder of Codeless and founding partner at uSERP; content production and distribution agencies that work with fast-growing brands
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Handsoffceo.com/briefing
- Handsoffceo.com/roadmap
- Handsoffceo Podcast
ABOUT MANDI ELLEFSON:
Mandi helps agency owners scale their business, thus allowing it to run profitably without them. She's the host of another great podcast called The Hands-Off CEO podcast. Her upcoming book, Scale to Freedom is coming out soon and will be generating proceeds for a good cause.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
Tyler is circling back to his first love, that being the concept of creating a more tech-enabled content agency. Right from Google Chrome, you can get matched with an industry-specific human writer within 10 minutes. If that sounds of interest, do reach out to him via the below!
- Twitter.com/productizety
- Productized.services
- Acquisition Checklist
ABOUT TYLER GILLESPIE:
Noted founder with two successful exits under his belt, Tyler loves building and scaling productized service businesses! Currently, he shares his thoughts via productized.services. He enjoys traveling regularly, with home bases in Medellin, Colombia, and his hometown in Colorado. Passions include Latin culture, speaking Spanish, playing chess, and salsa dancing.
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
- Ramsay Innovations
- Company LinkedIn
ABOUT JON MORRIS:
Jon is the founder & CEO of Ramsay Innovations and a serial entrepreneur. Prior to Ramsay, he established Rise Interactive in 2004, as a result of his second-place finish in the University of Chicago's prestigious New Venture Challenge. Over the next 16 years, he grew Rise from a one-person shop to one of the largest independent marketing agencies globally. After selling Rise, Jon pondered his next move and realized he was most energized when connecting and helping fellow entrepreneurs grow their businesses!
QUICK LINKS:
• The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
• For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
• Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
• Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
GUEST LINKS:
Website: mikemoll.co,
Instagram: @themikemoll
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikemoll/
Facebook: @mikeajmoll6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZB3weeqktVNPhGDJa4Slbw?view_as=subscriber
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- PiaSilva.com
- NoBSAgencies.com
- Twitter @pialovesyourbiz
About Shaun:
Shaun Clark is a serial entrepreneur, multi-millionaire, and a co-founder and the CEO of HighLevel – the #1 white-label marketing platform for agencies. Serving more than 20,000 agency owners, HighLevel is the all-in-one sales and marketing platform that agencies and consultants can white-label and resell to customers.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- PiaSilva.com
- NoBSAgencies.com
- Twitter @pialovesyourbiz
About Pia Silva
Pia Silva is a partner and brand strategist at Worstofall Design where they build entire brands via 1-3 day intensives. She’s also the founder of No BS Agency Mastery where she helps small branding agencies increase profits and freedom without hiring employees. She’s a TEDx speaker, a Forbes contributor, the podcast host of NO BS AGENCY PODCAST, plus the author of Badass Your Brand.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- The 4 W's
- The Kilroy Report Podcast
- LinkedIn @timkilroy
- Twitter @timkilroy
- Facebook Agency Growth Coach
- Facebook Agency Breakout
About Tim Kilroy
Tim Kilroy and his team create individualized frameworks, so that agency owners and management teams to make better decisions – and drive dramatic growth.
To date, he has worked with over 100 agencies, helping them solve problems ranging from “How do I get my first client?” to “How do we maximize our exit value?” This results in amazing things such as growing by eight times in a year, or by three times in 90 days. Like we said – dramatic growth!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to https://parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- Stream Relationship-Driven New Business at Scale video via SalesSchema.com/relationships
- Dan@SalesSchema.com
- Dan’s LinkedIn @danenglander
- Sales Schema LinkedIn @Sales-Schema
About Dan Englander
Dan is CEO and founder of Sales Schema, a fractional new business team for marketing agencies and B2B service companies. He also hosts the digital agency growth podcast and is the author of a slew of books, including Mastering Account Management, The B2B Sales Blueprint, and a new book in the pipeline entitled Relationship Sales at Scale!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to https://parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- Dotandcompany.co
- dotandcompany.co/podcast
About Taylor McMaster:
Taylor leads a team of Client Account Managers at DOT & Company, training the CAMs to work with different agencies. To date, they have helped dozens of digital marketing agencies free up their time to prioritize the money-makers in their businesses, all while the DOT team ensures their client experience runs super smooth.
Taylor spends her spare time renovating houses around Nova Scotia, Canada.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
- Want to see/read more about this episode? Then do make your way to https://parakeeto.com/blog
Guest Links:
- JobRack
- Twitter @noel_andrews
- LinkedIn @noelandrews
- Company LinkedIn @JobRack
About Noel Andrews:
After 15 years of recruiting and leading teams within large corporate technology functions, Noel bought JobRack to help bring the wonders of Eastern European remote workers to business owners all over the world!
JobRack has been helping business owners get access to Eastern European remote workers since 2015 and over 500 businesses have hired successfully, many of them returning again and again, as they build their teams with great hires.
His expertise includes outsourcing, outsourcing to Eastern Europe, online business development, online business growth, hiring mastery, finding A-players for remote companies, finding job seekers, finding quality workers, online education, growing business, connecting people, management, brand culture, and team building.
Quick Links
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Stride Services Website
- Russell's Personal Website
- Russell's LinkedIn
- Russell's Book
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Entrepreneur, author, coach, and co-founder of Stride Services, the highly accomplished Russell Benaroya joins us this week to help agencies improve their financial visibility.
About Russell Benaroya
Russell Benaroya is an entrepreneur, author, and coach focused on helping people achieve their highest and best use by staying in their genius zones. Having spent the last twenty years in investment banking, private equity, and entrepreneurship, Russell was in the optimum position to cofound Stride Services, an outsourced accounting and strategic finance firm helping business owners use their data for better decision-making. Russell regularly speaks about a range of topics designed to help leaders build successful businesses through a combination of self-discovery and tactical financial tools. A recipient of the 40 Under 40 recognition from the Puget Sound Business Journal in Seattle, his writing has appeared in Forbes. He’s additionally authored Free Yourself to Work on Your Business and, more recently, One Life to Lead. Russell is a business school graduate of the Anderson School at UCLA.
On the weekends you can find Russell trail running in the mountains! An avid ultra-runner, he recently completed the Cascade Crest 100 mile ultra-marathon in 30 hours.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice!
Guest Links:
- Gold Front
- Twitter @JoshLowman
- LinkedIn @JoshLowman
- Company LinkedIn @gold-front
- Company Twitter @GoldFrontSF
About Josh Lowman | Gold Front
As you may recall from our previous episode with Josh, he is an incredible creative director and entrepreneur. As Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Gold Front, he’s a long-term client of Parakeeto,
A category design studio, GF is based in SanFran but also has other locations strewn across America. Their primary goal? To help growth-stage startups define and own their own category.
How did Josh get into this space? Well, Gold Front started as a Brand Studio before branching out into Category Strategy, with Josh then realizing the need to combine Brand Execution with Category Creation Strategy. This has led to collaborations with Uber, Robinhood, Newsela, plus oodles more to build category-defining brands.
When John isn’t changing the branding landscape, he’s enjoying downtime with his wife, daughters, and his dog!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice!
Guest Links:
- Gold Front
- Twitter @JoshLowman
- LinkedIn @JoshLowman
- Company LinkedIn @gold-front
- Company Twitter @GoldFrontSF
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
We’re switching things up a bit in this edition of Agency Profit Podcast.
Josh Lowman of Gold Front and myself have joined forces to examine the last three years working in tandem. It’s been quite the ride, hence we’re providing it in two installments…
About Josh Lowman
Gold Front Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Gold Front, Josh is a long-term client of Parakeeto, an incredible creative director and entrepreneur. If Gold Front sounds familiar to you, it might be because their Head of Growth, Liston Witherill, appeared on the show last fall. As you may recall, I’m the COO (fractionally) at Gold Front, and therefore have had the pleasure of working alongside Josh for a number of years. A category design studio, GF is based in SanFran but also has other locations strewn across America. Their primary goal? To help growth-stage startups define and own their own category.
How did Josh get into this space? Well, Gold Front started as a Brand Studio before branching out into Category Strategy, with Josh then realizing the need to combine Brand Execution with Category Creation Strategy. This has led to collaborations with Uber, Robinhood, Newsela, plus oodles more to build category-defining brands.
When John isn’t changing the branding landscape, he’s enjoying downtime with his wife, daughters, and his dog!
.Quick Links
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice!
Guest Links
- Twitter @MeganKuethen
- LinkedIn @QueenofOps
- Company LinkedIn @theQueenofOps
- Company Instagram @theQueenofOps
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This week, dear readers, we are joined by hiring, operations, and leadership expert Megan Keuthen. Via her agency Queen of Ops, Megan brings her unique knowledge and experience across a range of areas, including psychology and behavior, physics and biology, plus marketing and sales. She’s here today to help us figure out how to hire and retain amazing talent in our business so we can have smooth operations.
About Megan Kuethen…
Megan started her career in the corporate world. She enjoyed various roles, from Process Writer to HR Director, working with boutique firms, Fortune 50 companies, plus everything in between. She placed over 1,500 professionals before striking out to start her own business. In 2020, Megan launched Queen of Ops, a team and hiring consultancy known for building the teams, culture, and leadership of online-based businesses. Megan is an expert on hiring, operations, and leadership, and applies her bespoke blend of knowledge and experience to her consulting and coaching work.
Points of Interest…
- Hiring, Retention, and Resulting Challenges 1:08
- Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Hiring 4:20
- Starting on the path to Retention 7:10
- Conversational Framework Example 10:00
- Leveraging Insight in the Hiring Process 12:11
- Honing your Hiring Intuition 16:36
Quick Links
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link!
Guest Links
- Twitter @marquisamurray
- LinkedIn @marquisamurry
- Instagram @marquisamurray
Firstly, Happy Holidays and Merry impending New Year to all! Thank you for listening. As we bid farewell to the year that was 2021, we’re talking about what makes us happy here at the Agency Profit Podcast – the importance of documenting the process!
Today, we’re joined by Marquis Murray as he guides us through how to get our processes started, plus how to maintain them in a bid to attain the holy grail – higher profits.
About Marquis Murray…
Marquis Murray is the Founder of Ditto, an Asana Solutions Partner. He works with agencies to create clarity around the work done inside of organizations through creating SOPs, systems, plus processes and automation to make work easier while optimizing higher profits. When he’s not optimizing workflows, you can find him either reading a book, honing his keen photography skills, kayaking, or playing bass. He also enjoys heading out for a walk with his family, getting to know more about the small town they call home.
Quick Links
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link!
Guest Links
- Chris’s LinkedIn @chrisbantock
- Agency Local Instagram @AgencyLocal
- Agency Local Twitter @AgencyLocal1
About Chris Bantock…
An ex-agency owner for 12 years, Chris sold the business in 2018 and now works to help other agencies to develop their business and grow into business leaders.
Chris then founded Agency Local in 2019; a development community targeted towards the marketing and creative sector. The mission is to help marketing agencies become better businesses and the owners better leaders.
When Chris isn’t coming to the aid of marketing agencies, he is a certified MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra) and can be found hurtling around hillsides at the weekend.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link!
Guest Links:
- Free Templates via Atarim
- Twitter @VitoPeleg
- Antarim Twitter @atarim_io
- LinkedIn @vito-peleg
- Atarim LinkedIn @atarim-io
- Watch this episode on Youtube
About Vito Peleg…
Vito is the founder and CEO of Atarim. Building his first website when he was 14-years-old via GeoCities for his skateboarding crew from high school, Vito then started building websites for clients as a freelancer – from the back of a van while touring the world as the leader of a hard rock band.
He subsequently grew his London-based digital agency to a team of 12, before creating a small plugin that would change the way the industry collaborates within websites – WP FeedBack. That plugin evolved into Atarim – the first dedicated web agency management platform. Today, he’s got over 5,000 agencies using it to build their websites and over 130 clients running on top of it.
When he’s not helping the great and the good to wizard up highly functioning websites, Vito relaxes by strumming the guitar and making his daughter giggle (not necessarily in that order).
Quick Links
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link!
Guest Links:
- Da Costa Coaching
- Rob’s Agency Accelerator Podcast
- Rob’s book The Self-Running Agency
- YouTube
About Rob Da Costa…
In 1991 Rob left his marketing manager role and started his own tech-focused marketing agency. Over the next 11 years built an award-winning business with 25 staff and revenues in excess of £1.5m. He sold the business in 2002 and then retrained to become a coach and mentor. In 2007, Rob started Da Costa Coaching, working with SME agency owners and leaders to help them grow their agencies in a profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable way. Over the past 15 years, he has worked with over 300 agencies including Digital start-ups, PR, Design, Web development, and full-service marketing agencies. Rob is the author of The Self-Running Agency and also runs his podcast, The Agency Accelerator.
An avid traveler and wannabe digital nomad, when Rob isn’t advising agencies, he’s out walking his dog on a nearby beach!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link!
Guest Links:
- Robin’s latest book ‘Take Your Shot’
- Robin’s website
- Fearless Business website
About Robin Waite…
In addition to Robin being founder of Fearless Business, he is also a regular speaker at various business events and the bestselling author of several books, including Online Business Startup, Marketing Machine, and the recent popular release Take Your Shot. He puts his 2 decades of business experience to work, coaching clients to reach their goals while creating more time and increasing their revenue.
From 2004 to 2016, Robin led a successful marketing agency serving over 250 clients. During this time, he delivered workshops and masterclasses aiding over 1,000 business owners to improve not just their marketing and product architecture, but also their pricing, their websites, plus their digital advertising.
Behind the scenes, Robin is a husband and father to two young girls, a surfer, and “Sunday warrior” (road cyclist). He has also – in the last four years alone – raised over £5k for a local Children’s charity, and imposed a goal to help remove 100kg of plastic from the World’s Oceans within the next 12 months via another charity he supports – 4Ocean. Furthermore, he holds a Guinness World Record for participating in the largest ever speed networking event.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Twitter @eernoult
- LinkedIn @ernoult
- AgoraPulse
About Emeric Ernoult…
In short, Emeric is founder and CEO of AgoraPulse, one of the leading social media management platforms that is defining the future of Social Media Management. Among their users, such names as Ogilvy, Digital Butter, West Virginia University, and more.
A self-confessed kitesurfing addict, Emeric also enjoys global jaunts in his camper van!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- ChristianBanach.com
- Free Masterclass
About Christian Banach…
Christian Banach is a business development and growth consultancy company that helps advertising and marketing agencies land 6/7-figure opportunities predictably.
Clients – including BBDO, Jack Morton, Vice Media, and Barkley – come to him to get more right-fit opportunities, thus bypassing the expensive and time-consuming RFP process, plus win even bigger deals!
Through his consulting and outbound lead generation services, Christian’s clients build relationships with C-Suite/VP decision-makers at the world’s leading brands. He does this by using his PROPEL™ account-based sales process.
When Christian isn’t working his brand of magic for clients, you can find him staying fit and active, or chasing the Chicago Cubs around the country!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Twitter twitter.com/law4
- Liston.io
About Liston Witherill…
Liston Witherill is the founder of Serve Don’t Sell and creator of the Serve Don’t Sell Method. He works with expert service providers like designers, accountants, agency owners, consultants, and coaches who are great at delivering services but require help selling it. Liston also hosts the Modern Sales podcast and regularly publishes articles on the Serve Don’t Sell blog.
When he’s not working – or enjoying some downtime by way of hiking, weightlifting, or creating hip-hop music – Liston is on a mission to change the way 100 million people sell so that buying services can feel as good as the day the world is fully vaccinated from COVID. He hopes you’ll join him on his mission.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
Joey hosts THE Best Damn Agency podcast. Every Wednesday, he interviews a “bad-ass seven or eight-figure agency.” Additionally, Joey’s mastermind director interviews him every Friday in a segment entitled Sales On The Rocks.
- LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/joeygilkey
- Best Damn Agency podcast
- salesdrivenagency.com
About Joey Gilkey…
Joey Gilkey is the CEO of Sales Driven Agency, which helps digital marketing agencies actually get sales right. Having built in the region of 350 agency sales operations and driven nearly half a billion dollars in agency revenue, Joey believes every successful agency could – and should – be driven by their sales operation.
When he’s not helping agencies scale via their sales department, Joey enjoys shooting guns, sampling bourbon, and riding 4-wheelers. In unrelated news; we’re particularly enthused to be joined by him for this rescheduled podcast as he’s recently recovered from an unfortunate accident.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Marcel's Links:
- My LinkedIn
- Parakeeto’s LinkedIn
About Me…
I am co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto and fractional COO at Gold Front – a creative agency working with top tech companies in San Francisco, including Uber, Slack, and Google.
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – I’m also an in-demand keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
When I’m not helping agencies make more money, I’m binge-watching soothing sitcoms while consuming my own weight in breakfast confections.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- LinkedIn @creativeagencysuccess
- Instagram @creativeagencysuccess
- Facebook @creativeagencysuccess
About Robert Patin…
Robert is Managing Partner at Patin & Associates, a Los Angeles-based business management and consultancy firm. He and his team help creative services agencies to grow their business, become more profitable and develop better strategies, a field in which he’s excelled for two decades.
Not only has he been name-checked in both Forbes Entrepreneur, and The New York Post, he is someone I’ve really enjoyed talking to offline about all of these nerdy processed profitability finance questions that we enjoy tackling so much on the show!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- CustomCreatives.com
- Twitter @Rahul_Alim
- LinkedIn @rahulalim
- Facebook @rahulalim805
- YouTube
About Rahul Alim…
Rahul Alim is the founder of Custom Creatives, a Digital Marketing Agency that connects companies with their dream clients. Throughout his career, he has helped brands such as Realtor.com, Geico, Advertise.com, Reach Local, and 1,000’s of local businesses.
With 16+ years of experience running his agency, Rahul now coaches agency owners to grow 6 figure businesses with his proven G$D Sales Method. In short, his real talk yields real results.
When he’s not helping to connect dream clients, he spends time with family at Dodgers games and Galaxy games.
Want more from Rahul? Check out…
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- PlayLouder.com
- LinkedIn @josephdisanto
- Twitter @PlayLouder
About Joe DiSanto…
Joe has built multi-million dollar businesses, produced critically acclaimed documentaries and an Emmy-winning TV show, invested millions in real estate, and semi-retired aged 43.
Now, he’s sharing a lifetime of fiscal know-how via Play Louder, an invaluable resource helping individuals and business owners increase their net worth, plus plan better for their future.
Joe and his family love to travel. Whether it’s house-swapping or buying a property in Belize – which, incidentally, he turned a decent profit on.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- CrowdSpring.com
- LinkedIn @rosskimbarovsky/
- Twitter @rosskimbarovsky
- rosskimbarovsky.com
About Ross Kimbarovsky…
Ross is the founder and CEO at Crowdspring, which provides creative services for creative projects. The platform has in the region of 220,000+ creatives helping 60,000+ agencies, businesses, startups, and nonprofits. Their specialty? Creative prowess across high-quality custom logos, web and graphic design, product design, and more.
In addition to founding a slew of startups (including a Startup Studio), Ross loves to read (incidentally, he’s co-penned some books himself ) and cycling (clocking up approximately 9,000 miles every year). When he’s not innovating, reading, or astride a saddle, he enjoys tennis, fly fishing, and hiking!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- seilertucker.com
- Twitter @MSeilerTucker
- LinkedIn @michelleseiler
- FaceBook @michelletuckerinternational
About Michelle Seiler Tucker...
Michelle Seiler Tucker is the Founder and CEO of Seiler Tucker Incorporated. One of three women in the U.S. holding an M&AMI (Mergers & Acquisitions Master Intermediary) title, she is a 20-year veteran in the M&A industry.
Michelle and her firm have a remarkable track record when it comes to buying, selling, fixing, and growing businesses in almost every vertical. Not only has she facilitated thousands of businesses to reach their dream exit, she also helps them get ready for a sale, optimizing their operations, their profitability, and really preparing everything that needs to be true, to get the best possible exit price.
When Michelle isn’t helping entrepreneurs sell their businesses, she’s hanging out with her daughter.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- BenAston.com
- TheDigitalProjectManager.com (podcast, membership, coaching, training courses, and more)
- twitter.com/thedigitalpm
- instagram.com/thedigitalpm
About Ben Aston...
Armed with an x386 PC and a 33k dial-up modem, Ben launched his first (terrible) website, aged 14. Needless to say, he was hooked. Now, he is a digital project manager, online entrepreneur, and founder of Black + White Zebra, an indie media company on a mission to help people and organizations succeed.
Ben is also founder of the largest and one of the fastest-growing communities for digital project managers – TheDigitalProjectManager.com
A PRINCE2 Practitioner and Certified Scrum Master, Ben has 15+ years experience in project delivery and PMO leadership at top agencies – including Dare, Wunderman, DDB, plus clients including Honda, Unilever, & Sony.
When he’s not working, you can find him running, swimming, on a ski hill, or flying planes! You’re not going to want to miss this one!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- twitter.com/cmaxw
- facebook.com/charlesmaxwood
- podcastplaybook.co
- devchat.tv
About Charles Wood:
Charles Max Wood is the CEO and podcast host at Devchat.tv – a podcast network for software developers, which reaches over 70,000 every week. Podcasting since 2008, Charles has done over 3,100 podcast episodes across 25+ shows.
He’s the instructor at the Podcast Playbook, providing step-by-step procedures to producing podcasts – while growing your business.
As if that weren’t enough, Charles also casts on Video Games, Songwriting, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, which he produces with four of his five kids.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Mike’s Official Site
- Mike’s Dichotomy Podcast
- Dent.Global
About Mike Reid:
In addition to co-authoring Key Person of Influence, Mike co-founded Dent Global. Dent is a business accelerator company known for helping founders of service firms to establish themselves as industry experts. By the age of 26, Mike was running highly successful large-scale promotional campaigns – contributing to Dent‘s placement at 63rd on BRW’s ‘Fast Starters’ List, 2014.
Operating in 4 cities, Dent has a team of 40+ and acquired businesses in web development, video production, and publishing. This formed a full-service strategy and implementation group for established entrepreneurs. Mike is now helping lead the next wave of Dent’s expansion into Canada.
Mike is originally from Australia, but now lives in Toronto because he fell for a Canadian – and Canada’s frosty peaks.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Metric.ai LinkedIn
- Metric.ai Features
About Andrey Baskov:
Andrey and his team at Metric.ai have been busy building software to analyze and plan financials for agencies and consultancies. Simply put; they take the weight of data management off your shoulders, so you focus on actual planning and decision making.
In the business of saving clients literally tens of thousands of dollars in manual management labor costs, Metric.ai gives you tools to increase your profit margin and utilization, potentially recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars of missing profit.
When Andrey isn’t saving clients potentially millions of dollars, he’s an avid skydiver (specifically a wingsuit enthusiast), plus he’s on the path to becoming a private pilot.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Unstack Linkedin
- Unstack Twitter
- Zach’s Unstack Blog
About Zach:
Prior to becoming VP of Sales and Marketing at Unstack, Zach was a General Manager at search marketing company WordStream. In short, he’s helped thousands of agencies to improve their business and services for a vast array of clients, both big and small.
When he’s not working, Zach is either golfing or heading to car shows. Soon – he’ll be hanging out with his new baby!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- OutsourceSchool.com/enroll
- OutsourceSchool Twitter
- Email: nathan@outsourceschool.com
About Nathan:
Nathan Hirsch is an entrepreneur plus an expert in remote hiring and eCommerce. He co-founded FreeeUp in 2015 with an initial $5,000 investment, scaled it to $12M per year in revenue, before its 2019 acquisition.
Today, Nathan is co-founder of OutsourceSchool.com, a company working to educate entrepreneurs on how to effectively hire and scale with virtual assistants through in-depth courses. Additionally, Nathan is a social media personality and loves sharing advice on scaling remote businesses via a range of platforms, including the 300+ podcasts he’s appeared on.
A serious baseball lover, Nathan is also partial to The Office and gaming (specifically playing Last of Us 2 on PS4).
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- ThoughtLeadershipLeverage.com
- Peter@ThoughtLeadershipLeverage.com
About Peter:
For the past two decades, Peter has helped both individuals and organizations build revenue streams through cultivating their thought leadership platforms. Additionally, he acts as a guide and advisor for increasing B2B sales of thought leadership products.
His clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and include New York Times bestselling book authors, Speakers’ Hall of Fame members, Thinkers50 Award recipients, CEOs of public and privately held companies, plus academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business.
Peter uses a combination of art, science, logic, focus, passion, and creativity to transform a thought leader’s ideas into a platform – and a practice. The aim? To effectively reach business leaders and executives, while serving the tools they and their organizations require. So, who exactly does he help?
CEOs, business owners, and internal practice leaders looking to grow revenue, revitalize marketing, and improve customer experience through applying the principles of thought leadership.
Business leaders and experts seeking to build out their ideas into a platform, so they can launch content and products to create a lasting impact in various companies around the globe.
“Traditional” thought leaders who want to build or grow their practice, increase their effectiveness in content creation and marketing as well as extend their reach into existing and new clients.
When Peter’s not revolutionising the realm of thought leadership, he enjoys immersing himself in a good book.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- YouTube – ‘Just Ask Jody’
- The Sutter Company
- New Business Ecosystem guide
- Jody@thesuttercompany.com
About Jody:
Owner of consultancy agency, The Sutter Company, Jody advises agencies – both big and small – on how best to organize and operationalize their growth strategy. This has led to more than two decades running business development teams for various agencies, spanning a diverse list of disciplines and including such high-profile names as R/GA, OMD, Havas Media, and The VIA Agency.
Jody frequently speaks at leading global industry events, including INBOUND, the ICA’s Agency Transformation Summit, The Drum’s Pitch Perfect new business conference, and is a featured instructor in the 4As Learning & Development Program. Her book, A Small Agency’s Guide to Winning New Business: 8 Steps to Winning More of the Right Kinds of Clients, is now available on Amazon.com.
After chucking in ‘city life’, moving from Manhattan to the Hamptons, Jody can be found engaging in her other passions. These include sailing and open-water swimming, alongside her partner, Rudy.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Powered By Search
- Audit Workbook
- Free Agency Audit by Dev
- Dev’s Coaching Programme
About Dev:
Founder of one of Canada’s fastest-growing agencies – Powered By Search – Dev is also the founder of Million Dollar Agency and a Professor at the Seneca College School of Marketing. In fact, you may remember him from Episode 18 of the Agency Profit Podcast.
After growing Powered By Search to multi seven-figure revenue, he has shifted his focus to Coaching. Currently, he helps other agencies move towards, and beyond, the seven-figure mark by accelerating their growth.
What’s so exciting about Dev is that he’s in the trenches. He knows the tactical stuff when it comes to marketing; he’s still operating Powered By Search (at a world-class level, I should add) making his Agency coaching beyond relevant. I’ll also note that he’s one of the best educators I’ve come across in this space. His ability to educate, especially in the crucial webinar space, is unparalleled. I’m just really excited to extract as much gold from his brain as possible!
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Podcast
- Special Parakeeto Offer including $300 of FREE processes
- Flowster
- Bright Ideas
- Trent’s LinkedIn
About Trent:
As you may (or may not be) aware; I pride myself on delivering energetic introductions to each guest we have on APP, so it’s my absolute pleasure to give Trent the enthused-Marcel-intro-treatment, which goes a little something like this…
A serial entrepreneur, husband, and father, Trent hosts the Bright Ideas Podcast. Additionally, he’s founder of Flowster; a business process improvement application used by thousands of businesses globally, and ranked 254 on the 2019 Inc 5000 of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies.
When he’s not running his businesses, you can find them careering around with his family, on dirt bikes and mountain bikes.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Jesse’s Official Website
About Jesse:
This is the mother of all intros… you ready? John Cena background music optional Jesse Tevelow is the founder and CEO of LaunchTeam – a collective of expert consultants who launch books, sites, apps, courses, events podcasts, and entire companies. He’s also a founding partner at BlockTeam Venture, which focuses on strategic investment fund blockchain, DLT, and emerging tech. To date, he’s helped clients raise over $500 million dollars in venture funding. As well as being alumni of TechStars – where he built and exited his gaming company PlayQ – Jesse also now acts as a mentor to others moving up the entrepreneurial ladder.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- WordAgents.com
About Vince:
As sole founder of Word Agents, Vince has been in the SEO and digital marketing space since 2009, managing a portfolio of SEO websites, some of which have exited. Additionally, he owns a noodle bar called Bakuta, in Lindenhurst New York. When he’s not running his businesses, you can find him playing guitar and hanging out with his family in Long Island.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Agency Management Institute
- Build a Better Agency Podcast
- Agency Summit 2021
About Drew:
Drew McLellan has spent over 30 years in the realms of marketing and advertising, over 25 years running his own firm, and almost 10 years being head honcho at the Agency Management Institute, helping hundreds of firms run a better business.
The host of one of the top podcasts in our space, Build a Better Agency, Drew has been featured among the 10 Bloggers Every Business Owner Should Read, as chronicled by the Wall Street Journal.
When he’s not helping his clients, you can find him combing over baseball stats in De Moines, Iowa.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Traffic and funnels podcast
- FB group
About Chris:
Chris Evans is co-founder of Traffic and Funnels, which helps high-level consultants, coaches, and experts develop lead generation machines to scale their businesses to seven figures a year. He’s also co-founder of Wealth Cap Holdings and Sales Mentor. He’s scaled his companies to over eight figures in less than five years, alongside his partner, Taylor, on just a few hours per week. When he’s not running his businesses, you can find him hanging out with his wife and four kids in North Carolina
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- DavidCBaker.com
- The Business of Expertise Book
- Financial Management of a Marketing Firm Book
- 2BobsPodcast
About David:
Author of several books (five, in fact) – including The Financial Management of a Marketing Firm and The Business of Expertise – you may recognize him from the countless conferences he’s spoken at, including TEDx talks.
In addition to being featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, USA Today, NY Times, Inc Magazine, Forbes, CBS (the list is endless), he’s worked with over 900 firms in this space.
When he’s not helping experts and agencies, he’s teaching motorcycle racing at the Superbike School, Flying Planes and Helicopters around the world to shoot photography or doing custom woodworking at his home in Tennessee.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- Robharr.com
- Overlyhuman.com
- SparkBox.com
- BureauOfDigital.com
About Rob:
Rob is the VP and Co-Founder of Sparkbox, a web design and development firm that crafts responsive websites and web applications. Here, his superpowers including overseeing operations and finance. He’s also the co-host of the Overly Human podcast.
When he’s not beavering away at Sparkbox, helping others be awesome, he can be found hanging around Dayton, Ohio with his wife, their two kids, and a crazy Aussie dog. That or he’s golfing, weightlifting, or cooking meat over an open flame.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Marcel Links:
- Parakeeto
- Agency Profit Podcast
- My LinkedIn
- Parakeeto’s LinkedIn
About Me:
I am co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto and fractional COO at Gold Front – a creative agency working with top tech companies in San Francisco, including Uber, Slack, and Google.
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – I’m also an in-demand keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
When I’m not helping agencies make more money, I’m probably binge-watching soothing sitcoms while consuming my own weight in breakfast confections. I mean, who isn’t at this point?
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- ducttapemarketing.com/blog/
About John...
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of several books, including Duct Tape Marketing; Duct Tape Selling; The Commitment Engine; SEO for Growth; and The Referral Engine.
His latest book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur: 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business, is a daily reminder to entrepreneurs that a better you makes a better business!
He doesn’t spend all his time speaking and writing books; he’s also the founder of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network and has had the honor of being featured in a TEDx Talk.
In his spare time, John can mostly be found outdoors enjoying nature, woodworking, and strumming his guitar.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
About Me:
I am co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto and fractional COO at Gold Front – a creative agency working with top tech companies in San Francisco, including Uber, Slack, and Google.
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – I’m also an in-demand keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
When I’m not helping agencies make more money, I’m either watching The Office or Parks & Rec on a loop.
Want to see more from me? You can do that @…* Parakeeto * Agency Profit Podcast * My LinkedIn * Parakeeto’s LinkedIn * Twitter
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- YouTube
- Trainual.com
About Chris:
Chris Ronzio is the founder and CEO of Trainual, the leading SaaS company helping fast-growing businesses automate their onboarding and training.
Chris is also the host of the Process Makes Perfect podcast, author of 100 Hacks To Improve Your Business, and contributor to Inc. Magazine.
On the weekends, Chris and his wife take their two kids on little adventures to lakes and hiking trails. He’s enjoyed getting out of the house with COVID going on!
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next featured expert appearing via our #APP is John Jantsch on September 16th. Meanwhile, Marcel will share more agency profitability insights on September 9th. To view our previous blogs – withMarcel and Jeremy Jackson – please make your wayhere…
Parakeeto Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Marcel's Quick Links:
- Parakeeto
- Agency Profit Podcast
- My LinkedIn
- Parakeeto’s LinkedIn
About Me:
I am co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto and fractional COO at Gold Front.
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – I’m also a respected keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- ShiftLab.co
About Jeremy:
As the founder of Shift Lab, Jeremy focuses on projects that couple excellent design and technology, resulting in beautifully-designed digital products for clients as wide-ranging as Google, Comcast, Microsoft, and BreastCancer.org.
Jeremy has worked in product development, UX, graphic design, and development for the web since the mid-’90s and was previously Director of Technology at Method.
In his spare time, he’s allegedly a magnet enthusiast…
About Marcel:Marcel Petitpas is co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto.
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – Marcel is also a renowned keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
Expect to see more from Marcel over the coming weeks, as he shares important insights for agency owners who want to earn more while working less.
Points of Interest…There’s more information regarding each point in our blog notes beneath below.
- Identifying high ROI processes 2:12
- Four-step Flywheel Framework 3:20
- The Benefits of Tracking Tools 7:57
Identifying High ROI ProcessesMost agencies struggle at some point with going over budget on projects and potentially working evenings and weekends due to a looming deadline.
Unfortunately, things can take longer than expected. Since the deadline isn’t moving, you and your team inevitably find yourselves trying to make up time by working late or weekends. Obviously, this isn’t sustainable.
There are processes to help deal with such situations, ones you could be building and optimizing, but you never seem to have time to define and implement them – or identify which ones are going to generate the highest return on investment.
Well, all that is about to change!
Four-Step Flywheel FrameworkI want to share with you our tried and tested Flywheel Framework which will help you identify the highest ROI investments. Its implementation will, in turn, help you protect your time – and your team’s time – as well and your profits.
Then, I’m going to show you how you can embed this in your business. Over time, your team will learn how to run this process and tune your business for you – essentially making your agency self-optimizing, because it’s a feedback loop.
Our four-step Flywheel Framework consists of…
- Capturing Assumptions
- Measuring Reality
- Running Meetings
- Investing in Your Process
Assumption > Measure > Meetings > Process = Profit + Predictability
Capturing AssumptionsIrrespective of what your agency does, assumptions will be made pre-project. From ‘time and materials’ projects, to ‘flat rate’ projects; from how much time a project is going to take, to prospective external costs – blind assumption-making can seem part and parcel of a project, but it doesn’t have to be.
You need to analyze IF those assumptions were correct or not. By capturing these assumptions, and ensuring there’s a consistent format to how they’re tracked, you can compare how your pre-project presumptions stack up against reality over time – horizontally.
Measuring the Reality of AssumptionsWhether it’s a spreadsheet or a tool like Parakeeto, define a consistent format and methodology by which you can estimate – or capture – the assumptions about your projects.
Now that you have a reference point, measure the accuracy of those assumptions. By way of example; compare your assumed costs to your actual costs; compare the time logged in your estimate against the true time spent; and so on. Then you can ascertain if there is a mismatch between your initial assumptions and the actual data. This process is simpler than it sounds – especially if you use an accounting tool, or a time tracking tool.
Make sure, when tracking your time, that it’s mapping back to the original assumption because that’s the purpose of the exercise!
Run Team MeetingsThe goal of these meetings is to sit down with your team to measure quantitative data. Discuss what matched up to your initial assumptions and, more importantly, what didn’t match. That’s where we’re going to surface qualitative data.
For example, you might ascertain that you went over budget on design hours. Why was that? Did you assign too many designers to that task, resulting in duplicated work?
In short, the objective of these meetings is to identify what is going well, what is going poorly, and what is taking a different path to what was expected!
Invest in Your ProcessThe result of these captured insights include ideas on how you can overcome those things, then how best to implement them in your process backlog.
This will inform you what needs to be done in order to solve these problems that we’re seeing in our data and in our meetings that will help us make more accurate assumptions over time. Over time, if you continue using the Flywheel process, you’re going to have more profit and increased predictability.
In our business, profit and predictability are the holy grail of goals! While profit obviously means there’s more money in the bank for you, for your team, and for potential investments, predictability denotes less time spent working on weekends and evenings, better resource planning, more accurate timelines, etc. Simply put, predictability gives you better visibility into your business.
Key Takeaway: The Benefit of Tracking ToolsTime Tracking and Cost Tracking are two of the most important pieces of data for you as a service business owner – or as an agency owner – to optimize your business.
It’s about shifting your mindset regarding Time Tracking. Tell yourself it’s not just something you do for a client. Applying time tracking to your team will, in the long run, lead to an enhanced work/life balance.
If you want to dig deeper into this stuff and get some free resources to help you implement this flywheel in your business, download our Agency Profitability Tool Kit – it’s loaded with free resources to help you do everything described in this video!
Want to see more from Marcel? You’re in the right place! Follow him @…* Parakeeto * Agency Profit Podcast * Marcel’s LinkedIn * Parakeeto’s LinkedIn * Parakeeto’s Twitter
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next installment of #APP, on August 19th, will see us chat with Jeremy Jackson. To view our previous blog with Rachel Gertz, make your wayhere…
Quick Links:* The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free. * For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com * Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:* Twitter @TheStrayMuse * LinkedIn * Louderthanten.com * Superhi.com
About Rachel:As well as being the co-founder of Louder Than Ten, Rachel is also a digital PM trainer at the company. Louder Than Ten helps digital agencies and product studios train their Project and Operations Managers to deliver healthy and profitable projects.
Rachel trains tech companies how to knock their old project management flows upside down, by refining the most valuable steps in the process. She helps companies understand what project numbers really mean, and how to turn blocks into opportunities.
Her mission is to transform the tech industry by training digital companies how to give back power to the people leading their projects.
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links:
- contentsnare.com
- jimmyrose.me
- AgencyHighway Podcast
About James:
James (Jimmy to his pals) is the founder of Aktura Tech, ContentSnare, and the host of the Agency Highway podcast.
Via his Zapier Mastery automation course, he enjoys finding and sharing ways for you to automate parts of your business so you can spend your precious time tackling things that really matter.
In addition to sharing his knowledge of better processes via automation, James co-founded a tool for digital agencies to get content from their clients via ContentSnare, while Aktura builds custom software and mobile apps. One of his previous projects, SaaS application SilverSiphon, was sold to an angel investment firm based in Silicon Valley.
When this Brisbanite isn’t informing people just how much “automation freaking rocks”, he can be found conversing with dogs; something he’s particularly skilled in.
About Andy:Today, Andy is the co-founder of Postaga.com; an all-in-one SEO research platform for link building and email outreach that helps agencies and marketers build traffic and relationships.
Aside from being a digital marketing professional, he is a speaker, lawyer, running enthusiast, and has enjoyed cooking up a storm for the family during Lockdown in New York.
Plus, he’s officiated quite a few weddings on occasions (available for bookings!)
Quick Links* The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free. * For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com * Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
Guest Links* Twitter @andycabasso * Twitter @PostagaApp * LinkedIn
About John...
As well as being Founder and CEO of Credo, John is also an independent growth marketing and SEO consultant, who’s work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, TheNextWeb, Moz, TechCrunch, CNBC, WIRED, Entrepreneur, and many more.
When he’s not beavering away at work, John’s probably spending time with wife Courtney, daughter Tatum, and dog Butterbean, or cycling the mountain ranges of Denver, Colorado!
Guest Links
- YouTube
- getcredo.com
Quick Links:
- The Agency Profitability Toolkit - Get the templates, formulas, and frameworks we've used with our consulting clients to help them double their profitability in under 60 days, absolutely free.
- For more information on our Agency Profitability Systems and Consulting, check out https://parakeeto.com
- Love the podcast? Leave us a review on the platform of your choice at this link.
About Keith:Keith Perhac is the founder of SegMetrics.io, a Saas company helping course authors, product creators, and self-funded businesses increase their revenue from their existing traffic.
Unlike most marketers, Keith is also a developer, which facilitated his transition from DevelopYourMarketing.com to “the dark side” (AKA SaaS). This gives him an innate understanding of two key things: the marketing strategies required to grow, and how to implement said strategies for your business.
Currently, his online software helps marketers and agency owners get 100% clarity on where their leads come from, how they act, and how much their marketing is really worth.
In his spare time, you can find Keith buried in Dungeons & Dragons.
SegMetrics.io and How it StartedLike all good software solutions, it was born from an itch that needed scratching.
Keith started out as an agency owner, and had been doing funnel optimization and campaign optimization for a number of digital marketers. As his client base grew, so did the time spent on pulling the required numbers for the reporting process.
“Pulling numbers is not what I got into marketing for… Understanding what to do with those numbers is why I got into marketing.”
Numbers are vitally important to any business, particularly marketing, yet Keith and his colleagues were finding it to be a “huge time suck.” Being developers by nature, they committed to finding a more functional way forward.
So, they built the first version internally, based on the premise of “Hey, can we drop these numbers into a
database and then calculate them automatically?” As it turns out, you can!
The Importance of Client Communication and ReportingThink about it… a client comes to work with you because they need guidance in a certain area. The more communication you have with a client, the more you can alleviate any lurking fears regarding your expertise in your field.
“The number one thing I’ve found working with agencies, and things that we did internally, was to create a process. The stronger the communication process, the more confidence a client has in your agency.”
Conversely, it’s worth bearing in mind that over-communication can have the opposite effect. It indicates a lack of structure and a certain malleability. When a client feels they should take control of a project, you’re in danger of losing your cache – that being your expertise.
There are other pitfalls leading from that. For example, you could find yourself dealing with items that aren’t in the project scope; fixing up “little things” that need tweaking, and – as Keith attests – “suddenly, you’re a development shop instead of a marketing agency.”
So, a set process is key to working well with clients from the offset. You can start this by ensuring…
- Every step is documented for both parties
- Each step is part of a set process, showcasing how things are progressing/improving
- Every step then has a subsequent action
This way, the client never feels in the dark, constantly wondering ‘What’s going on next?!’
Value Communication During COVID-19Right now, it’s more critical than ever to be communicating value to clients. It can actually be bad for your clients to cut you right now if you’re driving results for them, particularly online.
“If you can keep revenue the same, or keep it from tanking, that’s your agency fee paid for right there. That’s the value you need to show and that’s what we try to do with our funnel optimizations.”
You need to show them you’re not a cost, but an investment and a value-add, and you do that through your concise communication and reporting process.
“Look, here’s what we did this last month, here’s where you would have been without us, and here’s where you are with us. We’re only taking 5% of all the improvements we’ve made; so we’re definitely worth keeping on.”
Set processes creates clarity, continuously reinforcing the value the client is getting. This, in turn, creates client confidence that you’re producing results.
Streamlining Your Client Communication ProcessKeeping that pertinent word in mind (value), how should agencies think about setting up a process for communicating with clients that’s going to be efficient, streamlined and not take up a ton of their time?
Depending on how much the client is paying you, create a cadence of a weekly call and/or email that updates them on where the stats are.
When Keith signed a new client via his first company, he would follow a set schedule – core for clients that turned out to be a good fit.
“They got a packet, a list saying, ‘go do this now. Go do this, go do this. This is going to give us all the information for our kickoff call…’ Then, give them a list of everything you’re going to do in that first six weeks – because it’s a process, right?!”
A simple example of such a process should go a little something like this…
- Schedule weekly calls to review results, plus the next steps required
- Host meetings every six weeks to discuss strategy, and roadmap for the subsequent six weeks
- Ensure there’s a meeting two weeks before the renewal of the contract
- Never underestimate the importance of inserting yourself into the strategic decision-making process
Automating Streamlined ReportingWhen should you consider automating the processes that feel like they might be quite tricky to streamline? According to Keith, there is one golden rule:
“Never try to use software to automate the first time around, it is such a bad idea.”
Instead, implement the below process before attempting to automate:
- Start with a paper and/or checklist of the Standard Operating Procedures
- Give that SOP to someone who preferably hasn’t undertaken this process before; their different POV should be able to highlight any holes and redundancies (plus it means you’re delegating and possibly putting your time towards something more valuable!)
- Once that SOP is solid and proven, then you can work on automating parts that are consistently the same
Your Take-Away…By way of summary, find ways of building more value into your relationships with your clients during COVID-19. Now is as good a time as any, according to Keith…
“You are going to see a decline in revenue, that’s a given; don’t panic, take that extra time to make your business stronger… Now is the time.”
So, take the imminent lull in customer interaction to refine your processes and, in turn, improve your value to both your existing and future clients.
Go plug those holes! That way, you’ll be better prepared for whatever lies ahead…
Want to see more of Keith? Follow him @… Twitter @harisenbon79 * LinkedIn – Keith’s personal page * LinkedIn – SegMetrics company page * SegMetrics.io*
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next instalment of #APP, on June 10th, will see us chat with John Doherty. To view our previous blog with Alex Glenn, make your wayhere…
Agency Profitability Tool KitIf you’re looking for more resources to help you improve your agency’s profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit – it’s full of the same templates and checklists we’ve used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
Download the Agency Profitability Toolkit!Get the same templates & guides we use with consulting clients to get them results fast.
DOWNLOAD FREE
Explaining Partnerprograms.ioTheir aim is ensuring that software and agencies can connect and become more successful together.
The overall mission is just better partnerships; more connection, more interaction inside of the ecosystem, while optimizing communication and clarity, and therefore a faster turnaround for the client.
Core Tenets of Good PartnershipsSo, what’s at the core of a partnership between a software company and an agency? According to Alex, partnerships can really help you define your operating procedures, helping you get more organized as a team…
“Those partnerships can help you really streamline and optimize the services that you offer as an agency, which means higher ticket value, because customer retention is higher.”
What should you be aware of in terms of how partnerships ought to be structured? Below are some pointers; there’s more info on the podcast at the 2:10 mark…
- Co-marketing or co-selling opportunities can help the software company enable their clients
- Sometimes, you may look for tools to help you run more efficiently, thus optimizing service delivery on top of back-end systems
- Always go through the partnerships funnel on a website, not the regular sign-up form
- Feature roadmap inclusion and early access
- Seek a dedicated phone number, or support channel, for agency partners to receive priority support
- Remember: referral fees are not the foundation of a successful partnership, they are generally not going to be the primary value of the partnership
- Feature sets, enabling agencies to onboard new clients and build-out services on top of it – like white-labeling, client portals etc.
- Look for partners who have training – and systems – on how to build and sell services on top of their software
Partnership Opportunities Agencies Should SeekAssuming you’re an agency looking to build out some services on top of software solution, let’s address some signals indicating a great partner you can really trust – and grow with – going forward.
For instance, if you’re more of a creative agency and don’t sell services on top of tools, look for co-marketing opportunities to add value to software companies that serve the same customer as you. An example would be Wistia’s partnership with Sandwich Video
If you’re more of a digital or marketing shop, and have a process for how you deliver value to customers, look at the funnel and process that you use consistently. Then, look for partnership opportunities at each step of said funnel or process. An example of this would be using CallRail in a PPC campaign.
While you’re growing, try to stay vertical and use the partnership to increase revenue and margin; this is achieved by going deeper into a single vertical service offering – before you try to go too wide.
“Tech-Enabled” and “Tech-Stacked” Partnership ServicesProductizing your services allows you to have a streamlined, scalable workflow, thus building out extremely deep relationships with your partnerships and support teams.
This can develop some awesome co-marketing opportunities to reach more clients.
Speed to value is key for both SaaS and agencies. Great SaaS partnerships should enable you, as an agency, to get your clients the outcome they want much faster – with higher margins and less work.
The SaaS company is incentivized to help you do that, and your clients will get additional value from reaching their desired outcome faster.
In some cases, you can essentially charge more for something that takes less time because the value of getting the outcome faster of high importance to your client.
Some SaaS companies actually NEED agencies to scale. For example…
- Activation and retention are some of the most important metrics for SaaS companies
- Agencies can be essential in helping clients get complex tools set-up and implemented in their workflows so they can get successful
Understand that, as an agency, you can bring a lot of value to a SaaS company by helping them make their clients successful, sticking around in the long-term, and building case studies for the value of their product.
How to Start Adding Partnership Services to Your BusinessHow do you start evaluating partners? Where should you go? How do you start selling this to my clients? What’s the roadmap here?!
What Alex recommends you do is: look at tools you can create from those replicable stacks.
For example, Alex works with a partner called The.com, an awesome new tool that allows you – in your backend – to spin up. Using a very simple editor that’s database driven, you can give a client access to the backend so they populate it with all sorts of cool stuff.
“You can create these templates for lawyers, you can create these templates for real estate agents; when you have a new client, not only do you immediately load them with an amazing SEO driven website, you can add on tools and snippets on top of those websites. “
For instance, you can launch a cookie cutter website that’s optimized already, that has chat already, and uses Smith.ai.
Building Recurring, High Margin Services Via PartnershipsIf an agency is looking to find some good opportunities to build recurring, high-margin services into their agency through partnerships – where should they go? This is exactly what partnerprograms.io helps agencies figure out! As Alex says…
“Just look for partnerships. Don’t look at this as a vendorship. Don’t look at this as, you know, I’m just going to be asked to refer business all day long. Find a partnership. You have to grow with this company. Just like any partnership, it has to be mutually beneficial.”
Take a look at all the steps in your service delivery process. Start identifying opportunities to streamline each step of the process with software, and then evaluate the partner programs for each of those software solutions.
This will help you create a very predictable scope of work, so you can give clear pricing to your clients, as well as a clear process, plus a commitment to getting a solution to them in a timely manner!
Want to see more of Alex? Follow him @… Twitter @Right2Revenue * LinkedIn * Partnered 2020 Podcast * partnerprograms.io/resources-for-agencies/ * For more information on all the partner programmes mentioned in the podcast, make your way here…*
About Marcus: A recognized instructor and speaker at LinkedIn, Marcus Murphy cares deeply about the flourishing of fellow sales experts and entrepreneurs.
Currently, he’s Head of Partnerships at DigitalMarketer.com, which arms its ‘insiders’ with strategic insights from industry experts, while also providing templates, tools and swipe files to help you become a better marketer.
Marcus previously worked for Yelp in San Francisco, going from start-up to multi-billion dollar giant. He’s also honed his expertise at Infusionsoft as Global Partner Development Manager. There, he developed and broadened new international markets through strategic partnerships.
When not at work, he’s either spending quality time with wife, Gina, and his daughters – or he’s working out!
So, Why LinkedIn…?
What makes LinkedIn such a unique opportunity right now? The answer to that is – basically – there are 675 million people on the platform.
Additionally, organic reach across other social platforms is essentially dead, while LinkedIn still excels at this. Why? Because its algorithm loves engagement.
Start having conversations on there to up your engagement, and the platform will show these posts to more people. This, in turn, motivates yet more users to get involved in your conversation.
If your content is not starting the right conversations with potential connections, then it’s just noise, a distraction, a therefore a waste of your time.
In short… content is King.
Optimize your LinkedIn Profile to Start ConversationsThe three initial motivators for people to connect with you and your brand on LinkedIn are: your profile picture, your header image, and your byline/title. So, make them count.
You have a unique opportunity in your profile photo right away. If possible, invest $50 in the headshot. Do it 60% of the frame against a clean background.
More importantly, Marcus says…
“Make sure you’re not Catfishing people with your 1989 headshot… It’s tough to have integrity built and trust built into that.”
If potential connections see your photo and what you have positioned yourself as – plus, if you ask a question in your ‘Summary‘ – then there’s your conversation starter.
Always remember…
- Everything on your profile should be driven to start conversations
- Get a good professional headshot that takes up 60% of the frame
- Optimize your headline to start a conversation – and be specific
- Use your Summary to hook the visitor; sell your story, share what you’re about / what your mission is
- Put a call to action in your Summary, invite people to join your journey
If you do those things, then you’re better prepared to be part of the massive growth that’s happening on LinkedIn right now.
Personal LinkedIn Profile and Brand Page RelationshipChances are, if you’re an agency owner on LinkedIn, you have both a personal profile and a business page. Now, how can you actually leverage and create momentum by using both? As Marcus says…
“You gotta have a business page, you have to have a showcase page, and you have to have a website as a business – because everybody wants to see that you are who you say you are. They want to have those integrity pieces and something to anchor to.”
Below is a strategy behind utilizing those assets together.
- Use your business page as the anchor
- The business page is designed to inform what your business is about
- Post content and updates, but don’t expect it to drive organic growth
- Pay to boost content that is doing well organically
- Your personal page will drive the growth of your business page
Your personal page should be used to generate ‘reach’, while your business page will provide conversion (i.e. website visits) and build buyer confidence.
Optimizing Content for Organic Reach on LinkedInLet’s talk core strategies to consider when trying to optimize the content you’re posting on LinkedIn to obtain organic reach / drive results.
Every piece of content Marcus generates is put through the lens of who Digital Marketer is as an organization. You need to create a ‘Character Diamond’ highlighting what your agency excels at, and then what balances that. Or, to put it another way…
“No one would like Superman if there was no Kryptonite and he wasn’t a nerd – because none of us can fly, and we’d think he’s an asshole – ‘Oh, he’s flying again, well, screw that guy!’ We are marketing savants at Digital Marketer, but we are also highly irreverent and that’s a good balance; it helps people to go ‘Oh, these guys are really smart – but they’re human beings’.”
In order to optimize your content for organic reach on LinkedIn, and therefore boost your ‘connections’ above 500 and beyond…
- Be authentic with your content; don’t be too staunch on LinkedIn
- Build a Character Diamond for yourself and your personal brand
- Ask yourself how your content can start conversations…
- Comments trump ‘likes’, and are heavily weighed in organic reach
- Responding to comments is tremendously important
- Consistency and quality content is key
- Engage and comment on posts written by people who have a big following
Again, it’s advantageous to have more (and more) people engage with, and comment on, the post as it takes it so much further.
Specific LinkedIn Tips for the Agency OwnerSo, you’re running an agency, you’ve got a small team, and looking at LinkedIn as the next channel you want to double down on. What’s the execution plan?
- Have a client profile. Who’s your ideal? Ask yourself where they live, what do they care about?
- Ensure clarity about who your audience is and what kind of content they would get value from
- Try decipher/preempt the issues that ‘your people’ are trying to solve, then go create content to resolve said issues
- Nail your strategy for LinkedIn, and then productize that strategy for your clients – do it for them
- As an agency owner, you should be exceptional at this so you can advise your clients
By way of summary; it’s great to be professional on LinkedIn, but also bring it down to a human level.
Take a “buyer first” approach and simply try to be helpful; the million dollar question for a potential client is usually something simple like “What can I help you with right now?”
Lastly, don’t be afraid to connect them to someone who may be a better fit!
Want to see more of Marcus? Follow him @…* LinkedIn * Twitter * digitalmarketer.com/
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next instalment of #APP, on May 27th, will see us chat with Alex Glenn. To view our previous blog with Chris Badget, make your way here…
Agency Profitability Tool KitIf you’re looking for more resources to help you improve your agency’s profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit – it’s full of the same templates and checklists we’ve used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
By way of background; LifterLMS encompasses the needs of modern membership course creators, allowing you to create an integrated membership site.
Chances are, you have a productized service option lurking within your current agency resources; this could be launched quickly, thus opening up a new, easier revenue source.
About Chris:
A natural and authentic teacher, Chris uses his innate ability to hone every business he’s started or mentored.
Creating a Learning Management System for WordPress, he helps online course creators launch, and scale. The LifterLMS community includes agencies who build learning management systems, membership sites, and courses for clients.
When he’s not working in his cabin, or homeschooling his kids, you can find Chris on his organic farm spending time in nature, and wowing his family with magic tricks.
Points of Interest...
- Maintaining cash-flow to fund products 3:35
- Sustaining your product over time 6:34
- Deciding when to start productizing services 10:04
- Measuring the impact 11:38
- Tips for agencies transitioning to productized services 12:07
Maintaining Cash-flow to Fund Products Once you’ve built out your SaaS product, complete with making the often necessary concessions on profit, there are other ways to maintain cash flow.
For example, Chris has a knack at talent scouting; investing in someone who may be less experienced, but has the potential to become a leader if given the opportunity to grow while making mistakes. This is the foundation of an economical team engine.
Additional ways to maintain cash-flow as discussed by Chris include…
- Move up-market, ensuring good payment terms
- Get used to pre-selling and receiving cash upfront
- Live below your means where possible, ensuring you survive any dips
Sustaining Your ProductIt’s one thing transitioning from an agency to a software company, but – once there – how can you (frankly) survive that transition and ease some of the cash-flow constraints?
In short, it’s worth reminding yourself (often) that moving to productizing services is a “process not an event”. As it happens, this is a mantra Chris uses frequently…
“I say that about a lot of different things, but transitioning from an agency to a software company was definitely a multi-year process, not an event – like, it happened on Tuesday on this date…”
Therefore, it’s necessary to get good at scoping projects and forecasting cash-flow.
Based on his experience in delivering high-end, custom web dev solutions for membership sites, Chris also challenged himself to create and productize, while “using mostly our tool, plus some templated sites, with limited customization”, that still delivered ALL the value and a medium price point.
Deciding When to Start Productizing ServicesGiven price points vary across the board, your productized service is likely going to be the customer. Bear in mind, the ideal customer or client is going to have different attributes than your custom high-end work.
Five years ago, Chris’s process included some of the below…
- Firstly, he considered how to improve upon scope control, plus drive-up margins
- Then, he experimented for a year
- He learned that clients for productized services are going to be very different to high-end clients, with “productized services, sort of a halfway point between agency and product”
- He also referenced the work of Brian Castle (generally considered a leader in terms of creating productized services out of an agency) and Mandi Ellefson, the mind behind the Hands-Off CEO programme
Measuring The ImpactRealizing he was a product person and packaging services that way made sense, it aided a shift in thinking from services to the product – on the way to SaaS.
“When you really get clear on productized service offerings, you don’t have to put your best people on it.”
Indeed, productized services don’t tend to require a number of high-talent staff. You may need their help to develop the templates, processes and to brainstorm, but in a standard operating procedures way of implementation, resulting in value for the client that feels customized and bespoke.
Additionally, Chris was able to price on value and create great margins, plus he realised productized services brought far less stress.
Regarding the resulting data and reporting, plus profitability, gross margin, and PR from the product; there was a lot of iteration to get to Product/Market fit. Oh, and margins flipped from 20% to 80%… Result.
Tips for Transitioning to Productized ServicesSo, if you’re reading this at home – with a few ideas ruminating and therefore “product curious” – here are some points to consider if you’re pondering a similar move.
- Do a deep dive into your soul
- Get better at running a profitable agency so you can afford to invest in the product
- Figure out how you’re going to bridge that gap
- Be open to challenging your assumptions about what the product is, versus what it needs to be
That’s the key to unlocking value in a really good offer; don’t get too attached to your assumptions, instead help your clients and your customers uncover their own cause.
Want to see more of Chris? Follow him online @ LifterLMS.com* * Chris’s LinkedIn * Chris’s Facebook * Chris’s Twitter
In Episode 31, Jennifer and Marcel address three potential time traps: superfluous meetings, email distraction, and issues around functional silos.
Buckle up as we do a deep dive on making communication more efficient; how to map processes so they work optimally; plus how to implement them so they become part of your agency’s long-term process.
About Jennifer Kikkert:
Jennifer is a seasoned process facilitator and energizing public speaker, with 15 years of experience in process improvement and optimization, culture change, and operational excellence.
Having spent 12 years working in the public sector, and then transitioning to the private sector, Jen has a wealth of experience in knowledge and service industries – where processes are hard to visualise. Hence the birth of her company Visualiiz Management Consulting Inc, which helps organizations ‘see’ opportunities for improvement that often go unnoticed.
Points of interest…Below are some notable time stamps you can fast track to. There’s more information in our blog notes beneath the video.
- Principle of time efficient meetings 10:46
- Defining SLA around communication 15:22
- Utilizing your least productive time 22:16
- Cross function process mapping 24:27
- Common mistakes made when writing processes 28:08
- Implementing process mapping within your business 37:38
Principles of Time Efficient MeetingsOver the last decade, Jennifer has noticed a similar pattern emerging across the knowledge, services, manufacturing industries she’s worked with… inefficient meetings.
By way of example; Harvard Business Review recently revealed that – in the last 10 years – meetings have increased by 65%. In short, some people favour talking over doing.
To this point, Jennifer gets her clients to visualise the following scenario:
“What if you had to run your meeting like the NBA or the NFL in a 62nd time out? What if you only had 60 seconds to get your point across, to have everyone discuss the issue, to come up with a solution, and have everyone to know exactly what they need to do, and then go back to work… Would you be able to do it?”
So, what is the checklist to ensure more time efficient meetings?
- Do not run a meeting without an agenda
- Meetings should only be held to answer questions, not define questions
- Update meetings should be omitted
- Ask meeting attendees not to bring phones; firstly, they won’t be distracted by their devices, secondly, they will be more inclined wrap a meeting efficiently to return to their phones!
- Use 5-10 minute (virtual) huddles at the start and/or end of each day, this can eliminate the need for a lot of additional meetings
We don’t need everyone to sit for two hours and have everyone “go around the room.” It’s not a good use of people’s time. Time is our number one resource.
Defining SLA Around CommunicationDuring our chat, Jennifer mentions that the “majority of workers check their email 77 times a day” and “can spend up to two-and-a-half hours just reading and sorting through email.” Sadly, the likelihood of this time adding any value to the client’s end product is limited.
People are literally drowning in their inbox, however, there are proven strategies to help. The most notable one is simply “turn off all notifications.” Those who constantly succumb to the pinging and buzzing claim they’re “multitasking”. One could argue they’re not doing anything very efficiently because of continuous distraction.
Every interruption leads to a loss of production, with it taking “seven-to-15-minutes to get back to where you were.” By disabling notifications, you control when you see your email, not the other way around.
If possible, give yourself set times to check mail, ideally three times a day. For example, Jennifer tends to her inbox at 8:30am in the morning, then 11:45am, and lastly 4pm before the usual COB. You can give anyone emailing you a heads up by stating in your signature that your inbox is checked at these specific times. That way, you’re setting expectations.
Within your organization, have an SLA around communication:
- Let those in the channel know when to expect a response
- Define what is an acceptable response time; within 12, 24, 48 hours?
- Have an escalation process in place if something is important
Time is precious, so people shouldn’t feel obligated to be at the behest of every communication channel fighting for our attention.
Utilizing Your Least Productive TimeIn his book The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, author Dan Pink states the two most unproductive hours of your entire day occur between 2pm and 4pm.
Research shows that productivity, mental alertness and judgement lags at this time, so important work between those hours should be avoided. If you have the luxury of choice, perhaps use those hours to catch up on those emails!
Cross Function Process MappingMost organizations evolve over time. Due to vertical silos, all of our deadlines and priorities are also vertical. However, work generally flows horizontally.
This can potentially lead to the following issues:
- Duplication/reworking
- Miscommunication
- Increased errors
- Wasted time/energy
Ways of tackling functional silos include simply getting representatives from each department – working across said horizontal process – together to visually map the process. It should chronicle the process, from request for service to service delivered, for all to see.
Only then can everyone see where the issues are.
Common Mistakes When Writing ProcessesOne of the biggest mistakes made by organizations is failing to physically map their process out, instead going by “what’s in their head.” While it’s easier for manufacturers to deal with potential issues on an assembly line situation, the same can’t be said for service and knowledge industries.
Assumptions will be made unless the process is visually mapped with the people who actually do the work. Only then can the root of an issue be thoroughly investigated.
I see this a lot in the creative space; people rejecting the idea that there’s even a process behind what they do under the veil of it being too creative…. there’s still a set of steps requiring accomplishment, or at least a set of outcomes that need to be met in order to get a product to the client.
The more we embrace that, then the more we can start to understand our specific process to being more efficient.
Implementing Process Mapping Within your BusinessFirstly, you don’t need to improve on your process if it’s not an issue. If it’s not a critical thing that needs immediate attention, then mapping all of your processes just for the sake of mapping it is in itself inefficient and unproductive. Focus on what’s going to make an impact.
Secondly, directly involve the people undertaking the work. When people are given the autonomy to say how they think work should be done – in the most efficient and productive way for the customer – they’ll own it as they helped create it.
Get the team involved in measuring the results afterwards. Don’t just set it and forget it.
Thirdly, daily management is key. Not the extensive, overbearing performance management type thing, more a daily check in that is visual. Have quick (virtual) huddles to discuss your project in terms of:
- What got in the way of it not working?
- What was the impact?
- Should any process amendments be made at that time?
Make sure you have a process leader, and monitor/measure the results and make sure you capture modifications. Have a management cadence to harden the process after you launch it.
Remember, we’re not performance managing the people involved; rather the process involved.
Want to see more from Jennifer? Follow her online via…* Visualiiz.ca * jen@vizualiiz.com * Jennifer’s LinkedIn
Did you learn anything new from this episode? If so, let us know in the comments below – we value your feedback! Our next instalment of the Agency Profit Podcast, on April 29th, will see us chat with Chris Badgett, CEO at LifterLMS. To see our previous blog, make your way here…
Agency Profitability Tool Kit
If you’re looking for more resources to help you improve your agency’s profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit – it’s full of the same templates and checklists we’ve used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
About Marcel:Marcel Petitpas is co-founder and CEO of Parakeeto. Indeed you do recognize him from The Agency Profit Podcast!
In addition to being an agency profitability consultant – specializing in helping agencies get a handle on their gains – Marcel is also a renowned keynote/virtual speaker and podcaster.
Time Stamps: points of interest• Intro 0:00
• Behind The Agency Profit Podcast 3:35
• Focusing on the numbers 6:37
• Where should your focus be right now? 9:42
• Implementing and utilizing changes 10:55
• Identifying goals 13:27
• Importance of both internal and billable time 16:17
• Cost performance indexing 18:57
• Increasing efficiency and profitability 22:15
• Helpful tools! 25:00
• Outro 30:30
Blog:Today’s episode of the Agency Profit Podcast is a bit different for you guys. Since we’re living in very uncertain times due to COVID-19, I decided to pause the usual podcast (on't worry; we've content in the can for the next few months!) and personally address how this outbreak impacts our lives – as well as all the agencies and businesses out there.
Whether you're an agency that had an office and had to send everybody home, or you were already a remote agency, this is probably impacting you and/or your clients.
I want to discuss some of the things I've addressed with our clients in the midst of this COVID-19 crisis. There are three really particular opportunities that exist around this situation, especially if you're in a position where you’re having to make a lot of changes to the way that your team operates.
First, I want to talk about how to increase your focus on numbers; the opportunity to implement new changes in your agency; and how to make your business more efficient.
Behind The Agency Profit Podcast Before we dive into the things, I want to share a few things: I am an agency profitability consultant, specializing in helping agencies essentially get a handle on their basic numbers.
Most of our income as a company has been from consulting revenue, public speaking, appearing on other people's podcasts and speaking in virtual events.
If you’re an avid listener to our bi-monthly APP, you probably know I always have a guest on the show to discuss how they've honed their business into a profitable agency and tackled potential pitfalls along the way.
Focussing on the Numbers If you've been a frequent listener of the Agency Profit Podcast, you know the topic of increasing number focus is a hot topic. The three key foundations of the economic model of an agency are capacity, utilization, and average billable rates.
• Capacity is defined as the amount of time your team could contribute towards doing billable work in any given time period. It’s determined by how many people you have access to on your team – from, freelancers or contractors – as well as how much of that time you expect them to work. This can quantify it in terms of dollars using an average billable rate.
Essentially, if I know I've got 10,000 hours of billable time this year which I can sell, then that's good. You must invest time to earn revenue. It’s important to know what your capacity is and how much revenue you could potentially earn in a given time period.
• Utilization is how much time your agency actually uses for things that result in payment from clients. This is the true and straightforward definition of the term. We'll discuss how there are a couple of different definitions of utilization that get used in the industry, and how to best use those with your team to avoid complications.
• Average bill rate is basically every hour that my team invests working on projects for the agency or their client/s.
When you have a really good handle on capacity, utilization, and average bill rate, it's easy to start modeling things such as:
- What are our best clients or services?
- How much revenue could we potentially earn in a given time period?
- What kind of revenue are we looking to earn in the future?
Always remember; as an agency, the moment you sell a project, you have to start earning the revenue as there's already a gap due to liability. Interestingly, a lot of agency owners forget about this principle.
Then, there's the cost of earning revenue; where you have to invest time and resources to earn said revenue. As much as possible, you must shorten that latency of when you close the revenue (when contract or bookings happened), and when you actually earn the revenue. You want to decrease that cost as much as possible.
This should be the objective of your operational model when it comes to delivery. Gross profit or gross margin, for most people, is going to be a bit more challenging to follow accurately. Depending on how your systems are set up, generally you're going to want to do that via accounting software, or by spreadsheets.
However, undertaking this exactly is usually more expensive than tracking the average bill rate, which is a super simple number to pinpoint.
Where Should Your Focus be Right Now?Well, your focus really should be on utilization. This is probably the biggest and most important number, especially in this current economic downturn.
Whether you're losing clients or experiencing a massive influx of clients due to the pandemic, then your focus should be actually on your average bill rate and your capacity.
Another important note for agency owners; ensure you actually have enough people to service the work that's coming in. Make sure you're not causing your business indigestion: losing out on potential cash flow and profit by taking on projects you're not going to be able to earn efficiently from.
That's where you, as an agency owner, should be focused on your average below rate and your capacity, because your utilization is going to be high – or low – depending on your company’s working schedule, whether it's busy or not. However, it’s very important to keep your rate of utilization as high as possible.
This means taking on as much work possible and ensuring you adjust capacity to keep your utilization high. Unfortunately, this could mean potential layoffs. You may need to cut back on the hours for contractors you've been working with for a while.
Implementing and Utilizing ChangesImplementing and utilizing necessary changes, while obviously tough, can bring a sense of opportunity and excitement. In fact, a mentor of mine – Dan – has a great exercise he made us do in his coaching program; he basically sits us down and says, “I want you to write down everybody that's on your team. Now, imagine you have a blank slate and you're hiring everybody back.”
If you're not excited to hire somebody back on the list, then you need to think really long and hard about whether they should still be on the team. Who, in the back of your mind, do you know isn't the right fit...
This is an opportunity to potentially save the people you see yourself working with while providing those – who may not be such a good fit – the opportunity to find somewhere better suited for them. In essence, that's really the focus if you're in the situation of utilization.
Now, I want to address the pure definition of utilization and how much of my team’s time is being used working on clients. The reason for its hard definition is because of the context of how we're using it on the operational side.
Therefore, it's really useful to know:
- How much of our available time is being used to serve clients?
- What does that number look like on average?
- What has that number been previously?
We can use this data to assess whether your agency is ready to have a new and improved operational process set up! Through this assessment, you can also estimate your maximum utilization, which must be around 80% or 85%.
We require our team to take a certain amount of time off, to sit in certain internal meetings, work on certain internal projects, and so on. However, I observe a lot of agencies inflating utilization to make their team feel good.
Personally speaking, we need to take a step back to consider utilization and the context of how we're sharing it with our team.
Identifying GoalsTime tracking compliance is an excellent tool for assessing or adjusting utilizations. It's perfectly fine to be holding your team accountable. In fact, it's encouraged for time tracking. Compliance shows agency owners the time you're investing through the week and where it's going.
All of your employees must be honest about that. Hold people to a billable utilization goal; if we do that without also holding them to project profitability or average billable rate goal, it can become a bad habit. Your team may start logging extra billable hours against unnecessary projects just to hit a billable utilization goal.
It's also going to distort your time tracking data, making it seem like it takes a lot longer to earn revenue than it actually does. It's important to protect the quality and reliability of our data.
Whether you're transitioning your business model to a new one, or if you're starting to expose more numbers to your team, I wouldn't encourage you to hold people accountable for a billable utilization goal rate without having full transparency about project profitability – or, at the very least, average billable rate.
The reason being, at least those two things will counterbalance themselves. However, if you simply say, “Hey, I need you to hit 65% billable utilization at the end of the week.” 99% of the time, if they're not able to hit that goal, it's not their fault. It's yours. As an agency owner, you are responsible for giving your employees enough work to do and provide enough clarity.
A good example is when your team is supposed to work for 40 hours a week. You must instruct them to track those 40 hours a week, even if two of those are vacation days. It is also very helpful to build transparency amongst your team. Ask them to leave notes in the time tracking system so that you have a good, clean, reliable time tracking data.
That is one of the most valuable resources for your agency as it relates to your visibility as a management team. In order to make it more profitable. you're going to start holding your team accountable, which translates to increased visibility.
Importance of Both Internal and Billable Time The importance of internal time and billable time stems from questions such as:
- Where did your time go? In order for you to make informed decisions about how to reprioritize.
- Why did this go well?
- What didn't go well, and why?
Agency owners can ensure people are aligned with what their priorities are as a business, and have the necessary data to back it up. If you're trying to get your team onto utilization, do not hold them exclusively to an arbitrary Billable Utilization Goal.
Once you have a clean time tracking data, first, you can use it to get an understanding of where your team's time is going. Based on that information, you can have conversations with your team leaders or your project managers. You can really glean an understanding of what internal projects are important to your agency at any given moment.
It's important to use your clean and reliable time tracking data to indicate the risk of a potential project. This helps you and your management team understand where best to invest time and energy.
In a remote environment, one of the biggest keys to success is being very intentional about conversations because you can't just wheel your chair down to somebody's office and have a quick chat, or just call an impromptu meeting.
You're now dealing with other people's calendars and they're moving around. You need to have an agenda, and you need to schedule it. Intent becomes very important around where you focus on energy as a manager or owner.
Cost Performance Indexing You take a piece of work, and the amount of time you're expecting it will take. Then, when you compare that to the amount of time that's been invested thus far, you then give that project 8% of the complete number.
As an agency owner, you might ask whoever's leading the project to report on progress or roadblocks.
Let's say you had 400 hours tracked, and you were expecting 800 hours to get the project done; that gets you to 50% of the project. Then, it's like, okay: do we feel we're ahead or behind at this 50% benchmark? They might report that said project may be a little bit behind, currently at 45%.
In this instance, what we would essentially do is divide the total amount of time we're expecting the project to take by the delta between the amount of time you used and the percentage completed. That gives us a projection of how many hours we think it's actually gonna take to get a certain project done.
In such a case, it's going to be about a 5% increase. Then we can look at what that does to our average billable rate. We can do this for all of our projects very quickly. This helps us get informed as a management team on where we should focus and who needs our help, plus where we might need to make some investments and catch fires before they start burning too hot.
Increasing Efficiency and ProfitabilityIn a time like this, it's beneficial for us agency owners, and project leaders of organizations, to get our team involved in helping us become more efficient. This means having regularly scheduled cadences to review the profitability of projects and our project management process.
Since you’re already implementing new tools and procedures, this is an opportunity for you to ask your team:
- What's working?
- What's not working?
- Where can we improve?
Urge them to provide feedback. Their input provides an opportunity to implement more efficient practices.
If we don't do a good job of scoping initially, the protection of project profitability can become tricky. It can be difficult to make sure we are planning our resources well – that's how we own business situations where our team is working overtime.
For example, if I’m noticing that all of our current website projects are going over budget, or have the potential to go over budget, we can surface that on our next team meeting. When reviewing project profitability, we ask ourselves:
- Why do we think this might be happening?
- Is it that we didn't do a great job of scoping from the offset?
- Did something unexpected arise while doing this project?
- Are we having trouble handing things off from one department to another?
- Are we aware of potential challenges?
From that conversation, a lot of feedback can surface and will help you understand what your company needs to do to make a certain project more efficient, more profitable, more streamlined, and easier for our team to undertake.
As your team is already primed for things being in flux, they're going to be more receptive to changes because that's what they're expecting.
This is an opportunity to change employee habits, and I believe getting them involved in the conversation – and therefore bringing ideas to the table – you're really just facilitating and managing who is going to take the lead going forward.
It's important to build a foundation for your numbers and I highly encourage you to get a time tracking tool in place – if you don't already have one. If you do have one in place, the best way for us to have visibility into how well the business is running is for everyone to be proficient at tracking their time.
Then, use that information to decipher what's going well in terms of projects; where people’s time is going; and use that data to inform us how we can improve as a business, making our processes more efficient.
Helpful Tools We Use We at Parakeeto have been a remote-first company since day zero. Our team is scattered right now between, Edmonton, Alberta, Monkton Canada, and Harlem, New York. We also have people in the Philippines, Ireland, as well as South Africa. In short, the team is all over the place!
We coordinate across multiple time zones, so there are few important tools enabling us to function productively in this way. The first is Zoom. I use Zoom every single day – for many, many hours – and I think they're doing a lot right now to make Zoom more accessible to teams that haven't used it before. Video conferencing is an important part and plays a major role in communicating with my team.
We also use Acuity Scheduling, which is how I do all of my external scheduling. You might find yourself scheduling a lot of meetings right now, and some people on the team are also using X.AI – a virtual assistant AI bot, which works incredibly well. So, if you're looking for better solutions for scheduling meetings, within your team or with clients, definitely check those out.
For documentation and knowledge-base tools, we're using Notion, which I'm a very big fan of. For collaboration and running meetings, especially our solution design meetings that we do for product management, and for our executive brainstorming and an offsite type of work we use Miro. We use it feverishly – Lee and I highly recommend it.
We use Google Drive, and use Harvest for time tracking. We use QuickBooks online extensively to see where our expenses are going, plus track the profitability of our clients and projects. And of course, we use Parakeeto!
Want to See More of Marcel? Follow him online via…* Parakeeto * Agency Profit Podcast * Marcel’s LinkedIn * Parakeeto’s LinkedIn * Parakeeto’s Twitter
Agency Profitability Tool KitIf you're looking for more resources to help you improve your agency's profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit - it's full of the same templates and checklists we've used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
About Keith:Keith Scandone is co-founder and CEO of O3 World, a 15-year-old Digital Product Agency. Additionally, he’s co-founder of O3 Ventures – a spin-off of O3 World dedicated to investing in, and partnering with, existing Digital Product companies, aiding them to accelerate their businesses.
As well as being a busy go-getter, Keith is co-founder of the Forge Conference, a 300 person UX and Design seminar. If that wasn’t enough, he’s co-founder of 1682; an invite-only Business of Innovation Conference, which they hosted this year. Wait, there’s more!
Last, but certainly not least, he co-founded the Philadelphia chapter of the Awesome Foundation, and has sat on countless boards and committees, most notably the Philadelphia Global Identity Project, helping Philadelphia's global position.
Time Stamps: points of interest• Intro 0:00
• Keith’s unorthodox beginnings 2:43
• O3 World’s business culture and their services 7:00
• Identifying and overcoming the agency ‘growing pains’ 12:00
• Importance of managing cash-flow 16:20
• Knowing your strengths 19:27
• Understanding the competition 24:05
• Decision making plus executing strategic changes 30:01
• Scaling your agency 35:12
• Outro 47:22
Blog:Keith Scandone is proof you don’t need a degree to start a string of businesses. A successful partner of O3 World and co-founder of 1682, Keith shares his humble start; the many challenges the ’08 recession brought the company; and how they overcame it. Most importantly, he pinpoints how to understand your company’s strong points while building a niche market.
Before Keith found business success, acting was his passion. He was cast in a play while attending Loyola University, Maryland, and was swiftly bitten by ‘the bug', resulting in a move to Los Angeles.
However, after seven years in showbiz, Keith realized he preferred working behind the scenes. Packing his bags once more, he headed to Philadelphia, whereupon he was hired as a marketing consultant for an online entertainment city guide. His soon-to-be business partners were freelancing at the same company…
While their employers weren’t keen on working for bigger clients, Keith and Co knew they could do more. Spotting a gap in the market regarding client expansion, he and his partners set up O3 World 15 years ago, and haven’t looked back.
Being involved in a tech-related industry means having to adapt to a continuously changing environment – a challenge for any tech agency owner. Humbled by his company’s tenacity, Keith reflects on how some of the businesses he used to aspire to no longer exist.
O3 World’s Business Culture and ServicesO3 World currently has in the region of 50 full-time in-house employees, with Keith saying the company’s culture and collaborative nature plays a massive role in producing quality work. With innovation at its core, O3 World adapts to new technological changes and career opportunities.
Constantly pushes boundaries with regards to new business and opportunities, Keith and his team ensure they’re astride their game when providing their range of services, including…
• Brand Communications
• Identity Development
• API Development
• Custom Integration
• Account Strategy
• Digital Content Strategy
A go-getting and detail-oriented office culture is important, with Keith saying: “We don’t really like working project to project. We want to have more impact and influence on the work that we do…”
It’s well documented that acquiring new clients tends to be more expensive than retaining existing ones (unless, of course, you’ve been letting 'scope creep' kill your margins that entire time).
Another important consideration is that a mix of long-term or recurring income is critical to bolstering an agency’s valuation, and creating a strong foundation for cash-flow long-term.
So, how are you going to extend the relationship with a new client once the project is over? Great question! Keith says you should reach out to your current client/s to consult with them on their future needs.
With this in mind, O3 World honed an account strategy layer, selling on to clients, which turned out to be a successful venture.
Identifying and Overcoming ‘Growing Pains’Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in life. I can’t think of an agency that hasn’t encountered challenges. In fact, facing difficulties in your business is normal – the result actually depends on how you handle these issues.
In Keith’s case, his biggest challenge was going through a recession.
He recalls 2008 and 2009 as one of the toughest periods in his career – when he almost went out of business. Like many business owners at the time, he remembers sitting down with his partners, looking at each other, and having no idea how they were going to make payroll.
It’s tough enough building a business, but it’s obviously more challenging during a global recession. Not only will there be difficulty in finding new investors or clients, but it’s also tough risking whatever money you may have in your business.
Luckily, while one of Keith’s partners was looking into their bank account, an unexpected deposit of $5,000.00 landed. This turned out to be a referral fee they had no idea was coming. According to Keith, it was the “closest we’ve ever come to being out of business.”
When building a business, people usually play to their strengths – whether they’re a great writer, a great designer, or a great developer – while finding the right talent they’re comfortable working with. And that’s just for starters.
As Keith puts it: “Most people don’t realize that running a business is a lot of the things you don’t like doing.”
There are lots of operational pieces, the most obvious being finance. Managing finances appropriately – in conjunction with legal documents, and staff benefits – is paramount. Plus, you need to understand the 'scope creep' every agency deals with.
Keith adds: “The only way you get better at managing your agency is by getting burned by it a bunch of times.”
Another beneficial point; it’s worth investing time, energy, and money ensuring the right people are in place for non-billable roles – it's something too many agencies procrastinate on. One of the more imperative moves is hiring a project manager to help you keep track of your business progress.
Importance of Managing Cash-flowHaving a successful agency means taking smart risks while managing cash flow. Being critical and objective when working with clients is necessary to fulfill a job successfully. Therefore, try putting realistic budgets on certain projects, while maintaining it in line with a client’s usual work process.
Additionally, manage your resources appropriately and strategize ahead to have solutions available if/when the project experiences setbacks. Fluctuation in business is normal, but it’s best to try avoiding potential layoffs by having enough runway!
It’s important to hire someone who has a background in finance and operations, so you can properly elaborate on various strategies that will work within your agency. Again, an agency owners’ goal is not solely to make money and pay money; there are a lot of metrics associated with knowing when you should hire people, when you may have to lay off people.
Knowing Your Strengths…Being completely honest with yourself when recognizing your strengths or weaknesses it key, says Keith. All too often, businesses avoid being honest with clients as they fear losing business, that’s not the case, however. Learn how to communicate and define your remit, as simply saying ‘YES’ to everything may result in unrealistic client expectations.
Keith wants to dig in on that point specifically, as he’s currently going through this with an agency: “I’m on our next call and planning to sit the team down and give them the feedback; ‘You guys are doing an amazing job over here. But, you really shouldn’t be doing these other two things, cause I’ve had to rewrite the copy you wrote and I had to find a designer to fix the designs that you did. But, you’re doing really good on this stuff over here. I would still pay you the same amount of money if you didn’t do this other stuff’."
From an operational perspective, this is not a good look for your brand... You say 'yes', you can do the job and get it done, but you may not have a process for it and, all of a sudden, the scope on that goes out of whack.
You may not make a profit on this particular project because it ties up your team, taking their time away from working on other things that actually make more money or gross margin.
Understanding The CompetitionFinding the right balance in scoping or scaling your agency can be tedious. Did you know that being open to working with other agencies will help you find that balance?
Keith says they partner with many complimentary agencies, so they can work on things they’re not as experienced in. He and his team have no problem being brought in to work with different agencies as long as there’s a level of respect and a clear understanding of who’s doing what developmentally.
Remarking on this, Keith says that “It’s very, very helpful for them and helpful for us, and vice versa. There’s also an aspect of not being greedy. Sometimes we’re okay coming in and not having to be the only agency. As long as we’re respectful of one another.”
He adds,“In general, it’s important to be friendly with a lot of agency owners in town and actually outside of town, and be open with one another.”
Keith has his own 'leadership philosophy' but admits he’s still inexperienced – in life and business. Therefore, meeting with other industry minds inspires him, and – by extension – builds the company's existing skillset and burgeoning ideas.
Having spoken to a lot of people from the same field, it’s great to cultivate conversations and connections, so you can navigate your niche. Through this, you will be able to further understand your strength and use it to your advantage.
As time goes by, your company will evolve as will your competitors. Therefore, it’s very important to adapt to new technologies and advances – while still being open to 'the competition.'
Decision Making, Plus Executing Strategic ChangesAn agency owner must implement strategic changes or decision making on an ongoing basis. On this point, Keith says:
“I don’t think there should just be like the end of the year thing that you focus on. It should be ongoing… Everybody should be curious. They should be curious about how they can do things better, things differently, how they could make their clients happier, and how they can make each other happier.”
Before you start implementing changes it is important that business or agency owners are mindful with regards to the following...
“Everybody should be curious. They should be curious about how they can do things better, how they can do things differently, how they could make their clients happier, and how they can make each other happier.”
Before you start implementing changes it is important that business or agency owners are mindful with regards to:
- Client engagement: communication is key; ask if they’re satisfied with the end-product of your collaboration?
- Revenue: were you able to bring in additional revenue? Do I need to hire a person who has a great background in finance?
- Employee satisfaction: do your employees still enjoy working with you and your company?
- Employee and company performance: did your company deliver on your client’s expectations? Do you need to hire additional experts in certain fields? Do you need to acquire new technology – such as software, tools, or machinery? Do your employees require additional training?
Answering these questions will help in deciding the next step your agency must take.
A combination of teamwork, keeping eyes and ears on the ground, and being aware of what’s happening within your organization can contribute to radical change. Be mindful of what’s happening with your clients, and what’s happening across the industry.
Keep your curiosity going!
Want to See More of Keith? Follow him online via…* O3 World * O3 Ventures * Keith’s LinkedIn * keith@o3world.com
Agency Profitability Tool KitIf you're looking for more resources to help you improve your agency's profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit - it's full of the same templates and checklists we've used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
About Chip:Chip Griffin is dubbed as “The Agency Whisper” in the industry. He’s the host of the Agency Leadership Podcast and Chats with Chip and helps PR and marketing agencies reach their goals and increase their efficiency.
Chip became the CEO of Townhall.com when he was in his early twenties. And since that time he has built and sold several companies, both in tech, and he started and sold several agencies and consultancies. Today he spends his time educating, coaching, consulting, and speaking to agency owners on how to run and scale their agencies.
Want to see more of Chip? Follow him online:* ChipGriffin.com * Chip’s LinkedIn * Chip’s Twitter * Chip’s Instagram * The Agency Biz Podcasts
Resources* The Agency Biz * The Agency Leadership Advisors * ChipGriffin.com * Chip’s LinkedIn * Guide to Agency Project Budgeting * Agency Business Checkup * The Agency Biz Podcasts * Link to project budgeting template
Timestamps:Intro 0:00
How did Chip go from Building and Selling Businesses to
Coaching Businesses? 3:28
How to Properly Scope Projects and Create your Budgets 6:04
When Should an Agency Evaluate the Cost Aspect of a Project 8:35
Scoping and creating accurate budgets inside your agency? 11:59
Expenses that Agencies Must Watch Out For 13:57
Contingency Reserves Based on People’s Risk 14:52
How to Reduce the Amount of Scope Creep Once
the Projects Gets Underway 24:08
Gross Profit Margin Target for Agencies 25:11
Core Principles to Remember in Managing Relationship with a Client 36:55
Outro 44:21
How to Scope Projects & Protect Profits with Chip Griffin - Episode 28
The foundation of running a successful agency lies in charging more money to clients than it takes for us to deliver outcomes to them. Ideally, we’re consistently achieving 50-70% gross margins on projects, which sets us up to have reasonable overhead and continue to cash-flow our growth.
Unfortunately, we’ve all found ourselves losing our shirts and in some cases even spending money to work with a client. Most often, the culprit is a combination of poor scoping and scope creep leading to a dumpster fire of a project that leaves us with lots of work to do and very little profit to show for it.
For some of us, this still happens more often than we’d like to admit.
That’s why I decided to invite my friend Chip Griffin onto the show to share his knowledge and experiences in scoping projects and protecting profits.
He didn’t disappoint, as he broke down what he’s learned from years of running and scaling his own agencies to multiple exits, and helping clients do the same.
How to Properly Scope Projects and Create Your BudgetsThere are a lot of factors that play in when properly scoping projects and creating budgets. It’s a complex process that often requires some analytical savvy.
According to Chip “The agency community is filled with really creative people who are fantastic at client service, but a lot of them just don't have a lot of business experience.”
It comes as no surprise that many of the agencies I speak to have a difficult time getting a handle on scoping, and spend most of their careers feeling like they’ve never found a reliable way to do it accurately.
When it comes to getting a handle on estimate, Chip states that agency owners must create a project plan with their clients that will be beneficial for both parties. From billing clients based on an hourly rate, flat-rate pricing, or value-based pricing; there are a lot more factors that you, as an agency owner must take into consideration.
So it becomes increasingly important to get really good at figuring out how much or how long will it take to deliver the project with our desired outcome to our clients while making sure to stay within the budget and submitting them on-time. This means tracking actuals against estimates over time to feed that information back to whatever supporting data/documents you might use to create estimates in the first place.
With that being said is it important to answer these questions before signing a contract to a client:
- How long will this project take?
- Do I need to hire new people?
- How much will all these expenses cost?
- Have we done this kind of work before?
- How much uncertainty exists around what the client is asking of us?
- What’s our gut-feel on the client, and how demanding they might become?
- Do I need to travel to meet up with my clients or remote employees?
- Are we importing assets / materials from the client?
- Will I be able to deliver and accomplish my clients’ expectations?
- What type of billing method is most beneficial for my agency and the client?
- etc.
Being thorough in the discovery process and really assessing the risk of a project is key in establishing the right level of contingency and padding in your estimation.
Chip is also a big fan of doing paid discovery, giving you the ability to get compensated for the time it takes to properly assess your client’s needs.
Project Budgeting for Accurate ProfitabilityIf you want an overall profitable business, you need to sit down and take note of all the expenses and other factors into consideration before pricing a project. This will drastically help in determining how much it will cost because as I’ve stated earlier it can’t just be about dollars and cents.
It is more about coming up with the scope and if you’re putting together a budget that will help you think about the scope and what you’re going to deliver to your clients.
According to Chip, he has seen a lot of agencies that start doing value-based pricing or they start doing flat-rate pricing and then since they do not have any use for timesheets when billing their clients they throw them away. Often, they also abandon the idea of actually assessing the client’s needs thoroughly in the sales process.
For example, a client is willing to pay us $100,000 to build their website, and they have certain expectations, of course, like they want the website to look or function a certain way or they want the website to be up and running on this specific date.
But, based on the client’s expectations and factor in the cost and time to deliver their expectations, will this project still be profitable for my business?
Chip states that it’s important to dig deeper into what point their agency should start to evaluate the cost aspect of a project. At what point in that sales cycle should they start to have that conversation, and who should generally be involved in that conversation to make sure that the estimate is actually realistic, accurate, and transparent to all the stakeholders.
When Should an Agency Evaluate the Cost Aspect of a Project?Chip advised that agency owners need to do a thorough cost evaluation of a project before giving the client a price. And based on his experience, a lot of agencies don't go about building a budget for their projects, and if they do, they do it after they've already submitted the proposal, the scope, and the price.
And, when you've got the contract in place, but it turns out the fund is not sufficient to be able to run the project successfully can be a tad bit stressful to deal with. So you really need to have it in advance.
“I'm not saying that you should take the budget and price solely based on it, instead the budget should be used to establish the minimum or maximum amount that you can charge for this project in order to be profitable.” he says
“hat doesn't mean that you shouldn't charge more than that, because you also want to charge for the value that you're delivering. It's a very popular way to do agency pricing now, but you need to know what that bottom line is, that you just simply can't go below without.”
It is extremely important that you involve the people who are going to manage the project in the budgeting process. This way, you will be sure that everyone understands the scope of a certain project and how they can be more efficient to be able to work on another project.
It's also important to get those different ideas out on the table so that you can try to figure out what is a reasonable expectation for this particular piece of work or this particular process that this project needs to be successful.
Creating Accurate Budgets Inside Your AgencyAccording to Chip Griffin, the first thing agency owners need to do is to start creating these budgets. They also need to make sure that they are closely monitoring and collaborating with their project managers to determine the factors that block their progress. And to create an accurate agency budget you must consider these factors:
- Cost of Labor, you’ll be surprised that agencies miscalculate the cost of labor. Quite frankly, labor is by far the largest expense for just about every agency out there. And estimating your agency’s labor time is challenging, and you need to consistently ask and get feedback to improve.
Click here for our blog post on calculating Labor Cost-Per-Hour. * Pass-Through, Production & Travel Costs, Of course, it’s also critical to factor in the more obvious costs to delivering a project. Things like contractors, equipment rental, material costs, ad spend, etc.
One of the things that a lot of business owners forget to put in a budget is the travel costs related to client work, and particularly as more agencies are virtual and more people are having clients who are not just a car to drive away.
Chip recalls a specific example: “I had a client who would pay me $75,000 annually with a condition to fly to Australia on a bi-monthly basis, but when I started digging in and it turned out that I was spending $15,00 to $20,000 a year on travels alone. And, all of a sudden, there’s 10% or so of the revenue being eaten up just by travel costs.”
Make sure you’re thinking about all the costs of delivering outcomes to the client, and maintaining your relationship with them.
Contingency Reserves Based on People’s RiskChip has seen a lot of agencies estimate with their rose colored glasses on. He says the first thing you need to do is create a budget without being wildly optimistic about how quickly you can get things done. It’s more important to be realistic, instead of conceptualizing an “ideal word scenario” where everything goes as planned.
As we all know, they rarely do.
Chip recommends having contingency factored into estimates based on the level of uncertainty around the work. Often, this will come down to how many times it’s been done in the past, and how consistent it was in scope. The objective should be to get estimates within 10% of reality over time.
This is why having a cadence in place allows you to monitor how much time did it actually take to complete the project versus how long did you estimate the project is going to take and adjust estimating processes & documents accordingly.
Another thing that you need to consider is building your agency’s culture and the rules on defining your initial scope of work. There's a wide range of agency approaches to this. And, in general, there's a lot of over-servicing that takes place.
I personally believe in the importance of time tracking inside of an agency, because you will be able to get insights as to whether you are doing well or not, which can be challenging to estimate when you’re using a flat-rate or value-based pricing.
And then that brings me to another point, which is the way that you structure your projects or deliverables or tasks within a time tracking software is important because it's like setting up your chart of accounts inside of your agency. Because, you need to track cost, not with a blended rate.
Chip stated that “I know it's really popular in the agency world to charge clients a blended rate, and that's fine, but from a budgeting perspective, you need to make sure that you've got at least several bands. I'm not saying you need to go in and figure out each employee's individual costs and all that, but have at least three bands so that you can appropriately account for the different types of workers that you'll have on a project because it'll make a huge difference in your pricing and profitability.”
If you want to make sure that it's not leaving money on the table. Make sure you do that piece of it.
Core Principles to Remember in Managing Relationship with a ClientThe core principles that are really important when it comes to managing that relationship with your client:
- Having a backbone with a client that sometimes has a little too much power from an economic perspective in their business.
- Start by thinking about how you're structuring your client base and making sure what type of clients you've got. It's generally better to have a bunch of clients all in the same range than have small ones and big ones mixed together. Because that tends to create an imbalance.
- You need to be creating a culture in which the team is comfortable withdrawing the line with clients. Often, over-servicing occurs when the client asks a team member to do something directly, and they do it without ever running it up the chain of command for approval.
- Establish an organized and easy-to-follow way of time tracking.
- Use resource planning to make sure you’ve got the right people protected for the right amount of time to deliver expected outcomes to the client.
- Establish a clear process for communicating and approving changes in scope, and processing requests from clients for changes/additional work.
The point of all of this is to learn how to create better systems in your business to become more efficient. To create processes that can scale, that can be repeatable, that can protect your margins, protect your team's time, and ultimately give you a business that is sustainable in the long term.
And ultimately this all comes back to communication. It's ironic that in an industry where communication and collaboration is the key to success, communication tends to be the place where things break down.
You need to have good communication amongst your team members and between your agency and the client. And the more of this communication that you have, the more accurate your budgets are going to be, the more accurate your scopes of work are going to be. The better your profitability is going to be.
Agency Profitability Tool KitIf you're looking for more resources to help you improve your agency's profitability, then check out the Agency Profitability Tool Kit - it's full of the same templates and checklists we've used with consulting clients to help them improve their profitability by over 100% in under 60 days.
About Chris Hervocohon:Chris Hervochon is often referred to as the Michael Jordan of accounting. A graduate from Elon University with a degree in Accounting and minor in Finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in South Carolina and Pennsylvania, and also holds the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) certification. A Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and have earned the Data Analytics Executive Certificate from the AICPA.
In 2018, he was one of only 41 CPAs honored by the AICPA as a member of the Leadership Academy’s tenth graduating class. In 2019, I was named as one of CPA Practice Advisor's "40 Under 40" in the accounting profession.
He started his firm called Better Way CPA, where he helps creative, digital marketing agencies, and service-based businesses with intelligent, actionable accounting.
Follow Chris Online:* Website * Facebook * Instagram * Chris’ Twitter * YouTube Channel
Resources:* From Freelancer to Agency Ebook * Wayfinder * About Page * My YouTube Channel
Timestamps:Intro 0:00
Who is Chris 01:00
How Chris Started in the Service Business Industry 2:20
What Makes Accounting Service Businesses Unique 4:48
Why is it Important for Agencies to Have a Clean Accounting Data 8:58
Common Mistakes Agencies Commit in Terms of Accounting 10:04
Why Service Businesses Must Use Accrual Basis 13:53
Revenue Recognition for Accrual Accounting 17:25
Benefits of Cloud-Based Accounting 19:48
Cash Reserves for Agency’s Survival 22:30
The Right Corporate Entity for Your Business 28:10
Biggest Problem for Service Agencies’ Chart of Accounts 30:35
Freelancers Vs. Full-Time Employees 35:00
Allocating Your Salaries 39:48
Gross Profit Vs. Net Profit 41:50
Maximizing Profit: Pricing and Operating Perspective 45:50
Outro 50:00
Often, we base an agency’s success on its profitability. However, we tend to forget the financial aspect of things. And, why agencies need to understand the importance of accounting. And so there's just so many things that I want to talk to you about. And, I want you to ask yourselves why you chose to run or work on a service business.
And according to Chris Hervechon:
“Marketing agencies are a lot like accounting firms. How they operate. It’s a different service. Sure, it’s more creative, generally speaking. But they’re both service-based businesses.”
What Makes Accounting for Service Businesses UniqueAccording to Chris Hervochon, there’s a lot of agency owners that do not realize that running a service business when it comes to accounting, which is very different than almost every other service business.
And, its main difference happens above the margin. So your margin is your gross revenue minus all the variable costs that go into generating that gross revenue.
If you think about a retail store that tends to have lower margins, your gross revenue is gonna be all the stuff that you sell. Let’s say you sold a television for $850, then that’s already your gross revenue. If it cost you $500 to buy the television, including taxes and licenses, then your gross profit is $350.
On the other hand, service-based businesses tend to have higher margins. There is not much variable cost going into generating the revenue. It is solely based on human capital, on the amount of effort agency owners and their employees put into to generate profits.
Why is it Important for Agencies to Have a Clean Accounting Data?The entire purpose of accounting is so that you can ask questions about your business and get accurate and reliable answers.
According to Chris, you must ask yourselves these questions while also knowing how to answer them to see whether your business/es are properly tracked and documented:
- Is this project profitable?
- Is this service profitable?
- Is this niche profitable?
- What are the fixed expenses?
- Where can I cut costs to be more profitable?
- What's too expensive?
- What's not expensive enough?
- Am I spending enough or too much on my marketing?
Through these questions, you will be able to know your agency’s trajectory and what to expect.
Common Mistakes Agencies Commit in Terms of AccountingYou will be surprised at how agencies commit the same mistakes.
Let's start with how often you sit down with your accountant. Agency owners are usually the creative type who is good at marketing and promotion. However, it is important that you, as an agency owner know to hire someone who has proven knowledge in accounting.
Not having organized and systematic documentation of your expenses and revenue. Make sure that you keep track of the inflows and outflows of your money.
They did not start using the accrual basis. From an accrual accounting perspective. I've got somebody who comes and goes. My clients come every week on a Monday, we hope, but they come every week nonetheless. That's a real base accounting. It's matching the activity with the expense of the revenue when it happened.
Why Service Businesses Must Use Accrual BasisLooking at things on an accrual basis is certainly a change for a lot of people, especially small businesses. But it's something that you need to do. Because there's no way to forecast cash accurately. And, it will answer the questions:
- How is my business doing?
- How is it looking for next month?
In a service-based business, accrual accounting is important because it's reflective of the business model. It's reflective of the way that value is earned and value is actually accrued over time. So if you run a service-based business, you should be doing your books and you're counting on an accrual basis so that you can get accurate insights into your business.
Accrual-based accounting is more time-intensive. It does require more expertise and so to do it is more expensive. But there is a line where the business is big enough.
Revenue Recognition for Accrual AccountingChris said that before anyone starts with what accounting method they’re going to use, you must start with what your contract stipulates. If the contract says that it's going to be based on specific deliverables, then you base your revenue recognition on those specific deliverables.
If the contract says it's gonna be there's one deliverable and you're doing it over some time. If it were me, I would allocate it based on the amount of time it's been spent on that particular project. But, to get down to the real nitty-gritty. Look at the contract for the contract is going to dictate it and then go to some sort of another allocation method.
Benefits of Cloud-Based AccountingChris states that as an agency owner, you need actual accounting software, you need applications that play well with that software, and most importantly your accounting software should be cloud-based instead not desktop based.
The reason being is if you have an accountant who's halfway across the country, you could be looking at the same numbers in real-time while doing the same thing
And, what you can effectively do with cloud-based accounting systems is offload the security to somebody who's probably a lot better at it than you are. You must protect your business information and there has been a lot of hackers targeting these hosted type platforms like QuickBooks.
The third thing is that cloud-based accounting systems make it easier to plug-in other applications. Whether it’s a bill pay system or an expense tracking system or maybe it's just other marketing data that you can then combine with your financial data to make it leverage data.
Non-financial data equals leverage data. When you can combine these two things, you can get greater insights out of it. That's near and dear to your heart as well.
Cash Reserves for Agency’s SurvivalChris Hervochon recommends that agencies must set aside between two to six months’ worth of fixed expenses before investing in a new venture or offering new services. Fixed expenses are expenses that are going to exist in the business, whether or not you generate revenue for the whole month.
Earlier we talked about margins, on how they’re a variable. Your revenue variable is the uncertainty of earning revenue for tomorrow. And the expenses to generate that revenue which are expenses that bring down to a margin. Because if you don't have the revenue, you're not going to have those expenses. So fixed expenses are all that inevitable expenses that come along with the operation of your business.
Biggest Problem for Service Agencies’ Chart of AccountsThe chard of accounts is the foundation on which the insights that you get from your accounting data is built, or from which you get to the insights that you want to build. This is something that a lot of people don't think about a whole lot when they're setting up books for the first time or if they're hiring an accountant that doesn't know a lot about service businesses.
Chris mentioned to try and answer the questions that they want to answer, they've got to sift through a ton of data and do a bunch of math. So when it comes to setting up your chart of accounts as a service business where some of the best practices we want to make sure we're keeping an eye on the inflows and outflows of our businesses.
The biggest problem Chris generally sees is what we would refer to as a sprawling chart of accounts where you've got a separate account. When we say account, what we need is a bucket, a bucket where you would put activity. So in other words, it goes in a rent bucket and where a rent account and the chart of accounts is the total listing of all of the accounts that you have for your business.
That said, the biggest mistake is a sprawling chart of accounts where you've got one account for every little transaction. So if you have accounts that you know, on a very regular basis have one transaction per month or one transaction per year, you've got way too many accounts.
Charter accounts make it very difficult to manage. It makes it very difficult to do the accounting because now you're splitting hairs on how you're going to classify this transaction of that transaction.
The two biggest things, according to Chris Hervochon are:
- You've got to be able to get to a good margin. And we talked about that a little bit earlier. The gross profit margin is everything variable. Revenue is variable, Revenue is variable and all the expenses that need to achieve that gross margin.
- You’ve got to break out your salaries and wages.
- And, make sure that your chart of accounts isn't enormous because it is going to be impossible to manage.
Freelancers Vs. Full-Time EmployeesFreelancers, generally speaking, are going to go above the line because you're only going to bring them on for certain projects, certain clients, certain services, whatever it is. They're 100% variable because you've already generated some sort of revenue or you think that you're going to generate revenue because you have a signed contract. So there should be some sort of a contract labor line in your chart of accounts to get you to that gross profit number.
Chris said that a lot of people are tied up with the idea of the relationship or the contractual relationship they have with an individual as it relates to “Are they an employee? Or are they a contractor?”
There are four components that you must ask yourself to determine if they’re an employee or a contractor:
- Are they fixed or are they variable?
- Are they contractors or are they employees?
- Are you controlling when and where they do the work?
- Are you providing them with tools or software?
This is an important point that you're making about the relationship that that person has with variability. If you have a person that isn't technically an employee of the company, but you pay them $2000 a month which is going to be more of a fixed cost.
And, this is how you classify people between contractors and employees. If you control how, when and why they do their work and you provide training and you provide the equipment and the software and all of that stuff, they’re an employee. If they can do the work unsupervised, they're going to provide you a deliverable. You're not controlling where they work or when they work. Then they're a contractor.
Most businesses want more contractors because contractors are cheaper. And the reason that they're cheaper is that you don't have to pay benefits. You don't have to pay employee-employer taxes. You've got to be careful because that's a really good way to get yourself in trouble.
Allocating Your SalariesAccording to Chris, time tracking will help you accurately allocate salaries within your agency. You can either ask your freelancer or contractors to either track time or give an estimate on how much time they need to complete the project or how much will that certain project costs, whichever works.
There's no data-based way to go and allocate it aside from using a time tracker. At the end of the day, it's cost accounting and then you could allocate anything based on any model that you come up with. But if it's gonna be a data-driven approach, if it's gonna be based on reality.
Chris mentioned that you’ve got to make sure that when you're allocating those expenses that you're allocating the fully loaded expenses which include salaries, benefits, and taxes. The full cost of having that employee is what you want to allocate. You can't just allocate the salary.
Gross Profit Vs. Net ProfitIt's important to define what is gross profit and what is net profit because I think a lot of agencies now are starting to look at gross profits on projects I think is a good thing. But then a lot of them are not clear on what that means and what should and shouldn't be factored into that.
So gross profit is gross revenue while net profit is gross revenue minus all of the variable costs that go into generating that revenue to revenue or so expenses that you would not generate otherwise if it were not for generating that revenue.
Maximizing Profit: Pricing and Operating PerspectiveAgencies should be pricing not based on the time that they spend, they should be pricing based on the value that they deliver. And that's different for the different forms of agencies.
Chris mentioned a really good example is a digital direct marketing agency that is running ads. “You should be charging higher if your ads are more effective than the next agency down the street. You should be pricing based on the value that you deliver and you should not need to be measurable.”
As an example, while not all 20 of those industries are going to be profitable and you can't take the products or the service that you delivered for “Industry 1” and then apply that to “Industry 10.” Every age or every industry is different. You need to know about the business.
And being diligent and paying close attention to the expenses in your business because they can get out of control quickly, especially in a software-heavy society that we have now. By being vigilant about where all those numbers go and that gets back to the point, you need to be looking at your finances with somebody qualified to walk you through and tell you the status on a very regular basis.
From making sure that you're sitting down with your accountant regularly, reviewing these things, managing your expenses, the value-based pricing, which I think for most agencies need to do is probably a great way to increase the amount of money that you make for the amount of time that your team has to invest and the number of costs that you get.
There you have it, folks! I hope you’re getting so much value from this episode. And, if you’re looking for more checkout our Agency Profitability Tool Kit, and find awesome resources such as downloadable spreadsheet templates, KPI cheat sheets, benchmarks, and other awesome stuff you need in running a profitable agency.
And, we have Parakeeto, our software product which helps you keep track of all of your most important metrics in real-time without changing your software and processes. Things like bill rates, utilization, profitability capacity across your whole business, and even let you run simulations to help you gauge and understand business decisions before making them. All you have to do is request an early process to start earning more profits!
About Erik: Erik Huberman is the Founder & CEO of Hawke Media, a full-service Outsourced CMO based in Santa Monica, CA that launched in 2014 and has been valued at $80 million. In just 5 years, Hawke Media has grown from 7 to over 120 employees and has serviced 400+ brands including Raden, BeautyCon, The Ridge Wallet, Buscemi, Red Bull, Evite, Verizon Wireless, HP.
Want to See More of Erik? Follow him Online:* Hawke Media Website * Erik’s LinkedIn * Erik’s Instagram * Erik’s Twitter * Erik’s Facebook
Time Stamps:Useful insights and questions from this episode:
Introduction 0:00
Who is Erik Huberman? 2:12
Starting Hawke Media 3:01
Challenges in Growing an Agency 4:17
How Important is Understanding the
Cash Flow of Your Agency 8:05
Figuring Out Your Business Goals 10:43
How to Increase the Value of Your Agency 12:23
How to Know the Right Time to
Offer More Services to Your Clients 16:38
Process of Adding New Services to the Agency 18:06
How to Manage Employee’s Capacity 19:24
Ensuring Your Team’s Well-Being 21:27
Different Tools and Systems to Ensure
the Performance of Your Business 23:02
Convenient Automated Profitability Software 24:29
What are the Important Core Metrics in an Agency 26:12
Advice to Start-Up Agency Owners 28:14
Blog: Hawke Media is one of the Top 20 Most Promising Digital Marketing Solution Providers in 2017 and was named at the Top Inc 5,000 fastest growing companies in 2017 as well. Hawke Media has worked with over 400+ brands including Evite, Red Bull, Verizon, HP.
Today, Hawke Media continuously provides exceptional marketing services to the business owner along with their team of top tier experts that helps the different aspects of a business.
Erik began consulting and advising and it was organic when he started an agency. He first sought out help, hired people, until it grew into an agency with over 170 people and is continuously growing up to this day. Understanding a niche that is completely under-served and needed help drove Erik into building the agency that is now Hawke Media.
Despite being offered to sell the company quite a few times, Erik liked the idea of continuing. He loves the idea of working with different companies, helping entrepreneurs, and most importantly he is truly passionate about what he does.
What are the Challenges in Growing an Agency? It’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to running an agency. And, according to Erik, here are the challenges he faced while growing his company:
- People are volatile and emotional. People have different personalities, wants, goals, and needs.
- Even though their payroll is similar to their monthly revenue five years ago, there are times where they get thin on cash wherein it took a while to catch up with the revenue to make money for the team.
He also shared a challenging experience when they had a $400,000 payroll and $800,000 for a month while having only $13,000 in the bank. Entrepreneurs also said that it could happen again so he better get ready for his business.
“That is very rare that you when you're growing a business like this and you don't have a ton of outside funding and you're not publicly traded, you’ll have so much cash that you're never gonna get thin.”
Erik added, “Don't just let your money sit on the bank, invest it.”
How Important is Understanding the Cash Flow of Your AgencyThe very first model Erik used to start his business was paying the flat base salary then giving 30% of what they get paid by the clients.
On the next batch of talented individuals he hired, Erik said that they followed the same payroll model of which they give 30% of what they made in addition to their agreed flat rate. Erik found out that his employees are reactive.
Erik added that they also looked at their amount of expenses on their first year to see how much they spent on overhead, advertisements, payroll, etc. He had a profit of 40% in the first year and from then, he knew it wasn’t sustainable. And, from the data which they have gathered, Erik and his team decided to change their business model, and see which works best for them.
Figuring Our Your Business GoalsThe team experienced hitting their benchmark early so they had to find ways to maintain it. Erik's original plan was to get into 10 million in revenue. He didn't have a grandiose plan and now he has a multinational, multi-billion-dollar company plan.
According to Erik, “I had a very clear path to 10 million, very clear what was going to take. In my head. We're going to do it. It's going to take four years. And that's what happened. And then two years, almost two years ago, we hit it.”
It is really important to be objective, innovative, and realistic when you’re still figuring out your goals for your business. It’s not enough to conceptualize, and you have to actually put your time and effort into it.
How to Increase the Value of Your AgencyLuckily, Erik is married to a person who is in private equity. His partner gives him constructive advice on how he can make his business more profitable. Now, here are the ways on how to increase the value of your agency according to Erik Huberman:
- Long Term ContractsLong term contracts value consistency and reliability. And, it is a must that the moment you sign an agreement you are fully aware of what you’re getting yourself into. Make sure that you create appealing contracts for your stakeholders which you both can benefit from.
Having long term contracts with your clients not only guarantees profits but it is also a gateway to meeting and attracting more clients and investors.
-
Client ConcentrationIt is important that you have multiple revenue sources, meaning you have a good amount of investors who are taking a chance on your product or you have multiple businesses where you earn profits from. And, as the saying goes, “Do not put all the eggs in one basket.”’”
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Recurring RevenueRecurring revenue shows how much investors or consumers are sticking around your business model and of course, the business’s capacity to be profitable.
-
Profitability and Gross MarginThese are both massive and important. These factors, play-in with profitability too. Everybody knows that if you run an agency and you own the whole entity.
There are a lot of expenses that aren't necessarily needed but somehow, they are essential to keep your agency up and running. Erik also stated that profitability and growth rate are the kind of equation that you need to see and carefully analyze. Erik said that in order to consider a business profitable, it needs to have at least a 40% increase in profit.
How to Know the Right Time to Offer More Services to Your ClientsThe person running an agency needs to understand how to build a brand in their business. Thus, he or she must also understand what his or her client needs.
- Know the Clients NeedsThe reason why Hawke Media is on top of their game because they truly understand what their clients need. However, before they venture into new services and offerings, they carefully analyze the risk of the said venture while making sure that their level of profitability is at least at a 40% margin.
And of course, they also need to know how much or how little they’re going to charge in their new services to make sure that it will be profitable.
- Take Risks"We'll take some risk." Says Erik. "It doesn't have to be perfect at the beginning of the scale. It is what you have to get better at to achieve perfection on those margins. And that's how we build it out. So it's finding that expert that we can build a team around finding someone that's amazing in that field."
As an agency owner. You must know when and how to take risks. And, make sure that you are doing it the “smarter” way. Hiring and finding the right people is very essential, but never forget to learn, teach, and adapt to new trends and techniques that are essential to improve your business and profitability. This way your employees will be more efficient.
How to Manage Employee’s Capacity Now, Erik's team has four full-time recruiters so they always have people on deck. They're constantly interviewing and ready to hire whether they have to replace people or bring in people as quickly as possible. They also have a full-training onboarding system that they've built so people can ramp up pretty quickly.
According to Erik, it is important to establish your team’s and the individual’s strength and weaknesses. Through this process, you will be able to determine:
- Who you are going to hire?
- When do you need to hire?
- When do you need to train them?
- Who can take-up more tasks/roles?
Ensuring Your Team's Well-Being One of the things that we agree on is making sure you are not burning your team. Erik ensures that his agency is a fun place to work.
"People feel very at home here, which is super fun and that’s what we want. I think that's part of the culture.”
"If we want this to be a place people want to work and we want this to be a place that my partner calls it as “people want to be from” where it's like if Hawke Media is on a rabid resumé, you're known as a badass and that's something we felt we get." He added.
Different Tools and Systems to Ensure the Performance of Your BusinessErik uses real-time reporting on all his business matters. They built their own ERP system that pulls everything from their CRM to their project management, to their timesheets. They don't charge for the time but they track time allocation on QuickBooks to their client data where they can log in. These will consistently create processes around the time when they are not retaining clients and clients who are performing well.
Convenient Automated Profitability Software Everyone who owns an agency knows that it is difficult to keep track of their agency’s profitability, growth, risks, losses, and even productivity. Granted that some of our data are spread out on different tools, files, and platforms, and it’s almost impossible to keep track. This is why I started Parakeeto, to makes transactions within agencies in just one place.
What are the Important Core Metrics in an AgencyThe important core metrics are sales and marketing. Even lead generation. On the services side, it's retaining clients, it's upselling their growth that they are getting as well as what they are returning. Erik keeps it simple as possible within his five departments:
- Sales - New monthly recurrent business.
- Marketing - New leads.
- Accounting and Finance - Keeping track of growth and profitability.
- H.R. - Employee retention and sentiment.
Erik said that his job is to visualize and predict the things that the company is lacking which hinders it from being profitable and whether they’re leaders of innovation of not.
The second part is promotional. Speaking, doing podcasts, trying to keep the brand out there and keeping it top of mind. And third is expansion.
Advice to Start-Up Agency Owners Erik's advance is pretty simple when it comes to start-up agency owners.
"Either find that person, be that person or partner with that person, basically."
Pretty straight-forward. But, if you’re planning to start an agency or expand your agency you must be genuinely passionate about it, make sure to hire the right people for the job and treat them the way you would want to be treated.
And, always remember to take risks wisely!
About This Episode: In this episode, Clodagh Higgins, a digital agency director, consultant, coach, and the author of A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency joined us to share her knowledge and experience as an ex-Hubspotter who has worked with 500+ agencies around the world. We get into why agencies must build and scale company culture, useful tips and techniques to hiring the right people, and how to retain talented employees in the long run.
About Clodagh: Clodagh S.Higgins is a Digital Agency Director, Consultant & Coach with the Growit Group based in Ireland and works globally. An ex-HubSpotter, she has worked with over 500+ agencies around the world, helping them in the areas of sales, marketing, services, scaling and growth in their businesses so that they can deliver exceptional results for their clients.
From working in Hubspot, she is now an agency coach and Consultant that has owned her own digital agency for 8+ years in Sydney & Dublin. She is also the author of A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency and hosts a weekly podcast, interviewing agency owners about the highs and lows of running a professional services business, Agency Life.
Clodagh believes that agency owners can have a profitable business of their dreams, with an expert team that is happy, while getting great results for their clients.
When Clodagh is not helping agencies you will find her training for Powerlifting competitions and she has a World Record in Strict Curl and a National Record in Bench Press. She lives in the West of Ireland in her retreat in progress called Isleen Cottage.
Want to See More of Clodagh? Follow her Online:* Growit Group’s Website * Growit Group’s Instagram * Growit Group’s LinkedIn * Clodagh’s Website * Clodagh’s Instagram * Clodagh’s LinkedIn * Clodagh’s Facebook Page * YouTube: Agency Life * Podcast: Agency Life * Book: A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency * Email: clodagh@growitgroup.com
Resources:* Traction by Geno Wickman * Agency Life Podcast * Agency Life YouTube Channel * A Happy & Healthy Digital Agency by Clodagh Higgins
Time Stamps:You can now repeat or jump to parts with ease!
- Introduction 1:09
- Who is Clodagh Higgins? 2:55
- Challenges Agencies Face 6:24
- Building and Scaling Company Culture 10:22
- How to Attract High-Quality Talent 16:21
- Hiring the Right Talent 21:31
- Interview Techniques and Strategy 22:26
- Onboarding New Employees the Right Way 28:17
- How to Retain a Talent in the Long Run 32:51
- Giving Up Control, Empowering Leaders, and Building Trust Inside Your Team 41:16
- Conclusion/Outro 45:07
Blog: Running a profitable agency is no easy task. There are no shortage of challenges when it comes to managing projects, maintaining profitability, getting results for clients, closing deals and managing clients.
But one challenge shared by all agencies is the complexity of managing their team. As my friend Rob likes to say “The best part about our businesses is that they’re made up of people. The worst part about our businesses, is that they’re made up of people”
Why? Because people are unpredictable. Each person has their needs, wants, and capabilities. Let’s dive in and learn about the biggest challenges agencies face. How to scale company culture, how to hire, empower and retain employees in the long run.
Entrepreneur’s Mindset vs. Their Employees’Now, I’m not going to take sides or tell you that the other one’s better than the other. The truth is, entrepreneurs and their talents have a different way of thinking. This causes struggles for the agency.
Entrepreneurs are risk-takers. They work day in and day out, they’re usually not concerned with having a future nor structure. When entrepreneurs see that their idea isn’t working for their favor or they lose interest in a project, they often ditch the project and move on to the next one.
The same cannot be said about employees. They often want to know details about their job. From their job description, company culture, and compensation. With that being said, employees prefer to have a structure. Why? It reassures their stability, they want to know whether they can take vacations or work from home. Employees want to start a project, work on it, and finish it.
Entrepreneurs need employees to have a successful business. While employees do not need entrepreneurs since they can go get a job at the bank.
According to Clodagh, when an employee decides to work for you they’re eager to learn more about you and your company. They believe in your vision and mission. And they find your company’s dynamic exciting because it's different. Without a proper business structure, policies, or training, you’ll run into scaling and retention problems over time.
This is why it’s best to communicate both you and your employees’ needs, ideas, and expectations. To be able to move forward, collaborate, and work on your common goals.
How to Avoid Idea FatigueIdea fatigue? Is that even a thing? Well, yes. I’m looking at you, Mr./Mrs. CEO! As entrepreneurs we’re often ready to move on to the next big idea before the last one has been fully implemented. Often, our team has a lot more trouble reconciling enthusiasm for new ideas against the need to tie up loose ends and complete the last big initiative we put on their plate.
Avoiding this scenario can be easy, and if you’re suffering from it, act on it, ASAP! First, talk to your employees about the changes which you want to implement in your business. If you have new ideas and want to start new projects, collaborate with your employees to figure out what to prioritize and keep expectations clear and simple. they'll be more than happy to help to make sure what’s truly important gets done, and more importantly; gets completed.
This will not only help your company’s profitability. But it will be a great foundation to build a good relationship with your employees as they can feel a sense of accomplishment in being a part of successful initiatives that drive the business forward.
How to Build a Strong Company CultureCompany culture starts with the agency’s owner. Clodagh advises business owners to grab and read the book written by Geno Wickman called Traction. The book will help you implement the fundamental systems in your business to build high performing teams and retain great talent.
- Determine your core values
Clodagh says the foundation of your culture is the values to set within the company. Values act as both guiding principles for the trajectory of your company, as well as a filter for the employees and clients that come along for the ride.
Clodagh recommends going through an exercise to determine your company values and to make them a central part of your hiring process to ensure the right people “get on the bus.”
- Organize your company’s culture committee
Organizing a small culture committee in your company will be a great start to not only make your team feel valued and welcomed. This will also help them to push their limits and be better team members.
From knowing all your employees’ birthdays, organizing the end of the month celebration, company outings, Friendsgiving, Halloween/Christmas parties, to set aside a budget to decorate the office, will make a huge difference in boosting your employees’ morale.
These company perks, will not only boost your employees’ morale but it's also a way for them to take responsibility. And that, they will be merited for all the good things they do for the company from hitting the sales target or helping the team produce awesome content.
- Do not punish your employees
However, never punish your employees as well. Even if your team did not hit the month’s targeted sale. You should still acknowledge their hard work by ordering free lunch or snacks for everyone. As a business owner, you must always show your employees that you care and appreciate them.
- Send care packages to your remote team members
Distance will never be a problem and it will be nice to send your remote team members gift cards, company merch, books/ebooks, Netflix/Hulu/HBO/Spotify/Amazon Prime subscriptions, and even give them free paid training to show them that you care.
- Hire People who are Hungry To Grow
One important interview question Clodagh highlights is about extracurriculars. What are you doing outside of work? What kind of thought leaders are you following? Figuring out if people have the initiative to grow themselves and their skills on their own time is an important factor in building a team of superstars that can grow with your business.
How To Attract High-Quality TalentsNow that we've got a great culture. And we're selling lots of stuff. We're making loads of money. And we've got to attract more talents. We've got to attract amazing people to come work at our agency. Which is something that I hear lots of people struggling with all the time! Here are some useful tips and strategies which you can try when hiring talents, as told by Clodagh.
- Always have a hiring approach. Dedicate a page on your website where people can send their résumé, contact details, and portfolio. Do not let any opportunity slip when it comes to finding the right person for your company.
- Create an “about” page on your website which includes a brief history of your company. This includes your vision, mission, reviews, and core values. It’s important to have information accessible by end-users. For them have a good grasp of what your company is.
- Be social. We’re living in the digital age. Maximize social media platforms to boost brand awareness. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are awesome platforms to market the products and services your company offers.
- Do not rush the hiring process, it’s unfair to hire somebody at the last minute. Not to mention, you’re setting yourself and the employee up for failure. Don’t be afraid to work with talent as contractors, or run top applicants through a test project before committing for the long haul.
- Give your employees access to training portals before their start date. It's essential to let your soon-to-be employees learn more about your company’s culture and dynamics, strategies, and tools. And, by the time you hire them, it won’t be as difficult for you, your team, and for the newly hired employee to adjust.
- Statistics show that 63% of newly hired employees tend to quit their job within the first 90 days. That’s why Clodagh likes to create 90 day onboarding calendars to optimize the process and make sure the experience is consistent. According to Clodagh, the first 90 days are crucial, ensuring you and the team have a clear plan on how to make that first experience successful is the key to hanging on to great hires.
How to Choose the Right Person for the JobLet's assume now that you've got lots of great people that are willing to be a part of your team or work with your team. And now the question is how do we figure out who is the best fit? How do we make sure that they're successful in our organization?
Interview Techniques and Strategy
- Check out their résumé and portfolio. Through this, you will be able to learn more about the applicant’s skill set and expertise while being able to verify them.
- Ask the applicant to send a video of themselves explaining why they are a great fit for this job. This will give you great leverage when assessing the applicant’s creativity and personality.
- Ask them about their goals and values. It is best to hire people with the same goals and values.
- Listen to your gut feeling, which in most instances is a misalignment of values between the employer and applicant.
- Ask about their hobbies, interest, which personalities do they follow, and what activities do they usually do in their free time. By asking these questions, you can determine whether this person is dedicated to their craft or not.
- Organize a group interview and project with your five best applicants. This allows you to see and assess their emotional intelligence and to see which of them is a team player. This is also a great way to unravel their hidden skills and see where they excel in.
Onboarding ProcessIn 2019, It’s an employee market out there. Talent that doesn’t feel excited in the first 3 months of starting a new job will almost certainly continue looking elsewhere. Planning their onboarding with your team is important. There’s nothing worse than showing up on your first day of work and feeling like the team forgot you were starting today.
Clodagh recommends clearly communicating to everyone on your team about new hires and making sure that their workstation is set up with a care package to make that first experience a memorable one. With your 90 day onboarding plan, you’ll have meetings and activities to introduce them to the team planned weeks ahead of time, so nobody is caught off guard.
Prepare a list of FAQs about the company and their tasks. To help her navigate the company with ease. Instruct their team leaders and set up a mentorship cadence to help them feel supported.
Get them to create a Google document with the list of questions that they want to ask you. Which you or their team lead can answer at the end of each day.
These tips will help you pre-plan your employee’s onboarding process and make sure their transition to your company is successful.
How to Retain Your EmployeesAs agencies, we’re often talent creator (not consumers) and we invest a lot into growing our teams and building their skillsets. So how do you make sure that your team isn’t constantly turning over?
- Have a meeting with your team and discuss what are your current plans/goals for your company.
- Don’t be afraid to give them constructive criticism to make them a better employee.
- Allow them to get promoted at least every six months if they hit goals set out on a predetermined ascension plan.
- Ask about their needs, personal goals, and not just their professional goals.
- Make them feel appreciated by giving them bonuses and other additional perks for outstanding work.
- Empower them to become fierce leaders while giving them your trust and support.
- Help them understand what they want based on their career goals. This will align incentives and career paths around those things.
- Understand that most of the time, it is NOT all about the money.
- Making your employees feel truly heard and valued will build loyalty for the long run.
Giving Up Control, Empowering Leaders, and Building Trust Inside Your TeamHow do you as an agency owner, get better at giving up control and empowering leaders and building that trust inside your team?
Clodagh recommends reading Traction and looking at the Entrepreneurial Operating System for guidance on building out a structure, meeting cadence and metrics to build a foundation for scale in your agency.
Having systems in place to ensure the right people are doing the right things, and metrics in place to hold them accountable to performance will give you the confidence to start letting go of responsibilities and empowering your team with them instead.
She recommends meeting with your team once a month to implement accountability tasks to the entrepreneurial operating system and determine the right business structure and initiatives to fit your goals.
Then, decide on what you want to do, whether you want to work and go to the office five or two days a week. Write about the assets and liabilities to understand the ins and outs of your business even if you are not as hands-on as you used to be.
Designate tasks in accordance to your team’s expertise. Empower and motivate leaders and top performers to push their limits.
Now that you are armed with knowledge and techniques on how to manage and build your agency's culture. And you've learned how to nurture a long lasting relationship with your employees, you're all set to start and build your empire.
About This Episode:In this episode of The Agency Profit Podcast, we invited Troy Wruck, GM of Services at Vendasta to discuss how he runs and scales one of the fastest-growing white-label service teams in Canada. We talk about people, processes, metrics, scaling and everything in between. You won’t want to miss this episode.
About Troy Wruck:Troy Wruck is the General Manager of Marketing Services at Vendasta, where he leads a large team of digital agents who provide social media, website creation, digital advertising, and other services in English and French to thousands of businesses worldwide.
He has a successful track record in accounting, sales, marketing, and leadership, and has worked in a variety of organizations over his two-and-a-half decade career – from non-profit groups to small businesses, and enterprise companies. He has served in a variety of operational and management positions with Toastmasters International and worked closely with Tourism Saskatoon as a member of their National Strategic Advisory Committee.
Follow Troy Online:Vendasta’s Website
Troy’s LinkedIn
Troy’s Twitter
TimestampsValuable Insights and Questions from this Episode:
- Introduction - 0:08
- What is Vendasa? - 2:20
- The Importance of Excellent Whitelabel Delivery Team - 4:00
- Creating and Documenting Services/Processes - 5:55
- Keeping a Small and Effective Team - 8:32
- Ensuring the Team and Processes are Up-to-Date - 9:25
- How Does Process Improvements Work? - 12:00
- How to Add New Services Successfully - 14:42
- Ensuring Your Team’s Quality of Work - 18:32
- Scaling and Managing Your Team - 27:11
- Hiring Process - 31:00
- Creating Trust Within Your Team and Letting Go of Control - 34:00
- Importance of Reporting and Data - 39:34
- Conclusion/Outro - 42:55
Blog:They say starting an agency is hard. While that is certainly true, most agency owners can attest that growing an agency is much harder.
While a growing agency means getting more clients, it also means having to deal with more work, as well as more workers. For some agencies, this is where plateaus are hit, and progress stops. At times, scaling too fast can even be the reason things fall apart. For those that are prepared and/or are flexible enough to scale and adapt, they start to achieve the elusive feeling of “scaling” their service business.
That’s why we invited Troy Wruck onto the show. Troy Wruck oversees marketing services at Vendasta and is scaling one of the largest and fastest-growing whitelabel services teams in the country.
I’ve always known that scaling a white-label shop, even focused on just a single service offering (ie: facebook ads) requires operational excellence. When I found out Troy was doing it across multiple services, in multiple languages for clients of all different shapes and sizes; I knew I had to bring him on the show to see how he was doing it.
The Secrets to a Successful Agency
Being witness to the rise and fall of multiple agencies (and the success of Vendasta), we asked Troy about the qualities of successful agencies and what makes them different from those who failed.
According to Troy, it all boils down to being able to offer what your customer needs. As an agency, it should be your goal to understand the pains and goals of your customers. You should be able to create a service for that customer that addresses all those points. Also, it helps if you accept the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to service and that every customer will have different needs.
He also added that one of the secrets to Vendasta’s success was that they veered away from hiring generalists. He explained that while generalists, on paper, are great hires - they often become the reason why businesses can’t scale properly. This is because generalists tend to spread themselves too thin doing multiple things at the same time.
If you want to grow as an agency, it should be your goal to hire and/or develop experts. This ensures that you have one or a team of individuals who are good at what they do and that you can trust them enough to create excellent output.
Another thing that Troy mentioned which caught my attention was that keeping your teams small helps as well. This makes them manageable and allows enough flexibility while still being able to provide consistent output. The number will vary depending on the roles, but generally Troy recommends having no more than 8 direct reports per manager or team lead.
How to Improve Your Business
Improving one’s business is crucial, not only to earn profits. But, to have a structured and ever-developing business process to deliver consistent results and services to our clients.
How do You Expand Your Service Offerings Profitably?
Let's assume you have your first few clients and you see that business is doing good. You’re thinking about expanding and adding a few more services to your agency. This is a very exciting phase in a growing business but for many agencies, this becomes a slippery slope that starts causing “delivery indigestion.”
Since Vendasta has successfully added many services over the years, we asked Troy about his thoughts on how an agency can add service offerings while mitigating the downside risk.
While on the surface, it looks like these services are added on a whim, Troy claims new service offerings go through a thorough process before they are made available to all their clients.
For starters, the service needs to be scalable. Troy’s team has to ensure that a process can be developed that will be consistent in scope and deliver repeatable results to clients. This is the first and most important criteria for new services being evaluated.
Next, Vendasta does some market research to find out who is offering these services, how they do it, what the going rates are and how the unit economics works out.
Once they have a solid business case built that is approved by the rest of their executive team and team leads. It goes through a pilot process where it’s tested with select clients so the process can be battle-tested and hardened before scaling out to more clients.
Troy also added that when you are adding a new service, or trying new strategies in your agency then you should accept the fact that it may not work. Sometimes they discover during this process that service just can’t be reliably scaled, or doesn’t have the economics to work as a white-label offering.
Lastly, he claims that the best way to mitigate risk with new services is to rely on process and documentation. Through process and strategy documentation, you will be able to take note of the problems, issues, and successes as you develop service offerings.
Troy also recommends running pilot projects and tests with long term clients or on your own business to tailor such processes to what works best for your clients’ business. He added that using white-label service providers (like Vendasta) to deliver new services can be a great low-risk way to start proving out the process and de-risking the sales pipeline before taking a new service offering in-house and investing in staff, tools and process.
The Importance of Processes
It has been established that one of the many things that differentiate a successful agency from one that struggles to scale its use off processes. They say that the right processes will always be core in every agency.
We asked Troy to tell us about what he can say to agency owners who are having a hard time creating and keeping up with processes. Troy mentions that agency owners should not hesitate to use tools. Tools are there to follow processes and create strategies easier. He added that when creating new processes, owners should ensure that the process can easily be replicated and/or scaled depending on the needs of the customers.
He also highlighted the importance of having a rhythm in the business to document new processes and review outdated ones. At Vendasta, every team is regularly meeting to review their process to ensure it’s delivering the right outcome and working for their team and clients.
They’ve also developed a host of internal tools - some of which are now available to their clients to use, to help them manage their processes and teams.
How Do You Deliver Consistent Results and Service to All Your Clients?
As a white-label service provider, the ability to generate predictable and consistent results is paramount. For some agency owners, this seems like an impossible wish as they get marred by inconsistency, change, and other challenges from one client to the next.
When we asked Troy about their secret to be providing quality service to customers at all times, he said that the secret lies in knowing your customers. In their case, they have multiple types of businesses but they have efficiently grouped them into certain categories.
Now, each category more or less shares the same qualities and they require the same kind of service. For an agency to be successful, you have to understand each client (or at least each category of the client).
You have to look for your customer's pain points and try to create a service to answer that specific pain point. You should also be able to convince yourself and your team that pivoting regularly will be a thing if you want to keep your customers happy. This also means having to update a process for a specific client if needed.
In essence, it’s finding a balance between having processes (which create the consistency) and flexibility to document the nuances that lead to success for specific clients.
Keeping Consistency Amidst the Challenges of an Agency
From an agency owner’s point of view, there are a number of challenges that can shake the status quo of businesses. One excellent example is with regards to handling talent within the agency.
While it’s always exciting to have a team of individuals working together, it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. Some people perform better than others. These things can severely affect the team dynamics and consistency of an agency.
Troy says that managing people will always be a challenge for agency owners. That’s why you have to create processes that newly hired employees can follow to achieve success in their roles.
This means developing very specific training and onboarding plans for new hires based on their role and measuring how quickly they get up to speed so they can be benchmarked against previous hires.
Another important factor is the team size, Troy prefers keeping teams of 5-7 per manager. He says they’ve found this size works best for them as it allows the team to have redundancy in the case that someone quits or has to take time off but doesn’t sacrifice agility and adaptability.
Troy also emphasized the importance of having a business forecast. This means looking at your business from a high vantage point and using data to see where your company is heading. This allows you to have a good grasp of your agency’s capacity. When you’re likely to exceed that capacity and get a lead time on hiring additional people to support your growth and put them through a full training process.
He also mentioned that the best way to prevent any issues with management is to ensure you get the right people from the start. Fine-tuning your hiring process can get pretty tricky but it is a surefire way of saving you headaches in the future. With a good hiring process and a standardized training program, you can get your agency stable and ready for any challenges in no time.
Challenges of Being an Agency Owner
The life of an agency owner is tough. As a matter of fact, it’s not a life you would wish on your friends and Troy agrees. For him, it is always hard to be an agency owner because you have to learn how to balance growing the business, making sure it’s profitable, making sure you are offering consistent and efficient services while being able to keep up-to-date with new business trends/models and tools.
This is why Vendasta was created in the first place. To offer a service that takes some load off the agency owners so they can focus on the important things. By letting a whitelabel program handle some of the work, the agency owner can focus on what they’re great at.
Scaling Means Giving Up Control
A lot of the agency owners we know have a tendency to hover and monitor (even do everything by themselves). As the business grows, agency owners often need to let go and let the team handle the tasks. This step is a big one for a lot of owners and it can get pretty scary. To them, it’s like letting another person hold your baby for you.
For Troy, one of the biggest blockers for an agency owner is his/her self. Oftentimes, the owners limit themselves and their agency because of their own processes. This is mostly because owners believe they can do things better themselves so they don’t trust their team to handle everything.
While it is true that there will be growing pains when you pass on tasks to your team, it will pick up speed as time passes by. Being patient is key. You also should be able to understand that mistakes happen. Your team might do something wrong and that should be fine as long as they learn. However, you should go and ensure you instill a fear of making mistakes. Troy mentioned that just trusting people can often push them to do things better.
At the foundation of scale is a process that gives you the confidence that when followed properly, outcomes should remain consistent. Having structured processes in your agency should give you a base of confidence to start letting go of delivery and scaling your team.
Importance of Data and Reporting?
Towards the end, we talked with Troy about the importance of data and reporting. Troy explained that data is absolutely critical to Vendasta’s success. Without it, they’d be running blind.
He explains that it's normal to see you've got a lot of clutter when you are using different tools and processes. Looking at data as an agency owner lets you see the company from a vantage point that allows you to see who's performing well, who is encountering what problem, and who might need a little bit of coaching. It allows you to pinpoint the specific parts of your company that needs checking.
He added that data helps you make decisions. There is also a misconception that data has to be totally accurate for it to affect the owners’ decision making. Truthfully it doesn’t have to be 100% accurate but it should be directionally accurate (80%) It's the smoke signal before the fire which allows you to see where your business requires attention before it’s too late.
About John:
John Garuti is a partner at digitalacquisitions.co specializing in M&A for digital agencies, ecommerce and other digital businesses.
He found M&A after running his family manufacturing business for 15 years and eventually selling it, becoming fascinated with he M&A process.
Since then digital acquisitions has helped hundreds of digital businesses reach successful exits and spends most of his time helping his clients prepare for exits and maximize their sale price.
Resources:
- Email : john.garuti@digitalacquisitions.co
- LinkedIn (CLICK HERE)
- Website (CLICK HERE)
About Jason Swenk:
After working at Arthur Anderson (a big 5 consulting firm) Jason realized he needed to be his own boss and launched his first digital agency Solar Velocity. He grew it to over 100 employees and worked with big brands like AT&T, Hitachi and Lotus Cars. After 12 years of growth he sold it in 2012.
Now he helps agencies replicate his success.
He’s the bestselling author of Accelerate Your Agency, the 8 Systems playbook for growing your agency faster.
He’s the host of the Smart Agency Master Class Podcast - the #1 Digital Marketing Agency owner Podcast for sharing stories and strategies from real world agency owners that are working today
In his free time, he races cars and competes in IronMan’s.
Resources:
- Accelerating your Agency Book (CLICK HERE)
- Website (CLICK HERE)
- Podcast (CLICK HERE)
- YouTube (CLICK HERE)
About Zach Hyder:
Zach Hyder is an advisor and coach to professional services agencies in advertising, marketing, media, and public relations. He’s the founder of ThinkDendro and the host of The Dendro Cast - The podcast about the disruption of the agency business
He spent his career working on agency business development and marketing, skills he now uses to help agency owners and executive teams rethink how they position and grow their business.
Resources:
- Website (CLICK HERE)
- LinkedIn (CLICK HERE)
- Podcast (CLICK HERE)
- Podcast Episode with Marcel (CLICK HERE)
- Wikipedia article on Dendros (CLICK HERE)
About Justin:
Justin Gignac is the co-founder of Working Not Working, a curated, global platform connecting the world’s best creative talent with the most innovative companies. Apple, Google, Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Airbnb, Nike, and thousands of other companies are now using Working Not Working to staff their creative teams with freelance and full-time talent.
Prior to Working Not Working, Justin was an award-winning Art Director and Creative Director at ad agencies around the United States. Perhaps he’s best known for helping create the original ElfYourself.com and unexpectedly unleashing the world’s elf fetish, with over 1.5 billion elves created since its inception in 2006. He also has gained notoriety for his various art projects, including NYC Garbage, Wants for Sale and Needs for Sale.
Justin was named one of the 50 Most Creative People of 2015 by AdAge Magazine and Class Dancer by the Norwich Free Academy Class of ’98. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with his pet ping pong table.
Follow Justin Online:
- Website: [CLICK HERE]
- Working Not Working: [CLICK HERE]
- The OverShare Podcast: [CLICK HERE]
- TalkingNotTalking: [CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]
- Instagram: [CLICK HERE]
About Melanie:
Melanie is the founder of WeConsult and helps agencies scale their business by focusing on improving their financials, business administration infrastructure, and performance management / culture within the organization.
Not only do I help you carve out the initiatives and goals, I’m also available to do the work to execute on those goals and metrics, which is something valuable that you can’t get from a coach.
She’s spent her entire career in finance and operations helping companies be their best and has had two of her clients go through successful acquisitions.
Follow Melanie Online:
- Website: [CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]
- Instagram: [CLICK HERE]
About Dev:
Dev Basu is the founder of one of Canada’s fastest growing agencies - Powered By Search, he’s also the founder of Million Dollar Agency and is a Professor at the Seneca College School of Marketing.
After growing powered by search to to multi 7 figure revenue he’s shifted his focus to helping other agencies move to and beyond the 7 figure mark and accelerate their growth.
He’s truly one of the best agency operators I’ve met through my years of working with agencies and one of the best teachers in the coaching space.
Follow Dev Online:
- Powered by Search: [CLICK HERE]
- Million Dollar Agency: [CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]
- Twitter: [CLICK HERE]
About Robby:
Robby is a former digital agency owner. He started it at 14 and eventually was named top 20 in their 20s by LA Biz Journal and achieved seven figure revenue.
Since 2013, He’s been the CEO of Bull Beard, an agency collective that helps large brands get vouched and vetted talent for their products.
They recently launched Agency Match, which connects brands with vetted and vouched-for specialized agencies, shortcutting the shortlist and breaking down the barriers and brinkmanship.
He’s been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Success, Entrepreneur, Fox News, Inc., HuffPost, Mashable and just about every where else.
Follow Robby Online:
- Website: [CLICK HERE]
- Agency Match: [CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]
About Alyson Caffrey:
Alyson is the Founder and Chief Operator of Operations Agency. She founded the agency back in 2015 to help digital agencies and service providers grow their capacity for more clients and experience a less stressful workflow. Her efforts and expertise have helped six figure agencies get to seven figures and above. Alyson has been featured on the Digital Agency Show and One Hour Funnel live to talk about how to implement processes into agencies and use them to scale.
Resources From Alyson:
- Smooth Operator Podcast [CLICK HERE]
- Perfect Onboarding Process Blueprint [CLICK HERE]
Follow Alyson Online:
- Website: [CLICK HERE]
- Facebook:[CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn:[CLICK HERE]
In this episode we're joined by the brilliant Blair Enns from Win Without Pitching to explore his innovative approach to new business for agencies. He shares some of the fundamentals required to sell based on value to command higher prices and close more deals. We also discuss how the sales process can make or break your delivery process by setting precedents in the client relationship and so much more.
About Blair Enns
Blair Enns is the author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour. He co-hosts, along with David C. Baker, and the podcast 2Bobs: Conversations on the Art of Creative Entrepreneurship. Based in the remote mountain village of Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada, Blair lectures throughout the world on how creative professionals can win more business at higher prices and lower cost of sale.
Resources from Blair:
- Win Without Pitching Blog: [CLICK HERE]
- The Win Without Pitching Manifesto Book: [CLICK HERE]
- Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour: [CLICK HERE]
- 2 Bobs Podcast: [CLICK HERE]
Follow Blair Online:
- Website: [CLICK HERE]
- LinkedIn: [CLICK HERE]
- Twitter: [CLICK HERE]
In this episode Chris Martinez from DUDE agency joins us to share how he's found affordable agency talent in an unconventional place. We talk about the keys to successfully building an offshore team, details on DUDE's hiring process and keys to running a whitelabel agency.
About Chris Martinez
Chris Martinez is the CEO and Co-founder of DUDE which partners with digital agencies to provide them the people and processes to help them scale profitably. He's also the author of Hacking Mexico.
Chris owned a digital agency for over 6 years and in 2013 moved all of his web design and development to Tijuana Mexico and it was a total game-changer for his agency.
He quickly learned that Tijuana gives agencies all the benefits of outsourcing and none of the downsides.
In 2017, Chris launched DUDE and is now providing the perfect outsourcing solution for digital agencies.
Follow Chris Online
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismartinez13/
- Website: https://dudeagency.io/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dudeagency.io/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dudeagency/
- Email Chris: chris@dudeagency.io
- Book: https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Mexico-Outsource-Development-Tijuana/dp/0692148485
In this episode Chris Johnson from Upscale Method joins us for a fireside chat to discuss how to chose between adding services or niching down, how to niche down, developing a sales strategy, optimizing for profitability and more.
About Chris Johnson
Chris Johnson is a Web Agency Coach in Canada and the founder of Upscale Method. His Agency helped his clients earn $160M+ in revenue over 12 years. Today he helps other web agencies in his agency coaching program where he teaches them how to scale their revenues quickly and land more high ticket clients.
Follow Chris Online:
- Website: https://upscalemethod.com/
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisjohnsonmarketing
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/257690278442113/
- Email: chris@upscalemethod.com
In this episode, Scott Gellatly from Scale My Empire joins us to discuss his experience helping 100's of service businesses, consultancies and agencies systemize their business to increase their profitability and scale faster. Tune is to hear us talk tools, process, org charts and everything in between.
About Scott Gellatly
Scott Gellatly has helped 100's of mid market businesses in Engineering, Marketing, IT and Consulting to scale by systemising their operations and project delivery through his company Scale My Empire.
They build systems for fast growth, project services based businesses that are ready to transition into mid market. They do this by integrating people, process and technology together in a cohesive framework.
Connect with Scott Online
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/scottgellatly/
Website: https://www.scalemyempire.com/
email: go@scalemyempire.com
In this episode, Bob Ruffolo from IMPACT joins us to share the story behind IMPACT - an award winning marketing agency. Among his lessons, he shares the struggle of getting stuck in the 20 ish employee range, and how he finally broke out of that to grow to over 60 employees today.
About Bob Ruffolo
Bob is the founder and CEO of IMPACT, a company focused on helping people find success with inbound marketing through education, events, and agency services. In 2017, IMPACT was recognized as HubSpot's Partner Agency of the Year.
Personally, Bob is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and was inducted into their School of Business Hall of Honor in 2014 for entrepreneurial excellence. In the same year, he was also recognized as one of Hartford Business Journal's 40 Under Forty. Beyond being driven to grow IMPACT, Bob strives to be at the forefront of the inbound marketing movement and loves helping similar agencies execute their growth.
In his spare time, he is a regular speaker at HubSpot's annual Inbound Conference and local universities, an active member of several entrepreneurial groups, and sits on the boards of local educational and community foundations. He is also an avid Yankees and Jets fan.
Resources from Bob
- Jim Collins Books: http://bit.ly/JimCollinsBooks
- EOS System: https://www.eosworldwide.com/what-is-eos
- The Game of Business: http://bit.ly/GreatGameofBiz
- IMPACT Elite FB Group: http://bit.ly/IMPACTElite
- IMPACT LIVE: https://www.impactbnd.com/live
Follow Bob Online
- Impact Website: https://www.impactbnd.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobruffolo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BobRuffolo
In this episode, Kim Barrett shares some of the most important lessons from his journey growing Your Social Voice. He shares how things got out of hand, and how he scaled back his team, dramatically increased his profitability and systemized his business to take up less of his time.
About Kim
Kim Barrett is a world renown Social Media Marketer, focussing on Facebook. He Is an International Best Selling Author, Speaker and Trainer, having taught marketing around the world and helping businesses grow to 6 and 7 figures. He's also the founder of Your Social Voice, which helps businesses get heard on social media, and most importantly, build engagement, generate more leads and more sales.
Follow Kim Online
- Website: http://www.kimbarrett.com.au/
- Your Social Voice: https://www.yoursocialvoice.com.au
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realkimbarrett/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrkimbarrett/
In this episode, Karl Sakas walks us through the differences in strategy for agencies who want to sell their business vs those who want to own it and fund their lifestyle. We talk specific metrics to measure & optimize, strategy changes and actionable tips to achieve your goals.
About Karl
Karl Sakas helps agency owners increase profits and reduce stress, by conquering growing pains. As a management consultant and executive coach at Sakas & Company, Karl has advised hundreds of agencies on every inhabited continent.
He is the author of "Made to Lead," "The In-Demand Marketing Agency," and more than 300 articles on agency management on what we believe is one of the best agency blogs on the internet.
When he’s not helping clients, Karl is an award-winning Past President of AMA Triangle and volunteers as a bartender on a 1930s railroad car.
Resources from Karl
- Agency Growth Style (Lifestyle vs. Equity) blog: https://sakasandcompany.com/agency-growth-style/
- Making yourself "needed but not necessary" blog: https://sakasandcompany.com/needed-but-not-necessary/
- The "pile of crack" analogy, on sales pipeline strength: https://sakasandcompany.com/feast-or-famine/
- Preparing to sell, by building a "Dream 100 Acquirer" list: https://sakasandcompany.com/get-acquired/
- Free weekly tips: https://sakasandcompany.com/newsletter/
- Agency Resource Library (50+ time-saving agency tools, templates, and SOPs): https://sakasandcompany.com/agency-resource-library/
Follow Karl Online
- Website: https://sakasandcompany.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlSakas
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsakas/
In this episode, Andrew Dymski walks us through his process for creating beautifully documented processes your entire team can follow. We'll get into the how, who, when, where and why of documenting process, and cover some other great tips for agency scalability along the way.
About Andrew Dymski
Andrew is a Founder at ZenPilot where he helps marketing agencies buy back time by developing the processes and systems they need to scale without reinventing the wheel for every client. He's also co-host of the Agency Journey podcast where each week he interviews an agency owner, consultant, or author.
He's also a founder at GuavaBox, an inbound marketing agency.
Formerly he ran DoInbound, a software platform that helped agencies manage their projects and process and is truly a master when it comes to setting agencies up for scale and profitability.
Follow Andrew Online
- Website: https://www.zenpilot.com/
- Podcast: https://www.zenpilot.com/inbound-agency-journey
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewJDymski
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdymski/
In this episode, Robert Craven walks us through what he's learned from helping 100's of agencies develop market-proof strategies that lead their companies to success. From the long term vision and plan, to pricing and positioning and even how to plan and communicate to your team, we cover it all.
About Robert
Robert Craven is the bestselling author of 8 books on how to grow a profitable service business, including his newest book "Grow Your Digital Agency". He's also an international keynote speaker, the director of the Google Partners Business Coaching Program, the President of the GYDA Initiative (Grow Your Digital Agency) and the President of the Director's Center.
Needless to say, he's a respected authority when it comes to helping agencies reach peak performance and has helped 100's do so through his consulting, training programs and content.
Resources from Robert
- GYDA Book: http://bit.ly/GYDABook
- Free GYDA Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/GYDAFBGroup
Follow Robert Online
- Website: https://robert-craven.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Robert_Craven
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcraven/
In this episode, CEO and founder of Proposify Kyle Racki joins us to share the story of how he transitioned from running an agency to running a fast-growing startup. You'll hear the pitfalls to avoid, some great advice for mitigating risk and a few pro tips on sending better proposals.
About Kyle Racki
Kyle Racki is the CEO and Founder of Proposify, an angel investor, speaker, host of the LTV Podcast and author of his newest book: Free Trials and Tribulations - How To Build A Business While Getting Punched In The Mouth.
He went from running a small digital agency back in the early 2000's to building a software platform as a side project that eventually turned into Proposify, a company that now serves over 6,000 businesses worldwide.
Follow Kyle Online
- Website: https://www.kyleracki.com/
- Proposify: https://www.proposify.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyleracki
- New Book: https://www.kyleracki.com/book/
In this episode, Mandi Ellefson walks us through step by step tactics for agency owners who want to increase their prices and profits, while spending less time running day to day operations and build a business that can scale without them.
About Mandi
Mandi Ellefson is the founder of The Hands-Off CEO and a Scalable Freedom Strategist.
She works with owner managed 7 and 8 figure consultancies, agencies, tech businesses, and B2B service business owners to first recover 20-40 extra hours per month. Then use that time to scale up without working more hours. When you’re removed as the bottleneck, you can sustain dramatic growth in a way where quality increases. She also offers a program for fast growing 6 figure businesses called Scale to Freedom.
She got into this line of work to solve a problem she had. She was a manager at the time, but with an entrepreneurial spirit. She wanted freedom to play and travel, but also wanted to make a big impact.
So she found another way, and simplified and systematized their business for them. In the process, she worked a quarter of the time, and got to travel around the world when it suited her. Now she helps other agency owners create the same lifestyle.
Follow Mandi Online
- Website: http://handsoffceo.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mandiellefson?lang=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandiellefson/
Carl Smith has done and seen it all. He's worked his way up the ladder at a big agency. He's gone off to start his own agency, growing it to millions in revenue with thought leadership in his niche. Finally, he's taken over an organization that brings together agency owners all over the country. What's the most important thing he's learned through his trials and tribulations? Tune in to find out.
About Carl
A theater major who decided to act like he understood business, Carl spent 14 years in advertising before launching his digital agency, nGen Works, in 2003.
nGen ran for 12 years, constantly experimenting with different models of management and team structure, including the Jellyfish Model which was flat before flat was cool.
Towards the end of nGen’s run, Carl attended the very first Bureau event and fell madly in love with the concept of building community in the web industry. So much so that a few years later he closed nGen to take over the Bureau in 2016. Now Carl spends every day connecting digital professionals to give them the support they need.
Follow Carl Online:
- Website: https://bureauofdigital.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/carlsmith
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-smith-4b46a32/
Tune in to learn from Lee Goff on how you can start doubling your profits, cutting down your workload and setting your agency up for scale through productization.
In this episode, we discuss what productization really means, how to do it, and what mistakes to avoid.
About Lee Goff:
Since founding GetUWired in 2003 in Lee’s upstairs bedroom, GetUWired has helped thousands of business owners around the world break through the glass ceiling and live the lives they deserve — making more money with less work and having more time for all the things they love. Lee is living proof that his formula works.
In May 2016 he sold out his remaining shares to his longtime partners to pursue his lifelong passion of mentoring small businesses. His motto is “Success using vision, leadership and shared knowledge”. He shares everything he learned while building GetUWired. His new venture is leegoff.com and is in business to help small businesses grow faster and more profitable than they could have ever imagined.
Follow Lee Online:
- Website: https://marketingagencycoach.com
- Twitter: @Agency_Coaching
- Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitalmarketingagencygroup/
Jody Grunden is CEO & C0-Founder of Summit CPA Group - an accounting firm that works exclusively with Agencies. He's also an industry speaker, and a published author. He started Summit CPA Group in 2002, bringing more than 23 years of public and corporate accounting leadership, tax expertise, and executive management experience to his role with the company.
With the mission of changing the way that people think about accounting, Summit CPA Group specializes in helping digital agencies manage and scale their financial health through solid forecasting based on both financial and non-financial metrics through its Virtual CFO Services.
His latest book, Digital Dollars and Cents: A Virtual CFO's Playbook to help Digital Companies Create a Financial Roadmap to Success can be read on Kindle.
In this episode, we chat with Kelly Campbell about the power of positioning.
Tune in to find out how positioning can help you attract higher quality clients, increase your profitability, shorten your sales cycle, increase your rates, and streamline your operations (among other things).
About Kelly Campbell:
After 15 years of starting, scaling and selling my own digital agency in New York, she loves helping other agency leaders do the same. She works with established agencies in the creative and tech industries, typically with $2-30MM in annual revenue, looking to transform and committed to investing in the significant growth of their organization.
As a consultant, she takes a unique and holistic approach to helping agencies level-up (and helping CEOs define the life they want to live). Maybe it’s because she's one of the only women working in this space, or from experience, she understands that agency ownership transcends numbers— it’s a journey that can be an emotional roller coaster or lead to a spiritual awakening.
She has two superpowers. Intent, active listening helps me understand the nuances of what’s being said and more importantly what’s not being said within your agency.
- Follow Kelly's THRIVE podcast: https://klcampbell.com/category/podcast/
- Follow Kelly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/agencyscaler
- Follow Kelly on LinkeIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylcampbell