Who should be your agency’s voice?
If you’ve heard me say it once, you’ve heard me say it 1,000 times — it’s tough to be a generalist out there. In simple terms, it means your competition is everyone from the 16-year-old kid who builds websites, to [...]
What you measure is what matters
When I started my own agency is 1995 I was about 30 and the perfect combination of arrogant and ignorant. “How hard could running an agency be? If you knocked it out of the park for your clients and delivered [...]
Biz Dev has to stay on the top of YOUR list
I totally get it. You’re busy putting out fires, delivering high-level strategy for your clients and trying to mentor and grow your team. Who has time for new business? This is one of those head versus heart things in agency [...]
Going Digital At Your Agency Isn’t Just About The Tech
While print advertising will likely never die and niche magazines continue to make a comeback, the reality is that most of today’s agencies lean heavily on some aspect of digital marketing. Whether you’re a digital native who now manages a [...]
You have to get the hiring right
There’s a talent shortage in the agency business. I can’t remember a time in recent years when agencies were hiring as much as they are today and having as much trouble finding the right fit employees. You’ve heard the adages [...]
Great work. Great people. Great results. Why isn’t that enough?
You’ve built a successful agency with great people and award-winning work. Your awesome clients love you and have been loyal for years. You’ve received "best place to work" awards every year. You’ve got a team of superstars who keep the [...]
A Recession Is Coming: Is Your Talent Strategy Built to Last?
Economists predict that a new recession will strike by 2021. Marketing agencies and departments suffer greatly during tough times, and if this next recession is anything like the last, marketers could be in for a rough couple of years. Fortunately, [...]
What’s the purpose of your bonus program?
When an agency shows a profit, one of the first inclinations of the agency owner is to pay a bonus to the staff. I applaud that instinct. But I don’t think you should do it simply because you have a [...]
How to Automate, Augment and Accelerate Your Agency with Artificial Intelligence
In the marketing services industry, CMOs struggle to cross the marketing talent gap and, as a result, turn to performance-driven agency partners. But those partners are struggling to meet the needs of the market. Agencies are expected to be immersed [...]
How are you controlling scope creep?
One of the biggest threats to your agency’s profitability and long-term existence is giving away the farm by over servicing clients, bad estimates, not issuing change orders and allowing clients to change the rules mid-game without any penalty or cost. [...]