How to promote your book as part of your thought leadership strategy
With all the buzz about establishing yourself as a thought leader and the long-term value of that effort, many agency owners have written or are thinking about writing a book to demonstrate their expertise. There is assumed esteem that comes [...]
Are your employees stale?
Many agencies are struggling with what I have termed “stale employees.” These are seasoned pros who have probably been with your agency for a long time. They were incredibly talented and valuable back in the day, but their skills have [...]
How to Practice Discomfort and Initiate The Next Era of Your Agency
The only way to keep your agency growing is to get comfortable with discomfort. When you think back on those first few years of owning an agency, somehow the tough parts get muted. That period of discomfort — though some [...]
Stop talking about yourself
I spend a lot of time in various agency conference rooms, critiquing their new business pitches. The invitation to do that usually comes after a streak of “we loved you, buts” or worse — not even making it to the [...]
Creative Is Key, But Strategy Is King
When you hear marketing agencies say "content is king," we don’t mean creative is king. Content’s supremacy has less to do with the creative genius behind it and more to do with the strategy that makes creation worthwhile. Businesses now [...]
Agency owners need to embrace the 50-20-30 rule
Given that it's the Monday after a holiday weekend, I have one question for you ... Where were you? Most agency owners can barely squeak out a long holiday weekend, let alone a family vacation. And even when you get [...]
To Market Digitally, You Need to Be a Digital Consumer
When you work in digital marketing, perusing (and gleaning inspiration from) social platforms comes with the territory. But when even a tech columnist for the New York Times admits he needs a break from his phone — and from social [...]
Stalled Projects = Shrinking Profits
You know the drill. Client or prospect calls. They have an urgent need and you drop everything to figure out how to help them. About a third of the way in — when you need something (copy, assets, information, etc.) [...]
Is Your Agency an Artisanal Bakery or a Wonder Bread Factory?
When I meet struggling creative agency owners, one of the first questions I ask is: what kind of agency do you want to run? Their answers typically involve the deliverables their agencies produce, or who their agencies serve, but that’s [...]
How to Get Paid When Clients Pull the Plug
It’s annoying and expensive when clients pull the plug on a project before you can recoup all of your upfront investment. And yet it happens all the time. So much of our work requires a huge investment on our part [...]
