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How to Write and Create Valuable Content with Ann Handley

As agencies, we're constantly struggling with how to write and create good solid content for our clients while at the same time, doing it profitably enough so that we don’t lose our shirts in the process. We’re also trying to step up and take the role of helping clients make sure that their content is meaningful, useful and unique. That’s a tall order and sometimes we just don’t have the time or the skill level on our staff to get it done. This world of content is where my podcast guest, Ann Handley shines. As the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, she has a handle on what it takes to get all of that accomplished as well as some invaluable strategies and resources to make us all better writers and content officers in our own right. In my podcast conversation, Ann and I really get down to the core of writing and writing well and why it is so important in content creation and the role all of that has in building your agency. Some highlights include: How agencies can educate their clients The MarketingProfs B2B Forum How to write valuable content that your clients will absolutely love Strategies for working on better content instead of lots of content Why you need to focus on writing during the hiring process and throughout your agency’s work Resources for editing whether you have the budget for a human editor or not Why you need to find writers with an audience-centric point of view (and the pros and cons of hiring journalists) Tips for creating spaces for creating your best writing Ann Handley speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in [...]

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How to Prospect for Clients with Jami Oetting

My guest, Jami Oetting has seen both sides of agency life and is with me on this podcast to discuss new business development for agencies. She worked as a strategist at a full-service agency before deciding that she really liked reporting on what agencies are up to more than living it day-to-day. As the editor of Hubspot’s Agency Post, she gets a front row seat to what is going on in shops all over the nation and boy does she have some perspective. In this podcast, she gives us her take on a wide array of topics from how agencies need to differentiate themselves to tips on how to prospect for clients. The conversation also digs into new business development for agencies in this digital age. Some highlights include: Solely relying on referrals doesn’t make sense anymore. There’s a whole world out there with clients looking for specialists. How to prospect for clients and attract the right clients and repel the wrong ones. We discuss why it’s so much better to be upfront about who you are as an agency, and who you are not. Consider what your agency would look like in five years if you started specializing today, versus what it would look like if you didn’t. People will pay more for specialized expertise. Stay on track with your content creation. Understanding formulas and blocking time to write will allow agencies to create better content in a more efficient and consistent way. Create your niche from your client profile and develop a plan to generate leads from that. spot works with about 2,500 agency partners and about 15,000 customers worldwide. Now, Jami’s blog is one of the largest blogs for agency professionals. It [...]

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Discussing Marketing-Led Innovation and Strategy with Gavin Heaton

Everyone talks about digging into your clients’ issues and discovering “ what keeps them up at night.” But are you really doing that? Is your staff trained to do that? Doing so makes your agency better at innovation and strategy – which is what clients are hungry for, according to the research AMI does with CMOs every year. When you can deliver on this need – you get to charge a premium and those clients stick around. In my podcast conversation with Gavin Heaton we dig into this topic and talk about how to make it a reality. Gavin works with agencies showing them how to build value and create opportunities by really listening to the client’s wants. He provides agencies with ways to implement creative and innovative thinking in their businesses to become a true strategic partner for their clients. Gavin and I explore many of the ways you can become a more valuable asset for your clients by: Focusing on the things the client wants, rather than what an agency wants to push to them, which ultimately creates more value for the client. Grappling with a problem that is worth solving, rather than pursuing an idea of interest.  Taking a lesson from the start-up point of view and focusing on the audience and their wants first, and then building your product. Solving your client’s problems and as a result, becoming less of a vendor, and more of a business partner.  Getting your team to think creatively and innovatively. Gavin is a marketing technologist, strategist, and advisor. He is the founder of the Disruptor’s Handbook, a network of entrepreneurs and innovators that help businesses innovate like startups, which Gavin calls “marketing lead innovation.” He has led new venture [...]

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How to Develop a Compelling Value Proposition and Differentiate Your Agency from Others

A potential client asks you to describe your agency. How do you communicate your compelling value proposition to the client and differentiate your agency from others? Quick – what makes you stand out in the agency crowd? Do you find yourself using words like full service, strategic, creative? Or maybe you say, “We partner with our clients.” “We've been here for X number of years.” “We’re not a traditional agency.” “We don't do digital, we are digital.” Unfortunately, the truth is, whether you like it or not, you sound just like every other agency out there. Even if we think we're standing out in a crowd, we tend to sound very much the same. We all believe that we sound distinct but the truth is our words all blur with the same phrases that every other agency uses. So how do you truly develop a compelling value proposition and differentiate your shop when the competition is getting tougher and tougher and we sound and look more and more alike? By clearly defining your mission, vision and values. In this solocast, I help you flesh that out by exploring: How to communicate a compelling value proposition to your clients by telling your own story via content. How to put a stake in the ground and say this is what we do and how and why we do it. How to answer the following big questions: Why do you do this work? What is your why? What would happen to the world if your agency simply faded from existence? How to specifically define your mission, your vision, and your compelling values. Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated [...]

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What Are Business Processes with Brian Shea

What are business processes and systems? Most business owners flinch at these words but the truth is that your agency cannot grow/scale without both. Processes and systems actually increase the ability to be creative by freeing your team from re-inventing the wheel every time they’re trying to get something done. That’s exactly what my podcast guest, Brian Shea brings to the table.  Brian and his firm, Shea Consulting take process and systems to the next level by helping agencies customize them so they can grow and scale efficiently. Through the use of systems and processes, they minimize the stuff you don't want to do so you have more time and energy to do the stuff you want to do.    In this podcast, Brian covers: How implementing systems is vital to successfully scaling a business. How looking at a business’s current processes can help business owners structure the company in a way that allows them to focus on the creative and strategic work, and delegate more tasks to employees, thus developing the employee’s abilities. How to dig deep and get to the actual cause of why processes, systems and software fail. The consequences an agency may face if they do not implement processes and systems. Great, easy to implement ideas for helping agencies connect with their dream clients. About Brian Shea Brian Shea is the founder of Shea Consulting, where he helps companies become more proficient with their business development systems so they can enjoy consistent, sustainable success. To listen – you can visit the Build A Better Agency site (https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/brian-shea/) and grab either the iTunes or Stitcher files or just listen to it from the web. If you’d rather just read the conversation, the transcript [...]

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Why Accountability Partners are Vital to Your Professional Growth with Adam Carroll

Agency owners are creative by nature and as such, our minds are churning 24/7 with ideas and new initiatives we want to experiment with and implement. But which ones are worthwhile? What should we pursue and what should we skip over? It’s helpful to have a sounding board to explore these potential directions before you take off after them. In this podcast, my guest Adam Carroll has been able to harness the power of great partnerships (accountability partners and mastermind groups) and effective accountability to help determine which ideas really deserve attention and which ones don't. Adam has been able to rely on his mastermind groups for accountability, brainstorming, and guidance, and he leverages his accountability partners for productivity and challenging his habits and patterns. Both avenues, accountability partners and/or mastermind groups, are exceptionally valuable to your business because they help you dig a little deeper and hold you accountable. Adam and I explored these ideas from an agency’s perspective by showing you: How having accountability as an owner allows you to put your time into the ideas that matter, making the most impact for your agency How he makes the most of slow business periods to increase productivity How to find a great accountability partner who will be more concerned with pushing you forward, rather than protecting your feelings How to work on your business, not in your business. How taking five minutes to create a list of the people can help you find your perfect mastermind group. Adam Carroll is quickly being recognized as one of the top financial educators in the country based on his core message of “you are the architect of your own life.” Adam has presented all over the [...]

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Integrating Marketing and Customer Service with Jay Baer

Integrating both marketing and customer service is extremely important to effectively running your business. But do you know exactly how important it is? I’m not sure you do. Imagine working for a company that actually has a position called your Director of Customer Experience. Now that’s a company to watch. Now, imagine if the Director of Customer Experience’s job was to triple negative feedback. All for the purpose of revolutionizing the customer experience. That’s today’s version of customer care and it will have huge impact on the work agencies do for clients. The customer service game as we know it has been turned on its head and there’s huge opportunity for your agency. You all know Jay Baer from Convince & Convert and his work in marketing, content creation and all things digital. You’ve probably read his best selling book Youtility. But Jay’s latest book – Hug Your Haters is a research based look at the customer service climate in today’s 24/7 wired world. In this podcast, Jay and I delve into how important customer care has changed and what companies and agencies need to do to answer the demands and expectations of today’s customers. Among other things, we cover: How agencies can capitalize on the next wave of customer service How to turn negative feedback into tremendously invaluable help The importance of the honesty audit and how to get hired to do this The challenges of moving from doing marketing work for clients to doing marketing and customer service. Jay Baer is known for many things. He’s the world’s most retweeted digital marketer. He is also a renowned business strategist, keynote speaker, and The New York Times bestselling author of five books. He also [...]

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The Importance of Chemistry in Business with Bob Sanders

What do CMOs and other decision makers say is the final decision point when it comes to hiring an agency? Chemistry. Many agencies believe that chemistry is not really in their control but actually, there are definitely some things you can do to connect at that level. In a recent podcast, I had a conversation with Bob Sanders from the Sanders Consulting Group and we talked about the importance of chemistry in business, the influence you can have to make your new business meetings more productive, close faster and with much more success, every single time. Bob and his team focus on creating chemistry with a prospect that can help you walk into that new business process in a better position. In this podcast, Bob will unlock the secrets of chemistry by showing you: how to understand yourself, your agency and then figure out how to relate to others how to build a concrete system that drives new business and generates leads how to use clear-cut methods for a productive first meeting with new clients that lead to the next meeting the simple things you can do each day to achieve your goals how to adjust your relationships to match your client’s personalities. Bob Sanders is a powerhouse in the marketing industry. He has previously worked with Agency Management Group, a firm that specialized in the operations, finance, and technology consultations for multinational agencies around the world. Since then, he has become the leader of Sanders Consulting Group, a leading consulting firm specializing in helping agencies implement best practices faster and more effectively. To listen – you can visit the Build A Better Agency site (https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/bob-sanders/) and grab either the iTunes or Stitcher files or [...]

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Coaching and Mentoring Employees for Success in Your Agency

You look at your employees and you see what’s possible. They’re capable of even more. But what’s in the way of coaching and mentoring employees so that they can get there? There are lots of reasons, but the biggest one is you. You have to make the time for coaching and mentoring employees if you ever want them to reach their potential and serve you, your agency and your clients at the level you’re looking for. In a recent solocast, I walk you through some ideas that can help you find the time to become part of the solution, rather than contributing to the problem. The solution is actually pretty straightforward and is critical to not only the employees’ success but your agency’s as well. In this solocast, I help you explore: how to be a good mentor and teacher on a regular and consistent basis how to set priority or growth goals for your employees how to provide your employees a time and place to ask questions and relay important information how to give your employees the opportunity to toot their own horns or those of their co-workers how to identify obstacles for your employees before they become overwhelming By putting these ideas for coaching and mentoring employees into play, you will not only create an environment where the employees know they need to keep getting better but they’ll be hungry to do so.  It will also help you keep your best employees.  Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. He has also owned and operated his own agency over the last 20-years. And all through the year, he straddles the fence of working in his agency and working with 250+ small- [...]

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The Power of Audience Segmentation Strategies with Susan Baier

In today’s world of clients needing more data/insights, ROI for their marketing spend and micro targeting to avoid waste, research is key. Clients want an agency that not only knows how to gather data, but how to work with it, how to interpret it and most importantly, how to use it to the client’s marketing advantage. That can be a tall order when it comes to quantitative attitudinal audience segmentation strategies and research but my podcast guest, Susan Baier and her team know the ins and outs of this kind of research and know how to make it relevant to what you do every day. This kind of research goes beyond demographics to really understand what's going on with people; what they think, what they believe and what they want.  And it’s done in such a way that it provides you with a large enough sample of respondents to make it well worth your while. In this podcast, Susan and I uncover the power of specific, segmented research.  Among other things, we cover: how to find the right audiences for your client’s money how to better sell the idea and value of research to a prospect or existing client how to use quantitative attitudinal audience segmented research to turned an upcoming event into a major win how to use research in an agency setting including common mistakes to avoid. Susan Baier began her career as a brand manager for companies like Dial and ConocoPhillips and then switched over to the agency side leading strategic marketing initiatives and market research. A few years ago, she launched Audience Audit (http://audienceaudit.com/) where she conducts custom quantitative attitudinal audience segmentation research. She helps her agency clients develop marketing and [...]

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