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Understanding Your Agency’s Value and What You Can Do to Boost that Value with Henry Corona

What is your agency worth? How do you know? What’s involved in an agency valuation? Once you understand your agency’s value, you can decide what tactics you need to take to improve that number. Staffing, technology, training, expansion and compensation. These are just a few of the elements that play a role in the valuation of your agency. My podcast guest Henry Corona has been providing agency valuations, consultation on M&A deals and coaching agency owners on how to increase the value of their shop for decades.  He has an extensive knowledge of agency value and helps owners focus in on what they need to be looking at if they want to sell somewhere down the road.   Henry and I help you make sense of it all with: Henry’s transition from the film business to the advertising business Mistakes agency owners make that hinder their ability to sell their agencies Where agencies need to be investing Why tracking hours is critically important What to do about employees that cost your agency money Why your agency should have a profit sharing system Understanding your agency’s value and what it means AGI numbers you need to know What diminishes the value of an agency Charging brain surgeon prices vs. charging nurse prices Training clients so they don’t feel like they’re getting the “B Team” What agency owners can do right now to improve on the ideas from this episode Henry Corona graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa, moved to Los Angeles, and earned an MA in Economics from UCLA. He worked as an Economist for the Rand Corporation, and while at Rand, Henry earned an MBA in Finance & Marketing from USC. Upon graduating, he joined [...]

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How to Be a Great Podcast Guest & the Value of Being on a Podcast with Tom Schwab

Podcasting has been around for a while but it is really becoming very mainstream. It’s a wonderfully effective way to connect with your audience on a personal level in a format that has gotten very easy to access and consume. There’s nothing wrong with blogging or creating video content but podcasts are so easy – people can learn from them while they commute to work, walk on a treadmill or listen while they multitask at home. If you aren’t ready to start your own podcast, the next best thing is learning how to be a great podcast guest on someone else’s show. My guest, Tom Schwab helps business leaders, authors and other professionals get invited to appear on podcasts that align with their business goals. Tom believes that every business leader can be coached so they’re a rock star guest. As he says, “what's ordinary to you is amazing to others.” Tom and I dig into the nuts and bolts of podcasting with: Why podcasting is so relevant today How to be a great podcast guest on someone else’s show The benefit of being a podcast guest How Tom’s clients are able to sell being on podcasts to their own clients Benefits of podcasting over other forms of content Why podcast traffic converts higher than blogs Message, market, and machine: what you need to have a successful podcast interview What you (or your clients) need to be a great podcast guest Why you need to bring a giveaway when you are a guest on a podcast What not to do when you are a guest on a podcast Is it appropriate to suggest questions to your podcast host? How Tom helps agencies look good The [...]

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Effective New Business Strategies and The Four Most Vital Areas of the Sales Funnel

New business, new business, new business. It’s something that I find myself talking to agency owners about every single day. Unfortunately most agencies are so busy retooling their business development program to chase new prospects that they forget their most important new business target – their current clients. 70% of your new revenue should be coming from your existing clients … 70%! What new business strategies do you have in place to make sure that happens? New business opportunities aimed at new prospects always have to be a part of the plan but you also need to be courting your current roster of clients. In this podcast, I give you a path to follow to address both your 70% and your 30%:     Why about 70% of your new revenue should come from existing clients How to teach your AEs to grow the business that they’re serving The new business strategies for you, the business owner, to focus on new business The four areas of the sales funnel and how to work with all four The system for reaching out to your 25 best prospects Drew McLellan is the Top Dog at Agency Management Institute. For the past 21 years, he has also owned and operated his own agency. Drew’s unique vantage point as being both an active agency owner and working with 250+ small- to mid-size agencies throughout the year, give him a unique perspective on running an agency today. AMI works with agency owners by: Leading agency owner peer groups Offering workshops for owners and their leadership teams Offering AE bootcamps Conducting individual agency owner coaching Doing on-site consulting Offering online courses in agency new business and account service Because he works with [...]

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How to Write and Publish a Book with Anthony Paustian

Almost every agency owner I know wants to write a book. How about you? Is this the year? If so, where do you start? Where do you go? How do you do it? How do you stay disciplined enough to get it done? There’s a huge difference between wanting to write a book and actually writing one. Enter my guest, Anthony Paustian, who in addition to writing many books himself, both through the traditional route and as a self-publisher, coaches busy professionals to produce great books. He takes aspiring authors from concept to final product with as little pain as possible but just enough nagging to get the job done. Anthony and I cover the step by step process for how to write and publish a book by answering: Why Anthony decided to become an author and a coach What keeps someone that wants to write a book from actually doing it How to get past the thought that your book won’t be valuable enough The process for getting a book from your head and into an actual book How to turn your blog into a book How to successfully proof your writing Why you need to speak about the topics you write about What the editing process is like once your book is in the hands of an editor What you need to have for your book to appear in a library Why you don’t need (or even necessarily want) your book to be on shelves at Barnes and Noble The best way to sell your book What kinds of e-books you should sell First steps people can take right now to get going Dr. Anthony Paustian was given a rare opportunity in life [...]

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What Clients Really Want from the Agencies they Hire with Chantell Glenville

Clients rarely fire an agency over something big. It’s actually a build up of little things that erode trust and begin to wear on the relationship. Over time, the relationship is so damaged, no one inside the client organization is willing to fight to keep you. Are your account service teams focusing on the little things, the details, the things that can make it easier to work with you rather than more difficult?   My podcast guest, Chantell Glenville has been on both sides of the agency/client coin and can tell you without a doubt that it is the little things that drive clients nuts and lead to them beginning to shop around for another agency. Listen in on my conversation with Chantell as we make sure you’re doing everything you can to build relationships that last. Here are some of the things we cover: Things agencies do over and over that drive clients crazy The small behaviors that break apart relationships What agencies don’t know about the world clients live in The complexity of the structure of clients’ systems How agencies can help clients manage the revision process Why you need to know more than one person inside your client’s company (and get to know them face-to-face) The working hour differences between agencies and clients Why you should never overpromise and underdeliver The two things that create great agency-client relationships Why attention to detail is so important for agencies How to get to the top of a client’s to-do list Reasons clients will fire agencies (and why they never want to do that) Things agency owners can do right now to help their account executives improve agency-client relationships Chantell Glenville is the author of [...]

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Selling Your Agency and Preparing Your Business for Sale with John Warrillow

Every agency owner believes that they’ll sell their agency some day. But the truth is, most agency owners are not doing anything to make their business sellable. 90% of all agencies just close the doors one day. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can make a good living and pull extra money out every year and then when you’re done – lock the door on your way out. But if you do want to sell your agency, the time to begin prepping it for sale is today.  Even if you’re 10+ years away from retirement, the time is now.   Do you want to keep it? Pass it on to your kids? Sell it to your employees or maybe sell it to an outside buyer?  Each of these options requires you to prepare and be ready when the time comes.    My guest, John Warrilow helps business owners prepare for these options. Join John and I as we walk through the ways that you can get your agency ready for the future by discovering: John’s book “Built to Sell” The very easy path for agencies to follow that make it extremely hard to sell What services look like that make an agency sellable Why you can’t confuse the doing with owning a business When is it time to say no to business? What to do after selling your agency Things to avoid when exiting your agency Services agencies can offer on a subscription model Standardizing a process and giving that process or product a specific name Why you shouldn’t surround yourself with journeymen agency employees How to assess how sellable your agency is and what can be done to make your agency more sellable John [...]

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4 Extreme Leadership Principles and How to Become a Great Organizational Leader with Steve Farber

All you need is love. The Beatles put it to music but my podcast guest Steve Farber has taken those words to heart and put them into action! Steve is an advocate for extreme leadership and has built his business on the framework of love, energy, audacity and proof (LEAP), the four characteristics of an extreme leader. His book, “The Radical Leap” is one of my favorite business books of all time. Implementing these four extreme leadership principles will drastically change the way you think about leadership. For Steve, “extreme leadership is not about your position. It's not about your title. It's not about what it says on your business card. It's not about where you perch on the org chart.  It's about your willingness and ability to step up, to change things for the better, often at the risk of personal sacrifice.” Isn’t this the kind of leader you want to be? Follow Steve and I on the journey to becoming an extreme leader by discovering: The definition of “Extreme Leadership” What an extreme leader does Love in the business place Putting in more energy into your business than you take out Why leaders need to be audacious and willing to fail What agency owners can do to become more audacious How a business that embraces extreme leadership looks different Steve’s book “Greater Than Yourself” How to become one of the greatest leaders by lifting others up What agency owners can do right now to start working on the ideas from this  episode Steve Farber is listed as one of Inc’s global Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts. He is a Leadership Pioneer, Strategist, Keynote Speaker, and Bestselling Author on Extreme Leadership. His expertise [...]

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The 3 Must-Have Workplace Meetings Every Organization Should Be Having

Humorist Dave Barry once said, “If you had to identify, in a single word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings.”   Most of you feel the same way. The last thing you need is another meeting but I am here to tell you that there are some meetings you absolutely need. They’re an investment. An investment in making your agency better, an investment in your people, an investment in your culture, and an investment in building the best team possible. Join me for this solocast as I lay out the must-have workplace meetings every agency should be having: The daily traffic / huddle meeting for discussing daily vital priorities and how to make this meeting work regardless of agency size The monthly all-staff meeting for informing and inspiring your team The twice a year to quarterly meeting for team building and planning 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- to mid-size agencies in a variety of ways. He works with agency owners in peer network groups, teaches workshops for owners and their leadership teams, teaches AE bootcamps, and does a lot of consulting. Because he works with a lot of agencies every year — he has the unique opportunity to see the patterns and the habits (both good and bad) that happen over and over again. He has also written two books and been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fortune Small [...]

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The Importance of Customer Experience in Inspiring Customer Loyalty with Peter Shankman

Developing outstanding customer service. Inspiring unwavering customer loyalty. Creating passionate customer advocates. We all want it. We all need it. But how do we get it? “I think at the end of the day all you have to do to be different and be remembered is just be a little bit better than what we expect and we expect crap. Because if all we expect is crap, that little bit more is going to change the world,” so says my podcast guest Peter Shankman. He delivers the answers on the importance of customer experience and many other topics related to your customers. Peter is constantly evolving, changing and moving so buckle up as I talk to him about how to do things “just a little bit better” as well as: Innovation through exploration Why you need to hold your ground with clients and force them to trust your expertise How to get your customers to tell your story for you Peter’s book “Zombie Loyalists” Peter’s company The Geek Factory How agencies can make customer service attractive for their clients Why rewarding someone for being your 10,000th follower is an insult to the rest of your followers Why everything you create has to have value for someone How to create invested customers with the way you respond through email How Peter carves out time in his schedule for everything Peter’s preferred methods for professional development What Peter’s agency of the future would look like How Peter helped his employees with professional development The things that get in the way of corporations hearing their customers Things agencies can do right now to implement the ideas from this episode Peter Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens [...]

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How to Create a Modern, Content-Driven Agency with Paul Roetzer

Start with the end in mind, as Stephen Covey taught us. But you’re not going to get there without intentionally putting together a plan and then measuring your progress along the way to make sure you are meeting or exceeding your own expectations. The key in all of that is being intentional. You teach your clients this every day. But when it comes to your own agency, many of you don’t really have a plan or aren’t actively working the plan you have. My podcast guest Paul Roetzer is nothing if not intentional. He created and built his agency with intention every step of the way. As a result, he now has an agency that is an industry leader when it comes to content creation, inbound marketing, performance and strategy. Paul and I cover pricing, content strategy, client fit and employee retention in this podcast. Listen in to see: Why Paul started PR 20/20 How to create a modern, content-driven agency Standardizing pricing to prevent scope creep Paul’s point system for pricing How to create a content strategy that works today Top of the funnel content vs. bottom of the funnel content Using the point system for professional development Where to find the great content writers that you will need to hire How PR 20/20 decides if a client is a good fit The Marketing Score Automated Insights Steps agencies can take right now How to keep employees around and enthusiastic Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and HubSpot’s first Agency Partner. He is author of “The Marketing Performance Blueprint” (Wiley, 2014) and “The Marketing Agency Blueprint” (Wiley, 2012); creator of Marketing Agency Insider and Marketing Score; [...]

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