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This Payment Model Will Keep Clients Satisfied and Bank Accounts Full

Every business needs to make money, but not every founder knows how -- or when -- to collect it. Cash flow problems are one of the top startup killers. The fad of acquiring users now and making money later is over. Companies need to turn profits quickly if they want to survive. To keep the lights on without angering clients or investors, service-based startups should consider the advantages of retainer agreements. Dependable, recurrent income provides security that no investor commitment can match. Investors can always decide to withdraw their support, but a company with paying customers always has a fighting chance. In an article that I recently contributed to Entrepreneur.com, I discuss the mutual benefit of retainer agreements, and why they add value to your client services and how they provide a more productive working relationship. Does your agency utilize retainer agreements, or would you consider it? After you read, I'd be interested to know your stance. 

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 of it was genuinely painful — helped you transform a mere idea into a real, living thing that served real, living people. The uncomfortable period was such a fertile time. It involved constant invention and reinvention and required continuous problem-solving. If you’re feeling stagnant as an agency owner, your clients are probably experiencing that, too. They’re on their own journeys to growth. Show clients how to be brave by stepping out of your comfort zone publicly. Invite clients to join you in your experiments. In this article I contributed to smartinsights.com, I provide ideas for how you can get the buzz of growth back into your agency (and in your clients) and start practicing discomfort. If you’ve been feeling stagnant lately, this may just be the opportunity for you to get back to basics, and navigate your next stage of growth by engaging in the uncomfortable.

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 final face to face meeting stage. The truth is — you are pitching your agency every day, whether it’s a formal review where you put on a suit and stand up in front of a committee or you’re sitting across the table from a prospect talking over coffee. Whatever the circumstance — the biggest (and most common) mistake agencies make is that we’re so enamored with our fill in the blank (proprietary process, programmatic prowess, award-winning creative, etc.) that we forget that is not what the prospect needs. They need results. They need proof that their marketing dollars are working. They need leads and sales. Go grab your last three proposals/pitches (word docs, PPT — whatever the format) and give yourself a score. How often do you talk about your agency (our work, our results, our team, our process, etc.) versus the tangible results that the prospect can reasonably expect if they hire you? If you’re honest and your proposals look like most — you are not going to get a passing grade.

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 recognize that creative work is only as valuable as the results it delivers. In the old days, agencies led new business pitches with creative assets. Clients were excited to see new artistic concepts and ideas. Today’s clients want far less of that. Modern companies expect to see strategy and hard numbers, and agencies that cling to a creative-oriented past could lose business to their strategy-driven competitors. Recently I brought up this changing process in an article I contributed to Forbes.com, and elaborated on the need for agency’s to adapt and change to fit their client’s evolving priorities. Think about the clients you want to serve and the opportunities on your horizon. What roles will you need to fill to meet those challenges? What will those clients want from you, and how can you organize your company to deliver on those requests?

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 media in general — participating online can suddenly feel like a draining experience. Some marketers combat digital fatigue by only knowing enough intellectually to get by. But today, you have to be a proper digital consumer to market online. In this article that I contributed to adotas.com, I discuss the necessity for digital marketers to also be digital consumers, and substantiate my viewpoint with evidence that’s hard to ignore. Tell me, are you a digital consumer? Would love to hear your ideas on the concept and where you are in your technological knowledge.

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.) from them, suddenly there’s a grinding halt and you wait. And wait. It’s part of agency life. Unfortunately, so is that sucking sound you hear as the profits get drained from the project because of the delay. The longer you tread water, the more the work costs you and it’s difficult to recoup the expense of trying to cajole your client into giving you what you need. The delays aren’t always on the client. Sometimes an outside force creates the lag time. But either way — your agency ends up holding the bag. You can greatly reduce that drain on your profitability if you anticipate it up front and build a contingency into your scope documents/contracts. In another blog post, I shared some language you can use to protect yourself from these delays.  Feel free to use it verbatim or modify it to fit your agency’s voice. But don’t leave yourself more exposed than you need to be. Check it out and let me know what you think. Our September AE Bootcamp is getting pretty full. If you want to send some of your crew — it would be good to get them registered soon.

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 not what I’m asking. No, I’m really asking whether their agencies are artisanal bakeries or Wonder Bread factories. Both artisanal and Wonder Bread agencies have their ups and downs. Before you decide which agency model is the best fit for you, consider the merits of each. The key is understanding what you, as an agency owner and entrepreneur, need and want your creative agency to be—and making sure that’s the type of shop you’re building. In this article I wrote, originally published for SpinSucks.com, I discuss the differences between both “bakeries” and help you distinguish who you are and who you want to be. What type of agency do you have? What type do you want? I'd love to have that conversation with you.

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 on the front end and when a client stalls or does a 360 and cancels the work — we often get left holding the bag. I wrote a blog post about this challenge and offered some language you can include in your contracts and/or scope of work documents that will help protect you from losing money in this situation. Check it out and let me know what you think. Our September AE bootcamp is getting pretty full. If you want to send some of your crew — it would be good to get them registered soon.

The Death (And Revival) Of An Agency Power Player

Production managers, also known as traffic managers, used to be everywhere in the agency world. They were responsible for plugging the gaps between departments and ensuring that creators, managers and clients all knew what to expect and when to expect it. Their timelines and budgets kept agencies running smoothly for years. And then computers replaced them. Now that speed is of the essence, agencies need more than creatives and managers to keep their businesses afloat. It’s time to bring back the production manager to do what technology alone cannot. In this piece that I contributed to Forbes.com on March 11th, 2019, I elaborate on the need for the return of the production manager and discuss the value that this intricate position provides to an agency’s team. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the piece, and if you’re inclined, give me your thoughts on whether or not the modern day agency can benefit from reinstating this position.

How much will you owe in taxes for this year?

In my mind, as you read that sentence, you were thinking “Are you kidding? I just paid THIS year’s taxes. Why are we talking about 2019 taxes already?” Which of course is my point. If you’d like to pay less tax than you did this past year, you can’t wait to until late December to put some strategies in place. I find that most agency owners have very conservative tax preparers. They’re much more concerned about making it easy for them than they are in actually giving you good advice about how to structure your business in the most tax advantageous way. I had a CPA like that and paid through the nose for years. Fortunately, I realized the mistake I was making about a decade ago and have cut my tax liability to a fraction of what I used to pay. There’s no reason why you can’t do that too. We will talk tax strategies in our owner workshop this fall (October) if that’s of interest. Whether you join us or not — it’s time to evaluate your tax prep pro. If he/she isn’t actively meeting with you every quarter to review your financials and look for ways for you to protect yourself from unnecessary taxes, it’s time to go shopping. We all have to pay taxes but it shouldn’t add up to more than we need to pay.

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