[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] How’s your year going so far? I might have a pretty good idea already. We work with and see how 250+ small to mid-sized agencies are doing every year and there are always patterns that emerge. […]
[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] My entreé into agency life was as a copywriter. I loved digging around and finding the story underneath the story. That love was the foundation for my belief in the power of a strong and smart brand. For decades my agency has helped clients define, develop, and deploy their brand both internally and externally. It’s still some of my favorite work to do. […]
Running an agency is a full contact sport and you need to keep your eye on the ball. I've watched some agencies struggle because their leader has been distracted. Beware -- there's definitely a price to be paid, even if the distraction is a sweet one.
[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] The challenge with digital trends is that they are moving so swiftly, it’s hard to keep up. There are so many shiny objects flying around our heads, it’s dizzying. How do you know which ones are worth tracking and learning? […]
Thanks for registering for the Running Your Agency for Growth & Profit (and some sanity!) Workshop on March 14 & 15! We’re looking forward to spending a couple of days with you, talking about ways to fine-tune your agency to help you make more money, get/keep more clients and have more fun. We will definitely be adopting the AMI philosophy of — "you will gain in proportion to what you share" - so I’m hoping that everyone will come to the workshop ready to learn from each other and hopefully from us as well. We will also be honoring the AMI commitment to confidentiality so please come ready to get to know each other’s agencies — warts and all. Please fill out this brief questionnaire before coming! The sooner you do it, the better job we can do to make sure you get the most out of this class. Here’s everything you need to know for the workshop. LOCATION: Conference Chicago (2nd floor) 525 South State Street Chicago, IL 60605 Nearby hotel suggestions can be found here: http://agencymanagementinstitute.com/chicago-workshop-hotel-options/ SCHEDULE: We’ll start both mornings at 8:30 am with breakfast in the meeting room. We will start the actual workshop at 9 am both mornings. We’ll shut down on day one at 5 pm and on day two at 3 pm. We’re hoping that after day one, you will be our guest for dinner. Details will be provided that morning. If you need to get home, you could fly out after the second day’s session. Just allow a good hour of drive time to either Chicago airport. Please do not book a flight that will force you to leave early. ATTIRE: Please come to both day’s meetings [...]
[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Speaking engagements can be a great way for agency owners to connect with their sweet spot prospects and be immediately perceived as a subject matter expert. Wanting to book speaking gigs and being successful at making that happen are two very different things. Even if you have some speaking engagements under your belt, getting chosen by a conference planner is another challenge to navigate. […]
There is no worse day in an agency owner’s life than when we have to lay off staff. Letting someone go because they’re doing a lousy job is tough but letting someone go because you don’t have enough income to keep them is a horrific day. But it’s one of the most important (and often ignored) business decisions we are sometimes forced to make. There are ways to handle it that are better for all concerned. If you have to do it — do it well and with kindness.
"The workshop that Stephen and Drew taught was hands down the most useful workshop I've ever taken. I left with an actual plan of attack. I knew what I needed to do and why it mattered to my agency. Since then, we've landed two clients worth more than $1 million dollars thanks to what I implemented from that course! Most agencies struggle with biz dev. They live in the feast and famine world (do nothing until a big client leaves and then freak out and do everything at once to try and save the day) or they rely on referrals -- being forced to eat whatever swims into their net. It does not have to be that way. In fact, you can't afford for it to continue that way. In this workshop, you will learn/decide: How to crunch the numbers to know how much new business your agency can handle (so you only say yes to the right ones) and how quickly you can scale and grow Who your sweet spot clients are (and how will you position your agency to be the only right choice for them) How you will attract them to the top of your sales funnel if they've never heard you before How to nurture those leads in the middle of your funnel, whether they take a day or a decade to convert How to build out a specific biz dev effort to earn the time and attention of your top 25 prospects The critical importance of including your current clients in your sales activities In this workshop, you will not only learn the principles but you are going to do the work! We know that if we teach you [...]
If you want to get an MBA from the streets, learn how to run an advertising agency. If you don’t know me, I’m Arsham Mirshah, one of two co-founders of WebMechanix. We’re coming up on 10 years in business. In that time, I’ve grown a thriving, nearly-50 employee digital marketing agency (with equal help from my co-founder, Chris Mechanic). WebMechanix has grown from an idea in a townhouse to one of the top-ranked agencies in the DC/MD/VA area according to Clutch.co and other directories. Along the way, I’ve learned running an agency might very well be the hardest business to run. With that, comes countless business lessons. Here are ten of the most important lessons in entrepreneurship, one for each year of business. Discipline One of my biggest discoveries as a CFO is that you must establish a rigid, recurring routine. For me, a strict routine means knowing: Every Tuesday, we get and process checks and update Account Receivables. Every Wednesday, we do collections. Every Thursday, we look at collections, see who is overdue, and tell the marketing team to stop working on tasks for those who are overdue. Every Friday, we look at cash flow and expenses, so we can print checks based on the cash available. Every week, I know what to do every single day, and I do the same tasks. I don’t care if there’s a tornado or hurricane, we do what we planned to do based on the schedule we established. It’s why I stress the importance of having a routine. Discipline also translates to evaluating reports. I look at the Profit & Loss statement at least once a week. If there’s a spike, I find out what went wrong [...]
[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Whether we articulate them or not – we all have dreams. One of mine for me (and for all of you!) is to visit every Disney theme park in the world. Not that I want to mandate your dreams but who doesn’t love Disney? […]
If you didn't find what you were looking for, try a new search!
