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Public Relations Strategies and Tactics for Your Agency with Don Beehler

The communications world has changed drastically in recent years and practicing effective public relations strategies and tactics are no exception. Gone are the days of only having to know one or two reporters or knowing all of the potential publications to pitch. Today, there are so many more channels and opportunities that agencies struggle with understanding how best to utilize PR for their agency and for their clients. My podcast guest, Don Beehler has been involved in all aspects of communications. He has worked in corporate communications, advertising, public relations, marketing and in journalism as a correspondent and as a member of an editorial staff. All of that has helped him to really see how PR can help agencies create awareness, draw prospects into the agency to generate sales opportunities, and improve client retention. Join Don and I as we dig deeper into the PR world and discover: The dramatic changes PR has seen over the years How agencies can use PR as a strategic tool to drive new business How to determine what stories to pitch Ways you can become discoverable so that reporters can find you The kind of news that is truly newsworthy for agencies Why you shouldn’t think about using PR with the expectation that people will write stories about your agency How agencies can get the right kind of attention How to incorporate PR into your business plan How to correctly use PR in relation to speaking engagements How to use Google Alerts to capitalize on PR opportunities The steps to take right away to boost your PR Don Beehler has worked with news media on the local to international levels and has won numerous professional awards throughout his career. [...]

June 13th, 2016|

Today’s Agency Employees Crisis and What to Do About It

New business is on the upswing, you’re experiencing shorter sales cycles, and your business is growing by leaps and bounds. All of that is great. But you’re still facing a crisis. An agency employee crisis. There just aren’t enough qualified people to fill the spots needed to service all that business. Or maybe you have just enough employees right now but you are seeing other agencies lose staff to corporate clients and media groups and are fearful that you might be next.    It’s time to take a breath and discover all the reasons that your agency employees want to stay with you and how you can attract more of the same. Your employees have lots of reasons they like agency work and you just might be surprised at the number one reason they offer for wanting to stay. Believe it or not, it’s not about the money.    Find out my take on the current agency employee situation as I detail out:   The agency employees shortage: why it’s happening right now What agency employees want most (and how to use this to attract and retain them) Things that will cause employees to leave The best benefits you can offer to attract and retain employees How you can compete with the corporate world for employees Why you need to be actively looking for employees, even if you don’t need them right now 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 [...]

June 6th, 2016|

Hey agency owner – have you defined your values, mission and vision?

You help your clients do it every day but have you defined your values, mission and vision? As you preach to clients, it’s vital to every business that they have a clear idea of who they are and what they’re all about. Usually the owner has some vague (or maybe very defined) vision for their organization but few have taken the time to distill it down or made the effort to weave it into the fabric of the company. Many people confuse mission and vision. Here’s how I define and distinguish between the three elements. Mission -- what you do best every day Vision – what the future is like because you do what you do best every day Values – guiding principles/beliefs In an environment like an agency – each of these is critical. If you’ve already done this work – revisit it to make sure it’s still on target and meets the following criteria: Are you mission and vision statements a single sentence? Are you values short enough that everyone on your team could memorize and recite them? Are all three components written in common, easy to understand language? Are they unique to you? Could any agency claim the exact same set? Are they all from the client’s/an outside perspective? Remember this is how you want others to see you. As you know, because you probably guide clients through this process, it’s deceivingly difficult. If you haven’t done this or you think the work you’ve done could use a refresh – do it right. Investing in defining your values, mission and vision is one of those important but not urgent quadrant activities that will change the future of your agency. Carve out some [...]

May 18th, 2016|

Agency Projects and Profitability, with Ron Baker.

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Ron Baker is the founder of VeraSage Institute, a leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally, and a radio talk-show host called The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy. Ron is the author of seven best-selling books, including “The Firm of the Future,” “Pricing on Purpose,” and “The Soul of Enterprise: Dialogues on Business in the Knowledge Economy,” co-authored with Ed Kless.             What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Ron believes that the billable hour and the timesheet need to go Value pricing: the differences between different pricing plans Ways to add in additional value that isn’t more “stuff” How to start a value conversation The typical agency objections of value pricing and why they’re false How to succeed at the transition to value pricing Other kinds of mistakes agencies make when shifting towards value pricing The major benefits for focusing on value and the customer Action steps that agencies can take when deciding whether or not to utilize value pricing   The Golden Nugget: […]

May 9th, 2016|

How to Prevent Internal Fraud from Happening in Your Agency

Internal fraud. Two words that strike fear into the hearts of any agency owner. It’s not a subject that we want to talk about but it’s a real danger for agencies. And while most agency owners think that it could never happen to them, I know from my experience with hundreds of agencies that it can and does happen to the best of us.    But have no fear, by following some very simple best practices around your accounting systems and the people you trust with your money, you can take great strides in making sure the right checks and balances are in place inside your agency.   Take a listen to this solocast where I detail out: Common ways internal fraud is committed and ways to prevent it from happening How agencies are targeted with email scams The ways agency employees embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from agencies The systems you need to put in place to prevent fraud 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 [...]

May 2nd, 2016|

Tips for Creating, Sustaining and Building Your Agency with Mitch Joel

Throughout the entire process of building your agency, you have a lot on your plate. Depending on where you’re at in the life of your agency, you may be struggling to eat something other than ramen noodles or on the flip side of the spectrum, you’re spending all your time servicing your clients and trying to keep up with the demand. Ideally, you are working towards being able to step away from the day to day and focus on big picture of working on your agency. You may have aspirations to sell your agency some day and really reap the reward of all your hard work. No matter where you are at, my podcast guest Mitch Joel can probably relate.   He has taken his Toronto based agency from a small three-man shop to a global juggernaut by doing all the things that AMI preaches to agency owners every day. He quickly moved his agency to specializing in a niche, he focused on what it took to be acquired – growth and margin, he found his sweet spot client filter, and on top of it all, he kept on learning and growing and gave his team the time and space to do the same.   Try to keep up as Mitch and I take you through all of these phases of agency life by showing you: Mirum’s unique structure Generalists vs specialists: the philosophical and financial reasons agencies should specialize instead of generalizing Building your agency so that it is sustainably specialized How to figure out if a client is a good fit for your agency Mad Men vs. Math Men: how to blend creative and data Why it’s more important than ever to stay [...]

April 25th, 2016|

Managing Millennials in Your Agency

There's no generation that has been more maligned in the workplace than the millennials.  And yet for most agencies -- they're becoming a large part of your work force. Believe it or not, with the proper screening, training and motivation -- your next best employees could easily be millennials.  Let's face it, whether you need their digital skills, their entry level salary price tag or their passion for the business, it's a rare agency that can avoid hiring millennials all together. So why not embrace them, learn how to guide and motivate them and let them help you grow your agency to all new heights? Who should attend: Agency owners, leadership teams and supervisors who are charged with overseeing employees and growing them to their full potential. This two-day workshop will give you and your team tools you’ll use to transform millennials into agency ninjas who are fired up to help you grow your business, connect with clients and focus on their own development. Here’s what we’ll cover: Know what motivates millennials to stretch and grow How to spot a “good” millennial during the recruiting/interview process Understanding how to help your older employees "get" the millennials and visa versa Maximize mentoring strategies to bring out the best in your millennials (and employees from every generation) Navigating difficult conversations across generations Translating millennial behavior and language so you can understand them better Earn loyalty and retain the best employees... no matter what age they are or what are you are Achieve  the best performance out of a multi-generational team Registration Information January 17 & 18 in Orlando Register securely online here Or download our PDF registration form here. Tuition: $1,495 for the first attendee. $1,295 for each additional attendee. Tuition price per [...]

April 18th, 2016|

Your Words Tell Your Agency’s Story, with Jody Sutter.

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Jody Sutter started her career in sales and ended up working in agencies leading the new business teams. Today she runs The Sutter Company, a business development consultancy. She spends a lot of time working with agencies to take a more proactive approach to growing their business with a special emphasis on how they communicate and tell their unique story.   What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why strong writing is more important than ever in our digital age The major mistakes that agencies make when presenting themselves in writing How to avoid making the big mistakes agencies make when responding to RFPs Why editing is so important for improving your team’s writing, how to get good at it, and what you should keep in mind if you are outsourcing the editing How agencies can differentiate themselves through storytelling The Pixar pitch The “5 things that you can do to make your writing better right away” checklist What you need to do to assess whether or not your writing needs improvement   The Golden Nugget: […]

April 18th, 2016|

The Evolution of Digital Marketing in the Agency Space with Nick Westergaard

A lot of agencies are still trying to figure out how to wrap their arms around digital since the evolution of digital marketing - what it means, how they deliver the benefits of it to their clients, what parts of digital to embrace internally and what parts to outsource. My podcast guest Nick Westergaard has been down that road already and has blazed a trail for the rest of us to follow.   Nick’s agency transformed from a very traditional ad agency (Westergaard Agency) to the digital powerhouse they are today -- Brand Driven Digital. They saw the writing on the wall with the evolution of digital marketing and decided to jump in with both feet and make some big changes to keep moving their agency moving forward. They even went so far as to launch a live, in-person annual event called the Social Brand Forum to bring all things digital to the Midwest. Nick and I explore all the ways that you too can look outside your box and move your agency forward in the digital space with: How Nick took his traditional agency and transitioned it to becoming a digital powerhouse The evolution of digital marketing versus traditional marketing in the agency space The differences and similarities between traditional and digital marketing and why they really aren’t all that different Social Brand Forum: Brand Driven Digital’s yearly live event The business strategy behind having a live event Why you should get out and attend events The importance of prioritizing your agency as a client Why experimentation is so important for your agency’s success Nick Westergaard is a strategist, speaker, author, and educator. He is the chief brand strategist at Brand Driven Digital, where [...]

April 12th, 2016|

Taking a Traditional Agency on a Digital Evolution, with Nick Westergaard

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Nick Westergaard is a strategist, speaker, author, and educator. He is the chief brand strategist at Brand Driven Digital, where he helps organizations build better brands online. He teaches at the University of Iowa in the Tippie College of Business, is a regular columnist on The Cedar Rapids Gazette, and is also the host of the popular podcast, “On Brand.”   What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Nick took his traditional agency and transitioned it to becoming a digital powerhouse The differences and similarities between traditional and digital marketing and why they really aren’t all that different Social Brand Forum: Brand Driven Digital’s yearly live event The business strategy behind having a live event Why you should get out and attend events The importance of prioritizing your agency as a client Why experimentation is so important for your agency’s success   The Golden Nugget: […]

April 11th, 2016|

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