This one is going to be hard for most agency owners to hear, but you need to take a sabbatical — or a vacation or any amount of time off where you completely unplug from the agency. No Slack, no email, no phone calls. Nothing.

Most of you just got really uncomfortable reading that statement, but it’s absolutely necessary if you want your agency to grow. In fact, not taking time off could be stifling agency growth more than you realize.

Every time you jump into a meeting with a client that your project manager or AE could be taking, or you need to sign off on a minor thing that your leadership team could handle, you’re making it harder for your team — and your agency — to grow.

Louise Oliver is going to share her story of how she was exactly like many of you, stressing over her maternity leave and avoiding deleting work apps off of her devices. And then she did it. She realized how much that time off helped her and her agency grow exponentially.

So, tune in and take the sabbatical.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• Don’t be an agency owner who can’t imagine being involved in everything
• Taking time off completely unplugged shows your team they trust you
• The importance of having a strong leadership team to back you up
• The stages of grief of unplugging during a sabbatical
• The day and night difference Louise experienced after returning to work
• Taking a sabbatical will give you the freedom to finally do the work you want to be doing
• Letting your leadership put out fires while you’re away is the key to their growth
• How stepping aside can help your team find weak spots in systems and processes
• If a sabbatical or vacation feels impossible, that’s a good sign to look at how your team is structured
• How taking time off can help you on a personal level outside of the agency

The future of work is becoming more fractional. Instead of full-time, in-house teams doing all the work — how many of us grew up in the agency world — fractional employees like contractors and freelancers can take on more and more complex roles for us.

With remote and hybrid work still on the rise, we can leverage fractional employees to bring a more diverse portfolio of skills to the agency without breaking our bottom line.

Sara Daw joined me this week to share her knowledge about fractional employees and how they fit into what she calls “the access economy” where we can access a larger pool of talent at our fingertips without actually having to make a full-time hire.

We dig into what it means to build psychological ownership in fractional relationships, how fractional employees can make themselves more known within the agency culture, and how the future of work will evolve as the whole concept of employment shifts and changes.

This episode comes with a lot of deep thinking homework that will challenge you to look at the workforce you want to build for your agency’s future and the infrastructure you need to start building in order to support that. There’s a lot of good stuff here to share with your leadership team, so get ready to take some notes on this one.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• What is the access economy?
• Why does the access economy work so well?
• How psychological ownership plays into fractional work and the access economy
• The importance of psychological ownership in our relationships with fractional employees
• Getting a breadth and depth of skillsets in a fractional C-Suite and fractional employees
• How employment will evolve as we lean into fractional employment and hybrid work
• Creating culture and creativity in fractional work environments
• How to be more connected and intentional with relationships as a fractional employee
• Having the right skillset at the right level

Many agency owners reported in 2024 that one of the best things about their agencies are their employees. Despite continued biz dev struggles and slow sales cycles, agency owners have had a hard time shrinking their teams because they just love them that much.

So, this week, let’s talk about some of the ways we can think about agency employee compensation more holistically to show them our gratitude and continued support.

Agencies continue to be really competitive environments, and many of our best employees will inevitably be approached by recruiters and other agencies at some point in their careers. And the best way to keep them around is through their compensation packages.

But these shouldn’t just be about high salaries and bonuses. While important, that’s just the tip of the iceberg in showing our gratitude and support to our employees. In fact, the most impactful forms of compensation come from deeply knowing and respecting your team, and showing your personalized gratitude for their efforts and commitment to your agency.

Join me on this week’s solocast to dig a little deeper in how we can really get thoughtful about how we compensate our employees, not just with more money, but investing in their continued growth and your personal relationship with them.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

In This Episode:

• Looking at agency employee compensation not as an obligation, but something you do out of gratitude
• Using raises as a reward for employees adding more value to the agency
• Giving bonuses or profit sharing to celebrate hitting monthly or quarterly goals as a team
• How a good benefits package gives you a competitive advantage against other agencies
• Personalized perks and thank-yous to reward individuals go a long way
• How to know when one of your employees has gone above and beyond
• Spending time getting to know your employees and caring for those personal relationships
• Develop your compensation philosophy based on your goals and values

It’s no secret that new business for agencies was brutal in 2023. And for some in 2024, it’s been equally difficult. So, for 2025, we want to challenge you to get unstuck from those difficult sales cycles and lay the groundwork for some new energy as we come to the end of this year.

This week, Susan Baier joined me again to help us look at the agency sales cycle a little differently. Next year, it’s all going to be about using research studies to build your thought leadership portfolio, create cobblestone content, and attract right-fit clients with little to no prospecting on your end.

If you haven’t done research studies before, it’s time to start. Get some data, find your unique perspective, and share it openly and with authority. In 2025, it’s going to be all about teaching and educating your audience to build trust so that by the time they pick up the phone to call you, they’ve already bought into your expertise.

If you’re looking to get out of the funk of 2 slow sales years, you’ll want to stop what you’re doing right now so you can take some notes on this episode.

A big thank you to our podcast’s presenting sponsor, White Label IQ. They’re an amazing resource for agencies who want to outsource their design, dev, or PPC work at wholesale prices. Check out their special offer (10 free hours!) for podcast listeners here.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• How does doing research make agency employees and the agency better?
• Why agencies need to constantly be adapting and learning new things
• Using new knowledge and research to make your team smarter
• How agencies can use their research to innovate and be better
• The surprising effects of new research and thought leadership on client budgets
• Using research to shorten the sales cycle, build trust, and promote thought leadership
• 3 big things that happen when agencies conduct their own research
• Innovative and creative ways to present new research to clients and prospects
• It’s not just about data — it’s about your unique perspective on the data
• Building cobblestone content out of larger research studies