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Build a Better Agency Podcast

Scale and grow your agency with better clients, invested employees, and a stronger bottom line, with Drew McLellan of Agency Management Institute.
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Build a Better Agency Podcast
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Now displaying: February, 2016
Feb 29, 2016

Gavin is a marketing technologist, strategist, and advisor. He is the founder of the Disruptor’s Handbook, a network of entrepreneurs and innovators that help businesses innovate like startups, which Gavin calls “marketing lead innovation.”

He has led new venture startups for organizations like PwC, developed digital strategy and execution for global brands on both the agency and client sides, and spent some time as an analyst in digital transformation for award-winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research.

He also has extensive international experience in driving measurable outcomes via digital customer experience platforms, digital strategy, and executing innovative content driven campaigns.  

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • Gavin’s long road that ultimately led him to become a marketer
  • Creating value for customers by working on their problems
  • The evolving role of agencies
  • Why you have to be transparent about what it is that you do
  • How to get your employees to become better strategic thinkers
  • A “lean canvas” and creating a business out of the problem that has an idea as a solution
  • How to have better business conversations
  • Improving your business by bringing together your best advocates and harshest critics
  • Getting past the fear that comes with working transparently
  • What agencies can do today to become better at honing in on their clients’ problems
  • Tips for fostering innovative thinking throughout your entire organization
  • Why you need to start thinking like a startup

Ways to Contact Gavin Heaton:

We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Feb 22, 2016

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 those 250+ 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 Business. The Wall Street Journal called his blog “One of 10 blogs every entrepreneur should read.”  

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • The things we say about our agencies that make them all sound the same
  • The terms every agency uses to describe themselves
  • Why you can’t say you’re good at everything
  • Finding clients that are the right fit
  • Understanding who you are as an agency
  • The benefits of defining your “why”
  • Remembering that hiring your agency is a huge risk for the person making that decision and what you can do to alleviate that person’s fears
  • An example: how my agency McLellan Marketing Group defines itself

Ways to contact Drew:

We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Feb 15, 2016

Brian Shea is the founder of Shea Consulting where he helps companies streamline their business development systems so they can enjoy consistent, sustainable success. Most business owners flinch at the word “systems” but in reality a system that is simple and repeatable helps free business owners to be more creative, more successful and more profitable.  

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • Brian’s background in consulting
  • What is keeping smaller companies from utilizing processes and systems
  • Why systems and processes are so crucial for scaling
  • Freeing up capacity through delegation
  • Why processes and systems can often fail inside agencies
  • Making sure the system or process matches the actual problem
  • The four-step assessment Brian uses with his clients for finding the right systems
  • The importance on getting clear with specific goals
  • Who in an agency keeps systems from succeeding
  • How to bring processes to agencies that pride themselves on their creativity
  • What happens when systems aren’t put in place
  • How to solve the scope creep problem
  • What systems every agency needs to have
  • What you can do today to begin being more process driven

Ways to Contact Brian Shea:

We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Feb 8, 2016

Adam Carroll is quickly being recognized as one of the top financial educators in the country based on his core message of “you are the architect of your own life.” Adam has presented all over the globe. Over 500 universities have been lucky enough to host him and he has presented some amazing TedTalks all over the world.

In 2014, Adam successfully crowdfunded a documentary on student loan debt titled Broke, Busted & Disgusted, and he raised nearly $70,000 for the film in 45 days. The mission of the film is to start a national debate about changing the way we fund college and not crippling 20 something’s with mountains of debt.  

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • Adam’s documentary “Broke, Busted, & Disgusted”
  • Accountability and business owners: why you need accountability partners
  • What agencies should be doing at the tail end of the year
  • How Adam saves time for his family by using a Power Priority List
  • What to look for (and look out for) in an accountability partner
  • What different kinds of accountability partners you should have (hint: they shouldn’t all be entrepreneurs)
  • Mastermind groups vs. accountability partners: do you need both? If not, which one is right for you?
  • The commitment required for mastermind groups and accountability partners
  • What you can do right now to act on the ideas from this episode

Adam Recommends:

Adam Carroll's Websites:

We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

Feb 1, 2016

Jay Baer is known for many things. He’s the world’s most retweeted digital marketer. He is also a renowned business strategist, keynote speaker, and The New York Times bestselling author of five books.

He also travels the globe helping people get and keep more customers. He’s the founder of Convince & Convert, a strategy consulting firm that helps prominent companies gain and keep more customers through the smart intersection of technology, social media, and customer service. His company’s media division owns the world's number one content marketing blog, the world’s top marketing podcast, and many other educational resources for business owners and executives.

Jay has created five multimillion-dollar companies and is an active venture capitalist and technology advisor as well as an avid tequila collector and certified barbeque judge. His new book, Hug Your Haters, is coming out on March 1st.  

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • Jay’s new book “Hug Your Haters” and what you need to know about the people who complain on social media
  • How to use this information to increase your customer advocacy
  • Why complaints are going to continue to go more and more public
  • Defining customer experience in the modern age
  • Why this creates enormous opportunity for B2B buyers
  • Why haters are your most important customers
  • The problem with surveys
  • The Honest Audit: what this is and how to put it into place
  • Things that agencies have to be careful of when discussing these issues with clients
  • Software solutions that agencies of all size can leverage
  • How agencies should package and price this sort of work
  • What agencies can do right now to get started

Ways to contact Jay Baer:

We’re proud to announce that Hubspot is now the presenting sponsor of the Build A Better Agency podcast! Many thanks to them for their support!

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