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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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All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: July, 2021
Jul 26, 2021

Creating a solid tax strategy for your agency might not seem like the most exciting thing to think about but doing so has the potential to put a lot more money directly into your pocket. It can be daunting to try and understand all of the options available, especially when a lot of the COVID-related aid adds to the confusion, so having a solid tax advisor in your corner is more important than ever. But how can you make sure you’re getting the guidance you need if you don’t even know what questions to ask?

Craig Cody is a tax strategist and planner who has helped many AMI members better manage their money. His insights and guidance are hugely beneficial to any agency owner wanting to save money while also leveraging income and assets for personal and professional goals.

In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Craig and I discuss all things taxes. We look at COVID-related strategies that are still available. We explore surprising deductions to be found by better leveraging your home and how to get the most out of your relationship with your tax advisor, all with the goal of setting up you and your agency for the best possible financial success.

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.

Agency Owner Tax Strategies

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • COVID-related tax strategies that are still available
  • Understanding The Augusta Rule
  • How putting in a home pool can be tax-deductible
  • Knowing the difference between a tax strategist and a tax preparer
  • What to expect tax advisor conversations to look like
  • The Defined Benefits Program
  • Common missed opportunities in tax preparation
  • Questions to ask a new tax advisor
Jul 19, 2021

We all know how critical account service people are to the success of our agencies. It’s a tough job. Account service people must balance the needs of the agency, the internal team, and of course, the clients. A rock-solid account service person can help you retain and upsell clients, delivering a higher percentage of profitability on both counts. Creating a strong and dependable account services team and process is key to your success.

Taylor McMaster is a former agency owner who discovered what she loved most about the work was the account services side of it. This realization inspired her to start a company that outsources account service people to agencies with the goal of improving agency-client relationships and allowing agency owners to step back from the day-to-day so they can concentrate on scaling their business.

In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Taylor and I look at several different elements to building successful account services. We discuss how to onboard new clients, ways to ensure you’re hiring the right account services people, and making the most of client relationships by understanding what they want and need from your agency. Strengthening your approach to account services gives you as the agency owner the freedom to put your focus on building your business.

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.

Account Services

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • How to onboard a new client
  • Why agency owners aren’t always great at client services
  • How to hire strong account service people
  • Keeping the relationship fresh with long-term clients
  • What clients want from your client services
  • How to merchandise a client relationship
  • What agencies get wrong in client services
Jul 12, 2021

We spent a lot of the last year steeped in worry. It was inevitable, given what we’ve all experienced. But even when we’re not facing a global pandemic — it’s easy to get caught up in your own mind, given our work. It’s the nature of the beast for problem solvers like us, working in an ever-changing industry, where our decisions and performance effect so many. Expected but exhausting. In that constant chaos, it can be especially difficult to remember to be grateful.

Author Kristi Nelson turned her journey back from Stage 4 cancer into a mission to remind herself and others of the importance for gratitude. Many of us have been on the receiving end of a wake-up call. The Covid-19 pandemic created that for a lot of people in every corner of the globe. Kristi’s message is all about how to be thoughtful and intentional as we move forward.

In this episode of Build a Better Agency, Kristi and I explore gratitude, with a particular focus on how it can affect and elevate agency owners and their businesses. We discuss how being grateful can assist problem-solving by reframing challenges as opportunities. We also look at how to show up as a leader who savors uncertainty, why it’s important to cherish connections, and what the “Golden Rule” gets wrong.

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.

Gratitude

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • Why it’s so easy to fall back into an unfulfilling groove
  • How being grateful can aid problem solving
  • Reframing uncertainty for gratitude
  • How to show up as a leader who savors uncertainty
  • Cherishing connections
  • What the “Golden Rule” gets wrong
  • How to find out what your team truly wants
  • Understanding liminality

Ways to contact Kristi Nelson:

Tools & Resources:

Jul 5, 2021

With the realization that this was going to be the 300th episode of this podcast, I unconsciously started to put an extraordinary amount of pressure on myself to create something that was fantastic and perfect. Agency owners live with an immense amount of pressure and expectation every day so this kind of thinking is normal. But that doesn’t make it healthy, helpful, or wise.

In this solocast, I’m going to talk candidly about the anxiety I sometimes create for myself when striving for a perfection that is unachievable. I’m going to invite you to look at all the different pressures you feel in your life and career in order to clarify which ones are real and which ones you’re creating through your own drive for excellence and some unreasonable expectations.

The truth is – our excellence comes from keeping a steady hand at the helm. It’s about the consistency and the tenacity we demonstrate by showing up every day. Our agencies are like ships and we are its captain. Our job is to pilot the ship to its next destination. There are always going to be storms that crop up, big and small. But we have weathered many before and we’ve got this one too. That’s our genius.

And, finally, I’m going to ask you to seriously consider the honest answer to this question: “No, REALLY, how are you doing?”

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:

  • A personal story about creating pressure to be excellent
  • Recognizing the dangerous expectations we set for ourselves
  • The importance of self-care as an agency owner
  • Why simply showing up can build to excellence
  • Why it’s important to be honest when answering “How are you?”
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