Agency Advantage - Actionable advice to help digital agency owners, consultants, and freelancers be more successful

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, you get me, Andy Baldacci. This is the final episode of the podcast, so I wanted to do things a bit differently.

In the 77 interviews I’ve done for this show, I’ve learned so much about agencies from some amazing guests and over the next hour, I’m going to share with you 6 steps to building the agency of your dreams.

I’ll give you a high-level look at 6 areas I believe are important to building a successful agency, why they are important, how you can get started, and then mention the relevant episodes you can check out for a deeper dive.

If you’re a long-time listener of this show, this won’t necessarily be new material, but I tried to package it up to be as actionable as possible by putting these steps into a real agency system. So instead of getting pulled in every direction by all the strategies and tactics you want to try, you will leave this episode with a framework you can follow to build the agency you’ve always wanted.

Whether your agency is killing it and growing faster than you can handle or you are just scraping by, I am confident that you will get something actionable out of this episode that you can apply in your agency this week to make your life better.

Andrew and his partners started White Shark Media in 2011. Six years later, when Andrew decided to leave the agency behind and launch SavvyRevenue, the company had 1,500 clients, 220 employees, and over $10,000,000 in annual revenue.

He learned a lot in those six years, but even after building a successful agency, he is still trying to learn and improve. That’s why he turned to Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast and is now setting up the perfect case study for our podcast.

In our chat we talk about why he left such a successful company, how his experience there has shaped how he approaches Savvy Revenue, and the specific lessons from this podcast that he is building into the DNA of his new agency.

If you are running a big, growing agency, then this interview will help you make sure you get to spend your time on the parts of the business you actually enjoy.

If you are running a new, smaller agency, then you’ll learn how to build a foundation that lets you grow while maintaining your margins.

Whatever situation you’re in, there is something for you in this interview.

So without further ado, here’s Andrew Lolk of SavvyRevenue!

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Jason Swenk who shares how to use systems to grow your agency.

Jason built his first agency, Solar Velocity, into a $13 million/year business before selling it, and now he shares his expertise with other agency owners.

Having a system-oriented mindset is one of the most important traits you need in order to build a successful agency, and today we dive into exactly what that entails. In this episode, Jason shares why systems are so important, what specific systems matter the most, and how you can set them up so that they are actually followed.

If you think a 20% margin is as good as it gets, then this is the episode for you.

On today’s episode of Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m doing round two with Brent Weaver of uGurus, who walks us through the exact sales process he teaches agencies to help them close 5- and 6-figure deals.

We’ve spent a lot of time on this show talking about methods for generating more leads through strong positioning and marketing and how to use roadmapping to do paid discovery and act as a stepping stone to selling bigger deals, but we haven’t spent much time tearing down what that sales process looks like.

If you’re like most agencies, you didn’t start out charging the big bucks for your services. Instead, you slowly moved up the ladder as you gained more experience and, most importantly, more confidence. The trouble is that if you try to sell a $20,000 project the same as a $2,000 project, you aren’t going to have much success.

In our chat, Brent breaks down what he calls the interaction model for sales, which is a battle tested method for closing those bigger deals. This is the first time he has really opened up the kimono and shared this publicly, so you’re in for a treat.

If you’re struggling to raise your rates, this is advice that you need to hear. But even if you’re already selling 5 and 6-figure deals, getting just one tip to improve your own sales process will pay huge dividends, so this is an episode that has something for just about everybody.

So without further ado, here’s Brent Weaver of uGurus!

In today’s episode of Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Dan Englander of Sales Schema, who shares how to grow your agency with cold email.

Cold email is a subject that has been getting more and more attention over the last few years, especially in the startup world. In fact, you probably get more than a few cold emails every week from some company trying to sell you something.

This podcast isn’t about how to spam your prospects into submission. Instead, Dan walks us through the process of using cold email the right way to start a relationship built on value and nurture those prospects into paying clients.

Dan uses these strategies every day to help his agency clients get more business, and today he holds nothing back.

If your agency could use a scalable channel for new business development or you just don’t believe me when I say cold email doesn’t have to be annoying, then this is the episode for you.

Hey everybody, and welcome back to episode 73 of Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast. I’m your host, Andy Baldacci, and today I’m talking with Andrew Dymski of DoInbound, who shares how to build an agency sales system.

Andrew’s company provides the software, processes, and training to build the agency you love. He also ran an agency himself and hosts the Inbound Agency Journey podcast, which is about to hit 100 episodes, so you could say he knows his stuff. In our chat today he holds nothing back.

In this interview, Andrew shares his early struggles with the sales at his agency and lays out the 5-step process he developed to help turn things around and close more deals.

Without a defined sales process, an agency can’t come close to reaching its potential, and the founder will most likely be under constant stress trying to juggle everything that’s going on. If that sounds a bit like your agency, then this is the episode for you.

At the end of the interview, Andrew shares the biggest giveaway we’ve ever had on the show, so you don’t want to miss this.

Without further ado, here’s Andrew Dymski of DoInbound.

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Siimon Sander, founder of Oscar Hamilton, a productized service agency that helps clients produce and edit their podcasts.

Siimon built this agency on the back of his popular podcast, Entrepreneur Decoded, and today we talk about how other agencies could benefit from the same process.

In our chat, Siimon shares how his podcast directly lead to more clients and why it’s possible to get big results without a large audience, and lays out the step-by-step process he follows to produce his podcast without taking much of his time.

Podcasts aren’t for everyone, but after seeing how powerful they can be, it blows my mind how few agencies have launched their own. Even if you don’t plan on ever getting behind the mic, tune into this episode with an open mind.

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Chantell Glenville, author of the book What Clients Really Want (And the S**t That Drives Them Crazy).

Chantell has worked at some of the world’s top agencies and also managed agencies in her role at Vodafone. It wasn’t until she made this switch to the client side that she realized just how out of touch many agencies are with the real needs of their clients.

In our chat today, Chantell answers the question of what clients really want by laying out the basics you need to get right, as well as how agencies can take their client relationship from good to great.

If you’ve ever had a client fire you when you thought everything was going great, then this is the episode for you.

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Pia Silva of Worstofall Design who shares how to Badass Your Brand, which is also the title of her new book.

Pia and her partner work one to two weeks a month, bring home around $250,000 a year, don’t have to spend all of their remaining time networking, and have no employees. But things weren’t always so great.

In our chat, Pia shares how she went from $40k in debt to $500k in profits in 12 months by completely rethinking her business without spending a dime on advertising. She also breaks down the process she follows to help other service businesses make similar transformations.

Pia has really been through it all and doesn’t hold back when talking about her successes or her failures.

If having a steady stream of qualified clients coming to you without spending all your time on the phone or networking sounds like a dream, then this is the episode for you.

So without further ado, here’s Pia Silva, author of Badass Your Brand.

Today, on Hubstaff’s Agency Advantage Podcast, I’m talking with Simon Thompson of Content Kite who shares how to build a content marketing machine for your agency.

Simon’s spent years working for agencies and big corporations, creating content strategies for major brands like Disney and BMW. He saw the power of content, but realized so few agencies were actually using these strategies to grow their own business that he launched Content Kite to do just that.

In our chat, Simon lays out how he builds lead generating content marketing machines for his agency clients, everything from coming up with topics and how to promote the content to the process for repurposing it.

He doesn’t hold anything back. This is a truly actionable interview.

If your content strategy is lacking, but you don’t think you have the time to change that, then this is the episode for you.