Sometimes as business leaders we have to learn lessons the hard way.

Not because we are incapable of learning them through simpler means, but because we lock into a singular worldview that beckons us onward. 

Take your product or service for instance. You built your business around an idea that you believe will serve a powerful purpose that provides your customers with immense value, but what if they’d prefer an alternative? 

Do you ignore them and keep building what you want to build? 

Or do you evolve your original idea to meet them where they see the value? 

In this episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah share their experiences in learning one of the toughest lessons the business world has to offer – the art of building what people want to buy. Discover how to pinpoint your clients' pain points, what they value, and how to adapt your approach to meet their desires—even if it means pivoting from your original plan.

Join us to learn why this lesson is vital for every leader and how mastering it can bring immense opportunity!

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

If you're serious about improving your business operations, time tracking should be treated as a non-negotiable. Period. End of story.

Without it, how can you even come close to answering the questions that are most important to your business?

• Are my products or services priced correctly? 
• Are my processes efficient? 
• What are our most profitable activities? 
• How can we improve our margins? 

Join us in this 10 minute episode of Automate Your Agency, as Alane and Micah share how time tracking goes beyond its stigma of micro-management, offering you a wealth of knowledge to accurately steer and operate your business. 

Interested in implementing time tracking in your business? We recommend a specialized timekeeping software like Toggl to ensure you can accurately capture and review all the data you need.

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

It's no secret that investing in the right software can significantly reduce operational costs, maximize efficiency, and in many cases generate more revenue in your business. 🎉

Despite this truth, many businesses struggle to look beyond the initial investment and instead will spend thousands to hire new team members for tasks and processes that can be automated by a software for only $200/mo. 🫤

We get it. As budget-conscious business leaders, the thought of lugging around a bloated bundle of software while trying to scale is far from enticing. However, we're here to assure you that a properly curated tech stack can have you competing at a much higher level! 🥊

In this episode of Automate Your Agency, Micah and Alane reveal their philosophy on software adoption and the steps you can take to keep your tech costs under control. Tune in to discover their list of software essentials along with tips and tricks to make sure you only implement what's best for your business!

Why Listen: 👇

• Identify the Four Types of Software that Every Business Needs to Succeed
• Learn How to Properly Pilot New Software with Your Team
• Discover the Key to Keeping Your Software Costs In Check

We hope this episode inspires you to optimize your software use to boost your business's efficiency and growth. If you are interested in learning more about any of the software mentioned in this episode, you can find them linked below!

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

Software Mentioned In this Episode: 

• Asana
• ClickUp
• Make.com
• Slack
• Pipedrive
• HelpScout
• Front

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Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

Hiring a new employee is already time-consuming due to onboarding and training, but it becomes even more detrimental to the business if you later discover they aren’t as skilled as their resume and interview led you to believe.

In this episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah are pulling back the curtain on their hiring process—and trust us, it’s more exciting than a surprise party with free pizza! Tune in to find out how integrating creative skill challenges into your traditional hiring practices can help you find those rare unicorns who don’t just fit the job description but actually make your business sparkle.

Why Listen? 👇

• (0:18) Hear the Evolution of Our Hiring Process
• (4:08) Learn How to Implement Skill Challenges
• (6:38) Discover Ways to Measure Nuanced Attributes in Job Interviews
• (9:55) Gain Insight on Optimize Hiring Processes for Long-Term Growth and Efficiency

Are you ready to integrate a skills challenge strategy in your own hiring process? Check out our quick reference implementation guide that is packed with actionable steps and insights straight from Alane and Micah's proven playbook!

Better Hiring with Skills Challenges

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. 

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

As a founder or leader, you've worked hard to grow your business and build your team. You spent countless late nights (and early mornings) strategizing and brainstorming the next big thing to achieve your goals. Growth was hard, but you made it happen. Now that you have a team in place, it's time you gave yourself a break and afforded them the opportunity to exercise their expertise to positively impact the trajectory of your business. But what if they are reluctant to share their ideas? 

In this weeks episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane reveals the system she and Micah used to open the flood gates of innovation within their teams. Tune-in to hear how they re-engineered their culture and made next level improvements that would have otherwise gone unrealized! 

Why Listen? 👇

• (0:30) Learn to Build a Culture of Innovation
• (6:33) Create a Reward-based Idea Sharing System
• (11:16) Discover Change Management through Team Empowerment 

Want to implement Alane and Micah's system in your business? Enjoy this free step-by-step guide to learn how to leverage Slack or another messaging platform to start generating ideas today!

https://gamma.app/docs/Team-Idea-Incentive-System-fbfju3pabzbyatf

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. 

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

Despite what we see in the media, business partnerships are almost never perfect. Individual perspectives and experiences can give way to conflict with the power to slowly dismantle your business. However, accepting and planning for conflict can help you leverage your differences in ways that can significantly improve your operations and ultimately strengthen your organization.

In this episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah unravel the myth of "effortlessly successful business partnerships" and shed light on the ongoing effort required to maintain a healthy, productive relationship. Tune-in as they dive deep into their personal experiences and share their innovative system to help manage conflicts and streamline decision-making to enable you and your organization to prioritize and execute efficiently. You do not want to miss this! 

Why Listen? 👇

• (0:00) Hear How We Navigated the Challenges of Business Partnerships
• (6:10) Learn to Balance Different Work Styles
• (10:06) Implement an Efficient Request System with Forms and Templates
• (13:21) Discover the Importance of Providing Context
• (15:16) Explore Our Strategy for Managing and Prioritizing Request Backlogs

Request examples of our Idea Submission Template and Form to see how we submit our idea and meeting requests!

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. 

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

Tools mentioned in this episode:

ClickUp

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Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

Did you know researchers found that a well-defined employee onboarding process improves new hire retention by 82% and their productivity by more than 70%? 🤩

Employee onboarding doesn't have to be elaborate, but it should be leveraged to make your new hire feel prepared, welcomed, and seen. Expending a little extra effort to master your first impression will go a long way! 

In this episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah unpack how a successful team building exercise became a valuable cornerstone in their employee onboarding process. Tune-in to learn how their unique personality playbooks have helped them build a more tight-knit, engaged global team and how you can enjoy the same benefits in your business! 🎉

Why Listen? 👇

• (1:56) Uncover the Inception of the Personality Playbook
• (3:05) Learn How to Implement Personality Playbooks into your Onboarding Process
• (5:28) Understand the Benefits of the Personality Playbook
• (7:01) Hear the Importance of Welcoming New Hires Properly

Feel free to review Alane's Personality Playbook to see it in action and check out 16 Personalities to take your free personality test today!

Are you interested in building a personality playbook of your own? Create Your Free Arvo account to leverage the personality playbook template that Alane and Micah use with their team!

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. 

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

Knowing when to implement processes in your business is critical; premature focus can hinder growth, while delayed focus can cause burnout and inefficiency. So when should you actually start worrying about your processes? 🤔

In this thought-provoking episode of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah discuss the key indicators for finding the process implementation sweet spot. Tune-in to learn how leveraging tools like Loom can make process documentation a breeze and how visual process diagrams can supercharge your team's ability to execute! 🎉

Why Listen? 👇

• (1:15) Learn When to Start Focusing on Processes
• (7:02) Explore Creating Effective Processes Through Delegation and Collaboration
• (11:58) Learn to Optimize Process Documentation with Loom and AI Tools
• (16:32) Discover How Visual Diagrams Can Help Streamline Your Processes

If you're interested in building process diagrams that drive more knowledgeable and efficient teams, join our Free Process Mapping Course to start creating today. 🚀

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. 

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Thank you and see you next time!

Tools mentioned in this episode:

• Loom
• ChatGPT
• Front App

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

Have you ever calculated how much your internal meetings are costing your business? Not just in dollars and cents, but what impact does it have on your team's productivity? 

In Episode #5 of Automate Your Agency, Alane and Micah discuss the high costs of merely holding meetings versus running truly efficient ones. Tune-in to hear Micah's "official efficient meeting process" and the tools we use to get the most out of meetings or eliminate them entirely. 

Why Listen? 👇

• (2:26) Hear Our Journey to More Efficient Meetings
• (6:35) Learn How to Streamline Meeting Requests with Project Management Tools
• (12:37) Explore Eliminating Meetings with Standardized Collaboration

We hope you'll join us, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. Thank you and see you next time!

Tools mentioned in this episode:

• Grain
• Asana
• ClickUp
• Monday

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!

"If my top performer could just manage the team and teach everyone how to operate at their level, my life would be so much easier!" Sound familiar? It's a common and actionable notion shared by many business leaders, but is it always what's best for our business? 🤨

In this thought-provoking episode of Automate Your Agency, co-hosts, Alane and Micah, unpack the misconception that top performers will naturally (and gracefully) transition into being effective managers. Tune-in as we explore the hidden risks in this assumption and how to effectively engage your team to help you identify their true leadership potential. 🕵️

Why Listen? 👇

• (0:00) Hear the Pitfalls of Promoting Top Performers to Management
• (2:35) Identify What Makes a Good Manager
• (4:00) Get Ideas for Retaining Top Performers Without Promoting Them to Managers
• (8:17) Learn How To Identify and Support Potential Managers Across Your Teams
• (14:00) Implement Monthly Check-Ins to Learn Your Team's Strengths and Motivations

If you found this episode valuable and want to help other businesses reap the rewards, would you mind leaving us a 5-star review? It will help with show rankings and give more listeners the opportunity to find our show. Thank you and see you next time! 👋

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! 🎉

Tools mentioned in this episode:

• ClickUp

Learn More about our AI Leadership Workshop

Winning businesses aren’t just working harder, they understand how to use AI strategically. Sign up for the AI Leadership Workshop, a 3-hour expert-led mastermind designed to give leadership teams clarity, alignment, and a practical path to stay competitive.

Book a call to customize your workshop today!

This episode is brought to you by Biggest Goal, the AI education company Alane Boyd and Micah Johnson co-founded.

Most leaders feel pressure and get stuck between ignoring AI and moving too fast. What works is hands-on training.

That's why Alane and Micah built Biggest Goal. Fifteen years of scaling their own companies taught them that adoption is a people problem long before it's a technology problem, so we train executives and their teams through workshops, cohorts, mastermind groups, and hands-on implementation support.

For more info about our AI programs, join our free community at your.biggestgoal.ai to get early access to episodes and learn about our upcoming events.

Thank you for supporting the podcast!