Creative Outcomes

In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Ryan Watson breaks down how agency owners should approach compensation planning for 2027, including raises, promotions, benefits, bonuses, and the impact each decision has on profitability.

The big idea: compensation decisions shouldn’t happen in a vacuum.

If the average cost of your team increases faster than the realized rate you’re earning from their work, your margins are going to feel it. Ryan walks through how to use cost of living, salary bands, team structure, and your agency’s pricing model to put financial guardrails around what can otherwise feel like a subjective exercise.

In this episode:

- How to think about raises vs. promotions

- Why cost of living can be a useful starting point for annual raises

- How compensation increases affect gross margin

- Why your team’s seniority mix matters

- How promotions can change your agency’s leverage model

- What needs to happen to rates when people costs increase

- How bonuses, benefits, and incentives fit into the equation

If you’re starting your 2027 annual planning, this is one piece of the model you don’t want to overlook.

Subscribe for more financial and operational insights for growing creative and digital agencies.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 — Annual Planning & Your Biggest Expense

2:22 — Raises vs. Promotions

4:51 — Connecting Compensation to Agency Profitability

7:43 — Using Cost of Living to Plan Raises

8:26 — Promotions, Salary Bands & Market Data

10:08 — How Promotions Change Your Team Structure

12:34 — When Higher Compensation Requires Higher Rates

14:13 — Benefits, Bonuses & Total Compensation

Most agency owners assume that more new business is always better.

But what if relying too heavily on new clients is actually increasing the risk in your business?

In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Craig Baldwin walks through a practical revenue planning framework and explains why agencies that depend too heavily on net-new sales often create unnecessary volatility. From client retention and account growth to sales forecasting and marketing investment, Craig shares how to evaluate your revenue mix and why 20% net new revenue is a healthy benchmark for most agencies.

If you're planning for the next quarter, or next year, this episode will help you think differently about where your growth should come from.

In this episode:

- Why new business is your riskiest source of revenue

- The difference between growth and replacing churn

- Why account growth is often easier than finding new logos

- The 20% net-new revenue guideline

- How much agencies should invest in sales and marketing

- A practical framework for building a healthier revenue forecast

If you're trying to build a more predictable, profitable agency, this conversation is worth adding to your planning process.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Why relying on new business can become a problem

02:00 Different agency models require different growth strategies

08:15 The 20% rule for healthy revenue planning

13:40 Why new business is the riskiest revenue in your forecast

18:20 Evaluating revenue through a risk lens

21:15 How much should agencies spend on sales & marketing?

24:15 The questions every agency should ask about its revenue mix

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Growing an agency shouldn't leave you exhausted.

In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Craig Baldwin sits down with Shannon Gabor, Founder & CEO of Clever Creative, to talk about what it really takes to build an agency that lasts.

After more than 20 years in business, Shannon shares why relationships, not transactions, have been the foundation of Clever's growth, how creativity is just another form of problem solving, and why sustainable growth comes from building better systems, stronger teams, and genuine human connection.

They also discuss what solo founders often struggle with, the importance of self-awareness in leadership, and why Shannon chose a collaborative agency model over a traditional acquisition as Clever enters its next chapter with Punch.

Whether you're trying to scale your agency, become a better leader, or simply build a business that's energizing instead of draining, this conversation is full of practical wisdom.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe for more conversations with agency founders and operators on building healthier, more profitable agencies.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction & Meet Shannon Gabbor

02:00 Building Clever Creative & Early Career

08:30 Why Relationships Drive Long-Term Growth

17:30 Creativity as a Competitive Advantage

22:40 Growth Should Create Energy, Not Exhaustion

25:20 Self-Awareness, Leadership & Building Better Teams

31:00 The Reality of Being a Solo Founder

36:30 Clever's Next Chapter: Joining Punch

42:00 Final Lessons for Agency Owners

How do agency owners build sustainable growth without relying solely on referrals, luck, or an ever-expanding network?

In this episode, Craig Baldwin sits down with Eric Brown, co-founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears (BST), to discuss what it really takes to create a predictable growth engine for an agency. Eric shares lessons from working with independent agencies, why most firms struggle with growth operations, and how leaders can build systems that generate consistent opportunities while increasing enterprise value.

The conversation dives into growth strategy, pipeline development, positioning, agency profitability, relationship activation, and the role AI can play in supporting agency operations. Whether you're looking to scale, improve margins, prepare for a future exit, or simply create a more predictable business, this episode is packed with practical insights for agency leaders.

Subscribe to our channel for more agency growth insights!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction & Meet Eric Brown

00:54 What Blood, Sweat & Tears Does

03:30 Growth, Enterprise Value & Agency Valuation

08:03 Why Agencies Struggle to Grow Sustainably

12:41 Building a Growth Strategy That Actually Works

17:15 How Much Agencies Should Invest in Growth

21:13 Working On the Business vs. In the Business

23:40 Why One Sales Hire Usually Isn’t Enough

27:47 Growth Operations, Pitching & Marketing Alignment

30:47 Relationship Activation & Business Development

35:23 The Blood, Sweat & Tears Framework

37:33 What Agencies Are Usually Missing

39:50 Fractional Growth Support vs. Internal Teams

41:19 Practical AI Advice for Agency Owners

45:06 Final Takeaways & Closing Thoughts

Many agency founders hit a growth ceiling because they're trapped in the day-to-day. In this episode, Craig Baldwin, Partner at Upsourced, sits down with agency operations consultant Michael Dupuis to discuss what it really takes to scale an agency - from founder delegation and organizational design to forecasting revenue and building operational systems that improve profitability.

Michael shares lessons learned from growing agencies, how to structure teams as you scale, why traditional KPI-based forecasting often fails, and a practical framework for improving proposal win rates.

What You'll Learn:

✅ How founders can step out of daily operations

✅ The biggest challenges agencies face at 20-50 employees

✅ Building organizational structures that scale

✅ Forecasting revenue using win-rate analysis

✅ Why most agencies misuse KPIs

✅ How operations drives profitability

✅ Creating processes people actually follow

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction & Michael's Agency Background

02:00 – From Developer to Project Manager to COO

04:00 – Helping Founders Escape the Day-to-Day

08:00 – Organizational Design for Growing Agencies

11:00 – Challenges Scaling from 20 to 50+ Employees

14:00 – Revenue Forecasting & Agency Growth Planning

18:00 – Why KPI-Based Forecasting Often Fails

21:00 – A Better Approach to Win Rate Forecasting

25:00 – Expected Wins, Even Opportunities & Long Shots

29:00 – Improving Proposal Success Rates

31:00 – Why Operations Owns Profitability

33:00 – Building Systems Teams Actually Use

35:00 – Final Thoughts

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Most agency owners assume bigger agencies should be more profitable, but the data says otherwise.

In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Ryan Watson breaks down insights from Upsourced’s annual Creative Agency Benchmarking Report, built from financial data across 80 agencies across the U.S.

The surprising takeaway?

As agencies grow past ~25 employees and into the $3M-$5M range, profitability often declines instead of improving.

Ryan explains:

- Why realized rates and project margins collapse as agencies scale

- The “grow mode inflection point” agencies hit around $3M–$5M

- Why larger teams create operational bottlenecks

- The leadership structure agencies actually need to scale

- When to introduce people managers, directors, and department leaders

- Why agencies overhire in G&A and underinvest in service leadership

- How to “shrink the organization” to scale effectively

If you’re running or scaling a creative, marketing, branding, or digital agency, this episode will help you avoid one of the most common (and expensive) growth traps.

Subscribe for more agency insights!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 — Intro & What the Agency Benchmarking Data Revealed

02:00 — Why Agencies Become Less Profitable as They Grow

03:30 — The $3M–$5M Agency Inflection Point

05:30 — The First Leadership Shift: Introducing People Managers

08:00 — Building a Sustainable Team Structure

11:30 — When Agencies Need Directors & Department Leadership

14:00 — Why Scaling Starts to Feel Hard

16:30 — The “Shrink the Organization” Framework

20:00 — Sales & Marketing Mistakes Agencies Make

23:30 — Why Agencies Overhire Overhead Roles

27:00 — Financial Benchmarks & Final Takeaways

Are you actually ready to grow, or just growing too fast?

From operational strain to leadership bottlenecks, we explore what happens when agencies scale before they’re truly prepared and how to recognize the difference between healthy growth and avoidable chaos.

If you're in a season of growth (or thinking about it), this conversation will help you pressure-test where you really stand.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Intro & framing: growth vs. readiness

03:00 – Signs your agency is growing too fast

08:00 – Why more revenue can create more problems

14:00 – The operational cracks that show up first

20:00 – Client experience under pressure

26:00 – When leadership becomes the bottleneck

31:00 – Systems, structure, and what “ready to scale” actually means

36:00 – The “pirate ship to navy” transition

40:00 – How to evaluate if you're truly ready for growth

43:00 – Final thoughts & takeaways

If your agency feels stretched, reactive, or constantly catching up, this episode will resonate. with you.

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Most people think building an agency is about growth, but it’s about building something that actually works without you.

In this episode, Craig Baldwin (Partner, Upsourced) and Albert Banks (Principal, Apertus) break down:

- What it really takes to build a sellable agency

- The biggest mistakes founders make when scaling

- Why most agencies never reach a real exit

- Lessons from building and selling an agency

If you're building, scaling, or thinking about an exit, this is a great listen for you!

Subscribe to our channel for more agency insights!

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 – Intro

1:10 – Starting the first agency

4:30 – Early growth & lessons learned

8:15 – What actually drives scale

12:40 – The biggest mistakes founders make

17:20 – What makes a business sellable

21:10 – The exit experience (what surprised Albert)

25:00 – Advice for agency owners today

28:30 – Final thoughts

Most agencies don’t have a growth problem… they have a consistency problem.

In this episode of the Creative Outcomes Podcast, Craig Baldwin, Partner at Upsourced, sits down with Danielle Fauteaux (Getting Momentum) to break down what actually drives sustainable agency growth - and why most founders get it wrong.

If you’ve ever felt like growth comes in waves, depends too much on you, or feels like something you “fix” and move on from, this conversation will challenge that thinking.

They dive into:

- Why growth is not a one-time problem to solve

- How to turn revenue into a team-wide responsibility

- The 5 pillars of a scalable growth system

- Why most agencies rely too heavily on founders for sales

- How to use scorecards to drive a consistent pipeline

- The mindset shifts holding agencies back from scaling

This isn’t about hacks or quick wins. It’s about building a system that compounds over time.

If you run or lead an agency, this is a must-watch.

—

📌 Connect with Danielle:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-fauteaux/

Website: https://gettingmomentum.com/blog/video-operationalizing-client-acquisition-retention/

For more insights, subscribe to our channel!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Why agency growth is harder than it looks

02:13 – The biggest mistake: treating growth like a one-time fix

04:08 – Growth is a system, not a moment

06:22 – Why revenue shouldn’t sit on one person

07:12 – The 5 pillars of a scalable growth engine

12:25 – Inputs vs outputs: how scorecards actually drive growth

15:41 – Why most growth efforts fail (and what to change)

21:03 – The long game: relationships over quick wins

25:32 – The mindset traps holding agencies back

26:19 – Treat your agency like your most important client

27:36 – “No one cares what I have to say” (and why that’s wrong)

33:35 – Nice vs kind leadership (and why it matters for growth)

34:44 – Choosing your hard: consistency vs chaos

36:06 – The 80/20 of sustainable growth

37:32 – Where to find Danielle + how to work together

In this episode, Ryan Watson (founding partner at Upsourced) breaks down the Margin Triangle, a framework used to help 7- and 8-figure agencies build predictable profitability.

Most agency owners focus on revenue growth, but revenue alone doesn’t guarantee profit. The real driver of agency profitability is gross margin, and understanding the mechanics behind it can completely change how you run your business.

Inside this episode you'll learn:

• Why gross margin is the most important financial metric in an agency

• How to calculate Agency Gross Income (AGI) correctly

• The two levers that control profitability in every agency

• Why most agencies have a project margin problem or a utilization problem

• What healthy agencies target for gross margin, project margin, and utilization

Ryan also explains how these numbers work together mathematically and why managing them is an ongoing operational discipline, not a one-time fix.

If you're running a marketing, creative, or digital agency and want to build a repeatable, sustainable, profitable business, this framework is essential.

Key Targets Discussed

• Healthy Agency Gross Margin: 45–55%

• Target Project Margin: ~65%

• Typical Service Team Utilization: ~70% blended

Together, these form the Margin Triangle, the core framework Upsourced uses with agency clients.

For more insights, subscribe to our channel!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Why agency profitability starts with gross margin

01:50 How to calculate gross margin in an agency

05:19 The Margin Triangle: the 2 levers that drive profit

08:03 Project margin: what it is and how to improve it

13:01 Utilization: what counts and how to measure it

18:23 The target numbers for a healthy agency

19:49 Why managing margin is a continual exercise

21:21 Final takeaway: conquer the margin triangle