Say it Online

Are you using Search Engine Marketing to your advantage – or still struggling to figure out what it is and how to leverage it? Either way, this episode is for you. I chat with Brandy Lawson, who breaks down the power of Search Engine Marketing to drive growth and help push clients to reach their unique business goals.

Brandy is a lover of ridiculous shoes, advocate for the best and highest use of technology, bringer of clarity, and recovering know-it-all. At FieryFX, her marketing and consulting agency, she makes it simple for business owners to attract the right clients and make business decisions easily, without all the trial and error. Brandy is passionate about her work because she experienced the failure of her parent's first business and knows how critical being found and working effectively are for businesses to survive—and then thrive.

In this episode, Brandy dives into how to turn data into a tool to tell clients' stories, and helps simplify the often-confusing jargon associated with SEM.

Tune in to learn how to:

• Effectively navigate and utilize Google Analytics to your advantage.
• Understand the difference between SEO and "pay-per-click".
• Build an effective user journey based on SEM metrics.

Finding a productive work/life balance when the world seems off balance can be a challenge, but it isn't impossible. Take it from Anansi Content Strategist Anam Ahmed, who our entire team looks to as a shining example of "having it all." 

Anam is a word junkie — and loves working with organizations to tell stories that make people want to enthusiastically jump up and down and take action.

With over a decade of writing and editing experience, she's written for a lot of areas, from travel to technology, business to babies, and beyond.

In this episode, Anam discusses how you can make sure your work doesn't creep into your everyday life, create a schedule that works for you, and get things done without sacrificing quality time with family. 

Tune in to learn how to:

• Identify when and where you need boundaries, what they are, and how they work within your lifestyle.
• Stay focused when working from home, especially when your kids are at home all day.
• Define your own personal criteria of what fulfilling work means to you.

If the current pandemic has taught us anything, it's the power of being flexible and adaptable as an agency owner. But it's just as important to focus on your strengths as you pivot. 

That's why Sarah Olivieri, from PivotGround, revamped her entire agency by automating processes, mastering the powerful skill of delegation, and focusing on one goal at a time. 

Sarah is a nonprofit business strategist, #1 International Best Selling author, and former Executive Director. She has been featured on over 30 podcasts and is the creator of the Impact Method™ — a framework that helps nonprofits simplify their operations, build aligned teams, and make a bigger impact without getting overwhelmed or burning out.

Sarah has over 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience. She was the co-founder of the Open Center for Autism, the Executive Director of the Helping of War Foundation, and co-author of Lesson Plan a la Carte: Integrated Planning for Students with Special Needs.

In this episode, Sarah and I dive into why scaling your organization doesn't always mean growing your team, the importance of sticking with a goal for a longer period of time, and why you should always have a partner to work with to keep you organized and accountable. 

Tune in to learn:

• How to break those big goals down into bite sized chunks
• Why you should always assume that you are miscommunication — and how to be intentional with your communication
• The value of saying "no" during your sales process

Connect with Sarah at pivotground.com and on Facebook and LinkedIn.For sales books mentioned by Sarah, check out The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson.

I don't know an agency owner who has had a perfectly smooth project from start to finish. Bumps in the road always show up — even with some of your best clients. 

You know those classic client problems, the "never responds to emails," or the "miss meetings with zero notice and then complain that their project is delayed," or (our absolute favorite) the "disappearing act." 

These issues might not derail your entire project, but they make your projects way more of a hassle. 

Today on the podcast, it's all about how to keep your everyday projects running smoothly. This week, Anansi Content Strategist Maximilian Conte shares what he's mastered around building a great process to keeping clients on track from start to finish. 

Maximilian's long-standing love of writing has found him working in a number of unique fields, eventually stumbling into the world of marketing — and he's never turned back.

Having accumulated a wide range of writing experience over the years, from television and film to healthcare and technology, Max loves challenging himself by creating strategy and content for clients across a diverse number of verticals and industries.

When he isn't writing, Max is probably hanging with his chinchillas, grabbing a beer with friends, planning an adventure abroad, or winding down with Netflix or a good book.  

In this episode, Max and I dive into his experience going from petrified of leading client meetings to receiving compliments specifically about his skill at handling clients — meetings and all. 

Tune in to learn how to:

• Set crystal clear expectations with your clients around what they're responsible for 
• Get your client to actually stick to your process
• Identify red flags as early as possible so you can keep your project on track

Connect with Maximilian at www.anansicontent.com.

Are you an "idea" person or a "make it happen" person?

Most agency owners tend to be amazing at the big picture game. You're planning for future growth, creating team trainings, devising new product and service launches, and crafting a plan to push your agency to new heights. 

But then you have to actually make those shiny, wonderful plans happen. Suddenly, it feels like an overwhelming number of decisions and tasks are pressing down on you. 

This episode of Digital Agency Real Talk is all about just that — how to get over your decision fatigue and take action. So, how do you take what you've learned and implement it? And how do you balance pushing yourself towards action with the need to slow down and be intentional? Tune in to find out. 

In this episode, Celene and I dive into the basics of building a better "to-do" list, how to cultivate the mindset of a person who takes action, and the power in having an accountability partner.  

Tune in to learn how to:

• Actively apply the things you're learning to your business
• Decisively say "no"
• Figure out if you need to take more action or if you need to slow down 

Be sure to check out Say's favorite books for getting stuff done:

• Getting Stuff Done by David Allen
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

 And be sure to check out the Eisenhower Matrix for prioritizing tasks.

COVID-19 has shaken every industry. 

Sales have stalled for many of us, and yet we all feel exhausted and overwhelmed. 

Every country, state, and city seems to be in a different place with different rules and restrictions. 

When this episode airs it will have been months since the official pandemic started. Some places are opening up and some are seeing the dreaded second wave of infections. So, how do you keep up with the chaos — without loosing your mind.

This week, Lois Koffi and I are sitting down together to talk about checking in with your clients, stabilizing your sales, and staying mentally well during COVID-19. 

Lois is a professional speaker, trainer, coach, and Ironman triathlete who has helped thousands of people to create more in less time, so they can experience the abundant playground this world provides. 

She believes that working in sales can truly stretch and grow people in a way that no other profession can. She is a 12-Week Year Certified trainer and has become a highly sought after expert in recruiting, selling, and developing sales leaders for many companies.

Lois is also a two time published author and is publishing an e-book this month dedicated to all her friends who died far too soon.

In this episode, Lois dives into how to stay positive during uncertain times, figure out when to keep pushing and when to take a break, and why she screens team members the same way she approached online dating. 

Tune in to learn:

• How to nurture (not overwhelm!) your audience with consistent content 
• How to strengthen both personal and work relationships even while you're working from home (and dealing with a new crisis every day)
• What the most important things to look for when hiring your sales team are

You could be losing 22 days of work each month because of basic operation and admin challenges. 

This isn't a shocking statistic to scare you, it's the reality of doing it all yourself. It's also why Chris Martinez, Founder of DUDE, spends his days helping other digital agency owners outsource and hire the perfect people to help you do less operation and admin work. 

Chris, and DUDE, helps digital agencies find the people, and processes, they need to take on more website and funnel projects, and scale profitably.  

In 2015, after owning and running a digital agency for 3 years, he moved all of his web design and development to Tijuana, Mexico. It was a total game-changer for his agency. He quickly learned that Tijuana gives agencies all the benefits of outsourcing and none of the downsides.  

In 2017, Chris launched DUDE to provide the perfect outsourcing solution for digital agencies.  

Today, DUDE is working with digital agencies all over the US and Canada providing them the perfect outsourcing solution for digital agencies. 

Best of all, DUDE is helping digital agencies to scale, creating new tech jobs in Tijuana, and little by little, DUDE's staff are changing the way that people perceive Mexico.  

In this episode, Chris and I dive into how he took a bad month and navigated that failure with his entire team, why moving to Mexico was the ultimate eye-opener for his agency, and why delegation is the best skill you'll ever learn as an agency owner. 

Tune in to learn:

• How to create a hiring process that finds you your perfect people (Chris' is 3-weeks long!)
• Why the Philippines isn't your only option for outsourcing remote employees (and why you don't have to try to cope with the time zone difference) 
• How to finally delegate all those hats to other people on your team

What does Jimmy Rose, a former automation engineer, consider the number one mistake agency owners make when it comes to automations? 

Tune in to the podcast to find out. 

Jimmy is the co-founder of Content Snare, a software platform that helps professionals collect content and files from clients. His new priority is to help business owners regain their lives, be more productive, and get more done in less time.

In this episode, Jimmy and I dive into how to create more efficiency in your sales and admin processes, what his four buckets of things you should be automating are, and how he's completely automated his podcast process for Agency Highway. 

Tune in to learn:

• What automations to start with 
• Why you need to focus on automating the things you always forget and (more importantly) the things you always avoid doing 
• What happens if you don't make the investment for automations upfront

Connect with Jimmy at contentsnare.com and jimmyrose.me.

Automation platforms Jimmy references during the episode include Zapier, IFTTT, Follow-Up Then, Sanebox, Integromat, Bonjoro, Clearbit,

Did you know that our Chief of Operations Celene has a six-tab spreadsheet dedicated to her gardening?

There's no set-it-and-forget-it attitude or guesswork when it comes to her veggies, and there shouldn't be when it comes to your marketing strategy. Sure we love a #failfast attitude, but you have to fail with a focus.

In this episode of D.A.R.T, Celene and I are comparing creating a marketing strategy that works to one of our all-time favorite hobbies — gardening.

A GOOD marketing strategy matches your product with the people who can't live without it. A GREAT marketing strategy is monitored regularly to make sure that the right pieces are in the right places and moving forward in the right place.

Tune in to learn why your marketing strategy should be: Cyclical and iterative Focused on the elements you CAN control Planned with the end goal clearly defined

You can have the most stand out, unique, internet-shattering content in the world, but if that content is buried in the darkest corners of the internet, no one will read it. That's where today's podcast guest comes in. 

Jared Carrizales leads the team at Heroic Search, a link building and content marketing firm based out of Dallas, Texas. He has been in the digital marketing game for over a decade, helping everyone from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies grow online.

In this episode, Jared and I talk about all the behind-the-scenes work that gets your content seen on the first page of Google. 

Tune in to learn how to:

• Measure your ROI, and make strategic decisions, with metrics
• Understand the personality types of partners you want to work with 
• Build a relevant outreach list to swap backlinks with