Small Agency Talk Show

PR and marketing agency owners often find it difficult to take time off. Others would like to take a 6-month or even year-long sabbatical but aren't sure how to do it.

Gini Dietrich of Spin Sucks joins Chip Griffin of SAGA to discuss how to set yourself up for success so that you can take meaningful time away from your agency to recharge.

In this episode, you will learn 9 tips to help you prepare for taking the time off that you deserve -- and that will help put you and your business in a better place for the future.

Carl Smith of the Bureau of Digital has been talking on his podcast recently about the flood of pitches from agency brokers that he is seeing. At the same time, many owners are tired after two crazy years and thinking about throwing in the towel and selling.

In this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Carl joins Chip Griffin of SAGA to talk about what to consider before you decide that selling is the right thing to do -- as well as what to expect after your broker finds what you think is the ideal match.

Be sure to check out the two episodes of the Bureau of Digital podcast that we reference in this discussion:

* Beware of the Broker Feeding Frenzy

* How to find a good broker to sell your shop

Brad Farris of Anchor Advisors has been thinking a lot about the idea of being present. In this episode, he explains what he means by that, why it is important, and how to be better at this skill.

Chip Griffin of SAGA chimes in with his perspective and expands the conversation to explore how to help team members be more present.

They talk about how being present helps to balance thinking and planning with doing. The result is better outcomes and relationships because there is more listening that results in understanding.

As much as we all proclaim that we are really selling outcomes and results for clients, the reality is that all agencies sell time at the end of the day. How you package it up may be different, but from a cost perspective, it's all about the labor hours that you commit.

But how do you correctly calculate your real labor costs? Marcel Petitpas of Parakeeto and Chip Griffin of SAGA break down the simplest way to calculate the effective hourly cost for your team members -- and how to use that to analyze your profitability correctly.

Marcel emphasizes the need to focus on accuracy more than precision (and explains the difference). Chip explains how you can gather more detailed information on a periodic basis without overwhelming your team and generating reams of unused data.

On this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Brad Farris of Anchor Advisors shares the story of a recent question he got about how to price a website build. Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro and Chip Griffin of SAGA join in to share their own experiences with confused thinking about agency pricing.The panel explores how agency leaders should be thinking about pricing and what mistakes often get made along the way.Brad, Karen, and Chip also look at the importance of the prospect's perception of value -- while not missing the point that higher perceived value often requires more work on the agency's part, not just a higher price tag.

Some agencies work hard to churn out lots of great content -- but then fail to use it as effectively as they could with prospects and clients. Other agencies miss the chance to accelerate sales and drive more effective prospecting by creating the right content.

In this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Lee McKnight, Jr. of RSW/US and Chip Griffin of SAGA discuss how agencies can make smarter use of content to improve business development success.

They look at some of the common mistakes and best opportunities for agency leaders to consider, sharing examples from their own experiences.

Lee and Chip also look at some of the overlooked risks of an outreach strategy that focuses less on building relationships with good content and instead depends on sending large amounts of cold email or LinkedIn messages.

Most of us love to provide strategic advice for our clients. Many gurus tell you that's what you need to focus on if you want to grow a large, profitable agency business.

The truth is that strategy matters, but so does execution. Particularly when clients may be shorthanded and having trouble hiring, they look to agencies for assistance in getting things done.

There's nothing wrong with being the arms and legs for your client.

In this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Kami Huyse of Zoetica Media and Chip Griffin of SAGA discuss when it makes sense to become an extension of your client's team -- and how to do so effectively. They explore some of the pros and cons, as well as how to avoid the potential pitfalls.

Agencies face increasing pressure when it comes to recruiting and retaining the best talent possible. With employees in the driver's seat due to the surplus of demand for their hours, they are becoming increasingly confident in expressing their views about what they want from their employers.

It isn't just about compensation -- something that we have discussed previously on the Small Agency Talk Show. In this episode, Patrick Rogan of Ignition HR and Chip Griffin of SAGA discuss some of the non-monetary demands being made and how agency leaders should handle them.

In particular, they look at things like burnout and it's causes, as well as what employees are requesting in terms of working hours and locations. Understanding how to be flexible while still being consistent at an organizational level may be the biggest challenge.

For agency owners who began their own careers a decade or more ago, it does require a mindset shift, but there are always opportunities to be had, too.

Many agency owners feel that they struggle to find the time needed to work on business development to grow their businesses.

In this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Jody Sutter of The Sutter Company and Chip Griffin of SAGA discuss how to make effective use of your internal team as well as external resources to improve your ability to invest in sustainable growth.

Jody also shares a quiz for agency owners that helps them understand better the kind of business development activities that they should consider to maximize effectiveness and improve the return on their investment of time and money.

Chip and Jody offer up some practical tips, as well as some cautions about how mistakes that they commonly see agency owners make when they try to ramp up business development activity.

In this episode of the Small Agency Talk Show, Patrick Rogan of Ignition HR and Chip Griffin of SAGA discuss how concerned agency leaders should be about different kinds of human resources risks common to their workplaces.

Some of the areas that the pair explore include contractor vs employee classifications, overtime eligibility, the hiring process, and terminations.

Chip and Patrick agree that the risk calculation not only needs to include the probability of getting caught, but also how significant the penalties can be for different violations.