Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies

Do you hate writing client content? Or struggle to find writers who can match tone, style and use industry-specific language for your clients? Do you never have time to create agency content because you're so busy with client work? There's a better way! Creating content doesn't have to be difficult and finding the right writers for your agency doesn't have to suck. If you avoid the biggest content creation pitfalls and figure out how to hire the right writers, you'll be creating rankable content in no time.

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• 3 biggest content creation pitfalls.
• How to set-up your writers for success.
• 5 types of content that own SEO.

Today, I talked with Paul Zalewski, VP of Marketing at Verblio — a content creation platform specifically for agencies. Paul experience spans from phone marketing to SEO and everything in between. Soon after taking the leap to digital marketing he was ranking #1 on Google for "stop junk mail" and helping businesses get high SERP. Today, he's working with Verblio to bring content to agencies around the world and he's here today to share strategies for ramping up your agency's content creation.

Over time, Paul's seen some common pitfalls in content creation when agencies make while working with clients.

1. Not doing your homework. Make sure you pour through their existing content and really define their tone, style, and the types of buzzwords their niche uses. There's a big difference between a tech(y) blog that's informative and filled with block-style paragraphs and a quick-burst super casual tone, like mine. Make sure you hone in on the way your client wants their content structured.

2. Set expectations. This is huge! Content creation is an ongoing process. Your clients are going to have to be involved sometimes, and they need to understand how content ranking works - we know you don't jump to the #1 Google spot overnight, but do they know that? Education is huge.

3. Set up long-term success. Align your agency's goals with the client's goals. What does success look like to both parties? Everyone needs to know what the process looks like from start-to-end. This means you may have to explain some SEO functions to your clients and you have to make sure you're both using the same metrics to define success.

Whether your agency handles content in-house or outsources it, finding a way to communicate your goals to the writer can be tough.

At Verblio, all of Paul's writers are required to do a ton of research before they tackle client projects. Any time you're hiring in-house or outsourcing your content creation needs, make sure that your working with someone who is willing to put in the time and energy.

Writers need to be able to really think about the skeleton of the work they're creating (intent, CTA, tone, style, etc.) and being able to communicate those goals to the writer will set you up for success.

Paul has hired over 3,000 writers in his career, and his most important qualifier is: writers need to be able to write for digital. You want to know that your writer has some skill, can make boring content engaging, and has some expertise in your subject matter.

Is it easier to teach a writer to be a marketer or a marketer to be a writer? Neither! Hire one that knows both.

We know you might already know this... but what's ranking best these days.

1. Long form content or even a book. Don't expect everyone to read the entire thing, but pillar content is ranking right now.
2. Video creatives — especially if you're leveraging social media! Don't just post a video, but add an SEO-rich description.
3. Audio content (like our podcast) — again, don't just throw audio out there, but instead, add something like these show notes :)
4. Recycled content! Do you have any old posts sitting around that were killer content pieces for you in the past? Revamp them into some new fresh content - here's a strategy to follow.

With that said, you can ignore #1-4 if you've already found the high ranking content that works best for you and/or your clients. Make content that works for you. Don't stress over following all these lists of "Top Tips" or you just might end up with best practices overload!

Is your agency profit where it should be? (Hint: net profit should be at least 30%) Are you constantly struggling with cash flow? Do you always pay yourself last, or not at all? Solve all these problems and actually enjoy running your business again when you apply the principle of Profit First.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• What agencies are doing wrong with their cash flow.
• Why businesses should put profit first.
• 3 basic steps of putting profit first.

We've got a repeat guest today, Mike Michalowicz who is an entrepreneur and the author of six business growth books. I had him on the show previously talking about his book Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself. Then recently, we used his Profit First theory as a workshop in our Agency Mastermind and I knew I had to get him on the show again.

Mike got his start as an entrepreneur who was very successful very early in his career. His early success led him to other investment opportunities which left him feeling unstoppable and invincible. He had multiple homes and expensive vehicles... but, in hindsight, his own ego and arrogance got in the way.

He says he never had a real pulse on his business finances and little care to know any details his accountant shared with him. So, in 2008 he had no idea his businesses were failing until his accountant called to tell him it was time to declare bankruptcy. Within a month he and his family if five lost their cars and homes. After a couple years of feeling sad, sorry, and insignificant Mike decided to become an author writing about his experienced with a new goal to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty.

Typically, agencies (and for that matter, all businesses) are doing a bank balance accounting method. Your accountant tells you to look at income statements, P&L statements, balance sheets, etc. which can get mind-numbingly boring. And all you care about is the bottom line, right?

That's because we're trained to think: Sales (minus) Expenses = Profit

And that "bottom line" is your profit. So that's where your attention is focused because that's what matters most.

But Mike challenges us by asking, why is the thing we care most about falling to the bottom of the list. Think about it. Don't we always put the most important items at the top of our list? It's backward and wrong that profit is just considered "what's leftover" after everything else.

Mike's formula for putting profit first is important because it means you are making money. It's human nature that the goals we put first are the ones we get done. That's why so many people work out in the morning. What comes first is what gets done.

Look, as a society, we are always asking other business owners "How big is your business?" and that's because we care most about revenue. But, you can have a huge business and not be profitable at all. What we should be asking is, "How healthy is your business?"

So many agencies are living check to check. They're most concerned with top-line revenue instead of profitability. But when you get into a situation where you can't pay vendors or worse, can't pay your employees does topline revenue even matter? No.

Putting profit first flips the formula: Sales (minus) Profit = Expenses

I know what you're thinking and it's a little more than just pulling profit out first.

1. Stop making excuses and give it a shot.

We know it's difficult to get on board with trying something new. We're all are used to handling our business accounting the way we've always done it. And so Mike says there are 3 general excuses people give for why they can't implement Profit First.

• "My business isn't profitable so this will never work." ~ Yes, it's not profitable because you're using the old method. You can do this and you can be profitable if you get rid of your own head trash.
• "My bank will charge me fees for opening 5 different accounts." ~ Look, your bank is your vendor and they should want to help you do what you need to do to be profitable. Explain what you're doing and why. If they are adamant about charging fees, then change banks. Yes, it's a real pain to do that and it will take 1/2-day of your time making the switch. But in the end, it's your profitability worth it?
• "My accountant won't go for it." ~ A lot of accountants are set in their ways, but you're the client. Explain why you want to do things this way. If they can't get on board, ask them what percentage of their clients are profitable using the old-school accounting method :) If you really can't get your accountant onboard, check out Mike's resource of Profit First trained accountants.

2. Open multiple bank accounts and segment your money.

Most business owners are habitual bank balance checkers. Admit it, you're checking at least daily, maybe even hourly. So in Mike's book, he spells out his process which includes opening 5 different accounts all dedicated to different things (profit, taxes, etc.) That way, when you're checking the balance you're looking at money that is earmarked for a specific use and not looking at one lump sum.

3. Start slow and ease yourself into the discipline of profit first.

It's hard to undo the way we've always looked at business accounting. So, don't expect that you'll be able to pull out 30% profit right off the bat. At first, the goal is to break old habits so start by pulling 1-2% profit from every check that comes in. It's like someone who decides to run a marathon, they train by starting slow and building up to the marathon.

For example, if you receive a $1,000 payment and you put 1% of that into a separate account for profit, that's just $10. If you can pay your expenses and run your business on $1,000 surely you can run it on $990 and you won't even miss that $10. Start slow and build that "profit muscle."

Are you having problems hiring or firing your employees? Ever feel like your team is holding back agency growth? Hiring and firing employees doesn't have to be difficult. Don't worry about firing your less-than-perfect team members as your agency grows; it's best for both of you in the long run!

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• #1 reason you should fire that one employee.
• How to scale your agency with your current employees.
• 3 key team management tips.

Today, I talked with Shantel Khlief CEO at Image Media Consulting, who has an absolutely incredible story of how she discovered her passion for marketing through pie! Shantel is one of those people who was born to be a marketer. She got her start when she couldn't find a local pie shop's menu on Facebook. Later, she stopped by and offered to grow the shop's social media presence... and then like many of us, an accidental agency emerged!

Shantel shares some fantastic tips on employee hiring and firing, which is one of the most challenging aspects of growing an agency.

Every agency encounters a team member who's just not making the cut. Maybe you feel a sense of loyalty toward a long time employee. Or, maybe you simply can't bring yourself fire someone because you like them as a person (but dislike their work). Or, maybe you're afraid of the impact firing will have on your clients and the rest of your team.

Here's what you should do: fire them! Letting someone go may be precisely what they want (or need.) If you feel like the employee isn't working hard enough, doesn't fit your company culture or values then firing them may kickstart both of you. That employee will go on to do something new, and your other team members will respect you for it.

Remember, you're the owner. You have to set the example. If you're still hesitant, think about it this way. Would you rather fire them or lose your good employees because of them?

When your agency starts growing it's typical to run into some employee friction. When you start out with just a few key team members, you're all friends. You grab coffee together and talk shop regularly. But, when that number balloons up to 20+ suddenly you've gone from friend to boss-friend. Roles change and sometimes perceptions do not, which can cause friction.

Look, it's perfectly ok to change the playbook as your agency grows. The more employees you're dealing with, the more difficult it becomes to please everyone. Sure, those loyal employees may be a little disappointed at first, but change happens. And, the good ones will understand how to help scale the agency to the next level.

1- Do more coaching. As your agency grows, your employees' perception of you will change.. You may think they will come to you with any problem, but they may think you're too busy. Coaching is a crucial piece of employee management. It's a way to set expectations, deal with inconsistencies, and get employees pumped up.

2- Rethink your bonuses. Stop giving your employees bonuses at specific times. Give them out randomly. For one, it makes them appreciate it more. But, it also reduces any pain points caused by changing bonus structures. Once you hit the $1 million mark, you may have so many employees that high bonuses aren't as realistic. My podcast with John Ruhlin completely changed the way I think about bonuses.

3- Fire the toxic employee. Seriously, I know it's hard. But, as Shantel explains, it has to happen in order to grow. Stop worrying so much about what everyone thinks of you and put your goals and your agency first. The right move isn't always the most popular one.

Do you know the 5 Roles of the Agency CEO? This is where you should be focusing your time, energy and efforts.

Happy holidays from JasonSwenk.com and our entire agency tribe. We hope you never have to deal with these 12 Days of a BAD client project, but if you do ~ we hope this helps you get through it.

12 STRESSFUL DAYS OF WORKING ON THE WRONG CLIENT PROJECT...

On the first day of the project, my bad client gave to me, A terrible deadline for me

On the second day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 2 more excuses,

On the third day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 3 contacts' emails,

On the fourth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, Four 404 errors

On the fifth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, F-i-v-e W-o-r-d-p-r-e-s-s T-h-e-m-e-s,

On the sixth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 6 Salesforce plugins,

On the seventh day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 7 moving deadlines,

On the eighth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 8 automations,

On the ninth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 9 rounds of revisions,

On the tenth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 10 Twitter followers,

On the eleventh day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 11 annoying emails,

On the twelfth day of the project, my bad client gave to me, 12 shareholders screaming.

Struggling with creativity for marketing your agency? Looking for ways to increase subscribers and opt-ins? In today's creative-driven landscape is now easier than ever to thrive. Don't let uncertainty or mental blocks get the best of you. Take some actionable steps that will cement your creativity and transform it into results.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• It's time to try the one creative thing you've been ignoring.
• #1 most important creative tip.
• 2 rules for creative agency owners.

Today, I talked to Jeff Goins, founder of GoinsWriter.com and author of several popular books — including Real Artists Don't Starve — who also teaches online classes and hosts events. He's not just a writer. Jeff is a writer that fell in love with marketing. After working at a non-profit for years, Jeff's writings skills and entrepreneurial spirit led him to a life as an amazing creative. Today, Jeff's going to share some juicy tips straight out of his new book.

Yes, that thing. You know the thing. It's that chatbot you're afraid to implement, or podcast you're afraid to start, or the video marketing you've put off. Sure, you've got plenty of excuses to avoid that thing, but you it's time to stop ignoring it and get it going!

We all have strategies and tools available to us. And yet we all have excuses for not trying them out. Whether it's because we're positive it won't work or we think that it's just a fad, all of that head trash (link here) can prevent you from doing the one thing that could be the catalyst for change and agency growth.

Jeff tried blogging for 9 years with a very little following. In fact, it took 4 years to reach 250 subscribers. But, when he offered a free ebook as lead magnet to his new blog — he jumped from 70 subscribers to 1,000 in just one month. Why? Because he simply tried his thing.

Jeff says he thought lead magnets were just marketing mumbo-jumbo. But when he got out of his own way and tried it out, he found major success.

Here's my challenge for all of you this week -- identify one thing and go do it!

Why do you create content? Is your agency simply trying to convert leads to clients? A lot of people think content is for selling. If that's you, then you need to 180 the way you're thinking.

Content must provide value. This is especially true for blogs and video creatives that are hitting top-of-the-funnel prospects. Jeff says to think of content as a mutual gift to your audience. You give them valuable, free content, and in return, they give you their attention.

Don't just focus on conversion metrics. If you give them value, they will come. All of those prospects who don't buy anything now could end up being more valuable than you think. Give them fresh content, and they may just become brand evangelists on social media. Remember, marketing is more complex than lead metrics —and word-of-mouth is still powerful.

Jeff gave us a little sneak peek into his newest book where he shares the 14 rules for creatives to thrive. Here's 2 of them:

Here's the thing about originality, it usually produces terrible results. It's OK to steal from your influences. Are you creating a new blog? Go look at your competitors and your heroes. Guess what? They looked at their competitors and their heroes! Study what your peers are doing and use what's valuable to you.

Don't just say "I have to do everything differently!" Or, as Steven Jobs (quoting Igor Stravinsky) said "Good artists copy, great artists steal." This doesn't mean you should plagiarize. It means you should pick a few of the all the great things other people are doing and morph them your own.

You have to be fluid to survive in the creative world. Sticking to one thing may be a great way to market your agency as a niche to clients, but when it comes to being creative, you have to adapt.

Think of the creative world as a mutual fund, not a single stock option. Tech is moving too fast and times are changing too rapidly to get caught up in one style or content type — you have to move with the tides. To do more than just survive you have to be continually creating and innovating.

FreshBooks is the solution with their ridiculously easy­-to-­use cloud accounting software for agencies.

Freshbooks helps you work smarter and become more organized. Most importantly, it gets you paid quicker. Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Are you stuck in a rut? Feel like your agency isn't going anywhere? Are you full of strategies but lacking in execution? Ever feel like you're stuck on an endless hamster wheel? It might be that you're in your own way and it's time to dig a little deeper. Your biggest obstacle might be all the trash in your own head. A change in mindset and thoughts can be a critical step towards growing your agency.

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• What is head trash?
• The problems caused by head trash.
• 3 ways to take out the (head) trash and change your mindset so you can grow your agency.

Today, I talked with Erin Pheil founder of MindFix — a group dedicated to eliminating self-sabotage in entrepreneurs and high-performers. Before she founded MindFix, Erin spent 16 years hustling at her own digital agency, FollowBright, so she totally gets the struggles of agency life. She's here with a wealth of experience and savvy techniques to teach us how to overcome our own mental barriers. Once you get out of your own way, you'll be on a better trajectory to grow your agency faster and easier.

There are tons of agency owners out there who have the strategies and the resources they need to become hyper-successful, but they just can't seem to get there. Too often we look towards the latest-and-greatest strategy as a growth pillar but when it doesn't work we get frustrated. Instead, Erin says we should be looking inward at the stories we are telling ourselves.

What negative talk or stories are you telling yourself?

• "All my clients just beat us up on price and don't appreciate our value."
• "Our clients don't care about us, they treat us like a commodity."

All of these stories we have in our heads are what Erin calls head trash. Basically, head trash is the loops and patterns we fall into due to previous exposure to situations. All of these stories impact the way we deal with our every day and often times causing turmoil.

For example, let's say you used to work at a call center and you had one of those robotic scripts you had to say on every call. You couldn't stand the script; you felt it was turning away customers because it was so poorly written. Fast forward to today. You run a marketing agency and you're considering using a chatbot as a pre-qualifier for new leads. You have the resources and the strategy, but you don't pull the trigger because you believe scripted conversations aren't effective for gaining new customers. That is head trash.

Head trash is the stuff that stands in our way -- and it's the stuff we can actually control. It's so much easier to overcome than we realize, but most of us don't even know or understand why it exists. Head trash can cause your agency to stall, cost you clients or stand in your way of fulfilling your profession or personal potential.

How do you clear all of this programming out of your head?

1. Stop and Think! Next time someone does something that doesn't sit right with you, think first instead of reacting. Why are they doing this? What are some reasons for this behavior? Are there external circumstances that may cause this? Once you learn how to think about every possible scenario in your encounters with others, you'll also begin to think about your own behavior in this same way. You'll be able to dissect your own hang-ups and understand the underlying stories you're telling yourself. (From the earlier example... Why don't you like chatbots? Is it because of that call center experience? Bingo!)

2. Think Neutral. You want to remove emotion from your decisions. If you start to feel emotion when you're making a decision that should be rational, try to figure out why. There's a root cause of every emotion; if you want to remove the head trash the key is getting to the bottom of the emotion.

3. Don't Jump to Conclusions. This is huge! Preconceived notions can kill a good idea before it even launches. For example, don't assume your chatbot won't work before you even test it. Don't be afraid to try, test, or fail. Failure is the key to future successes. If you're jumping to conclusions all the time, you have some serious head trash you need to deal with.

Want to learn more about becoming your own mental garbage man? Erin has a FREE 60-minute learning session here. Check it out.

FreshBooks is the solution with their ridiculously easy­-to-­use cloud accounting software for agencies.

Freshbooks helps you work smarter and become more organized. Most importantly, it gets you paid quicker. Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Wish your agency had better account management? Want to learn how to increase client satisfaction and reduce churn-rate? It might be time to take an inward look in order to up your game and improve agency account management. When you and your team communicate more effectively with your clients, you will turn them into your biggest fans.

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• How to build a deeper relationship with your clients.
• The most effective way to communicate with clients.
• Top 3 account management tactics.

Today, I talked with Karen Hayward a Fractional CMO at Chief Outsiders — the largest fractional CMO firm in the US. Karen works with CEOs and helps brands build growth strategies. She's an expert on account management, which is an area where we see a ton of growing agencies struggle. This episode contains crucial information that could be a real game-changer in your agency's client relations and retention.

Meaningful client relationships are churn's kryptonite. The faster (and better) you build a relationship with your clients, the less likely they are to jump-ship. After all, leaving a faceless brand is far easier than leaving an agency that you have nurtured a strong affiliation with. So, how do you build a deep-level relationship?

Karen says it's all about aligning your values and your client's values while leveraging your human assets. So, let the people in your agency get to know key members of your client's team. If you have a relationship that exists on multiple channels, you will suffer less when you hit those road-bumps. Make sure your team and your client's key employees (CEO, CFO, CMO, marketing director, etc.) build a relationship while agreeing on performance metrics.

We talked about relationships a ton when Joey Coleman, author of Never Lose a Client Again, was on the show. Bottom line, be certain you and your client have the same end-goal in mind as well as the same definition of success.

Figuring out how and when to communicate with clients is a huge headache for startup agencies (and lots of mature agencies as well). When are you bothering your clients? Some clients probably prefer not to communicate with you at all, right?

Karen suggests you communicate with your top clients quarterly. Even if everything is fine - and especially if everything is fine. Don't make communication about sales. Ask them for feedback and learn what your clients really want by asking them. Hear them out, reassure them, and take action before there are issues.

A great way to get off to a good start is to send new clients Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys after the first 30 days! You can send them these surveys quarterly as well. You can take all of these Net Promoter Scores and see what kinds of trends your agency is having with your client. This gives you some great insight and also takes care of sheltered client concerns they may not be openly sharing with you.

Before she left, Karen left us with a few great tactics we can all try out.

• Start NPS immediately. Net Promoter Scores are amazing! They give you critical insight into your client-agency relationship status. Karen says you can get started right away with these if you take advantage of websites like Promoter.io and AskNicely, which both offer free NPSs in the U.S. with their free trials. Eat up the free trials and operationalize right away. If you aren't finding any value, at least you didn't spend anything!
• Make marketing pervasive in your agency. Karen suggests pushing marketing at every turn in your agency. Whether that's attaching marketing supplements to email signatures or even small details like business card design, subtle marketing can add great immediate value to your business and keep your clients interested.
• Engage in meaningful dialogue. Karen suggested making sure your team has a story to tell. In other words, the account team needs to study-up on their clients so they can engage in meaningful conversations. Karen uses a system she calls S.T.A.R. (Situation, Task, Action, Result). The key is for everyone to be prepared to interact deeper than surface-level.

FreshBooks is the solution with their ridiculously easy­-to-­use cloud accounting software for agencies.

Freshbooks helps you work smarter and become more organized. Most importantly, it gets you paid quicker. Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Do you want to turn your agency's clients into raving fans? Would you like to retain more clients instead of just procuring more? Here's how to make your clients first 100 days noteworthy enough to turn them into advocates.

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• What is the 100-day problem?
• 8 phases of the client lifecycle and keeping them happy at every phrase.
• 3 quick tips to transform clients into raving fans.

Today I talked to Joey Coleman, a professional keynote speaker, consultant and author of "Never Lose a Customer Again". Joey has worked on client retention with brands such as Hyatt Hotels, Deloitte, and even Zappos. He is a master of retaining clients and transforming them into raving fans. And that's why here's here with advice on how to keep the clients you have while simultaneously transforming them into advocates for your agency.

As a marketing agency, we pour tons of time and resources into customer acquisition. Whether it's social media, sales strategies, content curation, or even email marketing, we focus tons of effort on turning prospects into customers... but then what?

According to Joey, anywhere from 20 - 70% of customers (depending upon your industry) don't make it more than six months. And of those, nearly 90% won't make it past the first 100 days. All of that time and all of those resources, wasted. That's the 100-Day Problem and we all encounter it whether we realize it or not!

Fortunately, we have Joey giving us some critical advice on keeping clients and turning them into our biggest fans, with the ultimate reward of referrals.

Joey defined 8 key phases of the customer's life cycle, plus he gave us some fantastic tips on keeping customers happy at every phase. Check out his First 100 Day Starter Kit.

1. Assess: This is the phase where customers are deciding if they want to do business with you. They're assessing your website, third-party reviews, and your marketing materials to determine if you're the right fit for their needs.
2. Admit: Here, your customer is finally admitting your agency can help them solve their need and achieve success. They feel a sense of hope and possibility by deciding to work with you.
3. Affirm: Despite the initial feeling of hope, the very next thing your client will do is start to second-guess their decision to work with you. While your team is celebrating a new client, the client is already having thoughts of buyer's remorse and wondering if they've made a mistake. The key to overcoming this is to communicate with them right away and AFFIRM they've made the right decision! Connect and make sure they know you're with them every step of the way. Often times we get busy working on the work, we end up going dark on client communication and that's when they start to get worried.
4. Activate: This is the first significant interaction your customer has with your agency. If you have a product, this is the unboxing. If you have a service, this is the implementation of it. This is where your client digests your product or service and evaluate whether they'll continue the relationship. This is the first impression and you need to totally nail it so you can continue the relationship!
5. Acclimate: This is the phase where you need to get your client familiar with your way of doing things. Joey thinks this is the stage where most agencies fall short. During this phase, the client will be learning your processes as well as potentially interacting with your team members and learning about additional offerings.
6. Accomplish: This is the phase where you actually helped the client achieve their initial goal. The key is to make sure their initial expectations for the end result is met. Did you actually accomplish their goal, or did you just achieve what you thought was their goal? You must communicate regularly to identify their full set of goals and understand their definition of success, as well as what metrics will be utilized to measure success.
7. Adopt: At this phase, your client is loyal and they've fully adopted your agency's philosophy and practices. They don't care about competition or price point because they believe in what you do and how you do it based on the outcomes you're producing for them.
8. Advocacy: When clients are all in, you've reached the final (and best) stage. They are out there advocating for your agency because you have established trust. This is typically anytime after their 100-Day Anniversary. They are now more likely to share stories with their network and provide you with testimonials or case stories... Ask for them and use them!

1. Get personal right from the beginning. Start the relationship off by connecting on a personal level. People like to work with people! Therefore, something as simple as a quick personalized thank you video can even do the trick. (I do this all the time for anyone who buys any of my products or services. It's been a game changer!)
2. Incorporate video into your contact points. Everyone wants to know there's a person behind every action. When you use video (versus email or worse, automation!) your true personality can shine through and your client will get to know you more authentically.
3. Remember snail mail carries real influence. Don't forget the old-school inbox. As everyone moves to digital, the physical inbox is looking a little empty. Get noticed quickly way by cutting through the digital clutter. Old fashioned, handwritten thank you notes are more memorable and have more staying power than an email.

FreshBooks is the solution with their ridiculously easy­-to-­use cloud accounting software for agencies.

Freshbooks helps you work smarter and become more organized. Most importantly, it gets you paid quicker. Check out FreshBooks.com/SmartAgency and enter SMARTAGENCY in the "How Did You Hear About Us?" section for a FREE 30-day, unrestricted trial.

Are you ready to make the jump and start your own agency? Do you want to the top 3 struggles of starting an agency? Don't let those startup agency jitters get you down! Get scrappy, and be picky! Also, learn about how Facebook Messenger Marketing and chatbots are going to change the future of agency lead generation.

• Is it time to start your own agency?
• The 3 biggest startup agency struggles.
• #1 most important tip for the future of Facebook marketing.
• 3 reasons to implement Facebook Messenger Marketing.

Today, I talked with Molly Pittman who owns and runs Digital Strategy Boot Camps, co-hosts the Perpetual Traffic podcast, and was a former VP of Marketing for DigitalMarketer. Molly brings some incredible startup agency insights as she started Digital Strategy Boot Camps a little over a year ago. We get down to the bare bone fears of starting an agency and her best advice for avoiding and overcoming the top 3 struggles of a new agency.

One of the most challenging aspects of starting your own agency is knowing when to actually start one. After all, that you're probably really comfortable (but maybe unfulfilled) in your current gig. So is it time to start your own agency?

The answer isn't really clear. According to Molly -and I agree - you just know when you know. It's one of those internal things that drives you. We're all creators, and when it comes time to set out and create your own thing, your gut will do the talking.

You know yourself best, so you're going to be the one that decides when it's time. Are there risks? Sure! Are there rewards? You better believe it.

Molly talked about the 3 biggest struggles she faced when she went out on her own. Trust us when we say these struggles are universal. You will encounter these when you start an agency, but you can manage them if you're aware in advance.

1- Project Management: When you first start your agency, you're going to have to learn how to juggle multiple clients requests at the same time. The squeaky wheel method is probably going to take over, and you'll either be servicing the loudest or the highest paying client first. That's natural. Here's a great tip from Molly. She has a notebook that she organizes everything she has to do for each client for the week (emails, meetings, work, etc.) This way she knows what she's walking into, and she doesn't leave clients in the dust.

2- Client Alignment: When you first open your agency's doors, you want to take all-comers. It will give you some great experience and give you the foot-in-the-water that you'll need at the beginning (oh, and the money!) Once you get to the point where you can pick-and-choose your clients, you can start making sure your client's values align with yours. Molly's big tip here is to work with clients that you get along with. Picture yourself in the airport next to them — would it be miserable or not?

3- Setting Expectations: Client-agency expectation misalignment is a run-of-the-mill problem. Your client wants more than you think they do, and you thought you agreed on terms they didn't actually want. It's crucial for you to sit down with your client and set expectations. Go over the metrics with them, and introduce specifics early on.

Since Molly works a ton on Facebook, I couldn't help but ask her what she sees Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica stuff... Her biggest tip is to create content that's more engaging. As Facebook returns to newsfeed values, it's rewarding the ads that get the most engagement. Facebook wants to see users interacting with ads.

The best way to get engagement is to be authentic. The best ads are less salesy and offer more (free) value.

Since Molly's also a guru on Facebook marketing, we talked about the new landscape of the platform, as well as Messenger Marketing. When done right, Facebook Messenger and chatbots can drastically change your lead generation strategy. Here's why:

1. It's where the people are! 1.3 billion people are using Messenger, and the number continues to grow. You could make a case that Facebook is dying down, but Messenger is just getting started.
2. The metrics are crazy. People are seeing 80 - 90% open rates and +50% CTRs on Messenger. Compare that with email's 25% open rate and a measly 4% CTR, and you'll see why chatbots and Messenger Marketing is so valuable.
3. You get engagement. Messenger is an engagement heavy platform and users who click want to engage. People want to talk to you. Just pop a bot in to automate the first part of the conversation and then pass it on over to someone real. Get quirky with it! Messenger is filled with an audience that's ready-to-talk.

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Looking for ways to get your agency noticed by your ideal clients? Do you want to stand out among the competition? Then it's time to understand and amplify your agency's talk triggers. With the right strategy, you can conquer word-of-mouth advertising and get your ideal clients talking about your agency.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Why you should be doing something different.
• 5 types of talk triggers.
• #1 word-of-mouth tip.
• What is your agency's triangle of awesome?

Today, I talked with Jay Baer founder of Convince and Convert, and (if you've been living under a rock) he's also an amazing content marketer, speaker, and author. He is also one of my favorite show guests because he's always got fantastic agency growth advice! This time, Jay is here with a lot to say on word-of-mouth advertising as well as what he calls Talk Triggers, which you can use to stand out from the competition.

Jay talked about why agencies should be doing something unique and different. It's a noisy space and it's difficult to stand out among the competition even when you're the expert in your niche.

Instead of simply falling back on your expertise, do something! You have to be proactive in your word-of-mouth, and one way to do that is to take everyday things and do them differently. Putting a unique twist on something ordinary can generate a ton of buzz about your agency.

Jay gave an example of sending your proposal at the bottom of a sheet cake. If you got a proposal at the bottom of a sheet cake, wouldn't you talk about it? That's a perfect example of what Jay calls a talk-trigger.

Jay identified 5 of these talk triggers, which he works with clients to improve. You don't have to use all of these (that may be overkill) but you should attempt to have at least one thing that you do differently than other agencies. Here's Jay's list of his 5 types of talk-triggers.

• Generosity: These are things such as gifts, presents, or anything else that adds free value to your customer's experience. When done, properly gifting can be an amazing talk trigger.
• Attitude: Sometimes wacky behaviors, such as the sheet cake example, can really stand out and make a solid impression. There are a ton of things you can do to set yourself apart from your competition with attitude, as long as it's authentic. You do you! Example: Every time someone asks for more info on your agency, send them a personalized video.
• Responsiveness: People love doing business with people who respect their time. Speedy responsiveness can make a great impression and get people talking about you. Jay gave an example of a New York car repair shop that picks up your car at night (while you're already not using it), fixes it while you sleep, and brings it back in the morning.
• Usefulness: This is all about being extra useful for customers. Example: Does your agency provide written content services? Provide a bonus 500-words once in a while, just to go beyond expectations.
• Empathy: We all know we need empathy, but some agencies go above-and-beyond. Empathy is talkable when it's at the correct dose. Too much feels pushy and too little feels rigid. Example: Call people who signed up for your service and personally thank them! Ask them how they're doing while you're at it.

If you're trying to figure out how to create your own talk triggers and you just can't seem to figure out the best strategy, try this... ask your clients!

Jay recommends sitting down with your clients (new, old, and former) and ask them what they expected at every point in their buyer's journey. Let's take proposals for example. They'll probably say that they expected to get a PDF of your proposal via email (which you better not be doing unless you present it in person first!) Whatever it is they expected, do something different - try the sheet cake thing, maybe? :)

The most important thing is that you do something your customer doesn't expect and that will surprise and delight them.

Jay talked about understanding your clients. Too many agency owners and workers spend the vast majority of their time at their desks. Marketers like to think they know customers better than anyone, but that's usually not the case.

Jay recommends running talk-triggers by your triangle of awesome — which consists of marketings, sales, and service departments.

You want to get ideas flowing in from every direction and collaborate to come up with the best talk-triggers possible. Get those marketers, salesman, and customer service employees in the same room.

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