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

How can you turn your agency into a highly sought-after brand? Today's guest knows how because he's done it for the OxiClean and the George Foreman Grill. In this episode, learn the 5 key strategies to build a brand that gets clients beating down your door.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• How the right positioning can drastically change your business.
• 5 things you can implement right now to build a successful brand.

Today's guest on the show is Rick Cesari of Cesari Media, the agency he founded over 20 years ago. They specialize in building brands that sell products direct to the consumer. Over his career, Rick has worked some amazing brands such as OxiClean, George Foreman Grill, Rug Doctor, and Sonicare to name a few. He's here to share the secrets to building these amazing brands so you can apply them and grow your agency.

"Figure out a good way to position so you're different than everyone else." ~ Rick Cesari

Why You Might Need to Reframe Your Brand Positioning

Have you ever heard of The Fajita Express? No, you haven't. But I'll bet you have heard of the George Foreman Grill.

When Rick was first approached to help with branding it was for grilling product called The Fajita Express. It was a slanted grill so the meat could slide right into taco shells. It didn't sound too groundbreaking to Rick but with his help repositioning, that grill became the George Foreman Grill. As you probably know, it is marketed for its ability to drain grease away from the meat. They've sold over 30 million grills since then!

5 Keys to Building a Better Brand

With over two decades in the direct response business Rick has discovered some consistent themes to building brands. These are easily adaptable from product to service-based agency business.

1- Develop a Unique Selling Proposition

A USP is the foundation of building a better brand. It's the single most important factor clients use when deciding to work with you over your competition. The best type of USP for an agency is a niche or specialization that helps you stand out. When you show expertise in a specific area you develop a reputation for being the best. You will become "the choice" rather than just "a choice."

2- Position to Stand Out

Rick says he tells his clients to sell benefits or results rather than features. In the agency industry that means you should be marketing the ways your agency can serve your clients. Show clients what you can do for them and how you are the trusted advisor who helps achieve their desired results.

3- Deliver More Value

When you are laser focused on particular niche you can drill down and really understand the intricacies of that industry. Then use that understanding to exceed expectations. For example, when Rick's agency was helping OxiClean he says they always sent a larger container than what the customer expected and included free samples of other products. This is a great strategy for growing revenue from your existing client base.

4- Always Listen to Your Clients

Speak to satisfied clients - the people who have already had success working with you - and see what they liked and disliked. Use the positive feedback when crafting your marketing messages, in your new business proposals, etc. When you get input from existing clients you can use that information to understand and then market toward the benefits of working with you.

5- Procure and Use Authentic Testimonials

Today's decision makers want to hear from others in their same boat. Talk to your clients that are getting great results and ask them to share their story as a testimonial. Social proof such as testimonials (particularly video testimonials) will go a long way with your prospects. It's a very powerful message when existing happy clients share their story of success.

Above all else, Rick's best advice is to be unique. You can't be everything to everybody so focus on an industry or segment of the population that you help best.

If you know a ton about your agency but aren't winning all the clients you think you should be, you might be plagued with the curse of knowledge. In this episode, you will learn how you can clarify your message and use it as a competitive advantage. Win more clients when you communicate in a way that makes clients feel educated and helped.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• What is the curse of knowledge?
• How to break the curse of knowledge.
• How to use explanation to separate your agency from the competition.

Today's guest on the show is Lee Lefever founder of Common Craft and Explainer Academy and author of The Art of Explanation. His businesses and his book center around the idea of making explanation a business growth strategy. He's on the show to share ways to clarify your agency's message so you can win more clients... because when you confuse, you lose.

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." ~ Albert Einstein

What is the Curse of Knowledge?

Ever wonder why no one "gets" what you do? Do you get puzzled looks when you describe your agency work in detail? That's the curse of knowledge. It's the theory that the more you know about something the harder it is to understand what it's like not knowing.

You spend all day engrossed in the technical side of the industry, surrounded by people speaking a language very specific to your agency's skill set. However, outside of the agency setting you might continue to use technical jargon that makes other people (like prospective clients) feel confused, overwhelmed, or inferior. It's not intentional but it happens!

Lee compares it talking to a mechanic when you have car trouble. They use technical phrasing to explain the problem but you don't understand most of what they say. You don't want to look stupid by asking questions so you smile and nod... Then, you either trust them and agree to the repairs or shop around to find someone you can understand. That's what your prospective clients are doing when you don't clearly explain how your agency can help them.

Working this way might makes you (and your agency) feel and sound smart but creates a set of problems:

1. It makes clients feel inferior when you talk above their level of understanding.
2. When you water it or simplify too much, it sounds condescending.
3. Your client doesn't want to ask questions for fear of sounding stupid.

How Can You Break the Curse?

The goal is to explain in a such a way that it makes your client feel a sense of familiarity. You can adjust your assumptions on what you think people might know about your business. Lee says you have to avoid getting stuck in a loop where your client doesn't understand and is afraid to ask questions, so you continue to use language they don't understand and they continue to be confused.

What you can do is start using phrases like: "I don't know how much you already know about XYZ…" before you simplify an explanation. Framing the conversation this way allows you to "dumb down" the explanation without sounding condescending.

How to Use Explanation as a Competitive Advantage

There's a difference between "understanding" and "convincing." Understanding is a higher level concept and it's not the same as convincing someone they need your service. Your agency's job is to help your prospects/clients think conceptually and understand why. When they understand how you can help they are more apt to want to buy.

For example, if you're an SEO agency… clients might not care about SEO but they do care about what SEO can do for them.

If you have the curse of knowledge it seems obvious to you why someone should work with you. However, when you have a shift in mindset and break the curse you will win more clients. Take a step back and think about what questions you can answer for your clients before they even ask them. Things like: "Why is this relevant to me?" or "How will this affect me?" Consider the struggles and pain points your clients have, then explain how you can help ease them. People don't buy what they don't understand - so help them understand!

You will stand out from your competition when your agency tackles the WHY for more directly. Win more clients when you help them understand why your agency's work is important instead of just convincing them it's something they need.

3 Questions Your Agency Website Must Answer

Your website is the central hub of everything you do. Your homepage is where your prospects go first and how they'll compare you against other agencies. STOP worrying about what other agencies sites look like and make sure yours answers these 3 questions:

1. Who do you help?
2. What do you offer?
3. How do you help?

Too many agency websites skip answering #1 and assume their services are for everyone. Be a specialist and announce it on your website. Use language that is familiar to your clients and phrases that are specific to their industry. You will win more business when your prospects realize you "get" them and the nuances of their industry.

Save time & win more work!

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful. Check out Qwilr or head to JasonSwenk.com/proposalsoftware. Sign up now for FREE and get 50% your first three months using the code smart agency while upgrading.

Are you trying to land bigger clients for your agency? It's hard to communicate value when a lot your agency work invisible to clients. In this episode, discover how you can build better relationships and win bigger agency clients by stepping up your communication game.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• 4 Ways to communicate to win bigger clients.
• How to avoid feeling like an imposter when you land big clients.

Dylan Baskind is today's guest on the show. He's here to share ways agencies can step up their game to land bigger clients. Dylan is the CEO and Co-founder of Qwilr, a software solution for for creating attractive proposals and sales documents. He's on the show to share ways to notch up your client services and win bigger agency clients.

Dylan spent 8 years in the digital consultancy space growing his business from small, local clients to larger, multinational ones. He found the one consistent pain point was always the time suck of creating impressive proposals. So he created Qwilr as a solution for replacing aggrevating, time consuming cut and paste PDF or Word doc proposals/presentations with interactive and trackable web pages.

4 Ways to Use Communication to Win Bigger Agency Clients

It all comes down to better communication with your existing clients. Dylan says when you put more effort into your existing clients you will start getting noticed by bigger ones. Disclaimer: you cannot rely solely on referrals because they aren't scalable! However, if you're giving excellent service to existing clients you will build a reputation… and sometimes small fish know dolphins, and some dolphins know whales.

1. Communicate beyond expectations. Be concise, prompt and polite. When a client asks 3 questions in an email, respond to all 3. Don't sit on emails too long, be prompt by replying in a timely manner. And keep a friendly but professional tone in all communication.

2. Consider the client's user experience. Digital agencies spend so much time considering their clients' customers UX that they sometimes forget about their own users... the client. Little things can really wow your clients in big ways. For example, I've seen amazing results just by sending my new new clients a personalized video (using a tool like Covideo).

3. Demonstrate value. A lot of agency work is invisible to the client. However, if you outline the invisible tasks and correlate them to results, the client can connect the dots and have a better appreciation for your work.

4. Eliminate the mystery. Clients tend to view agency's as a magic box where they put money in, wait awhile and hopefully, eventually get results. Use reporting tools to communicate analytics regularly. Clients can get a better understanding of what and why you do what you do when the see regular updates of the results.

How to Avoid Feeling Like an Imposter

It's totally normal to feel like an imposter the first time you take on bigger project or bigger client than you're accustomed to. You feel like you've got to fake it until you make it and just pray no one figures you out.

If you're at the point where you're ready to jump a rung on the ladder it's time to step up the quality your communications. You can and bigger clients and increase your agency's perceived value. Your agency's reputation rests on your confidence and ability - you DO NOT need to fake it :) Avoid feeling like an imposter by leading conversations and presentations in a more professional manner. Consider your prospects experience and knock it out of the park from day one.

Save time & win more work

Replace your proposals, quotes and presentations with interactive + mobile-friendly webpages that plug into your systems and are as easy to build and reuse as they are beautiful. Check out Qwilr or head to JasonSwenk.com/proposalsoftware. Sign up now for FREE and get 50% your first three months using the code smartagency while upgrading.

Grow as a Business

I hope you found this information helpful in finding the best ways to land those bigger agency clients and achieve the business growth you aspire to.

If you are looking for advice on what you need to do as an agency owner or learn how to fast track growth for your agency, I can help.

On my website, I have a bank of tips, tricks and insights that as an agency owner, you might find helpful. Head on over to the blog section of my website where you can find everything you need covering a wide variety of topics. If videos are more your thing and you find the more beneficial, you can check out the videos on my Youtube channel!

Do you feel like your agency spends more time being an order taker than providing insight and value to your clients? If so - listen up. It's time to show your clients how much value you bring their business. You can increase revenue by measuring your client's success and finding new opportunities for them. Data reporting done right can be your secret weapon to growing your agency.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• How agencies can retain their clients.
• What KPI's agencies should measure in their data reporting for clients.
• How to use data reporting to grow agency business.
• Steps to acquiring and growing retainers.

Today's guest is Peter Caputa CEO at Databox, a SaaS tool to simplifying analytics and reporting for agencies. He joined Databox after serving as the VP of Sales at Hubspot, so in this interview he brings us a ton of knowledge on retaining and growing clients.

How Agencies Can Retain Clients

It's all about reporting. And we're not talking about just going through the motions of reporting. More like, actual face time with the client to present them with an analysis of metrics and provide insightful value.

Most agencies start out a new client relationship by going over their analytics reports but after a few months it turns into a mundane task, the client loses interest and no one pays much attention to it... That's where agencies are losing out!

Pete says it's super important to start every client relationship by selecting the metrics that are important to the client and show them a return on their investment. He suggests agencies also benchmark where the client is at the beginning of the engagement and measure changes that are resulting from your work. That's how you'll prove your agency's worth and value.

Data Reporting: The KPI's Agencies Should Measure for Clients

Most agencies are pulling data from several sources. Then, they do a cut and paste of data into their own slides or template, which is a major time suck. (And a big reason why most agencies just "go through the motions" when it comes to reporting!) Databox offers a unique solution to that problem by integrating with CRMs and marketing automation tools to pull and format data from several sources all into one place. KPI's most agencies are pulling for clients are: traffic, leads, customer counts, revenue, and CRM stages.

How Can You Use Data to Up-Sell Existing Clients?

Don't just pull the data - analyze it. Good agencies pull and present data every month. Really great agencies go a level deeper and show the impact of their activity on the data. Report the effectiveness of blog and social posts, Adwords and landing pages to set your agency apart from others. The key is to analyze the data, find holes or areas for growth. Use that information as a springboard to pitch areas for improvement. Turn monthly reporting from a chore into an up-sell opportunity.

Pete says you do have to be comfortable having the "it didn't work" conversation. Don't be afraid of it - agencies don't get fired for campaigns that don't work; they get fired for not catching it or not owning up to it.

It happens. Sometimes email campaigns don't get any clicks, blog posts don't rank high, etc. An agency should always have a pulse on what's happening and know about issues before the client. Be truthful and have integrity. If the report isn't good, the client probably already knows it and just needs to hear it from you. Glossing over bad news only makes matters worse in the long run. It's your job to report the good and the bad, the innovate a solution to overcome the bad.

[clickToTweet tweet="Don't just sit idle with blog or social posts for your clients. Use innovative technology to add value!" quote="Don't just sit idle with blog or social posts for your clients. Use innovative technology to add value!"]

How to Prove Your Agency's Value to a Client

Too many agencies don't know the results they're achieving because they aren't benchmarking from the beginning. Clients care about one thing - their bottom line. So, the agency has the burden of proof and must to tie activity to results. Pete says agencies need to ask the tough questions from the start, such as:

• "How much is a lead worth?"
• "What's the average deal size?"
• "How many deals are you getting per month?"
• "What are you trying to achieve? Why?"

To skirt around some the tough questions, you can use an inbound marketing calculator. But it's SO important to get a baseline at the beginning of an engagement so you can document improvements. Equally important is frequent conversations with the client about results. Agencies are good at selling visions but not always good at revisiting the topic. Prove your agency's value by showing them a direct correlation to their ROI.

Steps to Acquiring and Growing Retainers

1. At the beginning of an engagement, meet with the client and agree on the key metrics to measure and monitor success.
2. Get a benchmark on the key data from the beginning and measure success against it.
3. Meet with the client regularly to present changes in key metrics and suggest areas of opportunity.
4. Introduce new ways to improve client metrics and stand out among the "me too" agencies….

Marketing technology has come a long way in a very short period of time. It is incredibly sophisticated and as an agency, you can become indispensable black box agency by deploying your knowledge and use of information. Using software like Databox to pull, analyze and interpret data is a step in that direction of improving the data reporting of your agency.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

What can you do to stand out from your competition? How can you avoid costly business mistakes that make it harder to grow and scale your agency? In this episode, you'll get some great advice on this and more from an amazing pro who's owned three successful agencies over the past two decades.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• How the agency space has evolved over time.
• How to avoid costly business mistakes in your agency.
• Why specializing is more profitable for agencies.
• What is 48in48? So get this!

Today's guest is Jeff Hilimire who also happened to be my guest on episode #2 of The Smart Agency Master Class more than three years ago! With nearly 20 years of experience owning 3 different agencies, he says his worst mistakes were made over the past 3 years. He's back on the show this time to tell us how you can avoid those mistakes to successfully grow, scale and enjoy your agency.

Jeff started his first agency in 1998 and sold it 10 years later. He stayed with the acquiring agency until it sold again another 5 years later. In 2014 Jeff started Dragon Army, a mobile gaming and app studio. A couple years later, he added an agency component to it. Today, Jeff and his team of 25 employees work with some amazing brands such as Coca-Cola, Red Bull and The Home Depot.

How Has the Agency Space Changed Over the Years?

There's been an evolution in the industry. Full service agencies just aren't a thing anymore (except the really huge ones who truly can offer a full range of services). Due to differing client needs and new technologies, there's a larger demand for specialty shops. Most brands are moving away from having one agency manage everything.

The real opportunity lies innovation. I always tell my clients to make decisions based on the future, not just what's happening today. That means always trying new things and not being afraid of making a mistake.

As Wayne Gretzky put it... "skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been."

How to Avoid Costly Business Mistakes

Jeff has made plenty of mistakes over the years, but the 3 biggest came within the last 3 years owning Dragon Army. It all boils down to clarity and having a long term vision for your agency… In hindsight, that's what was lacking and lead to these big business mistakes:

Mistake #1 - Upon entering a new industry, Jeff didn't do enough research. If he could do it all over again he would have started the agency side at the same time as the studio. His prior experience is with the agency model and he knows how to operate and scale an agency. Jeff estimates this decision set Dragon Army back about 2 years.

Mistake #2 - Dragon Army took on a project (a new mobile game) that took 3X longer than he expected. This means all their resources were tied into one huge engagement. Looking back, Jeff realizes he didn't do his due diligence on what would be involved in completing the project and how much it would tie up his team.

Mistake #3 - Jeff acquired a partner agency as a means to grow but didn't dig enough into their financial and operational systems. He says he trusted his gut without the purchase with a business mindset.

What's the common theme here? It's lack of clarity and vision. Jeff's advice - take your time to and look at decisions from all angles. Entrepreneurs can be impulsive (i.e. like chasing the next shiny red object!) but it's important to hold back a little, research a ton and understand the impact your big decisions have on the long term vision and goals.

And, once you have a vision the values, principles and beliefs fall right into place - consider Zappos.com. They operationalize their core values and use them to set company culture.

Why Specializing is More Profitable

Dragon Army is super specialized and it's working. Jeff says the best way to separate yourself from the other "me too" agencies is to be the very best at one thing. Know your strength and only sell that service. A lot of agencies are so afraid of turning off potential clients or turning down a potential sale they end up saying yes to things that aren't in their wheelhouse.

If you're saying 'yes' to the wrong things, you won't have time for the right ones. And if you don't have time for the right things - you can't grow or scale your agency.

Can you use your professional skills to do good for the community?

In addition to his agency, Jeff is also the co-founder of 48in48. The premise of the organization is building 48 non-profit websites in 48 hours in a hack-athon style event. In 2015 the team of volunteers built 48 sites in 48 hours in Atlanta. In 2017 it's grown to 4 U.S. cities and by 2018 it'll be an international event! And, the ultimate goal is to eventually growing to 48 cities worldwide, 48 websites in 48 hours.

It literally takes thousands of designers, developers, content writers and other marketing professionals. If you're interested in learning more, sponsoring or volunteering check out 48in48.org.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Become a Better Agency Owner

Business mistakes can be costly to not only your profits but your reputation. I hope this insight into Jeff's experience as well as my own helps you avoid making these business mistakes within your agency moving forward. However, you should also be evaluating other areas of weakness within your agency. No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can give advice on from what to do when you want to speed up sales processes, ways to increase your business profit, or how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show you the different phases of growth you will experience, how placing a process for performance-based pricing can be the best pricing strategy for your business and the three questions you need to ask yourself to sell more!

Want more? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Are you overwhelmed with tasks that keep you in the weeds instead of working on growing your agency? Are you paying salaried team to do things an hourly assistant could accomplish? STOP IT! Learn how you can increase productivity and save boatloads of time and resources. Plus, learn how to help your sales team be more effective so you can grow.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Ways to save time and increase productivity.
• How to help your sales team be more effective.
• How to get unstuck from doing everything yourself.

Today's guest on the show is Jeff J. Hunter, founder, and Chief Freedom Officer at VA Staffer, the outsourcing agency he created to help businesses build virtual teams. With a background in IT and virtual project management he knows the ins and outs of getting projects done virtually. He's here to give us strategies on saving time and ways to help salespeople be more effective.

How to Save Time and Increase Productivity

Agencies are always trying to land more clients, right? However, there always comes a point where they can't take on more new business because they're too busy servicing the clients they already have.

Jeff's a big proponent of "don't hire until it hurts" so his advice is to make more time for servicing clients and growing your business by understanding what you do and how it impacts your business. He compared it to Pareto's 80/20 Principle from 1865 ~ the trivial many 80% and the vital few 20%.

However 150 years later, in a technology age, Jeff believes it's more of a 90/10 split. He advises his clients to list out all the tasks and activities they do. Then decide which are the trivial many and which are the vital few. The vital few are the ones making the most impact on the business. For most entrepreneurs, Jeff finds 90% of what they do can be delegated while they focus on the 10% which impacts their business.

Similarly, I tell my clients to make a list of everything they do and then rank each item as to how much it impacts the agency - low, medium, or high impact. This is how you can find the major time sucks (check out my productivity worksheet here). and then work on becoming more productive with daily tasks and increase productivity overall. I find that most will usually tackle the low-impact items first because they offer immediate gratification and make us feel good in the short term.

The hard stuff usually seems to get procrastinated, yet that's the stuff that makes the most impact on business growth.

How to Make Your Sales Team More Effective

A solid outbound strategy is one of the three sales channels you need to grow your agency. (The other two are inbound sales and strategic partnerships, by the way.) But are your or your sales team spinning their wheels on mining the information and making connections? That's a major waste of time and resources. Why spend your own time or pay the sales team top dollar to do the leg work, when you could use a $7-$8 per hour VA?

Instead, let a VA do the mining. They can do the research, make contact and set up introductions. This frees you or your team up for setting sales strategies and building relationships.

Jeff says knowing what not to outsource is just as important as knowing what you should outsource. And relationship building is definitely not something you can farm out.

How to Get Unstuck from Doing Everything

Stop doing the things you suck at by eliminating, delegating or automating. Try doing the 90/10 exercise above outline above or check out Jeff's webinar at 9010Life.com. Jeff says he guarantees you'll find that 10% of what you do is actually the stuff you should focus on.

Also, a lot of the things you're stuck doing because you're the only one who knows how. So, start documenting what you do and how you do it. Use a tool like Screencast or TinyTake to record the what and how you do things. Because, the first step in delegating what you do is teaching others how to do it.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Improving as a Digital Agency Owner

When you increase productivity, you will be surprised at what you can achieve for your digital agency and it will help you improve as an agency owner. Is this the only struggle you are facing at the minute? No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

Through my experience running my own digital agency and helping other digital agency owners, there are many topics I can offer guidance on whether you are an established agency facing struggles to new agencies unsure of what the different phases of growth you will experience will look like.

Growing your agency team can also be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it's time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team to perfecting your business strategy with creating a process for performance-based pricing and how to keep your big-name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my Youtube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Hopefully you already know your agency employees are your biggest asset. But, is your agency "employee-centric"? Do you have the right people in place to find, lead and retain an awesome team? In this episode we'll hear from a 15-year agency owner about why and how he brought in an HR Director and an agency President to accelerate agency growth.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• How to know when it's time to hire an HR Director.
• Why you might want to bring on an Agency President.
• When and how to get help growing your agency.

Today we have our first ever three-peat guest on the show! Founder and CEO of BrightWave Marketing, Simms Jenkins is making his third appearance and this time he's sharing the strategies he has used to make sure his team remains his #1 most valuable asset. (You can find his first and second interviews here.)

Since the first couple times he was on the show in 2014, Simms says BrightWave has continued to innovate in the email marketing arena. His agency business has doubled and he's authored two books on the subject. Today, BrightWave is working with huge brands like Chick-Fil-A, Panera Bread, CarMax and Mattress Firm. He's the first to admit their success is largely due to having and keeping the right people on his team, plus adding a few key people in his executive team.

When to Hire an HR Director

Simms says the real key to his agency's success is the team and company culture. Those were the driving forces behind bringing in someone dedicated to attracting, engaging, and retaining agency talent. He hired for an HR position when his team reached about 25 and it's been a great investment. In my case, I hired an HR person when my agency got to 50 employees but in hindsight, we'd have done better to have one as we reached 15 employees.

"We hired at a key turning point in the business. We needed to position [our agency] as an employer and make it a great workplace." ~ Simms Jenkins

Most agencies are completely client-focused as they climb the growth ladder. However, they forget their biggest asset is their human capital. An HR position is particularly important when your agency is in a growth phase. In most cases, human resource functions fall onto the owner and/or office manager which is time suck. And aside from saving the agency owner's time and energy, having a dedicated HR person creates a better experience for candidates and new hires, leaving a favorable impression and smoother transition.

Besides, as an agency grows it's important to have a process for finding, hiring, engaging with, and retaining talent. Even though it's a non-billable position, this role is huge for agency growth.

Why Hire an Agency President?

Simms didn't set out looking to add an agency president, it just sort of made sense. He had hired a consultant to counterbalance some of his own leadership weaknesses. After 6 months of consultancy, it was a natural fit with the team and culture, so Simms brought him on permanently.

Simms remains the CEO, focused on external factors such as: developing strategy, positioning and sales. His agency president is focused on internal processes like delivery, operations and creative. He says they collaborate very well together and having clear, defined roles helps the team understand the individual roles.

The Main Roles of an Agency CEO

CEO Simms says his role as CEO is threefold:

1. Set the strategic vision for the agency. Also, communicate the vision, goals and values to the team.
2. Provide resources to execute the vision. This includes providing the necessary leadership, skills sets and tools to get the job done.
3. Understand agency financials. Provide a stable business environment by understanding where they're at and where they're headed financially, as well as identify potential obstacles in achieving financial goals.

I couldn't agree more! In fact, I've found there are actually just 5 roles for an agency owner to transition into an agency CEO.

Simms' final piece of advice for all agency owners is to know what you don't know. He says it's important to have some sort of trusted advisor to help you make decisions and get your agency to the next level. Whether it's a Board of Directors, business coach, or mastermind group he stresses that every agency owner needs help knowing how to get where they're going. And, if you need help, I might know a guy :)

Ready to Discover the Best Agency Strategies Working Today?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

How can you protect yourself and your clients from brand copycats? I recently had some major issues with a copycat and had to take action FAST in order to protect my business and brand. In this episode, learn what you can do to proactively defend your agency and clients' intellectual property.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• What is and what isn't intellectual property?
• Why register your agency's brand assets?
• Tools and tips to keep your assets protected.

Today's guest is Cheryl Hodgson, founder of Hodgson Legal and BrandAide.com. She's an attorney, advisor, author and expert on everything related to brand protection. Cheryl specializes in intellectual property and brand assets. And, she shares advice protecting your and your clients' brand assets. Cheryl touches on everything from copyrights and trademarks to goods/service names and domain names.

What Is and What Isn't Intellectual Property?

Cheryl says often the term "Intellectual Property" is misunderstood. Legally, this term only applies to assets in five specific areas:

1. Brand Names: This is one of the most important assets a business owns. It's a unique identifier with a long life and requires protection. Cheryl says most businesses don't put enough time into developing names. They settle on it with little thought. But Cheryl advises seeing what's already out there to avoid conflicts before you settle on a brand or business name.
2. Copyright: Any artistic expression of an idea is copyright protectable and includes things such as programs and content. Without the registering you have rights but no remedy.
3. Patents: Things like inventions and software are patentable. Patents are exclusive rights granted for a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
4. Confidential Information: Any private or classified business information can be intellectual property - things like lists, non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc. that should not be shared without your permission.
5. Domain Names: In most cases, a web address is more important than a physical address. Domain names are a business asset and need protection.

Why Register Your Agency's Brand Assets?

The biggest reason to register is because it adds value to your agency. No matter whether you're considering selling in the near future or the long distant future, owning your intellectual property increases your agency's value. That's what buyers care about most - sales, revenue and assets.

Another great reason to register is to protect your turf. Cheryl shared a story about a former client who failed to register his brand and lost out big time! He started AmazonNetworks.com back in the early 90's on the cusp of the internet boom. A short time later, a business named Amazon Book Sellers was founded. Initially there was no conflict but as Amazon Book Sellers grew they decided to register their brand. As you can imagine, eventually AmazonNetworks.com was sued and forced out of business.

[clickToTweet tweet="Why register your brand and services? Without a trademark, your brand identity becomes diluted." quote="Why register your brand and services? Without a trademark, your brand identity becomes diluted."]

Tools and Tips to Protect Your Agency

Your brand assets and intellectual property are your unique identifiers. When it becomes popular the value becomes diluted and it no longer distinguishes your goods or services from others. Registering and monitoring use of your brand names protects your brand's identity. When naming goods or services, do your due diligence to see what else is already out there:

• Search the United States Patent and Trademark Office database and find what is already registered.
• Monitor Google Alerts with brand/product names or terms specific to your brand.

If you discover a copycat (like I did) of your registered assets, there's a few different courses of action you can consider:

• Simple, careless plagiarism can start with a direct phone call or email to the offender.
• Handle blatantly egregious or fraudulent activity with a letter from an attorney.

Can You Force Someone to Release a Domain Name?

This is always a tricky topic. Cheryl says a domain name on it's own is just like your street address... You can't do about anything if someone is just parked on it. However if someone is using a name you own for commercial use, you do have rights and protection. Likewise if you have a successful product or service, competitors or related businesses will try to duplicate what you're doing by using a similar domain name with a different extension (.net, .org, etc.)

A Domain Dispute Resolution is a cost effective way to recapture your rights and avoid expensive court proceedings. Cheryl suggests speaking to a law professional or checking out the National Arbitration Forum or WIPO.

#1 Biggest Branding Mistake Agencies Are Making

There's one major mistake Cheryl sees over and over - a lot of marketing agencies and brands do not use trademarks correctly in their marketing materials. In fact, Cheryl says it's so common that she has created a PDF guide to help you. You can grab Cheryl's Marketing Professionals Guide to Brand Use, her Brand Protection Assessment and a FREE chapter of her book by clicking here.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Building Your Digital Agency Better

Protecting your intellectual property is just one important aspect of creating the best business possible, you need to look at your agency in the bigger picture to find your strong areas as well as weak spots and then think of how you can fix them. No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

Through my experience running my own digital agency and helping other digital agency owners, there are many topics I can offer guidance on whether you are an established agency facing struggles to new agencies unsure of what the different phases of growth you will experience will look like.

Growing your agency team can also be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it's time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team to perfecting your business strategy with creating a process for performance-based pricing and how to keep your big-name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Leadership is seriously hard work. There's a ton of pressure, juggling and personal sacrifice. Don't let burnout get the best of you! Learn the signs of a major leadership crash before it happens and how to be a better agency leader by knowing how to stop self-sabotaging.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• What is a leadership crash?
• How to identify the signs of an impending leadership crash.
• How to be the leader your agency needs.

Today's guest is Stephen Mansfield, a leadership consultant to CEO's, celebrities and politicians in crisis. He is also a speaker and author; and his specialty is helping with the recovery of leadership crashes. After years of handling things like major corporation CEO's affairs and politician's misuse of power, he has identified 10 signs of a pending leadership crash that will help us stop self-sabotaging traits. Stephen's on the show to describe some of these signs in a proactive attempt to help us identify and avoid our own leadership crash.

What is a leadership crash?

A leadership crash, in Stephen's words, is a high profile mistake - an affair, embezzlement, misuse of authority or credentials, etc. - that sabotages the career and life of someone in a leadership role.

Stop Self-Sabotaging: What are signs of a leadership crash?

1. Being out of season. A "season" is a predetermined, self-imposed period of time. Continuing to work in the same capacity outside of your season sets you up for a crash. Stephen's examples of a season include: a retirement age, a political term, a period of time living abroad, etc. He says to abide by your commitment to your season.
2. Choosing isolation. Friends know you best, so right before a major crash people tend to isolate themselves and avoid the issue. Isolation may be due to shame, insecurity, or embarrassment. If you find you're starting to isolate, figure out why and prevent your own crash.
3. Harboring an unresolved episode of bitterness. We all have issues from our past that have shaped who we are today. However, harboring unresolved issues with intense bitterness can lead to a serious crash. Holding onto issues only breeds resentment and anger, so Stephen's advice is to reconcile it and learn how to move beyond it.
4. Forgetting fun. The pressures of leadership can be soul crushing and mind numbing. It's important to sprinkle some fun within your intense, hectic schedule. Stephen says boredom causes most crashes (particularly by men). So make time for vacations, adventures, sports or activities you love in order to build in some fun.
5. Evading confrontation. Those who do not engage in low level confrontations end usually primed for a huge blow out in the form of a leadership crash. According to Stephen, many crashes are a result of no one speaking up when early signs indicate an issue.
6. Serving artificial images. Social media can play a big role in your perceived image. All it takes is one exaggerated social post or embellished article and the bar gets set so high, you can't live up to it. The result is tons of pressure that lead to disastrous decisions causing a leadership crash.
7. Loss of poetry. Leadership starts as a vision but usually turns into being about processes. The loss of vision, passion and poetry is what leads to a crash. An uninspired leader cannot inspire his/her team. Stephen's advice is to stay engaged in your business; remember your passion and your "why".

Read more about the 10 Signs of a Leadership Crash in Stephen's ebook for on Amazon (it's just $4).

How To Be the Best Agency Leader

"Great leadership is a connection between vision and possibilities with the practical processes to see those possibilities fulfilled." ~ Stephen Mansfield

Your main job as your agency's leader is to inspire your team. There's a big difference between inspiring and motivating... An inspired team doesn't need motivation :) Stephen's best example of a great leader is Winston Churchill in WWII. During the war, Churchill first rallied his troops around his vision for winning it and then showed them how it could be done by embodying the vision and enabling them to achieve it.

Inspiring your team and communicating vision is one of the 5 roles of an agency CEO. The key is not to inadvertently de-inspire them. One bad decision can destroy years of building inspiration.

[clickToTweet tweet="A leader is someone who is not only showing what can be done but inspiring and enabling people to do it." quote="A leader is someone who is not only showing what can be done but inspiring and enabling people to do it. ~ Stephen Mansfield"]

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

Growing Your Business When You Stop Self-Sabotaging

When you can identify the signs of a leadership crash, you will be able to stop self-sabotaging behavior and improve as a digital agency owner. In order to build as an agency owner and grow your business, you need to be able to recognize other issues within your agency that needs your attention.

Look for weak spots in your business and then think of how you can fix them. No matter what challenges your agency is facing, I can help you get through all of it.

There are many topics I can offer guidance from the different phases of growth you will experience to how you can build authority for your agency.

Growing your agency can be a major struggle for any agency owner and I can show from knowing when it's time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team, creating a process for performance-based pricing which can be the best pricing strategy for your business and learning how to keep your big name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.

Do you know what you need to do to stay relevant and significant to your clients? Let's face it, marketing is an ever-changing industry. And in the agency world, it's survival of the fittest. So we must adapt or die! Here's a great story about how one agency transitioned their business model in order to continue to thrive. Think about Blockbuster video - they didn't adapt to the needs of the industry and are now extinct. Don't be the next Blockbuster -adapt or die.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Why it's important to adapt in the agency space.
• 3 Keys to an agency transformation strategy.
• Why and how you can use vlogging to generate leads.

Elizabeth Sosnow is Managing Partner at Bliss Integrated Communications, a 50 person agency in New York City. She's on the show today to tell us how Bliss transitioned from PR to an Integrated Marketing agency in order to stay relevant in a changing industry. Plus, she shares some great tips on vlogging.

Why It's Adapt or Die in the Agency Space

Bliss was founded over 40 years ago as a PR agency with a specialization in health care, financial and professional services. Elizabeth says, though, in recent years they faced challenges during the collapse of the traditional news media industry. They quickly released it they needed to make a change in order to adapt to the needs of the industry. That's when Bliss reinvented themselves from traditional PR to Integrated Marketing.

Their game plan was to use their in-depth knowledge and insights in their niche to pivot the agency. If they'd been generalists, they'd never have the expertise to fall back on. Consider this just another reason why your agency should have a niche :)

3 Keys to an Agency Transformation:

It's hard to change - especially when you're already an expert at what you do. But, along with the decision to transition the agency from PR to Integrated Marketing, came the realization that Bliss was entering a new playing field.

Elizabeth says the theme of the transition was "know what you don't know." Meaning, they weren't going to bulls*t themselves, their clients/prospects, or competitors into thinking they could do things they couldn't do. Instead, she says agency leaders did these 3 things:

1. Hired an outside source to educate their team on everything from operations to pricing.
2. Worked hard and put in additional non-revenue generating hours for agency growth.
3. Understand their limitations and concentrate on keeping control of the top level marketing.

How a Vlog Can Be an Agency Growth Strategy

People don't want to read anymore. That's why I've had a lot of guests on the show talking about the importance of video marketing and live streaming videos. But what about vlogging? It's a smart content vehicle that isn't being used much. I just started my vlog - you can check it out here. Elizabeth recently started one too, so she and I chatted about why and how.

Why vlog? Well, people like to consume information in multiple ways, all at once. Think about it - do you usually watch TV while also on your tablet or smartphone? So we have to reach and garner awareness when and how we can, right? This interview alone can be watched in video form, listened to in podcast form or read as a blog post so we are able to reach people in a variety of formats.

The goal of a vlog is to give your audience a authentic and genuine glimpse into your world. Elizabeth compares it to a lesson she learned as a high school actor. She says actors are translators for the audience trying aiming to tell a story and garner a reaction. The same is true of a vlog - if it's done well you'll get attention or a reaction from your audience.

How to Structure an Agency Vlog

Very few agencies are vlogging. In fact, the only one I know of who's doing it right is Gary Vaynerchuck and his show, DailyVee. Gary vlogs to promote his personal brand as a growth strategy for his agency, VaynerMedia.

If you're working on building your personal brand, it might mean footage of your daily activities and what makes you, you. Like my new vlog here. If you're using a vlog strictly to promote your business, it might mean more of a candid and unrehearsed snippet full of business tips, like the one Elizabeth does for Bliss. Her vlog, Marketing Espresso Shots, is a 90-second bi-weekly, "quick jolt" of integrated marketing tips.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency Faster?

Most agency owners struggle to scale. We've developed an amazing mastermind to guide you through the journey of implementing the right systems so you can scale your agency — instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.

We do this by bringing together successful agency leaders to share strategies, offer advice, and reveal what's working (and what's not working) in their agency. The truth is, whatever you want to accomplish in life, nothing will help you go further, faster than getting the right adviser in the context of motivated peers. If you want to GROW fast and smart, Digital Agency Elite mastermind will help.

What's Next for Your Digital Agency?

No matter what your agency specializes in or the services you offer, you must have the ability to adapt as the industry and technology change.

Through my experience running my own digital agency and helping other digital agency owners, there are many topics I can offer guidance on whether you are an established agency facing struggles to new agencies unsure of what the different phases of growth you will experience will look like.

As you continue to grow your agency team, I can show you how to recognize when it's time to hire a sales manager or expand your sales team to perfect your business strategy by creating a process for performance-based pricing and how to keep your big-name clients happy.

Are you ready to create something cool and want more advice? Learn about my career and different experiences as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics.

Check out more from my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel. There you will find advice from myself and other agency experts.