The Agency Growth Podcast

**Cold Open (Cody eats a banana)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 1:45)

A lot of people getting into the agency space are realizing that we're in a time of pretty heavy market saturation, so we wanted to address it and what our feelings are on it.

For starters, we don't really believe in paying too much attention to market saturation when dealing with a recurring good/service. It isn't difficult to stand out and separate yourself from the competition.

In this episode, we cover three main topics about market saturation:

• Market saturation can mean that it's a healthy industry to be in -- many people are finding success in it and you can too
• Separate yourself by focusing on a niche within a niche
• Simply being better than your competition may be all you need to separate yourself
• People who are just jumping in and doing it without thinking too much about market saturation are ahead of you

What's your take on market saturation?

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Bananas aren't that great for you... but also the optimal banana is around 30% brown)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 8:11**

We've been seeing a lot of businesses, not just agency owners, turning to paid ads in order to acquire clients in the early stages of their business. Although it can be a fast way to acquire clients, most businesses in the early stages don't have the courage or foresight to limit the number of clients they accept.

In Cody's words, they pour gasoline on a business that's already on fire.

We see it in our clients who pause marketing services because they can't handle the leads we're delivering and we see it in new agency owners trying to get their first clients but don't even know what their onboarding process actually looks like.

Congrats, you paid money to watch your business burn and stand in the middle of it.

In this episode, we give some practical advice when it comes to deciding to run paid ads as well as what some "budget neutral" alternatives are to acquiring clients for no cost as well as at a rate in which you can handle.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (How much would you buy an agency for that did $10k MRR?)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 12:04**

We asked the community what they wanted to hear more about and client retention was the top subject. We've covered it a couple of times on this podcast, specifically in episodes 005, 008, and 020, but we've noticed a few things that we didn't cover in those episodes that we see people lacking in the agency community.

In this episode, we wanted to focus on 4 key things to make sure you're doing in order to maximize client retention:

1. Make sure you're working with the right clients (pre-qualify) - people may want to work with you... but do you want to work with them?
2. Offer a successful service (You can't sell something vague and you have to have a process for whatever you sell)
3. Set clear expectations and deliver on them
4. Accept that on an infinite timeline, all of your clients will leave you

Though these topics may seem obvious, we jump into specific examples that go further into detail on what we mean about each of these.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (We're getting negative reviews and we're sad)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 7:38**

Something we've seen new digital marketers struggle with is whether they should create an agency or focus their services around their personal brand and we wanted to talk about the pros and cons of each.

Depending on your timeline, expertise, and goals, one or the other may be best for you. Maybe you want to do both, that's okay too.

But some things to consider when it comes to each are:

• If you're not truly an expert, an agency may be best for you. In other words, if you're not capable of delivering the results without contractors or media buyers, then stick with an agency model.
• If you are an expert and don't want to deal with managing a team, expectations, or deadlines, a personal brand may be the best course.
• If you want a decent amount of money faster vs a larger amount of money over time, a personal brand may be better.

When Jake started Evergrow, he actively avoided creating a personal brand at first because he wanted to have the ability to sell the company in the future. You can't do that in a personal brand -- you have to work until you can't.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Pre-podcast technical difficulties / Cody talks about how his stay in Japan is going)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 18:17**

In this special episode, we wanted to make sure that we didn't let a full year of creating, editing, and publishing this podcast go unnoticed. Although we do this for fun, a lot goes into making it, especially when there is no current monetary gain for us.

Jake describes this episode as a "throwaway" early in the episode as we mainly recap the last 365 days and how much has changed. However, there are a few golden nuggets uncovered throughout the way such as:

• A lot can happen in one year... Like seriously. A lot. Don't get discouraged.
• Your successes in year 1 are huge! But compared to year 5, they may seem like nothing. And your year 5 successes will seem like nothing in year 10.

We also talk about how much the podcast has grown since May of 2022, what trajectory we are on for our agency, Evergrow, and accomplishments and updates in our personal lives.

Thank you all so much for following us on our journey and stopping in to say hi on the website from time to time!

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (We discuss what we think about getting manicures as men)** **Skip the Cold Open at 9:40**

Our 52nd episode! That means we've been publishing a new episode every, single Friday for a full year! Thank you for continuing to listen and support our podcast!

In this episode, we cover a brief topic that Jake saw while scrolling through Facebook. Someone had brought up that they think the marketing industry should be regulated to prevent people entering it who do not know what they're doing and potentially damage business reputations, website rankings, or mismanaging their money regarding paid ads.

Jake asks Cody what he thinks about regulating the marketing industry similar to how the hair or accounting industries are regulated with government-issued licenses and certifications.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Note: Starting at 41:15, there is some distorted audio for a few minutes. This podcast was recorded in person and Cody's mic sucks. This does pass and return to normal.** **Cold Open (Cody gives Jake a familiar mug for his birthday / Jake talks about the Iowa license plate scandal / Buzzfeed News closes down)** **Skip the Cold Open at 12:00** AI isn't a new topic but it's time we talk about it and how it will affect the agency space. Some agency owners think it will cause agencies to close down or make it difficult to find new clients while others see opportunity in it with scalability and executing jobs they can't perform themselves without the need for hiring. In this episode, we talk about how our agency uses AI as well as what agency business models will be negatively affected and if you fall into that category.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

Lately, within the last year, there has been a surge of new, self-proclaimed "agency" or "SMMA" owners. You might even be one of them -- but with that surge of new, ambitious agency owners comes a surge of other people capitalizing on it and taking money from naive people looking to finally make something of themselves. These people are the Mastermind, YouTube, and Facebook gurus. 99.99999% of them never actually had a successful agency that did over $10k in MRR but they've found it lucrative to pretend they did and charge people hundreds and thousands to be part of their cult. They're selling shovels during a gold rush -- yet they have no idea where to dig but pretend they do. In this episode, Cody and Jake talk about why Masterminds are generally a waste of money and the information you learn from there, you can learn for free on YouTube, in your community, or even directly from this podcast. Cody even likens Mastermind groups to paying for business friends, which is sad. After listening to this episode, do you disagree with us? We'd love to hear what your thoughts on Mastermind groups are whether you've never been a part of one or you've been a part of one for a long time. Head over to everbrospodcast(.com) and tell us what you think!

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (What's the maximum number of days you can eat leftover pizza?)**

**Skip the Cold Open at 5:45**

Lately, we've been getting a lot of requests from listeners and people in groups asking if there is an opportunity to work for us for free so they can gain experience. Although the idea of free labor sounds appealing, it really isn't from our perspective, and in this episode, we'll tell you why.

When you hire someone, whether it's a paid position or an unpaid internship, you have to dedicate resources to get that person trained and up to speed. When someone wants to work for free to gain experience, it means they're not going to stick around for the long haul. Who would? They're not getting paid.

We take time to invest in our team. We do it because our team makes us stronger and better forever. When you hire someone, you can expect it to take a year before you get real value out of that team member -- how long does someone really expect to work for free?

If you liked this episode or any other episode -- head over to your podcast platform of choice and leave us a review! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this content.

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u

**Cold Open (Jake almost dies at a paintball tournament)** **Skip the Cold Open at 13:00** 1 in 5 businesses fails within the first 5 years. We think that number is much higher in the digital agency space. We're rounding off our 4th year with Evergrow and seeing continual 100% year-over-year growth with no business debt. But when we look around, we see new (and even older) agencies doing really dumb things that are killing their businesses. The gurus out there will tell you that you can hire an appointment setter and closer on a strict commission basis and even do the same for the marketing execution by outsourcing it to the Philippines. Although, yes, you can do this -- it's a surefire way to kill your business within that first 5 years. If your entire sales process is outsourced, you have no brand identity. If your entire marketing execution is outsourced, you have no quality control and no value prop. You'll get away with a few bucks in the first year. A respectable wage as a solo operator, but eventually, the business will die -- and sooner than you think. If you liked this podcast, leave us a review on your favorite platform. It helps us get found and keeps us motivated to keep producing quality, free content. As always, you can head over to our website at everbrospodcast(.com) (I'm leaving the link out to see if this episode gets discovered more by doing so -- sorry, it's the SEO in me).

----------------------------------

Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

----------------------------------

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.

----------------------------------

Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:

YouTube: @agencyu

Twitter/X: @theagency_u

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencyu

Facebook: facebook.com/theagencyu

Instagram: @theagencyu

Reddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundley

TikTok: @agency.u