The Agency Growth Podcast

We have a bit more fun during this episode and occasionally go down rabbit holes of rants regarding how there can be a misconception about how easy and laid-back remote work is.

Working remotely for yourself and with your team has its perks but it also has its drawbacks as well. On one hand, you can celebrate things like being able to work wherever you want and sometimes (whenever you want). On the other hand, it's difficult to delineate what is and isn't work if you don't have a physical place you do it at. Additionally, you and your team have to be disciplined. It's easy to get distracted when no one is watching over your shoulder and you intentionally put yourself in distracting situations.

In this episode, Cody goes deeper into how people you hire may like the idea of working remotely, but once they realize what it entails, they'll find out it's not for them and leave.

He also rants about how the term "cultural fit" seems to just be an unintentional war on blue-collar jobs and discusses how awkward the first time answering a business phone call for him was.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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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.

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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

A recession is the hot topic today as we head into the end of Q3 looking at two consecutively "down" quarters. When recessions hit, people and businesses get tighter with their money and non-essential services are cut. As a marketing agency, we're often seen as a "non-essential" service (which is odd to us), but as much as we don't want it to be, it's the truth.

However, not all businesses and industries are affected by recessions -- some even boom. Both the industry we market for and our business saw huge growth spurts during COVID. Although not a recession, we still saw the same money tightening and job displacement you typically see in one.

Having said that, we felt like this was an important topic to cover for new and experienced agency owners who are wondering what a recession is going to mean for their business.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The pros and cons of a recession (yes, there are pros for some people and businesses)
• What industries are and aren't affected
• How you can recession-proof your agency such as:

1. Creating low-cost services to draw-in revenue from scrappier clients
2. Creating and defining services that are needed (administrative) rather than sought after (ROI-focused)
3. Picking a recession-proof agency
4. Segmenting & protecting your money
5. Continuing to stay lean, not because you're in a recession, but because it's just smart in general

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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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.

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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

You're going to face competition no matter the niche or the industry you're in. It's inevitable. But competition isn't something you should be afraid of for a few reasons:

1. There are plenty of fish out there
2. Competition can be friendly and even rewarding
3. People don't like your competition
4. People have also never heard of your competition (no matter how big they seem to be)

What Cody and Jake have found is that they really just simply don't believe in competition. Worrying about "competitors" only raises your anxiety and causes you to copy them. You'll never be better than them if you just copy them.

Also, Cody gives tips on wrist exercises and used to drive a crappy Buick named Linda.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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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

There's a belief out there that in order to be successful in your entrepreneurial endeavors, you have to quit your full-time job and dedicate your life to your business. This just isn't true.

Often times people equate the first level of success in an entrepreneur's lifecycle to when the income from the side hustle replaces the income of their day job. Although that is a great milestone, it isn't what defines your first level of entrepreneurial success.

With the right systems and processes in place, your side hustle can equal the income from your day job without you having to leave your day job and have it only increase from there while putting in only a fraction of the time. All the benefits of scaling your own thing with the security and stability of a full-time job. 

This is especially helpful and more appealing to those of us who have families to take care of. Sometimes leaps are stupid. Sometimes they're lucky. But in our opinion, leaps are rarely smart -- it just pays to have luck on your side if you do need to make a leap rather than a calculated step.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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

Every new agency owner we run into likes to show off their fancy, expensive software whether it's a reporting tool, CRM, or bid manager. It seems like everyone thinks the next piece of software they buy is going to push their agency to the next level when in reality, it's most likely going to keep you from going to that next level.

We grew our agency to the efficient machine it is without using one paid SEO or ads tool and as of the recording and posting of this episode, we still don't.

If you're considering purchasing new software, ask yourself if it's something you really need. Is your business struggling because you don't have something like it? Or is it struggling for another reason?

We dive into the tools we used when we first started, the ones agencies we used to work at used and how wasteful they were, as well as some of the software and tools we use now in our agency.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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

The #1 problem with the marketing and consulting industry is fake gurus and "Master Classes". Nearly all of the people who host these or have some kind of agency blueprint course are fake and can't actually perform the marketing they're preaching for clients -- so they turn to teach you instead. For the most part, this is an episode where we take a dump on people who sell agency and marketing courses for over $500 and call a few of them out by name.

It's worth it to note, Jake has actually taken one of these courses (and regrets it) while Cody has never. We don't only speak from an outsider's perspective looking in but also from firsthand experience.

If you don't like what we have to say in this episode... you're probably not going to like owning a business. Real success takes real work and there are no shortcuts and that's what people are trying to get with these online Master Classes and blueprints.

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Our recommended agency tools:

everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/

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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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

If you chase relationships in your agency or consultancy, the money will follow. But if you chase money first, you risk destroying current and future relationships which becomes self-defeating in the pursuit of money.

We give specific examples of when we cared more about preserving a relationship than adding a new client or taking a business' money that has had positive effects on our business. That includes nurturing and maintaining relationships over money in the following areas:

• Clients
• Prospects
• Industry Partners
• Employees
• Business Partners
• Vendors & Publications

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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

**Disclaimer**

As we become more comfortable with our podcast layout, we make more jokes. Some jokes may be offensive to some, but we do want to iterate that these are simply jokes (specifically regarding the joke around 34m 30s mark).

When you first start out, you'll likely try to acquire and maintain as many clients as possible regardless of how demanding or awful they are. We uncover what it's really like when you sacrifice more money for clients that are out of scope, not a good fit, and are downright rude as well as how to tell when you should consider letting a client go or not take that client on in the first place.

Taking on clients that could mean trouble in the future can cost your business money, valuable employees, and other clients. When you have demanding clients, they suck your time away from other clients and other aspects of your business start hurting.

Know the signs of when a client may not be a good fit early on and learn how and when to say no to an existing client.

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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

As you start and grow your agency, you'll deal with client criticism. You can either let it annoy you or let it make you better. Criticism can be rooted in miscommunication, poor delivery, or even your client simply having a bad day.

We've dealt with our fair share of client criticism in the past and felt like it would be good for us to share how we deal with different types of criticism as well as how to spot the differences.

All of the criticism we've received for our agency services has made us better. It's caused us to:

• Redefined our services
• Set better expectations with the client
• Provide simple value that wasn't there before

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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

Your services oftentimes include values that aren't measurable. Reporting, assurance, maintenance, etc. But sometimes clients don't understand that. If they're equating the price they're paying to only one aspect of the services you're offering, you can have an issue on your hands with your client's happiness.

In this episode, we'll go over a few ways we got our clients to understand the value they got by using our agency's services in more than just our marketing efforts. It can start with simply setting the right expectations and end with communicating your values in a way that they understand.

This is one of the key things you can focus on when figuring out how to reduce client churn and keep people and businesses as clients longer.

Clearly stating and communicating your value can also prevent your competitors from swooping in and stealing your existing clients.

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.

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

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