The Agency Leadership Podcast with Gini Dietrich and Chip Griffin

The communications world has been abuzz with discussion about the impact that AI-generated content may have on their roles.

Some agency owners are concerned about tools like ChatGPT taking away revenue from their businesses, while others see those same services as an opportunity to increase efficiency and profitability.

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the questions that they have been hearing from agency leaders and share some of their insights on where the technology stands today — and what the future may hold.

[read the transcript]

The post ALP 176: Is AI writing an agency’s friend or foe? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

How much do you really know about your clients? Not the organization and its goals, but the people you actually work with on a daily basis.

In this episode, the co-hosts discuss Gini’s recent article with 11 questions you should ask your clients so that you know how they work and how you can best engage with them.

The post ALP 175: Get to Know Your Clients Better appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It can be very tempting to say, “I want my agency to be just like [fill in the blank].”

We all have companies and entrepreneurs that we look up to, but that doesn’t mean that we should aspire to be just like them.

The post ALP 173: Stop trying to be like other agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

What should agencies advise clients with regard to Twitter today? It has obviously been a very turbulent couple of weeks since Elon Musk took over, but what does that mean for communicators?

Chip and Gini explore this question that they have been hearing from many agency leaders in recent days. They emphasize the need to understand what is right for individual clients and their target audiences rather than substituting our own personal points of view.

The post ALP 172: Agencies and Twitter in 2022 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It’s great to have goals and objectives — both for your agency and for your team members. But many agency leaders don’t set and implement them correctly.

Chip and Gini explain how bad KPIs can be worse than no KPIs, as well as what you can do to make sure that your goals are actually reasonable.

The post ALP 171: Avoid misusing agency KPIs appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As small agencies grow, individual team members usually begin to take on direct reports — often for the first time in their careers.

These newly-minted managers need mentorship and support to excel. Owners need to make sure that they set aside time and resources to help these talented individuals develop the skills that they need.

The post ALP 170: Helping your agency’s new managers appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Have you ever considered expanding to other countries, either by hiring help or signing up clients outside your current borders?

Chip and Gini share some of their experiences in working internationally as an agency, including things that you should consider before you take the leap and the benefits of doing so.

The post ALP 169: Taking your agency global appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Many small agencies experience revenue peaks and valleys and wonder how they can break out of the “feast or famine” cycle.

In this episode, Chip and Gini explore the real cause of the revenue roller-coaster and what agency owners can (and should) do about it.

The co-hosts share some of their own experiences and the advice they received years ago — and why it still applies today.

[read the transcript]

The post ALP 168: The Truth Behind Agency Feast-or-Famine appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

If you have listened to Chip and Gini’s advice in the past, you are carefully tracking your team’s time to understand how much it costs you to serve your clients.

One of the things that you might discover is that you’re spending a lot of time on internal meetings and conversations — something that you may not have considered when you set the initial price for the engagement.

What do you do now? A recent question from an agency owner wondered if they would need to double a client’s retainer to capture the hidden costs.

Chip and Gini discuss how to handle this challenge for existing accounts, as well as how to look at internal staff time for client work generally.

[read the transcript]

The post ALP 167: Charging clients for internal agency staff time appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Does your agency need a fractional CFO, COO, or head of HR?

That’s the question that Chip and Gini explore in this week’s episode — along with follow-up questions of what to look for in these outside advisors.

These fractional roles have become popular positioning tactics, including for agencies themselves who may position their offering as a Fractional CMO service. But is it more than marketing-speak? And what is the right way to get the help that you need as an agency leader?

[read the transcript]

The post ALP 165: Fractional C-level help for agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.