The Progressive Agency Podcast

Bill Black has been in the pension administration business for over 40 years and helps clients work toward their retirement objectives. He works with both individual and small business owners in the areas of benefits, retirement planning, and business planning. Bill and his team have the ability to offer a wide range of financial products (tax-sheltered plans, mutual funds) to help his clients meet their retirement needs.

Helping employees save for retirement is getting a little easier this year. In this episode, Bill shares some updates to tax codes that give business owners more tax credits for employee savings plans. With these updates, business owners will either create qualified plans of their own or participate in a state-sponsored plan.

But it's important to note that state plans come with some baggage that might be burdensome for employers who don't already have their employees enrolled in a plan. We'll go over what the new tax credits are, the difference between state plans and employer plans, and the rules and penalties associated with them.

Bill later explains the differences between SIMPLE plans and 401k plans and the benefits of enrolling in these types of savings plans for both employees and employers. Join us to get up to date on these new tax credits so your business can unlock new tax savings this year.

What you will learn in this episode:

• The new credits available to business owners in 2024

• Taking advantage of the retroactive rule for plans started in 2024

• States that already have qualified plans and the rules around them

• Penalties associated with not participating in, or creating your own savings plans for employees

• Converting to a different plan if you already have one

• Deductions with SIMPLE plans vs. 401(k) plans

• Is automatic enrollment actually automatic?

• How to create your own plan and grandfather in current employees

• Who these plans work best for

Resources:

• Website (personal):https://www.whbco.com/

• Website (business): www.pensionspecialist.net

• LinkedIn (Personal):https://www.linkedin.com/in/whblack/

• Toll-free number: 888-412-4120

Email: [email protected]

Susan Baier is the Founder of Audience Audit Inc., which helps marketing agencies and thought leaders build ROI and reputation with research. She has been a marketing strategist for nearly 40 years. In her spare time (ha ha) she goes camping, knits, and enjoys a good bourbon.

In this episode, Susan discussed findings from two recent research studies her firm conducted. The first, called the Agency Edge study, surveyed agency clients to understand their attitudes and preferences when working with agencies. The second, the Agency Audit study, surveyed agency leaders themselves to identify the key challenges and success factors they are experiencing.

From the Agency Audit study, Susan shared that they identified five distinct mindsets or segments among agencies. The two most successful segments were the "Thought Leaders" who prioritize building an authentic thought leadership reputation and focus on a differentiated niche, and the "Loyalty Builders" who have implemented specific programs to drive exceptional client loyalty and retention.

Susan shares advice for agencies aiming to become thought leaders, emphasizing the need for new, genuinely helpful content delivered consistently, focusing that content on a specific audience niche, and utilizing tactics like proprietary research studies to establish expertise. She highlighted the significant business benefits thought leadership can unlock.

Tune in to this week's episode to learn more about how authenticity and thought leadership for agency owners can be a key component to driving client loyalty and attracting new business with ease.

• More about agency owners and agency clients from the Agency Edge and Agency Audit research studies
• What the Agency Audit research showed makes successful agencies unbeatable
• The 5 types of agency mindsets
• Why thought leaders are thriving in their niches
• How having a reputation for client loyalty can supersede a niche
• Thought leadership and niching go hand in hand
• Thought leadership sells itself to clients
• Where to start to become a thought leadership focused agency

• Website: https://audienceaudit.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbaieraz/

For over 25 years, Stephen Woessner has been in the trenches of agency new business strategy working alongside agencies and consultants — teaching them how to build their authority within the markets they serve, grow their audience, and fill their sales pipeline with a steady stream of right-fit clients so they can win new business.

Stephen founded Predictive ROI in 2009 and remains its CEO and co-owner, along with his business partner, Erik Jensen. Stephen hosts the "Onward Nation" and "Sell with Authority" podcasts with listeners in over 140 countries and over 1,000 episodes. His agency new business and marketing insights have been featured in major media, and he's the bestselling author of five books, including his latest entitled, "Sell With Authority."

In this episode of the Progressive Agency Podcast, I interview Stephen about the importance of proactive tax planning for agency owners to maximize deductions and savings. Stephen emphasizes how proper tax planning and financial literacy force agency owners to think differently about money and the business.

We discuss some confusing aspects of running an agency, especially around financial operations like cash flow, overhead costs, AP, and AR. Stephen shares how it took his agency years to implement an effective system for managing invoices and finances. Now they utilize solutions like Bill.com and consistently check in with their systems and processes.

Stephen later shares his "Big 3" framework for saving time — identifying the 3 priority activities that drive both personal joy and business growth. Everything else gets deprioritized or delegated elsewhere.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Reframing thinking around money and taxes

• Assumptions about tax deductions that cost agency owners tens of thousands of dollars

• Growing operations is a huge part of growing a business

• Financial education is critical for agency owners

• Time-saving tactics for agency owners

• Finding experts who care about the work they do for the benefit of others

Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com

• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library

• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group

• Stephen's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

• Order your free paperback or Kindle copy of our Book: Sell with Authority

For 30+ years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies, and then started his own (which he still owns and runs) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more.

In this week's episode, Drew gets right down to business with me to discuss the hardships agencies faced in 2023 and how the ones that still came out on top overcame such a challenging year. During our conversation, he shared some interesting findings from his agency's 2023 Agency Edge Research study, including the #1 reason a client fires an agency and why agencies that focus on growing their existing book of business consistently outperform agencies that don't.

We'll also get into the weeds about training AEs to grow existing clients as part of their jobs, knowing when it's time to reduce staff, and how to let clients know you're open to connecting with them.

Those who know Drew know he's a fountain of helpful information for agency owners, so don't miss out on this illuminating conversation.

• The key difference in agencies that won last year vs. those that lost
• Why agencies must be pitching new ideas to clients in order to grow
• The #1 reason a client fires an agency
• Retraining AEs to focus on growing the agency's existing book of business
• Helping clients solve their problems before someone else does
• Setting up client growth and retention programs in 2024
• Making staffing decisions by the numbers, not by your gut

• Website: https://agencymanagementinstitute.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: http://www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan
• Email: [email protected]

Craig S. Cody is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Tax Coach, bestselling author, and business owner with over 22 years of experience helping agencies keep more of what they make. Craig is also the host of The Progressive Agency Podcast. Prior to his current work, Craig spent seventeen years with the NYPD, where he retired as a Lieutenant in September 2000.

Craig Cody & Company focuses on proactive tax planning, small agency accounting, and tax preparation, but what really excites the team is helping agencies spot mistakes and uncover missed opportunities that cost them thousands in taxes.

In this solocast episode, Craig welcomes everyone back to the official relaunch of the Progressive Agency Podcast. He breaks down the new Corporate Transparency Act and what that means for agency owners. He explains what it is, how it will be enforced, deadlines, penalties, and who needs to file under this new act. If you're a small to medium-sized agency owner, this episode will highlight some important upcoming changes for your business that you don't want to miss.

• What is the Corporate Transparency Act?
• How this new act will affect small- to medium-sized agencies
• 3 things for agency owners to know under this new act
• Who is exempt from filing?
• How agency owners can file correctly and what needs to be reported
• Upcoming deadlines and notifying FinCEN of any changes to your agency

• Website: www.craigcodyandcompany.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

Craig S. Cody is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Tax Coach, bestselling author, and business owner with over 22 years of experience helping agencies keep more of what they make. Craig is also the host of The Progressive Agency Podcast. Prior to his current work, Craig spent seventeen years with the NYPD, where he retired as a Lieutenant in September 2000.

Craig Cody & Company focuses on proactive tax planning, small agency accounting, and tax preparation, but what really excites the team is helping agencies spot mistakes and uncover missed opportunities that cost them thousands in taxes.

In this special episode of The Progressive Agency Podcast, host Craig Cody invites listeners to request a free copy of his book featuring great tips and information on how to save thousands of dollars on taxes.

• Craig shares the top 5 things you should be doing to keep more money in your pocket.
• Ways to reach out to Craig with any questions or to set up a strategy session.

• Website: www.craigcodyandcompany.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

Sharon Toerek, Principal of Toerek Law, focuses her law practice on helping professionals in the advertising, marketing, and creative industries monetize their intellectual capital and manage the legal risks of their work. She joins me on the Progressive Agency podcast to describe how she helps agencies protect their intellectual property.

Hear insights about:

• Why it's vital agencies negotiate good, solid, strong contracts with their clients
• How Toerek Law counsels agencies on IP protection issues
• The ever-evolving landscape of data privacy regulations, why they continue to change, and how they impact social media marketing
• When growing agencies need to take advice on protecting their IP
• Why intellectual property is the underpinning of everything that an agency does – and the importance of investing in good advice
• Why Sharon advises that agencies put restrictive covenants in place in their handbooks
• The difference between non-solicitation and non-compete covenants and their practical applications
• Hot buttons that agency owners should be aware of, including the double-edged sword of being a specialist agency

A huge pain point for agencies who do new business by pitching for contracts is how to protect their work, concepts, or ideas during a relationship's new business development phase. Sharon Toerek explains how Toerek Law helps agencies understand the legal consequences of the campaigns that they're working on for their clients, including counseling on marketing regulations or highlighting data privacy issues in social media influencer campaigns.

• Sharon explains the importance of protecting your intellectual property (IP) as a triangle. At one point in the triangle, agencies have their content, which is subject to copyright protection; at the next point sits brand, which is a source identifier protectable by trademarks, and at the third point are transactions, or how agencies convey the rights to the work they do for clients. On the show, Sharon shares how her firm helps clients navigate these three issues.

Intellectual property is the underpinning of everything that an agency does. It's where they make their revenue, and it's their most critical asset. Sharon shares why it's well worth investing in good advice on how to protect your IP and why you will end up farther along financially if you invest the time and energy and protecting and understanding the principles of IP protection and embedding them in your agency's culture.

• • • Website: www.legalandcreative.com
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharontoerek/
    • Twitter: https://twitter.com/SharonToerek

Sharon Toerek is the Principal of Toerek Law, where she focuses her law practice on helping professionals in the advertising, marketing, and creative industries monetize their intellectual capital and manage the legal risks of their work.

Sharon provides proactive, strategic counsel to marketing agencies on legal issues they continually face in their work, including agency-brand contracts, social media, content marketing legal compliance, and trademark and copyright protection.

Sharon also created the Legal + Creative Agency Protection System, a legal toolkit for marketing agencies. In 2018, she launched The Innovative Agency, a podcast on innovation for marketing agency leaders.

I'm honored to have Dan Englander with me this week on the Progressive Agency podcast. Dan is the CEO and Founder of Sales Schema and host of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast. He joins me to share the details of growing an agency and how to ensure you hire the right people into your organization. During our conversation, Dan also discusses how to balance personalizing critical touchpoints and scaling to ensure consistent and reliable growth. Hear insights about:

• How Dan got out from under the sales-client-service shuffle
• Why you should reframe your thinking around new hires
• The most important financial lesson Dan has learned over the last few years
• Why you have to integrate hiring new people into all of your processes
• The two different skill sets you need to make successful hires
• The most common financial mistakes that agency owners make and how to avoid them
• Two key strategies that agencies can leverage to build and grow their business

Bad hires are very costly. My guest this week on the Progressive Agency Podcast, Dan Englander, highlights the importance of learning to hire staff effectively, and shares why the 'hire fast, fire fast' philosophy just doesn't work. He offers advice on how to reframe your thinking when it comes to hiring new talent, and how that will ultimately save your agency money in the long run.

Dan describes his early experiences in the agency space, how he got caught in the sales-client-service shuffle, the lessons he learned, and why he started Sales Schema. He highlights his agency's evolution from cold outreach to personalizing their service where it really matters. We also discuss the specifics of why there's more power in the squad and how fractional teams allow businesses to leverage a vast range of expertise, particularly in a tight labor market.

Dan shares with us how he made sense of cash flow in his business by doing a version of the profit first model and why he has found it helpful. If you put tax and profit away first, it makes it much simpler to judge cash flow. Listen to the episode to learn why Dan believes you have to be aware of the impact of the economy on your cash flow.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danenglander/
• Relationship Sales at Scale: How to Find Your Virtual Tribe and Reliably Grow Your Professional Service Business: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XRD71P3

Dan Englander is the CEO and Founder of Sales Schema, a fractional new business team for marketing agencies and B2B service companies, and he hosts The Digital Agency Growth Podcast. He's also the author of Relationship Sales At Scale and Mastering Account Management. Previously Dan was the first employee Head of New Business at the animation studio IdeaRocket. He lives in New York, and in his spare time, he enjoys hurting himself via Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

This week on the Progressive Agency podcast, I welcome Jane Pfeiffer to the show. She helps amplify nonprofit organizations and the impact that they make through meaningful marketing solutions. During our conversation, Jane shares how to avoid common financial downfalls that agency owners make. Hear insights about:

• How the things that companies don't know cost them financially
• Why the concept of "ignorance is not bliss" is a crucial financial lesson to learn
• What are three ways that new agency owners can avoid major financial mistakes
• The three metrics Jane finds most beneficial in her business
• Why it's important to run worst-case scenarios for your agency financials
• How creating separate accounts for client expenses and business revenue helps manage cashflow

The things you don't know in your agency are likely costing you the most money. My guest this week on the Progressive Agency Podcast, Jane Pfeiffer explains how the concept of "ignorance is not bliss" has been the most crucial financial lesson she's had to learn. Jane is the founder of Fieldtrip, where she helps amplify nonprofit organizations and the impact that they make through meaningful marketing solutions.

As an agency owner, it is always on you if something goes wrong. It's important to not leave all of the financial responsibility in an employee's hands. You must have the willingness to sit down vulnerably with other business owners and put the numbers on the table. During our conversation, Jane explains the three things that new agency owners can do to avoid common agency pitfalls.

It's easy for an agency to believe that they have a large amount of cash flow when they constantly see money in their bank account. Unfortunately, if you're not paying close attention you could mistake your client's expense payments for your cash flow. Listen to the episode to learn why Jane recommends separating bank accounts for client expenses and agency profits.

• Website: wearefieldtrip.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janepfeiffer/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/fieldtrip/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janewpfeiffer/

Jane challenges and subverts expectations. Every single day. Leading by example, Jane guides the Fieldtrip team to develop sound, strategic work imbued with curiosity and significance. A previous research marketing specialist working in television, Jane started her agency with one client, Ashley HomeStore. As she built marketing strategies for Ashley HomeStore she grew new accounts and staff along the way. In her agency's second decade, she has rebranded the agency, ready to take on the next chapter with the same vigor and tenacity that has helped Fieldtrip grow to this point. She is ferociously dedicated to ensuring everyone in and around the agency knows exactly where they're headed and how they'll get there. Jane says her biggest accomplishment is trusting her team to build an agency bigger than anything she could have dreamed of. But her employees know the truth of it, as she quotes Yoda — "Do or do not. There is no try." Jane does.

If you're searching for ways to lower your taxable income, learn how the pass-through entity tax could help. Listen to this episode to hear insights about:

• How the 2018 tax cuts impacted personal tax deductions
• What the pass-through entity tax is
• Why would business owners want to take advantage of the pass-through entity tax
• Which states have already enacted the pass-through entity tax
• Which states have proposed the pass-through entity tax, and will likely pass it
• How does the pass-through entity tax lower your taxable income

• The 12 Biggest Tax Mistakes That Cost Agency Owners Thousands:https://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Mistakes-Agency-Owners-Thousands/dp/B088B6DPG9/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1639661450&refinements=p_27%3ACraig+Cody&s=books&sr=1-1

• Website: www.craigcodyandcompany.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

Craig Cody is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Tax Coach™, business owner, and the host of The Progressive Dentist Podcast and The Progressive Agency Owner Podcast. Prior to his current work, Craig spent seventeen years with the NYPD, where he retired as a Lieutenant in September 2000. Craig is an expert in helping his clients legally reduce their tax liabilities and keep more of their money. Through his podcast, Craig helps dentists grow their practices through smart financial decisions and through financial education of the kind that isn't offered in dental school.