The Progressive Agency Podcast

Employee lives in another state? Expert Craig Cody explains the complex tax and compliance issues when hiring remote employees. Hear insights about:

• How hiring out-of-state employees and the increasing prevalence of remote work can impact your taxes and cause compliance issues you need to know about
• Why the first thing you'll need to do is register with your employee's home state for withholding tax and potentially unemployment tax
• Why compliance requirements may vary from state to state, and why there may be various types of insurance you'll need to have depending on the state
• Why you should also research what types of leave coverage you may be required to have, and why an experienced CPA or a trusted payroll company can help
• Why more often than not, you'll also need to register in your employee's home state as a "foreign corporation"
• Why most states will require a minimum tax amount you'll have to pay, depending on your organization's entity type
• How each state uses its own unique formula to determine how much of your income you'll need to allocate to that state
• Why many businesses "flew under the compliance radar" in the past, and why the pandemic and growth of remote work is likely to result in increased compliance scrutiny
• How hiring out-of-state employees may create personal filing responsibility for you in the employee's home state

With the global pandemic, more and more employees are working remotely. When you have an employee that is working in a different state, it can create some very important tax compliance issues that you need to be aware of. In this week's episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, I go over some of these concerns and explain key concepts that often differ from state-to-state.

If you hire an employee that resides in a different state from the home state of your business, you'll need to register with that employee's state for the purposes of withholding tax, and possibly even unemployment tax. You may be required to have various forms of insurance as well. Most states will have a minimum tax you'll need to pay, and each state's requirements for payment vary.

Working closely with an experienced CPA or a payroll company can help you navigate these requirements and ensure that you're compliant with your employee's home state tax rules. Though in the past, many businesses failed to take these steps and managed to fly under the radar, the increase in remote work due to the global pandemic means that many states are beginning to crack down on non-compliant businesses. Doing the necessary work to ensure that you're meeting the requirements when an employee lives in another state can save you a huge headache down the road.

If you'd like to learn more about out-of-state tax and compliance issues, please feel free to reach out to me. And as always, please visit my Progressive Agency podcast archive at https://craigcodyandcompany.com/agency-podcast/ for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

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• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.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.

Real estate cash flow tips from master investor Chris Prefontaine. Terms real estate deals can be a powerful way for agency owners to start investing. Hear insights about:

• How Chris first got involved in real estate in 1991, and how he reinvented himself and his business model after the real estate crash of 2008
• Why it is important to learn from people who have navigated real challenges and survived (and thrived) through them
• What the real estate "terms" deals are, how it differs from other forms of real estate investing, and how it can help you build long-term wealth
• How Chris has designed his strategies to be the ideal cash flow stream regardless of what the real estate market looks like
• How Chris's model creates three distinct "paydays" over the course of a deal, and what kinds of profits Chris and his students typically make from their deals
• Why the real secret to finding success with Chris's real estate investing methods is to come in serious, committed, and prepared to commit for 36 months
• Why real estate terms deals don't require huge amounts of money to get started, and why Chris suggests you choose an investing niche and then learn from the right teacher

Investing your money is crucial for growing your wealth and creating real monthly cash flow, and real estate can potentially serve as a powerful vehicle for growing your portfolio. However, it's crucial to learn from someone who has truly thrived through every challenge. Chris Prefontaine is a master real estate investor and coach who teaches people how to use "terms" real estate investing to create generational wealth for themselves and their families. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Chris shares how his "terms" niche works, how it creates three separate "paydays" per deal, and how his methods have been designed to be safe and reliable…no matter how chaotic the real estate market becomes.

No matter what sort of investing you're interested in doing or what new skills you want to learn, Chris says it is crucial to learn from someone who has been through tough times and weathered them. Chris himself got started in real estate investing in 1991, and the real estate market collapse and Great Recession of 2008 hit his business hard.

Rather than give up, Chris took what he learned from these challenges and modified his systems and processes to become much more resilient, no matter what the larger real estate market was doing. In going through the challenges of the Great Recession, Chris was able to learn and grow and become an even stronger business leader and coach. That's why Chris believes that learning from someone who has survived their own challenges is much more beneficial than learning from someone who has never had to navigate hard times.

Investing in the real estate market doesn't have to be overwhelming when you learn from an established coach like Chris Prefontaine, and adding real estate to your investment portfolio can be a powerful investment in yourself and your agency. Not only are you helping safeguard against disaster by adding an outside source of income independent of your business, you can use the cash flow your portfolio creates to further invest in your agency, add new team members, and accelerate the growth of your business.

If you'd like to learn more about Chris Prefontaine, his family team, his coaching and his unique "three paydays per deal" real estate investing strategies, you can visit his website at www.SmartRealEstateCoach.com.

And as always, please visit me at https://craigcodyandcompany.com/agency-podcast/ for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

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

• Free Webinar: www.smartrealestatecoach.com/webinar
• Free Strategy Call with Chris's Family Team: www.smartrealestatecoach.com/action
• Free Book: www.freesrecbook.com
• Get a free chapter of Chris's newly revised book "Real Estate On Your Terms": www.smartrealestatecoach.com/thriving
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/smartrealestatecoach
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisprefontaine
• Twitter: @SmartRECoach

Chris Prefontaine is the best-selling author of Real Estate on Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash or Credit. He's also the founder of SmartRealEstateCoach.com and the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast.

Chris has been in real estate for over 30 years. His experience ranges from constructing new homes in the 1990s and owning a Realty Executive Franchise to running his own investments (commercial & residential) and coaching clients throughout North America.

After the crash of 2008, Chris reengineered his entire business to weather all storms and economic cycles. Understanding these challenges, he helps students navigate the constantly changing real estate waters.

Today, Chris runs his own buying and selling businesses with his family team, which purchases 2-5 properties monthly, so they're in the trenches every single week. They also help their Associates and students do the exact same thing all across North America, working together on another 25-30 properties every month.

Business time management tips from special guest Elizabeth Sutherland can help you and your team get more done in less time…and with less headache. Hear insights about:

• How Elizabeth and her business partner merged their competing agencies to create Sutherland Weston
• What sets Sutherland Weston apart from its competitors, and how understanding Maine and the communities they serve help them stand out in the market
• Why watching the organization's macro and micro finances at all times proved vital for their growth, and what business time management tips have made the most difference
• What common financial mistakes agency owners often make when they're growing their businesses, and why Elizabeth believes it's crucial to think broadly and with bold vision
• Why it is crucial to be willing to take risks as a business owner, as long as you're focusing on the right risks
• How Sutherland Weston prides themselves on being a "one-stop shop" full-service agency that doesn't need to outsource work very often
• How the outbreak of the global pandemic has impacted Sutherland Weston, and what key pivots and transitions the organization made to navigate the challenges
• What business time management tips and strategies Elizabeth uses to accomplish more during her day that help her move the needle for her business
• Why effective time management is a crucial skill to develop, regardless of what industry you're operating in

Elizabeth Sutherland is the CEO and Brand Strategy Director of Maine-based marketing agency Sutherland Weston. In merging and growing her agency, Elizabeth has learned many important skills and strategies that have helped her excel in her role, including business time management tips that have allowed Elizabeth and her team to get more done and really differentiate themselves from their competitors throughout Maine.

No matter what kind of agency you run or what industry you operate in, time management is a crucial business skill that you must develop to be a successful leader. Especially in today's highly competitive and ever-shifting market, time management is one of the crucial ingredients you need to be able to swiftly adapt your business to overcome its challenges, especially in the age of pandemic.

One of the biggest business time management tips Elizabeth shared during our conversation is the importance of focusing on the right priorities. It can be very easy to get distracted by the little things and lose sight of the big picture. As Elizabeth explained, her organization at one point had a bookkeeper who was extremely focused on tracking and managing all of the small office expenses, down to how many paperclips the team was going through. However, the bookkeeper was spending so much time on the little expenses that she wasn't getting all of the billing done. She lost track of the big picture stuff by wasting too much time on less important priorities… and this in turn impacted the overall success of the agency.

One of the key strategies Elizabeth employs is that she takes time out each week to make a fresh list of major priorities. It isn't a simple "to-do" list but rather a high-level view of her week and where she can best spend her limited time. At the end of each evening, Elizabeth writes down the three most important things she needs to accomplish the next day, and the next morning she works hard to ensure that those three key priorities are accomplished before noon. This way, Elizabeth is preventing herself from losing track of the things that matter amidst the many small things that are trying to shift her attention away throughout the day.

I hope you enjoy this week's episode of the Progressive Agency podcast with Elizabeth Sutherland. Her business time management tips and thoughts on vision and risk-taking are sure to help you in your own work. If you'd like to learn more about Elizabeth Sutherland and her team at Sutherland Weston, please visit their website.

And as always, please visit me at https://craigcodyandcompany.com/agency-podcast/ for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website: www.sutherlandweston.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/esutherland/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/sutherland-weston
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SutherlandWestonInc/
• Twitter: @SWMC_Inc

Elizabeth Sutherland, APR is the Sutherland of Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications. Originally from Maine's largest and most northern county, Aroostook (affectionately known as "The County"), after college Elizabeth worked for the United States Senate, the American Red Cross, and Northern Light Health in increasingly complex public relations and marketing roles before launching out to create her own firm in 2003. She is a graduate of the Bangor Region Leadership Institute and winner of the Mobilize Maine Momentum award in 2014, the 2016 G. Clifton Eames Leadership Award and the Girl Scouts of Maine 2017 Juliette Award for Leadership. She serves on several non-profit boards and in leadership roles for a variety of local and state-wide organizations including the International Women's Forum, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, United Way of Eastern Maine, the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors' Board, and the Advisory Board for Bangor's Cross Insurance Center.

Elizabeth is an experienced marketing professional with expertise in campaign strategy development, budgeting, research, and measurement. She is also an avid reader, writer, runner, mother of two teenage boys and wife to a radio-talk-show host.

As a Maine entrepreneur, Elizabeth directly understands the challenges many Maine-based businesses face and has made it her mission to help grow Maine's economy whenever she can.

Sutherland Weston is a Maine-based integrated marketing and advertising firm. With a staff of 17, Sutherland Weston strives to provide strategic and creative approaches to their clients' toughest business issues.

Elizabeth believes the key benefit Sutherland Weston can offer its clients is to provide practical advice on how to be persuasive and prepared to achieve measurable results.

Better billing solutions can make a big difference to your agency's bottom line. Guest Benjamin Philabaum from Biddyco explains how. Hear insights about:

• How the team at Biddyco helps e-commerce brands get more customers and revenue through Facebook and Google advertising
• How Ben and his wife first got into the marketing and agency world before founding Biddyco, and why Ben decided to take the entrepreneurial leap
• Why autobilling rather than invoicing clients by hand has been a crucial financial step Biddyco made that has streamlined their cash flow
• How Biddyco made the shift from credit card billing to ACH draft, saving the business several thousand dollars a month using better billing solutions
• What common financial mistakes Ben has seen other agency owners make when they're trying to grow and scale
• Why Ben feels it's important to figure out how to best differentiate your agency from your competitors, and how Biddyco has done so by emphasizing their creative side
• Why growing the Biddyco team has been a crucial step for saving time and minimizing effort, and why Ben blocks time out and closes his calendar one day a week
• Why being able to partner with his wife and share the daily workload has been a great resource for Ben

Benjamin Philabaum is the founder and CEO of Biddyco, an agency specializing in helping e-commerce clients market through Facebook and Google ads. In this episode, Ben shares how changing the way his business bills their clients has had a dramatic impact both on the consistency of their monthly cash flow and on their bottom line.

There's a lot of cost associated with manual invoicing of clients. Not only are you spending labor hours on the tedious process, it also slows your monthly cash flow. Ben and his team at Biddyco switched to automated billing, so clients are now charged consistently on the same day of every month. This eliminated the need to dedicate time to billing, and the regular cycle means that Ben and his team know when money is coming in and know in advance how much they'll be receiving. Better billing solutions really can make a massive difference in the profitability and efficiency of your agency.

The other big tip Ben offered was that Biddyco switched away from credit card billing and moved toward ACH direct bank drafts. When you're billing a client hundreds or thousands of dollars at a time, those merchant fees the credit cards charge can add up to a huge, unnecessary monthly expense. Instead of paying a percentage of every transaction for credit card processing, Biddyco now pays a small flat fee per ACH transfer. This had the impact of saving Biddyco thousands of dollars every month…a number that directly impacts their bottom line and profitability.

As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website: www.biddyco.com
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ben-philabaum-0938756/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BiddycoAdvertising
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPdl5Yu6BviPryT1jwd9lg
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellobiddyco/
• Twitter: @benphila

Drew McLellan discusses the best approach to the succession planning process so agency owners can build a realistic exit strategy.

• How to approach the succession planning process
• Why succession planning is a long game, and how to set yourself up for success
• Common mistakes that agency owners make in the succession planning process and how to avoid them
• How each type of exit strategy impacts the agency from a financial perspective
• The drawbacks to succession planning for smaller agencies
• How to approach the later stages of succession when you are ready to find a buyer

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 episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Drew joins us to share his journey and talk about the succession planning process for agency owners.

After the pure chaos of 2020, many agency owners have begun the succession planning process with a great sense of urgency. The problem is that a lot of the people who have approached Drew to get advice on this process are not ready. In order to have success with succession planning, you have to start running your agency through a slow transition. This can take years to accomplish, but in doing so, you will prepare your agency for the drastic change of changing hands, changing leaders, or even dissolving completely.

The average agency size in the U.S. is 8 employees. Size is an important consideration in the succession planning process because smaller agencies are not necessarily going to attract the same opportunities or buyers as larger ones. In addition, the owners are often an integral part of the business, so when they step away from the picture, the value of the business is greatly diminished. In this scenario, wealth-building outside of the business is an extremely important piece of the exit. The moral of the story is that each and every type of exit requires an entirely different approach from a financial perspective. As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

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

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.

Jeff Eisenberg discusses the importance of the time management process in project management for agency leaders. Hear insights about:

• Jeff's journey into advertising and entrepreneurship
• How to build a time management process in project management systems
• The tools Jeff and his team use to run EVR more efficiently
• Why agency owners should be running their agencies with data and metrics
• The four categories of time that Jeff and his team track for measurement
• What it takes to implement an effective time management strategy in your agency

Jeff is President and CEO of EVR Advertising, a full-service agency located in Manchester, NH. EVR specializes in marketing services for hospitals in the northeast, Senior Living, and businesses residing in or doing business in the state of New Hampshire. Prior to acquiring the agency in 2010, Jeff spent many years in the professional sports industry, including with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Buffalo Sabres. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Jeff joins us to share his journey and talk about the importance of the time management process in project management.

EVR is an Agency Management Institute (AMI) agency and Jeff has been working with them since purchasing EVR in 2010. He believes that to run a successful agency, you have to surround yourself with people who are smart about the business aspect of advertising. This is where he learned to run his agency using data systems and processes that enable him to keep a finger on the pulse of everything that is happening under the EVR roof. In fact, Jeff and his team have been able to master the time management process in project management to meet the unique needs of their agency and its goals.

The importance of the time management process in project management is paramount to the success of any agency. Even with the right tools and software in place, it took Jeff two years to build a culture around time management and get a collective buy-in from his team. If time and activity is accurately being tracked in an agency, agency owners will have all of the data they need to make sound leadership decisions and grow the business. The more detailed you can get, the better. Jeff and his team break time management into 4 categories: billable hours, non-billable hours, biz dev, and professional development. As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website: https://www.evradvertising.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffeisenberg1/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/evr-advertising
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EVRadvertising/
• Twitter:
  • https://twitter.com/jeffEVR
  • https://twitter.com/EVRadvertising
• Download the Staff Utilization Time Report Example

Jeff is President and CEO of EVR Advertising, a full-service agency located in Manchester, NH. EVR specializes in marketing services for hospitals in the northeast, Senior Living and businesses residing in or doing business in the state of New Hampshire. Prior to acquiring the agency in 2010, Jeff spent many years in the professional sports industry, including with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Buffalo Sabres.

He arrived in New Hampshire in 2000, hired by the LA Kings to launch an American Hockey League team in a newly constructed arena. The Manchester Monarchs quickly became an iconic state-wide and industry brand, setting attendance records and winning numerous awards under his direction. He won the James Hendy Award as the AHL's Executive of the Year in 2004 and was inducted into the NH Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. All this in hockey from a kid who grew up in Tennessee worshipping baseball.

Jon Tsourakis shares tips for running a digital marketing agency in the post-pandemic landscape. Hear insights about:

• Jon's journey into marketing and entrepreneurship
• The different products and services that make Oyova unique
• Jon's perspective on running a digital marketing agency with a growth mindset
• How Jon found additional revenue streams beyond the typical agency business model
• Marketing, technology, and the relationship that ties those two things together
• The most important financial lessons Jon has learned in building an agency
• Strategies Jon would recommend to agency owners who want to grow their businesses

Jon Tsourakis is the President of Oyova, a web app and digital marketing agency, recently featured on INC 5000's fastest-growing companies list. He also hosts a podcast, The Climb, produced by the Digital Mastermind, a mastermind group of digital agencies from around the world. In this episode of the Progressive Agency Podcast, Jon joins us to share his experience with running a digital marketing agency. He also discusses some of the top strategies agency owners can use to grow their business.

Running a digital marketing agency has enabled Jon to work with a broad spectrum of clients ranging from $2 Million to $200 Million, offering everything from digital marketing packages and retainers to application/web development and technology services. In addition, Jon and his team at Oyova work with other marketing agencies in a white label capacity or strategic partnership to help them with web development, integrations, and a handful of other specialized processes. They also help clients sell their deals for a premium, which is another added bonus of working with Jon and his team. If there's one thing we can learn from this, it's that there are always additional revenue streams out there if you're willing to look. This is especially true when you look at your agency's differentiators.

One of the reasons Oyova has been able to find and maintain unique revenue streams is because they are an authority figure within their niche. Jon and his team have deep expertise in marketing and technology, as well as the relationship that ties those two things together. They are not afraid to make that known in client meetings, but they do it in such a way that it highlights their ability to collaborate with others. Positioning is a major element of business development, and Jon's insights are a testament to that. As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website:
  • https://www.oyova.com/
  • https://www.digitalmastermind.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/jontsourakis/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/oyova/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oyovausa
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/oyovausa
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9O1NbZS3JpkXCIm5dpSdnQ

Jon Tsourakis is the President of Oyova, a web app and digital marketing agency, recently featured on INC 5000's fastest-growing companies list. He also hosts a podcast, The Climb, produced by the Digital Mastermind, a mastermind group of digital agencies from around the world.

Duane Carey explains how to pivot your business during a pandemic so you can stop surviving and start thriving. Hear insights about:

• Duane's role as the owner and lead strategist of IMPACT Marketing & Public Relations
• How IMPACT pivoted during the pandemic, and what that looks like today
• Why Duane chose to take an aggressive stance on gaining market share and talent share during the pandemic
• How to find opportunities amidst the chaos by getting in front of your clients and providing value
• What Duane's team has done to transition into the remote workforce
• The most important financial lesson Duane has learned as an agency owner

Duane is the owner and lead strategist of IMPACT Marketing & Public Relations, a 16-year old, Maryland-based, digital marketing company with clients from California to India. IMPACT is a national leader in digital marketing for the pet care industry, which includes pet boarding/daycare/grooming/training, veterinary services, and nutritional supplements. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Duane joins us to share his journey and explain how to pivot your business during a pandemic so you can stop surviving and start thriving.

During the pandemic, Duane's agency pivoted to keep its momentum while the global economy came to a screeching halt. IMPACT established itself in the public health sphere, providing marketing and PR strategies for contact tracing, flu vaccines, and many other talking points that continue to overwhelm public health offices to this day. In addition, Duane and his team doubled-down on their core offerings, providing content creation and digital strategy driven by analytics and economic indicators. These are just a couple of examples Duane recommends for how to pivot your business in times of crisis.

If you are a relatively healthy company right now, it is time to take an aggressive stance and gobble up your share of the market and talent pool. Clients are moving around, nepotistic ties are being severed by lay-offs, and tons of new opportunities are springing up. This is the time to put yourself in front of your prospects and clients and be a resource to help them navigate through the pandemic. If you want to learn more about how to pivot your business to build momentum in the midst of a pandemic, Duane's episode is a great resource. As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website: www.impactmarketing.net
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanecarey/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/impact-marketing-&-public-relations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImpactMarketingPR/
• Twitter: @Impact_MD

Duane is the owner and lead strategist of IMPACT Marketing & Public Relations, a 16-year old, Maryland-based, digital marketing company with clients from California to India. IMPACT is a national leader in digital marketing for the pet care industry, which includes pet boarding/daycare/grooming/training, veterinary services, and nutritional supplements.

Duane holds an MBA in Corporate Finance from Johns Hopkins University. He's an avid football fan (Ohio State Buckeyes and Baltimore Ravens) and enjoys cooking and spending time with his wife and three high-schoolers.

Crisis management strategies and tools are critical to the survival of your agency. Learn what you can do to prepare for any scenario with M&C's Diane Mulligan. Hear insights about:

• Diane's journey in the communications industry
• Why Diane Chose to niche her business in the CBD industry
• The top crisis management strategies agency owners should follow
• Why it is so important to plan for crisis scenarios
• What Diane's Brand Protection Tool is, and how it works
• Understanding normalcy bias in the context of crisis management
• The most important financial lessons Diane has learned as an agency owner

Diane Mulligan is the President of M&C, a public relations firm committed to representing inspirational people, organizations, products, and services. Diane founded M&C in 2009 following eight years as VP of National Communications for the National Stroke Association. Recently, M&C developed the Brand Protection Tool™ to teach brands where to focus their crisis management strategies by working through likely crisis scenarios and crafting responses that will protect their businesses. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Diane joins us to share her expertise and talk about crisis management in the agency world.

Crisis Management Strategies are critical to the survival of your agency, especially in the wake of 2020. If you can prepare your team for potential challenges and issues that may come down the pike, you can create a basic response plan that will make all the difference. This doesn't have to be a complicated process. The goal here is to prevent yourself and your team members from freezing. All you need is a plan that enables you to take the first few reactionary steps in response to a crisis so you can pivot. If you take action, doors often open up, and that is what planning will accomplish.

Diane and her team created the Brand Protection Tool™ to demystify this process. It provides an opportunity for brands to brainstorm potential crises, from the most absurd to the most likely scenarios. Then, brand leaders can use the tool to rank them and create a pilot checklist they can use if a particular issue, challenge, or crisis hits the organization. Planning for crisis scenarios helps us overcome normalcy bias so we are prepared for anything. Diane walks us through all of the details for this process during our conversation. As always, please visit me at www.theprogressivedentist.com for more informative, money-saving podcast episodes like this one.

• FREE COVID Loan Grant Calculator Download
• Website: www.theprogressivedentist.com
• Twitter: @CraigC2742
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigcodycpa

• Website: https://www.mandccommunications.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianemulligan-apr/
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandccomms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MandCComms
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MandCComms

Diane Mulligan, APR is president of M&C, a public relations firm committed to representing inspirational people, organizations, products, and services. Diane founded M&C in 2009 following eight years as VP of National Communications for the National Stroke Association.

Diane was News Director at Channel 7 in Denver, notably managing the newsroom during coverage of the Columbine High School shootings. As Senior News Editor for NBC News in New York City, Diane oversaw coverage of countless major stories.

Diane led the M&C team to a 2020 PRSA National Silver Anvil award for crisis communications and a 2017 PRSA Colorado Gold Pick Award for brand-building on behalf of the Rocky Ford Growers Association. She also served as the 2018 Western District Conference Chair for PRSA Colorado, and board member for Therapeutic Riding of Tucson and co-founder of the nonprofit group CHART (Children's Help and Assistance for Residential Treatment).

M&C Communications has developed the Brand Protection Tool™ to help you focus on your three most vulnerable areas, so you can make the most of your crisis management plans.

Not all of us plan on becoming a small business owner in the agency world. Michelle Ashby's story will help demystify the common challenges. Hear insights about:

• Michelle's journey of becoming a small business owner in marketing and public relations
• How Michelle started her own communications agency
• Why Michelle chose to buy out the media division from her employer instead of starting her own shop from scratch
• What AGI means, and how you can use it to measure the health of your agency
• The benefits of building a team of coaches and mentors to help you run your agency
• What agency owners should be doing to grow

Michelle Ashby is the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Communications, an award-winning data-driven marketing firm dedicated to connecting businesses with their audiences. With twenty-five years of marketing and public relations experience, she is committed to demystifying the ever-evolving changes and emerging communications trends that clients struggle to keep up with. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Michelle joins us to share her story. She explains how she overcame the common challenges of becoming a small business owner in marketing and public relations.

Before becoming a small business owner, Michelle started her agency career in print media. She quickly expanded her reach into every corner of the industry. After stints with a newspaper and various rock radio stations, Michelle landed in the television side of the business. This was the final piece of the puzzle, completing a full-spectrum of media experience that gave her an opportunity to split off and run the media department for an ad agency. Within two years of serving as a department head, Michelle purchased the media division of her agency and built it into the entity now known as Tipping Point Communications.

When Michelle purchased the media division, she started with a staff and a handful of clients instead of starting from scratch. This was a sound strategic decision because of her expertise, but she had never anticipated becoming a small business owner. Michelle had to learn quickly and navigate many new hurdles. This is where she began to understand the value of building a tribe and surrounding herself with people who could help her excel. She currently works with Drew McLellan as an Industry Coach, Tom Merkel as a business coach, and myself as a tax consultant. You are never in this alone, and working with experts in fields that you do not have time to focus on will free up your time for revenue-generating activities.

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• Website: https://www.tippingpointcomm.com/
• LinkedIn:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleashby/
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• Twitter: @tippingptcomm

Michelle Ashby is the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Communications, an award-winning data-driven marketing firm dedicated to connecting businesses with their audiences.

Michelle has over 25 years of online and offline media experience, including content marketing and public relations.

She is committed to demystifying the ever-evolving changes and emerging communications trends that clients struggle to keep up with.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio University for Advertising Management and Journalism. After 15 years on the media publisher side, Michelle moved into the agency world. Her passion for the industry propelled her desire to create Tipping Point Communications. Tipping Point is a New York State certified WBE and member of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council with locations in Rochester and Buffalo, New York and a remote workforce across the East Coast.

Michelle was recognized for outstanding community service and leadership by the Rochester Business Journal as a "Forty Under 40" in 2006 and as Business Person of the Year in 2014. Tipping Point received the "Ethie Award" in 2016 for their commitment to ethics in business. She serves on the board of directors of the Construction Exchange in Buffalo, the CEL Alumni Association for the University of Buffalo, St. Ann's Community, and is on the advisory board for the Roland Williams Champion Academy and marketing committee for the Buffalo chapter of Habitat for Humanity. She has two active sons who are the light and loves of her life.