The Progressive Agency Podcast

Choosing a niche for your agency might seem counterintuitive at first. In this solocast, Nicole Mahoney explains how niching down creates predictable growth. Hear insights about:

• Nicole's journey into entrepreneurship in the travel and tourism industry
• How Nicole chose to pivot her business in response to the pandemic
• How choosing a niche saved Nicole's agency during the pandemic
• What we can do to build a position of thought leadership and authority within our niche
• The most important financial lessons Nicole has learned from building an agency
• Nicole's take on the most common financial mistakes agency owners make

Nicole Mahoney is the Founder and CEO of Break the Ice Media, a Rochester, NY marketing communications agency focused on the travel and tourism industry. Entrepreneurship is in her DNA, and she has an immense passion for helping small businesses excel through the use of creativity and collaboration. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Nicole joins us to share her entrepreneurial journey and explain why choosing a niche to build thought leadership is something every agency owner should consider doing.

Travel and tourism are central to the hospitality industry. This includes restaurants, hotels, live events, and virtually every other subsect that was devastated by the pandemic's protocols and regulations. When the world stopped turning, all of the businesses relying on the traveling public lost significant amounts of revenue. As an agency that serves those businesses, Break the Ice Media was forced to pivot. Q2 and Q3 were extremely difficult, but Nicole and her team persevered by focusing on their niche. Even though travel and tourism was at a standstill, Nicole continued to bring her clients value by any means necessary. This paid off in the long run, and BTI grossed its highest net profit since its inception.

We have talked a lot about building a position of thought leadership and authority. The reality is that it's much easier to become a thought leader after choosing a niche. When you niche down and embed yourself in a particular industry, you begin to see patterns, form opinions, and develop expertise that your generalized competitors can't offer. Nicole looked for ways to give voice to the things she was learning about travel and tourism, which started with a blog and developed into a full-blown digital platform with a podcast and live events. When you become the go-to expert in your field and you're focused on adding value, business will come knocking on your front door. Niching down is a great starting point as you develop a growth strategy for 2021 and beyond.

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

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.destinationontheleft.com/summit
• Website: https://breaktheicemedia.com/
• Twitter: @Break_TheIce
• Facebook: @BreakTheIceMedia

In 2009, Nicole founded Break the Ice Media, a Rochester, NY marketing communications agency focused on the travel and tourism industry. Whether it's a destination adding to the economic impact of their community, an attraction enhancing the visitor experience, or a business creating jobs for the travel & tourism industry – Break The Ice Media helps their clients create impact!

As CEO, Nicole is responsible for working with clients to understand their marketing needs, developing strategic marketing plans, and leading a team of professionals to execute those plans. Her dedication to the tourism industry keeps her team informed on current trends and best practices, regularly attending tourism conferences and travel shows.

In 2016, Nicole launched the weekly podcast Destination on the Left, interviewing tourism professionals from around the globe on creativity and collaboration in the industry. In 2019, she introduced the Destination on the Left Virtual Summit for tourism marketing featuring presentations from previous podcast guests in a new and innovative format. Nicole was recognized as 2019 small business-person of the year by the Small Business Council of Rochester.

Entrepreneurial skill does not come naturally. Drew McLellan explains what agency owners can do to master the business side of running an agency with insights about:

• Why Drew founded AMI, and how he works with agency owners to drive revenue and growth
• What agency owners can do to develop their entrepreneurial skill set and master the business side of running an agency
• The biggest mistake agency owners make from a business perspective
• Why it is so important for agency owners to understand agency math and work with a CPA who understands their industry
• Key metrics that should be driving agency owners' business decisions
• How AMI's peer group functions, and what you can do to participate in the Build a Better Agency Summit

Drew McLellan is an advertising veteran with more than thirty years of experience. He currently runs McLellan Marketing Group and the Agency Management Institute, which advises hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to achieve growth and profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops, and more. He is also the host of the "Build a Better Agency" podcast, and in this episode of the Progressive Agency, Drew joins us to share his story. He explains how he helps agency owners develop their entrepreneurial skill sets so they can focus on doing what they do best.

Entrepreneurial skill seldom comes naturally, and Agency Management Institute has confirmed that many agency owners are accidental business owners. Most are great at the client-facing work and whatever creative trade they developed working for someone else, but they are not keen on the business side of running a business. P&L sheets, hiring, and legal processes are not things that agency owners go to school for, and they have to become masters of experiential learning while working in the trenches simultaneously.

One of the biggest mistakes agency owners make when they are flying by the seat of their pants is failing to understand agency math. Generalist CPAs do not understand the specific metrics that drive healthy agencies. They provide technically accurate information that is right for many small businesses but wrong for agencies. This causes many agency owners to build their businesses on false assumptions, and it can lead to a lot of financial trouble down the road. Agency math is a critical entrepreneurial skill that every agency owner needs to live by, and working with a CPA who understands your industry can make that skill much easier to learn.

• 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.

Stephen Woessner shares his business growth strategy called "niching down." Learn how agency owners can drive revenue by establishing their authority position with insights about:

• His journey as an agency owner, podcast host, and author
• Why niching down and becoming the go-to thought leader in your industry is the key to achieving growth and scalability
• Different ways you can carve out your niche and develop thought leadership
• Why niching down results in more efficient use of an agency's time and resources
• Why any agency is fit to begin the process of niching down
• How he managed to become more helpful to clients by focusing on a specific superpower
• The most important financial lesson he learned in building an agency

Stephen Woessner is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency that specializes in building thought leadership and authority to drive growth. He is also the host of the "Onward Nation" podcast and a bestselling author of two books. In this episode of the Progressive Agency podcast, Stephen joins us to share his journey as an agency owner, podcast host, and author, and he talks about his unique business growth strategy of niching down. If you want to learn how you can focus your sales and communication efforts to generate cash flow, this episode is for you.

In Stephen's latest book with Drew McLellan, "Sell With Authority," he teaches agency owners how to plant the flag of authority and establish themselves as the go-to thought leaders within their respective industries. This business growth strategy enables agency owners to sell with confidence to right-fit clients while carving out their own unique slice of market share. It is not just limited to industries either. Agency owners can brand themselves with a particular specialty or "superpower" as well. Narrowing the focus results in more efficient use of the agency owner's time and resources. This is something that anyone in any industry can implement with relative ease.

I understand why agency owners might be hesitant to shake up their business growth strategy in Q1, but niching down works and anyone can do it. Niching down is an easy decision to make, however, the work is difficult and it takes time. That is why agencies should start now. Even if 60% of their revenue comes from accepting any work that comes through the door, you don't have to start turning that away. Catering your brand position to a specific niche is a long-term play, and niching down is the key to building a position of financial strength from which you can navigate the ups and downs of any market.

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

• Sell With Authority by Drew McLellan and Stephen Woessner: https://amzn.to/39y7x18
• Predictive ROI Free Resource Library: https://predictiveroi.com/resources/
• Stephen Woessner's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwoessner/

Stephen Woessner is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today's top business owners think, act, and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world with over 28,000+ email subscribers.

Since the advent of the commercial Internet, Stephen has collected tens of thousands of data points that have given him the ability to identify what he calls the "8 Money Draining Mistakes" and the "8 Money Making Opportunities." Darren Hardy, then-publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, interviewed Stephen to discuss how business owners can identify and fix the mistakes.

Stephen served in the United States Air Force, spent six years at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as a full-time academic staff member and taught digital marketing classes to small business owners throughout the state including the prestigious School of Business at UW-Madison, has owned five businesses, and is the author of three books, "The Small Business Owner's Handbook to Search Engine Optimization," "Increase Online Sales Through Viral Social Networking," and "Profitable Podcasting."

His digital marketing insights have been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine.

Learn the conditions of the Paycheck Protection Program Round 2 as you create your PPP plan for 2021. Hear insights about:

• The key requirements to receive funding for the second round of PPP
• How # of employees and # of locations impact your eligibility for PPP funding
• What financial metrics to use in creating your PPP plan for 2021
• How your use of the first-draw funds affects your eligibility for the second draw
• Understanding and calculating declining gross receipts
• Changes to the CARES Act and employee retention credit

Round 2 of the Paycheck Protection Program is part of the Appropriations Act of 2021. As you build out your PPP plan for 2021, it is important to note that the last date you can submit an application is March 31st. You can also submit an application for round 1 by that same deadline if you did not apply for the first round of aid last year.

The second round of PPP funding is intended to help businesses that have been hit hardest by the pandemic. When putting your PPP plan together, these are some of the conditions that must be met:

• 300 or fewer employees per location
• 25% gross receipt decline in any quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2019
• You have used or will use the full amount of your first-draw funds

The documentation required to receive second-draw funding from the PPP plan is going to be about the same as it was in the first round. In the solocast, I proved a detailed overview of all the requirements, including tips for performing the calculations you need to qualify. 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

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.

The Progressive Agency podcast covers the latest tax saving strategies agency owners can use to keep more of what they make in 2021 and beyond. Here's what the show is about:

• The objectives of the Progressive Agency podcast
• How my tax saving strategies have helped agency owners save thousands
• Why you should be working with a specialized CPA who understands the agency business instead of a general CPA
• How tax planning helps agency owners keep more of what they make
• A case study where I helped an agency owner significantly reduce their tax liability
• The importance of cash flow forecasting in the agency world
• What other agency owners have done to master the business side of running an agency