Jan 29, 2020
Summary:
Bob Hutchins, Brad Ayres, and
Ken Ott are back with Episode #3 of Agency Exposed! Today they’re
talking about funding agency growth- both fiscally and
psychologically as well. They break down how important it is to
have your team on your side and be profitable. We discuss the
difficulties of maintaining a long-term vision with your team as
they complete short-term goals, and how keeping your team motivated
makes a world of difference.
Resources
Mentioned:
Top 3 Curtain Pulls in
this episode:
- Fail
Fast- When you make a mistake, learn to pivot quickly to an
alternative solution.
- Self-Capitalization means being highly
profitable with your current income/clients. Get your financial
health in check so that you can lead people with authority and
vision.
- As a
business owner, it is YOUR responsibility to cast a vision of your
company’s future, encourage your employees to believe in that
vision, and give them certainty through it all.
About The
Guys:
Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he
ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on
Bob:
Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad
agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the
world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency
world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that
knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on
Brad:
Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of
Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team
for some of the world’s most
influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken
is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his
acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel
(not really). More on
Ken:
Show
Notes:
[1:45] The Guys Discuss the name Agency Exposed and what
interested them most about going the Podcast
- Ken:
In the agency world, it’s common for people to struggle in silence.
“I would have loved to have been able to hear other people talk
freely about… pain points.”
- Brad:
Fail and Fail Fast- this will teach you more in the early years
than anything else.
-
- “Your
company can be disrupted overnight… and we need to be more open to
change.”
- Bob: “This is a biz of putting the best foot forward
at all times.. This is what we’re selling… the other side of that
coin is that you can easily take on that persona and thought
process in your agency… it’s a facade. Talking about failures is
what people are hungry for!”
[6:25] Brad:
“Fail fast. Get back on your feet. And that’s where you learn and
grow.”
- Learning from others going through the same
pains is the point of this podcast!
[10:47] Last episode The Guys discuss marketing your
business and getting new clients, and this week they’re unpacking
how to finance it all. What are they using to market and promote
their businesses right now?
- Ken:
Facebook Ads are a heavy part of Metacake’s mechanism. At the end
of the day, MC relies heavily on teaching and content. MC has a
particular philosophy, and that’s what we teach.
[15:21] Brad: How much of your resources
do you spend on new business?
- MC is
invested in a LOT of educational content- what are the mechanics of
how this works for Metacake’s business model?
[18:55] The Guys discuss Social Proof
and the value of that in today’s social media-fueled
world.
- In
this space, it’s a challenge to get people to talk positively about
you. The community tends to be tight-lipped about who they’re
working with and what they’re working on. Ken likes to disrupt this
tradition! Asking clients for testimonials, asking customers for
reviews, etc.
[23:12] Bob asks Brad how Anthem uses
his strengths in visual and creative aspects to make his agency
memorable.
- Strong case studies within different industries
can be challenging but rewarding.
- Highlighting these so that all companies can
see themselves in the results, not just those in the same
industry.
- LinkedIn has been a focus to publish content
and ideas- algorithm works better for your business because roughly
50% of people are seeing those results- much higher percentage than
anywhere else.
[26:27] What specifically is Brad doing to use LinkedIn
to the fullest?
- Industry-specific blog posts, thought
leader
- Repurposing content from other
platforms
- Starting an ad campaign on LinkedIn soon- will
update us on how that goes.
[28:12] Bob asks Ken how Metacake uses
YouTube for content creation.
- On
YouTube you can get views for fractions of a cent if done
well.
- MC
strategy: Videos as ads to interrupt the viewer’s experience- get
them to remember your name.
- Measure of success is seeing Google searches
for Metacake; ultimately attempting to get Google Trends up-
playing that game for name recognition.
[33:26] Discussing and even showing off your other
specialities to clients is always a good idea- you don’t want to
find out that your client is using another company for a service
that you provide.
- [37:30] “People make 80% of their buying
decision before they talk to you.” - Bob Strachan, Sales Coach @
Metacake
- There’s an idea that the only way that clients
can get anything from their vendor is if they beat it out of them-
flipping this mindset changes EVERYTHING.
[39:20] Brad
talks about the 4 Disciplines and how it has impacted his daily
work within Anthem Republic.
- Making self-promotion a Goal through the 4
Disciplines has helped him to put his business in front of more of
the right kind of people.
- Don’t
be afraid to look at what your company is doing already and
bolstering those efforts.
[43:40] Talk about how you capitalize on your own
business- how to take advantage of the funds you do have and what
you have struggled with in terms of
capitalizing.
- Brad:
How are we doing and how are we able to grow? Growth takes money
“We can only grow as fast as we can have the funds and the means to
do it.”
- Current struggle is adding staff wisely as
business grows “I don’t want to get access to money and not use it
properly… I want the business to run on it’s own in a very healthy
way… without that constant cash infusion via debt.”
[49:24] Ken
shares the ways that Metacake has approached
self-capitalization.
- According to Tony Robbins: In a business,
you’re 1 of 3 people: the entrepreneur, the artist, the manager-
most agency owners are likely artists. Being aware of your place
here and who else in your organization might be able to fill in for
the rest.
- Self-capitalization means looking at your
profit margins. Ken hired a CFO consultant who helped direct MC
through specifics of net profit of every project.
[54:51] Brad
talks about Time Tracking, and how important that is in terms of
keeping real track of how your time is being
spent.
[55:57] Bob shares advice from his mentor
- Weekly reports from your staff every Friday
that list 5 goals achieved for the week, 5 goals in place for next
week, their quarterly goals, etc.
- This
allows you to be in tune with your team in a more sustainable,
growth-centered way and serves as a check-in for them to
re-establish their purpose and overall objective in the
business.
[59:11] Brad
speaks on the challenges of being the sole business owner, and
being responsible for the long-term vision of the
company.
- Using
processes like weekly/quarterly goals that Bob mentioned will help
every member of organization buy into long-term goals and have an
eye on the horizon as they fight daily battles.
[1:03:09] Ken
speaks on staying inspired for the sake of the team.
- “The
challenge is… casting that vision, believing in it, and giving them
certainty through it.”
- Basic
human need of certainty is one of the things that any long-term
thinker should consider when expecting support/agreement from a
team.
[1:07:25] Brad
speaks on allowing your team to understand the value of long-term
goals/growth
- “If
I’m going to Mars, they need to see the value of why we’re going
there. And they need to value that so deeply that they’re behind it
100%.”
[1:08:37] Ken
talks about developing your own passion before expecting passion
from your team.
- What
is your REASON for running your business.
- “As
long as your intentions are true… that can come
through.”