The Agency Growth Engine Show

Companies who hire marketing agencies assume your agency can do it faster, better and make their lives easier….is it true? Episode 20 of The Agency Growth Engine Show is live and if you own an agency, it’s time to check yourself before clients start jumping overboard as you fail to make their lives better. Do you? Make their lives better that is? Trice Alford has spend much of his career on the client-side hiring and working with agencies and he clears up how agencies can deliver clear communication and top-shelf service with these tips… 1. Streamlined Communication… - Every agency says “we’re really good at communication”. But very few times have I heard agency “clients” say the same. You need clear, clean and concise communication and reporting. Don’t overdo it. Don’t under do it. - Make sure they can understand and quickly digest what you send them. They often don’t care about your pages of analytics and reporting. That’s what they are paying you for. Just give them the high level and don’t interrupt unless what you promised isn’t happening. - Are you meeting weekly with your clients? That’s probably too often and is annoying to your clients. Only meeting/talking once a month, may not be enough? Learn what “meeting pulse” your clients want and figure out what touch points you need in between. Want to know the right amount of communication is? Ask your clients. 2. Truly Understanding Clients, Their Industry and Goals… - Start by having multiple contacts in a company and hear different viewpoints so you are satisfying the C-suite and leadership teams, not just your one, internal contact. - Be involved in the client’s monthly, quarterly and annual goals. Know them, understand them and learn how you can help them reach those goals! - Speak the industry language and sound like you are the Marketing Director or VP of Marketing in their company. Deep dive into their industry and your clients will love you! 3. Provide Strategic Insights & Proactive Solutions… If auto-sending reports and then following up to have a meeting to read those reports in front of your client is your answer to client satisfaction, you are grossly failing. Yes, use the analytics, reports, etc. But provide value that reports cannot give. Convert that data into usable info and show clients how you plan to leverage that data, beat competition and gain more leads, clients and revenue. Be proactive and come up with creative ideas from those reports, make changes, communicate them and let the client know that someone is navigating their marketing with intent for the best ROI! These are only 3 ideas on how you can make your client’s lives easier. What other ways can you think of to make them your biggest fans? Join ⁠Ryan Parshall⁠ and ⁠Trice Alford⁠ for another "deep dive" agency topic. Learn more about our Marketing Agency Coaching and Brokering Services.

Make them come to you…Do what Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) Do. Position your marketing agency or business to win every day. There is a clear and proven path to success using today’s digital channels and that it is to be a Subject Matter Expert. Don’t think that this is for individuals, coaches and speakers only. It’s for agency owners, business owners, sales and really everyone in business today trying to get customers and revenue. So I’ve broken it down into 3 simple steps that when done right, makes your ideal customers come to you. Your days of chasing leads and an empty sales pipeline could be coming to an end. 1. Lead with Knowledge Don’t lead with talking about you, your services or products. Find out all the things that keep your ideal customer up and night and do daily and weekly posts and videos talking about how to solve those problems.. Hell, I’m doing this right now and you are reading it. Everyone wants more leads or better quality leads and this is how it’s done. You just have to stay consistent. Prove your worth and position yourself as an SME by giving your best advice to the world. It does give back and people reach out to you to help solve the problems you’ve proven you can solve. 2. Prove Your Expertise Solving a problem for the general business world or too big of an audience is the hardest way to get people to reach out, DM, email or call you. Your future customers don’t want a generalist. Guess who “Generalist” lose their business to…oh yeah, “Specialists”. Because at the end of the day, they want to work with someone who has been in their exact shoes, in their industry who truly understands them without having to educate them on your industry. Clients aren’t stupid! They know a general methodology, process or workshop does not truly solve their problems. So when doing posts, videos or on the next zoom call, you have to PROVE YOUR EXPERTISE by using examples of how you have solved similar problems with customers like them, in their industry in the past. Be a damn good story teller! 3. Build a Tribe You should be growing your network of your target audience by connecting on social media, commenting on posts related to your expertise, and your profile and links should all lead them to information about who you are. They should see KNOWLEDGE and EXPERTISE both very dominant in your title, description, background, groups, and absolutely destroy it when it comes to giving them the best ideal that you are an authority in your space. No half-ass’ing it!!! You have to have a volume of connections that see your posts and you need to make an impression with that audience with your material. Without the volume and without a tribe, your message falls on def ears and you will never see the right people reaching out to you. So BUILD THAT TRIBE by consistently connecting and posting. This is not the marketing departments or sales teams job only. They can help, but YOU are the SME. So stop procrastinating, don’t be afraid to fail and get out there. Your agency and team are counting on you!!! What is your Subject Matter Expertise and how do you show it off? If you want to learn how to identify, expose and promote you and your agency's SME, please contact me through www.healthybrands.biz. Please join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 28 of The Growth Engine Show and don't forget to Subscribe!

Do you know the answer? Can you answer what core problem your agency solves for your customers? Here's the problem with the first things that come out of your mouth? When I ask this question, the typical agency owner will start blurting out a whole lot of things for a lot of different types of customers. This spells danger for the future of the agency and makes selling your agency's services, really, really difficult. Why? Because the fastest growing, most profitable agencies can identify ONE core problem they solve for ONE type of customer. They become laser focused and begin a relentless pursuit to be the #1 agency to go to to solve that particular problem. THEN...right after they discover what core problem they solve for their customers, then you need to be consistent and persistent on promoting, creating content and proving that you are the best at it. Your agency's goal should be to provide an incredible amount of evidence that you are a subject matter expert at solving that core problem. The core problem you solve is NOT ABOUT YOU, the agency. It's ALL about your customer. Agencies love to talk about themselves their services, the results, all BEFORE they talk about their customer. Lock in and listen to what problems your customer is having and then lean in to how you can best help them. Relate to them first. Understand them and get on the same page. THEN you can speak about your strategy, processes, and other ways you would go about solving the problem. DO NOT start talking about you, your services, your results and how awesome you are. It's just too early to brag. If you truly understand what problem you solve, then you can be confident that you can do something that has more value, trust and respect than just "digital marketing services". Want to know what core problem you solve? Try asking your customers and you will start to understand how THEY SEE YOU! After-all, this is the first thing that attracted you to them. Watch Episode 27 of The Agency Growth Engine Show with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford as we peel back the layers to uncover and discover the truths about the core problem your agency solves. If your agency or business would like to discover what Core Problem you solve for your customers, contact me at (816) 718-8018 or visit our website https://healthybrands.biz/

Stop being so negative! We always talk about the challenges of growing an agency. There's a lot of reasons to start or buy a digital agency...Let's GO!!!! Welcome to Episode 26 of The Agency Growth Engine Show where Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall decided to take a different spin on Agency Ownership! We always spend time talking about the challenges of owning, growing and selling digital agencies, but we haven't really stopped and talked about all the crazy, fun and rewarding sides of leading an agency. From fostering of a creative culture to snoring dogs, we got this topic covered. If you ever wanted to own an agency or currently do and want to kill 33 minutes, listen in! AND.....if you haven't watched any of our past shows, then please, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel or listen to our podcast on Spotify or iTunes. We love #agencylife and are here to help you grow, buy or sell your digital agency! Learn more about our agency coaching and brokering services on our website.

"I've had it with all the "Talk" about your agency losing clients and budget cuts. Yes, it's real, I know. But what did you do about it BEFORE it got this way?  I have a lot of empathy for going through tough times and challenges, However.... As an agency owner, you can flip the narrative...FOREVER!!! By making some fundamental changes in the way you think about and operate your agency.  Instead of trying to "sell" your services, you need to build an agency on some sort of deep industry expertise. By branding your agency to solve a specific problem for specific people, you can create "I WANT THAT" from your prospects and NEVER HAVE TO SELL AGAIN. I happen to be in a unique position to see hundreds of agencies and what those that are crushing it are doing vs. those crying the blues about economy, lost clients, and budget cuts.  The most successful agencies learn how to create "I Want That" and customers line up to get what they have to offer. The line goes outside and clear around the corner because they have something under high demand that they cannot get it anywhere else.  This is why it's so important to... 1) develop a deep expertise that others don't have 2) create processes and secret formulas around solving specific problem with that expertise 3) learning how to brand, package and promote that expertise I haven't sold in years, but I have found things that people WANT and NEED and I offer great solutions for them. Also, consider there is BIG difference between what people WANT and what they NEED. You must create something the WANT to weather the economic storm. You offer, SEO, Social Media, Paid Search, Design and Website Services. They may NEED those services. But they rarely WANT to spend money on such things. You have to make it sexy by matching real pains your clients are having with something that is very appealing to them and helps them through the pain and takes their business to a place that sound soooo enticing! By doing this, you create a bullish, growth mode for your agency through the hardest times instead of fighting for every dollar to make payroll. It's a fundamental change that Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall discuss in depth on Episode 25 of The Agency Growth Engine Show. Learn more about Healthy Brands Agency Coaching on our website. Watch all of our episodes and other great agency growth tips on our Healthy Brands YouTube channel.

The Agency Life is glorified and admired by the world over. The fast pace, fun culture and abundance of creativity flowing every day attracts so may to this industry. So why would anyone want to sell their digital marketing agency? Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 24 of The Agency Growth Engine Show, we tackle the Top 3 Reasons Agency Owners Sell their business. Tune in and find out the reality and journey of owning an agency with all its glory and downsides both. But first, here’s a sneak peak… #3 Agency Owner(s) Retire Plain and simple, time to call it quits. After a long run at the agency life, they deserve to go out in style and slow down a bit. Retirement and Divorce are usually the #1 reason why business are sold in general. But not with agency owners…read on. #2 Can’t Grow Anymore Every business owner has their limits. No matter how hard they try, they can’t seem to get past a certain revenue, head count, or client number. They had what it took to get the agency where it’s at, and have had a good amount of success to hang their hat on. However, most agency owners have to evolve with their agencies growth and sometimes it just reaches its limit. #1 Burnout/Exhaustion Often related to #2 above, but burnout can be for many reasons. They never worked into a leadership role and still doing the day-to-day work? Or they don’t enjoy selling and getting new customers? But the reality is that often it’s the business organization and operation of an agency that takes its toll on creative people when they “just wanted to do good work”. And there it is! Listen as we tell stories about the final stages of owning an agency and all the emotions that go along with selling an agency! Have you sold an agency? Why did you do it? Please tell us about your journey! Learn more about Healthy Brands and Sell Your Digital Marketing Agency with a specialist with over 1300 Qualified Agency Buyers on our website.

Did you think owning an agency was gonna be easy? Here’s the 3 stages agency owners go through until they gain control… Many tell me they would have bought an agency vs. trying to grow one from scratch. They often can avoid the first 2 stages of sometimes painful growth. But here ya go…. Stage 1: Startup When you first start your agency for the first 1-3 years you will be between 1-7 people and taking all the business you can get from anywhere you can get it. Be prepared, you will work a lot of hours and working “in the business”. Forget about being an entrepreneur and just leading others you’re too busy DOING the work and that’s how it’s going to be for a while. In the Startup Stage, you know you don’t know most everything about business growth and are eager to learn. What many don’t realize is that for a few years, you are usually the #1 salesperson in the agency. So if you loved doing website work, SEO or Social Media, guess what, you will be doing sales A LOT. So get ready to learn a new skill set if you have not learned sales 101 basics to get started. Stage 2: Growth In this stage you can be around 7-15 employees and you may still be doing some of the actual work, but mostly now you are helping find new business (still doing sales). You are doing more leading and managing of people, processes and profits! You are growing and trying to grasp everything you need to gain control of what you are building. Things break almost daily and you are patching the ship and keeping it afloat. You can still be working a lot of hours in this stage and you tend to find your “ceiling” and it’s damn hard to get past it. This is where I usually come in and help with agency positioning, getting organized and preparing to scale and growth to your agency’s potential. Stage 3: Control Finally, you have figured out what you do best and how to present your agency to world. You have a strong Mission, Vision and Goals. Your processes are tightening up and your sales come much easier now that you have the confidence of knowing what problems you solve and who you solve them for. Congrats…you made it to the “Promise Land”. So many think that they will get here in year 2, but the truth is it's usually between 5-15 years depending on the owners experience and leadership teams ability to adapt and grow. Listen to Episode 23 of The Growth Engine Show with Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall and don’t forget to Subscribe! Learn more about Healthy Brands Coaching at https://healthybrands.biz/ What Stage is your agency in? What stage do you think is the hardest and why?

Agency Owners, when should you hire W2 employees vs.1099 Contractors (freelancers)?   Most often the agency owner has this big vision of growing an agency with this massive team of employees. Somehow the way they see success is by how big the agency gets in revenues and employee counts.   In my experience, this is disastrous thinking. More employees does not = more profits. In most cases it = less profits.    Today’s healthy agency structure is often a hybrid model of a smaller team of full time client facing employees with an outside team of contractors that allow you to expand and contract as needed.   No need to add overhead when you don’t have the full-time work.    There are so many experts out there to hire for speciality work that are more than willing to be a part of your team virtually, on an hourly or project basis, that you simply don’t need the big building and huge staff.   So when do you hire the full time employee? Usually it’s when you have 30s+ hours of work for them and client demand for those services.    Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford on Episode 22 of The Growth Engine Show where we get into all the details of decision making on how you build out your agency or marketing team.   Learn more about Healthy Brands Agency Coaching and Brokering Services on our website HealthBrands.biz

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Growth Engine with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford.  Owning an agency without real profit is called a hobby! You are not…. a “successful business owner”, you are not an “entrepreneur”. So what do you do? Two key things control margin: Labor and Price! So what do most agency owners do? They dive into managing their labor. They spend so much time in spreadsheets, time tracking, micro-managing labor and hammering on their own people. Hmmmm? Understanding your labor and being efficient is important. But do you have more control over labor, time or price? If you said PRICE…you are correct. If you want to make real margin, charge the right amount, which is usually much higher than you are thinking. How long are you going to continue trying to figure all this out before you find out that you simply have to increase your pricing. In many cases, you need to increase 20% or higher. For some of my clients, I ask them to double their pricing if they are under $100 per hour. Anything less means you do not value your services and expertise. Listen to Episode 21 of The Growth Engine where we tackle the most difficult decision for agency owners…price increases. But it’s much easier than you are making it! Learn more about Healthy Brands business coaching for agencies and small to mid-sized businesses. 

So you started your company and had success. But now revenue is stalled out and you don’t know why… Congrats, you’ve tasted success, added people. processes, customers, products, services and grown your business. Don’t get cocky! Guess what, your journey and hard work has to continue. You see, you did good! You did all the right things, but you have hit a plateau and your business is now struggling to grow because you are NOT the same company you were a few years ago. You know the saying, “what got you where you are at, is not what it will take to get you where you are going”. The is very true. Most often you don’t know this, but you could be going through an “Identity Crisis”. You would never think to call it that. BUT… Join me, Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 20 of The Growth Engine Show, I’m going to give you my TOP SYMPTOMS YOU HAVE A COMPANY IDENTITY CRISIS. Roughly 8 out of 10 times I coach a CEO, Business Owner or Leadership team, this is what I find. Revenues are stalled out and no matter how hard you try, you feel you are going nowhere. What used to feel organized in your business now seems like a tangled mess. It’s become hard to tell people what you do when asked (you do a lot of things, for a lot of people, with a lot of benefits) You now have a lot of different types of customers and cannot focus on just one segment or group. You are not, or no longer, dominating in your area and losing market share. Your marketing messages are no longer working and leads are declining. You have grown to the level you are at and it’s time for a RESET. Discover who you are TODAY. The answer is right in front of you. The answer already exists in your company’s DNA. You’re just too close to see it! Things have gotten so complex that you cannot untangle that rope and get things organized in thought, reality and in your core messaging. Solve this Identity Crisis and you will break through the ceiling and start growing again. It will create a new and exciting energy in your company’s culture. Listen to this eye-opening podcast episode and then start taking the steps you need to Re-Build a Healthy Growth Engine! Learn more about our business coaching and brokering services here https://healthybrands.biz/

Most business owners won’t pay attention to the real things that increase value in their business until it’s too late. It’s time to sell or retire and REGRET! What if you could focus on all the right things now and have plenty of time to integrate all the things in your business that consumers love, will help grow your internal culture and make you wealthy when it’s time to sell the business? Well let’s do that! Listen to Episode 19 of The Growth Engine Show with Trice Alford and Ryan Parshall and “Start Your Engines”! Here’s our list of the TOP 10 Ways to Build Value: 1. Healthy Cash Flow: Stop milking your business dry for tax purposes. 2. Owner’s Benefits: Get a lot out of your business and make it worth it. 3. Build Recurring Revenue: Stop the one-off project/service cycle. 4. Big Contracts: Got some big clients? Make it contractual and win. 5. Customer Lists/Data: The #1 asset all companies should maintain. 6. Processes & Expertise: Create repeatable processes for success to follow. 7. Company Assets: Right size your liabilities and make sure they pay for themselves. 8. Build Leadership: grow a team of leaders that can run the company without you. 9. Own a Product/Territory: Try to negotiate or win marketable exclusivities. 10. Team & Infrastructure: Build a team of qualified people that are good at one thing. This is my short-list and of course there are other factors that help your company get a raise in multiplying factor when it comes time to sell your business. The truth is that companies usually do not excel at all of these items. But the more you can do, the better the payout when you list your business. Please join us and learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Brokering Services at www.healthybrands.biz

You think your people love you? You think you are a great leader? Then answer this… If you got fired as the owner, boss, CEO, and your team had the choice, would they hire you back? Let’s be honest, being the leader at the top means that you are not always loved by your team. You have difficult decisions to make and not everyone agrees with those decisions. It’s a hard job but somebody has to do it! Honestly, at times, I think they would not have hired me back to be their leader and other times yes. The leader is always judged harshly. Many times your people think they, or someone else, could do your job better than you do it. So would they hire you back because you did a fantastic job or would you get canned for good? Next question….would they hire you back in the leadership role or do they think your value to the team lies somewhere else? I know my team would have hired me back in the Sales role for sure. They knew when times got tough, I could make sales happen. Often I think they wanted me to drop the customer off to them and get out of the way after I brought them onboard. In Episode 18 of The Growth Engine Show, Trice Alford and me, Ryan Parshall, go in depth on these questions, discuss Dos and Don’ts and ways to win your team over. Learn more about Healthy Brands business coaching & business brokering services on our website.

Are you a Visionary CEO that has a creative mind and always coming up with new ideas? Or do you work for someone who has a hard time focusing on finishing one initiative before pushing the team to tackle the next?  These are descriptions of a Visionary-Minded CEO. They may be high energy with a drive like nothing you have ever seen. Often times the Visionary CEO will stop at nothing until they get what they want. The problem is that what they want constantly changes and that exhausts everyone around them. Most often they have a good heart and care deeply for the well being of others. But they are often misunderstand by those around them and others have a hard time understanding them.  I should know all about this personality type because it was ME. I was just made this way. My mind loved to chase dreams, make things better and create new things all the time. But it drives other crazy! Being a Visionary CEO is what made me successful overall, but at what cost? Before I truly understood how to lead a company, I was often railroading others in my company, talking over them, giving orders, and other really bad leadership traits.  The worst trait of all was lack of focus and constantly changing directions. Nobody wants to work for that person. It's the definition of madness. But with help from some books I read, other business owners like me and really focusing on getting organized and setting goals, I mastered this gift of Vision that was horrible when it came to leading others.  Stop, breathe and organize your thoughts. Find ways to keep your mind from racing. Serve others before yourself!  If you know someone like this, it's very hard to fix. Please don't judge them too harshly. When they can harness their Visionary thoughts to focus them for the good of the company and growth, they ARE the person you want to work for. Fast growing, exciting companies often have a Visionary in the leadership team. Without their Vision, business would be very boring!  So listen to Episode 17 of The Growth Engine Show with Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford and learn all about the Strengths and Challenges of a Visionary Minded CEO. I think you'll understand more! Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Business Brokering Services on our website.

Hands down, the fastest way to grow your business is to acquire another business but most small business owners don’t consider the option. Join Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford in Episode 16 of The Growth Engine Show: Strategic Growth by Business Acquisition. When small to mid-sized business owners have money in the bank they have all kinds of options on how to spend it. The one most often made is to take disbursements and enjoy the profit. I see them buy that new beautiful home, that monster truck or sports car, they take incredible vacations and live it up. But all those purchases do now make your money grow..they just make it disappear. Others reinvest in the business and buy assets, a building, vehicles, equipment or maybe they hire some much needed help. Some, but not many, just keep it in reserves or invest in their retirement. But here’s the last option that most of the However, acquiring a business can do so many things for the business owner and the company both and can make you the money in the next 12-24 months that you were going to spend on your personal items you wanted. In most cases you can buy a company and absorb all, or a portion, of that business owner’s salary. I have doubled, tripled and quadrupled business owner’s salaries by helping them acquire another healthy, profitable business. A strategic purchase means you also can get more help for your team, more customers, more expertise, more equipment, more market share and more opportunity! There are over 32.5 billion SMB’s in the U.S. and between 8-10,000 of those sell each year. So working with a Business Broker early on can help you find and acquire the right strategic business acquisition to help your business grow fast! So whether you have not thought about buying another business or are ready to do so, you want to do it in years where you need to have a large expense to reduce your tax burden. But don’t wait!!! You want to consider that a strategic purchase can take 6-12 months and in some cases longer. Contact me to learn more about Growth by Acquisition for you and your business. Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments below and watch or listen to the full episode 16 of The Growth Engine Show. Learn more about our business coaching and broker services on our Healthy Brands website.

There is a huge movement going on! After Covid, there was another outbreak... Solopreneurs!  Working from home gave people the opportunity rethink their lives, their passions and quit their full time jobs and create their own personal brands and be their own boss.   So Personal Branding became more important than ever. Roughly 47 Million people quit their jobs in 2021.    Majority of workers who quit a job in 2021 cite low pay, no opportunities for advancement, feeling disrespected.   People across the U.S. were making low pay or not working it all, and having the freedom of no management watching their every move. It created the perfect environment for people to chase their dreams and do their thing now.   As these entrepreneurial adventurists took to social media to gain attention for their new business, they realized how crowded the space was and how hard it was to stand out.   Therefore, personal branding became more important than ever before. Just a few years ago, I couldn't find one Personal Branding coach. Now I can throw a rock and hit one on LinkedIn!   So why is having a personal brand so important for your success whether you are the business owner, you still work for someone or starting something new?   1. Your internal personal brand in a company protects your image as a leader and can extend the length of time and success in your role.   2. Your personal brand is something you are remembered for throughout your career regardless of where you work.   3. CEO's personal brand can protect them from an occasional bad publicity or internal company rumors costing your image as a leader.   4. All the social posting and content you create, may never stick in people's minds unless your personal brand is memorable.   5. Strong personal brand can instill confidence in your target audience and can build a tribe.   6. Understanding who your are at the core gives you strength in your messaging and confidence in what you offer to others.   7. Getting your personal brand right will attract more people that appreciate you, like and love you! It's a game-changer I promise.    In Episode 15 of The Growth Engine Show we tackle these topics and more! Watch now and like, Subscribe, Share and join in the conversation.    Learn more about Healthy Brands Business Coaching and Business Brokering on our website.  Learn more about the Growth Engine Hosts on our LinkedIn Profiles.  Ryan Parshall and Trice Alford