Welcome to our first ever ask-us-anything episode, where your hosts, Mike and Mitzi, answer the questions you’ve been asking on Instagram. Many of you may know that we run an award-winning digital agency called Arcade Studios, which specializes in digital strategy, content production, social media, and email marketing. Our company has doubled in size over the last year and, in order to scale our agency that quickly we have had to learn a lot of important lessons along the way! In today’s episode, we unpack some of those learnings and we look back on our highlights from the last 12 months, such as landing our first celebrity client and winning our first Webby Award. We believe that there is so much potential in digital marketing, now more than ever, which is why we have decided to pull back the curtain on how we have built our business, how others can learn from our mistakes, and how to establish healthy relationships. While this episode will obviously be beneficial for listeners looking to start agencies, launch their freelance careers, or build their teams, creatives and entrepreneurs will also gain value from our insights into finding clients, evaluating new hires, and balancing personal and work commitments. We also touch on our exit strategy, why we started a podcast, and what parenthood has taught us about our business. Make sure to tune into this jam-packed conversation today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Mitzi reflects on the moment that inspired us to start Arcade Studios.
• Get a glimpse into our rebrand and how we figured out what to call our new agency.
• How we found clients in the beginning (and still do): through our network and referrals.
• Find out why Mike says that the hardest part of his job is being involved in execution.
• Mitzi shares her struggle with client services, especially in moments of conflict.
• How we navigate losing a client, especially when we invest so heavily in our relationships.
• How we have worked to distinguish our business identity from our personal identities.
• The importance of ending a client relationship on a positive note; never burn a bridge!
• What we look for in our new hires, from hunger and humility to how you use social media.
• The value of using the word ‘we’ more than ‘I’ and demonstrating curiosity.
• We defend our reputation for hiring our friends; being friends with someone on the team will get you through the door, but it won’t keep you there!
• Balancing personal and work commitments and why we describe ourselves as ‘busy flexible’.
• How Mike developed the awareness to prioritize his commitments based on self awareness.
• The benefits we have seen in shifting from a poverty mindset to one of abundance.
• We share some of our big ideas for new businesses, podcasts, and brands.
• Find out why we would sell Arcade in the future and what a past offer taught us about the value of our company.
• Mitzi on why we started a podcast as an outlet for thought leadership and connection.
• Some of the differences between a blog and a podcast and the benefits of each format.
• The podcast as a marketing channel for the agency, one that isn’t directly profitable.
• Opening another office in a different city and viewing office space as a luxury post-COVID.

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/

Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.