118 Nicholas Petroski: The Real Reason Digital Agencies Don't Scale

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Nicholas Petroski.Nicholas is the founder of Promethean Research and has been researching the agency industry since 2015. He's surveyed and consulted with thousands of agency leaders and built benchmarking reports on margins, operating models, and specialization trends. Where most of us are working from anecdote — our own client base, our own network — Nicholas has the actual industry-wide data.I wanted Nicholas on because he can back up (or challenge) a lot of the advice floating around the agency space with real numbers, not just what sounds right on LinkedIn. Plus, his studies are legitimately great and surface a lot of awesome insights. In this episode, we discuss:Why "scale" and "growth" are different things, and why confusing them sets agencies up for a rough timeWhy roughly 86% of agencies now identify as specialistsWhy contractor-heavy staffing has protected agency margins over the past few years despite falling revenueAnd more...You can learn more about Nicholas Petroski on LinkedIn.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.