Agency Intensive

“Ego Is the Enemy” Welcome to another episode of eCom@One with Richard Hill! In today’s conversation, Richard Hill sits down with Anthony Barone, co-founder of Studio Hawk and the driving force behind their UK expansion. Anthony Barone shares the remarkable journey of going from a career in hospitality to scaling Studio Hawk from a small Australian team into an international SEO powerhouse with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, London, and Atlanta. You’ll hear candid stories about rapid growth, building a company culture across continents, and why niche focus has been their biggest lever in sales and partnerships. Anthony Barone also opens up about the role of AI and large language models in the changing SEO landscape—and why mastering the fundamentals is now more important than ever. Whether you’re running an agency, building your own team, or just curious about the intersection of search, growth, and technology, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons, real-world advice, and a glimpse into what’s next for Studio Hawk. Let’s dive in! 00:00 "Falling Into SEO Career" 05:23 "Building Studiohawk From Scratch" 09:26 Scaling Sales for SEO Success 11:48 "Power of Specialism in Events" 14:03 Shoreditch Cool Commerce Event 17:45 "Building Networks Through Events" 23:12 "Advice for UK Agencies Expanding" 23:55 "Preparation for US Expansion" 26:56 "Planning International Business Expansion" 30:12 "Follow Core Values Intentionally" 35:25 "SEO Opportunities in the AI Era" 38:26 Navigating Marketing Challenges Efficiently 39:55 Shopify, Universal Protocol, Ads Update 43:22 "Ego Is the Enemy" Recommendation

In this episode of Agency Intensive, Richard Hill sits down with Mads Singer, agency trainer and management consultant who's helped hundreds of teams move from founder-led delivery to repeatable, scalable operations. Mads breaks down why most brilliant SEOs stay stuck at the same revenue level year after year, what the "superhero syndrome" really costs your business, and the exact hiring sequence that prevents you from becoming the bottleneck. He explains the four business buckets every agency needs to master, why you should pick ONE marketing channel and go deep, and how to build repeatable SEO processes that scale. The conversation covers the three critical growth stages where most agencies get stuck (0-10, 10-25, and 25-50+ people), why writing SOPs yourself is killing your time, and how to hire specialists instead of trying to clone yourself. Mads shares real examples, including the roofing SEO who 3x'd his business in 12 months by going to industry events, and breaks down what it really takes to build a sellable, scalable agency. If you're a talented SEO stuck in delivery or an agency owner trying to break through revenue plateaus, this episode gives you the exact steps to scale without burning out. Listen to the full episode now, and don't forget to hit subscribe. **Topics Covered** 00:00 Introduction 02:07 Why talented SEOs struggle to scale 03:13 Mads' background: From IBM to agency consulting 07:03 The four business buckets: Sales, marketing, operations, finance 08:04 The superhero syndrome killing your growth 13:38 Finding your ONE marketing channel 18:05 The roofing SEO case study: 3x growth in 12 months 20:36 Sponsor: Aristo Sourcing 21:38 Key hires for scaling from 5 to 20+ people 24:30 Building culture with your first hires 28:24 SOPs: What the gurus get wrong 34:34 Leadership challenges scaling £1M to £5M 35:05 Three growth stages where agencies get stuck 46:31 Starting an SEO agency from scratch today 47:19 The ONE process framework 50:02 Breaking down processes for specialization 51:40 Hiring specialists vs. cloning yourself 53:26 Book recommendation: First, Break All the Rules 54:14 Where to find Mads Singer

From wasted pitch decks to strategic conversations that close. Aaron Hutchinson reveals the Win Without Pitching methodology that's helping agencies stop gambling on low-probability pitches and start winning profitable clients through expert positioning instead of endless presentations. Aaron Hutchinson is a sales consultant and trainer specializing in the Win Without Pitching methodology for creative agencies and professional services firms. Based in the UK, Aaron helps agency owners and their teams move from reactive order-taking to strategic expert positioning through the Four Conversations framework. After years as Managing Director of a creative agency, Aaron founded The Hutch Consultancy to address the industry's most persistent challenge: winning new business profitably without wasting resources on futile pitches. This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're an agency owner struggling with new business, tired of losing pitches you spent days preparing for, finding it difficult to have confident pricing conversations, or trying to hire and train salespeople who can sell expertise rather than just deliverables. Find out why your pitch win rate is probably lower than you think, what the "three years from now" question unlocks in sales conversations, and why presenting three options beats a single proposal every time. Aaron reveals the frameworks that separate expert agencies from vendor agencies, introduces RAB (Revenue Above Budget) as the metric that actually matters, and explains why 25,000 UK agencies are competing in a market more crowded than McDonald's locations. If you're serious about transforming your agency's sales process or finally cracking the code on profitable new business without soul-destroying pitch work, this episode delivers practical, immediately actionable frameworks. Topics Covered: 00:00 - Introduction: The agency world's oldest question 02:28 - What challenges are agencies facing with sales and new business? 04:18 - Why there are 25,000+ agencies in the UK (more than McDonald's!) 07:22 - The two-year email: How long-term positioning pays off 09:32 - Why pitching is gambling (and the real win rates you're facing) 12:44 - What is Win Without Pitching and why does it work? 14:06 - The Four Conversations framework explained 19:50 - The magic question: "We're having coffee three years from now..." 24:58 - Expert vs Vendor: The doctor analogy 28:08 - Pricing conversations: Why money talks are so uncomfortable 31:42 - The secret to avoiding awkward "we don't have that budget" moments 33:19 - The power of options: Why three is the magic number 38:18 - RAB: Revenue Above Budget explained 42:02 - Staying resilient in agency sales: Avoiding soul-destroying work 45:25 - Conversations not presentations: Why we don't use decks anymore 47:45 - Book recommendation: The Four Conversations by Blair Enns

From necessity to 20 years of building software that adapts to businesses, not the other way around. Angelo Zanetti co-founded Elemental during the dot-com crash and turned it into a Cape Town powerhouse that refuses to compromise on quality, security, or in-office culture. Angelo Zanetti Angelo Zanetti is the co-founder and co-CEO of Elemental, a web and software development agency based in Cape Town, South Africa. With over 20 years of hands-on experience, Angelo has built a lean team of 25 specialists who focus on creating bespoke software solutions that truly fit how businesses operate, rather than forcing businesses to adapt to off-the-shelf tools. This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're building software products, running a development agency, scoping MVPs, or trying to understand why that vibe-coded prototype isn't production-ready. Find out why founders bloat their MVPs with non-core features, what happens when someone hands Angelo a Replit prototype with no brakes, and why Elemental's entire team works in-office five days a week in an increasingly remote world. Angelo shares the realities of digital transformation, the security nightmares hiding in AI-generated code, and why great SEO has driven their lead generation for two decades. If you're serious about building software that scales or positioning your agency to stand out, this episode delivers practical, battle-tested advice. Topics Covered: 1:07 - How Angelo got into the agency world out of necessity during the dot-com crash 2:25 - Meeting Richard in a Harry Potter-esque location overlooking King's Cross 4:18 - The current setup: 25 people, lean and mean in Cape Town 5:26 - Why COVID was actually good for Elemental's business 6:59 - The advantage of having strong technical backgrounds as co-founders 8:05 - How SEO has been their secret weapon for lead generation 9:51 - Doing exceptional work leads to referrals and repeat business 10:38 - The mistake of trying to be everything to everyone 11:16 - MVPs and the patterns Angelo sees when founders first approach them 12:33 - Why founders jam-pack MVPs with nice-to-have features 14:04 - The "build it and they will come" fallacy 15:55 - Walking through the Change Cars project: competing with Autotrader 18:55 - How the market tells you what features to build next 21:22 - Philosophy: software should adapt to the business, not the other way around 25:18 - Why off-the-shelf tools force businesses into broken workflows 28:21 - The commercial model: discovery, build, then ongoing support and maintenance 32:01 - Why Elemental keeps everyone in-office five days a week 36:06 - The advantages: culture, collaboration, mentoring, and quality control 38:53 - The major challenge: hiring in a world that wants remote work 42:18 - How Angelo stays connected to the technical side without writing code anymore 43:18 - The reality of vibe coding: it looks good but has no brakes 46:32 - Security nightmares in AI-generated prototypes 48:07 - Using AI tools like Copilot and Cursor responsibly 50:58 - Building SEO calculators with vibe coding versus proper development 52:18 - Advice for agencies looking to scale: stop being too generalist 55:23 - Positioning yourself as a specialist and marketing to that niche 57:24 - Book recommendation: $100,000,000 Offers by Alex Hormozi Learn more about scaling your agency at eComOne.com

From a ski slope conversation to 120+ staff. That's the journey of Impression, one of the UK's fastest-growing performance marketing agencies. Mikey Emery started in a server room with three co-founders and built an agency that's broken through every glass ceiling—staying profitable, debt-free, and people-first the entire way. Mikey Emery Mikey Emery is the Commercial Director and co-owner of Impression, a performance marketing agency with offices in Nottingham, London, and Manchester. After joining the founders in 2014, Mikey has been instrumental in scaling the business from 4 people to over 120 staff while maintaining a relentless focus on automation, AI, and client-centric delivery. This podcast episode is relevant to you if you're navigating agency growth, struggling with team structure, or wondering how to invest in automation without losing the human touch. Find out how Impression restructured from channel-based teams to client-centric pods, why they paused client billing during COVID (and grew 50% anyway), and what it really takes to launch into the US market as a UK agency. Mikey shares the honest truths about leadership evolution, making decisions even when you're not sure, and why learning from pitch losses has driven more change than celebrating wins. If you're serious about scaling your agency while keeping culture intact, this episode is packed with real, usable lessons. Topics Covered: 1:34 - How Mikey got into the agency world (and why his e-commerce business failed) 3:37 - From bedroom freelancers to first office in 2014 4:46 - Growing from 4 people to 120+ staff across three UK offices 6:22 - The step changes that pushed through growth glass ceilings 8:00 - Why moving into an office space was a pivotal moment 10:18 - Winning seven-figure accounts that changed the trajectory 12:24 - How servicing bigger clients is less operationally complex than you think 14:13 - Splitting time as Commercial Director across growth, marketing, and client services 15:54 - Using data and forecasting to stay 95% accurate on the next 4 months 18:55 - Leadership evolution: from impatient decision-maker to trusting the team 21:22 - Why "a decision is better than no decision" became his guiding principle 23:22 - The agency's approach to AI and automation (it's been core for 10 years) 26:32 - Launching their proprietary AI content production tool 29:19 - Investing in full-time developers and data scientists to build tech in-house 32:16 - The US expansion: why every state is its own country 34:24 - Going from UK-based clients marketing in the US to building a proper US presence 36:02 - Setting up offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami 40:14 - The biggest challenge: COVID and the decision to pause client billing 43:52 - Why they chose not to furlough staff and how it paid off 46:59 - The importance of having a war chest of cash reserves 47:58 - What's on the roadmap: US growth, AI acceleration, and restructuring into pods 49:41 - Moving from 20+ people on accounts to lean, client-centric pod structures 52:40 - One piece of advice: Make a decision, even if it's wrong 53:47 - Why failures drive more change than successes 54:26 - Book recommendation: The Good Company by Arthur Blank

Retainers? Contracts? Slow approvals? Forget it. Adrienn Major is breaking every rule of the traditional agency model with POD LDN — a global post-production powerhouse built on flexibility, speed, and trust. No retainers. No big contracts. Just on-demand creative firepower that scales up or down instantly. From managing 80 in-house artists and 1,500 freelancers, to building AI tools and automation into her workflows, Adrienn shows what it really takes to stay lean, reactive, and cashflow smart in a chaotic industry. This episode is a masterclass in running a modern creative business — from scaling teams globally to rethinking pricing models, leadership, diversity, and the role of AI in post-production. Adrienn Major Founder of POD LDN, Adrienn shares her journey from growing up in Hungary to building one of the most agile post-production companies in the world. She explains how ditching retainers and complex pricing in favor of flat day rates created speed and trust with clients, and how a massive freelance pool gives POD the flexibility to handle anything from VFX to CGI on demand. She also opens up about leadership in a male-dominated industry, why agencies need to embrace automation and AI (including creating an AI version of herself), and the surprising lessons she’s taken from The Wolf of Wall Street. Whether you’re scaling an agency, exploring automation, or looking for inspiration on building flexible business models, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss. Listen to the full episode now and learn how to scale without burning cash or slowing down. Topics Covered 00:08 — Introduction: Meet Adrienn Major and POD LDN 01:32 — Adrienn’s journey from Hungary to launching her own company 05:29 — Scaling POD: 80 in-house artists + 1,500 freelancers worldwide 08:31 — Why traditional agencies struggle with reactivity (and how POD solved it) 09:55 — Building a business without retainers or long contracts 12:09 — Flat-rate pricing: £290 per artist per day, £40/hour for smaller tasks 15:16 — How POD helps agencies, in-house teams, and post houses scale flexibly 18:45 — The advantage of tapping into global talent pools 21:41 — Managing a decentralized, international team day-to-day 24:34 — Reinventing workflows: morning check-ins, gamification, and agile leadership 25:25 — How AI and automation power POD’s operations (from onboarding to project setup) 28:52 — Creating an AI version of Adrienn for onboarding and training 32:31 — The future of AI in creative work: threats, opportunities, and collaboration 36:41 — Keeping pace with fast-moving AI tools and platforms 37:11 — Diversity in agencies: challenges and the need for male allies 40:19 — Scaling lessons: staying flexible, keeping overheads low, and cashflow smart 43:16 — Book recommendation: The Way of the Wolf by Jordan Belfort 44:57 — How to connect with Adrienn and learn more about POD LDN

Jason Hennessey’s entrepreneurial journey began when he shared his impressive results in e-commerce and affiliate marketing during a presentation. The audience—mostly lawyers—were so impressed that several approached him afterward, asking if he could help them achieve similar success. Though he hadn’t considered starting an agency before, he left the room that day with seven business cards and the beginnings of $30,000 per month in recurring revenue. That single, 45-minute presentation marked the start of his agency and set him on the path to building a thriving business. In today’s episode, Richard and Jason explore Jason’s journey from his early days as a self-taught SEO freelancer to building a global team of over 130 people. Along the way, you’ll hear insights on the power of niching down, the importance of agency culture, and how to transition from a lifestyle business to a scalable operation. Jason also shares advice on hiring key leadership roles, leveraging executive assistants to maximize impact, and integrating AI and innovation into agency processes. Topics Covered:  00:00 Scaling Agencies: Insights from Jason Hennessey 03:29 Leading Law SEO Agency Insights 08:30 Scaling Business by Hiring Experts 12:22 Documenting Time and Task Management 15:04 Hiring and Business Culture Insight 17:05 "Building a Team-First Culture" 19:59 Hackathon Innovation: HD Translate 25:24 Adapting SEO with AI Innovation 26:32 "Personal Branding for Agency Success" 29:45 "Book as Unique Selling Point" 33:01 Navigating Burnout and Business Challenges 36:29 Balancing Work and Personal Life 39:43 Email Management and Availability 43:07 "My Grandfather, My Greatest Mentor" 46:26 "Balancing Growth and Risk"

Nigel shares his journey from scaling his London agency from three Founders to 25 staff and multi-million pound turnover, to ultimately watching it collapse. In this episode of eCom@One with Richard Hill, Richard interviews Nigel Davies, former WPP design veteran, Co-Founder of 300 Million Agency and now Solo Consultant at Pin Creative. He discusses the dangers of relying too heavily on one large client, the pitfalls of over-investing in admin roles too early and the lessons learned from rapid growth & hiring.  Nigel reflects on how agency work has evolved, the significance of having a physical office and the value of building long-term client relationships versus chasing short-term projects. Now thriving as an independent consultant, he emphasises clarity in branding, using even his 6,000-strong vinyl collection to explain branding simply.  The episode offers candid insights into the highs and lows of agency life and the importance of adaptability and brand clarity. Topics Covered 00:00 - How Nigel became a brand consultant after years of running an agency 04:20 – Formed a band as a playful bet, highlighting team camaraderie and creative bonding 08:18 – Launched his business by leveraging contacts, securing early clients and establishing credibility with a standout office in Exmouth Market 12:28 – Experienced profitable early growth with minimal advisors/admin. Scaling from 12 to 20 staff brought operational and managerial challenges 16:31 – Community workspaces enhance well-being and appeal to businesses by offering vibrant team and client hubs, more effective than remote setups 19:26 – Emphasises billing senior staff time to maintain profitability and quality; over-reliance on junior teams can lead to inefficiencies 22:21 – Monitoring utilisation rates across roles is essential for balancing workloads and maximising billable hours 25:09 – Long-term client relationships are key to stable business; balancing creative branding with routine delivery is an ongoing challenge 29:41 – High-value projects can stretch teams, drive profits, and spur financial growth 32:46 – Profitability is boosted by mixing project work with retainers and forming strategic partnerships (e.g., printing deals) 36:48 – Managed internal challenges with care, always prioritising team dynamics and relationships 37:46 – Running an agency requires resilience; Nigel left agency life for independent work but stayed in the branding space 41:11 – Staying personally connected to clients helps leaders remain attuned to real-world issues as teams grow 47:10 – Recommends "A Technique for Producing Ideas", a short, classic creativity guide by a New York ad professional

Amanda Walls, Founder and Director of Cedarwood Digital, a Manchester-based agency specialising in SEO, paid media, and digital PR and international speaker sits down with Richard Hill to share her agency journey.  Amanda gives an honest and frank account into the journey of launching Cedarwood as a solo venture nine years ago to growing it into an award-winning team with impressive client retention and a thriving agency culture.  You’ll hear Amanda’s insights on why specialising beats trying to be everything to everyone, her go-to strategies for scaling boutique agencies without losing your soul and the real frameworks that help keep both clients and staff happy.  Plus, Amanda opens up about the challenges of managing growth, building a standout agency brand and her approach to handling client relationships, even when things go wrong.  Whether you’re building your own agency, leading a team or seeking inspiration from those who’ve been there, this conversation is packed with real-world advice you won’t want to miss.  Listen now! Topics Covered 1:39 - Journey of Cedarwood Digital  5:14 - Investing in your people and helping them do their best work  6:30 - Building a buzz around your brand 8:12 - The 6month appraisal process  11:46 - Getting speaking gigs  16:15 - Retention starts at acquisition  20:50 - Why Amanda doesn’t ask for client referrals  23:50 - Client challenges 29:20 - Tools to run the agency  34: 22 - 3 years until they won one award and how they finally secured their first one 45:24 - The next 6 months for Cedarwood Digital  48:08 - Book recommendation

Welcome to a milestone episode of Agency Intensive. In this special 10th installment, we take a look back at the most insightful and inspiring moments from our conversations so far.  Host Richard Hill revisits the memorable stories and strategies shared by a stellar line-up of agency founders and industry leaders, from the explosive growth tactics of Stephen Kenwright at Rise at Seven to Chris Thomas’s authentic niche-building at Cake Agency and Nathan Lomax’s whirlwind 45-event networking marathon. We’ll hear powerful lessons on trust from Richard Mawer, explore how cultural alignment led Simon Penson’s agency to a £37 million exit and get a candid take on resilience and focus from Ady Collins after his personal battle with cancer.  Kelly Evans shares her passion for leading a purpose-driven B Corp at Social Change, while Adam Pearce reveals how his focus on community and CRO helped Blend Commerce achieve an impressive client retention rate. Tune in as we celebrate these moments of bold risk-taking, genuine relationship-building and transparent leadership, all culminating in our double-digit milestone.  Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your agency, this episode is packed with the wisdom and motivation you need for the road ahead. Let’s dive in!

Adam Pearce is the CEO of the leading Shopify CRO agency, Blend Commerce. They help online retailers sell more online by increasing AOV and Conversion Rates  He also runs a very successful events business which we are sure you have heard of, eCom Collab Club.  In this podcast, Adam goes deep into Blend’s service focus and how they work strategically with specific partners. He shares how they navigate the competitive UK market, how to manage capacity planning and hiring talent who all work on the same mission for the longevity of his agency.  With his years of experience running events, Adam generously discusses how he secures sponsorship, how to attract the right people to your events and how to build a successful and supportive community. Scared of posting online? Adam shares why you shouldn’t give a shit, own your voice and share your expertise to build an online personal brand.  Of course, Adam shares his challenges of scaling an agency and why a 70+ man agency isn’t the right fit for Blend Commerce.  Topics Covered  1:34 - Start of the agency journey  4:18 - Navigating the challenges of the first year in agency world 6:51 - Reacting to the market, narrowing down and finding their specialism  10:18 - What actually is CRO? 11:30 - Retainer vs one-off projects 12:23 - Losing a client due to not being their perfect fit ICP  15:22 - Events as a tactic for new business 16:53 - Birth of eCom Collab Club  21:02 - Building an event partnership ecosystem  22:02 - Using brands to speak at events to attract other brands to events  24:05 - Securing sponsorship and proving ROI 27:42 - Building a community  29:30 - Gamification and community groups  31:34 - 2024 being the toughest year that Adam has had  35:09 - Recruiting and retaining top talent  40:02 - UK vs US market 44:34 - Unexpected things that he has seen in a pitch, yoghurt is involved  46:58 - Finding your own voice in the personal branding world on LinkedIn  50:31 - Book recommendation 

Kelly Evans is the Chief Executive at Social Change, a UK social research and social campaign company. They use research, insight, behavioural theory and psychology to design campaigns and programmes to lead behaviour change. They tackle issues such as, obesity, smoking, gun, crime, alcohol harm, climate change, recycling, litter, water usage, flu, cancer prevention and addictions.  In this podcast, Kelly outlines how she niched down and found her passion after being made redundant. As the first BCORP certified agency in Lincolnshire, Kelly outlines the process and impact of going through this journey.  As a behavioural science agency, Kelly discusses the biggest shifts in human behaviour and how fully remote work is impacting people’s mental health. Find out what keeps Kelly up at night, how being risk averse helps the sustainability of her business and how she focuses on utilisation rates to secure the dream £100K a head figure for her team.   If you want to make your agency more profitable, this is the podcast episode for you.   Topics Covered 1:45 - Influencing human behaviour with the power of understanding behavioural science  3:32 - How Kelly secured her first client after being made redundant and the types of campaigns Social Change works on  8:05 - The shift/behaviour change since pandemic  9:04 - Working fully remote isn’t good for anyone’s health  11:20 - WHY and the process of becoming a BCORP 16:39 - Advice to anyone going through a BCORP 18:55 - What to do when things are tough  21:40 - How being risk averse helped Kelly navigate tough periods  25:44 - Keeping cash reserves  27:20 - What keeps Kelly up at night 29:13 - The pipeline challenge, getting and converting new business 34:44 - Utilisation rates and how Social Change is hitting the £100K a head number 46:30 - Book recommendations

Niching seems to be a theme across these agency podcasts and this episode is no different.  Ady Collins is the CEO of Knotted Commerce, a specialist agency on a mission to help brands simplify their integrations using iPaaS. Using his years of eCommerce experience in the tech side and at Patchworks, Ady is tying tech together to make things easier for retailers.  In this episode, Ady shares how he is scaling his team using global talent in an ethical way. He shares his mission and WHY Knotted Commerce exists.  Are you a full service agency? Well, Ady tells you why you could be falling short in this episode. Find out his pricing strategy, his lead generation tactics, the challenges he is facing around scaling, the process of venture capital and the EOS framework he uses to grow the agency. Ady shares something incredibly personal in this episode. While he was setting up his agency, he got diagnosed with testicular cancer. A sentence nobody ever wants to hear. Ady gives an honest account of this experience and the symptoms that led to his diagnosis.  We want to personally thank Ady for sharing his truth with our audience. It’s a story nobody ever wants to have to tell, but one that is so important to do so.  Listen in! 

Simon Penson is an Exited Agency Founder turned Consultant. He founded one of the very first content marketing agencies in 2009, Zazzle Media.  After securing successful growth and merging with Stickyeyes, Simon sold his business for an impressive £37M. Then Scaled was born. It is his latest venture, where he consults other agency owners to build and grow profitable businesses all the way to exit and beyond.  In this episode, Simon gives an honest account of the deal structure that resulted in that impressive valuation. As a journalist at heart, Simon stresses the importance of owning and understanding your audience to talk to them in their language to build that meaningful connection. Listen to find out how he built and scaled his agency from 1 to 250 team members, how his opinion on culture changed throughout this period and the challenges he faced along the way. He also shares the secret to how his team’s content managed to become the most viewed on Moz.  Simon discusses the shift in content marketing, shares his advice to agency leaders who are interested in selling, his opinions on options pool & team investment and the power of honesty and transparency during those challenging months. Would Simon do it all again? Find out by listening to this podcast episode!  Topics Covered:  1:40 - Journey into Agency life  6:40 - Championing content marketing as a business 9:01 - Initial acquisition conversations 10:43 - Merging and buying process of his agency  11:47 - Growth of his agency  15:30 - Launch of B2B SaaS fund  20:40 - Most viewed content on MOZ. How the agency achieved that.  25:15 - Maximising cross-channel content strategy  27:45 - Maintaining a collaborative culture during rapid periods of growth 36:00 - The deal that generate the agency sale 44:19 - Advice for agency owners who are thinking about selling 49:30 - Options pool & team investment  51:50 - Honesty and transparency. Testing things along the journey. 53.40 - Would Simon do it all again? 54:20 - Roadmap for Simon 

Joshua Grant is the Director of Digital at Absolute Design, a website design agency based in Nottingham. With a team of web developers and designers, they specialise in Magento and Shopify platforms, helping eCommerce businesses scale.  This podcast episode is relevant to you if you have challenges with managing difficult clients & retaining your staff and unsure what tactics will add longevity to your business. Find out how to build long-term strategic partnerships, improve the productivity amongst your team members and how to secure perfect fit attendees to your events. It can’t be ignored that this business has been around longer than a lot of Founders in the agency space. There’s heaps of value and credibility to help you with your agency journey in this episode of Agency Intensive. Topics Covered:  5:46 - Why Absolute Design are pulling away from Magento  9:22 - Niching down and choosing a specialism  12:34 - Recruiting the right people and attracting talent 16:25 - You will lose talent if you don’t offer flexibility 19:01 - Office vs remote working 21:40 - Selecting the right partners 29:01 - Scaling up the team and how to manage the process 30:45 - Building a community with events 34:47 - Getting the right people to your events 38:01 - Measuring productivity across the business  43:58 - Prioritising marketing time and budget 46:50 - Tools that his company can’t live without  51:34 - The biggest mistake he has made at the agency 54:30 - Firing clients! 57:54 - The roadmap over the next 12 months 

One of the most respected humans in the eCommerce world, Nathan Lomax, discusses how you can take your agency to its next level of growth. He’s a man with an obsession, to be the best serving agency for website migration for Shopify brands.  From 400 calls a month to niching down on what Quickfire Digital are best at, Nathan shares the tactics he is using to scale his multi-million pound business.  A team of 29 tenacious humans all on the same mission, to build a community of people that support each other during the turbulent times of business growth.  Find out why Quickfire set out to smash the events market, how they add value to their clients and their positioning journey.  Nathan touches on sponsorship, targeting perfect fit businesses, building a self-sufficient leadership team, how going from £1M to £2M is easier than £0M to £1M, the importance of remembering the opportunity cost of meetings and empowering the team to solve their own problems.  Not only is this episode full of insight on how to scale your business with a humanistic approach, it’s full of honest life talk too. Growing any business doesn’t come without sacrifice. He shares how he manages to juggle a hectic family life with a growing business and his own sanity.  If you are serious about scaling, this is the podcast for you. You will finish this podcast with real insight from somebody who is relentless in his pursuit of growth.  Topics Covered: 00:15 - The story of Quickfire Digital 08:43 - Niching down to a Shopify agency  10:36 - Identify adding value, focus on key differences 14:11 - Find your niche and what you are good at 16:50 - Doing 400 calls a month to build reciprocity  20:50 - Importance of reaching goals through specific numbers 24:46 - Indecisiveness, obligation, and sacrifice in eCommerce 28:46 - Busy days, events, struggle for work-life balance 31:19 - Work dynamics evolve from informal to hierarchical 34:27 - Building new structures, learning as we grow 37:31 - Difficulty following systems, easily distracted by emotions 39:23 - Fear of loss as business identity risk 42:04 - Book recommendation

From Store Owner to Agency Owner, Chris Thomas has seen and heard it all. He is a self confessed agency hater and fell into the agency world by chance.  He has developed his agency to ensure that the constant frustration and disappointment he felt with his agency partners doesn’t happen with his clients.  Chris acknowledges that the success of an agency comes down to the people. Your staff are your product, they are the ones that clients buy in to and deliver the service. Therefore, shaping a growth culture is one of his biggest priorities as an Agency Owner.  He shares the decisions he has made over the years to impact the culture positively, how he engages his staff to retain them and how hiring superstars has yielded success. His day 1 and day 2 team are still working with him and that definitely accounts for something.  Does your team talk about salaries? A heavily debated topic in the business world. Chris shares how he manages expectations by having transparent salary bands across the agency.  Find out how he has changed his tech stack for efficiency, what he is using now for optimum productivity and what past software he is retiring.  Everyone knows that being an Agency Owner is a rollercoaster of emotions, with a lot of ups and downs. Chris has transformed his life over the last few years by focusing on his holistic health and most importantly, his sleep quality. He shares how you can do this too!  It’s time to innovate, deliver and delight your clients for success. Be two steps ahead of them. Embrace failure and engage in Black Box thinking.   Topics covered:  00:23 - How he went from Store Owner to Agency Owner  04:39 - Skepticism of the traditional agency model 11:32 - How focusing on a niche has yielded success for his agency  14:31 - Innovation and change vital for staff retention 18:25 - Black Box Thinking 22:30 - Retailers faced challenges in 2022 and adapted. 25:29 - His opinion on the impact of events  28:55 - Anticipate client needs for successful marketing strategy - be two steps ahead of them  30:46 - Retain clients and grow their business  34:04 - Building client relationships leads to mutual success and referrals  38:40 - Project management software: Switching to Teamwork, retiring Asana for 2024 41:15 - Launching new products, supporting businesses in 2024 43:01- Business and health book recommendations for success

It’s the age old saying, people don’t care about you, they care about what you can do for them. It’s the truth.  And that’s exactly Richard Mawer’s mantra when it comes to agency growth. Put your clients first and you will inevitably win. Build a product that answers their pain points. Talk to them how and when they want to be spoken to. Listen, adapt and improve.  Richard has been growing agencies longer than some of our team have been alive and he shares how you can too. Listen to this episode as he shares how to nurture lead from initial interest to client, his tools & tech stack that keeps him organised and how to build trust in the crazy world of partnerships. We all know that if you hire and promote the right people to deliver a good service, you can grow your business.  Topics Covered: 00:00 - Richard’s extensive experience in the agency realm  03:29 - Sponsorship led to unexpected virtual agency development 07:13 - Being remarkable and differentiating attracts bigger money 11:33 - Focus, depth and determination led to success 14:28 - Experience positions and quality attracts interest 17:40 - Identify heroes, serve, engage, and promote. 22:27 - Strategic mindset and specific growth goals approach. 23:38 - Managing clients, converting leads and proposition  26:11 - Initial call focused on prospect's goals 31:30 - Agencies should prioritise transparency with clients 33:11 - Balancing costs and tools for agency retainers 36:03 - Customised reports provide vital information for teams 40:40 - Stepping back and focusing on high-value work 42:27 - Challenges of retaining staff in a changing work environment 45:42 - Entrepreneur focuses on scaling consultancy business effectively 49:48 - Podcasting, interviewing, live streams - powerful networking tools 52:14 - Tool for success

Turning down clients is the best thing that you can do to grow your agency. Sounds counterproductive right?  But, that’s exactly what led to Rise at Seven’s impressive growth. Love or hate them, you can’t argue with the fact that they dominate the Digital PR & Search Agency space. From day one, they were working with big and established global brands. Clearly they were doing a lot of things right.  But, growing a business to £7M a year doesn’t come without its challenges.  Stephen Kenwright is generous enough to share an honest and unfiltered account of Rise at Seven’s rollercoaster journey to the top on this podcast.  He touches on recruitment, marketing, targeting, positioning, whether industry awards are just smoke and mirrors, how to attract your ideal client, exiting Rise at Seven and what’s next for his career. If you are an ambitious agency owner who wants to scale, this episode is for you.  Topics covered:  00:00 - His agency background 05:57 - Positioning, marketing and recruitment  08:50 - Client perspectives 12:24 - Identifying potential clients and their fit, commercially and culturally 14:16 - Client budgets and partnerships 22:30 - Identifying key hires for company culture 25:21 - Managing talent is challenging  26:56 - Late hiring of HR caused a flood of issues 32:05 - Balance between human and commercial factors and the value of awards for agency owners 34:24 - Rise strives to prove an SEO agency can compete creatively with the best 38:58 - Why Kenwright exited Rise at Seven 42:17 - Advice for Agency Owners…get a good accountant  45:44 - 18 months of change, renovating, catching up and mini MBAs 49:11 - Kenwright’s next steps  50:19 - Book recommendation 

Is this podcast worth listening to? Listen to this short trailer episode to find out whether these honest conversations will add value to your life.