Daniel Weiner’s Post

Posting on someone else's behalf! Please mention or recommend experts in the comment section who provide 1:1 consultations on various topics such as: ✓ Agency Setup ✓Hiring Strategies ✓ Client Acquisition ✓ Agency Scaling ✓ Agency Budget Management ✓ Leading a Team within an Agency. I'm interested in starting our agency and seeking consultation on these specific areas. #agency #consultation

I grew my agency to 8 figures by hiring 1 type of person: → Not management → Not middle-men → Not ops ✅ Money makers. Everyone you hire should make your agency money. That’s what’s going to help you scale. Give someone you hire 3 months. If they’re not profitable by then, you gotta cut ‘em. I’ve hired too many ‘managers’ who don’t actually do much. (people should run their own operations) If anything, they just make scaling harder because they’re in the middle. Too many middle-men create: - Hierarchy - Unnecessary bureaucracy - Additional headaches for you Prioritise money-makers > everyone else.

Strange as it may seem, I think In-housing an agency is a cracking idea and works for a lot of clients. But it can also be an expensive dumpster fire. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself before you push the big button. 1. Do We Have the Talent? Can we attract and retain the necessary skills in-house, from creative design to data analysis? 2. Can We Stay Agile? Will our team remain innovative and fresh, keeping up with industry trends? 3. What Are the Real Costs? Are the long-term costs of building and maintaining an in-house team more effective than hiring external agencies? 4. Do We Have the Leadership? Does our leadership have the expertise to manage an in-house agency effectively? 5. How Will We Measure Success? What metrics and KPIs will we use to ensure our in-house team delivers value and meets our marketing goals? What do you think? Hit us up at OSSC if you want any deeper thinking on it.

Ever feel like working with agencies is more of a headache than a help? 👀 The marketers I spoke to, certainly did! Some of the stories and issues working with agency partners are crazy! - High costs? Yep - Slow approvals? Yes - Painful onboarding? Double check Sure, agencies can bring creativity and expertise, but the downsides cannot be ignored. We’re talking about communication gaps (endless email chains, anyone?), high churn rates (so much for building long-term relationships), and compliance nightmares (who needs sleep, right?). I’m not saying all agencies are bad, but it’s clear something needs to change. A solution that address the pain points, not just add to them. Someone who understand your brand, your goals, and your challenges. Partners who deliver results, not just invoices. So, are agencies ready to step up? Or are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes? The ball’s in your court. #marketing #agency #starup #interview

Oh yeah man, I have an agency working for me! It’s not really working out” Meanwhile: The founders/team are calling all the shots, disapproving any kind of different strategy and shifting all of the ideas that the agency presents them. Me: “Well, that makes perfect sense why it’s not working out.” If you hire and agency (especially ones that have a good track record) let them do their thing. They are the experts, not you. There are only 3 reasons why you are hiring an agency: - You don’t want to do it in-house because of costs - You don’t have the expertise to do it yourself - You are stuck in a plateau for months… And then you hire an agency to be the puppet master? Something is not adding up. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts down below 👇

Great agencies know when they are getting fired. "But Daniel, great agencies don't get fired!!" Great agencies don't get fired, *often. But, it happens. And, any agency, who has been around for any sort of significant time period, has presumably been fired several times. It happens. It's part of the business. Great agencies have a 6th sense. More specifically, great biz dev / account / client services people, have a 6th sense for when they are getting fired, for when they are going to receive a grumpy email/phone call, for when they have f*cked up beyond repair. I can vividly recall sitting at my desk while at my old agency, thinking "we are 100% getting fired today" and low and behold, receiving the email to start that chain of events a few minutes later. Great agencies aren't blindsided, is the point. Great agencies, honestly, aren't blindsided by virtually anything. They know. They know when they need to smooth things over. They preemptively get in front of things. They beat the client to the punch and say "we f*cked up" -- not necessarily in those words :) If you, as an agency, are blindsided by stuff consistently, ESPECIALLY by that dreaded 'we are going in a different direction, here's our notice' email... ...something is wrong. Being proactive amidst the negative, in the middle of a mess, is part of the game. If nothing else, it's to save face. Being fired, albeit a not fun event, is a chance to save face, do everything in your power to remain on good terms, and not burn a bridge. CMO's talk, a lot. If you don't handle being fired well, as an agency, that permeates through the industry. There's one way to handle being put on notice/fired...the only way. Step 1: Incredibly sorry to hear it's come to this. Can we chat? If yes, great. See what you can do to salvage. No salvaging? Move to step 2. If no, move to step 2. Step 2: "Super disappointed, of course, but totally respect the decision. We'll do everything in our power to make this a smooth transition and will be rooting for the brand from the sidelines. Hope to have a chance to earn back your trust in the future." Step 3: Figure out what went wrong/what went south. Step 4: ACTUALLY make the transition smooth. Step 5: ACTUALLY root for the brand to succeed. Step 6: ACTUALLY try to earn back trust in the future.

The current state of affairs may just be the craziest I've seen. Almost every indicator is in a contradictory state. More pitches, more budget, more hiring, more layoffs, more small projects, more time to decide. So confusing. This will make a little more sense of it. https://lnkd.in/e4EfnFkV #LetsGrow! #AdAgency #newbusinessstrategy #adagencygrowth #winmoreclients Agency Growth Consultant

Depending on the role you are hiring in your agency, SOPs could be completely useless The reason I say this is because how often do you speak to someone who you are paying over $3k/mo for in your business, and they say to you “I dont know how to do this, can you make an SOP” 90% of the time you won’t hear this, you’ll only hear this for VAs for people you are paying $0-$1k (most times) Which means if you want to make things simply for yourself hire quality talent, then you won’t need to make as many SOPs compared to if you hire cheap talent The team will operate the same as if you made SOPs and you can now focus on things that are more higher leverage while the team performs at a high degree

The current state of affairs may just be the craziest I've seen. Almost every indicator is in a contradictory state. More pitches, more budget, more hiring, more layoffs, more small projects, more time to decide. So confusing. This will make a little more sense of it. https://lnkd.in/ehmdTK5Y #LetsGrow! #AdAgency #newbusinessstrategy #adagencygrowth #winmoreclients Agency Growth Consultant

The current state of affairs may just be the craziest I've seen. Almost every indicator is in a contradictory state. More pitches, more budget, more hiring, more layoffs, more small projects, more time to decide. So confusing. This will make a little more sense of it. https://lnkd.in/ehmdTK5Y #LetsGrow! #AdAgency #newbusinessstrategy #adagencygrowth #winmoreclients Agency Growth Consultant