Your Agency of Success

Presented at Digital Biz Summit 2013: http://environmentsforhumans.com/2013/digital-biz-summit/
==========================
We do an amazing job in our industry of crafting our process, honing our skill sets and sharing our experiences. However, we don't spend enough time talking about the roots of everything we do: running a business. Whether you're a 9-5'er, a freelancer, a moonlighter or running a small company, you work is a reflection of your passion.

Are you looking to make the jump, hire that next employee or break into a new market? You might be ready sooner than you think. Learn from my mistakes as I share some of my experiences including quitting a stable job, freelancing and eventually founding my own agency. It's been a wild ride.

Transcript

1. Your Agency Success Adam McCombs | Digital Biz Summit | August 20, 2013 of
2. I’m Adam and I run the Taecho Group We make things. Ya know - web stuff.
3. MY STORY STARTS WITH AN IDENTITY CRISIS.
4. As a freelancer I worked under the full spectrum. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT BRANDING LOGO DESIGNS PRINT MATERIALS WEB SITE DESIGN HTML/CSS MARKUP THEME BUILDING SERVER SETUP APP DEVELOPMENT
5. I’m a unicorn?
6. What about a Black Pegasus?
7. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
8. The evolution of Taecho FREELANCE PARTNERSHIP (LLC) SMALL TEAM ??? TEAM
9. The Taecho Team Today
10. BUT HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?
11. WORK CLIENTS GROWTH LEARN Four ways to measure success
12. WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU? GROWTH
13. 12 offices world wide Vinnytsya Shanghai Sea le San Francisco New York Munich Milan Kyiv Johannesburg Boston Austin Amsterdam Founded 1969 - 1,000 employees frog
14. Blue Acorn, based in Charleston, SC is a full service eCommerce agency Founded 2007 - now 45 employees
15. Advertising Agency | Based in Austin, Texas | Founded 2003 - 14 employees
16. [Founded in 1999] Happy Cog is a multi-disciplinary, award- winning web design, development, and user experience consultancy with offices in New York, Philadelphia, and Austin.
17. GROWTH IN NUMBERS [not necessarily]
18. Paravel is a three-man web design & branding shop located in Austin, Texas.
19. Dan Mall [& friends] Rocks!
20. One man band? Branding Design User experience HTML/CSS Theme building Content management Backend Development Mobile apps Systems Admin Service and Support
21. TAKING THAT NEXT STEP
22. I’M HERE X x marks the spot. HOW DO I GET HERE? OR HERE
23. TAKE YOUR TIME HONE YOUR SKILLS BUILD YOUR NETWORK
24. DO I NEED TO EXPAND? Ask yourself really
25. Tips for growth Focus on your experience. Outsource the rest. 1 Don’t hire unless you absolutely have too Don’t hire clones. Hire experience and expect growth. Be honest. If something isn’t working with an employee: Fix it. 2 3 4 “I NEED YOU TO JUMP OFF A CLIFF” - The West Wing
26. WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU? WORK
27. - Steve jobs by Walter Isaacson “I want it to be as beautiful as possible, even if it’s inside the box. A great carpenter isn’t going to use lousy wood for the back of a cabinet, even though nobody’s going to see it. When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”
28. Build and do the work that you know will make you successful. Don’t let it keep you up at night.
29. Are you doing the work you want to be doing?
30. http://jenson.org/we-need-more-communism/ Truck idea Road idea Look at this this way: FedEx couldn’t exist without a municipal road system. Great companies are built on great public infrastructure. The world of ideas is broken up into only two simple groups: truck ideas and road ideas. Truck ideas are about making companies, road ideas are about creating infrastructure. - We Need More Communism by Scott Jenson
31. Don’t go into a cave. Work with your client on the entire process
32. Launch. Launch. Launch. Put it in front of real people. Get Feedback. Adjust.
33. Tips for work Do what you do and do it well. 1 Don’t be afraid to ask questions to peers & clients Work on things that make you happy. Launch. Launch. Launch. (+ Iterate) 2 3 4 “Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.” - Paul Graham
34. WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU? CLIENTS
35. Every client is important. But are they important to you?
36. Put yourself in your clients shoes
37. New clients New projects Advertising Milestones / Deadlines Workflow Tools Technology Human Resources Sales Client Needs Agency Needs Sales Product Development New customers Human Resources Budget Technology Operations Distribution Advertising
38. New clients New projects Advertising Milestones / Deadlines Workflow Tools Technology Human Resources Sales Client Needs Agency Needs Sales Product Development New customers Human Resources Budget Technology Operations Distribution Advertising
39. Find clients that share your goals.
40. Look for the red flags. Trust me. They’re real. Spec work “Exposure” or “Opportunity” gigs. The yesterday deadline Will you change your rate? Problems with previous vendors
41. Just say no. You’ll thank yourself later.
42. - Show & Tell Listen in “Collaboration” by Trent Walton [...]With sketches, everyone is going to be less invested (in every sense of the word) than with fully comped layouts or fully built prototypes—therefore, team members aren’t afraid to pick things apart. As they share & debate ideas, the collaborative working relationship is established. http://trentwalton.com/2012/05/31/collaboration/
43. Find clients you can be honest with. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
44. GREAT WORK TRUST RELATIONSHIP which builds builds which leads to - The Art of Client Service by Robert Solomon
45. - What Clients Don’t Know (and Why It’s Your Fault) by Mike Monteiro ‘Mutual success is predicated on how we empathize with your client’s perspective and professionally explain your own. Annoyance is easy. Empathy is hard.’ http://archive.aneventapart.com/2012/sanfrancisco/?/2012/sanfrancisco/
46. Take risks. Don’t take on the same projects over and over again.
47. Tips for clients Just say no. 1 Look for red flags. Work with your clients not against. Don’t be afraid to take risks. 2 3 4 Client centric web design allows web designers to redefine the relationship they have with their clients. It endeavors to break the preconception that clients are the enemy and instead create a harmonious working relationship. - Paul Boag
48. WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE TO YOU? LEARN
49. Make learning a part of every project. Start a new project Learn a new technique Deploy into future projects
50. - Derailed by Rogie King That was a fantastic question that I gave serious thought to. Had I achieved no "status" at all, would I be better off today? The answer, I believe, for me, was yes. It was that question among many like it I had asked myself earlier that led me down a road of self-discovery and freedom. http://rog.ie/blog/derailed
51. Make time to learn.
52. At Taecho, we’ve started Taecho time. (I know, I know. It sounds lame.) ...but Taecho time has easily become my favorite part of the week. Every Friday afternoon I learn more in 2-3 hours with my team than I do all week.
53. Learn from your clients. They are just as experienced as you are.
54. Tips for learning Make learning a part of every project. 1 Don’t get caught up in “likes”. Make time to learn. Learn from your clients. They are experts too. 2 3 4 Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. - Bill Gates
55. http://www.superbwallpapers.com/fantasy/sparkling-crystal-unicorn-18673/ Unicorn http://www.wallpapershunt.com/wallpaper/black-pegasus_w65.html Black pegasus http://www.old-print.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=N3271904135 Factory http://www.cityist.com/blog/dave-matthews-leads-varvatos-spring-ad-campaign/ One man band Photo credits
56. Questions? @adammccombs or @taechogroup adam@taechogroup.com