Life Among The Monsters: Starting, Running, & Selling An Agency

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Life Among The Monsters Starting, Running, & Selling An Agency When You Have No Plan Whatsoever Ian Lurie, & Everyone Else Along The Way @ianlurie

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The agency owner Skilled Feral Ready for anything

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One week later Confused Winging it Poorly groomed

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The Prologue

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These are the people And they are amazing

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They are not a “resource” They have lives. Good days. Bad days. They screw up. In other words, they’re you.

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I had no plan. There. I said it.

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01 Don’t make the same mistake. People take you too damn seriously

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1. Maintain Sanity

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Important note!!!! Sanity <> Stability Sanity = good decision making, staying power, and kindness

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02 You are not the cavalry There is no cavalry You are not a superhero You are a professional You are not in a movie

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03 It’s Princess Bride. At best. This is not Lord Of The Rings

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04 It’s not “just business,” ffs. You have permission to feel good/bad/awful Care what other people think. Then get to work Be emotional

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05 Listen. Then get to work Care what other people think

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06 They revolutionized how I worked Twice Hire a coach. Find a mentor.

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07 Pick a treat. Be consistent. Fly first class

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08 Two recessions, one banking collapse, a terrorist attack, two (at least) major wars, a pandemic Tear gassed, mugged (unsuccessfully), major earthquake, two bike crashes, son lodged a penny in his throat, daughter hit in the face with a flying wooden banana, emergency appendectomy, three major layoffs Every shitshow’s different

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2. Foster Clarity & Trust

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Clarity & Trust Go Hand In Hand ”Clarity” isn’t about “mission.” Clarity is anything that helps you and your team make good decisions about the work, their tenure, their careers, and their lives.

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09 Why: A goal How: A structure What: Metrics…? Tell everyone why they’re there

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O E h c p S

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10 It costs you trust Praise in public Critique in private Don’t fart in public toot

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11 Don’t think out loud Be careful with sarcasm Take advantage to teach/lead w/ less effort Everyone’s listening

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12 Say “excuse me” You can re-establish trust When you do fart… toot

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13 It shouldn’t happen often When it does, cut the cord Know when someone’s checked out

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14 You’re just screwing everyone Don’t be “nice”

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15 What means a non-stop trip out the door? Make sure everyone knows Have non-negotiables

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16 (avoid farts of omission) Silly? No. Think of the little questions that come up: Expenses, holidays, PTO, dress code (yes, dress code), supplies It’s about the little things that can make you… Have an employee manual toot

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toot 17 Avoid fart ambushes On a schedule On paper Have reviews

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18 HR software Time tracking Expense tracking PTO requests Have the processes before you need them

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19 No matter what you do ½ your company will hate the tools

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20 Do not share salaries Explain salary bands

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21 Individual contributors and management Have dual promotion tracks

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22 Therein lies madness Never, ever collect anonymous feedback

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23 Leadership must be accessible and safe Foster access

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24 Even when the world goes to shit Even if you (barely) survived Celebrate

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25 “Yay! We did it!” “What would you do different next time?” Master happy teaching moments

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26 Lunch with _____ Say thanks Just a checkin Try teaching Interact

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27 You know a thing or two Teach the team

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28 They know a thing or two Get the team teaching Remember, these are cartoons, not the team

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29 Remind people Make it easy Tettra, Lessonly, Confluence, Google Docs, whatever Have a knowledge base

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30 Write it all down

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31 “Teach the shit out of everything” Make it part of the culture

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3. The Business

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Disclaimer I sucked – SUCKED – at hiring. Seriously. It was legendary. I got lucky several times, then those people did the hiring.

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32 …is to earn more than you spend Your main strategy

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33 No matter what. Ever. No exceptions. 50% up front/1st month

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34 No one gets to ask for more Get paid in full

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35 Don’t bill hourly. You’re punishing yourself. You’re worth more than time

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36 Trust me on this Get credit before you need it

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3.5. Client Management

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37 “This is a project agreement. However, if hours exceed…” Prepare for high-touch Direct team transparency Big clients?

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38 Strict service level agreement Set super-clear expectations Small clients?

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39 Charge a drama rate When it’s time to renew If you’re going out of scope

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40 The test drive is a myth There’s never “more work later”

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41 You’re there to make the client (and you) look good ”Sales are up 100%! Thank you, development team, for implementing our recommendations!” I told you so Give the praise, take the hit

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toot Except…

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toot to o t toot APOLOGIZE!!!

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42 It may hurt. It’s worth it. But remember, don’t fart in public. Team first. Clients second.

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43 “Thanks for your patience” Don’t apologize. Appreciate.

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44 “How else can I help?” Ask The Question

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3.6. Exit

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45 Build to be a great agency Sell when someone recognizes that you’ve built a great agency Don’t go looking Do not have an exit strategy

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46 Oy Have a job description

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47 I have no clue How much?

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What does it all mean?

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…if you don’t Don’t pretend you have a plan

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…and people make good decisions Foster clarity

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The cash, the clients, the long term Tend the business

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Treat it as one This is a big deal.

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Required (OK, Recommended) Reading

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No content

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Everything by this guy

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Wil Reynolds: The Consultant’s Rut & How To Escape It https://url.ianlurie.com/consult-trap Cough Cough https://url.ianlurie.com/one-trick

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Ask (I’ll try to answer) @ianlurie [email protected] Deck, links, and all that: https://url.ianlurie.com/agency-life