Life Among The Monsters: Building, Running, And Selling An Agency

The good, bad, ugly, and learnings from 25 years spent building and running a digital marketing agency.

Transcript

1. Life Among The Monsters Starting, Running, & Selling An Agency When You Have No Plan Whatsoever Ian Lurie, & Everyone Else Along The Way
2. The agency owner Skilled Feral Ready for anything
3. One week later Confused Winging it Poorly groomed
4. The Prologue
5. These are the people And they are amazing
6. They are not a “resource” They have lives. Good days. Bad days. They screw up. In other words, they’re you.
7. I had no plan. There. I said it.
8. 01 Don’t make the same mistake. People take you too damn seriously
9. 1. Maintain Sanity
10. Important note!!!! Sanity <> Stability Sanity = good decision making, staying power, and kindness
11. 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
12. 03 It’s Princess Bride. At best. This is not Lord Of The Rings
13. 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
14. 05 Listen. Then get to work Care what other people think
15. 06 They revolutionized how I worked Twice Hire a coach. Find a mentor.
16. 07 Pick a treat. Be consistent. Fly first class
17. 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
18. 2. Foster Clarity & Trust
19. 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.
20. 09 Why: A goal How: A structure What: Metrics…? Tell everyone why they’re there
22. 10 It costs you trust Praise in public Critique in private Don’t fart in public
23. 11 Don’t think out loud Be careful with sarcasm Take advantage to teach/lead w/ less effort Everyone’s listening
24. 12 Say “excuse me” You can re-establish trust When you do fart…
25. 13 It shouldn’t happen often When it does, cut the cord Know when someone’s checked out
26. 14 You’re just screwing everyone Don’t be “nice”
27. 15 What means a non-stop trip out the door? Make sure everyone knows Have non-negotiables
28. 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
29. 17 Avoid fart ambushes On a schedule On paper Have reviews
30. 18 HR software Time tracking Expense tracking PTO requests Have the processes before you need them
31. 19 No matter what you do ½ your company will hate the tools
32. 20 Do not share salaries Explain salary bands
33. 21 Individual contributors and management Have dual promotion tracks
34. 22 Therein lies madness Never, ever collect anonymous feedback
35. 23 Leadership must be accessible and safe Foster access
36. 24 Even when the world goes to shit Even if you (barely) survived Celebrate
37. 25 “Yay! We did it!” “What would you do different next time?” Master happy teaching moments
38. 26 Lunch with _____ Say thanks Just a checkin Try teaching Interact
39. 27 You know a thing or two Teach the team
40. 28 They know a thing or two Get the team teaching
41. 29 Remind people Make it easy Tettra, Confluence, Google Docs, whatever Have a knowledge base
42. 30 Write it all down
43. 31 “Teach the shit out of everything” Make it part of the culture
44. 3. The Business
45. Disclaimer I sucked – SUCKED – at hiring. Seriously. It was legendary. I got lucky several times, then those people did the hiring.
46. 32 …is to earn more than you spend Your main strategy
47. 33 No matter what. Ever. No exceptions. 50% up front/1st month
48. 34 No one gets to ask for more Get paid in full
49. 35 Don’t bill hourly. You’re punishing yourself. You’re worth more than time
50. 36 Trust me on this Get credit before you need it
51. 3.5. Client Management
52. 37 “This is a project agreement. However, if hours exceed…” Prepare for high-touch Direct team transparency Big clients?
53. 38 Strict service level agreement Set super-clear expectations Small clients?
54. 39 Charge a drama rate When it’s time to renew If you’re going out of scope
55. 40 The test drive is a myth There’s never “more work later”
56. 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
59. 42 It may hurt. It’s worth it. But remember, don’t fart in public. Team first. Clients second.
60. 43 “Thanks for your patience” Don’t apologize. Appreciate.
61. 44 “How else can I help?” Ask The Question
62. 3.6. Exit
63. 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
64. 46 Oy Have a job description
65. 47 I have no clue How much?
66. What does it all mean?
67. …if you don’t Don’t pretend you have a plan
68. …and people make good decisions Foster clarity
69. The cash, the clients, the long term Tend the business
70. Treat it as one This is a big deal.
71. Required (OK, Recommended) Reading
73. Everything by this guy
74. Wil Reynolds: The Consultant’s Rut & How To Escape It https://url.ianlurie.com/consult-trap Cough Cough https://url.ianlurie.com/one-trick
75. Ask (I’ll try to answer) Deck, links, and all that: https://ianlurie.me/agency-life