Smart Agency Masterclass Podcast with Jason Swenk

Bi-weekly interviews, strategy, and advice for building your marketing agency the smart way.

The popular agency podcast has just turned 10 years old and covers everything from starting a successful agency to selling your agency.

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5 Videos You Need Right Now to Boost Prospect Engagement with Carl Kwan | Ep #778
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5 Videos You Need Right Now to Boost Prospect Engagement with Carl Kwan | Ep #778

Are you leveraging video to expand your audience reach and better communicate your services? Video remains the most effective medium for showcasing your brand and conveying authenticity, allowing potential clients to feel connected to you before purchasing your services. Today's featured guest began building his brand through video back in 2009 and has since accumulated millions of views.

He shares strategies for developing your approach to video, current effective practices, and the transformative impact of AI on video production. While AI offers significant benefits—reducing both production costs and time investments—he acknowledges that fully AI-generated videos often lack the genuine authenticity that resonates with audiences. Where exactly is the balance between efficiency and authenticity? Join us to discover how to effectively harness video's power to enhance both your business performance and personal fulfillment.

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What’s the Right Social Media Strategy for Your Digital Agency? with Elizabeth Stone | Ep #777
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

What’s the Right Social Media Strategy for Your Digital Agency? with Elizabeth Stone | Ep #777

Does your digital agency a strong social media presence? Wondering which content types and platforms deliver the best results? Today's featured guest runs a social media agency that focuses on a carefully selected roster of clients. She began her career as a stay-at-home mom with exceptional social media instincts and built a thriving agency in just five years. She views social media as a necessary evil for brands and has successfully guided clients with strategically planned and curated content.

Join us as she shares what's currently working in social media, her proven strategies, valuable advice for agency owners, and why she personally avoids social media in her spare time.

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Make Better Decisions for Your Agency with George Arabian | Ep #776
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

Make Better Decisions for Your Agency with George Arabian | Ep #776

Does your emotional attachment to your agency makes it difficult to make growth decisions? When you remove emotion from the mix and make decisions objectively, your realize more growth. After 21 years of running his business, today’s guest realized he needed emotional distance and accomplished this by creating an alter ego who could assess the agency from an impartial point of view. This experiment proved remarkably successful. He’s come to realize his true role in the agency and that much of it means working for his team, rather than the other way around.

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The Secret to Keeping Clients for Over 20 Years with Pinaki Kathiari | Ep #775
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

The Secret to Keeping Clients for Over 20 Years with Pinaki Kathiari | Ep #775

It’s always easier to retain existing clients than constantly landing new ones. Do you want to know the secret one agency has that has helped them hold onto clients for over 20 years? This interview highlights an agency owner’s whose client retention philosophy involves a candid, honest, and sincere approach which has helped them retain some clients for over two decades.

In this conversation, we explore his struggle to balance entrepreneurial business development with satisfying his creative instincts. He reveals how he eventually established systems that removed him from being the bottleneck in agency operations while allowing him to choose his involvement in the processes. He also shares the clarity he found that inspired a subscription-based product offering that maintains healthy cashflow.

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Connecting with Prospects and the 2 Stories Every Agency Owner Needs to Tell with Margot Black | Ep #774
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Connecting with Prospects and the 2 Stories Every Agency Owner Needs to Tell with Margot Black | Ep #774

What is the best way to speak to your target audience? How can you make a compelling case to work with your agency? With proper story telling techniques, you will reach your prospects and clients in a way the resonates with them. Every successful agency owner needs a persuasive "Who am I" narrative, along with educational and vision stories that speaks directly to potential clients. However, the task can feel overwhelming, leaving many owners unsure where to begin. Today’s featured guest specializes in transforming scattered narratives into strategic stories that create meaningful connections.

She'll reveal the essential types of stories every agency owner should develop to attract clients, while emphasizing the power of simplicity—demonstrating why less truly is more when it comes to impactful storytelling. Tune in to learn the art of strategic storytelling that positions your agency as the obvious choice in a crowded marketplace.

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How to Build an Irreplaceable Agency Through Strong Client Relationships with Charlene Coughlin | Ep #773
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

How to Build an Irreplaceable Agency Through Strong Client Relationships with Charlene Coughlin | Ep #773

Are you focusing your energy on growing existing client relationships or acquiring new ones? Building strong client relationships requires a commitment to proactive communication from the very beginning, as today's featured guest clearly demonstrates.

Our guest runs a brand agency that prioritizes nurturing and growing client relationships through three key strategies: establishing clear expectations, maintaining proactive communication, and implementing careful qualifying processes to ensure they partner only with the right culture fits. This intentional approach has made her agency irreplaceable to clients.

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Using Acquisition to Grow Your Agency and Expand Your Client Portfolio with Luke Szkudlarek | Ep #772
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

Using Acquisition to Grow Your Agency and Expand Your Client Portfolio with Luke Szkudlarek | Ep #772

Would you consider a merger or acquisition as a growth strategy? What does it look like to acquire another agency? How can you ensure success for the buyer, seller, and existing clients? Today’s featured guest demonstrates how this approach can be highly effective when executed thoughtfully. He started his agency after realizing he would never get the recognition he deserved while working for somebody else, which drove him to establish his own agency where he now thrives.

Recently, he expanded through the strategic acquisition of three agencies, focusing primarily on their client portfolios. His acquisition strategy emphasizes the importance of relationship continuity, specifically seeking arrangements where previous owners remain involved during the transition period, allowing his team to gradually build trust with the inherited client base. Learn from his valuable insights on entrepreneurship and the strategic use of acquisitions for agency growth.

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Sell Your Agency & Get the Best Deal By Checking Your Ego at the Door with Jordan Choo | Ep #771
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Sell Your Agency & Get the Best Deal By Checking Your Ego at the Door with Jordan Choo | Ep #771

Are you prepared to sell your agency if the right opportunity presents itself? Making your business sale-ready requires more than just financial preparation—it demands emotional readiness and the ability to set ego aside.

With pleasure, we are featuring a long time mastermind member on the show who, after recently selling his agency, now describes himself as a “recovering agency owner”. It was an unexpected opportunity that turned into an amazing deal for the seller and buyer. Jordan discusses the way he took control of his agency’s future by pursuing the sale, what he’d change about the process, and the importance of having a plan for post-sale integration.

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Selling to an Employee: A Unique Approach to an Agency Exit with Eric Holter | Ep #770
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Selling to an Employee: A Unique Approach to an Agency Exit with Eric Holter | Ep #770

Could an internal succession be the right choice for your eventual agency exit? What could that sort of deal structure look like in order to ensure you’re leaving the agency in the best hands possible? As one agency owner transitioned to out of the agency day-to-day, an unexpected result was an organic exit from the business with an employee buyout.

A shining-star employee with the potential to be a great owner was the buyer in mind. Now the challenge was helping him get to a place where he could make the purchase. Listen to the inspiring story of adaptability and structuring the right deal to sell your agency to the right person.

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Maintaining a Small Client Roster for Big Agency Success with Nick Francis | Ep #769
Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk Scale Your Agency Jason Swenk

Maintaining a Small Client Roster for Big Agency Success with Nick Francis | Ep #769

How do you measure your agency’s success? Awards and accolade? Top-line revenue and big name clients? What if we told you a more focused and lean approach could be the best path. Today’s featured guest realized the importance of finding a "sweet spot" in the agency world, so he moved to focusing on quality over quantity. He talks about the challenges of maintaining a small client roster and the benefits it brings. In his business model, his agency is providing consistent, high-quality work and building strong partnerships. Learn valuable insights on leadership, innovation, and the importance of a good relationship building.

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About the Show

The popular agency podcast has been around since 2014 and covers everything from starting a successful agency to selling your agency. What makes this podcast a must-listen is Swenk’s background as the founder and CEO of an agency for over a decade. Swenk brings his own experience to the table, besides the expertise of his guests. He mostly covers topics that help growing agencies scale to the next level.

YOUR HOST

JASON SWENK

Smart Agency Masterclass

Jason is a family man who also happens to have created a couple big marketing agencies, helped thousands of agency owners, and had a big agency exit too.