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.
#1 Agency Leadership Podcast. Check Out Our Past Guests.
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Seth Godin
Best selling Author of Purple Cow, This is Marketing, Linchpin, Permission Marketing
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Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and former Apple chief evangelist
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Gino Wickman
The creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and author of Traction.
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Mike Michaelowicz
Best-selling author of Profit First and Clock Work
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Neil Patel
Founder of CrazyEgg, Kissmetrics, and other multimillion dollar companies
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Joey Coleman
Recognized for his expertise in customer retention & enhancing client loyalty
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Amy Porterfield
Renowned online marketing expert and educator
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Pat Flynn
The leaders in the podcast space
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Jay Baer
Best Selling author of Talk Triggers, Hug Your Haters, and one of the best speakers
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Todd Herman
Coach to Elite pro athletes, leaders, and public figures
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Dan Martell
Author of Buy Back Your Time. Influential coach in SaaS startups.
What Makes a Client Stay with an Agency Long-Term? with Alex Hultgren | Ep #785
What truly makes clients choose one agency over another? What are the essential qualities that elevate an agency from service provider to trusted partner? Today's featured guest brings a rare 360-degree perspective to these crucial questions. As a fractional CMO with extensive experience on both sides of the relationship, our guest provides unique insights into the dynamics of successful agency-client partnerships. Tune in for actionable insights that will help agencies strengthen their client relationships, refine their service approach, and position themselves as indispensable strategic partners.
Transforming Agency Operations with AI Agents (not just ChatGPT) with Khushbu Doshi | Ep #784
Are you still relying on basic ChatGPT prompts while your competitors create intelligent systems that work for them around the clock? The gap between basic AI users and strategic implementers is widening rapidly—and it could determine which agencies thrive in the coming years.
Today's featured guest leads the pack for this AI revolution. Through systematic implementation of advanced automation solutions, she drove an impressive 20% productivity increase across her agency's operations. By strategically integrating AI technologies throughout their processes, she's transformed her agency's capabilities and efficiency. Additionally, she’s now also helping businesses achieve these same results. Join us as we explore the exciting opportunities AI presents for businesses today and learn about her most successful tool: AI agents.
Is AI Killing SEO as an Agency Service? 3 Core Principles of SEO with Lindsay Halsey | Ep #783
Is SEO still a viable service offering? If you’re an SEO agency, are you at risk for extinction? With AI taking over many industries at the moment, it’s no wonder people are asking if it’s rise means the death of SEO. Today’s featured guest is an SEO expert that found her path into the industry after discovering her passion for tech. She discusses how AI is reshaping the SEO industry — not eliminating it, but transforming its execution and potential. The fundamental principles that have always driven search engine optimization continue to matter, though their implementation evolves alongside technological advancement. Tune in to gain insights into how forward-thinking businesses are adapting their SEO strategies to thrive in this new environment, and gain practical insights for navigating this shifting digital terrain.
Growing the Right Agency Team to Win Back Your Time with Jacob Baadsgaard | Ep #782
Do you have the right team in place to remove yourself from fulfillment and sales? What about a partner that may no longer be aligned with the agency’s vision or culture? Today’s featured guest figured out a perfect niche for his abilities in data analytics and went on to create his agency. Along the road, he was met with unexpected challenges, like finding out the right employees are not necessarily the ones with the most expertise, ending partnerships that turned out to be fundamentally misaligned, and the best way to ensure he’s always working with his ideal audience. Learn about the lessons he’s learned with each bump on the road, and the most important lesson about losing clients to a price increase.
Win More Pitches and Stop Doing Spec Work with Tom Denford | Ep #781
Does your agency do spec creative work for pitches? How do you decide which pitches are worth your time? Do you have criteria for pitches that will positively impact your agency? Pitching is a very condensed and unreal way to work and many times you spin your wheels without producing the best results. Today's featured guest specializes in connecting brands with ideal agency partners, employing a meticulous approach to matchmaking benefitting both parties. The process of selecting a client-agency partnerships is intensive. For agencies looking to stand out, the key lies in demonstrating their unique value proposition and gaining a deeper understanding of what brands are looking for and how to evaluate which pitches would bring more benefits for the business.
3 Sales Strategies to Win More Agency Business with Luke Cope | Ep #780
What are you doing to win new agency business? Are you showcasing your best work? Do you have a formal pitch process that works well every time? Today’s guest co-founded his agency after realizing he had contributed significantly to another agency's growth without any ownership. So he took the bold step of starting his own agency without knowing how to convince others to believe in his vision. Tune to learn how he persevered despite facing constraints from his former employer, skepticism about his new venture, and the need for strategic pivots in client acquisition.
Build Your Agency’s Dream Team and Land Dream Clients with Jon Rivers | Ep #779
What significant challenges have you encountered while growing your agency? Do you have the right team that aligns with your vision and goals? Are you in a situation where you have dream clients that can pay what you’re worth? Today's featured guest brings valuable perspective from five years of growth with his recent venture in SaaS and a previous social media agency venture. Having navigated the common hurdlesagency owners face, he shares the enduring lessons and effective solutions that have propelled his agency forward. Join us to gain practical insights into overcoming these universal agency challenges with proven strategies that deliver results.
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.
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.
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.
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.
