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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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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Dan Martell
Author of Buy Back Your Time. Influential coach in SaaS startups.
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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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Joey Coleman
Recognized for his expertise in customer retention & enhancing client loyalty
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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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Neil Patel
Founder of CrazyEgg, Kissmetrics, and other multimillion dollar companies
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Todd Herman
Coach to Elite pro athletes, leaders, and public figures
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Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and former Apple chief evangelist
Navigating the Unexpected Sale of Your Agency by Thoughtful Negotiating with Kelsey Dixon | Ep #756
Would your agency be ready for an unexpected acquisition opportunity? Could you make it work if the time and offer were right? One boutique agency owner faced this question when an unexpected offer transformed her lifestyle business into an acquisition prospect. Though she and her partner had no immediate plans to sell, they recognized the potential and methodically prepared for a successful transition. Learn about their experiences finding their niche in the industry, preparing for acquisition, their ‘no regrets’ attitude regarding the sale, and the reason why they approached negotiations with a thoughtful mindset that would benefit everyone involved.
From Startup to Sale: Free Yourself from Your Agency with Robert Royer | Ep #750
Are you caught in the challenging "no-man's land" of agency ownership—where growth meets gridlock? Despite years of management experience, today's guest discovered that running a digital agency demanded more than strategic acumen alone. His journey reveals the often-overlooked complexities of agency leadership that can transform an owner's dream into an operational maze.
Although he felt comfortable making the strategic decisions as a manager, as an owner he found himself pulled in countless directions. From juggling legal complications, financial decisions, and HR responsibilities—areas far removed from his core strengths and passion for marketing strategy. In the end, he recognized the only way through was setting up the right processes for the agency to grow without him and ultimate decided to sell. Tune in to learn about building a successful marketing agency and the principles that guide his approach to client service.
Stop Being the Bottleneck! How to Delegate in Order to Scale Your Agency with Steve Phipps | Ep #749
Are you inadvertently holding your agency back? We are all guilty of it! Many agency owners eventually confront a challenging reality: they themselves are the primary bottleneck preventing their business from reaching its full potential. Today's featured agency owner has recognized this critical insight and is actively working to transform his approach. By strategically empowering his team and gradually delegating operational responsibilities, he is creating a pathway for the agency to expand beyond its current limitations. Hear an inspiring conversation about overcoming entrepreneurial challenges and unlocking an agency's true potential through intentional operational restructuring.
Transforming Agency Sales and Marketing Using AI with Andrew Eklund | Ep #748
Is your team leveraging AI beyond basic content creation? Did you know your sales process can be more efficient with the help of AI? While many agencies focus on AI's obvious applications, today's guest reveals a more innovative approach: using artificial intelligence to mine the wealth of unstructured data generated during sales interactions. By capturing and analyzing these often-overlooked conversations, his agency has discovered valuable insights that are transforming their sales process. In our fascinating discussion, we'll explore how AI is revolutionizing not just data analysis, but the entire advertising landscape. This interview is an in-depth conversation about the convergence of technology, community building, and cutting-edge marketing strategies.
Leveraging Collaboration to Unlock the Secrets of Effective Branding with David Frederick | Ep #745
Do you cultivate a collaborative culture? Does everyone on your team feel empowered to contribute and share? That is the secret sauce that this guest has learned over the course of his time in the industry. He is on the show sharing common branding mistakes as well as how brand with longevity in mind. His approach challenges common misconceptions about branding, revealing why many businesses falter from the start in their brand-building efforts. To him, the journey to building a successful brand hinges on the ability to validate ideas, fostering a culture of experimentation, and embracing the lessons learned from both successes and failures to navigate the complexities of the market with greater agility. Tune in for an enlightening conversation on the art of branding and fostering a collaborative culture.
Lessons to Get Ahead in the Creator Economy with Alex Sunshine | Ep #743
Are you navigating the complex world of influencer marketing? What do you look for in an ideal creator-agency collaboration? Many agency owners focus solely on follower counts when seeking creator partnerships, but is that really the key to success? Our featured guest launched his influencer marketing agency in 2019, anticipating the explosive growth of the creator economy. Having built his business over the past five years, he brings valuable perspectives on what truly matters in creator-agency relationships. Through both successes and setbacks, he's developed a nuanced understanding of what makes these partnerships thrive.
4 Key Elements in Event Marketing & Learning to Pivot Fast with Mark Testa | Ep #741
What happens when your entire industry comes to a sudden halt? How would you adapt to the circumstances to keep your agency afloat? As an events agency owner, today’s featured guest watched his business model crumble in just one week when the pandemic struck, threatening to devastate the entire events industry. It seemed the events industry wouldn’t be able to see it through. However, by embracing technology, his agency successfully transitioned client events to the digital space, creating innovative virtual experiences that kept the business alive during lockdowns.
Now, as in-person gatherings return, he's navigating yet another evolution: the emergence of hybrid events, as he tried to warm his clients up to this concept. Tune in to learn the most common pitfalls in event organization and his vision for the future of events in a post-pandemic world.
Breaking Through Slow Growth to PROPEL YOUR AGENCY with Curtis Hays | Ep #740
Are you frustrated by slow growth? Does client churn keep you from really propelling ahead? Do you put off crucial decisions because you’re afraid of making the wrong choice? Today’s guest’s successful track record wasn’t enough to make him confident in his decisions on hiring or the stress of client turnover. A shift in focus helped him see consistency and adaptability are the key to agency growth. Learn about how he kept going and the strategy that helped him get through decision paralysis. He also shares the content marketing approach that transformed his agency's pipeline and helped them grow.
The Myth About Niching Down and How to Be Solution-Focused with Daniel Lofaso | Ep #738
Has your agency reached a growth plateau? Have you thought about narrowing your focus to enhance your marketing efforts? In this interview, you'll hear from an agency owner who relied on referrals for years until the post-pandemic landscape shifted. While his business thrived during the early pandemic, it faced challenges as larger clients began consolidating. In response, he strategically pivoted to specialize in the biotech sector. Tune in to explore his initial hiring challenges, the transformative effects of niching down, and his ongoing refinement of the sales process to secure more clients.
The Art of Helping: the Key to Building Strategic Partnerships with Dr. Jeremy Weisz | Ep #737
Are you searching for innovative ways to supercharge your agency’s lead generation? What’s your number one source of leads and how can you scale it? Leveraging partnerships is one of the most effective lead generation strategies for agency owners. This is something today’s featured guest understands very well, as someone who understands the powerful role a good partner plays in growing an agency’s business.
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.
