The Agency Growth Podcast

[Cold open [Jake’s 7,000-word schema study] ends at 11:56]AI is making clients question what they used to pay agencies for.In this episode, we talk about how clients are starting to look at agency work differently now that AI can give them a first draft, a basic design, a legal answer, a finance answer, or a marketing opinion in seconds. It does not have to be perfect to change how they think.That is the part agency owners need to pay attention to. The real threat is not always what AI can actually do, but what the client believes it can do.The value has to move somewhere else. Better thinking, better judgment, better relationships, better performance, and being the kind of partner clients actually trust when the AI gives them a confident answer that is wrong.-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

[Cold open (Music opinions, Spotify habits, and Mr. Brightside trauma) ends at 09:40.]AI has given clients just enough language to sound confident, but not always enough context to be right.In this episode, we talk about what happens when clients start using ChatGPT, Gemini, or other LLMs to audit the work they already pay an agency to do. Sometimes the questions are fair. Sometimes they are just AI-generated checklists dressed up as strategy.We get into SEO advice, Google Ads testing, schema, CDNs, landing page structure, and all the tiny technical things that sound important online but often do not move the needle. We opened up our inbox to share real client emails and break down how we set firm boundaries.This is not an anti-AI episode. It is an episode about authority, trust, and what agency owners should do when clients start treating AI like the expert in the room.-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

We sat down with Dan Gent, who ran his product design agency, Lighthouse London, for 15 years before walking away in 2023 and now writes his own newsletter, Dear Agency Founder.Dan details how Lighthouse reached 20 people and roughly $2 million in revenue before market conditions forced a closure rather than a traditional exit. He explains the dangerous "dip" where profit margins drop as you hire non-billable managers and ops staff to scale. This conversation is a blunt look at the reality that businesses often end by closing or walking away instead of a multi-million dollar payout.We also tackle the difficulty of design retainers and why clients often stop seeing value once the initial project is finished. Dan advises treating yourself as an employee with a set wage in your forecast so you can actually afford to hire your replacement. He also touches on how AI is commoditizing "grunt work," forcing designers to sell accountability and taste instead of just Figma files.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Follow Dan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dangent/The Dear Agency Founder Newsletter:https://join.dearagencyfounder.com/?utm_source=agencygrowthpodcast-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

[Cold Open (Professional paintball & 2-star reviews) ends at 16:31]In this episode, we talk about scaling with simple services.We break down why the things that actually grow an agency are often the least exciting to sell, how chasing trendy or “innovative” offers can create complexity instead of leverage, and what has actually worked for us as we’ve grown. We also discuss AI automation, local service ads, retention, and why repeatability matters more than sophistication.This episode is about focus. What makes a service scalable, why simple does not mean easy, and how choosing the right offers can change the trajectory of your agency.-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

[Cold open (Cody's in Hawaii and why he's there ) ends at 14:28.]For the 4th year in a row, it's that time of year when we cover our annual finances for our agency. Where we grew, what we're spending more money on, and what challenges we're starting to see at our new stages of growth.-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

[Cold open [Jakes barber shop is obsessed with Peaky Blinders] ends at 08:16.]The Agency Growth Podcast officially has a new website!And it's built on Wix Studio. We kept our promise after our initial conversation with Kobi Gamliel, Head of Wix Studio, 2 years ago in episode 112.We dove in and put our first site on Wix Studio and so far, like it a lot.But... there are still some issues.There are some things that are no-brainers for agencies to want to use Wix Studio, but there are also some deal breakers depending on who you are and what your agency requires.One thing we really like about Wix is their ability to take criticism and feedback and actually do something about it.This episode serves as just that.-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

We are big fans of the productized service model and equate our rate to a set hourly limitation and internal billable rate. This isn't a secret. We've had multiple episodes on why knowing your internal hourly rate is crucial.Then we received an email from Jonathan Stark's team wanting to tell us why hourly billing and fixation on hourly tracking is "nuts".For an hour and a half, Jonathan steps into the ring with us to challenge the idea of hourly billing and time tracking with his value-based pricing model.Does he convince us his way is better? Or do we make him see the error of his value-based ways?-----Check out Jonathan at his website:https://jonathanstark.com/Learn more about his book, "Hourly Billing is Nuts":https://jonathanstark.com/hbin-----RESOURCES:Want the tools and resources we recommend for agencies? Check them out here:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/tools-----NEWSLETTERWant the show in your inbox? Sign up for the newsletter!https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/newsletter-----COMMUNITYLooking to join a community of agency owners? Join our Discord!https://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRD-----CONTACTGot something to say? Send us a message:https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/contact

Jason has the story almost every agency owner is after. He grew his first agency to $5m and sold it. Then started a second one and within 5 years, he was at $5m in revenue again.After another 5 years, his agency was at $20m.Jason sold his $20m law firm agency to a private equity firm and took a seat on the board yet still continues to lead his own agency.Some crazy facts about the legal space: law firms are spending $100k per month in SEO retainers. These same law firms are spending $2m per month in PPC. Jason considers his agency the Lamborghini of law firm agencies but has a rinse-and-repeat McDonald's style strategy for his legal clients.After learning about his amazing story and being envious of everything he's accomplished, we dive into what it takes to get clients in the legal space, manage them, and what the best ways to drive results for them are.-----Find Jason online:https://www.instagram.com/jasonhennessey/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhennessey/https://hennessey.com/https://www.herringbonedigital.com/-----JOIN THE FREE DISCORDhttps://discord.gg/uvHRRRFVRDOur recommended agency tools:everbrospodcast.com/recommended-tools/----------------------------------⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐As always, if you enjoyed this episode or this podcast in general and want to leave us a review or rating, head over to Apple and let us know what you like! It helps us get found and motivates us to keep producing this free content.----------------------------------Want to connect with us? Reach out to us on the everbrospodcast.com website, subscribe to us on YouTube, or connect with us on socials:YouTube: @agencygrowthpodcastTwitter/X: @theagency_uLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/agencypodcastFacebook: facebook.com/theagencyuInstagram: @theagencyuReddit: r/agency & u/JakeHundleyTikTok: @agency.u