The Innovative Agency Sharon Toerek

Intro
In this episode of The Innovative Agency, we welcome Garrett Garcia, President of PPK, to discuss the challenges and strategies of attracting and retaining talent in the agency world. He explores the importance of having a team-focused philosophy and how it can drive success.
 
What you will learn in this episode: 
 
How revolving doors in agencies affect talent retention and acquisition.
The expectations for maintaining adequate work-life balance for employees.
How to correct performance in real-time without being overbearing. 
The importance of offering continuing education opportunities to employees.
How to scale your talent acquisition process to attract high-level talent. 
 
Bio
Garrett Garcia was PPK’s second employee to join the original founding members in 2005 as an Account Executive. Since then, the agency has grown tenfold and Garrett holds the role of President, leading agency operations and business strategy. 
 
His strategic guidance has helped lead PPK to some major wins in the Southeast, including the Florida Lottery, the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball and Pinch A Penny Pools. After almost 22 years in the creative and advertising industry, Garrett has borrowed from his larger agency experience to help shape the trajectory of PPK's steady growth. Garrett lives in Tampa, Florida and spends most of his free time outdoors when he's not chasing his two young kids and their 80-pound pitbull, Hercules.
 
Resources:
 
Website: https://www.uniteppk.com/
LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-garcia-ba867b4/
Linkedin Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uniteppk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnitePPK/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uniteppk
 

Intro
In this episode of The Innovative Agency, Karl Sakas describes how business can impact the personal lives and visions of agency owners while delving into topics such as maximizing agency success and work-life balance. Karl also shares his insights on internal and external issues agencies face, offering practical advice for agency leaders. 



What you will learn in this episode: 
 
The value of sharpening your mindset as an agency owner. 
How to work less and earn more through your agency. 
The purpose of developing a thought leadership team. 
How to delegate roles within your agency. 
The best ways to measure agency growth. 
How to monitor your bandwidth and redeploy it as necessary. 
 
Bio
 
Growth is good… unless it gets out of control. Karl Sakas can help you manage your agency’s growing pains, with advice developed from experience guiding hundreds of agencies on every inhabited continent.
 
As a management consultant and executive coach, Karl has personally advised hundreds of agency owners worldwide. His clients often call him their “agency therapist.”
 
Through Sakas & Company, he offers custom consulting, executive coaching, and training programs and products to help agency owners “up-level” at their agency. These include his “Agency PM 101” on-demand course—for the reluctant project manager—and his “Work Less, Earn More” agency growth bootcamp—designed to help agency owners achieve their ideal work life.
 
Karl is a fourth-generation business owner with over 20 years of consulting experience. He’s worked as the #2 person at two digital marketing agencies and written extensively on how to run a better agency.



Resources:
 
Website: https://sakasandcompany.com/ 
LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlsakas/ 
LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sakas-&-company/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SakasAndCompany/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karlsakas 
Work Less, Earn More
 

Intro
 
In this episode of The Innovative Agency, we explore the often-overlooked topic of profitability in marketing agencies. Our guest is Ilia Markov, marketing director of Toggle. He discusses ways to uncover blind spots and maximize profitability in agency operations. Tune in to learn how to squeeze more juice from your agency's performance and increase your bottom line.
 
What you will learn in this episode: 
 
How to use time tracking as a tool to boost productivity and profitability.
The importance of contextualizing data in your efforts to increase profits. 
How to identify new opportunities for profit increases. 
The difference between open book agencies and more cautious agencies.
The benefits of having a high level of openness regarding profitability in your agency. 
 
Bio
 
Ilia Markov has diverse work experience in digital marketing and content strategy. Ilia's journey in tech marketing started in 2013 after he graduated with an MBA from the University of Michigan. Since then, he has had the chance to work with some of the most exciting brands in SaaS. Today he leads the marketing team at Toggl to help individuals and organizations of all sizes to be more productive, profitable, and happier.
 
Resources:
 
Website: https://www.markovunchained.com/
LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iliamarkov/
LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toggl/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nochainmarkov
Receive 20% Off Any Annual Plan For New Clients With Code INNOVATE: https://toggl.com/plan/
 

Intro
Our latest guest, Abby Wood, is the Founder of The Content Lab. Abby shares insights on how AI may make content creation easier but poses challenges in distinguishing human-created content from AI-generated content. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights on the future of content creation in the age of AI.
 
What you will learn in this episode: 
The impact of AI on content creation workflows. 
The difference between serving other agencies and serving end-clients. 
How AI can be leveraged in digital marketing agencies. 
The importance of ensuring client satisfaction by delivering what clients want.
How AI is currently being used in advertising. 
How white labeling can be beneficial to marketing agencies.
 
Bio
Abby Wood is the Founder of The Content Lab, a white-label copywriting and content marketing agency that helps digital agency owners get their time back, keep their customers happy, and increase their profits. She serves over 80 agencies around the world with their copywriting needs, has an amazing team of talented writers, and is also a mentor for UGURUS (a business training program for digital agency owners).
 
Resources:
Website: https://www.thecontentlab.ie/
LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-woodtcl/
Linkedin Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-content-lab-ire/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecontentlabireland
Copywriting & Blogging Templates from The Content Lab: https://www.contentgoodies.com/
 

Intro
In this episode of The Innovative Agency, we discuss the ongoing challenge of finding, keeping, and training the right people in the agency world. Joined by Megan Keuthen, a guru in people management and recruitment, we share insights on talent development and growth strategies for agencies. 
 
What you will learn in this episode: 
 
The importance of developing strong talent within your agency. 
How to use talent development as the cornerstone for agency growth.
How to avoid talent issues in agencies. 
The downfall of poor leadership in talent acquisition and retention. 
How to assess candidates to determine whether they are a good fit. 
The value of documenting your hiring processes. 
The impact company culture has on hiring and retention. 
 
Bio
Megan Kuethen is the co-founder and Growth Strategist at Busy Cure, an operations consultancy devoted to teaching businesses how to have full-time impact with part-time hours. With more than 2000 hires to her name, she is best known for being a team expert, helping founders become great leaders and businesses develop strong and healthy culture. In her free time, Megan reads over a hundred books a year, travels the world, and bakes delicious sweets for her loved ones. Megan lives in Nashville, where she’s an active member of the entrepreneur community and her church.
 
Resources:
 
Website: https://thebusycure.com/
LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megankuethen/
LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/busy-cure/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/megankuethen  

Intro
In this episode, we explore leveraging agency knowledge to generate revenue in unique ways. Joined by guest Pamela Slim, a prolific author and founder of K’é Main Street Learning Lab, we discuss the importance of casting a wide net and insights on monetizing agency expertise. The focus is on passive income strategies and actionable ideas for agency leaders looking to expand their revenue streams.
 
What you will learn in this episode: 
 
How agency leaders can monetize their intellectual property.
Unique ways agency owners can develop new revenue streams.
How to scale your agency services. 
The value of protected IP. 
How to leverage IP to grow your agency business. 
The importance of continually refining your expertise as an agency leader. 
 
Bio
 
Pamela Slim is an award-winning author, speaker and business coach who works with small business owners ready to scale their businesses and IP. She is the author of Escape from Cubicle Nation (Penguin Portfolio, 2009), Body of Work (Penguin Portfolio, 2014) and The Widest Net (McGraw Hill, November, 2021). Pam and her husband Darryl co-founded the K’é Main Street Learning Lab in Mesa, Arizona, where they host scores of diverse community leaders and regular small business programming.
 
Resources:
 
Website: https://pamelaslim.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamslim
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.slim
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelaslim/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pamslim/