The Agency Growth Podcast

[Cold open [Moving to Thailand, Sugar Addictions & Sodium Shaming.] ends at 06:02.]The rumor going around our industry is that the mid-tier agency is dead, but the reality is much more complicated.A colleague recently claimed you either have to sell $500 low-ticket packages or charge over $3,000 for full-service, done-for-you work. We disagree. Mid-tier pricing still works when you set clear limits on custom CRM integrations and how much hands-on support is included.If you want to keep prices in the middle, give each service a clear scope and keep an eye on what it costs to deliver. At Evergrow, that meant using AI to build an SEO index tracker that does what we need without another expensive subscription.We also dive into the new ChatGPT Search Console and how it handles agency-client access. Give this one a listen if you’re trying to figure out where your pricing fits right now.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: Introducing Businesses in ChatGPThttps://openai.com/index/introducing-businesses-chatgpt/-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [Google AI Search Chaos & Scraping Bot Wars.] ends at 08:56.]Good results won’t keep a client who doesn’t understand what they’re paying you for.This week, we’re talking about communicating your agency’s value before the sale and throughout the relationship. Saying you “go above and beyond” doesn’t explain much. We discuss how to make it clear who your agency serves, what you deliver, and who would be better off working with someone else.For performance marketing agencies, that means getting benchmarks during onboarding and agreeing on what profitable results actually look like. A cost per lead you’re happy with might mean nothing to your client. We talk through using their margins, close rates, and customer value to get on the same page.We also get into why communicating value is a job you never finish. Having to explain it again a year later can be frustrating, but that conversation is part of keeping clients. If a good client starts asking what you’re doing for them, it might be time to give them some attention.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: Your AI search visibility keeps changing: Here’s what to do about ithttps://searchengineland.com/ai-search-visibility-changing-what-to-do-492661?_bhlid=a7764e88bd113134bf3c12f620e0d2c6e9d73cd0-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [2026 Holiday Forecasts, Inflation & The Post-COVID Hangover.] ends at 07:05.]Signing new clients doesn’t get you very far if you’re constantly replacing the ones who leave.This week, we’re talking about six ways agency owners can improve client retention. We cover setting expectations before the sale, automating communication, simplifying reports, responding quickly, and knowing when to pick up the phone. These are basic things that are easy to let slide when you’re busy doing the work.We also talk about why clients need reports that connect your work to their business. More traffic doesn’t mean much if it isn’t bringing in leads. And a quick response that says you’re looking into something beats leaving a client wondering whether you saw their email.We share our own retention challenges, including landscaping clients who pause marketing over the winter. We discuss how services like website maintenance can keep the relationship going when marketing stops. The goal is to provide enough ongoing value that clients have a reason to stay.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: NRF Forecasts 2026 Holiday Sales Growth as Consumers Remain Resilienthttps://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-forecasts-2026-holiday-sales-growth-as-consumers-remain-resilient-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [ChatGPT UTM Drops, Disney SEO & Godzilla.] ends at 08:11.]Getting better results for your clients shouldn’t mean making less money.But if you charge a flat retainer and eat every usage fee, that’s exactly what can happen. More leads mean more calls, more automations, and more charges. Multiply that across your clients, and those pennies start taking a real bite out of your margin.Our move from HubSpot to HighLevel brought this conversation back up. We talk through how call tracking, automation, reporting, and payment processing costs add up and why “we just eat it” deserves a closer look.We cover passing usage fees to clients, setting pricing tiers, and accounting for costs in your ad spend pricing. We also talk about why billing needs to be automated. Saving your margin doesn’t help much if you create hours of manual invoicing.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: ChatGPT appears to drop UTM tracking, making AI referral traffic harder to measurehttps://searchengineland.com/chatgpt-appears-to-drop-utm-tracking-making-ai-referral-traffic-harder-to-measure-496552-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [Marathon Medals & Big Tech Ad Warfare.] ends at 07:30.]Before you spend thousands on a marketing course, see what you can learn for free.We both spent money on programs that didn’t deliver what we expected. This week, we walk through free courses from Google, HubSpot, Meta, and WordPress that agency owners and their teams can take. Knowing the fundamentals helps you spot when some biz bro is charging you for outdated, regurgitated information.We also cover why Google Tag Manager is one of the most valuable skills you can add to your agency. Tracking leads and sales matters when clients are paying you to deliver results. And if you’re using AI to build websites, you still need enough web knowledge to understand what it built and what’s broken.Getting certified doesn’t make you a marketing genius. We talk about where certifications fit into Google Partner status, how they can help establish credibility, and why platform training still deserves some skepticism. Start with the free resources before deciding what’s worth paying for.-----FREE COURSES:HIGH LEVEL SOLUTION: DIGITAL MARKETING FUNDAMENTALSHubspot's Digital Marketing Fundamentalshttps://academy.hubspot.com/courses/digital-marketingGoogle's Fundamentals of Digital Marketinghttps://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/collection/1830706HIGH LEVEL SOLUTION: WEB DESIGNEverything Wordpresshttps://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/collection/1830706AI COURSESGoogle AI Essentialshttps://grow.google/intl/es/TRACKING YOUR WEBSITEGoogle Analytics 4 by Google ** Knowing Google Analytics is fundamental for SEO and digital marketing in general.https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/15068052?sjid=16468356113301912686-NAGoogle Tag Manager Fundamentals Coursehttps://support.google.com/analytics/answer/15068052#zippy=,get-started-using-google-analytics-introduction,go-further-with-advanced-features-in-google-analytics-advanced,answer-business-questions-with-google-analytics-intermediate,use-google-analytics-for-your-business-beginnerHIGH LEVEL SOLUTION: SEOGoogle SEO Fundamentals **This course is recommended by Google themselves.https://www.coursera.org/learn/seo-fundamentalsSEO Certification Course by Hubspot ** Hubspot has a plethora of free courses and their SEO course is pretty decent.https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/seo-trainingSemrush SEO Crash Course ** Semrush is a well-respected analytics tool in the SEO/PPC industry and provides this free course led by Brian Dean.https://www.semrush.com/academy/courses/semrush-seo-crash-course-with-brian-dean/Wix Studio SEO Coursehttps://www.wix.com/seo/learn/courseHIGH-LEVEL SOLUTION: SOCIAL MEDIAMeta Blueprint Certification https://www.facebookblueprint.com/student/catalogTikTok Academyhttps://ads.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/introducing-tiktok-academyLinkedIn Academyhttps://training.marketing.linkedin.com/Full-funnel content marketing strategyhttps://training.marketing.linkedin.com/building-a-full-funnel-content-marketing-strategy-on-linkedinHIGH-LEVEL SOLUTION: PPCGoogle Ads Certificationhttps://skillshop.docebosaas.com/learn/signinHIGH-LEVEL EMAIL MARKETING Hubspot's Email Certificationhttps://academy.hubspot.com/courses/email-marketing-certification-en?utm_source=lookingformarketing&utm_medium=referral-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: Apple, Amazon, Meta At A Standoff Blocking Ads, AI Agentshttps://searchengineland.com/google-tests-bigger-local-services-ads-491531Google Ads Quality Scorehttps://tenscores.com/quality-score/-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [Google is testing bigger Local Services Ads.] ends at 06:23.]More clients won’t fix an agency that can’t handle the ones it already has.In this episode, we lay out seven steps for growing an agency. We also talk about deciding what kind of agency you actually want to run. That decision affects the services you sell and the clients you take on.We share how onboarding became such a bottleneck that we stopped taking new clients for months. Clients had already called us out for being too busy growing to deliver the monthly service. They were right, and we had to fix it.We also get into why adding clients and hiring more people eventually stops being enough. Increasing revenue per client matters, but selling an extra service you can’t confidently deliver can cost you the relationship. These are lessons from building our own agency, including the parts we’re still figuring out.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Google tests bigger Local Services Ads article:https://searchengineland.com/google-tests-bigger-local-services-ads-491531-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [ChatGPT shopping fees and profit margins.] ends at 06:55.]The money in your agency’s bank account isn’t all yours to spend.This week, we walk through how we manage finances at Evergrow and how that system has changed as we’ve grown. We cover collecting payments, keeping business and personal money separate, and getting an accountant before your books become a mess.We also explain how we adapted Profit First to give payroll, operating expenses, savings, and profit their own accounts. Those boundaries help us decide whether we can afford a new tool or hire without treating every dollar as available money.Then there’s paying ourselves. We’ve gone from taking home $12,000 each in a busy month to less than $1,000 in winter. We talk about what changed and why your personal income shouldn’t swing with your agency’s seasons.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:ChatGPT 5.6 has transformed Shopping mode:https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/chatgpt-5.6-shopping-transformation#smaller-merchants-must-integrate-through-shopify-to-combat-thisReddit post shared by Jake:https://www.reddit.com/r/agency/comments/1wavilk/agency_owners_how_do_you_manage_your_finances/?solution=d6ced175b39ca535d6ced175b39ca535&js_challenge=1&jsc_token=2824be10929bdc604753c70a67a1c3311f738478fbc50c003b1beb425da34512&jsc_orig_r=Agencies Need the Profit First™ System (ft. Mike Michalowicz):https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/episodes/agencies-need-the-profit-first-system-ft-mike-michalowicz-150The Tax Strategies Most Agency Owners Never Consider (ft. Emily Bowie):https://www.agencygrowthpod.com/episodes/the-tax-strategies-most-agency-owners-never-consider-ft-emily-bowie-w-thorne-advisors-222-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [Reacting to California's ban on addictive social media features.] ends at 06:20.]In this episode, we break down what actually happens when you land (or think about landing) a client that might be too big for your agency to handle.A lot of agency owners mistake the overall valuation of a client's business with the actual scope of work required. When you rush to take on massive accounts without the labor capacity to back it up, you end up compromising quality, burning out your team, or neglecting your existing clients. Real agency growth comes down to calculating your actual labor hours, not chasing big numbers for vanity.We share our own stumbles, from turning down a 30-hour-a-week overflow contract early on to managing a franchise deal that eventually made up 35% of our monthly revenue. Relying on one account to fund half of your payroll creates massive operational risk if that revenue suddenly disappears or gets moved in-house. We talk through how taking on deals outside your limits can do irreversible damage to your reputation and pull you away from your core niche.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Reddit thread:https://www.reddit.com/r/agencynewbies/comments/1w8p20q/i_think_im_getting_into_something_big/?solution=27c5927fd8eeb84b27c5927fd8eeb84b&js_challenge=1&jsc_token=2824be10929bdc604753c70a67a1c33147878f6fa90addb71bae1db8a88a12a6&jsc_orig_r=-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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 [The Problem With ChatGPT Ads.] ends at 07:03.]Your agency already has a brand voice, even if you’ve never defined it.We learned this when a team member published the first Evergrow blog post that Cody or Jake didn’t write. The article was solid, but it didn’t sound like us. That exposed a problem many agency owners eventually face: once content and client communication move beyond the founders, the team needs more direction than “keep it casual.”In this episode, we talk about defining a voice around your clients, company values, and the way your team actually communicates. We also explain why reviewing work together matters, especially when you’re training newer employees. The goal isn’t to make everyone sound identical, but to give them clear boundaries and room to contribute.We also break down how objective writing standards can make editing less subjective. If your agency is delegating content, emails, or social media, this is the groundwork that keeps the brand consistent as the team grows.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Article: Data Reveals ChatGPT Ads Not Performinghttps://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/417528/data-reveals-chatgpt-ads-not-performing.html-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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

In this episode, we talk about why the right .com can be worth pursuing as your agency grows. It will not instantly bring in more leads, but it can change how established and credible your business feels. That matters when you are building a real company instead of chasing short-term revenue.We walk through how to find the owner of a taken domain, determine what it may actually be worth, and complete the purchase without hiring a broker. The most important part is deciding what you are willing to pay before the negotiation starts.Cody also shares how he bought a domain listed for a few thousand dollars for just $230. It is a good reminder that an asking price is only an asking price, and that domain acquisition could become another useful service your agency offers clients.-----MENTIONS IN THE EPISODE:Inside the Castello Brothers Smoothie Move Into Fractional Ownership of Domain NamesArticle: https://www.dnjournal.com/articles/2026/smoothie/doma.htmBook recommendation: "Never Split the Difference" by Chris VossHow to get in touch with the domain owner?lookup.icann.orgPremium domain negotiating toolbox:Estibot.comEscrow.com-----PREMIUM:Join the Patreon and get exclusive content from this episode with more in-depth advice and hours of bonus content each month:https://www.agencygrowthpodcast.com/premium-----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