Insights
Everything you ever wanted to know about growing a marketing agency in your inbox every week.
Structuring your agency for innovation
If you’ve ever thought to yourself “why am I the only one who seems to be thinking seriously about [new technology]?”...this one is for you.
3 ways not to make redundancies
This isn’t an article on whether you should make redundancies (which is something I talk about with clients when necessary); it’s about passing on lessons I’ve learned from 3 redundancy processes that I’ve seen first hand.
4 ways I got out of the day-to-day at the fastest growing agency in the country
I’m continuing my series of articles about getting out of the day-to-day by sharing four things I personally did at Rise at Seven, plus one more that anyone can do, if you don’t feel like you can go all in like I did.
Are you doing your job (or someone else's)?
Last week I shared what I think agencies can expect from the market going into 2026. This second week in January I’m talking about the second most important thing: what you do at the agency.
Unpopular opinions about promoting staff to management roles
More and more agencies are creating new “tracks” for staff who don’t want to (or can’t) manage people. If agencyland reframed the concept of “manager” as “someone who gets results out of other people”, rather than “someone who helps other people with their workloads”, we’d see this trend as more problematic.
A framework for your All Hands or update meeting
We're starting to think about our end of year updates to our whole businesses, so let's explore what should be included in that presentation.
The problem with revenue per head
Revenue per head is one of the most widely used metrics in agency management. I regularly speak to agency leaders who tell me they are aiming for a revenue per head of £X because a book told them to (you know which one). Let's talk about something better.
4 meetings that matter
Aiming to spend 1 day per week running the business is not a lot of time, so I chaired (or co-chaired) 4 weekly meetings that covered most things within my remit (sales, client service, strategy, operations - including HR and IT - and the general responsibilities of ownership). Here's what they covered.
Working in the business vs. on the business
Many of the agency owners I speak to wish they were free from the day-to-day so that they can focus on the agency’s strategy. They wish they weren’t required in the business, which would allow them to work on the business. But one thing in particular blurs the line between in the business and on the business: clients.
Don't tell your team too early
So you need to make a change - and it feels like a big one. A new PM system. A new hire. A new leader. Here's why you shouldn't tell your team too early.