Episode Details

So many agency owners become consumed by their top line revenue and what they need to do to make it better. Incase you didn't know, top line revenue isn't everything and yours means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Why top line revenue isn't everything.
• 2 ways to tackle profitability.
• How to get past the excuses and be a content machine.

I'm super psyched to have Joe Apfelbaum as my guest on the podcast today. Joe's the owner of Ajax Union, a 7 year old, $4 million dollar agency. In addition to being a successful agency owner, Joe is also a mega content producer. He tells us all about what he's done in order to get to the multi-million level, what he stopped doing to stay there and how in the world he has the time to create so much content.

Top line revenue isn't everything

When they started seven years ago, Ajax Union was operating as a full service agency. They would do anything/everything for anyone/everyone. They experience significant growth while revenue doubled every year for the first 4 years. They were also on the Inc. 500 list as the fastest growing agency. BUT, top line revenue and quick growth isn't everything if you aren't managing profitability…

Back then the agency had 350 active projects at any given time, which meant 75 full time employees to service their growing client list. They were building their top line with no regard to the bottom line. Joe knows firsthand - you always have to be working on your bottom line.

In early 2015, Joe decided to take a hard look at where his agency was heading. After He restructured his agency and his approach to business. He made two huge decisions which impacted business dramatically:

2 Ways to Tackle Profitability 1- Focus on a specialization

Instead of being a full service, "me too" agency, Ajax Union focuses now on B2B lead generation. Doing this meant deciding who they can and cannot serve… and willingness to turn away work that is not ideal and specific to their niche.

Defining a niche not only meant targeting specific businesses with their outbound strategy but doing this also created a built-in screening process for inbound. The result was a cut in full time staff and outsourcing more work in order to manage profitability.

It's scary when you define who you are and who you're not, because it means eliminating opportunity. Now, Joe says he turns away 90% of his prospective clients but it hasn't hurt revenue one bit.

2- Build relationships

Joe says he also realized building relationships was going to be the key to sustainability. Rather than just driving leads and competing with every other agency, he has now created a network of agencies that have complementary skills and developed a referral community. He is sending business to other agencies and they're reciprocating.

Relationships and networking is a great business building strategy. In fact, I interviewed one agency owner who doubled their business by referring work to other agencies. When you stop competing and start trusting your connections, everyone wins.

The other huge benefit to having great relationships with other agencies is for your future. You may want to buy another agency as a growth strategy - you may want to sell your agency to someone you trust. If you have established relationships these transactions are much easier.

How to Get Past the Excuses and Create Massive Content

Content is king, for sure. And Joe's a big proponent of helping without selling. He believes great content helps serve your t