Get your free Agency Year-End Review. Just message me “review” on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliclark1000/ This episode of the Founder's Corner Podcast Corner featured Luke Eggebraaten, the Founder of Phaser Marketing. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Agencies live or die in their ability to retain clients. That’s not just about taking care of them on the results side of things, but also taking care of them as human beings. Building relationships with clients should be a key priority. There is value in niching down early on. It’s difficult to manage marketing projects across industries so finding a niche that you can deliver results for and enjoy working with is important. Three ingredients to picking a niche: You have passion for the industry, there is opportunity for growth, and the clients within your niche have the power to pay for your services. Leverage white label and contractors early on. Luke didn’t bring most services in-house until after they had reached 7 figures in annual revenue. Hire in-house once you're ready financially. Once Phase Marketing had reached critical mass, it made more sense to hire in-house over contracting it out. They could control the quality of work better and increase profitability. There is no end date in running a business. Business as a whole is all about learning, growing and tweaking in order to help the business to be better. It’s a journey. Leverage your business community to feed your passion. As an agency owner, you’re on a crazy mission to support your clients and make a better life for yourself. Talking with other agency owners can help you grow and find support. Staffing agencies are great resources for scaling your team globally. They’re in the business of finding candidates that have the skills you need and match your company's culture. Clear the way for your team members to step up. As founders we often think everything has to be done by us. In order to build leaders within your organization, you need to give people opportunities to step up, potentially scrape their knee, and learn from their mistakes. You’re not as special as you think you are. You’re not the only one who can sell, fulfill work for clients, or make decisions. You need to get out of your own way in order to grow. Be an AI filter for your clients. The world of AI feels like the wild west right now. Your clients don’t have time to keep up with everything. You can help them by implementing AI within your agency so that your clients still get the upsides without feeling overwhelmed. EPISODE RESOURCES: Phaser Marketing: https://www.phasermarketing.com/ Luke Eggebraaten’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-eggebraaten/ ABOUT YOUR HOST: If you’re new to this show, my name is Eli Clark. I’m the co-founder and CEO of onebridgeaccounting.com. I graduated from college Summa Cum Laude and in 2023 jumped into the deep end by starting OneBridge Accounting with my business partner Cromwell Barredo. In this podcast I sit down and interview marketing firm and agency leaders from all over the world. Why? Because I want to deliver insights to help you level up and build the agency of your dreams. And candidly, we’d like to be there to support you along the way. If you’re an agency doing over $40k a year in profit, then connect with me on LinkedIn and I’ll send you some of our best stuff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliclark1000/ CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:47 Luke’s background 05:24 How long before you went full-time? 07:30 Important lessons learned 08:38 Niche strategy 12:50 Revenue and headcount 15:57 Team structure at 7 figures 19:35 Take it one thing at a time 20:59 Business is a game that never ends 21:47 Global team structure 26:46 How do you develop team leaders? 30:08 You’re not as special as you think you are 30:25 Be an AI filter for your clients 32:03 Luke’s contact info LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founders-corner/id1819767641 Spotify: https://open