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Almost without exception, agencies are embracing a more flexible attitude and approach to work and an overwhelming majority of employees would like to see this continue. But as you get to grips with what the future of work might look like, some aspects of agency life should become less flexible and even non-negotiable. And this is actually a good thing.

Flying in the face of constraints, the winning agencies will be the ones with an uncompromising focus on their culture, focusing on how they can support their people to be their best selves and do era-defining work. An awakening for some perhaps, but really just smart business as the battle for talent ramps up. The quality of agency culture is topping the list of reasons for the top talent to stay or go.

So where does an uncompromising approach pay when it comes to the codes you set, the teams you build and the way you work together?

We know from recent research and extensive work with our clients that a new cultural contract is emerging. Operating with a clear purpose, solid values and an unwavering commitment to wellbeing, diversity and open communication is non-negotiable. Structuring and supporting teams to play to their strengths, build healthy habits and be impact-driven is non-negotiable. Creating a connected working experience that makes the most of time and space wherever you might physically be, is non-negotiable.

We explore this new cultural contract and more in the Future Positive Talent guide, which you can download today. Find out more about what a new era of work demands and gain some critical advice on how to master it.

What are the benefits of building your profile, and how should you go about it?

As a PR agency, we often talk about the importance of building the profile of a business or an individual, but what does that really mean? Here we cover the basics about building a profile – why it’s important, how it helps with day-to-day PR and where to start.

What do we mean by profile?

When we talk about having a profile, we mean being known for something – often for a specialism. For a PR agency, our client having a profile will either mean that, when discussing you with a journalist they might know you by name, or by company. Or we will be able to quickly demonstrate your profile by sharing articles and coverage that proves it.

Equally, you or your company might be given a quick Google at some stage. Generally, a range of pieces appearing, not just from your website, demonstrate what you stand for. The same goes for prospects or potential customers or connections – if they search for you, they should ideally see a good range of pieces that represent you and your area of expertise. (We’ve also written more about the benefits good PR brings across your business).

Why does having a profile help?

Being known for something in particular will mean you’re more likely to be featured in an article about it. You might become a go-to person on the topic. You could appear on a podcast or at an event all around it. Even if you feel you’re an expert, it’s much harder to convince a journalist to feature your commentary or news if they’ve never heard of you and can’t find much about you online. Especially if you’re up against competitors with ready-made profiles.

Remember, journalists need to be sure they’re speaking to an expert, rather than someone who could be talking a good game without much substance behind it. They can’t risk spending time on an interview otherwise. And, if they do find a good source with a decent profile, they will come back again, and could even remember you if they move positions or publications.

The key things that help with building a profile

Two main things are important: the consistency of what you’re saying and the regularity of you saying it. Consistency comes back to your key specialisms or areas to push. And it’s not just about talking – it’s also about demonstrating. As an agency, you can do this through sharing creative work to prove your proposition, for example, or, as a business, through your output or your products.

We are happy to work on one-off pushes or launches, or on ongoing PR. But, to build a profile, you need regularity. It’s important to be providing what publications need frequently and consistently. That’s also key if you want to get into a particular publication. We will help you to understand what to target them with and we will keep them on our radar and discuss you with them at every appropriate opportunity. We can only do this with an ongoing relationship.

It’s not about zero to hero

We often work with people who have never promoted themselves or their business, or worked with a PR consultancy before, so we’re experienced in starting from scratch. It’s an opportunity – a clean slate. But it’s also important to understand that it’s the start of a process of building a profile. PR isn’t about going from zero to hero overnight.

Take Joe Wicks, as an example. He wasn’t really on my radar until his brilliant PE With Joe initiative this time last year. We’re now faithful Friday home PE fans (fancy dress and all!) and you can hardly move for seeing another article or cover story about him. So I could be forgiven for thinking he was an overnight sensation.

But actually, he’s openly talked about his 10 years of hard work behind the scenes, leading to that event. If he’d have hired a PR company 10 years ago (and maybe he did) there’s no way he would have been so in demand. He worked hard on his product, captured the zeitgeist and now his profile is sky high.

Context is important

OK, so we don’t all have Joe Wicks ambitions (although some might!), but we may want to become a sought-after speaker within our sector, or the go-to professional in our field within our local area. And it’s great to start with a clear objective.

As PR pros, it’s our job to help you define that objective – that’s why we kick off with our Three Lens Messaging Session. And from that, we create a plan which will have clear steps to build towards that ambition.

The collage of coverage

We’ve landed some great pieces for clients relatively early on in working with them – be that an interview with the BBC, the Evening Standard or The Times. Fantastic. But one piece – even a brilliant piece in a top tier publication – does not make a profile.

Having a profile is about momentum and consistency. Top tier titles might be part of that, but probably sector press will be as well. More about the importance of trade and local press here.

Two final points – it’s not about having advertorials or paid-for pieces. These aren’t always viewed in the same way as editorial. Advertising is part of the mix, but it’s not the same as having an earned profile. And lastly, timing is also crucial. It’s great if you did some activity five years ago, but if there’s nothing since that, your profile isn’t a current one.

For further advice on this, we’ve also written about what you can do to support profile raising through your own channels.

It feels like no time at all since this course launched, we’re onto the third cohort of New Ways of Working already, and I’m thrilled with how it’s going! Would you like to sign up to be a part of the next group, starting on 29 March? The first two sold out and I’d love for you to join me for the third 🤗

It’s been awesome helping people to experiment with new ways of working in their organisations, which have so far included: BJSS (tech consultancy), Mencap (UK charity), Haringey Council, Mercedes-Benz, Ofwat (UK government department), The Co-operative Group, The Soil Association, BIMM (University), plus a US teaching organisation, an Italian marketing consultancy, a US equity management company, and a lovely non-profit organisation here in Bristol.

What course participants say

• By far one of the most useful, practical, engaging, interesting courses I’ve been on. Hats off to you, super well thought out, from a practical, mental and emotional perspective.
• The experimenting methodology gives me the opportunity to not only “take a course” but actually practising in the “real world”.
• The benefits to the business have been tangible and resulted in me thinking about work in a very different way.
• I loved having another colleague on the course and would totally recommend others try to do the same… I loved the organisation of the course, it all felt incredibly “slick.” … I loved Marks humble approach, he listened to us all intently and was patient with us when we needed more time on certain things.
• The experiments each week really helped me grow my comfort towards experimenting further. They gave me the perspective of how much needs to be a done, and an eye for what might be ‘bite-size’.
• I loved Marks generosity, he clearly spends a lot of time preparing and introduced me to very cool tools that we are now using in the organisation.
• As a facilitator, you do add quite a bit of magic sauce to holding the space, and your curation of materials is unbeatable.

If you’re curious about joining the next group (starting on 29 March) then read on for full details.

Course Objective

The course objective is for you to enjoy your job more and to be an even better member of your team. You’ll learn collaboration and leadership skills, how to hold meetings that don’t feel like a chore, and how to make better decisions by quickly seeking and integrating the wisdom of the group. You’ll learn how to give ‘brain-friendly’ feedback, know what’s getting in the way of being a great team, and develop the mindset to help make change happen.

To do this we’ll borrow from the best sources. These include agile, self-management, organisational psychology, and the most progressive companies on the planet. Here’s a sneak peek of the course platform:

Course overview

The course is led by me, Mark Eddleston. I’m a new ways of working consultant, coach, facilitator and Founder of Reinventing Work. Since 2015 I’ve been practising new ways of working and synthesising the mountain of information that’s out there. The New Ways of Working course is something of a greatest hits. We’ll fast forward to the trusted, tried and tested patterns that are found in some of the world’s most progressive organisations.

On this course, you’ll be practising and learning all the way. You’ll get better at listening, teamwork, and self-organising. There will be pre-work ahead of each weekly meet on Zoom. You will have the chance to ask questions and to form a community on Slack. You’ll become familiar with Notion, where course content is shared, and with Focusmate which will help you to get through the content. You’ll experience Mural and Liberating Structures. Each week you will design an experiment that will be implemented in your own team. You’ll form partnerships with classmates who will help you, hold you accountable and be depending on you. Throughout, you’ll be experiencing some of the best collaborations tools and practices out there.

What we’ll work on

• Week 1: Challenges – identify what gets in the way of great work in your team.
• Week 2: Teamwork – we’ll uncover the research into what makes a great team.
• Week 3: Mindset – we explore the mindset shifts that this work requires.
• Week 4: Feedback – we’ll learn how to give and get more feedback.
• Week 5: Decision-making – we explore alternatives to top-down & consensus.

Throughout the course, you will learn structures that you can pop in your pocket, take back to work and use immediately.

What to expect

Expect practical, interactive and participatory. Each week the format looks like this:

• Pre-work: Before each Monday you’ll use Focusmate to work through the course materials (articles, podcasts, talks and and tools) shared via Notion. 1-2 hours.
• Seminar: We’ll discuss what stood out from your pre-work, dive deeper into the topic, and figure out how you’ll apply it at work. 2 hours.
• Experiment: At the end of each session you’ll have designed an experiment to try out at work that week. This takes place in your workday so timing is your call.
• Accountability partnership: Having committed to an experiment you’ll catch up with a course peer to help each other out and hold each other to account. 1 hour.
• Journaling: Each week you’ll be invited to write a quick reflection. 5-10 mins.

So it’s a weekly commitment of at least 6 hours, some of which will take place during work time.

When

The five-week course begins on Monday, 29 March 2021. We meet every Monday at 18.00 – 20.00 GMT, wrapping up on 26 April 2021.

Eligibility

This course is for you if you are:

• Dissatisfied with traditional ways of working and feel that there’s a better way!
• A member of a team – the course is not suitable for those who are not in a team.
• Choosing to attend – and haven’t been sent by your boss!
• Open-minded – prepared to embrace new ideas and to experiment at work.
• Committed and ready for a challenge! This is an intensive course – your hard work and active participation are baked into the course design.

Cost per person

• £900 – my org is paying for me.
• £600 – my org is paying for me plus one (or more) colleague/s.
• £500 – I am paying for myself.

Register

To secure your place double-check the eligibility criteria ☝️ then send a note to confirm ([email protected]) and I’ll generate an invoice right away.

Please note that cohorts are limited to 12 places.

About Mark

I’m a new ways of working consultant, coach, and facilitator and I came across new ways of working in New Zealand in 2015 after spending a pretty frustrating decade in traditional workplaces. It was the first time I found consistent fulfilment in work. This beautiful and challenging experience was with a law firm and community organisation that features on the distinguished Corporate Rebels ‘bucket list’. Once you taste this way of working, it’s impossible to go back. I’ve now been a member of staff in three organisations that embraced progressive leadership, so come with plenty of lived experience.

I’m co-founder of Reinventing Work, a global community and playground for people interested in decentralised, purposeful and self-organised ways of working. So far we’ve gathered in over 25 cities across five continents, including in Bristol (where it began) London, Berlin, Melbourne, Montreal and New York. I’ve delivered online sessions to thousands, spoken about new ways of working at The University of Oxford, and facilitated at Meaning Fringe. I’ve also appeared on the wonderful Leadermorphosis podcast and the University of the West of England’s MSc Occupational Psychology programme discussing the future of work.

My website: https://www.marco.work.

Bristol educator boomsatsuma is expanding, teaming up with George Ferguson to drive for change, with new studios in the Tobacco Factory, to host four creative BA (Hons) degrees.

Work is underway installing the purpose-built education facility, which will welcome students in September 2021. It will comprise two new film studios, a screening lecture space, computer suite, games lab, darkroom and specially designed creative space, where students can develop and discuss ideas in an inspiring environment.

Mark Curtis, boomsatsuma director, states:

“We’re very excited to be located at the Tobacco Factory, what a great place to live, learn and tap into the opportunities afforded by the Bristol Creative industries. Tobacco Factory’s success perfectly illustrates what can be achieved by and for the people of our city. This is a significant investment for the future, bringing higher education into this part of the city, which we expect will enrich opportunity in the area to fuel the next creative generation, for film production with a progressive cross-over into virtual production and the games industry. If you want to see change do something different.”

The new degrees have all been accredited by Bath Spa University, whose Head of School of Creative Industries, Dr Susan McMillan, who is also a board member of Bristol Creative Industries, is excited at the potential positive, saying:

“I am a huge supporter of boomsatsuma: they are reaching parts that Universities and other colleges cannot reach, as well as developing future creative talent in new and exciting ways.

“The creative industries deliver significant economic, social and reputational value to Bristol, the region, and the UK’s economy. The pandemic has had a negative effect on education and severely compromised the future for young people. boomsatsuma and their move to the Tobacco Factory creates a real opportunity to lead on rebuilding our creative sector by nurturing and developing the socially diverse, creative young talent, creative employers will need, post-pandemic.”

Freya Billington, newly appointed course director of boomsatsuma’s two new BA (Hons) Filmmaking degrees – production and post-production – enthuses about the new facility:

“In keeping with boomsatsuma’s ethos, this degree has been designed alongside our industry partners to specifically address where the skill shortages are and help develop graduates that are completely prepared and ready for employment. The two pathways, Production and Post-Production, allow for students to engage with and develop an understanding of the whole filmmaking process but also specialise up to a professional level in their chosen field. Whilst the studios will be equipped with current Industry-standard equipment and software, capping the intake also enables a focus on each student’s individual career and personal development.”

Alongside the Film degree, the Tobacco Factory will house boomsatsuma’s Games Art VFX BA (Hons) and Documentary Photography BA (Hons) degrees, in addition to the Bristol School of Acting’s new partnership, located in Tobacco Factory Theatres, with its Acting for Screen BA (Hons) and accelerated Acting for Stage & Screen BA (Hons). Freya continues:

“We will be limiting spaces to 20 spaces per pathway to ensure personalised teaching, attracting students nationally, but are also making sure there are opportunities for local communities.

“We are going to proactively collaborate between the degree courses. The mutual benefits for filmmakers, actors, games VR & VFX developers and photographers to work together under one roof is a fabulous plus for these students. I’m sure the fact that there’s a ground floor café and bar will also be appreciated!”

Building on 13 years of successfully delivering post-16 level 3 diplomas in digital and creative qualifications, the new location strengthens boomsatsuma’s partnerships, adding to course locations with Bristol creative companies at The Royal Photographic Society, The Bottle Yard Studios, Films @ 59, Ashton Gate Stadium and the Engine Shed.

The South Bristol location is an important link for education opportunities for the diverse, often overlooked communities of Bristol, into creative industries within the region. This is an ethos close to the heart of George Ferguson CBE, the city’s first independent Mayor, architect, sustainability campaigner, community champion and creator of the Tobacco Factory mixed use project. He states:

“I am thrilled at the prospect of boomsatsuma adding to the great creative community that has grown up around the Tobacco Factory project. I have watched their growth with interest and they are a perfect fit with our mission to benefit South Bristol culturally and economically.

“Education and the creative arts are such strong drivers for positive change and the social and environmental benefits that follow, which is more important than ever as we fight our way out of the dire time that we have all been through.

“Tobacco Factory has always looked to encourage and host enterprises that bring opportunity to this part of the city, and give a platform for the untapped, diverse talent that is all around us. Education will fuel Bristol’s creative community with relevant, local skills, bringing us new messages and viewpoints on life.

“We are delighted to be part of what we see as a sustainable recovery from this culturally and economically bruising pandemic. We could not have a better start than giving our young people the chance to grow and meet their full potential.”

Applications are open for courses at https://www.boomsatsuma.education

Pictured Left to Right:  Mark Curtis. Freya Billington.George Ferguson.

JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, marked their 10 year anniversary last week. Having collaborated together since 2008, Co-Founders Russell Jones and Adam Millbank founded JonesMillbank in February 2011 and have become a mainstay of Bristol’s creative community.

“It goes without saying that the last year has certainly been the most interesting and challenging of the last 10. It’s somewhat odd that we found ourselves forced into the freelance world following the financial crisis of 2008, and now 10 years after founding the company we’re adapting to the next one” said Russell.

“It’s been an amazing 10 years, and like most anniversaries it’s gone both fast and slow; some elements of our work have changed dramatically whilst others have remained remarkably similar.”

“That’s particularly true of equipment vs content; we used to film on magnetic MiniDV tapes where you’d have to capture footage in real-time by playing the tape back like a VHS, and now we’re shooting in 8K raw on 1TB solid state drives. And yet what’s in front of the lens is still predominantly people and their stories”.

“The last year has certainly been interesting, but way more successful than we ever thought it would be when the proverbial was hitting the fan and projects were getting postponed and cancelled left, right and centre back in March 2020.”

“In fact September 2020 turned out to be our busiest month on record. We managed to adapt rapidly; we directed two music videos for IDLES, a new sector for us, our animation capabilities flourished, and we helped our clients continue communicating through virtual tours and live streams alongside ‘traditional’ video content.”

JonesMillbank boast a broad range of cross-sector clients, with recent projects for The Royal Mint, University of Bristol, Universal Music, Toshiba, NHS, Bristol City Council and Battersea.

Adam added: “Graduating into a recession and then marking ten years in lockdown has bookended the last decade of working interestingly. Despite all the changes, the challenges, the highs and lows, what’s been constant is the absolute love for what we do. Telling stories will always be the most interesting and engaging thing I can imagine doing and to have been able to do it with the friend I graduated with has been nothing short of a privilege.”

“I think what’s ensured that JonesMillbank has had such a solid foundation throughout the last decade is the fact that although both myself and Russell are quite different people we understand each other so well and can make joint decisions on what we do. Just like any good long term relationship!”

“We’ve always pushed ourselves to get the most value out of budgets and when I think back to the very first pieces we created the attitude was just the same. It wasn’t easy back then to get a company to take a chance on two individuals with no real portfolio or experience so we can appreciate all the risks people took with us in the early days”.

“We’ve traveled the world and met the most interesting people along the way and who knows what the next decade has in store. Seeing the team grow, the projects get more ambitious and the pure enjoyment that we all get from being creative every day is something I’m hugely grateful for.”

On the 10-year anniversary, Russell said “we usually try to make the most of things like this, with previous Christmas parties seeing us spend a few days in Athens, Bucharest, Warsaw and Bruges. So we’ve decided to delay our party until the summer when we can celebrate and commemorate properly with the whole team and their families. Everyone was bored of Zoom a long time ago!”

***

JonesMillbank are a passionate full-service video production company

They work exclusively in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, Battersea, The Royal Mint and IDLES.

jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
[email protected]

You’ve probably heard of the term ‘evergreen content’, but what does it really mean and how do you make the most of it? Evergreen content is basically content that keeps on giving. It is something that remains relevant over a long period of time (so is not time-sensitive), has good search engine optimisation, and continues to drive traffic long after it’s first posted.

Though all of your blogs and other online content aren’t likely to disappear after posting, evergreen content is content that people will always need, want and search for. Typically lists, industry resources, how-to guides, top tips and product reviews lend themselves well to evergreen content, but ultimately to make content that’s ‘evergreen’ you must ensure it remains fresh and of interest to your target readers.

Why?

Now you know what evergreen content is you might be asking why it matters. Here are some important reasons why you absolutely need it:

1. Time-sensitive and ‘trendy’ content will usually lead to a temporary spike in website traffic but evergreen content maintains and increases traffic.
2. You don’t have to rely on having newsworthy content in the moment or worry about racing against a competitor.
3. Part of creating good evergreen content is that you update it regularly. It’s content that can easily be updated and repurposed into something new without you having to start from scratch.
4. It content keeps your business on people’s radar without making you seem outdated or left behind.

Evergreen content ultimately saves time and energy while still achieving great results. It is a necessary part of maintaining website traffic and coverage views.

Despite what you may think, even the biggest and best publications rely on this content and not the splashy, fleeting news headline.

How?

Now let’s talk about how to write evergreen content and how to make that content work hard for your business:

1. When choosing your content topics, think about your FAQs – What are people actively searching? What are people looking for? What problem can you provide a solution to in your industry? There are plenty of lists online with ideas and prompts for evergreen content.
2. Make actionable content – think about creating content that helps someone in the short term. Perhaps it’s developing a skill or teaching the reader something new.
3. Update your content regularly – as mentioned above, evergreen content lasts a long time but to make it last longer you have to ensure you keep it fresh and up to date with the latest information and guidance you have.
4. Don’t just post and forget about it – be sure to share your content across your social platforms. You also don’t need to be afraid of sharing content that is older if it’s evergreen. If the information is still relevant make sure you’re getting it out the right people.
5. Use different forms of media – combine images, text and maybe even video as often as you can to create varied and engaging content.
6. Think about adding downloadable extras – we all like free stuff! Consider adding some printables or visual PDFs to your content for readers to take with them.

Get to writing up your evergreen content now and save yourself a lot of stress and energy later. Go forth and provide constant value to your reader, while your evergreen content provides constant value to your business.

You know the world has changed significantly and that agencies need to change too. Agencies have to meet the new standards that will impact more and more as we move into 2021. We’re sure that you’ll have made some changes to your business – but will they be enough to drive the success you’re looking for?

When it comes to your own business, identifying and implementing the changes that will really make a difference isn’t easy. There’s a need to know what’s really going on, to rethink your approach and be brave about it. And that’s much easier to achieve when armed with new insights and prompted to look at things differently. Our Future Positive guide will provide an understanding of what it takes to achieve agency success when there are new standards at play. It covers all the fundamentals relating to clients, talent and how to create value – and provides critical advice on many different actions you should consider.

We know that clients’ structures, knowledge and expectations are changing significantly, so agencies can no longer rely on historical relationships. Nor on their past approaches to winning new business. We know that top talent is also demanding more choice, flexibility and meaning, making it more challenging than ever to attract and retain good people. We know that high profitability is now an obligation not an option, and that value depends on many factors beyond the simple financials. So there’s a lot to think about and a lot to be positive about too, so take a look.

The Future Positive guide will encourage you to think bigger or do better in different ways in whatever areas are most critical for you. For example, how to sharpen your strategy, improve profitability, strengthen client relationships, win more business, optimise your team’s performance, create a winning culture. And we’re always here to talk so get in touch. We’ll share what we know and explain how other agencies have turned these current challenges into new opportunities.

Want to grow your agency but don’t know how?  Has growth plateaued? Are you struggling to find more of the right type of client? Are you trying to build an awesome team and are finding it tough to find the right people?  Or perhaps your agency is growing but you’d like a refresher, tips and advice on how to accelerate your growth?

If any of these questions resonate then why not join a bunch of highly motivated agency owners and Janusz Stabik, a coach and mentor to agencies across the globe and lead coach for Google across numerous agency growth programs to help find the answer.

Workshop 1 – Grow Your Agency

Audience: Agency owner/founders

What’s holding you back from running the agency you want to run? What do the high performers do differently from the rest? How good is your agency?

Janusz will take you through the strategy, benchmarks, tips and templates you’ll need to run an efficient and effective agency to accelerate your growth in 2021.  You’ll meet other agency owners and gain fresh perspectives, you’ll feel the weight lift from your shoulders, you’ll be energised and excited about the future and you’ll have gained clarity on how to get there.

By the end of the workshop you will:

• Understand what the high performing agencies do differently to the rest
• Understand the key metrics and benchmarks of high performing agencies, and how you compare
• Have a super simple scoring mechanism to quickly temperature check how your business is performing
• Have a business operating system and meeting framework to help run your agency like clockwork
• Have a renewed spring in your step, focus and energy to help move your business forward in 2021

Workshop 2 – How to build an awesome agency team

Audience: Owner founder + Directors

Running and growing agency depends entirely on recruiting and retaining good people who do great work. You work hard to attract great employees, you want the best! But what does the “best” really mean?  Good cultural fit?  Good at their job?  Experienced?  Passionate about their work?  All of this?

If any of the following rings true, this workshop is for you:

• We have a great team, but we need a framework to ensure we understand what good looks like and how to recruit more of the same type of people going forward
• Managing creatives/developers/{agency employees} is hard and can often feel like ‘herding cats’, there must be an easier way
• You are on the cusp of growth and building the right team is key to success
• Some of your people always underdeliver, their work is constantly substandard, and you spend most of your time managing them
• Some of your people just don’t ‘fit’, they don’t have the right work ethic, and you feel constantly frustrated (perhaps they feel frustrated too)
• You find it difficult to recruit good people and the competitive labour market is making this even more difficult
• You have some great people working for you, but they never quite go the extra mile
• I’m unsure what cultural fit means, but there are certain people who just don’t gel in our agency

At the end of this workshop you will:

• Understand the two types of people problems that are killing your business, and what to do about it
• Define what the ‘best people’ for your business look like in a simple, concise, insightful and action-oriented framework
• Be able to measure your team (and applicants) against both cultural fit and job performance, simply and effectively
• Have a mechanism to help grow and nurture an awesome agency culture

Workshop 3 – Increase the lifetime value of your clients and 7X the value of your business over 5 years

Audience: Agency owner founders, sales/marketing teams, account managers/client service execs

The average agency loses 20% of its revenue every single year through client churn.  The sobering fact is, this is the average and it’s not uncommon for churn to be closer to 45% (a HUGE hole to fill).  This results in unhappy teams, unhappy clients, lost marketing spend, lost time, lost effort, lost money – no wonder growth is so difficult?

What if:

• We retained 90-95% of our revenue year-on-year
• We increased LTV (lifetime value) of our clients by 10X
• Our clients were ecstatically happy and became our FREE referral marketing machine
• New sales and client acquisition built upon a solid foundation of revenue and funded future growth (rather than filling the hole)

Sound like a pipe dream?  It’s not and it’s eminently achievable.

At the end of this workshop you will:

• Understand the key reason that you don’t retain your customers and how this is hindering your growth
• Be empowered and energised about how to create ecstatically happy clients who become your FREE marketing machine
• Be able to identify the key opportunity to maximise client lifetime value

Join this workshop to find out how to kick-start your growth by focusing on your most important asset – your existing customers.

Book your place

You can book for each individual session via the links above or, for the most value, book all three sessions as a package by emailing [email protected].

Individual sessions are £45+VAT per session for BCI members or £70+VAT for non-members.

Book all 4 sessions for £100+VAT (BCI Members) or £160+VAT (non-members).

About Janusz Stabik

Janusz is a coach and mentor to agency leaders across the globe through his coaching practice and consultancy, Digital Agency Coach, where he helps helping agency owners to run better businesses, lead better teams, make more money and have fun doing so. He’s an ex-agency owner, a trusted speaker for Forbes, head coach at the GYDA Initiative and a lead coach for Google across multiple agency growth programmes throughout EMEA.

“For an industry that supposedly gets positioning, we generally do a pathetic job at doing it for ourselves.” Those are the straight-talking words of David C. Baker who joined us for a fascinating session earlier this month discussing how creative and digital businesses can nail their positioning statement to get the right clients.

Described by the New York Times as “the expert’s expert”, David C. Baker is an author, speaker and adviser to entrepreneurial creatives worldwide. He has written five books, advised more than 900 firms and keynoted at conferences in over 30 countries.  

Here’s a summary of David’s brilliant talk with essential tips on how to come up with a positioning statement that works for your creative or digital brand.

Why bother with positioning?

The Wikipedia definition of positioning is: “the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors and different from the concept of brand awareness”.

Your positioning is vital if you want to win the right clients and for David C. Baker that’s all about coming up with a positioning statement that’s deeply focused on what you do and exactly who you do it for. 

You need to go into a positioning exercise with the right attitude, David said. If it’s just about keeping busy, that’s a very bad reason, he warned.

Thinking about your positioning in terms of meeting the growth goals of your company is potentially a good reason but only if the goals are properly measured and sustainable. 

A great reason for strong positioning is if it gives you the ability to deliver more effective work as a “deep specialist” and to charge a premium price.

But for David, the main reason he likes his agency clients to have a strong positioning statement is that he can’t write a marketing plan without one.

Types of positioning: Horizontal and vertical

David says there are two types of positioning to consider.

Horizontal positioning is offering a specialist service such as annual reports or targeting a specific demographic such as older people.

The benefits of this approach are that you get lots of variety and the opportunity to work with larger clients.

You also don’t have to worry so much about client conflicts and your business will have a greater immunity to economic downturns than if you were focused on a vertical sector.

The second option is vertical positioning which is targeting a particular industry sector such as financial services, tourism and hospitality. 

The advantages of this approach are that it’s easier to find clients and they will often take you with them if they move jobs.

It’s also easier for your reputation to spread as communities tend to organise around verticals, with conferences, trades and awards etc, and the money you can make tends to be higher because verticals place a premium on deep expertise. 

Testing your positioning statement

Once you’ve decided on your positioning statement, you should test it by answering some key questions.

David grouped them as “quick tests” and “better tests”. 

The quick tests

Is it the typical “more better” nonsense?

By this David means you don’t need to use superlatives in your positioning. Being “more better” than someone else is not a strategy. “Just state clearly what it is you do”, David said. 

Could a prospect self-select themselves into or out of the running?

Prospects should be able to read your positioning statement and know straight away whether or not your business is right for them. This means you won’t waste your time on pitching unsuitable clients. 

Do you have an unfair advantage in maintaining the claims you are making?

Do you have some things that other people don’t have? Perhaps it’s unique research insights or you’ve delivered the service many times before.

Are the claims readily verifiable to an outsider before they hire you? 

David said: “There are a lot of things that your clients love about you, but they can’t really test the veracity of those claims until they become a client. So it’s good, for example, that you’re responsive or that you listen carefully. But how can they verify that because there’s nobody out there saying ‘you know what, we tried to listen to our clients, and it just slowed things down, so we don’t do that anymore’.

“There are a lot of things that are true that are not a part of the positioning discussion, they are just there. You want to distinguish between why clients come to you, and why clients stay with you. They stay with you because of some of these other things, but that’s not why they come to you in the first place.”

Would you let a client of yours get away with a lack of precision in your claims?

You probably have some clients who want to make claims about their product or service that you don’t think are courageous or strong enough. But if you’re really honest, are you doing the same? You should be “bold and unique” with your positioning, David said.

The better tests

How many competitors are there who occupy the same expert positioning as you?

David said that the number of competitors in your geographic client area should be between 10 and 200. If it’s fewer than 10, your positioning is probably not viable unless you’re starting something very new and you’re the first, or one of the first, to market. If you have more than 200 competitors, David advised that you should work on narrowing your positioning down. 

How many client prospects are there that you could address?

David said that number should be between 2,000 and 10,000. Many will probably not hire you, but could they hire you if they wanted because your positioning fits their needs? 

10 immediate, unrehearsed “aha” moments between peers

David gave the analogy of sitting on a train and striking up a conversation with a fellow passenger who he discovers works in marketing like he does. “I know a fair bit about marketing but I still expect to have 10 “aha” moments from the other person because they are positioned in a different space than I am. I want to have 10 of those “aha” moments in a 10 or 15 minute conversation.” 

Your positioning needs to be such that you surprise others in your sector. If not, David said, then you’re probably not positioned well enough because you haven’t focused in an area and dived in deep enough.

Do you never run out of topics to write about?

When writing blog posts, do you sometimes think “I don’t know what to write about that is interesting or hasn’t been written about by lots of other people already?”. If the answer is yes, that’s a sign that your positioning probably isn’t right. “The deeper and tighter your positioning, the more things you can write about that are interesting to a smaller segment of the population,” David said. “Positioning is an exercise in exclusion, not inclusion.” 

How to write a positioning statement

David shared some key tips for writing a positioning statement.

You do [this] for [these]

Your positioning statement needs to answer two questions: What do you do? Who do you do it for?

Keep it snappy

Your positioning statement should be no more than 12 words. Don’t use a lot of adjectives or adverbs and avoid superlative statements. ”Be brutally objective and rational in your statement. Let other parts of your website provide the ‘we’re the best’ and ‘we’re amazing’ messages.”

Scare yourself a little

Smart positioning decisions are made when people look at everything they do and decide honestly what should be included. That might mean leaving something out because there are too many competitors or it’s not your best work. That’s a painful decision to make”, David said, but scaring yourself a bit is no bad thing. 

Socialise but don’t democratise

When coming up with your positioning statement, it is important you bring everyone along by involving your team, listening to feedback and answering questions well, but you (the managing director/chief executive/president etc) have got to make the final decision. 

If all else fails, reluctantly build a sub-brand

If you settle on a positioning statement but you realise you only have very limited examples of how you fit and you’re nervous about jumping in with both feet, David said you can create a sub-brand. This is useful for a generalist business that is doing lots of things for lots of people but wants the advantage of a tight positioning. 

Let us know how you get on with writing your positioning statement by tweeting us at @Bristol_CI. 

Join the next Bristol Creative Industries event on 2 March: Clubhouse as a media platform.