TL;DR Open ten agency websites in ten tabs and read them with the logos covered. Go ahead, try it. Within about three minutes you’ll lose track of which agency is which, because they all blur into the same voice, the same promises about being strategic, full-service partners who deliver results and really get to know …
TL;DR Most agency owners I talk to are a little proud of running on referrals, and they should be. Referrals from existing and past clients are still by far the biggest driver of new business for agencies, according to the 2025 State of Digital Agencies survey from SparkToro, published in early 2026. If your pipeline …
TL;DR You built a better deck. Your team out-prepared everyone. The strategy was sharper, and the thinking ran deeper, and you walked out of that conference room genuinely believing you’d nailed it. Then the email came, and you lost to an agency you know, in your bones, was not as good as you. If your …
TL;DR Positioning problems are the great impostors of agency new business. They almost never announce themselves as positioning problems. They show up wearing other costumes, as a dry pipeline or a prospect who won’t stop pushing on price, and you spend months treating the costume while the thing underneath keeps doing damage. So if your …
TL;DR “Should we niche or stay generalist?” is the wrong question. It frames the decision around what you offer instead of how clearly prospects can choose you. The better question is whether you’re the obvious choice for anyone. You can be a generalist and distinct, or a niche player and forgettable. Generalist positioning tends to …
TL;DR Constant price pushback is rarely about your price. It’s about a missing reason to pay it. A price objection is usually a distinction objection in disguise. When buyers can’t see a difference, cost becomes the only thing left to negotiate. Pricing power doesn’t come from your rate card. It comes from being clearly worth …
If I had a nickel for every conversation I’ve had with an agency owner in the last 90 days where they asked me, “Do you think AI will kill marketing agencies?” I could retire and open a taco truck that serves my world-famous TT’s salsa, fish tacos, and margaritas. AI isn’t going to kill marketing …
TL;DR When your agency’s new business slows down, the question you ask first determines how much money you’re about to waste. Most owners ask “what should I buy to fix this?” The better question, the one that saves you a year and a small fortune, is “what’s actually broken?” If your new business has slowed …
TL;DR Deals that used to close in a month now take three. The prospect goes quiet, resurfaces, asks for another call, wants to see two more case studies, loops in another stakeholder, and the proposal that should have been approved weeks ago just keeps dgragging on. If that’s your pattern, you’re not imagining it, and …
A few weeks ago, Meta confirmed that, as part of their AI adoption strategy, the company is logging employee computer activity, keystrokes, and using screen captures to train AI to use a computer the way a human does. When workers asked if they could opt out, the answer was no. The reaction was exactly what …
TL;DR The call went great. They leaned in and asked smart questions. Somebody said “this is exactly what we’ve been looking for.” You sent the proposal the next day. It was tight, detailed, personalized, and priced right. And then nothing. No reply, no explanation. You followed up once, twice, three times a lady (sorry, had …
TL;DR Finishing second feels different from losing badly, and that difference is a trap. When you get outclassed, you know something was wrong. When you finish second, everyone tells you how close it was, how impressive you were, how it came down to the wire. It feels like validation. So you keep doing the same …
When I’m talking to clients about the current rate of AI adoption, it reminds me of the first time I really “got” social media. I didn’t get it from a headline or a TED talk. I got it from a group of junior staffers at the agency I was leading at the time. I had …
52% of referrals never call. Want to know if you’re the reason? Learn how to check your Google Referral Index Score.
...TL;DR: This article explains how to make impactful presentations by applying proven principles from cognitive science and brain research. It’s written for anyone who uses PowerPoint or slide-based presentations at work and shows how to reduce cognitive overload, align visuals with how the brain processes information, and design slides that actually improve learning, retention, and understanding …
Executive Summary: What’s Changed in the LinkedIn Algorithm, and What To Do About It In 2026 LinkedIn’s becoming less like a content platform and more like a networking conference with a long memory. Your post isn’t being judged in isolation anymore. It’s being considered in context: who you are, what you’ve done, what you talk …
Recently, after delivering one of my Perfect Pitch™ webinars, an attendee asked me: “How do we build credibility DURING the discovery call?” Great question! Truthfully, I told him, if you’re waiting till the Discovery Call to create credibility, you may be too late. Before the prospect ever agreed to a meeting with you, they Googled …
For a long time, the music business ran on a straightforward value equation. The studios were selling you new products every day. You couldn’t wait to buy them—albums and then eventually individual songs. You stored them in a library. You owned them forever. BUT, your access was always constrained by some box. At first the …
Stop awkward discovery calls. Learn why yours feel like a date and get expert questions to build trust and qualify leads with genuine conversation.
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...Article Overview & Key Takeaways: AI Agents are the new gatekeepers in agency reviews, scanning agency websites and agency review data sources to build a shortlist of potential agencies to include in the review. They function like Social Agents once did, multiplying trust through recommendations—only now at machine speed and scale. AI Agent Buyer website …
Learn how to win your next agency pitch using science-backed techniques that build trust, inspire belief, and get prospects to say YES.
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...When you sit across the table from a prospective client, you aren’t selling services; you’re selling belief. The modern pitch isn’t a laundry list of deliverables or a gallery of Instagram-worthy portfolio pieces. It’s an invitation to envision a future where conversation drives conversion, where proof validates possibility, and where emotion cements commitment. In my …
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...Learn how The Propinquity Principle™ reshapes business development in an AI world, as SEO and PPC lose impact in a zero-click, AI-driven era.
...Unlock the power of The Propinquity Principle™ to strengthen your agency business development plan. Build trust, credibility, and top-of-mind awareness to win new clients more predictably and efficiently.
...Master effective prospect follow‑up: the psychology behind failed outreach, overcome barriers, and use proven strategies to win more clients.
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