Build a Better Agency Podcast
By Drew McLellan
Scale and grow your agency with better clients, invested employees, and a stronger bottom line, with Drew McLellan.
25 episodes
All Episodes
Replacing Resume Metrics With Human Judgment In Recruitment
Resumes optimized for AI create an illusion of competence that falls apart when tested. Replace generic, automated hiring steps with outcome-based assessments to identify real human judgment and build a durable, high-performing team.
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Empowering Project Managers Builds Operational Resilience
Project managers are the hidden engine of agency profit--not by managing tasks, but by owning decisions. Give them real authority, and watch chaos turn into clarity, margins expand, and talent stay.
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Clients Demand Strategic AI Partnership, Not Just Tool Adoption
Clients demand strategic AI partnership, not just tool adoption. Agencies must lead AI strategy and governance or risk obsolescence.
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Agency Ownership Requires Identity Shift Beyond Title
True agency ownership requires an identity shift, moving beyond a technician's execution to embrace radical responsibility and strategic command.
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Dismantling Internal Barriers: The Key to Agency Growth
Scaling your agency hinges on dismantling internal limiting beliefs and flawed strategies, not just external hurdles. Unlock sustainable growth by mastering execution and building supportive systems.
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Automate Mundane Tasks to Unleash Agency Growth
Automate mundane tasks to unlock agency growth. Free your team from repetitive work, boost morale, and gain a strategic edge over competitors bogged down by manual processes.
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Leveraging Virtual Summits for Agency Audience Building and Monetization
Leverage virtual summits to borrow credibility from experts, build a deeply engaged audience, and generate revenue, transforming your agency into a recognized niche leader.
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Owner Dependency Limits Agency Value and Growth
Agency owners become their own bottleneck, devaluing their business and limiting growth by being indispensable to daily operations. Learn how to build independence.
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Independent Agencies Can Thrive Through Strategic Evolution
This period of AI, consolidation, and uncertainty is a historic opportunity for independent agencies to achieve unprecedented growth by embracing strategic evolution and specialization.
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AI Paradox: Marketers' Optimism vs. Declining ROI Demands Agency Strategy
Marketers feel AI boosts performance despite declining ROI. Discover why this paradox exists and how agencies can leverage strategic expertise to thrive amidst AI-driven content saturation and shifting information discovery.
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Agency Growth Beyond AI Hype: Niche, Community, Data
AI search engines prioritize niche solutions, driving higher conversion rates. Agencies must refine their positioning to become the definitive expert for specific queries.
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Agency New Business Reoriented: Focus on Client Needs, Not Agency Capabilities
Stop pitching your agency's capabilities. Win more business by focusing entirely on the client's needs and how you uniquely solve their problems.
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Systematic Agency Hiring: Beyond Culture Fit for Resilient Teams
Disorganized hiring drains productivity and damages your agency's brand more than recruiting fees. Focus on "culture add" and potential, not just fit, to build resilient, high-performing teams.
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Winning Agency New Business Before the RFP
Buyers select preferred vendors long before RFPs, influenced by invisible algorithms and peer recommendations. Win new business by building trust and visibility months, even years, before the pitch.
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Strategic AI Automation Drives Agency Scale and Profitability
AI revolutionizes agencies not by creating content, but by automating core operations. Discover how strategic automation unlocks unprecedented scale, profitability, and a critical competitive edge.
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Harnessing Behavioral Science for Ethical Persuasion in Marketing
Harness innate human decision-making shortcuts to craft more resonant marketing. Understanding cognitive biases moves beyond logic to drive win-win outcomes for clients and customers.
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Global Talent Recalibrates Agency Culture and Elevates Standards
International hiring recalibrates agency culture and elevates standards by exposing inefficiencies and fostering a resilient, adaptable workforce. Gain a competitive advantage by proactively shaping clarity and continuous improvement.
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AI Integration: Operational Excellence Beyond Content Creation
Move beyond content creation: leverage AI to transform core operations, unlock your agency's data, and build a competitive advantage with AI "mini-mes."
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Agencies Must Invest in People--Not Perks--for Survival
Agencies that treat employee growth as a cost, not an investment, are building their own obsolescence. Proactive development is the key to retention, profitability, and survival.
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Data-Driven Hiring Builds Agency Moats Beyond Gut Feel
Build a resilient agency by replacing gut feel with data-driven hiring. Discover how to assess personality, behavior, and values for long-term team success.
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Analog Intelligence and Deep Thinking Differentiate Agency Work From AI
Deep thinking and human creativity, not just AI, create memorable work and avoid a 54% indifference rate. Invest in "analog intelligence" for breakthroughs.
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AI Transforms PR Agencies Into Proactive AI Consultancies
AI augments PR workflows, enabling agencies to identify opportunities and draft pitches, freeing humans for strategy and relationships. Journalists prioritize efficiency, accepting AI-assisted pitches that deliver accurate sources.
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Proactive Legal Foundations Maximize Agency M&A Value
Inadequate legal foundations erode agency valuation and scare buyers. Proactive contract, IP, and governance preparation is a profit-generating tool that maximizes M&A returns.
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Five Agency Resolutions for 2026 Growth and Resilience
Carve out 4-8 hours weekly for deep work and two hours for new business development to drive strategic growth and ensure a consistent pipeline.
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Personal LinkedIn Branding Drives Agency Growth Through Authentic Connection
Cultivate an authentic personal brand on LinkedIn for eight times more engagement than company pages, driving business and talent acquisition through genuine human connection.
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