Agency Forward

Hosted by Chris DuBois

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113

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Agency Forward explores the future of agencies as tech and AI drive down the cost of tactical deliverables. Topics include building competent teams, developing strategic offers, systemizing your business, and more. New episodes delivered every Tuesday.

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June 16, 2026Episode 11235 min

112 Davidson Wicker: Why Your Project Management Tool Isn't Working

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Davidson Wicker.Davidson is a work management expert and the CEO of Ravetree, helping agencies and professional services firms get more out of their project management systems. He's seen the same patterns play out across hundreds of teams: the tool gets implemented, nobody adopts it properly, and the founder ends up back in spreadsheets within six months. I wanted Davidson on because most agency owners have a project management tool. Very few have a project management culture. There's a difference, and that gap is where most delivery problems live.In this episode, we discuss:The number one work management mistake agencies repeat over and overWhat agencies considering a new PM tool get wrong before they buyHow to enforce consistent usage across a team without micromanagingAnd more...You can learn more about Davidson on LinkedIn.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

June 9, 2026Episode 11133 min

111 John Morris: The Financial Blind Spots Killing Your Agency

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Jon Morris.Jon is the founder of Rise Interactive, a digital marketing agency he grew to over $40M in revenue before selling. He now runs Fiscal Advocates Inc. and advises agency owners on the financial infrastructure they need to grow without burning out or breaking the business. Jon's work sits at the intersection of financial strategy and agency operations, and he's spent years helping owners understand the numbers that actually matter.I wanted Jon on because most agency owners are running blind when it comes to their finances. They know revenue and roughly what's in the bank but the metrics that actually predict health and growth are usually invisible until it's too late.In this episode, we discuss:When agency owners should stop ignoring cash reservesHow to use financial data to time hiring decisionsWhat profit margin separates thriving agencies from struggling onesAnd more...You can learn more about Jon on LinkedIn.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

June 2, 2026Episode 10739 min

110 Jonathan Stark: Why Hourly Billing Is Costing You a Fortune

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Jonathan Stark.Jonathan is an author, speaker, and consultant who has spent over 20 years helping agencies and consultants escape the trap of hourly billing. He hosts the Ditching Hourly podcast, has published over 500 episodes on the subject, and runs the Ditcherville community. I wanted Jonathan on because pricing is one of the most underlevered moves in any agency owner's toolkit. Most people know hourly billing isn't ideal, but very few know how to actually make the switch without panicking.In this episode, we discuss:Why fixed-price quotes feel risky and how to price them correctlyThe real source of scope creep in value-priced engagementsThe first productized service every agency should buildAnd more...You can learn more about Jonathan on LinkedIn and at JonathanStark.com-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

May 26, 2026Episode 10918 min

109 Speed to Informed: The Hidden Lever in Agency Ownership

Most agency owners think their problem is workload. It isn't. It's latency, the gap between the moment a question lands and the moment you have an answer good enough to act on.In this solocast, I break down a metric I've been optimizing my life around for two years: Speed to Informed. The fix has two arms, and most owners only ever build one.In this episode:Why workload isn't actually the problemThe three patterns that keep agency owners slow to informedOne starting move you can make this week to reclaim 6-10 hoursand more...-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

May 19, 2026Episode 10833 min

108 Garrett Jestice: Your Best Client Is Already Your GTM Strategy

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Garrett Jestice.Garrett is a GTM consultant and advisor who helps agencies, solo consultants, and fractionals build the foundations that make marketing and sales actually work. I wanted Garrett on because he's someone I talk to regularly, and every conversation surfaces something practical. His take on leverage levers for agencies goes well beyond the usual "niche down" advice, and his perspective on the rise of micro-agencies and what's dying in the traditional model is something every agency owner needs to hear right now.In this episode, we discuss:Why your best client should become your entire go-to-market strategyWhy the full-service agency model is dying and what the micro-agency model looks like insteadWhy partnerships and co-marketing are the most overlooked growth lever for agenciesAnd more...You can find Garrett on LinkedIn and on Substack at 10xsolo.substack.com.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

May 12, 2026Episode 10731 min

107 Mike Grinberg: Why Positioning Is Really a De-Risking Problem

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Mike Grinberg.Mike is the founder of Proofpoint Marketing, a positioning consultancy that works primarily with boutique firms in regulated industries like life sciences, financial services, and med tech. I wanted to have Mike on because, selfishly, we think about positioning very similarly. Mike's take on positioning is that he doesn't treat it as a messaging problem. He treats it as a business design problem. But in addition, he also has a great way of viewing positioning through the lens of derisking the buying decision, and it's incredibly helpful. In this episode, we discuss:Why positioning is an operations problem, not a marketing problemThe four-box risk matrix agencies can use to understand how buyers evaluate themWhy personal risk matters more than organizational risk in most dealsAnd more...You can learn more about Mike on LinkedIn.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

May 5, 2026Episode 10618 min

106 The So That Gap: Why Your Positioning Stops at the Homepage

Positioning that doesn't change how you hire, price, deliver, sell, and operate is just a writing exercise. In this solocast, Chris DuBois introduces the "So That Gap" — the distance between the sentence on your homepage and the operating decisions underneath it.You get a three-minute diagnostic you can run on yourself right now, a map of the five specific places this gap shows up in every agency, and one concrete move you can make this week to start closing it.In this episode, I cover:Why most positioning work stops at the messaging layer and never reaches operationsA diagnostic for finding exactly where your positioning runs outWhy the 5 gaps compound and feed each other (and why fixing just one never sticks)And more...Full companion article with frameworks for each gap is on Substack.-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

April 28, 2026Episode 10531 min

105 Joseph Fioramonti: How Visual Perception Data Ends Creative Guesswork

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Joseph Fioramonti.Joseph is the founder of Dark Square, a branding agency, and the creator of Constellations, a visual perception tool that replaces stakeholder guesswork with real audience data.He spent over a decade doing large corporate rebrands for tech companies before building Constellations internally to solve his own approval problem. The tool now has two patents pending and is being opened up to other agencies.I wanted to have Joe on because most agency owners have been burned by revision cycles and last-minute stakeholder changes. Joseph built a system that eliminates that dynamic by collecting visual data from hundreds of people before any creative direction is locked in — and the results are remarkable.In this episode, we discuss:Why including more stakeholders upfront eliminates revision cyclesHow visual perception data replaces guesswork in brand approvalBuilding a SaaS product inside your agency for two revenue streamsAnd more...You can learn more about Joseph on LinkedIn and check out Constellations to help get confirm brand direction with real audience insights. -----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

April 21, 2026Episode 10440 min

104 Barrett King: How Agencies Win with Strategic SaaS Partnerships

Hey everyone, today I'm joined by Barrett King.Barrett has spent most of his career building agency-facing partnership programs at some of the biggest names in SaaS — HubSpot, Ramp, and now Close CRM, where he serves as Head of Partnerships.What drew me to Barrett is that he thinks about partnerships the way most agency owners never do: as a deeply intentional relationship that should be defined clearly before a single deal is signed. He's seen agencies build $100M businesses through smart ecosystem alignment — and he's watched others stall out at $250K because they lost themselves chasing what a bigger vendor wanted.In this episode, we discuss:Why most agencies enter partnerships without ever defining what they actually want from themThe two biggest mistakes agencies make when partnering with SaaS companiesWhy MCP and AI connectivity is changing what it means to be a strong agency partner right nowAnd more...You can learn more about Barrett King on LinkedIn. If you want to try to Close and get some added perks. Sign up through our affiliate link. -----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.

April 14, 2026Episode 10313 min

103 Velocity Pricing: Why Your Tiers Should Sell Speed, Not Scope

Most agency pricing tiers are built wrong.They're based on scope. More deliverables. More hours. More stuff.But here's what your clients actually want: results, faster.In this solocast, I break down velocity pricing, a model where every tier delivers the same outcome but at different speeds and intensity levels. Instead of selling labor by the pound, you sell time-to-value.In this episode, I cover:Why scope-based tiers train clients to negotiate you downThe velocity pricing model: same destination, different speeds, different pricesWhy the urgency premium is justified (and an easy yes for the right client)And more...-----------Lead Gen is the hardest part of running an agency.For most, it's unpredictable, it's slow, and it's usually expensive.Gia flips that.It's the all-in-one growth platform that turns your existing relationships and client work into a steady pipeline.Gia automates lead gen follow-up and content, and it's all from the work you're already doing.You can check it out and get some free bonuses at getgia.ai/dynamicagency-----------No one was asking for another community. But I've made one anyway.So what's different?The Dynamic Agency Community is designed around access rather than content.Access to peers who've done it before.Access to experts who've designed solutions.Access to resources that have been battle-tested.And right now, the price for founding members is only $97/year.Join today so your agency has immediate access to everything you need to grow.You can join at DynamicAgencyOS.com/Community.-----------Subscribe to the Agency Forward blog on Substack.We have weekly blog content with practical advice to help you advance your agency.-----------And if you're ready for 1-on-1 help to create some mind-blowing offers for your agency, visit DynamicAgencyOS.com to schedule a free consultation. Running an agency is tough, but you don't need to go it alone.