The Show
The Businessology Show is a podcast about the business of design and the design of business, hosted by CPA/coach Jason Blumer.
Relaunch
Strategies for Smooth Operations with Jen Blair
Building Strategic Partnerships with Mary-Ann Pruitt
From Dropout to Multi-Millionaire: Brian Will's Story To Success
The Complexities of Leading Multiple Entities with Parker Cox
Mastering Agency Growth with Karl Sakas
Inspire Your Inner Creative with Jacqueline Green
Continuous Learning in the Digital Age with Mickey Mellen
The Business Skills Every Creative Needs to Thrive with Ilise Benun
Redefining Business Success with Sparktoro's CEO, Rand Fishkin
Strategic Planning: Mastering Calendar Blocking Pt. 2 with Jason Blumer
Strategic Planning: Mastering Calendar Blocking with Jason Blumer
Balancing Strategy and Operations for Business Growth with Alyson Caffrey
Unleashing the Creative Potential of Your Niche with Karen Reyburn
Branding Strategy versus Business Plan with Fabian Geyrhalter
Want to know what an expert brand strategist and creative director thinks about intertwining brand strategy with your business plan? Listen to Fabian Geyrhalter share tips on how your business can differentiate itself from the competition.
Hint: It's easier than you think.
How to Have a Fun, Challenging, and Rewarding Career with Andrew Davis
Andrew Davis isn't afraid to pivot into a new career avenue. As a former, producer, writer, and agency leader, he has a lot of experience under his belt. Listen to Andrew share his keys to having a fun, challenging, and rewarding career—no matter what line of work you're in.
Finding A Story To Tell with Carl Smith
Carl Smith is the kind of agency leader you haven't seen before. He's unapologetically himself and leads that way too. Hear about how Carl has grown and transformed his original leadership style in the new episode of The Businessology Show.
Balancing Creative and Business with Brandie Knox
How did Brandie Knox go from small-town Carolina gal to wildly successful creative agency head in the Big Apple? Listen to The Businessology Show to hear her story and the lessons she learned along the way.
Using Data to Tell a Kind Truth with Richard Groom
How can data analytics influence you? Odds are, it already is. Learn about how data analytics has changed over the years and the ways folks are leveraging their business with this tool.
How to Successfully Experience Failure with Kade Wilcox
Kade Wilcox wasn't expecting to lose his once-successful agency in 2022, but sometimes life doesn't go according to plan. Instead of turning away from failure, Kade leaned on friends, family, and trusted coaches to help him get through this period. Hear how Kade bounced back better than before and what he's up to now.
Becoming the Ultimate Entrepreneur with Jami Mullikin
Jami Mullikin broke into the marketing scene as a graphic designer, but then realized he wanted more. Over the course of his career, he honed his entrepreneurial skills to expand all across the industry. See where he ended up and how he got there on this episode of The Businessology Show.
The Economic Influence on Entrepreneurial Livelihood with Adam Davidson
Adam Davidson, renowned storyteller and author of The Passion Economy, joins this episode of The Businessology Show. He and Jason talk about the importance of economics in a daily setting for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, this is affecting you more than you think. Headphones on and volume up for this one!
How to Prepare for the Tough Times Ahead with Jason Blumer
Markets are constantly changing, and it's a battle to stay up-to-date with the current trends, let alone the future trends. Join Jason as he talks about the best practices to have a thriving agency during these upcoming market trends.
Agency Trends and the Recession with Jason Blumer
We faced new challenges in 2022 in every industry: creative agencies, marketing, and advertising. How are these changes affecting your agencies? In this special episode, Jason explains the trends agencies can expect to see from the recession, and how you can get ahead of them. Tune in to not just survive the sharp decline in our economy, but thrive in it.
The Not-So-Hidden Truths of Leading an Agency Part 2 with David C. Baker
Thought-provoking, David C. Baker is back on another episode of The Businessology Show where he reveals the three biggest developments agency leaders should apply to be successful. This time he's calling out Account Managers and Project Managers. Do your agency a favor and listen to this episode.
The Not-So-Hidden Truths of Leading an Agency with David C. Baker
Successfully leading an agency requires intimate knowledge and understanding of all the nuances that comprise your company. Nobody knows the ins and outs of the agency world like David C. Baker, a legendary thought leader in the creative space. We're absolutely honored to have David join the show!
How to Achieve Better Results with Less Effort with Austin Church
Here's something creatives all dream of doing: making more money by delivering better results with less effort. I mean, that's just a pipe dream, right?
Austin Church says, emphatically, "nope."
His approach to selling strategy—and strategy alone—as a Trojan horse is brilliant. Here's how it shakes out: the client pays you to learn more about them and provide them with clarity. Once that's accomplished, you're in prime position to create more proposals for work that addresses their other needs. It's called leverage, and you should listen to this episode to learn more about it!
How to Find the Perfect Project Manager with Galen Low
Project Managers are the glue that holds your agency's service together, so it's important to have the right people in the right seats. That's so much easier said than done, so we called in an expert to drop some knowledge on us! Galen has been building teams for a while now and has figured out how to find a Project Manager that's a sure fit for any type of team. Check it out!
How Female Agency Owners Can Empower Each Other with Christy Hiler and Jean Freeman
Jean and Christy are on a mission to get an accurate headcount on how many woman-owned agencies are currently operating in the U.S. and increasing that number with a network of inspirational business owners.
Freelancing and Entrepreneurship: Which You Should Choose with John Jantsch
John Jantsch has been at this for a while. He's a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duct Tape Marketing, The Referral Engine, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, and The Ultimate Marketing Engine. It's safe to say he knows his stuff. In this episode, he talks Jason through the various pathways that independents can (and should) take in their careers.
Finding a Client/Agency Match Made in Heaven with Joe Koufman
Joe Koufman is a matchmaker. Not quite the kind that you might be thinking of (although he has brought together many a now-married couple) unless you're thinking of an agency/client matchmaker. His company Setup helps pair agencies with clients based on all applicable criteria—style, personality, capability, you name it.
Simplifying Entrepreneurial Complexities with Dave Snowden
Dave has made a remarkably successful career out of using science to aid in decision-making in all industries. He brings his philosophies to the Businessology Show to help creative entrepreneurs navigate the multitude of decisions they face every day.
The Scaling L and an Explanation of the Capactiy Exchange Bridge with Jason Blumer, Part 2
Jason dons his professor cap once again to cover 2 critical elements of the Prototype Components Model for Growth: The Scaling L and the Capacity Exchange Bridge. Nail these, and you'll set your agency up for sustainable growth.
Understanding the Prototype Components Model for Growth with Jason Blumer
Over the years, Jason has brought on dozens of insightful thought leaders to share pearls of wisdom with the world. From these, questions always arise. This episode is an attempt to answer one of the biggest: how do I grow my agency in a way that's sustainable while not losing the things that make me valuable?
Auditing Your Agency's Profitability with Marcel Petitpas
Marcel has joined us before to geek out on the behind-the-scenes of agency operations and growth. He has a knack for engineering the inner workings of agencies in ways that bring more clarity and answer some of your biggest metric and ops questions. As a consultant and COO of Gold Front, he discusses what it means to get the metrics that actually help you run your agency (and why most owners can't or won't get this agency ops goodness).
Managing Creative Contractors with Dan Mall
You may remember Dan Mall as the co-founder of the Businessology Show, but these days he's at the helm of SuperFriendly, a one-of-a-kind creative model that is comprised solely of contractors. Now, most people may sweat at this Hollywood-inspired idea, but Dan is here to break down how he injects healthy rhythms into this unique structure while maintaining an incredibly high level of work quality. It's truly a great listen for all agency owners!
Committing to Intentional Growth with Tim Williams
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you've heard of Tim Williams and/or are employing some of his unique wisdoms in your agency right now! He's a marketing veteran with decades of top-notch experience. Tim has been featured or interviewed in several major publications, and his seminars have taken him across the globe. He and Jason have an honest, analytical conversation on growth—specifically, they dive deep into what it means to grow intentionally. If you've got "scale my agency" on your company's 5-year road map, you're going to want to tune in.
Authenticity in Agency Leadership
Propr Design in Baltimore is an agency that prides itself on using above-board methods to help solve their clients' branding and growth marketing challenges. Founder of Propr, Bobby G, and Jason get personal about what authenticity means and how you can embrace your individual personality while growing a wildly successful agency.
This episode is chalked full of agency guidance and personal advice—soak it all in!
Building Culture in a Creative Agency with Meghan Phillips
Jason joins Meghan Phillips on the Businessology Show to catch up on what the leader of Honey has been up to since they last talked. Meghan and the Honey team are always on a mission to bring trasparent and authentic conversation to the world of brands and story telling.
Meghan Phillips is the founder and CEO of Honey, a creative marketing agency that’s been making waves in the agriculture, food, and beverage industries for nearly a decade. She shares her agency’s growth story with Jason and reminds us that the path to success is never a straight line. Meghan’s story is an excellent example of how creative entrepreneurs can make meaningful changes to sidestep all the obstacles standing in the way of running a flourishing agency.
Navigating the Complexities of Design Teams in Growing Agencies
Jason joins Anthony Armendariz on the Businessology Show to catch up on what the leader of Funsize.co has been up to since they last talked. As usual, Funsize is innovating its models of service to make a name for itself all over the world.
Serving brands like Volvo, Oracle, Honeywell, Capital One, and Adobe, Funsize has learned how to meet the needs of its clients’ in-house design teams, while also inventing their own team models internally. Listen to this fascinating journey to see what they’ve discovered.
The Emotional Ups and Downs of Building, Losing, and Selling an Agency
Jason Blumer is joined by Trenton Moss, formerly of Webcredible, one of the UK's leading experience design agencies, as he explored how he built an agency for 15 years; just before sales and the whole business tanked overnight. After months of losses, he decided to sell. And this is his journey out of the chaos and into a coaching and training platform, Team Sterka.
Navigating Agency Transitions with Andy Budd
User Experience Designer and co-founder of Clearleft, Andy is a best-selling tech author, curates the UX London and Leading Design conferences and helped set up The Brighton Digital Festival. Andy is a regular speaker at international conferences like SXSW, Awwwards and The Next Web.
The Evolution of Design with Mike Davidson
Digital transformation is accelerating. Every company in the world is becoming a digital product company. InVision is on a mission to bring design-driven innovation to every organization. They are the platform for inclusive collaboration within digital product design and development.
Sharing Your Value with Anne Deeter Gallaher
Many marketing and PR firms offer cutting-edge copy, award-winning design, and deep media placement—and the Deeter Gallaher Group is successful in all those areas—but they believe their compelling advantage is their passion for and genuine belief in all their clients. They love what they do, because they believe in what their clients do. And that’s a service you can’t buy.
Creating Impact with Empathetic Design Processes with Jon Kolko
Modernist Studio is a strategy, design and innovation consultancy. They help clients create exceptional products, services and teams.
Marketing Matchmaking with Joe Koufman
Setup is all about advocating for marketers in various ways - they help you assemble your team (external partners + internal staff), strengthen your bench, align yourself for growth, expose you to marketing best practices, and level up across the board.
Agency Recovery Series with Mickey and Ali of GreenMellen Media
GreenMellen provides website, branding, design and messaging solutions to make a company’s digital presence meet today’s expectations. By uncovering the unique personality of each brand they work with, they’re able to create a digital environment that personifies those characteristics and refines the user experience.
The Value of Education with Dev Basu
Powered by Search helps B2B technology & SaaS companies who aren’t growing fast enough. Their mission is to help experts scale their B2B software or technology company with the perfect combination of demand generation strategy, content marketing, paid advertising, and SEO.
Agency Recovery Series with Anna Love of Stoked
Stoked is a global design firm helping organizations reimagine how they work.
Pitch It with Peter Levitan
Peter Levitan leads his own advertising agency where business development clients report that working with him resulted in a much clearer understanding of their potential – and how to get there much faster. His proven process delivers stand-out strategic positioning, messaging, and business development impact. He calls it building unignorable direct marketing sales plans that deliver pipeline acceleration.
Agency Recovery Series with Marc Avila of 3 Media Web
3 Media Web is an award-winning website design and digital marketing agency. They specialize in designing, developing, and promoting websites on the WordPress platform for growing organizations.
Selling Value with Phillip J. Clayton
noTheName is a Brand Consulting & Marketing firm that provides a range of service and solutions in Brand Design & Development, Strategy, Business & Product Development, Consulting, Digital Asset Management, Technology Deployment & Optimization of their clients’ operating activities.
Agency Recovery Series with Blake DuBose of DuBose Web
DuBose Web is a different kind of web design and digital marketing agency. Their team is made up of a variety of talent: website developers, interactive designers and inbound marketing strategists - just to name a few. While their creative and technical strengths differ, they all share a common desire to build relationships with the clients they work with. Their tagline, “relationship minded, community-focused” rings true to every project their team takes on, no matter the size or scope.
Geeking Out on the Profitability Flywheel with Marcel Petitpas
Parakeeto is built by folks who understand the #agencylife. We created Parakeeto to solve our own set of problems, and decided to share it with the world.
The Psychology of Presentation Design with Charlie Poulson
Americano makes brands human as a creative office at the intersection of artificial intelligence and aesthetics. Americano's unique approach involves AI to develop deep brand personalities and aesthetic expertise to create highly human & relatable brands.
Automation Engineering with James Rose
Content Snare was created by an agency that was tired of content delays reducing profitability and causing project backlogs. From day one, the software has been developed in collaboration with other agencies.
Holistic Branding with Methodical Coffee
Methodical Coffee opened on February 11, 2015 with pennies in the bank. We opened with a line out the door that stayed out the door until we closed. We believe that any successful business is built upon three pillars: exceptional product, customer service, and experience. We tirelessly work to perfect those three pillars.
The Three Levers of E-Commerce with Chase Clymer
Electric Eye is a boutique agency focused on helping brands grow their online sales. They are certified Shopify Experts who provide well-designed, data-driven solutions, allowing our clients to worry less about technology, and focus on running their business.
Narrowing Your Niche with Shannon Langrand
Our clients never stand still, and neither do we. At Langrand, we partner with leaders in the private and public sectors to create smarter ways to innovate and grow—whether it’s launching a new brand or breathing new life into a long-established one.
Working together in what we call a creative think tank, we’re able to combine the business acumen of a consulting firm with the creative firepower of a design-driven agency. We bridge the worlds of strategy, design and storytelling to transform thinking in ways that win hearts, minds and market share.
Intentional Business Development with Joe Rinaldi
Clutch is when execution rises to meet opportunity. Most client services organizations are missing the most important silver bullet in their business development arsenal...INTENTIONALITY.
Social strategy, developing partnerships, pitch refinement, and proposal optimization, customized to your specific resourcing and availability and playing to your firm's strengths and superpowers, That Was Clutch levels up your entire business development practice.
The Sales Effect with Dan Englander
Founded in 2014, Sales Schema is a US-based team of salespeople, former agency leaders, and marketers. At the time of this podcast, they have executed over 7,000 campaigns, generated 3,000+ agency/brand meetings, and won millions in lifetime revenue for their clients, and they are constantly improving their system as markets evolve.
What is your job today? with Jen Dary
At Plucky, we believe that all humans are creative, resourceful and whole… but sometimes they have a hard time moving forward. Plucky coaches empower clients to find their own truths, reconcile and name their own feelings, build confidence and move forward in their careers from a place of strength and, ultimately, action.
Navigating Solutions with Andrew Verboncouer
Headway helps startups & corporate innovators build successful products that solve problems through design thinking, intuitive interfaces, and the latest scalable technologies.
Riches are in the Niches with Meghan Phillips
Founded in 2008, Honey has been dedicated to bridging design and marketing through strategy for over a decade. The best, most holistic work is created when the two come together. Female-led, Honey is a team made up of individuals who are seriously hardworking and believe that their craft is fueled best by a detailed process.
Honey was founded with expertise in the food, beverage, and agriculture industries, but has come to work with a range of clients that are passionate about their craft and look to do things differently.
Getting Passionate with Adam Davidson
The brilliant creator of NPR's Planet Money podcast and award-winning New Yorker staff writer explains our current economy: laying out its internal logic and revealing the transformative hope it offers for millions of people to thrive as they never have before.
Reunited with Dan Mall
Simply put, a design system is a tool to help your organization build digital products more quickly and consistently. There’s certainly more to it than that, but that’s a decent enough starting point.
Digital Project Management with Ben Aston
The Digital Project Manager is the home of digital project management inspiration, how-to guides, tips, tricks, tools, funnies, training, and jobs. We provide project management guidance for the digital wild west where crazy clients, tiny budgets and stupid deadlines reign supreme.
Befriend Your Fear with Ryan Berman
Over the course of 1000 days, Ryan was fortunate to interview leaders from Amazon, Apple, Domino’s, Fender, Google, Harrah’s, Harvard, Live Nation, Method, Netflix, Royal Caribbean, Stone Brewing, Tuft & Needle, Uber, Virgin Galactic and Zappos. Berman was granted access to go behind the curtain to learn how these companies continue to stay ahead of the rest. For any willing person who wants to advance their career or company — or if you aspire to transform your business into a Courage Brand.
Straight Up with Emily Cohen
Emily has been honored to consult and work with many leading design firms across the country. Through these experiences, she has developed, tested, and curated key business insights and strategies that have helped firms become more effective, profitable, and fun to work at.
Challenger Brands with Prentice Howe
Empowered Challengers do not just break the rules, they change the game. These brands understand that boundless ambition and the ability to outthink are what it takes to topple the giants that overshadow us.
Getting Back to the Basics with Matt Faulk
We're a branding and experience design agency that builds brands that matter in culture.
Legal Services for Creative Companies with Matchstick Legal
Matchstick works with leading agencies, studios, and professionals across creative and technical disciplines looking to tackle business challenges, solve problems, and just get better.
Adjusting with the Market with Andy Budd
Clearleft helps design leaders get the most from their products, services & teams.
Using Video to Tell Your Story with Todd Hartley
WireBuzz helps companies improve sales and marketing results using the power of video.
Becoming an Expert with David C. Baker
David C. Baker is an author, speaker, and advisor helping entrepreneurial experts make better business decisions.
Growing and Maintaining Culture with Anthony Armendariz of Funsize
Funsize is digital service and product design agency that works with inspiring design and engineering teams to uncover opportunities, evolve popular products, bring new businesses to market, and prepare for the future.
How to Leverage Podcasting to Build Trust with Steve Gordon of The Unstoppable CEO
Unstoppable CEO helps their clients build a done-for-you marketing system (and keep it running), designed for the unique challenges of selling professional services.
Becoming Experts in a Niche with Jason Pontius and Tonya Moyle of White Whale Web Services
White Whale designs and develop websites, user experiences, and big ideas. Their clients include some of the biggest, the smallest, and the most interesting colleges and universities in the world.
Digital Marketing with John Saunders
5 Four Digital develops UX & marketing strategies that increase your bottom line & skyrocket ROI.
Creating Valuable New Services with Anna Wolf of SuperScript Marketing
Superscript Marketing is a digital marketing agency that's obsessed with achieving measurable results.
Running a Successful Branding Agency with Blake Goodwin
THOUGHTFUL CREATIVE. ENTICING BRANDS. VALUED PARTNERSHIPS. That is what Proportion Design is about.
Proportion is proud of their work and want you to judge it!
Understanding the Value of SEO with Jeremiah Smith of Simple Tiger
Simple Tiger uses a holistic strategy including technical optimization, content marketing, and digital PR customized to client needs to drive sustainable traffic growth and increase revenue through search.
One Man Agency Vs. Freelancing with Chris Vogel
Chris Vogel Design helps companies articulate answers to fundamental questions.
A Fresh Look at Sales and Marketing with Mike Lieberman of Square 2 Marketing
Square 2 Marketing is a data-driven, results-focused digital agency dedicated to helping clients improve business outcomes with buyer-centric sales and marketing strategies. They support business growth with comprehensive, campaign-based, and tactical marketing services.
Learning What To Do and What Not To Do To Grow An Agency with Joe Erwin of Erwin Creates
Endeavor levels the playing field by giving creative entrepreneurs the tools to excel with high-end workspaces, presentation rooms, and technology they’ll be proud to share with clients.
Scaling Quickly with Kade Wilcox of Primitive Social
Primitive Social grows businesses, builds brands, and generates leads for their clients.
Sustaining Long Term Growth with Jay Owen of Design Extensions
Marketing is confusing. Design Extensions makes it simple. From branding, to websites, to social media, they will take care of the planning and execution.
Building a Software Development Business with Keith Shields of Designli
By designing and developing custom apps and mobile-responsive websites, Designli acts as a guide, leading their clients toward a transformative digital strategy.
Navigating the Ups and Downs of Agency Growth with the Partners of 3 Media Web
3 Media Web helps companies around the world and across industries build and maintain their web presence.
Agency Team Building with Mickey Mellen of GreenMellen Media
At GreenMellen, brand authority is more than trendy marketing jargon; it’s their strategic objective in every project.
The Process of Building Custom Software with Dan Rundle of Worthwhile
Worthwhile is committed to delivering a No Regrets client experience based on quality software, proactive communication, and promises kept.
Moving from Freelancer to Firm Leader with Adam Gesuero of Image Conscious Studios
Image Conscious Studios is a design & technology collaboration studio, specializing in crafting digital experiences for discerning technology and lifestyle brands.
Merging Agencies with Intention with the Partners of Workhorse
Workhorse is a brand and creative content agency. They partner with people they believe in to bring visionary brands to life.
Turning Leads into Sales for Your Clients with Gray MacKenzie of DoInbound.com
The DoInbound Agency Framework touches every aspect of an agency, from sales to client delivery, and breaks down each phase of the client journey into smaller, repeatable systems.
Leveraging Influencers for your Client's Brand with Thom Vest of Studio Seven Consulting
Studio Seven Consulting creates content, campaigns, and experiences that tell stories, spark conversations, and mobilize armies of editors and influencers.
Learning to Serve Agency Partners with Jonathan Soares of Agency Labs
Agency Labs is a powerful and trusted engineering partner that collaborates exclusively with leading digital, creative, and marketing teams.
Exploring Music in Your Brand with Max Kickinger of Raven and Finch
Raven and Finch is a music solutions company that creates music experiences for all forms of brand communication and storytelling.
Learning about Agency Leadership with Rob Girling and Gavin Kelly of Artefact Group
Artefact believes human-centered design is the only path to meaningful, sustainable success. They advocate outcomes-focused thinking and seek to have a positive impact on underserved communities and populations. They cultivate a deep understanding of technology, so they can bring about positive change and avoid technology for technology’s sake. Artefact values excellence in both thought and execution.
Exploring Growth Driven Design with Luke Summerfield of Hubspot
Hubspot, a CRM and Marketing software, helps companies grow by connecting with their human clients. Luke Summerfield is Hubspot's Growth Driven Design Evangelist in Hubspot's Partner Program.
How Narrowing Your Positioning Changes Your Agency with Jason Mlicki of Rattleback
Rattleback is the Marketing Agency for Professional Services Firms. They help architecture, engineering and consulting firms attract clients online.
Narrowly Defining Your Services with Maria Rapetskaya of Undefined Creative
Undefined Creative is a boutique motion graphics agency in New York. They do branding, design and motion work for clients such as Harry Connick Jr., NHL, NBC Universal, and the United Nations. They are undelicate creative geniuses.
Building a Better Agency with Drew McLellan of AMI
The Agency Management Institute (AMI) offers agency management training, consulting and facilitates agency owner peer networks for small to mid sized agencies (advertising, digital, marketing, media and PR).
The mission of AMI is lofty yet simple — help agency owners increase their AGI, attract better clients and employees, mitigate the risks of being self employed in a such volatile business and best of all — let the agency owner actually enjoy the perks of owning the business.
Drew is often interviewed/quoted and published in Entrepreneur Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, AdAge, CNN, BusinessWeek, and many others. The Wall Street Journal calls him “one of 10 bloggers every entrepreneur should read.”
He is also the host of Build a Better Agency podcast.
Exploring the Design Business Model with Kevin Hoffman of Seven Heads Design
Seven Heads Design, led by Kevin Hoffman, is a distributed network of independent web designers, information architects, developers, and smart people. They work remotely because they live all over the world. Seven Heads is a connected company. They believe that when brilliant people have autonomy they crank out their best work, but when those same people collaborate in teams they truly innovate. Seven Heads is an organic network, forming, growing, and dissipating as needed.
Building an Integrated Marketing Agency with Lori Jones of Avocet Communications
Avocet increases customer acquisition through integrated marketing communications. Avocet's job is to develop marketing strategies to drive more foot traffic to retail stores (whether online or to brick and mortar).
Discussing Agency Growth with Jason Swenk
JasonSwenk.com is an Agency New Business development company. The mission of JasonSwenk.com is to educate and entertain digital agencies to scale their business to over 7 or 8 figures.
Golden Mean Pricing with Tim Bouchard of Luminus
Luminus is a branding and digital creative agency in Buffalo, NY. They are creative thinkers, designers, writers, illustrators, and developers that build and enrich brands.
Maintaining Culture with Brad Flowers of Bullhorn Creative
Bullhorn, of Lexington,KY, believes that strong brands stand for something. Using their simple, versatile process, Bullhorn uncovers those values through conversations, research, and strategy; then brings them to life with language and design. The result is compelling – regardless of the project scope or industry vertical. Bullhorn does good work for good people.
Managing Scope with Kristin DeKay of Grain & Mortar
Grain & Mortar is a creative studio located in Omaha, Nebraska. They use design to help businesses launch products, brands, and ideas.
Serving in Teams with Geoff Wilson of 352
352's passion is turning great ideas into compelling websites, apps and software. 352 builds dedicated teams around every client to get them to market quickly, so that they can learn, iterate and grow the client's audience.
Agency Leadership with Andy Budd of Clearleft
Clearleft, a user experience consultancy, helps clients solve thorny business problems, and these solutions usually manifest themselves as digital products and services. Clearleft designs compelling digital experiences.
Website Planning with Ben Seigel of Versa Studio
Versa Studio, in existence since 2007, does branding, website design, and development for small businesses and nonprofits.
Design Leadership with Richard Banfield of Fresh Tilled Soil
Fresh Tilled Soil are design obsessed UX experts, who partner with clients seeking innovative digital solutions to grow their businesses. Their passion for cultivating exquisite experiences is rooted in their commitment to the end user. By creating empathy while following a flexible process with a craftsman’s discipline, FTS delivers extraordinary results. They’ve produced clean, intuitive UX/UI solutions to over 500 projects to clients across the globe since 2005.
Operating as a Virtual Partnership with the Founders of Forefathers Group
Forefathers Group was forged in 2011 by 2 designers with more than a thousand miles apart, and to this day have never met face-to-face. In spite of distance the team expanded further with an Illustrator who resides in Sweden as the team has collectively gone on to work for major brands and companies such as Biolayne, Bob Marley, Mark Hoppus, Theory11, and Dangerbird Records among many others.
The Business of Maintaining Code with Nate McGuire of Code My Views
Cody My Views is your on demand development team, working with agencies and design firms to do work from front end development, to custom applications, to Wordpress sites.
Pricing Accurately with Djuvane Browne of One Great Studio
One Great Studio is giving life to ideas through websites, web applications,
graphic design & branding. They have 3 core beliefs...
Don't Be Greedy
Think Long Term
Do Good
In January 2015, the studio began the transition to value pricing & have experienced some amazing changes in the agency and their lives as a result. Currently, partners Djuvane & Gina, and the team at One Great Studio are working on their first SaaS product – Buildt, a web & mobile service app for churches scheduled to be released in January, 2016.
Explaining Design Decisions to Clients with Tom Greever of Bitovi Agency
Tom Greever is the UX Director at Bitovi Agency. They help companies create better web applications, and have worked with clients such as WalMart, T Mobile, and Cars.com.
Tom Greever's book, Articulating Design Decisions, helps designers justify design to non-designers.
Onboarding Clients to Ensure Alignment with Mike Rauch of Rauch Brothers Animation
Rauch Brothers Animation brings great characters to life one drawing at a time. They're best known for their Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps shorts, and have created work for Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Animation, Sesame Workshop, and Amplify Education among others.
Balancing Design and Client Growth Strategy with Jason Brewer of Brolik Agency
Product Launching in a Service Agency with Matt Medeiros, Founder of Slocum Studio
Slocum Studio is a Design and Development Agency for Wordpress. Matt is the founder and host of Matt Report, a wordpress podcast for digital business owners.
Interview with Jamie Kosoy, Founder and Head of Technology at Arbitrary
Arbitrary isn’t exactly a digital creative agency or a production shop. It’s not quite a studio or an R&D Lab, either. Arbitrary is the best of all of these things. Arbitrary brings together teams of talented groups and individuals to work on experiential, lovely, forward-thinking stuff of all sorts.
Arbitrary is whatever it needs to be to make inspired digital creations for and with great people.
Interview with Erik Reagan, Co-founder of Focus Lab, LLC
Focus Lab is a close team of creative professionals based out of Savannah, Ga. They are parents, musicians, gamers, runners, gardeners, friends, jokesters, and more. Focus Lab is passionate about partnering with good people and organizations to produce exceptional work that betters the world around them.
Interview with Tim Ryan, Founder and Director at TAR Productions
TAR Productions are storytellers and innovators who push the boundaries of branded entertainment and bespoke media to connect companies with their customers.
Interview with Matt Weinberg, Co-Founder/President of Technology and Development at Vector Media Group
Vector Media Group is an interactive digital agency located in the heart of the Flatiron District of New York City. We’re dedicated to sharing our expertise in Web and Mobile Development, Design, and Marketing to help build powerful tools and campaigns that work. Our award-winning teams employ business standards with ethical best practices that drive brand growth.
What does Vector do?
Design & Branding Thoughtful solutions uniquely crafted to solve our clients’ business problems.
Development Customized development driven by insights and proven by results.
Digital Marketing Driving results beyond flashy creative and keywords.
Interview with James Hobbs, Creative Director/Founder of Octopus Creative
Octopus Creative is a design agency specializing in interaction design, user experience, visual design, branding, and web development.
More about Octopus:
We are user driven Our focus is to convert one-time viewers into loyal customers through great design and usability. We carefully consider each interaction throughout our design process, crafting a positive, memorable experience for users.
We launch startups Our experience enables us to make the quick decisions necessary for a startup’s success. We excel at looking through the eyes of users — analyzing, simplifying, and building products within a tight timeframe.
We turn ideas into products Our team specializes in taking a raw idea and crafting it into a quality product. This detailed approach guarantees each stage of development occurs with the insight and perspective of experienced designers.
Interview with Jim Macdonald, Managing Partner of 3Seed Marketing
3Seed Marketing is a full-service marketing agency owned by multiple partners, each having a role in the success of the company. They are firm believers in value pricing, and have grown the business from 3 to 20 employees in just over a year, including a merger and aggressive hiring practices. 3Seed operates on a very strong set of core values, and do all of their hiring, client onboarding, and partnerships with these values in mind. The rule at their company is You Reap What You Sow... Sow Good.
Interview with Kade Wilcox, CEO of Primitive Social
Welcome to the relaunch of the Businessology Show! As you may know Dan Mall has left the show and we will miss him greatly! Thanks Dan for all that you've done, and continue to do, for this industry.
With this relaunch, we move into a different setup of the show. Here is how we'll be publishing shows from here forward:
-we will publish new shows on the 10th and 25th of each month,
-we will interview agency owners working through the complexities of growth in their own agency,
-we will coach the agency owners on the show to unlock more learning and demonstrate the power of business coaching,
-we will take notes throughout the recording of each episode (you'll hear Jason Blumer typing) but we hope it won't be a distraction. :)
Season 3
The Difference Between Sales and Marketing
Dan and Jason are back with another episode of The Businessology Show! This week they're discussing the difference between the two critical functions of sales and marketing. Find out what they have to say about it on this episode!
10 Questions to Assess the Value of Your Business Model
Dan and Jason are back with their 2nd episode about Business Models. What are the 10 questions you should ask yourself when assessing your current business model? Listen here to find out!
A Special Message from Dan and Jason
Exploring Business Models
Dan and Jason are back to kick off the first episode of Season 3! Join them as they explore all aspects of business models, discuss how they designed their respective company's models, compare the pros and cons of each and so much more!
Season 2
Season 2 Finale
Dan and Jason are back for the Season 2 Finale of The Businessology Show. What a great season we’ve had! A huge thanks to our amazing listeners, our incredible guests and our awesome sponsors. Listen to the finale here and stay tuned for Season 3 in January!
Thank you for being a part of this incredible season!
Q&A: September 2014
Dan and Jason are back with another listener question show! This is the fourth episode dedicated to Onboarding and we received some really great questions from our amazing listeners. Listen here!
Is Your Client the Right Fit?
Dan and Jason speak with Rodney Northern, Senior Vice President, Director Client Services for Sanders/Wingo, as their final guest for the Businessology Show’s onboarding story arch.
Onboarding for Services & Products
How do you get users acclimated when trying to get them to sign up for your product or service? Jason and Dan interview Matthew Smith about his experience leading teams at places like Relay Foods and Zaarly as well as his own design consultancy, and how onboarding at each differs.
The Power of Onboarding
On this episode, we'll define Onboarding and talk about the impact it can have on bringing in new customers. Dan and Jason will also give their own examples of Onboarding and how it has helped their clients.
Q&A: July 2014
Dan and Jason are back with another listener question show!
This is the fourth episode dedicated to pricing and we want to hear from you, our awesome listeners! Do you have questions from our first three pricing guests? Or maybe you just have some general questions about pricing? Leave us a question as a comment on our blog here or use our online questions form: https://businessologyshow.wufoo.com/forms/ask-a-question/
Thanks for listening!
Why Hourly Pricing Can Work
Implementing Value Pricing
Dan and Jason continue their pricing show line-up with the incredible Ron Baker, author of Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms.
We are going live on Thursday, May 29th at 4:00 pm ET, so be sure to join us then!
Value Pricing for Agile Development
Dan and Jason speak with Wes McClure about value pricing, agile development and how to improve the development of software to focus on customer value and outcomes.
We are going live on Thursday, May 22nd at 4:00 pm ET, so be sure to join us then!
Q&A: May 2014
Dan and Jason are back with another listener question show! This is the fourth episode dedicated to Positioning, but we want to focus on listener questions this time. Do you have questions from our first three guests on positioning? Let us have them! Or, maybe you just have some general branding/positioning questions related to how we run our firms. Let us have them!
Leave us a question as a comment on our blog here, or just leave them on our online Questions form here: https://businessologyshow.wufoo.com/forms/ask-a-question/
We are going live on Thursday, May 8th at 12:30 pm ET, so be sure to join us then!
Faking It
Propulsion
Continuing with the theme of positioning and branding, Dan and Jason will be interviewing Ed Tettemer live on Wednesday, April 16 at 2pm EST. Listen live to hear how Ed has spent years helping organizations of all kinds (profit and non-profit, large and small) define themselves.
Season 1
Season 1 Finale
Dan and Jason will be talking through the purpose of Businessology, as they explored it in Episode 1. Then they will be taking a journey through the episodes of the first Season, highlighting the big learning points and what their greatest takeaways were.
At the end, they will be excited to share some thoughts on next year's live roadshow, and how you can have a say in what you see at the live roadshow.
Join us for the Businessology Show's Season 1 Finale on Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 2pm EST!
Being the Boss
A true leader, Greg Hoy can talk about management, marketing, leadership, design, and more. Also, Greg will share about Owner Camp and Digital Project Management Summit. And finally, what did it really feel like to have his employees give him a review? Listen in live on Friday, November 1, 2013 at 12:30pm EST to hear Dan and Jason interview Greg about these and other topics. Have a question for Greg? Leave it in the comments below!
Q&A: October 2013
Dan is back with Jason this month, and it’s time for another listener question show! What do you want to ask about design or business? Do you have questions about software, managing projects, hiring, when to go out on your own, taxes, managing cashflow, working with contractors, contracts, or anything else? Leave us a comment and we’ll do our best to work your question into our next show. We are going to be live on Tuesday October 15th at 3pm EST, so be sure to join us then!
Turning Side Projects into a Full-Time Gig
Matt Cook joins us again as a guest host while Dan Mall travels. Look for Dan to rejoin the show in October. Jason and Matt will be talking with Cameron Moll, creator of Authentic Jobs. They will be live on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 2pm EST. Hear Cameron's insights on working with a team and running a business. Join us in the live chat during the show.
Changing Business Models
That's right. We have a guest AND a guest host! Dan will be back in October, but we still have great content in store for you. Join Jason and Matt Cook this Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 2pm EST as they talk with Dave Onkels, co-founder of Dotvita. Dave will be sharing his thoughts on how his strategy has shifted as both he and his company have grown. How are current customers impacted when your business model changes? What if it doesn't work? Hear more from Dave, this year's emcee of Circles Conference, and ask him your questions in the chat on Thursday.
Execute!
On Thursday, August 22nd at 2pm EST, Dan and Jason will be talking all things design and business with Josh Long. You know Josh as an author, designer, and podcast host. Be sure to chat with us right here during the live show!
Q&A: August 2013
Got questions? Let’s talk about what matters to you! Let’s talk pricing, growth, hiring, firing, scope, project management, strategic client selection, dealing with contractors, best conferences, or whatever is on your mind. We’ll be live on Thursday, August 8th at 2pm EST, but we need your questions. Leave them in the comments!
Responding Strategically to Growing Pains
Dan and Jason will be talking with The Queen Bees from The Honey Agency, Meghan Phillips and Rebecca Parker. The Honey Agency has built strategy around their customer selection. They are also responding strategically to big changes in their revenue mix as well. Hear their stories of growing pains and how they are transforming their agency and their team. Remember to join us here live during the show and ask your questions in the chat.
Strategies For Growth
Dan and Jason will explore the topic of growth. Can you grow too fast? What are the risks of growth? What if you don’t want to grow? Does growth ensure profitability? We’ll wrestle with these questions and more. Please include your questions or thoughts in the comments and join us here for the live chat during the show.
Knowledge-Based Project Management
Live on June 24th at 3pm EST, Dan and Jason will be talking about project management with Ed Kless. How do you handle project management problems such as lack of information from your customer, ever-changing requirements and requests, falling behind on deadlines, or managing multiple projects at the same time? Ed will be available to answer your questions and share his wisdom on these topics and more.
Q&A: May 2013
Dan and Jason are ready to answer your questions. In this episode, we’ll tackle questions already received, such as:
- “What happens if I incorrectly estimate my income when it comes to taxes?”
- “What strategies can I use to build my client base?”
- “How do you set up contracts, especially if you are value pricing?”
- “How do existing clients respond to changes such as moving from hourly billing to a value pricing model? And how do I do this?”
- “As a freelancer, much of my business comes from other creative agencies. Is it possible to value price when contracting for other creatives?”
Quickly Starting a Business
If the work you are doing today ceased to exist tomorrow, what would you do? This is the exact place Kevin M. Hoffman found himself about one year ago. After eighteen years of designing websites and the strategies behind them, Kevin was faced with tremendous challenge and risk, but also great opportunity and choice. Listen in to find out what Kevin did and what he learned in the transition about value and about himself.
Making Sense of Taxes for the Small Business Owner
Albert Einstein said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” Taxes can be a scary piece of the business owner’s puzzle. What do you need to know about getting your taxes filed? How can you plan ahead for next year? What do freelancers need to do to prepare their books for tax time? Is it okay to file an extension? Jason and Dan will tackle these questions and more on Thursday, March 28th at 2pm EST.
Exploring the Value of Innovation
Teehan+Lax have committed to a wonderful thing in their agency called a Lab. Committing financial resources and people to a department of an agency with no plan for income is a deep commitment to the value of innovation. To put it simply: they value curiosity. But does this commitment to innovation bring value to their current customers? Or add more money to the bottom line? Should you build time into your life to innovate new products and services? Come find out from Jon Lax himself.
Value Pricing
Pricing without time in mind is a true skill. Or maybe you should consider using time? Possibly, Dan and Jason disagree. It takes courage and commitment to innovation and an intense focus on your customer to value price for your services. Should you give up timesheets? Should you use time to create your prices? Can you do this in your creative firm or agency? Find out the skills needed and the fatter profit margins you can make.
Positioning, Branding, & Value
Do you have a brand that is well positioned to be a leader with your niche market? How can you identify your value and price accordingly? These are the building blocks of effective creative strategy. Come hear Tim Williams explain why “the essence of positioning is sacrifice.” Listen live right here on Friday, February 15th, 3 pm EST.
Equity, Startups, Fundraising & Education
What kind of equity should designers take when working with startups? Do designers make sucky business owners? Are agencies the only route for budding designers? Find out live at 1PM EST on Jan 24, 2013.
What is Businessology?
Dan and Jason spend time diving into the purpose behind the Businessology Show in this initial episode. Learn more about the hosts, the branding design of the show, and what the future holds!