This week we released the results of the Q4 SAGA Small Agency Owner Survey that showed general optimism about the next 12 months, tempered by a healthy dose of caution. We also took a deeper look at talent questions like compensation, recruiting, and retention.
I’ll talk more about the survey results a bit later in this week’s newsletter, but I also wanted to share with you two new workshops that we have to start the new year off right.
The first is focused on jumpstarting your business development efforts. It’s the Agency Business Growth Strategies Workshop that will take place in January. I will cover the best way to target and message your ideal clients, steps to getting better known by the right prospects at the right time, and how to close and retain new accounts.
The second will zero in on client service. It’s the Managing Client Accounts for Results & Profit Workshop that will take place in February. I’ll be offering practical tips on structuring your client work, managing scope and profit, producing results to drive retention, and strategies for account growth.
Both of these workshops are good fits for owners, but also any employees who are actively engaged in business development or account management. The Managing Client Accounts is particularly well-suited to your internal account leads who may not have a lot of training or experience in managing these kinds of relationships.
The workshops will take place online for 3 consecutive Wednesdays in 2-hour chunks. That’s designed to make it as manageable for your schedule as possible while still producing great results. If you miss a session, recordings will be available.
Early bird pricing for each event is $495. More details can be found on our events page.
I hope to see you at either or both of these workshops!
Now let’s move on to Jen’s roundup, and then I’ll come back to the survey results.
— Chip Griffin, SAGA Founder
Weekly Roundup
Below are some articles, blog posts, podcasts, and videos that we came across during the past week or so that provide useful perspective and information for PR and marketing agency owners. While we don’t necessarily endorse all of the views expressed in these links, we think they are worth your time.
— Jen Griffin, SAGA Community Manager
Latest from SAGA
- SAGA’s Q4 Small Agency Owner Survey finds continued optimism, reveals talent trends
- Should your agency charge new clients a startup fee? (Agency Leadership Podcast)
- Webinar replay: How SAGA helps small agencies grow
Articles & Blog Posts
- File BOI Paperwork to Avoid Fines (Solo PR Pro)
- 5 PR Lessons From Wicked and Its Most Iconic Characters (Spin Sucks)
- Holiday Stealth Mode: Work Without the Eye Rolls (Bureau of Digital)
- The only problem anyone ever has (Anchor Advisors)
- Agency Principals Ask: What Are We Missing? (RSW/US)
- How to Pitch New Business with Another Agency (The Sutter Company)
Podcast Episodes
- Using Intellectual Capital to Skyrocket Agency Growth, with Wendy Covey (The Innovative Agency)
- Building a Strategic Communications Measurement Framework (Spin Sucks)
- Why Managing Ops Data is so Damn Hard…, with Kristen Kelly (The Agency Profit Podcast)
- Quick Things to Check Off Before the Year Ends (That Solo Life)
- Selling Your Professional Services Firm (2Bobs)
- Max Traylor on Leveraging Productization and Maintaining Strategic Relationships (The Digital Agency Growth Podcast)
- How to Attract High-Quality Clients and Grow Your Business, with Matthew Kimberley (The Personal Brand Business Show)
Videos
- The Truth About Hiring a New Business Director (RSW/US)
- Words are like burrs (Agency Management Institute)
AI in focus
- AI in Digital Marketing: The Ultimate Guide for Agencies (AgencyAnalytics)
- AI and SEO Tips for Small Businesses with Wences Garcia (The Digital Agency Show)
- Google’s AI Overviews Are Upending SEO (For Immediate Release)
Owner survey results
A majority of small agency owners report that they expect to see revenue and profits rise in the next 12 months, according to the latest SAGA survey. At the same time, most plan to see headcount remain stagnant, suggesting a cautious approach to the expectation of growth.
That optimism comes on the back of tough times for many of the owners who responded. Nearly 4 in 10 owners said they reduced their own pay over the past year even while many provided raises to employees.
Despite seeing their own remuneration shrink, owners expressed modest satisfaction with the state of their businesses. They rated their satisfaction 6.94 out of 10 — as compared to 6.88 in Q3.
As one might expect, compensation varied from one agency to the next, but the average salary tended to fall in the $60-80k range for most. More than half of the agencies reported paying at least one non-owner employee a six-figure salary.
Just as predictably, remote work dominates the small agency community with not a single respondent saying they have a 100% in-office approach to work. Most owners report giving those remote and hybrid workers a lot of flexibility to set their own hours (both in-office and at home) as long as their work is getting done.
The survey includes lots of additional detail about the types of benefits, compensation trends, recruiting sources, and more. You can download the full report here.
