You know exactly how to promote your own agency. If you’re a PR or marketing agency, you almost certainly do it for your own clients. You know what content works, which channels to prioritize, how to nurture relationships, and when to include a call to action.
Yet your own agency’s marketing gathers dust while you’re crushing it for everyone else.
It’s the classic “cobbler’s kids” problem. But here’s the thing: it’s not about lacking skills or knowledge. You have both. The problem is that you don’t treat your own agency with the same importance as your paying clients.
This week I want to talk about why this happens and what you can do about it—because the revenue rollercoaster you’re riding isn’t inevitable.
But first let’s look at what Jen has rounded up for us this week.
— Chip Griffin, SAGA Founder
Latest from SAGA
Weekly Roundup
This week’s list keeps circling back to the same question: who’s in control? Whether it’s clients questioning your pricing, team members wanting input on direction, or your own timeline for moving on, agency owners are being asked to justify, explain, and defend decisions that used to be accepted as theirs to make.
The good news? The smartest practitioners are offering clear frameworks for taking back agency—both the business kind and the personal kind.
WHAT CAUGHT OUR EYE THIS WEEK:
PLANNING YOUR EXIT (EVEN IF IT’S YEARS AWAY) — Karl Sakas published a comprehensive guide to 17 fixes that help you exit your agency faster, and it’s essential reading even if you’re not planning to sell anytime soon. Why? Because the things that make an agency sellable are the same things that make it easier to own. Meanwhile, The Innovative Agency features Christy and Whit Hiler on succession under pressure, offering a real-world look at how succession planning plays out when circumstances force your hand.
WHO GETS A VOTE? — David C. Baker at Punctuation tackles the question of what input non-owners should have in agency decisions. It’s a deceptively simple question with a big impact on culture, retention, and your own sanity as an owner. The piece cuts through the idea that “everyone should have a voice” and gets practical about decision-making hierarchy. Related: Anchor Advisors encourages you to create the state, don’t wait for permission or perfect conditions—advice that applies whether you’re making strategic pivots or just trying to get through the week.
DEFENDING YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION — Three pieces this week landed on variations of the same challenge: articulating your value when clients think they could do it themselves (or have AI do it cheaper). RSW/US explains how to win the in-house battle when prospects consider bringing work internally. Solo PR Pro offers guidance on teaching clients the value of patience in PR—because expectations shaped by social media don’t align with how reputations are actually built. And The Digital Agency Growth Podcast features Leah Leaves on how to answer “what am I paying you for?” when clients can use AI. The through-line is that your value isn’t the deliverable; it’s the judgment, strategy, and experience that goes into it.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT STILL WINS — Gini Dietrich at Spin Sucks reminds us that AI comments don’t build relationships, calling out the growing trend of automated engagement that feels hollow. It connects to For Immediate Release‘s exploration of whether business can be a trust broker in today’s insulated society. When everything seems automated and transactional, genuine human connection becomes more valuable, not less.
ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME — 2Bobs takes an unusual angle with shower your way to sales success, proving that good sales thinking can come from anywhere (even your morning routine). The Agency Profit Podcast digs into PM/AM time in pricing with Carson Pierce, getting specific about the mechanics of profitable project management. And Legal + Creative previews what legal developments agencies should track this year—essential reading if you want to stay ahead of compliance issues.
THE BOTTOM LINE — The agencies that thrive aren’t waiting for permission, perfect conditions, or clients to magically understand their value. They’re taking control of their narrative, their pricing conversations, their succession timelines, and their decision-making processes. This week’s content advises you how to do exactly that.
— Jen Griffin, SAGA Community Manager
Why marketing your own agency is harder than marketing for clients
If you’re like most agency owners, you’re probably not great at marketing your own agency.
Not because you lack the skills. You know exactly what needs to be done. You’ve built successful campaigns for clients. You understand positioning, you can create compelling content, and you know how to capture an audience’s attention.
The problem isn’t know-how. It’s that you don’t treat your own agency with the same importance as your paying clients.
The double standard
Think about it. Would you ever tell a client, “Sorry, I didn’t get around to your work this month because I was too busy”? Of course not. You’d move mountains to deliver for them. You’d stay up late, reorganize priorities, do whatever it took.
But you’ll skip your own marketing for three months straight because “client work came first.” And it should, but not at the price of skipping all marketing for your own business.
You’d never let a client’s content calendar go dark for weeks. You’d never let their communications dry up without sounding the alarm. You’d never allow them to make excuses about why they can’t invest in growth.
Yet you allow all of this to happen to your own agency.
The revenue rollercoaster
This double standard creates a predictable pattern I call the revenue rollercoaster. When business is slow, you panic and focus intensely on business development. You network, you pitch, you follow up relentlessly.
Eventually, you land clients. Then you get busy with delivery, and business development stops completely. The pipeline dries up. A few months later when those clients wrap up or reduce their retainers, you’re back in panic mode.
The cycle repeats. Feast, famine, feast, famine.
The irony? You know exactly how to fix this. You’d never let a client operate this way. You’d tell them they need consistent marketing regardless of how busy they get. You’d explain that the best time to market is when you’re swamped because there’s always a gap between first contact and first check.
But knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things.
Why it’s actually harder
Marketing your own agency genuinely is harder than marketing for clients, but not for the reasons you think.
With clients, you have accountability. Deliverables. Deadlines. Someone expecting results. Your own agency has none of that built-in structure. There’s no one to disappoint except yourself, and you’re already used to that.
With clients, you’re probably executing a plan someone approved and is watching to see it get done. With your own agency, every decision is yours. Should you write that article or make those calls? Update the website or reach out to past clients? The options are endless, which makes it easy to do nothing.
With clients, you can see the direct line between effort and results. With your own agency, that line is blurry. You write a post, maybe someone reads it, maybe it leads somewhere months from now. The feedback loop is too slow to keep you motivated.
And perhaps most importantly: with clients, you get paid whether the work succeeds or not. With your own agency, you only see results if you actually do the work and it pays off. That makes it much easier to rationalize skipping it when you’re tired or overwhelmed.
Treat your agency like a client
The only way off the revenue rollercoaster is treating your own agency like one of your most important clients.
That means blocking specific time each week for business development activities and protecting it as fiercely as you would a client meeting. Start with an hour if that’s all you can muster and slowly increase it over time.
Put it on your calendar. Make it recurring. And when that time arrives, actually use it for what you scheduled it for. Never skip it entirely just because you’re busy delivering for clients.
You also need to create accountability. Maybe that’s a partner or peer you check in with regularly. Perhaps you have a coach or business advisor. Maybe it’s as simple as setting specific monthly goals and reviewing them honestly.
Whatever structure works for you, create it. Because left to your own devices, your agency’s marketing will always take a back seat to everyone else’s.
Start with what you’d tell a client
If a client came to you tomorrow with your exact business situation, what would you tell them to do?
You’d probably start by auditing what they’re actually doing now versus what they should be doing. You’d identify the gaps. You’d prioritize the activities with the highest ROI. You’d create a realistic plan that accounts for their actual capacity.
Do that for yourself.
You don’t need a sophisticated marketing plan. You need to consistently do a few high-value activities. The specifics depend on your business (and your agency’s capabilities), but it’s probably some combination of: staying in touch with past clients and referral sources, creating content that demonstrates your expertise, having conversations with prospects, and following up systematically.
The same fundamentals that work for your clients work for you. You just have to actually do them.
Turn ideas into action
Here are some suggestions for concrete steps you can take after reading this week’s newsletter.
- Block time on your calendar this week specifically for your agency’s business development, and treat it as importantly as client meetings. Start with just one week and see what happens when you actually protect the time.
- Pick one business development activity that would have impact for your agency right now and you won’t hate doing. Do it this week—perfection doesn’t matter at this point, just get it done.
- Set up one simple accountability mechanism, whether that’s a weekly check-in with a peer, a shared goal with your team, or just tracking your BD hours in your calendar. The structure matters less than having something that makes you honest about whether you’re actually doing the work.
