Risk v Reward - An open letter (rant) to agency owners.

While this is crafted for agency owners and freelancers in the digital marketing space, I'm sure anyone in any industry can apply the principles to their own business.

I recently had a friend and fellow agency owner reach out for help with a client campaign that wasn't getting any leads. Not uncommon, it happens to the very best of us. Kudos to her for being proactive and asking for some fresh eyes on the data.?Her client is lucky to have her.

?Anyway, during our coffee and account audit, she confessed she'd been paying for the client's ad spend while the campaign wasn't performing.??

To all the agencies and freelancers out there please don't do this. Ever. It’ll erode your confidence and credibility, erode the credibility of the industry and could ultimately lead to you going out of business.

To all the agencies and freelancers out there please don't do this. Ever. It’ll erode your confidence and credibility, erode the credibility of the industry and could ultimately lead to you going out of business. Ours is a relatively young industry so it can be easy to feel that we need to make more concessions than more established industries, but the reality is we offer far more immediate results and far more transparency than other media so we should have confidence in what we do. ?

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Owning and operating a business has massive rewards, but there is no reward without risk. And running a business is full of risks. Not getting a response from?advertising is one of those risks. ?

We’ve taken the risk of investing heavily in our professional development, often tens of thousands of dollars, to ensure we’re showing up 100% for our clients and our team.

As agency owners, we enjoy the benefits of working in a growth industry, one that lets us be mobile and have a ton of freedom, but it has big risks too.? We often left good corporate jobs to start our business so we could help those we feel most aligned with. We’ve taken the risk of investing heavily in our professional development, often tens of thousands of dollars, to ensure we’re showing up 100% for our clients and our team. The risk of our own marketing, wages, the best technology and software to ensure we can do our job effectively, and the list goes on. We happily carry these risks because they also carry potentially big rewards.?

We don't ask for more money when we get big?results. It's not our business, they're not our rewards to enjoy...

It's not our burden to carry the risks of our client's?business too. That's their?job. The cost of advertising is one of the risks they?carry. The sales, the profit, and the good stuff they?can do with that profit as the results of our campaigns are?their?reward. We don't ask for more money when we get big?results. It's not our business, they're not our rewards to enjoy, they're the client’s reward because they took the risk to start a business, develop a product or service, carry stock, hire staff, advertise etc.??

We do our absolute utmost to generate the best possible outcome for every client. I genuinely believe that most agencies do too. I know my friend certainly does. In most cases, we make plenty of money for our clients, but there are occasions where we just can't crack the code. There can be many reasons for this, and lots of them are beyond our control.?

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We advise clients on what their ad spend should be to reach enough people, and sufficiently high intent people, for the ads to work. But ultimately they have the final say and often opt for a smaller budget.??

We advise and give help in creating an offer that will get people to take action. But ultimately clients?have to approve it and often the final offer is watered down and less?compelling than it?could be.??

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We create ads and content to position clients?as the authority in their?field. But their?reputation is based on how well they've delivered their?products and services over time, how consistent their?previous marketing has been, their?values, community engagement and what other people are saying about them. And we don't control that.?

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All these things can impact the results we're able to get for a client. And sometimes the results don't come. This is true of any medium. What are the odds of getting a newspaper publisher, radio or TV network, OOH supplier or direct marketing company?to refund?money because their client?didn't get any calls? Exactly. ZERO. ?

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On top of that, the best outcomes are achieved when we work together, as a team, with mutual respect for one another's skills and expertise and when we both have skin in the game. If a client is expecting you?to carry all the risk, and do all the work, it isn't a partnership or respect, it's exploitation.?And if you’re allowing that, you’re not valuing yourself or your team, or the expertise you bring to the table.?

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Smart business owners know this, and they wouldn’t expect you to bear their burden. They will, and should, expect you to be fully committed to getting them results...

Smart business owners know this, and they wouldn’t expect you to bear their burden. They will, and should, expect you to be fully committed to getting them results, but they’ll also expect you to show pride in your work and value your own expertise, and that means charging a fair price. ?Be brave and charge what you're worth.

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So by all means have high expectations of your agency, and hold yourself?to account. That's what you’re paid?for, right? Give 100% in every way, move heaven and earth to get a result, but when you do the work and apply your expertise, you and your team deserve to get paid so you can be here, supporting your clients for the long term. ?

OK, rant over. I feel better...?