Has your agency become a ball and chain, drowning you in a prison of your own making?

Wow. That's dark. 

Let's continue...

You started this business because you felt unemployable. 

The cubicle wasn't your fit. Yet, bills don't pay themselves. And while you can deliver work with the best of them, you've chosen one of the hardest businesses to make profitable.

Sound familiar?

◾Your team bombards you with questions they should answer themselves
◾Every decision, no matter how small, must pass through you
◾You're constantly hunting for leads, praying your marketing will work
◾Prospects haggle over price and services in your never-ending sales cycle
◾You feel compelled to chase shiny tactics just to keep up with competitors

And forget dreading Mondays—you're working through weekends.

Imagine:

What if your business could run itself? 
What if your Slack icon could stay on "away"? 
What if you didn't question why you started your agency in the first place?

Picture stepping away, and your agency still thrives. No more daily chaos. No more shackles.

Running an agency demands focus and energy. Resources that dwindle as you age. 

With mounting bills, kids, and responsibilities you didn't have a decade ago, it's crucial to install the right systems. You can't rely on sheer force to drive your business forward.

You need systems that deliver:

◾A proactive team that solves problems before they reach your desk
◾Offers that flood your pipeline, closing faster and with larger contracts
◾Organizational efficiency so solid that vacations become part of your quarterly rhythm

This isn't a pipe dream.

A powerful lesson from my Army days: If you know what you're up against and what resources you have, there's always a path to success.

Right now:

◾You know your challenges.
◾You know your resources.

I've got the map to get you there.

There's a way to run an agency without sacrificing relationships, sleep, and well-being. 

In as little as 3 months, you can shift your agency from "founder-driven" to "founder-led." 

You choose the direction. The agency follows. All without breaking your back carrying the business.

You can break free from the reactivity plaguing agency owners.

Ready to reclaim your freedom and transform your agency?

If you're interested in:

➡️ Becoming a talent accelerator that makes your agency more effective, efficient, and enjoyable
➡️ Leaning into your strategic expertise to increase revenue with less effort
➡️ Leveraging existing assets to achieve your goals faster

Shoot me a DM to get started. Your journey begins with a conversation.

Chris DuBois

Agencies: Stop trying to "productize" your service.

It's the fastest way to devalue your expertise and compete on price. There's a much better way.

I was talking with an agency owner that was wrestling with this.

His work is deeply contextual and it requires getting into the weeds with each client.

"How can I create a system when every client's situation is unique?"

It's the classic expert's dilemma.

You want to grow, but you're afraid that creating a process will kill the personalized value that makes you great.

The breakthrough isn't about creating a rigid product.

It's about shifting your thinking.

Stop trying to "productize" your service. Start "standardizing" it.

Here's the difference:

Productized feels like a one-size-fits-all box. 
It implies everyone gets the exact same thing, which rarely works for complex, creative, or strategic services

Standardized is about creating a reliable system with a flexible execution. 
You define the core steps, the required inputs for each step, and the expected outputs

The journey through those steps can adapt to the client's context, but the framework remains the same.


You're not selling a toothbrush, where every unit is identical.

You're building a system that guides different users to a consistent, high-quality outcome.

This is how you scale your wisdom, not just your time.

Helping marketing agencies gain control of their pipeline | Positioning + Marketing Engines for Sub-$1M Shops

I almost didn’t make it into the Army.

During college, while still in ROTC, I had a hiking accident that left me stranded on a mountain overnight in -70° temperatures.

This brought on some severe frostbite in my feet and it took months before I could walk again.

That was my senior year, when I should’ve been preparing to commission. 
Instead, I was bandaging my feet every day and trying to convince the Army to let me stay.

My cadre did everything they could to help me stay in. The final requirement: pass a PT test.

Push-ups? No problem. 
Sit-ups? Easy. 
Two-mile run? A nightmare.

I ran with my feet still wrapped, bleeding through my shoes by the end, but I passed. 

Barely.

And it was worth it.

That choice changed everything.

I’ve lived in Alaska and Georgia, met incredible soldiers and leaders, and built a family along the way.

I still serve in the Army Reserve, and I’m endlessly grateful for what this journey has given me.

I’ve no idea where I’d be today without my time in the service. But I do know that I’m better for it.

Happy Veterans Day to my father, my grandfather, and every man and woman who has ever worn the uniform. 🇺🇸

#VeteransDay #Leadership #Service

PS - Here. One of my former soldiers in the Reserve ran a film studio, so he recorded our battalion change of command ceremony. Enjoy.

Hiring is one of the strongest buying signals in B2B.

We just weaponized it for agencies.

In case we don’t know each other, hi, I’m Chris.

One of the things I’m running right now is the Dynamic Agency Community.

It’s a lot of fun, and there are a lot of super smart people in there.

BUT…you’re going to love one of our newest features.

The Dynamic Agency OS has partnered with Gia.

They’ve got a great product for agencies to help with content creation and surfacing buying signals to know when you should reach out to potential prospect.

I use the tool daily.

Well, their team just installed an app in our community Slack that hunts down companies currently hiring, and gives you the links to reach out.

We’ve selected the types of companies and the open positions based on a poll within the community (and can add with user requests). 

The idea is, if someone’s hiring for a position that your agency could help fill, you can reach out to the company with an offer.

Hiring signals are an awesome external trigger, and I’ve known some agencies that do this tediously through Indeed/ZipRecruiter. 

They hunt down companies in their ICP that are hiring for the service they offer, and then they reach out.

Thanks to Gia, we’re making it easier.

New signals are posted multiple times a day.


The community is only a hundred bucks per year, and we have a BFCM deal going.

Buy a membership, and you can give one to your favorite agency leader for free.

Want to buy some for your whole team? Let’s chat.

Add in the expert advice, the resources, and the peer referrals, and it’ll be some of the best money you spend this year.

#agencies #community

PS - We even had a guy learn to solve a Rubik's Cube because of the community. How’s that for a party trick?

Most agencies don’t have a marketing problem.

They have a referral reliance problem.

They’ve grown on reactive referrals. Clients who “just show up” when someone happens to mention their name.

And that’s a fine way to start.

But it’s a terrible way to scale.

Because when you rely only on reactive referrals, you never know where your next deal is coming from.

You’re just… waiting.

Here’s how to fix that.

Instead of chasing every new marketing trend, focus on two things: discovery and trust-building.

Step 1: Identify where your audience goes to discover solutions.

Ask: Where are they actively looking for answers?

It might be Reddit, Google, YouTube, or a specific community.

That’s your discovery channel.


Step 2: Know where they go to build trust.

Once they find you, where do they actually go to learn more and decide if you’re credible?

Maybe it’s LinkedIn, your podcast, or your newsletter.

That’s your trust-building channel.


Step 3: Build a bridge between them.

Create content that moves people from the discovery channel into your trust-building channel.

Make it effortless for them to explore your world and understand your point of view.


When you do this, you stop relying on random referrals…
and start attracting people who actually want to hear from you.

That’s how you build a predictable pipeline.

Not by copying “best practices,” but by aligning with how your buyers really behave.

#agencymarketing

PS - I’m launching a cohort as soon as we fill all 5 slots. If you want to nail your positioning so you can gain control of your pipeline, shoot me a DM.

A lot of agencies still think, “If I just pick the perfect niche, everything will click.”

It used to work.

Find a super specific audience and the clients would roll in.

Today the market is so crowded that niche alone is not a strategy. 

It's a starting point.

Here's what I recommend you do:

1. Find a niche with a real problem

Pick people you actually want to work with and confirm they’re dealing with a clear, painful issue.

Not a vague annoyance. A real problem.

2. Nail your positioning

This is the part most teams ignore.

How do you want to be perceived?

What do you believe about the problem that others in your niche don’t?

Your point of view is what makes you stand out when three other agencies show up to the same conversation.

3. Build an offer that reflects that positioning

Your delivery, your promise, your packaging

It all needs to match the identity you want to project.

Your offer should feel like the natural expression of what you stand for.

When you do this, you don’t get selected because you picked the “right” niche.

You get selected because you show up in the right way for that niche.

#marketing #positioning #agencylife

PS - Black Friday deal for the Dynamic Agency Community. 

Purchasing an annual membership (only one hundo) lets you gift an annual membership.

What a nice way to help an agency owner in your life. 🎅

Agencies keep obsessing over building a signature framework.

But your framework is not the differentiator.

Everyone copies the good ones anyway.

I’m watching it happen in real time, right now, with a successful agency. 

Others are literally copying their frameworks and models without even editing the colors of the graphics. 

Now, they all sound identical and the only weapon left is a cheaper price. 

That’s not differentiation.

True differentiation starts with your positioning. 

Your positioning shapes your point of view. 

It defines how you'll deliver your offer and engage with clients. 

It guides your messaging and how your team makes decisions. 

A framework is still useful. It just won’t set you apart.

Your positioning will. 


We're launching another cohort with the Dynamic Agency OS to help agencies map their niche, nail their positioning, and create compelling offers they can take to market. 

If you want more information, hit me with a DM. 

We cap at five agencies per cohort and only have a couple of slots remaining.

Fun fact: you can disagree over the "right" way, without anyone being "wrong."

There's no ONE way to solve most business problems.

We all have different experiences and ideas that can get us to the same destination.

Your point of view in how to do that is at the core of your positioning.

"Many people believe X. I believe Y because Z."

Your belief structure is what attracts people.

If it doesn't resonate, there's probably a different method that would work better for them.

And if they're not bought in to your belief, they'd probably be a hard client to work with anyways.

This isn't to say you can't market to people with different beliefs. Shifting beliefs is part of marketing.

We just need to acknowledge that because a competitor has a different way of doing things, it doesn't mean they're wrong.

They're the best fit for someone who aligns with their thinking and fits their context required for success.

#agency #positioning

PS - if you believe your positioning is more than a niche and offer, and you want to take control of your marketing, we're kicking off a cohort to help you do just that.

DM for details.

A lot of agencies think delegation is about clearing your plate.

Hand off the tasks.

Buy back your time.

Feel like a “real” leader.

What I feel everyone misses is that delegation is really about improving your speed-to-informed.

When you put someone in a leadership role, it's not just so they can manage the people below them.

It's so they can gather information, filter it, and pass it up to you in a way that lets you make better decisions faster.

Great leaders are not protected from information.

They are fed the right information at the right time.

And that only happens when you have people on the ground who know what to look for and know how to send it upstream clearly.

So no, delegation is not a luxury.

It’s not even about reducing stress.

It’s about improving the velocity and quality of your decision-making.

Because the sooner you are informed, the sooner you can adjust, pivot, or course correct.

Our decisions are rarely limited by time.

They’re limited by information.

So, you want to operate at a higher level?

Stop delegating tasks.

Start delegating visibility.

The faster you can collect the right information, the easier it is to win.

#agencylife #leadership #operations

PS - Want to really improve your speed-to-informed? That’s the metric I prioritize in the Dynamic Agency Community.

Not conversations. Not active users.

I track how fast we can get an answer to someone’s question, so you’re never blocked in your growth.

We’re running a BOGO offer for all memberships until December 1st, so you can gift your favorite agency leaders.

Agencies, let me give you free content ideas for a month.

All it takes is five minutes of your time.

Your point of view is what helps you stand out as an agency.

It's what actually differentiates you as a potential solution.

Because when everyone else is saying the same things, the buyer has to base their selection on price and deliverables.

So, I created a simple GPT to help you pull out your thoughts in a way that will resonate with your buyers.

It only takes three steps.

1/ Tell it about your ICP.
2/ Tell it the topic you want to address.
3/ Give it your thoughts on the topic.

The GPT will then outline all of the conventional wisdom your ICP has around that topic and provide you with ideas for where your perspective can flip that conventional wisdom.

Like with everything you do using AI, context matters. So I'd recommend using a tool like Wispr Flow and speaking all of your thoughts into the GPT.

Tell it everything you can about the ICP, everything you can about the topic, and don't hold back on your point of view.

It'll then give you 20 ideas for content you could create this month.

Link is in the comments. You're welcome in advance.

#agency #content #positioning

PS - And if you like little GPTs like this, I'm constantly creating simple tools and adding them to the Dynamic Agency Community.

And that community could be the best $100 you spend this year.

CuriosityBased

CuriosityBased supports organizations who invest in relationship building and fostering curiosity in their workplaces through our original learning experiences and curiosity-based inclusion content.

Chief Executive Officer

Northwest Vietnamese News

Co-Owner

Humanities Washington

Fascinating talks by fascinating people. You can book me to speak about the "Hidden Histories: The South Vietnamese Side of the Vietnam War." https://www.humanities.org/speaker/julie-pham/

Public Speaker/Speakers' Bureau

Find Ventures

Director of Curiosity

Washington Technology Industry Association

WTIA is the unifying voice for the technology community in Washington. We inform and motivate industry, education and government professionals to help attract and develop the talent required to make our region the leading technology community in the world.

Vice President, Community Engagement

Avidian Technologies

Helps companies get more organized and increase their sales as the marketing manager at Avidian Technologies, makers of Prophet CRM. Avidian is a pioneer in developing customer relationship management software integrated into Microsoft Outlook. Thousands of small and medium sized businesses worldwide rely on Prophet CRM.

-Defined and executed end-to-end digital marketing plans and lead generation strategy 
-Collaborated directly with company's engineering, customer service, and sales team leads 
-Managed budget for and relationships with graphic design, web development, content creation, SEO, SEM, and third-party lead generation vendors
-Developed a lead scoring system and built dashboard to track marketing KPIs
-Planned and launched company’s first blog and developed a content creation strategy 
-Drove website redesign project, initiated research and planning for site migration to a CMS platform
-Secured press coverage in news outlets

Marketing Manager

Sirius 6 Corporation

-Led planning, development, and execution of integrated marketing and advocacy programs aimed at retail sales professionals.
-Drove demand generation for retail sales professionals’ attendance at Windows Phone 7.5 Update Launch events nationwide, surpassing goals by 30% by using a focused marketing strategy deployed through a dozen marketing channels.
-Managed simultaneously end-to-end multiple projects for increased effective collaboration among multiple work streams (e.g., online training, field trainers, business group clients, service vendors, mobile operator and OEM partners) with shifting priorities and varying deadlines.
-Increased coordination and communication between field trainer team and online training team.
-Compiled and interpreted scorecards and data trackers for Windows Phone advocacy and training programs that informed business strategy and led to more cost-effective marketing campaigns.

Management Consultant (Windows Phone Retail Advocacy Lead)

Northwest Vietnamese News (NVN)

www.nvnorthwest.com
-Enhanced graphic design, editorial features, and online presence of Washington's oldest Vietnamese-language twice weekly newspaper, which has a combined circulation of 9,000 copies a week
-Tripled circulation and quadrupled distribution area of weekday edition and engaged younger audience through the development of a bilingual article series
-Generated highest advertising revenues for weekday edition since 1990s	
-Streamlined production and sales processes to increase revenue by 25% within twelve months.
-Strengthened NVN brand through earned publicity in local and national news sources and media studies
-Led newspaper to being recognized as a "Seattle Times Local News Partner."
-Produced nationally broadcast  TV field reports for SBTN (Saigon Broadcasting Television Network) about the Vietnamese community in Seattle, which is the third largest market for SBTN nationwide

Managing Editor

New America Media

New America Media is a national coalition of ethnic media.
-Tracks ethnic media in the Northwest         
-Comments on New America Media radio on monthly basis

With the support of New America Media, Julie Pham founded Sea Beez. Accomplishments include:
-Conceptualized and developed a year-long 14-event capacity-building program for local ethnic media 
-Organized media training and business development workshops, expert-panel forums, a political debate, a candidate meet 'n' greet, and a showcase of ethnic media
-Raised $30,000 in seed funding from New America Media and City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund and more than $20,000 of in-kind donations from local community members, corporations, government agencies and non-profits
-Brought together 25 ethnic media organizations whose combined circulation serve 750,000 along with an eight-member steering committee comprised of leaders in education, non-profits, business, and journalism

Ethnic Media Monitor

Journal of Vietnamese Studies

-Developed work-flow systems for submission, peer review, editing, and production as well as style guidelines now used throughout Vietnamese studies
-Advocated and helped secure funding for Ford Foundation-sponsored translation project to increase  Vietnamese nationals’ capacity to submit and publish work in JVS
-Lectured in Vietnamese to scholars in Hanoi on social science research methodology and submitting research papers to international academic journals

Founder of 7 Forms of Respect and CEO of CuriosityBased | Bestselling Author | Keynote Speaker | Award-winning Community Leader

Cambridge-trained historian, organizational development leader, and writer with a superior track record in driving results in fast-paced, demanding environments and in influencing diverse stakeholders.  

National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys' Cornerstone Lifetime Achievement Award (2023), Female Founders Alliance Champions Award (2019) in Advocate category, Harvard Business School's Young American Leaders Program (2018), German Marshall Memorial Fellow (2015), Gates Cambridge Scholar (2001), a Puget Sound Business Journal ’40 under 40’ honoree (2011), a Women's Center-University of Washington Woman of Courage honoree (2012) and winner of the Tatsua Nakada Youth Award (2012). 

* Passionate about growing business
* Effective, persuasive communicator 
* Embraces new challenges and cross-functional collaboration
* Strategic, resourceful problem-solver

More about Julie:
https://drjuliepham.substack.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@curiositybased
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb0aQ2gE4tU (TEDx talk)

Specialties: organizational development, learning experience designer, team building

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Chris DuBois

Julie Pham, PhD

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The Battle

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