Jess Cotter's Linkedin Analytics

The 4-Hour Workweek book sold you the dream. But it never showed you how to build it. It made you feel like freedom was possible. That you didn’t have to sacrifice your life to grow your business. That you could design your days, not be chained to your laptop. But it didn't teach you how to actually step out of delivery. It didn't teach you how to hire and onboard new team members. It didn't teach you how to build systems that someone else can use to do the work just as good as you. It didn't teach you how to still grow whilst working less. It skipped the how and the implementation. The reality that, as an agency owner, your business is likely still 100% dependent on you. You read the book and you got inspired. But the truth is, if you're still involved in every aspect of your agency. You’re not living the dream. You’re stuck in a high-paying job you built for yourself. That’s what I’m fixing, starting now. For the rest of June, I’m posting a strategy a day to help agency owners get out of the weeds and into the freedom the book promised. These will be short, powerful insights pulled straight from how I help 6-figure/month agencies. I'll be sharing tips on everything you need to actually step out of the day to day of your agency whilst still growing. Everything from hiring, to client retention to team meetings and delegation. No fluff, just what it actually takes to stop being the bottleneck in your agency. Because freedom doesn’t come from motivation. It comes from structure. The first strategy drops tomorrow. You in?

heard a theory the other day which applies way too well to agency life. It’s called the Broken Window Theory. The idea is simple: If one window breaks in a building and no one fixes it, 
People assume no one’s watching. 
And before long, all the windows start breaking. 
Graffiti shows up. 
The whole house deteriorates. Because once one standard slips, the rest follow. Agencies work the same way. You skip one weekly update. 
Leave one process undocumented. 
Push one SOP off for ‘after this busy week.’ And slowly, things start breaking. - Clients stop feeling held - The team starts improvising - You become the default answer for everything again All because the signal you’re sending, even if unintentional, is: We don’t fix what’s broken That’s when problems multiply. 
That’s when delivery starts slipping. 
That’s when scale feels impossible because you’re constantly playing cleanup. Not because the business is bad. 
But because the foundation never got reinforced. I’ve seen it in almost every agency I’ve helped. It’s rarely one big fire that burns everything down. It’s a dozen cracked windows no one got around to fixing. So if it feels like things are slowly getting harder. Look for the first window you let break. Then fix it properly, before everything else starts to.

Your business isn’t stuck because you don’t work hard. It’s stuck because everything still depends on you. You’re the brains. The engine. The glue. If a client needs something? You. If the team’s confused? You. If something breaks? You. You’ve become the system. So now, - Sales stop when delivery gets heavy - Delivery suffers when you shift to sales - The team waits for direction - And you are never too sure when a client is going to leave. It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing $15K or $50K/month. You’ve built a business that only works if you never stop. And you’re exhausted trying to keep it all from falling apart. Let me be clear. This is not a motivation problem. It’s not a you just need to push problem. It’s a systems problem. It’s a structure problem. It’s a no one ever taught you how to build an actual agency problem. And this is exactly why I do what I do. This is what happens when we work together: In the first 30 days, we rebuild the machine, and get your life back. I come in and Audit what’s actually broken (you’re usually too deep in it to see it) Build your first foundational system together Write the SOPs, install the automation, delegate the work Train the person taking it over, so it’s off your plate and done right This isn’t a course. It’s not a few Looms and good luck It’s me + you, rebuilding your agency, piece by piece, so you can finally breathe again. I’ll show you exactly how we’ll take this business you’re barely holding together. And rebuild it into something you can actually scale. Without burning out. Without hiring 10 people. Without carrying it all yourself. The version of you on the other side of this? They’re already breathing easier. Let’s go get them.

Pretty good birthday message to receive from one of my clients. Almost 50% increase in revenue from last month. Pretty decent if you ask me 😊

Comparison is the thief of joy It’s the fastest way to fall out of love with your business. You start with a clear mission. You’re proud of how far you’ve come. Then you scroll. You see someone doing $100K/month and suddenly your $30K feels small. You see someone’s team photo and wonder why yours isn’t that ‘tight’. You see them celebrating, sharing lavish things etc. And before you know it, you’re questioning your own progress. Your own pace. Your own worth. Not because your business isn’t working. But because someone else’s business looks like it’s working better. But the truth is. You don’t know what’s happening behind their scenes. You don’t know if they’re burnt out, struggling to pay their team, or silently drowning in refunds. You’re comparing your insides to someone else’s highlight reel. And when you do that, you stop seeing the power in what you’ve built. You forget that: You’re signing clients your past self dreamed of You’ve made something from scratch, with grit, not just screenshots. And you’ve done it your way, not someone else’s. Here’s what I’ve learned: The more you compare, the more chaotic your decisions become. You change your offer too soon. You pivot your positioning every 3 weeks. You chase growth that doesn’t even align with what you actually want. And before you know it, you’re scaling something you resent. Just because it looked good on someone else. Don’t let other people or things that don’t align with you define your real success. Your business doesn’t have to look like theirs. It just has to feel like yours. Rooted. Sustainable. Aligned with your life. That’s where the real joy is. And no amount of comparison will ever build it for you.

'I can’t sell because I’m buried in client work' I hear this too much. You know you need to sell. You know growth doesn’t happen without it. But every time you try to focus on bringing in revenue. Something breaks. A client fires off a frustrated email. Slack won’t shut up. Someone on your team needs help with something only you know how to do. And suddenly it’s 6PM and you’re still in the weeds, again. No calls booked. No pipeline built. Just keeping things afloat. This is the trap most agency owners get stuck in. The 'how can I grow if I can’t even breathe?' loop. So this month, I’m opening up a few 1:1 sessions to help you break out of it. In 60 minutes, I’ll help you: 1. Identify one task to delegate immediately 2. Build a simple SOP your team can actually follow 3.And get you one step closer to growth, without piling more on your plate I normally only do this for private clients. But I’m making a few spots available for agency owners doing $20–50K/month who are ready to scale without being chained to the work. Send me a DM saying UNSTUCK and I’ll send you the details.

Yesterday I was going through some client results to pull together for something new I’m about to launch… And honestly, it hit me. Seeing the numbers. The freedom. The calm that’s come from systems finally working. It reminded me exactly why I chose to do this in the first place. This is the reason I stepped into this work. To help agency owners build something that actually feels good to run. Not just looks good online. The results are cool. But the feeling behind them? That’s what I’m proud of.

We live in a world of instant gratification. Same-day delivery. You can practically get anything within hours. We want things now. And so do your clients. Which means, if your onboarding, communication, or results feel slow or vague. You’re not just losing attention. You’re risking the entire relationship. But here’s the thing, You don’t need to offer some wild 30-day guarantee to give clients what they really want. You don’t need to promise the world, you just need to give them something real they can see, feel, or act on right away. Even with long-term services like SEO. There are smart ways to create instant wins that build trust from day one. Here’s how: - SEO Don’t wait three months to show value. In the first 7-10 days, deliver a punchy mini audit with your plan, and maybe some quick tips or feedback they can or you can help them implement asap. - Websites Don’t go dark for two weeks. Share mini vision/brand board so they see the vision early. - Paid Ads Even before the first ad runs, walk them through your targeting logic and creative plan. Let them know exactly what’s coming and why. Clients don’t just want results. They want reassurance. Movement. Confidence. And if you don’t give it to them fast, they start to second-guess their investment, and you. Your job isn’t to overpromise. It’s to create momentum. Speed isn’t about fake urgency or gimmicks. It’s about trust. And trust is what keeps clients around long enough to see the big wins.