The Digital Agency Growth Podcast
Rated in the top 3% by ListenNotes and going strong for nearly 300 episodes since 2018, The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is dedicated to helping marketing agency owners and executives build stronger firms so they can grow, get acquired, or enjoy more peace of mind. Hosted by agency veteran and Sales Schema CEO Dan Englander, each episode features interviews with successful agency founders, industry experts, and business strategists who share insights on client acquisition, team building, offering optimization, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth models.
Episodes
294 episodes
How to Answer “What Am I Paying You For?” When Clients Can Use AI – with Leah Leaves
When clients start asking "What am I paying you for?", most assume they have a pricing problem on their hands when they're actually facing an operations problem. Leah Leaves is the founder and CEO of Alderaan Operations, where she e...
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Episode 298
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38:40
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Why Your Agency BD Hire Needs a Year, Not a Quarter - with John Caruso
Looking to build a repeatable, referral-focus biz dev system inside of your agency?Check out our new video training: https://hey.salesschema.com/opt-in-mw-referral-engine--What if successful agency business development isn'...
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Episode 297
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35:38
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How We Help Agencies Build Strategic Partnerships
Here's what nobody tells you about referrals: the real value isn't the introduction, it's identifying who will keep referring you for years.In this episode, Dan breaks down why the classic "let me know if you know anyone who needs our se...
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Episode 296
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23:07
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The Big Themes from 2025
New Video Training.Referrals already work for your agency, but you've never optimized them. Learn how in our latest video training: https://hey.salesschema.com/opt-in-mw-referral-engine --This year-end rev...
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Episode 295
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15:27
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From Reactive to Predictable: Systematizing Agency Referrals [Encore Episode]
Chances are referrals work for your agency. Maybe they're the only thing that ever has. But you've never optimized them. [Note: this is an encore of an episode originally aired 12/3/25]. If your agency is st...
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Episode 294
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35:39
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Holiday Thought Exercise: "Is it Me or the Market?"
if you're using the holiday break to plan for a strong Q1, this conversation will reshape how you think about pipeline. [this is an Encore Episode originally aired December 3, 2025]Nick Petroski, founder of Promethean Research a...
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Episode 293
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40:20
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Storytelling, Trust, and the Long Game of Agency Growth (with Alex Marshall)
What actually drives agency growth when pipelines are noisy, buyers are skeptical, and everyone sounds the same?In this episode, Dan Englander sits down with Alex Marshall, a longtime agency growth leader with two decades of experience a...
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Episode 292
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51:00
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Why Most Agencies Lose Q1 (And How You Won't)
What if the agencies that crush Q1 aren't working harder in January, they're making one or two critical decisions right now, in December?In this solo episode, Dan reveals why Q1 consistently catches agencies off-guard and what sepa...
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Episode 291
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35:39
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The Data You Need BEFORE You Build Your 2026 Biz Dev Plan (with Nick Petroski)
If you’re planning your 2026 biz dev strategy without real market data, you’re guessing. In this episode, I talk with friend of the show Nicholas Petroski, founder of Promethean Research and creator of the Digital Agency Referral Pla...
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39:24
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The New Reality of Agency Outreach: Signals, Trust, and Small TAMs
Most agencies try to fix pipeline by working harder, but not by working smarter.This conversation digs into why outbound has gotten tougher, what’s changed in the last decade, and how agencies can build a healthier, more defensible acqui...
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Episode 289
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39:55
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How to Build a Real GTM System for Your Agency with Garrett Jestice
In this episode, Dan Englander sits down with Garrett Jestice, former CMO and founder of Prelude, to unpack how to turn that randomness into a repeatable Go-To-Market (GTM) system that actually compounds.Garrett helps B2B agencies and se...
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Episode 288
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35:09
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How Brooke MacLean Built an 80-Person Agency with Zero Debt
👉 Want to build referrals systematically instead of relying on luck? Grab my book 📘 Relationship Sales at Scale: https://salesschema.com/book--In this episode, Dan Englander talks with Brooke MacLean, CEO of Marketwake, one of the S...
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Episode 287
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43:33
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The Great Mismatch: Why Most Agency Sales Advice Doesn’t Apply to You
In this solo episode, Dan Englander breaks down a truth most agency owners quietly suspect: the majority of sales and marketing advice out there was never written for firms like yours.Most “agency growth” tactics are built for high-volum...
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Episode 286
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31:51
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LinkedIn Roundup - Lessons on Trust, Data, and Growth from the Agency Trenches
Every few months, I like to pause and look back at the ideas that resonated most with agency owners on LinkedIn — the ones that got people talking, DM’ing, and quietly saying yeah, that’s been my experience too.This episode isn’...
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Episode 285
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14:04
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Carl Smith on the Future of Agencies
In this episode, Dan Englander welcomeed Carl Smith, community builder and leader of The Bureau, for a wide-ranging, no-BS conversation on where the agency world is headed.🧭 What You’ll LearnThe “Philo...
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Episode 284
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51:27
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More Than New: Unlocking Growth From Your Agency's Existing Assets
Most agencies don’t have a lead generation problem—they have a leverage problem. In this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Dan Englander dives deep into how agencies can grow faster by amplifying what they already have: pas...
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Episode 283
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16:42
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Agency adaptation, gym-sized markets, and why your best new business channel is obvious
In this episode, I sat down with @Sharon Toerek from Innovative Agency to talk about the real shifts happening in agency business development — and the constant evolution that comes with them. We unpacked why 2025 is the year agencies need to g...
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Episode 282
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39:57
Scaling Past 50 Employees: How seoplus+ Built a Global Agency
In this episode of the Digital Agency Growth Podcast, I’m joined by Brock Murray, co-founder of seoplus+, a digital marketing agency he launched back in 2012 that has grown into a 50+ person team serving clients across North America and ...
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Episode 281
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38:50
How We Built an Irrigation System for Agency Referrals
Most agencies live and die by referrals.But here’s the catch:They usually happen randomly.When you do ask for intros, it feels like giving people homework.And even if you’re consistent, it’s hard to...
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Episode 280
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30:23
Trust Over Tactics: The Agency Growth Lever You’re Overlooking (Dan on The Small But Mighty Agency Podcast with Audrey Kwan)
In this episode, I talk with @Audrey Kwan in the Small But Mighty Agency, to tackle one of the most misunderstood growth levers in agency land: referrals. Together, they unpack how trust is the new currency in a cold-lead-saturated market—and h...
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Episode 279
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36:52
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How Eric Baum Turned Plumbing Ads Into a Multi 7-Figure Agency
In this episode of the Digital Agency Growth Podcast, I’m joined by Eric Baum, founder and CEO of Blue Leads—one of the top HubSpot Solutions Partners globally.Eric shares the full arc of his journey, from accidentally starting an agency...
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Episode 278
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34:41
Turn Proposals Into a Q4 Growth Engine: How Agencies Can Unlock Upsells & Faster Closes
Proposals can make or break your agency’s Q4 pipeline. Too vague, and prospects don’t see the value. Too detailed, and they get stuck in analysis paralysis. In this episode, Dan is joined by Joe Ardeeser, founder of Smart Pricing Table, ...
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Episode 277
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44:39
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From Summer Slowdown to Q4 Pipeline: An Outreach Reset for Agencies
As summer winds down, many agencies face the same problem: pipelines that dried up in July and August, and a mad dash to generate momentum before year-end. In this episode, Dan lays out a practical action plan for September outreach — how to re...
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Episode 276
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44:22
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Roger Nairn on Sales, Systems & Landing Dream Clients
In this episode, I sit down with Roger Nairn, CEO of JAR Podcast Solutions, to talk about how he’s grown a top-tier production agency working with brands like Amazon, Lululemon, Amex, and Cirque du Soleil.We get into the systems, sales s...
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Episode 275
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47:49
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Why Most Agency Sales Plans Fail (and What to Do Instead)
In this episode, I sat down with the Happy Clients Podcast to talk about what’s working in agency sales right now, without the cringe, without the outdated playbooks, and without turning you into a full-time cold caller.Most agencies can...
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Episode 274
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21:30
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