Post de Mark Probert

Ever been nervous about an exam? Especially one in an area you're supposed to be good at !? My colleague Alfie Wenegieme FCCA has devised a test around all things #agency finance. And then he asked me to roadtest it 😳 Pressure on !!! Thankfully I scored 100% ... so the agency world and my clients (!) are in safe hands (well sort of 🤣 😂 😅 ). Here's the test, try it yourself and we'll feedback... https://lnkd.in/ebyfp-88 If you want to be in even safer hands on all things agency finance, it may be worth chatting to Alfie about his upcoming training course. #agencyowners #financetraining #digitalmarketing #exam

What do we actually do at 🌵? Easy really, just check out our website www.cact.us … or watch the video. We’re all here to help inspire the now, next and future #agencyowners.

Did you learn anything today? As the dust settles on another day in #agency world I learned the following : - school isn’t the be all and end all and does it really matter if your kid misses the occasional day? Maybe spending some brief quality time with our children on practical things is more enriching for all. My youngest daughter is off school ill at the moment and she was interested in what I do, so joined me at my desk for a while over lunch. We chatted over:- ✍️ what #agencies are 💴 how they make money (if I do my job right!) 🎓 what I help agency owners with 🤖why Cactus has the equivalent of Sim City as its virtual office (she honestly thinks I’m just playing computer games all day but I tried to defend Gathertown… but she’s probably right 😉) I basically explained:- 💰what an overdraft is 🏦how banks charge for lending money 💵what a profit and loss account is 💲why a monthly salary someone earns isn’t what they end up with to spend (on Vinted, Roblox and SHEIN in her world!) ✖️she even did some maths and multiplications without even realising 😉 I also briefly accidentally introduced her in our virtual office to the wonderful Abbe Wheeler and Joanne Reid. Before she added another pot plant to my virtual desk 😂 Just before I left to go out tonight she told me… “I learnt more today at lunchtime daddy about finance and numbers than I ever do at school, and it was fun, thank you” Maybe I am doing something right ?! Maybe things like this should be a staple in the curriculum at school? General business skills and common sense? Not sure Latin is really needed anymore? What’s your thoughts? #homeschooling #parenting #finance

Four years ago we were all locked at home, due to the pandemic. From a business perspective many agency owners were lost, thinking their business wouldn’t survive, and were looking for help. Not only in understanding all the rules and financing options but also seeking a place to help each other and keep a sense of community going despite being forced to work from home. Four years ago today Pete Hoole Abbe Wheeler Spencer Gallagher and I launched a free community to help support those agency owners and give them what they needed. Today AGENCYNOMICS is four years old. We are all so proud of what the community has done to help people over those four years, and just want to say a HUGE THANKS to each and every #agencyowner who has contributed to the community. The power of #community should never be underestimated and we look forward to more and more #agencies joining and helping each other on the journey.

Marketing agency finances are simple. Agree? Well either way, if you want to ask myself and my colleague Alfie W. anything on the subject of #agency finance why not join us next week. Attendees welcome: Agencynomics community members Time: 2pm on Weds 24th April Venue: Zoom webinar Just sign up in the AGENCYNOMICS community. #digitalmarketing #agencylife #finances

Do you know all there is to know about running a marketing agency? No? I’m not sure anyone does but here at 🌵 we have a combined knowledge of 100 years+ working with #agencies, so we do know a thing or two. We’ve combined all that knowledge into training over 200 independent agencies over the past few years via our Mastermind courses. Our Mastermind training cohorts are now coming to a close, but our new 🌵Agency MBA is about to start. On a very similar vein but with updated content and two different levels of offering. Check out the details here … https://lnkd.in/eQPNf7ux This video gives a flavour of what you can expect if you’re an #agencyowner and want to join us on the new MBA. Thanks to the wonderful agency owners who contributed to this video. #digitalmarketing #learninganddevelopment

And our survey said …. Last weeks LinkedIn Poll (yes, it’s still a thing!) was quite insightful as to what areas #agencyowners would like to master in terms of the business side of the agency. Some comments I’ve heard recently have been… “How can you sell anything without a clear proposition” “You can have a great culture but without sales and cash how do you keep that culture?” “Sales are vanity, cash is king” All valid points and to run your own business perhaps you feel you need to be a master in all areas. However, identifying the pain points, and accepting others are better at certain areas than you (and then trusting those people to flourish in those areas), is the way I’ve seen the more progressive and successful #agencies scale. You don’t always need to do everything, or even hire in to cover the gaps ‘n cracks. There are so many outsourced / fractional options nowadays that can help you flourish in what you want to. Saving you time, money and headaches🤕 Perhaps it’s a different thing if you are scaling to create longer term value for a sale, but that may not be your path. #digitalmarketing #outsourcing

Should you network with your competitors? Here’s seven reasons why I think an independent #agency should consider it as part of their own marketing strategy. On the flip side I see some #agencyowners do nothing else but mix with other owners, when perhaps a more holistic marketing plan would be time better spent. WDYT? Have partnerships helped you?

Starting the Easter weekend with some #appreciation for the wonderful Cactus crew I'm lucky to be a part of. Like all businesses we have lots to learn to develop ourselves and our offerings to the #agency world, and there is a lot of hard work still to be done to achieve our ambitions. But each and every one of us strive every day to help support #agencyowners and their teams to build the agency they dream of, and realise their own goals. Messages like this make it all worthwhile. Have a happy easter one and all. #positivevibes #testimonial #agencylife

In the past 4 years we've had the pleasure at 🌵 of supporting over 200 agency owners to grow the agency they want. We've also watched partnerships and friendships form between a number of #agencyowners from the cohorts we've run. Which has been so rewarding to see. All done through our specialist Quarterly Mastermind training offering, specially designed for #agencies. We've now evolved this programme into two formats; 1) The Cactus Agency Mini MBA (turnover between £250k & £1M) 2) The Cactus Agency MBA (turnover > £1M) The Mini MBA will kick off this summer, and be led by myself and Danny Turnbull. Check out the details here; https://lnkd.in/eQPNf7ux Or perhaps the larger MBA is more suited for you, and you prefer to learn from Gareth Healey and Alfie W.. Either way, if you want to get involved then best be quick as these courses tend to sell out fast. Just DM me if you have any questions.