What is an Agency Lighthouse and Why You Need One | Agency Talk | Season 2: Episode 7 - Dennis Yu

Summary

In this episode of Agency Talk, hosts Marcus and Tim interview Dennis, CEO of BlitzMetrics, who shares his expertise in scaling agencies through standard operating procedures (SOPs). Dennis emphasizes the importance of leveraging 'lighthouses' or authoritative figures to enhance credibility and attract clients. He also discusses the concept of 'implied endorsement' and the strategy of repurposing existing content to save time and resources. The conversation covers topics like gamifying SOPs, mentorship, and the power of video content, providing actionable insights for agency owners looking to grow their businesses.

Takeaways

• 😀 Leveraging existing co-created content across various platforms can eliminate the need for constant content creation, much like how royalties are collected on past music performances.
• 🛠️ Dennis, a search engine engineer and CEO, emphasizes the importance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in scaling agencies by focusing on results rather than just account management.
• 🌟 The concept of 'lighthouses' is introduced as influential figures in a niche that can help agencies scale by co-creating content and leveraging their authority.
• 📚 Dennis has authored several best-selling books, including on Facebook ads, Google, and TikTok ads, often in collaboration with industry experts like Perry Marshall.
• 💡 The idea of 'graceful failure' is discussed, inspired by airlines' and military's SOPs, which ensures businesses can handle any situation with backup plans and maintain excellence.
• 🧩 The strategy of using 'lighthouses' involves identifying authoritative figures in a niche and collaborating with them to enhance an agency's reputation and client base.
• 🔄 Repurposing long-form content into various formats like social media snippets, blog posts, and courses is suggested as an efficient way to maximize the impact of existing content.
• 🤝 Building relationships and connections, often through mentorship or mastermind groups, is key to gaining access to 'lighthouses' and scaling an agency's influence.
• 🎓 Training and development within an agency can be enhanced by gamifying SOPs and setting clear goals, making the process engaging and effective for team members.
• 📈 The 'dollar a day' technique is mentioned as a cost-effective way to target and reach potential clients in a niche by leveraging the authority of a 'lighthouse'.

Q & A

What is the concept of 'repurposing content' mentioned in the script?

Repurposing content refers to the strategy of taking existing content, such as videos, podcasts, or presentations, and reformatting it into different types of media. This can include creating short clips, transcriptions into blog posts, or snippets for social media platforms. The purpose is to maximize the use and reach of the content without constantly creating new material.

Why is the 'lighthouse' strategy important for agency owners according to Dennis?

The 'lighthouse' strategy is important for agency owners because it helps establish authority and trust within a specific niche. By associating with well-known figures or experts in the industry (lighthouses), agencies can leverage their authority to attract clients and grow their business. This strategy involves co-creating content with these experts and then promoting that content to the target audience.

How does Dennis define 'authority' in the context of digital marketing?

Dennis defines 'authority' in digital marketing as a score based on three components: who is saying it, where it is being said, and what is being said. Each component can score up to 10 points, with a maximum of 30 points overall. The higher the authority score, the more trust and credibility the content or the source is perceived to have.

What is the significance of the 'three by three goals' mentioned in the script?

The 'three by three goals' is a personal development strategy where individuals set nine goals, categorized into personal, physical, and professional aspects, with short-term, medium-term, and long-term time frames. This approach helps in setting a clear direction for personal growth and is used within Dennis's company to ensure everyone has a clear path for advancement.

How does Dennis suggest using gamification to make SOPs interesting?

Dennis suggests gamifying SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) by integrating elements such as rules, levels, and immediate feedback, similar to military training or video games. This makes the SOPs more engaging and helps in training and developing team members effectively.

What is the 'dollar a day' technique mentioned by Dennis?

The 'dollar a day' technique is a marketing strategy where a small, consistent amount (like a dollar a day) is spent on advertising to continuously reach and engage with a target audience. This approach helps in building brand awareness and attracting potential clients over time.

Why does Dennis emphasize the importance of documenting processes and creating SOPs?

Dennis emphasizes the importance of documenting processes and creating SOPs because it allows for repeatable excellence and scalability within an agency. It ensures that tasks are performed consistently and efficiently, regardless of who is performing them, which is crucial for training new team members and maintaining high standards of service.

How does Dennis use the concept of 'implied endorsement' in his marketing strategy?

Dennis uses 'implied endorsement' by associating his agency with well-known figures or 'lighthouses' in the industry. By featuring these individuals in his content, such as podcasts or videos, he creates an association that implies endorsement without explicitly stating it. This strategy helps in building credibility and attracting clients.

What role do mentors play in building relationships and authority according to Dennis?

Mentors play a crucial role in building relationships and authority by opening doors and introducing individuals to influential people in their industry. Dennis credits his mentors for many of his opportunities, including meeting industry leaders and learning valuable skills that have contributed to his success.

How does Dennis suggest agency owners find their 'lighthouses'?

Dennis suggests that agency owners find their 'lighthouses' by attending industry events, participating in masterminds, and networking with people who can introduce them to influential figures. He also recommends starting with clients they already have and gradually working their way up to higher-level industry players.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Content Creation and SOPs with Dennis Yu

The paragraph introduces a discussion on content creation and the importance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in scaling businesses. It sets the stage for an interview with Dennis Yu, CEO of BlitzMetrics, who is known for his expertise in digital marketing and his ability to develop teams. The speaker emphasizes the value of repurposing existing content rather than constantly creating new content, drawing a parallel to the royalties earned by musicians from their past works. The paragraph also highlights Dennis's background as a search engine engineer and his approach to agencies, focusing on results and efficiency through documented processes.

05:01

🛫 The Power of SOPs and Mentorship

This paragraph delves into Dennis Yu's philosophy on SOPs, drawing inspiration from his experience with the structured operations of American Airlines. He discusses the concept of 'repeatable excellence' and 'graceful failure,' emphasizing the importance of backup plans and preparation. Dennis also shares his approach to training and developing team members within his agencies, highlighting his willingness to mentor juniors and provide them with opportunities to grow. The paragraph also touches on the use of gamification to make SOPs engaging and the strategy of leveraging 'lighthouses'—individuals of authority—to enhance training and content creation.

10:01

🌐 Lighthouse Strategy for Business Growth

The discussion shifts to the 'lighthouse' strategy, a method of co-creating content with authoritative figures in a niche to attract clients and scale businesses. Dennis explains how this strategy can replace the need for cold calling and salespeople, as it establishes the agency as a trusted resource within the industry. He also talks about the use of digital marketing to amplify the reach of this content, creating a self-sustaining cycle of lead generation. The paragraph also mentions the creation of interactive content with influencers like Jake Paul to engage younger audiences and the importance of aligning content with the right audience for maximum impact.

15:02

🔍 Authority and Internal Lighthouses

In this paragraph, the conversation explores the concept of authority in business and how it can be leveraged through 'lighthouses,' both internally and externally. Dennis discusses the importance of associating with authoritative figures to gain implied endorsement and build trust with potential clients. He also emphasizes the value of transparency in showcasing the agency's capabilities, which can serve as a powerful sales tool. The paragraph highlights the process of building authority through relationships, perceived authority, and the successful execution of projects. Dennis also suggests that agency owners should document their processes and create content around their expertise to establish themselves as authorities in their niche.

20:03

📈 Content Repurposing and Building Authority

The final paragraph reiterates the importance of repurposing existing content to save time and resources, and to leverage past successes to build authority. Dennis advises agency owners to inventory their co-created content and break it down into smaller, reusable pieces for various platforms. He also stresses the value of associating with 'lighthouses' to gain implied endorsement and build trust with potential clients. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for agency owners to focus on repurposing their greatest hits and to document their processes to create impactful content that drives business growth.

Keywords

💡Content Repurposing

Content repurposing is the process of reusing existing content and adapting it for different formats or platforms. In the context of the video, it's emphasized as a strategy to maximize the utility of content that has already been created, such as chopping up long-form content like podcasts or presentations into smaller, digestible pieces for social media. This approach is highlighted as a more efficient way to generate fresh content without starting from scratch, as exemplified by the suggestion to repurpose past creations into 'lots and lots and lots of little pieces'.

💡SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)

SOPs refer to standardized procedures that are documented and followed to ensure consistency and quality in executing tasks. The video underscores the importance of SOPs in scaling a business, particularly in agencies where they can guide team members from novice to expert levels. Dennis, the guest, is particularly noted for his expertise in developing SOPs, which he likens to the 'code structure' needed for operating a restaurant at scale, illustrating how SOPs can systematize processes in digital marketing.

💡Lighthouse Strategy

The lighthouse strategy mentioned in the video is a metaphor for leveraging authoritative figures or 'lighthouses' in a specific niche to attract attention and establish credibility. It involves co-creating content with these influential individuals and then using that association to gain visibility and trust within the niche. The strategy is exemplified by the idea of creating a master class with a known expert like Tom Ferry in real estate, thereby attracting potential clients who respect the lighthouse's authority.

💡Gamification

Gamification is the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts to increase engagement and motivation. In the video, Dennis discusses making SOPs 'sexy' by gamifying them, suggesting that turning procedural tasks into a game-like experience can enhance their appeal and encourage adherence. An example given is using Grant Cardone's voice in automated reminders to make goal setting more engaging.

💡Digital Marketing

Digital marketing encompasses the various online tactics used to promote products or services, including social media, search engines, and websites. The video's discussion on digital marketing is centered around the strategies and SOPs that agencies use to deliver results for their clients. It's highlighted as the core service that agencies provide, and the need for agencies to demonstrate their capability in this area to attract and retain clients.

💡Authority

Authority in the video is discussed in the context of establishing credibility and trust, particularly when co-creating content with 'lighthouses' or influential figures. It's noted that authority can be enhanced through association with well-known individuals and by demonstrating expertise in a niche. The video suggests that authority can be broken down into three components: who's saying it, where it's being said, and what's being said, each contributing to the perceived trustworthiness of the content or individual.

💡Agencies

Agencies, as discussed in the video, are businesses that offer services such as marketing, advertising, or consulting on behalf of their clients. The focus is on how these agencies can scale and improve their operations through the use of SOPs and by leveraging the authority of 'lighthouses'. The video provides insights into the challenges and strategies for growth within agency ownership, especially in the digital marketing space.

💡Account Management

Account management in the video refers to the process of overseeing and managing client relationships within an agency. Dennis criticizes the traditional focus on account management over driving results, suggesting that agencies should prioritize creating SOPs to ensure consistent results for clients. This approach is positioned as a more effective way to scale an agency's operations and ensure client satisfaction.

💡Training and Development

Training and development are emphasized as crucial for agencies to grow their team members from entry-level to senior leadership. The video discusses how SOPs can serve as a training tool, allowing new team members to learn and repeat successful processes. The concept is exemplified by Dennis's approach to developing juniors in his business, showing how structured training can lead to professional growth within an agency.

💡Royalties

Royalties in the video are mentioned as a form of income derived from the ongoing use of creative works, such as songs or performances. The example given is of Axl Rose singing 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and continuing to collect royalties from a performance that took place in 1987. This concept is used to illustrate the long-term value of creating content that can generate income over time, aligning with the video's theme of repurposing content for sustained benefits.

Highlights

Emphasizes the importance of repurposing existing content rather than constantly creating new content.

Mentions the concept of 'lighthouses' as influential figures that can enhance your market presence.

Discusses the value of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in scaling businesses efficiently.

Shares personal experiences with mentors and how they opened doors for professional growth.

Introduces the '3 by 3 goals' strategy for personal, physical, and professional development.

Explains the 'dollar a day' technique for marketing and its effectiveness in client acquisition.

Details the process of creating and utilizing SOPs in digital marketing and business operations.

Talks about the concept of 'implied endorsement' and how it can benefit businesses.

Describes the strategy of using 'lighthouses' to amplify your authority and reach in a niche.

Provides insights on how to train and develop team members using SOPs and gamification.

Discusses the significance of documenting processes and turning them into teachable content.

Mentions the importance of leveraging long-form content and repurposing it into various formats.

Advocates for the use of video content and interactive media for training and engagement.

Shares tips on how to build relationships with 'lighthouses' and use them to boost your business.

Explains the concept of 'graceful failure' and its application in business operations.

Provides a practical example of how to repurpose a podcast into valuable marketing content.

Concludes with a call to action for agencies to inventory and repurpose their existing content.

Transcripts

inventory

any co-created content that you've ever

made it could be on youtube it could be

a podcast it could be a conference

presentation it could be 10 years ago

stuff that you've made

and chop it up into lots and lots and

lots of little pieces so you never need

to create content again

most people are constantly trying to

create more and more content which makes

no sense at all i saw axel rose sing

sweet child of mine in paradise city

that was from 1987.

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

tim

today is special i'm so excited one

because i've i go way back with this

with this person

but the other part of it is that i am

enthralled which i never use that word

that's a weird word to use right when

have you ever heard me say enthralled

never does the first no i mean we've had

a lot of guests and what i love about uh

dennis you uh who is ceo of blitz

metrics the reason why i've loved him

i've been around him for a long time

i've seen him speak on stages i see him

on tv as an expert i see him

interviewing mark zuckerberg i see him

interviewing all these really incredible

people and and collaborating with every

kind of household business name that you

can think of but aside from that he's a

ruthless implementer he is somebody who

develops his team and brings them from

kind of introductory folks all the way

up to senior leaders within his many

seven-figure agencies that he has

but aside from that also is that he

is into this really sexy thing tim

called standard operating procedures and

uh he does a really good job of making

it not boring like i just did and

talking about how it actually ties in

the business the purpose of it which i

know you're going to geek out on our

local regional agency owners are going

to love

ruthless implementation of those sops

it's just the way to scale every

everybody talks about scale when your

book is that thick on how to do it and

you've done it multiple times this is

the person to listen to yeah and the one

thing i love the big the bigger thing

that i love about about today's

conversation is pay attention to

something called lighthouses and how uh

that can be an amazing advantage for you

in any market and uh yeah dennis is the

person you want to listen to he's the

authority in all of these areas that we

talked about and uh if you're listening

to aj talk today you're in for a treat

so enjoy our good friend

[Music]

i cannot believe that we got dennis you

on our podcast tim this is big

this is big we're excited

well dennis welcome to welcome to agency

talk we're so pumped to have you and

just that you would spend a little bit

of time with us on our itsy bitsy tiny

uh podcast that we're trying to talk to

agency owners all over the world and and

help them scale and so we're so pumped

that you're here and

you know just to jump right in which is

really nice how would you actually

describe yourself because i think that i

you know it's funny reading the bio and

hearing all the things you've done and

growing agencies but how would you

actually self-identify well you just

said i was a big agency owner or i'm a

big agent owner

you know big data or am i i'm a big data

person or i'm a big data person so i'm

a search engine engineer

and so the engineer in me looks at

agencies and sees that they're so broken

because of the way that they focus on

account management instead of driving

results

and i have several seven-figure agencies

that i've started and you've seen me

build up other people

that the engineer in me sees all these

marketers and says how do we create sops

and processes and checklists anything

that is done how do we document that so

other people can repeat it so i'm

looking at it from a code structure

if you're operating a restaurant at

scale that kind of mentality that's

amazing and for those people who are

listening to this audio he didn't just

held up a massive book sop book and he

flipped through it uh which was it has

an effect to hold something uh analog

you know so pretty amazing here's the

other book here's the number one

best-selling book on facebook ads of all

time and the number one bestselling book

on google and yesterday we have the

number one best-selling book on

tick-tock ads is that right go to amazon

and look for you'll see it congrats my

co-author is perry marshall he's the og

in online marketing yeah so so that's

interesting that you called yourself an

engineer i know tim tim you obviously

owned the agency for a bunch of years

and sold them too do you does something

pull at you in that tim without a doubt

i i mean when i when i saw that when i

saw that sop book that that's that big

this is a person after my own heart

because

if you're going to scale you need that

infrastructure you have to have that

process and the process has to be

consistent and repeatable and and i love

i'm i'm excited now you know something

i've always wanted to ask you dennis and

i've seen you speak all over the place

obviously we travel the world together

and one of the things that i always want

to know is where did that initial

like what made you triple down on sops

like you you speak so definitively about

it was there just something where like

the wheels fell off and like it just got

crazy

i had the ceo of american airlines as a

mentor and i watched what happened when

there were strikes when there was

weather when bags were late when fuel

prices went up when there was new

aircraft and i learned that everything

that happened in the airline had a

backup we have backup avionics we have

backups to bring in pilots when one of

them is sick we have backups to deal

with the situation with the website

being down and so there's secondary and

even tertiary backups to everything and

so this is called repeatable excellence

or graceful failure where we hope for

the best but prepare for the worst

and everything about the airline is

based on operations research which i

think is the most amazing part of any

kind of business the big businesses

where they have the deep think tanks so

i saw how the airlines which came to the

military were all driven by sops and i

thought

how do we do the same thing in digital

marketing for agencies that are building

websites for agencies that are doing

facebook ads and so that natural

military minded sop trained people

officer ranks the ultimate gamification

is actually the military because you

have points leveling unlocking

randomization immediate feedback that

was way way before bejeweled blitz or

whatever your favorite game

and the thing is is that all that makes

a lot of sense it's like hey the rest of

our world operates the same way so it

has to be the same thing in business now

the one thing that i think is really

interesting about your sops and

something i've admired about you forever

is just the ability to

use that to train your team the

duplication of roles and also in that

model because you're the thing i love

about you is that you really love

developing juniors in your business and

you're not afraid to take on people who

are hungry and don't know

and put them into places to grow them

and throw them on stages around the

world so tell me where that came from

and is that a big proponent of of your

sop wrapped in there that's where i came

from

i didn't know when i first started

and it was a chicken and the egg and

there's lots and lots of young adults

especially on social media and you know

digital marketing's moved to social

media like tik tok i've been learning

tick tock

from 18 year olds that have six million

followers and they're teaching me how to

market how to drive sales how to do ecom

tools and whatnot that i've never seen

before but remember i was saying before

how gamification like in the military or

whatnot is is based on these rules and

sops and sops aren't very sexy so the

thing is how do we make those sexy we

have to gamify them and make them

interesting so i want to share with you

one thing so those of you guys who are

listening

you'll be able to listen to this

so we have this one thing here that we

call our goals so everyone who comes

into our company they could be an 18

year old dropout they could be a

stay-at-home mom

they have to set their three by three

goals personal physical professional

short medium long so it's a box with

nine

it's a tic-tac-toe right you follow me

and we have a way on how you fill it out

and how you have to submit it and the

system will send a note saying hey

marcus you didn't submit your goal sheet

right and then it's like ah it's like

doing taxes i got to sit on my goal

sheet right but then

we we decided let's make it fun so i had

grant cardone send the reminder and so

this is just an automated reminder that

comes out when you didn't fill out your

goal sheet and this is what happens hey

guys

dennis wanted me to hit you

fill out those boxes

nine simple boxes short medium long-term

goals personal physical professional

[Music]

every day i write my goals down

every single day so there he is he's

working out right how cool is it to get

a text message from uncle g

that's pretty fun i get i get other kind

of text messages from him that aren't as

fun as that so

[Laughter]

let's say that

you you know you know you're a young

adult and you worship someone like jake

paul so you could read all of our but we

have tons of books but young adults

don't want to read these books they'd

rather watch videos i'm stereotyping

they want to watch 15 second

entertaining videos that are interactive

so jake paul and i spent a whole year

filming this interactive choose your own

adventure thing where he and i are

asking questions like oh do you want to

learn to this i'm going to do that do

you want to start a youtube channel do

you want to start agency do you want to

do e-commerce and then we introduce you

to other people oh cool you do

e-commerce let me introduce you to

brendan agarnov who does almost eight

figures on shopify and he runs our sock

store where we're sending socks with

people's faces on them and brandon's

like hey thank you have you had the

socks right oh yeah i've got i've got a

couple pairs with my face on it that you

sent which is scary

the marcus murphy socks are going to be

a collector's item but then brennan says

thank you so much jake i'm going to show

you guys how you start an e-commerce

store how you pick a niche how you do

this how you do this how we run ads

right

and so now it's fun because you are

talking to someone or you are quasi

having a conversation with someone that

you respect so who am i

i'm 48 basically to be giving a young

adult advice on how to do social media

or ads or whatever would you rather hear

from someone you already know like a

jake paul would you rather hear from a

grant cardone would you rather hear from

someone else who we call a lighthouse

so with any group of people that we work

with we always have a lighthouse so say

for example

i have a digital marketing master class

with tom ferry who's the best known guy

in the world of real estate

i'm not a real estate agent i've never

bought or sold a house but if i wanted

to run a real estate agency right a

digital agency serving real estate

agents i would want to have a master

class with tom ferry so go google tom

ferryden as you and you'll see a master

class that we put on that drives tons of

leads tons of real estate agents they

come to us because they respect tom

ferry

and let's say tim and i we wanted to put

on a course on how do you shoot

three-pointers

people would look at this and say who

the heck is tim and dennis they don't

know anything about basketball but if we

brought in steph curry and steph curry

said hey we've got this class on

shooting three-pointers and then he says

let me bring in my friends tim and

dennis and they're also going to help

you

how does that change things yeah edifies

right you have to make that work by the

way dennis

have you ever shaken steph curry's hands

i have not no they are so rough because

the guy shoots

thousands of three-pointers every day

it's insane

little things like that from from

practice but the lighthouse strategy is

what most agency owners are missing in

terms of their ability to scale

effectively so for any niche that you

have figure out who the lighthouse is

and how do you co-create content with

them and then use the dollar a day

technique which marcus knows well about

so that everyone in that niche knows who

you are and then you never have to have

all this cold calling an appointment

setting and sales people you're going to

have lots and lots of clients coming

your way that that's the whole secret

and then if they come in you have to

have training with that lighthouse

that's so then it's continuous right so

we've got a ton of videos with grant

cardone you could love them or hate them

and guess who we're targeting on social

media if we've got videos of grant

cardone yeah it's got to be his people

we're targeting grant cardone so the

relevancy side the social media

algorithms on tick tock and youtube and

facebook like that

and then we show more grant cardone

content along the way so the lighthouse

is kind of this manifestation of the

secret or whatever you you know you

believe in whatever you think of you get

more of that same thing whatever you put

in the box

digital marketing is an amplifier of

that and our entire strategy is around

that so when you have great content i've

got a ton of great content with jake

paul i'm gonna run a dollar a day

against it to all the people who are

fans of jake paul and then let these

kids come through and learn digital

marketing and hire the best ones i l i

love the lighthouse theory i think it's

sensational um what about internally

so you you talked about being 48 and i'm

sure you know there's you've got a lot

of younger folks at your agency and i'm

quite a bit older than you are and so

i'm i'm fully 30 years older here than

anybody else

and

and when i started i thought okay

it's hard to

it's hard to listen to me and make that

make sense if you're 30 you know if

you're 25 or 28.

what i realized just super early on is

that gary vaynerchuk was saying a lot of

things that i just fundamentally agreed

with

and i thought okay if our team hears it

from gary they're going to relate to it

if they hear it from me it's just me

talking

right so in a way i i just embraced that

lighthouse theory you know ten you know

five six seven eight years ago but

more about how you

what are the internal lighthouses that

that you set there are no distinctions

between internal versus external because

a lighthouse is based on authority

so when gary vaynerchuk says it versus

when i say it people may ex may have

more trust in gary vaynerchuk in the

topic of social media but if gary

vaynerchuk gives you advice on how do

you fix a car he doesn't have any

authority in that area

so authority comes from three components

who's saying it

where is it being said so the

trafficking conversion some with marcus

murphy doing

being the host you know and

what is being said so what's the topic

so you can score 10 points on each of

these three for a maximum of 30 points

and whether that content's internal

external doesn't matter because gravity

doesn't matter whether you are

short or small or naked or whatever it

still applies we have this one giant

document that we call the the ultimate

action guide and it has a thousand

different tasks in it

if you can imagine actually there's more

than a thousand there's like 1200 tasks

in there and we show exactly how to do

every single task and on the cover we

say confidential for internal use only

when really that just helps and it is it

was internal but we make it public now

for people who want to buy that so they

can see this is how we actually execute

it's not sales literature but it

actually functions at sales literature

because anyone who comes in as a

potential client they're gonna say wow

there's so much here there's no way i

could do all these and hire up a team of

virtual assistants and have all the

software and this other integration i'd

rather just hire those guys

so when you're

transparent with how you do stuff that's

actually the best lead in sales

mechanism what's interesting though i

want to hear from like an agency owner

who's sitting around right now going

well how the hell do i get lighthouses

like how am i going to get a lighthouse

i want to i want to know about the

relationship building aspect of what you

do and how you've

created your own authority to get in

front of some of these really great

lighthouses you would never believe it

but 25 years ago i was this shy asian

engineer who wouldn't even pick up the

phone i would go to these forced parties

because i was on full scholarship and

whatnot and i just hide in the bathroom

because i didn't know how to network i

didn't know how to talk to people i'd

never spoken on stage but i learned how

to do toastmasters and i had a couple

mentors

that would introduce me to people i once

got in a car wreck

or my best friend wrecked the car and

my mentor introduced me to the chairman

of allstate insurance

dick hayen and said hey dick help out

dennis here he's got to process this

it's final exams he's under a ton of

pressure can you just get his claim

processed right away and he did the next

day the whole thing can you have you

seen all same problems

right away like that and then i had

dinner with george h.w bush

and margaret thatcher and herb keller

here and all and all kinds of

name-dropping level sorts of people i

had no business with these people i

would go to these dinners scared to

death

because al casey who was the ceo of

american

would invite me and you're not going to

say no to that right so he's like yeah

of course i'm going to go meet so and so

why wouldn't i want to have dinner with

so and so yeah i'm going to do that and

i'm afraid that if i open my mouth

they're going to realize that i'm a

total idiot and i don't know anything

sorry

as quietly as possible and they'll ask

me oh hey hey you young son who are you

and what do you do and i would try to

say my two or three sentences that i

memorized and it would come out the

wrong way but it was all through mentors

that opened doors for me everything i've

ever had was through a mentor that

opened doors for me and i have a lot of

friends that are agency owners and maybe

they don't have those kinds of net

connections so what do they do

they go to masterminds

they go to traffic conversion summit and

see marcus murphy be the mc

they meet people you need to meet people

who will build connections and open

doors for you so that you don't have to

be the one trying to cold call and reach

out and whatnot and then when you have

those connections what do you do you put

them on a podcast just like tim and

marcus are doing when you put someone on

a podcast and you elevate them and you

ask them smart questions

even if we say nothing about your agency

the fact that you are associated with

them creates something called implied

endorsement implied endorsement is they

didn't say oh you know working with

tim's great and i have all my white

label agency operations through him i

didn't say that actually i did but it's

implied right and so what you want to do

is be seen with these other people

because in the world of digital

marketing your potential clients they

don't really know who's good at digital

marketing they don't really know

anything about seo they just assume you

must be pretty good and if you can

deliver the performance like tim talked

about

then that implied authority becomes

actual authority so everything about

building a lighthouse is demonstrating

you can drive that result but you have

to have the connection which creates

perceived authority the connection of

perceived authority then with the

opportunity to execute creates actual

authority and then you interview that

lighthouse and it doesn't have to be

a tom ferry or glenville or one of these

people at the very top of the industry

because that's really high risk because

if you screw that one up you've done a

face plant in front of a lot of people

so you start with the clients that you

have and you document exactly how you do

that and you bring a c-level business

onto your podcast that bootstraps to a

b-level player that bootstraps to an

a-level player and that's the way i

started too i started with a bunch of

small little businesses and then went

bigger and bigger and i found that

working with like a nike or a starbucks

or an ashley furniture

had certain

complications in terms of how you manage

in a multi-agency environment or when

there's some complexity

when there's a lot of other people that

are coordinating especially with larger

budgets and legal and those sorts of

things that are being involved but the

fundamentals are still the same thing

it's still relationships and it's still

around the lighthouse you agency owners

out there you're serving mortgage

brokers interview your mortgage brokers

not for testimonials testimonials are

bad words because they're a one-way

obvious sales kind of pitch

but interview them about what's going on

and how they're growing and things that

have nothing to do with digital

marketing and that creates the implied

endorsement then you take that content

let's say you you take your podcast you

chop it up into different pieces through

dscript or frame.io or whatever your

favorite tools are and you target

mortgage brokers you target the

associations for mortgage brokers you

target people who read the magazines for

mortgage brokers and then you become

well-known among mortgage brokers it's

really that simple

and of course you have to share the sop

so the best thing is if you've executed

digital marketing and you've documented

how you do it document it as in loom and

zoom and whatever you chop those up and

turn it to a course you can have va's

literally take

this is what we do which is not a secret

but people don't do this for some reason

we have hundreds of zoom calls where we

are showing exactly how we do stuff or

it could be client calls everything that

we do we then turn into these sops this

book that we have that's the number one

bestseller on tick tock ads yeah do you

think

i actually wrote that book of course not

no i did 20 different webinars just

recording myself live making tick tock

ads and making mistakes and oh let's try

this let's try that oh this seemed to

work oh look our cost per lead is

getting better oh let's put more money

on this one just messing around

experimenting and

some of our team members mostly va's had

to sit through hours and hours of dennis

messing around with tick-tock ads and

they turned it into a book and sang

awesome each of you guys should have a

book you should always record all zoom

calls right because the clients will

give you permission they always do and

then take those best pieces turn into a

book if you're using a client example

you have to get their permission of

course but i believe everyone should

take that turn into a book and then

they're the authority on digital

marketing for

financial advisors whatever it is right

the niche brilliant i'm thinking about

white label right now tim and and you

guys and i'm like sitting there going

like you should be the kings of white

label you know kings and queens of white

label and own it and write the book on

white label um which is really

interesting i just feel like right now

my head's gonna explode because i need

to go back and like dissect a couple of

things you said i don't want to be

distracted steph curry's got rough hands

yeah let all those fun facts go

lighthouse lighthouse lighthouse build

authority sops i got all that part so

tim and i really created one thing

because we really feel like people can

get overwhelmed with content and that's

why our shows aren't that super long but

also we want to be able to say if

someone slammed their

slam the laptop shut right now turned

off the thing what's the one big

actionable thing that they can go do

right now in their agency that you you

feel like would make an impact the one

thing that you can do

is inventory any co-created content that

you've ever made it could be on youtube

it could be a podcast it could be a

conference presentation it could be 10

years ago stuff that you've made

and chop it up into lots and lots and

lots of little pieces so you never need

to create content again

most people are constantly trying to

create more and more content which makes

no sense at all i saw axel rose sing

sweet child of mine in paradise city

that was from 1987 and he's collecting

royalties on that you guys remember that

with guns and roses it's my daughter's

song with me and we're doing that at her

wedding in a month

so when you have something some kind of

win

some kind of content that you've

co-created that has high authority

remember there's the three components of

authority with a 30-point maximum scale

that's what's going to drive your

business in terms of training so you

don't have to keep repeating the same

things in terms of getting more clients

because people can see who you're

working with you don't need to be

creating new content i think that you

should be spending 80 of your time and

money repurposing greatest hits and

maybe maximum 20 of your time creating

new content so when i was on cnn arguing

with mark zuckerberg in front of three

and a half million people live

about cambridge analytica and stuff like

that that is driving us

roi today

even though that was years ago

i don't need to create any more content

because there's stuff that i did in the

past now it doesn't have to be you know

on tv this kind it could be anything it

could be a simple podcast that only had

three or four views my buddy mark lack

was on

john dumas's entrepreneurs on fire

podcast which is a big deal

but that episode i think had 117 views

because he didn't repurpose that content

so this whole thing is take that long

form content repurpose it chop it up

into little pieces put out 15 second

snippets that are tick-tock highlights

that are instagrams or facebook's

transcribe it into a blog post repurpose

what you already have that's my main

point for you guys you have literally

done the slow rise and and the the hard

work of implementing everything that you

say that you do in the world so i just

want to commend you on that and we're

just so thankful that you took a little

bit of time with us today yeah thank you

marcus and tim and this is what i've

been living and breathing the last 30

some years i've done each of these

things i've told you i've done thousands

of times it's not just like one random

time it worked and then we'll say that

over and over again there's a lot of

gurus out there and you know why they

call themselves gurus why because they

can't spell charlatan

[Laughter]

what a great way to end the show uh

dennis you everybody dennis thank you so

much you are always a pleasure and uh

we'll definitely be in touch and and by

the way like i said before if anybody

wants to get in touch with dennis his

information is below dennis thank you so

much for coming on agency talk

thank you gentlemen

[Music]

dennis you tim i mean

i'm blown away yeah i love it i love it

another great episode at agencytalk hey

uh go ahead and join the conversation

hit us up over at agencydashtalk.com

where you can find all the episodes if

this is your first time listening to the

podcast we got more cool people so go

back and listen to the other experts

that we've had on the podcast and uh

until next time uh tim you're a

wonderful human being and i i'm honored

to do this with you here at agency talk

marcus you are my lighthouse

we'll go out of that wood my lighthouse

[Music]