by Chris Bantock | Sep 12, 2022 | Events, News
We had a wonderful turnout for our new Inspiration Circle event last week.
This is all part of our renewed focus on ‘action based’ learning to improve agency businesses. By ‘Action based’ I mean not just coming to an event and leaving with some information but coming to an engaging session and leaving with actions designed for ongoing improvement.
The focus for this session was on time management, a thorny issue that the majority of agency owners can relate to. Our objective for this session was to work out how people could get 2-hours back a week.
Reflection
We had an initial discussion reflecting on our relationship with time Which resulted in some interesting themes especially in relation to the challenges that time puts on us.
These included:
- overwhelm
- inability to say no
- prioritisation
- knowing when to delegate
- feeling of burnout
- having time to yourself (well-being time)
- how distractions and shiny things interrupt us
- the buzz we get when we tick something off our todo list
Short Form Learning
Then we discussed what people had taken away from the bitesize learning videos that were shared before the session. These included the Time Management Matrix, the Pomodoro technique, and and and some time management tips and practical ideas.
(For any member not at the event these are still available in the Members Portal)
Take Action
The final part of the session was for everyone to share their 3 actions that they will implement in order to get some time back by being more in control of their time.
Here are selection of some the wonderful ideas:
- Schedule time to de mails in the day – and stick to it
- Prioritise tasks using the Time Management Matrix
- Turn of notifications when focusing on a task
- Do the important and urgent tasks in the morning
- Block out time in calendar for specific tasks
- Add space between tasks to refresh and recharge yourself
Everyone that attended was sent a short video of them articulating their three actions and were encouraged to Buddy up with the person but they were in the first breakout room with.
Buddying up and checking in on others is a key part of turning learning into action and action with accountability which results in a much higher chance of implementing the actions.
The Feedback
Post session attendees where invited to rate the experience of the Inspiration Circle.
100% rated it as 8 / 10 or more – with 50% respondents rating it as 10 /10.
Some comments were:
“I have to say that was one of the most enjoyable and informative sessions i have had a for a while, great to see everyone and thanks for the tips.”
”Loved this event! I’ve come away with clear and simple actions that I can actually achieve.”
“It worked very well and everyone was engaged, more of the same.”
Next month we are focusing on how to manage change especially through people. This is a fascinating topic and I am sure the Inspiration Circle will be hugely valuable. Please do join in.
by Chris Bantock | Dec 6, 2021 | Agency Business, News
A central part of being an agency owner should be on a journey of continuous learning and development.
Discovering new ideas, understanding the latest thinking, getting other people’s perspectives; these often lead to bringing new ideas and developments that will improve your agency.
The perennial push back is that “we don’t have time for this”. My view is you don’t have a reason not to! As a business owner you have an obligation to improve your business and yourself as a ‘leader’.
Yes, you are a leader – a leader of yourself and your business.
Learn through the Book Club
One great way to achieve this is by reading. There are some astounding business books out there. This is why we have a book club as part of Agency Local. Open to all members this is a wonderful way to expand your knowledge.
I always struggled to read – well actually to find the time to read to be more precise. But if I am really honest it was not about time, it was more about motivation.
Over the last year I have read some truly brilliant business books and learnt so much from them. The Book Club has really provided me with the motivation to read the books and to learn.
But it is not just me – here are some comments from a couple of the Book Club regulars
“I absolutely love the Agency Local Book Club. It’s got me reading business books – something I would have previously avoided. We have great discussions about the books in our group that lead onto all sorts of other topics. I’ve learnt so much from the books and my wonderful friends at Agency Local.”
Helen Kirkby – HK Graphics
This was my first experience of a Book Club and to turn up pushed me out of my comfort zone as a ‘creative visual person and not a wordsmith’ but how valuable it has been and inclusive.The books open your eyes to points of views and ways of working that really help in creative businesses. The books have led to ACTION!
Paula Allibone – The Way Forward
Looking back to 2021
I thought it would be a good time to look back over the books that we have featured in the Book Club this year.
We have had a variety – from those focusing on ‘Leadership’ through to some really useful ‘marketing’ books
Paula has summarised as:
“From Hitting The Wall – to our Dec book Dare to Lead the books open your eyes to points of views and ways of working that really help in creative businesses.
The books have led to ACTION! Creating a Vision Board for life, to understand how to create meaningful content for social media, how to recognise how we limit ourselves so we do not achieve our Genius and how to change this and finally in our last book to think about choosing courage over comfort and aim for progress not perfection!”
The Power is in the discussion
We review the book of the month at the Book Club meeting. Everyone is welcome to these whether they have read the book or not. If you have not read the book you will got so much out of the discussion around the topics, theories and views expressed in the book. The power really is in the discussion.
Local Authors
The stand out for me was being able to feature two books by local authors – Ash Taylor and Martin Knowles (with the help of Lynne Kennedy).
Not only did we read their books – we had the authors of guests at the Book Club giving members the opportunity to ask questions and pass comments directly to the authors themselves. A wonderful experience all round.
Here is a summary of the books of 2021 – with brief key points from each book.
January – Hitting the Wall – Ash Taylor – Ask the Author session
- Create a clear vision
- Dealing with the downs in life – come out stronger
- Leveraging strengths and weaknesses
- Learn from failure and keep the numbers
- Experiment and expand
February – Rebel Ideas – Matthew Syed
- Think outside the box
- Inclusive culture generates better creativity – Cognitive Diversity
- Be more collaborative – collective intelligence
- Get rid of ‘echo chambers’
March – They Ask You Answer – Marcus Sheridan
- Complete guide to inbound sales and content marketing
- Focus on the questions your customers ask and …. write about it
- Put your website at the center of everything you do
- Leverage different content types especially video
April – The Infinite Game – Simon Sinek
- Provides a view on the bigger picture
- Better to play the long game
- Lessons applicable to life not just business
- Having a purpose (Just Cause) is key for your business
- Create a culture of Psychological safety to form effective teams
- No more competitors just ‘worthy rival’
- Have the courage to lead
May – Untangle your Sales – Lynne Kennedy & Martin Knowles (Ask the Author session)
- Modern view of sales – all aspects of sales and sales management
- Sales myth busting – loads of them!
- Practical advice around planning people and implementation
June – Who Not How – Dan Sullivan
- Focus on achieving results – not effort
- Ask the right question – Who not How
- Define and delegate the vision
- Collaboration is critical for business – better quality relationships
- “Alone we can do so little – together we can do so much” – Helen Keller
- Transformational leadership
July – Contagious – Jonah Berger
- Build word of mouth in a digital age
- Develop ‘Social Currency’
- Social incentives – desirability
- Social Talk – develop triggers to spread the word
- Leverage emotion to drive action
Aug – Holiday Season
September – Radical Candor – Kim Scott
- A new management philosophy
- Relationships not power
- Open Communication
- Blend between care and challenge
- Growth management mindset
- 360 Candid feedback
October – The big Leap – Gay Hendricks
- We operate in one of 4 Zones
- Most people operate in ZOne of Excellence
- We need to operate in our Zone of Genius
- There is an upper limit problem – fueled by limiting beliefs and self sabotage
- How to discover your zone of genius and stay there
- Einstein time
November – Dare to Lead – Brené Brown
- Modern leadership handbook.
- Vulnerability does not equal weakness
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
- Be courageous and learn how to fail – courage is contagious
- Know your core values and live them
- Be Trustworthy
- Strive for progress not perfection
December – break
We will be reading more books in 2022, more learning, more discussion and more development. Please join us!
by Chris Bantock | Sep 3, 2021 | News, People
It is with huge regret that I have to announce that Ben Horsley-Summer will no longer be supporting Agency Local in our marketing efforts. Ben has been promoting Agency Local for nearly a year and has become an integral part of the team. He has taken up an opportunity for a longer term contract which is a wonderful chance for him and his business to go in a new direction.
Ben won’t become a total stranger; he has accepted my offer of a Lifetime Membership in recognition for his contribution, so hopefully we will be seeing him at events and in huddles in the future.
Agency Local announces new Community & Marketing Manager
Every community needs someone who is totally focused on those that contribute and engage in a community. I am really pleased to announce that Agency Local has now discovered such a person!
Please welcome Lisa Mills who is the new Agency Local Community Manager!!
Lisa is a rare blend of seasoned marketeer and people person. She therefore possesses the ideal credentials – she is a marketeer looking after a community of creative people involved in the marketing process.
I would like everyone involved in the Agency Local community to give her a very warm welcome as I know you will.
What will she be doing?
Well, she has a number of key roles including:
- She will be that main day to day contact for Agency Local members – answering any questions you may have
- She will be getting to know each and every one of you, what you do and what is your ‘zone of excellence’
- She will be promoting you as members where she can
- She will be encouraging you to come to as many Agency Local events as possible
Lisa will also be promoting Agency Local and our activities, taking over from Ben on the marketing front. She will also be looking for new members and will be instrumental in welcoming them to the community when they join.
All members can expect a call from Lisa in the near future as she contacts you to introduce herself properly.
A little bit about Lisa in her in her own words:
“I am a results driven marketing professional with a proven track record in marketing management, strategy development, campaign management, lead generation, events and digital marketing. I am passionate about meeting new people while building and nurturing relationships.
I love what Chris is creating with Agency Local and am really pleased to be a part of the team. I am looking forward to meeting with, and getting to know all the members very soon.”
Please can you give a big Agency Local welcome to Lisa.
Read more about Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-jane-mills/
Contact Lisa at lisa@agencylocal.co.uk or in the Slack community channels
by Chris Bantock | Jun 3, 2021 | News
Many of you will know that in May Agency Local celebrated its second birthday – not in the style we would like however for me it is a milestone.
Over the two years we have come from a single evening event to test the waters – to see if there was an appetite for owners of marketing agencies to come together to be inspired, to learn, to collaborate and to support each other as a community.
We have come a long way
We have grown into a membership organisation where we offer learning and development opportunities in abundance.
- Events: Ask the Expert webinars every two weeks, Insight events every two months – as well as the Book Club
- Collaboration opportunities: in our Agency Huddles and in the community Slack group
- Discounts on Agency Services: access to a growing Marketplace with our partner organisations
- Content Library: a year and half of recorded events covering a plethora of topics to help you run a better business, as well as the Book Club
- Agency Development: ‘Better Together Groups’ (planning your agency growth), ‘Soundingboard Power Hours’ and one to one mentoring and coaching
- Member Promotion: Agency Local actively support and promote members where possible
Growing Membership
The membership is growing month on month with new members joining and able to access all these benefits. I believe now more than ever agency owners need a supportive community around themselves.
My aim is to build a solid community where people are committed to supporting each other and working together. Having a strong community will assist in Agency Local continuing to innovate by developing services and opportunities that meet our committed aims: helping its members build stronger agency business and helping the owners become better leaders.
We are the only agency community that is totally focused on the smaller (less than £1 million) turnover agencies.
Future Membership
I do not expect people to become a member without experiencing what Agency Local has to offer. From the 1st June we are introducing a ‘Months free trial’ – a ‘try before you buy’ offer. When you sign up you will be able to access all the opportunities, services and benefits that Agency Local offers. At the end of the free trial you have the choice to cancel or continue your membership.
Existing ‘Community’ members that currently enjoy access to some Slack channels in the online community will be invited to join on the month’s trial, which will provide an opportunity to experience and access the parts of the membership that are currently not available to them.
Your Community
These are exciting times. I am really looking forward to developing Agency Local – we have many plans! However, at the end of the day Agency Local belongs to the members – I want to develop Agency Local into the community that serves you the best and supports you in your agency journey.
Onwards and upwards, and I look forward to having you as part of this exciting journey.
Read more about Membership.
