I was talking to my friend Jim Hughes, founder of the Brand Establishment, the other day. The Brand Establishment is a group of about 25 Second Wind members who are certified brand specialists and who have devoted much of their agency life to developing and activating brands for clients.

Jim says the old agency model is broken. That’s the “tail-end in every seat” model where agencies worked hard to build their internal resources so they could be viewed as “full service” by their clients and prospects.

“The days of small agencies trying to operate like large shops are over,” says Jim. “But, the days of larger agencies operating as they have in the past are over as well. Today, marketers want capable marketing partners, BUT they don’t want the fat agency overhead.”

So… what IS the new agency structure that offers clients all the capability without the overhead? Take a look at these charts.

This is the key to the future of your smaller agency. You are structured just as competently as any larger agency, but don’t have the overhead.

Here are the steps to follow to attain this Small + Smart Agency status.

1. First, email Jim Hughes at jim@brandestabishment.com. He has a lot of ideas about how to move agencies into the Small + Smart model.


2. Find your core competency. All agencies do particular things exceptionally well. Find those things your agency does well and get even better at doing them.


3. Increase your outsource options. For the other skills you need to fully service clients, you need to increase the number and level of freelancers, strategic partners, virtual employees and consultants you have access to. AND, you need to work on methods to pay them fairly, make money on the deal, lock them in as partners and make sure they don’t bypass you and go directly to your clients.


4. Be competitive. You can compete with ANY agency in the future. All you need is the right mindset and the desire. There are numerous “creative communities”, as well as lots of unaffiliated talent out there—those who have given up working for agencies or companies and want to be independent—enabling you to construct any team, pitch any account and always have the best people ready to do the work for your clients. Let the networking begin…

The Small + Smart Agency is the high quality, low overhead, high capability agency of the future.