Agency Building Playbook
Belkins Episode
Growing an agency from scraps to sustainable success is an adventure, one I’ve lived and breathed.
I’ve launched B2B services, built teams across continents, and weathered the storms threatening every growing agency.
Today, I’m distilling decades of hard lessons and big wins into an ultimate playbook for agency builders.
Strap in – we’re about to cover everything from landing clients on repeat to scaling up without losing your sanity.
Lead Generation
If you’ve tried to drive leads recently, you’ve probably discovered the old tricks are losing their punch.
I like how Andrew Chen pointed out how every big marketing channel feels “tapped out.”
SEO is overcrowded, influencer marketing is pricey and fleeting, email feels like spam, and social media is an expensive arms race. Sound familiar?
It’s not just you—and it’s not your fault. It’s what happens when channels mature and competitors flood in.
Costs go up, conversions go down, and audiences get numb to the usual playbook. But don’t worry; this doesn’t mean you’re doomed.
It does mean you need a more creative, “small channel” approach to make real headway.
Why Everything Feels Harder Right Now
SEO? It takes forever, and you’re competing with listicles and AI-driven “one boxes” while Google constantly shifts the rules.
Influencer Marketing? Huge up-front costs for a quick spike of traffic that often doesn’t convert, plus exhausting logistics if you go the micro route.
PR/Comms? Expensive retainers, marginal signups, and coverage that’s impossible to sustain.
Email Marketing? Decent open rates are rare, spam filters are tougher than ever, and people are inundated.
Viral Loops? Hard to pull off without a product that’s already buzzworthy, and users ignore aggressive pop-ups and “invite your friends” schemes.
Referral/Affiliate? Often riddled with fraud, overshadowed by bigger players, and requires constant babysitting.
Big Social Launches? Great for a one-time bump—then the algorithm crushes your reach, and your personal network is tired of hearing from you.
All of these “Big Channels” are decades old, or at least thoroughly commercialized. Prices get bid up, user fatigue sets in, and results plateau.
That’s the reality in 2025.
“Little Channels”
For early-stage agencies (or scrappy teams), the best move is to stop fighting in the same arena as giants.
They can afford to let these big channels bleed money for a long time; you probably can’t. Instead, do the unscalable, under-the-radar things that big players ignore:
Think Micro-Communities: Niche Slack groups, Facebook groups, local business meetups, or short-run webinars. Smaller, more targeted audiences that bigger agencies don’t have the time or patience to engage.
Stay Scrappy: If you only have 100 active users/clients, a campaign that nets 500 more is a massive victory. You don’t have to worry about 10x scaling in the first inning.
Novelty Sells: You’re new—use that to your advantage. Show off your “wow” factor with a bold demo video, AI-driven personalization, or something else unique. A quick one-time spike can kickstart momentum.
Leverage Personal Networks: In the early days, tapping ex-colleagues, college alumni, or friends-of-friends is far more fruitful than overspending on ads. Personal trust matters; use it.
Personal Social: This is your new media, and you need to capitalize on your Linkedin, X, Threads, and others. Write your newsletter and create content. TikTok Trust me, you have the golden opportunity to make it work.
One-Time Tactics Are Fine: A single social media launch, a single “friends and family referral push,” or a single viral video can be enough to reach the next milestone. You can always worry about repeatability after you have some success under your belt.
Mini Case Study: Micro-Events to Attract High-Value Clients
A mid-sized design agency struggled with Google Ads (too expensive) and cold email (lack of replies). They pivoted to hosting small, in-person design workshops for local startups, inviting 10–15 founders each time.
Attendees got valuable tips on branding and user experience, and the agency landed 2–3 new paying clients after every workshop.
By focusing on intimate, high-value gatherings—rather than blasting ads at strangers—they quickly established a local reputation and built a pipeline of warmer leads.
GTM Engineers
One of the biggest shifts we’re seeing in lead generation is the impact of AI on go-to-market (GTM) roles.
The traditional SDR/BDR model—where one rep handles a few email inboxes and phone calls—can now be supercharged with automation tools, AI agents, and workflow platforms like Clay, n8n, Zapier, and more. The result? A single “GTM Engineer” can multiply their output by 10x or even 100x.
How It Works
Multiple Mailboxes: Instead of one SDR working five mailboxes with ~200 daily emails, a GTM engineer can manage hundreds of mailboxes in parallel—leading to a massive volume of outreach.
AI + Automation: Tools like Clay and n8n let you automate data enrichment, lead routing, and follow-up sequences, while AI chatbots handle first-touch replies or qualifications. The GTM engineer designs the system, sets the parameters, and lets the workflows run.
Allbound Strategy: Rather than inbound or outbound alone, think “allbound”: email, LinkedIn, SMS, Slack, wherever your ideal clients live. AI can automatically track signals from each channel (opens, clicks, replies) and direct the next steps.
Tips & Tricks for AI-Powered GTM
Domain Reputation Management – Warm up domains carefully, track bounce rates, and maintain a healthy sender score.
Personalization at Scale – Use AI to craft custom intros or subject lines, even if it’s just a snippet mentioning a prospect’s location or company.
Workflow Audits – Regularly test your automation. Nothing kills credibility, like sending irrelevant or repetitive messages by mistake.
Balance Quantity & Quality – Leverage AI to filter out low-probability leads fast, so you can focus your personal touch on the best opportunities.
Human Touch Matters – Automated sequences can open doors, but a personal call or video message at the right time can seal the deal.
To find out more check:
Circles
Not long ago, I found myself staring at an org chart that looked like it was frozen in time. I and probably you, too, used to take that classic chart for granted: a big box labeled “Founder & CEO” at the top, lines branching down to “VPs and Heads,” more boxes for “Managers,” and eventually trickling down to the rest of the team.
Epic Win Story: Scaling Outbound with AI
Early on at Belkins, I ran a pilot where we warmed up 10 new domains over a few weeks and then ramped up automated outreach using AI-driven personalization.
Within one month, we doubled our daily outreach capacity without seeing a major drop in reply rates. The result?
We booked 20 net-new appointments in just 2 weeks—worth over $100k in closed deals. That’s the power of combining thoughtful strategy with AI horsepower.
Common Lead-Gen Pitfalls to Avoid
Blasting Unwarmed Domains: You’ll get flagged as spam instantly.
Cloning Competitors’ Ads: If everyone’s doing it, it’s white noise.
Skimping on Data Quality: Inaccurate or outdated lead lists lead to high bounce and low reply rates.
Ignoring the Human Touch: Automation is great, but prospects still crave authenticity.
Lead-Gen Action Checklist
This Week:
Join or create 1 niche Slack group or local meetup in your industry.
Warm-up (Obviously use Folderly) at least 1 new domain or inbox for AI-driven outreach (if you’re not already).
Draft a short perl outreach message—no more than 3 sentences—that showcases your unique value.
Next 30 Days:
Host a micro-event or webinar with a specific theme (e.g., a “20-Minute AI Tools Demo”).
Test an AI workflow tool (Clay, n8n, Zapier) for at least one part of your outreach funnel.
Collect at least 3 quick testimonials from happy clients to boost reply rates.
Ask Yourself
“Which lead-gen channel has actually brought me the highest ROI in the past 6 months—and am I maximizing it?”
“Am I combining multiple channels (email, LinkedIn, live events) into a cohesive ‘allbound’ strategy, or relying on just one?”
“What’s one manual step in my outreach that AI/automation could handle, freeing up my time for high-value conversations?”
The Product (Still) Matters Most
Even if you master these niche channels and AI-fueled outreach, a weak product or underwhelming service won’t keep clients. In agencies, “product” means delivering results and a stellar client experience.
If you promise the moon and deliver dust, no marketing channel can save you.
Conversely, if you consistently knock it out of the park for your clients, you’ll see them stick around—and they’ll help spread the word. The best marketing in the world can’t redeem a mediocre product, but a killer product can sometimes survive weak marketing.
Operations
Build Your Engine for Efficiency and Profit.
As a founder, I learned that smooth operations and healthy finances are the bedrock of a sustainable agency.
Early on, we flew by the seat of our pants—custom processes for every project, scope creep everywhere, cash flowing out as fast as it came in. It was… not fun. Over time, we developed frameworks to make our agency run like a well-oiled machine.
Here are the operational habits and systems that freed us from chaos and protected our bottom line:
Docs& Streamline Processes
If you’re reinventing the wheel on each project, you’re burning money and time. We got serious about creating repeatable processes and templates for everything—project kickoffs, review cycles, development workflows, QA checklists.
This doesn’t create a bureaucracy; it creates freedom. Everyone knows “how we do things,” leaving more headspace for creativity.
After every big project, quickly retro and refine your process docs. Over dozens of projects, these incremental tweaks compound into major efficiency gains.
The goal is an agency that runs on rails: consistent delivery, fewer mistakes, and higher margins.
Operational Overhaul
A 10-person marketing agency was drowning in missed deadlines and random client requests.
They documented a simple “client intake to delivery” process, introduced weekly retros, and set up automated tasks in ClickUp.
Within 3 months, on-time delivery shot up from 60% to 90%, and they saw a 20% bump in project profitability—purely by cutting chaos.
Master Project Profitability
Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity.
I obsess over project economics now—because I’ve felt the pain of slim margins and surprise overruns.
Start with pricing: charge what you’re worth (and then some). High prices give you the cushion to deliver excellence and absorb hiccups.
Manage scope tightly. Define deliverables in writing and educate clients up front: new requests affect timeline and budget. Track time and costs religiously against the budget.
We built internal tools to monitor project burn and gross margin in real time. When a project hit a healthy margin, we celebrated and studied why.
When it went over, we treated it as an expensive lesson.
Common Operations Pitfalls
No Centralized Process Docs: Everyone guesses or improvises.
Scope Creep with No Checks: “Sure, we can add that feature for free.”
Ignoring Real-Time Tracking: By the time you notice you’re over budget, it’s too late.
Overstaffing Too Early: Payroll bleeds you dry if new sales don’t materialize.
Operations Action Checklist
This Week:
Document 1 core workflow (e.g., project kickoff) in a simple Google Doc or Asana template.
Identify 1 repetitive admin task to automate (invoicing, contract creation, etc.).
Check your project margins on the last 3 completed projects—did you really make the profit you expected?
Next 30 Days:
Implement weekly retros for each project to gather feedback and refine processes.
Set up a system (could be a spreadsheet, could be software) to track project profitability in real time.
Consider a small morale-boosting move if budgets allow (e.g., a half-day off after a big sprint).
Ask Yourself
“Do I know my exact profit margin on each project right now?”
“Which single process, if streamlined, would save the team the most headaches?”
“If the agency suddenly doubled in size, would our current operational systems hold up—or collapse?”
Client Retention
My favorite one.
Your LT and LTV is your freedom.
Agencies often obsess over finding new clients, but client retention is where the real gold is.
A satisfied client not only provides steady revenue, they also sing your praises to others.
I learned the hard way that delivering great work isn’t enough—you have to deliver a great experience.
Prioritize the Client Experience
Quality deliverables are table stakes. Stand out by nailing the client experience:
Are meetings productive and respectful of their time?
Do they feel heard?
Are you proactive in communication, or do they chase you for updates?
Epic Win Story: Client Turned Ambassador
We once had a client who nearly left after a miscommunication.
Instead of brushing it off, I personally called them to apologize and fix the issue fast (at our expense).
They not only stayed but referred two other companies—one of which became a top-paying client.
Owning your mistakes can deepen trust more than never making them.
Common Retention Pitfalls
Sparse Communication: Clients feel ignored, even if you’re doing great work.
Deflecting Blame: A single big mistake can be forgiven if you own it, but denial kills trust.
Never Asking for Referrals: Happy clients will refer—but often only if you ask.
Staying Transactional: Clients want a partner, not a vendor.
Retention Action Checklist
This Week:
Schedule a check-in call with your top client—purely to ask about their evolving goals.
If you’ve recently solved a big challenge for a client, politely ask for a short testimonial.
Send out a 2-question satisfaction survey to all active clients.
Next 30 Days:
Implement a monthly or quarterly “Client Council” or feedback session.
Identify 1 legacy client who might be a poor fit—plan a graceful off-boarding if necessary.
Create a referral incentive (discount, gift, or small bonus) that encourages clients to introduce you to their network.
Ask Yourself
“When was the last time I had a call with a client just to talk about their goals, not a specific project deliverable?”
“Are my clients learning from me? Or am I just handing over work on autopilot?”
“Which clients could become ambassadors if I gave them a little extra personal attention?”
Hiring & Team Building
Your agency is just as strong as your team. Cliché, but absolutely true.
I’m proud to say we have an incredible team now—but I’ve stumbled by hiring too quickly, hiring the wrong people, or failing to nurture the right ones.
Hire for Potential and Fit, Not Just Pedigree
We look for people who take ownership, love learning, and align with our core beliefs (e.g., transparency, teamwork, bias for action).
Skills can be taught; attitudes and values cannot.
Culture Fit Over Credentials
The story my friend told me.
A startup recruited a “rockstar” from a major tech firm who had all the right bullet points on their résumé.
They clashed with the team and left within 3 months.
Then the startup hired a self-taught dev with an eager, coachable attitude—still there 2 years later, leading major projects with gusto.
Embrace a Flexible Talent Model
Use freelancers or remote folks where it makes sense, but treat them like first-class citizens.
Invite them into Slack, share the “why” behind decisions, and celebrate milestones as a group.
This fosters loyalty and a consistent culture—no matter who’s full-time or contract.
Common Hiring Pitfalls
Chasing Big Names Only: A great résumé doesn’t equal a great teammate.
Slow/Nonexistent Onboarding: New hires flounder without a proper intro to culture or processes.
Avoiding Tough Conversations: Letting underperformance linger poisons morale.
Micromanagement: It stifles talent and kills morale.
Team Building Action Checklist
This Week:
Schedule 1:1s with each direct report, focusing on their career goals and well-being.
Review your current job descriptions—do they emphasize attitude/culture fit or just credentials?
If you have a freelancer or contractor, invite them to one team meeting they’d usually miss.
Next 30 Days:
Introduce a short “buddy system” for new hires to ramp them up quickly.
Conduct a 360-feedback survey among your team (anonymously if possible).
Identify 1 underperformer or culture mismatch—offer coaching or consider an exit plan if needed.
Ask Yourself
“Does every team member know our core mission and how their role matters?”
“When was the last time I gave (or received) honest feedback?”
“Am I allowing senior talent enough autonomy to innovate, or do I overshadow their decisions?”
Scale
“Scaling” isn’t just a bigger revenue number—it’s an evolution in how you operate and think.
For a long time, I equated growth with hustle: just sell more, work more, rinse, repeat.
We did grow, but it was like pushing a boulder uphill.
True scaling feels like the boulder starts rolling on its own momentum.
Replace Yourself in the Day-to-Day
If every project needs you involved or every decision flows through you, your agency will hit a ceiling.
Delegate tasks and roles to people smarter than you in each area.
Yes, there will be a learning curve, but the payoff is massive.
The Founder Who Let Go
A content agency founder insisted on approving every content peace. The backlog ballooned, and junior writters never grew.
Eventually, they hired a Content Lead, fully empowered them, and saw a 40% jump in on-time deliveries.
Freed from day-to-day content reviews, the founder landed bigger clients instead.
Plan Growth Deliberately (Work It Backwards)
If you want 30% revenue growth, figure out how many deals that means, which close rate you need, and thus how many leads or marketing dollars. Data turns lofty goals into executable tasks.
Common Scaling Pitfalls
No Formal Org Structure: 5 people can be informal; 50 can’t.
Hiring Ahead of Revenue: Burn rates skyrocket if you’re not bringing in enough business.
Founders Won’t Let Go: Your team can’t scale if every major task depends on you.
Chasing Vanity Metrics: Big revenue with zero profit is a ticking time bomb.
Scaling Action Checklist
This Week:
Sketch an org chart—who owns each function if you doubled in size tomorrow?
Identify 1 key task you can delegate to a competent team member.
Outline your 30% growth plan: leads needed, budget, and timeline.
Next 30 Days:
Pilot a new service offering or marketing campaign to drive that growth.
Get a mentor or coach who’s scaled an agency before—bounce your plan off them.
Plan a quarterly or monthly All-Hands meeting to align everyone on progress.
Ask Yourself
“Am I the bottleneck in any major process right now?”
“Are my team leads empowered to make decisions (and mistakes) without me hovering?”
“Do I know our next big goal—and can my entire team articulate it?”
Level Up and Lead On
Building and running a successful agency is one of the hardest things you can do in business—but also one of the most rewarding.
We get to create, to solve, to serve, and to build careers for our teams.
Through lead generation struggles, operational tribulations, client victories and fiascos, hiring triumphs and mishires, and the constant puzzle of scaling up, I’ve learned that success comes down to habits and mindset.
The strategies in this playbook—tailored for 2025—are about consistent habits. The mindset shifts—from fearing change to embracing it, from doing it all yourself to building a team of leaders—turn those habits into transformative results.
Remember, you don’t have to implement everything at once. Pick a couple of tactics to start. For example, you could launch a micro-event or adopt an AI-driven GTM workflow.
Perhaps refine a key process or part ways with a difficult client. Small steps, taken consistently, spark big change.
Over time, you’ll find you’re not pushing that boulder alone anymore—you’ve built an engine and a team that propels it forward with you.
You can reach the next level no matter where your agency stands—struggling for leads, stuck at a revenue plateau, or scaling faster than you can handle. It requires honesty, courage, and action. But that’s why you started an agency in the first place, right?
The challenge, the freedom, and the impact you knew you could make. That opportunity is still yours to take.
From one agency builder to another: you got this.
Every great agency out there was built by people no smarter or more daring than you—they just committed to the journey.
Now it’s your turn.
Build your ultimate agency, one lead, one client, one team member, one process at a time.
I’m rooting for you every step of the way.
Remember
Lead Generation: Go small and scrappy; embrace AI-driven “GTM engineering” for massive scale, but keep it personal.
Operations: Document everything. Keep an eye on scope creep and measure margins in real time.
Client Retention: Deliver a stellar experience, own your mistakes, and ask for referrals.
Team Building: Hire for culture and potential, not just pedigree. Give your people real autonomy.
Scaling: Replace yourself in daily tasks, plan growth backward with data, and invest in systems (not just hustle).
30-Day Agency Growth Sprint Challenge
Want to put this Playbook to the test right now? Join our 30-Day Agency Growth Sprint:
Pick 1–2 Strategies from this newsletter (e.g., AI-based outreach or a micro-community event).
Implement Them Over the Next 4 Weeks, step by step.
Share Your Progress with me for one of the upcoming newsletters or on LinkedIn with the hashtag #Belkins #AgencyGrowthSprint
This is your chance to transform reading into doing—and to swap insights with other ambitious agency leaders in the process.
Join my community of forward-thinking leaders and get proven strategies delivered straight to your inbox.
Don’t build your agency alone—let’s level up together.
Post Credit Scene
Continuous learning is part of the game. I’ve gained a lot of insight and inspiration from books, podcasts, and other resources over the years.
Here are some highly recommended reads and watches for anyone building an agency (or any kind of business, frankly):
Managing the Professional Service Firm by David H. Maister – A classic that dives into the economics and management of service businesses (like agencies, consultancies, etc.). Maister’s insights on pricing, client relationships, and managing growth are pure gold.
Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson – From the founders of Basecamp, it challenges common business wisdom in short, punchy chapters. It’s great if you’re bootstrapping and want fresh, contrarian ideas.
“The Secrets of Scaling” – Interview with Vladyslav Podoliako (Podcast/YouTube) – Shameless plug, but if you want a deep dive into Belkins’ journey—mistakes and all—check it out.
From Zero to Agency Hero (Newsletter by Michael Maximoff) – My co-founder Michael shares a weekly play-by-play of our ongoing journey. Subscribe here:
If you like real examples and transparency, this is for you.
Podcasts
Agency Unfiltered by HubSpot: Interviews with agency leaders on growth tactics.
Belkins Growth Podcast: Conversations about scaling businesses with entrepreneurs and agency folks.
The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway: NYU Professor, best-selling author, business leader, and serial entrepreneur Scott Galloway cut through the biggest stories in tech, business, and investing with unfiltered insights, bold predictions, and thoughtful advice.
Keep learning. Every new insight can be a potential game-changer for your business.
Remember, inspiration and knowledge can come from anywhere.
The key is to keep learning.
The moment you think you know it all, you stop growing.
Every book you read or story you hear might equip you with an idea or perspective that will transform your agency.
P.S. Ever wondered what the agency of the future looks like? Lately, I’ve been sketching some crazy ideas – think AI-driven strategy sessions at 2am (while we sleep) and global teams that hand off work around the clock, never letting the creativity slow down. The lines between human and machine, local and remote, agency and product company are blurring. The wheels in my head are turning: how can we embrace these shifts to stay two steps ahead? But hey, that’s a topic for a future newsletter. 😉
In the meantime, keep innovating, experimenting, and never settling.
The future favors the bold.
Thanks for reading
Vlad
Wow, that is one comprehensive guide!
Agree with the micro tactics. I'm also always asking what leadgen asset are we building that we can grow off in 2 years time. An event or community play. Something that opens doors and can only be reproduced with sustained effort.