"Our philosophy at Digital Mastermind, an agency leadership group, is that a rising tide lifts all boats." –– Jon Tsourakis, Owner, Digital Mastermind Group The agency landscape is extremely competitive across most verticals - some might prefer to gatekeep insights around best practices and growth levers to maintain an edge. That’s not the case at all for today’s guest, Jon Tsourakis.  Jon is a long-time agency owner, entrepreneur, and a steadfast believer in the power of peer knowledge. As...

"All 14 of our clients got the product. We got them onboarded and they all loved it and paid a fee to use it, which was incredible." Robin Alex, Founder of HighLevel. Usually, it takes a long while for a B2B software product to find traction. That wasn’t the case for today’s guest, who by luck and brilliant vision found success from the get-go. A lifelong entrepreneur, Robin joins The Deep Specialization Podcast to share his founding story, going from building companies in his dorm room to...

"Unlike other professions, there's a helping atmosphere in law. They're always networking and talking with each other." Brendan Chard, Founder of The Modern Firm. And, it was those initial referrals that got Brendan into many of the local attorney firms in Ann Arbor some 20 years ago. Born into a family of lawyers, you could say that the legal vertical is in our guest’s blood, and he almost went to law school himself.  But destiny had other things in mind: Brendan somewhat accidentally...

"You have to go slow to go fast." Damon Burton, Founder and President of SEO National. It’s not only a catchy saying, it’s true in many facets of building a verticalized business. And who better to dive into the long-tail of agency building than a founder who’s built a seven-figure business over 17 years?  Damon joins the show to recount his founding journey from the beginning, which wasn’t devoid of twists, turns, and even FTC raids (although, it wasn’t his business that got...

“We started to realize that we're going to become the expert at how to use high level, unique, creative, physical goods to deepen relationships, open doors, and 10X referrals.” – John Ruhlin, Co-Founder of Giftology You can’t talk about corporate gifting without John Ruhlin, the Co-Founder of Giftology (and author of the eponymous book), who not only reverse-engineered the idea for his company after seeing gifting strategies take place organically, but actually opted out of med school...

"Everything gets easier once you're a specialist in a vertical, and profitability follows.” – Sasha Berson When it comes to niching down, nothing gives you a lesson like learning from failures and mistakes. And oftentimes, the most successful and inspirational agency leaders are the ones who don’t shy away from sharing what they did not get right the first time around.  Sasha Berson is one of those leaders, and he joins the show for a deeply insightful conversation on what he has learned...

"It was a lot of brute force, cold outreach, going direct to people.” – Sam Shepler What every agency founder knows about starting up shop, is that the reality of growth in the early days comes from simply pounding the pavement, putting in the hours, and hustling your way to success.  Today’s guest, Sam Shepler, did just that when he founded Testimonial Hero, a global video testimonial company that helps B2B SaaS companies close more deals through video testimonials. Founded in 2017, Sam...

"We're a-get-sh*t-done workhorse agency. We're not sitting around wasting a bunch of their money and time on fluff.” – Tim Brown Today’s guest has a no-frills approach to the agency he’s been building for the past seven years.  And you know what? It works.  With 29 employees and on track to driving six million in annual revenue in 2024, Tim Brown’s agency, Hook, is a masterclass in a hyper-verticalized business. Starting out as more of a generalist, Tim first niched down in 2021 to only...

How do you keep serving your vertical when it goes into freefall? Today’s guest not only overcame the challenge during the pandemic, but emerged driving 40% year-over-year growth. Nicole Mahoney, the Founder of Break The Ice Media, tackled the difficulty of scaling by serving her vertical even when facing a dramatic downturn. Break The Ice Media, a company Nicole proudly calls an “un-agency”, serves companies in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors. Today, the agency makes $2...

“It was like the universe was telling me what I needed to do was EOS.” – Justin Mink, a Certified EOS Implementer Today’s guest is Justin Mink, a certified Entrepreneurial Operating System Implementer. In a nutshell, The EOS system is a leadership framework businesses lean on to codify their vision, drive team alignment, and meet goals by using a toolbox of processes.  Justin joins the show to share his fascinating journey into solopreneurship, overcoming health challenges, and how EOS...

“Pick a niche and then find a niche within the niche.” – Adam Turinas, Founder of Healthlaunchpad. Today’s "Vertical-Go-To Market" guest is the Founder and CEO of Healthlaunchpad, a company that specializes in account-based marketing and marketing-as-a-service in the healthcare technology vertical. Adam knows how to keep things niche, and moreover, how to differentiate your offering to a point that your only competitor is the client’s marketing organization itself. Having racked up decades...

“Work on yourself, what got you here is not going to get you there.” – Jeff Spanbauer, Founder of Relevate Health. Today’s guest is the Founder and Chairman of Relevate Health, an eight-figure, nearly two-decade-old agency that serves pharmaceutical and medical device brands.  So, how did he build a thriving, data-driven agency in the pharmaceutical niche?  The usuals: deep vertical expertise, early referrals, and savvy positioning, sure, but what really sets Jeff (and this episode) apart...

"The days of the generalist marketing agency are over."  It’s a provocative take, but hear today’s guest out. Because if anyone knows what they’re talking about, it’s Allan Dib. Allan is the author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, a bestselling book that industry experts call the business bible and a game changer. The Huffington Post named it one of the 10 best marketing books for small business owners, and universities across America use it as a modern-day textbook. And now, we have Allan on...

“Marketing is about to get a lot more fun.” If you ask today’s guest, marketing has been extremely stagnant for the past decade and a half. AI is here to change it all for the better, and more entertaining, too! This episode blasts you into the marketing future with The President of DigitalMarketer, author, and entrepreneur Mark de Grasse. Get ready to crack the code on the three forces shaping tomorrow's marketing landscape: the AI revolution, brand building, and how disruptive...

“We've maintained a vertical focus throughout the 20-year history of the agency, it has been part of the secret of our success.” - Erik Clausen, Managing Partner at CG Life Wondering how to achieve sustained success in a competitive market? Look no further than Erik Clausen, Managing Partner of CG Life, a longstanding life sciences and healthcare communications agency. Erik joins the show to reveal the secrets behind his agency's incredible journey, with a special emphasis on the power of a...

“Marketing really is your greatest sales enablement tool.”  The question is, are you spending enough on marketing to impact growth? How much even IS enough for a digital agency? Luckily for you, today’s guest comes equipped with answers to all of these and so much more.  Meet Jon Morris, Multipreneur, Founder and CEO of EngineBI. He joins the show to bridge the gap between marketing, sales, and consistent agency revenue. His newest venture helps agencies scale their growth through solid...

How do you sell agency services with authority? Now that’s a million-dollar question. Luckily, today’s guest has the answers. Let’s welcome to the show Stephen Woessner, Founder and CEO of Predictive ROI and a bestselling author, to discuss content marketing, agency sales, and so much more. Back to the question; Stephen explains on the show that building niche authority takes a recipe of getting really clear on your vertical, honing in on your point of view, and delivering all of that...

"It's like dating — every conference, every touchpoint, you're building a level of trust that culminates in a powerful, long-term relationship."  If you ask Seth Price, The Founder of BluShark Digital, being a successful verticalized agency is all about relationships by showing up in your industry consistently. That’s the strategy he leaned on when he took an internal marketing team and turned it into a powerhouse that today represents hundreds of law firms.  In this episode, Seth shares a...

“You have no idea how competitive the dental marketing niche is…” We have a feeling that today’s guest, Xaña Winans, Founder of Golden Proportions Marketing, is about to tell us all about the quirks of her niche (and we can’t wait to dive into this vertical!). Xaña is married to a dentist herself, and wanted to support her spouse starting out. Long story short, the agency was founded in Pennsylvania some 23 years ago. Golden Proportions Marketing today employs a team of 23, working with...

“If you think about it, there really is an association for everything.” This was the founding insight for today’s guest, Brad Gillum, who found a niche providing marketing services to membership-based companies and professional associations. Brad’s company, Willow Marketing, has been in business for over thirty years. However, it did not start out offering marketing services.  In fact, his agency originally provided product and sales training for Philips (the technology giant). When the...

Are events the secret sauce to scaling your agency? If you ask SMB Team’s CEO Bill Hauser, events can take you beyond where you even dreamed of. But it’s not easy. In fact, there are only a handful of agencies that have mastered scaling their business through events. SMB Team is an 8 (soon to be 9) figure agency that offers law firms marketing, intake, CFO and business coaching services. He joins the show to break down how his agency leverages events to accelerate its growth. What’s more,...

What’s the key to growing a healthcare niche marketing agency? If you ask today’s guest, Stewart Gandolf, the answer is quite simple. It’s all about deep domain expertise. But simple doesn’t mean easy, and in this episode, we break down just how Stewart built his expertise - and his agency. Founded in 2006, Healthcare Success is a 40-person agency that today works with multi-location healthcare providers from medical specialty to dental offices, as well as health systems providers and...

How do you use relationships to build trust in agency sales?  Let’s bring on today’s guest, Dan Englander, to answer the question. In addition to authoring a book titled Relationship Sales at Scale, Dan is an expert in helping agencies grow through relationships.  He runs Sales Schema, a boutique sales company he founded in 2014, which leans into leveraging relationships to grow trust in the sales process. And, the proof is in the pudding. Firms that use Dan’s relationship-based approach...

Are you ready to learn from a niche agency that quickly went from 0 to 200+ SaaS website design clients? What’s more, Rhami Aboud’s SaaS marketing agency now hits seven figures annually. Businesses flock to Aboud’s agency, Arch Web Design, to reimagine their websites into revenue machines. Typically, their clients see 2-3X growth in website sales after working with Rhami’s ten-person team. How?  A well-optimized website is a game-changer in attracting new users while helping retain...

Can you pivot a niche agency business into consulting? Let’s hear it from Joseph Hughes, an entrepreneur and founder who has successfully built a marketing training company from the legacy of a construction marketing agency he started all the way back in 2013.  After working his way up into the office of his family’s construction business (that has been around for over 100 years), he decided to carve out a path of his own while still staying in the lane his family had built by offering...