Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in advertising services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with John Bertino, Founder, and CEO of The Agency Guide, located in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
The Agency Guide, or "TAG," is a unique marketing consultancy that matchmakes brands with vetted marketing agencies for free. Throughout our matchmaking process, TAG provides pro bono marketing consulting from seasoned marketers, each with a minimum of 10+ years of experience. Our proprietary matchmaking methodology ensures brands invest in the right marketing channels, with the right expectations, and with the right partners with the least amount of stress and aggravation.
Tell us about yourself
Throughout my early life, people regularly told me I would do well with a career in sales. But, like so many others, I hated the idea of sales or at least the prevailing stereotype of a salesman who convinces people to do things they really don't want to do through a combination of slick speech and mind manipulation. No thanks! Alas, young, desperate, and trying to find my way in the world, I eventually tried it out. I found that as long as I was being genuine and providing honest advice that came from my heart, I actually liked it quite a bit. After all, who doesn't like showing off what they know best for the benefit of others?!
But there was one big problem - quota! Having expectations around how much I needed to sell, to who, and over a specific period of time created scenarios I hated. It essentially forced me to deviate from the path of only recommending what I genuinely felt was best. This created an intolerable situation for me; I simply couldn't live with it. But what if instead of representing one agency with one methodology, I could essentially represent a whole universe of marketing agencies? What if I could provide truly unbiased advice based on a brand's unique circumstances without anyone or anything preventing me from altering my opinion? What if I had the flexibility to plug in any solution provider I wanted to help the brand meet its budgetary requirements? And what if I didn't always need to be the expert on everything but could instead have a team of subject matter experts around me? The solution presented itself to me. The solution was what TAG is today!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is really an ongoing effort, and that is managing a lot of very successful people in such a way that it provides a harmonious, value-added experience to the brands we work with at TAG. More specifically, TAG consists of a team of five very experienced marketers representing just over two hundred very experienced agencies. You could think of it a bit like managing the ultimate marketing all-star team. All of this collective experience comes with a great deal of passion, swagger, and conviction, which can sometimes be difficult to reign in. Finding a way to make it all work requires great flexibility, finesse, and a solid understanding of human behavioral psychology.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
There are many things about being a business owner that make it difficult. Choosing just one is perhaps impossible. A very high degree of mental toughness and personal fortitude are undoubtedly requirements for the job. To be successful, one must be able to withstand the constant ebbs and flows of success, which can include lengthy, sustained periods without any gratification. It's mission-critical to stay emotionally balanced in good times and bad. The key is to focus on the things you can control, fail fast and learn from mistakes.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
In addition to emotional moderation...
Learning to delegate is critical. It's cliche to say it, but it's incredibly important. Here's the underreported truth: having other people do your work for you isn't the hard part. That's easy! Who doesn't want that? The hard part is (a) giving away those profits you just made to pay for someone else's time (there's that whole delayed gratification thing again) and (b) taking time away from running your business to create a standard operating procedure, training videos, and (painfully) spending time teaching someone to do what you do, half as good as you, versus just doing it yourself. It's only natural to do the math in your head and realize it's now taking two or three times as long to get the same output. But stick with it! Once you truly replace yourself on a resource-sucking task, it will be worth its weight in gold.
Lastly, I'm a huge believer in continuous learning. Again, it's cliche to say it and trendy to tout. But those actually doing it know that forever being a student of your personal and professional development is the key to unlocking realities you never thought were possible. To be a 'forever student" requires a great deal of humility, intellectual honesty, and the ability to be coachable. It may sound easy, but very few can regularly put their ego aside and invest the time required to learn new skills and behaviors. Many entrepreneurs are type-A personalities with a lot of ego behind their craft. I'd implore all entrepreneurs to put aside their role as experts and consistently assume the role of a student.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.theagencyguide.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgencyGuideHQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agencyguidehq/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/agencyguidehq
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agency-guide/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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