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Creative Outcomes

Creative Outcomes

by Upsourced

Management Self-Improvement

Planning Agency Compensation: Raises, Promotions & Profitability

In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Ryan Watson breaks down how agency owners should approach compensation planning for 2027, including raises, promotions, benefits, bonuses, and the impact each decision has on profitability. The big idea: compensation decisions shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. If the average cost of your team increases faster than the realized rate you’re earning from their work, your margins are going to feel it. Ryan walks through how to use cost of living, salary bands, team structure, and your agency’s pricing model to put financial guardrails around what can otherwise feel like a subjective exercise. In this episode: - How to think about raises vs. promotions - Why cost of living can be a useful starting point for annual raises - How compensation increases affect gross margin - Why your team’s seniority mix matters - How promotions can change your agency’s leverage model - What needs to happen to rates when people costs increase - How bonuses, benefits, and incentives fit into the equation If you’re starting your 2027 annual planning, this is one piece of the model you don’t want to overlook. Subscribe for more financial and operational insights for growing creative and digital agencies. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Annual Planning & Your Biggest Expense 2:22 — Raises vs. Promotions 4:51 — Connecting Compensation to Agency Profitability 7:43 — Using Cost of Living to Plan Raises 8:26 — Promotions, Salary Bands & Market Data 10:08 — How Promotions Change Your Team Structure 12:34 — When Higher Compensation Requires Higher Rates 14:13 — Benefits, Bonuses & Total Compensation

The Hidden Risk in Your Revenue Forecast

Most agency owners assume that more new business is always better. But what if relying too heavily on new clients is actually increasing the risk in your business? In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Craig Baldwin walks through a practical revenue planning framework and explains why agencies that depend too heavily on net-new sales often create unnecessary volatility. From client retention and account growth to sales forecasting and marketing investment, Craig shares how to evaluate your revenue mix and why 20% net new revenue is a healthy benchmark for most agencies. If you're planning for the next quarter, or next year, this episode will help you think differently about where your growth should come from. In this episode: - Why new business is your riskiest source of revenue - The difference between growth and replacing churn - Why account growth is often easier than finding new logos - The 20% net-new revenue guideline - How much agencies should invest in sales and marketing - A practical framework for building a healthier revenue forecast If you're trying to build a more predictable, profitable agency, this conversation is worth adding to your planning process. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Why relying on new business can become a problem 02:00 Different agency models require different growth strategies 08:15 The 20% rule for healthy revenue planning 13:40 Why new business is the riskiest revenue in your forecast 18:20 Evaluating revenue through a risk lens 21:15 How much should agencies spend on sales & marketing? 24:15 The questions every agency should ask about its revenue mix For more, subscribe to our channel!

How to Build an Agency That Lasts 20+ Years

Growing an agency shouldn't leave you exhausted. In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Craig Baldwin sits down with Shannon Gabor, Founder & CEO of Clever Creative, to talk about what it really takes to build an agency that lasts. After more than 20 years in business, Shannon shares why relationships, not transactions, have been the foundation of Clever's growth, how creativity is just another form of problem solving, and why sustainable growth comes from building better systems, stronger teams, and genuine human connection. They also discuss what solo founders often struggle with, the importance of self-awareness in leadership, and why Shannon chose a collaborative agency model over a traditional acquisition as Clever enters its next chapter with Punch. Whether you're trying to scale your agency, become a better leader, or simply build a business that's energizing instead of draining, this conversation is full of practical wisdom. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe for more conversations with agency founders and operators on building healthier, more profitable agencies. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction & Meet Shannon Gabbor 02:00 Building Clever Creative & Early Career 08:30 Why Relationships Drive Long-Term Growth 17:30 Creativity as a Competitive Advantage 22:40 Growth Should Create Energy, Not Exhaustion 25:20 Self-Awareness, Leadership & Building Better Teams 31:00 The Reality of Being a Solo Founder 36:30 Clever's Next Chapter: Joining Punch 42:00 Final Lessons for Agency Owners

The Growth Strategy That Increases Agency Value

How do agency owners build sustainable growth without relying solely on referrals, luck, or an ever-expanding network? In this episode, Craig Baldwin sits down with Eric Brown, co-founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears (BST), to discuss what it really takes to create a predictable growth engine for an agency. Eric shares lessons from working with independent agencies, why most firms struggle with growth operations, and how leaders can build systems that generate consistent opportunities while increasing enterprise value. The conversation dives into growth strategy, pipeline development, positioning, agency profitability, relationship activation, and the role AI can play in supporting agency operations. Whether you're looking to scale, improve margins, prepare for a future exit, or simply create a more predictable business, this episode is packed with practical insights for agency leaders. Subscribe to our channel for more agency growth insights! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction & Meet Eric Brown 00:54 What Blood, Sweat & Tears Does 03:30 Growth, Enterprise Value & Agency Valuation 08:03 Why Agencies Struggle to Grow Sustainably 12:41 Building a Growth Strategy That Actually Works 17:15 How Much Agencies Should Invest in Growth 21:13 Working On the Business vs. In the Business 23:40 Why One Sales Hire Usually Isn’t Enough 27:47 Growth Operations, Pitching & Marketing Alignment 30:47 Relationship Activation & Business Development 35:23 The Blood, Sweat & Tears Framework 37:33 What Agencies Are Usually Missing 39:50 Fractional Growth Support vs. Internal Teams 41:19 Practical AI Advice for Agency Owners 45:06 Final Takeaways & Closing Thoughts

How Agency Leaders Can Escape the Day-to-Day and Scale Smarter

Many agency founders hit a growth ceiling because they're trapped in the day-to-day. In this episode, Craig Baldwin, Partner at Upsourced, sits down with agency operations consultant Michael Dupuis to discuss what it really takes to scale an agency - from founder delegation and organizational design to forecasting revenue and building operational systems that improve profitability. Michael shares lessons learned from growing agencies, how to structure teams as you scale, why traditional KPI-based forecasting often fails, and a practical framework for improving proposal win rates. What You'll Learn: ✅ How founders can step out of daily operations ✅ The biggest challenges agencies face at 20-50 employees ✅ Building organizational structures that scale ✅ Forecasting revenue using win-rate analysis ✅ Why most agencies misuse KPIs ✅ How operations drives profitability ✅ Creating processes people actually follow Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction & Michael's Agency Background 02:00 – From Developer to Project Manager to COO 04:00 – Helping Founders Escape the Day-to-Day 08:00 – Organizational Design for Growing Agencies 11:00 – Challenges Scaling from 20 to 50+ Employees 14:00 – Revenue Forecasting & Agency Growth Planning 18:00 – Why KPI-Based Forecasting Often Fails 21:00 – A Better Approach to Win Rate Forecasting 25:00 – Expected Wins, Even Opportunities & Long Shots 29:00 – Improving Proposal Success Rates 31:00 – Why Operations Owns Profitability 33:00 – Building Systems Teams Actually Use 35:00 – Final Thoughts For more insights, subscribe to our channel!

How Smart Agencies Stay Profitable as They Grow

Most agency owners assume bigger agencies should be more profitable, but the data says otherwise. In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Ryan Watson breaks down insights from Upsourced’s annual Creative Agency Benchmarking Report, built from financial data across 80 agencies across the U.S. The surprising takeaway? As agencies grow past ~25 employees and into the $3M-$5M range, profitability often declines instead of improving. Ryan explains: - Why realized rates and project margins collapse as agencies scale - The “grow mode inflection point” agencies hit around $3M–$5M - Why larger teams create operational bottlenecks - The leadership structure agencies actually need to scale - When to introduce people managers, directors, and department leaders - Why agencies overhire in G&A and underinvest in service leadership - How to “shrink the organization” to scale effectively If you’re running or scaling a creative, marketing, branding, or digital agency, this episode will help you avoid one of the most common (and expensive) growth traps. Subscribe for more agency insights! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Intro & What the Agency Benchmarking Data Revealed 02:00 — Why Agencies Become Less Profitable as They Grow 03:30 — The $3M–$5M Agency Inflection Point 05:30 — The First Leadership Shift: Introducing People Managers 08:00 — Building a Sustainable Team Structure 11:30 — When Agencies Need Directors & Department Leadership 14:00 — Why Scaling Starts to Feel Hard 16:30 — The “Shrink the Organization” Framework 20:00 — Sales & Marketing Mistakes Agencies Make 23:30 — Why Agencies Overhire Overhead Roles 27:00 — Financial Benchmarks & Final Takeaways

The Readiness Test Every Agency Should Pass Before Growing

Are you actually ready to grow, or just growing too fast? From operational strain to leadership bottlenecks, we explore what happens when agencies scale before they’re truly prepared and how to recognize the difference between healthy growth and avoidable chaos. If you're in a season of growth (or thinking about it), this conversation will help you pressure-test where you really stand. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro & framing: growth vs. readiness 03:00 – Signs your agency is growing too fast 08:00 – Why more revenue can create more problems 14:00 – The operational cracks that show up first 20:00 – Client experience under pressure 26:00 – When leadership becomes the bottleneck 31:00 – Systems, structure, and what “ready to scale” actually means 36:00 – The “pirate ship to navy” transition 40:00 – How to evaluate if you're truly ready for growth 43:00 – Final thoughts & takeaways If your agency feels stretched, reactive, or constantly catching up, this episode will resonate. with you. Subscribe to our channel for more insights!

What It Takes to Build a Sellable Agency and Lessons Learned

Most people think building an agency is about growth, but it’s about building something that actually works without you. In this episode, Craig Baldwin (Partner, Upsourced) and Albert Banks (Principal, Apertus) break down: - What it really takes to build a sellable agency - The biggest mistakes founders make when scaling - Why most agencies never reach a real exit - Lessons from building and selling an agency If you're building, scaling, or thinking about an exit, this is a great listen for you! Subscribe to our channel for more agency insights! TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Intro 1:10 – Starting the first agency 4:30 – Early growth & lessons learned 8:15 – What actually drives scale 12:40 – The biggest mistakes founders make 17:20 – What makes a business sellable 21:10 – The exit experience (what surprised Albert) 25:00 – Advice for agency owners today 28:30 – Final thoughts

How to Build a Revenue Engine That Doesn’t Depend on You

Most agencies don’t have a growth problem… they have a consistency problem. In this episode of the Creative Outcomes Podcast, Craig Baldwin, Partner at Upsourced, sits down with Danielle Fauteaux (Getting Momentum) to break down what actually drives sustainable agency growth - and why most founders get it wrong. If you’ve ever felt like growth comes in waves, depends too much on you, or feels like something you “fix” and move on from, this conversation will challenge that thinking. They dive into: - Why growth is not a one-time problem to solve - How to turn revenue into a team-wide responsibility - The 5 pillars of a scalable growth system - Why most agencies rely too heavily on founders for sales - How to use scorecards to drive a consistent pipeline - The mindset shifts holding agencies back from scaling This isn’t about hacks or quick wins. It’s about building a system that compounds over time. If you run or lead an agency, this is a must-watch. — 📌 Connect with Danielle: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-fauteaux/ Website: https://gettingmomentum.com/blog/video-operationalizing-client-acquisition-retention/ For more insights, subscribe to our channel! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Why agency growth is harder than it looks 02:13 – The biggest mistake: treating growth like a one-time fix 04:08 – Growth is a system, not a moment 06:22 – Why revenue shouldn’t sit on one person 07:12 – The 5 pillars of a scalable growth engine 12:25 – Inputs vs outputs: how scorecards actually drive growth 15:41 – Why most growth efforts fail (and what to change) 21:03 – The long game: relationships over quick wins 25:32 – The mindset traps holding agencies back 26:19 – Treat your agency like your most important client 27:36 – “No one cares what I have to say” (and why that’s wrong) 33:35 – Nice vs kind leadership (and why it matters for growth) 34:44 – Choosing your hard: consistency vs chaos 36:06 – The 80/20 of sustainable growth 37:32 – Where to find Danielle + how to work together

The Margin Triangle: How Profitable Agencies Actually Manage Gross Margin

In this episode, Ryan Watson (founding partner at Upsourced) breaks down the Margin Triangle, a framework used to help 7- and 8-figure agencies build predictable profitability. Most agency owners focus on revenue growth, but revenue alone doesn’t guarantee profit. The real driver of agency profitability is gross margin, and understanding the mechanics behind it can completely change how you run your business. Inside this episode you'll learn: • Why gross margin is the most important financial metric in an agency • How to calculate Agency Gross Income (AGI) correctly • The two levers that control profitability in every agency • Why most agencies have a project margin problem or a utilization problem • What healthy agencies target for gross margin, project margin, and utilization Ryan also explains how these numbers work together mathematically and why managing them is an ongoing operational discipline, not a one-time fix. If you're running a marketing, creative, or digital agency and want to build a repeatable, sustainable, profitable business, this framework is essential. Key Targets Discussed • Healthy Agency Gross Margin: 45–55% • Target Project Margin: ~65% • Typical Service Team Utilization: ~70% blended Together, these form the Margin Triangle, the core framework Upsourced uses with agency clients. For more insights, subscribe to our channel! TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Why agency profitability starts with gross margin 01:50 How to calculate gross margin in an agency 05:19 The Margin Triangle: the 2 levers that drive profit 08:03 Project margin: what it is and how to improve it 13:01 Utilization: what counts and how to measure it 18:23 The target numbers for a healthy agency 19:49 Why managing margin is a continual exercise 21:21 Final takeaway: conquer the margin triangle

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