Agencies Drinking Beer

Why It's Critical to Nurture Youth Entrepreneurship

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Luke Aikman, CEO of Nudge Digital, a web design development agency specializing in Drupal based in Bristol, UK

Listen

Should Agencies Respond to RFPs? A Not So Presidential Debate.

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle have a friendly debate with Flynt Johnson of Gravitate, a digital agency based in Vancouver, Washington.

Listen

Managing Bugs, QA, and Client Expectations: The Sifter Story

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer Kevin and Kyle chat with Garrett Dimon, founder of the bug tracker app, Sifter, and author of Starting + Sustaining. We’ve been HUGE longtime fans of Sifter so were super excited to talk with Garrett. He shares how he came to develop Sifter, the challenges of developing a product, and the best ways to deal with the client/bug relationship. Hint: Managing expectations, frequent iterations, and investing in the release process.

Listen

The Secret to a Successful Partnership (and How to Keep Yourself Protected)

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin, Kyle, and Jennifer interview Renée Warren, CEO and Founder of Onboardly. Onboardly is a marketing agency for tech startups based in Moncton, New Brunswick on Canada's east coast. Recently Reneé's co-founder left Onboardly to pursue other interests so she talks about the components of a good partnership, how to protect yourself if the situation changes, and how she managed the transition.

Listen

Designing For Travel and Tourism Clients

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer Kevin and Kyle chat with Jamie Gerrard, Director of User Experience at VERB, a digital marketing agency specializing in the the travel and tourism industry. VERB provides destinations, hotels, resorts, cruise lines, and tourism companies around the world with interactive marketing solutions. Jamie talks about how VERB has focused on the travel niche since day one, their work to provide an experience that satisfies the wants and needs of the consumer while still meeting the business goals of their clients, and the importance of UX design in travel and tourism sites.

Listen

Connecting Your SaaS Tools To Automate And Maximize Your Efficiency

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Keegan Sard, co-founder of Simplegration based in Brisbane, Australia. You might call Keegan and his team “SaaS connoisseurs”. They work closely with startups and SMBs to assess their business pain points and then recommend SaaS products to solve those problems quickly and cost-effectively. Make sure you have a pen handy while you’re listening to this interview as Keegan talks about some of the best SaaS products he’s found on the market. You might just discover a solution to improve your business.

Listen

Can Agencies Raise Venture Capital For Side Startups?

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle chat with Rob Barbara of Build Ventures based in Halifax on Canada’s east coast (also home to Proposify). As a venture capitalist who invests in early stage companies, Rob explains what he looks for when choosing a startup to invest in and what agencies who are thinking of developing a product need to do to attract venture capital interest. Rob also talks about the power of bootstrapping and dispels the myth of the pompous, intimidating, greedy VC. Plus, listen to find out why Kyle will never let Kevin book his travel plans again.

Listen

Do Friends Make Good Employees? We Think So.

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle chat with their friend, and Proposify’s marketing manager, Jennifer Faulkner. Kevin, Kyle, and Jen have been friends and colleagues for about 10 years, and while there are lots of people who say you shouldn’t hire your friends, this trio thinks it’s an advantage. And they have the track record to prove it. Bonus: why every office should have a bell.

Listen

How to Keep Your Team Up-to-Date on Marketing Best Practices

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer Kevin and Kyle interview Robert Olkinuora of Lojaali Group based in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland. Lojaali and its Helsinki office of Loyaltic specialize in digital promotions and loyalty programs for fast moving consumer goods companies like Coke and Chiquita. Robert talks about how, in order to stay one step ahead of the competition and your clients, it’s critical to always be learning as a team, how management needs to build a system to make that learning happen, and why passion is at the top of his hiring qualifications. “Lots of people don’t keep learning and it’s easy to be average in this industry. It’s OK to not be a real professional,” says Robert.

Listen

Branding For Early-Stage Companies

This week on Agencies Drinking Beer, Kevin and Kyle interview Brian Willse, Mark Nead, and Megan Conway of Boondock Walker, a branding agency based in Cleveland, Ohio. Brian, Mark, and Megan talk about how they use the power of brand to help early-stage businesses seek investment, launch their companies, and establish a message that resonates with their target audience. You’ll also learn about the benefits of focusing on a niche market, and how Megan “knows stuff.”

Listen