Kasim sits down with Nathan Perdriau, Co-Founder and Head of Paid Media at Blue Sense Digital, to discuss the challenges and implications of moving towards a one-click world in digital advertising. They also talk about the phantom recession no one seems to be talking about and their predictions and advice for the future as agency owners.
Listen to this episode to learn more about:
- The shift towards automation
- Understanding KPIs and financial metrics to improve strategy
- Operational issues faced by businesses
- Actions to avoid during this phantom recession
Connect with Nathan Perdriau and Blue Sense Digital here:
Blue Sense Digital website: https://www.bluesensedigital.com.au/
0:00 Intro
0:32 The Move to a One-Click World and How It’s Changing the Agency Space
3:42 How Google maximizes revenue
10:19 Considerations and KPIs for making strategic decisions
17:50 The viability of a business is dependent upon CAC and the issues faced by businesses
24:09 Looking into the future, considering the current economic climate
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it's terrifying in so many ways because,
you know, we're agency owners and media
2
:buyers and one click sounds a whole lot
like hands off, don't touch it, don't
3
:pay your agency, bring it in house.
4
:When we met, but y'all reminded me of me
and John, you guys are like the new me
5
:and John, the younger, Improved versions
sort of, where do we go from here?
6
:And I think John's been talking about
it for a year and a half, which is you
7
:need to be moving out of ROAS to MIRV.
8
:It's Carson with Solutions 8 and
this is your daily Google news.
9
:I'm here with a buddy who I've been
trying to get on the channel for, it's
10
:at least a year, you've been elusive.
11
:it's my buddy Nathan BlueSenseDigital
based out of Australia, which
12
:is a real place I found out.
13
:public school students
were mighty surprised.
14
:I figured it was like, lore and J.
15
:R.
16
:R.
17
:Tolkien, but no, there's a real continent.
18
:You and your partner Sebastian
started BlueSenseDigital how long ago?
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:Three, three and a half years ago now.
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:And since then we had this conversation,
when we had met, but y'all reminded
21
:me of me and John, the younger.
22
:Improved versions.
23
:Cause you're doing all the things
that agencies generally don't do.
24
:You're doing the deep dives.
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:You're kind of at the vanguard.
26
:You're cracking codes
and figuring shit out.
27
:And you just launched
your own YouTube channel.
28
:So for our subscribers that, cause we
get a lot of, well, I wish you guys
29
:would go back to the way things were.
30
:this is the place to go.
31
:This is going to be, my prediction
would be that BlueSenseDigital's,
32
:YouTube channel ends up being
the new solutions eight in terms
33
:of some of the more tactical.
34
:Like, hey, let's actually
dive deep and figure it out.
35
:And that's not to say that you
should stop watching solutions
36
:at YouTube channel, by the way,
because we're still bringing fire.
37
:but we do a lot of, the day to day.
38
:Like, how do you manage Google ads
campaigns on a recurring basis?
39
:That's where we found
our bread and butter is.
40
:And to be honest with you, it
tends to bring in more clients.
41
:the thing that sucked about producing
the content that you produce is.
42
:You get a lot of people they're
almost too smart to sell.
43
:it's a good problem to have
though, because that's where all
44
:of our, really high end clients
came from the content strategy.
45
:So I'm excited for you, man.
46
:and you've got a podcast too, right?
47
:Yeah, we do.
48
:It's it's called, the
blues brother podcast.
49
:And we just talk about e commerce.
50
:That's awesome.
51
:Um, so they're friends of solutions.
52
:Eight, follow the channel,
check out the podcast.
53
:Let's support them.
54
:Uh, finally got you on my channel and,
we're going to be talking about quite a
55
:bit here, but the thing that caught my
attention when you fired off your talking
56
:points is, the move to a one click world.
57
:That is the best clickbait
title I've ever heard.
58
:it's terrifying in so many ways
because know, we're agency owners
59
:and media buyers and one click
sounds a whole lot like hands off.
60
:Don't touch it.
61
:Don't pay your agency, bring it in house.
62
:So tell me more about the one click world
and whether or not agencies survive.
63
:Yeah.
64
:So if you look at the intent of Google
and Facebook, what is their intent?
65
:And that's to maximize revenue and
maximize inventory and the best
66
:way that they can possibly do that.
67
:Is to build towards a one click
world where any advertiser can hop
68
:on the platform, click one button,
launch a campaign, and be spending.
69
:But I think it goes a little bit deeper
than that, which is, if it's a one click
70
:world, anyone can hop on, create a PMAX
in one click, auto generates images,
71
:everything, now you're advertising.
72
:Why wouldn't Google even
out CPAs with gross margins?
73
:So that they can squeeze every brand
as much as possible, because that's
74
:ultimately how Google maximizes Rev.
75
:Is that they take as much of your
gross margin as they can, and
76
:they leave you with just enough.
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:So that you keep spending on the platform.
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:And so I think it's a, dangerous
position that we're moving towards,
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:particularly with Facebook as well,
rolling out advantage plus, which is
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:essentially a completely automated
version of current campaigns.
81
:There's no targeting.
82
:You just drop ads in and it just goes,
and you don't really know what it's doing.
83
:and performance max is similar.
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:You can pull in backend scripts,
you can pull data, but it really is.
85
:Nearly one click, you're dropping in
assets, most of the assets that get
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:served in PMAX are auto generated anyway.
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:It's normally serving DSA,
it's not serving any of the
88
:static titles or descriptions
that you're providing it with.
89
:And so sort of, where do we go from here?
90
:And I think John's been talking about it
for a year, a year and a half, which is
91
:you need to be moving out of ROAS to MIRM.
92
:and I think that's almost becoming the
standard for most agencies and most
93
:people that are looking in platform.
94
:And that sort of comes back to the
one click world as well, which is.
95
:Google wants to attribute as
much revenue as humanly possible
96
:to the platform because they're
incentivized to make you spend more.
97
:And so if you think, Oh, my entire
business is reliant on Google.
98
:I do 150, 000 in rev a month.
99
:And a hundred thousand
of that is from Google.
100
:We can't stop spending.
101
:In fact, we should probably spend more,
but performance max is just going and
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:retargeting all existing customers.
103
:And you do some quick math on the backend
and you find out that you had your
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:Google attributed revenue with Facebook.
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:And it's two X, what your actual PNL is.
106
:And so things don't start to line up.
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:Are you using third
party attribution tools?
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:We are, but, triple well.
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:Oh my goodness.
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:All right.
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:Yeah.
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:I've heard really good things
about triple well, John worked
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:with them for a while, early stage.
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:Yeah.
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:there really any sense in trying
to identify the attribution
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:thread at this point?
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:mean, part of me wants
to just say, screw it.
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:Three buckets, top of funnel performance,
middle of funnel performance,
119
:bottom of funnel performance.
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:And then we're just
measuring cash in cash out.
121
:We're just going more.
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:I'm not even going to attempt to see
on individual transactions where the
123
:thread goes, because it's too hard.
124
:It's too impossible.
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:correct.
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:John Ivanko, who is the co founder
of FormToro, which is pop up forms
127
:on site, collecting zero party data.
128
:He has a quote, which is Attribution.
129
:Is trying to find a customer
journey in a company journey.
130
:And so you'll never end up figuring
out what the customer is doing because
131
:you're just looking at a few companies
and how they're attributing the customer.
132
:And in reality, if we were to sit
back and say, all right, your average
133
:Econ brand or even your average lead
gen brand, how good is attribution
134
:in Google and Facebook out of 100%?
135
:It's probably like 80, maybe 75, maybe 70.
136
:And so how much of a squeeze is
there putting all of your time and
137
:focus going from 70 to 80 or from 80
to 90 when there's a hundred other
138
:bottlenecks in your business and
that's why you're not actually growing.
139
:I think business owners get
really caught up on attribution
140
:and it makes sense, right?
141
:Because as a business owner, you have
your cash flow and you're going, I
142
:want to grow, where do I put it?
143
:Do I put it into Google ads?
144
:Do I put it into Facebook?
145
:Do I put it into my SEO team over here?
146
:Who's saying that they're
driving all the revenue?
147
:Where should I put the cash?
148
:And then everyone's telling
you different numbers.
149
:It doesn't all add up.
150
:And so you're trying to just quickly grow
the business with a single decision, but
151
:you can't because it's all a bit cloudy.
152
:How would you un murky the waters for us?
153
:So I'm a brand, I have
a tax relevant spend.
154
:I have the, paradox of success and I
am I'm doing social and I'm doing paid
155
:and I'm doing search and I'm doing organic
and I'm doing a Little outreach and PR
156
:and direct and all that just media mix.
157
:You're my CMO What decision do we make
now or what do we start looking for?
158
:Like what's the next step?
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:I think firstly, you do look at the
attributed numbers with an assumption
160
:that they are 60 to 70 percent accurate.
161
:and generally speaking, if you
have a good media buyer, you can
162
:tell where people are pathwaying.
163
:There's the basics, Facebook will
normally over attribute on retargeting
164
:if you're doing a lot of Google spend.
165
:If you're doing a lot of Facebook
spend, Google will just scoop up brand
166
:search and look better than it is.
167
:So you need to look one layer deeper
than whatever's being attributed.
168
:And then I would be looking
at Top level CAC or NMR, which
169
:is just Acquisition Merged.
170
:So you're looking at new customer
revenue rather than total revenue.
171
:And then you're making tweaks
on a week to week basis with the
172
:acquisition strategy and seeing how
that impacts your top line numbers.
173
:for example, if you're spending 50 50
on Google and Facebook, And the CMO
174
:has a prediction working with the media
buying agency or whatever it might
175
:be, that if we spend more on Facebook,
we'll see better returns, increase spend
176
:on Facebook for 2 to 3 weeks and just
directly track top line revenue and
177
:try to keep other variables constant.
178
:It's going to be tough to do keeping
variables constant, especially
179
:when you're at a certain scale, but
taking a more holistic view while
180
:also having consideration of the
in platform numbers is going Yeah,
181
:well, I like what you said, too.
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:It's actually, it's not an answer.
183
:It's sequence of tests
that probably never end.
184
:We're not going to make a decision
and then drive hard in that direction.
185
:We're going to start tweaking things so
we know what our knobs and our levers are.
186
:And then we're going to see how
those tweaks impact whatever the
187
:relevant KPI is at the moment, right?
188
:Be it Mer, NCAC, or however, because
I know everybody's measuring success
189
:differently and so should they.
190
:It's really easy for me to say LTV is
the only number that matters, because it
191
:is, but not in a 90 day period, right?
192
:There's no such thing as LTV.
193
:So now it's, hyper dependent
upon the business model too.
194
:And that's the other thing that I
think that we did a really poor
195
:job as educators getting across.
196
:there's no template.
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:There can't because your business is,
So unique and then the approach that
198
:your business needs to take is so unique.
199
:And so even you saying like, Mer
is the only way that we need to
200
:measure and correct me here, if
you think that I'm wrong, Nathan,
201
:but, if I'm zooming out, Mer is.
202
:the golden ratio, but if you're doing
the week over week analysis that
203
:you just referenced, can Murray even
be relevant because it doesn't take
204
:into consideration things like, lag
indicators, people in the pipeline,
205
:it doesn't Murr have to be a longterm.
206
:I mean, at least quarter over quarter,
if not year over year analysis.
207
:Yeah.
208
:what you're saying is that
there's an attribution lag on new
209
:customers as they enter the funnel.
210
:Yeah.
211
:Because if you increase spend really
rapidly, your MER will just drop.
212
:Well, you said that way better than I did.
213
:So, what are the other KPIs that
you recommend businesses look
214
:at as lead indicators for MER?
215
:So, if MER can't, I mean, MER is our gold
standard and we know that for a fact, but
216
:on a long enough timeline, as I'm in the
thick of it and I'm doing the test that
217
:you referenced on a week over week basis,
and I need to make decisions based off of
218
:yield of those tests, what is that yield?
219
:Like, what are the data
points that you're looking at?
220
:It depends if you're rapidly
increasing spend or not, because
221
:you could look at MER if you're
not increasing spend week on week.
222
:And that's what you said
about keeping variables.
223
:Yeah, because then technically that
lag would catch up and then you're
224
:just backfilling into the lag.
225
:Okay.
226
:But I really like looking at CAC these
days over MER and the reason being is that
227
:the best brands to work with end up being
CPG brands, so consumable based brands
228
:that have repeat purchases and have a
strong LTV, in which case CAC just makes
229
:a lot more sense when you can benchmark
towards a 90 day or a 180 day LTV, which
230
:they're targeting, and we know that that
cash flow is going to come off the back of
231
:acquiring a customer for a specific cost.
232
:especially with consumables, the
interesting thing about what I'm seeing
233
:there is, first year shooting fish in
a barrel, but then all you need is one
234
:other competitor to enter that space.
235
:And now people are spending more to
acquire a customer than the customer's
236
:worth the first time, the second
time, the third time, and then,
237
:you kind of have this race to the
bottom, said this to somebody today,
238
:I feel like we're in a traffic
bubble because you used to be
239
:able to self liquidate traffic.
240
:have very few customers that are self
liquidating, especially in the consumable
241
:space because they're all such small
purchases on the front end, generally
242
:speaking, with a few exceptions.
243
:So then it's like, all right, well,
I'm not going to self liquidate,
244
:but I'm going to make money on
the upsell or the order bump.
245
:And then it's like, well, the
upsell on the order bump pays
246
:for my traffic, but I'm going to
make money on the next purchase.
247
:Well, I'm not going to make money
on the next purchase, but my, my
248
:LTV is this and my CAC is that.
249
:So as long as my LTV outpaces my
CAC, You know, it takes me however
250
:long to maintain profitability.
251
:So based on the customers that you're
seeing, do you think we're in a bubble?
252
:Do you think the traffic costs are viable?
253
:Or are we going to see a down
regulation once certain brands realize
254
:this just isn't viable anymore?
255
:big yes.
256
:I tell someone what that used to be.
257
:I cost, they're up enormously.
258
:And I think that particularly last
year, as well as this year, It's the
259
:squeeze that most agencies didn't
expect because COVID was so easy.
260
:it would start a brand, launch a
campaign, make money, full stop.
261
:And then what also ended up happening
was all of these brands did so well.
262
:And there was such explosive
growth through:
263
:22 a little bit, is that everyone
then over inflated their OPEX.
264
:Because there were now
a new revenue level.
265
:So they went, okay, now we need
to hire a marketing manager.
266
:We need to hire this.
267
:We need to hire that.
268
:And then suddenly their
OPEX grew from nothing.
269
:It was just a one person brand.
270
:Now they have seven people on
the team and revenues declined
271
:by 30 percent in the last year.
272
:And so everyone's saying this huge squeeze
and we get clients coming to us all the
273
:time where they'll come and we'll go,
okay, so let's lay out your financials.
274
:What's your target?
275
:And we are, and they'll go, and
you've probably got this before.
276
:And they'll go, 10 and they go,
Oh, actually, no, it might be
277
:14 and you go, well, good luck.
278
:you sell a hundred dollar product.
279
:We're not acquiring customers for 8.
280
:Like it's just not
happening on any platform.
281
:I don't know how you expect
to scale at a 14 mirror.
282
:And they're like, Oh, well we have to,
because we have 80, 000 in OPEX per month.
283
:You know, why do you have 80,
Oh, because it's just there.
284
:It's just on the P& L.
285
:The accountant told us
it's there, so it's there.
286
:start to find a situation where
a majority of brands now aren't
287
:facing really a marketing problem.
288
:It's an operational issue.
289
:even their contribution margin on orders.
290
:So you'll have brands that will
have 30 percent gross margins
291
:on non repeat purchase products.
292
:80, 000.
293
:And you go, how do you expect to have any
allocation towards marketing when you're
294
:only making 30 percent gross, right?
295
:Because 30 percent gross means that if
you want to operate at 15 percent net as a
296
:company, assuming no fixed costs, no OPEX.
297
:You'd have to spend 15 percent
on marketing, which is the
298
:equivalent to about a 6 MER, a
7 MER, and that's with no OPEX.
299
:Right.
300
:how does that operationally make sense
unless you're at a huge scale doing
301
:really 20, 30, 40 million a year?
302
:Yeah, already said this, it's not
accounting for OPEX, but I think what
303
:a lot of people don't realize when
they're playing their Excel file games
304
:is we're all multi millionaires on
Google Sheets, but it doesn't take
305
:into consideration things like returns,
you know, I mean, the econ game.
306
:Is one or lost in some instances
in certain industries, just
307
:on returns, or the fact that
everybody's offering free shipping.
308
:Well, someone pays for that, lot of
these, especially the students that enter
309
:the game, I don't think they're taught
properly the way to look at numbers.
310
:I like what you said that most of
these problems aren't marketing
311
:problems or operations problems.
312
:That also kind of lends itself to
the idea that agencies they're
313
:not media buyers anymore.
314
:They're like business consultants, because
you have to know what you just said.
315
:You'd have to know to look
at how to look at a P& L.
316
:bet you 90 percent of agency owners don't
know how to look at a P& L properly.
317
:So yeah, you'd have to know how to
look at a P& L, how to zero in on
318
:where, you know, where's the inflated
number, really start to pick it apart.
319
:And then it kind of begs an
interesting philosophical question,
320
:which is the viability of a business.
321
:is entirely dependent upon your CAC.
322
:I'm backing into this too, because I'm
having this thought as you and Eric
323
:talking, but right now what everybody
does is they build a business, they
324
:build the assembly line, they build
the product, they build the fulfillment
325
:team, and then they go and they tell guys
like us, all right, we have to have 6X.
326
:We have to have 9x, we have to
have 15x, based off of this.
327
:And really what should happen
is, we should go try to sell
328
:this shit, and come back and say,
okay, you can afford 4x business.
329
:So you gotta go figure out how to
squeeze all of your crap into 4x, and
330
:if you can, you'll make some money.
331
:And if you can't, then don't do this.
332
:But that's not the way that we function.
333
:And we can't sell it
that way either, sadly.
334
:you're spot on.
335
:that's why we particularly, we
started losing, we lost a few clients.
336
:We lost two to three clients and every
time we lose a client, man said, sit
337
:down for a 30 minute meeting and we
just take complete ownership of why the
338
:client left and try to figure out how
we can never have that situation again.
339
:Because if you can fix every time
a client leaves, then eventually
340
:clients will just never leave because
you've patched every single hole.
341
:what we found for three clients in a
row was that even with all the ownership
342
:and responsibility that we could take,
it ended up being operational issues.
343
:One was, overinflated opex.
344
:Their opex was so high from Covid.
345
:They hired, so their revenue
went from 300 to 600.
346
:They went and increased
their staff from two to 15.
347
:Oh, good.
348
:post covid drop, no cutting of staff.
349
:Staff remained the same.
350
:And so their targets got outta control.
351
:Just outrageous.
352
:And we're like, well,
we, we can't hit this.
353
:Another one was a
consumable brand, $60 a OV.
354
:So it's a consumable product
gets a repeat purchase rate.
355
:wow.
356
:Okay.
357
:And so you can't sell a
low AOV consumable product.
358
:If no one's going to
buy the product again.
359
:Well, that also means
no one likes your shit.
360
:Correct.
361
:it's a fun thing to come and tell
your client, like, Hey, we're selling
362
:this and nobody's coming back.
363
:So, yeah.
364
:And so if you're going to run on like
an LTV based business model where
365
:you'd, shift your KPI to, CAC to LTV,
because you know, you're going to be
366
:profitable on second, third purchase.
367
:Yeah.
368
:You need a 2nd, 3rd purchase, and
that is a baseline requirement.
369
:And then, we had another client, and this
is really common, you probably have this
370
:as well, where it's almost a retailer.
371
:They have, they just stock other people's
products,:
372
:what ends up happening is.
373
:We say, okay, we're at a 10, 15,
no, let's start scaling spend.
374
:Oh, we can't, we have no cashflow.
375
:where's your cashflow?
376
:Oh, it's all stuck up in inventory.
377
:And then you go, okay, well, let's,
give us an inventory export of all SKUs.
378
:And let's have a look here.
379
:And then you can start building out Excel
sheets to look at overstock and orders.
380
:And you start to go, wait a second.
381
:They're overstocked by
2 million in inventory.
382
:And this is a 2 million brand.
383
:so their revenue is their
inventory being held right now.
384
:So as they're generating free
cash flow, it's just straight
385
:into inventory and it's gone.
386
:And so, once again, it's an operational
issue, not a marketing issue, is if they
387
:could tighten up their buying and they
could craft offers around overstocked
388
:products and get rid of them, and
even just cut down your SKU count.
389
:Most of the time, you can cut 60
percent of your SKUs and you'll be fine.
390
:It's Pareto's principle, 80
percent of revenue comes from
391
:20 percent of the products.
392
:So, there's all those considerations
that marketing agencies will,
393
:will lose those three clients.
394
:Every marketing agency will lose them.
395
:unless you're a strong financial
operator and you understand operations
396
:within businesses or specifically e
com or whoever you're working with.
397
:Because or else, how do
you retain those clients?
398
:Just within the silos of
Google and Facebook ads.
399
:This is the funny thing about being
an agency owner is at a certain point,
400
:I mean, it used to be, we just ran
the ads and then it was like, well,
401
:run the ads and tell me the numbers.
402
:And it was like, well, run the ads, tell
the numbers and dig into my operations.
403
:had friend He goes, I'm looking
for a marketing agency.
404
:Who's willing to run the ads
performance based and pay the ad spend.
405
:And I'm like, All right,
dude, that, good for you.
406
:he's got a well known brand and everybody
knows who he is, that only goes so far.
407
:I'm like, I want that too.
408
:A B at a certain point, I start
to wonder why do I need you?
409
:And I don't know if you've ever felt
that way, but some of these brands
410
:that I've worked with, I'm like, all
right, we did your top of funnel.
411
:We did your lead acquisition.
412
:We're now helping with your sales
and now we're going to dump into
413
:your fulfillment at a certain point,
you're irrelevant to this process.
414
:And I should just own your business.
415
:And feel that could be the way that
good agencies go is we just start
416
:opening up our own businesses and our
own brands because it's not worth the
417
:lift of trying to bring these other
people with us, especially given
418
:how inept they are at everything.
419
:Hmm.
420
:thought about acquisitions at Tom is.
421
:with a lot of brands now, we're
at the extent where we just
422
:run the whole company, right?
423
:we're looking at overstock.
424
:We're telling them, Hey, these
products are out of stock.
425
:You need to change your buying cycles.
426
:We're looking at contribution margin.
427
:We have their whole P and L in
excels and we're monitoring OPEX.
428
:And we're saying, Hey,
OPEX went up last month.
429
:What did you do?
430
:I went out for a nice dinner.
431
:And we're like, Oh, well, don't think
we should count that within our numbers.
432
:And I think we should back that out.
433
:Right.
434
:it is at the point where it's like,
why don't we just, what's left?
435
:It's customer support.
436
:And.
437
:Product design.
438
:figure that shit out on Fiverr?
439
:Yeah, exactly.
440
:Yeah, it's interesting, right?
441
:Because, the best agencies
will move to that.
442
:And then at that point, do you just
move away from being an agency and
443
:just start becoming an incubator
of businesses and brands under you?
444
:which actually sounds like a lot of fun.
445
:That's maybe my little sad pathetic
dream is I'd love to have an
446
:incubator after I made my exit.
447
:That was kind of the plan is I'm just
going to go and build businesses.
448
:So we'll see.
449
:Maybe that's the new agency model.
450
:Last words to you.
451
:they might be a potential client
that could be an agency owner.
452
:when I sold my business, I had 185 clients
and I have 130 now and we're phenomenal.
453
:And when I do the analysis of who we've
lost, it's exactly what you're saying.
454
:It's topic issues, fulfillment
issues, um, a lot of financial issues.
455
:We've had a few clients
declare bankruptcy.
456
:And yet, if you look outside,
everything seems to be fine, right?
457
:Like all the pundits, all
the, usual suspects in terms
458
:of the barometers look okay.
459
:So I just think this is such a
strange black box that we're in.
460
:Where do you see the next 18 months?
461
:Good question.
462
:I'll reiterate what you said, which is
that most brands are down year on year.
463
:a few brands are up and doing well, I see
over the next 18 months, it's going to be
464
:dark, probably for the next 6 to 12, with
all the things that we've talked about,
465
:right, is that ad costs are going up.
466
:So there's this huge squeeze
on most brands, and we're
467
:Ecom focused on the agency.
468
:That's why I'm always referencing
Ecom, but a lot of businesses
469
:opened in Ecom during COVID.
470
:And a lot of people didn't get to go
through tough times to learn all of the
471
:core fundamental skills that it takes.
472
:To maintain a business.
473
:If you start a business during
a bull rally, what happens
474
:when you go into the recession?
475
:right.
476
:And so all of these businesses are now,
everything's tightening up on the P and L.
477
:And then all it takes is a few
lines to tighten and suddenly
478
:you're negative cash flowing.
479
:And you're going, what's going on?
480
:And the worst thing you could do at this
moment, and this is going to sound bad,
481
:probably coming from us as agency owners.
482
:The worst thing you could do is turn
to your agency and just scream at them.
483
:Because really the only thing that's
going to fix operational issues with
484
:most of these brands is operational
issues is looking internally and
485
:figuring out what's going on and then.
486
:Ideally, yeah, you might want to look
for an agency that is better aligned
487
:with high level business strategy and
is going to look in and consult and help
488
:you outside of the accounts, but it's
really understanding numbers, number one.
489
:and it sounds so obvious, but I'm sure you
talk to business owners every single day.
490
:it would blow people's minds how
many businesses don't know what
491
:their gross margin number is.
492
:Yeah, I think that's the single
biggest need in the, space of
493
:entrepreneurship is financial
services that actually distill the
494
:information in a way that's actionable.
495
:Here's your dashboard.
496
:Green is good.
497
:Red is bad.
498
:You want it to be up to the right.
499
:And if it's not, then we need
to start making decisions.
500
:Nobody knows their per service
or per product margins.
501
:Do you not know that information?
502
:You know what I mean?
503
:Like, how do you not know
what you make on what?
504
:And, what's interesting too, is every
time I'm on the phone with somebody
505
:who we land in this part of the
conversation, they know, they don't know.
506
:You know what I mean?
507
:It's not like a surprise.
508
:They're like, no, no, I know, but on a
long enough timeline, we're making money.
509
:So I guess it's okay.
510
:And I think that's exactly
what you were speaking to.
511
:The rising tide floats all ships.
512
:Money was flowing.
513
:You didn't need to be
sophisticated to make any money.
514
:And so there's a lot of unsophisticated
people in the market and they're
515
:getting annihilated right now.
516
:And I'm watching them drop
like flies and, it'll taper.
517
:And then, you know, what's really
interesting is, the market always
518
:overcorrects cause that's just
the way the pendulum swings.
519
:This is a lot of fun, man.
520
:I really appreciate you hopping on.
521
:I'd love to have you back again.
522
:where can people find you?
523
:We're going to link to your podcast.
524
:If somebody wanted to work with
you, how would they reach out?
525
:you could reach out through our
website, which is bluesensedigital.
526
:com.
527
:au or you can find me on LinkedIn.
528
:Yeah.
529
:We'll drop that in the
description and the show notes.
530
:Do you just do agency services
or do you do consulting?
531
:we do consulting as well.
532
:Yeah.
533
:Okay.
534
:That's great.
535
:Yeah.
536
:that's awesome.
537
:Nathan super appreciate you man.
538
:High five if you're watching
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