Micro-Agency Launchpad

After a full year of sales calls, I finally figured out the biggest thing holding people back from working with us. It wasn’t the price. It wasn’t the contract length. It wasn’t even the fear of running ads. It was this: They didn’t fully grasp the financial value of what we do. They saw the upfront investment—our fee plus their ad budget—but they weren’t seeing the return on that investment clearly enough. And if people don’t understand the ROI, they hesitate. They overthink. They say, “Let...

For the longest time, I knew I needed to get out of the daily grind of client work. I’d tell myself, “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Work on the business, not in the business.” I’d heard it a million times. I’d even said it a million times (as you all know). But here’s the thing... Knowing it and actually doing it are two very different things. I finally made the jump last September. I fully removed myself from the day-to-day operations of my agency. No more client Slack pings, no more diving deep...

Guys, I’ve been on a lot of sales calls. Probably 100 in the last year thanks to Paperboy. Some of them flowed effortlessly. And others that felt like pushing a boulder uphill. Over time, I realized something: It’s not just what you’re selling—it’s how you talk about it. One wrong phrase, and you can lose trust. One well-placed shift in wording, and suddenly, you’re in control of the conversation. I put together a list of what I believe are the most common phrases that might be killing your...

Guys, I have a confession: I used to be a hustle bro. For the first 5 or so years of my business, I wore my long hours like a badge of honor. Early mornings. Late nights. #NoWeekendsOff. You know the deal, if I wasn’t grinding, I felt like I was falling behind. The logic seemed simple: More hours = more success. But eventually, I realized I wasn’t actually "winning". I was just… working. Turns out, being busy aint the same as making progress. In fact, it’s often the opposite. Cant remember...

When I started my first agency, I was drowning in BS beliefs about success. Looking back, these beliefs held me back FAR more than any external challenge ever did. Here are the 9 biggest lies I told myself —and the truths that set me free 🕊️🕊️🕊️: 1. "I have to hustle 24/7 to succeed" Truth: Hustle gets ya started, but systems, focus, and consistency keep you going. Burnout doesn’t make you a hero, it makes you useless. 2. "I need to have it all figured out." Truth: You don’t need a map, you...

When I started Paperboy, I was in the weeds on just about everything — sales, copywriting, technical, ads, you name it. But since returning from my trip to Europe in September, something miraculous has happened. Truth be told, I haven't been in a client Slack channel more than a handful of times in 6 months. And I gotta say, it feels brilliant to be out of the loop. Every week I hop on our team calls and I sit there. I listen. I drink my coffee. I occasionally chime in when I feel like I have...

These days, just being “great at your craft” isn’t enough anymore. There are a million copywriters, designers, ad buyers, whatever. Your skills? Probably just as good as the next person’s. So…how do you stand out? Expertise. You’ve got to be the expert. But here’s the thing —people mistake expertise for time. Truth is, ya don’t need 20 years in the game to be seen as an expert. You just need to know more than the person you’re selling to. Once you get that, everything gets a whole lot easier....