The Flexible Agency

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a little fun with his followers on an Instagram video. With a cigar in his mouth, the 70+ year-old appears to be doing the splits, yes the splits, on his kitchen countertop at home… staring straight at the camera¹.

And, a side note, it’s a really large cigar.

He stretches to each side to touch his toes. Impressive.

It probably made most viewers feel bad about the inferior physical shape they may have been in compared to the muscular elder statesman, especially if they didn’t even smoke cigars as he does.

Then, he finishes his routine on camera and steps aside to reveal that the “split” legs on the countertop in front of him are a fake prop, and he wasn’t really that limber. 

Arnold sums it up, however, with an important message:

Flexibility plays an important role in your performance.
If you’re not focusing on that, you will pay the price for it in the long run.

—Arnold Schwarzenegger, paraphrased

Marketing agency owners can’t always be superheroes either. It’s quite enough that they take care of clients and crew, day after day. But they can’t be everything to everybody. However, some sensible level of flexibility certainly helps them be all they can be.

Imagine an owner is at a trade show and meets a new client prospect who asks for help developing a website.

Of course, the agency is going to say “yes” to that work. “We can do that.”

There might even be a full DevOps service offering in-house already or there may be a couple of unicorns on staff who are well-versed, and they’ll work with a web-dev outsource to do the rest. So it’s not uncommon to respond affirmatively and take on the work… even if there’s no web-dev in house.

In fact, it’s less likely that agencies would leave money on the table by saying “no.”

That’s the beauty of flexibility in the agency business. Keep the core: those essential staffers, thought leaders, and unicorns – at the hub of the wheel. It’s that thought leadership and expertise that truly makes the agency what it is. It’s not about being able to write code for a web app. 

It’s about smarts. Industry intelligence. 

And the spokes of the wheel, radiating outward from the core, are those extra-commoditized services and production tasks that can be outsourced as needed. As opportunities arise. Often at less than full-time salaries and benefits would cost. A wholesale, pass-along cost with 100 percent productivity.

It’s core-flex staffing. It’s outsourcing. And it opens up a world of opportunity without opening up a world of overhead.  

Consider These Services as Outsourceable:

• Custom Web Development
• Custom SaaS Development and Management
• Pay-Per-Click
• E-commerce Development
• Graphic Design
• Mobile Applications
• 3D Rendering
• Web Applications
• Integrations and Plugins

Once that agency structure is focused, it can focus on its niche and expertise. And do some very heroic things because it has made itself into a much stronger player while also flexing to take care of additional opportunities.

Focus on your strength, your energy, and your flexibility.

— Jack LaLanne, fitness guru, paraphrased