Press & Media
Mentions in the press + articles and interviews with Karl
As seen in NBC News, Digiday, Entrepreneur, Bureau of Digital, HOW, Convince & Convert, Marketing Land, Spin Sucks, Crain’s, and HubSpot.
Here are articles about Karl Sakas and Sakas & Company. Doing a podcast, article, or book on how to make agencies more profitable and less stressful? We’d be glad to help—please call or email.
When Should Marketing Agencies Make Their First Full-Time Marketing and Sales Hire? 60+ Agency Owners Share Their Tips
Work Backwards To Spring Forward
The Ultimate List of Agency Coaches for 2022
Strategic Client Management
Insiders: How to Reduce Your Agency Budget
Top 15 Creative Professional Experts
7 Magic Words To Stop Scope Creep
Raise Prices at Your Agency with this Step-by-Step Approach
Building your client relationships in a pandemic with Karl Sakas
The Ultimate List of Agency Coaches for 2022
Client Management Lifesavers with Karl Sakas
The Ultimate Guide to Successful Project Management with Karl Sakas
Book Review: “The In-Demand Marketing Agency”
Agency Outlook: Through the Pandemic and Beyond
Going from Mandatory to Optional, and Empowering Your Staff
Agency Operations: Work Less + Earn More with Karl Sakas
Previous Press & Media Mentions

Press Coverage in 2020
- 10 Agency Metrics for Profitability & Growth (AgencyAnalytics, December 2020)
- Accelerate Your Agency in 2021 (SharpSpring, December 2020; affiliate link)
- How to raise your prices (Podia, November 2020)
- Super8 in November (August, November 2020)
- Do you want to Work Less & Earn More? (Digital Mastermind Group podcast, November 2020)
- How to Protect Your Agency From Owner & Employee Burnout (Bureau of Digital, October 2020)
- How Digital Agencies Are Coping Through COVID-19 (Say it Online podcast, October 2020)
- Build Client Trust, via INBOUND 2020 (SmartBug Media, September 2020)
- INBOUND speaker Karl Sakas on Transforming Your Agency (Sprocket Talk podcast, September 2020)
- Leading Your Marketing Agency in Times of Crisis (Martech Masters podcast, September 2020)
- Stop Wearing So Many Hats: 6 Roles to Optimize Your Agency (Get the Balance Right podcast, September 2020)
- Q&A with Rebecca Geier (Authors in Quarantine Getting Cocktails podcast, August 2020)
- COVID-19 Impacts… and What to Do About It (The Verblio Show podcast, August 2020)
- Pixels of the Week (Stéphanie Walter, August 2020)
- Calculate Your Hourly Rate and Get Paid What You’re Worth (Wingspan, July 2020)
- Find and Fix Common Agency Pain Points with Karl Sakas (Digital Agency Insiders podcast, July 2020)
- Sales Advice During COVID-19 – The Great Restart (PIAG, June 2020)
- The First Thing to Sell As-a-Service (Builder’s Sun, June 2020)
- What To Do When There’s More Business Than You Can Handle (Salesforce.com Essentials, June 2020)
- COVID-19 Recovery Timeline for Your Business (The Business As Unusual Show, June 2020)
- Recovery from COVID-19: The Road Ahead (The Morning Kick with Andrew Pitchford, May 2020)
- How to Manage Your Clients and Agency During COVID-19 (HeyOrca!, May 2020)
- Getting the Most Out Of Your Agency During the Coronavirus (The KPI Agency, May 2020)
- Think an RFP Is Your Only Option for Hiring an Agency? Think Again. (POWERSHiFTER, May 2020)
- Best Agency Consultants & Coaches (The Agency Arsenal, May 2020)
- Advertisers signal glimmers of optimism (Search Engine Land, May 2020)
- Staying Afloat: Anti-Crisis Strategy for Your Marketing Agency (Promo Republic, April 2020)
- Agency Experts and Agency Leaders Talk About ‘The New Normal’ (Productive.io, April 2020)
- The 7 biggest disadvantages of working from home (Force 5, April 2020)
- How to Scale Your Agency Safely (Digital Agency Growth Podcast, April 2020)
- 4 Top Agency Coaches’ Unique Takes + 3 Best Marketing Practices in the New Era (Verblio, April 2020)
- How to Quote a Website Project – Design & Development (White Label Agency, April 2020)
- Agency Expert Conversations: Interview with Steve Pockross (Verblio, April 2020)
- Pausing to Discuss Key Agency Insights (Agência GDM, April 2020)
- Client Retention Through Transparency (MediaLink, March 2020)
- Interview: COVID-19 Advice for Agencies (Charging the Agency Frontier podcast, March 2020)
- Looking to Build a Remote Agency? 20+ Agency Owners Weigh In (AgencyAnalytics, February 2020)
- Leaders: 4 Simple Ways You Can Manage Your Time And Engage Your Team (Forbes, February 2020)
- The Agency Satisfaction Index with Karl Sakas (Agency Highway podcast, February 2020)
- How to Create SMART Marketing Goals That Your Team Will Actually Hit (Databox, February 2020)
- How to Grow a Digital Marketing Agency (CustomerThink, January 2020)
Press Coverage in 2019
- Why You Need To Be Valued In Your Client Relationships (Anansi Content, December 2019)
- WordPress PM: Best Practices for Digital Project Managers (White Label Agency, December 2019)
- 7 Reasons You’re Not Winning Your Endgame: Bad Client Relationships (Happy Porch, November 2019)
- Why I’m Wary of White-Label Services (Hackernoon, November 2019)
- Pro Tip: Don’t add new services reactively (Marketing Land, November 2019)
- Here’s how to stay productive — and connected — when you work from home (NBC News, October 2019)
- Q&A: Creating a Marketing Culture of Innovation (Reputation.com, October 2019)
- How do make sure your team is working on the right stuff? (Agency Leadership Podcast, September 2019)
- How Client Management Affects Agency New Business (The Agency New Business Blog, September 2019)
- Raising prices by moving clients to higher-value services (Agency Leadership Podcast, September 2019)
- Who’s Speaking at SMX East? (Search Engine Land, August 2019)
- Collaborating with Competitors (David C. Baker, August 2019)
- How Transparent are Digital Firms & Marketing Agencies? (MarTech Series, August 2019)
- Aligning Leadership with Remote Workers (Involvesoft, July 2019)
- Remote Team Building Tools (Pax & Peace Communications, July 2019)
- Fixing Profit Leaks & Hiring the Right People (Operation Agency Freedom Podcast, June 2019)
- How I Started a Multi-Million Dollar SEO Agency for Lawyers (Starter Story, May 2019)
- When Your Problem Isn’t New Business: Agency Financial Health (The Agency New Business Blog, May 2019)
- Think, Teach, Do: How to Escape the Implementation Black Hole (YouX Podcast, May 2019)
- Become Less ‘Mission Critical’ for More Success (UGURUS Podcast, April 2019)
- How PR Agencies Can Fire Bad Clients Gracefully (Glean, March 2019)
- Are You Building to Sell, or Building to Own? (Agency Profit Podcast, March 2019)
- How to KonMari Your Agency (Spin Sucks, March 2019)
- Q&A with agency advisor Karl Sakas (VOGSY Blog, February 2019)
- How to Escape the Implementation Black Hole (Beers with Max Podcast, January 2019)
- Building Agency Client Project Budgets (Agency Leadership Podcast, January 2019)
- How to Raise Prices for Existing Customers (ConversionXL / CXL, January 2019)
Press Coverage in 2018
- How to Delegate Work in Your Agency (Liston.io Show podcast, December 2018)
- What It Takes to Be a Successful Leader (Speakers’ Spotlight, December 2018)
- 15 Articles About Agency New Business (Duval Partnership, November 2018)
- You’re Worth More Than You Think (The Innovative Agency podcast, November 2018)
- Recap from the inMomentum Conference (inMotionNow, October 2018)
- How to Get Better Buyers by Focusing on Their Problems (Bondsai, October 2018)
- Good Clients, Great Clients, and Perfect Clients (Forbes, October 2018)
- Building Agency New Business with Thought Leadership (Duval Partnership, September 2018)
- How to Close Deals Faster at Your Agency (Databox, September 2018)
- How to Hire an eCommerce Director (Inflow, September 2018)
- 31 Cringeworthy Content Marketing Techniques (CMI, August 2018)
- 4 Agency Growing Pains & How to Avoid Them (Bureau of Digital, July 2018)
- How to select great clients (Workfrom, July 2018)
- Agencies Share Their Biggest Recruiting Challenges (Databox, July 2018)
- Collaborating with Competitors (2Bobs Podcast, June 2018)
- 2 Things Your Agency Needs to Win at New Business (Duval Partnership, June 2018)
- Managing Creative Teams (Kelly Campbell’s THRIVE Podcast, June 2018)
- Getting the Most Out of Your Advertising Agency (Lion’s Share Marketing Podcast, May 2018)
- Becoming a better manager with Karl Sakas (Working Without Pants Podcast, May 2018)
- AMA Award Winners Offer Tips for Excellence (American Marketing Association, April 2018)
- Karl Sakas on moving the needle for creative agencies (Consulting Pipeline Podcast, April 2018)
- As clients bring more in-house, agencies play headhunter roles (Digiday, March 2018)
- If I Knew Then… (Crain’s Raleigh-Durham, March 2018)
- Top 10 Best Digital Agency Coaches 2018 (BloggerLocal, March 2018)
- Your Client Onboarding Process, with Karl Sakas (Mod Girl Marketing, March 2018)
- Improve Marketing Agency Efficiency with These Software Tools (Databox, March 2018)
- 18 must-know things about starting a naming & branding agency (Viable Plans, March 2018)
- Tips to Convert Visitors into Leads (Databox, January 2018)
- 53 Digital Marketers Share Their Top-Performing Posts (Databox, January 2018)
- Marketing Predictions for 2018 (Magnificent Marketing, January 2018)
- How to Make Your Agency’s Clients Thrilled to Work With You (Databox Podcast, January 2018)
Press Coverage in 2017
- Speaking Tips for Agency Leaders (KEY5 Podcast, December 2017)
- Made to Lead: Managing & Leading Digital Teams (Digital PM Podcast, December 2017)
- Best Travel Tips: 21 Travel Hacks from Experienced Business Travelers (Inc., December 2017)
- The Mechanisms of Agency Consulting (fjorgecast Podcast, December 2017)
- Customer Appreciation Without Breaking the Bank (Insureon November 2017)
- The Most Counterintuitive Way to Build Trust, Fast (The Salesman Podcast, November 2017)
- Client Onboarding: The Definitive Guide (Practice Ignition, November 2017)
- Sales Prospecting Tips from the Pros (Fit Small Business, November 2017)
- Highlights from Inbound 2017 (Designzillas, October 2017)
- Inbound 2017 – Armor Goes Outbound to Boston (Armor Techs, October 2017)
- Need New Employees Fast? Consider This Before Going on a Hiring Spree (American Express OPEN Forum, September 2017)
- 7 Expert tips for collaboration between creative agencies & search agencies (Northcutt, September 2017)
- The 19 Influencers You Need To Know Before Attending #CMWorld (Traackr, September 2017)
- How to Build Trust to Win New Business (Accelerate Sales, August 2017)
- Turning Great Ideas into Reality (The Entrepreneur Way, August 2017)
- Get to Know Karl Sakas – Business Therapist (RevolveConf, August 2017)
- High-Growth or Lifestyle: Which is Most Important to You? (Landscape Leadership, August 2017)
- Forty Under 40: Karl Sakas (Alpha Kappa Psi, July 2017)
- 3 Ways Selling Less Helps Your Business Grow More (Entrepreneur, June 2017)
- Advice for new entrepreneurs (Business News Daily, June 2017)
- Use process to overcome human nature (The Sales Whisperer podcast, June 2017)
- 10 essential productivity tips for road warriors (CIO, May 2017)
- The Power of Downselling (Amex OPEN Forum, May 2017)
- Eliminating Growing Pains (The Sales Evangelist podcast, May 2017)
- Should Marketing Agency Owners Play Good Cop or Bad Cop? (NFIB, April 2017)
- The Key to Keeping Clients Happy (Bidsketch, April 2017)
- Clients vs. Financial Health: Are You Making This Common Agency Owner Mistake? (Marketing Agency Insider, April 2017)
- The Challenges App Agencies Face in 2017 (Kumulos, March 2017)
- Better Management in Marketing (Jay Baer’s Social Pros Podcast, March 2017)
- How to Let An Employee Go (Fundera Ledger, March 2017)
- 25 of the Most Inspiring Books Everyone Should Read (Inc., February 2017)
- Stop Scope Creep (Creative Agency Podcast, January 2017)
- Is It Ever OK to Work for Free? (HubSpot Marketing Blog, January 2017)
- Resource Cheat Sheet (Zenman, January 2017)
- Practical Tips for Becoming a Better Leader (Agency Advantage Podcast, January 2017)
- Pocket Guide for Managing Marketing Types & Creatives (Raleigh PR Society, January 2017)
- How profit sharing can help you keep valuable employees (Teamwork, January 2017)
Press Coverage in 2016
- The most-hated buzzwords in the English language (Ragan’s PR Daily, December 2016)
- Why every entrepreneur should write an advance retrospective (Financial Post, December 2016)
- Expert Content Marketing Predictions for 2017 (Magnificent Marketing, December 2016)
- Moving from Firefighting to Strategic Results (BlueBird Strategies, November 2016)
- How to Scale Your Digital Agency (Media Buyer Association podcast, November 2016)
- So You Made a Mistake: 5 Steps to Save the Day and Your Business (Proposify, September 2016)
- Video from “Don’t Just Make the Logo Bigger!” Keynote (Raleigh SEO Meetup, September 2016)
- 12 Digital Agency Experts Share Their Best Agency Profitability Tips (Scale, September 2016)
- Triangle AMA president shares tips to boost business (Triangle Business Journal, August 2016)
- Growing Your Digital Agency (Happy Porch’s Web Agency Podcast, August 2016)
- 80 Ideas to Improve Your Content Marketing (Content Marketing Institute, August 2016)
- Agency Pricing & Financials Report (HubSpot, July 2016)
- The Building Blocks of Engaging Content (Content Marketing Institute, July 2016)
- Recap: Taking Care of Business (AIGA Raleigh, June 2016)
- Video Book Review by Douglas Burdett: The In-Demand Marketing Agency (Amazon, June 2016)
- Victim of Scope Creep? Here’s How to Cut the Creep (Mavenlink, June 2016)
- The Power of Managing Client Expectations (Agency Advantage Podcast, June 2016)
- 9 Marketing Conference Takeaways (IMPACT Branding & Design, June 2016)
- Taking Care of Business: Procedures, Paperwork & Project Management (AIGA Raleigh, May 2016)
- Everybody Wants a Choice (CS3 Technology, May 2016)
- 3 Magic Words to Grow Your Profits from Karl Sakas (IMPACT Branding & Design, May 2016)
- Leading the High Five Conference (Conference Notes podcast, May 2016)
- On the Record: Video interview on client relationships (Clairemont Communications, May 2016)
- The 13 Step Plan to Getting Started with Public Speaking (IMPACT Branding & Design, April 2016)
- Maximizing Your Revenue (Brennan Dunn podcast, March 2016)
- Building Your Agency Dream Team (Inbound Agency Journey podcast, February 2016)
- How to Say No to Your Clients (Clients from Hell podcast, February 2016)
- The Marketer’s Guide to Tracking Analytics (Bluleadz, February 2016)
- Event Marketing Happy Hour (Attended Events, February 2016)
- Creative Collisions Speaker Series (Designbox, January 2016)
- Sales Presentation Tips from the Pros (Fit Small Business, January 2016)
Press Coverage in 2015
- Growing Your Agency Without Growing Pains (Build a Better Agency podcast, December 2015)
- Video interview on improving agency Work Culture (O3 Creative, December 2015)
- 3 Tips for Happier and More Profitable Clients (NAMA, December 2015)
- 42 Sure-Fire Signs That You Have a Brand Awareness Problem (Inc.com, November 2015)
- Thought Leadership: Inbound Marketing Trends (Direct Images Interactive, October 2015)
- Behavioral Questions Mistakes When Interviewing Developers (Stack Overflow, October 2015)
- The Podium is Calling: Thought Leadership for Agency Owners (Agency Management Institute, September 2015)
- Using Speaking to Grow Your Agency (Web Agency Podcast, September 2015)
- Build Your Dream Agency (Inbound Agency Journey podcast, August 2015)
- What I read and how I read it: Karl Sakas (INBOUND blog, August 2015)
- The biggest sales pitch mistakes, and how to avoid them (Docurated, August 2015)
- 7 questions to ask during a web developer interview (Monster.com, August 2015)
- Strengthen Your Client Relationships with Strategic Services (HOW Design Live podcast, July 2015)
- Going from reactive Vendor to strategic Partner (This Week in Marketing, July 2015)
- How to Get It All Done When You Work in Design (AIGA Raleigh, June 2015)
- Interview on selecting a digital marketing agency (O3 Strategies, June 2015)
- INBOUND 2015: 5 Can’t-Miss Sessions for Agency Pros (HubSpot’s Agency Post, May 2015)
- 3 Client Service Roles Your Agency Needs (Agencies Drinking Beer podcast, May 2015)
- Improving Your Digital Agency: Deep Dive with Karl Sakas (I’m Not Marvin, March 2015)
- Creating the Business You Actually Dreamed Of (Web Agency Podcast, March 2015)
- 5 Ways Disorganized Small Businesses Can Affect the Bottom Line (Neat-ol-ogy, March 2015)
- Recap of “Lead Early & Often” talk (High Five Conference, March 2015)
- Podcast interview on client service: AAF Charlotte (AAF Charlotte, February 2015)
- How to Tell Employees You Sold Your Business (NFIB, February 2015)
- 16 New Business Resources to Solve Your Sales Struggles (HubSpot’s Agency Post, February 2015)
- Pre-keynote interview from Hampton Roads AMA (HRAMA, January 2015)
Press Coverage in 2014
- Keynote summary from AAF Jackson (AAF Jackson, November 2014)
- Hire the Best Marketing Agency: Q&A with Agency Firebox’s Karl Sakas (Kuno Creative, Sept. 2014)
- TIMA Tales: A Q&A with Karl Sakas (TIMA, June 2014)
- The Business Side of Marketing Agencies (Digital Agency Resource podcast, May 2014)
- Recap from “Turn Down the Treadmill” training workshop (JLH Marketing, April 2014)
- Professional Perspectives: Karl Sakas (AIGA Raleigh, March 2014)
- Unique Hobbies: Volunteer Bartender on a 1930s Railroad Car (CMR Strategies, January 2014)
- 7 problems that slow down web development (mrc’s Cup of Joe, December 2014)
Press Coverage in 2013
- Member Spotlight: Karl Sakas (AIGA Raleigh, July 2013)