Hone Your Niche To Enjoy More Growth with Richard Hill

Richard Hill joins Pete Mohr to discuss how to grow your agency through streamlining your niche!

Richard is an Online Business Strategist with over 20 years’ experience running and developing online businesses.

Highly focused, specializing in digital marketing within eCommerce & B2B, working at Senior/Director/Share Holder level, delivering results for eCommerce brands, local, national & international brands with their Online Digital Strategies.

Here are a few things we chat about:

• Offering fewer services and products, and being the true expert, is the key to growth
• Create the “Where have you been?” feeling for your prospect.
• The conscious structuring of your offering
• Assigning and communicating accountability and expectations

You can learn more or contact Richard at the links below:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardhillhq

Website: https://www.ecomone.com/

Email: richard@ecomone.com

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Transcript

Richard Hill: 0:32

Talking about countability. It's quite uncanny, we actually use the attraction methodology which is behind you. Yeah. The ultimate entrepreneurs operating system where you break down your business into 90 Day chunks, and you have what's called rocks. And so you have business rocks. So these will be big, chunky bits. And then within those rocks, you've got tasks. For me, for my managers, for my different members in my team. On a weekly basis, each department discusses those rocks, which is being accountable for the things that are the top level 90 Day targets, you know, we're just coming to the end of the quarter. You know, we have rocks that we've been discussing every week, what normally happens is you agree something today, and then maybe it's not discussed, but 90 days, you come back to it, and 90 days, I had to go, oh, not great. Actually. A little check in most days, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, but that's so awesome. A few things. But then a weekly meeting, you're discussing the rocks, which is making you accountable.

Pete Mohr: 1:31

Are you making every decision in your business may be feeling a little overworked and overwhelmed? Do you ever wish you had someone to go over the big decisions and entrepreneurial choices you had to make? Well, maybe this sounds familiar. Your partner at home doesn't want to hear about business anymore. And your friends don't know what the heck you're talking about. And maybe your team at work well, even though you have an open door policy, they're not always as open as you'd like them to be? Well, there's good news. I have room for two more one on one coaching clients next quarter. And, you know, here's how it works. We'll get together on Zoom either every week, or every second week to discuss the strategies and frameworks that will clarify your thinking and advance your business and entrepreneurial life. It's all about the five P's, your promise your product, your process, your people and your profit. Once they're better aligned, you'll enjoy a better life and business. Remember, you own your business and it shouldn't own you. It's time to reduce the frustrations and increase the freedoms. So if this sounds interesting, go to simplifying entrepreneurship.com forward slash Call to book a freedom call with me and we'll see if we're right fit. Hey, it's Pete and welcome to another edition of the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast. We're here to help you cut through the chaos of running a business and transform your frustrations into freedoms for your life and your business. And today, I had the opportunity to speak with Richard Hill. I was on his podcast a few months ago now. And we really hit it off lots and lots in common as you'll hear in the upcoming or see if you're watching it on YouTube in the upcoming video here. He's going to talk to us today about how he grew his businesses along the way. He's a lifelong entrepreneur like me and how he grew econ one, which is his E commerce marketing agency that he runs now and, you know, go through how to grow a business and how to deep dive into your area of expertise and how that will propel you through really in alignment with my four P's sort of the right product, the right process, the right people to turn the right profit. We're going to dig down into some of those here today, you know, be the expert. And I always liked that sort of idea around if you confuse you lose. And that's one of the things I think came loud and clear. With Richards podcast here today is the fact that very focused on what they do. It aligns the rest of his team, it aligns his clients, and it's allowed them to have a really successful business. So hope you'll enjoy my conversation with Richard Hill. Richard, it's a pleasure to have you here on the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast today.

Richard Hill: 4:21

Thank you so much for having me on. It's an absolute pleasure. And thank you for agreeing to have me on. Yeah,

Pete Mohr: 4:26

I mean, we met each other a month or two ago, back when, when I was a guest on your podcast, had a great chat and said, you know, we've got to do this again.

Richard Hill: 4:34

Yeah, it's fantastic. I think, yeah, it feels like yesterday, but I think it was like episode 65 on my podcast is about three or four months ago. Now time. Time flies.

Pete Mohr: 4:45

It's great to see you again. And you know, I'm excited about our conversation today, Richard, all around sort of how to grow an agency and how to grow a business, you know, it all sort of LinkedIn together. And, you know, some of the stuff we chatted about just before, just some really interesting stuff and good conversation today. So I'll turn it over to you, Richard, you know, if I was just to say it, put it out there without one question. You know, what are some of the key things in growing an agency that you've learned and that you work with through your business?

Richard Hill: 5:16

So I think like a lot of businesses and a lot of different industries, there's a lot of things out there that you can focus on to sell, you know, and offer and there's a lot of things you can do on a day to day basis. So I think firstly, they're my biggest takeaway. I think I've run a business I mean, I I think technically I've never actually had a job other than when I was about 14 and worked in, worked at a supermarket. But after that, obviously School University left university as like, okay. You know, my father had always worked for himself and was almost drummed into me, not literally, but you know, it was like just given rarely that I would work for myself, some of the biggest takeaways for me would be, you're focusing on the things that matter on a day to day basis, you know, and I think that trash transferable, obviously, in a good agency life. But any business, I've had a couple of businesses over the years, really two main ones, one was importing computers and computer components or selling them. And the other one is the agency that we are now at, you know, we're chatting about which we're coming up to our 12th birthday. And the thing is, really, you can sell a lot of different things. So you can sell email marketing, web designer websites, hosting, SEO, PPC, Facebook, and so on, and so on. But if we're honest, anybody listen to this is honest, you know, there's certain things that no doubt they do well, and they're better, and then other things. And that's definitely the case for us. You know, we started as pure SEO agency, but over the years have to admit, we tried different things, you know, but when it comes down to it, we're very good at SEO and PPC. So for us, it was Brian was right, we're gonna focus on these four was for actual areas that are all around SEO and PPC. Bottom line is, forget about the rest work with professionals work with experts that are potential partners, that also opens other revenue streams, because you've got like a referral partner aspect to it, and focus really hard and deep on the areas that you're strong at. And that sort of Revelation, if you like many years ago, was really sort of strong. So you'll be very much focused on the core error. So when you get a prospects, that he's talking to you, it's almost like, Oh, God, where have you been all these time? You know, to us? And so it's all about Yeah, and he very much is, you know, you know, when you speak to somebody that's, you know, they're an E commerce, whereas they're an e commerce Store, doing X amount of revenue, doing a few million pounds a year, few million dollars a year? Yeah, maybe hit a ceiling with there as the maybe having some challenges with the SEO, and then we say, right, okay, you know, and then we'll talk through, you know, that what we offer what we do sort of, obviously, 12 years into it, now, it's just a real good fit. So I would say, you know, absolute big bit of advice would be to find that thing that you're really good at, you know, that deep knowledge and you've got a genuine interest in it, obviously, I think is key, you know, a lot of people end up doing things because maybe financial, I think you do have, you do have to enjoy it, you know, and ultimately get a good down result for the client. So in those areas, we read that next book, we get that next idea, we're off to off, we're gonna we're going to do this, and we're not going to do that. So I think really hone in the service that you have sort of building frameworks around it, that your own framework terminology, even technology tech stack around it. So for us, you know, with our SEO, we have what we call our SEO recipe and that everything stands for an element of SEO, you know, we've built a whole framework around it our PPC framework. So we're thinking about, you know, if you're listening in, in your business, building a framework around your service you're offering, and then you've got different expertise, breaking them down, you know, and it just you just stand out from the crowd, you know, and it's relatively straightforward to do. Whereas I just think people just become almost busy falls doing so many different things that maybe they're not great at if they're honest. But I think also, it's, then I think one of the big things is just being super organized with your time and doing the right things. So you know, now, right, this is the services that we're going to be doing, but on a day to day basis, just have a real structure to those days, and you're doing the right things. And I think you've talked about this quite a few times on quite a few other episodes. But I think it's just so key, that when you get up in the morning, you know what you've got to do, you know, I think you know, too many business people now they steal your rock up in the morning, as long as he's doing that, but we know that there's some tasks over here that are the ones that are really going to move the needle there, whether that's recruiting that's in that next senior person in the business, which means that then a team, I've got somebody to rely on that takes the pressure off you because you're managing too much stuff, or whether that's, you know, quite often business development sales side of the business, you know, that the financial side of things. So just really making sure you're doing the right things at the right time, you know, when you're doing these maybe $1,000 An hour tasks.

Pete Mohr: 9:43

Yeah, I love that. And I mean, when I heard you talk, I mean, we have so many things that are similar in common. I think that's why we get along well together. You know, the one thing I wanted to talk a little bit about and dig a little bit deeper, there was the idea of accountability and sort of the framework. It's one thing when you build these systems and frameworks, but then there's that other sort of idea of who's going to tackle it and who's going to be accountable. Why don't you talk a little bit about that, in the growth of your agency and how you've managed through accountabilities, so that everything's getting done in the way that you need them done to provide the promise to your customer. This episode of the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast is brought to you by SJ utopia.ca. I've launched Utopia now for over 12 years. And we're always looking to ensure our clients look great and feel fantastic. Like when you look in the mirror and you say, Ooh, I look pretty good. And when you close your eyes and you say, Ah, those feel fantastic. That's when you know you've found the perfect pair. Whether you come for visit in person, or visit us online@utopia.ca, our goal is always to make you feel like family and provide an experience, you'll remember, our clients are at the very heart of Utopia, visit us@utopia.ca. Currently, we're only shipping to Canadian addresses.

Richard Hill: 11:13

I think it's just so easy to sort of say we're going to do this, that and the other. And then next thing you know, it's forgotten about or let alone accountable for. So I think there's a few things we do in our agency. So I'll sort of step you through some of the day to day things we do. So just from a, we do a on a Monday, Tuesday or Friday in our business, we do what we call a standup which is we we stand up in the business we don't always stand up now. Because we're we're sort of hybrid remotes are quite often we sat here. And we'll talk about the things that we've done today and the sorry, the things that we did yesterday and the things that we're going to do today. So just a little 510 second discussion with the team or stand up saying today, I'm going to work on this, this, this and this, then tomorrow, when I'm on that meeting, same meeting. Everyone knows that I said today, I'm going to do X Y Zed, and obviously don't want to be the guy that tomorrow says, well, actually, I didn't quite do that, you know, and have that running through the veins of the company that you know, we do what we say we're going to do, you know, we have a, an open Google Calendar within the business so everyone can see everyone's calendar, we know what everyone's working on. So if one of you know how to get an Amish isn't such a project, we can just check Oh, it's in the diary. So we can see it's in the diary. But then we obviously have we use Slack in our business for communicating on all projects. Talking about accountability, it's quite uncanny, we actually use the attraction methodology, which is behind you. Yeah, the ultimate entrepreneurs operating system where you break down your business into 90 Day chunks, and you have what's called rocks, and so you have business rocks, so these will be big, chunky bits. And then within those rocks, you've got tasks, for me, for my managers for my different members in my team. And that's something that on on a weekly basis, each department discusses those rocks, which is being accountable for the things that the top level 90 Day targets, you know, we're just coming to the end of the quarter. So for us now, you know, we've got was it Friday, I think is the end of the month. I think that's right, or Monday, and we will finish our 90 day, you know, we have rocks that we've been discussing every week, because the what normally happens is you agree something today, and then maybe it's not discussed, but 90 days, you come back to it and 90 days, I had to get on with it. And so it's not great actually. Well, if we're checking in a little check in most days, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, but that's awesome. A few things. But then in a weekly meeting, a departmental weekly meeting, you're discussing the rocks, which is making you accountable. So that's a couple of things we do. But over and above that we do a few other things as well. You know, we invest in a business coach in the business. So he's worked with us now for probably coming up to 10 years. Yeah, he come in, he comes in once a month, physically when we can you know, he's back. He's back coming into the office now. And you've worked with our management team. Yeah. And each month again, we say, right, this month, we're gonna focus on x, which will partly be the rocks and a few other subtasks of the rocks. And he's gonna come in in a month, and I don't think there's anything worse than sort of saying, you know, I didn't get that done. Obviously, you got COVID or something that's fair enough. So accountability, you know, I think it really should run through the veins of the company. It's such a key thing. I think, I think reading traction in the US is a

Pete Mohr: 14:24

great book. We've certainly followed a lot of Geno's processes along the way over the years as well. And likewise, we do the quarterly meetings and manage your monthly meeting and weekly meeting. And what we've done recently for our stand ups in our business, is that we're starting to use Voxer. I don't know whether you've ever heard of Vox or not, but it's like a walkie talkie app. And we just Vox our three priorities with the management team every day so that everybody on the channel knows, they just speak their three priorities. And at the same time, they just say, Hey, I got number one. And number two done from yesterday. I'm going to carry this one over to today. And I here's my three priorities for today. So we're all just spending, you know, two seconds or three seconds speaking into our phones on Voxer. Everybody gets the message. Everybody knows where we are for our three prime priority. And we call them prime priorities for the three prime priorities of the day on our management team, and then they have their stand ups within their team. So we've just converted that really in the last month or so to going to a Voxer base one.

Richard Hill: 15:25

I like that a lot. I think that's obviously gives you a bit more return back as well each day, which is great. Yeah, and

Pete Mohr: 15:29

people because it's asynchronous. People can You know, somebody starts their morning at 730. And somebody starts morning at eight. You don't all have to be there exactly at the right time yet at the same time everybody's picking up the message hearing everybody else's and inputting theirs. And and also recapping what they the three were yesterday. So from that perspective, it's like, Okay, I did hit this, this and this, or I got all three yesterday, I got to yesterday, I got one yesterday because something sidetracked us, and we had to take care of that. Then we have our weekly meeting, we do monthlies now, instead of quarterly is we were doing quarterlies, so that we're in a better rhythm than then holding it all out to a full day quarterly. Yeah,

Richard Hill: 16:09

if you're building a business and you sort of 1020 30 Plus, obviously getting that management structure in place, we're getting those new hires. And I think of them, obviously, it's not just about getting those key hires, it's obviously retaining those people and making sure they're buying, obviously, making sure they're part of your vision, the vision piece, making sure they're very aware of the plan, and how their what their, what their part plays, or can play in the plan, they can see their growth in the business. I think, especially in this digital world we're in, it's a lot more transient than, you know, 10 years ago, it's easier to move jobs. And obviously, that doesn't really help any body. Well. You know, I think as a business owner, you know, if you're hiring somebody, obviously, you want them to stay, if you're sharing that vision with them for sure, what the plans are, and they obviously, within that vision, they'll see growth in an area that hopefully, you know, they want to be part of, or growth in, in a department that they can be part of. So I think sharing that vision is really important. And then I think, also, individual appraisals with the individuals, you know, so an appraisal process with an individual with all individuals, obviously, depending on the size of your business, you have whoever's listening, you may not as a business owner, be able to do them all, if you've got 50 people, that's, that's very tricky. Because actually, your managers management, we have a tiered system here, you know, and I like to I do, I do actually sit in all appraisals, and then different managers sit and it is, it's a huge process. But the difference I see doing it is incredible, you're spending, you know, what is about an hour and a half with every single employee every three months, you know, takes a few days to do it. But obviously, then we're really we're really discussing them as individuals, you know, and setting them very specific personal development tasks and investing in them. Whether whether we're buying various courses, or selling them on courses, or whatever it may be, that sometimes it's very specific, but that can be then fed back to the company rock, which is something you're obviously you should be obsessed about. So I think, you know, individual appraisals is really key as well,

Pete Mohr: 18:06

like that, you know, one of the other things, too, that that you mentioned there, that ties it back to the earlier conversation of really focusing on what it is that you do and you know, with your pick your product and know that whatever that services and hone down and be deep in that it allows the person who's coming in to truly know what they're going to be responsible for, and truly know if that's in alignment with what they are looking to do, along with your culture. So it confirms and sort of confirms the fact that if they're coming in, and they're, you know, in s in your case, and SEO specialists, it's like, this is what I truly love. I don't want to do these other things. I love SEO, and I love that the rest of the stuff, then that gives you that sort of longevity and confirmation and all the things around that particular person that's going to come work with you and you know, build your team stronger. Right?

Richard Hill: 18:57

Yeah, absolutely. When you recruit crew, recruiting is obviously another challenge. And if you've got a very specific offer, and you're in that job title, job role, job specification is very specific. Yeah, there's gonna be less people to go out, in theory, you know, depending on your industry, but you know, if somebody sees that job spec, and that exact match, you know, rather than Why are you going to do this, you're gonna be working with these guys, you're gonna be working? No, we're work with these people. And we do this thing, okay. You know, it's very, very specific, or, you know, we can train you in that very specific area, you know, makes hiring a lot more, you know, we've we've recently hired to, in the last month, SEO specialists and, and that sort of a good example, you know, where they, you know, they've sort of found us and it's like, they're almost obsessed to work with us sort of thing. But obviously, you have less people to go out in theory, but when you find them, it's like, oh, my gosh, yeah. When you interview them, you know, it's then very specific skills, very specific interests. Yeah.

Pete Mohr: 19:53

That's great. That's great. Well, thanks so much for spending some time with me. Today, Richard, going through all the ways of how you've grown your business, and really have given I think, our listeners some really good things to think about on the areas that they may need to improve on to and, you know, think about those takeaways that we've just talked about. Lots of great stuff here in today's episode simplifying entrepreneurship podcast, and it was just fantastic to see you again.

Richard Hill: 20:18

Thanks, Pete. I look forward to doing it all again soon.

Pete Mohr: 20:20

It's been a pleasure and we'll talk to you soon.

Richard Hill: 20:22

Thank you. Bye bye.

Pete Mohr: 20:27

Well, thanks for spending some time with us here today and think about how you can apply today's topic. And what you can do to put it in action all around what we were talking about, you know, communicating the vision, deep diving into your product area of knowledge or your service area of knowledge, aligning your people in place all of this stuff to create more clarity and less confusion because as we often talk about clarity creates confidence and confidence ignites momentum. So, really hope you enjoyed the conversation here today. If you liked the podcast, please share it with your friends and subscribe to our simplifying entrepreneurship YouTube channel. I'd love your feedback in the comments section of YouTube and will personally respond to each one. I'm interested to hear about future topics you'd like me to cover or maybe future guests that you'd like to hear from. You can help me out by subscribing to the podcast on Spotify or Apple as well and rating and reviewing this episode on Apple by leaving us up to a five star review. If you liked the podcast and would like to support it, I have a Patreon as well now at patreon.com/pete Mohr where you can support the podcast at whichever level you like. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. The links are in the show notes and until next time, make it a great day

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