01 - Tip
What to ask every marketing agency before you sign anything
One question that filters out 90% of agencies:
"Do they run their own businesses?"
If not, why would you listen to them?
If someone has never risked their own money on an ad, never watched a campaign fail, never had to explain why revenue fell short - what gives them the right to tell you how to grow your business?
Most agencies sell theory. Borrowed frameworks, never tested with anything at stake. Then they send the invoice.
The follow-up question:
Can they show you a failure?
Anyone can show a case study. Just pick your best client's best month. But an agency that can show a failure, explain what went wrong, and what they learned — that's an agency actually doing the work.
Anyone who's never made a mistake is either lying or hasn't really tried anything.