AL EP 1: John Hessler – Why it is Important to Build Alliances with Agency Owners

Show Notes

John Hessler is the owner and founder of Fat Penguin Marketing, a full-service agency that partners with small businesses across the nation. With a natural talent for marketing, creative services, and strategic solutions, John has extensive experience in corporate management, professional music, graphic design, web development, IT, and more. Since starting the agency as a side hustle in 2012, John has led an amazing team of creatives and helped small businesses develop marketing strategies that grow their businesses. Fat Penguin Marketing is dedicated to being the virtual marketing department for small businesses, doing what they do best, so each business can do only what they do best.

Special Deal for Leverage for Growth Podcast Listeners: Get $100 off your advertising or web development project at Fat Penguin Marketing. Just let John know you listened to this episode!  https://fatpenguin.marketing

Connect with John and Fat Penguin Marketing on social media!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwhessler/
https://www.facebook.com/fatpenguinmarketing
https://www.linkedin.com/company/fatpenguinmarketing/

Episode Transcript

00:00:00:00 – 00:00:32:22

Hey, everybody, this is Jessie Michael Moore, agency and transformation coach and founder of Mission Control. Creator of leverage for growth and I’m Lucas James, founder of Twist Attire, which scaled from 0 to $200,000 a month with my own agency. We are the host of leverage for growth, podcast agency leverage and Episodes. We know that in order to scale your agency successfully, there are multiple shifts that need to happen within the founders mindsets, skill sets, and leadership styles.

00:00:32:24 – 00:01:01:21

We are on a mission to interview marketing and PR agency owners on their journey to six, seven and eight figures and leverage the lessons from their journey to save you time, energy and money. In order for you to get your agency to the next level. If you find value in these episodes, watch the case study video to learn more about leverage growth and how we successfully scale agencies quickly at Niche in Control Decomp case study at Niche in Control Accommodation.

00:01:01:23 – 00:01:20:28

You are now listening to leverage for growth. Hey everybody, this is Jesse Gilmore, founder of Niche in Control and creator of leverage for growth. Welcome to the agency Leverage Edition. Today I’m here with John Hessler, founder of Fat Penguin Marketing, with a digital agency in Pennsylvania. thanks for coming on to our show today. Thank you so much for having me.

00:01:20:28 – 00:01:39:16

Jesse, it’s an honor to be here and and talk to this great audience. Awesome. Awesome. can you tell us a little bit about the history and background of your agency? Yeah, I’d love to. so to give a little bit of a background, we started this almost 11 years ago. I came from a corporate background, and,

00:01:39:22 – 00:02:06:02

And I wasn’t loving it. I was doing well in it, but didn’t love what it was. And, and I took some time to go back and get my marketing degree. I come from a marketing background. My father ran a big agency when I was growing up in the 80s and mid 90s. And, so I’ve always swum in those waters of marketing relationships, learning how to lead a client into visualizing their future and guiding them toward it through tools that are offered by the business.

00:02:06:05 – 00:02:26:17

And so since that was kind of baked into my DNA, I started offering services because I had demand some people knew some of the skills I had, mostly in the creative marketing space. And so I would take those, do one off services and got a little side cash for my family in the meantime. Well, that turned into a referral tornado.

00:02:26:17 – 00:02:55:27

That was wonderful. And, became a huge pipeline of business into Fat Penguin marketing, and it quickly turned into a part time and a heavy part time at that business. at that time, I was then actually working for a large church, working for their campus, doing all sorts of work internationally, with lots of cultures, probably 3 to 6 countries a year, coaching missionaries on strategy and culture adaptation and using my marketing skills, to help them.

00:02:55:27 – 00:03:16:04

I was creating videos, I was doing graphic design, I was doing, landing pages for them, doing all sorts of things for their ministries and they themselves as individuals. And so I was doing it in that nonprofit space in the church world, internationally. I was doing it for profit, at home as a side hustle, and things just kept surging forward.

00:03:16:06 – 00:03:31:14

And so back in 2018, my wife and I said, we got to choose what we’re going to do here. Are we going to build the business because we were turning down clients, or are we going to, you know, stay on this other track and be an employee? And so it took a lot of, I would say guts.

00:03:31:14 – 00:03:49:17

I think I earned guts along the way. But it took that hard decision that risk taking, dealing with the fears of providing for my family properly. And, and I had money coming in, so it was a measured risk, but there was a leap that was taken. And so we took it. And, here we are full time.

00:03:49:17 – 00:04:11:28

It’s 2023 now. We have a large book of business, mostly small businesses, and the reason I think people really grab on to Fat Penguin marketing is I’m not just a a nerd behind a computer screen offering services. I like to have a personal connection with each person, and that turns into amazing referrals. I’m always in the networking space in Pennsylvania.

00:04:11:28 – 00:04:41:06

I have some clients all around the country. but Pennsylvania is my largest hub, of course. And, we are just very thankful for all that’s come our way and serving our clients so well. Our business right now is actually two w-2s. It’s my wife and I, but we run with a large team of vendors of various people that we 1099 is our contractors in the different creative spaces of marketing, and I vet them because I’ve done all of those things myself at a professional level.

00:04:41:06 – 00:05:07:03

So I know what I’m looking for. And each person I partner with. And that has allowed us to scale the business and take on more clients. And for me to lean into what I think I’m doing best. And my clients seem to like me for, which is helping them with their marketing strategy and being that person that they can call about anything, whether it’s a new business card to a whole new marketing strategy for some great effort they want to launch in the new year, for example.

00:05:07:05 – 00:05:33:07

Cool. It’s awesome hearing about your journey. I’m always interested about kind of the call of entrepreneurship, right. because a lot of times, entrepreneurs are only the 3% I have. Like, I think it’s on the side. it is 97% of people who quit are, employed by the 3% that didn’t quit. So what ended up, how did you know that you were an entrepreneur or, in in your life?

00:05:33:09 – 00:05:50:15

if you don’t mind diving deep. Not at all. I’ve always been a leader, and my father taught me at a young age. I started working far before it was legal. but, my father taught me at a young age to be an employee, get a job working for someone, but treat it like it’s your own business.

00:05:50:17 – 00:06:11:09

And, of course, serving their wishes. But have that level of diligence and effort and energy and creativity that I’m pouring into my job. As you said, whether you are an employee or whether you’re an employer. always be an entrepreneur, always be someone who is independent, free thinking, and always willing to push the envelope for the greater thing.

00:06:11:09 – 00:06:32:11

So, I think it was coached into me from a very young age. and that’s how I worked in all my jobs. I got many raises very quickly. not because I’m great, but I think it’s because of that diligence and that hard work I put into it, not doing the quiet quitting approach, but instead really searching for words, and helping the business search forward.

00:06:32:13 – 00:06:52:17

And so, yeah, I think I never I don’t believe I ever had a firm goal on becoming an entrepreneur. So much as I always just knew I was inside and I was attracted to others. And that enhanced, that nature inside of me. And I never had a specific goal of. I want to own my own business, or I want five businesses and I want, no.

00:06:52:17 – 00:07:13:14

Instead, I always liked a direction, and I just plodded forward in that direction because I’m the kind of person that I think if I achieved a goal, I would get lazy saying, wow, I achieved it. Pat myself on the back and get lazy. But you can’t get lazy if you’re always walking in the same direction without a specific goal so much as a direction you know you’re called to.

00:07:13:17 – 00:07:34:04

Sure. Excellent. Yeah, I don’t know, talking with a lot of agencies, sometimes they have trouble, delegating work to either contractors or other team members, and then they end up having to do it all over themselves. How do you keep, kind of consistency when other people are doing the work, so that your client doesn’t get impacted if you don’t mind diving in?

00:07:34:05 – 00:07:59:20

Not at all. this. I won’t speak as an expert so much as a man in progress. So, so that has certainly been a struggle of mine and many other agency friends that I know have have dealt with that kind of issue. so the hardest thing for me at first was trusting someone with my client, because I have such relationship that I like to foster with every lead, whether they become a client or not.

00:07:59:22 – 00:08:20:08

But that person is now a friend. They’re valued relationship in my life, and I don’t want to have a brand or do something and just treat them like a number in their pipeline. I don’t want a web developer, or designer, I should say, who’s interfacing with their design to, say, just template them and let them feel like they’re just being thrown to a template.

00:08:20:08 – 00:08:51:21

When we pride ourselves on custom ground up work. And, so that was really hard for me because I would meet people that I really liked. I saw their portfolio, I experienced them in the business world and knew I could trust them, but it was hard for me to give them that trust. So one of the things that has been the thing that pushes me into trusting people and just taking that leap is I have to because I’m, I’m if I’m going to grow, I know I have to because I’m one man with a wife and two kids and a life to live.

00:08:51:29 – 00:09:12:16

And even though I mostly do work seven days a week at this point, there’s only so many hours and I cap the potential for this business opportunity that I’m in. So if I want to take that glass ceiling off, I need to trust others. one of the other fears is they’re going to take my client, you know, like a web developer says.

00:09:12:16 – 00:09:38:02

Oh, you know what? yeah, that penguin’s going to charge x, y, z, but I’m going to do it for 10% less. And sure, if they might be able to based on their situation. And, that’s been a fear of mine. So I have worked on fostering relationships with my contractors, my vendor partnerships just as much, if not more in some cases than the clients, because I want them to have equity in our relationship and so do I with them.

00:09:38:04 – 00:10:05:07

So I want them to know that they can count on me, that I’m not going to shortchange them, that I’m an honorable business owner, but I also want to understand that about them. So I if I have a new person, I will give them small projects, either a really small client or a client that I can tell doesn’t want to be a long term person so much as a project turnaround client, and I’ll test with them rather than that client for life personality that has been fostered.

00:10:05:10 – 00:10:32:20

That’s awesome. being able to look at low risk versus high risk and then being able to test them. And so they earn trust. which is what I’m hearing. Certainly certainly. Cool. so on your journey you have had fat fat penguin for, 10 or 11 years now. if you were to look back on maybe different steps or milestones or lessons along the way, that maybe somebody is, you know, 2 or 3 steps behind you.

00:10:32:22 – 00:11:01:02

what kind of advice would you give them? you know, it could be in any different kind of area and just watch whatever comes to mind. I would say builds relationships with other business owners that are two steps ahead of you, ten steps ahead of you and 50 steps ahead of you. Do it all at the same time, because you will learn what it takes to be that CEO of a large business that was built from ground up by that individual.

00:11:01:05 – 00:11:22:20

You will learn character traits. You’ll learn so much wisdom of lessons learned because that takes years of work. rarely are they super fast grow or some are. and then the person that is like ten steps ahead, they’re more achievable. You could see yourself there in the next couple of years perhaps, and you learn similar lessons at on a different scale with that person.

00:11:22:22 – 00:11:51:25

And then the person that’s just a step or 2 or 3 ahead is great, because I like to have those as peer relationships, because they lift me up instantly on my next step, because they are someone that I can say, you know what? If I lift my prices and I manage the portfolio a little differently, I could clear that much that quarter, for example, as as that kind of friendship, and connected to that, not to be afraid to partner with people in the exact same space.

00:11:51:28 – 00:12:24:21

I know a lot of agency owners that, like to hold their cards so close to their chest because they trust no one. But that’s sad because there’s so much community in the marketing space. There’s so much community in the entrepreneurial space that to know people that who do the exact same thing as me has helped me to learn where are my strengths that, that I can help them in and where their strengths, where they can sharpen my weaknesses and, and also the budding creativity that happens when you work with people in your own sector is fantastic.

00:12:24:23 – 00:12:46:22

It’s kind of like you have to form an alliance, right. Yes. That’s right, that’s right. Awesome. Well, thanks for being on the show. what’s the best way that people can get in touch with you, or do you have any offers for them that they can take advantage of? Sure. So I can be found is John Hassler John with an H spelled correctly, and hustler slayer.

00:12:46:23 – 00:13:15:18

You can find me on LinkedIn. my business is Fat Penguin Marketing. And, also on LinkedIn, our website is Fat Penguin Dot marketing or Fat Penguin marketing.com all goes to the same place. And and so connect with me, learn about what we do. I would love to do that. Anyone that’s listening to this podcast, if you want to have, a call, I always do my consultation calls for free at first with anyone, so I’d be happy to do that with you.

00:13:15:18 – 00:13:37:01

And when we’re having that consultation, let me know that you, heard of me or Fat Penguin Marketing through this podcast, and I’ll make sure to give $100 off, if there’s an advertising project or a, web design development project. I will give that that off. for anyone that listens to this podcast. So thank you for having me on the podcast, Jesse.

00:13:37:03 – 00:14:03:00

it’s really great to chat with you and to be a part of this great thing you’re doing. Absolutely well. Thank you so much for agency owners, if you want to transform your agency to sustain and grow without your direct involvement, where you can stop working in the business and switch to working on the business where you can regain control of your time, delegate effectively, get paid what you’re worth, and have your team run the day to day.

00:14:03:07 – 00:14:21:08

Go to niche and control.com/case study right now to learn more about leverage for growth. You can book a free strategy session with us to look at your systems. Understand what needs to be done in order for you to scale and get a free strategic plan for the next year. To live the life of entrepreneurship that you’ve always dreamed about.

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