Dear founder... Stop trying to hire one person to replace yourself. That's the takeaway from Episode 32. Peter and Sei-Wook walk through the five BD functions, the right sequence to delegate them, and how to go from bottleneck to architect. One of our most-watched episodes, for good reason. 📺 Watch on YouTube here. 🎧 Listen here. Who are we? Hi, we're Peter and Sei-Wook, co-founders of Barrel Holdings, a portfolio of agency businesses. We also run AgencyHabits, a resource for agency operators...
5 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind We just partnered with Automattic for Agencies. We're planning something we're genuinely excited about: a live fireside chat called "Mind the Gaps" about the gap between what your agency's positioning says and what prospects (and AI) actually see. More details coming soon. Stay tuned. We're planning an event in London. If you're interested in joining us in person, let us know -...
10 days ago • 1 min read
A slightly different newsletter this week. No episode breakdown, just two quick things we wanted to share. First: we're on YouTube. If you're more of a video person, we've been uploading all of our podcast episodes there. Same frameworks, same conversations, just easier to watch and follow. We're pushing toward 100 subscribers, and honestly, if you want to help us get there, a subscribe goes a long way. 📺 Subscribe on YouTube here. Second: would you come to a London meetup? We'll be in London...
12 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind Are you financing your clients, or are they financing you? – The working capital question most agencies never ask, and the billing shifts that flip the answer. 📺 Prefer video? Every framework, tool, and resource we publish is also available on our YouTube channel - full video podcasts with Peter and Sei-Wook breaking it all down. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Subscribe on...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Q1 just wrapped, and before you plan the next quarter, it's worth taking stock of where your agency actually stands. In Episode 22 of the AgencyHabits Podcast, Peter and Sei-Wook walk through an "annual checkup" for agencies—a preventative look at the core systems that determine long-term health. They cover nine markers, but what ties them together is this idea: healthy agencies don't wait for symptoms. Most agencies only seek help when something is broken. By then, the problems are systemic....
19 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind A services page isn't a service offering. – One is a list. The other is the designed path of a client relationship. Here's how to build the second. Also... 🐣 Happy Easter from the AgencyHabits team. To celebrate, we're offering 20% off The Business Development Collection - real proposals, SOWs, and outreach templates from Barrel Holdings agencies. Use code EASTER20 at checkout. 👉...
24 days ago • 1 min read
In this week's AgencyHabits Podcast, Peter and Sei-Wook break down ICP in detail: five dimensions most agencies never define. Why? Because the uncomfortable truth is: every bad client you've ever had came through your sales process. Nobody snuck in overnight. You made a deliberate choice to bring them on, usually because they had money and needed something done. That felt good enough. A real ICP helps you avoid those poor-fit clients. It also shortens sales cycles, improves delivery, and...
26 days ago • 1 min read
This Week's Agency Insights Every week, we share content to help you run your agency business. What's Top of Mind Our fourth AgencyHabits Knowledge Share brought together agency founders, operators, and consultants for a conversation that sounds simple on the surface, but goes deeper than most agencies ever bother to go: your ecosystem. Not your positioning. Not your service offering. The actual world where your name comes up. 🎥 Watch the full recording📂 Grab the slides✍️ Dale Bertrand's...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
In this week’s AgencyHabits Podcast, Peter and Sei-Wook break down one of the hardest transitions in an agency: scaling business development beyond the founder. The core insight: business development isn’t one function. It’s five. Most founders don’t realize this because they’ve been doing all five themselves. That’s why hiring “a salesperson” usually fails. They break it down into five functions: Marketing & awareness: Content, events, PR. Everything that makes your agency top-of-mind when a...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read