The Marketing Agency Blueprint: The Handbook for Building Hybrid PR, SEO, Content, Advertising, and Web Firms Hardcover – December 20, 2011

First, yes there are a few limitations of this book... I would agree that it gives a pretty hard sell for Hubspot. Hubspot and the author seem to have a promotional partnership going on. Nothing wrong with that, but if you aren't a Hubspot customer or fan and you read the book it does indeed come across a little strong. But I can live with that.Second I would agree that the book is more geared towards those who already have some experience - perhaps a marketing person who is going out on their own to start an agency, or an existing one-man consulting firm who wants to grow. One person complained in the reviews that it did not give step-by-step instructions for building a marketing agency completely from scratch. I don't think you can (or should) get that sort of thing from a book.Now all of that aside, I found this book WONDERFUL and a very interesting read. When I read this book (ordered it the day it became available) I had been running an internet marketing agency for several years and was looking for ideas about how to scale from 5 employees to 10-15. I think this book is great for that.The author is very up front with real data from his own experience, and uses specific examples as per pricing and related topics. Rather than being vague about pricing theory, he provides specific dollar amounts and crunches the numbers.This book helped me in several ways:1. It helped confirm a few things my firm already does, but showing that other agencies also have found xyz to be valueable.2. It helped give me new ideas and new ways of thinking about how to lead my agency into the future.3. It gave me inspiration and helped motivate me to take my firm to the next level.It's called "the marketing agency blueprint" but it's definitely heavily slanted towards internet marketing, so perhaps consider that one last caveat. That said, if you run an internet marketing consulting practice or agency, or are thinking seriously about starting one and you are looking for ideas and inspiration I don't see how you could open this book and be disappointed with it. It's a great read, compelling content and enjoyable style/flow.

So I purchased this book blindly because a colleague of mine suggested to read it and the price point seemed reasonable. Although informative it's really not a "Blueprint". It's more of a guide. Being in the industry now for more than 15 years I can say that it does contain lots of good information to consider IF you're starting out. If you already operate a marketing agency, the important section on lead generation is a bit weak. I would've liked to have seen more tangible examples and a thorough case study of how to create one.Also, many have said it here but HubSpot is mentioned more often than not and there are many more options out there for CRM's for varying stages for your business.

The Marketing Agency Blueprint is a fantastic resource and guide to people who want to build a professional digital marketing agency which will survive and thrive in a rapidly changing future.A few reviews for this book complain that it doesn't have enough practical steps for setting up a marketing agency. I agree that this isn't a step by step manual, but I think Paul offers something much more valuable.He addresses the DNA of the modern marketing agency - and helps you look at the fundamentals of culture, systems and strategy to build a marketing-leading marketing agency. Actually, a lot of the book would be highly valuable to anyone wanting to build an agile and successful business in the new digital economy.One of the strengths of the book is the way Paul outlines the new digital marketing ecosystem. Just understanding where your business fits in this and how you can leverage this is worth the price of the book I believe.Paul does place plenty of emphasis on Hubspot as an important partner in him growing his agency, which I think is honest and natural - to me the take-home message from this is to choose the right agency partners - whether it is Hubspot, their competitors, or others in the ecosystem. Paul helps you see who your natural partners are and the prospects for your agency's growth are impacted by your position in the marketing ecosystem.I particularly valued Paul's emphasis on building a scale-able and agile SaaS and HR systems - this is an area I've found highly time consuming and it is hard to get right.Paul shares advice in this area but isn't prescriptive or rigid - he tells you the fundamentals with some detail on how to achieve them.Paul's book succinctly addresses they key issues I've grappled with when building my agency Influential Digital. Further, the ideas in this book about organizational culture, client service, how business is being changed by the internet and social media and other new media would be valuable for entrepreneurs and business owners from any industry.I think this book gets the balance right between education, aspiration, inspiration and practical steps, but it is meant to be the beginnning of a journey, not your final destination.I've also purchased the online course Paul offers which is also excellent value and has more of the resources that you need to build your agency. Personally I think Paul has got the pricing right on both products - there is terrific value in the book, but if you are wanting to build a 6 or 7 figure marketing agency then you can't expect to learn it all in a $20 book.

The Marketing Agency Blueprint is not for everyone. In fact, there is a pretty narrow few people who will find it useful. If you're just starting out, looking for a way to break into a new market, or develop the next big thing, this isn't the book for you. However, if you're the owner of a small agency looking to expand, compete, and make an impact for your clients--this book is worth its weight in gold.Specifically, making the jump from a micro-agency of one or two people to a small agency of 10 or more is nothing short of terrifying for an owner. The Marketing Agency Blueprint does a fantastic job of discussing some of the key issues many creative personalities can overlook from pricing to team-building, workflow to financing. Author Paul Roetzer does a great job laying out the operational ideas in addition to the marketing insight.While not for everyone in a creative workspace, The Marketing Agency Blueprint is fantastic for those small agencies looking to do differently, do it better, and grow smart.