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The Marketing Agency Blueprint: The Handbook for Building Hybrid PR, SEO, Content, Advertising, and Web Firms
The marketing-services industry is on the cusp of a truly transformational period. The old guard, rooted in tradition and resistant to change, will fall and new leaders will emerge.
Hybrid marketing agencies that are more nimble, tech savvy, and collaborative will redefine the industry. Digital services will be engrained into the DNA of every agency and blended with traditional methods to execute integrated campaigns. The depth, versatility, and drive of their talent will be the cornerstones of organizations that pursue a higher purpose. The Marketing Agency Blueprint is a practical and candid guide that presents 10 rules for building such a hybrid agency.
The new marketing agency model will create and nurture diverse recurring revenue streams through a mix of services, consulting, training, education, publishing, and software sales. It will use efficiency and productivity, not billable hours, as the essential drivers of profitability. Its value and success will be measured by outcomes, not outputs. Its strength and stability will depend on a willingness to be in a perpetual state of change, and an ability to execute and adapt faster than competitors.
The Marketing Agency Blueprint demonstrates how to:
• Generate more qualified leads, win clients with set pricing and service packages, and secure more long-term retainers.
• Create diverse and recurring revenue streams.
• Develop highly efficient management systems and more effective account teams.
• Deliver greater results and value to clients, and win their loyalty.
This is the future of the marketing-services industry. A future defined and led by underdogs and innovators. You have the opportunity to be at the forefront of the transformation.
Hybrid marketing agencies that are more nimble, tech savvy, and collaborative will redefine the industry. Digital services will be engrained into the DNA of every agency and blended with traditional methods to execute integrated campaigns. The depth, versatility, and drive of their talent will be the cornerstones of organizations that pursue a higher purpose. The Marketing Agency Blueprint is a practical and candid guide that presents 10 rules for building such a hybrid agency.
The new marketing agency model will create and nurture diverse recurring revenue streams through a mix of services, consulting, training, education, publishing, and software sales. It will use efficiency and productivity, not billable hours, as the essential drivers of profitability. Its value and success will be measured by outcomes, not outputs. Its strength and stability will depend on a willingness to be in a perpetual state of change, and an ability to execute and adapt faster than competitors.
The Marketing Agency Blueprint demonstrates how to:
• Generate more qualified leads, win clients with set pricing and service packages, and secure more long-term retainers.
• Create diverse and recurring revenue streams.
• Develop highly efficient management systems and more effective account teams.
• Deliver greater results and value to clients, and win their loyalty.
This is the future of the marketing-services industry. A future defined and led by underdogs and innovators. You have the opportunity to be at the forefront of the transformation.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2011
About the author
Paul Roetzer
7 books17 followersPaul Roetzer is founder and CEO of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency, specializing in public relations, content marketing, search marketing and social media. PR 20/20 was the first agency in HubSpot's value-added reseller (VAR) program, which now includes more than 250 certified firms.
Prior to launching PR 20/20 in 2005, Paul spent six years as a consultant and vice president at a traditional public relations agency.
His book, The Marketing Agency Blueprint, serves as a guide for building tech-savvy, hybrid agencies that are more efficient, influential and profitable than traditional firms.
He is a speaker, writer and advocate for change and innovation within the public relations and marketing industries, and a frequent contributor to the PR 20/20 blog.
In 2010, he was recognized by Smart Business with an Innovation in Business Rising Star award.
Prior to launching PR 20/20 in 2005, Paul spent six years as a consultant and vice president at a traditional public relations agency.
His book, The Marketing Agency Blueprint, serves as a guide for building tech-savvy, hybrid agencies that are more efficient, influential and profitable than traditional firms.
He is a speaker, writer and advocate for change and innovation within the public relations and marketing industries, and a frequent contributor to the PR 20/20 blog.
In 2010, he was recognized by Smart Business with an Innovation in Business Rising Star award.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 20, 2015
Utilization rate, talent acquisition, project management, cashflow. None of these things is taught in marketing courses, yet these are all things a marketer needs to know in order to build a successful consultancy or agency. Paul built his own agency in his 20s & early 30s, so he can talk from actual experience. The book gives strategic concepts and a few anecdotes about how Paul found these tools to be handy in his own journey as he built his firm.
August 7, 2026
Practical advice about a variety of topics related to running a marketing agency, including billing, service mix, hiring, team-building, marketing, sales, client relations, and measuring results. Less insightful and less detailed than I expected, given the title and subtitle. It's based on years of the author's experience. Chapters end with highlights. Some details are dated because it was published in 2011, but many concepts still apply.
Notes
Eliminate Billable Hours
According to StevensGouldPincus, most profitable PR firms should target 35% of revenue for base salaries, 50% of revenue for total labor costs (including salaries, bonuses, freelance/outsourced labor). If employees generate three times their base salaries in revenue, firm will be within target profitability ranges.
Target net profit margins vary widely, but mostly fall in 10 to 25%.
Charging hourly motivates clients to minimize communicating with you. You may make more money in the short term, but will lose long-term opportunities.
Value-based pricing variables
• Estimated hours
• Hourly revenue target (HRT) (divide firm's annual revenue goal by annual total of client-service hours)
• Costs
• Perceived value (what clients are willing to pay)
• Builder vs. driver (builders are services that set foundation for future success; drivers are services that produce short-term results)
• Loss leader (Is service designed to entice new clients with attractive pricing? Is it proven to create cross-sell and up-sell opportunities?)
• Service level (will you need basic, intermediate, or advanced talent to provide service?)
Most of the time, estimated hours times HRT will let you determine prices, but account for other variables before finalizing price.
Don't use marketing plans as loss leaders. Clients often take plan and implement themselves. Require clients to commit to six months or more for providing detailed plans.
Don't give away whys and how-tos to win clients. Those prospects don't value your services and knowledge. This is one reason RFPs are bad for agencies.
Don't determine performance by billable hour reports, but by revenue efficiency rates (RER), which measure how efficiently agency turns one hour of service into X dollars in revenue (X = HRT). RER = [(price - costs)/hours]/HRT.
When scope is variable, billable hours may be only viable solution (e.g., consulting time, media relations, other services that depend on changing client needs and third-party audiences). One option is to define known scope and commit to value-based fee for first phase, regardless of how long it takes. Have contingency allotment of hours available based on media demand.
Have majority on clients on long-term contracts (12+ months), and have 80%+ of annual revenue from those contracts.
Transform into a Hybrid
You need team members capable of providing consulting and services across multiple disciplines. Generalists control power and budgets more than those focused on niche markets and services (though they also have opportunities).
Best way to generate leads is content publishing focused on long-tail keywords (blogging, ebooks, case studies, webinars, white papers, original reports). The greater the value of the content, the greater the ROI.
7 elements of effective business copywriting
• Strategic. Connect to business goals and brand messaging. Writers must understand marketing strategy.
• Brand-centric. Convey core brand messages, tell organization's story, create positive perceptions that motivate action.
• Buyer-persona focused. Make personal connections with readers. Speak directly to buyer personas, address pain points, bring value. Writers must have clear understanding of target audiences and know how to engage them.
• Optimized for search engines
• Technically sound. Concise, powerful, using proper grammar, written at appropriate reading level. Consistent in person, voice, tone, format.
• Creative
• Results-driven
It's difficult to stay specialized in service areas, because clients want complete marketing solutions.
VAR partnerships generate referrals, differentiate agency, create recurring revenue through license fees. You provide services, consulting, training, customization, integration around third-party products.
Think Talent and Team
A player competencies and traits
• Analytical
• Balanced (maintain work-life balance; have interests and hobbies to recharge)
• Confident (gain knowledge and experience which lead to confidence)
• Creative (innovative)
• Detail-oriented
• Focused
• Intrinsically motivated (motivated by autonomy, mastery, purpose)
• "It" factor (strong presence, positive aura, command attention, exude confidence, natural leader)
• Listener
• Positive (have positive energy, are encouraging, make a good first impressions, make people want to be around them)
• Relationship-builder
• Risk-taker (take calculated risks, aggressive, proactive)
• Social media-savvy
• Strategic (assess situations, consider short- and long-term outcomes, know how decisions and activities affect different audiences, make seemingly unrelated connections)
• Team player
• Tech-savvy
• Writer (clearly and concisely articulate thoughts, use creative and technically sound writing for powerful, effective communication)
Top agencies hire high-potential young talent (ideally, straight out of school) and train up.
Hire seasoned talent as needed to fill gaps you can't fill by training and promoting from within.
Candidate trading system
• First impression
• Social media-savvy
• Tech-savvy
• Experience
• Confidence
• Listening skills
• Verbal communication
• Goal-focused
• Preparation
• "It" factor (if you're not sure if they have it, they don't)
Devise an Inbound Marketing GamePlan
Define your brand
• Who are we, in 160 characters or less, without jargon?
• What are our three greatest strengths?
• What are our three greatest weaknesses?
• What are our greatest opportunities for growth?
• What keywords would people search to find our agency/services?
• Who are our buyer personas?
• What makes us different?
• How do we express that differentiation in words, images, actions?
• What's our sustainable competitive advantage?
• What value (expertise, resources, guidance, tools) can we bring to our audiences?
• What are we doing to innovate and move the industry forward?
• What problems and pains do we solve?
• What makes clients buy from us the first time? (acquisition)
• What keeps clients coming back? (retention)
Define your personal brand
• What three adjectives would people use to describe you?
• What makes you unique?
• What experiences have altered your views and actions?
• What motivates you?
• What are you passionate about?
• How do you balance personal and professional life?
• Do friends and family have different perceptions about you than your professional peers?
• Do you see challenges as obstacles or opportunities?
• Are you stubborn and closed-minded, or do you view each experience as a chance to grow and expand knowledge?
• Do you take responsibility for your success or failure?
Control the Sales Funnel
Personality traits of top salespeople
• Modesty
• Conscientiousness
• Achievement orientation
• Curiosity
• Lack of gregariousness
• Lack of discouragement
• Lack of self-consciousness
There's a correlation between athletics and success in sales. Top performers with sports backgrounds "are able to handle emotional disappointments, bounce back from losses, and mentally prepare themselves for the next opportunity to compete."
Lead qualification
• Are they project or campaign based?
• What are their budgets?
• What metrics matter most? How will they define success?
• What is contact's title and responsibilities? Are they decision-maker?
• What are problems, pains, obstacles to success?
• What are priority needs?
• What is account's growth potential?
• Do we have experience in their industry?
• At what stage in business lifecycle are they?
• Are they primarily seeking tactical or strategic support?
• What are their internal marketing resources and capabilities?
• Do they have realistic expectations?
• What are their experiences with professional service firms?
• What is risk level of account?
• What is their decision-making process?
• What is their timeline to start?
• How strong is lead/referral source?
Sample lead survey questions
• In one or two sentences, define what makes your company unique/remarkable.
• How would you rate your brand positioning in primary target markets? Do audiences clearly understand your products/service services and value proposition?
• What are your growth goals for the next 12 months? Basic, moderate, aggressive?
• How would you rate support from your leadership for digital marketing strategies?
• What are your top priority needs related to engaging in agency?
• What's your monthly budget for agency service services?
• What are your numbers of employees, active customers, average monthly leads, blog subscribers, social followers per platform?
• What are your top sources of new leads?
• Briefly describe your lead nurturing activities.
• How many hours per week does your organization spend on social media?
• Do you train and educate employees to effectively participate in social media?
• Do you have content creators or copywriters on staff with ability to create content? Describe their capabilities and capacity.
• How will you determine an agency's value to your business? What are the primary success factors?
Proposal
1. Snapshot. Executive summary. 1 to 2 pages. Tell powerful story that shows your understanding of their business, identifies their challenges, defines how you'll solve them, defines how you'll measure success.
2. Discovery. Share what you learned (see below). Include data and screenshots that demonstrate your capabilities and how they apply to prospect.
3. Objectives. Connect your services to measurable, meaningful outcomes. Define primary objectives to guide strategy and measure performance. Define success metrics.
4. Activity center. Define services, pricing, timelines.
5. Appendix. Share additional info (e.g., team profile profiles, sample experience, testimonials).
6. Terms of agreement
Discovery
• Keyword analysis (how they rank)
• Compare website to competitors
• Evaluate social media presence
• Assess competitors' content marketing
• Identify publicity opportunities
• Identify blog post topics
Commit to Clients
Valuating clients
• Efficiency. RER.
• Financial stability. Strong financial health, history of on-time payments.
• Realistic expectations
• Support from their leadership
• Synergy. Shared values, complementary cultures. They respect your team. Your team wants them to succeed.
• Commitment to you. How long they've been a client. Whether they've maintained or increased budgets over time.
• Growth opportunities. Chances to work with other divisions in their company, budgets for additional projects, potential to give you work they currently give to other agencies.
• Profile and platform. If they have high profile and significant reach, you could gain credibility and access to their networks.
• Experience. Opportunities to expand your knowledge and capabilities in target markets.
• Innovation. Willingness to take risks, try new strategies, give you creative freedom.
Deliver Results
PR 20/20 start long-term client engagements with Inbound Marketing GamePlan to set clear benchmarks and objectives, define 12-month approach, define services for first quarter activities. They plan tactically in quarters, adapt daily based on campaign performance, changing market factors, client's goals and priorities.
Discovery
• Client's goals
• Buyer persona
• Market segments
• SWOT analysis
• Competitors
• Brand positioning
• Website performance
• Products/services
• Pricing
• Past marketing strategies
• Sales systems
• Marketing software
• Budgets
• Timelines
• Analytics tools
Monthly scorecard
1. Snapshot. Dashboard of campaign performance, including results from major activities.
2. Analysis. Actionable intelligence.
3. GamePlan. Updated GamePlan for next month. Reallocate time and budgets based on opportunities and goals.
Notes
Eliminate Billable Hours
According to StevensGouldPincus, most profitable PR firms should target 35% of revenue for base salaries, 50% of revenue for total labor costs (including salaries, bonuses, freelance/outsourced labor). If employees generate three times their base salaries in revenue, firm will be within target profitability ranges.
Target net profit margins vary widely, but mostly fall in 10 to 25%.
Charging hourly motivates clients to minimize communicating with you. You may make more money in the short term, but will lose long-term opportunities.
Value-based pricing variables
• Estimated hours
• Hourly revenue target (HRT) (divide firm's annual revenue goal by annual total of client-service hours)
• Costs
• Perceived value (what clients are willing to pay)
• Builder vs. driver (builders are services that set foundation for future success; drivers are services that produce short-term results)
• Loss leader (Is service designed to entice new clients with attractive pricing? Is it proven to create cross-sell and up-sell opportunities?)
• Service level (will you need basic, intermediate, or advanced talent to provide service?)
Most of the time, estimated hours times HRT will let you determine prices, but account for other variables before finalizing price.
Don't use marketing plans as loss leaders. Clients often take plan and implement themselves. Require clients to commit to six months or more for providing detailed plans.
Don't give away whys and how-tos to win clients. Those prospects don't value your services and knowledge. This is one reason RFPs are bad for agencies.
Don't determine performance by billable hour reports, but by revenue efficiency rates (RER), which measure how efficiently agency turns one hour of service into X dollars in revenue (X = HRT). RER = [(price - costs)/hours]/HRT.
When scope is variable, billable hours may be only viable solution (e.g., consulting time, media relations, other services that depend on changing client needs and third-party audiences). One option is to define known scope and commit to value-based fee for first phase, regardless of how long it takes. Have contingency allotment of hours available based on media demand.
Have majority on clients on long-term contracts (12+ months), and have 80%+ of annual revenue from those contracts.
Transform into a Hybrid
You need team members capable of providing consulting and services across multiple disciplines. Generalists control power and budgets more than those focused on niche markets and services (though they also have opportunities).
Best way to generate leads is content publishing focused on long-tail keywords (blogging, ebooks, case studies, webinars, white papers, original reports). The greater the value of the content, the greater the ROI.
7 elements of effective business copywriting
• Strategic. Connect to business goals and brand messaging. Writers must understand marketing strategy.
• Brand-centric. Convey core brand messages, tell organization's story, create positive perceptions that motivate action.
• Buyer-persona focused. Make personal connections with readers. Speak directly to buyer personas, address pain points, bring value. Writers must have clear understanding of target audiences and know how to engage them.
• Optimized for search engines
• Technically sound. Concise, powerful, using proper grammar, written at appropriate reading level. Consistent in person, voice, tone, format.
• Creative
• Results-driven
It's difficult to stay specialized in service areas, because clients want complete marketing solutions.
VAR partnerships generate referrals, differentiate agency, create recurring revenue through license fees. You provide services, consulting, training, customization, integration around third-party products.
Think Talent and Team
A player competencies and traits
• Analytical
• Balanced (maintain work-life balance; have interests and hobbies to recharge)
• Confident (gain knowledge and experience which lead to confidence)
• Creative (innovative)
• Detail-oriented
• Focused
• Intrinsically motivated (motivated by autonomy, mastery, purpose)
• "It" factor (strong presence, positive aura, command attention, exude confidence, natural leader)
• Listener
• Positive (have positive energy, are encouraging, make a good first impressions, make people want to be around them)
• Relationship-builder
• Risk-taker (take calculated risks, aggressive, proactive)
• Social media-savvy
• Strategic (assess situations, consider short- and long-term outcomes, know how decisions and activities affect different audiences, make seemingly unrelated connections)
• Team player
• Tech-savvy
• Writer (clearly and concisely articulate thoughts, use creative and technically sound writing for powerful, effective communication)
Top agencies hire high-potential young talent (ideally, straight out of school) and train up.
Hire seasoned talent as needed to fill gaps you can't fill by training and promoting from within.
Candidate trading system
• First impression
• Social media-savvy
• Tech-savvy
• Experience
• Confidence
• Listening skills
• Verbal communication
• Goal-focused
• Preparation
• "It" factor (if you're not sure if they have it, they don't)
Devise an Inbound Marketing GamePlan
Define your brand
• Who are we, in 160 characters or less, without jargon?
• What are our three greatest strengths?
• What are our three greatest weaknesses?
• What are our greatest opportunities for growth?
• What keywords would people search to find our agency/services?
• Who are our buyer personas?
• What makes us different?
• How do we express that differentiation in words, images, actions?
• What's our sustainable competitive advantage?
• What value (expertise, resources, guidance, tools) can we bring to our audiences?
• What are we doing to innovate and move the industry forward?
• What problems and pains do we solve?
• What makes clients buy from us the first time? (acquisition)
• What keeps clients coming back? (retention)
Define your personal brand
• What three adjectives would people use to describe you?
• What makes you unique?
• What experiences have altered your views and actions?
• What motivates you?
• What are you passionate about?
• How do you balance personal and professional life?
• Do friends and family have different perceptions about you than your professional peers?
• Do you see challenges as obstacles or opportunities?
• Are you stubborn and closed-minded, or do you view each experience as a chance to grow and expand knowledge?
• Do you take responsibility for your success or failure?
Control the Sales Funnel
Personality traits of top salespeople
• Modesty
• Conscientiousness
• Achievement orientation
• Curiosity
• Lack of gregariousness
• Lack of discouragement
• Lack of self-consciousness
There's a correlation between athletics and success in sales. Top performers with sports backgrounds "are able to handle emotional disappointments, bounce back from losses, and mentally prepare themselves for the next opportunity to compete."
Lead qualification
• Are they project or campaign based?
• What are their budgets?
• What metrics matter most? How will they define success?
• What is contact's title and responsibilities? Are they decision-maker?
• What are problems, pains, obstacles to success?
• What are priority needs?
• What is account's growth potential?
• Do we have experience in their industry?
• At what stage in business lifecycle are they?
• Are they primarily seeking tactical or strategic support?
• What are their internal marketing resources and capabilities?
• Do they have realistic expectations?
• What are their experiences with professional service firms?
• What is risk level of account?
• What is their decision-making process?
• What is their timeline to start?
• How strong is lead/referral source?
Sample lead survey questions
• In one or two sentences, define what makes your company unique/remarkable.
• How would you rate your brand positioning in primary target markets? Do audiences clearly understand your products/service services and value proposition?
• What are your growth goals for the next 12 months? Basic, moderate, aggressive?
• How would you rate support from your leadership for digital marketing strategies?
• What are your top priority needs related to engaging in agency?
• What's your monthly budget for agency service services?
• What are your numbers of employees, active customers, average monthly leads, blog subscribers, social followers per platform?
• What are your top sources of new leads?
• Briefly describe your lead nurturing activities.
• How many hours per week does your organization spend on social media?
• Do you train and educate employees to effectively participate in social media?
• Do you have content creators or copywriters on staff with ability to create content? Describe their capabilities and capacity.
• How will you determine an agency's value to your business? What are the primary success factors?
Proposal
1. Snapshot. Executive summary. 1 to 2 pages. Tell powerful story that shows your understanding of their business, identifies their challenges, defines how you'll solve them, defines how you'll measure success.
2. Discovery. Share what you learned (see below). Include data and screenshots that demonstrate your capabilities and how they apply to prospect.
3. Objectives. Connect your services to measurable, meaningful outcomes. Define primary objectives to guide strategy and measure performance. Define success metrics.
4. Activity center. Define services, pricing, timelines.
5. Appendix. Share additional info (e.g., team profile profiles, sample experience, testimonials).
6. Terms of agreement
Discovery
• Keyword analysis (how they rank)
• Compare website to competitors
• Evaluate social media presence
• Assess competitors' content marketing
• Identify publicity opportunities
• Identify blog post topics
Commit to Clients
Valuating clients
• Efficiency. RER.
• Financial stability. Strong financial health, history of on-time payments.
• Realistic expectations
• Support from their leadership
• Synergy. Shared values, complementary cultures. They respect your team. Your team wants them to succeed.
• Commitment to you. How long they've been a client. Whether they've maintained or increased budgets over time.
• Growth opportunities. Chances to work with other divisions in their company, budgets for additional projects, potential to give you work they currently give to other agencies.
• Profile and platform. If they have high profile and significant reach, you could gain credibility and access to their networks.
• Experience. Opportunities to expand your knowledge and capabilities in target markets.
• Innovation. Willingness to take risks, try new strategies, give you creative freedom.
Deliver Results
PR 20/20 start long-term client engagements with Inbound Marketing GamePlan to set clear benchmarks and objectives, define 12-month approach, define services for first quarter activities. They plan tactically in quarters, adapt daily based on campaign performance, changing market factors, client's goals and priorities.
Discovery
• Client's goals
• Buyer persona
• Market segments
• SWOT analysis
• Competitors
• Brand positioning
• Website performance
• Products/services
• Pricing
• Past marketing strategies
• Sales systems
• Marketing software
• Budgets
• Timelines
• Analytics tools
Monthly scorecard
1. Snapshot. Dashboard of campaign performance, including results from major activities.
2. Analysis. Actionable intelligence.
3. GamePlan. Updated GamePlan for next month. Reallocate time and budgets based on opportunities and goals.
April 29, 2020
I wouldn’t read this book again but might refer back to it.
I believe this book has value, but for me the problem started when the author started to give tips on how your agency and employees social media should look like and then when I went to check on their social media I was surprised how poorly the execution was and the disconnect between what he was preaching versus what they’re actually practicing.
After that I really didn’t know if I should believe anything he was saying, because I was not sure anymore if it was coming from someone that was actually doing all those things, or just writing about how things “should be done”.
I believe there are way better marketing books out there that one could read before picking it up this one, I’m kind of disappointed but I’m not gonna say I learned nothing from it.
As a final note I’d just like to give the benefit of the doubt that these ideas when published where somehow as disruptive as the author believe them to be, at this point in time they’re certainly not and for me this was the second problem with this text.
By the end it felt like I was reading a bunch of obvious things written by someone I wasn’t really sure was practicing all of it.
I believe this book has value, but for me the problem started when the author started to give tips on how your agency and employees social media should look like and then when I went to check on their social media I was surprised how poorly the execution was and the disconnect between what he was preaching versus what they’re actually practicing.
After that I really didn’t know if I should believe anything he was saying, because I was not sure anymore if it was coming from someone that was actually doing all those things, or just writing about how things “should be done”.
I believe there are way better marketing books out there that one could read before picking it up this one, I’m kind of disappointed but I’m not gonna say I learned nothing from it.
As a final note I’d just like to give the benefit of the doubt that these ideas when published where somehow as disruptive as the author believe them to be, at this point in time they’re certainly not and for me this was the second problem with this text.
By the end it felt like I was reading a bunch of obvious things written by someone I wasn’t really sure was practicing all of it.
July 21, 2017
Creating a Marketing Agency
There are so many "marketers" online, and so few successful "marketing company's." The Marketing Agency Blueprint is the "how to" build an agency from someone that has done it. Recommended for all marketers hoping to move out of soloist survival into growing a business.
There are so many "marketers" online, and so few successful "marketing company's." The Marketing Agency Blueprint is the "how to" build an agency from someone that has done it. Recommended for all marketers hoping to move out of soloist survival into growing a business.
June 20, 2023
It delivers on its promise.
Even though this book has been written an eon ago in internet years, it's still full of relevant information. It's a good blueprint for starting a digital agency. Use it as your foundation and complement your plan with lessons learned in the years since this book was published.
Even though this book has been written an eon ago in internet years, it's still full of relevant information. It's a good blueprint for starting a digital agency. Use it as your foundation and complement your plan with lessons learned in the years since this book was published.
February 6, 2022
A little outdated.
April 2, 2021
The Marketing Agency Blueprint is a popular book amongst marketing agency owners. After reading this book, I'm puzzled as to why. . . The book aims to be a handbook for "building a hybrid pr, SEO, content, advertising, and web firms." However, the contents felt outdated, the examples were meh, and the flow was strange.
There's definitely value in this book but I would find it unlikely that those points of value are new information for any business owner. I have no doubt that Paul Roetzer is an accomplished agency owner and a valid authority on this topic, but I'm not sure that wisdom made it into the pages of this book.
If you are a brand new agency owner with absolutely zero business acumen - consider reading the first 3 chapters... Then continue if you feel there's value beyond that. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it to anyone else.
There's definitely value in this book but I would find it unlikely that those points of value are new information for any business owner. I have no doubt that Paul Roetzer is an accomplished agency owner and a valid authority on this topic, but I'm not sure that wisdom made it into the pages of this book.
If you are a brand new agency owner with absolutely zero business acumen - consider reading the first 3 chapters... Then continue if you feel there's value beyond that. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it to anyone else.
May 6, 2018
An excellent introduction on what is needed to plan, manage and operate a digital marketing agency. I liked the examples from 20/20, the owner's agency. It was helpful to think bigger - as an owner and manager of an organization. The sections on pricing and sales were particularly interesting. I also liked the perspective on how partnering with HubSpot, a marketing software company, has played a role in building the firm. I would have liked to see additional case studies and examples on how the ideas have been implemented. Perhaps an updated edition will cover this further.
February 14, 2019
Started off REALLY strong. I would say the first 40% is great. The rest was pretty generic. Perhaps these parts of the book have become commonplace in the past few years and I shouldn't see this as a failing of the author but rather as his success.
Still, as an agency owner/professional I would recommend reading this book and simply skip the parts you don't appreciate. It's great value for money.
Still, as an agency owner/professional I would recommend reading this book and simply skip the parts you don't appreciate. It's great value for money.
June 6, 2019
Great insight on every element of starting and running a modern, hybrid marketing agency! If you want to be the best, learn from the best, Paul and the team at PR 20/20 are aspiring to be the best and share as much as they know through their engaging content!
July 4, 2020
A good book for a digital marketing expert
May 2, 2021
Short but nice and lots of true things for agency
March 11, 2023
Not as great as other books I’ve read but enough unique content even though it’s over 10 years old that I would recommend it.
October 14, 2025
🎯 Why Crowd Marketing Is a Smart Move
💰 Cost-Effective Alternative to Traditional SEO
Crowd marketing offers tangible results at a fraction of the cost of classic link building or digital outreach campaigns.
🌱 Natural and Steady Link Growth
Links are placed organically over time, mimicking real user behavior — which search engines reward with better rankings.
🤝 Builds Trust Through Real Conversations
Your brand gets discussed in relevant forums and communities, creating authentic touchpoints that users believe in.
🔍 Boosts Engagement and Organic Traffic
Genuine interactions improve behavioral metrics and help attract long-term, high-quality traffic.
🔗 Safe and Google-Friendly
We steer clear of manipulative tactics. No PBNs, no automation — only ethical, white-hat strategies that keep your site protected.
🌟 What Sets Us Apart — Our Core Priorities
✅ 1. Unmatched Execution Quality
Each comment is crafted by hand, matched to the forum’s tone, and placed on carefully selected platforms.
No bots. No templates. No spam. Just high-quality, human-written posts that work.
🎓 2. 10+ Years of Proven Expertise
We’ve been doing crowd marketing since day one — long before it was popular.
With over 5,000 completed projects, we’ve worked with clients across industries — from local businesses to international SaaS and e-commerce giants.
🌐 3. Vast Network of Verified Platforms
Thousands of active forums, blogs, and Q&A sites are already in our database, allowing us to launch your campaign instantly — with laser-targeted precision if needed.
🧑💻 4. Elite Team of Professionals
Our writers are SEO-savvy, highly skilled, and trained to create comments that read naturally and earn trust. Each one is moderated manually.
📦 5. Scalable for Any Project Size
Whether you need 20 links a month or 500 a week, we’ve built the systems to handle any volume without compromising quality.
📞 Let’s Work Together
🌍 crowd-seo.net
✉️ Email: admin@crowd-seo.net
💬 Telegram: @CEO_crowd
💰 Cost-Effective Alternative to Traditional SEO
Crowd marketing offers tangible results at a fraction of the cost of classic link building or digital outreach campaigns.
🌱 Natural and Steady Link Growth
Links are placed organically over time, mimicking real user behavior — which search engines reward with better rankings.
🤝 Builds Trust Through Real Conversations
Your brand gets discussed in relevant forums and communities, creating authentic touchpoints that users believe in.
🔍 Boosts Engagement and Organic Traffic
Genuine interactions improve behavioral metrics and help attract long-term, high-quality traffic.
🔗 Safe and Google-Friendly
We steer clear of manipulative tactics. No PBNs, no automation — only ethical, white-hat strategies that keep your site protected.
🌟 What Sets Us Apart — Our Core Priorities
✅ 1. Unmatched Execution Quality
Each comment is crafted by hand, matched to the forum’s tone, and placed on carefully selected platforms.
No bots. No templates. No spam. Just high-quality, human-written posts that work.
🎓 2. 10+ Years of Proven Expertise
We’ve been doing crowd marketing since day one — long before it was popular.
With over 5,000 completed projects, we’ve worked with clients across industries — from local businesses to international SaaS and e-commerce giants.
🌐 3. Vast Network of Verified Platforms
Thousands of active forums, blogs, and Q&A sites are already in our database, allowing us to launch your campaign instantly — with laser-targeted precision if needed.
🧑💻 4. Elite Team of Professionals
Our writers are SEO-savvy, highly skilled, and trained to create comments that read naturally and earn trust. Each one is moderated manually.
📦 5. Scalable for Any Project Size
Whether you need 20 links a month or 500 a week, we’ve built the systems to handle any volume without compromising quality.
📞 Let’s Work Together
🌍 crowd-seo.net
✉️ Email: admin@crowd-seo.net
💬 Telegram: @CEO_crowd
February 22, 2013
If you are either looking to start your own agency or restructure your existing firm, Paul Roetzer’s book, The Marketing Agency Blueprint, will be a big help.
Paul is a small agency owner. He is the founder and CEO of PR 20/20 established in 2004. He has built an incredible national and international awareness and appeal for his agency’s new business using social media and inbound marketing. PR 20/20 was also the industry’s first provider of standardized services and set pricing and grew revenue nearly 500 percent in just four years.
Paul’s success led to the writing of his book and speaking opportunities nationwide. As a fellow speaker, I had the privilege of meeting him in person at Hubspot’s Inbound 2012 Conference in Boston, a gathering of over 2,800 inbound marketers from around the globe.
The Marketing Agency Blueprint is more about how to lay the foundation than actually building the house.
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau
The most essential part of structuring a successful agency is establishing the right foundation which provides the support for the entire structure. A lot of your agency’s new business success rests on how well you build the base that supports the weight of the entire agency. Every part of your agency depends upon the foundation for support. Paul’s book provides a blueprint for setting the vision and foundational building blocks for your agency
Paul is a small agency owner. He is the founder and CEO of PR 20/20 established in 2004. He has built an incredible national and international awareness and appeal for his agency’s new business using social media and inbound marketing. PR 20/20 was also the industry’s first provider of standardized services and set pricing and grew revenue nearly 500 percent in just four years.
Paul’s success led to the writing of his book and speaking opportunities nationwide. As a fellow speaker, I had the privilege of meeting him in person at Hubspot’s Inbound 2012 Conference in Boston, a gathering of over 2,800 inbound marketers from around the globe.
The Marketing Agency Blueprint is more about how to lay the foundation than actually building the house.
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau
The most essential part of structuring a successful agency is establishing the right foundation which provides the support for the entire structure. A lot of your agency’s new business success rests on how well you build the base that supports the weight of the entire agency. Every part of your agency depends upon the foundation for support. Paul’s book provides a blueprint for setting the vision and foundational building blocks for your agency
November 23, 2016
Timely, Insightful, Approachable, and Very Actionable
I've pretty much read every book that I could find from agency owners and this book was by far top of the class. What made this book stand out for me was it's actionable approach towards 'connecting actions to outcomes' and measuring marketing performance at scale.
Every marketer's nightmare is tracking and organizing data and then translating and reporting ROI. The author solve's this dilemma by providing systems and processes that will change the way you think about all these things.
After reading this book, I've tried to absorb all the content available online that I could find from the author. And after spending a few years with this book and his evergreen content, I find it as useful today as I did on day one.
Everything I've found online from the author has been well thought out and worthy of your time, energy and focus. I couldn't recommend his body of work any more highly.
All said, I found this book very approachable and immediately actionable.
Resources:
I found his company's blog (http://www.pr2020.com/blog) and his blog tailored for agency owner's (http://www.marketingagencyinsider.com/) to be very insightful.
If you are looking for additional course material, you can email his friendly staff at PR2020.com for further information on some of his more advanced courses, which were excellent.
I've pretty much read every book that I could find from agency owners and this book was by far top of the class. What made this book stand out for me was it's actionable approach towards 'connecting actions to outcomes' and measuring marketing performance at scale.
Every marketer's nightmare is tracking and organizing data and then translating and reporting ROI. The author solve's this dilemma by providing systems and processes that will change the way you think about all these things.
After reading this book, I've tried to absorb all the content available online that I could find from the author. And after spending a few years with this book and his evergreen content, I find it as useful today as I did on day one.
Everything I've found online from the author has been well thought out and worthy of your time, energy and focus. I couldn't recommend his body of work any more highly.
All said, I found this book very approachable and immediately actionable.
Resources:
I found his company's blog (http://www.pr2020.com/blog) and his blog tailored for agency owner's (http://www.marketingagencyinsider.com/) to be very insightful.
If you are looking for additional course material, you can email his friendly staff at PR2020.com for further information on some of his more advanced courses, which were excellent.
May 6, 2026
The Marketing Agency Blueprint is an insightful and practical guide for anyone interested in building or scaling a modern marketing agency. The book explains the future of SEO, content marketing, PR, advertising, and digital strategy in a very clear and professional way.
What makes this book valuable is its focus on how agencies can adapt to changing digital trends while delivering better results for clients. It’s especially useful for entrepreneurs, marketers, and agencies aiming to become the best digital marketing compeny in today’s competitive online industry.
The concepts around SEO, branding, and content strategy are highly relevant for businesses looking to improve their online presence. For companies searching for expert digital solutions, content writing, and SEO services, Sparkin Words is also a great platform to explore: https://sparkinwords.com/
A highly recommended read for marketers, agency owners, and anyone passionate about digital growth and branding.
What makes this book valuable is its focus on how agencies can adapt to changing digital trends while delivering better results for clients. It’s especially useful for entrepreneurs, marketers, and agencies aiming to become the best digital marketing compeny in today’s competitive online industry.
The concepts around SEO, branding, and content strategy are highly relevant for businesses looking to improve their online presence. For companies searching for expert digital solutions, content writing, and SEO services, Sparkin Words is also a great platform to explore: https://sparkinwords.com/
A highly recommended read for marketers, agency owners, and anyone passionate about digital growth and branding.
April 13, 2012
When I wrote The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies (shameless plug), I profiled a new set of companies that used intelligent management and technologies to do amazing things. Had I known about Roetzer's company, it surely would have been featured in the book. While I'm not familiar with the inner workings of PR firms and marketing agencies, I found that the lessons in "Blueprint" can be extrapolated for many types of businesses.
I certainly didn't agree with everything written, but I found Paul's tone very refreshing. He doesn't make grandiose promises and readily admits mistakes--attributes that far too many business texts lack. Good stuff.
I certainly didn't agree with everything written, but I found Paul's tone very refreshing. He doesn't make grandiose promises and readily admits mistakes--attributes that far too many business texts lack. Good stuff.
January 15, 2013
If you are about to open an advertising agency and you don't know where to start, start with this book. It consists of a great introduction that describes what and ad agency is supposed to do and how to calculate your prices, income, revenue...what kind of people there are and who do you need to employ to make your agency work. I would recommend it to all of the ad execs who feel lost in the brave new social networked digital word that renders them obsolete. I am sorry. Time to adapt or die, dinosaur.
August 6, 2012
I fell into the world of marketing. I didn't go to school for marketing, and I've only been at it for just over a year. So when I landed a dream content developer job with a digital marketing agency, I wanted to do a deep-dive and learn some basics quickly. This book, coupled with A Project Guide to UX Deisgn, was a huge help! I recommend it to anyone working in marketing or interested in the field.
August 11, 2013
If you ever need a crash course book to a new marketing agency project, you need to read this book.
Paul did a really great job putting together all the pieces for decision making and processes regarding a marketing agency challenges nowadays.
I personally found the "think talent and team" part of the book, because it gives me a fresh perspective of what an agency needs towards its goals.
Highly recommended book for every marketing entrepreneur or student.
Paul did a really great job putting together all the pieces for decision making and processes regarding a marketing agency challenges nowadays.
I personally found the "think talent and team" part of the book, because it gives me a fresh perspective of what an agency needs towards its goals.
Highly recommended book for every marketing entrepreneur or student.
April 29, 2012
As a boutique digital marketing agency owner, this book is arguably one of the best books I have read in a long.
The information he provides to help smaller, smarter agencies compete in the new economy is priceless.
This is not a philosophical book filled with hyperbole, but a practical, how-to guide to building an innovative, competitive agency... Of any size.
January 3, 2016
The book has good lists of questions and a few templates that are useful. It also offers a whole list of resources at the end. I believe the reason the book appealed to me so much was that this IS how I set up my agency back in 2006 (even though the author of the preface suggests that PR 20/20 was the first to do so...in 2010). ;)
July 5, 2015
Intro book on how a small digital ad agency is run. Unfortunately, I was looking for a book on how a major ad agency like Ogilvy is transforming. The book is ok, although bit general. Then again, I assume the targeted readers are not expected to have management or business school background. Oh, well. Got the wrong book.
December 8, 2015
The title covers the content and this is a must read book for everyone in the agency industry (and professional services too). What I love about the book is not about the tools, process or strategic plan but the author's philosophy of how to build a firm on integrity and see the client as the core of every activity.
July 14, 2012
One of the best books I've read on Marketing Agency Management 2.0. Written really well, not the boring old hum-drum of your typical business / management book. Anybody running a modern marketing agency must read this.
August 18, 2013
One of the very best books on modern marketing.
It's awesome reading books railing against the madman style of advertising execs.
It covers the true digital and digital methods but combined with the Old school too.
It's awesome reading books railing against the madman style of advertising execs.
It covers the true digital and digital methods but combined with the Old school too.
September 30, 2013
while not revolutionary, it was a systematic read in helping us becoming a market leader in the years to come. Will not help with quality of service issues but will help in giving a systematic view pr/marketing agency business development and management
October 13, 2013
Roetzer lays out a clear view of where he feels the marketing agency world is going, and lays a detailed path for you to get there. If you are a marketing pro working with clients, or hope to one day, this book is a must read.
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