Retained Trust
Retained Trust
Podcast Description
Want to know what it takes to build, scale, and sell your agency?
Retained Trust is a weekly podcast where host Karl Hughes goes deep with digital service business owners to uncover the habits, tactics, and strategies they’ve learned to grow successful companies. Along the way, you’ll hear about Karl’s journey running and acquiring niche digital agencies as he learns from guests with a variety of backgrounds and experience levels.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes such as agency growth, financial management, personal branding, and effective marketing strategies. Episodes include discussions on scaling agencies, financial clarity for service businesses, and the role of authentic content in client acquisition. Specific episode examples include the transition from solo consulting to building an agency and mastering business finances.
Want to know what it takes to build, scale, and sell your agency?
Retained Trust is a weekly podcast where host Karl Hughes goes deep with digital service business owners to uncover the habits, tactics, and strategies they’ve learned to grow successful companies. Along the way, you’ll hear about Karl’s journey running and acquiring niche digital agencies as he learns from guests with a variety of backgrounds and experience levels.
In this episode of Retained Trust, host Karl Hughes talks with Mark Bealin, founder of SearchLab, a Chicago-based digital marketing agency specializing in local SEO and PPC. Mark recounts his journey from side-hustle entrepreneur to leading a 50-person agency and dives into the pivotal decisions that shaped his company’s growth. He shares lessons learned from early failures, the power of niche specialization, the value of hiring for fit, and how becoming a father sparked a deeper entrepreneurial drive. The conversation wraps with Mark’s personal transformation, tackling health challenges through endurance training and building resilience.
Key Points From This Episode:
[00:00:00] Mark introduces SearchLab and its tight focus on local SEO and PPC.
[00:02:00] From side hustle to full-time: the agency’s unofficial start in 2017.
[00:04:45] Leveraging legacy print media sales reps to scale early growth.
[00:07:40] Breaking through business plateaus and embracing high-stakes risks.
[00:13:24] How becoming a father reshaped Mark’s drive and business focus.
[00:19:15] Lessons from a failed business partnership and realignment.
[00:23:02] From generalist to specialist: how focus led to faster growth.
[00:28:15] Improving profitability by cutting loss-leader services.
[00:32:48] Hiring industry-recognized leaders and building a strong leadership team.
[00:35:56] Navigating team culture shifts and turnover during the “Great Resignation.”
[00:38:24] Using assessments like Culture Index to scale hiring intentionally.
[00:41:40] Why customer-centered innovation drives SearchLab’s strategy.
[00:45:30] Understanding the “jobs to be done” theory in agency services.
[00:49:18] Facing market changes like AI and GEO with curiosity and customer insight.
[00:52:12] Mark’s health wake-up call and transformation through endurance training.
Links:
- SearchLab: https://searchlabdigital.com/
- Mark Bealin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbealin/
- Karl Hughes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karllhughes
- Production and editing by The Podcast Consultant: https://thepodcastconsultant.com
Disclaimer
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