I got sick of watching agencies exploit business owners. So I started holding them accountable.
The agency model is broken. It rewards secrecy, punishes anyone who tries to be straight with clients, and the whole thing depends on you not knowing enough to push back. I spent years inside that system. Now I work against it.
The Short Version
I ran a marketing agency for 6 years. Before that I’d spent a good chunk of time as a performance marketer across different industries and continents, running campaigns that turned small businesses into operations doing millions in revenue.
And I was good at it. Not “thought leader” good. Measurably good. I built tracking systems, automation setups that saved sales teams thousands of hours. Everything I did was tied back to revenue, not whatever vanity metric was fashionable that quarter.
Then I started my own agency.
I kept losing pitches to people making promises I knew they couldn’t keep. Competitors would jump on Zoom looking polished, sounding confident, delivering slick decks about tripling leads in 30 days. I’d sit there trying to explain that real results take process, patience, proper strategy. You know what happened. They got signed. I didn’t.
Honesty isn’t just undervalued in this industry. It costs you business.
What I Saw From the Inside
Running an agency gave me a front-row seat to how this industry actually works. Not the version on their websites. The real one, behind closed doors, when clients aren’t on the Zoom call.
I watched competitors build their entire model around maximising their own revenue whilst giving clients just enough perceived value to stop them from walking. Campaigns kicked off with a flurry of activity, strategy sessions, creative briefs, the works. By month three? Autopilot. The senior strategist who won the pitch had moved on to the next sale, and your account was being managed by someone who started 90 days ago.
And the reports were the worst bit. Gorgeous PDFs. Charts going up and to the right. But deliberately structured so you’d never think to ask: “Right, but am I actually making money from this?”
These practices weren’t random. They specifically targeted small and medium businesses. People investing money they couldn’t afford to waste, who simply didn’t have the technical knowledge to spot what was going on. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
I felt like I was playing a game where only they knew the rules.
UK Business Owner, from independent researchThat’s from research I conducted into how business owners actually experience their agency relationships. Agencies hold all the technical knowledge. Clients carry all the financial risk. The gap between those two things is where the exploitation happens.
I couldn’t fix it from inside the agency world. So I left.
Over those audits I’ve seen the same thing play out hundreds of times. Roughly 80% of agencies underperform. Not always because the staff are clueless (though some are, and that’s a whole separate conversation). The real problem is the model itself. It’s built around incentives that work against you.
Fixed retainers mean the agency gets paid whether they touch your campaigns or not. Opaque reporting means you can’t verify what they’re claiming. Long contracts mean you’re stuck when it stops working. And digital marketing is complex enough that most clients can’t tell the difference between someone who knows what they’re doing and someone who’s just good at sounding like they do.
After 230+ audits, I can spot the difference within a few hours of looking at an account.
Why No Name, No Face
No headshot on this page. No LinkedIn profile. No staged photo with a rehearsed bio underneath. That’s deliberate.
This industry is small and territorial. The practices I call out in my audits and on this blog? Standard operating procedures for a big chunk of the market. Putting my name out there makes me a target for agencies whose business depends on the information gap I’m closing.
But more importantly, it protects my clients. When I audit an agency’s work, they have no idea I’m involved until the client decides to share the findings. If agencies could identify me, they’d start tidying up accounts before I looked at them. I’ve actually seen it happen when businesses even mention they’re considering bringing in outside oversight. Suddenly the agency starts “proactively optimising” again. Funny how that works.
You’ll judge me by the analysis, not by how polished my personal brand looks. And honestly? Considering my whole argument is that agencies use polish to cover up poor performance, leading with a glossy headshot would be a bit rich.
The work speaks.
How This Is Different
Not in marketing speak. Structurally. The incentives point in a different direction, and that changes everything about the advice you get.
I Audit Campaigns. I Don’t Run Them.
Zero incentive to keep a bad campaign running because I don’t make money from your ad spend. Your agency does. That one structural difference means I’ll tell you to kill something that isn’t working. They won’t, because killing it reduces their billable hours.
Your Agency Doesn’t Know I Exist
I’m not angling to take over your account. If they’re doing good work, I’ll tell you to stay. If they’re not, you get the evidence to fix the relationship or walk away. This is your money. You should know where it’s going.
I Need You to Understand Your Data
Agencies benefit when you’re confused by your own numbers, because confusion keeps you dependent. I benefit when you understand them. That’s not a slogan. It’s how the economics work.
Cancel Whenever You Want
No 12-month lock-ins. No 90-day notice periods. If I stop being useful, you stop paying. Same standard I’d hold any agency to on your behalf.
What I Will Always Do
These aren’t slogans. They’re how I operate. Break any of them? Fire me.
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Tell You When It’s Your Fault
If your marketing is tanking because of your product, your pricing, or decisions you’ve made – not the agency – I’ll say so. You’re paying me for honesty, not to tell you what you want to hear.
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Every Pound Gets Traced
Not roughly. Not “in aggregate.” You’ll see where every pound goes, across every channel. If I can’t trace it, that tells us something too.
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No Jargon. Ever.
If I can’t explain something in language you understand, the problem is my explanation. Jargon is how agencies keep you dependent on their interpretation. I refuse to play that game.
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Your Data Stays Yours
You own your ad accounts. You own every report I write. Nothing held hostage, nothing locked behind my access. I’ve seen what happens when agencies control client data. I won’t do that to you.
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I’ll Tell You When You Don’t Need Me
If there’s a cheaper fix, I’ll point you there. If you don’t need ongoing oversight, I’ll say so. My pricing guarantee exists for a reason: I won’t charge more than I save you.
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Some Businesses, I’ll Turn Away
If your budget’s too small for reliable analysis, or your problem isn’t agency-related, or I can’t add enough value to justify the fee – I’ll tell you before we start. Taking your money when I can’t help would make me no different from the agencies I audit.
That nagging feeling
that something’s off?
Trust it.
15 minutes of your time. I spend 5 working days going through everything, and you get a written report. You keep that report whether you hire me or not.
No “discovery call” that’s really a sales pitch. No strings. Just what’s actually happening with your money.
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