The “Deconstructed Agency” Model: How to Sell Strategy Without Scaling a Team

Interview: How Kevin Turned an Agency Into a Higher-Profit Advisory Business (and What Agency Founders Can Steal)

Behind the Agency Podcast with Kevin Whelan(Advisor + Creator of Mindshare, a membership for marketing consultants)

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Prefer the highlights? Key takeaways and summary below.

TL;DR – Key Takeaways

• Kevin started like a lot of us: freelance → solo agency → crossroads where scaling meant hiring a real team.

• Instead of building a bigger agency, he built a “deconstructed agency”: he sells strategy + leadership and brings in specialists to execute without marking up delivery.

• Two books helped spark the shift: Alan Weiss (Value-Based Fees) and Mike Michalowicz (Profit First).

• His big contrarian point: selling consulting + implementation at the same time creates a weird trust dynamic (even if you’re honest).

• The safer transition isn’t “burn the ships.” It’s phase it in, keep the core business running, and test the new model with 1–2 clients.

• If you want to pivot into something more focused (new niche, productized offer), don’t mash it into your main site—spin it off as a separate brand/offer owned by the agency.

• Services marketing is mostly de-risking: proof, case studies, teaching, and credibility signals beat clever messaging.

• The 4-stage ladder Kevin sees: Execution → Management → Advising → Education (more leverage as you climb).

Meet the Guest

Kevin has been building websites since the early 2000s—starting with hand-coded sites for friends and family, then turning it into a real business around 2014. He ran a solo B2B services agency for years, until he hit the classic fork in the road: hire a full team and scale the agency… or redesign the business around what he does best.

Today, he runs more like an advisor than an agency owner. He sells strategy, oversight, and decision support, then connects clients directly with vetted specialists. He also teaches other consultants through Mindshare, his membership for people building solo practices.

Episode Summary

1. From freelancer → solo agency → “I don’t want to hire a full team”

Kevin’s origin story is super familiar. He built a book of business nights and weekends while working a corporate job, then went full-time.

After a few years, he realized scaling meant becoming a different kind of business: project managers, ops, bigger delivery team, more complexity.

Instead, he chose a different path: keep the value, drop the overhead.

2. The main tension: scaling an agency isn’t just “more clients”

The big trap is thinking you’re “just busy.” But the real issue is your model starts demanding things you may not want:

• managing more people

• managing more projects

• more scope friction

• more “dog and pony show” reporting

Kevin didn’t hate agencies. He just didn’t want the version of himself that scaling required.

3. The “deconstructed agency” approach (and why it changed everything)

This is the core idea:

Instead of selling execution + marking up delivery, Kevin sells:

• strategy

• advisory

• analytics + accountability

• vendor selection + vetting

• coordination and planning

Then he introduces the client directly to the execution partners at cost (no markups, no referral fees, no affiliate commissions).

He described it like moving from sitting across the table from the client to sitting on the same side of the table.

That shift changes the whole vibe from “prove what you did” to “make smarter decisions together.”

4. The trust problem: consulting + implementation in the same deal

Kevin’s strongest (and honestly pretty spicy) claim:

If you advise someone what to buy… and you also sell the thing you’re recommending… the client has to do extra mental work to trust it.

He used analogies that hit:

• the dentist saying “you need this procedure”

• the vet offering a pile of vaccines

Even if the provider is ethical, the buyer still wonders: “Do I really need this, or do you just sell this?”

That’s why Kevin thinks it’s hard to be both:

• the “fiduciary” guide (aligned incentives)

• and the seller of the execution work

5. A practical path for agency founders: don’t blow up your site, spin it off

Kevin’s advice for agencies wanting to narrow or productize without risking the whole business:

• Don’t mash the new offer into your existing positioning if it creates confusion.

• Create a separate “thing” (a productized service, a niche brand, a focused offer) that’s owned by your agency.

• Borrow credibility from the main agency, but market the new offer hard as its own lane.

This is his “overlap” approach: keep the core running, test the new model, then shift weight over time.

6. The 80/20 transition ladder: Execution → Management → Advising → Education

If you want the simplest next step away from pure delivery, Kevin says:

Drop execution first, and sell management + leadership (fractional CMO style):

• the client owns the accounts

• the client owns the files

• the client pays vendors directly

• you run the system, make decisions, and keep it accountable

Then you can later step down into lighter advisory… or they hire in-house.

7. Services marketing vs SaaS marketing: map vs guide

Kevin’s simplest explanation was the best:

• SaaS is selling a map (a tool)

• services are selling a guide (expertise)

With a guide, you’re paying for:

• avoiding dumb mistakes

• picking the right path

• moving faster with fewer injuries

His point: services buyers are making a capital allocation decision. They’re asking:

• how do I de-risk this spend?

• how fast will I get a return?

• are you likely to get me up the mountain?

8. Teaching as leverage (and as marketing)

Kevin’s take: once you’ve got “sawdust” (templates, methods, examples), you can package it into education:

• newsletters

• workshops

• courses

• memberships

• books

And teaching also acts as credibility. It’s a way to give people proof before they pay you.

Notable Quotes

“It’s really hard to sell consulting and implementation at the same time.”

“It’s a capital allocation game at the end of the day.”

“We’re in the de-risking business as much as we’re in the upside business.”

“All roads are hard. It’s just which kind of hard do you want?”

Learn More / Get in Touch

Visit → kevin.me

Newsletter → (linked from his site)

Community/Membership → Mindshare (linked from his site)