How not to get burned by the get rich quick trend
Corey Quinn
Founder, Deep Specialization™
"Everything gets easier once you're a specialist in a vertical, and profitability follows." Sasha Berson shares the failures and lessons behind verticalizing his agency.
"Everything gets easier once you're a specialist in a vertical, and profitability follows.” – Sasha Berson
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When it comes to niching down, nothing gives you a lesson like learning from failures and mistakes. And oftentimes, the most successful and inspirational agency leaders are the ones who don’t shy away from sharing what they did not get right the first time around.
If there’s one actionable takeaway from this episode, it’s that there is no get-rich-quick scheme in the world of verticalization. You have to have patience and foresight to bring your vision to life, stay humble, and have the self-awareness to pivot when your bets aren’t paying off.
We discuss in this episode:
Sasha’s journey in getting into marketing and why he was drawn to it.
Founding a verticalized arm serving B2C lawyers within a generalist holding company.
Failures and trials in verticalization, and what you can learn from them.
What really works in outbound, and why many agencies get it wrong.
Actionable key takeaways for agency founders:
Research your niche thoroughly to understand whether the vertical truly holds growth potential.
Paid advertising doesn’t necessarily bring you the highest ROI prospects, so focus on content instead.
You need a specialized brand to bring specialized clients.
The foundation of agency sales is a good sales tech stack, top reps, a superb list, and patience as cycles can take up to three years.
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Best,
CQ
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Sasha Berson say there's no get-rich-quick scheme in verticalization?
Because bringing a vertical strategy to life requires patience, foresight, and the self-awareness to pivot when bets aren't paying off, a genuine, often slow process rather than a fast track to results.
How did Sasha Berson found a verticalized arm serving B2C lawyers within a generalist holding company?
A specific journey discussed directly in the episode, carving out a specialized focus on B2C lawyers as a distinct offering within a broader, more generalist parent company structure.
Why does Sasha Berson say paid advertising doesn't necessarily bring the highest ROI prospects?
Because paid channels don't always attract the most qualified leads, a nuance discussed directly as a reason to focus more heavily on content instead of relying primarily on paid advertising.
Why does Sasha Berson emphasize needing a specialized brand to attract specialized clients?
Because a generic brand identity doesn't signal the depth of expertise a specialized client is looking for, the brand itself needs to reflect genuine specialization to attract the right kind of client in the first place.
What does Sasha Berson identify as the foundation of effective agency sales?
A good sales tech stack, top reps, a superb list, and patience, since sales cycles within verticalized B2B sales can take up to three years to fully play out.
About Corey Quinn
Founder, Deep Specialization™
Corey helps founder-led agencies scale through Deep Specialization™ and programmatic M&A. Former CMO of Scorpion ($20M to $200M). Author of "Anyone, Not Everyone."
