#BehindtheSelfie: Craig Rodney, founder of The Agency Coach

Craig Rodney is the founder of The Agency Coach. Source: Supplied.

What are three things you would like people to know about you?

1. I get the biggest validation from being able to help people
2. Testing my limits on long trail runs is my version of therapy
3. If I could play golf every day for the rest of my life I would

Describe your career up to this point in two sentences.

Started a small PR agency in my 20s, merged with another agency in my 30s, sold the business in my 40s, and became an agency coach.

Helping agencies from around the world is far more rewarding that I could have ever imagined, and I’ll happily keep doing it for as long as I can.

What do you think are the three most important factors to consider when working with people?

1. Are you working towards the same outcome
2. Do your skill sets complete each other and off-set each other’s weaknesses
3. Can you give and receive honest, unemotional communication

What are your desert island picks? (Film, song, book)

Film – Snatch
Song – Anything from The National
Book – Island Survival for Dummies

What do you consider to be the most important component of a successful marketing campaign?

Did it achieve the objectives you set out to achieve? That’s pretty much it. Marketing is such a diverse concept with any number of potential success points. What matters is whether it achieves the success you set out to achieve.

#BehindtheSelfie: Bogosi Motshegwa, founder of Thinkerneur & One Human Summit

Karabo Ledwaba  23 Jan 2024

If you could get a redo on your career, what is one thing you would do differently?

I would back myself more confidently, and be more aggressive with my agency growth in the early years. I spent far too long as a small, shy agency and it took having a great business partner to show me what can truly be done when you back yourself.

What’s one thing people get wrong about social media marketing?

Too much of the same, bland content used to fill your pages and tick a box. It really doesn’t take much to offer something more interesting, more valuable, and more engaging to your audience. Sadly, like with most marketing, most companies stay deep within their shells and never test how engaging they can be if they just tried something different.

Who/what inspires you?

I’m inspired by anyone who is willing to push beyond the norm - whether physically or creatively. It’s the cocktail of confidence, bravery, self-belief, and devil-may-care required to do something worthwhile that I absolutely love. It can be in any sphere of life, seeing people take a shot at something is all the inspiration I need.