This week’s dinner topics looked at marketing and how to build a successful digital agency, as well as  being a successful leader with the founder of Sheerluxe at our ladies only dinner. We were pleased to welcome The Happenstance as one of our new venues, part of the Drake and Morgan restaurant group. Read on to find out what happened at dinner this week.

Building a successful digital agency
What is the secret to building a successful digital agency? We had the pleasure of dining with Chris Donnelly, from Verb, a digital agency based in Shoreditch who have grown from strength to strength. An intimate group, conversation flowed late into the night as we talked about what it takes to achieve success in the digital agency world.

Chris is a young entrepreneur, who actually started his business, Verb (though under a different name) when he and his business partner were still at university. Much of the groundwork in the early stages was done from home, rather than at an office, and therefore Chris’s Mum called this strategy the “boxers to business” approach! After a rebranding, the business became known as Verb, and they began to position themselves towards the luxury market.

But how do Verb get most of their enquiries now?

We are natural networkers.

Chris stressed the importance of networking and meeting as many people as physically possible to gain business. Verb run events as frequently as possible, to bring in new clients and create new business.

Meet 50 people a month, and do 2 favours a day.

To this day, Verb do not invest in marketing for their company. They receive lots of leads every day from a variety of different areas.

Chris’s top tips for building a successful agency:

• Pick a niche. Pick a sector that you love, and work it!
• Become very good at rebuffing your clients’ apprehensions. Find a way of convincing them that you will give the best product.

For advice on pitching, Chris also recommends David Kean’s book ‘Pitch to Win’.

Dine with Georgie Cole, founder of Sheerluxe, on being a successful leader
Big thanks go to our co-hosts Randy, Head of Digital Marketing at i2i Events Group, and Tamar, CEO of Gleanin, for arranging this fantastic installment in our Women Only dinner series. Georgie Cole, founder of Sheerluxe, the online lifestyle magazine shared her knowledge on what it takes to be a successful leader. A fantastic first dinner at The Happenstance, a Drake and Morgan restaurant, read her top tips here.

Our speakers were joined by: HostDgtl, Constant Contact, InspireDigital, UKStudyCentre, BPL Digital, Bungaloow, MyBeautyMatches, Holding Your Hand, Faber Novella, Flair Atelier, i2i Events Group, GleanIn, Phrasee, Make Happy, Sister Snog, UBM and Claudia Fallah Cosmetics amongst others.

More exciting events, check out the list of upcoming dinners here.