Phil Risher warns that marketing agencies often control your websites, automation, and ad accounts, trapping you as a renter of your own growth engine. Ask any new partner upfront who owns each asset. You should own everything.
If firing your marketing company means starting over, then you never really owned your marketing. A lot of times right now in the marketing space, these people are holding your website hostage. They're holding your automations hostage. They're holding your Google Ads hostage. They're holding all of your assets hostage. And so if you try to leave them, then you're literally starting over. This means that you are basically renting your marketing from these people. You are renting the number one growth engine in your business to grow your business to these people. Do not be held hostage by marketing. In my opinion, it's the most unethical thing that can happen because you have no control over what happens. They are literally holding you hostage for growth. So in 2027, if you're looking to grow your business and you're trying to vet out marketing companies, ask them, who owns my assets? Who owns the website? Who owns the automations? Who owns all of these things if I decide that I don't want to work together? And the answer should be you.
