If you’ve spent any amount of time in the agency world, you’ve probably heard of directory-based marketing opportunities and search consultant niche. Today’s guest sits in an interesting space right in the middle of these two. John Doherty has 11 years of SEO and digital experience and lots of experience with lead generation. John’s perspective is very interesting, especially if you’re in that growth stage in your own agency. This week, episode 140 of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast is about qualifying leads from the beginning! Watch our new recorded video training: Relationship-Driven New Business At-ScaleIn this episode of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, Dan Englander and John Doherty are sharing the importance of qualifying your leads and actionable steps you can take right now to stop wasting time with directories that aren’t providing top leads. John Doherty is a Denver, Colorado-based entrepreneur and marketing consultant. He's the founder of Credo, which helps companies find the best digital marketing agency for their needs. He has 11 years of SEO and digital experience across agencies and in-house and has worked with some of the largest websites on the internet to drive growth. Living in Denver, CO, with his wife and dog, John is an entrepreneur, speaker, writer, skier, and mountain biker and plans to visit every continent on Earth.In this episode, Dan and John Doherty discuss the following:Spending too much time on the leads that aren’t a good fit and why that drains your energy and profit margins.Why the most difficult part of the lead generation process is getting a potential client in the door and what you have that’s special after that happens.Why it’s important to qualify your potential clients before starting work with them, and how to qualify leads.How the cost per lead has increased over the last 18 months or so exponentially, and why John believes this is happening.John’s perspective on entrepreneurship and growth as an agency is a unique one that will leave you itching to jump in and take a second look at your current lead generation strategy.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!CONNECT WITH John Doherty:WebsiteTwitterLinkedInCONNECT WITH DAN ENGLANDER:LinkedInSales Schema Watch our latest video training, How to Take Charge of Your Agency’s Future Revenue. During this training, you’ll learn how we get qualified appointments every week using tasteful and highly targeted email outreach.