How He Helped a Client Win $125K in 7 Weeks – Inbound Leads, Team Trust & Systems That Scale with James Donovan

Inbound leads. Team trust. $125K in 7 weeks.

These aren’t buzzwords—they’re the real results of a client who implemented the systems built by my guest, James Donovan, founder of Nine Two Media. In this episode, James breaks down the exact strategy his agency used to help a service-based firm generate $125,000 in new business in just 49 days using Google Business Profile visibility, Local Service Ads, and targeted positioning that drives results without relying on referrals or bloated retainers.

But we don’t stop at marketing. We dig into the leadership shifts that make that kind of scale possible—and sustainable. James shares what it took to step out of daily fulfillment, trust his team, and build the systems that allowed both his agency and his clients to grow. That’s the real work—moving from operator to CEO.

If you’re stuck in the weeds of fulfillment or wearing every hat in your agency, this conversation will show you what’s possible when systems, strategy, and leadership align. And if you’re already scaling past seven figures, this is a masterclass in how to lead through systems and multiply your impact.

Listen now to discover:

• How James helped a client generate $125K in just 7 weeks using inbound systems
• Why Google visibility is still the most underutilized lead gen lever for service-based firms
• The leadership shift required to delegate, trust, and lead at scale

Whether you're still inside the day-to-day—or already building a leadership team—this episode will challenge how you think, lead, and grow.

Books Mentioned:

• Booked Solid: Digital Marketing Strategies That Actually Work for Accounting Firms by James Donovan
• The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

Connect with James Donovan:
Looking to build predictable client acquisition systems for your B2B service firm? Connect with James Donovan at

🌟 Check out our podcast sponsor, Competitive Edge Business Consulting, and book your free discovery call with them today at www.CompEdgeConsulting.com 🌟

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet James Donovan, B2B Marketing Expert
• 2:36 The leadership wall: Fulfillment vs. delegation
• 6:26 Appreciation vs. compensation: Retaining team members
• 9:01 What actually works in B2B marketing today
• 11:06 Why Google visibility drives high-converting inbound leads
• 14:38 $125K in 7 weeks: Real inbound case study breakdown
• 18:18 Letting go to grow: Building trust in your team
• 23:33 Leadership Growth and Ongoing Development
• 26:39 Final Thoughts and Book Recommendation

Transcript

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 0:17

I'm so excited today to have James Donovan back on the podcast. James, no stranger around here, is the founder of Nine2 Media. He's a trusted growth partner for B2B firms in the accounting and finance space. James works with fractional CFOs, tax planning firms and other professional service providers to build full funnel client acquisition systems combining outbound content, paid ads and smart positioning to drive real revenue. He has helped hundreds of firms grow past referral plateaus and unlock consistent pipelines without relying on hacks or bloated agency retainers. James is also the author of the new book Booked Solid Marketing Strategies for Accounting Firms, and today he's here to share what is actually working in B2B marketing right now. James, so good to see you.

James Donovan: 1:13

Thanks for being on the show Thanks for having me back, William, and for the wonderful introduction.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 1:18

I'm excited about this conversation and I can't wait to hear what you're going to share this time around.

James Donovan: 1:22

Awesome. Well, let's get right into it.

Intro/Outro: 1:27

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach, dr William Attaway.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 1:44

For those of our listeners who didn't hear your first episode a couple of seasons ago, I'd love for you to share a little bit of your story. Remind them of your background, particularly your journey and your development as a leader. How'd you get started?

James Donovan: 2:04

I got started by getting laid off from a corporate job where I was selling ad space on adult sites. I did that for yeah, so I'll leave it at that. We can let everyone paint the picture. So I got started about five and a half years ago. When I was laid off, I saw an ad on Facebook about starting a digital marketing company. Get five clients at two grand, make 10K super easy.

Intro/Outro: 2:30

Well, I bought into that idea, and it's not that easy.

James Donovan: 2:31

It's actually a lot harder, or it's been way harder for me at least. Maybe it's super easy for other people. But along that journey there was I mean, I'm still very much on it, but trying to figure out one how to run a business, trying to figure out one how to run a business, how to fulfill for clients, how to get clients of your own. It was I was selling stuff for other businesses before and that was fine because you could also just turn off your brain at 5 PM at night and you didn't have to think about it. But one of the biggest challenges and it's still a challenge, but in a different way is really the management of team members. That I feel like I've made a lot of progress in the last two years, I would say. But that was, hands down, the biggest obstacle that I face and continue to still face.

James Donovan: 3:18

I find it really easy to go out and be creative to get clients, and here's how we can deliver. But it's finding team members to come in, establishing trust with them, relying on them, giving them enough room on their own. So you're not micromanaging, but knowing when to step in, knowing when to provide the encouragement or when you have to be a little bit more strict on. This is the way things are done, so that's been a balancing act. Working with you has been a huge benefit in learning, kind of developing that muscle. But that to me has kind of been the biggest Achilles heel over the last five and a half years.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 3:58

You know. That's so often, I think, the case, because when you start a business, you start it because you're good at providing a product or a service in your case, marketing, right, I mean, you're good at that. You know how to do that. As you find success, though, you have to hire people to help you with fulfillment, and then you have to lead those people. That's a different skill set. It's been really neat to be a part of your journey and watching you grow and develop as a leader and building something that is not just for the moment, but something that is sustainable and healthy, and I think that is so important if you want to last, if you want to build something long term, as you have done that. You've picked up some things along the way, I'm sure, just like we all do. What's your biggest learning these days about leading your team?

James Donovan: 4:46

To really trust the individuals that you have on your team. They're there for a reason, that's good, so trust them to do the work. I like that. It sounds simple, it sounds obvious. It's. It's a lot harder, I think, at times to actually practice that and to really just trust. But, um, I'm really happy with the team I have in place right now. It's taken a long time to to get here and have this solid core and it's it's hard to find the other hires to mesh into what I feel we have. But I'm really, as of late, just trying to 100% kind of step away and let the team do the tasks that they were hired to do. Otherwise, what's the point of having them on the team if you're just going to keep jumping in Because then you're not, then I'm not in the areas I need to be in to help out our team.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 5:42

You know, I just heard something a few days ago that really fascinated me. Most people think that when somebody leaves a team, when you have a team member go somewhere else, that it's because of money. That's the number one answer. In fact, I think it was 89% of business owners say that when a team member leaves, it's over money. They get more money somewhere else. What is absolutely fascinating is the study that I was reading. It was done over 450,000 respondents, so this is not a small study Over 450,000 respondents.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 6:12

The number one reason why people leave number one reason 79% of people who leave leave for this reason it's not money, it's that they don't feel like their boss appreciates them and the work that they do. Wow, it blew me away. Yeah, like we think it's money, but business owners think it's money, so we're all you know. Oh, all right, here's another little bit, here's another, here's another. That's not it at all, it's appreciation. Now, appreciation can be reflected, of course. If you're underpaying somebody, you should work on that, but the reality is appreciation is not something that's on the radar of a lot of people, and I have watched you step into that and step into that leadership role of communicating that appreciation in multiple ways, not just by saying hey, good job, which, by the way, is one of the worst ways to show appreciation, because you say good job to your dog, you know that's just not a great plan, like, don't do that. So there's multiple ways to communicate appreciation and I've loved watching you do that as you have grown and stepped into that leadership role.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 7:20

You just wrote a book and after reading it I have to tell you this is really well done, book's solid. Why did you write this book? I mean, there's books everywhere. I've got most of them. No, just kidding, but, like you know, like, why did you write this one a?

James Donovan: 7:34

vehicle. That's longer form content. It's hard to get all of that across in a post on LinkedIn or an article that you might publish on LinkedIn, so why not sit down and take the time to really pour all of it out into a platform that, if someone wants to sit down and read it and they want to benefit their business, grow their firm now they have 170 pages to do that. It's not just an article that might take two minutes to read on LinkedIn, because that's not really getting into the depths of what needs to be done. And I feel very confident with the strategies put into this book that if someone reads it cover to cover, they will be able to, you know, get more exposure online and generate new business through online marketing.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 8:34

That's good. When I read this, one of the things I loved about this was that you are very clear in speaking to the actual needs of business owners in the accounting space. You're not just blowing smoke at people and you're not giving them this high level stuff that well, that sounds great, but how do I do that? You're actually diving into the weeds. You're actually diving in and saying, hey, here's some stuff you can do to move the needle. So let me ask you you're the expert what is the best way for accounting firm owners, for these business owners, to generate qualified sales leads and opportunities?

James Donovan: 9:15

There's a handful of ways, but the first one I would say that I go into a lot of depth in the book and what I'll be speaking about at GrowCon next week. It's an accounting conference. It's being visible on Google. Accounting conference is being visible on Google. It's where people, it's where your customers, are looking to find you or to find a service. That happens to be what you can provide.

James Donovan: 9:38

And I always use the analogy of the plumber. If your sink or toilet breaks at home, assuming you don't know how to fix it, you're probably not going on Facebook hoping that a friend of a friend made an organic post about how they fix toilets. Or you're probably not texting somebody to say, hey, do you happen to know anybody who might fix toilets? I got water leaking everywhere. No, you're going to Google and you're searching plumber near me. It's no different in the accounting world or whatever industry you're in.

James Donovan: 10:07

People are going to Google. They want to find a solution. They're already problem aware and now it's just a matter of do you have reviews there to build their trust? Do you have some pictures posted to show that you're real and do you have a phone number people can reach you at? If you have those in place, you're going to get way more calls than if you don't. There's a lot more you can do after, but like just that core than if you don't. There's a lot more you can do after, but like just that core. Be visible where people are searching for you. It's not on. I don't even know what all the other directories are. People are going to Google. That's where they're searching. So, being listed on you know, angie's List or Better Business Bureau, all these spots Okay, that's great, but when was the last time you looked there for a service when you're in need? Solid point.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 10:53

You know, I sometimes hear business owners who are like yeah, I get it. Everybody talks about the Google business profile. I get it. Yeah, I don't know if I need that or not. You hear somebody say that, you overhear somebody saying that. What is your first gut response?

James Donovan: 11:09

to that. You ever hear somebody say that. What is your first gut response to that? Well, it's free, so why not?

James Donovan: 11:15

Matt Clapp actually said this to me at one of the intensives that we were at. I was asking him you know, I'm posting on these different platforms but I'm not posting on TikTok. I don't feel like my audience is hanging out there and he's like how much does it cost to have a TikTok account? And then I, you know, I kind of ended the conversation. So to the same point and I mean I would argue even further that definitely be on Google. Because, yes, tiktok can be used as a search engine, but people are probably going to Google first. So not to discredit Matt at all, because he obviously knows what he's doing, it's a very successful company. But if it's free to be on a spot and it's not a lot of legwork to put up the content, especially with all the tools now where you link everything together and submit once and it goes on all of the channels, why not? You're putting yourself behind the eight ball by not doing that.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 12:16

Well said, so say somebody's listening and their firm has slowly been growing mostly referrals, and they've got a Google business profile. I mean, it may not be anything to write home about, but they've got one. How can they improve it? What are some things they need to think about and focus?

James Donovan: 13:39

on Get as many reviews as possible. Reviews are an incredible way to build that know like trust factor with people who don't know like or trust you. It's good. Accounting firms, tax professionals, bookkeepers are coming out of arguably the best time of the year to get reviews just tax season. Every single person that they filed a tax return for gave financial advice to, whatever it is. They should be sending them a Google review link and saying, hey, would you mind leaving us a review? The average accounting firm in the US has 10 reviews on Google. That's just average.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 14:20

I bet they get more than 10 returns this year.

James Donovan: 14:23

Yeah, so and again. I'm going to be speaking about this in Utah with the event, but I'm sure all the accounting firms could take a look at their book of business and find 10, 15 people that they worked with in the last 90 days and ask for a Google review and skyrocket over just being average.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 14:44

So good. You work with a lot of people who are talking to you and other agencies and trying to decide who should I go with, and I know this is the age-old dilemma of business owners. I mean, I'm sure you, like everybody else, we get pitched all the time. You know people sliding up into our DMs on LinkedIn and Facebook. It's so common and so consistent when somebody is talking to you and they say, okay, yeah, but what makes 9to different? What makes 9to Media different than every other marketing company? Like, why should I choose you guys? What is your unique proposition?

James Donovan: 15:27

I normally ask them how they got in touch with us and then I say we'll implement that system in your business.

Intro/Outro: 15:32

so either they came through.

James Donovan: 15:35

They came through google because they were searching for a marketing company, or they were searching online and our articles popped up because they're all seo optimized. Or they came through one of our ads on facebook, or they responded to our message on linkedin and I say you're here, so why don't we just implement what got you here, but into your business?

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 15:57

That's so good. It's so simple and so good. I love that.

James Donovan: 16:07

Most of the time people, they're like, okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Sometimes they're still comically like, oh, I don't know if it would work for my business. I'm like, okay, well, again you're here. So I feel like that, you know that says enough Worked with you.

James Donovan: 16:24

Yeah, I mean that's one way, but I don't know A lot of people can say this as well. I know our team and myself we take a lot of people can say this as well. I, I, I know our team and myself. We take a lot of pride in who we work with and really want everyone we work with to win, and it's not, they're not just a number to us. We know everyone's name, we know about their business, what's going on in their lives, and I want to see them win, because the more they win, the better off, like they'll take care of our business if we just take care of them. They'll take care of our business If we just take care of them, they'll take care of us in return.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 16:54

I think that is a differentiator, not that the first one's not, but I think the second one matters. You said earlier you know the know, like and trust factor. You know, we know, that people do business with people, that they know like and trust, and we want to be known as well, you know, as customers, as clients, and I think that offering that as part of who you are and how you operate is what makes your retention go up. I think that's why clients stick with you, because they feel known and they feel valued. You know, part of showing somebody value is knowing them, knowing about them, and I think that's what you guys do and I think that's why you're seeing the results that you're seeing.

James Donovan: 17:35

I appreciate that we're we're trying. There's always room to improve, like anything, but I think that's also been a big differentiator in the last couple of years compared to the first couple of years. That's good.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 17:48

So somebody looks at what you're doing and they say, okay, the Google business profile, I got something like that. But I feel like I should be doing some ads. I feel like I should kind of do some outbound stuff. Try to get some people calling If an accounting firm comes to you and they're like, hey, I think we're ready for that step. And I've heard of these local service ads. I've heard Facebook ads and Google ads. It's just all overwhelming Right. Where do they start.

James Donovan: 18:16

It's a great question. I would probably get them to ask the question of where do you want to be bringing in new clients? Do you want them in your backyard or are you trying to go nationwide right away? And also, what's your budget? What's your appetite for paid ads? If you're just getting started, I would suggest local service ads. It's a pay per call model. So what that means is unlike Facebook, where you're paying every single day to have your ad displayed and maybe you're getting results, maybe you're not. Local service ads is really friendly to businesses getting started because if your phone doesn't ring doesn't cost you anything and you get very high intent leads because the person who's on the other end of the phone calling you they're already looking for the solution you have to offer. Unlike Facebook ads that work really well, but Facebook ads you're trying to almost convince or poke at the pain that you know your audience may have and get them to take action. Where local service ads, they're searching for you for that solution.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 19:20

Oh, that's good. I think the expertise is why people come to you, james. I think this world is overwhelming and we all have the curse of knowledge in our areas where we have spent the time and the expertise to sharpen our saws and get good at something. People don't know marketing. They know accounting in this world, right, they're really good at that. I don't want to know accounting personally. That's why I have an accountant. I don't want to learn the tax code, right, and I think for them to understand that, just like they are an expert in their field, you are an expert in your field. Talk about some of the people that you've worked with. What are some examples of clients that you have helped to get the results that they're after?

James Donovan: 20:05

Yeah, a really big win that we're excited about. That is pretty recent. One of our clients, sean, in Texas. We were implementing Google Maps, google Business Profile, local service ads for him, implementing, you know, google Maps, google Business Profile, local service ads for him. Within about 49 days of receiving inbound calls and tweaking the types of calls he wanted to receive, dialing in the services that he offers, refining how we qualify those leads, he was able to close I think it was around 125K of new business in that first 49 days, Probably like 30 grand or so cash collected. Wow. So that's again just from receiving inbound calls of people who are searching for the services he offers. It works so well but it does take a bit of time. There is some work that goes into it. It's not you just set it up and you run with it. There is work, otherwise it wouldn't work so well and everyone would be doing it. But when you run the system properly and you have the right pieces in place, the results can be massive. That's a pretty big win, I think.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 21:20

I don't think there's too many businesses that would turn away $125,000 in 50 days Not shabby. I love that man. You know you're a business owner and your team and your clients, your business, needs you to lead at a higher level today than they did three, four, five years ago. That same thing is going to be true three, four, five years from now. So how do you stay on top of your game as the business owner, as the leader? How do you level up with the new leadership skills that your team and your clients and your business are going to need you to have in the days ahead?

James Donovan: 21:54

Yeah, that's a great question. I'm heavily invested into different masterminds one-on-one coaching with yourself. That's a game changer, as foolish as it may sound. With utilizing Instagram, I try to when I'm maybe mindlessly scrolling at times, make sure I'm following accounts that do provide a ton of value and save those reels and go back and rewatch those things and share notes inside of Slack with myself that, okay, I want to implement this. But definitely attending masterminds with being around others who are significantly further ahead, those who are at the same space as you, those who are aspiring to be where you're at, that is incredible, yeah. And then the private coaching having others to bounce those ideas off, of hear what's working, what's not working, someone to identify hey, you're kind of going off into a ditch like course correct a bit. That's what I focus on, so good.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 22:56

As you think about your business and the track that you have seen in these last years, you know from the beginning and you think about where you want to go from here. So often as business owners, we look at the obstacles, we look at what the challenges are and what's in the way, what's going wrong. I want to key into that for just a second. Most often I tell people focus on what's going right, but there's times you need to identify the problem. If I could, with a magic wand, take it and wave it and solve one big problem for 9-2 Media, what would you like that problem to?

James Donovan: 23:35

be. I'll give you two, because the first one's probably more comical and's it's getting a us business credit card. Being a canadian, canadian registered business, that has been one of the biggest headaches, oh my goodness, um. So yeah, that's big. If you could help with the old credit card and you know cross-border banking stuff, william that'd be great if I had the magic wand yeah, um, outside of that, I would.

James Donovan: 24:06

it's I think it's still just improving the muscle to really like step away from the day-to-day operations. I I feel like there's some weeks I do a really good job with that and I rely on the team and they do great, and then I just I find myself because it's comfortable getting back into it and trying to make micro adjustments or providing feedback when I know where my time is better spent to help grow the business and help the other team members. But I find myself going back there, whether it's a case of it seems like it's busy work and it's filling the calendar and maybe subconsciously it's like okay, well, you're busy all week, so that's why you keep going back. That would be, I would say, the magic wand piece of just like you're never back in there and everything is going to be fine without you. It's good.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 25:03

So so often we start a business because we want freedom right Location freedom, financial freedom, time freedom and then we tie ourselves into the center of the spider web where everything has to connect to us. Yeah, and one of the things that I have loved about you is that you are never ending in your pursuit of what you wanted when you started 9-2 Media, and it's been an honor, and continues to be, to work with you and help you take those steps and see you hit those benchmarks toward that goal. You're a learner, james. You're constantly learning. You're constantly growing from so many different places. I'm just curious is there a book that has made a big difference in your journey?

James Donovan: 25:44

The Slight Edge. I don't know if I mentioned that last time when I was on, but I would say the Slight Edge and I actually I need to get back to reading more consistently. It's something I've kind of let slip through the cracks. So this is a good reminder. But I would say the slight edge and just you're. You're either constantly improving, even if it's a percent day by day, or you're you're constantly, I guess, not improving, going, going down a percent, but you're never just remaining stagnant. So that I remember reading a couple of years ago. It'd probably be worth reading again as a refresher but just the reminder that even a thousand steps outside a day, that's better than zero. Working out for 30 minutes is better than none. Putting 30 minutes in of work on the computer, whatever it is, even if it's micro, it's still pushing you in a better direction than if you didn't do it, so true.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 26:42

You're either growing or you're gliding toward irrelevance.

James Donovan: 26:47

Yes, that's said much more eloquently than I've mentioned before.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 26:52

No, I mean, you said it. You know who wants to be stagnant, right? I mean, that is not anyone's goal that I've ever met anyway. And yet so often we allow the drift, but you never drift into excellence. James, this has been so good to have you back on the show and hear about your new book and how you are helping business owners really all over North America to step toward their goals, helping them to see their businesses grow in some pretty amazing ways. So if people want to continue to learn from you and I know they will and find out more information about you, what you do and about the book, what's the best way for them to do that?

James Donovan: 27:33

Best way, either connect on LinkedIn or just find us online. 92mediacom, n-i-n-e-t-w-o-m-e-d-i-acom. Would love to have a conversation, try to help out however I can. And if I'm not the best person, or our team's not the best, to answer those questions for you, I do feel grateful or fortunate enough that I have a massive network of other marketing companies that I'd be more than happy to send you in that direction.

Dr. Wiliam Attaway: 28:01

Love that. We'll have all those links in the show notes as well as a link to Booked Solid James. Thanks for being on the show.

James Donovan: 28:08

Thank you so much, Will, and this was great.