We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Corey Quinn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Corey, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

After 10 years of selling digital marketing services, I believed the only way to grow an agency was to have a charismatic founder who used their network to gain new clients. It wasn’t until I was recruited to work for an agency called Scorpion that I learned the power of specializing in a vertical market. We grew revenue from $20M to $150M by specializing in first legal, then home services, franchise, and medical industries.

Today, I consult with my agency clients, helping them transform from market generalists to vertical specialists. I call it “Deep Specialization.” Deep Specialization in agency growth focuses on mastering a vertical market, which simplifies targeting and marketing, enhances service quality, and attracts high-value clients. This approach leads to more efficient operations and sustainable growth by leveraging expertise in a specific vertical market.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

With over 17 years in the agency space, I specialize in helping agency founders escape founder-led sails by becoming a deep specialist in a vertical market.

Three things prevent agency founders from escaping sales.

The first one is a lack of market focus. They serve clients of all shapes and sizes and become a master of none.

Second, watered-down positioning impacts the agency’s ability to win deals, differentiate, and avoid competing on price.

Third is a lack of strategy for attracting new clients when the founder is not heavily involved in the sales process.

Agencies struggling with founder-led sales hire my company to help them find a vertical market to target, develop razor-sharp positioning, and deploy sales and marketing tactics to fill their pipeline with new clients.

The critical factor in our approach, called Deep Specialization, is the impact of empathy. Most businesses miss the fact that empathy is required for success in today’s world. You have to not only want to make money, but care for your clients and the vertical market you serve.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I left the corporate world to become a consultant and business owner in 2022, I never imagined I would be diagnosed with cancer six months later. On a whim, my wife suggested that I get an elective exam for my heart. It turns out that my heart is 100% healthy, but the test revealed a growth in my left lung. After a series of tests, I was diagnosed with lung cancer. In the weeks and months following, I went through chemotherapy and an operation to remove half of my left lung. Despite these challenges, I pushed forward with my consulting business as well as writing my book, Anyone, Not Everyone,, which I am proud to say, launched in early April 2024. My book is now a best seller and has received over 70 5-star reviews on Amazon. My business is full, and I am currently sold out on two of my flagship products. I would not have been able to achieve this outcome if I let the health challenges stand in my way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Today, more than ever, it’s difficult to build an audience on social media. Having amassed over 10,000 followers on LinkedIn, I have two pieces of advice for anyone looking to build a following:

1/ Choose a medium/platform that you like. Do you prefer writing? Choose X or LinkedIn. Or do you prefer shooting videos? Choose YouTube or IG. Don’t focus on all platforms. Choose one and go deep.

2/ Be consistent and patient. It will take you at least a year to build momentum, assuming you post daily.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coreyquinn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deepspecialization_corey/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyquinn/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@coreyquinninc