You Already Have What You Need: The Honest Truth About Starting Your Own Agency
15 agency founders sat exactly where you're sitting right now—burnt out, pushed aside, watching their jobs disappear into holding company spreadshee…
Author: Doug Zanger
Doug Zanger is the founder and editor-in-chief of Indie Agency News. He is also the founder of the Creative Bohemian consultancy, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is insufferable about it.
Why ‘Smart’ Wins Arguments and Reading the Room Wins Business
Three indie agency leaders shared what they learned about why clients choose partners—and what it costs to miss it
Shortlists, Survival Strategies and the Comedy Business Case
Indie Spin: The one with agency recognition, CMO pressure points, and why laughter is a differentiator
2 Agencies Join IKPN, Bringing Media Smarts and Social Expertise to the Network
Media planning meets social firepower in latest expansion
How Indies Can Win at Awards (Without the Yacht Budget)
How to build better processes and make more informed awards decisions
Phone Switching Anxiety Meets Sideline Service
WorkInProgress shows Boost Mobile making carrier transitions seamless
When Fry Boxes Reveal Brand Logic and Other Signs Indies Have Momentum
Indie Spin: The one with recognition rounds, strategic hires, and why fry boxes aren't accidental
Data Points and Golden Retrievers: When Numbers Tell Stories and Campaigns Get Creative
Indie Spin: The one with explosive social AOR growth, humor math, and tactical stress balls
Sharing Your Best Thinking: A Member’s Guide to Indie Spin
How strategic insights reach the community through our digest
Rare Is The Thing That Makes You Stop. This Film From Gus Made Us do Just That
The AI-generated brand anthem that proved human storytelling still wins
Creative Oxygen: When Personal Projects Save Your Professional Soul
One Portland producer discovered that making her own film didn't just fulfill a creative dream—it transformed how she shows up at work
When a 4-Year-Old’s Dad Gets Banned From Disneyland for Anti-War Art
How DCX turned Hiroshima's 80th anniversary into a cultural moment that cuts through the noise
How Indies Can Master the AI Search Revolution
Drake Cooper's playbook for moving from keywords to key concepts
Social Runs the Business Now: Time to Reframe Its Role
It's reached a tipping point where it drives real business outcomes—not just vanity metrics
The Toronto Report: A Big Week at Ad Age Small Agency
Ad Age's Small Agency Conference wrapped up in Toronto with IAN members claiming 40% of all awards
When 8 Slices of Pizza Beat 8 Slices of Burger (And Other Indie Math That Adds Up)
Indie Spin: The one with Domino's dismembering burgers, indies calling BS on sacred cows, and 400 million people learning about clean water