Early this year I purchased Jamie Stenhouse’s Course ‘Dream Team Intensive’ on how to build a scalable agency and team based on systems and process.
I knew that a few people would value insights on the course and criticism.
There isn’t a business partnership between us. I may earn a commission on digital products below though Jamie Stenhouse doesn’t have an affiliate program as yet.
I have known Jamie now since 2011 where we met at a personal development conference. Even then he was hustling as he spent the bulk of the time working on his laptop while watching the ‘show’ unfolded.
Over the years, he’s consistently worked and has outperformed me in business results and work ethic. While younger, he’s certainly someone I look up to as an individual who has an intense focus on outcomes.
And while we do have a friendship, I genuinely don’t have a business relationship and don’t partake in paid online reviews. I’m merely a student sharing my personal experiences with this program.
Enough of an intro. Let’s begin
Dream Team Intensive Review
The Dream Team Intensive is Jamie’s agency training program. It’s designed for those aspiring to build an agency.
I wasn’t Jamie’s ideal client. In fact, I didn’t even want to pull out the credit card. My focus is on niche websites and my 2 FBA brands which take the bulk of my time.
However, as time has gone on, I realize the power of agency-work. While managing client relationships is tough, there is nothing greater than creating results for clients in real life, instead of hiding behind the computer screen.
I spoke with Jamie in November of last year and as my cash flow was tight in Q4, I didn’t pay and get started with the course until January.
Here is the program at a glance:
At this time, I’m up to Week 6 in the program though I did join 11 weeks ago. I schedule Saturday’s to go through this program if I do have the space available in my calendar.
Each week is quite intense with hours of content. It’s clear that Jamie’s programming experience shines through, as it’s a strategic approach to scaling instead of throwing mud on the wall and seeing what sticks.
What I have gained
When I joined this course, I had no desire to build an agency to serve clients. Instead, I simply wanted to learn how to hire, train and manage a remote team of virtual assistants. Jamie knew this upfront and noted some modules which I could skip.
However, since then I’ve realized how many people I could help in the near future to build a brand that scales through organic content. This is how I happen to build my two FBA brands, since Amazon itself is more competitive today than when I initially started.
Essentially, I recognize the skills I have now can be monetized in the near future. I’ve learned that managing clients can be easier if you have genuine results, instead of most digital marketing agencies who only pray that they’re executing properly on their client’s dime.
So that’s one huge gain. The second one relates to distractions. Jamie’s big on reducing distractions and dopamine fuel. A big one is social media. I’ve installed Facebook Newsfeed blocker and used a fantastic service called Brain.fm which he has recommended in the course.
With those two gains, his program will pay for itself over the next 12 months.
Lastly, Jamie takes a sniper approach. Over the years, I’ve taken a shotgun approach. He focuses on what can work, while I try to make things work and only later focus on what actually works. From the course, I’m becoming more of a sniper.
Jamie Stenhouse Course criticism
The Dream Team Intensive is a solid course as someone who has completed 70% of the content. However, a review needs to have its critics. Despite our friendship, I can still spot the room for improvement.
Three points:
- Kyvio that the course is hosted on routinely pauses. I like to work while watching the content. This distraction is NOT recommended by Jamie as an approach to learning. Unfortunately, my time is very limited and having to refresh videos is a first-world problem, but still a problem.
- The content can really drag on. In one training session (Module 3 Pipeline Systems), the training goes for about 4 hours. Not ideal if time is limited. If you’re looking for short-form content like most other training programs, this isn’t for you.
- Another first-world problem is the sound is often overlaid by an air conditioner white noise.
Now, are they genuine reasons to stop you buying the course? No, definitely not but worth highlighting for future improvement.
When you consider the immense value that’s inside this training program, the course will pay for itself over time.
Plus some students may have the chance to work with Jamie directly with coaching calls.
The right student
After spending time in the Facebook group, I’ve been able to evaluate who this course is for. Ideally, students are:
- Those who are systems-orientated people who need a blueprint
- Individuals who already have some momentum in their business
- Students that realize the value of building process-foundations first
Most people in his training program are first-time agency owners. Some are coaches and consultants such as myself who need to figure out how to manage a virtual team successfully. I have hired virtual assistants before and the results are typically mediocre.
Now, this isn’t a course on how to build an agency. You won’t learn SEO or PPC. It’s a course on how to build a team successfully that frees you up to work on your business, not inside doing menial work.
Invisible pitch
Jamie Stenhouse is a fan of the invisible pitch. This is something I’ve learned through his Dream Team Intensive training program.
Essentially, provide an immense amount of value up front which leads to conversions. This could be in the way of a case-study or trial for a training program.
This is also an approach I’ve taken over the years. All content should be written of commercial intent, yet stacked with value first for the individual.
In summary
Jamie Stenhouse is a solid business person who has improved over time. Gone are his days of 18 hours and sheer fatigue. Today he’s more about work-life balance through teams.
If you stalk his Facebook, you’ll find a lot of content over the years. It stretches way back to 2011 in fact.
Clearly, Jamie is someone with results in the digital agency world. Someone who didn’t get rich in 5 minutes, but instead consistently put in the work as I’ve watched his growth.
If a process-driven approach to building an agency the right way is for you, then this course could be very well what you need.
