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CHECKLIST: How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency & Hit $5K in Less than 90 Days

Zimbizee

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Great post.

With regards to not doing the work yourself and going to places like upwork etc, how do you know a good worker from a bad? You say anyone can do this but if i don't know how to do the work myself how can i determine if someone else can do it to a satisfactory degree without trashing the customers rankings etc.
 
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LittleWolfie

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    • work your own personal network to get started – make a list of 10 business owners you know or your friends/family might know and approach them offering them a discount or added value to
I was excited for this up until then. I have a rather small social group, neither me, nor my family nor my friends know any business owners. Otherwise I'd be going to them for mentoring and sales .

You said ask you anything so how can this be achieved in a small remote area with no local business and no way to physically reach events conferences larger areas? I've tried posting on meetup sites a few times but no one cares if you weren't there.
 

Dovahjiim

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Hey Sean, I did have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering.

  1. How do you take payment? Do you send an invoice each month or is there an automated system in place?
  2. Do you have a minimum contact term with clients or can they stop using your services at any time?
  3. I'm guessing that your clients need to give you access to a lot of resources, WordPress sites, FB accounts etc. How do you manage all of this information and keep it secure?
Thanks in advance.
 

focusedlife

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@Sean Marshall This was an epic post.

Congrats on the success and thanks for giving back so much dang value (while, clearly, demonstrating and fortifying your expertise).

Nice to know you ran it through the CENTS checklist and it past 4 of the 5.

Wonder if there is a way to secure the Entry spot, as well?

Anyways, need to come back to this for sure and thanks again.
 
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Sean Marshall

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@Sean Marshall This was an epic post.

Congrats on the success and thanks for giving back so much dang value (while, clearly, demonstrating and fortifying your expertise).

Nice to know you ran it through the CENTS checklist and it past 4 of the 5.

Wonder if there is a way to secure the Entry spot, as well?

Anyways, need to come back to this for sure and thanks again.

Thanks man!

What do you mean by "secure the Entry spot?"
 

Sean Marshall

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Great post.

With regards to not doing the work yourself and going to places like upwork etc, how do you know a good worker from a bad? You say anyone can do this but if i don't know how to do the work myself how can i determine if someone else can do it to a satisfactory degree without trashing the customers rankings etc.

For starters, places like Upwork allow you to filter based on reviews, skills, etc. You can find quality people there with some filtering. Finding good people is key so you want to take your time with this. Also, you get what you pay for. If you go cheap, you'll get crappy work. Pay a bit more, get quality work and people that you can count on for a while.

Also, if you're going to seriously do this as a business, you should learn a little about online marketing - spend a week reading articles, watching videos, etc and you'll know more than enough to get started.

There's no such thing as something for nothing. Yes, a digital marketing agency is a viable, profitable service business BUT you still have to do some work. Your main work will be briefly learning the trade, setting up your services, making SALES, getting a team in place, and then scaling up to whatever size you want. All that requires hustle.
 
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Sean Marshall

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I was excited for this up until then. I have a rather small social group, neither me, nor my family nor my friends know any business owners. Otherwise I'd be going to them for mentoring and sales .

You said ask you anything so how can this be achieved in a small remote area with no local business and no way to physically reach events conferences larger areas? I've tried posting on meetup sites a few times but no one cares if you weren't there.

There's ALWAYS a way to connect with business owners. If you live in a place that literally has no business owners, then yes, get started online. I have students that have built entire agencies with US clients and they're based in countries like El Salvador, South Africa, etc. If they can do it, you can do it.

If you really don't know anyone in your own network, network online. But networking doesn't mean sending lame emails saying you can do SEO. Everyone does that because it's easy - and because it's easy, it doesn't work.

Lead with value. Give first. And then give again. Then start the follow up process.

I have other students who've used sites like Upwork to get all of their business. If you have access to internet, you can grow a digital marketing agency.

I personally like meeting with people to get the ball rolling, but if you don't have that, then do the equivalent online.
 

Sean Marshall

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Hey Sean, I did have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering.

  1. How do you take payment? Do you send an invoice each month or is there an automated system in place?
  2. Do you have a minimum contact term with clients or can they stop using your services at any time?
  3. I'm guessing that your clients need to give you access to a lot of resources, WordPress sites, FB accounts etc. How do you manage all of this information and keep it secure?
Thanks in advance.

1. Paypal - automated recurring monthly payments
2. Month to month
3. We keep most client info in a shared Dropbox file. Only they have access along with whatever team member I assign to them.
 

Sean Marshall

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Xolorr

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Mega mega info in this post. I love it dude.
I’ve been in the content creation / media side of the marketing business, and while it’s fun and you get cool experiences. (All expenses paid trips to Italy are fun when you’re 19) I need to take my knowledge (and contacts) into the agency side of things. Bookmarked this for when I’m back home

thank you!
 

Sean Marshall

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Ray Goslin

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I've been meaning to write this post for a long time. It's basically the story of how I started a digital marketing agency to be able to do cool stuff. And I would like to give you a nice little checklist that you could use as well if it interests you.

I started my business in 2010. Since then, I reduced my own work load to less than 10 hours a month, lived in Mexico for 4 1/2 years, traveled to 15 countries, and am prepping to head to Scotland for 6 months in Sept - all together with my wife & 3 kids.

I cracked the code to scaling a service-based business using detailed systems (a fancy checklist on Asana) and a good team (all based in the Philippines).

I made $2,450 in my first month. Not crazy I know but it was a big deal for me just starting out. More importantly, that number increased every single month afterwards.

At about month 11 is when I read The Millionaire Fastlane and it completely changed how I viewed my business. I made a bunch of changes based on MJ's advice and started hitting 5 figure months about two months later.

DOES IT FOLLOW MJ'S COMMANDMENTS?

I need to mention that a digital marketing agency does NOT follow all of MJ's 5 business commandments. It breaks one - Barrier to Entry. Basically, anyone can do this. They really can.

BUT, that's also the catch - most people DON'T ACTUALLY EXECUTE! You can give them all the tools, step-by-step instructions, templates, etc and they still won't do anything. I know because I offer a course giving people literally everything they need and only a handful of people actually do the thing.

So in a way, the barrier to entry commandment is almost a non-issue. Besides, there's more than enough business out there.

With the other commandments (time, scale, control, & need), this kind of business passes with full marks.

MAKING $5K IN UNDER 90 DAYS

Why $5,000? Two reasons:
  1. It’s usually enough money for most people to quit their jobs to focus full time on the business
  2. It’s totally realistic & achievable
This is a number that most people can hit with some focused work. How fast you’re able to hit $5k is up to two things:
  1. Your Prices
  2. Your Hustle
Obviously, the more you sell, the more you’ll make. Keep in mind that some services typically cost more than others (for example: websites cost more than social media management)

Like I said, I made $2,450 in my first month. How did I make that money? I networked with people I already knew and got in touch with a few key business owners. I shook hands and spoke with everyone I knew.

Simply put, I hustled.


Hitting $5K in under 90 days is totally doable. I have students in my course that have done much more in less time.

WHAT IS AN ONLINE MARKETING AGENCY?


Before I give you a checklist, I have to answer, what is an online marketing agency?

There are a lot of names for this kind of business - internet marketing company, digital marketing agency, online marketing business, and more. They’re all the same thing.

In a nutshell, it’s a service-based business that manages the online marketing activities for companies of any size that are in need of growing their presence online – which is all of them.

This includes services like SEO, social media management, reputation management, website design, and more.

You can choose to focus in on just one branch of online marketing (like website design or SEO) or you can choose to do it all.

As the business owner, you’re responsible for creating the services that your clients will choose from.
Then you will need to recruit a team of people to do the actual work. You can even hire salespeople or a sales company later on and scale it infinitely.

There’s no shortage of businesses that need help with their online marketing so the sky’s the limit.
There’s also no shortage of people who can do the actual work and you can contract them relatively inexpensively.

*NOTE: Building an online marketing agency might not be your passion.

It really doesn’t matter.
What matters is that it offers you a way to sell a valuable service to real people who pay real money. You can quickly build this business, scale it up, and then do whatever the heck you want!

QUICK BENEFITS OF AN ONLINE MARKETING AGENCY

The benefits primarily include:



    • You can get started for less than $300
    • Extremely low overhead
    • Large profit margin - you literally set the prices
    • Huge potential - an extra $50K/year or $500K/year - it's up to you
    • Work online
    • Flexible schedule
Benefits.png


THE 5 S's OF YOUR ONLINE MARKETING AGENCY

Starting and running a digital marketing agency breaks down into what I call the 5 S's.

1. Setup
2. Sales
3. Systems
4. Staffing
5. Scaling-Up

5-S.png


I'm going to break down the checklist into those 5 groups.

The rest of this post is literally made up of the steps you can follow to start your own digital marketing agency. If you have any questions, obviously I'll be paying attention to this thread. I won't hold anything back.

Just ask.

***

SETUP
This portion is to help you get started by establishing your business services, messaging & branding, website, and so forth. The goal is to move quickly to hurry and get to making sales.




    • Start thinking about your business brand including your business name. Think about what kind “feel” you want your business to have. Write out at least 10 possible names.
    • Look up “online marketing company” and check out the first few sites – the goal is to get a feel for what they do and what you’ll be doing.
    • Consider taking a class or two on Udemy.com or Lynda.com to get an overview of the online marketing world. Strongly consider also going to QuickSprout.com/University
    • Think about an industry you might like to serve (i.e. – chiropractors) and then look up “online marketing for chiropractors” or similar terms and study what comes up.
    • Write out (or type out) your motivation. Why are you interested in starting this business? Answer this with something more specific than “to have more money”. Get as specific as you can. Don’t skip the mental work!
    • List out the amount of money you would like to make in your first month, second month, following months. Include your first year’s goal.
    • Go online and look up other online marketing companies (again) – jot down everything that you like and that you would like to emulate.
    • Start thinking about what sets you apart. Ideally it can be summed up in one sentence. i.e. – “We provide SEO services for dental professionals”. This is your USP (unique selling proposition)
    • Come up with your 3 packages. List out the services that each package entails. Yours may be just offering social media or just website design or whatever. Be sure to be detailed - list out everything.
    • Come up with your package pricing. Decide what you think is valuable for all parties involved and use this as a starting point (you’ll most likely adjust this as you get more experience). Use this pattern: $499/$599/$999 OR $999/$1199/$1699 and so on.
    • Identify and write out your USP.
    • Write what your ideal client looks like – the more details the better.
    • Decide right now you will stay true to your niche and not take on anyone and everyone who needs help “online”. It’s better to focus on a core audience to avoid wasting time and money. Don’t be afraid to say no.
    • Come up with your business name. Come up with your business tagline (if you need one).
    • Pick your colors. These can literally be your favorite colors. Don’t stress on this one.
    • Get a logo done (use 99designs.com, Upwork.com, or Fiverr.com) – don’t do it yourself unless you’re a graphic designer.
    • Write up your business plan. Print it out. Change as necessary. Just answer the following questions:
      o What is your company name?
      o What is your company tagline?
      o What services do you provide? What problem do you solve?
      o Who is your target audience or what does your ideal client look like?
      o What is your USP?
      o How much do you charge?
      o What is your monthly revenue goal?
      o How many new or repeat clients do you need to achieve this goal?
      o How do you get new clients?
      o How will you fulfill your services? Who makes up your production team?
      o Who are the other key players of your team? List their names and titles.
    • Set up your corporation (use LegalZoom – for now, just get a DBA and then incorporate once you’ve brought on a few clients and know this is going to work for you)
    • Set up your business checking & savings account. Set up your PayPal (or Stripe) business account.
    • Buy your domain name (use a registrar like GoDaddy.com). Buy your hosting (use a reliable & affordable host like SiteGround.com . Set up your website (use Wordpress – it’s super easy & all you need). Your host should have a 1-click Wordpress install.
    • Create a home page, about page, services page, & contact page to start. This is the minimum. Set up your social media platforms (Facebook business page, Twitter, Google+/YouTube, LinkedIn all a must. Pinterest, Instagram, etc are bonus).
    • Buy your business cards (and nothing else) Use VistaPrint.com because they’re super cheap. Only order 250 for your first cards. You may change some info later.

SALES
This portion is to help you start making sales - the lifeblood of your business. If you’re not making sales, you don’t have a business.




    • Get your first sale (work your own personal network to get started – make a list of 10 business owners you know or your friends/family might know and approach them offering them a discount or added value to get started).
    • Complete the work of your first sale and be sure to get results! If you don’t know how to do any of it, go to UpWork.com and hire someone immediately – see next section.
    • Document all of your work – you’ll need this to scale & build a team.
    • Get your next 3 clients quickly. Go to networking meetings in your area. Consider joining your local Chamber of Commerce and possibly a BNI group or other networking group.
    • Use online directories like Manta.com to find more businesses in your chosen niche. When you find their contact info, reach out to them leading with value - do a mock-up website with their info, list out specific tips to drive more business, or share exactly how they could tweak their online presence for increased traffic and conversion, etc. Think value!
    • Reach out to associations in your chosen niche and offer to give free webinars.
    • Optimize your company website to reach your target niche and drive traffic to it – have specific pages on your website that you get to rank in Google for organic traffic (i.e. – a page on “Search Engine Optimization Services for Chiropractors”). Then get it ranking and collect leads.
    • Continue to look up the Chambers of Commerce in your area and other mixers and networking opportunities. Look to set up 1-on-1’s with potential clients but only ones in your niche. Don’t waste time with anyone else!
    • Set up speaking and teaching gigs to get in front of a lot of people at once. Be as helpful as possible. Give your best stuff away for free - be incredibly detailed.

SYSTEMS
Once you have some sales coming in, you need to make sure you document everything and create systems in order for others to do the work for you. This also includes establishing what tools you use in your business. It’s simple but incredibly important.




    • Create a sales manual and a production manual. Be detailed and use bullet points.
    • Set up your work email (use Google apps or even just gmail to make it easy and route your Name@Company.com email through it)
    • Set up your account in Asana.com – it’s free and it will be your project management tool. Name each new project after your client name. Each project is a client & list out in the project all of the work you said you would do in the list of services.
    • Set your file storage using DropBox or Google Drive.
    • Set up your bookkeeping with Quickbooks

STAFFING
Getting a team in place to do the work for you is key to your growth. You need to hire, train, and lead your team members. As soon as possible, you’ll hire more team members to make sure all work is being done effectively.




    • Create a company org chart with you as owner. Create a general manager position with manager positions also in sales, production/operations, & finance.
    • List out the work for your first job (base this off of your services in your game plan). Then go to Upwork.com or OnlineJobs.ph and post your job.
    • Interview your top 3 candidates. Hire 1 but keep the other two on a short-list for when you need them in the future. Start them off on a part-time basis with the expectation of them doing more soon.
    • Hire your first employee or contractor – generally this is a production staff member first (you should not be doing the actual production beyond your first client).
    • Take time to train your first team member. Refine your systems and make sure they can operate independently of you as soon as possible. Use Asana (or Basecamp or Trello) to manage everything. If you’re concerned about tracking everything, consider using HubStaff.com.
    • As soon as revenue and need justifies it, hire another contractor. And then another. And another.

SCALING-UP
Once you have sales coming in and a team and systems in place, it’s time to scale-up. This section is all about refining your processes so that you can handle 5 or 500 clients while the work to you remains the same. In other words, this is how you make more money while working less.




    • Refine your services – productize them! When mapping out your services, make sure your offer is the same to everyone. If you choose a service like SEO for example, then it’s relatively the same regardless of the industry your client is in. Don’t match a service to the client. Match the client to one of your preexisting services.
    • Refine your clients - it’s OK & very necessary to the growth of your business to be choosy. Stay away from any "high maintenance" clients. Choose early on how you will handle communication with your clients. Most are just fine with email.
    • Refine your systems. Look for ways to save money, increase productivity, and so forth. When possible, swap out human effort with software and automated work.
    • Refine your sales. Spend money if necessary on advertising, always targeting your ideal niche/industry.
    • As soon as you have at least 90-day’s worth of savings in the bank, have made at least 3 sales (with a lot more in the pipeline), consider going full-time with your business. If you have a significant other, be sure to be on the same page.
    • Over-deliver with your clients. If the relationship is there, try asking for a referral but only if you’ve already done a great job.
***

That's it! Just sell. There's plenty of businesses out there. I don't mean to downplay it at all but really, I'm nobody special. I'm not like most of the successful hustlers in this forum. I'm a pretty average dude that managed to create a sweet business.

You can do the same. Just follow the checklist above.

If you have any questions, just ask!

-Sean
Thanks for sharing
 

LittleWolfie

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There's ALWAYS a way to connect with business owners. If you live in a place that literally has no business owners, then yes, get started online. I have students that have built entire agencies with US clients and they're based in countries like El Salvador, South Africa, etc. If they can do it, you can do it.

If you really don't know anyone in your own network, network online. But networking doesn't mean sending lame emails saying you can do SEO. Everyone does that because it's easy - and because it's easy, it doesn't work.

Lead with value. Give first. And then give again. Then start the follow up

Well, I thought I was giving value (though admittedly not SEO and it didn't work for me I couldn't even get people to commit to coffee and chat online. I wasn't even asking for money. So I suppose I'm am ineffective value gives and ineffective online networker (in the latter case at least, I can improve the former by finding out what they want.)
I have students that have built entire agencies with US clients and they're based in countries like El Salvador, South Africa, etc. If they can do it, you can do it.

For myself I belive Australia/New Zealand clients will be more viable due to timezone,maybe some US.

Do those students charge US prices or El Salvador prices? What about when they are starting out? I'm curious to work out if the value can be added independent of location. The main issues with upwork was getting through and getting enough money to cover my costs (let alone consider making a profit, because everyone wanted to outsource to cheap locations if they were going online, that might be .y marketing failure more)

Lead with value. Give first. And then give again.
I personally like meeting with people to get the ball rolling, but if you don't have that, then do the equivalent online.

Do you have any examples threads of this? Do you set up a landing page, SEO it maybe pay AdWords etc then contact the company? Or do you do value add in some other way? Any good threads/sites on online networking? Perhaps some of your succesfull students would know? Networking and marketing is where I'm failing. I literally can't get to in person events (more than the occasional one off, though I'd prefer them) I literally have no businesses here. I have to order my groceries online because there is no village shop... So learning the ability to network online,is an important one for me.
 
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sblaughton

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Here's a sample spread of some of the services we offer:



Website Support & Security
Website security – clean of malware/hackers
Remove any spam
Software updates – keep site current & secure
Check for broken links and fix
Site speed – make sure site is running fast
Simple design changes as needed
Site functionality – ensure everything is working

Search Engine Optimization
Website submission to major search engines
Google My Business profile/optimization
Google Webmaster Tools & Analytics tracking
Keyword research & tracking
New keyword targeted page creation including title tags, alt tags, header tags, urls, & meta description
Broken links checking
Continual keyword improvement on website pages
Duplicate content checking
Ensure proper schema markup
Targeted backlinking
Company profile on key citation sites
Profile submission to local niche directories
Monthly search audit
Competitor tracking

Reputation Management
Create/optimize profile on key platforms
Manage and report reviews & ratings
Respond to all reviews appropriately
Supply tools to solicit reviews

Content Marketing
Custom blog writing & posting
Keyword tagging with metadata included
Frequent pinging of content to key directories
Optimize company YouTube channel
Custom videos
Upload to YouTube & fully search optimized
Social bookmarking of key content
Assist with monthly newsletter creation/sending

Social Media Marketing
Post key content (frequency based on platform)
Maintenance of profiles (clean & spam free)
Follower engagement

Support & Reporting
Monthly report
Google Analytics reporting
Unlimited online marketing support

No Contract/Month-to-Month

Thanks for the post, Sean. I have been looking into something similar with a model of building websites and then offering services like this as a monthly add-on until I can build up enough referrals to just go with the monthly services like your model.

Out of all the services you mention above, which would you say are the most popular, or the best base to begin with that all clients would be interested in?
 

Adrim

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I have students that have built entire agencies with US clients and they're based in countries like El Salvador, South Africa, etc. If they can do it, you can do it.
I live in Italy, I have built a Seo Agency and my target is UK/US/Canada/ Australia local businesses. To be honest I am struggling to get clients overseas because of my limiting beliefs ( mainly because I am not an English native speaker then I don't like to call local business owner ). I have considered to hire sales agents in U.S but it would cost me too much. I would really appreciate Sean if you can share which is best way to get US/Canada clients if you are based in a different country and if you think is possible to close clients 100% online.
 

LittleWolfie

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mainly because I am not an English native speaker then I don't like to call local business owner ). I have considered to hire sales agents in U.S but it would cost me too much.

You could hire a native speaking sales agent in the UK for a lot less than one in the USA.

If you exclude London and the South East your looking at cheaper than Missouri prices. (Rail tickets from the Midlands are not too bad if they only need to go down once or twice a week esp if they can do afternoon/ evening networking) transport times are in the range of an hour to central London and lower cost of living too.

That's before you consider the possibility (at least till brexit) of using a native English speaker in lower cost of living European areas, either telesales or have them fly in.

You could probably get someone for between 50% to 75% of a US salary.

I would really appreciate Sean if you can share which is best way to get US/Canada clients if you are based in a different country and if you think is possible to close clients 100% online.

I would also appreciate this I understand it involves networking online but I'm a bit confused beyond that.
 
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LittleWolfie

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Would you pay the sales agent a fix salary or on a commission basis only?

Okay, here language barriers come in. You can get UK based sales agents on commission only. (I personally wouldn't) I belive they are rarer than their US counterparts, and they will be looking to make about £6000 off one commission sale or £500 for monthly recurring revenue.

I think the best bet for a UK force would be a recoverable draw on a piecemeal basis (I'm not sure how to translate that but it is well understood and regulated) a lot of call centres use this. Though it really depends on your product

Basically you pay say £2 per call, and give them enough time and phone numbers that they can make an ok basic wage just on calls alone. Then you keep the commission cheques until they have paid off all the draw. You want to keep the draw on line with the working time really. You could go for weekly/monthly/4 weekly/12 weeks or even annual commissions. I think it would depend on the seasonality of the product and the sector. You could even offer as both employee and contractor. I suspect you would get a better response from the latter. You may even find someone willing to be an employee in €. Also dont be afraid of umbrella companies. It can be a totally legitimate tax effective and legally compliant way of getting someone to work for you with less hassle than a direct employment.

Note that you can also get agency workers who will be employed by the agency (your contract is with the agency)
 

Sean Marshall

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Well, I thought I was giving value (though admittedly not SEO and it didn't work for me I couldn't even get people to commit to coffee and chat online. I wasn't even asking for money. So I suppose I'm am ineffective value gives and ineffective online networker (in the latter case at least, I can improve the former by finding out what they want.)

I should clarify that when I say value, I mean above and beyond the services you/I/ offer as a digital marketing agency. By providing that service, it is valuable to the client. What I'm referring to is when starting out in the sales process - lead with value by giving them something really, really, useful.

For example, instead of sending an email saying you can help with SEO (or whatever), send a 10 minute video showing them a key changes they could make to their website that would boost them in the search engines. Even go as far as to show them how to do it. This is valuable.

If they're your ideal client, they won't have time to do it and they'll reply back asking if you could do it - not always, but in many cases.

The catch? It takes a while to do stuff like this (videos, custom PDF reports, etc). That's why there are very few people who do it. The good news? Very few people actually do it. That's how you can stand out. It's also showing them you really know your stuff. It's also giving them something really useful.

Plus, even with custom videos/reports, you can still create templates to make it faster. Plus, you can eventually get one of your team members to do it all for you.

It doesn't take long before you have a handful of clients.
 

Sean Marshall

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Do those students charge US prices or El Salvador prices? What about when they are starting out?

Yes, if you're dealing with US clients, charge US prices. If you live in a place like El Salvador, then it's a huge win because cost of living is lower there.
 

Sean Marshall

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Do you have any examples threads of this? Do you set up a landing page, SEO it maybe pay AdWords etc then contact the company? Or do you do value add in some other way? Any good threads/sites on online networking? Perhaps some of your succesfull students would know? Networking and marketing is where I'm failing. I literally can't get to in person events (more than the occasional one off, though I'd prefer them) I literally have no businesses here. I have to order my groceries online because there is no village shop... So learning the ability to network online,is an important one for me.

I just mentioned a few different ways (videos, pdf's, etc). You can also actually do some services for the client and give it to them - depending on the service.

If you do website design for example, you can easily create a sample website, fill in their info, and send it over to them as an example of what you can do. There are even templates out there to do this.

The key is to offer a lot upfront (not just an email). But to really give them something of value. Then, follow up like a madman. I've followed up with people and they finally say yes after my 5, 6, 7th time of contacting them.

Also, think of how you can reach more than one person at a time. Like, fishing with a net instead of just a fishing pole.

One thing I've found really helpful is to approach the presidents of industry associations. Example: let's say you want to focus on contractors. Then based on where you live (or where you want to focus your efforts), you can reach out to a president there. Let's say you're in Southern California for example. I'm sure (without looking it up) that there's some kind of So Cal Association for Contractors. Those associations all need to provide value for their members. You can offer to host a webinar, or do a free website analysis, or give a series of videos, or whatever to those members. All with the intent of helping that president help his/her members grow their businesses. You're there to help them get their phone ringing more.

That's a ninja trick that surprisingly, most people do NOT do.

Hope this helps!
 
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Sean Marshall

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Out of all the services you mention above, which would you say are the most popular, or the best base to begin with that all clients would be interested in?

I would lead with the lower-priced stuff: reputation management or even FB adds. It's much easier to get a commitment from a cold lead for $200/mo over $5000 for a new website. If they're a referral, then it's business as usual. But cold, start with the more affordable stuff and build the know/like/trust stuff and sell additional services later on if needed.
 

Sean Marshall

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I would really appreciate Sean if you can share which is best way to get US/Canada clients if you are based in a different country and if you think is possible to close clients 100% online.

Yes, hiring sales people can be pricey.

It is possible to close clients 100% online. You can get started in places like Upwork where people don't care (as much) where you're from as long as the work is good. OR, you can contact possible clients in the US online but you just have to lead with a lot of value (like I mentioned above).

You can do it!
 

Sean Marshall

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Okay, here language barriers come in. You can get UK based sales agents on commission only. (I personally wouldn't) I belive they are rarer than their US counterparts, and they will be looking to make about £6000 off one commission sale or £500 for monthly recurring revenue.

I think the best bet for a UK force would be a recoverable draw on a piecemeal basis (I'm not sure how to translate that but it is well understood and regulated) a lot of call centres use this. Though it really depends on your product

Basically you pay say £2 per call, and give them enough time and phone numbers that they can make an ok basic wage just on calls alone. Then you keep the commission cheques until they have paid off all the draw. You want to keep the draw on line with the working time really. You could go for weekly/monthly/4 weekly/12 weeks or even annual commissions. I think it would depend on the seasonality of the product and the sector. You could even offer as both employee and contractor. I suspect you would get a better response from the latter. You may even find someone willing to be an employee in €. Also dont be afraid of umbrella companies. It can be a totally legitimate tax effective and legally compliant way of getting someone to work for you with less hassle than a direct employment.

Note that you can also get agency workers who will be employed by the agency (your contract is with the agency)

You can also go to sites like Fiverr for sales people.

I have a couple of students who use Fiverr for literally every part of their business. From sales to operations to reporting.
 
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Do you think FB ads is a good way to get clients from tier 1 countries for a beginner?
 
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ALC

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It reminds of the post "But what are the exact step ?!" You just gave us everything we need to get started.

Hope this will help someone to get himself started ;)
 

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