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

[The Abundant Man]

There are a lot but Manta is one that's pretty good.

Thanks xactly what I was looking for

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[Phillip Anderson]

What do you say if a potential client asks about experience with social media? I have pretty much none.

 

[NovaAria]

@Sean Marshall

1. Everywhere I go people say that digital marketing is saturated and that competition is fierce. How true is this in your opinion?

This is sadly the biggest red flag am seeing. As Sean himself pointed out, literally everyone can create a digital marketing agency, and it feels like they are all doing just that.
Differentiating yourself will be tough.

 

[ALC]

This is sadly the biggest red flag am seeing. As Sean himself pointed out, literally everyone can create a digital marketing agency, and it feels like they are all doing just that.
Differentiating yourself will be tough.

It's the new Amazon from my standpoint, everyone is jumping on this trend and to be honest i was even considering doing it, but it's a funnel : Price will keep crashing for these kind of services and the profit margins will be way lower than it was before.

It's still an amazing business and the only way to know if it's fit you is to try.

There's no magic pill, you need to contact a lot of businesses before jumping on it, try to see which industry needs you, on what, what do they want, you'll get a better idea of it's a good idea or not.

 

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[yyes]

I Imagine that's why people say local businesses is where it's at.

Online is saturated and there's a shortage of offline unsexy businesses.

 

[ALC]

I Imagine that's why people say local businesses is where it's at.

Online is saturated and there's a shortage of offline unsexy businesses.

Yes and No.

The demand in the market is clearly in Software (IA / MACHINE LEARNING/BLOCKCHAIN) and that's why so many business open and propose their services to many compagnies, it's in demand, the barrier to entry is quite high and it's very difficult.

There's a lot of way to make money online, is it more difficult than it was 2/5/10 years ago ? Of course it's hard to find the right idea.

Also, I can start a Digital Agency Tomorrow, that's the problem of this business.
But it doesn't mean you can't start one, i would just learn in depth the thing (only when i would have had the market confirmation) and be the ultimate BEST at what i do.

Which mean having the best team, the best systems, the best everything.

And while the attention is on ONLINE Businesses, the one that has the balls to do it the old way and go Brick & Mortar or UNSEXY Businesses has the choice to destroy any competitors with the actual market.

I mean these business owners have 60/70 years old for some and know nothing of Internet.
You could learn the same craft, do a cool website and put ads everywhere online, you would destroy them because now we search our suppliers on Internet and you would be on the first pages.

It's just less glamorous because we like to work from home or remotely.

 

[Longinus]

Differentiating yourself will be tough.

It's actually not that tough:
- Be on time.
- Return phone calls, answer emails.
- Do not overpromise.
- Deliver decent work (ie do not outsource everything to India).
- Do the best for your clients instead of just the basics.

If you would do those things, you would already be better than 80% of the market.

 

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[rogue synthetic]

It's actually not that tough:
- Be on time.
- Return phone calls, answer emails.
- Do not overpromise.
- Deliver decent work (ie do not outsource everything to India).
- Do the best for your clients instead of just the basics.

If you would do those things, you would already be better than 80% of the market.

This is exactly right.

The upside of a saturated market is that the percentage of crap increases in proportion.

When I search for 'digital marketing' and related keywords in my city, everything on the first page of Google results is crap. Paid, local biz SERPs, organic results...it's total garbage.

Landing pages that are bland "talk at you" corporate garble with no call to action.

Exciting brand storytellers that aren't exciting and don't tell stories on their own web pages.

These are experts at generating leads and new prospects who can't even market themselves -- but they want to tell YOU how to do it in your own business.

98% of the competition would get blown out by the first guy who read a couple of Dan Kennedy books.

Look at what everybody is doing, and then do the opposite.

 

[The Abundant Man]

I like the example that Sean uses about how his daughter was trying to sell Rice Krispie treats to kids at school. But then she noticed everyone was seliing Jell-O's. So she decided to Jell-O's instead. The M. Night Shymalan twist is that she was selling Jell-O's with marshmallows. So all the kids started asking their parents to get the ones with Marshmallows. So she became a kazillionaire(in Pesos...)

Lesson of the story: You don't have to make big changes. As long as your services are different enough from the competition. Apple doesn't necessarily make the best computers but they're different enough from the competition to where they're now worth $1 trillion.

 

[ALC]

To be honest and while thinking about this subject, it all depend which niche you choose and who are your clients. And it also depends where you take your clients (FR, UK, USA...).

Here in France there's a lot of Social Media Agencies, most of them use a call center and already called a lot of businesses to sell their services.
The room is not full but it's tight.

 

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[The Abundant Man]

To be honest and while thinking about this subject, it all depend which niche you choose and who are your clients. And it also depends where you take your clients (FR, UK, USA...).

Here in France there's a lot of Social Media Agencies, most of them use a call center and already called a lot of businesses to sell their services.
The room is not full but it's tight.

Doesn't that make it a high barrier to entry?

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[ALC]

Doesn't that make it a high barrier to entry?

In some way, yes indeed.

It's also a low barrier to entry when you know that anybody with a bit of experience and some books can open this kind of business.
However, improving the business demand real entrepreneurial skills which not everybody has.

 

[yaponchik]

Yes, this is your business so you should learn *enough* to going. The best thing to do is narrow down your service offerings and then assign yourself homework to learn what each one is.

For example, you have Social Media Advertising as part of your services. You can go to YouTube or just Google and put: What is Social Media Advertising? Spend a few hours learning the basics of each of your services - focusing especially on the benefits. This is all you'll need to do your job which is to sell.

In terms of limitations, where do you draw the line for your different price points? Like for a $1000/month client, do you limit them to 1 campaign with 20 different ads and assistance with 3 landing pages? How do you break down your limits to prevent abuse?

 

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[PizzaOnTheRoof]

I've never dealt with negative cash flow. I always get paid upfront. A new client picks a package, pays, and then we start the work. I was profitable from my first sale and never looked back.

The key to growth is on-going monthly services. This could be social media management, SEO, FB ads, etc. The only products that are one-off are websites (which we mostly avoid now) but even then, most clients usually opt to go to the monthly services - if nothing else, at least a security/maintenance package.

Monthly recurring is key to growth.

Hope that helps!

What do you think of Andy's model of "renting" out the landing page to customers for like $50-$100/month?

 

[Andy Black]

Blimey. I've only just found this great thread. Thanks for the opening post @Sean Marshall, and for all your sensible answers throughout. Rep+

Guys... this only seems to be low barrier to entry. Anyone can "start", but most fall over at the first hurdle of making sales. Like all businesses, commercial skills are more important than technical skills.

 

[Tom.V]

Guys... this only seems to be low barrier to entry. Anyone can "start", but most fall over at the first hurdle of making sales. Like all businesses, commercial skills are more important than technical skills.

^^^This.

I see agency training courses and the like day in and day out all over FB. The struggle is ALWAYS sales. Until it's fulfillment and performance This is part of the reason why I'm currently working on a sales training course for agencies, because it is such a big hurdle for agency owners that haven't found their gold vein of prospects.

Good stuff @Sean Marshall - Thanks for sharing! +Rep

 

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[The Abundant Man]

^^^This.

I see agency training courses and the like day in and day out all over FB. The struggle is ALWAYS sales. Until it's fulfillment and performance This is part of the reason why I'm currently working on a sales training course for agencies, because it is such a big hurdle for agency owners that haven't found their gold vein of prospects.

Good stuff @Sean Marshall - Thanks for sharing! +Rep

How would you go about getting sales?

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[DavidW]

I have been doing Facebook ads for realtors and it has been hell finding realtors that can pay me even 1k a month.
Not sure what I am doing wrong

 

[The Abundant Man]

I have been doing Facebook ads for realtors and it has been hell finding realtors that can pay me even 1k a month.
Not sure what I am doing wrong

Are you cold calling? Are you going to realtor meet ups?

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[DavidW]

Are you cold calling? Are you going to realtor meet ups?

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Cold calling, cold emailing. They dont see the value in Facebook ads. They will pay Zillow $250 a month however paying 1k in management + ad spend is too much for them

 

[The Abundant Man]

Cold calling, cold emailing. They dont see the value in Facebook ads. They will pay Zillow $250 a month however paying 1k in management + ad spend is too much for them

Right. I've been getting some not interested lately.

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[MelB]

Does anyone know from experience whether using a sales rep to meet with business owners would work? If so, did you use the sales rep to cold call or to go to warm appointments (set up via cold phone call or direct mail)?

 

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[jcvlds]

Cold calling, cold emailing. They dont see the value in Facebook ads. They will pay Zillow $250 a month however paying 1k in management + ad spend is too much for them

Do you have insight into their average revenue per sale and how much their max CAC could be for them to get the return they are looking for?

Probing into their business operations and costs, you can backtrack into your price while showing them that X $ spent on fB ads will provide Y return for them, and if that is equal to or greater than the return they are spending on Zillow then it should prove to them that it is a good investment.

That way you also are not appearing to tell them, “Hey I’ll do your fB ads per month, and it’ll cost you this much.” ... you’re positioning yourself to them as, “Hey you can invest this amount in fB ads that I’ll create and manage for you, and you’ll get roughly this return on investment.”

If you price your service to be a good deal that works for both of you then you are likelier to convince them to make the investment and they will see it as a no brainer.


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[Sean Marshall]

What do you say if a potential client asks about experience with social media? I have pretty much none.

You can always get started with the people you know. Offer a steep discount or trial period. Honestly though, you can focus on them and the results you'll get for them.

There's about a million resources online teaching you what to do step-by-step so it's just a matter of doing it.

 

[Sean Marshall]

Differentiating yourself will be tough.

There are still so many fish in the sea. And there's a BIG difference between people who say they have an Online Marketing Agency and people who are/have been making real money with one.

I've had my own since 2010 and it's still trucking along even though I personally only work about 10 hours a week on it (much less when I'm traveling).

There are so many niches/verticals that you could do deep in that standing out/being profitable really boils down to two things:

1. Making sales
2. Doing good work where there's a solid market

I personally like the Home Services industries (roofers, painters, contractors, etc) It's still wide open for these guys.

 

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[Sean Marshall]

there's a shortage of offline unsexy businesses

YES! There's an entire group of multi-million revenue per year businesses that also need help.

I have clients that include:

Concrete fitting manufacturing
Adhesive manufacturers
Thermal imaging
and others

Nobody is going after these businesses. All the online marketers want to spam dentists and plastic surgeons.

But these "industrial" companies have loads of money and desperately need the help

 

[Sean Marshall]

It's just less glamorous because we like to work from home or remotely.

Exactly.

I started by networking face to face with real business owners. I drove to businesses and interviewed them and how they do things. I gave them free marketing game plans to implement (most of the time they just hired me).

After two years of doing that, and scaled my business with a system and team, THEN I took off to live in the Caribbean and Europe. Not before.

 

[Sean Marshall]

It's actually not that tough:
- Be on time.
- Return phone calls, answer emails.
- Do not overpromise.
- Deliver decent work (ie do not outsource everything to India).
- Do the best for your clients instead of just the basics.

If you would do those things, you would already be better than 80% of the market.

I would only add:

When prospecting - follow up, follow up, follow up.

Most people don't.

It's STILL WIDE OPEN for anyone who hustles and that means everything listed above.

 

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[Sean Marshall]

I like the example that Sean uses about how his daughter was trying to sell Rice Krispie treats to kids at school. But then she noticed everyone was seliing Jell-O's. So she decided to Jell-O's instead. The M. Night Shymalan twist is that she was selling Jell-O's with marshmallows. So all the kids started asking their parents to get the ones with Marshmallows. So she became a kazillionaire(in Pesos...)

Lesson of the story: You don't have to make big changes. As long as your services are different enough from the competition. Apple doesn't necessarily make the best computers but they're different enough from the competition to where they're now worth $1 trillion.

HAHA it's true!

PLUS, she used clear cups so the other kids could choose their favorite color. Just another way to add value while standing out from the competition.

 

[Sean Marshall]

In terms of limitations, where do you draw the line for your different price points? Like for a $1000/month client, do you limit them to 1 campaign with 20 different ads and assistance with 3 landing pages? How do you break down your limits to prevent abuse?

It's all based on the amount of work/hours it will take my team to do it all. The actual details all depend on that.

It's also all listed out in the packages/game plan they choose. If there's anything that the client wants done above and beyond, they know it's going to be extra. Sometimes, if it's small, we can do it for good customer service - especially if they're new. After a few months though, the client usually gets how things work.

If you feel you're getting taken advantage of month after month, call them out or drop the client. It's not worth it with so much business out there