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Solais

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#1: €399
· Website building
· Website design
· SEO

#2: €499
· Website design (optional)
· E-mail marketing
· SEO
· SEA

#3: €999
· Website design (optional)
· SEO
· SEA
· E-mail marketing
· Social Media Advertising
· Content Creation

These are the packages I want to offer. Is it any good? And how hard is it to find people for this? Since I'm Dutch and so will be my clients. And how do I do it with the costs for advertising, is it included in the monthly price or an extra fee?

I work full time at a DM agency (Fastlane work during my free time + weekends), and based off what I know, you should definitely charge more. To give you an idea, your package #3 is less than the minimum monthly price my company requires.

Your current prices won't build an amazing business, they'll build you a middle/upper-middle class lifestyle where you'll still have to work for decades.

Charging more also puts more burden on you to deliver amazing results -> you improve your service until you have a productocracy.

AFAIK digital marketing is a service you can perform for anyone across the globe. Why would you limit yourself geographically for a job that quite frankly has the words "TELECOMMUTE" scribbled all over?
 
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The Abundant Man

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I work full time at a DM agency (Fastlane work during my free time + weekends), and based off what I know, you should definitely charge more. To give you an idea, your package #3 is less than the minimum monthly price my company requires.

Your current prices won't build an amazing business, they'll build you a middle/upper-middle class lifestyle where you'll still have to work for decades.

Charging more also puts more burden on you to deliver amazing results -> you improve your service until you have a productocracy.

AFAIK digital marketing is a service you can perform for anyone across the globe. Why would you limit yourself geographically for a job that quite frankly has the words "TELECOMMUTE" scribbled all over?
I'm charging world governments $1 Billion for my services. Who's with me? (Not serious. I'm going after Chiropractors)

What is a good general ballpark for pricing? 10K/month?
 

Solais

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I'm charging world governments $1 Billion for my services. Who's with me? (Not serious. I'm going after Chiropractors)

What is a good general ballpark for pricing? 10K/month?

That was a pretty funny joke.

Honestly, it depends on your clients.

If you're doing local SEO, $1000+ should be your bare minimum. Many companies do $1500 - $2000.

If you're doing national or eCommerce SEO, we're talking about $3000, $4000, $5000, and more. A full-time SEO consultant + analyst working as an independent contractor could earn $150K/year taking on 3 national/eCommerce clients at 40-45/hours of work per week.

Not exactly a Fastlane business, but not terrible.

Charging $10K/month or more is fine, but you'll have to provide a myriad of services like copywriting, technical SEO fixes, optimizing HUNDREDS of already existing pages, SEO reports, structured data/snippets, etc. which are all pretty damn tedious.

Let's use your example of going after chiropractors. Chiropractors make low 6 figures if they own their own practice ($100 - $250K/year). In other words, you would likely charge $1200 - $1800 (depending on how many improvements/optimizations you believe you can promise), but certainly no more than $2000.

If (or I should say "when") I grow my business to the point I want to outsource SEO/DM duties, and someone quoted me anything less than $4000/month, I would assume they're running a scam/racket. Anyone charging in the $400 - $900 range per month is either severely underpricing themselves or is using black hat SEO.

I don't like to rain on people's parades, but there's another factor to consider: the "recurring" revenue is hardly recurring since clients come and go. It isn't a spigot you can just turn on and expect free money to flow through like water. You'll have to recruit new customers or be good enough (only 10-15% of people will ever be) to earn word-of-mouth referrals.

White hat SEO is tedious and time-consuming as hell, and the more I work in this field, the more thankful I am that I don't have to rely on SEO to grow my own Fastlane. Other options like PPC, social media advertising, and plain old B2B sales/outreach/email will work wonders.

Digital marketing is definitely in demand, however, so it's not a bad option. Just not ideal for me.

(Contrary to what OP said, I believe the bigger issue is the violation of Time and not Entry.)

Best of luck to all you guys!
 
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The Abundant Man

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That was a pretty funny joke.

Honestly, it depends on your clients.

If you're doing local SEO, $1000+ should be your bare minimum. Many companies do $1500 - $2000.

If you're doing national or eCommerce SEO, we're talking about $3000, $4000, $5000, and more. A full-time SEO consultant + analyst working as an independent contractor could earn $150K/year taking on 3 national/eCommerce clients at 40-45/hours of work per week.

Not exactly a Fastlane business, but not terrible.

Charging $10K/month or more is fine, but you'll have to provide a myriad of services like copywriting, technical SEO fixes, optimizing HUNDREDS of already existing pages, SEO reports, structured data/snippets, etc. which are all pretty damn tedious.

Let's use your example of going after chiropractors. Chiropractors make low 6 figures if they own their own practice ($100 - $250K/year). In other words, you would likely charge $1200 - $1800 (depending on how many improvements/optimizations you believe you can promise), but certainly no more than $2000.

If (or I should say "when") I grow my business to the point I want to outsource SEO/DM duties, and someone quoted me anything less than $4000/month, I would assume they're running a scam/racket. Anyone charging in the $400 - $900 range per month is either severely underpricing themselves or is using black hat SEO.

I don't like to rain on people's parades, but there's another factor to consider: the "recurring" revenue is hardly recurring since clients come and go. It isn't a spigot you can just turn on and expect free money to flow through like water.

White hat SEO is tedious and time-consuming as hell, and the more I work in this field, the more thankful I am that I don't have to rely on SEO to grow my own Fastlane. I've got PPC/social media ads and just plain old B2B sales/contact via email.

Digital marketing is definitely in demand, however, so it's not a bad option. Just not ideal for me.

Best of luck to all you guys.

(I know some of you will crucify me, but I needed to offer my counterbalancing opinion. No use in having an echo chamber.)
Sean's course is about outsourcing everything and having one's team do all the work. His idea is that the only a business owner needs to do are networking/making sales and building/systemizing the team. This follows through with the Commandments of Time and Scalability.

How does the process for Black hat SEO(Search Engines) and White Hate SEO(Human Audience) work? and how do they differ?
 
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Solais

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Sean's course is about outsourcing everything and having one's team do all the work. His idea is that the only a business owner needs to do are networking/making sales and building/systemizing the team. This follows through with the Commandments of Time and Scalability.

How does the process for Black hat SEO(Search Engines) and White Hate SEO(Human Audience) work? and how do they differ?

I suppose you could use the outsourcing (I think you meant insourcing?) approach. Still, you'd be much better off if you knew the industry inside and out yourself to avoid catastrophic errors.

Black hat SEO is about scoring easy points like buying mass links from cheap, low domain authority websites, while white hat SEO is optimizing every little function/detail on the page while reaching out to legitimate sources, who are only likely to link to you if you

1) pay a large sum of money (something Google frowns upon, but if the domain has high enough Domain Authority, it's unlikely they will suspect their motives)
2) have something unique to say (requires in-depth expertise and insight in the industry itself)
 

Fastlane Liam

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When I started out in 2010, I spoke with anyone and everyone I could - all business owners. Eventually, organically, I ended up focusing on what I call "home services" - roofers, painters, contractors, etc. Basically, they had the need, they had the budget, and they did not have the know-how.

So that answers your second question also. Look for businesses that have/see the need and have the budget - that's actually the most important actually!
Okay great, thanks Sean! Im gonna do just this, its what my initial thoughts were - just go for anyone and work from there. At the moment Im going to contact everyone who puts a flyer through my door. These guys need marketing help!!
 

L457dwj

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I work full time at a DM agency (Fastlane work during my free time + weekends), and based off what I know, you should definitely charge more. To give you an idea, your package #3 is less than the minimum monthly price my company requires.

Your current prices won't build an amazing business, they'll build you a middle/upper-middle class lifestyle where you'll still have to work for decades.

Charging more also puts more burden on you to deliver amazing results -> you improve your service until you have a productocracy.

AFAIK digital marketing is a service you can perform for anyone across the globe. Why would you limit yourself geographically for a job that quite frankly has the words "TELECOMMUTE" scribbled all over?

That's right. Wasn't sure about the prices.
What would you suggest? What price range?
 
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SEBASTlAN

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What if I don't know anything about SEO or Social Media or website design? Do I just outsource to Fiver or Upwork?

There are white label SEO partners you can outsource to, but still appear as though you are doing the work.
 

Phillip Anderson

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How creative (with images/marketing in general) do you have to be in order to manage a company's social media? I'm not creative at all but still want to give it a try.
 
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L457dwj

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This might be a stupid question.. but;

Website design is a one-time thing, you don't change your website every month.
How does this work for SEO? Let's say my client picks my package #1 (website design and SEO).

Is SEO a thing you keep doing every month or is this also a thing you do once and then like after a few months you might want to adjust it a bit (like with design)?

I've also updated my packages, I think it's better now. What are some MUST HAVE services to add? Or is this fine?

#1: €850/monthly

· Website design (deliver photos/videos themselves)
· SEO

#2: €1450/monthly
· Website design (optional)
· E-mail marketing
· SEO
· SEA

#3: €2399/monthly
· Website design (optional)
· SEO
· SEA
· E-mail marketing
· Social Media Advertising (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
· Content Creation
 

randomdude

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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.


i'm also italian and tried to do the same in the past: let's connect :)
 

Sean Marshall

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I've also updated my packages, I think it's better now. What are some MUST HAVE services to add? Or is this fine?

Your prices and services are going to change. You just have to get selling and adjust as necessary.

Also, the prices will change based on the industry and work involved.

The entire key to the pricing is to have 3 packages and set it up as I've talked about before:

Basic: $500
Standard: $600
Awesome: $1000

Obviously, the names and prices are just an example. Focus on the pattern there. It's vital. I've sent out proposals that look like this:

Basic: $599
Standard: $699
Awesome: $1299

And then I've sent out other proposals that look like this:

Basic: $8,999
Standard: $11,000
Awesome: $18,000

Look at the pattern. It's key. Regardless of the actual prices and the actual services, you just have to get out there, speak with real business owners, and change as needed.
 
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Sean Marshall

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How creative (with images/marketing in general) do you have to be in order to manage a company's social media? I'm not creative at all but still want to give it a try.

You need to know how to manage creative people and let them work with your clients to get the content out there. The key to growing a digital marketing agency is getting good services in place, getting good systems in place, and then getting good staff to do the work. Your focus should always be on sales. Get people to do the work.
 

L457dwj

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You need to know how to manage creative people and let them work with your clients to get the content out there. The key to growing a digital marketing agency is getting good services in place, getting good systems in place, and then getting good staff to do the work. Your focus should always be on sales. Get people to do the work.

Any specific tips on learning the stuff yourself?
Like I need to know a bit what my team is going to do, and not be like 'Idk too'?
 

Sean Marshall

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Any specific tips on learning the stuff yourself?

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.
 
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L457dwj

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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.

Thank you.
This was exact the same thing as I was thinking. Learn the key benefits for the client, learn how to it myself if needed.

Would you suggest forming/finding team members on forehand? Or close a deal, do work yourself and while you work yourself find people to take over the job?
 

L457dwj

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Website design is a one-time thing, you don't change your website every month.
How does this work for SEO? Let's say my client picks my package #1 (website design and SEO).

Is SEO a thing you keep doing every month or is this also a thing you do once and then like after a few months you might want to adjust it a bit (like with design)?
 

Sean Marshall

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Would you suggest forming/finding team members on forehand? Or close a deal, do work yourself and while you work yourself find people to take over the job?

Well, everything starts with the sale. Without a sale, there's no point in spending any time putting a team together. But, once you get that sale, you can work quickly to get someone in place. There's no shortage of people who can do this kind of work. Plus, you've got some time to get it all done.
 
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Dunkafelics

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@Sean Marshall

You've definitely delivered with this post and likely opened up a lot of doors for individuals on the forum through your detailed post here.

If you haven't already, I would recommend getting some of the free resources that Sean provides on his website as well.
 

Sean Marshall

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@Sean Marshall

You've definitely delivered with this post and likely opened up a lot of doors for individuals on the forum through your detailed post here.

If you haven't already, I would recommend getting some of the free resources that Sean provides on his website as well.

Thanks man!
 

The Abundant Man

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Sean,

What was the website that had a directory of businesses that you can look up?
 
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L457dwj

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Hmm.. I'm having a hard time on finding people for a team.
I've connected with some people and they charge $45 an hour. I've told them I'm working with fixed prices and they at least want near $750 per project/client. This is way too much since my first package is $1000 a month. It's hard to find Dutch people for a lower wage (like in Asia) and have the knowledge to do the job.

How do I solve this or how do I make them change their minds? Because with these wages I'll still be broke and unhappy in 30 years lol. (aka the Slowlane).
 

Phillip Anderson

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Hmm.. I'm having a hard time on finding people for a team.
How do I solve this or how do I make them change their minds? Because with these wages I'll still be broke and unhappy in 30 years lol. (aka the Slowlane).
Why don't you just find English-speaking clients even if you're in the NL? That's my plan and I'm not in the US.
 
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Phillip Anderson

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I'm currently looking for a good domain name for a website. My question is, if I don't yet know much about building websites and social media, should I only focus providing Instagram services, or should I still offer whole packages include web design?
 

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@LarsJelle I might have a possible solution for some of the services you want to offer. What's your contact info or PM me?

Hmm.. I'm having a hard time on finding people for a team.
I've connected with some people and they charge $45 an hour. I've told them I'm working with fixed prices and they at least want near $750 per project/client. This is way too much since my first package is $1000 a month. It's hard to find Dutch people for a lower wage (like in Asia) and have the knowledge to do the job.

How do I solve this or how do I make them change their minds? Because with these wages I'll still be broke and unhappy in 30 years lol. (aka the Slowlane).
 
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babyballer

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All of my business now comes in via referrals. I networked hard for two years both in Seattle and in San Francisco and built a huge network. I built my business up enough in those 2 years to then be able to take off - which is why I moved to Cozumel. For the last 6 years, all new business has been referrals - and even then, I'm picky about which clients I take on.

@Sean Marshall

So most of your customers are from Seattle and San Francisco?

Do you limit the number of customer per niche and city? Let's say "chiropractor in San Francisco".
 
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yyes

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@Sean Marshall, I have a few questions that I'm hoping you can clear up for me.
  1. Everywhere I go people say that digital marketing is saturated and that competition is fierce. How true is this in your opinion?
  2. What are profitable margins in an industry like this? I personally plan to use adwords to promotes my website online so I assume profit margins are gonna be affected by it
  3. What is the potential profit per month for digital marketing, especially for someone who working a 9-5? I make 70k a year in my job so dropping it immediately is probably not in my best interest.
  4. Can someone realistically make over 100k profit in this industry as a one man crew ?
  5. Your course looks super good. What do you offer over other competitors and what makes you so sure that this course can help us be successful
Great thread man. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
 

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