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The Abundant Man

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I don't really think outsourcing is a unique twist. My guess is that the majority of online marketers outsource a good chunk of the work (although some are probably unwilling to admit it).

The business is not unique. What makes this thread unique is that he has outlined the entire process and shown you how you could turn a hustle into an automated unscripted lifestyle.
Exactly. Sean literally gives out a step by step plan. All a person has to do is execute.
 
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Kyle T

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Closed my first sale today and would never have been able to do it without this thread...

The steps are all laid out, you just need to execute!

On a side note, the thing that has surprised me the most is how little business owners actually understand about websites, search engines, social media & marketig in general. There is definitely a HUGE need out there. 50% of businesses (if not more) have websites that are doing absolutely nothing for their business.
 

Primeperiwinkle

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Thanks for this awesome post.

So let’s say you know nothing about AdWords or SEO or meta stuff or white hat or long tail anything. Zero. Nothing. So you go to the library and promptly check out every single book they have about it and read them all and still feel like you don’t really know how to even get your own thriving (because of networking not marketing) small business website anywhere close to the top of Google and really all you want to do is research the hell out of this thing ASAP but there are MILLIONS of sites and YouTube videos to “teach” you and you have no clue where to start.

Where do I go to efficiently learn this stuff? Should I just research like crazy, act, implement, study, act, implement for the next year and try to figure it out myself? I feel like there’s got to be a better way.
 

Jacob Wilson

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Sean, what pay range should I look at to hire contractors for delivering the marketing services? Finding some good looking ones on Upwork for $55/hr
 
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Jacob Wilson

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Thanks for this awesome post.

So let’s say you know nothing about AdWords or SEO or meta stuff or white hat or long tail anything. Zero. Nothing. So you go to the library and promptly check out every single book they have about it and read them all and still feel like you don’t really know how to even get your own thriving (because of networking not marketing) small business website anywhere close to the top of Google and really all you want to do is research the hell out of this thing ASAP but there are MILLIONS of sites and YouTube videos to “teach” you and you have no clue where to start.

Where do I go to efficiently learn this stuff? Should I just research like crazy, act, implement, study, act, implement for the next year and try to figure it out myself? I feel like there’s got to be a better way.

Udemy has been a great resource for me as well as youtube. Resist the temptation to buy a "guru" course for $997. I've done that and found higher quality courses on Udemy.com for $9.99

Here is an outstanding course for learning Google Ads if you're interested (not an affiliate)
Google Ads: https://www.udemy.com/the-ultimate-google-adwords-training-course/
 

harlansjobs

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Closed my first sale today and would never have been able to do it without this thread...

The steps are all laid out, you just need to execute!

On a side note, the thing that has surprised me the most is how little business owners actually understand about websites, search engines, social media & marketig in general. There is definitely a HUGE need out there. 50% of businesses (if not more) have websites that are doing absolutely nothing for their business.

Kyle first congratulations on getting your first client.
Let me ask you....
1. Are you doing Just webdesign.
2. is the service one off or are you doing recurring services"
3. what did you use to find clients? Upwork, because it does not work for me at the moment.
 

Longinus

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Why did you switch to Elementor? What is better/easier?

It looks better, it's more user friendly, it's more versatile, it has many more features and it's still growing a lot.

The biggest problem I had with Divi is that I could spot a Divi-website from miles: the buttons were the same, the bar with the contact details on top, the menu, etc. While it's impossible to recognize an Elementor website.
 

GrayWhale

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On a side note, the thing that has surprised me the most is how little business owners actually understand about websites, search engines, social media & marketig in general. There is definitely a HUGE need out there. 50% of businesses (if not more) have websites that are doing absolutely nothing for their business.

How do you know does the website do something for the business?
I want to ask this because this business model seems interesting, but I do not recognize which websites convert visitors into buyers and which does not.
Maybe I should just focus on the ads, but how do I know which business uses ads and which doesn't?
 

Kyle T

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How do you know does the website do something for the business?
I want to ask this because this business model seems interesting, but I do not recognize which websites convert visitors into buyers and which does not.
Maybe I should just focus on the ads, but how do I know which business uses ads and which doesn't?
I generally look at the keyword rankings, SEO, & the overall layout of the site.

#1 first up, Keywords... Are people finding the website? Using a keyword report service, I can see what specific words the website is currently ranking for and what the estimated traffic looks like. For example, Joe Schmoes Auto shop is on the 8th page for the important keywords "mechanic", "car repair", "oil change" etc.

I'm able to surmise that the only people that are finding "Joe's website" are definitely not coming from organic search. Rather they are people that are already looking specifically for JOE. Which means no new customers.

#2 SEO report.

Once I have established that they are not getting organic traffic, use a report that will tell me WHY they aren't getting traffic.

#3 The layout of the site.

This is where I identify just general web page improvements. When people land on the site, is it obvious that there is a call to action? Does the site load fast? Does it have quality images, stock photos or no pictures at? Does there about page tell a good story? is the contact information easily available?

No matter how much traffic someone is getting, you need to make sure that people who land on the page are getting the information that they want and converting before they have time to go back and click on the next google search result.

I am just getting started with this whole business but this is my current process.

With regard to Ads... Facebook Ads are easy because Facebook pages now show which companies are running ads. Most SEO software can give you reports are domains using google adwords as well.
 
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Kyle T

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Kyle first congratulations on getting your first client.
Let me ask you....
1. Are you doing Just webdesign.
2. is the service one off or are you doing recurring services"
3. what did you use to find clients? Upwork, because it does not work for me at the moment.

1. no web design, although there are a couple people in my pipeline that are possibly looking at that direction. Will cross that bridge when it comes.

2. Recurring SEO is my primary focus as well as content marketing.

3. Personal network. Talking to friends who are business owners.
 

harlansjobs

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1. no web design, although there are a couple people in my pipeline that are possibly looking at that direction. Will cross that bridge when it comes.

2. Recurring SEO is my primary focus as well as content marketing.

3. Personal network. Talking to friends who are business owners.

Well that puts me at a disadvantatge. Most of my friends work for someone else or the stores that I buy from, at least here, are basically big box stores. The very small selection of mom and pops that I do buy from, dont want a website or think they need one. So where else to look? LinkedIn? Arent those more larger businesses? Thank you.
 

GrayWhale

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I generally look at the keyword rankings, SEO, & the overall layout of the site.

#1 first up, Keywords... Are people finding the website? Using a keyword report service, I can see what specific words the website is currently ranking for and what the estimated traffic looks like. For example, Joe Schmoes Auto shop is on the 8th page for the important keywords "mechanic", "car repair", "oil change" etc.

I'm able to surmise that the only people that are finding "Joe's website" are definitely not coming from organic search. Rather they are people that are already looking specifically for JOE. Which means no new customers.

#2 SEO report.

Once I have established that they are not getting organic traffic, use a report that will tell me WHY they aren't getting traffic.

#3 The layout of the site.

This is where I identify just general web page improvements. When people land on the site, is it obvious that there is a call to action? Does the site load fast? Does it have quality images, stock photos or no pictures at? Does there about page tell a good story? is the contact information easily available?

No matter how much traffic someone is getting, you need to make sure that people who land on the page are getting the information that they want and converting before they have time to go back and click on the next google search result.

I am just getting started with this whole business but this is my current process.

With regard to Ads... Facebook Ads are easy because Facebook pages now show which companies are running ads. Most SEO software can give you reports are domains using google adwords as well.


Awesome reply. You gave me one important piece of this puzzle. Thank you very much
 
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Bru

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I generally look at the keyword rankings, SEO, & the overall layout of the site.

#1 first up, Keywords... Are people finding the website? Using a keyword report service, I can see what specific words the website is currently ranking for and what the estimated traffic looks like. For example, Joe Schmoes Auto shop is on the 8th page for the important keywords "mechanic", "car repair", "oil change" etc.

I'm able to surmise that the only people that are finding "Joe's website" are definitely not coming from organic search. Rather they are people that are already looking specifically for JOE. Which means no new customers.

#2 SEO report.

Once I have established that they are not getting organic traffic, use a report that will tell me WHY they aren't getting traffic.

#3 The layout of the site.

This is where I identify just general web page improvements. When people land on the site, is it obvious that there is a call to action? Does the site load fast? Does it have quality images, stock photos or no pictures at? Does there about page tell a good story? is the contact information easily available?

No matter how much traffic someone is getting, you need to make sure that people who land on the page are getting the information that they want and converting before they have time to go back and click on the next google search result.

I am just getting started with this whole business but this is my current process.

With regard to Ads... Facebook Ads are easy because Facebook pages now show which companies are running ads. Most SEO software can give you reports are domains using google adwords as well.

Huge thanks for this post, very useful.
Congrat as well for your first customer.
Keep the momentum!!

I ve just started my digital agencies and I m surprised to notice how many websites have not even installed anything to get analytics.
Also, stressing your point on site layout: here an example:
I just ran an analysis for a dentist who wants to run a adword campaign on "dental emergency", the keyword is nowhere on his destination page. Moreover, this destination page is a presentation of his services and there are no contact details...My 1st advice was to make sure his contact details were the first thing we see when arriving on the website if anyone is searching for "dental emergency".
 

Burton

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I was wondering what's your opinion about running this business locally. I mean is it a good idea to start where I live or should I look for foreign clients from the beginnings? There is quite big difference in prices for this service between my country (Poland) and for example US market.
 

harlansjobs

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I found this video that describes how to start an agency for no money. He talks about creating your own website, driving traffic to it with either SEO or facebook. And then when you have that under your belt, you can start charging.

I was looking into taking the free GOOGLE SEO certification courses and the Facebook ads courses available.

Or was looking at basically finding a freelancer to the work for me as that meets the Fastlane requirements.

I have included a link to the video so people can comment on whether that is a great way to go or would one of the above methods work better.

Thanks
 
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jcvlds

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I found this video that describes how to start an agency for no money. He talks about creating your own website, driving traffic to it with either SEO or facebook. And then when you have that under your belt, you can start charging.

I was looking into taking the free GOOGLE SEO certification courses and the Facebook ads courses available.

Or was looking at basically finding a freelancer to the work for me as that meets the Fastlane requirements.

I have included a link to the video so people can comment on whether that is a great way to go or would one of the above methods work better.

Thanks

I haven’t looked at the video, and probably won’t tbh. But how is what you said any different than the process Sean laid out on this post?

If the only difference is Sean’s goes about directly contacting businesses and reaching out vs building a site and driving traffic to try to get customers that way.. then that is only a difference in acquisition channel.. the rest is the same. You will still have to put in work and figure out how to position your services to get customers. FB ads isn’t a magic pill. And plus, FB ads requires spending money which you mentioned it was a $0 investment process so that statement is inaccurate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

harlansjobs

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I haven’t looked at the video, and probably won’t tbh. But how is what you said any different than the process Sean laid out on this post?

If the only difference is Sean’s goes about directly contacting businesses and reaching out vs building a site and driving traffic to try to get customers that way.. then that is only a difference in acquisition channel.. the rest is the same. You will still have to put in work and figure out how to position your services to get customers. FB ads isn’t a magic pill. And plus, FB ads requires spending money which you mentioned it was a $0 investment process so that statement is inaccurate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I never mentioned paying for Facebook ads. I was thinking of learning how to do it free, which Facebook offers a course on it.

I asked people what they also thought of the video. It would have been nice if you had actually watched it and given me your opinions so your responses could have been more accurate and not so quick to say that they were inaccurate.
 

jcvlds

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He talks about creating your own website, driving traffic to it with either SEO or facebook.

You said driving traffic to it with Facebook.. you will have to spend money here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Telamon25346

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A ton of great valuable information in here, I've been going through with this (I'm approaching clients through emails soon) but I've found WordPress to be not so appealing to me. do you think it would be a good idea to use Wix sites for my clients and perform SEO on those sites? I am planning on showing some value by designing sites for them, and I was originally going to use WordPress but i'm more familiar with wix. my only concern is that if I use wix I'm not sure I'll be able to provide the SEO that I'm offering because It looks like WordPress is better for that. I'm not sure how the community for SEO on wix is, but it seems to be very strong on WordPress sites.
 

Andy Black

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Thanks for this awesome post.

So let’s say you know nothing about AdWords or SEO or meta stuff or white hat or long tail anything. Zero. Nothing. So you go to the library and promptly check out every single book they have about it and read them all and still feel like you don’t really know how to even get your own thriving (because of networking not marketing) small business website anywhere close to the top of Google and really all you want to do is research the hell out of this thing ASAP but there are MILLIONS of sites and YouTube videos to “teach” you and you have no clue where to start.

Where do I go to efficiently learn this stuff? Should I just research like crazy, act, implement, study, act, implement for the next year and try to figure it out myself? I feel like there’s got to be a better way.
Find someone you know who could do with some Google Ads help. Offer to help them. Solve each problem as it comes to you.
 
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The Abundant Man

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Bru

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A ton of great valuable information in here, I've been going through with this (I'm approaching clients through emails soon) but I've found WordPress to be not so appealing to me. do you think it would be a good idea to use Wix sites for my clients and perform SEO on those sites? I am planning on showing some value by designing sites for them, and I was originally going to use WordPress but i'm more familiar with wix. my only concern is that if I use wix I'm not sure I'll be able to provide the SEO that I'm offering because It looks like WordPress is better for that. I'm not sure how the community for SEO on wix is, but it seems to be very strong on WordPress sites.
I used Wix in the past and found it limited in term of optimization. This might have changed but I do recommend to check wordpress+elementor as alternative. 1-the pro version is only79Usd (once) for a lot of great fearures 2-this is compatible with a lot of themes 3- there are a lot of great tutorials to help.
 

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A ton of great valuable information in here, I've been going through with this (I'm approaching clients through emails soon) but I've found WordPress to be not so appealing to me. do you think it would be a good idea to use Wix sites for my clients and perform SEO on those sites? I am planning on showing some value by designing sites for them, and I was originally going to use WordPress but i'm more familiar with wix. my only concern is that if I use wix I'm not sure I'll be able to provide the SEO that I'm offering because It looks like WordPress is better for that. I'm not sure how the community for SEO on wix is, but it seems to be very strong on WordPress sites.

WordPress is definitely your best bet if you want to do SEO. Wix has improved, but it still falls short of WordPress for advanced stuff (no custom sitemaps, random letters at end of URL, random letters for image names), has a very small SEO community, and is not blogger friendly (content is basically a requirement for SEO nowadays).
 
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harlansjobs

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Facebook ads do cost money

Yes, but there are many groups where you can use something like photoshop or canva, create what looks like an ad and actually post them to groups like MMOL or whatever your niche is!
 

Isaac Oh

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Yes, but there are many groups where you can use something like photoshop or canva, create what looks like an ad and actually post them to groups like MMOL or whatever your niche is!
I think there was a client working with garyvee who would do those landing pages with free resources or free service in exchange for emails on fb groups and came out with huge leads because of the nature of fb group's engagement
 

Telamon25346

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I used Wix in the past and found it limited in term of optimization. This might have changed but I do recommend to check wordpress+elementor as alternative. 1-the pro version is only79Usd (once) for a lot of great features 2-this is compatible with a lot of themes 3- there are a lot of great tutorials to help.

ah, thank you very much. when I gather some money I will definitely look into this solution for my sites, I love WordPress' SEO and backend, but the front end was terrible, this might fix it.
 
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Bru

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ah, thank you very much. when I gather some money I will definitely look into this solution for my sites, I love WordPress' SEO and backend, but the front end was terrible, this might fix it.
separately I ce never tried yet but I m going to check Builderall as I heard good feedbacks about the solution (website builder and tools)
Althought I would recommend to check on internet what are the reviews saying about builderall SEO settings.
Good luck
 

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@Sean Marshall just wanted to give you an update on my progress.

Since discovering your thread I
  • Got more professional in my services (posting regularly, more structure and organized)
  • Got decent idea of packages and ideal customers and USP (but ready to respond to what I learn and shift)
  • Set up a corp.
  • Registered and build a website
  • Got business cards
  • Negotiated a deal with my (former) employer
Starting this month I'm paid €1500 for their online media (FB, IG, website), and some minor event work. Bit of a milestone.

Next step: Finding more clients and building a team.

I know plenty of photographers and even some videographers. No one in mind for doing the social media management, but really any young, halfway tech savy youngster could do it IMO.

How did you go about making your first hires? Personal network? Job ads? I want them to be local.

I believe you did the work on your first (couple) clients yourself, then took someone on, trained them to do the work, then shift full focus to sales?

I've also decided to only offer social media management and community management. As that is recurring. Whereas consultancy, social media training and website design is all one time deals and therefore less interesting. Besides, I'd be branching out way too much. Better to focus, keep it simple.

On the flip side, it does make sense to become your clients one stop shop for all online marketing matters. So websites could be a good add on later on. Consultancy is maybe more of a way to provide value upfront and get them to take a monthly package.

Thank you so much for the inspiration and helping me see that this was a viable option for me. Really looking to kick this shit into high gear. Again, thanks a mill. This will be, and has been, life changing.
 

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