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

[Telamon25346]

i have a very simple question, does performing SEO cost money?
if i'm being to vague, i'm thinking of stuff like finding out what words rank better, making a site appear better on google's search engine, all that stuff. will you have to pay google for your site showing up on the engine or will the tools required to perform SEO cost money?

asking because i'm kind of tight on capital right now (i actually have $0 of spending money at the moment) and i was hoping that after i secure a client with value, i would be able to actually provide SEO without having to take an expense.

 

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[MakeItHappen]

i have a very simple question, does performing SEO cost money?
if i'm being to vague, i'm thinking of stuff like finding out what words rank better, making a site appear better on google's search engine, all that stuff. will you have to pay google for your site showing up on the engine or will the tools required to perform SEO cost money?

asking because i'm kind of tight on capital right now (i actually have $0 of spending money at the moment) and i was hoping that after i secure a client with value, i would be able to actually provide SEO without having to take an expense.

I don't want to answer in the name of OP but if you do SEO yourself it will cost mostly "just" your time.

 

[RyanK OnMyWay]

I'm hoping this sales system I intend on using will help someone out.

Any feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.

Lead Magnet
I will be contacting decision makers directly via email, phone, or in person.
(If going to industry associations you could offer a free video analysis in exchange for contact info)

Tripwire (Low ticket sale that converts prospects into buyers)
I will offer a new website (1 - 4 pages) or even a landing page for anywhere from $100-$500.
I know I will be taking a loss charging so little, but this acquires me a paying customer.

I can do the work myself in the beginning with design and front-end experience.

Core Offer
My core offer will be PPC advertising on whichever traffic source supports the business the most.

Profit Maximizer
SEO, Website Support & Security, Reputation Management, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Business Development and Reporting




For anyone that wants to read more on the sales system:
Customer Value Optimization: How to Build an Unstoppable Business

 

[Ted Jee]

Hi @Sean Marshall this is a great post. Just spent the last 2 hours or so going through the whole thread and reading almost every single post from everyone. Picked up a lot of gems from here.

 

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[The Abundant Man]

Did not realize there were so many contractors in my area...

Literally hundreds.

O_O

 

[Bru]

I'm hoping this sales system I intend on using will help someone out.

Any feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.

Lead Magnet
I will be contacting decision makers directly via email, phone, or in person.
(If going to industry associations you could offer a free video analysis in exchange for contact info)

Tripwire (Low ticket sale that converts prospects into buyers)
I will offer a new website (1 - 4 pages) or even a landing page for anywhere from $100-$500.
I know I will be taking a loss charging so little, but this acquires me a paying customer.

I can do the work myself in the beginning with design and front-end experience.

Core Offer
My core offer will be PPC advertising on whichever traffic source supports the business the most.

Profit Maximizer
SEO, Website Support & Security, Reputation Management, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Business Development and Reporting




For anyone that wants to read more on the sales system:
Customer Value Optimization: How to Build an Unstoppable Business

Thanks for the resources and insights, this is really helpful, the sale process it the part I m really not comfortable with
All the best

 

[MakeItHappen]

I have a question concerning a GMG optimization service. I see so many local businesses out there that could benefit from it but it seems hard to charge enough for it to make it worthwhile, after all it's very simple and fast to optimize a GMG listing.
Most of the value you would provide the business is basiclly the fact that you make them aware of the importance of it.
Do you see any value in offering a service like this as your main gig? Most digital agencies to seem to put to much attention to it as it's not a big money maker.

I posted a thread about it here: Value Capturing: Simple value creation for local businesses (Digital Marketing)

 

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[Bru]

I have a question concerning a GMG optimization service. I see so many local businesses out there that could benefit from it but it seems hard to charge enough for it to make it worthwhile, after all it's very simple and fast to optimize a GMG listing.
Most of the value you would provide the business is basiclly the fact that you make them aware of the importance of it.
Do you see any value in offering a service like this as your main gig? Most digital agencies to seem to put to much attention to it as it's not a big money maker.

I posted a thread about it here: Value Capturing: Simple value creation for local businesses (Digital Marketing)

From my perspective I would sell it as local SEO service and bundle it with an overall SEO audit.
This can help maybe to also upsell to the full SEO package.

 

[Zcott]

• 
  

You can do the same.

You're on.

I've been thinking about this extensively. If you think about it, it's no different than a trade person, like a plumber, reading a guide on what he needs and how to set up his own business to be a self-employed contractor.

 

[Telamon25346]

I have yet another question, for anyone who's gone through with any business where they exchange service or value for money, was it worth learning how to do the service yourself?

I say this because I've got a large number of notes, I spent the last week or so studying like crazy, practicing my SEO skills, web design etc. and I wanted to know if it's worth the effort if I'll be hiring someone in the future to do my job for me. Yes, I know that I need to have these skills in order to attract and work for my clients, but the approach I'm thinking of in my head is: I learn how to do a few simple things like using google my business, designing websites, email marketing, and then I use that value to attract clients, once those clients pay, I can hire someone to do the work for me and focus on growing.

Let me know if this is too optimistic, but I'm thinking that If I hustle enough, I could secure a client within one or 2 months, and then just focus on growing the business and hiring more people (I would be like a bridge from the client to the freelancer). Should I go this route or is it stupid to start a marketing company without having the complete set of skills to market to other businesses.

 

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[Maxboost]

I have yet another question, for anyone who's gone through with any business where they exchange service or value for money, was it worth learning how to do the service yourself?

I say this because I've got a large number of notes, I spent the last week or so studying like crazy, practicing my SEO skills, web design etc. and I wanted to know if it's worth the effort if I'll be hiring someone in the future to do my job for me. Yes, I know that I need to have these skills in order to attract and work for my clients, but the approach I'm thinking of in my head is: I learn how to do a few simple things like using google my business, designing websites, email marketing, and then I use that value to attract clients, once those clients pay, I can hire someone to do the work for me and focus on growing.

Let me know if this is too optimistic, but I'm thinking that If I hustle enough, I could secure a client within one or 2 months, and then just focus on growing the business and hiring more people (I would be like a bridge from the client to the freelancer). Should I go this route or is it stupid to start a marketing company without having the complete set of skills to market to other businesses.

Just know enough so you know what the code means, but you're missing the most important part and that is sales. Learn how to sell, if you can't sell its a giant waste of time...

 

[Bru]

I have yet another question, for anyone who's gone through with any business where they exchange service or value for money, was it worth learning how to do the service yourself?

I say this because I've got a large number of notes, I spent the last week or so studying like crazy, practicing my SEO skills, web design etc. and I wanted to know if it's worth the effort if I'll be hiring someone in the future to do my job for me. Yes, I know that I need to have these skills in order to attract and work for my clients, but the approach I'm thinking of in my head is: I learn how to do a few simple things like using google my business, designing websites, email marketing, and then I use that value to attract clients, once those clients pay, I can hire someone to do the work for me and focus on growing.

Let me know if this is too optimistic, but I'm thinking that If I hustle enough, I could secure a client within one or 2 months, and then just focus on growing the business and hiring more people (I would be like a bridge from the client to the freelancer). Should I go this route or is it stupid to start a marketing company without having the complete set of skills to market to other businesses.

Reinforcing what @Maxboost have written above.
Learn enough so that you feel confident when dealing with both customer and contractors.
The biggest skill to develop is know how to sell. This is critical and will always be useful.

 

[RyanK OnMyWay]

I have yet another question, for anyone who's gone through with any business where they exchange service or value for money, was it worth learning how to do the service yourself?

I think it would be valuable to learn the services you offer, this way you can set up a system that works and have a freelancer follow your system. If you don't know anything about the service you give all the control to the freelancer to deliver quality results.

 

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[Telamon25346]

I'm posting in this thread very frequently, as this is literally the only thing I'm focusing on almost every day now. But I've decided after some thinking and planning, I'm going to start reaching out to clients.

here's what I've done and learned from when I first read this thread to when I started taking notes on this stuff and planning it out:

• I've got a website designed using Wix free website builder, and I'm going to buy a domain and hosting for this week Mysite (it looks a little similar to socialrocketship thought I'd take an example from what already works)
• I've been watching a lot of videos and a few courses on SEO and digital marketing, at the moment I don't have the money to test what I've learned, but as soon as I get some I'll be practicing Local SEO on my fathers business.
• In the meantime, I'll use the skills I already have, such as web design, to try and approach a client. I'll be offering To redesign their website, and to list their business on some public directories, just so that they can be seen online on places like manta and google my business (hopefully this gets their phone ringing too)
• here's a short summary of what my game plan looks like in my notes document: https://i.imgur.com/s2EbCCG.png

I'm basically just starting, but my focus has gone from figuring out what I'm going to sell to learning how to sell it (thanks to @Maxboost). since cold calling and sending emails can be Pretty hard, I'm gonna be trying different methods of approaching people, but I'm first gonna try sending emails to businesses on manta, and then I'll try joining some facebook groups and sending a video to the members of what I do. I'm going to try to put forth as much value as possible, although I think there isn't much value I can skew, I guess I'll figure out what works or what doesn't down the road. I'll keep you guys updated! thank you so much for answering my questions.

 

[Telamon25346]

I'm posting in this thread very frequently, as this is literally the only thing I'm focusing on almost every day now. But I've decided after some thinking and planning, I'm going to start reaching out to clients.

here's what I've done and learned from when I first read this thread to when I started taking notes on this stuff and planning it out:

• I've got a website designed using Wix free website builder, and I'm going to buy a domain and hosting for this week Mysite (it looks a little similar to socialrocketship thought I'd take an example from what already works)
• I've been watching a lot of videos and a few courses on SEO and digital marketing, at the moment I don't have the money to test what I've learned, but as soon as I get some I'll be practicing Local SEO on my fathers business.
• In the meantime, I'll use the skills I already have, such as web design, to try and approach a client. I'll be offering To redesign their website, and to list their business on some public directories, just so that they can be seen online on places like manta and google my business (hopefully this gets their phone ringing too)
• here's a short summary of what my game plan looks like in my notes document:
  
  https://i.imgur.com/s2EbCCG.png

I'm basically just starting, but my focus has gone from figuring out what I'm going to sell to learning how to sell it (thanks to @Maxboost). since cold calling and sending emails can be Pretty hard, I'm gonna be trying different methods of approaching people, but I'm first gonna try sending emails to businesses on manta, and then I'll try joining some facebook groups and sending a video to the members of what I do. I'm going to try to put forth as much value as possible, although I think there isn't much value I can skew, I guess I'll figure out what works or what doesn't down the road. I'll keep you guys updated! thank you so much for answering my questions.

I completely forgot to mention what I'm gonna do about selling SEO and all that, I'm going to try to outsource It to upwork or something, as I'm not confident in my skills yet. But for now, I Won't offer it until I have enough money to hire someone, or until a client is interested in it. but my MAIN goal, for now, is to just help out 1 client and get them to pay for a website. this will let me know what price people are willing to pay (if at all) and whether or not my sales skills will work

 

[Bru]

I completely forgot to mention what I'm gonna do about selling SEO and all that, I'm going to try to outsource It to upwork or something, as I'm not confident in my skills yet. But for now, I Won't offer it until I have enough money to hire someone, or until a client is interested in it. but my MAIN goal, for now, is to just help out 1 client and get them to pay for a website. this will let me know what price people are willing to pay (if at all) and whether or not my sales skills will work

Great that you are getting started.
Have you considered to charge website on a recurring basis instead of one time?
Also, for a website creation or redesign I find your price very low. You might consider to increase after you build a small portfolio.
All the best.

 

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[maikooo]

Thanks @Sean Marshall for this gem tutorial thread and for all your answers to the questions (and thanks for everybody asking and commenting) ... better than school. Already helped me to focus on my offering and choosing the niche. Rep transferred! cheers

 

[Telamon25346]

alright, guys, great news, I've been practicing my skills, I designed a website of an orphanage for a family friend back in Africa, And did some SEO and web design as well on my fathers company site (he didn't even have one at first). I took the SEmrush course on SEO along with a few other courses, wrote like TONS of notes. Even though I won't be doing the SEO personally, I did this So I can understand what's going on behind the scenes, and now I know what exactly the guys on Fiverr will be doing for me. This way if they aren't delivering quality work, I can at least go in and fix it or tell them what I need.

As for getting new clients, I'm having trouble finding people that fit my requirements, I'm going for companies that make a lot per customer, like roofing, industrial equipment, etc. (this way I can justify pricing like $2000 or more for SEO, because every paying customer i bring in will basically pay $15k or so on a roof or some equipment) and my main problem is finding these businesses, I looked on manta, and only found a handful in my area that really need help with their website or marketing. lots of them don't have emails attached so I can't get in contact with them unless it's through the phone. I'm considering looking through yellow pages or something similar, where the business owners don't know much about their online presence. Anyone else having this problem? If so, where/how did you find contactable businesses in your area that also fit your niche?

 

[NewManRising]

Guys,

I am not an experienced business owner but I am focusing on copywriting. The thing is, don't get too caught up in having to know everything to get started. Cut down tasks to the most impactful ones. You don't need to waste tons of time having all your ducks in a row. The basic thing is having service and getting a client. Since I am focusing on copywriting I wasted time trying to set all this crap up and it stalled me. I decided to focus on one narrow niche and position myself as an authority or expert. People would rather deal with a specialist than a generalist.
The hardest part for me is client acquisition. The first part is knowing where to look and the next part is getting them to trust in you. Get some work under your belt, even if it is free so that you can have some proof and leverage. Also, it would be wise to do work in the same niche so that it helps with the leverage.

My steps for acquiring more clients is to search google and find some bland website several pages back in the search results. The other is LinkedIn. Here is the thing: do not act desperate. You got to forget money. People can you sense your desperation, timidness, etc. You have to act like an expert and an authority. In my experience, when I act like this people don't doubt me and ask for any kind of proof.

But in order to establish this and to likely get a sale, you have to give away stuff for free first. Find someone's site and message them and tell them things you noticed that they could improve. Give some suggestions, talk to them about some strategy. Really act like you give a shit and that you don't want anything in return. When you approach it this way you take advantage of reciprocity. The idea that if you give someone something they are likely to give you something. once you build their interest and have given something you can slip in there that you do this type of work and if they wanted some help you can do it for them. At this point you can offer for free or a discount. But if you are semi-established then start charging. Building a website, setting up social media accounts and having business bank accounts is not a business. When you have clients that is when it is a business. So think about what is most impactful. Whether you like it or not, you need to get good at selling to people or you have no business.

 

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[TinyTim]

alright, guys, great news, I've been practicing my skills, I designed a website of an orphanage for a family friend back in Africa, And did some SEO and web design as well on my fathers company site (he didn't even have one at first). I took the SEmrush course on SEO along with a few other courses, wrote like TONS of notes. Even though I won't be doing the SEO personally, I did this So I can understand what's going on behind the scenes, and now I know what exactly the guys on Fiverr will be doing for me. This way if they aren't delivering quality work, I can at least go in and fix it or tell them what I need.

As for getting new clients, I'm having trouble finding people that fit my requirements, I'm going for companies that make a lot per customer, like roofing, industrial equipment, etc. (this way I can justify pricing like $2000 or more for SEO, because every paying customer i bring in will basically pay $15k or so on a roof or some equipment) and my main problem is finding these businesses, I looked on manta, and only found a handful in my area that really need help with their website or marketing. lots of them don't have emails attached so I can't get in contact with them unless it's through the phone. I'm considering looking through yellow pages or something similar, where the business owners don't know much about their online presence. Anyone else having this problem? If so, where/how did you find contactable businesses in your area that also fit your niche?

Good to see that you're taking action!

Any reason why you're looking for businesses only in your local area?

There are tools you can use, like Email Finder - Find an email address by name • Hunter, to get emails.

 

[Sean Marshall]

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?

First hires were all online - started by using a VA placement agency - Chris Duckers.

But yes, I did everything myself first (which was wrong) and then got a team to do it in my second year. Full focus on sales and it made a HUGE difference.

Awesome progress!

 

[Sean Marshall]

Should I go this route or is it stupid to start a marketing company without having the complete set of skills to market to other businesses.

Honestly, I learned on the fly a lot of the time. Also, optimism is a must for building any business. I got my first 4 clients in my first month and I didn't even totally understand my own business. Still don't honestly.

You need to know enough to hire a good team but your focus will be systems and sales.

 

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[Sean Marshall]

When you have clients that is when it is a business. So think about what is most impactful. Whether you like it or not, you need to get good at selling to people or you have no business.

Agreed!

 

[NewManRising]

Honestly, I learned on the fly a lot of the time. Also, optimism is a must for building any business. I got my first 4 clients in my first month and I didn't even totally understand my own business. Still don't honestly.

You need to know enough to hire a good team but your focus will be systems and sales.

I am a little worried about this myself. How am I going to make an operational or production manual if I don't know a certain skill. Say I offer SEO, but don't know how to do it. Is it perfectly fine just to outsource it and let the freelancer take care of it? I plan to learn everything I offer but I am a little worried about offering certain services because I don't know them.

 

[The Abundant Man]

I am a little worried about this myself. How am I going to make an operational or production manual if I don't know a certain skill. Say I offer SEO, but don't know how to do it. Is it perfectly fine just to outsource it and let the freelancer take care of it? I plan to learn everything I offer but I am a little worried about offering certain services because I don't know them.

3 As: Action, Assess, Adjust

Repeat

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

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[Bru]

I am a little worried about this myself. How am I going to make an operational or production manual if I don't know a certain skill. Say I offer SEO, but don't know how to do it. Is it perfectly fine just to outsource it and let the freelancer take care of it? I plan to learn everything I offer but I am a little worried about offering certain services because I don't know them.

This is normal to be worried I think (I am worried too evrytime I launch myself into something) You need to know the basis, what SEO stands for basically to feel more confortable selling it and monitoring the freelance work.
But this is not that complicated, to vulgarize: 1-On site optimization (pages loading speed, meta description, title, logical heading tags hierarchy, right keywords= good balance between volume of research and volume of competition), 2-good contents generation (no duplicate vs competition, articulated around relevant keywords) 3- Off site optimization (creating qualitative backlinks: good contents are either shared naturally because they are good and people will start referencing your content or you propose your content to partners in exchange of links to your site).

Go on Udemy, enroll to a few basic courses to get the basis, build your confidence, work your speech, identify a unique point that differentiate yourself from the mass (what value you will provide to your customers) and then you are ready.

All the best

 

[NewManRising]

Thanks, Bru.

I happen to have an Udemy course for SEO. I just have not gotten through to it yet. I was doing a digital marketing course and was trying to set up the website. I just didn't want to stop myself moving forward because I didn't know everything. I am planning to learn as I go.

 

[EricFromCanada]

Thanks, Bru.

I happen to have an Udemy course for SEO. I just have not gotten through to it yet. I was doing a digital marketing course and was trying to set up the website. I just didn't want to stop myself moving forward because I didn't know everything. I am planning to learn as I go.

If you plan on learning SEO, I suggest watching Brian Dean on Youtube as I found he provided a lot of valuable insights for me personally in building up my company website's SEO and the videos are free.

 

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[S.Y.]

Big thanks for this @Sean Marshall.

Bought your course on Udemy as a thank you!

I read your post a week ago and spend time researching the digital marketing world.

I think there is a way to skew to the vsle9adray of what is being offered now. I spoke to a friend that have businesses and they confirm they would be interested.

(and no one has alluded to it in this thread. No one came near to it in fact)

And in the long term I think there is a way to develop a competitive advantage.

This year will be all about developing the business and helping businesses.

Now you will see that "think" is on bold. And that is because I have still don't have a paying customer. And it is still all assumptions.

Cheers and happy new year guys

 

[Sean Marshall]

I am a little worried about this myself. How am I going to make an operational or production manual if I don't know a certain skill. Say I offer SEO, but don't know how to do it. Is it perfectly fine just to outsource it and let the freelancer take care of it? I plan to learn everything I offer but I am a little worried about offering certain services because I don't know them.

I've said this before but Google (& YouTube) knows everything.

Not sure how to do on-page SEO? There's about a million step-by-step articles/videos that show you how. Then you just turn around and stick that in Asana/Basecamp/whatever for your team.

It's all already been done. You find it, give it to your team, and go sell more.