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

Mohan padavala

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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
Hey Sean, You explained in detail it's really amazing way to fastlane
 
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VDP

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You're doing marketing in your own country yes? But I have this question. I live in a relatively small country, just over 1 MLN in population which is quite small. I am wondering how can one, how to say, out source his Services. I mean, living in Estonia, how can I serve customers in other cities around the world. Lets say I would like to help people in other parts of Europe and USA from Estonia. I understand, at first it would definitely be smart to start where I live to get experience and all.

Start local, grow from there. 1 million people is more than enough to make 5k a month. If you did well and have a lot of case studies maybe you can get people oversees. Just cold call them, make the appointment online (skype or something) and close. It should be possible. But why worry about that already.
 

alekssiht

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Start local, grow from there. 1 million people is more than enough to make 5k a month. If you did well and have a lot of case studies maybe you can get people oversees. Just cold call them, make the appointment online (skype or something) and close. It should be possible. But why worry about that already.
Absolutely true, it is a problem for the future. It was just for some general knowledge, so I could plan this thing a bit better.
But this one more thing, would it be smarter to do the first works by myself(I know digital marketing on paper so to say, but not much experience doing it, have done some things so far)? Or should I find a freelancer to do it for me? I mean, the goal is not to be the marketer myself, rather finding leads and closing etc.
 

VDP

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Absolutely true, it is a problem for the future. It was just for some general knowledge, so I could plan this thing a bit better.
But this one more thing, would it be smarter to do the first works by myself(I know digital marketing on paper so to say, but not much experience doing it, have done some things so far)? Or should I find a freelancer to do it for me? I mean, the goal is not to be the marketer myself, rather finding leads and closing etc.

Honestly that is my problem too. I have literally done everything, learn fb ads a bit copywriting, so i know what i talk about about, made all the scripts etc. But at this point I must actually start but i feel like it's a bit unfair if I start spending their money without 0 actual experience.

For me,I decided this week I have to find a solution, the options are:
Trusting a random Indian guy on upwork. (I posted a job and only got reactions from them)
Actively search for work as a freelancer on upwork, to get some experience and go for it.
Give my clients a free trial in which they have pay only adspend or something.

So I guess these are also your options? Any other ideas.
 
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alekssiht

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Honestly that is my problem too. I have literally done everything, learn fb ads a bit copywriting, so i know what i talk about about, made all the scripts etc. But at this point I must actually start but i feel like it's a bit unfair if I start spending their money without 0 actual experience.

For me,I decided this week I have to find a solution, the options are:
Trusting a random Indian guy on upwork. (I posted a job and only got reactions from them)
Actively search for work as a freelancer on upwork, to get some experience and go for it.
Give my clients a free trial in which they have pay only adspend or something.

So I guess these are also your options? Any other ideas.
True man, spending someones money without having a good experience wouldn't be so good I guess. A bad client experience for staring does not sound so good.
Well, guess these are the options there are I guess. And well seems that I can't even use Upwork.com because I live in a place where we dont speak english so the marketing has to be done in my local languange which sucks a$$...
Edit: Actaully doing free work would be such a bad idea.
 

VDP

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True man, spending someones money without having a good experience wouldn't be so good I guess. A bad client experience for staring does not sound so good.
Well, guess these are the options there are I guess. And well seems that I can't even use Upwork.com because I live in a place where we dont speak english so the marketing has to be done in my local languange which sucks a$$...
Edit: Actaully doing free work would be such a bad idea.

You can always let them do the settings and change the ad copy yourself. Copy is a very important skill I think in marketing.
Also why would it be bad, just curious what your reasoning is.
 

alekssiht

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Oh
You can always let them do the settings and change the ad copy yourself. Copy is a very important skill I think in marketing.
Also why would it be bad, just curious what your reasoning is.
What an great idea, to just change the copy afterwards! Thanks man, gonna keep that idea in mind.
Oh, Did not notice the typo there. I wanted to say would not be bad idea.
 
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Sean Marshall

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I've learned that the main difference between people who have a thriving business and those that don't, is that the guys who are thriving worked up the balls to actually go direct and talk to business owners.

What's the worse that could happen? If they say no, is it going to kill you? Just move on. But when someone says yes, that could be a life changer for you.

The people who are making serious money are those that took risks and were unafraid of the word "no". Plain and simple. There is no way around it. If you wanna make some money, you're going to have to accept you need to step up and do these things.

Amen. Amen. Amen!
 

Sean Marshall

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i wonder if i can do that in our country in Philippines. i just started to learn how to code, i have an idea where i will make a website and put a Pay per view to monetize. the reason i wonder if i can do this digital marketing serv in our country is because i dont see anyone doing it. and many business here is like a small business. big corporations is hard to contact. if ever i will try to get a client outside local. i have a problem with english. since im not perpect in english.

If you're going to reach out to businesses in your own country, they must:

1. see the need
2. have the budget

These might as well be commandments (like MJ's 5 commandments).

If you don't speak English well, get people in place who do - at least your sales people.

There's always a way.
 

Sean Marshall

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I appreciate the advice. Thank you and I will apply it.

However there were some things I found misleading for others. I've been to countless business networking events and meetings, chamber of commerce meetings, pretty much anything relating to everything with web design. Almost everyone who shows up are developers, freelancers, and people just like me and you. There aren't business owners that are looking to grow their business by developing a better web entity. It sucks because you go to these nice events dressed up nice just to see a ton of people just like me trying to hand out business cards and build websites/do seo for people.

Overall it's not an ideal way to find clients. Cold pitching in person, follow up calls, getting leads etc. has all led to reasonably bored and satisfied businesses - because most of the time if you don't have professional experience or they aren't seeking you out, they won't buy. Most people don't want to buy something when they know in the back of their mind it really only costs under a hundred bucks for a great site.

I appreciate that you've tried and tried. I get it.

Regardless of any of the actual cold calling strategies or whatever, you need to first change your mindset. If you're defeated, then you're not going to get any good results no matter how hard you try or whoever's sales technique you use. You will fail before you begin.

This steps into less "tangible" territory but you've got to keep your mindset positive. You need to envision your ideal client and then don't stop until you find them.

If you want to make this business work, decide now that it's going to work and don't stop until it does.
 
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Sean Marshall

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In your opinion, at the beginning of a freelance career or for a web agency, is it a good idea to upgrade free VIP websites just to build testimonials and customer portfolios to be more persuasive with subsequent paying customers?

Sure. If you don't mind the time and expense. If you keep the focus on the client, and make them show you what kind of websites they like, then you don't really have to do that. I never did.
 

Sean Marshall

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Really great post @Sean Marshall, has helped me so much with the direction I want to be going in

Just one question though. The 'packages' you mention, are they a Bronze, Silver and Gold type? Or more of a single service type?

For example

Bronze - content creation, social media management
silver - same as above + ppc ads
gold - same as above + web design

Or

Social media package
SEO package
Web design package

Currently I have the former layout however I'm thinking that's maybe too much work to offer for a reasonable price? ie I would need to outsource a content creator AND a social media manager for the first package which will reduce my profits as my package price is £499 per month

I'm not sure if I've answered my own question or not...

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!


In a nutshell, sell what the client needs/wants. Then make 3 packages based on that and price them accordingly (with the intent to sell the silver or gold package).
 
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Sean Marshall

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May I ask a question that bothers me? Your're not the first in this, since multiple people advising to pick a niche (chiropractors in your example) and work in it.

Imagine there are 100 chiros in your city. So, the question is: how do you go around competition between your clients? Isn't it weird to offer "best result", or, let's say, first row in Google results for one client, and then the same "best result" for another one - next door to your previous client? They would be definitely competitors.

I will never take on two clients in the same city if they're in the exact same business and in direction competition with one another.

Reach out to similar businesses in other areas. Then you can show them... "Hey, look at the results we're getting for your colleague here in X city... wanna get the same?"
 

Sean Marshall

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I am strongly considering taking this on (talking to the Mrs about it tonight) but some clarifications about $5K in 90 days being "totally doable". I feel confident I could reach numbers like this if it was all I had going on (I've been doing sales for a minute) but is this a realistic goal for someone with a lot on his plate?

I have a pretty demanding job and three small kids. Not to say that I wouldn't do it were it to take longer for me, I just want to set revenue goals that are realistic for me and give my wife reliable expectations if I go for it.

I understand your concern. I also have a wife and 3 kids.

Reaching $5K in 90 days is all up to your mindset. I made $2450 in my first month and I had no clue what I was doing. Certainly not a step by step course. I made more money progressively every month after that.

You could make $5K in your first month if you really wanted to.

You have to decide if it's for you. If you do, you then have to decide it's going to work no matter what. Burn your ships as they say.
 

Sean Marshall

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For those of you who like a book to read, I've attached the original PDF that has all of the checklists that I previously loaded up. It just goes a little beyond what's above.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know. Always happy to help people get started.
 
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bossadolfo22

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For those of you who like a book to read, I've attached the original PDF that has all of the checklists that I previously loaded up. It just goes a little beyond what's above.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know. Always happy to help people get started.

Hi, Sean Thank you for this information. I am seriously considering doing this.

I have a question, just to verify... Do you think is there still the need for new Online Marketing Agencies almost in 2020?
 

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Hi, Sean Thank you for this information. I am seriously considering doing this.

I have a question, just to verify... Do you think is there still the need for new Online Marketing Agencies almost in 2020?
Is there still a need for plumbers?

There are over 20 million small businesses in the US alone and most of them have little to no online presence.
 
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Real Deal Denver

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Hi, Sean Thank you for this information. I am seriously considering doing this.

I have a question, just to verify... Do you think is there still the need for new Online Marketing Agencies almost in 2020?

Is there a need to get more customers and make more profit? What business doesn't have that need?

I am embroiled in this right now, for my business. It's damn hard. There is a lot to it. When I'm done, I am going to offer to replicate what I've done for other businesses. I'm not just talking about building a website and running a few ads or buying some AdWords - I'm talking about a fully responsive marketing system fed by strategic ads to my website and then lead captured and fed into an ongoing funnel system. It's a job unto itself. Having "just" a website is like having "just" a business card or a fancy sign on your building. There are ways to drive business to you and be in control.

But so few know how to really do it effectively.
 

LuckyPup

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Hi, Sean Thank you for this information. I am seriously considering doing this.

I have a question, just to verify... Do you think is there still the need for new Online Marketing Agencies almost in 2020?
I'm not speaking for Sean, but imo it's a pretty fragmented market. The downside is that there's a ton of noise, and there are also some big players are in the space. The upside is that you may still be able to carve out a spot, if you can niche and differentiate. The biggest problem I found is the end game: scaling and selling out. Gotta be careful you're not buying a job.
 

Sean Marshall

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I have a question, just to verify... Do you think is there still the need for new Online Marketing Agencies almost in 2020?


As long as there are businesses and as long as the internet exists, there will be businesses needed help online.
 
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Hi, Sean! I read your pdf for Clone My Business and one thing confused me: how does going to networking events and mixers help if you only accept one customer per city? After you get your first customer, how does personally meeting others in your city get you your next three customers?

Let's say I'm offering social media marketing for exterminators. Then I go out and meet business owners and I find an exterminator that deals with all bugs and pests. They'd be in direct competition with every other exterminator companies in the area. So if I keep going to networking events, mixers, getting referrals from local people who know other local people, give the occasional talk to local people.... I am only going to find local businesses, and if any of them fit my niche, I won't be able to take them on as a customer, because they would compete with my first customer.

I feel like I must be misunderstanding something here. Can you please tell me what I have messed up in your process?
 

PizzaOnTheRoof

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Hi, Sean! I read your pdf for Clone My Business and one thing confused me: how does going to networking events and mixers help if you only accept one customer per city? After you get your first customer, how does personally meeting others in your city get you your next three customers?

Let's say I'm offering social media marketing for exterminators. Then I go out and meet business owners and I find an exterminator that deals with all bugs and pests. They'd be in direct competition with every other exterminator companies in the area. So if I keep going to networking events, mixers, getting referrals from local people who know other local people, give the occasional talk to local people.... I am only going to find local businesses, and if any of them fit my niche, I won't be able to take them on as a customer, because they would compete with my first customer.

I feel like I must be misunderstanding something here. Can you please tell me what I have messed up in your process?
There’s a few options:

1) Have a non compete policy. Only take one client in a certain industry per city.

2) Let it be known you work for everyone in the industry but make it clear you don’t favor anyone. Do your best to make sure everyone is happy.

3) Offer a service that is competitively agnostic, like social media management. You can post quality content on behalf of 50 exterminators. Everyone gets a 10/10 social media presence. There’s no ranking or bidding conflicts of interest.
 

Sean Marshall

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Hi, Sean! I read your pdf for Clone My Business and one thing confused me: how does going to networking events and mixers help if you only accept one customer per city? After you get your first customer, how does personally meeting others in your city get you your next three customers?

Let's say I'm offering social media marketing for exterminators. Then I go out and meet business owners and I find an exterminator that deals with all bugs and pests. They'd be in direct competition with every other exterminator companies in the area. So if I keep going to networking events, mixers, getting referrals from local people who know other local people, give the occasional talk to local people.... I am only going to find local businesses, and if any of them fit my niche, I won't be able to take them on as a customer, because they would compete with my first customer.

I feel like I must be misunderstanding something here. Can you please tell me what I have messed up in your process?

You work with one client per specific niche per city but not industry.

Example: you work with an exterminator in Seattle. They then recommend their garage door repair friend to you. Who then refers their windows friend to you who then refers their roofing friend and so on.

Same overall industry (home services) but different, non-competing businesses.

Also, most business owners know other business owners even in different niches that they can refer to you as well.
 
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Sean Marshall

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Just wanted to say thank you to @Sean Marshall . I secured my first client last week using all the techniques and strategies Sean goes over on this thread and in his course.
Just like Sean and MJ say... the hardest part is executing.

Wahoooo!!! Congrats on your first client!

It's so vital - now you've got proof that you can sell this. Do a great job for them and then get busy getting more clients!
 

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Hello,

So at this point, where we are trying to approach businesses to offer our services(via e-mail).
The question is - how do I know if that business I am trying to approach needs my services.
For example - I am on a prospects website. Now, should I just have a quick look and decide that I am going to send my E-mail to the owner/business and waiting for a response and go from there.
OR - I am on the site, I use any SEO/Keyword tool/program to analyse the site, come to some sort of conclusion, and proceed from there on?
 
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Hello,

So at this point, where we are trying to approach businesses to offer our services(via e-mail).
The question is - how do I know if that business I am trying to approach needs my services.
For example - I am on a prospects website. Now, should I just have a quick look and decide that I am going to send my E-mail to the owner/business and waiting for a response and go from there.
OR - I am on the site, I use any SEO/Keyword tool/program to analyse the site, come to some sort of conclusion, and proceed from there on?


I've said this before but cold email marketing is, in my opinion, NOT the most effective form of getting new clients. Why? Because everybody does it. Why? Because it's easy to download a list and spam 200 business owners a day. The barrier to entry is very low.

If you want to do it however, you need to lead with a TON of value. So that answers your question. You need to look at what they need and then either do it for them (no joke) or show them exactly how to do it themselves in a video or nice PDF report.

Do NOT do the following:

Greetings John,

I was looking at your site and noticed you're not ranking as high as you could be. Give me a call and I'll share my prices for getting you to page 1 on Google.

Spam Boy
Spam Company
1-900-Waste of Everyone's Time

***

I know that's a little strong but marketers in this space do this all the time. Lead with value. Establish real relationships. Sell by giving. And then you'll watch your business take off.
 

alekssiht

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I've said this before but cold email marketing is, in my opinion, NOT the most effective form of getting new clients. Why? Because everybody does it. Why? Because it's easy to download a list and spam 200 business owners a day. The barrier to entry is very low.

If you want to do it however, you need to lead with a TON of value. So that answers your question. You need to look at what they need and then either do it for them (no joke) or show them exactly how to do it themselves in a video or nice PDF report.

Do NOT do the following:

Greetings John,

I was looking at your site and noticed you're not ranking as high as you could be. Give me a call and I'll share my prices for getting you to page 1 on Google.

Spam Boy
Spam Company
1-900-Waste of Everyone's Time

***

I know that's a little strong but marketers in this space do this all the time. Lead with value. Establish real relationships. Sell by giving. And then you'll watch your business take off.
Alright, thank you for your time and answer!
 

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