Humble Hustle & Scaling My Agency - Progress Thread

[Oso]

One of my closest friends in the world passed away from AIDS when I was 22. Now at 34, not a day goes by I don't think of him. One of the greatest guys ever. I am sorry x100 for what you're experiencing, but I respect the F*ck out of the fact you're pulling yourself out of it. I went back and read all 8 pages of this thread. While you have pretty good coverage in regards to assistance here, having sold my agency earlier this year, I'd love to help in any way I can.

Cheers.

 

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[BlackMagician]

One of my closest friends in the world passed away from AIDS when I was 22. Now at 34, not a day goes by I don't think of him. One of the greatest guys ever. I am sorry x100 for what you're experiencing, but I respect the F*ck out of the fact you're pulling yourself out of it. I went back and read all 8 pages of this thread. While you have pretty good coverage in regards to assistance here, having sold my agency earlier this year, I'd love to help in any way I can.

Cheers.

Thank you for extending your hands for help.

You have read everything I am doing in regards to agency. You can help me in anything you can.

Or we can have a convo in DM if you prefer

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day all,

Need help. So I acquire this brand this week, which i mentioned in my previous post. We closed the deal at ₹1 Lakh or 6% of the ad spend, whichever is higher.

They are spending 20 lakhs a month so I will get something around that.

It's a good amount for me and will help me grow fast.

Problem is, I will be needing lots of ads created(videos, static) as soon as we began working on the account (in a week's time).

I don't have any designer in house and any freelancer I tried, they are either dont do quality or just not worth it. I tried finding better people but no success.

Static ads, I have purchased some DIY types templates that i know will he helpful in fast execution but videos are big problem.

I need someone who can work on designing ads for the brand. I am still talking and trying ways to get.

Anything you guys can suggest I can do different to solve this roadblock?

@Antifragile

 

[NervesOfSteel]

G'day All,

Here is the update on biz:

After i left the temporary job 2 months ago, I took 1 client to pay the bills.

Started building my LinkedIn personal brand (i had done similar on Facebook last year, so I knew what to do.
In the first month of creating content, building network and giving out tons of value on LinkedIn, I got 4 brands who wants to work with me in the pipeline.

Right now, i am doing 15 days trial for 2 of the brands, and if I gave good results, they will onboard with me. I know i shouldn't have done the free thing, but these brands i know personally and they are doing good. They are spending close to ₹1 M/ month on ads so if i cracked these 2 clients, i will get my revenue from ₹40k (right now) to ₹150k instantly, hence doing upfront work for them.

I have already built a great repo with them so they are already in bag, just need to prove with results.

Apart from them, 3 more brands are in pipeline, to who i can crack the deals with proper case studies. Possibly end of this month.

The reason i got 6 brands in pipeline in just 1 month of content on Linkedin is because:
1) My offer is good. I am focusing on 1 NICHE only with great case studies
2) I am adding tons of value upfront on my profile (literally giving the exact ads/videos/copy/strategies working for similar brands for free)

Current Challenges as asked by @Antifragile :
1) Discipline and Consistency: Due to huge gap in execution, I need to rebuild myself for discipline and consistent execution. Thats why restarted the thread to stay disciplined as you guys makes me accountable.

2) Creating Ads: As i am not from Design background and dont have team, i am not able to make high performing ads (I know what to make, but no skill in making). Most of the current clients/future clients will need my agency to create ads.
Due to no funds/cash, couldn't hire someone to do this. Also very low pool to get great designer. Difficult to find who can follow the market needs. I don't know what to do. Right now, i am managing this through mobile apps that are easy to design ads. Any suggestions or feedback is welcomed here.

3) Fear: Right now, I have zero savings. Whatever i get from this 1 client, i am putting food on the table. Its 2nd month now and i need to get 2 more clients atleast to stabilize my mind, energy and remove fear.
I can resolve this problem. Not a big thing. Just need to be consistent with what I am doing. Please pitch in if you think I am being overconfident here and can give another perspective of yours.

4) Health: I am still on medication. Will visit the final test thing tomorrow and see if I am cured of T.B. If that is removed, than I will start building my immunity and physical fitness. Been 1 year i did any sort of workout.

5) Relationship with Wife and family: As i mentioned in previous post, my wife and family relation is little sour. Not too bad but still has an impact on my emotions. I got in touch with my elder (a great person) yesterday, and summarized him all the family issues. he gave great wisdom to tackle them and making the relationship great again. I have started executing on that and already seeing positive outcome today.

That's all on problems and challenges.

Future plans:
1) Need to reach 3 clients and ₹100k (1 lakhs rupees) revenue asap (next month max)
2) Will keep posting and creating content on linkedin and fill the pipeline with 10 leads atleast.
3) As i get some cash at hand, hire someone to create ads so that i can focus on building the agency.
4) FOCUS is were i HAVE to put my all. Do help me here. Don't want to consume any content now. I have been consuming great contents from great people since 3 years now. I just want to execute now.


Thanks for everyone above who encouraged me and is supporting my journey. I will be sure to meet all of you one day as soon as i build my biz and thank you directly.

Special thanks to @Black_Dragon43 who gave me resources worth $1000 dollars for free in DM. I will give back in some way brother. You are great.

@Antifragile @Bekit Here is the update. Do add your feedback on my improvement.
I want you guys to help me the way you did to Eric of Cheesecake. I promise, i will achieve what he missed in that thread.

Thanks again.
Sayonara
BM

Hi there. Really inspired by your journey. Currently I am running a small scale successful business which involves morning and evening hours leaving Afternoon and late evenings free. I am a pro at Photoshop, mediocre at Illustrator, and a few other software of the kind. I was already thinking along the lines of starting another part time business and your journey has made me think that I can actually do something in this regard.

I will work things around and if I jump into this field of digital marketing, I will definitely start a thread here ..

wishing you Luck in your journey ahead !

 

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[BlackMagician]

Thanks for this.

I have been active on the forum, just didn't updated the thread because I want to update when substantial things have been done.

FAMILY:
I boldly took action and told my family that I will take decisions regarding my wife/son. That dramatically decreased my stress.
Also mended the relationship between wife and family substantially.

After discussing with other elders in my contacts, i understood few points about handling situations like these.

Health:
I started having Unani herbs/meds to improve my health. Can feel clear mind, increasing energy. I will start workout after a week or so.

Agency:
Cracked 1 deal today. Remember I was doing trial work for them? They liked my work. 2 clients in hand now. For next month, I will be earning around ₹80k so the financial crisis will be solved.

1 more deal in the pipeline, doing the same trial run for them, I am confident to crack this too in next 15 days.

Another major update is about an old connection. So this guy runs 8 figure babycare brand, and I have worked for his brand in 2020 while working in the agency ( you might need to go back 3-4 pages of this thread to find that out).

As I started creating my own personal brand on LinkedIn, this guy approached me. We communicated in call, relished those 2020 growth days and how i scaled their brand 3x in those times.

He told me that he is looking for someone who can scale his Personal care segment. His babycare segment is already doing ₹3CR+ per month on website and ₹10CR+ on marketplaces.

He wanted me to do an audit on his current Business performance from DTC.

Today I presented that. Showed exactly where they can improve the results in babycare ads.

The guy is convinced and I might get this brand to scale his personal care segment.

If I crack this deal, I will be doing 10x of what I was doing last year before I fall sick.

Let's see. In touch with them and adding values everyday in his business already.

Showed him 3 critical problems in ads, WhatsApp marketing and website conversion.

Remember this thread title? "Adding value".

Personal Brand Building:
I have been consistently posting on LinkedIn, sharing valueable content and making myself an authority in Personal care niche here in India.
Multiple founders now know me and they are interacting with my content on daily basis. Getting queries from few of them, to whom I am saying NO if they are not my ICP.

Trying to make this personal brand a successful organic lead-gen machine.
In the meantime, creating team to execute on client tasks.

Already approached couple of ads designers media buyers. Just trying to find 1 media buyer who can perform well then I can grow this fast.

If I crack 1 more deal this month ( I am confident) next month, I will start saving cash so that I can hire good talent and grow this fast.

That's all from my end. Thanks for following up and watching my performance from side. To all of you who are struggling, just keep going. Ask for help and advice and relentlessly execute.

Until next time
Sayonara
BM

G'day all,

It's been more then a month since my last update.

Business:
I got paid from 3 clients (₹1.5lakhs) all profit. This stabilized my financial thing. I saved some cash for future. At the speed I am growing the agency, the chances of reaching ₹3lacs in 2-3 months would be possible, which is very very good money in my current scenario. Ofcourse the goal is 100x bigger and so the mindset.

hired 2 media buyers and 1 ads designer.

Personal Brand Building:
The reason of my fast growth is personal branding. I consistently added so huge values to others in the last month that 5 of my post went viral.



Already people started mentioning me as one of the top performance marketing value provider in India.

7 brands whom I have almost closed, they are just on the final stretch of decision making.

More than 20 leads are in pipeline.

50+ ecom brand founders, 50+ agency owners, 200+ marketers read and appreciate the value I provide. These people will be my future target.

I am not onboarding couple of brands because I don't have bandwidth to serve them, hence working on internal efficiency and building team for next 2 months and simultaneously taking clients.


Family:
I have sorted the issues with my wife and family at some level and they both are living okish now. I took advices from you all and many of my elders and made many personal and external decisions.

Health:
Taking my medicine properly for HIV. Looking for that miracle cure that just doesn't exist but in my religion, we learned that Allah creates the cure first, then the disease. So just hopeful.


Few learnings and insights to add value to you all:

1) Your mindset IS the ultimate thing that is going to make or break. I use to be jumbled up and emotionally down because of my family and health and hence was stuck in my dreading life past 1.5 yrs.

I am very emotional guy, so even I tiny skirmish put my emotions off.

So I made a decision to separate my emotions with the issue and handle the issues.
Work should never be impacted due to these.

This dramatically improved my productivity, efficiency and speed of execution.

2) Consistency on and action plan: As MJ preaches, action plan or execution plan is very very important. Mental masturbating or doing busy work won't cut. You should have an action plan that map out everything you NEED to do to achieve your goals...
...and then be CONSISTENT on executing on them.

3) Market echo feedback is real:
In 2021, when I just started my agency, I use to provide valueable content on Facebook.
I use to get some traction but nothing substantial. After like 8 months, no growth was there. Market was giving my echo that this is wrong platform, I didn't took that feedback.

Just 2 months ago, I started providing similar value on LINKEDIN, and my growth exploded.
I took market feedback on what's working and gave that exact value and got 5-6 viral posts in just 2 months.

Listen to the Market echo.


That's all for now friends.
Thanks for being there and reading my posts from somewhere far from you.

Next goal is to scale the agency asap to ₹3lacs -₹4lacs PROFIT and then pivot it into creating my own OFFER and serving a bigger market that fits CENTS model.

Until next time,
Sayonara,
BM

@Black_Dragon43 @Antifragile @Andy Black @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL

 

[BlackMagician]

@Oso shall I DM you?

 

[BlackMagician]

My approach right now is getting people consume my content on LinkedIn and provide tons of value.

Then my Ideal clients messages me that has the problem of scaling their brand

I get on quick call to understand their need. Then I audit their whole ads and funnel.

I give away these audit for free which usually is valuable and solves many roadblocks they have.

After this, many of them are sold already.

Thought to share with those who might want to know and for others who might use this approach.

 

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[Bekit]

G'day all,

It's been more then a month since my last update.

Business:
I got paid from 3 clients (₹1.5lakhs) all profit. This stabilized my financial thing. I saved some cash for future. At the speed I am growing the agency, the chances of reaching ₹3lacs in 2-3 months would be possible, which is very very good money in my current scenario. Ofcourse the goal is 100x bigger and so the mindset.

hired 2 media buyers and 1 ads designer.

Personal Brand Building:
The reason of my fast growth is personal branding. I consistently added so huge values to others in the last month that 5 of my post went viral.
View attachment 52034View attachment 52033


Already people started mentioning me as one of the top performance marketing value provider in India.

7 brands whom I have almost closed, they are just on the final stretch of decision making.

More than 20 leads are in pipeline.

50+ ecom brand founders, 50+ agency owners, 200+ marketers read and appreciate the value I provide. These people will be my future target.

I am not onboarding couple of brands because I don't have bandwidth to serve them, hence working on internal efficiency and building team for next 2 months and simultaneously taking clients.


Family:
I have sorted the issues with my wife and family at some level and they both are living okish now. I took advices from you all and many of my elders and made many personal and external decisions.

Health:
Taking my medicine properly for HIV. Looking for that miracle cure that just doesn't exist but in my religion, we learned that Allah creates the cure first, then the disease. So just hopeful.


Few learnings and insights to add value to you all:

1) Your mindset IS the ultimate thing that is going to make or break. I use to be jumbled up and emotionally down because of my family and health and hence was stuck in my dreading life past 1.5 yrs.

I am very emotional guy, so even I tiny skirmish put my emotions off.

So I made a decision to separate my emotions with the issue and handle the issues.
Work should never be impacted due to these.

This dramatically improved my productivity, efficiency and speed of execution.

2) Consistency on and action plan: As MJ preaches, action plan or execution plan is very very important. Mental masturbating or doing busy work won't cut. You should have an action plan that map out everything you NEED to do to achieve your goals...
...and then be CONSISTENT on executing on them.

3) Market echo feedback is real:
In 2021, when I just started my agency, I use to provide valueable content on Facebook.
I use to get some traction but nothing substantial. After like 8 months, no growth was there. Market was giving my echo that this is wrong platform, I didn't took that feedback.

Just 2 months ago, I started providing similar value on LINKEDIN, and my growth exploded.
I took market feedback on what's working and gave that exact value and got 5-6 viral posts in just 2 months.

Listen to the Market echo.


That's all for now friends.
Thanks for being there and reading my posts from somewhere far from you.

Next goal is to scale the agency asap to ₹3lacs -₹4lacs PROFIT and then pivot it into creating my own OFFER and serving a bigger market that fits CENTS model.

Until next time,
Sayonara,
BM

@Black_Dragon43 @Antifragile @Andy Black @BizyDad @Rabby @Bekit @ZCP @MattL

So glad to hear that so many things are improving for you. Keep up the good work!

A doctor I talked to in 2020 mentioned that Gigartina is a natural remedy that can help alleviate HIV symptoms. Might be worth looking into.

Your comment about how the emotional impact of one tiny skirmish could throw you off really resonated with me, as the same thing happens to me. Can you elaborate on how you separated your emotions from your actions?

 

[BlackMagician]

So glad to hear that so many things are improving for you. Keep up the good work!

A doctor I talked to in 2020 mentioned that Gigartina is a natural remedy that can help alleviate HIV symptoms. Might be worth looking into.

Your comment about how the emotional impact of one tiny skirmish could throw you off really resonated with me, as the same thing happens to me. Can you elaborate on how you separated your emotions from your actions?

The one thing I learned from my religion is being silent when you are angry or when your emotions (good or bad) are very active.

First, I keep my mouth shut as much as possible. After analysing why the skirmishes become big, I found that because of my outburst on those small skirmishes, the problems become big.
Back and forth discussion or plain talking on the skirmishes leaves A bad taste in mouth.

Hence first I keep my mouth shut. Then instead of being in that zone of emotions, I stand up or do some movement (turn, sit, stand etc) and change the topic with something irrelevant.

For e.g, any skirmishes with my wife, I usually found that the first thing I need to do to tackle the issue at hand is to divert her attention to something else. Because I can shut myself till a limit. So better to divert her attention to something irrelevant but which she care about, like, I ask her about my child food or what he did today, and she just shift the attention.

Then I think if how should I resolve the skirmish. Most of the time, the best step is to actually let go of the topic at that time and when both of us are calm, I present the issue to her and discuss if we can somehow solve it, forget it and make sure it doesn't happen.

That's how I am currently doing. It's my weakness that I am emotional guy so this doesn't work always but it's working in many cases.

Hope this help you

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day all,

Closed 1 more deal today.

October:
Total clients=4
Total revenue= ₹2 lakhs
Total Profit = ₹1.6 Lakhs

November Goal:
Close 1 more client and hire 2 team members.
Streamline the internal execution process.
Fill the leads pipeline with 20+ hot leads.
Plan the OFFER



@Andy Black I am thinking of changing the name of this thread to "Humble Hustle & Scaling My Agency - Progress Thread", is it possible to do it?

 

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[Andy Black]

G'day all,

Closed 1 more deal today.

October:
Total clients=4
Total revenue= ₹2 lakhs
Total Profit = ₹1.6 Lakhs

November Goal:
Close 1 more client and hire 2 team members.
Streamline the internal execution process.
Fill the leads pipeline with 20+ hot leads.
Plan the OFFER



@Andy Black I am thinking of changing the name of this thread to "Humble Hustle & Scaling My Agency - Progress Thread", is it possible to do it?

Title changed.

 

[ZCP]

@BlackMagician
reread full thread. SUMMARY

sep 5, 2018 .. started

apr 10, 2019 zp ... get business, hire, scale

may 22, 2019 ... dig mkt thread
fox's web design school?

nov 11, 2019 ... stopped, he sucks, apologizes
zp ... what 3 things? ... do those things. create the persona. review the why

jun 17, 2020 ... FB ads freelance / mentor, make money, ditch job!

jul 6, 2020 ... zp, richest man in babylon, wealth system, help others

jul 18, 2020 ... possible partnership. accepted

aug 30, 2020 ... lost key client

may 4, 2021 ... update, left agency in april, got covid

jun 14, 2021 ... recovered. web design for ecomm

jun 17, 2021 ... zp, get them on the phone and provide value. close 10 deals

jun 30, 2021 ... got married!

jul 25, 2021 ... partner came and offered to coach for 20%. said no

aug 20, 2021 ... three clients, need to hire and setup banking

aug 31, 2021 ... hired, started creating systems, working on a forum thread to give back

sept 11, 2021 ... the 'why' helps you strive in difficult times

feb 25, 2022 ... working the biz, created a 1/5/10 vision

jun 28, 2022 ... 5 clients, working on a brand item, hiring contractors

jul 23, 2022 ... 1 yr anniv in business!

sep 3, 2022 ... kid on the way! working the biz. might do coaching. looking for accountability group

aug 1, 2023 ... from last sep: TB / HIV, got a job, ditched agency, had a boy! left job, restarted agency, getting brand going on linkedin, got some brands, no money, is the patriarch for the entire family, relationships strained

aug 5, 2023 ... antifragile brought the truth

aug 16, 2023 ... talked to family, landing client, building brand

oct 21, 2023 ... 3 clients, got some money in, family calmed, sickness managed.... lessons = mindset, consistency, product / market fit ... using linkedin to pull clients

oct 28, 2023 ... 4 clients. getting there

 

[ZCP]

@BlackMagician
it is amazing what can happen in a short amount of time.....

while you have been on this journey, in that same time, i was divorced, changed my life to focus on the entire 'wheel of life' (Tony Robbins). spent time on my health, my wealth, my relationships, my business. went on a bunch of trips with fastlaners to get me in the right mindset and kick my a$$ weekly. built my business 5x what it was. got remarried. spend a lot of time helping / teaching / volunteering and hanging out with family and kids and going to Disney and being REALLY PRESENT in the moment each day.

as i read your entire thread again, this seems to be the key part that is missing.
PAY YOURSELF FIRST

it is what @Antifragile is pushing you toward. imagine if you had pulled 10% of all the money you made WHEN you made it into your investment fund (to do NOTHING other than make more money). imagine if 10% of your time was focused on YOU. your health. getting around other entrepreneurs. spending time with family and friends with great mindset.

seems like the obvious next step for you. do the wheel of life exercise. review your whys. build out your weekly schedule with focused time for YOU / your health / your training / your relationships. you will STILL get all your work done. work fills the container and time we give it.

get your finances straight. read richest man in babylon. pay yourself first.
not just in money. in time / health / energy / great food / good people around you
feed the machine. build the beast. you got this!!

i'm really, really proud of you. not just for the journey and never giving. for putting ALL of this out there for others to see / hear / feel / support / cry / yell / marvel / admire. this thread will help people for decades. really, really proud of you.

now ... focus on YOU. you can help more people if you are wealthy, you can help more people if you are healthy, you can help more people if you surround yourself with amazing people. you got this! get to work!

 

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[BlackMagician]

What a summary. Mind blowing.

@BlackMagician
reread full thread. SUMMARY

sep 5, 2018 .. started

apr 10, 2019 zp ... get business, hire, scale

may 22, 2019 ... dig mkt thread
fox's web design school?

nov 11, 2019 ... stopped, he sucks, apologizes
zp ... what 3 things? ... do those things. create the persona. review the why

jun 17, 2020 ... FB ads freelance / mentor, make money, ditch job!

jul 6, 2020 ... zp, richest man in babylon, wealth system, help others

jul 18, 2020 ... possible partnership. accepted

aug 30, 2020 ... lost key client

may 4, 2021 ... update, left agency in april, got covid

jun 14, 2021 ... recovered. web design for ecomm

jun 17, 2021 ... zp, get them on the phone and provide value. close 10 deals

jun 30, 2021 ... got married!

jul 25, 2021 ... partner came and offered to coach for 20%. said no

aug 20, 2021 ... three clients, need to hire and setup banking

aug 31, 2021 ... hired, started creating systems, working on a forum thread to give back

sept 11, 2021 ... the 'why' helps you strive in difficult times

feb 25, 2022 ... working the biz, created a 1/5/10 vision

jun 28, 2022 ... 5 clients, working on a brand item, hiring contractors

jul 23, 2022 ... 1 yr anniv in business!

sep 3, 2022 ... kid on the way! working the biz. might do coaching. looking for accountability group

aug 1, 2023 ... from last sep: TB / HIV, got a job, ditched agency, had a boy! left job, restarted agency, getting brand going on linkedin, got some brands, no money, is the patriarch for the entire family, relationships strained

aug 5, 2023 ... antifragile brought the truth

aug 16, 2023 ... talked to family, landing client, building brand

oct 21, 2023 ... 3 clients, got some money in, family calmed, sickness managed.... lessons = mindset, consistency, product / market fit ... using linkedin to pull clients

oct 28, 2023 ... 4 clients. getting there

Just needed for others to get the gist of it.

@BlackMagician
it is amazing what can happen in a short amount of time.....

while you have been on this journey, in that same time, i was divorced, changed my life to focus on the entire 'wheel of life' (Tony Robbins). spent time on my health, my wealth, my relationships, my business. went on a bunch of trips with fastlaners to get me in the right mindset and kick my a$$ weekly. built my business 5x what it was. got remarried. spend a lot of time helping / teaching / volunteering and hanging out with family and kids and going to Disney and being REALLY PRESENT in the moment each day.

as i read your entire thread again, this seems to be the key part that is missing.
PAY YOURSELF FIRST

it is what @Antifragile is pushing you toward. imagine if you had pulled 10% of all the money you made WHEN you made it into your investment fund (to do NOTHING other than make more money). imagine if 10% of your time was focused on YOU. your health. getting around other entrepreneurs. spending time with family and friends with great mindset.

seems like the obvious next step for you. do the wheel of life exercise. review your whys. build out your weekly schedule with focused time for YOU / your health / your training / your relationships. you will STILL get all your work done. work fills the container and time we give it.

get your finances straight. read richest man in babylon. pay yourself first.
not just in money. in time / health / energy / great food / good people around you
feed the machine. build the beast. you got this!!

i'm really, really proud of you. not just for the journey and never giving. for putting ALL of this out there for others to see / hear / feel / support / cry / yell / marvel / admire. this thread will help people for decades. really, really proud of you.

now ... focus on YOU. you can help more people if you are wealthy, you can help more people if you are healthy, you can help more people if you surround yourself with amazing people. you got this! get to work!

I would love to call you brother, meet and hangout with you.

Such a lovely message.

I am focusing on myself, but not doing enough justice to myself.

Just trying to solve the emotional and family problems with permanent or semi-permanent solution.

In the meantime building my biz. I know, with just consistent efforts I will make this big in 1 year for sure.

Again thanks for the support.

I am expecting Eric the Cheesecake level of support from you the way you did to him .

Just keep the love. Thank you.

 

[ZCP]

@Ravens_Shadow Eric reference.... lol

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day All,

Short update:
3 hot leads in pipeline.
₹2 lakhs revenue in November.
Hired a Senior Creatives Designer, who later will head this department. I know he is capable to lead a team of designers.

November End Goal:
Scale all 4 brands to their KPI's
Close 1 more client before Nov ends
Systemizing the Ads briefing, creation and designing for efficiency of scaling.
Creating a better task management for team

 

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[BlackMagician]

G'day all,

Agency Biz Update:

Just had a word with ₹8-figure Ecom brand founder who comes from another founder(haircare brand) who was consuming my content on LinkedIn and has became my friend.

The haircare brand is under this 8-figure brand, and this 8-figure founder is a part of group brands in my focused niche.

This guy is having problems in scaling his brand through performance marketing and connected with me today.

End of the call, he is happy to connect and asked for ad account audit to find the problems as well as share strategies to scale.

If I cracked this, then the brand will onboard with us.

This will be the 5th client and the biggest revenue generating client of mine.

Will celebrate if cracked this

Also, as I am making name in Indian industry Ecom founders circle, if i delivered results to this one, then I might get couple of brands from there group of brands.

Inside agency:

4 clients with good results to all of them.
For this month, 1 client will achieve ₹5M this month revenue. A big celebration for them.

Onboarded Creative strategist and designer to improve ads.
Started building process and system to increase efficiency.

Next month will start onboarding new clients which i didn't take due to bandwidth.

Personal branding:
I was little inactive on LinkedIn due to other things in personal life but was still consistently getting leads.
Will followup with them and see if I find a potential brand to grow.

Family:
Did 2 small holiday trip and function to enjoy together with family. It were good last 10 days.

Finance:
As @ZCP suggested, I have started saving 10-15% of my earnings. I don't know what to do with them in anything related to interest, I don't like it and also not allowed in my faith.
Might use it in businesses. Don't know yet.

Health:
As crappy as it was. I am still not working out even though I only eat home made foods.
Need to really give attention to this part as that's the major lacking part of my life.

Things are looking good.

I have also started writing a big Masterclass on scaling Ecom brand to 7 figures using paid ads.

Wanted to give back to this community hence writing it. As it's a long thread, it will take some time.

Until next time
BM

 

[ZCP]

@BlackMagician couple of routes to go here:
1. put it away into safe spots until you have a buffer fund. use it for the ebb and flow of life and business. once that is full and gives you peace of mind, begin to get money out of the business and diversify into another paying revenue stream. an unrelated business, dividend stocks, real estate, look for places to put it that pay you a fee each month.
2. if you can scale your money under your direction and control with your knowledge and opportunity with little downside IN your business (at a higher rate than other opportunities), use it as a loan to your company. pay the fee back to you for your personal fund. that money should go into other income streams.
you are trying to build a wealth machine that can weather a storm using your business as the foundation / influx of funds.

nice work. you are doing amazing!!

 

[BlackMagician]

@BlackMagician couple of routes to go here:
1. put it away into safe spots until you have a buffer fund. use it for the ebb and flow of life and business. once that is full and gives you peace of mind, begin to get money out of the business and diversify into another paying revenue stream. an unrelated business, dividend stocks, real estate, look for places to put it that pay you a fee each month.
2. if you can scale your money under your direction and control with your knowledge and opportunity with little downside IN your business (at a higher rate than other opportunities), use it as a loan to your company. pay the fee back to you for your personal fund. that money should go into other income streams.
you are trying to build a wealth machine that can weather a storm using your business as the foundation / influx of funds.

nice work. you are doing amazing!!

I do have a rough plan regarding the second point.

I have this full fledge coaching biz plan, which I have been thinking and researching since 1 year now.
Coaching biz is in boom right now in India.
Though many fake guru are scamming people.

I have a different kind of offer and value skew.
Thinking of funding this for 2-3 months and it will become sustainable on its own.

The target market is small Ecom brands founders who struggle to get proper guidance in scaling their biz.

With this coaching biz, I help small brands scale without paying high amount to good agency until they scale.
Then my funnel will get few of these brands opt for my agency service, which is what they will require at that stage.

I have maths on sustainability and success of this and feel it is high chances.

After getting this done , I will have enough money to fund my Ecom biz about a problem I have found in the market.
Will try the market testing before investing in Ecom.

Let's see

 

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[BlackMagician]

G'day all,

It's been 20 days i last updated here.

Inside agency:

• Onboarded 2 more clients in this last 20 days and will start the work next month.
• 6 clients in total with ₹300k revenue (₹230k profit)
• 4 brands are in pipeline that can be onboarded anytime but I have slowed down this and focusing on building system and process internally for team.
• Hired 1 more senior Media Buyer to work on brands
• Using Notion/Excel, Built a robust Tasks Management System do daily work & Content Creation system to pump up High converting ads for clients
• Now we have 4 ecom brands that are VC funded and all of them are aiming to scale to ₹10M+ per month in next 6 months. Making me loads of money in the process.
• I charge on adspend percentage, the higher we scale them, the more I earn.
• Trying to maintain the quality of work and creating systems from start so that agency can run without me in future.
• Achieved big milestones for 2 of the clients in last month.

Personal branding:

• I was active and consistently posting high value content on Linkedin, that is making me authority in Scaling ecom brands.
• Many ecom brand founders, who are looking to work with us, are already convinced. I dont have to sell them on call. Just QUALIFY > AUDIT > CLOSE.
• Few ecom founders and marketers are asking me to do Podcast or write a book
• 

Family:
Enjoying quality time with my family and son. Planning a 2 days vacation in this month.

Finance:

1. put it away into safe spots until you have a buffer fund. use it for the ebb and flow of life and business. once that is full and gives you peace of mind, begin to get money out of the business and diversify into another paying revenue stream. an unrelated business, dividend stocks, real estate, look for places to put it that pay you a fee each month.
2. if you can scale your money under your direction and control with your knowledge and opportunity with little downside IN your business (at a higher rate than other opportunities), use it as a loan to your company. pay the fee back to you for your personal fund. that money should go into other income streams.
you are trying to build a wealth machine that can weather a storm using your business as the foundation / influx of funds.

nice work. you are doing amazing!!

• @ZCP I have started keeping funds in a safe spot starting last month. 20% of my earnings are saved in this 2 months already. As the earning increases, I will divide the cash in savings and other businesses.
• I will use this second advice after 3 months, when this agency is stabilized a little. With better clarity, connections and cash, I will be able to invest the money in business for better scale.

Health:

• Have started exercising out now. Feeling more clarity
• Starting today, will increase the food intake to build muscles.
• Every morning, doing 20 mins running to build stamina.

Things are looking good.

Last week, someone kind here paid INSIDERS subscription for me and I haven't done justice to it. Didn't find time to read the INSIDERS threads.
@MJ DeMarco would feel bad. haha.
This weekend, I have fixed a time to dig into INSIDERS content which i wanted to do since years now.

Also the Mega thread i promised on scaling ecom brands is in making. Hope to share it by next week.

Keep crushing guys!


Until next time
BM

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day all,

I have decided to start posting every week because things are going fast.

Agency:

• I am seeing the quality of results drop in most of the clients and found the problem of lack in proper SOP and training in the team. Even though the media buyer is very good, but they still required a SOP to follow.
• I will start building Training videos for them so that the results improve. @Black_Dragon43 your inputs please.
• My designer is doing great job in designing ads
• The task management system is working good and able to resolve most of the work related blocks
• I am planning to hire another senior media buyer right now because of demand of leads. 1 more VC funded brand is looking to work with me in next couple of days.
• Had a prospecting call yesterday with 1 personal care appliances like oral brush, massager etc. They are number 1 on Amazon in their category. Big brand looking to work with expert who can help them scale on DTC. Preety much the deal is closed just had to do audit for them. I have positive vibe that this brand will become our big case study.
• Did collaboration with a WhatsApp tool company for my clients. It's like sms sender for broadcasting and delivery msged. All my clients will use that and I will get commission on each client.

Personal Branding:

• 2 Of the post again went Viral with more than 10000 impressions. Most of these people are either founders of Ecom brands and marketers. Crossed 2200 followers in 2 months. Hoing to react 3k by end of this month.
• All of the prospects and leads are coming from this only hence I am doubling down in creating valuable contents.
• Many marketers and new Ecom founders are asking me to create a course or a book on how to scale a DTC brand in India.

Health:
I have just started basic workout as my body is weak right now after coming out of TB.
MY goal is to gain 8-10 kg in 3 months and able to lift 70-90kg squat ( I was able to do in 2020).

This week, will go and buy health supplements to improve weakness

Family:
Visited hill station on my birthday (20thDec) with my family and enjoyed a lot.

Thats it for this week.

Next Goals:

• Complete 2 audits for prospects
• Post 5 content on LinkedIn
• Hire 1 team member
• Create TRAINING SOP
• Send salaries to team
• Create a GOLD level thread on this forum and give back to community

Should I slow down things a little? otherwise I won't be able to manage stuffs.
Or should I keep the momentum of onboarding brands?

 

[Black_Dragon43]

• I am seeing the quality of results drop in most of the clients and found the problem of lack in proper SOP and training in the team. Even though the media buyer is very good, but they still required a SOP to follow.
• I will start building Training videos for them so that the results improve. @Black_Dragon43 your inputs please.

I would say a few things:

1) Make sure that you do have processes in place that ensure everyone is implementing by following best practices. People have a tendency to get lazy in the absence of procedures and will start skipping steps.

2) Check the IPs of the visitors, esp if you are using custom audiences, it’s possible for FB not to follow your geolocation parameters, I’ve seen 40%+ Indian traffic when we were requesting US only in the past: Episode 4 - The Dark Side Of Facebook Advertising: Is Your Hard-Earned Money Stolen?! | Tudor Dumitrescu

3) Align compensation to match yours. If you get paid more for bigger ROIs, pay your media buyer more too.

4) See if there are any landing page adjustments you can make, if you’re using something other than lead ads that directly take data from FB.

 

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[BlackMagician]

I would say a few things:

1) Make sure that you do have processes in place that ensure everyone is implementing by following best practices. People have a tendency to get lazy in the absence of procedures and will start skipping steps.

2) Check the IPs of the visitors, esp if you are using custom audiences, it’s possible for FB not to follow your geolocation parameters, I’ve seen 40%+ Indian traffic when we were requesting US only in the past: Episode 4 - The Dark Side Of Facebook Advertising: Is Your Hard-Earned Money Stolen?! | Tudor Dumitrescu

3) Align compensation to match yours. If you get paid more for bigger ROIs, pay your media buyer more too.

4) See if there are any landing page adjustments you can make, if you’re using something other than lead ads that directly take data from FB.

All are valid points.

The reason why the performance dipped is because the media buyers didn't knew what to do when results dropped and didn't have any SOP to follow.

They also became lazy as you mentioned and didn't launch couple of ads that later became winners.

I need to implement proper processes and SOP to follow that are simple to use.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Andy Black]

Did collaboration with a WhatsApp tool company for my clients. It's like sms sender for broadcasting and delivery msged. All my clients will use that and I will get commission on each client.

Nice. We're looking to integrate WhatsApp more. Will go looking for tools.

 

[BlackMagician]

G'day All,

Last 30 days has been a roller coaster ride for. I went from 4 clients to 9 clients now, generating ₹400k.
I was earning ₹40k in month of August 2023, now it's 10X in January 2024, after 6 months.

Lots of things happened which i will give a big update in couple of days.

Right now, I have taken too much work, which is outside our bandwidth, hence doing everything to hire right people in next 10-15 days. Already posted in LinkedIn for hiring META performance marketer and Video Ad Designer.

Have 5 member team now, with 8 brands and 4 more HOT leads in the pipeline, which I WON'T onboard them for 1 more month to stabilize things inside.

I am loving the growth. Whoosh.

Keep growing all of you!

 

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[ZCP]

@BlackMagician proud of you! Keep it rolling. Be sure to block in time to take care of your health / family AND block in money to go to you (pay yourself first). slowly take enough money off the table to support your family w/o the business WHILE you are growing the business. Remove risk as you are able to.