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Humble Hustle & Scaling My Agency - Progress Thread

BlackMagician

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I would invest in a former employee's business without hesitation, if it was a good business and they were skilled. But I think what I would offer them would be capital, not coaching. If you don't need coaching from this guy, and it isn't what you set out to get, it's not really an opportunity for you. It might be an opportunity for him, but for you? You get coaching, he gets 20% of your future profit for eternity (with this company anyway) plus a measure of control over your company, plus inside information about your company (which at least in some ways may be a competitor).

So I wouldn't see it as a good deal personally. Ymmv. I also don't think it's a poison apple necessarily, so you could just thank the guy for his generosity and meet up for lunch some time. I think having some kind of business relationship with him might be an opportunity under the right circumstances. But from a position as peers, maybe referring each other types of business that the other specializes in, working together on certain projects that exceed one company's capacity, etc.

Got it. I also don't feel to give someone 20% of my business which I am pouring my everything. I literally felt that I am giving my flesh when I thought of that.

Even though I am still at zero, after being on this forum for a long time, I know I can do it on my own and way faster then many others. Just being on this forum and having such amazing people is an advantage on itself.

I dream to become go-to partner for Ecom industry in my country in next 3-5 years. That's a huge dream. But I feel ican do it.
 
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Need help guys in making decision.

you guys remember FOUNDER of BM Agency whom I worked with for past 1 year as a contractor with percentage?

So the guy (he is good person) called me today suddenly after I left his agency past 2 months.
He talked about how things are going good in his agency and how great he has become as a leader.
He mentioned that he has become a sort of CEO maker and has this idea of helping early start-ups.
He knows that I started my own agency.

He said, many start-ups don't know many things. How to get clients, hiring, training etc. They get stuck or don't know where to go.
He said he has process and systems + expertise which will help start-ups in their early stages as well as growth stage.

He is thinking to start with 5 early business like mine and help them grow.
Like 3x.
He will guide, do coaching every week and all 5 business will share their insights and learning openly.

It will be a sort of community for start-ups where nothing is held back and people share.

And other points similar to these.

I asked him what is in for him, he mentioned his team will take stakes.
I asked how much, he said he doesn't have any numbers but how 20% sounds?

Now, I don't have much revenue so what does he sees in me that he wants stake?
Is 20% a lot? I feel my journey will be very different compare to most of agencies because I have figured many things because of tff forums and you all guys. Like Millions INR in 2 years?

Should i even think of joining?
He mentioned that he and his team will figure many things and help us in many process and we just need to execute. But I feel I have already figured out many things from getting clients to giving results and scaling.

This may or may not add much value to me.

What do you guys think? Asi don't have much knowledge regarding stakes n all. I thought to ask you guys.

I don't want to miss any opportunities or get stuck with something unnecessary which I might regret later.

Tagging you guys who helped me last time in making the decision.
@Rabby @MHP368 @Roz @ZCP @Andy Black @MJ DeMarco @LightHouse @Kyle T @Madame Peccato @Bekit

Edit: he said the most valuable part from his would be Coaching/sessions he will take and responsibility while working. His team will make sure I implement what I learn.
Added chats.
I smell a rat.

What's in it for you?

You've already had coaching from him. What else does he have to share that you don't already know?

He has disrespected you before. What evidence do you have that he has changed his ways?

So the guy (he is good person) called me today suddenly after I left his agency past 2 months.
He talked about how things are going good in his agency and how great he has become as a leader
He's talking all about himself and how great he is. How much did he talk about you? How much did he build you up in the conversation? What did he say about your progress? Did he tear you down and try to invalidate you? Make you feel like you don't really know enough? Or did he genuinely provide value and leave you feeling motivated and empowered?

Look, he's just lost one of his clients to you. That's got to sting.

And now he suddenly pops out of the woodwork to offer a "nothing held back" business coaching group?

It's clear what he wants. He wants to ride on 20% of 5 different businesses for little to no work on his part. How nice. Who wouldn't want that kind of a deal? No overhead. No clients to manage. No employees to pay. Just an easy ride on your back while YOU slave away to implement all his "coaching."

Here's one way to look at it.

Do you have 20% of your business to spend on any other "optional" or "discretionary" stuff? I would imagine that you don't, any least not while you have the "paid trial" client who is getting your work for peanuts.

There's a term called "hoovering." Look it up. I think this guru is hoovering you.
 

Andy Black

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I'm with @Bekit. Something seems off to me. Granted something could be lost in the retelling, but I don't know any great leaders who proclaim to be great leaders.
 

BlackMagician

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G'day all
He says it’s a no-brainer, but it’s not a no-brainer to you right?


“this should be a quick decision.”

It feels like he’s pressuring you.


My litmus test is Derek Sivers line of “Hell yeah, or no.”

Just my personal take.

I would invest in a former employee's business without hesitation, if it was a good business and they were skilled. But I think what I would offer them would be capital, not coaching. If you don't need coaching from this guy, and it isn't what you set out to get, it's not really an opportunity for you. It might be an opportunity for him, but for you? You get coaching, he gets 20% of your future profit for eternity (with this company anyway) plus a measure of control over your company, plus inside information about your company (which at least in some ways may be a competitor).

So I wouldn't see it as a good deal personally. Ymmv. I also don't think it's a poison apple necessarily, so you could just thank the guy for his generosity and meet up for lunch some time. I think having some kind of business relationship with him might be an opportunity under the right circumstances. But from a position as peers, maybe referring each other types of business that the other specializes in, working together on certain projects that exceed one company's capacity, etc.

There's a term called "hoovering." Look it up. I think this guru is hoovering

I'm with @Bekit. Something seems off to me. Granted something could be lost in the retelling, but I don't know any great leaders who proclaim to be great leaders.
He isn't bad person guys. Just that the way he came with the msg was bad.

I told him NO.
He actually appreciated that I said no on his face directly.

Then he mentioned that he will not go with that coaching program of his and dropped the idea whole together.

Agency:
So after onboarding 3rd client, I felt that I should focus on building my foundation now instead of getting more clients.

As mentioned, I am going by Performance based model where I get % of revenue so instead of getting as much clients as possible like other agencies do, I focus on delivering as much value and revenue as possible to few clients and earn good money.

I barely did any new outreach last week as onboarding and delivery on 1st month is very important.

The 2nd client gave me 700K INR adspend budget for 3 months, that's 7 lakhs. It's a huge budget for me and I will do everything to give them 3x results.

The new goal is by Monday next week, to create operation and delivery process.

I have also hired a freelance developer to make CRO level changes to improve the CR (Conversion ratio). He is good.

As I charge on revenue from clients, I don't just run fb ads. I help them in many activities that bring revenue.
In future I plan to guide and train client with content creation and how fast they can scale their brands.

I am learning more on email marketing as I have seen top brass doing to generate 10-20% of Ecom revenue. Initially I will setup the flow but after 2-3 months, will hire someone for this.
This will be one of my signature thing in industry. Most agencies focus on frontend only here in India and leave backend(top agencies does both though).
I will help brands create process and systems to generate revenue from that.
I will test this email marketing process with my 1st client.

I figure this run will help me identify challenges in the processes/systems that I can improve upon before really scaling things up for them.

Today I created few documents as a checklist to follow. This will help my future team pick up the process faster.

By the way, did I mention that I officially registered the company?
Yep. Officially done.

Lot's of things going on.

I feel that if I really nailed things correctly with the current 3 clients and bring them massive results, I will be able to rapidly grow.
And If I didn't, I will lose the opportunity and become slowly growing agency.

Lot's of love from my side to MJ, RABBY, ROZ, BEKIT, sir ZCP, and every one of you who is following my journey.

Sayonara,
BM
 
Last edited:

Andy Black

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G'day all







He isn't bad person guys. Just that the way he came with the msg was bad.

I told him NO.
He actually appreciated that I said no on his face directly.

Then he mentioned that he will not go with that coaching program of his and dropped the idea whole together.

Agency:
So after onboarding 3rd client, I felt that I should focus on building my foundation now instead of getting more clients.

As mentioned, I am going by Performance based model where I get % of revenue so instead of getting as much clients as possible like other agencies do, I focus on delivering as much value and revenue as possible to few clients and earn good money.

I barely did any new outreach last week as onboarding and delivery on 1st month is very important.

The 2nd client gave me 700K INR adspend budget for 3 months, that's 7 lakhs. It's a huge budget for me and I will do everything to give them 3x results.

The new goal is by Monday next week, to create operation and delivery process.

I have also hired a freelance developer to make CRO level changes to improve the CR (Conversion ratio). He is good.

As I charge on revenue from clients, I don't just run fb ads. I help them in many activities that bring revenue.
In future I plan to guide and train client with content creation and how fast they can scale their brands.

I am learning more on email marketing as I have seen top brass doing to generate 10-20% of Ecom revenue. Initially I will setup the flow but after 2-3 months, will hire someone for this.
This will be one of my signature thing in industry. Most agencies focus on frontend only here in India and leave backend(top agencies does both though).
I will help brands create process and systems to generate revenue from that.
I will test this email marketing process with my 1st client.

I figure this run will help me identify challenges in the processes/systems that I can improve upon before really scaling things up for them.

Today I created few documents as a checklist to follow. This will help my future team pick up the process faster.

By the way, did I mention that I officially registered the company?
Yep. Officially done.

Lot's of things going on.

I feel that if I really nailed things correctly with the current 3 clients and bring them massive results, I will be able to rapidly grow.
And If I didn't, I will lose the opportunity and become slowly growing agency.

Lot's of love from my side to MJ, RABBY, ROZ, BEKIT, sir ZCP, and every one of you who is following my journey.

Sayonara,
BM
Check out Dan Wardrope’s book “Take The Lead”.
 

BlackMagician

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Check out Dan Wardrope’s book “Take The Lead”.

Yeah, seems good book. Will add in arsenal. I went through Hack Your Agency course by Jared Codling to comeup with my offers and way of work.

The ultimate thing is, at the end, my team and automation do the power work for few good brands, we get revenue share and I become a sort of advisor to those brands.
And if possible, convert the performance based model to Equity model for those brands at some stage.

I don't know how it will play as those are far in the future but i have three routes to take that i can think of:
1) Keep doing Performance based model where i get a share of the value i add. I help them in money making activities and my team do the work. Ads, strategies, deals with influencers, improving customer loyalty etc. Me and my client earn good money.
2) Convert the agency into Product-based service like Dan Wardrope, where i own the whole lead gen system that pump up leads and i sell them to hungry crowd.
3) I search and select productrocracy brands that are struggling because of few things i.e marketing, bad packaging, don't know how to sell etc.. Find them, guide them, help them market with my team and get equity for lifetime.

Lets see where it takes.
 
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BlackMagician

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G'day All!
How are you all? kicking asses?

I stopped prospecting after onboarding the 3rd client because I want to give them delightful results.
So the plan is to give them the desired results by myself and onside i hire someone to do the advertising part in my place.

So 1st or 2nd month, it will be me who will do the actual work, record the steps, create checklists and systems. then in the meantime hire someone to replace my work of advertising without dropping the value to clients.

This is so that new people in team can perform with the system and process in place.

Right now though, its very very hectic, hard work and draining. I am not complaining. I am actually enjoying it (reason mentioned below).
Just that to scale the agencies, you need people smarter than you while you focus on building the business.

Client side:
All 3 clients ads has been started.

They wanted us to start the ads on offers because we have multiple festivals in this month.

Client 1st:
We rebuild the whole website from scratch while focus on high converting elements.
Just launched the sale yesterday so nothing to show. I have high expectation though.

Client 2nd:
This client ACTUALLY has productocracy! I just love this brand. I am sure i can take this brand to 6-7 figures in coming year.
This client has prepared a long sale from 15th Aug to 23rd Aug. They get lots of organic sales starting 2-3 days of sales so we can run the ads after that. I said ok.

I created a full fledged plan from changes on website, email marketing, content and ads. Main focused was to increase conversion on website and increase order value.

I guided their developer on major changes to be done on website to improve conversion. Their checkout process was lengthy. Shortened them to 1 step.

On the night of 14th, before the launch of the sales, i hop on a call with the founder to setup order bump. Their developer was on leave.
I guided them to integrate order bump on checkout. Basically an upsell of small price product before payment. They didn't even knew about doing upsell. They never upsell anything before.

They were delighted that i came on call and helped them so late in night. Anyhow...

Next day, we saw that 15% of the revenue is coming from order bump! Whoops!
Organically, they got 4 lakhs of revenue and in that 15% was of order bump.

Same thing happened on next 2 days. Voila...
Then I launched ads on 18th Aug as scheduled with all the marketing wizardry i knew :clench:

Here are the results:
1629442615633.png
COLD Audience: 6.5x ROAS
Warm: 12x ROAS
HOT: 19x ROAS

Holy moly!
Even i didn't expected.

I know this results will drop on big budget but this is HUGE!
now you know why i am enjoying doing the work myself. :p

Client 3:
Same thing as client 2. Huge website changes to increase the conversion. I actually FORGOT to add upsell on this client before the launch. Damn! there goes 15% of the revenue.

Launched the ads. Here is the result:
1629442945810.png
Damn facebook didn't track properly. You know how its going there right?
So I checked the website and compared the data and found that we got 62k INR revenue.
That's double on whats showing on FB.
After calculating, we got 4.5x ROAS on this.
That's 400%.
Whoosh!

------------------------------------------------
Now i am focusing on building the brand awareness through video marketing and actually create a name for all 3 brands. Whole lot is going behind this process from guiding the client to create best of best videos to marketing them.
Though haven't actually started running ads for building brand repo and creating long lasting relationship with customers, but that's the plan i am working on.

After the offer sales for all 3 clients are over, I will focus on building relationship with audiences and build authority.

On side note, i am searching for someone to work on running ads and good with copy so that i can delegate the main work. Looking for an Indian for clear and better communication. Already posted on different groups and places. No response yet. I guess no one is interested? I am giving WFH! Top level coaching! Why the heck i can't find decent guy? (grinning evilly)
Also searching for Email marketing person to handle the backend.
I have created templates for email marketing funnel. This I learned from Chase Dimond and I hope they will work. As soon as i get someone good with email, will coach him/her and start working on email marketing funnel.

P.S- I have yet to create my business bank account!

Thanks for reading. Feedbacks are welcome.

Sayonara,
BM
 
Last edited:

BizyDad

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Hi Seniors & Mentors,

A simple hustle to learn, grow and achieve freedom.

To keep it short and not take much time of the reader, here is small intro and what i am doing currently:

In morning, I look for local clients to contact. I am targeting specific niches. Crafting a personal email for each of them (5-6/day) and sending.
Then i go to Job. At job, i try to find time and learn something new.

and then DO nothing.
I am action faking right now. I think stuck somewhere in DOD. :happy:

and then, their is this Fear of cold calling. I am thinking to cold call those whom i have emailed, but fear got me good until today.

Hence, starting this thread so that i take more real actions.

Ok Enough about me.

I will be posting whatever i do. 1-2 per week. Not more than that or i will action fake on TFF:wideyed:

P.S- My job timing is 10:30 to 8:30 + 2 hours travel. But the job is a dead job. No pressure, much free time (which i used to procrastinate before joining TFF).

G'day All!
How are you all? kicking asses?

I stopped prospecting after onboarding the 3rd client because I want to give them delightful results.
So the plan is to give them the desired results by myself and onside i hire someone to do the advertising part in my place.

So 1st or 2nd month, it will be me who will do the actual work, record the steps, create checklists and process then in the mean time hire someone to replace my work of advertising without dropping the value to clients.

This is so that new people in team can perform with the system and process in place.

Right now though, its very very hectic, hard work and draining. I am not complaining. I am actually enjoying it (reason mentioned below).
Just that to scale the agencies, you need people smarter than you while you focus on building the business.

Client side:
All 3 clients ads has been started.

They wanted us to start the ads on offers because we have multiple festivals in this month.

Client 1st:
We rebuild the whole website from scratch while focus on high converting elements.
Just launched the sale yesterday so nothing to show. I have high expectation though.

Client 2nd:
This client ACTUALLY has productocracy! I just love this brand. I am sure i can take this brand to 6-7 figures in coming year.
This client has prepared a long sale from 15th Aug to 23rd Aug. They get lots of organic sales starting 2-3 days of sales so we can run the ads after that. I said ok.

I created a full fledged plan from changes on website, email marketing, content and ads. Main focused was to increase conversion on website and increase order value.

I guided their developer on major changes to be done on website to improve conversion. Their checkout process was lengthy. Shortened them to 1 step.

On the night of 14th, before the launch of the sales, i hop on a call with the founder to setup order bump. Their developer was on leave.
I guided them to integrate order bump on checkout. Basically an upsell of small price product before payment. They didn't even knew about doing upsell. They never upsell anything before.

They were delighted that i came on call and helped them so late in night. Anyhow...

Next day, we saw that 15% of the revenue is coming from order bump! Whoops!
Organically, they got 4 lakhs of revenue and in that 15% was of order bump.

Same thing happened on next 2 days. Voila...
Then I launched ads on 18th Aug as scheduled with all the marketing wizardry i knew :clench:

Here are the results:
View attachment 39531
COLD Audience: 6.5x ROAS
Warm: 12x ROAS
HOT: 19x ROAS

Holy moly!
Even i didn't expected.

I know this results will drop on big budget but this is HUGE!
now you know why i am enjoying doing the work myself. :p

Client 3:
Same thing as client 2. Huge website changes to increase the conversion. I actually FORGOT to add upsell on this client before the launch. Damn! there goes 15% of the revenue.

Launched the ads. Here is the result:
View attachment 39532
Damn facebook didn't track properly. You know how its going there right?
So I checked the website and compared the data and found that we got 62k INR revenue.
That's double on whats showing on FB.
After calculating, we got 4.5x ROAS on this.
That's 400%.
Whoosh!

------------------------------------------------
Now i am focusing on building the brand awareness through video marketing and actually create a name for all 3 brands. Whole lot is going behind this process from guiding the client to create best of best videos to marketing them.
Though haven't actually started running ads for building brand repo and creating long lasting relationship with customers, but that's the plan i am working on.

After the offer sales for all 3 clients are over, I will focus on building relationship with audiences and build authority.

On side note, i am searching for someone to work on running ads and good with copy so that i can delegate the main work. Looking for an Indian for clear and better communication. Already posted on different groups and places. No response yet. I guess no one is interested? I am giving WFH! Top level coaching! Why the heck i can't find decent guy? (grinning evilly)
Also searching for Email marketing person to handle the backend.
I have created templates for email marketing funnel. This I learned from Chase Dimond and I hope they will work. As soon as i get someone good with email, will coach him/her and start working on email marketing funnel.

P.S- I have yet to create my business bank account!

Thanks for reading. Feedbacks are welcome.

Sayonara,
BM
After reading your last post I went back and read your first post. Man, look how far you've come! That's awesome work BM. The forum needs more threads like these. Inspiring stuff.
 

BlackMagician

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After reading your last post I went back and read your first post. Man, look how far you've come! That's awesome work BM. The forum needs more threads like these. Inspiring stuff.
Yes the journey has been long.
If I can share 1 thing from all of these then it would be:
Change your choices and don't procrastinate.
I changed my choices on time after reading TMF but I procrastinated alot in my first year.
 
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BlackMagician

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Wow, this guy just did a meteoric rise
1629525682195.png
31x ROAS. Talk about productrocracy business.

I was communicating with the founder yesterday. Most of the products they have are of low tickets of 500-800 INR.
I was asking them about how many time an average customer buys from them. They mentioned that on average 8-9 times and highest is 33 times. Holy shit...

Productrocracy on steroid.

The founder mentioned that we are getting very good response after we launched the ads and many people are giving positive response. They asked what is the reason we are getting this good of a response.
I told them that they have solid products that solves problems. We are like a booster to you guys. We added the marketing skills and it blasted up.

P.S- Dictionary should now make productrocracy as official English word. When i type, the browser shows spelling error red line :p

Next agenda on plate is to create stable strategy to deliver results on Facebook.

On side note: I only have 20 days of cash remaining with me. When i started on my own in June, i had cash for 3 months and I went all in. Now 10 days remaining of that 3 months and 20 days cash.
1st week of next month will the first time i get paid. I can get close to 50k-60k and that much is enough to survive 2 more months.
I am scared of not having any money to survive but still not scared enough to stop and get a job.

I know i can make this big.

I remember a thread by someone that asked, are you ready and committed to go all in?
Hell Yeah! I am already going all in!
 
Last edited:

Bekit

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It's almost the end of the month. If you haven't already, send your invoices now. Make it clear that payment is due the 1st. That will help you to minimize any delays on the client side for you getting paid. And some clients may pay you early.
 

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You should get more clients to decrease risk(if things don't work out with one of them)
and outsource something to focus more on sales and nurturing good paying clients
 
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Hey BM, good job on telling that guy no. It can be hard to see red flags when you are wearing rose colored glasses.

Having coached several people in your position I can tell you one thing you probably want to start ASAP.

No Zero Days in Biz Dev

This means everyday, as routine, your first or one of your first orders of business is to spend a predetermined time/task on new biz development.

The way you are currently running, you will get trapped in a cycle of selling -> fulfillment -> selling -> fulfillment and that roller coaster of work and emotions will wear you out fast.

The idea here is that there goes no day where you don't advance your business development in some manner... AS ROUTINE. this means it's already factored in and the 1st priority of the day.

Even if you spend the rest of the day working on client projects, you are continually working on getting new clients.

If you are like most and say "I can't handle the work" stop and think for a minute how long it takes you to onboard a legitimate client. Just because you start today doesn't mean tomorrow you have 10 to onboard. The sales cycle is much longer than that. This is akin to someone saying they don't want to lift heavy weights because they don't want to get to bulky.... as if it happens that way without concerted focused effort.

You have come a long way and by being transparent here you have built a group of supporters. When the going gets tough, lean on this thread if you need... because it is going to get tough.
 

BlackMagician

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Hey BM, good job on telling that guy no. It can be hard to see red flags when you are wearing rose colored glasses.

Having coached several people in your position I can tell you one thing you probably want to start ASAP.

No Zero Days in Biz Dev

This means everyday, as routine, your first or one of your first orders of business is to spend a predetermined time/task on new biz development.

The way you are currently running, you will get trapped in a cycle of selling -> fulfillment -> selling -> fulfillment and that roller coaster of work and emotions will wear you out fast.

The idea here is that there goes no day where you don't advance your business development in some manner... AS ROUTINE. this means it's already factored in and the 1st priority of the day.

Even if you spend the rest of the day working on client projects, you are continually working on getting new clients.

If you are like most and say "I can't handle the work" stop and think for a minute how long it takes you to onboard a legitimate client. Just because you start today doesn't mean tomorrow you have 10 to onboard. The sales cycle is much longer than that. This is akin to someone saying they don't want to lift heavy weights because they don't want to get to bulky.... as if it happens that way without concerted focused effort.

You have come a long way and by being transparent here you have built a group of supporters. When the going gets tough, lean on this thread if you need... because it is going to get tough.
Massive love from the heart!
Thanks for the insightful post. I was actually stuck in making this decision on getting more clients or not.

So the reason i am not taking new clients is, so that i can build some system in places to deliver results for clients.

Initially i thought that it will take me 2-3 months to create systems and team of 2 employees who can deliver the work. That's why i thought to just focus on these 3 clients.

But this month, i hired people, created systems.

SOP's for client onboarding, docs for setting up the whole marketing structure, creating top ads, creating awesome videos, checklists on running ads, top converting LP elements for ecommerce checklists etc.

These SOP's, checklists and documents will help me get stuff done.

As mentioned i hired people to get the work done now.

So instead of delaying new clients for 2-3 months, i can continue the sales process and get new clients!

It's decided. After a week or 2, as i will coach my new employees on delivering results, i will start the work on getting more clients!
Now i have good testimonials and case studies to show in my initial calls!

It's because of you supporters that I have come this far and i can feel that i can go faster.

Keep supporting guys, love you all. Very excited to share everything i am going through and experiencing.

as promised to sir @ZCP to pass the torch, i am working on a mega thread on Advance FB marketing and share everything i learned.

Until Next Time,
Sayonara,
BM
 

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That's the long term plan but i know i won't be anywhere atleast in next 2 years. I have just started my journey and lack many skills and experience. I think i will be able to be more richer if i join this, learn and experience things and then start my own fastlane business.

I was quite naive when i thought i will be nowhere in next 2 years. I forgot i am a part of such an awesome community. How can i be that slow. In just 1 year, i have all the skills and experience i need to do on my own and i am already doing it!

Going from what i was a year ago and now is a transformation for me.

The WHY and 4P's (unscripted ) are what will help you strive forward in difficult times and consistency creates magic.

Update:

Wow, my first income on my first business. I felt nothing? Yeah i felt no excitement no ardenial rush, nothing. It just felt, yeah its like this, ok.

Those who have been following my journey knows that this is my first business. Before this, i was side hustling as freelancer or doing contract works.

But now i feel that this is the start. Before this, i was just sharpening my saw.

From now on i have to be more disciplined, highly focused and get the shit done, fast.

P.S: I hired 1 guy after interviewing couple of people. He is young(22) and very enthusiastic to learn and grow. Has growth mindset. I am coaching him frequently so that he can take the grunt work.

This month, as Chris shower light on my plan from @LightHouse, i plan to get more clients. Atleast 1 more. Thanks Chris for this.
So prospecting will start from next week.

Will share more update later.

Until then,
Sayonara
BM
 
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BlackMagician

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G'day All,

I am back after a lots of hustle, failures and consistency.

So after September, the results for clients started going down and things on FB started being messed up.

Lots of clients left because of no results. I converted close to 10 clients in last 4 months but all left due to bad results from FB ads.

I was stuck in the hellish cycle of getting leads, converting the client, figuring out the way to deliver results (FB messed up), and with no results, client leaving, having depression of continuous failure, picking up myself again and trying again.

Facebook is still messed up and we Indians dont have any alternative like TIKTOK, hence struggling.

But as MJ says, thats external factor. As Kak say, we should focus on internal locus of control, so i am doing that only since 5 months and figuring out ways to deliver results and scale clients biz.

I haven't posted since long ago so thought to do it.

On side note, I have recreated my 1/5/10 vision and working on achieving this year vision.

I am going to update this thread once again frequently and share my failures and experience.

Until next time,
Sayonara
BM
 

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G'day All,

I am back after a lots of hustle, failures and consistency.

So after September, the results for clients started going down and things on FB started being messed up.

Lots of clients left because of no results. I converted close to 10 clients in last 4 months but all left due to bad results from FB ads.

I was stuck in the hellish cycle of getting leads, converting the client, figuring out the way to deliver results (FB messed up), and with no results, client leaving, having depression of continuous failure, picking up myself again and trying again.

Facebook is still messed up and we Indians dont have any alternative like TIKTOK, hence struggling.

But as MJ says, thats external factor. As Kak say, we should focus on internal locus of control, so i am doing that only since 5 months and figuring out ways to deliver results and scale clients biz.

I haven't posted since long ago so thought to do it.

On side note, I have recreated my 1/5/10 vision and working on achieving this year vision.

I am going to update this thread once again frequently and share my failures and experience.

Until next time,
Sayonara
BM
What about Google Ads?
 

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What about Google Ads?
Exploring that also. Going to test it for one client. Also exploring Youtube ads.

Can you give little insight on how Google ads is for Ecom brands?

Google ads has always been an extension for ecom brands because of price war and low scalability(excluding youtube), so i always used Google ads as to get the low hanging fruits.

Can you share some pointers specific for Google ads?
 

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Exploring that also. Going to test it for one client. Also exploring Youtube ads.

Can you give little insight on how Google ads is for Ecom brands?

Google ads has always been an extension for ecom brands because of price war and low scalability(excluding youtube), so i always used Google ads as to get the low hanging fruits.

Can you share some pointers specific for Google ads?
I don’t do eCom but Google Shopping can work very well, as can Dynamic Search Ads if there’s a lot of products. Then there’s the Google Display Network and YouTube. And the standard keyword driven paid search ads of course.
 

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G'day All!

It seems my consistent failure is not garnering any interest from this forum :D. No one is replying to this post.

Jokes aside.

I have been doing absolutely best i can on my biz.

The constant efforts and fighting with FB shit has drained me a lot in last 4 months.

Even then, i kept myself on the track and pushed through it. Thanks to the teachings from this forum and people.

Right now, i have 5 clients whom i am working for.

₹1.5lacs i am earning right now. ₹1 lac is the profit.

This is good enough income right now.

I am still struggling with giving consistent results to my clients but due to non stop learning i have figured the part of the code and able to give results just like in 2020.

Now i am just focusing on growing these brands and getting them results in next 3 months. I expect to have 1 brand to go in shark tank (India).

Hope so.

Anyhow, I again want a place to share my thoughts and keep accountability on the journey.

I know my journey has not been shining shooting star and mostly has been dull (because of my inconsistency) BUT guys, i have this heart and mind that will succeed big no matter what.

I have people like you.

So expect a frequent update from me.

Goal:
Get 1 brand to ₹10 lacs revenue per month in 3 months.
Monthly revenue to ₹2 lacs per month at the end of October.
Hire contractors for the actual work for more clients


Until next time,
Sayonara,
BM

PS. @Bekit how are you? still active and following me?
 
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Last edited:

Bekit

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G'day All!

It seems my consistent failure is not garnering any interest from this forum :D. No one is replying to this post.

Jokes aside.

I have been doing absolutely best i can on my biz.

The constant efforts and fighting with FB shit has drained me a lot in last 4 months.

Even then, i kept myself on the track and pushed through it. Thanks to the teachings from this forum and people.

Right now, i have 5 clients whom i am working for.

₹1.5lacs i am earning right now. ₹1 lac is the profit.

This is good enough income right now.

I am still struggling with giving consistent results to my clients but due to non stop learning i have figured the part of the code and able to give results just like in 2020.

Now i am just focusing on growing these brands and getting them results in next 3 months. I expect to have 1 brand to go in shark tank (India).

Hope so.

Anyhow, I again want a place to share my thoughts and keep accountability on the journey.

I know my journey has not been shining shooting star and mostly has been dull (because of my inconsistency) BUT guys, i have this heart and mind that will succeed big no matter what.

I have people like you.

So expect a frequent update from me.

Goal:
Get 1 brand to ₹10 lacs revenue per month in 3 months.
Monthly revenue to ₹2 lacs per month at the end of October.
Hire contractors for the actual work for more clients


Until next time,
Sayonara,
BM

PS. @Bekit how are you? still active and following me?
I am always so inspired by your progress and your hustle. Way to go!

That's super exciting that you're getting results like in 2020 again. Any specific breakthroughs you want to share? Any stories of the way you got results for clients?

I totally believe you will succeed big no matter what. From the outside looking in, it doesn't look like inconsistency. The general trend I see is one of persistence, overcoming odds, and not getting defeated by setbacks. Think back to your overall trajectory. Look at how far you've come. I know you're hungry for more, but don't sell yourself too short.

Definitely keep us updated!
 

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I am always so inspired by your progress and your hustle. Way to go!

That's super exciting that you're getting results like in 2020 again. Any specific breakthroughs you want to share? Any stories of the way you got results for clients?

I totally believe you will succeed big no matter what. From the outside looking in, it doesn't look like inconsistency. The general trend I see is one of persistence, overcoming odds, and not getting defeated by setbacks. Think back to your overall trajectory. Look at how far you've come. I know you're hungry for more, but don't sell yourself too short.

Definitely keep us updated!
Hey @Bekit thanks for the response.

So last year was disastor because of iOS update and Facebook ads started giving bad results. Till March i was not able to figure out the solution.

But my effort bore fruit and I learned how to bring good results for clients after iOS update.

One of my client who was struggling in April-May with only ₹3lacs/month store revenue with 1.5x ROAS, i pulled it to ₹5Lacs in June with 2.4x ROAS.

July looks good and we will reach 7-8 lacs revenue this month.

I will share my learnings into separate thread to help others struggling on FB Ads.

Might onboard 2 more clients this month so i have to document all my learnings into proper SOP and hire good media buyers to get work done.

I am full of confidence that this time, I will grow this biz to what my goal is.

Will keep you updated.
 

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Hey @Bekit thanks for the response.

So last year was disastor because of iOS update and Facebook ads started giving bad results. Till March i was not able to figure out the solution.

But my effort bore fruit and I learned how to bring good results for clients after iOS update.

One of my client who was struggling in April-May with only ₹3lacs/month store revenue with 1.5x ROAS, i pulled it to ₹5Lacs in June with 2.4x ROAS.

July looks good and we will reach 7-8 lacs revenue this month.

I will share my learnings into separate thread to help others struggling on FB Ads.

Might onboard 2 more clients this month so i have to document all my learnings into proper SOP and hire good media buyers to get work done.

I am full of confidence that this time, I will grow this biz to what my goal is.

Will keep you updated.
would getting a job hurt? I mean you can do it on side until it works
 
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would getting a job hurt? I mean you can do it on side until it works
Nope. Not going back to that hole. I have come far now. I have skills, experience and everything to survive on my own without the job. This forum has made me what i am. No need to depend on things. I will figure things out and keep doing what i set myself for.

Thanks for the concern man. Appreciate it.
 

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Well, its here. My 1st anniversary as Entrepreneur.

I joined this forum in 2018, when i didn't knew a single thing about business/value or money.

It took me 1.5yrs to leave job, upskill myself, upgrade my mindset and go into the world.

In 2020, I started doing freelancing for other agency and took my income from ₹30k (a delivery guy earns this much here in india) to 5x of that in 1 year.

In 2021 June, I left that agency contract and started my first journey towards entrepreneurship.

July 2022, I started this biz. Year #1 has been...well painfully beautiful.

I had to struggle and fight with myself this year. I had to break through a few limiting barriers (mentally).

There are some pretty big highs and lows in entrepreneurship.

I can now recover from the "hits" almost every time.

The world of business doesn't care how many steps were easy but it will stop you when you haven't learned enough to advance.

but

I am enjoying the process. Even though i can't see my goals from where i stand but i know i will reach.

I am earning 3-4x my salary from last job. Enough to live comfortably.

I no longer trade 5 days for 2 days. I now work 7 days for 0 days. 3-5 hours per day....that's it. Sometimes more, but i decide.

Well i still trade time for money but we all are here for FASTLANE right?

Spends 3-4 hours with family. Couldn't do that before.

Even though its been only 1 year but my journey taught me that it takes time. A year of no results, no immediate gratifications, no money in bank, no support, family pushing to get job and you don't see your path.

A year full of failures and battle scars.

This proves that there is no short cut in this game.

I still don't know where i will reach but i am happy with my journey. I will reach my goals.
For me, a year was worth it.

Is it for you?
 

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G'day all,

Update:

Currently 3 Clients. 2 Clients are getting consistent results.
Both of them wants to reach 10lacs revenue in next 3 months from where they stand. If I am able to do that then i will easily be earning double my current income.

Onboarding 2 more clients next month.
That will add ₹80k per month in my growth.

June month profit:
₹70k

July month profit:
₹70k

August expectation from 5 clients:
₹150k

Time to hire a team to execute on daily tasks now.


Partnership:
A week ago I partnered with a branding agency. They only do branding and my agency will help with performance marketing. I will get few clients from this partnership. Lets see how it goes.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Until next time,
Sayonara
BM
 
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G'day all,

August has been a month of decision-making for me.
First of all, my wife is pregnant! I am so excited about this. I am sharing it here in TFF only.

I also fired 1 client who was soul-sucking.
Also onboarded 1 more client this month. I will rock this.

I am also looking to hire a good Ads designer.

After working in the ecommerce space, the major problem with brands is that they don't have a process to get good ads made or get great shots for ads. They either get makeshift content that doesn't work or hire another graphics design agency that actually doesn't know how to create high-performing ads.

Fulfilling this problem will not only serve the client well but will indirectly help run successful ads.
So i might set up the team around designers and media buyers in the next 2 months.


August Profit:
₹100k (1 lakh)

Sept Goal:

₹80k from current clients
₹70k from new clients
Total: ₹160k in profit(Because I alone am working on these, there is no expense as of now.)

I am also thinking of pivoting into the coaching business, teaching freelancers and agency startups how to get client results.
But that's just an idea. I don't want to get distracted until this one is settled properly.
This is due to the fact that the agency business has many moving parts. In my ads model, almost everything is customised per client, making it difficult to achieve a productized model. It's until and unless I combine my learnings into assets and sell them.
Then that also becomes a type of coaching biz.

Anyhow, that's just long-term thinking. I will continue doing what's working.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Until next time,
Sayonara
BM

P.S. : I'm hoping to join a small, 4–7 person accountability and sharing group, people who are ahead of me in the game. Do let me know if you are in a group like that and can add me.
 
Last edited:

aboutkaizen

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G'day all,

August has been a month of decision-making for me.
First of all, my wife is pregnant! I am so excited about this. I am sharing it here in TFF only.

I also fired 1 client who was soul-sucking.
Also onboarded 1 more client this month. I will rock this.

I am also looking to hire a good Ads designer.

After working in the ecommerce space, the major problem with brands is that they don't have a process to get good ads made or get great shots for ads. They either get makeshift content that doesn't work or hire another graphics design agency that actually doesn't know how to create high-performing ads.

Fulfilling this problem will not only serve the client well but will indirectly help run successful ads.
So i might set up the team around designers and media buyers in the next 2 months.


August Profit:
₹100k (1 lakh)

Sept Goal:

₹80k from current clients
₹70k from new clients
Total: ₹160k in profit(Because I alone am working on these, there is no expense as of now.)

I am also thinking of pivoting into the coaching business, teaching freelancers and agency startups how to get client results.
But that's just an idea. I don't want to get distracted until this one is settled properly.
This is due to the fact that the agency business has many moving parts. In my ads model, almost everything is customised per client, making it difficult to achieve a productized model. It's until and unless I combine my learnings into assets and sell them.
Then that also becomes a type of coaching biz.

Anyhow, that's just long-term thinking. I will continue doing what's working.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Until next time,
Sayonara
BM

P.S. : I'm hoping to join a small, 4–7 person accountability and sharing group, people who are ahead of me in the game. Do let me know if you are in a group like that and can add me.
Hey man! @BlackMagician Just finished reading this whole thread! And I'm amazed on your journey so far. Journey of highs and lows. You're also from Asia! I'm from the Philippines by the way.

I felt relieved when I read this thread. I'm strugging right now also on my web design service.

I'm experiencing procrastination right now and deciding whether I should continue on or not.

I currently have a 9-6 job and doing web design business is way too time consuming for me. Or maybe I'm just making an excuse.

I'm thinking of changing my skills to sell to Biz.

I'll think about it this weekend. Thanks sharing your journey!
 

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