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Running a digital marketing agency

Black_Dragon43

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Thank you for your initiative and the various links sir, I appreciate it. This whole marketing agency gig is good for making good money, but I doubt it can be a real life changing business. Because in 50-100 years, no one is really going to remember IG or FB(unless they survive). I mean I didn't even knew what MySpace was until I saw one of MJ's posts about the guy who created MySpace roasting a random dude in the comments section lol.

At the same time, I want to create something that will actually change lives of millions and create a legacy for my family and my future children who will get paid royalties long after I die. Something like what Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone did. Not just in terms of financial success or fame, but actually creating something that will exist for a very long time. Their families' lives will be set for many many years because of what these two did in the show business world, and outside of it too with their various businesses.

You got to start somewhere at least!
Funnily enough, Arnold made his first millions as a brick layer by reinvesting in real estate :)

You're discounting regular businesses too much. Regular businesses can make you life-changing wealth. You can be an agency owner who makes $100M/year. Sure, FB and Instagram may be gone, so what? Marketing is still marketing, whether you do it on FB, Google, or some other place.
 
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Andy Black

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This whole marketing agency gig is good for making good money, but I doubt it can be a real life changing business.
Huh? Be careful what you feed the super computer between your ears.

Gary V has an agency and uses that agency to “blow up” other brands.

Booking(.)com has the marketing skills to help hotels get more bookings. Instead of building an agency they built a consumer facing brand - like MJ’s limos(.)com

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

What’s your current problem? Not enough clients? Solve that first and then solve the immediate next problem.

Business is simple: help people, get paid, help more people (start, sell, scale). It’s only complicated because we don’t keep it simple.
 

K1 Lambo

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Funnily enough, Arnold made his first millions as a brick layer by reinvesting in real estate :)

You're discounting regular businesses too much. Regular businesses can make you life-changing wealth. You can be an agency owner who makes $100M/year. Sure, FB and Instagram may be gone, so what? Marketing is still marketing, whether you do it on FB, Google, or some other place.

Yeah man, he was about the same age as me when he moved to America and started his thing. That was like in the early 70's. People didn't have the opportunities that we have now that go with the internet. You had to do some physical labor as work for the most part during those times.

It's amazing how we can communicate with each other from different parts of the world.
 

K1 Lambo

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Huh? Be careful what you feed the super computer between your ears.

Gary V has an agency and uses that agency to “blow up” other brands.

Booking(.)com has the marketing skills to help hotels get more bookings. Instead of building an agency they built a consumer facing brand - like MJ’s limos(.)com

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

What’s your current problem? Not enough clients? Solve that first and then solve the immediate next problem.

Business is simple: help people, get paid, help more people (start, sell, scale). It’s only complicated because we don’t keep it simple.
I actually meant a social media agency/digital agency as a whole, not marketing as an industry.

As you said in your last message, you got successful businesses in that space such as Groupon, Yelp, Booking com, Air bnb etc. The point is, they're in control of their business. They're not under control of a big a$$ corporation, who have low wage employees from Asia that can destroy their business with a simple click, like what happened to me and many others before. Heck, MJ talks about this in his books. It's just like what it was with Amazon FBA a couple years ago or eBay in the early 2000's. The early adopters were the ones who got a big piece of the cake.

Sure, you got Gary V who started in mid 2000's I think, he's one of the very early adopters, and that's the scenario with most very successful agencies for the most part. The most successful digital agency in the world was started in 1995(forgot its name but it's from the United States) and they're making about 100 million $ each year.

Or even on Instagram(if you're on Instagram you'll relate to this). The big motivational accounts on IG are killing it now, they're the very very few who can make millions out on the platform, like the millionaire mentor e.g.

Now you got tens(if not hundreds or millions) of motivational accounts on Instagram who are regurgitating the same old quotes from the bigger accounts. It's like a red sea, it's probably the most saturated space on IG. And again the more competition, the more exceptional you have to be in a world full of me too accounts. Like why would you bother following a new account, when you're following 30-40 different motivational accounts that say the same shit over and over again?

Btw, have you read the blue ocean strategy before?
 
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Kung Fu Steve

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What's my outcome. In plain English.

I have an Instagram account. @Stevehilgart

Can you get me from 1600 to 10k in 2 months?

@zebroinvestor@gm ahem....

Isn't that script a little too salesy though? Or too straightforward? Btw I actually got this strategy from Gary V, who said it's all about contacting a bunch of accounts and providing them with value.

As a business owner, my biggest pet peeve is wasted time.

Don't beat around the bush. Just tell me what you've got and what it's going to do for me. I don't have time for the "let's get to know each other" phase.

I've given plenty of people the time of day who just messaged me "hey I can do this for you" -- and I've literally just said "great, show me."

If anyone nickels and dimes you -- move on.

$500/month is not out of the ordinary for Social Media Management. You just need more sales conversations dude. Let's go!!!!
 

Andy Black

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I actually meant a social media agency/digital agency as a whole, not marketing as an industry.

As you said in your last message, you got successful businesses in that space such as Groupon, Yelp, Booking com, Air bnb etc. The point is, they're in control of their business. They're not under control of a big a$$ corporation, who have low wage employees from Asia that can destroy their business with a simple click, like what happened to me and many others before. Heck, MJ talks about this in his books. It's just like what it was with Amazon FBA a couple years ago or eBay in the early 2000's. The early adopters were the ones who got a big piece of the cake.

Sure, you got Gary V who started in mid 2000's I think, he's one of the very early adopters, and that's the scenario with most very successful agencies for the most part. The most successful digital agency in the world was started in 1995(forgot its name but it's from the United States) and they're making about 100 million $ each year.

Or even on Instagram(if you're on Instagram you'll relate to this). The big motivational accounts on IG are killing it now, they're the very very few who can make millions out on the platform, like the millionaire mentor e.g.

Now you got tens(if not hundreds or millions) of motivational accounts on Instagram who are regurgitating the same old quotes from the bigger accounts. It's like a red sea, it's probably the most saturated space on IG. And again the more competition, the more exceptional you have to be in a world full of me too accounts. Like why would you bother following a new account, when you're following 30-40 different motivational accounts that say the same shit over and over again?

Btw, have you read the blue ocean strategy before?
Figure it out as you go along. Get enough MRR that you can then figure out what the next incarnation of your business will look like. Then keep going.

It’s harder said than done, but try to work on your mindset a bit. A lot of your replies are “Yes, but” instead of “Yes, and”.

Hurdles are just stepping stones in disguise.
 

K1 Lambo

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Figure it out as you go along. Get enough MRR that you can then figure out what the next incarnation of your business will look like. Then keep going.

It’s harder said than done, but try to work on your mindset a bit. A lot of your replies are “Yes, but” instead of “Yes, and”.

Hurdles are just stepping stones in disguise.
Thanks.
 
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K1 Lambo

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@zebroinvestor@gm ahem....



As a business owner, my biggest pet peeve is wasted time.

Don't beat around the bush. Just tell me what you've got and what it's going to do for me. I don't have time for the "let's get to know each other" phase.

I've given plenty of people the time of day who just messaged me "hey I can do this for you" -- and I've literally just said "great, show me."

If anyone nickels and dimes you -- move on.

$500/month is not out of the ordinary for Social Media Management. You just need more sales conversations dude. Let's go!!!!
Yeah, that's right. It's like the market's got a buyer for every segment of the industry.

Just think about cars.

You want a cheap, reliable, and economic car? Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Volvo etc. are your go to manufacturers.

You want something luxurious, faster and a little ego boost? BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Tesla are there for you.

You want the best of the best? In terms of performance and overall prestige? You buy a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Bentley etc.
 

K1 Lambo

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If the sales process or delivery of the service/product cannot be automated (scaled) in a good way, and you are not seeing consistent growth, I'd do something else.
Danke.
 

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@zebroinvestor@gm ahem....



As a business owner, my biggest pet peeve is wasted time.

Don't beat around the bush. Just tell me what you've got and what it's going to do for me. I don't have time for the "let's get to know each other" phase.

I've given plenty of people the time of day who just messaged me "hey I can do this for you" -- and I've literally just said "great, show me."

If anyone nickels and dimes you -- move on.

$500/month is not out of the ordinary for Social Media Management. You just need more sales conversations dude. Let's go!!!!

Absolutely spot on from Steve. The amount of time I get a cold DM that says hey how's it going? or how's business. I'd rather they just came straight out with what they're offering me. I can then quickly decide whether it's of interest or not.

For getting more clients I'd recommend you read the book from Alex Hormozi - $100m offers - How to make offers so good people feel stupid saying no. I think it's just $1 on amazon or you can download it free from Google somewhere.

None of the pitches I seen you write make me feel stupid saying no to. Work on that and you'll find it won't be so hard to get new clients.
 
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Simon Angel

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It is a real business.

Pure CENTS based Fastlane business?

Not really, more like a specialized skill that can translate very well to your own business. As a side hustle, I see nothing wrong with it, especially because it is a great skill to know. But if it were me, I'd have my eye on other things...

I'm curious to know what those other things are.
 

K1 Lambo

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In my opinion running a digital marketing agency is not an easy task. It takes lots of hardwork and efforts. The most important thing that a person need is good understand about the product and its market. Like if you are marketing about a Spinning can then you need to have a full understanding about what is spinning can and where this product is most needed. Also you need knowledge about their competitors and try to analyse their strategy aswell.
Yeah. Obviously the digital marketing space is huge. And I'm pretty sure it's only going to get bigger as businesses need it more than ever. There are FB Ads agencies, SEO agencies, Website design agencies(not really social media marketing directly but it is somewhat indirectly). I feel like the first two are the most crowded ones, as the barriers to entry are almost nonexistent. You can watch 3-4 youtube videos and suddenly become an "expert" on how to run FB ads or SEO. It's like almost every digital agency is only focusing on these two aspects of internet marketing. By the way, advertising and marketing are not the same. When I talk to business owners, they immediately assume marketing with advertising. It's a direct part of marketing.

What we do for instance is save business owners' time, by creating content and growing their accounts on Instagram, especially in uncapitalized niches like construction, landscapers, pool builders, or most contractor niches in general.

I believe there is still a lot of opportunity on Instagram as a lot of business owners aren't aware of the opportunities that exist on this platform.

Yes, ads are directly all about ROI. Meaning if you don't make a business more money when hiring you, they are probably going to dismiss you the next month.
 

K1 Lambo

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Absolutely spot on from Steve. The amount of time I get a cold DM that says hey how's it going? or how's business. I'd rather they just came straight out with what they're offering me. I can then quickly decide whether it's of interest or not.

For getting more clients I'd recommend you read the book from Alex Hormozi - $100m offers - How to make offers so good people feel stupid saying no. I think it's just $1 on amazon or you can download it free from Google somewhere.

None of the pitches I seen you write make me feel stupid saying no to. Work on that and you'll find it won't be so hard to get new clients.
Yeah, I can't imagine how many cold DMs these bigger businesses get everyday from strangers who are like: "Hey, how's it going" or "Hi, are you doing any marketing"? I've used the last one as Gary V recommended it, but it hasn't got me that much results.

I've been implementing other tactics such as "Hey there, what's your most popular service?" or "Hey, what's the largest pool that you've built"? And that opens them up, and then I go to my pitch. However, it might be a little bit of a deceptive strategy as they might assume that I'm a potential customer when I'm not.
 
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Dami-B

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Yeah, I can't imagine how many cold DMs these bigger businesses get everyday from strangers who are like: "Hey, how's it going" or "Hi, are you doing any marketing"? I've used the last one as Gary V recommended it, but it hasn't got me that much results.

I've been implementing other tactics such as "Hey there, what's your most popular service?" or "Hey, what's the largest pool that you've built"? And that opens them up, and then I go to my pitch. However, it might be a little bit of a deceptive strategy as they might assume that I'm a potential customer when I'm not.

It's a real business and a great skill to have. I've also found it beneficial as a skill to understand the works of any industry I'm interested in, if I want to go into real estate, I just consult for real estate biz and agents and that way I get tremendous information on the industry and how to navigate, same can be applied for e-commerce, or any other industry you might be interested in.

Also, I think it was Dean Jackson that said, - what would you do if you were only being paid for results? That question might help you craft a better offer than what 99% of marketers out there are pitching.

There's social media marketers who are getting 90% of the clients because they are excellent and the best at what they do, it will also take reasonable time to get to their level of execution and brand awareness, so I think you should pace yourself and help one person at a time and get better everyday
 

K1 Lambo

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It's a real business and a great skill to have. I've also found it beneficial as a skill to understand the works of any industry I'm interested in, if I want to go into real estate, I just consult for real estate biz and agents and that way I get tremendous information on the industry and how to navigate, same can be applied for e-commerce, or any other industry you might be interested in.

Also, I think it was Dean Jackson that said, - what would you do if you were only being paid for results? That question might help you craft a better offer than what 99% of marketers out there are pitching.

There's social media marketers who are getting 90% of the clients because they are excellent and the best at what they do, it will also take reasonable time to get to their level of execution and brand awareness, so I think you should pace yourself and help one person at a time and get better everyday

Yeah for sure, you're basically selling shovels while everybody else is digging for gold. There are so many business owners who don't even have a FB page or a IG page. It's crazy.
 

shakshak

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Yeah for sure, you're basically selling shovels while everybody else is digging for gold. There are so many business owners who don't even have a FB page or a IG page. It's crazy.
any updates?
 
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