SMMA: The Fool's Gold

[Lochlan]

This happens to agencies everywhere (not just Malaysia) because of the business model : hire the least amount of staff to do the most amount of projects to maximize the profit returns for the bosses. There is a proper term for these sort of workplaces including the kind Steve is talking about : Sweatshops. lol

Staff clock in at 9 am or earlier, work nonstop till 8 - 9 pm, and bring back the laptop home to continue from 11 pm to 3 am lol, almost daily, and forgo all their weekends. This isn't just exchanging 5 days for 2, it's doing 7 days for 0 at the same fixed salary, and working nonstop at maximum intensity.

For anyone here who can't find their FTE, they should try working in an agency.

For people who want to start an agency, you should find countries where the government offers grants (e.g: 50% grant for website dev/SMMA work) to small businesses. Then, pitch this grant to small businesses there ("get a website done for only 50% off") and make this your "business model", and roll in the big bucks lol That's how many of the "agencies" here operate and the bosses are all driving supercars.

Wow your smart

 

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[Jeix]

I think this is the underrated statement here. You work really hard to get those skills and then you sit and say "well, why don't I just do it for myself then?"

All the best talent I'm after these days have their own thing going on so it's hard to convince them to do projects with me.

Slightly unrelated topic but I noticed this too and coined a phrase I find myself going back to often: "people like me don't work for people like me".

I wish they did because I could really use their help, but they don't. Like me, they are busy doing their own things.

 

[yashdutt]

(Warning: Long-winded post about SMMA ahead. Continue at your own peril.)

I can't help but notice a trend...

View attachment 50654


There must be some huge promos going out in the biz opp space right now that makes everyone and their mother think it's a good idea to start a social media marketing agency.

First things first: if it wasn't YOUR idea to start this business -- you probably shouldn't do it.

It's okay to be inspired by someone and say "Wow! I want to do THAT!" ... but if someone sold you on the idea that "the only way to make money is..." or "the biggest opportunity in the market is..." or "here's how I would make money in 2023..." then you've been bamboozled.

When you get a chance, look up the name Samuel Brannan. He's famous for selling shovels during the California gold rush. But if you skip the headline and actually read the story, you'd know that he literally bought every shovel and pickaxe in Northern California.. and THEN started rumors that there was gold everywhere if only you just "knew where to look" and "had the right tools" ... the marketing campaign worked and it spread like wildfire ... when everyone wanted to buy shovels -- guess who had them all?

If you don't see the correllation, let me spell it out for you:

Someone tricked you into starting a business that you know nothing about.

Yes, there's gold to be found. There are PLENTY of SUCCESSFUL social media marketing agencies... but you've got to know where to find the gold, how to dig it up, and what's real gold versus what's fool's gold.

And how does one acquire that knowledge? Lots of punches in the face. Lots of failures. Lots of mistakes. Long, long, LONG hours of reading, studying, living on social media to understand the latest trends, how to game the system, what you need to do to get eyeballs -- because let's not kid ourselves, your one and ONLY job as a social media marketing agency is to drive qualified traffic to an offer.

If you don't know how to do that, you've got two options: 1. Learn how, or 2. Quit.

In these threads I screenshotted about, people pointed out that:

• No business is "Fastlane" unless it meets CENTS. And that's OKAY. If your goal is to earn a living -- you don't need to meet those commandments. Also see: MJ's descripton of "good money vs great money"
  
  
• Saying you're going to start a SMMA when you don't even have the ability to make creatives, write short-form copy, edit, create content schedules, etc ... is like saying you're going to become a world champion boxer at your first class of booty bootcamp.
  
  
• It's a highly competitive scene... but NOT because everybody is amazing at it. It's because every other idiot gets convinced that THIS is the opportunity that WILL CHANGE THEIR LIFE! So they overpromise and underdeliver. They spend all day trying to sell through sleazy tactics instead of letting their work speak for themselves. They trick someone into paying them, do shitty work until they get fired, and then move on to the next sucker thinking they are a "real business owner".

BUT... if none of that has disuaded you from your goal and would like some unsolicited advice for building your SMMA... read on:

As many of you know, by night I am a male stripper/crime fighter/astronaut.

By day, I am a fractional CMO for a few companies and have a little coaching platform.

One of those is true. I'll let you decide which.

I am CONSTANTLY looking for talented social media managers and they are very few and far in between.

3-4 times a week I get a referral, cold call, or cold e-mail and I can't wait to talk to them hoping they might be "the one" ... but when I explain the standards I hold for the brands we're managing -- they all look like this:

...

You're still reading this...? Well, let me give you an example:

For one company I work with there's 6 people who handle Instagram. We post 6 times per day, 7 days per week. 2-3 reels, 2-4 sliders (and an occasional static image). That means the team needs to find at LEAST 100 ideas for posts per week (60%ish usually get shot down in the content meeting), write 14-21 engaging scripts for the talent to record, get them to actually record it, edit those videos, write copy for the captions, find the right hashtags, write copy for the slider posts, design them on brand, and physically post ON TIME (we've noticed a dramatic decrease in reach with automated posting services so someone actually posts). It's an international audience so someone is up at 4am their time to post. There's also an extensive "shout-out" strategy where we look for small, medium, and big influencers in the space and pay for shout-outs. THAT content goes through a dramatic gladiator style battle where only the best performing content gets used as ads.

The bar for non-CTA posts is 500k views +. For CTA posts, it's 50k. We don't track the other vanity metrics besides reach. That means EVERY. SINGLE. POST. has to be a winner.

... but when you realize IG is ONE of the socials we're utilizing every day... you start to see how the work multiplies. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn...

This is generating 2,000-3,000 leads per week and 150-300 booked (and approved) appointments for sales calls.

The first question I ask any new SMMA wanting to win business is "here's our numbers, can you beat them? I will gladly pay you loads of money to do so."

Two responses I get: "absolutely not" and "OF COURSE I CAN DO THAT!"

I respect the first answer. The second answer gets a grilling "show me where you've done this with other people." (and it has to be THEM, not the "team" they were a pat of, not the "guru" they worked for -- THEY had to be directly responsible for results)

Now why be so tough on this? Because this is where we get booked calls. Booked calls for the salespeople on the team. If the salespeople don't get booked calls, they can't make sales. If they can't make sales, they can't afford to feed their families.

It is our responsbility and moral obligation to do everything we can to support them and the rest of the company because (get this) we actually care about people and we're not ONLY doing it to siphon cash off of some sucker who thinks they need a SMMA.

If you don't perform, everyone loses their job and the company goes out of business.

Marketing and sales is what brings in the money. It's the most important part of any business. If you're READY for that responsbility, here's my advice:

• Ignore everyone's advice about "social media is toxic, stay away from it" -- because it's literally your JOB. Use viralfinder, actively engage on the platforms, learn something new about it every day. Save cool posts for later. Don't scroll through your phone without a notebook nearby to write ideas down on. Create a "vault" of unicorn posts (Posts that went viral on similar accounts in the same industry that you can recreate and make your own).
  
  
• Pick ONE social media channel to be an expert in. If you think you can handle more than one (especially just starting out) -- you're downright delusional. IG, FB, YT, TT -- they all have VERY different ecosystems and VERY different cultures. What works on one does NOT necessarily work on another.
  
  
• Instead of spending your money investing in courses trying to teach you how to do this stuff... invest your TIME in studying people who are SUCCESSFUL at it. BUT -- I highly recommend studying someone who is just a few steps ahead of you. Here's an example of a girl I hired last year off of Fiverr:
  
  
  https://www.fiverr.com/elifaydogan/be-your-social-media-marketing-manager-and-content-designer?context_referrer=user_page&ref_ctx_id=ad726a4153cdb3cf3a412c422da8ed4b&pckg_id=1&pos=2&imp_id=c42468aa-09e4-4825-bf0e-a40eb5fa6601
  
  Super professional gal, look at her portoflio. She tries to get better EVERY day and constantly has a waitlist. While she wouldn't be able to handle the accounts I referenced above -- this level of the business is within reach to anyone with a dream, some motivation, and some discipline.
  
  
• Stop referencing Gary Vee or Alex Hormozi every other sentence. You can't do what they do. You're not at that level. This is not an insult, it's the truth. Their advice on social wouldn't even make sense to most people who are not "in the trenches" every day and even if it did -- they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to execute on those strategies... PER MONTH.
  
  
• Don't know where to start? Start with your own accounts. Create a nameless/faceless account about cats or pickles -- whatever the subject matter -- who cares -- but you need to be able to SHOW people your work. That Turkish girl? I can practically guarnatee her original portfolio she just made 30 posts of each kind on Canva as a portfolio to showcase what it could look like.
  
  
• Work hard.
• No, like actually work hard.
  
  
• Dude, it's hard F*cking work. So you actually have to WORK HARD AT IT.
  
  
• If you get good (and can prove it), I've got big contracts for you.

Last thought: the top is lonely. The bottom is where everything is overcrowded and oversaturated. If you ever think something is "oversaturated", the harsh reality is: you suck at it.

Get better.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Love y'all.

I started my smma and failed utterly is my thread. Tbh, I kinda understand now why I failed....I have no regrets about failing though. The business to whom I offered my services already had a website. I told them I'll make their website look more modern and minimalistic, post on their social media and build up their online brand. I could see reluctance on my clients face taking up my offer but he did take it for around 150 dollars. I just built him a crap website, yeah it was minimalistic and had a modern theme than the previous one...but the previous one answered more questions a potential customer may have had in their minds when they visited the site. I just ripped off the info and make the design look good. Bruh no business owner cares about the design of their website or how old the layout is, they just care about what problems you can solve for them. Can you increase their sales with the site? Do they have enough information available with good reviews? Can you decrease the amount of faq emails the business owner is getting.

When I started my so called smma, I felt like a scammer or an imposter. I didn't know why I had that feeling, everyone says just go and focus on how to get a client, I did. I didn't deliver what I promised and the client bailed out.

And According to me the digital marketing market isn't saturated at all. There are a lot of high ticket clients who have no idea what they're doing wrong.

I still have a lot to learn. Just finished the 1 million dollar web design business book by @Fox and yeah it was amazing. It explained what mistakes I made. But there are a lot of things I need to figure out like how to actually make websites which get clients for the business, copywriting, sales etc. Also I really don't know how to code. I just used wordpress till now to make websites and due the previous failure I hate that platform now lol.

SMMA is still a good idea I think if you know how you're gonna help the business owner decrease their problems. If you're just a wantrepreneur like I was till now, you'll be doomed.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Slightly unrelated topic but I noticed this too and coined a phrase I find myself going back to often: "people like me don't work for people like me".

I wish they did because I could really use their help, but they don't. Like me, they are busy doing their own things.

I end up buying a lot of courses, coaching programs, and masterminds just to get around some of these people, build relationships, and ask for help after I've given a ton of value.

Still, not the same as a full-time employee or partner... but it's what we've got

I started my smma and failed utterly is my thread. Tbh, I kinda understand now why I failed....I have no regrets about failing though.

Stop using that word.

You didn't fail, you quit. Maybe you didn't deliver 100% on your first project, but now you know better. Gaining knowledge and USING that knowledge makes you a winner.

The business to whom I offered my services already had a website. I told them I'll make their website look more modern and minimalistic, post on their social media and build up their online brand.

Website design is very different from social media.

Honest and sincere question: why did you combine those two? Where did that idea come from? I'm really curious!

I could see reluctance on my clients face taking up my offer but he did take it for around 150 dollars. I just built him a crap website, yeah it was minimalistic and had a modern theme than the previous one...but the previous one answered more questions a potential customer may have had in their minds when they visited the site. I just ripped off the info and make the design look good. Bruh no business owner cares about the design of their website or how old the layout is, they just care about what problems you can solve for them. Can you increase their sales with the site? Do they have enough information available with good reviews? Can you decrease the amount of faq emails the business owner is getting.

When I started my so called smma, I felt like a scammer or an imposter. I didn't know why I had that feeling, everyone says just go and focus on how to get a client, I did. I didn't deliver what I promised and the client bailed out.

When you first started talking to them did you layout a project plan? "Here are the 3 things that might improve X. I'll complete X, Y, Z" or did you just look at the website, say "gross!", and try to rebuild it with a free template from somewhere?

And According to me the digital marketing market isn't saturated at all. There are a lot of high ticket clients who have no idea what they're doing wrong.

Right. OR they *DO* know what they are doing but can't do it all themselves. They need help!

still have a lot to learn. Just finished the 1 million dollar web design business book by @Fox and yeah it was amazing. It explained what mistakes I made. But there are a lot of things I need to figure out like how to actually make websites which get clients for the business, copywriting, sales etc. Also I really don't know how to code. I just used wordpress till now to make websites and due the previous failure I hate that platform now lol.

I'm still confused, are you building a social media service or a web design service?

I mean, I could see the need for a proper landing page and lead capture if they don't have one for the traffic you're sending from social but...

 

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[yashdutt]

I end up buying a lot of courses, coaching programs, and masterminds just to get around some of these people, build relationships, and ask for help after I've given a ton of value.

Still, not the same as a full-time employee or partner... but it's what we've got



Stop using that word.

You didn't fail, you quit. Maybe you didn't deliver 100% on your first project, but now you know better. Gaining knowledge and USING that knowledge makes you a winner.



Website design is very different from social media.

Honest and sincere question: why did you combine those two? Where did that idea come from? I'm really curious!



When you first started talking to them did you layout a project plan? "Here are the 3 things that might improve X. I'll complete X, Y, Z" or did you just look at the website, say "gross!", and try to rebuild it with a free template from somewhere?




Right. OR they *DO* know what they are doing but can't do it all themselves. They need help!



I'm still confused, are you building a social media service or a web design service?

I mean, I could see the need for a proper landing page and lead capture if they don't have one for the traffic you're sending from social but...

Sp unlike the west, Indian digital marketing companies have a common practice of offering website design as well as digital marketing services like ad campaigns, seo, video ads, etc. So my aim was to build an SMMA which offered both website design, SEO and social media services.

To be honest, I'm still not sure which niche I'm gonna pick initially from the above to offer. But I really want to pick up website design and learn copywriting so I can build websites which can solve a business owner's problems and can convert organic traffic into clients or maybe solve some of their other problems. I'd really appreciate if you'd give some inputs on the same

 

[yashdutt]

When you first started talking to them did you layout a project plan? "Here are the 3 things that might improve X. I'll complete X, Y, Z" or did you just look at the website, say "gross!", and try to rebuild it with a free template from somewhere?

Nope not like a written proposal or a project plan. This was my first client so I didn't have that much expertise or knowledge. You can actually read about the whole situation here- EXECUTION - RANT - QUESTION - I started my SMMA and failed utterly.

I just diced right in as suggested by people near me. I somehow managed to convince the business owner that we're gonna make him a great looking website (he told us that it lacked SPICE and we needed to put more SPICE in it), then we're gonna rank his business on google business through SEO, then we're gonna post on his social media accounts for 1 month and afterwards were gonna run ad campaigns. Interestingly, i didn't have any experience in any of the domains mentioned above, except working in a digital marketing firm as an intern to design social media posts in Photoshops through templates on freepik and making a how to make money blog on wordpress. I also had an instagram page billionairebinge(it's kinda dead now) when everyone was in the race of growing instagram theme pages. I've also sold vapes online and made a few bucks. I've also tried refferal schemes. I've also learnt a little bit of python and tried working on Android studio when I was like 17 years old(I'm 19 now). Did quite a lot things to make money desperately.

I come from a family with a single mother who makes probably 40 lakhs per year which is pretty decent to live comfortably and afford basic luxuries. It wasn't that I needed to make money, I just wanted to be self independent and travel the world on my own and give me mom a comfortable life.

Everyday I hear taunts from my mom that I'm just wasting time and I've never achieved anything extraordinary in my life and I should aim to do MBA from the best university in my country. I tell her that I'm looking into it but I just hate the idea itself. When I read TMF , my mindset changed for life and now I cannot help but believe that all degrees are worthless and doing a regular job is just killing my dreams.

A big rant post but yeah took it all out

 

[yashdutt]

Nope not like a written proposal or a project plan. This was my first client so I didn't have that much expertise or knowledge. You can actually read about the whole situation here- EXECUTION - RANT - QUESTION - I started my SMMA and failed utterly.

I just diced right in as suggested by people near me. I somehow managed to convince the business owner that we're gonna make him a great looking website (he told us that it lacked SPICE and we needed to put more SPICE in it), then we're gonna rank his business on google business through SEO, then we're gonna post on his social media accounts for 1 month and afterwards were gonna run ad campaigns. Interestingly, i didn't have any experience in any of the domains mentioned above, except working in a digital marketing firm as an intern to design social media posts in Photoshops through templates on freepik and making a how to make money blog on wordpress. I also had an instagram page billionairebinge(it's kinda dead now) when everyone was in the race of growing instagram theme pages. I've also sold vapes online and made a few bucks. I've also tried refferal schemes. I've also learnt a little bit of python and tried working on Android studio when I was like 17 years old(I'm 19 now). Did quite a lot things to make money desperately.

I come from a family with a single mother who makes probably 40 lakhs per year which is pretty decent to live comfortably and afford basic luxuries. It wasn't that I needed to make money, I just wanted to be self independent and travel the world on my own and give me mom a comfortable life.

Everyday I hear taunts from my mom that I'm just wasting time and I've never achieved anything extraordinary in my life and I should aim to do MBA from the best university in my country. I tell her that I'm looking into it but I just hate the idea itself. When I read TMF , my mindset changed for life and now I cannot help but believe that all degrees are worthless and doing a regular job is just killing my dreams.

A big rant post but yeah took it all out

Yeah and I forgot to mention that I also tried streaming lofi on YouTube and got copyright strikes and my videos got taken down. Then I opened a gaming,vlogging and roasting channel too. Kept hopping from trend to trend. Never stuck to one and didn't reach anywhere but learnt a few things along

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

Sp unlike the west, Indian digital marketing companies have a common practice of offering website design as well as digital marketing services like ad campaigns, seo, video ads, etc. So my aim was to build an SMMA which offered both website design, SEO and social media services.

I would challenge this belief.

A LOT of companies do this (in every country).

Most businesses just getting started want to take on any and all business. The "we'll do that, too!" attitude seems like a good idea... and especially when you're desperate for work (and money) -- it's hard to turn down. I've been there, too. I think we all have.

But if you can just step back for a second and be honest with yourself and your clients "Here's where my superpowers are and where I can make the biggest impact" -- not only can you charge more money, but ironically you'll get MORE work than if you try to do everything.

I want an Instagram EXPERT. I want a Google Ads EXPERT. I want a website EXPERT. Not just somebody who says they can do it all, no problem, anything to get the sale. I have a few family members that think they can do EVERYTHING. You can guess why I've not invited them into my business

To be honest, I'm still not sure which niche I'm gonna pick initially from the above to offer. But I really want to pick up website design and learn copywriting so I can build websites which can solve a business owner's problems and can convert organic traffic into clients or maybe solve some of their other problems. I'd really appreciate if you'd give some inputs on the same

That's cool, man. Take the time to really figure it out. Create some things. Build some fake websites about random things to show off your skills and create a proving ground.

I know this is going to get me in trouble here on the forum, but I do really value the Japanese mindset of Ikigai:

Gai is the key to finding your purpose, or value in life. The best way to really encapsulate the overarching ideology of ikigai is by looking at the ikigai Venn diagram which displays the overlapping four main qualities: what you are good at, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, and of course, what you love.

There are a lot of problems business owners face... what do they need? What are you good at? What can you be paid for? What do you love?

That last bit will probably bring out the pitchforks and torches -- but before I get murdered for suggesting "do what you love" -- there's still 3 other categories it has to align with. Not so black and white, life never is.

My only thought is: if you are only doing it for money, you won't last. If you don't at least enjoy the work, enjoy the process, you won't survive the hard days. There are a lot of them.

So, long story short:

1.) What is the need?
2.) What can you be paid for?
3.) What are you good at? (the best part is, you can always learn any skill)
4.) What do you love? (or at least kind of enjoy)

 

[yashdutt]

I would challenge this belief.

A LOT of companies do this (in every country).

Most businesses just getting started want to take on any and all business. The "we'll do that, too!" attitude seems like a good idea... and especially when you're desperate for work (and money) -- it's hard to turn down. I've been there, too. I think we all have.

But if you can just step back for a second and be honest with yourself and your clients "Here's where my superpowers are and where I can make the biggest impact" -- not only can you charge more money, but ironically you'll get MORE work than if you try to do everything.

I want an Instagram EXPERT. I want a Google Ads EXPERT. I want a website EXPERT. Not just somebody who says they can do it all, no problem, anything to get the sale. I have a few family members that think they can do EVERYTHING. You can guess why I've not invited them into my business





That's cool, man. Take the time to really figure it out. Create some things. Build some fake websites about random things to show off your skills and create a proving ground.

I know this is going to get me in trouble here on the forum, but I do really value the Japanese mindset of Ikigai:

There are a lot of problems business owners face... what do they need? What are you good at? What can you be paid for? What do you love?

That last bit will probably bring out the pitchforks and torches -- but before I get murdered for suggesting "do what you love" -- there's still 3 other categories it has to align with. Not so black and white, life never is.

My only thought is: if you are only doing it for money, you won't last. If you don't at least enjoy the work, enjoy the process, you won't survive the hard days. There are a lot of them.

So, long story short:

1.) What is the need?
2.) What can you be paid for?
3.) What are you good at? (the best part is, you can always learn any skill)
4.) What do you love? (or at least kind of enjoy)

I totally understand now that I cannot do all the things and be good at everything. It just felt before that even if I offered one of my services, why would someone pay more to me than some SMMA that's offering more services in less price.

But I think it just boils down to how you can get sales or solve the problems for the clients.
I'll just binge @Fox 's YouTube channel today and try getting things to work as I cannot afford the legends program now.

Thank you so much @Kung Fu Steve for your inputs on this situation.Now I understand why I'm still at the beginning even after 2 years of constant wantrepreneuring lol.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

So my aim was to build an SMMA which offered both website design, SEO and social media services.

@Kung Fu Steve has provided great advice above.

When we figure what we can be paid for, and we can be good at it, or the best at it, and we can love it.

The only other part of the equation is just staying to it and making sure it works.

The hedgehog principle and the stock stockdale principle.

The fox conjures a gazillion tricks and tactics to eat up the hedgehog, but the hedgehog just has one sure, obvious method of war. Spikes everywhere. And the hedgehog wins even before the war starts. The foxes loses the fight before it begins.

Focus on the goal. Which I believe is Fastlane Unscripted by fully escaping the rat race. Never waver from it. Want it. Direct resources to move it. I have faith it will come. BUT. Remember clearly, honestly, and appreciate your current reality.



Thank you.

 

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[yashdutt]

Absolutely,

@Kung Fu Steve has provided great advice above.

When we figure what we can be paid for, and we can be good at it, or the best at it, and we can love it.

The only other part of the equation is just staying to it and making sure it works.

The hedgehog principle and the stock stockdale principle.

The fox conjures a gazillion tricks and tactics to eat up the hedgehog, but the hedgehog just has one sure, obvious method of war. Spikes everywhere. And the hedgehog wins even before the war starts. The foxes loses the fight before it begins.

Focus on the goal. Which I believe is Fastlane Unscripted by fully escaping the rat race. Never waver from it. Want it. Direct resources to move it. I have faith it will come. BUT. Remember clearly, honestly, and appreciate your current reality.



Thank you.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. Thank you for your reply!

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Now I understand why I'm still at the beginning even after 2 years of constant wantrepreneuring lol.

You're not alone.

Many people say "I have 10 years of experience!"

When the truth is they have 1 year of experience and they just repeated it 9 more times. They make the same mistakes. Never grow. Never learn. Never evolve.

I believe everything we do should be with the idea of constant and neverending improvement. Kaizen.

 

[yashdutt]

You're not alone.

Many people say "I have 10 years of experience!"

When the truth is they have 1 year of experience and they just repeated it 9 more times. They make the same mistakes. Never grow. Never learn. Never evolve.

I believe everything we do should be with the idea of constant and neverending improvement. Kaizen.

The chain of events when you actually start executing is unreal.

Also, My dream country is Japan. I also learnt quite a bit of Japanese as I watched a lot of anime. I also had a plan to go to Japan after my undergrad under the JET program if my business endeavours didn't go as planned lol. But we can't predict the future... let's focus on the present and move forward

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

I totally understand now that I cannot do all the things and be good at everything. It just felt before that even if I offered one of my services, why would someone pay more to me than some SMMA that's offering more services in less price.

Don't try to outcompete everyone. Don't fight where the crowd is.

Isolate ONE thing. Become the best at it. And you'll earn from it.

 

[MRiabov]

Man, that was a great post. Really hit home what hard work really looks like in what so many consider to be an easy industry.

On the bright side, the willingness to pour that type of effort and time into the learning/ implementation is rare.

Considerably raising the barrier to (actual) entry.

Excellence of execution that is.