If 25 years ago you
wanted to start a marketing agency, there was a huge barrier to entry. The
digital landscape was quite primitive at that time and without an initial
investment, it was nearly impossible. In addition to the startup costs that
were required, you were also limited to traditional and physical media and all
of the headaches that were associated with everything but fabricating something
that would resemble ROI for your clients. It was inevitable to stay “in
the red” for quite some time.
However, times have
changed.
Today, it isn’t
impossible to think that a talented small team or individual could start a
fully operational marketing firm completely from scratch in just a couple of
months (of course, with a bit of help).
These days, companies
are spending a higher percentage of their marketing dollars on digital
advertising, and everybody is wanting a piece of this action. In our
guide, we will be walking you through all of the steps that you need to take if
you would like to build your own online marketing agency from scratch.
Develop the Skills You Need
If you have grandiose
dreams of being the next Neil Patel right after getting your college diploma,
then there is a good chance that you will fail big time.
You can be just as
intelligent and creative as anyone out there, but if you are not experienced
and prepared enough to deal with all of the nuances that are involved in
managing client relationships and account, then you will searching for another
gig very quickly. It might take several years for some people to develop the
necessary skills, while others might take less time. Either way, I strongly
believe you need to have a real job for a while before starting your own
venture.
Work environments are
much more complicated than we realize when you are grinding inside of it. In
addition to the actual work that you do, there is an entire array of politics,
nonverbal and verbal communication gymnastics, and expectations. Everything
from leadership, product, culture to how an organization is structured all play
a role in how your day and career unfolds.
Before you master the
digital marketing skills that you need, first you have to experience what it is
like working where your clients might work. That will invariably make you a
more well-rounded and understanding professional. Whenever your clients are
under a lot of stress and potentially projecting this onto you, you won’t take
it personally because you will better understand their situation.
That said, it is very
important for you to understand that only 50% of you as the final product is
based on soft skills. It is essential for you to get really good at the
professional services you will be offering. It doesn’t matter how slick and
sophisticated your sales game is, sooner or later a client will discover they
have been sold worthless snake oil. Instead, you must have the ability to drive
results. If you start your career as a Houston SEO expert by managing clients
for a bigger agency, I recommend that you start to work on the marketing team
or choose a small handful of clients to learn the necessary skills and channels
you will be executing on later.
In addition to the
pressure to produce, you also need to learn complex systems. Also, if you are
working on a small team, you will need to develop various skills to get even
basic campaigns up and running.
That involves but is not limited to the
following:
The advantage of
managing clients is that many of those aspects are handled before getting to
you. However, when you have experience working on those things, then you will
have the added value of really knowing what you are talking about when you are
given something that isn’t working. That will also help you with dealing with
the pressure of delivering quality results since you have been there many times
before.
Before You Become A Founder, Be A
Contractor First
Holding a job that
pays you a salary and allows you to have surgery without incurring debt that
will last a lifetime is a luxury that many people take for granted. When you
take the leap and work for yourself, there is a long list of risks involved.
What mitigates much of this risk is developing a foundation for your business
before you go full time with it. For various reason, I recommend that you do
some contracting work for a while on the side while you are still working
full-time. Here are some of the most
important reasons why:
It lets you strike
out to start your own business without having to assume a lot of risk. It will
give you an idea of what the entrepreneurial life is like when you start doing
side work. From sending invoices to clients to need to set aside money for
taxes, all of the important aspects of operating your own business will be
involved.
Also, you will need
to manage your time well if you are still working a full-time job. That means
working weekends and night when you would prefer to be watching Netflix
instead.
As a contractor
building relationships is very valuable since it can bring you referrals in the
future. If you can pay your bills with the money you earn as a contractor then
transitioning into a one-person agency will be much easier than trying to start
completely from scratch.
Another aspect that
is involved in managing clients on the side is that it enables you to get
experience with building contracts. You will need to get used to the process of
putting together a proposal, and then a contract, and finally signing all of
the necessary documents (NDA’s, etc.). It is all part of the business and you
will want to streamline them so that you reduce the amount of time you have to
spend on onboarding your new clients.
It makes it possible for you to develop
valuable relationships
When you are able to
get side work through networking, or from former coworkers or mutual
connections, it will provide you with the necessary experience for how to build
and maintain client relationships.
Another needed skill
that many people tend to overlook early on is how to negotiate the price of
your services.
Your expertise and
time are worth something no matter how well you know the individual. Developing
the skill of being able to ascertain the amount you should charge for specific
services or projects will be very valuable in the future.