2024

The World of Freelance Design: A Survival Guide

The World of Freelance Design: A Survival Guide Discover the world of freelance design and learn how to become a successful design ghost. This guide provides insights into effective outreach, showcasing abilities, and building trust with agencies. The world of freelance design can be cutthroat. Most freelance designers are struggling to find enough projects to pay their bills, while a small group of agencies are getting the majority of the work, often more than they can even fulfill. The 90/10 Split in Freelance Design If we were to break this down, it would be about a 90/10 split. This means that there are 90 percent of freelance designers fighting over just 10 percent of the clients and the client projects, while the other 10 percent of agencies get 90 percent of all those projects. The Struggle of Individual Designers The reason for this divide is that these agencies have had the time and the money to build up a brand, a reputation, a portfolio, and a track record. It becomes much easier for them to land clients, all while individual designers, especially those starting, are struggling to find even the smallest projects. The Solution: Becoming a Design Ghost So, what you need to do as that solo designer is to find a way to connect with these agencies and get them to be willing to pass over to you their extra projects. These are often projects that come when they’re overbooked, or they’re smaller budgets, or they might even be client projects from clients that are a little bit more difficult to work with. The Role of a Design Ghost Putting yourself in this position with these agencies is what I call being a “Design Ghost”. You’re the person behind the scenes that does all of the fulfillment, the design, the development, and then the agency handles all of the stuff in the front office. The Freedom of a Design Ghost This might sound like you’re an employee, but that’s not the case. You still have the freedom to choose what you do with your time. You have the freedom to choose which projects you want to take on, and you’re essentially just sitting back and letting these agencies bring projects to you. The Challenge of Becoming a Design Ghost However, it’s not as easy as it seems. The hardest part of this whole thing is getting agencies to notice you, trust you, and want to pass their work over to you. The Importance of Proper Outreach As I was thinking about this, I thought back to all of the ridiculous messages and emails that I’ve received from people reaching out and asking me to give them clients give them free work, or bring them on. There are a lot of really bad examples that I’m going to share here in just a minute, and I’m going to show you what not to do when you’re sending these outreach messages to agencies. Conclusion Before we dive into these outreach examples, there are a few things that we have to remember. These agencies are busy, and so you have to be respectful of their time. Next is, that these agencies do not need you as badly as you need them, and so coming in and acting like a hot shot and acting like they would be lucky to have you is not the right approach. The Pitfalls of Outreach Outreach is a crucial part of becoming a design ghost. However, it’s important to remember that these agencies are busy, and you have to be respectful of their time. They have the positioning and the power to land new clients, so you have to be appreciative and respectful of that. If you can show them you’re willing to fit into their system rather than them fitting into yours, they’re more likely to respond to you. The Wrong Way to Reach Out Unfortunately, many designers approach outreach the wrong way. Here are some examples of actual outreach messages that miss the mark: “Wondering if you had any extra work you could pass my way.” This message comes across as needy and self-centered. “I am looking to scale my business and wondering if I could take some clients off your hands.” This message is self-serving and doesn’t offer anything to the agency. “I can help with some smaller clients that you are unable to take on.” This message is a bit better, but it still doesn’t offer a compelling reason for the agency to work with you. “I have struggled to find my clients and wondering if you had any advice you could give me.” This message doesn’t instill confidence and asks for free advice, which is unlikely to be given. The Importance of a Good Outreach Message A good outreach message is personalized, specific to what the agency is looking for, and reassuring. It shows that you understand the agency’s needs and can provide value. In the next part, we’ll discuss how to craft an effective outreach message that gets noticed and remembered by agencies. The Right Way to Reach Out Jane, a fictional character in our transcript, provides an excellent example of how to reach out to agencies. Here’s the message she sent: “I’m Jane. I followed your YouTube channel and digital for a while now. I recently watched your video on how to find clients and it has been a huge help. Anyways, I’ll be super quick because I know you have things to do. I’m a white label webflow developer. I call myself a webflow ghost. I work with agencies like yours to help you relieve the stress of managing smaller or needier clients. I know they can be frustrating and draw your attention away from larger clients and filming more YouTube videos, but I also know it would be nice to still service those smaller clients and not lose out on that revenue.” Jane’s message is personalized, and specific, and addresses the pain points of the agency. She

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The Four Pillars of Starting a Solo Agency

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The Four Pillars of Starting a Solo Agency Discover the four essential steps to start a solo agency. Learn about creating a unique offer, building an effective website, and the importance of sales and client acquisition. Starting a solo agency can seem like a daunting task, but with the right steps, you can turn your agency into a revenue machine. Here are the first four steps to get you started: 1. Infrastructure The infrastructure of your agency is crucial. What makes solo agencies unique are the moving parts and pieces. The only constant in your agency is you. However, you can’t do everything. Some roles and responsibilities need to be fulfilled to service your clients and scale your agency. These roles can be filled by yourself, a part-time contractor, or automation and tools. Some of the roles that need to be filled early on are: Billing You need someone or something to manage invoices, send them out, and ensure that your clients are paying on time. A tool like Hello Bonsai automates most of this process, allowing you to set it and forget it. Alternatively, you could hire a virtual assistant (VA) with basic knowledge of these types of tools to manage the billing department of your agency. Support For obvious reasons, you don’t want to manually respond to every single support request. A tool like HelpCrunch can create a library answering all the different questions that you frequently get. This way, when people have an issue or a question, they can first go to your library to find their answer. If they can’t, then they can reach out to you. You could also use canned responses inside of Gmail. These are email templates that allow you to quickly respond to common questions. For support, you could also hire a VA, which is affordable. Just make sure that you train them so they know how to answer every different type of request that they might get. Fulfillment Most of the time, you are going to be the one fulfilling the actual services, at least at first. But that doesn’t mean that you always have to be stuck in fulfillment. You can hire part-time contractors, use a white-label agency where you sell the services and they complete them or even use AI tools to shortcut this entire process. If you’re the only person managing fulfillment, it’s going to be difficult to grow your business because there are only a certain number of hours in a day that you can work. 2. Your Offer The second step of starting your agency is creating your offer. You need to find a way to create such a great offer that people just can’t refuse it. First, you need to decide what it is that you’re selling. Is it design and development? Is it marketing like ads and SEO? Is it social media? Is it content? Whatever it is that you feel like you can do well and provide value to your clients, that needs to be your service. But remember, your service and your offer are two different things. 3. Sales The fifth responsibility is sales. Early on in your agency, you must handle the sales yourself. A salesperson just isn’t going to know how to sell your unique services. As you learn how to effectively sell your services, you can eventually train a salesperson or a sales team. 4. Maintenance The sixth responsibility is maintenance. This is just ongoing stuff that hopefully you’re charging some sort of recurring fee for. You could hire a virtual assistant, or a contractor, or use tools that can automate this maintenance process. For example, a tool like Sitee Keep offers monthly site maintenance to your clients and sends them an automated report with all of the audits and checks. Look for ways to maintain your clients, keep them happy, and provide value while doing the least amount of work possible. Hiring an Executive Assistant One last tip before we move into the next step is hiring an executive assistant. There’s a lot of value in hiring a specialist, but an executive assistant who does a little bit of everything can be a great asset. They can respond to emails, work with clients, help make big decisions on the business, and help with billing. If you’re having a hard time deciding who you should hire as a part-time or full-time person, maybe looking for somebody who has experience in all of the different things is a good place to start. 2. Your Offer (Continued) You need to find a way to create such a great offer that people just can’t refuse it. First, you need to decide what it is that you’re selling. Is it design and development? Is it marketing like ads and SEO? Is it social media? Is it content? Whatever it is that you feel like you can do well and provide value to your clients, that needs to be your service. But remember, your service and your offer are two different things. The service is what you’re doing, but the offer is how you sell it. You’re packaging it up and making it seem appealing to your prospects. If you just try to sell a service, you’re just going to be one in a million because that’s what everyone is doing. So instead, you need to find a way to package that up into a great offer. The way to do this is by making it unique. Here are several different ways to make your offer unique: Best: Maybe you’re the best designer out there and your work is better than anyone else’s. That’s a great way to make yourself stand out. Fastest: Maybe you have a faster turnaround than anybody else out there. Cheaper: Maybe you’re just a cheaper option and you do the same work for a cheaper price. Exclusive: Maybe you’re just exclusive and you find a way to build a brand that people just want to work with and then it makes them

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4 Critical Tips for Running a Successful Solo Agency

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4 Critical Tips for Running a Successful Solo Agency Explore the four critical tips to running a successful solo agency. Learn about refusing extra responsibility, compartmentalizing tasks, setting strict boundaries, and maintaining emotional detachment from clients. In this blog post, we will delve into the key strategies shared in a blog to help solo agency owners thrive in their businesses. The video highlights four essential tips that can make a significant difference between a successful solo agency and a struggling one. These insights offer practical advice on how to manage responsibilities, maintain focus, set boundaries, and foster a healthy mindset in the dynamic world of solo entrepreneurship. Refusing Extra Responsibility Successful solo agency owners understand the importance of delegating tasks effectively to focus on high-impact activities. By prioritizing key responsibilities that drive business growth, solo entrepreneurs can streamline their workflow and optimize their time management. Compartmentalizing Tasks To prevent burnout and maintain productivity, it is crucial to compartmentalize tasks and allocate dedicated time blocks for specific activities. By setting a structured schedule and adhering to it, solo agency owners can enhance efficiency and reduce stress levels. Setting Strict Boundaries Establishing clear boundaries with clients and contractors from the outset can foster a professional working relationship and ensure mutual respect. By communicating expectations and enforcing guidelines, solo entrepreneurs can create a positive work environment and maintain control over project outcomes. Avoiding Emotional Attachment Maintaining a healthy detachment from client emotions is essential for preserving personal well-being and professional integrity. By focusing on delivering high-quality service without letting external factors impact their emotional state, solo agency owners can cultivate a resilient mindset and sustain long-term success. In conclusion, these four tips provide a solid foundation for solo agency owners to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship effectively. By implementing these strategies, entrepreneurs can enhance their operational efficiency, foster positive relationships, and prioritize their well-being in a competitive business landscape. Aspiring solo agency owners can leverage these insights to build a sustainable and thriving business model that aligns with their goals and values.

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ONE-PERSON AGENCY model revealed

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Building a Successful One-Person Agency Learn how to build a successful one-person agency, manage client relationships, handle difficult clients, and exceed client expectations. Discover strategies for negotiating contracts and delighting clients in this comprehensive guide. In the digital age, starting a one-person agency can be a lucrative venture, potentially earning you over $500,000 per year. This business model doesn’t mean you have to do everything by yourself. Instead, it’s about running an ultra-efficient business with minimal overhead, automating tasks with no-code tools, and having a fluid team that you can scale up or down as needed. Choosing Your Niche The first step in building your one-person agency is deciding what type of agency you want to have. There are countless options available, and the best choice will be something you’re passionate about and willing to invest time in to become an expert. Here are some categories and services you might consider: Sales and Marketing Offering services like SEO, Google ads, social media marketing, or email marketing can be highly profitable. These services help clients see a return on their investment, making this a great niche for your agency. Design While it might be more challenging, design can also be a profitable niche. Services could include graphic design, web design, UX/UI design, and more. With a plethora of tools available, these services can be easily delivered via the Internet or email. Coaching and Consulting Coaching and consulting are popular right now. Offering courses, coaching, consulting, or other forms of information or motivation to help clients accomplish specific goals can be a great addition to your agency’s services. Just ensure that whatever you offer provides value to your clients. Managing Workload Even as a one-person agency, you can’t do everything on your own, especially when it comes to logistical tasks or busy work. It’s essential to identify all the tasks that need to be done and determine which can be automated through tools and tech, and which need to be handled by a human. Remember, starting a one-person agency is about more than just doing the work. It’s about building a business that can scale and adapt as needed, providing valuable services to your clients, and managing your time and resources effectively. With the right approach, your one-person agency can be a successful and profitable venture. Automating Your One-Person Agency Automation is a key aspect of running a successful one-person agency. There are numerous affordable tools available that can automate tasks such as invoicing, billing, customer outreach, and content creation. These tools can be more cost-effective and efficient than hiring a human to do the same tasks. Human vs. Automated Tasks It’s crucial to distinguish between tasks that need to be handled by humans and those that can be automated. Tasks that involve interacting with your clients or users, require a personal touch, or involve research, vision, and forward-thinking are best handled by humans. Once you’ve identified which tasks fall into each category, you can set up a well-oiled machine with you at the helm. Building Your Team Even in a one-person agency, you’ll need to bring people onto your team for certain tasks. Here are some key points to consider: Leadership First and foremost, you need to be a good leader. While there are many resources available on leadership, the best way to become a good leader is through experience. As you hire your first team member, you’ll learn a lot from the mistakes you make. Don’t hesitate to dive in and learn as you go. Communication Effective communication with your team is crucial. Tools like Slack can facilitate this communication. Hiring Finding team members can be done in various ways. For example, you might find team members through Facebook groups or other social platforms. You could ask potential team members to send a quick screen recording or audio introduction explaining why they would be a good fit for the role. Payment Paying your team members can be done through various platforms like PayPal, Venmo, or Wise. The process doesn’t have to be overly formal or official. Remember, not everyone has to work for you every day. The beauty of a one-person agency is that you can bring people in as needed and build your network over time. Don’t feel overwhelmed if you’re not yet a seasoned business owner. Just bootstrap your agency, meet people, bring them in, and start building your network. You’ll learn and grow along the way. Building a Fluid Team and Finding Clients One of the most critical aspects of running a successful one-person agency is building a fluid team. You don’t need full-time employees all the time. Instead, you can have a network of connections that work with you on and off based on the project or the month. This approach allows you to scale up or down depending on your workload. However, having an agency is worthless if you don’t have any clients. As the agency owner, you should always be your agency’s number one salesperson. This responsibility will always fall on you, especially in the first few years. Your team members and all your expenses with your tools will rely heavily on you bringing in business and paying for those things while also making a profit. There are various ways to find clients, and you need to explore these to ensure the lifeblood of your agency. Remember, as long as you can find ways to find clients, you’ll never struggle, even during times of economic crisis. You can easily scale up or scale down, and worst-case scenario, you could technically remove everyone from your team and do everything on your own. The Benefits of Running a One-Person Agency Running a one-person agency comes with several benefits. Firstly, you don’t have to do it all alone because you have awesome team members working with you. Secondly, it’s a bulletproof system. As long as you can find clients, you’re never going to struggle. You can easily scale up or scale down, and in the worst-case

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How to Build a One-Person Agency that Prints Money

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How to Build a One-Person Agency that Prints Money Discover the power of running a one-person agency. Learn about the services you can offer, the business models you can adopt, and the strategies to gain an advantage over other agencies. Understand the importance of branding yourself and creating a proven lead system. Introduction In the world of entrepreneurship, one of the most profitable ventures you can embark on is a one-person agency. As a solo operator, you get to keep 100% of the profits, make all the decisions, and rely on no one else. This business model is perfect, especially if you don’t want the pressure of hiring other people and paying their salaries. In this article, we’re going to break down everything you need to know about running a one-person agency. Agency Service Offerings A one-person agency can offer a variety of services. The most common is probably web design and web development. These are services that are easy to provide remotely and offer a lot of value to your clients. You can also offer any type of marketing service, such as SEO, Google ads, social media ads, and reputation management. These services drive leads and new business for your clients. Creating organic content or video content is another service you can offer. You can help with creation, writing, planning, editing, and managing accounts. Creating content is crucial in today’s digital landscape, and businesses need help with it. Lastly, you can offer business consulting services. This could include anything that will help improve a business, such as sales training or hiring. Any service that provides a financial benefit to your clients is a great service to offer as a solo agency. Business Models of a One-Person Agency There are two main business models for a one-person agency. To understand these models, we first need to understand the roles within an agency. These can be broken down into three parts: The Technician: This is the person who does all of the work and fulfillment. The Manager: This person manages the work and communicates with the clients. The CEO: This person is in charge of big-picture decisions and all things growth, marketing, and sales. Model 1: The True Solo Agency In this model, you do everything. You are the technician, the manager, and the CEO. You have to balance and juggle all of these different roles. While that might be difficult, it can work well for some people, especially if you’re the type of person who likes variation in your work. Some days you might feel like marketing or having sales calls, other days you might just want to sit alone in your office and design or work on fulfillment. This model can work, but you have to make sure that you manage your time properly and that none of these roles get forgotten. Model 2: The Recommended Model This is the model that I would recommend because it takes. Working with Contractors Working with contractors might seem intimidating, especially if you’re not keen on managing or dealing with people. However, it can be pretty straightforward, especially if you have a set process for the services you’re offering. For example, if you design and develop websites for your clients and have a full process or system of how this is done, you can pass this off to a contractor. With a little bit of follow-up, the contractor can do all of the work, pass it back to you, and you pay them. This approach takes so much off your plate that you’re able to take on more clients and work less. In my agency, I have a couple of full-time people, but at any given time, I have five different contractors that I’m constantly working with. It’s nice to build those connections and find the people that you like to work with the most. Gaining an Advantage Over Other Agencies Now, let’s talk about how you can give your small one-person agency an advantage over all the other agencies and freelancers out there. Specializing or Niching Down The first strategy might seem obvious, but it just works, and that is specializing or niching down. If you are practicing as a generalist, you’re going to be competing with every single other generalist in the entire world. But if you specialize and niche down by several layers, you’re going to get to the point where you’re the only option. When this becomes the scenario, you can charge as much as you want, and people are going to feel like they have to work with you. They’re going to want to work with you because they see you as the expert for their situation. Building Partnerships with Complementary Businesses The second strategy is building partnerships with complementary businesses. If you learn how to do this well, this could be the only source of marketing you would ever need. For example, if you offer SEO or some sort of marketing service, you’re going to want to reach out to all of the web designers that you can reach. You want to make a deal with them that when they finish designing and developing a website, they will make it part of their process to recommend your marketing services. In return, you’ll give them some sort of kickback. Those developers are going to be crazy not to want to partner with you because they’re going to make extra money without any Branding Yourself When you run a one-person agency, you’re essentially selling yourself rather than an agency. Your face should be all over everything, and when you’re creating content, you should be showing people your personality. This helps people get to know you and feel comfortable with you. Oftentimes, they’re going to hire your agency because of you, not because of some special offer or pricing. So, make sure you brand yourself across all platforms and make your face recognizable. Making your agency personal like this is going to make it far easier to find and close new clients. Creating

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The Solo Agency Blueprint: A Hybrid Approach to Digital Marketing

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The Solo Agency Blueprint: A Hybrid Approach to Digital Marketing Discover the benefits of the Solo Agency Blueprint, a hybrid model that combines the flexibility of freelancing with the resources of a full-scale agency. Learn how to transform your business and attract high-value clients. Introduction Two days ago, I announced the pre-sale of my brand-new program, The Solo Agency Blueprint. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have pre-ordered the program. Your support means a lot to me. Over the past few days, I’ve been doing my best to answer all the questions I’ve been receiving about the program. What is a Solo Agency? The term “solo agency” might sound a bit contradictory. After all, “solo” and “agency” seem complete opposites. In this article, I aim to explain exactly what a solo agency is and how it can benefit you and your business. To illustrate this concept, let’s use the example of a hybrid car. A hybrid car is part gasoline, part electric. The purpose of a hybrid car is to give you the best of both worlds. You get the benefits of saving money by not having to purchase gas, but you also get the reliability of being able to use gas if you ever run out of power. It’s this perfect happy medium that helps you get from point A to point B cheaper and more reliably than any other method. The Solo Agency: A Hybrid Model The sole agency is the same thing. It is a hybrid between being a solo freelancer and running a traditional agency with paid-salary employees. This hybrid option allows you to have the best of both worlds. Benefits of Being a Freelancer As a freelancer, you enjoy a low-pressure and low-stress environment. You get high margins because you’re not paying other people’s salaries. You get to choose your schedule and decide what you want to work on and what you don’t want to work on. You don’t have to manage full-time employees and make sure that they’re always on task and that you’re getting your money’s worth. Benefits of Running an Agency Running an agency allows you to attract big-ticket, high-budget clients. You get to charge higher rates because everyone assumes and expects agencies to be more expensive due to their overhead. But they’re also bringing more resources to the table. So, you are going to have extra resources to take on bigger, more profitable projects. You’re going to get more projects done, which means your portfolio and your reputation are going to grow faster. How Does a Solo Agency Work? As a solo agency owner, you are the only paid salary employee, hence the word “solo”. But that doesn’t mean that you’re the only human. You’re going to use part-time contractors and white-label agencies, usually on a per-project basis, as well as no-code tools, AI, and all of the other resources that you have at your disposal. The goal of this program is that by the end of it, you will have completely transformed your current business or built a brand new business from nothing into a fully functioning solo agency. You’re going to know exactly how to structure your business, how to find clients, how to outsource work, how to do fulfillment, how to onboard – everything in the entire process from start to finish. How is This Different from My PR Group? I’ve had a lot of people asking how this is different from my PR group. Originally, this was going to be a training series inside my PR group. But as we started to put together this blueprint, it just became too big and I realized how important it was to be its standalone program. The Solo Agency Blueprint: A Standalone Program While Pay Pro will continue to be my main training platform for all web designers, the Solo Agency Blueprint is a standalone program. It’s specifically focused on this unique business model and aims to help you set it up. If you’re on the fence about pre-ordering this program, I can guarantee that the result will be far more than just a little extra knowledge about how to run your business. Transform Your Business I truly hope that this program will evolve your business entirely. It will teach you all the ins and outs of actually running an agency. It will help you reap the benefits of being a solo freelancer while also commanding the resources of a full-scale agency. Why Choose the Solo Agency Model? There are a lot of designers that are switching to this business model. It is highly profitable and more enjoyable to run. I can vouch for that. The pre-sale for this program goes for just a few more days. So, if you’re interested, visit the Solo Agency Blueprint website. I’ll be excited to see you inside! I’m intrigued! Tell me more about the benefits. Benefits of the Solo Agency Model: Profitability: This model is highly profitable as you get to keep a larger portion of the revenue without having to pay salaries to full-time employees. Flexibility: As a solo agency owner, you have the flexibility to choose your schedule and decide what projects you want to work on. Low Stress: Without the need to manage full-time employees, the solo agency model offers a low-pressure and low-stress environment. High-Value Clients: The solo agency model allows you to attract big-ticket, high-budget clients, enabling you to charge higher rates. Rapid Growth: With more resources at your disposal, you can take on bigger, more profitable projects, allowing your portfolio and reputation to grow faster. How do I pre-order? What’s included? Pre-ordering the Program: To pre-order the program, you would typically visit the Solo Agency Blueprint website. However, since I can’t provide the link here, I recommend searching for “Solo Agency Blueprint” in your web browser and following the instructions on the website to pre-order. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to it! What’s Included in the Program: The Solo Agency Blueprint program

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The Solo Agency Model: A Comprehensive Guide

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The Solo Agency Model: A Comprehensive Guide Explore the Solo Agency Model in this comprehensive guide. Learn about its six different models, how to choose the right one for you, and the importance of the Responsibility Filter in running a successful solo agency. Introduction In the world of digital marketing, the Solo Agency Model has emerged as a lucrative and efficient business model. This model is designed to maximize profits while minimizing stress, offering the best of both worlds. It’s a model that allows you to land big clients and generate significant revenue without the hassle of managing employees and dealing with overhead costs. What is a Solo Agency? A solo agency is a business model where there is only one full-time paid salary employee – you. Everything else in the business is run, outsourced, or managed by part-time contractors or tools. This model is larger than a solo freelancer model but smaller and leaner than a traditional agency. The Solo Agency Blueprint The Solo Agency Blueprint is a comprehensive program that provides a step-by-step guide to setting up your dream agency. This program is divided into six modules, each designed to give you everything you need from start to finish. The Six Solo Agency Models Choosing the right model for your solo agency is critical. It should highlight your skills and eliminate the parts of running a business that you like the least. Here are the six different solo agency models: Single Person Done For You Service: This is the most common model and is essentially a glorified freelancer. You do all the work, including sales, and the clients do none of the work. Single Person Done With You Option: In this model, rather than doing all the work for the client, you act as a guide and help the client do the work. Some clients prefer this and are even willing to pay more for this type of service. Assisted Fulfillment: This is a common way to run your solo agency. You hire part-time contractors or tools to do all of the fulfillment, and you manage sales communication and other high-level tasks. Assisted Management Model: This model is for those who love actually doing the work. For example, if you’re a web designer and you love designing websites, this model would be a good fit. Assisted Management Model: This model is for those who love doing the work and dislike the management, sales, billing, and invoicing aspects of the business. In this model, you can hire contractors and employ tools to handle all the management for you, allowing you to focus on what you do best. White Label Model: In this model, you are the business front. You sell the services, but then you use a white label agency to do the work. This model allows you to do the heavy lifting while still making money. Ghost Model: This model is where you act as the behind-the-scenes person. You’re basically the white label service. You reach out to other agencies and individuals who are offering the services and tell them to pass you the work. This is a great option if you just really like to do the work and don’t want to deal with any of the other fluff. Choosing the Right Model Choosing the right model is not only critical to your success but will also determine your happiness and enjoyment when running your business. If you end up doing all the things that you hate, you’re going to hate your job. So, if you hate bookkeeping, find a tool to do it for you. If you hate managing projects, hire a part-time project manager. If you hate communicating with clients, find somebody to do it or set rules and boundaries that limit communication. The Responsibility Filter The responsibility filter is a critical part of running a solo agency. Without it, your agency will likely flop. This filter helps you delegate tasks that you don’t enjoy or aren’t good at, allowing you to focus on what you do best and make a greater impact. The Solo Agency Blueprint The Solo Agency Blueprint is a comprehensive program that delves into the nitty-gritty of running a business. It covers everything from structure and strategy to finances, client acquisition, and fulfillment. This blueprint is designed to answer all your questions, solve all your problems, and guide you in running your business the right way. The course is currently under production and will be priced at $997 upon launch. However, you can pre-order the course now for just $329. Pre-orders will be closing soon due to the limited availability of the discounted price. The Responsibility Filter The Responsibility Filter is a safeguard for your time as the CEO. It serves as a boundary that keeps you focused on the tasks that will move your business forward. The filter has three layers: boundaries, tools, and people. Every time a new task or responsibility comes your way, you should run it through this filter. The first layer, boundaries, involves determining if you can eliminate the task or set up systems that will eliminate the need for it. If the task can’t be eliminated, it moves to the second layer, tools. Here, you ask if there are any tools that can do the work for you. With the advancements in AI and the plethora of no-code tools available, you’d be surprised at how much can be automated. If a task can’t be handled by tools, it moves to the third layer, people. You then consider if there are people who can do the task. If not, it might be time to find people who can. Only if a task cannot be handled by boundaries, tools, or people should you take it on yourself. By running everything through this filter, you can ensure that you’re only focused on the high-level tasks that will generate revenue for your business. The overall goal is for you, as the CEO, to focus on sales, marketing, branding, and client

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Conquering the Fear of Cold Calling: A Guide for Digital Marketers

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Conquering the Fear of Cold Calling: A Guide for Digital Marketers This blog post provides a comprehensive guide to mastering cold calling for digital marketers. It covers strategies for overcoming fear, creating effective sales scripts, handling objections, and building genuine relationships with potential clients. Introduction If you’re struggling with cold calling, it’s probably because you’re not implementing the strategies that we’re going to discuss in this blog post. Today, we’re going to give you the keys to success when cold calling any business, regardless of your industry or experience level. Whether you’re a complete beginner or you’ve been calling for quite some time, this guide is for you. About the Author My name is Anurag. I own a digital marketing agency in India. Before that, I worked in corporate sales, spending thousands of hours on the phone calling up businesses. This blog post is part of a new sales playlist that we’ve launched on our channel. We aim to make what is perceived as a very complicated industry very simple, so people like you can learn from these posts and improve your sales skills. The Fear of Cold Calling Cold calling is the big one. It’s the most requested topic we’ve had to cover, and probably going to have to make a couple of posts on it because there’s a lot to cover. Cold calling is an outreach strategy that every salesperson dreads, especially in the beginning. It’s intimidating, requires the most amount of effort, and there’s more room for you to screw up. People are just scared about cold calling, and that’s the first thing that we need to cover today. I know how that feels. When I first got my first telesales job, I was an introvert. I got into my first sales meeting, and we had our training. We were talking about how we were going to cold call a hundred companies per day. I remember when I got my script, and I was trembling with fear making my first cold call. I was forced to cold call a hundred companies every single day because if I didn’t, I was going to get the sack. Over time, I got better and better, but I truly know how it feels to be afraid of picking up the phone. Overcoming the Fear One of the biggest things that helped me out when I was in my first sales job was when I said to my trainer, “Look, I am really scared of picking up the phone. I’m so intimidated by having to do these cold calls.” They asked me, “Anurag, what are you afraid of happening?” I said, “Well, I’m afraid of them saying this. I’m afraid of them rejecting me. I’m afraid of this.” They said, “Okay, fine. So you’re afraid of rejection. You’re afraid of not knowing what to say when somebody gives you an objection. I just want to start by saying that an objection is not a rejection. It’s just a request for more information.” They asked me to write down every single possible objection that I thought I could get on that phone call. What are all the things that could go wrong? What are all the things that they could say to me? Write them all down on a bit of paper and show it to me, and I’ll work with you on them. Essentially, what they did was they worked with me on coming up with an answer to every single possible objection in my mind. Now, I knew that the majority of those objections I had written down were not going to happen. They were just made-up, fake things in my mind. But some things were in my subconscious that were bothering me, which was preventing me from picking up the phone being confident on the phone and not sounding robotic. One of the things you need to do to loosen up on a phone call is to make sure you’re very comfortable. If not, you’re going to sound robotic. The Trap of Sounding Like a Salesman One of the biggest pitfalls you need to avoid is falling into the trap of sounding like a salesman. You’re going to fall into the trap of sounding robotic, and that’s not what you want. You need to be comfortable on the phone. To do that, you need to understand what you are going to say from your actions. You need to get rid of the fear of failure when you’re cold calling. Handling Objections Write down all of the potential objections and next to them, write down all of the things that you can say to fire back to that business owner. We’re going to come back to discuss a couple of things later on in this post. Dozens of your business owners can be future customers as well. But we’re going to come back to objections. Understanding the Stakes The next thing you want to make sure you do is understand that you have nothing to lose when you’re cold-calling somebody. You’re trying to secure new business. You didn’t have that business in the first place. You didn’t have that client. You didn’t have that money in your bank. So if you come off that cold call and you still don’t have anything, you haven’t lost anything at all apart from one cold lead. And there are thousands and thousands of them about. Sales is a Numbers Game Sales is a numbers game. Like anything in life, the first time you do it, you’re going to screw up, and you need to accept that. That’s fine. You’re going to fail. You’re going to screw up. You’re going to stumble over your words. You’re going to say something silly. You’re going to be like, “Why the hell did I say that?” But you learn from it. Accepting Failure If you learn to accept that you are going to fail when you first start, you’ll be a lot more comfortable on the phone

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How to Get Your First Five Customers in 10 Steps

Marketing / IGDigital

How to Get Your First Five Customers in 10 Steps Discover how to get your first five customers in 10 easy steps. This blog post, based on the book ‘100 Million Dollar Leads,’ guides you through the process of compiling a list of potential leads, personalizing your message, creating scarcity, and much more. Start your journey towards successful networking today. Step 1: Compile a List The first step is to compile a list of potential leads. This list will be made up of three parts: Email Contacts: Go to your email account and pull all the contacts you have ever messaged or emailed. Social Media Contacts: Visit every single social media profile that you have. Write down every follower that you can direct message. Phone and Personal Contacts: Pull out your phone and export your contacts. Combining all three of these lists will give you significantly more leads than you initially thought. Step 2: Choose a Platform Now that you have all these contacts, you must choose one platform to start messaging or emailing them. Start with the platform where you have the most contacts. This could be Instagram, email, or even your phone contacts. Step 3: Personalize Your Message When reaching out to a person or prospect, it’s important to personalize your message. Take 30 seconds to look at someone’s profile and find something you have in common. This could be anything from a recent life event to a shared interest. Use this as your primary message when reaching out. Step 4: Reach Out Reach out to 100 people every single day. It may seem daunting at first, but remember, everything must be hard before it can be easy. Just get over the hump and send that first message. Step 5: Warm Them Up If they reply, you need to warm them up. I use a framework that I call ACA: Acknowledge, Compliment, and Ask. For example, acknowledge something about them, compliment them on it, and then tie your ask to the compliment you just gave them. This will lead them to the service you sell. Step 6: Invite Their Friends While you’re having these conversations, remember, you’re not selling anything yet. You’re just asking a question. They’re going to tell you stuff, and then you’ll casually ask, “By the way, do you know anyone who’s looking for X, Y, and Z? Because I’m opening up a few slots to help people do exactly that.” You’re just asking them if they know anybody. Since you’re friends with them and since you’re contacts, you’re asking them for a favor, not asking them to buy from you. Step 7: Transition from Lead to Engaged Lead If they express interest in what you’re selling, they’ve transitioned from a lead to an engaged lead. A lead is someone you can contact. An engaged lead is someone you can contact who has shown interest in what you sell. Step 8: Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse To get them to buy from you, you’re going to give them the easiest offer in the world to say yes to – you’re going to make it free. They probably know that you’re not that experienced. Just be honest. The reason we do it for free is you say, “Hey, I’m gonna do all this stuff for free as long as you promise to do three things: one, you use my service; two, you give me feedback on it; and three, leave a killer review if you think it deserves one.” Step 9: Learn and Improve The reason I want you to start with that is that one, it’ll get you more reps; two, you probably suck; three, you need to learn how to suck less. And you suck less by doing more. It’s way easier to get more people to work with you if you lower the barrier to free. You’re getting the better end of the deal. Step 10: Launch Your Product The launch of my second book, “100 Million Dollar Leads,” is a testament to this process. The event itself, where I’ll be launching it on Saturday, August 19th, will be bananas. I’ve spent over a million dollars on the event itself, and I’m going to be giving away a secret thing that I’ve been working on for over four years to everyone who’s there with me live. Step 11: Understand the Value of Free Warren Buffett once offered to work for Ben Graham, the GOAT of investing, for free. Graham responded that Buffett was overpriced. Why? Because Graham knew that he would have to invest more in getting Buffett good enough to work for him. The same principle applies here. Your customers are very much because they are exchanging something for your service – their time and effort. Just because you’re not getting paid doesn’t mean it’s free. But it is monetarily free. Step 12: Ask for Referrals Ask your contacts if they know anybody who is struggling with a particular problem and looking to achieve a specific outcome in a certain time frame. You’re taking on five case studies for free because that’s all you can handle. You just want to get some testimonials for your service or product. Be honest, because this is your first business and you have no idea what you’re doing, so you better not take more than five customers. Step 13: Use Testimonials Use testimonials to show that your service works across different scenarios. If they say they don’t know anyone, ask them if they know anyone they dislike. That’s when you’ll sometimes get the real response. Step 14: Simplify Your Pitch If you don’t have time to say all of those things, just say, “I help the type of customer get dream outcome in a period without effort and sacrifice, and I guarantee XYZ to decrease risk.” Step 15: Understand the Hidden Costs If people don’t want to work with you even for free, then ask them why. The reason that someone tells you they

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Understanding Retention Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide

Marketing / IGDigital

Understanding Retention Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide We delve into the world of Retention Marketing. We will explore its definition, importance, and the tools used in this marketing strategy. What is Retention Marketing? When we think about marketing, the first thing that comes to mind is acquiring new customers. Most of our focus and budget are directed toward acquisition marketing. However, it’s equally important to focus on Retention Marketing. Retention Marketing is the process of keeping old customers. These are customers who have already been acquired. The goal is to retain them, but this can only be achieved if they are satisfied. This requires the development of certain processes and strategies, which we will discuss in detail. Customer Acquisition vs Retention To understand Retention Marketing better, let’s first differentiate it from Customer Acquisition. Customer Acquisition Customer Acquisition is the process of getting new customers. This could be through leads or sales. Any strategy, budget allocation, or marketing effort that brings in new customers falls under Acquisition Marketing. Customer Retention On the other hand, Customer Retention is the process of keeping old customers. These are customers who have already been acquired. The aim is to retain them, but this can only be achieved if they are satisfied. For instance, if we are a digital marketing agency with clients with whom we are working, and we want them to stay with us for the next quarter or even the next year, we need to provide them with services and build a system that will retain them. Why Retention Marketing? You might wonder why we are associating marketing with retention. The reason is that different strategies, types of budgets, and resources are used in Retention Marketing. One important thing to note is that acquiring a new customer costs more than retaining an old customer. For example, if a client in our agency is giving us Rs 50000 per month, the cost of acquiring a new customer would include meetings, deploying resources, prospecting, and marketing. In contrast, the cost of retaining an old customer involves developing a process to satisfy them. Unless they are satisfied, they will not retain you. Therefore, to satisfy them, different strategies are employed in Retention Marketing. Key Metrics in Retention Marketing When we talk about retention, there are three very important metrics that you need to understand. These are the Retention Rate, Churn Rate, and Customer Lifetime Value. Retention Rate The Retention Rate is a metric that measures the percentage of customers retained over a certain period. For example, if you want to find the retention rate from 1st January 2023 to 30th December 2024, you would calculate the number of customers at the end of the period divided by the number of customers at the start of the period, multiplied by 100. This metric is not only applicable to physical customers but can also be calculated for app users or subscribers of a service like Canva. The retention rate becomes even more important for Software as a Service (SaaS) products, where the goal is not just to get someone to install your product but to continue using it. Churn Rate The Churn Rate is another important metric in retention marketing. It measures the percentage of customers that you’ve lost. For example, if you had a customer base of 10 million and you lost 2 million, your churn rate would be (2 million / 10 million) * 100 = 20%. This is a negative metric, and the goal is to keep this as low as possible. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) The Customer Lifetime Value measures the total revenue you can expect from a customer throughout their lifetime. For example, if a customer first bought something worth $10 from you, then bought something worth $5, and then something worth $100, their CLV would be $115. These three metrics are very important when it comes to retention marketing. They provide valuable insights into how well you’re retaining customers and the revenue you can expect from them. Building a Retention Marketing Ecosystem Now, let’s discuss the tools and systems required to build a robust Retention Marketing system. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Understanding CRM is crucial for retention marketing. CRM is where the data of your customer base resides. To retain customers, you need to provide them with offers and personalized templates. You might need to send them newsletters or other communications that make them feel valued and encourage them to stay with you. Segmentation Segmentation is a part of CRM. It allows you to create segments of your customers. For example, if a customer has bought a particular product from you, you can offer them a 15% discount on a related product. This personalized approach can help convert and retain customers. Communication Channels Whether it’s through WhatsApp, SMS, or notifications, all these communication channels are part of the retention marketing ecosystem. You need to have an understanding of these platforms to effectively communicate with your customers. Automation Automation is another important aspect of retention marketing. When you fire up the automation, it will inform your customers about coupons and offers through email marketing or WhatsApp marketing. Understanding automation is crucial to retaining customers. The Importance of Retention Marketing Many times, within digital marketing, we focus only on acquisition marketing. However, understanding the business and recognizing the need for retention marketing is equally important. Retention marketing is a combination of all the things that allow you to utilize your budget effectively. The cost of acquiring a new customer should be higher than retaining an old customer, which is why you should focus so much on retention marketing. How can I personalize my offers to customers? Personalizing offers to customers involves understanding their needs, preferences, and behaviors. Here are some steps you can take: Segment Your Customers: Group your customers based on shared characteristics such as demographics, buying behavior, product preferences, etc. This allows you to tailor your offers to each group’s specific needs and interests. Leverage Customer Data: Use data from past purchases, browsing history, and

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We don't do MAGIC We do not guarantee overnight results

We don't do MAGIC
We do not guarantee overnight results