Now that I’ve told you a little about me, let me tell you a little about you and what you’re going to get out of this book.
This book is a guide to building a low to mid-six-figure marketing agency with at least 50% profit margins. It will include proven strategies and tactics.
I read a lot of business books. Often, I find myself sifting through 90% of the book to get 10% I can implement. So, in this book, I’m going to try to make every page a key building block in delivering a strategy or a tactic you’ll be able to use as soon as you read it.
You’ll find the writing short and to the point, and if I do tell a background story, it will be only where needed.
It’s for people who want or are exploring the option of building a lifestyle marketing agency or a fractional CMO business that makes a few hundred thousand dollars a year with high profit margins. You can absolutely take it from six figures to a seven, eight, even nine-figure agency, but you’ll need to read more books for that :-)
A marketing consultant, sometimes referred to as a fractional CMO, provides consultation, strategy and guidance, but doesn’t fulfill the marketing services (i.e., write the copy, deploy the ads or build a website). An agency does both; strategy and actual fulfillment (i.e., getting it done).
In this book you’ll learn that you can build an agency with the ability to fulfill any marketing service, but without ever needing to fulfill them yourself. How would that work? Stay tuned.
It’s easy to answer. Would you enjoy talking with business owners about their business performance, trying to understand what’s lacking, and coming up with a plan to solve the problem?
If the answer is yes - then an agency might be right for you.
If the answer is no, you can close the book.
It is my firm belief that almost anyone who has $10K to invest in their business (buying tools, marketing spend, etc.) and the stamina to learn and get better can succeed.
Having marketing and sales experience will make it easier for you. Lacking that experience will make it harder. Note, when I say HARDER, I mean it will take LONGER, as being good at what you do is, at least partially, a derivative of your experience.
I told you this book is going to be to the point, so lesson one, a key aspect in building any business and selling any product is TRUST.
Or in simple terms, why would you listen to me and read THIS BOOK on how to build an agency?
Here is why:
I’ve given you a brief overview of who I am and what I’ve done. But my current role, CEO of Umbrella, is the impetus for this book. That job is all about helping people build and grow a digital marketing agency. We’ve helped many thousands of entrepreneurs over the years.
In addition, in early 2021 I started a podcast called The Marketing Umbrella geared toward the same crowd, entrepreneurs building and expanding their marketing agency.
I interviewed and learned from the world’s leading marketing experts about ways to build and grow an agency.
At first, to be completely honest, I wanted a book as a calling card, another social proof tool to create authority, but as I interviewed more and more experts, it became clear that this book must be a true GUIDE.
One comprehensive yet simple manual, that anyone can pick up and read, and use the information to start an agency, based on the accumulated experience of thousands of small marketers as well as the leading marketers in the industry.
In this book you’ll read specific advice from the like of Neil Patel, Joe Pulizzi, Neil Schafer, Guillaume Moubeche, Mike Roberts, Barry Schwartz, and many others.
This is your formulated path to success.
The easiest way to learn is reading in the same exact chronological order you would need to practice in reality.
Step #1: Branding - social proof, trust, niche, passion, ethics
Step #2: Products & Fulfillment - the services and tech you’ll sell, why and to whom
Step #3: Getting clients - prospecting tactics & selling
Step #4: Operations - turning the above three elements into a machine that grows
You will find that each of these steps has many micro steps you’ll need to take, but rest assured that completing these steps will build your business.
It bears repeating: The easiest way to learn is reading in the same exact chronological order you would need to practice in reality. (Like a manual)