Stop thinking about starting an online business and start. Now is the best time. After reading this post entitled “How to start an online marketing business now” you will know what to do.
Ever heard of Sabri Suby?
He’s the multi-million dollar marketing agency owner of King Kong.
The strategies Suby used got him from a one-man show making cold calls from his bedroom to a valuation of $30 million with a three-year growth rate of 314% and thousands of clients climbing over each other to work with the Melbourne-based business.
He is the author of the book Sell Like Crazy Get it on my resources page.
He’s not alone. Every year, boutique digital marketing agencies around the world rise through the ranks of profitability and innovation.
In fact, New Hampshire-based marketing agency Saltwater Collective was named one of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S., driving 380% in revenue growth in 2019.
The moral of these stories is just the beginning of your own and it’s this:
If you have the willingness to learn as you grow, building an online marketing business is the smartest and most strategic move you can make in 2021.
This article will show you the path of least resistance when starting an online marketing business.
Why an Online Marketing Business?
You may be wondering:
“Why on earth would I start an online marketing business? Isn’t the niche totally saturated? Aren’t there like a million firms out there that are in competition with each other trying to do SEO and PPC? I don’t even know these basics! What could possibly set me apart from these guys??”
Okay, you’re not wrong. But before you spiral into a panic, consider this:
- U.S. digital ad spend will surpass spending on traditional media as of 2019, growing to $129.3 billion in 2020 — are you saying you can’t claim a modest piece of that multi-billion dollar pie for yourself?
- There are unlimited opportunities to diversify your income with digital marketing. Besides services, you could eventually add on one-to-one coaching, consulting, and branch out into content creation services like film and photography to become your end client’s one-stop-shop. You could also add productized services, which is a “done-for-you” predefined service marketed as a product.
- You have multiple options for getting paid — including retainers, larger one-time fees, cross-selling, royalties, or a combination of all — so you can tailor these models to create the annual revenue you want to bring in.
Now, regardless of how many online marketing agencies already exist, few of them are doing everything right.
In fact, many of them may be using outdated practices, failing to attract good talent, or have become bloated and complacent.
Enter you, the Disruptor, ready to:
- Transform the 2.3 billion “bad ads” taken down by Google into gold
- Bring value to and serve the 45% of businesses that don’t yet have a digital marketing strategy
- Grab the attention of the 3.848 billion potential customers now living on social media
Here’s the best part.
The existence of digital marketing businesses in the market tells you something — there’s a clear demand for these services that’s only just getting started.
4 Steps You Need to Start an Online Marketing Business
One of the primary reasons that people start an online marketing business is this:
It’s the “easiest.”
Thanks to technology, you can literally send proposals, schedule discovery calls with potential clients, take payments, create a standard website, and even hire your first freelancer or virtual assistant from sites like Upwork, Guru, or Fiverr.
The success of your online marketing business is all about the work you put in, your tools (computers, mobile devices, etc.), and the strategy with which you execute.
Here’s what you’ll need to do to start an online marketing business in four steps.
1. Make Fast Decisions
To get started with an online marketing business, you’ll need to decide on a few internal and external factors. Let’s begin with the internal for now.
Consider the internal working elements that will set you up for success:
- Website — When you’re first starting out, you don’t need to have your “portfolio” or “testimonials” section set up. In fact, if you want to skip a website, for now, you absolutely can. Instead, set up a Facebook Business Page and invite your friends to like and share. Remember, it’s all a matter of taking the path of least resistance.
- Email marketing software — Whether you choose ConvertKit or MailChimp, your email marketing provider should be fast, easy to learn, and offer a “free” plan under a certain number of subscribers.
- Workspace — If it has to be your kitchen table, the den in the basement, or a corner of your closet, that’s fine. Designate a workspace area all your own and set up your essentials here.
- Conferencing and calendar software — Barebones setup doesn’t mean you need to look anything less than professional. Especially when you’re first starting out, you’ll need to network and set up discovery calls for potential clients. You can bet they’ll be wowed if you’re sending them an easy-to-access Calendly link for a meeting, automatically integrated with conferencing software. Make it as easy as possible for them to get in touch with you.
- Content creation software — A monthly subscription to a tool like Canva or Adobe Spark is all you need at this point.
Now, you may be wondering: What about (Customer Relationship Management) CRMs, reporting software, and social media scheduling software? Do not bother with those at this point.
Instead, have your client purchase their own accounts and position these requests as a benefit to them — let them know that they should invest in these tools so that they can expand their marketing team as they grow instead of you having perpetual access to their accounts.
2. Start Local Before You Go Global
Before you jump to pitching massive brands like Disney and Nike, plan to cut your teeth locally. Right now, over half of all businesses don’t have a digital footprint.
Even e-commerce businesses need help — their conversion rates are hovering around 1.5%. So if you’re a copywriting expert or a paid ads whiz, why not focus on helping them in these niches?
The point is to start delivering consistent results for small, local businesses. Doing so can help you manage relatively small marketing budgets and allow you to learn which strategies are effective and which are just “shiny objects.” You’ll quickly discover which deliver effective results.
Local SEO is also much more effective and rewarding because you’re helping a small business increase its revenue.
Give this particular phase 6-9 months, as a minimum, and work with no more than five clients at a time. Three is ideal, but it does depend on what you’re doing for them and what you’re charging.
Track the results from month to month in a very meticulous manner, and make sure your contract includes a clause that allows you to showcase your services using their results.
These are the clients that will become your portfolio pieces or case studies for your website.
3. Focus on One Activity: Doing Results-Oriented Work
Remember how we said you needed to make fast decisions about what you offer? Well, this is the point at which you can narrow down your offerings.
See, when you’re first getting started with an online marketing business, you should stick to your strengths. For example, if you’ve recently done a Google Ads course and you’ve earned a certificate, don’t offer direct response copywriting.
That’s the mistake so many would-be digital marketers make — they bite off more than they can chew. The problem is not that they’re juggling multiple skillsets, by the way. The problem is that they can’t track “all the things!” Especially when they’re starting out as a one-person show.
Even if you have expertise in multiple disciplines, stick to doing one thing and making one promise to your end clients.
Once you have clear metrics that prove your expertise, add another skillset. To continue with the above example, creating Facebook ads would be a useful add-on for someone already well-versed in running Google Ads campaigns.
4. Create a Lead-Generation Pipeline
Let’s go back to one of the very first internal decisions you made: the choice of email marketing software provider.
The reason this was so crucial right away is that, if you started it as you began taking on your first clients, you now have a 6-9 month ramp of potential clients who have been signing up to your list.
That’s 6-9 months’ worth of solid leads, especially if you’ve been communicating your “wins” with them through a monthly newsletter.
Forget about what the “gurus” say about email marketing jargon, copy, and frequency. All you needed to do was set it up so that it’s readily available and use it to communicate with your list.
This is the most important resource you’ll have created for your business’s growth going forward. These are the contact emails of the individuals who are interested in what you have to offer.
And when you hook this information up to a customer relationship management software (like HubSpot or Nimble CRM, for example), you’ll be able to create a lead generation pipeline that scales demand for your services.
Imagine never having to go out and hunt for new business. All you need to do is send an email to your list letting them know your calendar is open for new clients or reach out to your list for referrals.
Another top-ranking Digital Marketer is Neil Patel. I am currently using his guidance to grow my online presence and you can too. Click here to be trained by him.
If you are starting an online business as a novice you can get the required knowledge to equip you. According to Animas Marketing Neil Patel is the top marketing influencer to follow in 2021.
Conclusion: Rinse and Repeat
Because you’re the one calling the shots, eventually, your business takes on your own DNA. And that means no two agencies operate the same, nor do they have the same road or formula for success. So the details may look completely different for you.
These are the broad-stroke strategies that you should follow for a fast setup. Remember, the goal is to get paid clients in as quickly as possible, simplify your process, and instead focus the bulk of your time on delivering results and value for your clients.
