Creating a digital marketing agency can be one of the most rewarding businesses you’ll ever create. In 2006 I created my first digital agency selling websites. I quickly learned that despite me knowing “everything”, what I was doing was setting me up for failure. There were a lot of other companies that my clients could choose from, why would they choose me? What made me different?
Over the following 8 years and 3 different companies, I learned what it takes to build a thriving agency. This has helped me to grow relationships, brand myself and earn a very good living over the years.
Here are a few of the mistakes that I made along the way for you to learn from on your path to building a large digital marketing agency.
Sometimes it’s best to start with one product: Many new agencies make the mistake of trying to be a full service firm or “one stop shop” where anyone can get anything. The problem is unless you have significant financial backing, you are going to spread your resources and capital too thin trying to sell and then deliver all of these different services. I made this mistake the when I created my first agency Adogy. Find the one service you are the strongest in, become the best at it and become known for being the go-to firm for that service. This pays huge dividends over time.
Resist the constant urge to do everything. As entrepreneurs, we have a lot of passion about what we do and that leads to a tendency to want to be involved in every detail. But if you’re going to scale an agency successfully, having an absolute focus on your highest value tasks only is critical. Know what your strengths are and delegate everything else. If selling and team building are your strengths, focus on doing only that. You can’t also be your bookkeeper, web designer, and copywriter. You will burn out fast.
Know your numbers: To be successful, you need to have an extreme amount of clarity around what you want and what it’s going to take to get it. While you aren’t going to see the entire path to your goal, you do need to know exactly how much of your product or service you need to sell, what it’s going to cost you to sell that much and exactly what it’s going to cost to deliver. This is something that is said often, but the truth is that if you don’t know all of your numbers inside and out, you are flying blind as a CEO.
Processes behind everything: My friend and agency owner Richard Lorenzen from Fifth Avenue Brands states “An agency can’t scale without systems and procedures in place for every aspect of operation. It is not enough to hire talented people and expect them to just know what to do with minimal guidance. You need specific policies and procedures in place for them to follow on a daily basis. This isn’t micromanagement. This is about equipping your team with best practices and a solid framework for how to execute their jobs. One of the most common reasons people quit agencies is because of a lack of support and infrastructure. You can’t just hand people a phone and computer and expect them to make things happen. Every once in a while a super star comes along, but nonetheless, all teams need specific guidance and expectations to be set.”
Sales trumps everything: No matter how big your team becomes, you will always be in sales. Even once you have a room full of salespeople selling for you, you will still be your best salesperson, and make no mistake about it, you will always be selling everywhere you go. Always have a sales mindset.
Avoid complacency like the plague: Once you have some success, it’s tempting to relax a bit and not hustle as hard. Do not fall into this trap. If you want to keep growing, you can never take your foot off the gas. You should only know one speed and one direction: full ahead. Always be thinking about your next goal or the next mountain to climb.
Agency life means long hours, high pressure and deadlines. No amount of growth, profits or delegating can change this. As long as you have clients who are depending on you to perform, you are always going to have to be on. Learn to deal with it and don’t become complacent.
Hire the right people: When you’re hiring people, skills and competencies are important but personality is even more important. Look for culture fit first and foremost. You have to get along with and like the people you are hiring. Skills can be taught but personalities can never be changed. Don’t take the ups and downs personally. It’s part of business and especially part of agency life. There will always be problems to solve. If you aren’t always creating new problems, then you probably aren’t growing. Keep this in mind when you hire and fire people.
Seize every opportunity to network: Your biggest opportunities and clients will often come from chance meetings. Attend every conference, connect with everybody on social media, always have your eyes peeled for an opportunity. I’ve landed some of my biggest deals in the most unexpected ways. You have no idea where your next big client is going to come from.
Don’t forget to promote and brand yourself: I brand myself like nothing else, I even teach branding to college students just so I keep up with it. Treat yourself as one of your own clients. Your business can’t grow if people don’t know who
you are. You must be branding yourself, speaking at events and making a case study out of your own success. Many times we are spending so much time working on our clients’ brands that we neglect our own. Always make time for building your own brand. In the long run, it pays major dividends.
Here’s to creating the next big digital marketing agency! What additional tips would you recommend to people starting the next big agency?
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