Josh’s Journey to Gaining More Knowledge & Understanding Key Business Insights
Before becoming a Coach and the Owner of the Seven Figure Agency, Josh Nelson started a web-designing/digital marketing company back in 2004 right after he graduated from college.
Unfortunately, that didn’t go as planned and he had to shut it down after 3 years of trying with his sweat and money. He identified that it was a lack of education so he quickly got into the job market to learn how business models work.
Having an entrepreneurial nature, Josh knew this wasn’t it. He studied books day-in-day-out and gained as much knowledge as he could, and from one of those masterpieces, a sentence resonated with him till day and he quotes
“To be successful, you have to build a difference”
Josh then got a job with ReachLocal and at that time the company was making $250M per year. He started working in the sales department and educated himself on the recurring revenue model. This led to him starting his current 2nd business Click Incorporated.
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Converting a Local Generalist Firm to a Niche-Focused Agency
With Click Incorporated, a Local Generalist Agency, Josh realized a few things and used those to convert his current company into a niche-focused agency. Here are the key observations:
- A Recurring Program/Monthly Recurring Fee to get $1000 or more per month is the way to go
- As an agency, one must shift toward providing a Tangible Result
- People gravitate towards someone who already has experience in their field
Conclusion – Josh chose one vertical, got great responses in that, positioned himself as an expert, and got good at delivering results. This is how he landed at Plumbing & HVAC SEO Agency, completely rebranded themselves, and shifted their focus!
Best Practices for Marketing Department
Now, once you have got your Niche, you can leverage a lot of different channels for marketing. Josh’s favorite is doing Cold Outreach – Getting a List, Making Introductions, and Adding Value.
He also recommends using a combination of Inbound and Position-based Marketing. Joining the Association and putting out content via Webinars & Podcasts are other great ways to produce value for the client.
The goal is to position yourself as an authority, someone who has answers to the client’s most common questions. This attracts people into your world – they schedule in and go through your sales process.
Building a Dynamic Sales Department
As your recurring revenue grows, so does your sales team. As an entrepreneur, you’re good at sales but you do need help too. You can begin by hiring for two key roles – Marketing Assistant and a Sales Development Rep
A marketing assistant, in general, would help you set up promos, clean your lists, get your emails out, manage your day-to-day, and do follow-ups. A Sales Development Rep, on the other hand, would be somebody who’s proactively calling people on the phone, managing your chat, and getting them to the place where they book an appointment on your calendar.
Remember – you must keep in mind the push versus pull strategy. You need prospects who’re coming to you pre-positioned to buy. Your aim should be to not chase people down rather they coming to you because of your expert status.
Retaining Clients with Account Managers
As an agency owner, there are two positions you need to move away from as quickly as possible; Operations and Account Management.
As a rule of thumb, you should have one Account Manager for around 20-25 clients. Your account manager needs to be responsible for:
- Going through the Reports
- Frequently Meeting with Client Live/In-Person
- Let the client see the value of what you’re offering as a Business
Creating an Impact & Gaining the Freedom to Live
With the Seven Figure Agency, Josh has a goal to serve 500 Digital Marketing Agencies grow to 7 Figures & beyond over the next 5 years. His Book “The Seven Figure Agency Roadmap: How to Build a Million Dollar Digital Marketing Agency” is a must-read for budding agency owners!
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