How I Created a Successful Marketing Agency Over time, I have generated a lot of press and created a strong social media presence.
By Aidan Sowa
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Since starting out in the marketing industry back in 2018, I have built a successful marketing agency that has scaled to multiple six figures. The journey wasn't always easy and there were a lot of roadblocks along the way. Here are some tips which I have picked up along the way.
1. Master lead generation
Finding a way to generate leads should be the number one priority of starting a small business. Even if your service is not perfect, it is necessary to get actual customer feedback to perfect your service. You must find a source of consistent lead generation, such as email marketing and social media marketing. You need to know exactly how much outreach you are doing to generate business.
Related: Why Every Entrepreneur Should Build Their Own Marketing Agency
2. Keep track of your taxes
As a business owner, it is extremely important to set aside money for taxes. The last thing you want is for the IRS to be knocking on your door. It is important to learn about paying quarterly taxes and to track every expense and income in a spreadsheet as soon as you get it. Many entrepreneurs struggle every quarter and at the end of the year to get their taxes right. When I first began my business, I ignored all my expenses and income for the first three quarters, so I had to spend three weeks just reviewing my taxes at the end of the year to make sure everything was correct. It was one of the most stressful periods of my business.
3. Systemize everything
As someone just starting out as an entrepreneur, I had to wear multiple hats. I had to be the accountant, the customer support, the fulfillment manager and the salesperson. It's extremely important to document everything that you are doing in Google Sheets and Google Drive. Many entrepreneurs fall under the trap of creating another job for themselves. In the first year of my business, I struggled as it was complete chaos. I would wake up at a random time, send people messages on Facebook and hope I generated business.
I only really started to see growth in my business when I started creating systems around everything I do. I figured out if I send a certain number of emails, I get a certain number of appointments, which results in a certain number of sales. I figured out what to say to customers, how often to communicate and how to do outreach to customers. It is particularly important to write down tasks that you do with repetition on a daily basis. Taking the time to create systems can be a lot of work, but ultimately it is necessary if you want to move beyond the role of "freelancer" to "CEO". With time, I was able to outsource a lot of the basic tasks with email automation, virtual assistants and hiring a sales force.
Related: Why You Should Hire a Smaller Digital Marketing Agency
4. Create a brand
Another trap that a lot of entrepreneurs fall prey to is they fail to create a brand around themselves. They become obsessed with simply just acquiring another customer. As a result, many entrepreneurs are unable to sell their business and remain trapped within it. You need to figure out what you want your business to represent and showcase it online on your social media platforms and establish press coverage for yourself. If you don't showcase who you are online, you will just become another commodity to your clients. Branding yourself helps you acquire new business and helps current clients stay with you longer. In addition, when you are looking to exit your business, it will help attract new investors.
Over time, I have generated a lot of press and created a strong social media presence. This has helped my business grow at an exponential rate.
Related: 10 Secrets to Building a Successful Digital Marketing Agency
